Revival Can't Be Stopped — Pray First — Zach Freeman

i'm really excited to speak to you on on the topic of revival and i titled this this short talk revival can't be stopped and it's really really cool because you know we just put out an album called i need revival and i think that's been a common theme and a common topic in our church this season and i just wanted to bring a little bit more context to what that is and because revival is a is a very broad term right we can it's been used in many many ways over the years um but but i want to just give some biblical perspective on what that is and i don't know if anybody's actually heard this poem from gil scott herron called the the revolution will not be televised i don't know if anybody's heard that maybe maybe some old timers in the room that know about that poem but it's what's so important about that poem so cool about that poem is when you actually read it and and you hear gil scott heron do it because he was a civil rights activist that when he says it recites that poem you almost feel like like you're there in revolution you almost feel like you're you're there as it's happening and the reason why it says the revolution will not be televised because true revolution when it takes place we don't need to put it on tv because we'll all feel it right we'll all feel a revolution happening we don't need to go see it on tv you won't even hear on the radio we don't need to be on ig because of true revolution when it happens it's it's it's it shakes the nation but revival is is different see revolution is an upheaval it's a spillover of pent up emotions it's it's people who are upset and disgruntled their their cries or their their petitions for change hasn't been heard and what is it it's a retaliation right revolution is is has a negative effect to it it's self-seeking right it's violent it can be dangerous right it only serves the the group of people that that that are trying to bring it about it doesn't some people would say revolution is so necessary for change but but it really isn't what we've seen through the years and through through history is that revolution leaves things actually more broken than than together but the revival revival is different revival revival is is completely different because revival is is actually true change it's true life change and so when we talk about the act of revivals that revival actually is for the believer right somebody who's already given their life to christ is living for jesus it's a reviving of them there's maybe something in your life or my life in any moment or in the church at large where something's been dormant or unconscious or asleep spiritually in our lives and then you are revived back to where you currently were when you found your first level when you gave your life to christ there's a there's a reviving right we say reviving because you can't be revived unless you were alive already okay and there's a lot of terms that people you'll hear the people will say revival they'll say the reformation they'll say an awakening they'll say renewal and we'll we'll focus today on revival and awakening but awakening is actually for the non-believer or somebody who is spiritually dead or doesn't know jesus right who doesn't know jesus and so revival differs from revolution because it it it carries with it actual true life change right nothing can actually change us in the way that revival can and so here's here's the main point today revival is a part of the continual sanctification process that is in effect until christ returns and it says this in philippians 1 6 being confident of this that who he who begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of christ jesus so it's christ jesus continual work being done in you through the person of the holy spirit which is sanctification right that becomes is done when he returns okay even though we're saved we're always in need of a reviving and of change because we're we're still broken people even though we've been saved we're still in need of it and so what i've i'm just trying to bring a little bit of context because as i read the scriptures and i look through what the word of god says and when i when i see there where there's revival in the bible or an awakening in the bible renew a reformation or anything there always is a is a little bit of responsibility on our part there's some things that we've got to do some ways that we need to lean in to actually see that take place actually see an awakening to happen to see actually the word word of god go across the world we've got to have a little bit of a little bit of a a hand in it as well it's not just something that god just does we've got to be obedient and so here's the first point so to bring revival to see it happen on awakening to happen in our world it takes humility and obedience humility and obedience and we see in jonah three if you know the story of jonah jonah didn't want to go to nineveh right god called them god told them hey i you know i want you to go to nineveh because i'm gonna destroy nineveh and jonah didn't want to right so he got really prideful why because the ninevites had actually killed off his family so he was like man i'm not god i'm not going to nineveh i'm not going over there and i'm not going to do anything for them because they've wronged me and so it was not until jonah 3 that we see jonah actually humble himself be obedient to the call of god in his life then when he goes to nineveh what happens he actually does what god told him to do he tells the ninevites hey this is what the lord lord says for you if you don't turn from your wicked ways and repent you're gonna be destroyed by god and when they actually believed him what happened the awakening a revival broke out in the whole entire nation of nineveh but that was through humility and obedience and sometimes that can be really really hard because honestly guys like sometimes we don't want to humble ourselves sometimes we don't want to be obedient to the call of god that's on our life sometimes we don't want to put aside our reservations and some of the things that we think should be happening and shouldn't be happening and and we and we can we can walk in a spirit of pride right right that happens it happens all the time but until we humble ourselves see revival happen or an awakening happen within the church and the people around us and i've seen this time and time again and we also even in your personal life the bible says you know you know those who humble themselves god will lift up and why why would god do that for you what do you mean by lifting up well there's a change happening in your heart there's a lifting in your life when you humble yourself from whatever that may be that you're dealing with so humility and obedience bring revival point to because i'm running out of time hard times believe it or not hard times bring a revival it's crazy to say that right hard times bring revival let's look at acts 11. 19-24 it says this now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when stephen was killed traveled as far as phoenicia cyprus antioch spreading the word only among jews now get this some of them however men from cyprus and cyrene went to antioch and began to speak to greeks also so those people right there will pause right there they got saved and they went to antioch to speak to greeks to the gentiles telling them the good news about the lord jesus the lord's hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the lord verse 22 news of this reached the church in jerusalem and they sent barnabas to antioch when he arrived and saw what the grace of god had done he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the lord with all their hearts he was a good man for the holy spirit and faith and a great number of people were brought to lord see hard times fortify our beliefs fortify what we believe in it digs our feet into the rock of ages which is god when we go through persecution when we go through any type of hard times it it it changes us it allows us to be changed it puts our it puts our values and our belief on the pedestal the glademan this is really what i believe is this really is this really what i'm what i'm what i'm who i'm serving is this really what is this really worth it yes it is worth it and then when we dig our feet into the promises of god what happens people see what's going on how we're living our life through hard times and then they wonder why how do you have so much peace how do you have so much life change while you're going through persecution while you're going through hard times it doesn't make sense and then they inquire the lord through you right and sometimes you know this these past two years have been hard times right and this is where revival we're talking about revival we're talking about heart change changing your life reviving when the pandemic hit right before the pandemic it was pretty comfortable can anybody agree with me on that i mean we were living pretty good it was all right it was it was pretty fun when the pandemic hit bro i was looking for god in every place that i could find why because my trust in god was not where it needed to be if you will i could say maybe my trust in god was asleep right before the pandemic and then when the pandemic hit i had to oh wait a second i had to go back to the father and go wait a second what's going on here a broken place or a dormant place or an unconscious place in my life had to be brought back to life through a hard time through a hard situation god even uses hard times that that we even bring on our own selves our bad decisions right some of the things that we do wrong he allows those things to change us he uses that to change us so we can't look at hard times as a bad thing i always say man listen when something goes down it's hard it's happening in my life revival's around the corner changes around the corner something's about to happen because god's gonna use it what the enemy is meant for evil god's gonna use for good i i also when i was reading through this scripture and what's going on modern day today in afghanistan and in china as people are being persecuted as people are being killed for their faith do you think that's going to stop the gospel of jesus christ no do you think that's going to stop revival from an awakening from breaking out in the world no because we've seen it in scripture happen time and time again the more they were persecuted the more christians right the more they multiplied the more they the more the gospel spread and so that's how revival happens is through hard times now no it's not always the most comfortable thing to sit through a hard time to sit through a moment where we're being persecuted or or demonized in some sort of way for our faith or we're seeing people being killed across the world no it's not fun but we know that the bible says that he is close to those who are brokenhearted he's present in those moments he's present in those moments so where there's a rough patch there's revival around the corner and number three this is my last point commitment to the ways of god that's another way i think revival happens is that when when the people of god are actually committed to the ways of god that's when we see revival break out in ways that we've never seen before and this is it this is a really awesome story i wish i could say that tell you the whole story of jehoshaphat but in second chronicles 6 17 6 and then 9 through 10 it says this about jehoshaphat who was king of judah and if i'll just give you a little backstory i'm running out of time a little backstory on judah is that and even israel in that time after king david and king solomon they went things went really really bad the israelites turned their heart away from god they started worshiping idols it was debaucherous it was awful and god was very very mad but a king named jehoshaphat still loved the lord and it says this his heart was devoted to the ways of the lord furthermore he removed the high places and the asherah polls from judah now we go to verse 9. they taught throughout judah taking with them the book of the law of the lord they went around all the towns of judah and taught the people the fear of the lord fell on all the kingdoms of the land surrounding judah so that they did not go to war against jehoshaphat so our commitment even through even for jehoshaphat who is king of judah at that time our commitment to the ways of god even though i'm going through something or something is maybe maybe a little bit more popular about maybe a way of life that i want to do or something's changing in culture and society i'm still going to to stand in the word of god i'm still going to be committed to the ways of god i'm still going to do what god has asked me to do i'm still going to stay committed and what what happened with jehoshaphat was that through his commitment in honor of god's ways he was able to change the nation of judah he was able to to bring them back and turn their hearts for them to be revived back to where they used to be when before this all started happening so i don't know what's going on with anybody's life right now i don't i don't i don't know where there's there's places in your life and that may be spiritually dormant or unconscious or sleeping or even you're even dead or or like i said before maybe you're not trusting god the way that you should be maybe you're not operating and walking in the fruit of the spirit maybe you're not walking in the spirit maybe you're not even even leaning on god himself i don't know what it may be but the promise is there that that he who started a good work in you will continue it on until it's complete until he returns until you pass away and you go to heaven he's gonna do it and so wherever you may be today this is taking we're gonna we're gonna pray after this we're gonna be praying for the rest this time but i want you to really go hey god be humble hey god hey i'm not i'm not really loving like i should right i'm not being as gentle as i could to be to my kids i'm not being as faithful i'm not i'm not holding and keeping my word you know whatever it may be hey god i i really i really want i really want to do better with this i i really i really need to come back to life again in this area and open yourself to him and even for some people in here that are that are willing to stand the gap for people that are in your life like your family maybe your co-workers right maybe even a nation that you're able to stand in the gap and contend right and petition say god god we need you to awaken some things and some people that that are maybe it's here in miami god we need you to to to send an awakening a revival in our city maybe that's you today maybe that's you today let's today let's let's be let's be humble let's be obedient to the call maybe god's called you to do something and you're that you're resisting and on the other side of obedience there's breakthrough for other people not just for you right even the hard times that we're going through that we can see them as good as we can see them as a change agent not just in our life but for other people's lives and let's just say committed to the word of god let's say committed so let's pray father i just thank you god wherever we may find ourselves today whatever areas in our life that may be tired asleep unconscious maybe some areas that we might not be operating in the gifts of the spirit we might not be walking in the spirit god i pray that you would revive us today father god it doesn't need to be some big show it doesn't need to be some some amazing song or lights or anything god you can revive us without that even in this moment of stillness and god i also pray god for the people that are connected to us our family our friends our co-workers the people that we are neighbors this city the world where we come from our our city in our country of origin wherever that may be father god the people that we know that are coming to mind even as even as i talk and i pray god i pray that you would give us the courage to start to pray for them to stand in the gap and contend and to ask for an awakening and revival in their lives god so god we just love you and we thank you god we honor you and it's in your name we pray amen amen and you can you can say see you can stand we're gonna we're gonna go into another time of worship but let's use this time to really ask god to revive and to change and to move in our lives amen amen

Channel: VOUS Church

Views: 2,421

Rating: 4.9607844 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: 2Q5iyLlg6x8

Length: 15min 46sec (946 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 09 2021