What is it that we need to revive?
Psalm 85:6-7
Mark L. Lastimoso
God is good and He is good all the time. I would like to praise Him and thank Him for all of you who have come to worship our God today. I would like to invite you to bow your heads as we pray. I would like to talk with you today about what is it that we need to revive our lives in God. You probably heard about our greatest need for the Holy Spirit to revive us in our spiritual slumber. To “revive” is to “bring back to life or resuscitate. To impart new health.”
For example a person who suffered a heart attack or stroke after calling 911 was revived by emergency personnel and they were able to prevent that person from dying. Our Scripture reads, “Will you not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?
The Hebrew root form ‘chayah‘ which is translated in English “revive” means “to be restored to life or health.”
This passage indicates that it is God who revives. He initiates revival and thus triggers a response of rejoicing from God’s people. Rejoice in Hebrew is ‘samach’ means “to give joy to, also to feel joy or great delight.”
What is it then that needs revival? From this text we can say our need is for us to be revived again by God that we may rejoice in Him. Our lives, our being, our soul that will bring back joy in our lives. What is it that can bring back joy in our lives? “A genuine revival without joy in the Lord is as impossible as spring without flowers, or day-dawn without light.” – C.H. Spurgeon.
We need to revive our joy in God. Philippians is a letter of joy written from the most joyless place on earth-the dungeon of Rome. The squalid, dark and empty cell was the starting point of this joy filled letter. There are joy givers and joy takers in life. Paul writes his joy and perhaps discover today what takes away our joy in God.
Philippians 1: 3-4, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy.”
- Praying partners gives us joy while loneliness takes away our joy.
Philippians 1:18, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”
2. The gospel of salvation gives us joy while sin takes away our joy.
Philippians 1:19-20, “ For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.”
- Hope gives joy while hopelessness takes away our joy.
Philippians 2:2-4, “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
- Unity gives joy while division takes away joy.
Philippians 2:17-18, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.”
- Serving others gives joy while selfishness takes away joy.
There was once a young boy who went to spend the week with his grandfather on the farm. While walking around he noticed the chickens, they were scratching and playing around. The little lad said, “They ain’t got it”. Next he saw a colt in the field playing and kicking up its heel’s to which he replied, “He ain’t got it”. After examining all of the animals on his grandfather’s farm and see that none of them had “it”, this boy finally found the old donkey in the barn. When he saw the donkey’s long, frowning face and the way that the donkey just stood there he screamed for his grandfather to come quick. “I found it, I found it” the boy kept yelling. When his grandfather asked what he had found he said, “Pawpaw, I found an animal that has the same kind of religion that you have.”
In 1936 revival fires broke out on the campus of Wheaton College west of Chicago. A senior named Don Hillis arose in chapel to voice a plea for revival. Students responded with an all-day prayer meeting on Saturday. Both faculty and students confessed sin and made things right with one another.
The Wheaton campus was touched again in 1943 following a message on confession of sin during special services. The captain of the cross-country team arose to confess that he had violated college policy by leading his team in a Sunday race. Pride, criticism, and cheating were confessed by other students. Lunch and dinner slipped by unnoticed while the meeting continued into the evening service.
“Stop the bus!” a member of the Wheaton College Glee Club shouted. The Glee Club was touring in Florida in 1950. A revival that had broken out on the campus in Illinois had touched this student hundreds of miles away. He confessed he had broken the rules and other students began to turn to God. God’s promise is still true. If we seek Him with all our heart, we shall surely find Him ready to pour the riches of His grace and love into the lives of His people (Jer 29:13). -Oliver Price, Revival Insights, Vol. III, No. 4.
A Lady asked Billy Sunday: “Why do you keep having revivals when it doesn’t last?” He asked her, “Why do you keep taking baths?”