A Revived Church

Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15“Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16“For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

2 Chronicles 7:11-16, NKJV

Dear friends, in my humble opinion, we have just read one of the most important passages in all of the Bible! There is no greater Scripture than that found right here in 2 Chronicles 7:14. For in this one verse, God delivers the prescription for a sickly people. He offers the conditions for revival for the most important people on earth, His own people, God’s people. And this is not just a passage for the people of Solomon’s day, some three thousand years ago. The things God told Solomon have just as much meaning, and just as much importance, and impact upon our lives today as well!

This passage is, without question, a Bible text every Christian should know by heart. And why should we all know it? Because today, my friends, we need a revived Church. If there has ever been a time in the history of the church universal, when we need revival, it is surely now. If there has ever been a time in the history of the church in America, when we need revival, is is now! If there has ever been a time in the history of the church right here at First Baptist Icard, when we need revival, surely it is now!

I can easily take you a few hours from here to a SBC church in our own state where the congregation has become so liberal, so accommodating to the world that they have actually ordain a homosexual is a staff minister. They perform weddings for homosexual couples. I can take you to a church not too far from here where the deacons decided that the subject of Hell was not to be preached from their church pulpit.

But far more dangerous, I can take you to churches all over this county, and every county in NC and every county in every state in America that are operating just fine but yet stand in direct opposition and disobedience to God’s word, and His great commission assignment to make disciples.

If the Church of Jesus Christ is ever going to be a force for God, instead of a farce, then it must be melted down in the flames of an old-fashioned, God sent, heaven-born, heart-searching revival. We need a revived church for a day like today.

So where is the revival for which we pray and of which we sing? How many times have sung that old hymn:

"There shall be showers of blessing

This is the promise of love;

There shall be seasons refreshing

Sent from the Savior above."

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Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, speaks of this when he proclaimed these words to Israel: "Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of

hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).

Yet, what has been the expression of our lips has not been the experience of our lives. Why? Simply because today's Christians have not been willing to pay the price of revival. However, God has not changed the conditions which we must pay if the

rain of revival is to fall upon the church. As Dr. Vance Havner puts it: "God has not changed the price of revival, nor has He put any of His blessings on

bargain counters at reduced rates."

So what are the conditions we need to meet to have a revived church?

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I. PRIDE MUST BE ELIMINATED

To begin with, the first condition for revival to come is this: PRIDE must be ELIMINATED. Return again to the words of the text: "If my people, who are called

by my name, shall humble themselves…" (II Chronicles 7:14).

Pride is not only the undoing of the church, but first of the Christian. Many live life as if there is no real need for God. The late A. W .Tozer wrote: "When all the evidence is in it may well be found that none but the proud ever strayed from the truth, and that self-trust was behind every heresy that ever afflicted the Church."

SLIDES 7 – 10, AS I QUOTE EACH SCRIPTURE

Before God nothing is more deadly and destructive than self-pride, self-trust, and self-conceit. To David God said: "Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer" (Psalms 101:5). To Solomon God declared: "The Lord will destroy the house of the proud" (Proverbs 15:25). To Daniel God proclaimed: "Those that walk in pride he is able to abase" (Daniel 4:37). To James God said: "God resisteth the proud" (James 4:6).

Oh listen to God’s word today to us dear loved ones. God hates pride. How very easy it is for us to develop a spirit of pride. How do you recognize this evil ambition? It is recognized when we find ourselves feeling envious or even jealous of other’s success. When we feel resentful when someone other than ourselves are given the spotlight, then be very careful dear friend, Satan has planted a spirit of pride in your heart that is so very dangerous, and damaging, even deadly!

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Pride might prevent revival, but humility will produce it. Christ had much to say about this divine virtue. To His disciples Jesus proclaimed: "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:4). To the multitudes Christ stated: "Whosoever shall exalt himself shall

be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 23:12). To James God gave these words: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" (James 4:10).

Paul said of Christ: "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled

himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). There you have humility at its finest, and I might add, humility at its highest.

In 1904 the nation of Wales had departed far from God. The spiritual condition was at an all time low. Church attendance was poor and sin was prevalent everywhere. Suddenly, like an unexpected tornado, the Spirit of God swept over the land and within five weeks twenty thousand people were converted to Christ. The churches were crowded to capacity and the meetings lasted from ten in the morning until twelve at night.

The man God used to bring about the Welch revival was Evan Roberts. It all started when Evan Roberts fell on his knees at a special meeting, then with tears flowing freely down his face he prayed, "O Lord, bend me, bend me." From that time on this young man of twenty-six went throughout Wales spreading the fires of revival. Here, then, is the first step toward a spiritual revival - the bending and breaking of our proud spirit.

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II. PRAYER MUST BE ESTABLISHED

The second condition for revival is this: PRAYER must be ESTABLISHED. Listen again to the words of our text: "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray." R. A. Torrey, famous evangelist of past years, was right when he said: "There is not a church, or mission, or chapel on earth where you cannot have a revival, provided there is a nucleus of faithful people who will hold on to God until it comes."

We may as well face it: Revival is prompted and promoted by prayer. Failure to pray lies behind most of the reasons why the revival winds have not been blowing upon the Church. There has never been a genuine revival which did not begin in the passionate and persistent prayers of the people of God.

The revival of Pentecost, when the mighty rushing wind from Heaven filled the room and fire fell upon them, was preceded by ten days of prevailing prayer. We read in SLIDES 16 – 17 AS I QUOTE EACH ONE

Acts 1:14). "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." Or what about the revival that the early church in Jerusalem experienced? We read about it in Acts 2:47: "And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." The result was that many were converted and

then added to the church.

It was the powerful prayers of Martin Luther that brought about the Great

Reformation. He once declared: "If I should neglect prayer but for a single day, I should lose a great deal of the Fire of Faith." (Twice) It was the passionate prayers of Jonathan Edwards that ignited the revival fires to spread throughout the New England colonies. It was the persistent prayers of George Whitefield that gave rise to the Great Awakening in which thirty thousand lives were changed by God's grace. It was the persevering prayers of Charles Finney that initiated the revival fires in many parts of America. It was the penetrating prayers of David Brainard that caused an irresistible force of revival to descend upon the American Indians. It was the phenomenal prayers of three businessmen on Fulton Street in 1857 that caused the wheels of industry to stand still as the Spirit of God sent the shower of revival to fall upon His people. Yes, in every case, from the day of Pentecost to the present, there has not been born one great revival in any country without the upward movement of prayer.

But though revival is steeped in the atmosphere of prayer, it seems that our lives have become so crowded, complicated, and complex, that many of us can't find time to pray. We have many interferers in the church, but few intercessors. If we do pray, often it is scant and selfish, something we leave to the end of the day and fall asleep over. Such praying will never move the hand of God to send revival to His Church. We might as well stand on a distant hill and talk to the moon as kneel down and rush through a few

lines of prayer, and then think we have met the conditions for revival.

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Our praying needs to be pursued with an energy and persistency which will not be denied until revival comes. The Apostle James declared: "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).

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III. PURITY MUST BE EXHIBITED

The third price for us to pay if revival is to come is this: PURITY must be EXHIBITED. Look again at the words of the text: "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face…" The word "face" though partly figurative is the expressive symbol of personality. The face reflects and reveals the holy features of God's character.

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Paul told the Thessalonians: "For God has not called us to an unclean life, but one of purity" (I Thessalonians 4:7).

Now then, if we Christians honestly want revival to find its way into our lives, let us search for that holiness of heart and seek for that purity of life which was so gloriously portrayed in the life of our Lord. Like Christ let us flee that which is unholy

and fight that which is ungodly. Let us never become lamb-like in our attitude toward the evil things of life, but let us hate everything which is sinful and fight everything which is sensual. Let us show those who are standing outside the Church that we are not only related to Christ in salvation, but that we resemble Christ in sanctification. If every Christian were to pass under the sanctifying Lordship of Jesus Christ, we might well expect the greatest revival since the Day of Pentecost.

I wonder: Does this passion for purity burn within our hearts as it did that of Robert Murray McCheyne, the great Scottish preacher, who said: "I have only one ambition, that is, to be a holy man?"

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IV. PARDON MUST BE EXPERIENCED

There is one more condition for us to meet if revival is to come. PARDON must be EXPERIENCED. From the text we read: "If my people, who are called by my

name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways…"

We should get one thing straight in our thinking: To have a great revival there must be great repentance.

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Certainly nothing short of a broken heart over sin, with full confession and repentance toward God, will cause the wind of revival to blow throughout the Church. The words that Peter proclaimed to the nation of Israel have not changed: "So now repent and turn to Him, to have your sins wiped out, that the time of revival may come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19, Williams).

This, I know is what Dr. Oswald J. Smith in his book, The Revival We Need, was speaking about when he wrote: "And as long as iniquity among the people of God is covered over and unconfessed, just so long will the Spirit of God be unable to bring about a revival."

I ask you: How many of us are humble and hungry enough for revival to get down on our knees before God and make open confession of our sin? How many of us are willing to hear the voice of God calling us to repentance and open acknowledgment of our pride, indifference, worldliness, and lack of love toward God and His Church?

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How many of us are willing to declare in the words of David who said: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting?"

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Listen my friend: Repentance - this deep Godly sorrow for sin - is God's great revival word for us. Like David our heart-cry must be: "Against thee, thee, only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight" (Psalms 51:4).

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Like Isaiah we must get thoroughly dissatisfied with ourselves by crying aloud: "Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips"(Isaiah 6:5). Like the poem writer we must be willing to confess:

"The dearest idol I have known-

Whate'er that idol be-

Help me to tear it from thy throne

And worship only Thee."

What shall be our response? Shall we heed the call of God to eliminate pride, establish prayer, exhibit purity, and experience pardon in our lives? May God give us the grace to do these things. For if we pay the price for revival, listen to the profit which will come from revival according to our text:

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"then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Will the fires of revival burn within each of our hearts? If it does, the lost will be redeemed. If it doesn't, then we will never know the powerful impact we could have made in our world if we were only a revived church!