Psalms 150:1-6 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary:
praise him in the firmament of his power. 2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him
according to his excellent greatness. 3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise
him with the psaltery and harp. 4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise
him with stringed instruments and organs. 5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him
upon the high sounding cymbals. 6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the
LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
There is nothing that I enjoy more than
dwelling in the presence of the Lord. In taking the opportunity to join in
fellowship with the Saints, to partake in the offering of joint praise and
worship to our Lord. That's exactly what we'll be doing in heaven Saints! That
is exactly what we'll be doing for eternity. If you don’t like praising God
down here, you most certainly aren’t going to like heaven!
So let's take a few moments to pray before
we get started on this message. Let us take a few moments to ask the Lord to
anoint me as I attempt to bring forth His word. Let us take a few moments to
ask the Lord to anoint our ears to hear the word and to help us to apply it to
our lives. Let us pray!
Pray for as long as the Lord
directs:
Could we all please stand
for the reading of God’s Word.
Isaiah
40:31 But
they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be
weary; and they shall walk, and not
faint.
You may be seated.
For those who would desire
to know, my sermon today is named simply, "Revival". With that said, I
would like to ask you today Saints of God, what is revival? What do you think
of when someone talks about revival? What exactly does revival mean to you?
Well, according to Webster, revival means:
“Reviving or being revived; renewed activity, of
trade etc. A wave of religious enthusiasm worked up by powerful preachers;
awakening; reappearance of old, neglected play.”
To most of us who've been in
Pentecostal services for any length of time, revival means a time of services
with a guest preacher that’s intended to stir us up, to start a fire in our
hearts, to help us better serve the living God.
It’s a time when we invite
those lost loved ones to church in the hopes they will come to an altar of
repentance and start a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. These things are
all well and good, but what does the bible say about revival? What is a revival
according to God's Holy word?
Revival
(Biblical):
My interpretation
They that wait upon the
Lord, meaning they that serve the Lord. They shall renew their strength. Those
that serve the Lord with all of their heart, with all of their soul, with all
of their mind, with all of their strength. These shall be renewed.
These shall renew their
strength, because they’re in a constant state of revival, because they are in a
constant state of renewal! If you want revival in your heart, you have to serve
God with everything that you’ve got. If you go home from church and you’re not totally
worn out. You didn’t serve God with all your strength. You didn’t give God your
all! You didn't give Him everything you had to give! We need to give God our
all today, we need to give Him our all each and every day Saints!
We need to mount up on the
wings of our prayers unto the Lord. The Lord stores up our prayers; they’re a
sweet smell unto Him. If we’re faithful to be in a constant state of prayer,
our prayers become a familiar fragrance unto the Lord. An eagle can soar for
hours on a gust of wind; we can soar for hours in prayer if we enter into the
mighty rushing wind of the spirit while we’re praying unto the Lord.
I cannot overstate the
necessity of prayer in the life of a Christian! There is nothing more important
than prayer in your life, because:
§ Through prayer, we develop
our personal, intimate, eternal, relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord.
§ Through prayer, we develop
faith that can move mountains.
§ Through prayer, we can heal
the sick.
§ Through prayer, we'll win
souls.
§ Through prayer, we'll
receive the Holy Ghost.
Praise the Lord
Saints of God! Praise the Lord!
Our text also tells us that
they shall run, and not be weary; and
they shall walk, and not faint. When we’re serving the Lord with all of our
heart, soul, mind and strength it may seem like we’re getting weary at times.
But we’re developing spiritual strength. It may seem like we’re getting ready
to faint at times, but we’re developing our Christian walk with the Lord.
I could even suppose that
when we’re working for the Lord, perhaps we’re even building our as yet unseen
mansion up in heaven. Think about it! The mansions we have in heaven may be
sized in direct comparison to the worship we give to the Lord. It may be sized
in direct comparison to our faithfulness to do what God has called us to do.
Don't think that because you
haven't won thousands to Christ that you won't have a nice place. If God hasn't
called you to win thousands to Him, he surely won't punish you for not
accomplishing that goal. But we have to be faithful to accomplish that which
God has
called us to do!!!! We have to be faithful to witness so that we can win souls
for God. It says in:
Matthew 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the
trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,
and cast into the fire.
If we aren't winning souls,
our time on earth may be shortened. There's many kinds of fruit in the Kingdom
of God, but the most noticeable is souls. That's what I worry about Saints. We
need to be faithful to witness and win souls for the Kingdom of God! We need to
be faithful to what God has called each of us to do in this area! Then, and
only then, will God send the type of revival that we're currently looking for
in this church. A growth of souls for God's Kingdom!
Praise the Lord Saints of God!
So what should we be doing to start a
revival?
It says in:
Revelation
2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art
fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
I could have used Acts 2:38
but I’m speaking to saved people right now! So many times it seems that we are
too busy to do those things which we know that God has called us to do. Perhaps
it's our prayer life, or not spending enough time with our families in prayer.
Perhaps we're busy doing good things, Godly things. But like I said last week,
we need to pray to ensure that we're not just in God's will, but in God's
perfect will!!!
We need to turn away from
whatever it is that’s taking up all our time. If our time isn’t going to our
families it should go to our God! We get refreshed by spending time with God. By
spending time in prayer, time in fasting, time in study of the word of God. Remember
the word tells us that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word
of God!!!"
We're refreshed and renewed when
the Holy Ghost moves upon us. Praise God! Whenever we've repented of any sins
we might have committed, whether or not we have any knowledge that we've
committed any sins, God moves on our behalf. That's why we need to develop a
spirit of repentance, a spirit that Job modeled for us in the Old Testament. It says in:
Job 1:1-5 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright,
and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. 2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three
daughters. 3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and
three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she
asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the
men of the east. 4 And his sons went and feasted in their
houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat
and to drink with them. 5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent
and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt
offerings according to the number of
them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in
their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
We may sin unintentionally,
or unknowingly, especially if we're young in our walk with the Lord. Therefore
it's always a good thing to have a spirit of repentance. We need to repent
everyday just in case we have perhaps offended God in some way.
Perhaps those who are
married will understand this better than those who are not. At the end of the
day, it is always a good thing for a husband to ask his wife for forgiveness
for anything he may have done during that day that unknowing to him, offended
or hurt her in any way. Ladies, it would be wise of you to emulate the Lord in
that you forgive him when he does this..
Another way to ensure revival in our
hearts and in our church is to:
Titus 3:1 Put
them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates,
to be ready to every good work,
We need to submit to those in authority over us. That
doesn't mean that we let them run roughshod over us, but we're to submit to
those God has placed over us in a manner that glorifies God. The Apostle Paul said:
1 Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
It's important that we search out the heart of those who
are in authority over us. The Apostle Paul was trying to get the message across
that we're to follow him "only" as he follows Christ Jesus. We are
not required by God to follow those who are ungodly as it relates to the
church.
As it relates to the
world, and our government: We submit to them until it becomes a matter of
salvation. If those in leadership positions in our government commit acts of
treason and thus disqualify themselves for that leadership position, we are
under no legal or biblical obligation to follow or obey them, regardless of
their opinion.
In the spiritual
world, we follow the word of God, and the bible is our final authority in all
things. The bible is written in such a way that we all may understand it if we
will but read it. We only follow a preacher as he is correctly teaching and emulating
Christ through his words, actions and biblical teachings.
In the carnal world,
we follow the constitution and not the president or any other politician. The
constitution is the final authority as it relates to our freedom and our
rights. It's not up to a politician or a judge to tell us what our rights are.
The constitution is written in such a way that we all may understand it if we
will but read it. We only follow our leadership as long as they follow the
constitution.
It says in:
2 Chronicles
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.
We as a country are at a crossroads
in our history. We've turned from the pathways of Almighty God onto the wide
road that leads only to destruction. Not we as individuals, but as a nation.
Those who are in leadership today; are there because we have forsaken the laws
of God and have worshipped the creation instead of the creator.
As the children of God, we
must take it upon ourselves to pray for this country as never before. While we,
as individuals, are not responsible for the mess this country's in. The
past-failings of God's church to preach an uncompromised gospel is
to blame. If the church had done her job, we wouldn't have fallen away.
So therefore Saints, the
challenge is before us. What are we to do? We're to do just as the scripture
has said. We are to call upon His name, humble ourselves, and pray. We're to
turn from our wicked ways and pray that everyone else does as well. We're to
seek God's face for guidance, for blessing, for deliverance, for salvation, and
for liberty.
· Then will God hear us.
· Then will God heal us.
· Then will God forgive us.
· Then will God heal our land.
· Then will we rejoice again.
· Then will folks seek to know
the Lord.
· And then, we will have
revival!
And at all times
we must follow the admonition of Paul in:
1
Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
For our prayers to be most
effective, there's something else we must do, we must:
Matthew
17:19, 21
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him
out? 21
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
When we fast, we increase
the power of our prayers. It's like the difference between a go-cart and a drag
racer. A go-cart can go fast, some can even go really fast, but compared to a
Top Fuel drag racer, it might as well be a pedal car.
Fasting is what gives our
prayers the extra power to instantly heal the sick, to cast out demons and to
raise the dead. Fasting is spiritual vitamins for the soul. When we have a
really tough job to accomplish, we have to fast if we want it to be successful!
And finally, we
must:
It says in:
Luke 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
We're commanded to witness to people. In the future I'll do
a complete study for you on this subject. But for now, what I'm about to say
will need to be enough.
We need to be faithful to invite people to church.
Foremost, it's a commandment from God, but also, it's the only way that a
church survives. If we don't grow, we die. Even if everyone here were to remain
faithful to this church until death do us part, once everybody dies, so does
the church.
We need new people to replace those who will pass away or
leave for other reasons. If we grow larger, we can reach more people at the
same time. One hundred people can reach more people than 10 people. Two hundred
can reach more people than one hundred. That's just plain math….
Another reason to witness is that we want the Lord to
return for His people. It says in:
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Jesus Christ is not coming back to the earth until the
gospel has been preached. That's right; even the rapture isn't going to happen
until the gospel has been preached unto the whole world. I don't know about
you, but this old world is getting to be a pretty sad place. Not because of my
personal living standards, but because of what I've seen and what I coming down
the road!
Everywhere we go Saints, in all that we do, in all that we
say, let our lives be a living witness for Jesus Christ to this lost and dying
world! They don't know they're lost, they don't even know they're dying. They
don't know a thing about God but what they see in some movie, and we know how
bad that must be….
Saints of God, we've got to get out the good news of the
gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world, but we have to start in our own city
first! I pray that everywhere you go you'll invite somebody to church. I pray that
all you do, speaks of Christ to somebody. I pray that all you say will bring
honor and glory to the name of the Lord!
Let's have a made up mind that we're going to win somebody
to Christ! Let's pray every one of us every day; that God would send someone to
us that we might witness to them. When God answers your prayers, don't look on
the person, just trust in God! Trust in God and witness to them!
As we bring this service to a close, let us pray: Pray until God says stop!!!!