Sun. a.m.
Conditions For Real Revival
2 Chronicles 7:14
I. “If” indicates a condition.
Story: Mike.....if you don’t come in this house.......
There is a “if” to revival. Revival is something that is definitely needed. It is something that I believe God desires to give to us......yet there is a “if” to it ! There are conditions that must be met before God’s holiness will allow him to send us revival ! God doesn’t just send revival because we need it, but because we desire it !
Do you have a desire for revival in your personal life ? Is there a desire burning in your heart for revival to come to our church ? Would you like to see, and feel the winds of revival blowing across our nation ?
Then we must respond to God’s “if”.
We must be willing to meet the condition.......to pay the price !
What are these conditions ?
a. The People Must Respond.
“If my people which are called by my name........”
Revival is intended for the people of God.....for those who are identified with him. It is the people of God.....the church of God.......the body of Christ that must respond to the conditions for revival. Revival must begin here ! It must begin in me.....it must begin in you.....and you.....and you. The people of God must respond to the “if” of revival or it will not come.
Story:
Have you heard the story of the little church in rural Tennessee. They had a revival meeting every spring and an old guy in town would come every spring and renew his life to God. In the fall he would begin to cool off and by winter he would get cold, but in the spring he would get fired up again. So on the first night of the revival he would come in and sit on the back seat. The next night he is up about two rows. The next night about two rows more. Then by the 4th or 5th night he was on the front seat saying fill me Lord. There was a little lady who knew him well who was heard to day, “Careful Lord, he leaks.”
Do you remember the days of the past when you walked close to the Lord. You loved to fellowship with him......you craved his presence ! There was once a time when we were excited about the Lord. We were energized to serve and do all that he bade us do. We were enthusiastic about our relationship, and it showed in the way that we worshipped......in the attitude of our service, and in the way that we loved our brothers, and sisters in the Lord......but like the guy mentioned in the story.....we leak !
We need revival....because we leak ! We have to continually come back to the Lord to be filled with his presence, and with his power. The people of God must respond to God’s “if”
b. The Pride Must Be Removed.
......”shall humble themselves........”
Joke:
A young man went to his pastor and said, “Pastor, I have a besetting sin, and I want your help. When I come to church on Sunday, I can’t help but think that I’m the best looking man in the congregation. I know I ought not to think it, but I just can’t seem to help myself ! Pastor, I want you to help me with it. “ The pastor replied, “Bob, don’t worry about it. In your case it’s not a sin. It’s just a horrible mistake.”
“Pride” is a great hindrance to revival.
Pride looks at others, and says....”I’m better than they are......I’m not that bad. ‘ There is nothing wrong with me. Pride causes us to compare ourselves with the world rather than with the Lord ! Pride maintains that the conditions around us are not our fault ! Pride maintains that we are doing all that we can, and that someone else needs to do their part !
“We” don’t receive revival because “we” feel we don’t need revival ! We’re doing just fine like we are !
We need to receive the words of Isaiah 57:15. For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Before revival can take place we must rediscover the holiness of God. We must realize our own personal responsibility. We must be accountable. We must bow ourselves before God in humility knowing that he alone can bring revival. We can not produce it ! We can’t manufacture it ! Revival comes from the Lord, and we must meet the conditions set forth in scripture !
c. The Prayers Must Be Rendered.
.......”shall humble themselves, and pray......”
How important is prayer ?
Someone has said...”That prayer is to the soul what breathing is to the body.” Your body can’t function without breathing. I don’t see to many folks walking around who aren’t breathing....do you ? If we are to function as God wants us to as believers, and as a church, and if we are to experience a genuine God-sent revival, then we must pray.
In 1857 there was a 46 year old man named Jeremiah Lamphere who lived in New York City. Jeremiah loved the Lord tremendously, but he didn’t feel that he could do much for the Lord until he began to feel a burden for the lost and accepted an invitation from his church to be an inner city missionary. So in July of 1857 he started walking up and down the streets of New York passing out tracts and talking to people about Jesus, but he wasn’t having any success. Then God put it on his heart to try prayer. So he printed up a bunch of tracts, and he passed them out to anyone and everyone met. He invited anyone who wanted to to come to the 3rd floor of the Old North Dutch Reform Church on Fulton St. in New York City from 12 to 1 on Wednesday to pray. He passed out hundreds and hundreds of fliers and put up posters everywhere he could. Wednesday day came and at Noon nobody showed up. So Jeremiah got on his knees and started praying. For 30 minutes he prayed by himself when finally five other people walked in. The next week 20 people came. The next week between 30 and 40 people came. They then decided to meet every day from 12:00 to 1:00 to pray for the city. Before long a few ministers started coming and they said, “We need to start this at our churches”. Within six months there were over 5000 prayer groups meeting everyday in N.Y. Soon the word spread all over the country. Prayer meetings were started in Philadelphia, Detroit, and Washington D.C. In fact President Franklin Pierce started going almost every day to a noonday prayer meeting. By 1859 some 15,000 cities in America were having downtown prayer meetings everyday at noon and thousands were brought to Christ. The great thing about this revival is that there is not a famous preacher associated with it.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon - Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly. Others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might.
d. The Pursuit Must Be Renewed.
.....”and seek my face,”
This phrase is found only twice in scripture....in our text today, and in Hosea 5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
Illust. Days of Courting........
Can you recall the former day ? When you wanted to know God.....I mean really know him ? When you wanted to serve him.......anywhere, anytime, anything.
We once sought the face of God ! We wanted his presence, his power, his blessing ! But for too long now we’ve been seeking to please ourselves, and to make a name for us ! Oh......isn’t it time folks that we sought the face of God !
Though he will never leave us nor forsake us, sometimes we forsake him, and go our own way.
e. The Practices Must Be Reversed.
.....”and turn from their wicked ways;
Repentace is turning from our wicked ways. There must be a reversal in our thoughts, our deeds, and our actions.
II. The “then” of revival.
“If” indicates a condition......”then’ indicates a conclusion.
If we meet the conditions set forth by the Lord, what will be the conclusion ?
a God will hear.
Oh.....how we need for God to hear our prayers. Some folks pray as though God owes them something. I’ve heard some folks pray and it sounds like they are demanding and commanding God to do something.
Such arrogance, and pride God will never honor !
b. God will forgive.
We are a people desperately in need of the forgiveness of a Holy God ! We are sinners, and live in a sinful nation ! We need to get on our faces before God, and pray and turn from our wickedness, and seek the face of God that we might be forgiven !
God promises that he will !
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
c. God will heal.
Are we not like the nation of Israel ?
Isa 1:6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers.
Listen to the words of the prophet Jeremiah chapter 30:12 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee:
We are a sick nation ! Our worse plagues are not those that plague us physically, but those that render us spiritually disabled. We are a nation which call ourselves the greatest in the world......yet, we lead the world in abortions ! The very physicians which are supposed to bind our physical wounds are aiding in our spiritual destruction.
Did you know that 1.6 millions abortions are performed annually in the U.S. ? Lest we think that is a teen problem, did you know that 47 % of those that have abortions are over the age of 25. Statistics show that 43 % of women will have abortion in their lifetimes !
Oh...we have turned from the Lord......how long has it been ?
We are wounded.....we are bleeding as a nation ! While our brave men and women rish their lives to bring democracy in a evil land......our streets, and halls of our schools are like warzones ! Just the other night, I saw on the news where parents had filled a school in Clayton County asking questions concerning the safety of their children ! Paul Harvey once stated that the most dangerous place for a 15 year old to be is in the public schools. We have glorified violence in our society ! We are not much better off than the Romans who once assembled in the Coloseum to watch the mauling. Two weeks ago at an Atlanta Falcons game, the crowd was treated to a performance by a rapper who spewed lyrics laced with profanity, and in one song promises to “blow somebodies head off.” When our airwaves are filled with violence and vulgarity, and abortion clinics are lined up, is there any wonder why so many of the young are dying in the streets ? Is it any wonder why child abuse is near epidemic proportions ? We have sown to the wind, and we are reaping the whirlwind ! If the tide of immorality, and wickedness is to ever turn, revival must first begin at the house of God ! Profanity can be spewed by hellywood, but the ten commandments cannot be displayed in a courthouse ! If Churches speak out against homosexuality, we are being intolerant, but when sitcoms, media outlets say something demeaning against Christianity, they yell free speech ! As I have said before, we are a nation that will tolerant anything, but intolerance ! Let me tell you something......God is intolerant ! He was intolerant of the homosexuals in Sodom and Gomorrah.....so much so that he rained down fire upon the cities, and the inhabitants who committed such godless acts ! Yet, he is also intolerant of the religious crowd who points out the sins of others while ignoring his own ! Revival must begin with the people of God ! We need to repent of our sins ! We need to turn from our sinful practices ! We will never ever experience a revival from God until we turn ! God longs to revive us ! He desires to make us whole.....to bind our wounds, and to stop the bleeding........yet we must come to the Physician ! Are you willing this morning to meet the conditions for revival ? Will you come this morning....humble yourselves before the Lord, pray and seek his face , repenting of your sins ! Revival must come to the church ! It must start with the church !
Let me share this story in closing: Robert Robinson the author of the hymn “Come Thou Fount” was born of lowly parents in Swaffham, Norfolk, England, on September 27, 1735. His father died when Robert was eight, and at the age of fourteen he was sent by his mother to London to learn the barbering trade. Here for the next few years he was associated with a notorious gang of hoodlums and lived a debauched life. At the age of seventeen he attended a meeting where George Whitefield was preaching. Robinson and his friends went for the purpose of “scoffing at the poor, deluded Methodists.” However, Whitefield’s strong evangelistic preaching so impressed young Robinson that he was converted to Christ. Several years later he felt called to preach and entered the ministry of the Methodist Chruch. Subsequently, he left the Methodist Church when he moved to Cambridge and became a Baptist pastor. Here he became known as an able theologian through his writing of many theological works as well as several hymns.
This hymn text, written when Robinson was only twenty-three years of age, contains an interesting expression in the second stanza, “Here I raise mine Ebenezer-Hither by Thy help I’m come.” This language is taken from I Samuel 7:12, where the Ebenezer is a symbol of God’s faithfulness. An expression in the third verse, “Prone to wander-Lord, I feel it-Prone to leave the God I love,” seems to have been prophetic of Robinson’s later years, as once again his life became characterized by lapses into sin, unstableness, and an involvement with the doctrines of Unitarianism.
The story is told that Robinson was one day riding a stagecoach when he noticed a woman deeply engrossed with a hymn book. During an ensuing conversation the lady turned to Robinson and asked what he thought of the hymn she was humming. Robinson burst into tears and said, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.”
We are prone to wander ! Have you wandered from the Lord ? Come and seek his face this morning !
