I have always been impressed with the story of King Josiah, in 2 Kings 22 & 23, and how he responded to the law of God. When he heard that God's judgment was at hand, he trembled, humbled himself before the Lord, and led the nation in repentance from sin. Not only did he repent verbally, but he brought about reform in the temple and throughout the land. "Josiah's reforms follow the Scriptural principle that repentance for specific sins is essential to true revival. Whenever genuine repentance occurs, specific sins will be identified, false believers expelled, worldly practices forsaken, and godly standards restored. Any talk of the need for revival and repentance in the church without specifying what must be changed, indicates that the commitment to a real change in people's hearts and lifestyles in lacking." (Full Life Study Bible commentary)
If you ask many people today to give you their definition of revival , they would reply with something about it being a time of blessing and experiencing God's favor - an emotional time of feeling good. God's blessing in an d upon our lives is the end result of getting things right with the Lord and choosing to live a life of obedience, but blessing never precedes repentance. On April 21, 1987, Dr. J. Edwin Orr delivered his final sermon before the Lord called him home. The title? "Revival Is Like Judgement Day!" In King Josiah's day, the Scriptures had been lost and covered with debris. "All the time the Scriptures were being ignored, the judgment of God was progressing. They were closer to God's judgment because hey had lost their standard. They had lsot any standard for behavior. SO they would sit and discuss what they thought was acceptable to God. But it did not matter what they thought, it was what God had said that was important! Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes, moving steadfastly toward the utter judgment of God." (Holiness by Henry Blackaby, pg. 7)
What a picture of today's church world! When the life of God has gone from the people of God and we are content to live without the manifest presence of God - content week after week without any evidence of the presence and power of God - then we need to be revived! Study Malachai 3 to see what happens when a holy God visits His people! For revival is not for the sinner. No, the lost person is dead in sin, and needs to be awakened by the Spirit of God to see his need of salvation. It is we, the people of God, who need to be revived! We need God to intervene in our lives with an outpouring of His grace, holiness and Spirit! In Habakkuk 3:2, the prophet prayed, "O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years." We need to echo the prayer of the psalmist in Ps. 80:3, 7 and 19, "Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved."
True revival will only come when we turn to God will all our hearts, "to rend our hearts" (Joel 2:13), humble ourselves , to come before Him with a broken and a contrite hearts, turning away from all that displeases Him, and seeking Him until He comes down! (2 Chron. 7:14)
Do we want revival? Are we ready to meet the conditions?
If you ask many people today to give you their definition of revival , they would reply with something about it being a time of blessing and experiencing God's favor - an emotional time of feeling good. God's blessing in an d upon our lives is the end result of getting things right with the Lord and choosing to live a life of obedience, but blessing never precedes repentance. On April 21, 1987, Dr. J. Edwin Orr delivered his final sermon before the Lord called him home. The title? "Revival Is Like Judgement Day!" In King Josiah's day, the Scriptures had been lost and covered with debris. "All the time the Scriptures were being ignored, the judgment of God was progressing. They were closer to God's judgment because hey had lost their standard. They had lsot any standard for behavior. SO they would sit and discuss what they thought was acceptable to God. But it did not matter what they thought, it was what God had said that was important! Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes, moving steadfastly toward the utter judgment of God." (Holiness by Henry Blackaby, pg. 7)
What a picture of today's church world! When the life of God has gone from the people of God and we are content to live without the manifest presence of God - content week after week without any evidence of the presence and power of God - then we need to be revived! Study Malachai 3 to see what happens when a holy God visits His people! For revival is not for the sinner. No, the lost person is dead in sin, and needs to be awakened by the Spirit of God to see his need of salvation. It is we, the people of God, who need to be revived! We need God to intervene in our lives with an outpouring of His grace, holiness and Spirit! In Habakkuk 3:2, the prophet prayed, "O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years." We need to echo the prayer of the psalmist in Ps. 80:3, 7 and 19, "Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved."
True revival will only come when we turn to God will all our hearts, "to rend our hearts" (Joel 2:13), humble ourselves , to come before Him with a broken and a contrite hearts, turning away from all that displeases Him, and seeking Him until He comes down! (2 Chron. 7:14)
Do we want revival? Are we ready to meet the conditions?