A Longing for Revival

"A LONGING FOR REVIVAL!"

ISAIAH 64:1-9

INTRO: The word "revive”means "to come back to life or consciousness, to come

back to health or vigor, to be useful and flourish again." It implies that

we, as God's people, have reached a state of spiritual slumber,

sickness, and apathy. Revivals are something that must be rehearsed

over and over in our lives because we are creatures prone to sin! But

before we can experience revival we must realize there is a problem-A

problem common to all of us-S-I-N!

W. Graham Scroggie said, "There never has been a spiritual revival

which did not begin with an acute sense of sin." (Albert M. Wells, Jr.

Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary & Classical. p. 171).

Lamentations 3:40 says, "Let us search and try our ways,and turn

again to the LORD." If we are not growing and prospering as a Church

and as a people,there must be a problem with sin! That is why it is

so important for each member of this body to give themselves totally

to God and His purposes! We have a misconception of what sin is!

Romans 14:23b says, "For whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

I want to speak tonight on, "A Longing For Revival!" If we want to

see revival it must begin with us! 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "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."

That's where it must start with each of us totally-committed to God!

This will produce an intense longing for God, which we need to see in

our midst!

We often have a tinted view of revival as a time of glory and joy and

swelling numbers queuing to enter the churches. That is only part of

the story. Before the glory and joy, there is conviction; and that begins

with the people of God. There are tears of godly sorrow. There are

wrongs to put right, secret things...to be thrown out, and bad

relationships, hidden for years, to be repaired openly. If we are not

prepared for this, we had better not pray for revival. - Brian Edwards

Vance Havner said, “Revival is falling in love with Jesus all over

what each of us need! We need that longing! We need that desire! I

want you to notice tonight that…

WHEN WE LONG FOR REVIVAL THERE WILL BE:

(1) A REAL NEED FELT

ISAIAH 64:1—“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou

wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy

presence.”

*When we are less close to God today then we were the day before we need

revival! There Is A Need For:

A. A REVIVAL OF GOD'S PEOPLE. Folks, if we are going to experience

revival we must heed the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:33—“But seek ye

first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be

added unto you.” One of the things that plagues our Church and Churches

across this land today is the lack of proper priorities. A preacher was once

asked how many active members he had in his church. He replied, "They all

are active! Some are active for the Lord and the rest are active for the devil."

commanded in Colossians 3:1-2—“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those

things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set

your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Our Church will

never grow nor reach its full potential for the Lord until each of us become

faithful to the Lord! THERE IS:

A CHOICE TO BE MADE. (Joshua 24:15).

A COMMITMENT TO BE MADE. (1 Kings 18:21).

B. A REVIVAL OF GOD'S PRESENCE(vla). It says there, “Oh that thou

wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down…”. Jesus said in

Matthew 18:20—“For where two or three are gathered together in my name,

there am I in the midst of them.” The key phrase in that passage is "In MY

Name". We cannot gather together with ill will, unresolved hurts, or evil

thoughts one toward another and expect Christ to be in the midst of us

even though we have gathered together!

ILLUS: A man went to an asylum for the criminally insane. He was a bit

surprised to find that there were three guards to take care of a

hundred inmates. He said to one of the guards, "Aren't you afraid

that the inmates will unite, overcome you, and escape?" The guard

said "Lunatics never unite." Locusts do. Christians should. If we

don't, we don't know where our power is. -- Haddon Robinson, "The

Wisdom of Small Creatures," Preaching Today, Tape No. 93.

Folks, for us to feel the presence of the Lord among us in a mighty way, we

must have such a unity and harmony among us that it is not us and them,

but it is simply US! We must live by the words of Philippians 1:27b—“…

stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the

gospel.”

C. A REVIVAL OF GOD'S POWER (vlb).(Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:18). Friends,

we have the power to accomplish great things for God. But so many times

it is not that the availability of power that we suffer from but a lack allowing

the Lord to be preeminent in our lives. Because when the Lord is not

preeminent in our lives then we lack His power also! When we have

anything in our lives which takes our attention away from God and His plan

for us, then we need revival! The first commandment is "Thou shalt have no

other gods before me”(Exodus 20:3). We have no power because we put

things ahead of the Lord! Friends, He is our everything! OH, how we need

him! 1 Corinthians 1:30says—“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of

God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and

redemption.”

A new manifestation of His power and glory would put to shame the sins of

God's people and the false confidence of the ungodly! Last Sunday night we

talked about the vision of Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1-8—We NEED A VISION like

Isaiah! If we are going to see revival we MUST see how much we need the

LORD! When we have A LONGING FOR REVIVAL there will be A REAL

NEED FELT but also there will be a…

(2) A REQUIRED WORK TO BE DONE

ISAIAH 64:lb-3—“… that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,

As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil,

to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may

tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we

looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy

presence.”

*WHAT IS THIS REQUIRED WORK? IT IS:

A. A MELTING WORK. We read in the last part of v1—“….that the mountains

might flow down at thy presence…”. The first part of v2 says—“As when the

melting fire burneth…”. Fire melts and causes to flow. John Wesley wrote

“[Let the fire] Come with such zeal for thy people, that the solid mountains

may be no more before thy breath, than metal that runs, or water that boils

by the force of a vehement fire.” (John Wesley. John Wesley’s Explanatory

Reserved Worldwide). The prophet here speaks of the mountains “flowing

down at thy presence.” We face many mountains in our lives, but God can

help us overcome any mountain! There Are:

Mountains of Inability(Philippians 4:13).

Mountains of Indecision (1 Kings 18:21; Proverbs 3:5-6).

Mountains Of Indifference(John 10:27; 14:21-23)

B. A BURNING-UPWORK. Notice with me the words in Isaiah 64:2a—“as

when the melting fire burneth…”. Anything in our life which hinder our

growth in grace and limit our usefulness to God needs to be burned up! We

must remember that “…our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29).

God’s fire can burn-up:

Our Vain Thoughts. 1 Corinthians 3:20says—“…The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” If we are honest with our selves then we will have to admit that many times we are wise in our own eyes. And when we are the Lord says our thoughts are vain. Many times the Lord has to show us how unwise we truly are and how vain are thoughts are. Many times we think and act foolishly. Foolishness is not in the lack of brains, but in the silly useof them.- Unknown- PULPIT HELPS, July, 1991. It is when we think foolishly and act foolishly that God must burn-up our vain thoughts.

Self-Confidence. Galatians 6:3—“For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." It is good to have self-confidence but many times we allow our self-confidence to lead to pride which is sin. "Self confidence is acceptable only if it is rooted in God-confidence." - Joe R. Barnett - Pulpit Helps, Feb. 1992, p. 14. The line between self-confidence and conceit is very narrow. That is why we must realize how dependent upon the Lord we must be in everything. Because when we become too self-confident it only leads to conceit. When this happens God can and will burn-up our self-importance and teach us to lean more fully on Him!

Flesh Energy. Jesus told His disciples—"The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). In this body of flesh we become tired, discouraged, and defeated. Many times we try to serve God in the power of the flesh and then we become so weary we believe that we can no longer go on! The flesh can only take us so far. But the Spirit of God working within us can allow us to achieve the impossible! Sometimes God must burn-up our confidence in our ability so that we will rely upon His ability!

ILLUS: A HOUND, who in the days of his youth and strength had

never yielded to any beast of the forest, encountered in his

old age a boar in the chase. He seized him boldly by the ear,

but could not retain his hold because of the decay of his

teeth, so that the boar escaped. His master, quickly coming

up, was very much disappointed, and fiercely abused the dog.

The Hound looked up and said, "It was not my fault. master:

my spirit was as good as ever, but I could not help my

infirmities."

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." For this reason,

Christians must continually rely upon the Holy Spirit to help

them overcome the evil one. (Bible Illustrator For Windows.

VAIN THOUGHTS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, and FLESH ENERGY—All these are

powerless substitutes for the POWER of God! (1 Peter 1:3-9).

Our trials, sorrows, and cares are merely Cod's way of burning away our

impurities so we can shine like His son! And we must remember "All things

work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called

according to his purpose!" (Romans 8:28). Just as gold must go "through the

fire”, we, all as believers, must face the purifying fire of God's work in us!

C. A WARMING WORK (Isaiah 64:1-2b). Fire melts, fire burns-up, and also

fire warms. We, as God's people, all from time to time get cold and

indifferent ! It is then that we need the warming presence of God's Holy

Spirit! When our hearts are made to boil, because of the Holy Spirit's

power, then our affections will be hot! David said in Psalm 39:3—“My heart

was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spoke I with my

tongue.” Lukewarmness cannot exist where this fire is! Where the fire is

there:

Then Our Prayers Will Be HOT!

Then Our Testimony Will Be HOT!The prophet Jeremiah expressed the feeling the we feel many times until God fire burned within him—“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But hisword was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (Jeremiah 20:9).

When our hearts are made to burn within us, we will be ready, willing, and

able to do His Will! We should be as the two Emmaus disciples who

encountered the resurrected LORD saying, "Did not our hearts burn within

us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the

SCRIPTURES?" (Luke 24:32). This encounter with the Lord “brought a

divine heat with a divine light into their souls, such as put their hearts into

a glow, and kindled a holy fire of pious and devout affections in them”

(Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry’s Commentary On The Whole Bible. e-

Reserved Worldwide).

When we have A LONGING FOR REVIVAL there will be A REAL NEED FELT, A REQUIRED WORK TO BE DONE and finally…

(3) A RESULT SOUGHT

ISAIAH 64:2c—“To make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the

nations may tremble at thy presence"

A. A RESPONSIBILITY SEEN. When we truly are revived, we will make His

name known among the people! (Matthew 28:19-20; Psalm 126:5-6). But

until we have an earnest desire for others to come to Jesus, then revival

has not come! We must never forget that there are multitudes all around us

without Christ. We must never fail in sharing Christ with a lost world. We

must not become so heavenly minded we are no earthly good!

ILLUS: AN ASTRONOMER used to go out at night to observe the stars.

One evening, as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole

attention fixed on the sky, he fell accidentally into a deep well.

While he lamented and bewailed his sores and bruises, and cried

loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning what had

happened said: "Hark ye, old fellow, why, in striving to pry into

what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what is on earth?'

Although Christians may have their sight fixed on Heaven, they

cannot neglect their duties and responsibilities on earth. (Bible

B. A REVERENCE SHOWN. “…that the nations may tremble at thy presence."

Friends, If we are going to see revival we must recapture the reverence we

need and the awesome respect due to our glorious Lord! The world is not

lacking in wonders, but in a sense of wonder. -- G.K. Chesterton.

Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 4. We must reverence God so much that we see

service not as labor but as love. We must see prayer as not as duty but as

a delight. We must see our brothers and sisters in Christ not as our

enemies but as our encouragers. We must see our Church not merely as a

place to come to but as our purpose to live for! That’s what reverencing

God is all about!

CLOSING: Are WE ready for revival? Then WE must be willing for God to have

His perfect will in each of our lives! And then WE must submit

ourselves to that will! When we have A LONGING FOR REVIVAL

there will be A REAL NEED FELT, A REQUIRED WORK TO BE

DONE, and A RESULT SOUGHT. Friend, do you want revival?

Let us pray as the Psalmist, "Wilt Thou not revive us again: that thy

people may rejoice in thee?" (Psalm 85:6).