A CRY FOR REVIVAL TEXT: PSALM 85:1-7 Psalm 85:1-7 1 LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. 2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. 3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. 4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. 5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? 6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? 7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. I. INTRODUCTION A. WHAT IS A REVIVAL? A revival is a time of quickening or impartation of life. As God alone can give life, a revival is a time when God visits His people and by the power of His Spirit imparts life to them, and through them He imparts life to sinners dead in trespasses and sins. Revival in not generated excitement caused by mere professional evangelists. That is the devil's imitation of a revival! New life from God - THAT is revival! B. HEARD IN THE WORST OF TIMES The cry for revival is always heard in the worst of times. Numbers 16 and 26 describe the rebellion of Korah against Moses. Korah did not respect the anointed call of God on the lives of Moses and Aaron and rose up against them. Immediately Moses fell on his face before God. In the first three verses of our text we hear the cry of Korah's sons for mercy from the Lord. And then in verses 4-7 they repent. It was their father who sinned, but it was the sons who had to pay for those sins! It is no different with us today. Our father, Adam, sinned and we must pay by crying for mercy and repenting. Remember, you are not an island unto yourself - what you do today affects your offspring! They will have to pay the price for your life! Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, told Judah and Jerusalem that the fallow ground had to be broken up and that they were not to plant among the thorns (Jeremiah 4:3). There must be a brokeness before God will cause the ground to be fruitful! You have to plant before you can reap! The conditions of the ground must be conducive to growth before we will experience true revival! Hosea, the brokenhearted prophet, tells us in Hosea 10:12 - "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you." To have revival in 1997 we must live righteously, extend mercy, and maintain a brokenness before God that will get His attention and get results! II. BODY A. WHAT IS REVIVAL? The all-important question now comes to mind: "Just what is revival?" Revival is the work of God. It is new life from God. Revival is the need of the people in this hour. d. Revival is the promise of God. A church not having revival is a dead church! Revival is the life of the church! B. WHAT DOES IT TAKE? What does it take to have revival? 1. First of all, it takes HUNGER. Matthew 5:6 - "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Isaiah 55:1-2,6-11 - "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD."As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." 2. Then there must be HUMILITY. II Chronicles 7:14 - If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. James 4:5-10 - "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. I Peter 5:5-6 - "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 3. After humility there must be HOPE. The Lord asked Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones, "Can these bones live?" (Ezekiel 37:3). Ezekiel's answer was a safe one, "O Lord God, thou knowest." God knows all things, and He knows that revival is possible in this church just like He knew those dry bones could live. With God, all things are possible! If we are going to see revival, we must hope for it, believe for it, work for it, and have it! We find hope in the words of Jeremiah - "Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among the thorns" (Jeremiah 4:3). If you have a hope for revival, start breaking ground for it and God will give the increase! Step out in faith and be bold in God! With hope comes fulfilled promises! 4. Finally, to have revival, we must have a HEART for revival. Matthew 24:12-13 - And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Sin abounds in the world, but sin has always abounded in the world. Don't lose heart! Keep the faith. Finish the course. Because he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved! HAVE A HEART FOR THE HEARVEST! Isaiah 40:26-31 (NIV) - "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." III. CLOSE A. MAN WON'T FLY An Eastern bishop was accustomed to paying an annual visit to a small religious college. On one such visit, the bishop engaged in an after-dinner conversation with the college president. The religious leader offered the opinion that the millennium could not be long in coming since everything about nature had been discovered, and all possible inventions had been made. The college president disagreed, stating that he felt the next fifty years would bring amazing discoveries and inventions. In his opinion, human beings would be flying through the skies like birds within a relatively short time. "Nonsense!" shouted the bishop. "Flight is reserved for angels!" The bishop's name was Wright. He had two sons -- Orville and Wilbur. Fortunately for American aviation, the bishop's two sons were willing to join the college president in "standing up" for their beliefs and convictions. -- Get the Best From Yourself, p.60 Hebrews 11:1-3 - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." B. PERSONAL CHALLENGE What have we learned? To reap the harvest, every generation, every fellowship, every person must cry for revival! Someone asked an ex-paratrooper how many jumps he had made. He responded by saying, "None! I was pushed out 18 times!" For some people, that story describes their initiative or lack thereof. Let's get serious about revival and reap God's harvest for this church!