The Effective Call to Revival
Dear Friend,
How would you fix the World’s problems, if you had the power to do it? How long would your answer to this previous question last before the World needed fixing again?
I believe that what the World needs is a mighty movement of the Holy Spirit, renewing the hearts of men, women and children in vast numbers. I believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the great means of salvation and change in our country. I believe that apart from revival, we cannot hope for lasting change in the World or even the United States. We need a mighty movement of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s look very briefly at the current problems we face as a nation. Roughly one in four adults in the US have been diagnosed with a mental illness. Church attendance is at a record low, with nearly 6 in 10 Americans seldom or never attending church. Around 50 million Americans struggle with the effects of addictions, both legal and illegal. On top of all this, our country is caught in a political hailstorm. Republicans and Democrats are so deeply entrenched in fear and hate, shifting blame to the other side of the isle without constructively working through their differences.
All of this division, all of this sin, suffering, and sorrow, it all points to our need for a revival. I believe that the United States needs a fresh and mighty move of the Holy Spirit to heal our nation and call us back to faithful service to Jesus Christ, our King. When we look at a short history of major Revivals in the past, we see how the Holy Spirit takes what is broken and makes it whole again.
The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450 revolutionized the access most people had to books. It allowed the Protestant Reformation to set the stage for the first Great Awakening. Men like John Knox, John Bunyan, George Whitfield, John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards were important leaders in this movement. In the 16 and 1700s, they witnessed an
explosion of faith, conversion, and growth in the protestant churches. Sunday schools were organized and taught, seminaries were opened, countries were turned back to the Lord.
Glenn Foster wrote a book on the history of revivals. He said, “The record of history clearly reveals a pattern which illustrates that God is continually at work in the affairs of men to guarantee that there will never be a day when it can be said that God’s kingdom is dead.” (Glenn Foster, ‘Revival or Ruin’ pg 40)
The second Great Awakening was no less powerful than the first, with men like Charles Finney, Charles Spurgeon, and D.L. Moody leading the charge. These men brought many to Christ throughout Great Britain and the United States. Glenn Foster records, “On one occasion, when someone asked Charles Finney how he could expect a revival when there was so much evil abounding in the world, he replied, “Do not tell me about the rising floods of evil; rather let me tell you about the rising floods of grace.” Finney’s ministry established forever, as a clear and definite part of sound theology, that the increasing evidence of evil in the earth is not a sign to the believer that the end of the world is at hand and the harvest of souls is over. Just the opposite is true.”
Wherever the Bible goes, revival goes as well. The United States needs a great movement of the Holy Spirit, to turn families and individuals back to God. Revivals do not happen by accident. Instead, the Lord sovereignly moves people to spread the gospel with passion, grace and wisdom. The gospel is one of the chief tools God uses to bring about a revival in a country. The Lord also answers the fervent prayers of His children as they call out for the Holy Spirit. As faithful Christians pray boldly for revival, our Lord graciously answers them in His perfect timing. Christians should live and work with hope fueled expectation that the Holy Spirit will do a mighty work in our nation again. A look at history exposes the incredible power of the Holy Spirit to change a nation for the glory of God.
The good news of Jesus Christ is the power of God to change a spiritually dead person into a living, grace-filled child of God. Revival is impossible without making much of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As the gospel is faithfully preached and lived out, we will see the Holy Spirit do the mighty work needed in our country.
Daniel prophesied about the power of the gospel and the spread of God’s Kingdom. He correctly prophesied about the rise and fall of mighty nations in the future. He then penned these infamous words, “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” Daniel 2:44-45 God revealed through Daniel, the coming of a glorious king who would establish a permanent kingdom.
Jesus is the stone in Daniel’s vision that will break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth. When we speak about revival, we are really asking that the Lord would fulfill this vision. The gospel overthrows every earthly kingdom by establishing a people who are loyal and obedient to God alone. This is what threatens Satan, the most active enemy of the gospel, so much. Jesus is the king, the head of this eternal kingdom, and the glorious ruler that will conquer all other kingdoms. Daniel’s vision describes the creation and expansion of the Church. The gospel is the means of revival, because it is the power of God to expand His kingdom.
The good news of Jesus Christ is not a message made by mankind. The cross is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. (1 Corinthians 1:21-24) This message transcends any wisdom that mankind could come up with. In Jesus Christ, God does what mankind could not do, by giving up Himself for the sake of the elect. Revival takes place in a country when the gospel takes root in the hearts of its people. The Holy Spirit will use the gospel to convict people of their sin, and give them a saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Without faithful preaching of the gospel, revival won’t take place in the United States. We also need to lift up bold, biblical prayers to God. When Solomon sought to establish his kingdom, he saw the importance of building the temple. Using all the supplies his father David had left him; he completed the temple and celebrated with the people of Israel.
As Solomon blessed the temple, he offered up a strong biblical prayer for Israel saying, 46 “If they sin against you for there is no one who does not sin and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47 yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48 if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). 52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. 53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.” 1 Kings 8:46-53
This powerful prayer was answered after the Israelites spent 70 years in captivity. The Israelites returned to their land, because their hearts and minds were turned back to God. The Lord answered Solomon’s prayer, just as I believe He will answer our prayers for revival. I believe we need to offer a similar prayer up to God today. We need to cry out to God for help and hope in our nation. We need to repent of all our sins and seek the Lord’s forgiveness and revival across the United States. It is the Lord alone who can change our hearts and call us back to our first love. God heard the cry of the Israelites, and He will hear our cry when we pray with the same heart.
Prayer is like blood coursing through the veins of the body. Without blood the body dies, and we are seeing the same effect throughout churches in the US. We must pray boldly for revival and change in our nation. We must pray
constantly, asking God to do the impossible in the United States. There is so much division right now, but the Lord can unite His people and cause exponential growth for the kingdom of God.
Do we really pray like we expect our prayers to be heard or answered? Do we pray bold prayers like Solomon, asking for the Lord to turn the hearts and minds of our nation? Is our prayer life vital, full of fervor and passion, as we seek revival for our country?
Listen to how Isaiah describes what will take place when the Lord returns, “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:2-4 All nations will be drawn to our Lord in Jerusalem, and peace will reign from Zion.
Biblical hope is not set in our persuasiveness or our abilities to coerce people into the kingdom of God. Our hope should not be set on our politicians or government system. Instead, our hope should be set on the Lord’s faithfulness to reign, and our expectation that truth will rule from God’s throne. Isaiah pictures a day when all nations will approach the Lord so that they may obey Him and worship Him. Isaiah prophecies of a day when revival will no longer be needed.
We need revival because we need to return to the Lord and strive to obey Him. We need the Holy Spirit to revive the dead hearts and minds of this vain world. Our hope is set on a day when revival will no longer be needed, because everyone will desire to obey and serve the Lord. On that day, there will be no need for weapons, or war, or conflict. Everyone will be united with one purpose, one ambition, and one call. This hope is what should fuel our work for revival now.
Hope in the Christian’s life is what drives passion and grace to serve God and others. It’s the fuel in our hearts to preach the gospel and pray boldly. Without hope that the Lord will use the gospel to change hearts, or that He hears and answers our prayers, what’s the point of faith at all? Our hope is set on a very specific goal, a goal that comes from the Lord Himself. We should fill our minds and hearts with the hope that God will accomplish what He speaks about in Scripture.
Honestly, the picture that Isaiah prophecies about is hard to imagine. It’s much easier to see the despair, the pain, the heartache, loneliness, and sin. Every time we get on social media, or look at the news, our minds and hearts are filled with the violence, division, and pain of sin. God intends His children to be hope filled, passionate workers for His kingdom. Let’s not fill our minds with despair, instead, trust the Lord to use your work to bring about His plan.
We need a mighty movement of the Holy Spirit to change our country and draw our nation back to God. This will only take place when we use the tools that God gives us to bring revival. The gospel is the first and great tool the Lord equips us with for revival. Christians must be bold to preach the full and true gospel of Jesus Christ AND allow the gospel to change how they live. The second great tool God gives us to bring about revival is bold biblical prayer. Pray fervently and often for the revival our country needs. Ask the Holy Spirit to move in our lives for His glory and the good of our nation. Persevere in prayer! The final tool we looked at in this sermon was the biblical hope we have in God’s character and promises. This hope should fuel our work as we seek to save souls around us. God intends to bring about change in our own hearts and use us to help others change as well.
Yours in Christ,
Chris A. Rice