Grieving the Holy Spirit
Part 2 – Spiritual Revival
Rev. Bruce A. Shields
First Baptist Church Tawas City Michigan
www.TawasBaptist.org
WELCOME
Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan.
We are glad you are here this beautiful morning, joining us in our worship and praise of our Lord Jesus Christ.
INTRODUCTION
We began our series last week on Grieving the Holy Spirit, and we talked about three ‘Do Nots’, which were do not resist the Holy Spirit, do not grieve the Holy Spirit and do not quench the Holy Spirit.
This week we are going to continue our series, and we will be talking about Spiritual Revival, and how important it is for us to constantly examine and renew our relationship with the Holy Spirit so that He can do His good work in us.
Remember, it is the Holy Spirits purpose to regenerate, indwell and equip us to do the ministry which Christ Jesus has commissioned each one of us to do.
And we can only fulfill that calling through the Holy Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit begins by regeneration.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He makes it possible for us to receive the promise of the Father, which is the Holy Spirit.
It is when we receive the Holy Spirit that the work of regeneration begins within us.
First through our conviction when the Holy Spirit causes us to compare ourselves to the 10 qualities of God listed in His commandments.
We can not measure up to God’s standards.
We are told in Psalm 19:7;
“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul…”
This conviction of our own sin by the Holy Spirit makes clear to us the need for conversion which can only come by atonement to God for that sin.
This only comes by Jesus Christ.
Once we accept Jesus Christ as out Lord and Savior, confessing our recognized sin shown to us by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, we repent of that sin and the second part of our regeneration begins.
A work is begun in us.
Regeneration from the inside out.
He begins His good work in us.
Philippians 1:6
“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
When will our conversion be completed? On the Day Christ returns!
How does the Holy Spirit do this good work in us?
By indwelling within us.
The Holy Spirit fills our Spiritual void that was caused by the fall.
We lost our ability to commune with God at the fall, and until we accept Christ and receive a new Spirit from God, we cannot have a relationship with the Father in Heaven.
This indwelling of the Holy Spirit, because of Christ and the Cross, our accepting Him, confessing our sin and repenting, mends our relationship with the Father, and makes possible for us, the ability to worship God once again.
Last week we read in John 4:23 – “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
The true worshippers worship in Spirit and in Truth, the Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and the Truth is Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in John 14:6 – “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
It is through accepting Jesus Christ, the Truth, that we receive the Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
It is then and only then, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we may come to the Father.
So after the Holy Spirits regeneration and indwelling, He equips us.
Equipping us is done by giving us the Character of God, which is the Fruits of the Spirit.
Fruits that can only come by the Holy Spirit, and reflect the Character of God in our lives.
Matthew 12:33
“Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.”
We are known by our fruit, and what kingdom we belong.
Are we of the Good Kingdom of God, or the corrupt kingdom of the devil?
Our fruit shows this.
The Holy Spirit also equips us, not just with the Characteristics of God through the Fruit, but with the abilities of God, through the Gifts of the Spirit.
Spiritual Gifts are God’s abilities manifested through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us.
Not our natural talents enhanced, but abilities of God, from God’s Holy Spirit.
These are to equip us for the maintaining and building up of the Body of Christ, of which we who have accepted Jesus, belong to.
We are Christ’s presence on earth, and represent God’s Kingdom.
If anyone is to witness the existence of God, the power of the Kingdom, or the Love of Jesus Christ, it is going to come from the Holy Spirit, which MUST be present in the Body of Christ.
The Holy Spirit equips us with God’s Character in the fruit, God’s ability in the gifts and prepares us for the Spiritual Battles which take place daily in the Christians life by given us the Whole armor of God.
No one who belongs to the Body of Christ can ever say, “I can’t do this.”
You have God’s Character, God’s Abilities and God’s Armor.
1 John 5:5
“Who is he that overcometh the world, he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”
1 John 4:4
“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Mark 10:27
“And Jesus looking upon them said, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”
We see the regeneration, indwelling and equipping of God’s people through the Holy Spirit.
Is this important in the Life and health of the Body of Christ?
More than important, it is essential, because without the Holy Spirit, there is no Body of Christ.
So what about when we lose our way?
What about when we lose sight of what our purpose as the Body of Christ is?
Two words, Spiritual Revival!
We need to renew our vows to the Lord.
There are some people who want revival, some who do not, and some who passively do not care.
There are some people who know what revival means; they have experienced revival in their hearts.
There are some people who do not want spiritual revival because it would disrupt many of their personal plans.
We are going to talk about some things that come before Revival, some events that precede revival.
I believe there are three conditions that wake us up to the need of a Spiritual Revival.
The first of these conditions, or wake up calls, is death.
Acts 5:1 – 11 Ananias and Sapphira
We see from this account in the Bible that sometimes Death Comes before Revival.
Most of you know the story, Ananias and Sapphira wanted to jump on the bandwagon of popularity during the first Church and its initial growth.
Everyone at that time was selling all of their belongings and pooling the monies so that no one in the Body of Christ would go without.
This act of Love and Kindness has always been a sign of selflessness, and a fulfillment of scripture to put others and their needs before your own.
Although many were doing this, it was not required.
Ananias and Sapphira sold some land they had, and wanted to look more righteous than they actually were.
They had only given a portion of what the land sold for, but had lied and said they gave it all, this was a selfish act, to make them look more devoted than they actually were.
For lying to the Holy Spirit, they were struck dead.
Fear came upon all the church; fear of the power of God.
Acts 5:14--And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.
Death brought the Salvation of many precious souls.
Revival came—Preceded by death.
There are two kinds of death which bring Revival.
The first is actual death, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira.
The second death is spiritual death.
Prior to revival at any church, there must be a dying of self on the part of the members.
Romans 6:11—“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Selfishness will always prevent a Spiritual Revival.
The second of these conditions, or wake up calls, is Cleansing
Cleansing comes before Revival.
Nehemiah 9:1-3 - Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sack-clothes, and earth upon them. 2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.
Revival cannot come to an individual heart when sin is there.
Sin must be put out.
1-The Sin of Selfishness must be put away.
2-The Sins of Unfaithfulness must be confessed and
forsaken;
UNFAITHFULNESS:
1-to the house of God,
2-in Worship,
3-in Prayer,
4-in Bible Study.
5-to the Word of God.
3-The Sins of Neglect must be confessed.
4-The Sins of The World must be given up.
Revival cannot come to any heart when that heart is partaking
of the evil of this world.
5-Revival cannot come to a church when sin is present, Unconfessed and unforsaken.
6-Revival can come only when there is honest confession unto the Lord.
I 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…
The third condition to Spiritual Renewal is Humility.
Humility is a meeting with God on the right terms, His terms.
II Kings 18:4
“He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.”
1-First, we note that Hezekiah cast out sin.
2-Second, Hezekiah trusted in the Lord.
3-Third, Hezekiah followed God.
No person can have revival unless he is willing to say, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” the need of the average Christian is simply to follow the Lord---not self, not selfishness, but following after him.
“Thy Will be Done, Lord!”
II Chronicles 7:14 – 15
“…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
Meeting God on the Right terms, HIS TERMS, will mean a casting out of sin, trusting God and a following of the Lord; and if we follow God, we will do His bidding and He will give the blessing.”
God is looking for people to give Spiritual Renewal to.
We are called by His name.
God calls us out from among the world.
Being a Christian means that we are meant to stand out from the rest of the world.
Not look, talk, act and live like them!
We must live differently than the world because we value different things, we value an eternal promise and we value a different lifestyle.
We are called to be a holy priesthood, where every believer carries the responsibility for ministry, not just the pastor or ministry team, or a committee or a couple of people from a congregation.
We are called to be Christ’s witnesses in this world to share His truth and boldly seek His power.
HUMILITY
Why does God desire for His people to humble themselves?
The word humble means to be in submission, to live in a state of surrender.
When we humble ourselves, we are literally saying to God, you are in control of my life.
To be humble means to be brought low.
Remember this simple prayer, “Bend me O Lord”.
When we humble ourselves before God we are allowing Him to bend us to His will.
What happens when God bends us?
1.) Bending opens us to His guidance (Psalm 25:9)
” He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”
2.) Bending allows us to know His grace (Proverbs 3:34)
” He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble”
3.) Bending gives us a gentle heart (Matthew 11:29)
” Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
4.) Bending leads us to true greatness (Matthew 23:12)
” For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
5.) Bending gives us spiritual garments (1 Peter 5:5)
”… All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
6.) Bending gives way to eternal glory (Philippians 2:8)
” And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Once we allow God to bend us, we cannot remain the same!
One of the key principles of Spiritual Renewal is an intensive effort in prayer.
When we pray we are bringing our lives to intersect with God and in the moment that we meet with God something amazing happens; He pours Himself into our lives.
This is why prayer is so absolutely essential to experiencing renewal.
Prayer is the foundation of a growing relationship with God and without prayer that relationship will never truly grow.
We must go deeper with God if we ever want to experience renewal in our lives.
Each day we make a decision to either build up that relationship with God or to settle for where we are in our relationship with God.
The principle of prayer which should flow out of the New Testament Church
1.) Prayer needs to be a continuous aspect of the church (Acts 1:14)
“They all joined together constantly in prayer,”
2.) Prayer was a major part of the life of the church (Acts 2:42) “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
3.) Prayer is vital to seeing a divine display of power (Acts 4:31)
“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
We NEED to do four things BEFORE Spiritual Renewal can take place in this Body of Christ.
For Spiritual Renewal to take place, we must WAKE UP! CLEANSE OURSELVES! And approach God in HUMILITY!
And PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!
Once we meet these conditions God has placed before us, our Spiritual Renewal can begin!
If we individually do the following, then this Body of Christ will receive Spiritual Renewal.
1. Confess all known sin to God
2. Deal with and get rid of any “doubtful” area of your life
3. Be ready to obey the Holy Spirit instantly
4. Confess Christ publicly
These 4 things are the beginning of a New Spirit in this Church.
This morning, I firmly believe that God has the desire to bring Spiritual Renewal to this church.
The only question that remains is; do you have the desire to be Spiritually Renewed?
If you want to experience personal Renewal, today is the day to seek God.
If you want this church to see a Spiritual Revival, today is the day to seek the Holy Spirit.
If you want our community to see a mighty outpouring of power, today is the day to seek Jesus.
If God is tugging at your heart, today is the day to come forward and seek power from on high be filled with God’s Spirit and move forward in your walk. Let’s do this now!
PRAISE GOD!
