My Country's Need For Revival
Notes
Transcript
Series: Sacred Motives: 10 Reasons to Get up Tomorrow and Live for God
Date: January 6, 2013
Title: SACRED MOTIVE-#9-My Country’s Need for Revival
Text: Psalm 85:6; Nehemiah 1
Series Introduction:
Living for God is not only our sacred privilege as Christians, but it is the most fulfilling, rewarding life possible. In the heart of every Christian, God has placed sacred motives-compelling reasons to live for Him and serve Him.
Sometimes in the midst of our service we lose sight of why we do what we do. We slip into a pattern of empty routines or misguided ambitions.
Through this series of sermons you will be challenged to take a thorough spiritual inventory- to allow the Holy Spirit of God to explore the deepest motives of your soul and to reignite your passion for what pleases Him.
What drives you? What causes you to wake up every day and live the Christian life?
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
Are your motives pleasing to Christ, and are you driven by what drives Him?
Motives do matter-they are the foundations of our lives with God, our hearts are for Him, and our service unto Him.
Wrong motives produce an empty life and a ministry that is not sustainable. Pure motives sustain our passion for God and thus sustain our work for Him-even during the dry, discouraging or seemingly fruitless seasons of our lives.
Living the Christian life with less than pure and Biblical motives will produce fruitless, empty, and ultimately shipwrecked lives. Some examples of impure motives:
Guilt
Opportunity
Money
Duty
Affirmation
These motivators hinge on human resources (either our own or someone else’s) and fail to draw in the unlimited passion that God desires to give to His servants.
We need Biblical, Christ centered, and Holy motivations!!! The kind that flow from the heart of God and the pages of the Word of God!!!
The motives that we have studied so far:
The Glory of God
A lost World
My Acceptance in Christ
The Word of God
The Love of Christ
Christ is worthy of our all-our purest love from our deepest devotion!!
Series Text:
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
Title: SACRED MOTIVE #9-My Country’s Need For Revival
Text: Psalms 85:6; Nehemiah 1
6 Wilt thou not revive us again: That thy people may rejoice in thee?
Introduction:
Introduction:
My country needs revival. Most nations of the world need revival. Most Christians need revival.
Much of the world is becoming more Islamic and anti-Christian overnight. Politically, economically, and spiritually there is an obvious platform taking shape for the coming antichrist and an eventual one-world government and religion.
Even as our world stands in peril and in desperate need of revival, we are simultaneously witnessing a weakening of convictions and a loss of spiritual fervor among many Christians in many nations.
Christendom is growing increasingly lukewarm and unstable theologically-especially in America.
As the world is increasingly ripe for the fulfillment of end-times prophecy, so are the hearts of men ripe for the gospel and an end-time harvest of souls.
“the darker the night, the brighter the light.”
True Patriotism:
Thankful for our forefathers who pledged “their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” to sign the Declaration of Independence.
These men knew that patriotism was more than grabbing a rifle and charging the enemy, it involved giving whatever was necessary to uphold the God given values of freedom and equality that they had come to embrace. For many Patriotism meant giving their lives, their families, and their fortunes. They purchased freedom at a heavy personal expense.
Thankful for those and the ones serving today, but we need more than the patriotism of the soldier or the flag.
We seem to have lost our moral compass and our willingness to sacrifice for the biblical values of truth and righteousness.
Today, we need the kind of patriotism that Nehemiah embraced. Nehemiah’s nation was in desperate trouble, the walls were burnt down, the enemies of the Lord mocked the nation’s disgrace.
Nehemiah decided to give his life for the cause of revival in his nation.
That is what we need today, godly men and women who motivated by the need for revival will wholly give themselves to ministry.
I believe that the answer to our nations problems are spiritual in nature.
I believe that the answer to our nations problems are spiritual in nature.
Many of the traits present in Nehemiah’s life can be present in our lives as well!!
May each of us live with the compelling motivation to see God bring revival to our land.
How did Nehemiah specifically give his life so that his nation would be revived?
How did Nehemiah specifically give his life so that his nation would be revived?
I. Motivated to True Prayer- Nehemiah 1:4-5
I. Motivated to True Prayer- Nehemiah 1:4-5
“When we are too busy to pray, and so too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity but accomplish little. Many services but few results.” R.A. Torrey
James 5:16 “16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
II. Motivated to Live with Purity-Nehemiah 1:6-7
II. Motivated to Live with Purity-Nehemiah 1:6-7
One of the first things to do is acknowledge and confess sin. He expressed a repentant heart toward the sins of his nation.
The need for revival points us to keep our hearts right with God and our homes and ministries fervent for Him.
Proverbs 28:13
13- He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Turn to Ephesians 4.30-5.2
Ephesians 4:30–5:2 “30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. 1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
Quote- “Often we do not experience personal revival because we are more in love with our sin than we are in love with Jesus Christ.”
Quote- “Often we do not experience personal revival because we are more in love with our sin than we are in love with Jesus Christ.”
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: But the Lord pondereth the hearts.
Pondereth=To veiw with deliberation, to examine
When revival comes, our love for God reignites and brings with it a greater dsigust towards our sin. In God’s process of revival, this love for Him is growing brighter and hotter.
Revival should not merely be a moment in time, or a calendar event, it should be the constant norm of a Christian growing in God’s grace.
Unconfessed, unrepented of sin becomes a limiting force in the life of a believer, we need to ask God to help us discern these “limiters” that we have allowed in our lives, that have kept us from reaching our full potential and usefulness for God.
Confess them forsake them and start living your life for God.
If we are going to experience revival it will happen when we are moved to pray and live lives that are pure.
III. Motivated to Engage Personally- Nehemiah 2:1-11
III. Motivated to Engage Personally- Nehemiah 2:1-11
He did not just have some idealistic burden; he was personally involved.
He built the walls with his own hands; His burden led him to service!!!
Nehemiah’s primary concern was the spiritual welfare of the people.
Our nation needs more in number and more in obedient churches. We need Christians who will personally and faithfully engage in local church ministry.
IV. Motivated to Endure- Nehemiah 6:1-4
IV. Motivated to Endure- Nehemiah 6:1-4
He face ridicule, criticism, discouragement, temptation, false accusations, and a call to compromise, yet he persisted- he faithfully endured to fulfill the call of God.
Paul faced the same circumstances:
2 Corinthians 4:1
1- Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2 Corinthians 4:8-10
8- We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we areperplexed, but not in despair;
9- Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10- Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
For revival to come Christians must be willing to endure.
Lost people want to know 3 things: what you believe, why you believe it, and what difference it will make if they believe it.
V. Motivated to Sacrifice
V. Motivated to Sacrifice
Nehemiah prayed with compassion and fervency, he made it his purpose to seek the spiritual welfare of the city and nation.
He perservered through criticisms, attacks, and discouragement. And in the end he did what his enemies said couldn’t be done- he was instrumental in the revival of the people to build a great wall around the city!!!
This kind of revival requires great personal sacrifice…
Revival does not come accidentally, it comes as God’s people live sacrificially in seeking His face, repenting of sin, and giving themselves to His call.
Revival does not come accidentally, it comes as God’s people live sacrificially in seeking His face, repenting of sin, and giving themselves to His call.
America’s greatest need is Jesus, and God has called you and me to make a difference. He has called(commanded) us to be salt and light in this difficult hour.
Your spiritual influence is desperately needed.
It’s not difficult to be motivated to spiritual service and faithfulness when you see the needs of our nation.
Easier than we think to grow accustomed to the events around us.
Example: winter weather, two to three weeks below freezing then suddenly we get a 35 degree day.
If you find yourself lacking motivation, lacking a reason to seek personal and national revival just look around you…
See the spiritual side of people…realize that the majority of people that you meet this week are going straight to Hell when they die!!!
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Reading Nehemiah is both sobering and inspiring…
realizing that a nation gone far into sin can experience revival brings hope.
Realizing that it takes a Christian to be given over to God for revival brings conviction…
yielding to this call will require change…
Are you willing to be involved for revival in our nation, state, cities, church, homes, lives, life?
SACRED MOTIVE #9 My Country’s Need for Revival Putting the Motive into Practice:
As we close this chapter, I encourage you to review the list of Nehemiah’s attributes outlined below and ask some soul-searching questions regarding their presence in your life and how you can take steps to grow in these areas:
Motivated to fervent prayer:
—Do I daily spend time in prayer?
Confession of sin, praise for what you are thankful for, praise for God’s attributes-power, holiness, mercy, etc., then pray for your needs and the needs of others.
—Do I have a prayer list that includes current national needs and the names of those who lead my country?
—Do I regularly and earnestly pray for revival?
Motivated to live with purity:
—Do I keep short accounts with God, regularly seeking His forgiveness when I sin?
—How long has it been since my heart was broken, contrite before God over the sin in my own life?
—Is there an area in my life in which I know I am currently resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit?
Motivated to engage in ministry:
—In what areas of personal ministry through my local church am I currently involved?
—Am I diligent and faithful to keep my ministry commitments?
—Is there an additional ministry in which the Holy Spirit has been prompting me to engage?
Motivated to endure:
—What trials or resistance am I currently facing? Or what type of resistance in the past has been most wearisome to me?
—Am I facing a temptation to compromise my faith?
—Which Scripture verses or passages should I memorize and review to strengthen my endurance for Christ?
Motivated to sacrifice:
—Have I made any personal sacrifices for the cause of Christ or for the sake of revival?
—Do I love my God and the people of my nation enough to give myself to prayer and to personally engage in faithfully sharing the Gospel?
Am I willing to yield myself to the cause of revival—for a lifetime or until Christ returns?
Am I willing to yield myself to the cause of revival—for a lifetime or until Christ returns?
