Repentance that leads to Revival
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“Church on the Move”
“Repentance That Leads to Revival”
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
ANNOUNCE TITLE: REPENTANCE THAT LEADS TO REVIVAL
How many of you like stories?
Whether it’s a favorite TV series that has an ongoing plot or a long book that keeps your interest even after it’s closed, stories are fantastic. They are both entertaining, and often informative.
Series that Kristi has come into after I was already involved. Have to stop and explain the ongoing plot.
The value of ongoing series is that if you keep showing up, you keep watching, and you stay involved with the story you start to feel a part of what’s going on in the story.
WHAT IF WE TREATED THE BIBLE THE SAME WAY?
The reality is that this is Book is exactly that.
It is the BIG PICTURE story of The Creator God that designed everything we see, feel, hear, smell, and touch…EVEN THINGS WE CAN’T.
It has a central theme of redemption and drawing creation back to the Creator.
Week after week (hopefully day after day at home), we get into this book and we read the stories.
The Bible is similar in the fact that there is One Constant throughout the entirety of the Book… GOD.
The trinitarian God is present and active throughout all of the Bible in the form of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament He redeems, forgives, and guides the people that call on His name.
I say all of that to say that as we walk through this series “Church on the Move,”
Remember that the stories we read are merely precursors to the Story we Live.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit that we read about last week was the Beginning of the prophecy Joel wrote about hundreds of years earlier.
BUT IT WAS JUST THE BEGINNING!!!
When the Spirit was poured out, as the 120 in the upper room were saturated with the power of God, LIVES WERE CHANGED FOREVER!!!
Remember that just a few weeks prior to this event Jesus had been crucified, and at that time one of His closest friends abandoned and denied Him.
Unfortunately, Peter has too often been remembered for denying Christ, but if we continue to follow the story, we see that even in the waiting Peter takes seriously the words of Jesus to feed the sheep.
In Acts 1:15 we see where Peter takes the position of leadership to instigate the adoption of a 12th disciple, BUT THE REAL MIRACLE HAPPENS AFTER HE IS ENDUED WITH POWER!!!
Last week I read a short part of the story…Acts 2:1-4 and we are going to pick up right there this morning.
I want you to close your eyes for a minute and do some imagining with me…
It’s 09:00 in early June. You have been obeying the Words of Jesus for 10 days. You’ve been hanging out in this upper room with 119 other people. It’s already starting to warm up outside, so you have all of the windows and doors open, so there is a breeze flowing through the room.
You hear the people outside. LOTS of people!!! They have gathered form EVERYWHERE for the Feast of Pentecost.
AND SUDDENLY there came from Heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. As you look around you see divided tongues as of fire resting on everyone in the room.
As all of this is happening EVERYONE In the room begins to speak in other languages.
As this is happening people outside begin to gather around the house. They are amazed at what they hear.
They notice that everyone in the room seems to be Galileans, but each person hears their own language, their own dialect, they hear the accents of their youth.
Men and women from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pntus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphyhilia, Egypt… the list goes on.
These men and women were hearing tongues they understood. God had shown up, and was preparing to continue a mighty work!!!
Can YOU FEEL the power? Can You FEEL the presence? Can you IMAGINE being in that upper room?
CAN you IMAGINE being outside and hearing the praise, the worship, THE SOUND OF HEAVEN that WAS flowing from that upper room?
SIT THERE FOR A MOMENT AND LET THAT SCENE SINK IN!!!
NOW, Open your eyes…
CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT HAPPENING HERE?
Can you imagine Greenfield, Dade County, and the surrounding Counties catching wind of a Fire burning in a church night after night as the presence of God shows up and changes lives???
Before I go any further I want to remind you of the title of my message this morning.
REPENTANCE THAT BRINGS REVIVAL
Everything I have to say, Everything I believe that can happen in this church as well as churches around the country BEGINS WITH REPENTANCE!!!
The Lexham Bible Dictionary defines Repentance like this…
The Greek word for “repentance” derives from a verb meaning “to radically change one’s thinking.” “Repentance” refers to an event in which an individual attains a divinely provided new understanding of their behavior and feels compelled to change that behavior and begin a new relationship with God[1]
I. When the Power of God rests on the People of God, Outsiders Will Be Drawn in by Their Curiosity.
a. Imagine being on the street When the Holy Ghost was poured out.
i. Verse 6 says, “they were bewildered”
ii. Verse 7 says, “they were all amazed and astonished
iii. Verse 12 says “And all were amazed and perplexed saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
iv. Acts 3:10 says that people were “filled with wonder” when the lame man was dancing through the Temple courts on restored legs
b. People will come from all over to watch something BURN
c. Car Accidents and Traffic Jams
d. NASCAR
II. When the Power of God Rests on the People of God, Old Things Pass Away PEOPLE BECOME BRAND NEW
a. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
b. Abram became Abraham
c. Jacob the Deceiver, Became Israel
d. A Murderous man by the name of Saul, Became The Apostle Paul who would go on to plant churches throughout the uttermost parts of the world and write over half the books in the New Testament
e. Simon the Fisherman became Peter the Rock who became Peter the Denier WHO BECAME PETER THE PROCLAIMER
f. Nikki Cruz “The Cross and the Switchblade.”
III. When the Power of God Rest on the People of God, The Church Moves Towards the Fight, NOT AWAY FROM IT
a. David Wilkerson was raised in a “house full of Bibles” in the relative safety of Barnesboro Pennsylvania, but by the Power of God was led to the dangerous streets of New York City.
b. Storm the gates of hell Matthew 16:18
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
c. Peter didn’t back away from the mocking, accusations, or difficult questions. Acts 2:14
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
d. Know the difficulties WILL come, but we are blessed when we endure them Matthew 5:10-12
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
e. KNOW that the Holy Spirit will help us in the hard times Matthew 10:19
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.
f. Paul knew that Hardships were the road to greater opportunities. Acts 20:20 -23
how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
g. People will be astonished by your Boldness Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
IV. When the Power of God Rests on the People of God, Unbelievers are Convinced by God Himself.
a. Acts 2:33 , 37
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
THEY SAW AND HEARD
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
b. The Beautiful thing about miracles is that they are unexplainable
V. When the Power of God Rests on the People of God, We Will See Repentance that Leads to Revival
a. Repentance is Central to the Gospel Message
i. Matthew 3:1-2
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
ii. Matthew 4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
iii. Zaccheus restored what he had taken 4fold and gave half of everything he had to the poor
iv. The prodigal son recognized his sin and RETURNED to his father’s house. He recognized LUKE 15:21
And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
b. What must we do to experience this type of Power that leads to Revival? Acts 2:37-39
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
i. THE RESULT 3000 People saved
c. Acts 3:19
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
i. THE RESULT Acts 4:4
But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
d. Repentance requires
i. Recognizing what is broken
1. Engage in Prayer (ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your sin)
2. Engage with Scripture (Psalm 119:11)
ii. Restoring what we have taken
1. In an article about the Pentecostal revival that broke out in Korea in 1907, Vance Christie writes,
About 1,500 people gathered in the Central Presbyterian Church for that final prayer service. As the meeting progressed, all were astonished when the leading Elder of the church suddenly stood up and publicly confessed: “I am an Achan. God can’t bless because of me. About a year ago a friend of mine, when dying, called me to his house and said, ‘Elder, I am about to pass away. I want you to manage my affairs; my wife is unable.’ I said, ‘Rest your heart; I will do it.’
“I did manage that widow’s estate,” the elder continued, “but I managed to put 100 dollars of her money into my own pocket. I have hindered God. I am going to give the 100 dollars back to that widow tomorrow morning.”
Instantly the hindering barrier to the Lord’s blessing was removed, and conviction of sin swept across the audience. The church service, which had begun at 7 p.m., continued till 2 a.m. Throughout that time dozens of people at once were standing, weeping, as they awaited their turn to confess their transgressions.
2. The Story of Achan in Joshua 7:10-26
iii. Return to the will of God for your life.
RECOGNIZE, RETORE, RETURN!!!!
What do YOU need to repent from?
Egregious Known Sins
Apathy
Unforgiveness
Legalism
Making yourself your own GOD
BE BAPTIZED
RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
KNOW THAT THE PROMISE IS FOR YOU, YOUR CHILDREN, ALLWHO ARE FAR OFF, AND EVERYONE THAT THE LORD CALLS TO HIMSELF…
[1]Brendan Kennedy, “Repentance,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).