Revival
For several months God has been pressing on my heart the word Revival. The more that word would come up the more it made me want to look it up and find out what it really means. What does the Bible say, what churches say, and what does God say. And mostly why would He put that word Revival on my heart so much.
I want to start off by telling you what Noah Webster 1828 American Dictionary says:
Revival: Return, recall or recovery to life from death.
2) Return or Recall to activity from a state of linger
3) Recall, return or recovery from a state of neglect.
4) An awakening of men to their spiritual concerns
Bible Definition
Revival is a work the sovereign God initiates to restore His repentant people to a right relationship with Himself.
Now that we known what the word Revival means, open your Bible with me to the book of
Joel 2:28-29
God’s Spirit Poured Out
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
Pray
Wow now that is exciting, See God is working through them (all flesh) to exalt His own Son Jesus as He seeks redeem a lost world through SPIRITUAL AWAKENING!!!!!!!!
God calls His people (His church) to know Him more intimately or a love relationship. Then He works through us (the church) to bring a lost world to Him through an awesome SPIRITUAL AWAKENING.
With that being said turn to your neighbor and say Revival, you should see yourselves, you look board. When you drive past a church and read on the sign Revival meeting April 4-8, what do you think about? Does it excite you? I’ll answer that for you, NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
I’ll answer that later,
Church listen, the word Revival has been so watered down and used so much and done so often that it means nothing. Only God can bring true Revival and it will not start in the church, it will start in the heart and the soul.
Listen to this:
Isaiah 43:19
19 Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
Do we need a new thing in our churches today? You bet we do and I do not mean a new religion or a new way to worship. I mean people/ Christians on fire for Christ. People who are have a Revival on the inside, and when you’re having a Revival on the inside you can’t sit still, that fire can not stay on the, inside it must come out!!!!!!!
The Bible talks in depth many Revival:
1)Acts 11:19-21—The Revival of An-ti- ock (Antioch) where a significant or great number were brought to the Lord.
Just to let you know what a great number is, Antioch was the 3rd largest city in the Greco Roman world. Rome, Alexandria in Egypt, then Antioch.
Plus Antioch was only 5 miles from the temples of the major pagan deities.
2) Acts 18:8 –The Revival at Corinth that lasted 1 year and 6 months.
But listen to what happened at Pentecost:
Acts 2:37-41
37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the 2remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
A Vital Church Grows
40And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
About 3000 people were saved and added to the church: The promise refers to the Holy Spirit the Jesus received from the Father which He now pours out on others.
What about the awesome Revival that happened at Ephesus
Acts 19:11-20
Miracles Glorify Christ
11Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
15And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
16Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
People saw the power and the sheer awesomeness of God and were saved. But did you know God is still in the Revival business today? The problem is we do not hear about them.
Probably the most famous, is the Azusa Street Revival. This is what all Pentecostals talk about but it was more than just a Revival it was a renewal and reformation of the church as well. There probably has not been another movement in church history, which has had greater impact on our church today.
But another more recent account was the Argentine Revival. A pastor of a little Baptist church realized that satan was attacking his church, so they recruited a team of 35-40 members to pray and fast Monday-Friday of certain weeks. Then on one Friday night all 200 members joined together for a strategic intercession. They took authority over this territorial spirit.
At 11:45pm they all felt something break in the spiritual realm. The evil spirit had left and the church broke out in to Revival and many souls were saved. The year of this victory was 1987.
Even in the mid 90’s right here we had the Brownsville Revival that lasted several years. People from all over the world would come. People would start lining up for church at 5am in the morning. That were my wife and I were saved in 96. See people would receive the Holy Spirit and go off and tell others, just as the scripture says
Acts 1:7
7And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8but 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 andSamaria, and to the end of the earth.”
People were saved and went every where to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Now that’s Revival. If you have it must come out!!!!!
But now we know what it is how do we get it?
1st you must want it, not just say yeah that would be great but really want it. People from all over the world would make there vacation plans around the Brownsville Revival. Or just quite their jobs and go, they wanted it.
I want you to underline this in your Bible and say this in your prayer everyday. Turn to the book of:
LAMENTATIONS 5:21
21 Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored;
Renew our days as of old,
Now some say I do not need to be turned back I’m fine were I am, do you live in a constant state of Revival. If your answer is no, then you need to say this everyday.
Ok, How do we start a Revival, well 1st off we can’t!!!! Only God can. But it starts with a vision. See most church plan Revivals, “they say we will have it on this date” but that can not be of God. Why? Because, God does not run on a calendar. We must 1st start with prayer and prayer and even more prayer combine that with fasting and they add in some more prayer.
Church we must move Gods heart to change ours!!!! We must commit as a church that we want God to pour out all He has on Beaver Creek Baptist church and it’s people. Before Revival happens the church must have a SPIRITUAL AWAKENING AND A FRESH ENCOUNTER WITH GOD. So what happens when all this takes place?
If you are taking notes start writing.
1. God affirms lives for His Glory
2. God burns away the impurities in the lives of His church.
3. God changes the way individuals and churches behave.
4. God deepens the prayer relationship with His people.
5. God leads His people to repent of sin and follow Him
6. God changes hearts
7. God centers the life of His church on His word.
8. God restores power back to His church
9. God produces a byproduct of spiritual awakening in the world.
It starts with God, as we move His heart He changes and empowers us, and it goes from the heart to the church, from the church to the community, from the community to the town and the town to the world. True Revival never stops. It’s a fire that can not burn out.
As I close, After hearing all of this I want you to know that something is about to happen to this church. God wants to pour Himself into this church and into this community in a mighty way. But we must first be ready for it; we must be ready and able to handle His Glory. I want to as you today to make commitment with me to start to pray for a life changing Revival, not just a 4-5 day church service but a real life changing God empowering Holy Ghost Revival. I am asking for 1 night a week right know maybe Sunday night prayer and fasting service to pray diligently for Gods outpouring on this church and His people.
Matthew 21:21-22
21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
I believe God wants to changes lives here today. If you do not know Christ as you personal Lord an Savoir, when I pray you just repeat after me. And as we sing the invitation if you did say those words, you need to come up and let me know. If you are will to make a commitment to God and pray and fast for a true heart changing Revival, then during this song you come up and say pastor I will make this commitment. Remember this not about you or me, It’s all about the Kingdom and bringing Glory to the Holy name of God. So as we stand and sing, you come and make a stand today, God is calling.
Amen
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2 forgiveness