Why I Need Revival

WHY I NEED REVIVAL

INTRODUCTION:

A STORY IS TOLD THAT IN PREPARATION FOR A MEETING IN A LARGE CITY, FAMED EVANGELIST BILLY SUNDAY WROTE A LETTER TO THE MAYOR IN WHICH HE ASKED FOR THE NAME OF INDIVIDUALS HE KNEW WHO HAD A SPIRITUAL PROBLEM AND NEEDED HELP AND PRAYER. HOW SURPRISED THE EVANGELIST WAS WHEN HE RECEIVED FROM THE MAYOR A CITY DIRECTORY.

APPLICATION

WE ARE ALL IN NEED OF REVIVAL!

"WHEN THEY KEPT ON QUESTIONING HIM, HE STRAIGHTENED UP AND SAID TO THEM, "IF ANY ONE OF YOU IS WITHOUT SIN, LET HIM BE THE FIRST TO THROW A STONE AT HER" ().

AS I ANNOUNCED EARLIER, REVIVAL SERVICES ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER, THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY, AS A MATTER OF FACT.

AND OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, THE LORD IS LEADING ME TO PREACH MESSAGES THAT WILL HELP US TO PREPARE TO HEAR THE MESSAGES THAT GOD IS STIRRING IN THE HEART OF BRO. LARAMIE.

AND SO, I THOUGHT I WOULD START THIS MORNING WITH A SERMON THAT IS VERY PERSONAL FOR ME, BUT ALSO ONE THAT I HOPE WILL CHALLENGE AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO PREPARE FOR THE LORD TO DO SOMETHING IN YOUR HEART.

1. I NEED REVIVAL BECAUSE SIN IS ALWAYS CROUCHING AT THE DOOR.

a. GENESIS 4:77 IF YOU DO WELL, WILL YOU NOT BE ACCEPTED? AND IF YOU DO NOT DO WELL, SIN IS CROUCHING AT THE DOOR. ITS DESIRE IS CONTRARY TO YOU, BUT YOU MUST RULE OVER IT.”

b. HERE’S THE THING ABOUT SIN…IT DOESN’T WAIT FOR AN INVITATION.

i. IT IS ALWAYS AT THE DOOR, IT LOOKS FOR AN OPPORTUNITY.

ii. SIN IS OPPORTUNISTIC.

1. MARRIAGE EXPERIENCING TROUBLE? SIN HAS A “REMEDY.”

2. LOST YOUR JOB? SIN HAS SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU “FEEL BETTER.”

3. BOYFRIEND BROKE UP WITH YOU? SIN HAS THREE OTHER BOYS, JUST AS SORRY AS THE ONE WHO BROKE UP WITH, JUST WAITING TO TREAT YOU AS POORLY AS HE DID.

c. IN GENESIS 4:77, GOD INSTRUCTS CAIN TO “RULE OVER” THE SIN IN HIS LIFE.

i. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? TO “RULE OVER” THE SIN IN MY LIFE?

1. THAT PHRASE “RULE OVER” COMES FROM A WORD THAT MEANS TO GOVERN SOMETHING, OR TO HAVE DOMINION OVER SOMETHING.

2. NOW DOMINION MEANS TO PREVAIL OVER SOMETHING, AS IN TO OVERPOWER IT OR BRING IT INTO SUBJECTION.

a. AND IF YOU REMEMBER IN , WHEN GOD CREATED MAN, HIS STATEMENT TO HIM WAS THAT HE WAS TO HAVE “DOMINION OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA AND OVER THE BIRDS OF THE HEAVENS AND OVER EVERY LIVING THING THAT MOVES ON THE EARTH.”

3. IT’S THE SAME CONCEPT HERE.

ii. GOD IS TELLING CAIN THAT HE IS TO GOVERN THE SIN IN HIS LIFE, TO BRING INTO SUBJECTION HIS FLESH.

iii. BECAUSE SIN IS “CONTRARY” TO HIM.

d. SO I NEED TO BE REFRESHED IN MY WALK WITH THE LORD, BECAUSE SIN IS ALSO CONTRARY TO ME.

e. I AM INSTRUCTED, IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, TO TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE TO OBEY CHRIST, BECAUSE IF I DON’T DO THIS, THE SIN THAT IS CONTRARY TO WHAT I KNOW TO BE RIGHT, IS CROUCHING AT THE DOOR, WAITING FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO AFFECT MY LIFE.

f. I NEED REVIVAL, BECAUSE SIN IS CROUCHING AT THE DOOR.

2. I NEED REVIVAL BECAUSE IT IS WAY TOO EASY TO PUT DISTANCE BETWEEN MYSELF AND CHRIST.

a. CONTAINS THE ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST MURDER IN THE BIBLE, WHEN CAIN KILLED HIS BROTHER, ABEL.

b. BUT IT ALSO CONTAINS THE FIRST INSTANCE OF GOD REJECTING AN OFFERING.

i. MANY PEOPLE HAVE UNDERSTOOD GOD’S REJECTION OF CAIN’S OFFERING TO BE BECAUSE HE DID NOT BRING AN ANIMAL SACRIFICE.

ii. BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE STATED DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OFFERINGS, WHAT YOU’LL NOTICE IS THAT CAIN’S OFFERING IS ONLY DESCRIBED AS “AN OFFERING OF THE FRUIT OF THE GROUND,” WHEREAS ABEL’S OFFERING IS DESCRIBED AS “OF THE FIRSTBORN OF HIS FLOCK AND OF THEIR FAT PORTIONS.

c. CAIN'S RESPONSE TO GOD’S REJECTION OF HIS OFFERING MAY INDICATE THAT THERE WAS A PREEXISTING PROBLEM IN CAIN'S RELATIONSHIP WITH BOTH GOD AND ABEL.

i. CAIN HAD NOT BEEN GIVING GOD HIS BEST FOR SOME TIME, AND THIS PATTERN OF SIN HAD BEEN BUILDING AND BUILDING UNTIL IT FINALLY SHOWED ITSELF IN A MAJOR WAY WHEN CAIN ROSE UP AGAINST HIS BROTHER AND KILLED HIM.

d. WHAT ONE OFFERS TO THE LORD IS MUCH MORE INDICATIVE OF THE CONDITION OF ONE’S HEART THAN IT IS ONE’S WALLET.

i. I’VE KNOWN PEOPLE WHO HAD VERY LITTLE MATERIALLY, BUT WERE INCREDIBLY GENEROUS WHEN IT GOMES TO GIVING TO THE WORK OF THE LORD.

ii. BUT WHAT WE’RE LOOKING AT HERE IS NOT JUST THE OFFERING THAT WAS GIVEN, BUT THE CONDITION OF HEART BEHIND THE OFFERING.

e. NONE OF US IS PERFECT, AND WE NEVER WILL BE, BUT IF I HAVE BEEN A CHRISTIAN FOR A LONG TIME, AND I STILL SIT ON THE FRINGES OF GOD’S WORK, IT MAY BE AN INDICATOR THAT GOD HAS NOT YET CAPTURED ALL OF MY HEART.

f. THE BELIEVER WHO LOVES GOD WILL FIND WAYS TO SERVE HIM, EVEN WHEN THE CAPACITY FOR PHYSICAL SERVICE BEGINS TO DECLINE.

i. AS I GROW OLDER, I WANT TO CONSTANTLY EXPERIENCE REVIVAL SO THAT I CAN FIND NEW AND EXCITING WAYS TO SERVE THE LORD.

g. BECAUSE IT IS WAY TOO EASY TO PUT DISTANCE BETWEEN MYSELF AND CHRIST.

3. I NEED REVIVAL BECAUSE MY ENEMY THE DEVIL IS ALWAYS PURSUING ME.

a. – 6 HUMBLE YOURSELVES, THEREFORE, UNDER THE MIGHTY HAND OF GOD SO THAT AT THE PROPER TIME HE MAY EXALT YOU, 7 CASTING ALL YOUR ANXIETIES ON HIM, BECAUSE HE CARES FOR YOU. 8 BE SOBER-MINDED; BE WATCHFUL. YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL PROWLS AROUND LIKE A ROARING LION, SEEKING SOMEONE TO DEVOUR. 9 RESIST HIM, FIRM IN YOUR FAITH, KNOWING THAT THE SAME KINDS OF SUFFERING ARE BEING EXPERIENCED BY YOUR BROTHERHOOD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. 10 AND AFTER YOU HAVE SUFFERED A LITTLE WHILE, THE GOD OF ALL GRACE, WHO HAS CALLED YOU TO HIS ETERNAL GLORY IN CHRIST, WILL HIMSELF RESTORE, CONFIRM, STRENGTHEN, AND ESTABLISH YOU.

b. JUST AS SURE AS SIN IS CROUCHING AT THE DOOR, THE FATHER OF SIN IS ALSO IN HOT PURSUIT OF ME.

c. THEREFORE, I NEED REVIVAL.

d. DESCRIBES THE DEVIL AS PROWLING AROUND, LIKE A ROARING LION, SEEKING SOMEONE TO DEVOUR.

i. AND I DON’T WANT THAT SOMEONE TO BE ME.

ii. DON’T THINK FOR A MINUTE THAT THE DEVIL CANNOT DECEIVE YOU INTO BELIEVING SOMETHING THAT IS NOT TRUE ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE, OR ABOUT YOUR CHURCH, OR ABOUT THE CHURCH IN GENERAL.

iii. HE DOES IT ALL THE TIME, AND HE USES PEOPLE HE DECEIVES TO HINDER THE WORK OF GOD IN THE CHURCH.

e. I DO NOT WANT TO BE THE PERSON THE DEVIL USES TO HINDER THE WORK OF THE CHURCH.

i. HE KNOWS HE CANNOT AFFECT MY ETERNAL DESTINY, BECAUSE I AM IN CHRIST, BUT HE KNOWS THAT HE CAN USE ME TO SLOW THE PROGRESS OF GOD’S PURPOSE IN THE CHURCH.

f. SO I NEED RENEWAL – REVIVAL – IN ORDER TO CHECK MYSELF, BEFORE I DO DAMAGE TO THE WORK OF CHRIST.

g. I NEED REVIVAL BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY ENEMY THE DEVIL IS ALWAYS IN HOT PURSUIT OF ME.

4. I NEED REVIVAL BECAUSE PEOPLE NEED JESUS.

a. I NEED TO BE MORE EVANGELISTIC.

i. THE GREATEST NEED OF OUR DAY, OR ANY OTHER DAY, IS THE NEED TO BE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.

b. I NEED TO BE A BETTER DISCIPLE-MAKER.

i. THAT “GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES” STATEMENT JESUS MADE IN IS AT THE SAME TIME A STATEMENT FOR THE CORPORATE CHURCH AND FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN.

c. I NEED TO BE MORE OF A PRAYER WARRIOR.

i. THE INSTRUCTION TO PRAY WITHOUT CEASING IS NOT A SUGGESTION, IT IS A COMMAND OF SCRIPTURE.

ii. JOHN BUNYAN - “PRAYER WILL MAKE A MAN CEASE FROM SIN, OR SIN WILL ENTICE A MAN TO CEASE FROM PRAYER.”

CONCLUSION: