The Holy Spirit and Revival

2024 Spring Branch

John 16:5-15

The Helper is Coming

We are preparing for revival, for a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. For the next few weeks we are going to prepare for revival.

We are going to commit to fasting and to pray for personal and church revival. We are going to confess all known sins. We are going to forgive people. We are going to put away any doubtful habits. We are going to obey Christ, and we are going to publicly confess Him where we are.

Jesus has come to finish the work of the Father, to die for sinners, to justify, to cleanse and save sinners from judgment and hell, to bring us into the household of God forever through faith.

Jesus has died for sin, once and for all. Now we respond to Him, receive Him as Lord and Savior, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and we follow Him, and abide in Him as we live out this Christian life.

Jesus is going to leave His disciples, but He will not leave them alone. He is going to send another Helper/Comforter. The Holy Spirit is going to come to the believer, and He is going to help the believer in this life.

Read John 16:5-15

1. What does the Holy Spirit do for us?

A. The believer is born again by the Spirit of God (John 3). The believer is indwelt, sealed and secured by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). The believer is immersed into Christ; you are connected to Christ in a very real and personal way.

B. The Spirit will guide you to the truth of God, making you alive to the things of God, to the heart of God, that you may know Him, and experience Him. Romans 8:15 – You know the heavenly Father, as Abba, Father… now. The Spirit testifies within our spirit that we are His children. The Spirit will teach us the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).

*The Spirit will teach us through the Word of God and will transform our minds.

C. The Spirit is going to Sanctify us. What does this mean? God is going to set you apart for Himself, and work to make you more and more like Christ.

This is God’s will and purpose for your life: To make you look more like Christ. God is never going to stop at this work. The Holy Spirit is never going to stop working on our minds and hearts… (Galatians 5:17; 1 Thess. 4:3).

Why? Because we are sinners in a sin-filled world, and it is The Holy Spirit’s desire to make you look more like Christ and this will glorify God more and more.

This is a progressive work that will not stop, and it will never be complete until glory.

*The Spirit is going to do some things:

-He is going to create joy, hope and peace. The Person of God and the Promises of God are going to fill us with awe and wonder. The love of Christ will overwhelm us and compel us forward. The Living Savior gives us a Living Hope that will never fade or fail. And the practicing of the Word of God will lead us and keep us in perfect peace (Phil. 4:7-9).

*What else?

-He is going to create conviction. Not condemnation… but conviction.

Think about this: The Holy Spirit is working inside you, testifying that you belong to God, guiding you in all of God’s truth, sanctifying you to make you look more and more like Christ, and all the while you are struggling with the world, the flesh and the devil…

The Holy Spirit is testifying to the truth and is convincing you of the truth. The Spirit is working to expose evil, reproving us (making us feel His disapproval), and is convincing people that they need the Savior.

When we sin. When we allow our minds and hearts to wonder. When we are not praying, worshipping, singing praises, reading and studying God’s Word… When we disobey Christ, live with unforgiveness, don’t serve others, sin in some way… There is conviction; there is a pain.

When you are Walking with the Spirit, there is a comfort, a joy and a peace, as you are yielding to Him.

*So, what is going on with this conviction thing?

You are no longer yielding to the Spirit. You are grieving and quenching the Spirit’s Work in your lives. And He is letting you know it… Because He loves you.

He knows what is best for you. It is best for you to yield to the Holy Spirit, to look like Christ and to experience His life… So, He brings conviction, to let you know…

*What are we to do? How are we to respond?

This is what we don’t do: We do not shrug it off and justify our actions. If the Holy Spirit is prompting you to confess sin, to put away that habit, to ask for forgiveness, or to witness for Christ… You do not turn away from these promptings…

What do we do to Walk in the Spirit?

1. You obey Christ. You obey the Holy Spirit. You obey God in that very moment… Or you are about to start becoming miserable. You are about to start feeling some pain. Your joy and peace is about to be affected.

*What do I do? Obey the leading of the Holy Spirit, confess the sin, put away the habit, forgive that person, and or confess your faith in Christ.

Be aggressive about this. Your walk is at stake. Your peace and joy in Christ is at stake. Christ’s name in your life is at stake.

(Picture) I have heard of a sore toe that led to big problems. I have heard about a little infection getting to the bone… because attention was not given to it fast enough… and things had to be cut off… death almost came to the body.

Jesus said be aggressive about this. Matthew 5:29-30 – If anything causes you to sin, cut it out, cut it off, get it away from you as fast as possible. It is going to make you stumble and fall; it is poison; it is going to hurt you and poison you spiritually.

You are not going to experience the Christian life, and enjoy His presence… unless you do these things… Blessed are those who do these things…

But what is going to happen if I allow this to go on in my life?

If you do not abide in Christ and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit, you are going to whither up, dry up, and become unfruitful.

You are going to dry up spiritually… and become spiritually sick.

You are going to begin excusing more sin, justifying more sin, allowing more sinful attitudes… You are going to quit reading the Word of God; you are going to quit praying; you are going to pick up on bad habits; grow bitter towards people; and never witness for Christ…

When we go family trips… It doesn’t take long before Selah begins to ask the repetitive question: Are we there yet? Are we getting closer? Where are we? Are we there yet?

Church: Are you there? Are you anywhere near here? Are you going there?

What do we need to do, right here, and right now?

Are we so numb and calloused to the Holy Spirit that we can do whatever we want, hold grudges, gossip, slander, backbite, watch whatever we want, listen to whatever we want, and still not feel the promptings and conviction of the Holy Spirit. Can you go for a day without prayer and Bible study without feeling a lack of spiritual nutrition?

Do you desire prayer? Do you desire the Word? What was the last time you felt conviction? Are you enjoying the Christian life, or is it dull and lifeless…?

Something is wrong. We are either lost, or we are experiencing a numbness, a spiritual sickness.

Christ has come to give you life. But you are not experiencing it. Maybe at one time you experienced it… But now… No.

What do I need? What do we need? We need revival.

In 1904, 26 year old Evan Roberts, a Welshman coal miner with very little education, sought God through prayer, and prayed for revival for 13 years. The Lord began to stir in Roberts, and he began to lead small meetings with this emphasis:

1. Obey the Holy Spirit’s Promptings. 2. Confess all known sins. 3. Put away doubtful habits. 4. Confess Christ publicly.

They prayed and practiced these things together, and the Holy Spirit moved and worked in that country, starting with a few people, to the point that almost 100,000 people came to Christ during a year. And 10 years after the Welsh Revival, over 80 percent of these converts were still in churches making progress in the Christian faith.

The Church was revived, and unbelievers were saved… When the Holy Spirit worked and people obeyed.

Church, do you want revival? Are you willing to pray daily? Are you willing to give up something for God, to fast, and pray for your spiritual life and your church? Are you willing to seek God like never before?

*Pray. Obey God’s promptings. Confess all known sin and forgive others. Put away doubtful habits.

Church family… Do you need revival? There is only Person to go to: Jesus

There is only thing we can do: Obey.

This is our prayer: “Lord revive us again!”

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*Ms. Susan Andrews joining the church. (Profession of Faith)

Having been led as we believe by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

We do now in the presence of God and this assembly most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love;

To strive for the advancement of this church in knowledge, holiness, and comfort;

To promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, doctrines, and discipline;

To contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

We also engage to maintain family and personal devotions; to spiritually educate our children by the Word of God; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances;

To walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our behavior;

To avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger;

To abstain from all addictions, and to use our influence to combat the abuse of drugs, alcohol and the use of pornography and other practices which lead to moral and spiritual decay;

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love;

To remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech;

To be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove from this place we will as soon as possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.

Church, will you please say “I will…” I will.

Susan Andrews, will you commit yourself to Christ and this church, and seek to live out this covenant?