Place: Lurgan Baptist 28:7:2002

A CALL TO REVIVAL

Reading: 2 Chronicles 7:12-22

It was 1904 all Wales was aflame. The nation had drifted far from the Lord. Spiritual conditions were low, and sin abounded on every hand. Suddenly, like an unexpected tornado, the Spirit of God swept over the land. The churches were crowded so that many were unable to get in. Meetings often lasted from ten in the morning until midnight ! Astonishing things happened. Miners were gloriously saved. Instead of oaths and curses proceeding out of their mouths, they came out of their terraced cottages in the morning singing the songs of Zion. Public houses closed down for lack of business.

In Cardiff, the capital city, policemen found themselves walking the streets with little or nothing to do. Jails and the courts remained largely empty. Church leaders from all over England and across the seas came to see what was happening. They went home praying that revival fires might spread. And spread they did .... into numerous countries. The revival crossed the Atlantic and broke out among the Welsh miners of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

It was a time of great national joy. However, it did not last. First there was a counterfeit revival with demonic overtones. Emotion played a large part in the revival and there was no doctrinal undergirding of the movement. People were content with the emotional, the exotic, the exciting, the charismatic. No foundation was laid for the future. One can walk through those Welsh valleys today and see no trace of the revival. Churches, which opened up in the wake of the revival, are now boarded up, for sale or used as stores or garages. The churches are empty again and the public houses full.

It is over 140 years since revival swept this land of ours.

What a time that was, a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. A time when the fear of God fell on whole communities, when sinners were smitten with conviction, when houses of sin and shame were closed down. A time when crime fell by amazing proportions. when Romanism and Unitarianism reeled under the hammer of the Word of God.

When new churches sprang up, and the whole of society felt the purging flame of revival. When the servants of God caught fire and the people came out to see them burn. Can God do it again ? My .... I do not know whether revival will come to certain parts of the world. Whether it will come to our nation and land, but wouldn't it be wonderful if revival came to our own lives ? You see, this word " revival," comes from a Latin word which means " to live, to return to consciousness, to reawaken, to bring to life again," and it has to do with the Christian and the church.

J. Edwin Orr who has written extensively on the subject of revival says that the best definition of revival is found in the phrase " times of refreshing .... from the presence of the Lord." ( Acts 3:19 ) My .... do we not desperately need such times ?

It is with that in view that I call your attention to these verses often quoted in reference to revival. Now while these verses relate directly to Israel in the land, they do have abiding principles for us in the church today. Thus, I want to direct your attention to A Call to Revival. Enshrined in this call are three things.

(1) THE REASONS THAT PROVOKE REVIVAL

Many recognise today that the church has lost its effectiveness. What has gone wrong ? Where can we turn to find a solution ? My .... the heart of the problem lies within the church itself, within your heart and mine.

You see, basic to the thought of revival is the fact of barrenness, ruin, backsliding ! These verses clearly speak of such conditions. They remind us forcibly that revival is essential because of the plight and predicament of the people of God. My .... we need revival. Why ? Because of:

(a) SPIRITUAL DROUGHT:

God says, " If I shut up heaven that there be no rain."

( 7:13 ) The reference is to the copious showers of Palestine being withheld as an act of divine judgement on Israel. The result of withholding the showers would be deadly drought, fearful famine, and waterless wells.

Palestine, the land of promise, was described by Moses as " a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven." ( Deut 11:11 ) To a people whose way of life was largely agricultural rain was a must. You see, just as the presence of rain was a sign of God's blessing so the absence of rain was interpreted as a sign of God's judgement. The land of Palestine would become a dustbowl. Why ? Why would God withhold the showers ? The answer is plain. ( 6:26 ) My .... that was the explanation of the shut, sealed, and silent heaven. Sin in the lives of God's people. Can we not trace a similar pattern in relation to ourselves ? ( Deut 28:23 Jer 3:3 )

Why is that God's blessing is often withheld from the seed sown, the Word of God ? The answer is the same, sin in the lives of God's people. Ted Rendall in his book, " Fire in the Church," says this, " Lets face the fact in honesty and humiliation .... the reason for the shut heaven is the sin of God's people." My .... are we not quick to shift the blame to present day conditions ?

To the hardness of men's hearts ? To greedy

materialism ? To international conflict ? To moral

chaos ? To signs of the times ? But what about the sins of the saints ? Your sin and mine ? Is this a reason for the " showers of blessing," being withheld ? (a)

(b) SPIRITUAL DEVASTATION:

Look at ( 6:13 ) What a picture, plagues of locusts, greedily devouring every green thing in the land, leaving nothing but desolation in their wake. ( Joel 1:2 ) Did you ever think about the " locusts," that are devouring the church of Jesus Christ today ? There is:

1. The Locust of MATERIALISM:

We are all so absorbed by things. We want more things, bigger things, better things ! My .... have you started to measure life by things ?

Is your heart wrapped up in things ? Perhaps you have heard about the Quaker who was watching his wealthy neighbour move in. As you know, the Quakers believed in simplicity of life. The Quaker watched as the movers carried in a great deal of furniture, and all sorts of things. Finally, the Quaker called his neighbour over and said, " Neighbour I would have a word with thee." The neighbour said, " What is it ?" The Quaker replied, " Neighbour, if ever thou dost think that thou dost need something, come to see me .... and I will tell thee how to get along without it." My .... do things so control your heart that you have neither time or money to give to the cause of Christ ?

2. The Locust of MODERNISM:

This plague has been called modernism, liberalism, or neoorthodoxy. But whatever name you call it, this plague is still attempting to destroy the authority of Scripture, the deity of Christ, and the personality of the Holy Spirit. My .... did you know that many of the churches built as the result of the 1859 revival in our land are no longer crowded, and in their pulpits the gospel that was preached in the awakening is scorned.

(c) SPIRITUAL DISEASE:

Look at ( 6:13 ) Indeed God said, " If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book .... then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance." ( Deut 28:58-59 )

" Pestilence among my people." Can we identify such disease among the people of God today ? Well, lets do a quick check up. Wherever we're in a hot climate, I usually wear shorts, Catherine says I've terrible looking knees, in fact she says my legs are like two wee sticks ! But do you know something ? They are knees that are bent in prayer. ( Eph 3:14 ) Are you suffering from an acute knee problem ? What about your eyesight ? Is your spiritual vision distorted ? Perhaps its

your hearing ? Can you no longer hear what the Spirit is saying to the church ? ( Rev 2:7 ) Maybe its heart trouble. For some saints have a double heart ( Ps 12:2 ) a proud heart ( Ps 101:5 ) a lukewarm heart.

( Rev 3:16 ) My .... no wonder we need revival ! (1)

(2) THE REQUIREMENTS THAT PROMOTE REVIVAL

There are four mentioned here, or if you like one requirement expressed in a four fold way. What is the one requirement ? Prayer ! " If my people .... pray." Its challenging to read the lives of men and women whose ministry made an impact for God. They were men and women of prayer. Martin Luther said he was busy he could not get through his work unless he spent three hours each day with God. CH Spurgeon once said of John Knox. " When Knox went upstairs to pray, this was the greatest event in the history of Scotland."

John Welsh who came from Scotland to evangelise in Ulster was reputed to have spent eight hours a day with God. John Wesley said, " All God's works are done through believing prayer." " If my people .... pray." Not talk about prayer, not hold conferences on prayer, not write about prayer. " If my people .... pray." My .... why do find it so difficult to pray .... in private ? In public ? Why do we preach publicly, sing publicly, give children's talks publicly, teach SS publicly, speak to this one and that publicly .... but we don't pray publicly.

" If my people .... pray." Yet the prayer meeting is the worst attended meeting in the church. Did you notice that God says there must be:

(a) BROKENNESS IN PRAYER:

" If my people shall humble themselves .... " ( 7:14 ) Brokenness in prayer is the very opposite of haughtiness in prayer ! Do you recall the Pharisee and the publican ?

Five times over the Pharisee presented his credentials to God ? The result ? His prayer was not accepted ! By way of contrast " the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven .... " He was broken in prayer ! Thats the believer God blesses. He says, " to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."

( Is 66:2 ) (a)

(b) SELFLESSNESS IN PRAYER:

" If my people .... pray." The Hebrew word used for

" pray," here means to " judge self habitually." One of our problems in prayer is selfish desires. James says

" ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss that ye may consume it upon your lusts." ( James 4:3 ) My .... selfishness is so much a part of our depraved nature that before we know it we find ourselves praying for revival with an impure motive, that we might benefit, that we might bask in the glory, that we might acquire a reputation .... that we ! Selfishness. But do you what revival is ? Revival is man retiring into the background, because God has taken the field ! (a) (b)

(c) EARNESTNESS IN PRAYER:

" If my people .... seek my face." ( 7:14 ) To seek God's face denotes earnestness in prayer ! Do you remember the man who went to a neighbour's house to borrow bread for a hungry traveller ? ( Lk 11:8 ) My .... how persistent he was until his request was fulfilled. Jesus added, " Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." The Word of God reminds us that it is " time to seek the Lord." ( Hosea 10:12 ) In other words, we must avoid things and people that would divert and side-track us from this set purpose of seeking the face of God in these days in which we live ! Earnestness in prayer ! My .... are you beginning to see the steps that promote revival in our midst ? Do you see that revival is conditional ?

" If my people .... " ( 7:14 ) (a) (b) (c)

(d) HOLINESS IN PRAYER:

" If my people .... turn from their wicked ways." Ways of deceit, dishonesty, impurity, worldliness, ungodliness.

James reminds us that it is " the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." ( James 5:16 ) That word " righteous," is interesting. Its used in the Bible in two senses. It is used in what we might call the Spiritual sense, and the Moral sense. Here James is using it in the Moral sense. You see, its not enough for a man to say,

" I'm a Christian," a man also be righteous morally, practically if his prayer is to be effective. My .... no Christian is greater than his prayer life, and his prayer life can be no greater than his personal life. I'm not saying we have to be supersaints, but we cannot divorce our living from our praying. Now listen, if we have defilement on our hands, dissension in our spirits, and doubting in our hearts, that will cancel out all effectiveness in prayer ! ( 1 Tim 2:8 ) " If my people .... pray." D.L. Moody expressed it so well when he said,

" every work of God can be traced to some kneeling form." (1) (2)

(3) THE RESULTS THAT PORTRAY REVIVAL

For God says " .... then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." ( 7:14 )

" If .... then .... " If God's people take the steps, God will respond. There will be:

(a) DIVINE INTERVENTION:

" Then will I hear from heaven .... " ( 7:14 ) You see, revival is not man's work ( Zech 4:6 ) but God's work.

It is not man made, it is heaven sent. When revival comes it is something which God has to do. Thats why G.R.King says " Revival is a sovereign act of God upon the church whereby He intervenes to lift the situation completely out of human hands and works in extraordinary power." My .... it is the sovereign act of God in answer to Spirit anointed praying. Is this not how the 1859 revival in Ulster commenced ? Four young converts meeting in the old school house in Kells each Friday evening. The result ? The outpoured blessing of God, the salvation of multitudes and the kindling of revival fire that blazed in every county of Ulster ! " If .... then will I hear .... " (a)

(b) DIVINE ABSOLUTION:

" And will forgive their sin .... " Revival always deals with sin in the saint as well as sin in the sinner. At the height of the 1857 revival in America it is estimated that 50,000 people per week were gloriously saved. But even apart from that, there was the cleansing effect of the revival in homes, churches and national life ! (a) (b)

(c) DIVINE RESTORATION:

" And will heal their land .... " ( 7:14 ) In Israel's case, God promised to restore prosperity to their land. This meant fields of golden grain, fruitful vineyards and gardens .... all of this and more. No longer would there be plagues and pestilences. Throughout the land, God's smile would be seen. Let the people of the land get right with God, and the land of the people is blessed by God. For revival brings in its train a host of blessings, national, social, moral, and educational. This is the promise of God and this is a fact of history !

My .... does our land not need healing ? Does it not need delivered from violence, bloodshed, murder ? Does it not need cured of drunkenness and drugs ?

Did you know that Ballymena was the capital for drugs in Ulster ? In 1859 Ballymena was a stronghold for drink. Indeed it had 120 public houses, but the revival struck a blow at the scourge of drunkenness. Those pubs which did not close were deserted, and a publican declared that a man could not live by the trade now !

You see, " righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach to any people." ( Prov 14:34 )

A Call to Revival ! (1) (2) (3) The world's foremost authority on the subject of revivals and awakenings was

Dr. J. Edwin Orr. In the early 1970's when Dr. Orr was presenting a series of lectures at Columbia Bible college, a student approached him. " Dr. Orr," said the student, " besides praying for revival to occur, what can I do to help bring it about ?" Without a moment's hesitation, Dr. Orr glanced at the student and replied,

" You can let it begin with you." My .... will you let it begin with you ?