The Truths Of Revival 1-Intro_sun 09-21-08
The Truths of Revival-1-OT -Jacob_SUN 09-21-08
§ Introduction {TT – Genesis 28}
w We’re going on a mutual journey – to discover –
Ÿ The Truths of Revival
Þ Every Christian speaks and thinks of revival.
§ All true Christians want revival.
w Note: all who call themselves Christians aren’t.
I know. For years I considered myself a Christian, but wasn’t.
Þ But not all Christians have a clear understanding of it.
§ Like the weather – we talk about it, but …
w … until the last 50 years, not well understood.
§ One mark of developing wisdom is …
w … realizing how little we know.
IE: During hurricanes Gustav & Ike
Meteorologists kept referring to Cone of Uncertainty.
Represents demarcation between what we know & don’t know.
w My assignment is to take a detailed look into subject: Revival:
Ÿ What it is; What it isn’t.
Ÿ How and why it starts.
Ÿ How to recognize it.
Ÿ How and why they end.
Ÿ Even take a look at what we don’t know!!!
w Going to look at it from two viewpoints:
Ÿ Scriptural History.
Ÿ Post Biblical History (Revivals since Bible completed.)
w Look at the impact that Revival has:
Ÿ How it affects individuals.
Ÿ How it affects groups.
Ÿ How it affects churches and movements.
Ÿ How it affects those outside of the Body of Christ.
w No idea how long this will take. This is a huge topic.
Þ I’ve studied it for 20 years and still feel like a novice.
Ÿ So Lord will guide us as to how at He wants us …
Þ … to benefit from this study.
w Ask you all to pray for and with me over this study.
Ÿ Let’s grow together in the things of God, Amen?
É Begin in the O.T.:
§ Jacob’s Return to Bethel - A Revival of One.
w One of earliest stories of Revival.
w Keep in mind – Jacob a real, normal person.
Ÿ Jacob – supplanter - n : one who wrongfully or illegally seizes and holds the place of another [syn: usurper]
Ÿ Born a twin (Esau) of Isaac and Rebekah.
Þ At time of birth father (Isaac) was about 60.
Þ Grandfather was about 160.
Ÿ Had a quiet and gentle disposition like his father, but …
Þ … he also had a selfish, sneaky side.
§ Tricked brother into trading his birthright for …
w … a bowl of red bean stew (Chili?). (25:29-34)
w Birthright:
Ÿ Double portion of family estate.
Ÿ Judicial authority over the next generation.
§ With help from mother, tricked father (Isaac) into …
w … giving him the blessing of the elder son. (27)
w Blessing:
Ÿ Becomes spiritual link from Abraham.
Ÿ Conduit for the Abrahamic Covenant
§ Think of it:
w In natural- should have been:
Ÿ Abraham, Isaac, and Esau!!!
Ä I believe Esau could have recouped his legacy.
His sin, was not respecting God and his inheritance.
A major sin, yet today!
Had he repented of that sin, I believe God may have …
… intervened, but :
® Hebrews 12:16-17 (NKJV) - 16lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
Ÿ Jacob flees to Haran to Rebecca’s brother, Laban.
Þ On way has “Jacob’s Ladder” Dream at Bethel
§ Bethel = “House of God”
§ God confirms the covenant blessing.
§ Jacob completes the covenant by a vow:
Genesis 28:20-22 (NKJV) - 20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth [Tithe] to You.”
Þ Not a minor event!!!
§ Think about it – Jacob didn’t qualify for God’s blessing …
w … any more than Esau did, except for HERE!!!
® Romans 3:23 (KJV) - 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Þ Said another way:
§ “Believing and Confessing God’s blessing is …
w … God’s means to salvation (blessing).
Ÿ Make a mental note:
Þ THIS was a type of salvation.
Þ THIS represents when Jacob “got saved.”
Ä Didn’t get “born again” back then, but they did “accept the Messiah”!!!
Þ Why so important? This is when he got “Vived”.
Þ For a person/group to be REvived, they must first …
§ … have been Vived! Amen!
w Jacob goes off and falls in love with Rachel.
Ÿ Agrees to work for her father for 7 years for her hand.
Ÿ Laban deceives him and substitutes …
Þ … Rachel’s older sister, Leah.
§ (Jacob reaps some real problems from …
w … his days of deception here.)
Ÿ He agreed to work another 7 yrs for Rachel.
Þ For some time we hear nothing more concerning …
§ … Jacob’s devotion toward the Lord, except, ….
§ … Laban see’s Jacob’s prosperity (tithe?), and …
§ … tries to take advantage of it.
Þ In the end, God grants Jacob favor at Laban’s expense.
Ÿ The Lord prompts Jacob to leave and there’s …
Þ … a bit of a chase, but they finally break free.
§ This is when Jacob wrestles w/ “a man” all night.
w This event precipitates Jacob’s REVIVAL:
Ÿ Note: he just went over and back – steam named Jabbok.
Þ Jabbok = (Heb) a pouring out or an emptying.
Genesis 32:24-30 (NKJV) - 24Then Jacob was left alone [ultimately, revival is about you and God – you can be in the middle of revival and get NOTHING!]; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.”[This was a type of repentance – what does “Jacob” mean?] 28And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel [“contender for God”; “Prince with God” or “a God-governed man.”]; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. 30So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
§ Note: at Bethel (at the House of God) Jacob was …
w … introduced to God and assured of his salvation.
w Here God touched Jacob’s heart.
§ At Peniel (at the Face of God) Jacob was …
w … introduced to sanctification.
w Here God touched Jacob’s life.
w What about?:
25Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
Ÿ Even though Jacob entered into this “pouring out”, …
Þ … yielding completely to God is not easy.
§ Obviously God could have prevailed at any time, but …
w … not in the natural.
§ God finally supernaturally touched Jacob’s hip.
w Our thigh/hip is the strongest muscle/joint.
Ÿ Seeking ALL of God means leaving ALL of self behind.
Þ If you don’t think that’s a fight, you’re in for a surprise!!!
É But Jacob finally understood sanctification.
§ “And they lived happily ever after”? No!
w Perhaps you’ve heard me say that –
Ÿ “Sanctification is a process!”
Ÿ There may well be a beginning when (after salvation), you …
Þ … begin to desire to live holy before God.
Ÿ But it takes time to work that out. Why?
Þ Because sanctification involves the soul (mind).
Þ Unlike the heart that is reborn instantly, …
§ … the mind is renewed over time by God’s Word.
w I wish I could tell you that Jacob never sinned after that.
Ÿ Look at the second word in the next chapter (33):
Þ He is still referred to as “Jacob”.
§ God changed his name, but it’s not sticking.
§ This is type of our sin nature hanging on.
w Though he was granted favor in his reunion with his …
w … brother, Esau, … over time the things of the world sneak in.
Ÿ In Chapter 34 –
Þ Note: bad things happen as we interact with the world!
Þ Jacob’s daughter Dinah is violated.
Þ To make matters worse -
§ Jacob’s sons (Simeon & Levi) end up revenging by…
w … murdering all the men of that city and …
w … plundering the city as well.
§ Re-revival!!!
w The good news is – God doesn’t give up on us – turn to:
Notice that God is referred to about twenty times in chapter 35, in contrast to no references in chapter 34.
w Once again, God calls him Jacob, but reminds him of …
Ÿ … his new name.
Þ (He will put you into remembrance, too!)
Genesis 35:1-15 (NKJV) - 1Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
w “Go back to the House of God.”
w “Go back to your source of faith.”
Ÿ Reminds me of:
® Galatians 3:1-3 (NKJV) - 1O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 3Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
Ÿ We all have a tendency to look to the …
Þ … natural or to religion when faced with trouble.
§ But if we are listening (are you listening?) …
w … God will tell us exactly what to do, in order to …
w … get back on track:
2And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. [This verse tells us a lot about their spiritual condition.] 3Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” 4So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.
Þ Things get into our lives that …
§ … though we may value them, …
§ … they need to be buried!!!
Þ Once you do – the protection of God is reestablished!:
5And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
§ In interest of time, skip to verse 9:
6So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother. 8Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth. 9Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 10And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.
Þ It’s revival time again!
§ And once again, God reaffirms His covenant with him:
11Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” 13Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. 14So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. 15And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.
§ Conclusion
w What can we learn from Jacob’s revival(s)?
Ÿ God wants to show you who you are, …
Þ … compared with who you were meant to be.
Þ Then, He wants to show you the path to get there:
§ We can’t get there by “being perfect”.
§ We can’t get there by “never making another mistake”.
Þ No – we get there through …
§ … a humble, contrite heart.
w And none of us get there just because we “want” to!
Ÿ We get there through brokenness.
Ÿ We get there by yielding ourselves to God.
Þ Again, and again if necessary.
Problem with a “living sacrifice” is it keeps trying to crawl off the altar!
w Brokenness comes first by –
Ÿ Pouring ourselves out before Him – emptying ourselves.
Þ There may well be a battle here!
Þ Your flesh won’t give up easily!!!
Ÿ Then by rejecting who or what you’ve become, …
Þ … in favor of what God’s purpose for you is.
Ÿ And you’ll need to confess that purpose often!
w We have to return to God’s Word often, AND …
Ÿ … let it GOVERN your life!
Þ If we don’t, James describes:
James 1:21-26 (NKJV) - 21Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
Ÿ We often interpret the “bridle” in verse 26 as a gag.
Þ IOW – to not say anything.
Þ Not true – a bridle has 2 functions.
§ It determines the directions to go in.
w IE: what to say.
§ It determines the directions NOT to go in.
w “What NOT to say!”
Ÿ If it’s not doing both, not doing it’s job.