Heart Cry For Revival
Heart-Cry for Revival
Intro: The ‘95 student revival: The National and International Religion Report says that the work of God which began in Brownwood, Texas has spread across numerous campuses across America. “Students are waiting in chapel lines late into the night to publicly uncover long-hidden sins. . . Students disclosed problems with bitterness, laziness, sexual immorality, pornography, alcohol, drugs, hypocrisy, materialism, past sexual abuse, and broken families. They then committed themselves to the Lord for forgiveness and deliverance,” NIRR 4/17
I. The Nature of Revival
Dictionary definition: A renewal of special interest in and attention to religious services and duties and the subject of personal salvation: a religious awakening.
Arthur Wallis in his book In The Day of Thy Power says that revival “is divine intervention in the normal course of spiritual things. It is God revealing Himself to a man in awful holiness and irresistible power. It is such a manifest working of God that human personalities are overshadowed and human programs abandoned. It is man retiring into the background because God has taken the field.”
Charles Finney defines revival as “...nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.”
Stephen Olford in his book Heart-Cry for Revival defines revival this way:
“Revival is that strange and sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring, reanimating and releasing them into the fullness of His blessing. Such a divine intervention will issue in evangelism though, in the first instance, it is a work of God in the church and amongst individual believers.”
The best definition of revival comes from the Scriptures in the phrase: “Times of refreshing...from the Lord.” Acts 3:19 This comes from Peter’s second sermon after the crippled beggar was healed at the temple. (Acts 3:19-20 NIV) Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, {20} and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus.
It is the cry of the prophet Habakkuk: (Hab 3:2 NIV) LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
Note: Two Hebrew words for revival:
1. “shuwb” = to turn back, turn away, return again (Hosea 6:1)
2. “chayah” = to live, make live, having life (Hosea 6:2; Hab 3:2; Isa 57:15).
II. The Need for Revival
A. The condition of the world
George Barna, in a recent poll, says that evangelicals represent only 6% of the adult population in America -- a decline of 50% in just three years.
B. The condition of the church
III. The Reasons for Revival
A. To put away God’s displeasure -- Psalm 85:4-5
(Psa 85:4-5 NIV) Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. {5} Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
B. To renew God’s people -- Psalm 85:6-9
(Psa 85:6-9 NIV) Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? {7} Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation. {8} I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints-- but let them not return to folly. {9} Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
IV. The Conditions for Revival
Revival is the sole prerogative of God. Then why does God withhold revival? God cannot fill those who are not open to His revival fullness. We have to be receptive vessels.
Revival comes to those who have:
1. A passion for the holiness of God --
The basic concept of holiness in Scripture is separation. God is holy because He is separate from all of His creation. But these is also a moral aspect to the holiness of God which points to His majestic purity. God cannot condone or look upon sin. (Job 34:10 NIV) "So listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong.
(Hab 1:13 NIV) Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
(Exo 15:11 NIV) "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you-- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
(Lev 11:44-45 NIV) I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. {45} I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
(1 Chr 16:29 NIV) ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
(2 Chr 20:21 NIV) After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever."
(Psa 29:2 NIV) Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
(Psa 30:4 NIV) Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name.
KJV = “Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.”
(Psa 89:35 NIV) Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness-- and I will not lie to David--
(Psa 93:5 NIV) Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O LORD.
(Psa 96:9 NIV) Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.
(Psa 97:12 NIV) Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.
(Isa 6:2-3 NIV) Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. {3} And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
(Isa 57:15 NIV) For this is what the high and lofty One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
(Amos 4:2 NIV) The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness: "The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.
(Zec 14:20 NIV) On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the Lord's house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar.
Zechariah’s songs was: The people of God will serve the Lord (Luke 1:75 NIV) in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
(John 17:11 NIV) I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one.
(Eph 4:30 NIV) And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
2. A passion for purity -- Ex 19:6; 22:31; Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:26; 21:7;
Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:19; Isa 35:8; Rom 6:19; 22; 2 Cor 7:1; Eph 4:24; 1 Th 3:13; 4:7; 1 Tim 2:15; Titus 2:3; Heb 12:10, 14.
(Exo 19:6 NIV) you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."
(Exo 22:31 NIV) "You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.
The priests are to be holy:
(Lev 11:44 NIV) I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground.
(Lev 11:45 NIV) I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
(Lev 19:2 NIV) "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
(Lev 21:7 NIV) "'They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.
(Lev 20:26 NIV) You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
(Deu 7:6 NIV) For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
(Deu 14:2 NIV) for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession.
(Deu 26:19 NIV) He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.
(Isa 35:8 NIV) And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.
(Rom 6:19 NIV) I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
(Rom 6:22 NIV) But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
(2 Cor 7:1 NIV) Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
(Eph 4:24 NIV) and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
(1 Th 3:13 NIV) May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
(1 Th 4:7 NIV) For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
(1 Tim 2:15 NIV) But women will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
(Titus 2:3 NIV) Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
(Heb 12:10 NIV) Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
(Heb 12:14 NIV) Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
3. A passion for prayer -- II Chron 7:1,14; Psalm 138:3; Jer 33:3; Luke 18:1; Acts 1:13-14; James 5:16
(2 Chr 7:1 NIV) When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
(2 Chr 7:14 NIV) if my people, who are called by my name, will 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.
(Psa 138:3 NIV) When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.
(Jer 33:3 NIV) 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'
(Luke 18:1 NIV) Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
(Acts 1:13-14 NIV) When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. {14} They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
(James 5:16 NIV) Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Illustration of 1857 fulton Street Prayer Meeting:
In 1857 a New York business man by the name of Jeremiah Lanphier gave up his business to become a missionary to the city. He became so burdened for the city that he put up an advertisement for a prayer meeting for revival to be held at noon each Wednesday at the Dutch Church on Fulton Street.
On the day of the first prayer meeting Lanphier waited and waited and no one showed up until one half hour into the prayer meeting 6 men came. The next week 20 came and the Fulton Street Prayer Meeting was begun. Then they decided to meet daily for prayer. In 6 months 10,000 business men were meeting every day to pray for revival. Within two years a million converts had been added to the American churches.
(2 Chr 7:1 NIV) When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
(Acts 1:13-14 NIV) When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. {14} They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
4. A passion for souls -- Ps 126:6
(Psa 126:6 NIV) He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
Illustration: The passion of Jesus -- Mt 23:37 (Lk 13:34); Jn 4:4
(Mat 23:37 NIV) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
(John 4:4 NIV) Now he had to go through Samaria.
Illustration: The passion of Paul -- Acts 17:16; Rom 9:3
(Acts 17:16 NIV) While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
(Rom 9:3 NIV) For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,
Illustration: The passion of Moses -- Ex 32:31-32
(Exo 32:31-32 NIV) So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. {32} But now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."
Conclusion: Revival must always be personal.
“Change me . . . LORD!
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”
Psalm 139;23
Gipsy Smith was once asked how to start a revival.
He answered: “Go home, lock yourself in your room, kneel down in the middle of your floor, Draw a chalk mark all around yourself and ask God to start the revival inside that chalk mark. When He has answered your prayer, the revival will be on.”