Revival

Christian discipleship is a vital subject in the New Testament, and the book of Luke is a fine source of information about it. In chapter 9, the call to discipleship is given and explained in verses 23 and 24 (as it is also in Matthew 16:24–25 and Mark 8:34–35), but then, beginning in verse 37, several serious problems that true disciples of Jesus Christ have are discussed.

These are alarming times. Financially and economically, the world seems to be barreling down the road toward the precipice. Politically, the country seems to have lost its sanity. Morally, everybody seems to have thrown it all overboard. And Christians seem to have no idea what to do.

The best way to define revival is biblically. Oftentimes we get off on the wrong foot by defining revivals by history. We learn about revival from the Bible, but history simply illustrates Bible truths about revival. Revival is God bringing His people back to spiritual health.

No one could have listened to John the Baptist’s preaching and left wondering what they were to do. John had a one-word message: Repent! John’s purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry. Repentance—true, heart-plowing repentance—is the key to making room for the seed of God’s Word to take root.

There’s not a committed Christian in America who wouldn’t like revival. But I’m afraid there are few who are desperate for revival. We stand in dire need of revival, but we don’t always carry a personal urgency for revival. Much of the book of Lamentations is the cry of a prophet who sensed the immediacy of his nation’s need for revival. Yet his cry was one of anguish because the people to whom he ministered were content to live without it.

Notice very carefully what John is saying to us (born-again Christians addressed as “little children”) in the First Epistle of John, chapter 2, in the first two verses. He is telling us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit how we should deal with sin. But take note of what he actually says to us. Let us understand what he means by the context.

Where have all of the orchards gone? I tell you, we have destroyed them! You and I are responsible. The fruit trees have been hewn down and destroyed, and we are suffering from malnutrition as a result.

Sermon outline: This is an abbreviated outline with the complete sermon downloadable at the bottom of the post. Introduction: No prophet sacrificed more for his God than Hosea. He married a woman, Gomer, who would later become a harlot. She would dishonor her husband, violate her vows, and break his heart.

There are many strange and unscriptural ideas abroad about revival and just as many about the “end times.” One harmful combination of such false notions is the idea that there will be no great revivals in the last days, that the eras of awakenings are past, and that we live in a time just before the second coming of Christ when no revival can be expected.

How many of us have ever heard of Jacob Knapp? In his day, he was one of the best known preachers in America. Often titled “Elder” Knapp because of the Baptist teaching that the senior officer of the local church is the bishop/elder/pastor (see Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Peter 5:1-4), this man has a unique place in the history of Baptist work in this country.

Our natural tendency is to create our own definitions of purity—building longer and more impressive lists of rules every year. But if we want to please God, we must get our definition of pure religion from the Bible.

I recently preached on “Give Me that Old Time Religion.” But my text wasn’t from Jeremiah 6 about the old paths. In fact, the message itself wasn’t about the “old time religion” in the sense of preserving a culture from earlier days of fundamentalism.

For a nation that has adopted a mantra of tolerance, someone seems to have missed the memo. In the 9/11 commemorative services at Washington National Cathedral, representatives from several religions will be leading—including a Buddhist nun, an Imam, a rabbi, and a Hindu priest—but no Protestant or evangelical Christian.

In 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul told Timothy to, “Purge himself from these” in order to become “a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use.” The “these” from which Timothy must purge himself in order to be used of God are false teachers, such as Hymenaeus and Philetus.

I’ve never been more thankful to be an American. I’m thankful for the men who pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” to sign the Declaration of Independence and then gave of themselves in unspeakable sacrifice to birth this great nation.

The early Christian churches resorted to prayer meetings as a means of facing challenges and getting help from God. This is clearly shown to us in the accounts given in the book of Acts.

We have no right to dilute, delete, diminish, or dummy-down anything that God said in His Word. We are to declare it exactly the way He said it.

These ladies are just like you and me, but we can learn what set them apart to be special instruments that God could use to awaken people spiritually in their day and time.

It was not that there were no “flesh-and-blood” enemies at Ephesus. During the great awakening in that city, Paul had faced the wrath of Demetrius the silversmith, who called together an assembly of idol-makers to protest his preaching (Acts 19:23-41).