A Recipe for Revival

Introduction:

When we cook, following recipes or instructions is important. As you become experienced, you still follow a recipe, it’s just that the recipe is in your head. Your dash of this is still equal to a measurement, but you’ve learned to eyeball it without taking out the measuring spoons and you and often adjust to taste.

But, there are some meals that just cannot be salvaged if you mess up the recipe. It is important to follow the instructions on the box....or else!

I had one of those moments last night. I completely ruined mine and my family’s life so bad that we had to spend all day at church because we refuse to go back home. We are taking offers to sleep at someone’s house tonight if there are any takers.

You see what happened is I decided that for our family movie last night I would make some popcorn. By the groans and the grins, I can tell that some of you have PBPS - Post Burnt Popcorn Syndrome.

Well, I put the small bag of popcorn, not the big bag, into the microwave. It was supposed to be Movie Theater Butter with extra butter. I proceeded to put 3 minutes on the microwave and walk away. I had a momentary lapse of judgment. I don’t know why I chose the number 3, but that three minutes has changed everything.

I nuclearized my popcorn. I almost turned it into diamonds. I have never in my life seen something so burnt. I knew what I had done immediately and tried to open the microwave and throw out the popcorn into the yard. The cats evacuated the premises. The house smelled worse than if tear gas had been deployed. I had to take the microwave out onto the front porch where it is still sitting and open every window and turn on every fan and even God is not happy with the mess I’ve made.

I’m telling y’all it is so bad that the neighbors have “for sale” signs up in their yards and one of my neighbors just finished building a house that he will never get to move into because of 3 minutes of scorched earth.

Now I just walk around and people in my family look at me and just shake their heads in disappointment. One of my sons even threw my church keys on the roof of the church this morning so we would have to stay here because he was so upset with me.

So I say all of that to say that you must follow the recipe or you will make a mess. Well it’s the same way with revival. We see a pattern emerge when we look at revivals in the Bible.

Tonight, let’s take a look at what the recipe is for revival in Nehemiah 9.

Nehemiah 9:1–5 ESV

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Prayer

1. Humility (v.1)

Nehemiah 9:1 ESV

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.

fasting

sackcloth

earth on their heads

All are signs of morning, longing, and humility.

The people were truly broken over the condition of their souls and their nation.

For revival to happen, God’s people have to take His holiness seriously and humble themselves seeking His visitation.

Cottage Prayer Meetings used to proceed revival meetings. These services were held in small groups to facilitate prayer and allow people to seek God’s visitation before the revival meeting.

Revival is usually not as spontaneous as we might think. It involves seeking God first.

2. Confession and Repentance (v.2)

Nehemiah 9:2 ESV

2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

The people confessed their sins.

The purpose of separating from foreigners was not ethnic cleansing but spiritual cleansing.

Who do you need to separate yourself from? You may have a friend or an influence in your life that is leading you into sin rather than into fellowship with God.

They confessed their own sins and the sins of their parents and the previous generations.

There is a connectedness we have to the past and the future. When we sin, it not only affects us in the present moment, but it can affect our families and our future generations.

Think about Achan and his sin in the Book of Joshua.

Abraham Lincoln believed that the Civil War was God’s judgment on the nation for it’s involvement in slavery.

3. Scripture Reading (v.3)

Nehemiah 9:3 ESV

3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

Scripture reading will always be a part of revival because it involves declaring to us what God has said.

This is the 3rd time the people have gathered together to hear the Law read and explained.

God’s word is living and active. It never grows dull or outdated. It will always do the work for us.

Some churches believe that we have to reinvent the wheel to reach people, and sometimes fresh approaches do help, but the main thing will always need to remain the main thing.

God’s Word is what created this world and brought it into existence out of nothing. God’s Word is also what generates life in the dead heart of a lost person.

4. Worship (v.4-5)

Nehemiah 9:4–5 ESV

4 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Worship is the natural outflow of revival. When we live in right relationship with God we worship Him as we were created to do.

If we stay in right fellowship with God, we will stay in right worship. And, if we stay in right worship, we will be compelled to right fellowship. It is an ongoing cycle that feeds itself.

Conclusion:

When any one of these ingredients for revival go missing, it is like missing a key ingredient in a recipe. It can ruin the recipe if it goes unchecked.

We will sin and fall short of God’s glory. When we do, we must come humbly before God and confess. We are assured that to confess our sins will lead to God immediately forgiving us and restoring us, but if we resist, we will be disciplined by the loving hand of the Lord.

We also must constantly be in the Scriptures in order to know what we are to do and to receive the rebuke of the Holy Spirit in a timely manner.

Finally, we must remain in worship of God because that is the ultimate goal of revival in the first place.