Awakening

Intro.

Welcome to the first Sunday of 2024!

In case you have been hiding under a rock, we find ourselves in a presidential election year.

It seems these days, it’s difficult to get people excited about placing leaders in office.

These days… people will become quite a bit MORE excited about being AGAINST the opposing candidate, than being FOR their own.

In an earlier campaign cycle, I heard a story about a man who was flying on an airplane. He was watching an in-flight news program that was discussing to two major contenders for president.

This man let out a sudden shriek. His neighbor asked him what was wrong.

The man replied: “It just hit me that one of them is going to win.”

People had no faith in the government.

Pew Research reported last September that:

“Public trust in the federal government, which has been low for decades, has returned to near record lows following a modest uptick in 2020 and 2021. Currently, fewer than two-in-ten Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right...” Pewresearch.org

“2 out of 10.” 20%.

People no longer see the government as being trustworthy.

Just this week we had documents unsealed that named contacts of Jeffrey Epstein.

Jeffrey Epstein being the former sex-trafficker for the rich and famous.

Presidents, and royalty, and Hollywood A-listers are named as people with whom he interacted.

Of course to say that someone “knew” him doesn’t necessarily mean that they were involved with his wrongdoing.

But among a disillusioned populace those people will be considered -

“guilty until proven innocent.”

It invokes the old adage that my mother pounded into us:

“If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.”

People don’t feel like the government is on their side.

Listen to a few other complaints about life:

“How many times do I have to yell, ‘Help! Murder! Police!’ before you come to the rescue?”

“Why must I stare trouble in the face day after day?”

“Anarchy and violence break out, quarrels and fights all over the place.”

“Law and order has fallen to pieces. Justice is a joke.”

This one even blames God:

“(God) Why are you silent now? This is outrageous! Evil men gobble up the righteous and you just stand around and watch!”

Oh wait… I’m sorry...

These last statements aren’t from today.

They are the words of the prophet Habakkuk.

You see things in his day were quite a bit like they are now.

The leadership was corrupt.

Violence and Injustice were rampant.

The poor suffered.

Even among God’s people there were those who had abandoned God’s word

You know, that last one... is indeed happening today.

There are people who call themselves Christians who say that many of us WORSHIP the Bible rather than God.

They call it... “Biblioalatry”

Why would they do that?

Well, because they don’t like the Bible calling out sin.

They want the Bible to be more palatable… non-offensive.

They want to demote the Bible to a collective of moral allegories, (not to be taken literally)

Something akin to Aesop’s Fables.

They are okay with scripture being:

A Lamp unto my feet but certainly not: The Bread of Life The Word of the Living God

It was much the same for Habakkuk

people had minimized God’s Word, and weren’t concerned with following it.

God’s answer to the people Habakkuk’s day is the same as it is for us.

WAKE UP!

That sounds very motivating.

“A call to awaken.”

But what does that mean? Obviously you have to be awake or you wouldn’t hear the call.

To awaken is a call to action... a call to change.

Habakkuk heard the call. He heard and he responded.

Spiritual awakening means to move from where you are to where God wants you to be.

Conviction is not repentance. It is one thing to be awakened at five o’clock in the morning, but it is another thing to get up.

Anonymous

For Habakkuk, awakening was a call to prayer.

Prayer that sought to guard Israel’s spiritual condition

I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says... Habakkuk 2:1 NLT

He accepted the post of “watchman on the wall.”

And the meaning of this analogy is...

PRAYER

Prayer for yourself

Prayer for your family

Prayer for your church

Prayer for your city

Prayer for your world

It means watching for places where the enemy wants to break through and do harm to you and yours.

That’s the meaning of our week of prayer.

AWAKENING From what sleep do we need to be awakened?

We need to be awakened from the sleep of deception.

Revelation 3:2–3 (ESV)

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

The people at the church in Sardis thought they had it all together.

Their services were rockin’

Everybody was talking about how “Alive” the church in Sardis was.

But Jesus told them: the reality is you are dead. you just don’t know it.

Coming to church isn’t enough.

Having the best worship team doesn’t get you there.

Only an active relationship with Jesus matters. And the church at Sardis had all but forgotten that.

We need to be awakened from keeping our sin in the dark

Ephesians 5:13–15 ESV

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

We need to be awakened to take our place as watchmen on the wall.

Romans 13:11–12 ESV

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

People look around you!

Can you not see?

We are losing the battle, and Jesus is coming back SOON.

If we are going to bring people to Jesus We start on our knees.

If we are going to guide our families in righteousness We start on our knees.

If we are going to remove the blinders that the enemy has placed on the eyes of this culture We start on our knees.

Become a watchman on the wall.

We need to be awakened to look for Jesus return.

When Paul says in 1 Thessalonians that Jesus’ return will be like a thief in the night...

he also says:

1 Thessalonians 5:6 ESV

So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

The lack of seeing the signs around us lulls us to sleep.

“I have time”

“I don’t have to worry about it just yet”

“I don’t have to reach my family and friends just yet”

What are you waiting for?

Conclusion:

Week of Prayer