Four Keys of Revival

I'm thinking about message preached tonight during revival.  Bro. Paul Parks preached out of 2 Chronicles 7:12-25.  It is a fairly common Scripture for revival services.  I couldn't even tell you how many times I have heard it preached during revivals.  But something struck me at the outset of the message--maybe we hear it so often because we never do what it says.

It brought to mind the story of a young preacher in his first church:

During his trial sermon he preached a fiery message of "Repent! Repent! The kingdom of heaven is at hand."  The message was so powerful that he was voted in unanimously.  The next Sunday he preached the same message, "Repent! Repent! The kingdom of heaven is at hand."  The crowd had largely forgotten what he had preached on the previous Sunday, so they thought he did a wonderful job.  He preached the same sermon the next Sunday.  And the next.  By this time the people had caught on, and were concerned that he only had one sermon.  They charged the deacons with the task of sorting out the matter.

When the deacons approached the young preacher, he was cordial.  They said, "Preacher, we can't help but notice you keep preaching the same sermon."  "Yes," he said. "I do."  One deacon asked, "Do you have different sermons?"  "Oh, yes," said the young preacher. "I have many sermons."  Another deacon responded, "Wouldn't you like to preach a different sermon?"  "Yes," he answered, "I would love to preach a different sermon."  The Chairman spoke up, "Well then, why in the world don't you?"  "That's simple," said the preacher, "when you obey this message, I'll move on to the next."

I'm sure this story never happened, but it does make an important point.  There is a danger in assuming that we understand something simply because we have heard it before.  Hearing is just not enough.  We are to be doers of the Word, not hearers only.  During Jesus' earthly ministry  many heard his teaching and were astounded by his authority.  However, they never combined their hearing with obedience.

Bro. Paul did an excellent job of opening up the passage to explain the four keys of revival.  In order to experience revival of the magnitude of the First Great Awakening, God's people must humble themselves, pray, seek God's face, and turn from their wicked ways.

• The first key is to humble one's self.  Humbling one's self is the process of expunging all the pride in our lives.  It means we have to tackle our fear of man.  If you have ever asked, "What will people think?" (or some variation), then you fear man.  Humbling one's self, means we put down all pretenses (masks), and acknowledge who we really are.  A person is sufficiently humbled when they acknowledge their spiritual bankruptcy before God and man.  In the Bible, this humbling is often signaled by the tearing of clothes, the putting on of sackcloth, and the covering one's self in ashes.  It was a public display of brokenness.

• The second key is to pray.  Prayer was (and is) an essential part of Jesus' ministry.  In fact, Jesus' disciples were so impressed by his prayer life they asked him to teach them how to pray.  If prayer was (and is) essential to Jesus' life, shouldn't it also be essential to our lives?  We need to move beyond quick prayers over meals, rote prayers that repeat the same things over and over, formal prayers that use big words that we don't normally use, and weak unbelieving prayers.  We should to relearn and practice the postures of prayer: standing, kneeling, lying face down on the floor, etc.  We need to be so burdened that we learn to weep freely when we pray.  We need to pray with our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.  God has appointed prayer as a means to transforming hearts and lives in our world.  We must not neglect it any longer.

• The third key is to seek God's face.  It is a terrifying thing to come face to face with God.  If a person, in their sin, were to see God face to face they would die.  The holiness of God would strike them dead (see Ex. 33:20).  So why does the Lord instruct his people to seek his face?  The ultimate blessing is to have God's face shine upon you (see Num. 6:23-26).  Although Moses never actually saw God's face, God is said to have talked face to face with Moses, as a man talks to his friend (Ex. 33:11). This passage means that Moses communed in the presence of God.  In Moses' time, God's presence was displayed in a pillar of cloud/fire.  In our times, God's presence is mediated through the indwelling Spirit.  We are always in the Lord's presence.  We can speak to him as a child to his father, a servant to his master, and even as a friend to his friend.

• The fourth, and final, key is we must turn from our wicked ways.  Sin is a part of the human condition, and has been since Adam's rebellion.  However, believers in Christ are dead to sin.  Sin no longer has mastery over us.  James does an excellent job of explain the mechanics of sin (see James 1:13-15).  Paul goes farther, and explains the reason why we still continue with sin (see Romans 7:15-25).  But in Christ, through the power of the indwelling Spirit, we must make a break from sin.  To make the break, we must stop the sin, repent of it, confess it to the Lord and other offended parties, make restitution (where necessary), and continually seek the Lord's assistance.  He doesn't expect us to do it on our own, because he knows we are incapable.

So when will we see revival?  I guess when we start seeing God's people, who are called by his name, humbling themselves, praying, seeking his face, and turning from their wicked ways.  Until then, it's hard to say how much lasting change we'll experience.  May God grant us obedient hearts!