Untitled Sermon (5)

Ground Zero of Revival – Unity Revival Focus: The Bible gives teaches us that God graciously provides revival when Christians humble themselves, pray, seek Him, and turn away from sin. Jesus Revolution – 1970’s I had an interesting conversation this past week about revival. I ran into Craig, a gentleman who was from Long Beach, California. He told me that he had gotten saved in the Jesus Revolution of the 70’s. He was in the navy and stationed nearby. In addition to helping produce the last record of Keith Green (the record was never released), he told me about the ‘environment’ of the revival. He said that there was a shared love among all the people. Not an awkward or weirdness, just a common love for people of all sizes, shapes, and backgrounds. Salvations were common. He told me that they used to choose people to get saved. They would identify a friend or just anyone and tell them that they were going to a concert. Musicians had been saved and would agree to play at even small events. On the ride there, they told the person about Jesus. The new friend experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and many were saved this way. It was common. God Promises to Hear, Forgive, and Heal We started to look at characteristics of revivals – I’ve referred to them as things we find at ground zero. I’d like to go back into the OT this morning and point out the pleasure of God to promise healing, forgiveness, and healing to national Israel if they would wholeheartedly serve Him. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) 14if 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. This is at the opening of Solomon’s temple. Up to this point, God’s chosen sacrificial site had been the Tabernacle – first the wilderness temple and then most recently, David’s temple. There was no mention of the tabernacle in Judges but following Judges we see mentions of Shechem, Gilgal, Shiloh, and Jerusalem. Now it would be a fixed temple in Jerusalem. God was pleased to move from one venue to the other, but His presence was predicated by humility, prayers, desire (need), and repentance of the people. At Ground Zero of Revivals, You’ll Find Humility and Prayer God lays out 4 characteristics of believers that He expects: humility, prayer, desire (need), and repentance. In last week’s sermon we covered ‘need’ and ‘repentance’. This week I want to spend some time discussing humility and prayer. Humility Ok, let’s get the pronunciation correct! The city to our east is (H)umble. I don’t know why there is no pronunciation of the ‘H’. I guess the founder didn’t like ‘H’s’. According to the dictionary, it is pronounced HUHM-buhl. The definition is “to reduce (someone) in rank, character or status”. Seth Roberts was a Welshman who had been praying for many years for God to give him Wales. In an early morning meeting at Blaenanarch chapel, Seth prayed publicly, “O God, bend us. Evan Roberts, a young minister in training went forward where he prayed with great agony, “O God, bend me.” After this Roberts began to have visions from the Holy Spirit: very specific visions, such as the number 100,000 representing the souls God intended to use him to save. Christian historian and theologian John Stott gives this insight: “The story of the Welsh Revival is astounding.… A hundred thousand outsiders were converted and added to the churches.… Crime was so diminished that judges were presented with white gloves attesting that there were no cases of murder, assault, rape or robbery, or the like to consider. Local police became unemployed in many districts. Slowdowns occurred in coal mines, not due to unpleasantness between management and workers, but because so many foul-mouthed miners became converted and stopped using foul language that the horses which hauled the coal trucks in the mines could no longer understand what was being said to them, and transportation slowed until the horses learned the language of Canaan.”[1] It is amazing what happens when men and women come to God with the cry, “O God, bend us”! James Packer in his book, Your Father Loves You, references 3 statements by Paul - · I am the least of the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:9 · I am the very least of all the saints. Ephesians 3:8 · I am the foremost of sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15 Humility bows down and then rises in praise. Humility and a passion for praise are a pair of characteristics which together indicate growth in grace. The Bible is full of self-humbling (man bowing down before God) and doxology (man giving praise to God). The healthy heart is one that bows down in humility and rises in praise and adoration. The Psalms strike both these notes again and again. So too, Paul in his letters both articulates humility and breaks into doxology. Look at his three descriptions of himself quoted above, dating respectively from around A.D. 59, 63, and 64. As the years pass he goes lower; he grows downward! And as his self-esteem sinks, so his rapture of praise and adoration for the God who so wonderfully saved him rises. God is always trying to draw the attention of the people to Himself. John 11 says, John 12:32 (NIV) 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Humility is not about beating ourselves up, it is about killing our pride and lifting up Jesus Christ for others to see! Prayer This passage begins with the Lord’s statement: 2 Chronicles 7:12 (NIV) 12the Lord appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. I love the statement “I have heard your prayer..”! This is important for us to recognize. God hears our prayers…He even inclines toward our prayers. Perhaps 10 years ago we had an evangelist by the name of Joe Oden. Joe was saved from the streets, attended Teen Challenge, was influenced by Steve Hill (Brownsville Revival). He is now the director of the World Prayer Center and serves as the AG national prayer and evangelism director. At the beginning of this month, he held a focused prayer meeting for revival. 200 people attended. If 2 men can pray a revival into existence in Wales, what can 200 do in America? James 5:16 (NIV) 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Pray as though Prayer Changes Things – It Does! The apostle Paul gladly announces that we are ‘co-laborers with God’; that is, we are working with God to determine the outcome of events. It is Stoicism that demands a closed universe, not the Bible.” Question: Does God want to reveal His will to us? Answer – 1. Abraham – God revealed his plan of destruction for Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham prays for Sodom and Gomorrah. We see the opportunity for intercession for others. Back to the point, we see that God wanted Abraham to know His will. 2. Daniel – God revealed dreams and gave prophecies 3. Paul – taken to the 3rd heaven where God revealed things Paul couldn’t discuss 4. Peter – God’s inclusion of the Gentiles into the plan of redemption was revealed to him 5. John – the Revelation of Jesus Christ Praying at All Times Some may be saying, “Pastor Mark, I am so busy right now, there is no time for me to pray.” I get it. There are seasons of our lives when things get very busy but let me offer some advice, make prayer simultaneous with your life. One person has said, “It takes no time, but it occupies all our time.” · Sitting in the car rider line? – pray · Can’t go to sleep? – pray · Driving to the next delivery? – pray · Worried about a situation you can’t get your mind off? – pray · Evaluate your time. Where is it going? Is that the best investment? - Pray Eph 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. NIV Start Changing “To pray is to change” – Richard Foster. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. The book of Acts and the letters of the Apostles show us that it became a lifestyle for them:

· Prayer in the Upper Chamber · Prayer for a Successor · Prayer and Worship · Prayer As an Observance · Prayer for Boldness of Witness · Prayer and the Ministry of the Word · Prayer of the First Martyr · Prayer for Samaritans and a Sorcerer · Prayer of a Convert · Prayer for Dorcas, · Prayer of Cornelius · Prayer for Peter in Prison · Prayer of Ordination · Prayer with Fasting · Prayer at the Riverside · Prayer in a Dungeon · Prayer of Committal · Prayer in a Shipwreck · Prayer for the Fever-Stricken

In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God’s thoughts after him: to desire the things he desires, to love the things he loves, to will the things he wills.

I’m not asking you to do anything more than allow God to bring you deeper into a prayer journey with Him. Let’s see where it goes!

Revival Brings the Promises of God

We’ve talked last week about recognizing our need. This week we’ve specifically discussed humility and prayer. I don’t want us to go away thinking that we are finding pry bars to move God for revival. These things are not tools, they are responses to the goodness of God. Consider the promise of God to Israel:

2 Chronicles 7:14–16 (NIV) 14..., then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

Consider the response of the lame man:

Acts 3:7–9 (NIV) 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God,

Throughout the Bible there are calls to “revive us again”. If you travel north on I45 you’ll see the large statue of Sam Houston before you get to Huntsville. The statue never complains of [hunger] and is not affected either by heat or cold, because it is not alive. We have our changes because we have life. We have our ups and downs, our times of rain and drought. It is because we are alive that we need to be revived. “God, revive us again!”

Note; Next message: (It is God’s Fire)

The pure theism of that prayer—its acknowledgment of the unity of God as well as of His moral perfections in providence and grace, came from the same divine source as the miraculous fire[2]

[1]John Stott, The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott, ed. Mark Meynell (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018). [2]Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 269.