Disclaimer: Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible. Please feel free to use this message as God’s Holy Spirit directs your heart.
WHO IS IN NEED OF REVIVAL?
Psalms 85:6 Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?
INTRODUCTION: If our church is to grow numerically and spiritually, if our church is to have any impact on the culture around us, if our church is to please God – we must have revival within the church! What does God see as He looks at our church? Who needs revival?
I. Those who used to serve but who now sit.
A. Galatians 5:7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
B. Revelation 3:1-2 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.
C. When you come to the place in your spiritual life where you have to point back at what you used to do, instead of being able to see what you are currently doing, you are in deep spiritual trouble. Sadly, many believers are right there this morning! You hear things like, "I worked in Bible School for years, now it’s time for someone else to do it!" Or, "I taught that class for a long time, I need a break!" Or, "I used to go to church! I used to serve God! I used to be faithful!" What about today? What are you doing for God this morning?
D. James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
E. The Dead Sea is so salty that it contains no fish or plant life. What accounts for this unusual condition? There are absolutely no outlets! A great volume of water pours into this area, but nothing flows out. Many inlets plus no outlets equal a dead sea. This law of nature may also be applied to the child of God, and it explains why many believers are so unfruitful and lacking in spiritual vitality. It’s possible for some people to attend Bible conferences, listen to religious broadcasts, study the Scriptures, and continually take in the Word as it is preached from the pulpit, and yet seem lifeless and unproductive in their Christian lives. Such individuals are like the Dead Sea. They have several “inlets” but no “outlets.” To be vibrant and useful believers, we must not only “take in” all we can, but we must also “give out” in service to others! - Our Daily Bread, March-May, 1996
F. Habakkuk 3:2 O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years.
II. Those who used to sing but who are now songless.
A. Psalms 96:1 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
B. This true story happened in Galveston, TX. A lady was cleaning her bird’s cage with a canister vacuum cleaner. The bird’s name was Chippie. She had no attachment on the end of the tube, as she vacuumed out the bottom of the cage. When the phone rang, she turned to get it, and--you guessed it--she sucked Chippie into the vacuum cleaner. She opened the canister, ripped the bag open, and took Chippie out. He was stunned but still alive. Since he was covered with dust, she took him to the bathroom and put him under the faucet to give him a bath. When she finished with that, she took the hairdryer to dry him off. Can you imagine holding that bird in front of the blast of hot air from a hair dryer? A local newspaper published the story. Some time later, the reporter decided to do a follow-up story. He asked, "How’s Chippie doing?" The woman replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much any more. He just sort of sits and stares," - copied
C. Too many like Chippie have lost their song.
D. Psalms 137:4 How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?
E. Psalms 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
F. How did Paul and Silas sing at midnight? They belonged to the Lord. He was their Lord and Savior, and they were His faithful servants!
G. Psalm 118:14 -- "The Lord is my strength and song, And he has become my salvation."
H. It is our relationship with God through Christ that allows us to sing and pray at midnight – no matter what happens in our lives. Why?
1. He is with us at every step, even in the darkness of the "inner prison." Hebrews 13:5-6 -- "For he himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say, ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me’/"
2. He has promised that all things will ultimately work together for good. Romans 8:28
3. We will go to heaven when we die. 2 Timothy 4:7-8
I. Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
III. Those who used to speak but who are now silent
A. Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
B. Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,
C. Christians are supposed to be conduits not storage tanks. As long as we keep witnessing, His power will keep flowing. I think when we stop witnessing, the power stops. We’re not to be a big reservoir but a pipe. We’re not to hold back consuming God’s blessings upon ourselves. We are to be conduits passing it on.
D. Every one of us is called to witness. Not to be attorneys and argue the doctrines or theology but eye witnesses of what God has done in your life.
E. Someone has said “If we refuse to witness to that which we have seen we suffer a kind of spiritual autism and the Gospel is not preached to the end of our block, let alone to the ends of the earth.”
F. Why do you no longer witness for the Lord? What has caused the silence – sin, discouragement, pride, fear?
G. Luke 12:8 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.
IV. Those who used to be Spirit-filled but who are now spiritless.
A. Ephesians 5:18 – 19 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord
B. Sadly, too many believers are standing on their own spiritual air hose by failing to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. When He is quenched, we suffocate!
C. John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
D. Galatians 5:16 – 17 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
E. What happens to the Holy Spirit in born-again Christians who fail to walk daily in the Spirit? The Holy Spirit remains within that believer but is sinned against in various degrees and ways. The Holy Spirit is: Grieved by unnecessary and immature interpersonal conflict such as bitterness, wrath, slander, gossip and malice (Ephesians 4:30), quenched by throwing cold water on the Holy Spirit’s demonstration of power (1 Thessalonians 5:19). [A U.S. Lutheran bishop tells of visiting a parish church in California and finding a stirring red and orange banner on the wall. “Come Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!” it declared in words printed under a picture of a fire burning. The bishop was also interested in the sign directly underneath the banner which said: “Fire extinguisher.”- copied]
F. The Holy Spirit is lied to (Acts 5:4), put to the test by the carnal Christian’s practical denial of the omniscience of the Spirit (Acts 5:9), insulted and outraged by devaluing the work of grace wrought by the Spirit in one’s life (Hebrews 10:29), made jealous by loving the world (James 4:5).
G. It should be pointed out that being Spirit-filled does not come by taking part in emotional church services or by some magic formula. It comes as a result of being filled by the Word. J.O. Sanders in Enjoying Intimacy with God (Moody, p. 91) states “A walk in the Spirit will of necessity be a walk in accordance with the Word the Spirit has inspired. The parallel between Ephesians 5:18-21 and Colossians 3:15-17 is significant. The same results are said to flow from being filled with the Spirit in the first cast, and being filled with the Word in the second. To remain filled with the Spirit, and thus enjoy His continuing sanctifying work, will mean continuing to be filled with the Word. The relationship is obvious.”
H. Romans 8:10 “...the Spirit is life...”
V. Those who used to shine but who are now soiled
A. Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
B. Matthew 5:14 - 16 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
C. Two swift passenger trains were to meet at a siding in the mountains. When the first train arrived, it found a long freight already occupying the siding. And when the passenger train ran in on the siding, four or five coaches were still left out on the main track. A flagman was promptly sent out that he might flag the oncoming train, which could then turn slowly in by the siding and release the freight behind it at one end of the siding, that the other passenger train might clear the main track thereby. Quickly up the track the flagman went, his lantern in hand. Dusk settled quickly in the shadow of the great mountains. He heard the shrill whistle of the oncoming passenger train. He saw its headlight swing around the curve of the track before him. He lifted his lantern to give the signal when, with sickening horror, he suddenly discovered that his light had gone out! – Copied
D. Is your light burning brightly?
E. In Matthew 25:7 we read that “all” both the wise and the foolish virgins saw the necessity of trimming their lamps. We read, “Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.”
F. Oil lamps are still used by a vast majority of the world. In an oil lamp when a wick burns low until it goes out, the wick turns black. To trim a lamp means to pull the wick up, cut off the black, clean the globe of the lamp which has become soiled with carbon, and replenish the supply of oil. After relighting the wick, the lamp will do its job; light will fill the room.
G. Sin smudges the globe of our lives and dulls the light of our witness.
H. 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.
Jeremiah 31:18 “…Restore me, and I will return, For You are the LORD my God.
CONCLUSION: Who needs revival? If we are honest the answer is I do and you do! John R. Rice wrote a song called, Lord, I’m the One. The chorus goes like this: “Lord, I’m the one. Yes, I’m the one. I’m the one who needs revival, I’m the one, I’m the one. Oh, it’s not the man next door, Oh Lord, I need it more, than the man next door, O Lord, I’m the one.” Gypsy Smith, used to give this prescription for revival. He would say "Take a piece of chalk and draw a circle on the floor. After the circle has been drawn, step inside the circle. After you are inside the circle, pray this prayer. "O Lord, please start revival inside this circle!’"
Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
