A DIVINE BLUEPRINT FOR REVIVAL



THE DIVINE BLUEPRINT FOR REVIVAL

2 CHRONICLES 7:14

INTRO: Friends, we need REVIVAL! Our country needs REVIVAL, our

classrooms need REVIVAL! Our Churches need REVIVAL. The prayer

of the Psalmist should be the prayer of every blood-bought, born-

again believer in Christ Jesus—“Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy

people may rejoice in thee.” (Psalm 85:6). I love what R. G. Lee said:

If all the sleeping folk will wake up,

If all the lukewarm folk will fire up,

If all the dishonest folk will confess up,

If all the disgruntled folk will cheer up,

If all the depressed folk will cheer up,

If all the estranged folk will make up,

If all the gossipers will shut up,

If all true soldiers will stand up,

If all the dry bones will shake up,

If all the church members will pray up...

Then we can have a revival!

--R. G. Lee

Our text is truly one of the greatest in the Word of God. The text sets

forth both conditions to be met and blessings to receive. The

blessings are received when the conditions are met. The way to

revival both individually and conditionally are set before us here.

Friends, if we want to see REVIVAL we must follow God’s DIVINE

BLUEPRINT FOR REVIVAL. We can’t sing it down, preach it down, or

work it down. But if we will follow God’s plan we can experience the

REVIVAL we so desperately need. Let us note…

(1) THE PEOPLE ADDRESSED

2 CHRONICLES 7:14a—“If my people, which are called by my name…”

A. GOD’S PEOPLE ARE DIVINELY CALLED PEOPLE. Our text is addressed

to God’s very own people. Friends, revival must begin with us, God’s

people. God’s people are a:

1. CALLED OUT PEOPLE. We have been called out of the bondage of sin. In

the Old Testament, Egypt’s bondage was a type of sin. Friends, sin keeps

us in bondage but by the grace of God we have been delivered from the

bondage of sin (Romans 6:1-13, 16-18). Sin should no longer holds

dominion over us! We are FREE IN CHRIST (John 8:32, 36).

2. CALLED IN PEOPLE. Called in to the glorious liberty and light of the

children of God. We have been afforded a glorious freedom and fellowship.

3. CALLED UP PEOPLE. Called up one day to ever be with the Lord (John

14:3).

B. GOD’S PEOPLE ARE ETERNALLY CLEANSED PEOPLE. Our Lord Jesus

told Peter in John 13:10—“…ye are clean…”. We have been cleansed. We

have been:

1. CLEANSED FROM SOMETHING—“SIN” (ROMANS 3:23; 5:12). We are

sinners by birth and by choice but thank God grace cleanses us from sin!

Praise the Lord where “sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

(Romans 5:20).

2. CLEANSED WITH SOMETHING—“THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST”.

1 Peter 1:18-19 tells us—“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not

redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, from your vain

conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious

blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

3. CLEANSED FOR SOMETHING—“HIS WORKMANSHIP”. Ephesians 2:10

tells us—“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good

works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

C. GOD’S PEOPLE ARE A HEAVENLY CLOTHED PEOPLE. By grace we have

been clothed with the robe of perfect righteousness. Paul said in

Philippians 3:7-9—“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss

for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of

the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of

all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found

in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that

which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by

faith.”

In THE DIVINE BLUEPRINT FOR REVIVAL we see THE PEOPLE ADDRESSED but also we see…

(2) THE PEOPLE’S ASSIGNMENT

2 CHRONICLES 7:14b—“…shall humble themselves and pray, and seek

my face and turn from their wicked ways…”

* Here are God’s conditions for heaven’s blessings:

A. HUMILITY MUST BE OUR ATTITUDE. Friends, pride will never glorify

God. Pride will not allow us to give with generosity. Pride will not allow us

to grow in grace. Humility means:

1. GOD MUST COME FIRST (MATTHEW 6:33). Friends, REVIVAL will never

come to us individually or collectively until God becomes our priority. He

demands and deserves the first place in our lives!

2. OTHERS MUST COME SECOND. Galatians 6:10 tells us—“As we have

therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who

are of the household of faith.” Friends, REVIVAL will never come to us until

we view people through the eyes of love. We must think of others first. If

you want to be miserable, think much about yourself; about what you want,

what you like; what respect people ought to pay you, and what people think

of you. — CHARLES KINGSLEY. (Pearls From Many Seas by J. B. McClure, editor.

The Master Christian Library Version 5).

3. SELF MUST COME LAST. Jesus said to be His disciples we must deny

self—“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his

cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). Friends, it is either Christ upon

the throne of heart or else self is there. Putting self above our Saviour is

sin. Whenever God touches sin it is independence that is touched, and that

awakens resentment in the human heart. Independence must be blasted

clean out, there must be no such thing left, only freedom, which is very

different. Freedom is the ability not to insist on my rights, but to see that

God gets His. (Oswald Chambers, Leadership, Vol. 2, no. 1).

B. HONEST PRAYER MUST BE OUR ACTIVITY. Friends, the greatest

activity you and I can pursue is to honestly pray for God’s presence, power,

and purpose be done. We are at our best when we are on our knees face to

face with God. Prayer is the most important thing that the Christian does

and yet it is one of the things we do the least.

1. HOW MUST WE PRAY? :

• DIRECTLY. We can approach the throne of grace directly we do not have to go through a mediator or go-between. Jesus Christ is our mediator. Hebrews 4:16 tells us—“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” At any time, for any thing, and for any reason we can approach the throne of grace directly!

• SIMPLY. Matthew 7:7-8 encourages us—“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Friends, we simply need to ask God to bless us, move us, and enable us to accomplish His will.

• SINCERELY. If we desire to receive from God we must be sincere when we pray. Our Lord said in Matthew 21:22—“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” We must not doubt. We must believe.

ILLUS: God respecteth not the arithmetic of our prayers — how many they

are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers — how neat they are; nor the

geometry of our prayers — how long they are; but the divinity of our

prayers — how heart-sprung they are. — HAINES. (Pearls From Many

Seas by J. B. McClure, editor. The Master Christian Library Version 5).

2. WHEN MUST WE PRAY? :

• “Pray without ceasing”

• “Men ought always to pray”

3. WHY MUST WE PRAY? :

• TO ATTAIN GOD’S BLESSINGS. We miss out on many blessings because we do not pray as we should. James 4:2b tells us—“…ye have not, because ye ask not.” Friends, what would happen if we all truly got earnest and prayed for REVIVAL? Do you believe God would grant it?

• TO ADORE GOD’S NAME AND EXPRESS OUR THANKS.

• TO ADMIT AND CONFESS OUR SINS. Someone has said that REVIVAL is simply a new beginning of obedience unto God. For us to have this renewed obedience we must acknowledge and admit that we have sinned because we have failed to obey God’s will for our lives. Friends, disobedience is a sin. Disobedience is simply failing to do a good thing and James 4:17 tells us—“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

C. HUNGER FOR GOD MUST BE OUR APPETITE. God’s blueprint says we

are to seek His face. As we seek His face:

1. WE DISCOVER HIS WILL THROUGH PRAYER.

2. WE DISCOVER HIS WILL THROUGH THE WORD. Our Lord said in

Matthew 5:6—“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after

righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

3. WE DISCOVER HIS WILL THROUGH SURRENDER. REACH!-meaning "to

stretch." It implies an inconvenience. It involves movement. You can't lean

back, relax, get comfortable-and then reach, without giving up some of the

comfort (at least for a moment). Reaching involves a little extra effort to get

to something you want. How much extra energy you are willing to spend

depends on how badly you want what you're reaching for. The more it

means to you, the farther you are willing to stretch (even if it hurts).

It's not convenient to "reach" up to God to find the hand He lovingly extends

to us; or to reach out to other people who so desperately need to know

someone cares. It's not even easy to reach within ourselves to find our true

feelings and values. But there is no more important way for us to spend our

energy than to reach for a life that is pure, clean, and faithful to God. It may

seem like a lot of trouble-but it's worth it! Friends, surrender is never easy

but it is enriching. It is enabling. It is enlightening.

D. AN HONORABLE WALK MUST BE OUR ASPIRATION. The Lord says His

people must “turn from their wicked ways.” What are some of the wicked

ways we should turn away from? :

1. THE WAY OF COVETOUSNESS. We never seem to be satisfied. We always

want and desire more. We lack contentment thus we lack fulfillment.

Complaining about our lot in life might seem quite innocent in itself, but

God takes it personally. --Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )( Edythe Draper, Draper's

Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House

Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry #1558). If Christians spent as much time

praying as they do grumbling, they would have nothing to grumble about.

2. THE WAY OF WORLDLINESS. Worldliness is an attitude of the heart. It

causes our affection to be on the things of this world instead of on the world

to come. Worldliness is a gaze always horizontal and never vertical. If you

read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present

world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since

Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have

become so ineffective in this. --C. S. Lewis (James S. Hewett, Illustrations

Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 175).

3. THE WAY OF LUKEWARMNESS. The Lord would rather we be hot or cold

than to be lukewarm. When REVIVAL comes the fire of the Lord comes with

it. When the fire falls we won’t have to be begged to come to Church, read

our Bibles, pray, witness, or show compassion.

ILLUS: Mr. Luke Warm Christian

713 Broad Way

Indifference City, USA

Dear Luke,

I just wanted to drop you a note to encourage you to keep up the good work. I like a person who has enough guts to defend himself when someone else opposes his own point of view. He is just confusing vou with facts. And I'm glad to see you stick to your own ideas. Don't give in and let him think he has won the battle. He really thinks he knows it all, doesn't he? Well, you need to show him that he is not so smart. Some people really get under my skin, always telling me what to do. I guess they really get under your too, don't they?

Do you remember the guy who came over to talk to you about attending more of the services? Well, I'll tell you a little secret he is a fimatic. That's right. He actually thinks it is necessary to attend all the services. Don't let him fool you. It is people like that who give the church a bad name. You did right in just letting those things go in one ear and out the other. After all, they don't apply to you, do they? I'm hoping you will keep up the good example, and I'm sure there will be more who will want to follow it. I have already seen some results. There sure are a lot of non-Christians who compare themselves to your life. I can't understand why they won't be converted either.

Don't make your children go to church if they don't want to. Just let them stay at home and watch TV or sleep late. If more people would do that, there would be so many more good examples like yours to follow. Confidentially, you are my favorite kind of person. So I want to do all I can to keep you on my side. You are something to be proud of now. That preacher and those elders sure do waste a lot of time taking to and bothering you,' don't they? You would think they don't have anything better to do with their time. Don't they appear to be awfully nosey, always wanting to know why you haven't attended the last couple of services?

Hey, I heard you got a new job. That is really great. I'm so glad you could find a job that pays double-time to work on Sundays. That money sure will come in handy. That is another thing I wanted to talk to you about. That preacher sure does talk a lot about giving. He must think hard working men don't have anything better to do with their money than just to give it away. He sure preaches a lot about it. Why can't he just preach sermons that sound good instead of trying to make people feel bad? I notice you squirm around and try to ignore what he says sometimes. He must be the world's worst pessimist. Always talking about sin and hell.

What about the lady who sits behind you? Hasn't she got the loudest. scratchiest voice that you have ever heard? At least you don't embarass yourself like she does. Since you don't know the words or can't read music, I think you have done the best thing. That lady behind you shouldn't sing either.

Hasn't the preacher been getting long-winded recently? I'm always dozing off during the sermon too. Not only has he become long-winded, but he has become pretty dull too. It sure is hard to stay awake. so why fight it?

Some of the members there at the church stay around an awfully long time after services. I have often wondered why more people don't just slip out and go home during the invitation song like you do. That is a good idea for beating the crowd. Besides, all they ever do is sing another song and have a prayer. There is no need to stay for those concluding activities.

Well, I had better be going. I like to keep in touch with you and monitor your progress. Keep up the good work. You are much more helpful than many of the others. I really admire your attitude and I feel that we are becoming very close friends. I look forward to seeing you soon, where we can spend much more time together.

Your friend and admirer.

B L Zebub, Devil

(Bible Illustrator For Windows. Version 3.0f. Copyright 1990-1998, by Parsons

Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved).

In THE DIVINE BLUEPRINT FOR REVIVAL we see THE PEOPLE ADDRESSED, THE PEOPLE’S ASSIGNMENT, and lastly we see…

(3) THE PEOPLE’S ASSURANCE

2 CHRONICLES 7:14c—“…then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive

their sin, and will heal their land.”

A. A DIVINE EAR TO HEAR. “…I will hear from heaven…”. When we

earnestly pray God has promised to answer us. In Jeremiah 33:3 the Lord

promises—“Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and

mighty things which thou knowest not.” We have a God who hears and

answers prayer (Psalm 65:2).

B. A DIVINE HEART TO FORGIVE. “..And will forgive their sin…”. Our God

is a forgiving God. He delights in forgiveness. But to be forgiven we must

repent and ask God to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

C. A DIVINE HAND TO HEAL. “…And will heal their land.” Our nation is

corrupted. This corruption is not only widespread but also it has proven to

have yielded widespread results. We see:

1. THE CORRUPTION OF SOCIETY. Our government is corrupted. Our

people are corrupted. Let me read you some verses from Isaiah that give a

very accurate picture of our society—“None calleth for justice, nor any

pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief,

and bring forth iniquity…Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed

innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and

destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is

no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever

goeth therein shall not know peace. Therefore is judgment far from us,

neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for

brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and

we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we

are in desolate places as dead men.” (Isaiah 59:4, 7-10).

ILLUS: The expression "moral vacuum" has been tossed around in the media

as an attempt to describe the apparent refusal of some sections of

society to recognize, let alone live by, basic moral standards. ... The

phrase is apt, but means more than the absence of morality. The

whole point about a vacuum is that it does not just happen, for

nature, as we all know, "abhors a vacuum." Vacuums have to be

created. You get a vacuum when you deliberately suck out the air

inside an object. It has to be pumped out and sealed out. Western

culture for the past 200 years has been systematically and deliberately

sucking out the transcendent from its public heart and core. (Chris

Wright, "All Our Gods Have Failed," in Themelios (April 1993).

Christianity Today, Vol. 37, no. 14).

2. THE CORRUPTION OF THE SOUL. Sin has corrupted the soul of man.

Because of the corruption of the soul, Isaiah 1:5-6 says—“the whole head is

sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head

there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores:

they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”

3. THE CORRUPTION OF SPIRITUALITY. "Morality, like art, consists in

drawing a line somewhere." Friends, the state of spirituality in this country

is in moral corruption. Our Churches are preaching corrupt doctrines. Are

people are living corrupt lives. Our pastors are overlooking corruption in

their congregation. The line needs to be drawn somewhere! When revival

come we will draw the line and not pass over it!

CLOSING: Friends, do we truly want revival? If so, will we follow THE DIVINE

BLUEPRINT FOR REVIVAL? Revival must begin with the people of

God. That means HUMILITY MUST BE OUR ATTITUDE, HONEST

PRAYER MUST BE OUR ACTIVITY, HUNGER FOR GOD MUST BE

OUR APPETITE, and AN HONORABLE WALK MUST BE OUR

ASPIRATION.

PREPARED BY BROTHER BRYAN L. BROWNING, PASTOR OF BEECHMONT BAPTIST CHURCH, BEECHMONT, KY FOR SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 20, 2008.

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