What Is Revival?

What is Revival

2 Chron 7.14

If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Do you believe that today’s church needs revival?

We saw some Revival after 9/11.

What does revive mean? WE usually hear of it in the context of bringing back from the dead do we not.

It is defined in the following ways:

--To bring back to life

--To give new vigor

--To bring back into use

--To become effective or operative again.

--A return to consciousness

Can we apply each of these definitions to the spiritual realm?

To be revived spiritually—

If you are spiritually dead—you have no real fellowship with God and you get revived then you have been brought back to life spiritually.

You have a new spiritual vigor, you are now useful to God again. You become effective and operative again as a Christian.

You return to a consciousness of Christ. You can feel his presence in your life. You are very aware of His Lordship. You strive to begin pleasing God once again.

The word Revival is made up of 7 letters. The #7 is a Biblical #. It means complete of perfect.

If a puzzle is missing one piece, it is not complete or perfect. The same goes for our life in Christ. If is has unconfessed sin in it, then our fellowship is broken with Christ and we are not complete.

Is your relationship with Christ complete? Is there a piece missing in your relationship with God?

I want to look at the 7 letters that make up Revival and see what they can tell us.

R—Repentance. Revival can only begin in an individual before it can be experienced by the church.

For revival to start we must recognize sin and repent. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

God tells us that we must humble ourselves and pray—we must turn from our wicked ways. We must make a 180º turn.

E—Encouragement. God tells us that He will hear from heaven, that should give us all the encouragement that we need, knowing that our God will hear from heaven.

God is on our side. God is watching over us at all times—even during the bad.

Someone may say, if God is watching over me, then why am I going through all this tribulation in my life?

Sometimes we go through things to draw us closer to God. Ask God what He is trying to teach you.

No other God can hear you, no other prophet can hear you. Buddha and Muhammad are dead and gone.

They cannot answer but folks Jesus Christ can and will if you repent, turn to Him and away from the world.

Once we repent of our sin and have the encouragement from God, our lives will begin to have Value once again.

V—Value. You say preacher I never lost my value to God, He sent His Son to die for me. You are right in one respect—You are valuable to God as one of His children.

You are valuable to God because the blood of Jesus has been applied to your soul.

But with sin in your life and being spiritually dead, you loose your value as a Christian witness.

You loose your influence for God. God cannot use you to your full potential with sin in your heart.

So yes, you do lose value to God. But with Revival, you can regain that value.

Once you repent, receive encouragement and regain value, God gives you insight.

I—Insight. He gives you the ability to see the mistakes of the past and the ability to learn from them. Hind sight is 20/20.

Learn from the sins of the past in order to avoid the same pitfalls in the future. And minister to others who may be falling as you once fell.

To help your insight—God gave us the Bible. Study His Holy Word daily so you will grow as a Christian and find strength against temptation.

Once you have repented, received encouragement, regained your value, and gained insight, you are now ready for Vision.

V—Vision. Where do you see yourself and Thompson Creek Baptist Church a year, 3 years, or 5 years from now?

What vision do you have for yourself and your church? Stay true to God, seek His guidance and the vision will come.

Why do we need vision? Because the Bible says, that where there is no vision, the people perish.