Reviving the Altar

Prayer

Have you ever had an experience that you wish you could have bottled up and saved forever?

An experience that if you could put into play the right formula and you could experience again, you would?

What about a time when you encountered God in a surreal way…

Remember when God’s overwhelming grace and peace covered your shame and guilt?

Have you ever experienced God in a miraculous way?

Story about SCA

Changed schools in middle school.

Church marked by the pursuit of revival.

Story of Revival breaking on the campus

Many kids called into ministry today.

2019, after death of Malachi, 100 students got saved revival swept the school again…

I texted my sister to see if she remembered it. Her response was, “How could I not?”

These are just a few examples of things I have witnessed…

I have seen the Holy Spirit fall uniquely on a remnant of believers multiple times.

Once you experience it, its like those memories soak down in the marrow of your bones.

They radically change you. They change you forever…

Last night, Pastor Chris mentioned a quote by the Vance Havner.

Havner was a man born in North Caroline who began preaching at 17 years old. He was known for his relentless defense Biblical authority.

He was best friends with Billy Graham, they met right up the road in Bible college.

In 1971, Vance Havner was preaching at a student prayer gathering that was lingering from the Jesus Movement- a revival that started in California and swept the nation like a plague.

At the end of his message, he offered an opportunity for anyone who felt like God might be calling into ministry to rise up and walk forward.

There came a man named Michael. Michael responded to this call to ministry. Havner had him sing this particular hymn- “I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.”

Michael, in response to experiencing a moment that changed him forever, was challenged by his calling and carried a deep burden for God to bring revival to our nation much like he experienced in the late 60’s early 70’s.

Michael began pastoring a church of a few hundred in 1989.

This church was known for being incredibly legalistic. Women had to wear skirts down to their ankles.

Michael was known as a prophetic preacher. He didn’t hold back. His preaching style began to drive folks away.

Those that stayed were people who heard Micheal’s heart to see revival in their church, to see it in their city, and to see it in the world.

In 2003, the church began to put aside four consecutive nights like this where they would just seek the Lord, begging for the Spirit to bring people to their knees, seeking God and surrendering all.

A result of those dedicated revival nights, many were saved, the church was revived, a school was started, out of this church came some of the first christian movies, many men and women were called into ministry, the church tripled in size and the city was impacted by their missional efforts.

The prayers of the remnant contain a discontentment.

As God began to do amazing things through this church, they continued to seek the Lord.

As Michael began to grow older, his prayers began to shift.

He began to charge his church to raise up future leaders for the next generation.

Buildings were built, efforts were redirected, but the cry for revival stayed the same.

For over a decade, a revival was what the church set it’s eyes on under the leadership of Michael.

Revival is a movement that is birthed out of prayer.

In 2015, Michael’s student pastor asked him to come speak at their student camp.

This was a bit weird. Michael was in his early seventies. Why would students want to listen to him?

In faith, he took advantage of the opportunity.

The church prayed faithfully for the 700+ students that were attending this camp.

They prayed for salvation and revival to sweep their student ministry.

They prayed that God would call future leaders for future churches…

On the last night of camp, June of 2015, Michael closes his message with a familiar invitation.

He urges, out of the 700+ students, that if anyone feels like God has not only revived their soul but has been drawing them near to answer a call to ministry, to come forward in front of everyone.

5 students went forward that night. And just like Michael, they each recited the words to that old hymn… “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back.”

Only one of those students strayed away from following God’s call.

One of them is me. Standing in front of all of those people and declaring my pursuit of Jesus was rooted in my desire to one day be standing in a place like this, preaching on this idea, and longing, not just to see a church hold a revival, but to see a revival let loose.

I think what set Him aside from many of my friends and mentors in ministry is that he understood the costs of revival…

He understood that his hands couldn’t produce a movement or create a Holy Spirit moment.

He was unapologetically truthful. He didn’t hold back. He challenged hard.

Because of his unwavering pursuit of revival, I got to experience it.

There is a price to revival.

Leonard Ravenhill writes about this a puts it bluntly saying…

Leonard Ravenhill says, “The price of revival is the sacrifice of self.”

Our cultural celebrates sacrifice backhandedly. The only sacrifice worth making is when it is to further your personal agenda, your personal gain, or your personal advantage.

The truth of God’s word is that gaining only comes by losing. By discipline, humility, and ultimately sacrifice.

God’s call to follow is a call to die… to sacrifice our comfort, our preferences, and our personal desires.

One of the saddest things I witnessed doing ministry in the South for all of my life was watching churches who failed to take sacrifices for the sake of the gospel and the generations that follow.

The Bible belt, the area of the nation incredibly influenced by cultural christianity, is experiencing a decline like never before.

Decatur, Alabama where I served for five years, at one point was the most churched city in the south.

With no exaggeration, on my way to work where I pastored, within my 12 minute drive I would pass anywhere between 12-15 protestant churches.

Imagine if there were 12-15 churches that claimed the to be a gospel church like us and from right where we are standing all the way up to Hyde Park you passed every single one of them.

The saddest realization was that although many of them had been in existence for decades, some even centuries, they had neglected the sacrifice needed to see God do a miraculous work.

Their focus was on what they could keep, manufacture, and produce rather than what they could give, seek, and offer…

One of those churches had 3 pastors in 5 years… Every pastor that came in longing to see God do a work was driven out by members who wanted nothing to change.

These churches are dying.

When we stand before God, there is nothing we can do or produce that that will be the means about which we are revived…

Why do we need revival?

When God’s people are revived, the church is revived. When the church is revived, the mission of God is revived. When the mission of God is revived, lives are changed. Lives are saved.

The world at it’s worst needs the church at it’s best.” (Michael Catt)

What is the price of experiencing your personal revival? Self- sacrifice.

In Exodus 20, God speaks clearly to his people through their Moses.

Moses, after summiting Mount Sinai, visited God and in this visit, the Lord lays out the beginning of a list of laws that would function as a guide for Israel to live in harmony with the Lord and others.

Not only was this guided directions to live in a right relationship with the Lord and others, it also was a reminder of our need for restoration.

Because of the sin of the people, the law was going to be broken if not only occasionally, frequently.

The laws given in this passage are known as the ten commandments.

You are probably familiar with most of them…

They historically were posted in schools, hospitals, and government buildings.

Families used them to refer to for disciplinary actions and accountability.

These laws were elevated within our culture. Everyone knew the ten commandments or were at least familiar with them!

You shall have no other gods before me

shall not have idols

shall not take the Lord’s name in vain

Remember the sabbath

honor your father and mother

shall not murder

shall not steal

shall not bear false witness

shall not covet

But what about the laws and directions given immediately after the ten commandments…

I’ll be honest, I grew up in the church, went to schools that were attached to churches, had my fair share of Bible classes, and NO ONE talked about the laws that followed the ten commandments.

The more I read this passage, the more I begin to see that there is no possible way to have a full understanding of God’s Word to his people without continuing to read the passage and understanding what followed those commandments.

Exodus 20:24–25 ESV

24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.

God knew that if the punishment of is people’s sin was death, death had to be the means by which the payment of sin was made…

God then follows these laws up with instructions for an altar where his people would sacrifice an animal in order to make a peace offering with the Lord.

This sacrifice was sufficient for the sins that were confessed at the altar.

So, every time his people encountered God or fell short of His commandments, an altar was built and a sacrifice was made.

This was their way of carrying out sacrifices before it was later centralized to the temple in Jerusalem.

The ability to build an altar anywhere was God’s way of providing and restoring peace while they wandered in the wilderness…

So why was an altar built and a sacrifice made?

To function as a landmark for those passing by to remember God’s faithfulness to his people.

It acknowledged God’s active presence in one’s life

To give God’s people an opportunity to right their wrongs for the sake of their standing and relationship with God.

The altar was where sins were forgiven and God’s name was glorified.

Notice God’s instruction regarding the building of the altar…

Exodus 20:25 ESV

25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.

In other words, God didn’t want his people spending their efforts on building the altar to look presentable and perfect.

God cares more about what we are doing with our hearts, not what we are doing with our hands.

We don’t necessarily care about it in that way though.

I think if our hearts were burdened for personal revival and revival in our land, we’d worry less about what we are accomplishing with our hands and it would be our knees that carry more of the load.

Why are churches dying?

Why are we losing?

Because I believe not only does our nation need reviving, but our altars do too.

When God’s people built altars, they were publically confessing their need for Jesus.

You can’t ignore the act of a sacrificial offering. Everyone who passed by saw it and smelt it.

Maybe we neglect to seek prayer, get on our knees, and create in our place an altar to confess and repent because of our pride telling us, “You don’t want other people to know you have some broken stuff going on…”

A man by the name of Ron Dunn said it best…

We are too busy trying to do what we expect God to do and are expecting God to do what He expects us to do.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV

14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Humble themselves…

No where in scripture do we see it to be God’s job to humble us…

We are too busy asking God, “Humble me. Make me teachable. Bring me to my knees.”

Instead, God expects us to HUMBLE ourselves!

What does it look like to humble ourselves?

I am so glad you asked!

JUST LOOK AT JESUS!

Jesus humbled himself by becoming like us- leaving his throne to dwell among us in our brokenness. His life was marked by total surrender to the Lord. He stood firmly in his faith. He prayed relentlessly for God’s will to be done. He lived to serve.

He gave His LIFE to the cause of redemption.

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What does it look like to humble ourselves before the Lord and to seek His face?!

Romans 12:1 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

If we want to see God do a work among our church, a work among our city, and a work among our nation, it begins with you, it begins with me…

We must humble ourselves through sacrifice.

Giving God everything we have.

Repenting from our sins.

Following Jesus, no turning back.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

A moment worth bottling up is a moment that costs you greatly.

Make an altar. Repent from your sins. Make the sacrifice- give yourself to God’s will and God’s way.

Decide to follow Jesus. Do not turn back.