OH GO D REVIVE US!
Psalm 51; 2 Chronicles 7:14
23 January 2005
Prayer
Audio reading of Psalm 51 (NIV)
Read 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
Revive Us O Lord (slide)
INTRODUCTION
This morning I want us to examine one specific verse in The Bible, one specific concept. That concept is the topic of revival.
For some of you the word revival may conjure up the idea of revival meetings, a series of gatherings where the gospel is preaching and where many people may come to faith in Christ Jesus. Or perhaps you may think of meetings where people’s emotions are whipped up and strange things happen. But that is not what I want to talk to you about this morning.
Rather I want to speak you about revival in the sense that it deals specifically with Christians, believers, people who have already made some form of commitment to Christ Jesus, people who may have been followers of Christ for a few or many years.
Now revival may be defined as a renewed conviction of sin and repentance followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God. It is a surrendering of our will so that we may do God’s will.
Revival can be one of the most spiritually painful experiences a Christian can undergo because revival literally means to bring back to life something that is dead or dying. It is pretty hard to admit that our faith, our love for Christ, for his people is dead or dying, yet some of us, perhaps more than we realize, that is the truth.
Revival is like a complete overhaul of a vehicle, the rebuilding of a house from the foundation up. Revival is a face to face meeting with God, a God who is holy, righteous, powerful, a God who is to be feared.
Let me begin this morning by giving you some background to this verse in Chronicles. King Solomon, son of King David had just dedicated to God the temple in Jerusalem. Surprisingly in the sixth chapter King Solomon seems to act as a prophet, a person chosen by God to warn the people of what lay ahead for them.
In this case he warns the Israelites that they will sin and turn away God, doing as they please in rebellion against Him. And that God in response to their sin will allow them to be defeated in battle, he will bring famine, plagues and so on to the people of Israel. And then King Solomon indicates that when they pray to God, confessing His name as their God, turning away from their sins, then God will hear them from heaven and will forgive their sin and bring healing to their nation.
It seems rather simple, the Israelites obey God, He blesses them; the Israelites disobey God, he brings curses on them, not with the intention of destroying them, but rather to restore them into right relationship with Him. Unfortunately we know from the history of Israel that even though God disciplined the people they did not repent, did not turn away from their sin for long and eventually disaster and destruction came because of their continuing disobedience and rebellion against God.
Now let us take a look at this verse concerning revival.
1. IF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY NAME
If my people who are called by my name. God spoke to the people of Israel. He addressed them as people who called Him their father. They claimed to be the children of God, whose lives were to correspond to His word, His commands. They were to be recognized as distinctive, different, set apart as a nation. A people belonging to God who had a distinctive religion, customs and habits. And God says to them IF my people who are called by my name. In other words IF indicates there is a choice to be made. The Israelites were given two option. They could either serve God and as a result be blessed or choose to serve other gods and be cursed as a result.
He was offering them life, peace, prosperity, if they obeyed Him. Or if they refused, they would suffer the consequences of their choices, that is death, war, poverty and misery. So the Israelites were faced with a choice, God’s will or theirs.
Likewise we today, as the children of God, those of us who are born again through the sacrifice of God’s son Jesus Christ are confronted with the reality of making a decision with our lives. Are we going to choose life in Christ and obey His commands or are we going to choose to live our own lives and pay the price?
Because we too must be distinctive as God’s people, not so much by our outward religion, customs and habits as by our lives. Rather by what we say and don’t say, what we do and what we don’t do, demonstrating practically the love of God in every area of our lives. As the Apostle James said, “… I will show my faith by what I do.” (James 2:18)
So like the Israelites years ago, we too face the choice between right and wrong, between good and evil, between obeying God or disobeying Him, loving Him or hating Him.
2. WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES
Going on in the verse the children of God are then challenged to humble themselves, acknowledging God’s ultimate and sovereign control over their lives. That they are his people and that they are responsible to Him. They are to submit to Him, to His will, to His plans.
Today we use the term, “I accept Christ,” but how often do we say “I submit my life to Christ.” It is not only all to easy, but even patronizing to God, for us to say we “accept” Him when in fact we need to submit to Him, to surrender to Him, to His authority over our lives. The question might rather be, “Does God accept us?” That is a whole other sermon.
Now how were the Israelites to submit to God? If they were living in disobedience to the commands of God they were to acknowledge, to confess before Him the fact that they had strayed, they had sinned, they had chosen their own way above His. They were to humble themselves by acknowledging who they were, His people, and how they had failed God.
It says in 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” Just like the Israelites, we too as the people of God are to humble ourselves, to admit our failures, our shortcomings, our sins. To acknowledge that we are not as good, righteous or fair as we would want others to think of us.
Yes, humility is the opposite of pride, recognizing who we are and who God is. In fact it is a form of worship where we see ourselves through God’s eyes where we are the created and he is our creator.
All of us need to be true, to be honest with God about ourselves, not pretending to be like saints (although that is God’s calling for us), but all the while we may act like the devil himself. It has been said we commit our sins one by one and that we should confess them one by one as well, naming our sins, asking God’s forgiveness and receiving it. And then as needed, humbling ourselves by making matters right with those we may have sinned against.
It means saying, “I’m sorry, “I was wrong,” “I’m part of the problem.” You choose to be the first one to go to someone else not pointing the finger at them.
Husbands, if you have a fight with your wife, do you want her to come to you first to apologize? Does you pride get in the way, or are you willing to humble yourself and go to her first to make the matter right? If you’re having marriage troubles, and your wife says as a couple you need help, do you send her on her own or do you go with her for counseling?
Parents, if you get angry with your kids for something they do wrong, and you lose it, do you wait for your children to apologize or do you set the example and go to them? Teenagers, do you find it beneath your dignity to humble yourself to obey your parents’ reasonable expectations? I remember one time saying to my mother when I was 18, “this is beneath my dignity.” If she could have, she would have rolled her eyes and laughed but she was dumfounded that I would have displayed such a proud and haughty response. Demonstrating my lack of humility. Do we display this kind of attitude toward God when He speak to us?
I think back to my own personal experience where God faced me with my sins. I had asked and received His forgiveness but I knew He was wanting me to go further, to humble myself by bring a matter to those in charge. In this case I had pretended I was sick, so as to not have to write a math exam in my last year of high school. I passed the year on an averaging of my grades but I knew I would have probably failed the course if I had to take the exam as well.
I wasn’t a believer then, only years later. When I became a follower of Christ I made a general confession of my faith. I never saw the need to go any further, to deal individually with my sin. Yet as I look back I remember often having a bad dream in which I failed my math course. It was my conscience reminding me of the sin that I had never made right. As a result I always felt uneasy, somehow troubled in my spirit, especially when I walked past my high school.
Then God began to work powerfully in my life. He revealed to me a number of past sins He wanted me to specifically address. I was in shock! What would happen if I told people what I had done? What would they think of me after I told the truth? I was literally in fear and trembling when I wrote to the school because I admitted that they had every right to take away my high school diploma and I was willing for that to happen if need be.
To my great relief a letter was sent to me sometime later from the school. They thanked me for my confession and said no further action need be taken by them. I almost got the impression that they would have preferred not to have heard from me because I have discovered that the confession of sin can arouse feelings of guilt in other people regarding sin their own lives.
And you know what, it was only several months later that I realized that I no longer had that bad dream anymore because my conscience was clear. I had been willing to humble myself under the hand of God and for that I praise Him. Amen!
Scriptures says in Proverbs 28:13 “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” I have found this to be true. For when I resisted the necessity of confessing my sin and making a matter right, I have discovered that spiritually I did not prosper. But rather I became critical of others and dissatisfied with my life because I was unwilling to look inward at what the Holy Spirit was revealing. So instead I looked outward at the faults of others to justify myself, somehow supposing I could ease my conscience. This is a danger all of us face.
That is why we encourage everyone at Calvary Community Church to go through the Steps to Freedom in Christ process that we may have the full release from our sin and enjoy God’s fullness in our lives.
I even think of a70 year old man who asked if he too could go through the process. In the midst of it he said this, “I have never told this to anyone, not even my wife.” And on that day he confessed a sin long ago forgiven by God, but not forgotten by him. He walked out of that session having a new freedom in his life because he was willing to humble himself.
Yes, I am thankful to God that He has given me the grace to humble myself, something I still need to do daily. In fact all of us need to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. To be willing to allow Him to have his way with us, to do as He wants. That we too may experience the full release of the forgiveness of our sins. So that we may begin to see the reviving work of His Spirit in our lives.
3. AND PRAY
Next we move on to God’s command that the people of Israel pray to, call upon Him for there would be little doubt that if they had turned away from God, neither were they praying to Him. And so just as God commanded that they humble themselves, He also commanded that they pray to Him.
Isn’t it interesting that God called the Israelites to first humble themselves before they prayed. That they would acknowledge God’s rightful place in their lives, to deal with their sin, their rebellion, their pride before they attempted to communicate with God. For He wouldn’t hear their prayers if they harbored sin in their lives.
As it says in Psalm 66: 18, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (NIV) Isn’t it interesting that the word cherish means to hold dear, to love. Is there a particular sin that you love to commit? Something that you hold dear, that is special to you? God tells us today that we too must deal with our sins if He is to hear and respond to us.
It would be strange, wouldn’t it, if we had a disagreement, an argument with someone, say our spouse, a friend, our children. And then instead of making the matter right we just carried on as normal, expecting the person to be on good terms with us as if nothing occurred. Truly, we could not talk and share freely without any problem until the matter between us was resolved. And it is the same with God. Sin separates our fellowship, our relationship with Him. We must first deal with it, then god will gladly hear us and respond.
Now if the Israelites humbled themselves and were to pray, how did they go about doing it? In the Old Testament believers were called to pray both privately and publicly to God. They were to take whatever opportunities there were to bring their requests to God, both individually and corporately. And we see a number of such examples in The Bible.
Similarly I believe we as the people of God at Calvary Community Church are called also to come before Him both privately, such as in our homes and publicly in the church, our LIFE groups and elsewhere. We are to communicate with God to ask, seek, to cry out to Him that He would have His will, His way in our lives, our church, our community and country. May I ask, how much have you done that this week? Have you spent time in your home calling out to God, have you joined with other believers publicly praying for His will to be done? If we don’t pray, I believe it is not because we are too busy, or we have too much to do, but rather because we lack the humility to recognize how much we truly need God.
The truth is that when we don’t have a lot, we pray a lot, and when we have a lot, we don’t pray a lot. I heard a comment from a person in Zimbabwe who said, “In America (Canada) you believe in God. In Zimbabwe we depend on God. And we must realize that all our abilities, all our gifts, our resources, whatever we may have, these will not of themselves, be adequate for us, our church, or our country in the midst of our present and ongoing challenges. We must begin, if we haven’t already, to earnestly pray privately and corporately for God to work among us.
And while social action such as expressing our views to our Member of Parliament and other Parliamentarians is important such as the same sex marriage legislation, let us not be lulled into thinking that this response alone will be adequate to meet the challenge.
As it says in Zechariah 4:6, “… ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” God’s Spirit moves in response to the prayers of His people.
Let us never forget that ultimately our battle is not physical but spiritual, as we read in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
I am thankful that we as a church have recently been devoting more time to prayer such as through this season of prayer, setting aside 21 days and now an extra week of prayer as well. Yes, I think it needs not just to be increased in time given, but in our fervency, our determination that God will hear us and respond according to His will. And I believe that all of us need to seriously consider and make a determined effort to participate in our monthly congregational time of worship, praise and prayer for I believe there is added benefit, added blessing in us praying together as the people of God. So I invite you to come and join us on Monday February 7 for this important time.
Of course our praying together depends on whether we have a vital personal prayer life. May I ask you, do you have a significant private time of communion with God, a time you daily long for, a time you wouldn’t miss no matter what the circumstances? That is an important place to begin.
As Pastor OJ said last week: “No prayer, no power. Little prayer, little power. Much prayer, much power.” If we are to see a true God sent revival in our lives, in this church, in our country, we must pray because God is the only one who will give us the answer we need in this time.
4. AND SEEK MY FACE
We then go on to the next portion of 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says that the people of Israel were to seek the face of God. What does it mean to seek the face of God?
Well I believe in Luke 11 we have an example of what it means to seek God, to seek His face. The story is told of a man whose friend comes to visit him but the man has nothing to offer his guest who has come a on a long journey probably having arrived late. So at midnight the man goes to his neighbor, knocks on the door and asks, probably pleads for some food for his guest. The neighbor replies, “Leave me alone, don’t bother me! The door is locked, everyone is in bed, I can’t get up!” Yet the man persists, he keeps on asking, keeps on knocking such that the neighbor eventually gets up and give him what he wants.
And so the chapter goes on to say that we are in similar manner to petition, to call out, to seek the face of God, like seeing the face of the neighbor when he opens the door.
This parable is probably not unlike trying to see our Prime Minister Paul Martin, or the President of the United States or the Queen of England. Unless you are persistent and unless you have a pressing need that only they can address, you probably won’t have an audience with them. Yet surprisingly we sometimes hear of individuals who make contact with these officials because of their need and persistence.
Just as assertively as you would have to be to see an important government or state leader, so we too must just as strongly, if not more, seek the face of God, the very creator of the universe, because He can help us in ways that none of these men or women could ever help us.
Remember it won’t do to just humble ourselves a little bit or pray on occasion when we feel like it. If we are to be serious with God and expect Him to pay attention to the humbling of ourselves and our prayers, we must seek Him with all our heart, soul and mind, more than we seek our will to be done.
And perhaps that is where fasting comes into play. Often fasting was part of the process of ritual prayer among the Jewish people, the abstaining from eating food for a certain period of time whether it be a day, several days or longer. This was meant to be an indication of the seriousness of their intentions, a purposeful desire to seek the face of God.
Yet fasting today is an almost unknown, an unheard of practice among Christians in Canada. Many of us here have perhaps never participated in such an experience. Yet it is perhaps something we need to consider if we are to be serious with God because many who fast acknowledge that this practice has a very beneficial effect, one of many being that it helps them to focus on God while in prayer. I myself have chosen to fast a day each week, and that is obvious by my weight. Yet in reality any weight lost is easily recovered.
5. AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS
The last part of this verse we will look at today called the Israelites to turn from, to leave behind their wicked ways. The Israelites had forsaken, turned away from God and gave themselves to the worship of the gods of Molech, Baal and others. And they practiced not only animal but also child sacrifice. They broke the commands of God continually as a result the land was filled with sin, perhaps in some ways not unlike what we are finding in Canadian society today.
God commanded that if they were to have his blessing they would have to not only humble themselves, pray and seek His face, they would have to no longer continue in their wickedness. They would have to turn around 180 degrees, no longer carry on in the way they were living. They had to chose to stop sinning against God.
And by the way, if they compared themselves to the neighboring countries, they may not have looked nearly that wicked. But you know what, it is one thing to compare yourself to your neighbor, and we may not look that bad, but it is another thing to compare yourself to the God of the universe, who is absolutely holy, righteous and pure. When you make that comparison we find we fall well short of the mark.
The Israelites experienced several revivals during the rule of various kings, where people turned away for a time from idolatry and turned back to God. The problem was that they also turned back to their gods a little while later. They didn’t turn and stay turned away from their wicked ways. They were faithful to God for a while, under a righteous king, and then when a new king came on the scene, they followed him for better or worse. As a result Israel went through a series of blessings and curses from God. God was saying, make up your minds and stick to your decision.
We likewise as the people of God are called to no longer continue in our sins because sin is like a cancer cell which is initially small, but we must irradicate it or it can have devastating consequences for our lives. And the scriptures are clear that sexual immorality (including pornography), greed, gluttony, gossip, division, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, slander, arrogance and so on and unacceptable for those who claim to be followers of Christ. Not only are we to admit that we have sinned and have missed God’s best for our lives, we need like the Israelites to choose whom we will serve and do just that.
By the way, if you have any doubts as to whether you have any wicked ways, why don’t you write down some of the thoughts and feelings that have come to your mind this past week, let alone anything you may have done. If we are honest, we would probably have to admit thoughts of jealousy, irritability, selfishness, animosity, pride, indifference and so the list goes on.
The truth is that the Christian life is a struggle, a battle, one that we must fight daily, hopefully becoming more like Christ in the process. But in the midst of the battle we must have already made the choice to turn from sin so that when we are tempted we already have an edge on the enemy of our souls.
Yes, we are a new creation, yet we must realize a tension exists between our new nature, who we are in Christ, and our old nature, our sinful self which still strives to take control back again (Galatians 5:17). We must not let that happen, rather we must turn from our wicked ways.
CONCLUSION
Today we have looked at the human side so to speak of 2 Chronicles 7:14. Next week we will look at the second half of this verse. We will see God’s side, His response if we will but humble ourselves, and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways.
The choice is ours, the choice is yours. God won’t force us, we must make up our minds. The nation of Israel vacillated between good and evil. They swayed back and forth between obeying and disobeying God so that in the end they were finally removed from the land.
What about us, what about you, what about me? What are we going to do personally and corporately? Are we going to choose life or death. Revival in our lives will not be easy, but the alternative is worse.
I challenge you today to consider the possibility of revival personally and for our congregation. Let us humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways so that God may do a new work among us individually and together here at Calvary Community Church.
Amen.
Song – Hear From Heaven (from Today CD by Brian Doerkson)
Prayer
