Will You Not Revive Us Again?

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I know that when I mention the word 'revival' today that there are a lot of different connotations and even misconceptions about what that really is - especially here in the South. There are cultural connotations and there are traditional connotations and there are even social connotations that can get in the way with our understanding what a real, biblical revival is.
ILLUS: It's kind of like the elderly lady who was at the airline ticket counter, as the attendant was processing her ticket, who said that she didn't want a window seat because she didn't want her hair to get messed up.
And there are a lot of people today who misunderstand the biblical concept of revival. What it is and why it is and how it comes about.
So, tonight we're going to be looking at the Biblical meaning of revival. Tonight we'll be talking about the Practical method of revival. Then we'll study about the Spiritual means of revival in order to see the Wonderful marks of revival.
Now, even though we won't spend a lot of time here this evening, let me encourage you to be a part of these studies, because I believe that they will be a great encouragement to your heart and your walk with the Lord and maybe, just maybe, you might be the one and this might be the place where God chooses to start the next great revival.
ILLUS: Perhaps the greatest authority on real revival was a man by the name of Dr. J. Edwin Orr. Back in the 1970's Dr. Orr was preaching a series of messages on revival at the Columbia Bible College. After one of the services, a young college student walked up and asked Dr. Orr, "Besides praying for revival to take place, what can I do to help bring it about?" Without even hesitating, Dr. Orr looked at that student and said, "You can let it begin with you."
ILLUS: We used to sing a hymn that said these words, "Lord, send a revival. Lord, send a revival. Lord, send a revival. And let it begin in me."
You know, a generation ago, those who longed for revival and lived to see revival had a little slogan, a motto if you would. It hadn't been developed by a team of master marketers. It wasn't designed to be packaged neatly on shirts and caps or even little bracelets.
It was simple and straight to the point - revival in our time. You see, they had heard and they had read about how God had moved before and the amazing transformation that His manifested presence had on cities and counties and even entire countries and they prayed and pleaded with God to send revival in their generation. And as they cried and prayed for revival, they were simply echoing what the Psalmist cried out and prayed for thousands of years before as he penned the words to this prayerful, powerful psalm.
Psalm 85:6 (KJV 1900)
6 Wilt thou not revive us again: That thy people may rejoice in thee?
That really is an amazing verse, because in that one vital verse we have the AUTHOR of revival. We have the ACTION of revival. And we have the AIM of revival.
Now, the word 'revival' means to renew, to repair, to restore, to refresh. Literally, re-life or life again. And it's talking about what God does supernaturally in the lives of believers. This is not evangelism for the sinner. This is empowerment and encouragement for the saint.
ILLUS: Paul S. Rees, a well known Bible conference preacher said, "Revival and evangelism, although closely linked, are not to be confused. Revival is an experience in the church; evangelism is an expression of the church."
ILLUS: Dr. Stephen Olford wrote in his classic book "Heart Cry For Revival," that "the term 'revival' is one which is grossly misunderstood. In many quarters today, primarily in the United States, it is employed to describe evangelistic meetings. Now, while the salvation of sinners and the restoration of backsliders are both by-products of revival, these spiritual experiences cannot be said to define revival."
So, what is revival? Write this down.
"Revival is the sovereign, supernatural movement of God among His people that comes as a direct result of repentance and prayer and holiness. It results in a fresh Christian walk in believers and the drawing of the lost to Christ."
Sometimes it's referred to as "spiritual awakening." Other times it's called "spiritual renewal" or "the outpouring of the Spirit of God." But the simplest, time-honored term is simply 'revival.' And that's what we're going to be talking about and learning about over the next couple of weeks as we begin to pray for revival in our time.
Now, there are three quick things that I want to show you this evening as we talk about the biblical meaning of revival.

The Special Prompting For Revival.

Why is there a need for revival? Why are we even talking about this subject this evening? Well, just look at the word that the Psalmist uses and you'll get a little hint, "Will you not revive us again. . ." Revival. Re-life. Life-again.
In other words, something's happened. Something's gone wrong. Something has happened to the life of the believer. Something has happened to the life of the church. Something has happened to the walk and the witness of those of us who have received the gift of eternal life.
Have we lost our salvation? No, the bible clearly teaches that once a person is truly, genuinely saved that he can never lose his salvation. That's why it's called 'eternal life' - it's forever. So, a Christian can never lose their salvation, but the Bible does teach that we can lose the joy and the power of our salvation.
For example, after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, David (Who was a man after God's own heart) cried out to God in repentance, "O God, restore to me the joy of your salvation." He hadn't lost his salvation, but he had lost the joy of his salvation. And as a result it was a chore and a challenge to even live the Christian life.
And that's where we are today. We no longer pray like we should. We no longer live like we should. We no longer witness like we should, We aren't being salt and light in a dark and corrupt world and as a result we see the degradation and degeneration of our communities and country. And something has to take place.
Just look back a few verses to the beginning of Psalm 85.
Psalm 85:1–5 KJV 1900
1 Lord, thou hast been Favourable unto thy land: Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. 2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, Thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. 3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. 4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, And cause thine anger toward us to cease. 5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
Wait a minute. He just wrote in one verse that God's anger had been turned away and in the next verse he's praying for God's anger to cease, and even asking that it not proceed and pass down on the generations. What's going on here? I'll tell you what's going on here.
To put it biblically, they've left their first love. They've gotten cold and comfortable in their salvation. They got cold and comfortable in their walk with the Lord and as a result they drifted into sin and rebellion. And so, in order to make them realize what was going on and what they had done, God began to judge them.
This is always what precedes and prompts a moving of the Spirit of God. This is what happens before a real revival breaks out. In the church there is coldness and apathy and in the culture there is corruption and anarchy. And into that setting, in direct response to the prayers and petitions of, usually a small handful, of God's people, God moves in and begins to stir and strengthen this small group and they begin to tell others within the church and God begins to stir and strengthen them and they begin to tell others outside the church and God begins to save and sanctify them. And it grows and it spreads and it moves and it manifests itself until the entire area is embraced with the power and presence of God.
You say, "But pastor, it's too dark and it's too bad and it's too far gone for God to do anything like that today." Hey, it's on the darkest night that you need a flashlight the most.
So the prompting for revival is a sin soaked society and a cold, carnal, comfortable, complacent church. Let me ask you.
Do you think that we live in a sinful society?
Do you think that we live in a wicked world? Sure we do.
You know that as well as I do. But, let me get a little more personal. Do you think that we, as a church and as individual believers have gotten a little comfortable, a little complacent, maybe even a little cold in our relationship with Christ? "I can pray when I want to. I can witness when I want to. I can tithe when I want to. I can come to church when I want to." Listen, for the Christian, those things aren't just opportunities, they're obligations. The norm, not the exception, is for the Christian to pray and witness and tithe and be faithful to the church. Those are supposed to be the standard operation procedures for the child of God. And we've got far too many Christians who are playing church, not being the church.
There are those of you here this evening, and you've gotten comfortable in your Christianity. You've grown cold and complacent - maybe you've even become carnal. You've fallen into sin and it has severed your fellowship with God. You're watching things that you ought not watch. Doing things that you ought not do. Going places that you ought not go.
And you go to bed at night and your joy's gone and your peace is gone. And it seems like your prayers are as heavy as boulders and heaven is as hard as concrete.
What you need more than anything else is repentance and revival.
ILLUS: Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, "I am profoundly convinced that the greatest need in the world today is a real, heaven-sent revival in the church"
That's the special prompting for revival.
Will You Not Revive Us Again?

The Scriptural Picture Of Revival.

Look back at verse 6, "Will You not revive us again?" As you study your Bible, you'll find many pictures that can be used to describe what God does during revival or spiritual awakening.
Sometimes it's described as a fire. (Acts 2:3)
Acts 2:3 (KJV 1900)
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Sometimes it's described as a fresh wind. (Acts 2:2)
Acts 2:2 (KJV 1900)
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Sometimes it's described as a refreshing rain.
Hosea 6:3 (KJV 1900)
3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; And he shall come unto us as the rain, As the latter and former rain unto the earth.
But I believe that the most vivid illustration of what God does in revival is found in Ezekiel 37. You don't have to turn there, because you probably know the story very well. It's the account of Ezekiel standing before a valley that is full of dry, dusty bones. I bet we could all sing the little song that goes along with this story.
ILLUS: "Them bones, them bones, them dry bones,
Them bones, them bones, them dry bones,
Them bones, them bones, them dry bones.
Now hear the word 'o the Lord.
The toe bone's, connected to the foot bone,
The toe bone's, connected to the foot bone,
toe bone's, connected to the foot bone.
Now hear the word 'o the Lord.
(And it goes up from there)
Toe bone's connected to the foot bone.
Foot bone's connected to the ankle bone.
Ankle bone's connected to the shin bone.
Shin bone's connected to the knee bone.
Knee bone's connected to the leg bone.
Leg bone's connected to the hip bone.
Hip bone's connected to the back bone.
Back bone's connected to the neck bone.
Neck bone's connected to the chin bone.
Chin bone's connected to the head bone.
Them bones, them bones, gonna walk around.
Them bones, them bones, gonna walk around.
Them bones. them bones, gonna walk around.
And guess what? They did. The Lord arranged it. The prophet proclaimed it and all of a sudden those old bones started rattling and rustling and coming together. Those tendons began to stretch out. Those muscles began to bunch up. That skin began to spread out and cover those old dry, dusty, dead bones.
But there was still a problem. Ezekiel preached to that bunch of bones and the Lord brought them together and stood them up, but now all Ezekiel had was a bunch of bodies standing there, no doubt in formation, but there was no life in them. They were still dead. They had eyes, butcouldn't see. They had hands, butcouldn't fight. They had feet, butcouldn't walk.
(By the way, that's some picture of the modern day church, isn't it? Organized and formalized and pasteurized, but no life, no breath, no Spirit.)
So, in verse 9, the Lord said to Ezekiel,
Ezekiel 37:9–10 KJV 1900
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
The Psalmist cried out, "Revive us, O Lord."
"Will you not revive us again?"
"Revive me according to Your word."
“Revive me in Your way."
"Revive me in Your righteousness."
"Revive me according to Your loving-kindness."
“Revive me according to Your justice."
"Revive me according to Your judgments."
"Revive me, O LORD, for Your name's sake!"
Hey, this is personal. This is intimate. This is the Christian. This is the church crying out for God to bring them together and bind them together and breath a fresh breath of life into them 'again' so that they can be the church militant and not the church impotent, for His name's sake.

The Specific Purpose Of Revival.

Look back one last time to Psalm 85. He tells us in no uncertain terms what the purpose of revival is.
Psalm 85:6–13 KJV 1900
6 Wilt thou not revive us again: That thy people may rejoice in thee? 7 Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, And grant us thy salvation. 8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak: For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: But let them not turn again to folly. 9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; That glory may dwell in our land. 10 Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; And righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; And our land shall yield her increase. 13 Righteousness shall go before him; And shall set us in the way of his steps.
That's the purpose of revival.
"That your people may rejoice in you" and "That your glory may dwell in our land."
Will You Not Revive Us Again?
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