THE RECIPE FOR NATIONAL REVIVAL

As we closeout 2023, I want to challenge you this morning. I want to challenge you to be the agent God uses for national revival. That’s my challenge. My challenge is for you to change America through God’s Word.

An interesting and joyous phenomenon is taking place in the United States of America. Even as morality worsens, the embers of revival are beginning to smolder.

In the last year, we have seen a great number of souls saved at Auburn University. We witnessed a revival at a school in Kentucky in which a nonstop three-week prayer meeting was held. Many entertainers have publicly professed Jesus Christ abandoning their careers in the process in order to serve Jesus on earth. Even Hul Hogan bodyslammed the Devil, got saved, and was baptized.

Beech Grove Baptist Church in tiny Bruceville, TN has added _____ members since _____.

Are these isolated pockets or revival, or are they the beginnings of a national revival? I believe that it very well could be the beginning of a national revival. I do know this. Wherever the Word of God is boldly proclaimed, results will follow. AMEN?

In the Old Testament, we are given the recipe for a national revival. The recipe has four ingredients:

The Holy Spirit

A Proclaiming Preacher

A Sensitive Sinner

A Changed Congregation

Those are the four ingredients that are required for the recipe that leads to a national revival. I promise you those are the ingredients that complete the recipe for a national revival. The background for the message today is that Judah and Israel and split into the Southern and Northern Kingdoms.

Asa was King in Judah, and Jereboam was King in Israel. Asa had followed his father, Abijah, and his grandfather, Rehoboam, to the throne. Both Rehoboam and Abijah were evil in the sight of the Lord. Because the national leaders of Judah were evil, Judah was in a bad way. Asa became king, and he came on the scene without having Godly examples to follow thus setting the stage for a national revival.

By the way, if you have someone in your life that is setting or has set a Godly example for you to follow, have you ever thanked him or her for that? Have you ever thanked God for that person? You should!! Dear friend, Asa did not have Godly examples training him in the way he should go, and if you do have someone that has done that for you, you should be eternally grateful.

America, like Judah, is in a bad way too. Our border is being overrun. Our government is a joke. Our economy is fragile with debt running out of control, and sin proudly parades itself for all to see. The stage is set for national revival, but are the ingredients in place?

(1) THE HOLY SPIRIT

The first ingredient you need to prepare a national revival is the Holy Spirit. (2 Chron. 15:1)

Any revival in America, in any church, or in any soul will be initiated by the Holy Spirit.

Financial reform does not lead to a revival. Political reform does not lead to a revival. Religious reform does not lead to a revival, and educational reform does not lead to a revival.

What leads to a national revival is the moving of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that delivers the spark that ignites the revival. It is the Holy Spirit that moves upon the heart of man causing man to seek God.

John 16:8–11 “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”

It is the Holy Spirit that convicts the heart of the lost and the saved of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and revival will always follow the Holy Spirit’s convicting of those three things.

Remember this. For revival to spread, it must first begin in the house of God.

1 Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

Judgment begins at the house of God and so does revival with the moving of the Holy Spirit. You could be the one that God is waiting on to spark revival in America. He could be waiting on you to listen to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit convicts you of some sin that you have buried in your life without repenting of that sin. Can you imagine if every Christian in attendance this morning would search their hearts and respond to the Holy Spirit when He convicts of sin?

1 John 1:8–9 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I am telling you, dear friend, if Christians would respond to the movement of the Holy Spirit, lost souls would be getting saved, and sin that proudly parades down main street would sink into the shadows, but that will only happen when the Holy Spirit moves.

It is God who initiates revival through the moving of His Spirit.

(2) A PROCLAIMING PREACHER

Once the Holy Spirit begins moving, someone is needed who will boldly proclaim the message given by the Holy Spirit. (2 Chron. 15:1-2)

2 Chronicles 15:1–2 “And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.”

In this instance, that someone was Azariah, and Azariah boldly proclaimed the Holy Spirit’s message to none other than King Asa, and dear friend, the Holy Spirit is desperately searching someone to boldly proclaim His message of sin, righteousness, and judgment to the leadership of America.

Azariah delivered God’s message directly to the most powerful man in Judah, King Asa, and any national revival will begin when the leaders of that nation respond to God’s message, and dear friend, I say the same thing applies to a revival within a church. Revival within a church will begin when the leaders of that church respond to God’s message setting the example for the congregation to follow.

This is not the beginning of the new church year, but this is a good time to make this point. Before you agree to teach or to take a position of leadership in a church, you better be willing to respond to the Holy Spirit. You best not blindly say yes because when you accept a position within a church, God holds you more responsible, and you better believe that God is not happy when you do not respond to the Holy Spirit unless you think that Ananias and Sapphira were happy when they fell out graveyard dead.

In a leadership position, a teaching position, or a musical position, you are held to standards by God that I hope you pray about before you haphazardly agree to do something within a church. By agreeing to take a leadership position, you are agreeing that you are going to let the Holy Spirit use you as instrument to lead the congregation, and if you are not doing that, you are sinning and need to repent especially if you want to experience revival.

Can you imagine what might happen in America if the Holy Spirit moved upon a bold spokesman who delivered the message that I just delivered?

I am not talking about changing national leadership through the ballot box. I am talking about a bold spokesman proclaiming God’s message to our national leaders with them being so convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment that the national leadership turned to God by following the Way which is Jesus Christ.

It happened in Judah when the Holy Spirit moved upon a preacher named Azariah who boldly proclaimed the Holy Spirit’s message. Azariah said seek God and be obedient to God, and if you do, God will be with you, and if you do not, God will not be with you, and dear friend, that is the simplicity of the message. Be obedient to God, and He will be with you. Be disobedient, and He will not.

It is a simple message, but the message needs to be proclaimed. From the mountaintop to the valley, from the street corner to the country store, the message needs to be proclaimed. What message?

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:16–18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Azariah allowed the Holy Spirit to speak through him, and he delivered a powerful message. Are you willing, or had you rather someone else deliver the message? Man, woman, boy, and girl can be used by the Holy Spirit to deliver the message of John 3:16-18. Are you willing to be that person? If you are not, you are part of the reason why we are not having a national and a church revival.

You could be the one the Holy Spirit wants to use to spark America’s revival, but you must first be receptive to the moving of the Holy Spirit and be willing to boldly proclaim His message that he wants delivered.

(3) A SENSITIVE SINNER

2 Chronicles 15:7–8 “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded. And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.”

Asa heard the message and as he listened, he was receptive to the Holy Spirit, and immediately, he responded to God’s Word.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is God’s Word that will change this world. God’s Word contains a world-changing message.

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

It is God’s Word that penetrates a sensitive sinner’s heart, and I use sensitive to mean receptive. Someone who is listening to God. As a receptive king, Asa became a revived king and a bold king.

The Bible says that Asa put away all idols in Judah and restored the altar of the Lord, and dear friend, that is what we need nationally. We need to put away all our idols and strengthen the house of God.

In America, people, including Christians, have turned the flag, the Constitution, and politics into idols leaving God on the outside, but when the Holy Spirit moves, when a bold preacher proclaims the message, those idols will be removed and the house of God will be strengthened, and dear friend, the house of God is you if you are saved.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Beech Grove Baptist Church will be strengthen when you remove the idols from your and strengthen the temple that is your body. I dare to ask this, but I am going to boldly ask it. Have you removed all the idols from your life, or are there still altars to those idols in your life that you go to from time to time?

Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

You will not experience revival until you are receptive to the Holy Spirit and God’s Word and tear down all the idols in your life.

(4) A CHANGED CONGREGATION

2 Chronicles 15:10–13 “So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they offered unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.”

The Holy Spirit can move, a preacher can boldly proclaim the message, sinners can be receptive to the message, but evidence of that reception is a changed congregation.

When the Holy Spirit and the Word go to work on a sinner, a new life is produced. We call it being born-again. (2 Cor. 5:17, Romans 6:1-4)

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Romans 6:1–2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Romans 6:3–4 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

The new birth produces a new creature, a new life, and a new life that is drastically different from the old life.

The people of Judah heard the message, and they were changed, and because they were changed, all idols were removed from Judah, and because they allowed the Holy Spirit to use them, the nation and society was changed drastically.

2 Chronicles 15:13 “That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.”

2 Chronicles 15:16 “And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.”

These people meant business. If you were not seeking the Lord doing as the Spirit led, you were in big trouble, and it did not matter how old you were, man, woman, boy, or girl.

Not only did it not matter how old you were, it did not matter who you were as Maachah, the queen mother and Asa’s grandmother, was removed because she sought and worshipped idols and ignored God’s message. Can you imagine if churches did that in regard to church discipline, if churches actually followed what the New Testament teaches in regard to church discipline? I will tell you what I bet. I bet if the church did we would have stronger churches as a result. What do you think?

I am telling you that Judah experienced a serious revival, a revival in which everyone was held to the same standards. Rich and poor, young and old, family or stranger, and male or female all need to hear the message, the message that God has provided a Savior who died for the sins of the lost. Everyone needs to hear the message that says this.

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

America needs a revival, and dear friend, God could be waiting on you to deliver the message that God wants delivered. What do you say to God? Lost friend, will you call on the name of Jesus Christ and be saved today? It will be the best way to end 2023 and to begin eternity.