Why Revival
Hos. 6-2
Prayer
Good morning everyone. I hope that God has blessed you this week in fact I know that He has because we are all here this morning. Next Sunday night we will be starting our revival. Some of you may be asking the question why are we having another revival. We just had one last November. Why are we having another now. Well the answer is this if you are asking that question then you are definitely in need of revival. Revival is an essential component for a Christians spiritual health. As we go through our daily lives we have to live in the world and that very same world assails us on all sides with temptations, emotions, gossip, lies, sex, and any other weakness that we might have. It beats against our armor continuously. This daily conflict wears us down both physically, mentally, and most important spiritually. God knew that we would need renewal, a reviving of the spirit. Revival provides that opportunity. It draws us closer to God, and points out areas in which we fail, and strengths us.
It is like the pastor of this large church. He was told that a certain member had not been to church in quite a while. One day the pastor went to visit this wayward member. When he knocked on the door the member answered and invited him to sit by the fire and drink some coffee. As the settled down in the chairs by the fireplace the pastor placed his coffee on the table and took a pair of fire tongs and picked a brightly burning piece of coal out of the fire and set it on the hearth. He then picked up his coffee and set back in the chair. No words passed between the two as they watched that brightly burning coal go from burning a bright red to a dull as gray. The pastor then bent forward with the tongs picked up the warm coal and placed it back into the middle of the fire where it quickly began to burn a bright red again. With that the pastor stood excused himself and left. The next Sunday the wayward was back in church. He had gotten the message that the pastor sent him. Just as the piece of coal cannot burn brightly by itself because it does not have sustaining presence of support from the other coals so are we. We can’t sustain our spiritual growth without constant interaction with our brother and sisters in Christ. We must worship together and pray for and with each other. We must humble ourselves before God. We must be reminded that the main thing is the main thing is the main thing. In other words God is the most important thing in our lives and that is where revival comes in.
A revival makes us burn brighter. It places us back into the center of God’s will. It reminds us of what our purpose is. It focus our minds back onto God instead of the little problems of the world. Those who ignore revival or simply don’t come because they are to tired or to busy are missing out on a wonderful gift from God. And often they become prideful and even say I don’t need to go to church I can worship God alone just as well as being at church and the sad part is they will live a sad life because they have lost the joy in their lives.
Revival is an opportunity for us to be restored to our personal relationship with God. During the course of our lives we tend to focus more and more on the world and the things of the world and we become more and more distant from God. But I have good news. I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance. No seriously I have the greatest news. God is ready, willing, and able to restore His people whenever they return to Him, providing they sincerely repent of their sins. Revival allows us to return to our faith and to acknowledge God as our God. It brings us back to His guidelines that He has given us for our lives.
Hos. 6:2 1Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
Revival provides a method for us to combat our waywardness (Backsliding). This is a spiritual disease that requires healing. The government nor the medical society can offer us much hope. But revival offers us a cure. When we genuinely repent of our sins and confess those sins to God, He will heal us spiritually. Only God’s freely-given love can provide the healing power we need. This is the purpose of revial.
Hos. 14:7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
The power of a Holy, revival life is great in evangelism. Revival comes when God’s people seek forgiveness and discover a new sense of love for God. God calls for all believers to seek constant spiritual renewing so they can remain a holy people. This is vital to each and everyone of us.
Ps. 85:6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
Are you rejoicing in God today? Or are you sitting on your pew thinking about lunch, what you have to do tomorrow, or about to go to sleep because this sermon in boring since it has nothing to do with you. If so you are in need of reviving of having a renewing of the spirit. Everyone of us need to be revived to some degree.
Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
As lord, Jesus Christ not only rules over us He provides the needed strength for our weaknesses. Revival helps us to remember that our life is lived in a relationship with Jesus and to His will for us. We need not be discouraged by the opinions of others and the judgments of other people.
Just as if we lived apart from our wives and husbands we would soon lose our relationship with each other if we did not take the time to renew our relationships with each other. So is it with our relationship with Christ. We must renew our relationship with Jesus. We must revive those feeling of love, compassion, grace, and mercy that we had when were first saved. Revival is a time we can lay bare our souls and be cleansed. During true revival the concerns of the world melts away and we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit. What seemed big just a little while ago is no longer big now.
During true revival in our lives God becomes the center of our focus. Is. 57:15 says “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. God will revive our spirit but we must humble ourselves (take away our pride) to come before Him and He promises to revive our hearts.
This week pray for our revival not only for ourselves but for the church, community, our state, and our nation. In a few moments the alter will be open. If it is your will that we have a revival that I just talked about then come down to the alter, humble yourselves by getting on your knees and pray for revival. Pray like you have never prayed before. Ask God to this week give us the revival that we need and that it not only spreads from here to our community but to the whole world. He can do it. Ps. 23:3 says He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Only He can restore our souls and He is the only one that can lead us down the path of righteousness. Not some fancy program on T.V. by some guru on a mountain top or some type of system of works. Only God can fix that emptiness we feel. Do you feel that something is missing in your life? Do you feel distant from God, that He does not hear you? Is your prayer life lacking? Is your relationship with God less than what you want? Do you know that your life is not being lived for God? Then revival is for you. Even if you think your life is perfect and can’t possible get any better revival is still for you. Because God says that there is even greater Joy awaiting us. Ps. 51:12 says Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Remember the joy in your heart at the moment you were saved. Is it fuzzy, to far back for you to remember, to busy to remember. Then revival is for you. God will restore that Joy. Or maybe you can’t answer this question. It is a simple question but one that is hard for some people to answer truthfully. Some people have been lying to themselves for many years. But it is too important not to be truthful about. The question is this. If your were to die today right at this moment would you go to heaven or would you go to hell. If you don’t know, if you can’t answer that question with absolute assurance, then you are not saved. You need ask God to save you. You need to come down and pray the sinners prayer and let God clean you up and change your life. God will revive your dead soul and make it a live soul. Don’t put Him off. The alter is now open for those who want to pray for our revival, who want to get right with God and for those who want to meet God for the first time and ask for salvation Come, Come Just as you are.
