The Requisites Of Revival

The Requisites for Revival

I’ve been a minister for 46 years and during this time I’ve heard talk about revival or it’s need from folks in the pews and the pulpits all of my adult life. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the church needs revival and real genuine heaven sent revival is the greatest need we have in our churches and that revival is America’s last hope. We are all in agreement about that. But still no real move of God. What is the reason that the church is not experiencing spiritual renewal and revival? Listen to what one preacher said when asked about this subject. His answer is an eye opener…

WHY NO REVIVAL IN AMERICA?

A wise old evangelist was once asked, “Why don’t we see revival happening in the Church in the United States today?”

The old preacher scratched his chin and thought for a moment. Then he said, “The reason why we are not living in revival today……is because we are content to live without it.”

WHO NEEDS REVIVAL?

Do I need revival? Consider this checklist and see how you do:

1) Is your heart crowded? Does Christ get ALL your love, or merely one of many pieces?

2) Is your heart cold or calloused? Is your love for Him & others fervent? Constant?

3) Is your heart corrupt? Do you crave or treasure anything immoral in God’s eyes?

4) Do you serve less today than you have in the past or are capable of today?

5) Is your excitement/commitment to tell others about Jesus any less today than it has been in the past? Are you silent where/when you used to speak?

6) Are you living today in the present power of the Holy Spirit? Or is your spiritual ’tank’ empty?

7) When others observe you, is your Christ-light bright or flickering?

If you can answer ’yes’ to any of these questions, even partially, then you need revival!

From Todd Leupold’s Sermon: The Cry for Renewal

Deuteronomy 4:29-31

29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

Introduction: The context of our message this morning are the last instructions and admonitions of Moses before the children of Israel enter the promise land. Moses repeats the Ten Commandments and then reminds the children of Israel of the consequences of slipping into idolatry. This must have been a very difficult time for this great man of God. He had led them out of Egypt only to see them fall into idolatry and immorality. The judgment of God was pronounced on an entire generation there in the wilderness. They dug a lot of graves because of their disobedience. God Himself called them a “stiff-necked” people and they paid a high price for their stubbornness and willfulness. Moses also failed to reach the promise land because of an angry reaction to their provocations.

I. The Problem with God’s People

25 When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of anything, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger:

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.

28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

II. The Prescription for God’s People

But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

III. The Promise to God’s People

31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.