A WHOLE-HEART REVIVAL
2 Chronicles 29:1-2 - ©Dr. Larry L. Thompson (2006)
“Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.” 2 Chron. 29:1-2
Introduction: Revival will not come to the church until the leadership is revived. Leaders lead and the greatest example of spiritual leadership is when leaders lead with their whole heart! We have said that the 18 month “Whole-Heart” journey that we will begin next week is not just about raising money for us to complete the Community Life Center and to repair our building from hurricane damage. I am standing here today to tell you again that this journey is NOT ABOUT MONEY. It is about something far more important. It is about the life our ministry; it is about our commitment, our steadfastness, our perseverance, our endurance, our spiritual influence, and our faithfulness. This is the great need of our church at this moment in our history; it is not buildings and it is not money. A place for a body of believers to meet is essential. But believers can meet in a home, a hut, or out in the open air, and have more impact in changing their city for Christ than those who meet in magnificent buildings. It is not about the buildings…it is about the believer and their personal response to their Savior.
Money is essential to carry on the mission of the church; for the gospel of Christ must be carried not only to South Florida but also to the whole world. Therefore, the church is responsible not only to take the gospel to its own community and to meet the needs of its neighbors but also to take that message into the entire world.
Yet as necessary as a meeting place for worship and the financial resources are, these two factors are not the major needs of our church. The primary need is the revival and the resource of God’s people; people who are wholeheartedly committed, dedicated, loyal, devoted, steadfast, persevering, enduring, and who are strong witnesses for Christ. This is the greatest need of our church.
Biblical Background: After King Ahaz brought ruin upon Judah through war and the closing of the Lord’s temple; the nation of Judah was in desperate need. Its economy was wrecked and its military was decimated. There was no courageous, godly leadership to restore the nation, especially so long as King Ahaz lived and continued his ungodly reign. But God knew the catastrophic devastation that had swept over the nation, and even while Ahaz was still ruling, the Lord was preparing his son Hezekiah to take the throne and to restore the nation. Although King Hezekiah was raised in one of the most ungodly environments imaginable, he came to know the Lord in a very personal way, committing his life, wholeheartedly, to the Lord. You may ask, “How was this young man who was raised by one of the most ungodly leaders in all of Israel able to lead with such godliness?” Don’t discount the fact of God’s work in all of our lives regardless of the homes in which we were raised. Hezekiah’s mother was the daughter of Zechariah, who advised King Uzziah and served as a witness for the prophet Isaiah. No matter how bad your family history you have a choice to make…with the power of Christ you can break the cycle.
Today, as we continue our WHOLE-HEART SERIES we focus on the spiritual revival that occurred under the leadership of King Hezekiah. This account is one of the most extensive accounts of a Biblical revival in the scriptures. I believe we can learn much about identifying the keys to true spiritual awakening; a whole-hearted revival which must begin with our leadership.
One fact that all revivals in the scripture have in common with each other is this biblical truth: EVERY SPIRITUAL AWAKENING BEGINS WITH LEADERSHIP. A REVIVED, WHOLE-HEARTED LEADERSHIP WILL BE A CATAYLIST TO LEAD REVIVAL AMONG GOD’S PEOPLE. And, Revival will never come to the church until the spiritual leadership is revived!
King Hezekiah issued three calls for a “WHOLE-HEARTED” commitment to the leaders of Israel. This whole-heart commitment is distinctly defined.
1. A Call for SEPARATION
2. A Call for SURRENDER
3. A Call for SACRIFICE
I believe that God wants to issue these same three calls today in the life of every leader in our fellowship.
That doesn’t mean if you’re not a leader than you can check out on me today. I believe that God will challenge you to join these leaders in revival, and in service! I believe some of you may need to consider taking a position of service in this ministry, or many of your may need to return to a position of service. So pay close attention and let the Spirit of God speak to your whole-heart.
I. A CALL FOR SEPARATION (vs.3-7)
“In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side 5 and said: "Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6 “Our fathers were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the LORD’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. 7 They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel.” 2 Chron. 29:3-7
This is a call for PERSONAL PURITY!
Hezekiah recognized the need for revival among God’s people, BUT more importantly, He recognized first, HIS OWN NEED, and the need of the LEADERS of God’s people. No organization will ever rise corporately above the level of commitment found in their leaders. LEADERS LEAD, you can’t escape this fact.
As Hezekiah took over the nation’s command, he could have easily embarked on a strategy to rebuild the economy and the military and to strengthen the political base of a nation that was devastated. However, the King focused on spiritual reformation. He focused solely upon the basic need of the people, that of returning to the Lord and of serving Him. Hezekiah knew if the people would return to the Lord, they would have the blessings of God as they sought to rebuild the nation economically and militarily. Scripture gives the complete details of this spiritual reformation.
His first act was to open the doors of the temple and call the leaders together and to challenge them spiritually to be cleansed. The challenge for spiritual separation and repentance focused on three areas of personal purity.
1. (v.5) PERSONAL REPENTANCE: Open the spiritual doors of your life and clean out the junk that is keeping you from personal revival. "Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.” (v.5)
In order for there to be spiritual revival among the leaders we have to be willing to open the doors that have been closed far too long. We know the junk that is behind the doors, the garbage that needs to be cleansed and we KNOW there will be NO revival unless we have the courage to OPEN THE DOORS WE HAVE LOCKED AND CLEAN OUT THE WHOLE-HEART, HIS HOME. It is the only way to be set apart for the type of service that is going to be necessary if there is to be real revival.
2. (v.6) CORPORATE REPENTANCE! “Our fathers were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the LORD’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him.”
The leaders needed this call of separation in order to be cleansed because all the evil and sins of their forefathers. They had forsaken the Lord. Notice that Hezekiah does not say “my father” but “our fathers.” It was not just Ahaz who had been guilty of forsaking the Lord but the entire nation. For that reason, Hezekiah laid the guilt of apostasy at the feet of all the leaders and issued a call for corporate repentance. As a people we need to also ask God for forgive us for the actions of a nation and a people who have turned their backs on Him.
3. (v.7) REPENT OF PRAYERLESSNESS! “They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel.” 2 Chron. 29:7
Their fathers had shut the doors of the temple and put out the lamps, plunging the temple into total darkness. They had disallowed any worship there and even equally as important they had not burned incense to symbolize the offering up of prayers to the Lord. Simply stated, they had failed to seek the Lord in the obvious lack of their prayerlessness. Without the lamps of intercession they were refusing to seek atonement and reconciliation with the Lord. It has been far too long since we as God’s people, His leaders, fell on our face before Him and cried out to Him. We trust far too much in what we can do and I fear God is going to show us what we can do if we are not serious about a WHOLE-HEART revival.
Leaders, if revival is going to happen in this church, it must begin in our hearts first – we need to do some business with God first! You and I need to be cut to the whole-heart. I believe this is not just a concern in our fellowship but in churches all across America. We are playing church and our churches are flatlining. Many of our spiritual leaders have been beaten down, they are tired, they need to return to the Lord and quit looking to man to meet the needs of the church and we need to be spiritually refreshed and revived.
Church, YOU need to pray for me as your pastor; you need to pray for our ministerial team and pray the Lord would begin revival in our lives; pray He would refresh our WHOLE HEARTS. It is obvious that King Hezekiah knew that if revival were to break out among the people it would first begin with the whole-hearted commitment of the Leadership, and that began in the spiritual leadership!
Leadership of FIRST BAPTIST, before you can be used in spiritual awakening in our ministry you must be willing to be clean and that means there must be an act of spiritual separation. The responsibility of revival is in your hands! IT BEGINS WITH YOU! Will you join with me as we prayerfully HUMBLE ourselves before God, praying and confessing our sins, seeking His face and asking Him to separate us from anything that would hinder revival in our fellowship? Will you call out to Him?
II. A CALL FOR SURRENDER (v.20; 27-28)
“Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the LORD. 2 Chron. 29:20
“Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the LORD began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.” 2 Chron. 29:27-28
This is a call for powerful praise!
Early in the morning on the day after the call for separation, Hezekiah led the people in a great rededication and surrender to service! He and the people rededicated both their own lives and the temple to the Lord. No time was wasted in demonstrating this new call for surrender; a new beginning, this fresh new start in which their personal surrender was best demonstrated in their worship of the Lord!
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Anytime there is a dullness of religion among God’s people, their worship is the first spiritual act to fall by the wayside!”
In every revival recorded in the scripture, a renewed call to personal surrender demonstrated by a genuine spirit of real worship was major factor in bringing about change! This personal surrender in worship always starts with the leaders!
How can you expect to lead others to worship God if you yourself are not worshipping? I am not the judge of the human heart and I realize that only God can see the heart but one of the reasons I choose to try to stand on the floor during worship is so I can have my focus directed to the Lord and not be distracted by the countenance of man.
How many times should we repeat a core value before we understand this as a Body? Singing is what we do with our mouth; Worship is what we do with our WHOLE HEART! It is more than just coming to sit in a room to hear a message and sing a few praise songs or hymns! Worship doesn’t come from the mind, it comes from the whole heart!
Scriptural worship always involves surrender! In our case, the surrender of ourselves totally to God! This is what Paul referred to in Romans 12:1: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.” Rom. 12:1
May call to our leaders today is simple: Have you surrendered with a “WHOLE-HEART” to the worship of Your True and Living God; to your Savior and Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ?”
III. A CALL FOR SACRIFICE (v. 31)
“Then Hezekiah said, "You have now dedicated yourselves to the LORD. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the LORD." So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and ALL WHOSE HEARTS WERE WILLING brought burnt offerings.” 2 Chron. 29:31
A powerful whole heart presentation!
It is important to reemphasize this spiritual truth: when leaders have a WHOLE-HEART renewal that is evidenced in repentance and worship then it is also witnessed by the outward expression of their sacrificial gifts to the Lord. The revived heart is a GIVING HEART!
If the leadership follow this pattern for revival first, then the people will follow the example of the leadership in recommitting their lives to the Lord. When we seek the Lord through Christ, our substitute sacrifice, God guarantees a new beginning in worship—whether corporately as a church body or individually.
After the dedication of the whole heart, Hezekiah challenged the Leaders to come near and to bring their sacrificial offerings to the Lord. What we are seeing here is spiritual revival, a zealous return to God demonstrated by their whole hearts as they sacrificially gave their offerings.
Hezekiah’s father, King Ahaz shut the doors of the temple and his leadership impacted other leaders which eventually impacted a nation. Apparently the priest and Levites also followed his example and neglected their duties. Leaders, in all honesty you must be willing to ask yourself, “Have I been negligent in the responsibility that God has given me?”
Did you know that you can come to this church Sunday after Sunday and do your “duty” and still be negligent in your responsibility?
The challenge for you today as leaders is a call for spiritual revival; a time to rededicate yourselves to the Lord and your position of service; a time to allow the Lord to make a genuine change in your life; a change that involves:
SEPARATION: SURRENDER: and SACRIFICE!
