"Cry For Revival"

Psalms 85:6-9  "Wilt thou not revive (chayah, to restore or lift up) us again: that thy people may rejoice (samach, make merry, worship) in thee?  [7] Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. (yesha`, liberty, deliverance, prosperity).  [8] I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.  [9]  Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land."

During the past week the Lord allowed me, and many of you, to share in the revival at Morrison Baptist Church. When we went into that Church it was evident, to me at least, that God wanted to touch hearts there. There were problems that God knew about that He wanted to eradicate. I do not know what they are, God knows, but I do know that God took one of the poorest tools He could use, effected a change with that pitiful tool, and now Morrison is back on track.

Can I tell you something? Whether you are named Morrison, or Okapilco, or Pauline, or Morven, Baptist - Methodist - or Presbyterian .. No matter what label you use, you are all a part of that Great Bride of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ. Can I tell you something else? Just about every Church in America today, regardless of denomination and including ours, needs the mighty hand of God's Revival to come over us. We need to be refocused on the reason we are here, why we come to Church. Tonight we will be in Revival at our Church. This is a Revival that we have prayed for, that we have besought God for. I pray that each and every one of you shows up for this Revival, including the children. We at Okapilco need Revival every bit as much as Morrison did, and because Morrison was faithful to their Savior God blessed them during their Revival. Hearts were changed, lives refocused. Let me be more blunt: you need revival as much as the person sitting next to you needs revival.
 

Slide One

There was some talk among our Deacons several months ago as to when we needed to have this Revival. By when we were considering the time of the year that the Revival needed to be scheduled. However I believe that God caused us to agree to Revival at this time because our present condition demands it.

In our text today the children of Israel recognized that they needed Revival, and based on that recognition cried out to God the Father "Please Lord, "chayah", restore and lift us up!". Israel had allowed the things of the world to creep, ever so softly, into its midst, and these things had slowly robbed the Children of their relationship in Jesus.

Do not think, dear One, that the sins you commit and get away with are forever cleared. I tell you, each time we presume on God's Grace by willful sin, we scar our relationship with Him, we weaken ourselves. The Psalmist said:

Psalms 85:6  "Wilt thou not revive (chayah, to restore or lift up) us again: that thy people may rejoice (samach, make merry, worship) in thee?"

We need this Revival, Okapilco, so that we can, as individuals and as a Church, return to pure worship of Christ. For some at this Church we have forgotten the scars of our Savior, we have forgotten our reason for being here. I believe that God has a mighty work for us to do for Him in Jesus in these last days, but only if we stay focused on our Lord and our mission. We cannot, we dare not lose our first Love like Ephesus did! We cannot lose our transparency, our reliance on God our Savior. We cannot allow our worship services to become stale, without effect, apathetic and Spiritless.

I believe that if each one of us prostrates ourselves before our Creator, and willingly gives ourselves to Him and not the things of this world during this Revival, we will see unity and growth such as you have never seen. I believe that our Love for one another will increase, our sense of unity and family will expand, our devotedness to the Great Commission will evolve into what Christ intended for His Church.

There are souls among us who hold back from joining with this assembly. Why? Could it be that we have not fully submitted to Christ? Have we, in the midst of our trials, focused on the trial and not Jesus? Has flattery tempted us from Christ? Has apathy convinced us that Jesus does not need our labor in the effort of His Church? Okapilco, know this:

"Jesus prays for thee. You need more peace. Nothing but the oil of the Spirit will feed the fire of grace when Satan is casting water on it. Send up this cry, "Wilt thou not revive us again?" (Robert Murray McCheyne)

The Scripture tells us:

Zechariah 10:1 "Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field."

Not too long ago we prayed for God's relief, that He would send rain in due season to relieve us of our drought. Oak Grove Methodist likewise had a rain revival, and in the course of one of their sermons their speaker took off his shoes to preach - for he said he felt that he was on holy ground. We need, just as much, Christ's Revival at this Church. We need Him to refocus us on His Word and His mission. It's time for Revival - do not ignore this time!
 

H. A. Ironside: "One of the first gospel illustration that ever made a real impression upon my young heart was simple story that I heard a preacher tell when I was less than nine years old. It was of pioneers who were making their way across one of the central states to a distant place that had been opened up for homesteading. They traveled in covered wagons drawn by oxen, and progress was necessarily slow. One day they were horrified to note a long line of smoke in the west, stretching for miles across the prairie, and soon it was evident that the dried grass was burning fiercely, and was coming toward them rapidly. They had crossed a river the day before but it would be impossible to go back to that before the flames would be upon them. One man only seemed to have an understanding as to what should be done. He gave the command to set fire to the grass behind them. Then when a space was burned over, the whole company moved back upon it. As the flames roared on toward them from the west, a little girl cried out in terror. "Are you sure we shall not all be burned up?" The leader replied, "My child, the flames can not reach us here, for we are standing where the fire has been!"

Slide Two

Psalms 85:7 "Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. (yesha`, liberty, deliverance, prosperity)"

"Salvation" is the Hebrew "yesha", which means "liberty, deliverance, and prosperity". Unless you're walking in a state of perfection today, each and every one of you need the "yesha", salvation of God. We need both physical salvation, as well as spiritual salvation. Do not arrogantly assume that you have no need of Revival, for we all need it.

Your Pastor Needs It

I freely admit, I need this Revival, dear Lord! The Pastor can only speak the Word of Truth if God the Holy Spirit has empowered it. Head knowledge is wonderful, but God doesn't give a fig for head knowledge. The devils have head knowledge - God requires more of His ministers. We who are ministers cannot speak of the Manna of God unless we have first tasted of it, nor can we explain the Living Water that flows from the Throne of Christ unless it flows first through us. In order to speak the truth with power, we must have a personal grasp of power through Christ. Yet, dear ones, we are human too.
 

After His Sunday messages, the minister of a church in London got on the trolley Monday morning to go back to his study downtown. He paid his fare, and the trolley driver gave him too much change. The minister sat down and fumbled the change and looked it over, counted it eight or ten times. And, you know the rationalization, "It's wonderful how God provides." He realized he was tight that week and this was just about what he would need to break even, or at least enough for his lunch. He wrestled with himself all the way down that old trolley trail that led to his office. And finally he came to the stop and he got up, couldn't live with himself, walked up to the trolley driver, and said, "Here you gave me too much change. You made a mistake." The driver said, "No, it was no mistake. You see, I was in your church last night when you spoke on honesty, and I thought I would put you to the test." (The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart Charles R. Swindoll, Word, p. 304.)

The Faithful Need It

You may think "I am faithful in attending this assembly, in giving of my tithes, I have no need of Revival". Yet, dear believer, even if you are faithful to this Church, you still desperately need this Revival. The divine life is all from above, not from below. The Bible says:

Philippians 4:13  "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

It is the nature of man that, with time, we lose the freshness that we had at the beginning, we lose perspective because of familiarity. This week we had a friend of the family enter South Georgia Medical Center for observation and possible surgery. She has a growth around her colon that has pinched it off, causing extreme agony and cramping. As a remedy the doctors had forbidden her to eat or drink anything for several days until, on Friday, they allowed her to have some liquids. This poor woman, bless her heart, was drinking that fruit juice like it was the most precious thing on earth.

You see, what is mundane to you and I, eating food, is now so precious in her sight. She has had her thought processes revived.

"So the child of God needs to be continually looking out, like Elijah's servant, for the little cloud over the sea. You need to be constantly pressing near the Fountain of living waters; yea, lying down at the well head of salvation, and drinking the living water. "Wilt thou not revive us again?" (Robert Murray McCheyne)

The Backslidden and Lost Need Revival

Some, like the crops around us in our recent drought, were planted in fine ground and tended by a loving Farmer. Yet over time these crops failed to yield for Christ, allowed weeds to come into the garden, and went wild. We have such in our Church that have gone wild, who have wandered far away from their Savior. Invite them to the Revival, bring them to the Revival in your cars. The backslidden need to return to the Christ of their salvation lest God discipline with death and destruction. The lost need Christ, lest they die and immediately, as the rich man did, lift up their eyes in Hell!

Zechariah 4:7  "Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it."
 

Slide Three

Psalms 85:8-9  "I will hear what God the LORD (Yehovah, the Self Existent or Eternal One) will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.  [9]  Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land."

Jeremiah 17:5  "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD."

As we enter into this Revival, we must remember that true Revival can only come from Jesus Christ, not from our own feeble efforts. God is the Author of this Revival. I think it's interesting that God uses His holiest title, YEHOVAH, to describe Himself in relationship to His people.

Life comes only from God. Man may be able to place sperm and ovum together in a test tube and make a baby, but the life made is generated from God alone. He made the sperm, He made the ovum. He made the seed, He made the egg. To gain physical life we must follow God's design, we must rely on Him to bring that spark of life into existence.

Eternal life comes only from God. We can not earn nor deserve His salvation, but must come to Him with empty hands calling on the name of Jesus. If this Revival is to do all that God wants it to do, we must be willing to come with open arms to each meeting. We cannot bring the change in ourselves, but we can be present so that Jesus Christ can make the change.

There will come a day when each and every one of you, myself included, stand before Jesus Christ. Some will be cast away into the Lake of Fire for failing to accept Him as Savior. Others will see their works burned up by fire, and will cry tears of remorse for lost opportunity. How will you feel if you watch your own children step down into the Lake of Fire? Yes, God will dry the tears from your eyes, but how will you feel at that moment - especially if God gave you the opportunity to lead them to Christ during His Revival?

I ask that each of you prayerfully invite everyone you can to this Revival. Invite the lost, the backslidden. Invite your neighbors. Come yourself. Let God have His complete work at our Church, for the glory of Jesus Christ.
 

On a February day in 1925 Floyd Collins climbed into Sand Cave in Kentucky, in search of fortune. Suddenly, his lantern failed. Crawling through the darkness, Collin's foot hit a seven-ton boulder. It fell on his leg, trapping him in the coffin-like narrowness of a dark, subterranean straitjacket. For days Collins was trapped 125 feet below ground in an ice-cold space 8 inches high and 12 feet long. In the meantime, his plight became a national sensation. As the rescue attempt wore on, some 50,000 tourists bought hot dogs, balloons, and soft drinks from vendors at the cave in Kentucky. But in the end, Floyd Collins died alone in the icy darkness, crying out deliriously, "Get me out. Why don't you take me out?

"Oh, lift up your hearts to the Lord for such a time. Plead earnestly the promise, "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh." Then this wilderness will become a fruitful field, and its name be, Jehovah-Shammah -- the Lord is there." (Robert Murray McCheyne)