"Three Keys to Revival" | Pastor Steve Gaines

well praise the Lord take your Bibles and turn with me to second chronicles chapter 7 and in just a moment we'll start looking at verses 13 and 14 I believe you're gonna find these verses tonight very applicable to all of us during this time and during this epidemic I want to encourage you to pray for revival what in the world do we mean by revival revival has been defined by many people but my favorite definition from someone else is given by a man who is now with the Lord Jesus he was my mentor in seminary my dear friend for many many decades dr. Roy fish and he said this revival is an infusion of divine life into the body of Christ which enables the body to love unconditionally rejoice exceedingly serve productively live victoriously praise appropriately minister freely and witness effectively now that's a mouthful and there's no way you could memorize that maybe you could you'd have to really work at it but what he's saying is when we revive when Christians are revived that is when we have a renewing in our hearts when we have this refreshment that comes from the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit God does some things he causes us not to be selfish he wants us to love other people he causes us to be joyful in Jesus not in our things but in the Lord he causes us to want to serve other people we stop looking in and we start looking out when we're in revival he also lets us experience victory over sin there's a lot of you right now they're saying you know what I need to have victory over a certain sin in my life I constantly am committing this same sin well listen friend in revival if God will revive your heart you can have victory over that sin you can also offer God praise using biblical expressions I'm talking about clapping holy hands to the Lord lifting holy hands to the Lord I'm talking about saying Amen shouting out to God singing unto God and then being still sometime and knowing that he's got even when you're quiet those are all biblical expression expressions of God praising God and then you also are ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit I want to say this to you when revival comes things that have been hard become a lot easier because you're flowing in the river and the power of the Holy Spirit I go down we live right close to the Mississippi River and I'll go down there sometimes and I just see that huge river going down toward the the Gulf of Mexico and I think about how when God sends revival it's just like a mighty river like a mighty Mississippi River flowing and the power of God pulling people on and then also when we have revival we will want to win lost souls that's what dr. Fisch was saying now I've got my own definition and it comes from actually the text that we're in tonight not in verses 13 and 14 but in second chronicles chapter 7 verses 1 through 2 the Bible says back in second chronicles chapter 6 the King Solomon who was the son of David Solomon was praying in Chapter 6 and God answered his prayer in the first two verses we see what happened when God sent the answer to his prayer in 2nd chronicles 7 verses 1 & 2 now when Solomon had finished praying fire came down that's what revival is the fire of God fire came down from heaven it consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory now listen here it is the glory of the Lord filled the house the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house I believe revival is when the glory of God fills the house of God you know as Christians our body is the temple or the house of the Living God sometimes when we think about revival we think about the whole nation in revival well that would be wonderful but you know what you can have a personal revival just say God I want the glory of God to fill this house of God I want this body to be filled with the glory and the manifest presence of God and friend when that happens you'll be walking in revival you might think about your marriage if you're married and you just think about you know I want my marriage to be a temple of revival Oh God sin revival let the glory of God fill the house of God with my marriage and Lord God what about my family I want my home to be a house where you send the glory of God Lord let the glory of God fill the house of God at my my home and then Lord what about our church I'm not talking about a building God doesn't dwell in buildings made by human hands he dwells in redeemed humanity I'm talking about all the people of God you know people say well we're not going to church well we're still having church because the people of God who are redeemed are the church and what if all the people in the local church of which you're a part would be revived they would be filled with the manifest glory in the presence of God that is revival and when enough of that happens and enough Christians and enough families and enough churches and enough marriages are experiencing revival then there's this collective revival that can be a national revival or even a world-wide revival God wants to send it I'm not just talking about good singing I'm not just talking about good preaching I'm not talking about emotionalism I'm talking about the manifest presence of God I'm not just talking about we're all we all have the Holy Spirit if we're saved I get that I'm talking about the manifest presence of God coming upon his people there was a church I preached about it a few weeks ago on Sunday morning here at Bellevue there was a church called the Church of Laodicea and Jesus said you know what you need revival in fact it was so bad that literally Jesus was on the outside of his own church can you imagine that the Bible says in Revelation 3 verses 16 and 17 jesus said to this church because you're lukewarm you're neither hot nor cold I will spit you out of my mouth because you say I'm rich I've become wealthy I have need of nothing and you don't know they were even ignorant about their spiritual need you don't know that you are wretched miserable poor blind and naked now how could a church be that blind how could a church be that messed up how could a church think that we've got it all together when Jesus said you don't have anything together I'll tell you why they locked Jesus out they were doing church without Jesus they weren't praying they weren't being filled with the Holy Spirit they weren't saying Lord what would you have us to do they weren't depending on the Lord they had their own program they had their own pride they had their own way of doing things and Jesus was locked out we know it because he said later on in just a few verses in revelation 3:20 behold I stand at the door and knock he's knocking not on somebody's heart no he's knocking on the door to the church behold I stand at the door he's talking about the Church of Laodicea I'm knocking on the door I stand at the door and I knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into him and will dine with him and he with me it's bad if God is locked out of your government it's bad if God is locked out of your schools it's bad in a country when God is locked out of the courtrooms but I want to tell you something it's really bad when God is locked out of his church because we would rather do Church our way then do it with him in charge I want to say this to you God doesn't come to take sides God comes to take over and Jesus needs to be in your church stop planning worship services or any kind of meeting in order to attract people stop it you say I've never heard anybody say that in my life well you just did stop it stop planning worship service services to attract people and start planning worship services that will attract the manifest presence of Almighty God and I'm telling you God's manifest presence will attract the people I've said it for years revival is when the the the glory of God fills the house of God when God comes to church I want Jesus at Bellevue Baptist Church I don't want to assume that he's there I want to know that he's there when people leave I don't want them talking about what a great sermon I don't want them talk about what great music know what a great program no a thousand times no I woke them leaving saying couldn't you sense the presence of Almighty God couldn't you sense that God was in that place couldn't you sense that the anointing of God was there people were being saved people were being healed people were being set free from strongholds people were growing in grace God was speaking and we all knew it and we had to bow in holiness tonight I want to talk to you about that I want to talk to you about revival I want talking about the manifest presence of God filling the house of God that's what we need that's what America needs our churches are dead many of them are dead they're lifeless and God is saying I want you to come back to me now how in the world can it take place there are three keys to revival I want to say this to you you cannot manipulate God you don't tell god what to do I don't tell what God to do but I'll tell you what you can do you can put yourself and a church can put itself and a denomination can put itself into the position where if God sovereignly chooses to send revival will be ready in other words if God causes the wind to blow we won't have to look oh well he's blowing now we're gonna lift our our sails up no we're gonna be ready we're gonna have all those sails up ready to go and say God any time you want to blow any time you want to blow a fresh movement of God on this nation any time you want to do that in my heart dear God I'm ready I want revival dear God I want an anointing of God I want that 3,000 years ago right about Solomon David's son was in cyrillus King he had built the temple there in Jerusalem his daddy had wanted to build it but his daddy was a man of bloodshed and the Bible says that Solomon was a man of peace and God let Solomon build that temple and he built it and we read just a moment ago that when he built it and they dedicated to the Lord the fire of God came the presence of God came and the glory of God came and filled the house of God and now just a few verses later in verses 13 and 14 God spoke these amazing words to Solomon king of Israel 3,000 years ago if I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or if I command the locust to devour the land now listen or if I send pestilence same word for epidemic or pandemic if I send pestilence among my people and my people not the world my people my people who are called by my name for us that would be Christians the people of God today are Christians if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and will pray and will seek my face and will turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven I will forgive their sin and I will even heal their land friend can you imagine what God would do in America if the Christians the people of God would do what he said now let's talk about those three keys to revival three keys first key is this three little words they all begin with the letter H first of all humility humility look there in verses 13 and 14 if I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain if I send a drought that is or if I command the locusts to devour the land I've been watching and reading about the devastating billions of locust that are in Kenya right now he said if I sin locusts to devour the land or if I send pestilence the whole world is covered right now with a pestilence coronavirus literally a virus if I send pestilence among my people now listen and my people called by my name my people called by my name will humble them selves now why in the world would our God shut up the heavens in drought why would God send locusts I mean why would a good loving God send locusts on people's crops even in Kenya where they're already poor and why would he send pestilence why would he do these things why would he do these things well we don't have to look far there's always a parallel text and when we looked at the parallel text in second chronicles 6 verse 26 it says this when the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you this is Solomon back in the previous chapter praying to God he says when the heavens are shut up and there's no rain because they have sinned against you there's no rain because they have sinned against you now I'm not saying every time there's a drought it's because we've sinned but I am saying there are times in the Bible when God's people were sinning and God would send a drought on them and I want to tell you I believe God still does that kind of thing and then they pray toward this place he said and confess your name and turn from their sin you you and when they when you afflict them they'll turn from their sin God said I will shut up the heavens I will do these things I will not send rain if my people sin now in that I'm talking about in that context I'm not saying that would happen even today but I believe that it's very possible it could God is the same yesterday today and forever and I believe that God disciplines his people when we sin he can do it through droughts he can do it through locusts he can do it through pandemics or pestilence and again that doesn't mean that every drought every locusts attack every pandemic is a discipline from God but it does mean that some of the bad things that happen in our world are many times brought on because the people of God Christians have sin in our lives he said I'll shut up the heavens I'll command the locusts to devour I'll send the pestilence among my people and what is God's spiritual answer for all of this what is it social distancing I'm all for social distancing I'm practicing social distancing but that's not going to send revival that's not going to send revival it's not just appropriate hygiene it is this if my people called by my name will humble themselves again who are God's people in the Old Testament they were the Israelites the descendants the Jews the descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob but there's a new covenant the Bible says in Hebrews 813 when he said a new covenant he has made the first obsolete but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear and what he's saying there is there's a new covenant you don't get saved by the law anymore you don't get saved in the way you did in the Old Testament more you get saved now by trusting in Jesus Christ by repenting of your sins and calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus the people of God today are those who have called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ they are followers of Jesus Christ the people of God today are Christians and so Christians are God's people now and the Bible says that we are to to be holy unto the Lord if God allows such disasters like drought locusts pestilence every Christian out there should say Lord if this is you telling us as Christians that we need to humble ourselves we'll do that I want to say this to you God hates pride God hate pride hates pride when pride walks in God walks out we don't ever need to boast we don't ever need to be arrogant we don't ever need to be proud God hates pride but he loves humility we read in Proverbs 16 verse 18 pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling one of my favorite verses against pride ISM micah chapter 6 verse 8 perhaps you've heard of this he has told you old man what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God Peter said in first Peter 5:7 therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God then he will exalt you at the proper time and let me say something else about the word humble in the context in Old Testament when God talks about humbling yourself many times he's talking about fasting I'm talking about doing without food for a spiritual purpose taking the time that you would normally eat and spending that time studying the Word of God praying unto God worshiping God spending time alone with God or maybe with other Christians where you're pouring out your heart in prayer to God that's what fasting is you say old brother Steve we don't need to fast today that's not something God would want us to do well Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount there will come a time when he said when you need to fast when you fast you need to you need to do it this way that way Jesus taught his disciples how to fast and we need to do that the first sermon I ever preached at Bellevue Baptist Church was way back way back in like 1996 I believe it was in August the 4th and I preached out of Joel and one of the parts of that text talks about humbling ourselves with fasting Joel chapter 2 God says yet even now declares the Lord returned to me with all of your heart and with fasting and weeping and mourning and then he says and rend your heart and not your garments many times when the Old Testament people would be repentant they you know or wanted to act like they're afraid they'd Rin their their clothes you said leave your clothes alone don't rend your current garments rend your heart have a broken heart before me make sure that you're repenting before me now return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate slow to anger abounding and loving kindness and relating of evil who knows whether he will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind God is saying I want you to repent I want you to return to me with all of your heart I want you to fast and weep in the mourn and to rinse your heart not just your garments I don't want it to be an outside thing just a show I want it to be deep down in your soul I want to ask you would you start fasting and praying for our nation would you start fasting and praying for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in America to come alive would you ask God to help you now you did something you say well now wait a minute I can't I can't fast my doctor told me that I could never fast listen to me why can't you fast I go to the doctor I've got myasthenia gravis I take a lot of pills every day but I want to say this to you you can fast at least one meal every once in a while even if you're a diabetic you can fast you can do without one meal you know what a lot of us could do without several meals alright and I'm not talking about dieting but we do need to diet more don't we especially during this time but we need to fast it's a spirit you're it's doing without food with a spiritual purpose to it and you're praying some of you have great needs in your life some of you have lost your jobs you know what I would do if I were you I'd fast I'd get some other people too fast would you miss a meal just once a day would you miss a couple of meals with me some people will miss breakfast and lunch and then eat after five o'clock some people will miss a whole day some people will miss two or three days some people will miss a week or ten days or 21 days I know some people that have gone for 40 days without solid food let me tell you something I'm not I'm not telling you going a 40 day fast right now I am telling you though every Christian out there you can fast at least one meal once a week and pray to God for revival you can do that even if you take medicine you could take if you take your medicine in the morning like I do eat some breakfast and then skip lunch maybe skip supper do whatever you have to do but you can do that fasting is humbling ourselves before God what if God what if God is trying to get the world's attention through coronavirus what if God is saying hey wake up wake up look up and listen to me God is shaking this world right now God is shaking us we didn't think it would last this long we didn't think it would be this severe we don't know how many are going to die praying that we'll move but I believe he's trying to get our attention whatever it takes if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves the first key to revival will never have a revival if we're cocky and proud oh look how good we are look how big our economy is look how mighty our armies are look how big this is and big that is and look how low this is as far as unemployment on oh we're so arrogant sometimes I want to say this to you the only thing we need to boast in is the Lord Jesus Christ need to humble ourselves the first key to revival is humility secondly second key to revival is hunger hunger and I'm not talking about food I'm talking about spiritual hunger look there again if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves now watch and pray now watch and seek my face say that with me seek my face that's the kind of prayer that God wants he doesn't just want a nice little prayer he wants you to seek Him he wants you to come after him you will find me when you seek for me the Bible says in Jeremiah 29 with all of your heart God wants us to come to him in prayer I like that he wants us to come to him and pray I mean it's on me wait I want you to put some thought into it I don't want it just to be haphazard I want you to come to me I want you to pray I want you to put something into this relationship I'm putting my son in it I'm putting my word and I'm putting my spirit I'm putting my everything in this relationship it's time for you child to put something into this relationship I want you to come to me I want Jesus said lock the door go into you're in a room shut the door pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will repay you God wants you to come to him he wants you to spend time with him and I want to say this to you Jesus said quoting Isaiah God's house will be a house of prayer every church is supposed to be a House of Prayer preacher every church is supposed to be a House of Prayer Deacon every church is supposed to be as a prayer teacher every church is supposed to be a house of prayer and I want to say this to you if you're in a church and it's not a house of prayer who is it does it belong to Jesus Jesus at my house shall be a house of prayer I want to encourage you to say you know what I can't do about anything about anybody else I can do something about me Oh God let this body be a house of prayer Oh God let my marriage be a house of prayer let my home be a house of prayer Oh God let me get with some other Christians in my local church let our church be a house of prayer Oh God let your people cry out to you in Hunger if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face I love what the psalmist said in Psalm 27 verse 4 one thing I have asked from the Lord now do you think about that I asked the Lord for a lot of things I prayed this morning and I asked for a lot of things but the psalmist said one things on my mind right now one thing he was laser in and what is it what's on your mind David one thing I have asked the Lord that I made that that I shall seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple he said I just want to spend time with God I just want to be alone with the Lord I just wanted every day I just want to take some time to spend some time with my heavenly father I want to meditate on his word I want to behold him in his beauty I want him to be my all and all I want to spend time with him the psalmist went on to say in psalm 42 I love this verses 1 and 2 as the deer pants for the water Brooks that's a deer that's been running through the woods and his is thirsty and it's panting for the water so my soul pants for you O God when's the last time you panted for the presence of God when's the last time you painted for reading your Bible I said I so much so pantry my soul thirsts for you for the Living God when shall I come and appear before God when's the last time you felt like that when is the last time you said I I am so hungry to be alone with God in prayer I so want to spend just a moment with him a few moments reading the Bible or maybe a whole hour I'm panting for God when's the last time that happen some people are more concerned about the stock market and the money and the businesses and the family and the possessions and the houses and the farms and lake houses and all this other stuff the entertainment but I want to tell you something God is concerned about you spending time with him in prayer my life's verse come out of Jeremiah 29 I alluded to it a moment ago verses 11 through 14 for I know that God says I know the plans I have for you plans for welfare not for calamity to give you a future and a hope then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart and I will be found by you declares the Lord and I will restore I love this part I will restore your fortunes that is your captivity and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I've driven you declares Lord and I will bring you back to the place from where I've sent you into exile God is saying to his people there who are in Babylonian bondage he was saying if you'll just call on me I'll bring you back to Jerusalem I'll bring you back to myself call on me I know the plans that I have for you plans for a welfare I'm gonna bless you I'm gonna give you a future and a hope there's hope for your future he says but you've got to do something you've got to call upon me and come and pray to me and then I will listen to you and you must seek me and you'll find me when you search for me with all of your heart when's the last time you wept before the Lord when's the last time you got down on your knees with a burden and you stayed there and you wrestled with God like Jacob did there at the J Buc River when's the last time at penny L you wrestled with God and said I will not let you go until you bless me God likes that friend God likes that until you need to grab hold of God you need to get down on your face if you have to and say I'm not getting up I'm gonna pray until I pray through that's what the old timers used to say I prayed through pastor I prayed through I sensed the Holy Ghost was telling me that I've got the answer coming God is going to do something oh I through when's the last time you prayed like that Jesus said in Matthew 5 verse 6 blessed are those who hunger and thirst not for food but for righteousness they shall be satisfied jesus said in Matthew 6:33 seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you when's the last time you really saw God's face not his hand for what he could do for you but just who he is you glorified him that he is Jehovah Shalom the Lord your peace you glorified him that he is Joba Shama the Lord who is with you in his presence is fullness of joy you glorified him but he is Javanese see the Lord who fights for you while you keep silent you glorified him that he is Jehovah Jireh the Lord who provides everything even your salvation you glorified him that he is Jehovah sidqa to the Lord your righteousness you don't have any righteousness but you're covered in the righteousness of Jesus Christ when's the last time you just praise Jesus for the righteousness that he's covered you in and one day he will crown you with righteousness and you will cast that crown before him at the holy throne of God praise him that he is Jehovah sit Canoe praising that he's Jehovah Rapha when's the last time you said Lord thank you that you have healed my soul thank you you will heal my body thank you that one day in heaven I'll be totally healed your Jehovah Rapha your Jobim I Kadesh the lord who sanctifies me you have set me apart from all the people to be yours O God I praise you that your jehova rohi the Lord my shepherd I shall not want you make me to lie down in green pastures you lead me beside the still waters you restore my soul you lead me in paths of righteousness for your name's sake yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me now prepares the table before me in the presence of mine enemies now anointest my head with all my cup runneth over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I'm gonna dwell in the house of the Lord forever when's the last time you talked with God something like that and you poured out your heart dam and you saw him with all of your heart and soul you sought his face when's the last time you prayed and you really prayed through the second key to revival friend is hunger if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and there's one more key one more key here it is the last key to revival is holiness if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face now listen and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven will forgive their sin and will heal their land it's not good enough it's not good enough just to be humble it's not good enough just to be hungry you've got to be holy and listen to me you're not holy and neither am i the only one who can make us holy is Jesus Jesus God will never send revival until we repent of our sins and return to the Lord and ask him to forgive our sins the Bible says that we we need to turn to God and repent that's how you get cleansed that's how you get clean that's how you walk with the Lord Jesus when he saved you set you apart just like he did in the Old Testament the people of God Leviticus 20 26 says thus you are to be holy to me for I the LORD am holy and I have set you apart I've sanctified you from all the peoples to be mine you don't belong to the world you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ you don't even belong just to the people around you and your family you primarily if you're a Christian you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ you're to be holy unto him as he is holy the psalmist gave us a great prayer David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed Uriah killed in battle he went back to God and here he is he's committed adultery and murder and he goes to God this man who was said to be a man after God's own heart well he really messed up and yet God forgave him but he prayed he prayed this prayer in Psalm 51 he said created me a clean heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me do not cast me away from that presence do not take the Holy Spirit from me restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and sustain me with the willing spirit then I will teach transgressors thy ways and sinners will be converted unto you O when's the last time you prayed like that to the Lord and you got clean before God the Bible says that God wants you to be a living and Holy Sacrifice Paul said in Romans 12 verses 1 & 2 therefore I urge you brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living and Holy Sacrifice all for yourself up to the Lord acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship don't be conformed to this world don't be like this rotten world bit Beach but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove or discern what the will of God is that which is good acceptable and perfect when's the last time you just laid yourself on the altar and said God I want to be a living sacrifice take me Lord Jesus I died to myself I take up my cross I will follow you I will follow you wherever you want to go I am totally yours I am totally yours I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live Galatians 2:20 yet not i but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me when's the last time you offered yourself up as a holy sacrifice to God and when you're filled with the Holy Spirit you're gonna be a powerful power that even the enemy himself the devil himself will not be able to handle the Bible says in Ephesians 5:18 he's targeting Christians don't get drunk with wine but that is dissipation that's excess but be filled with the holy spirit constantly being filled the Holy Spirit how will that look you'll have the fruit of the Spirit going out all the time we read about that in Galatians 5:22 and 23 but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against these things there is no law when you're full of the Holy Spirit you'll be christ-like you'll be like the fruit of the Spirit which is exactly what Jesus was like love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control and kindness is right in the middle of that kindness is the heart of being filled with the Holy Spirit of God and the Bible says also if you're gonna walk with God and walk in holiness with God you've got to avoid sexual temptations not just temptations but sexual activity the Bible says and our nation has gone crazy in this area I mean there's so much adultery and fornication and and cohabitation and and all to all types of homosexuality and bisexuality and lesbianism and on and on pornography on and on it's just it's just absolutely going nuts and the Bible says that God wants us to turn from that he said in 2nd Timothy 2:22 flee from youthful lust and pursue righteousness faith love and peace with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart you've got to turn from your wicked ways and so do I and God says that's the key to revival old Christian can't you see can't you see our world is in a mess our world is in a mess and we're looking for scientists to fix it I'm all for science but that's not enough we're looking to government to fix it I'm all for government rightly applied but that's not enough we're looking for money to fix it but that's not enough our world needs a fresh blowing and movement of God our world needs for the Christians the people of God to rise up in humility and hunger and holiness and cry out to God oh god it's not my brother or my sister it's me Oh Lord standing in the need of revival Oh God I believe your word you said if I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or if I command the locusts to devour the land or if I send pestilence among my people and my people Christians who are called by my name will humble themselves pray seek your face turn from your wicked wear seek our your face and turn from our wicked ways you will hear from heaven forgive our sin heal our land those are the three keys to revival God has given them to you humility hunger and holiness and may you use them in prayer every day for the rest of your life and may God send his glory to his house one more time let's pray together Heavenly Father I pray in the name of Jesus at people today cry out to God with Lord all of their hearts Lord with humility hunger and holiness god I pray that we are people called by your name will humble ourselves pray seek your face turn from our wicked ways Oh God would you hear from heaven would you forgive our sin and would you heal this land Oh God do it for your glory some of you don't know the Lord some of you are not saved you've never repented of your sins would you be saved even now you say brother Steve I can't be revived because I've never been vibed I've never been saved I don't have the life of God in me so I can't have that life revived i I need life in Jesus Christ the Bible says that God loves you oh he loves you he loves you with an everlasting love the Bible says but you're a sinner we all are we've all broken the loss of God and the wages the just penalty of our sin is death spiritual separation from God but God loved you too much to leave you in that horrible condition so he came to you when you couldn't get to him he came to you that's the difference by the way between Christianity and every other religion every other religion is you trying to work your way up to God through good works not Christianity God knew that you could never do that so when you couldn't get to God God came to you and the person of his son Jesus Christ he was born of a virgin free from a sinful nature consequently and the Bible says he lived a sinless life he was tempted in all ways like we are every temptation you've ever had Jesus was tempted and always like we are yet he never sinned and even though he was the sinless son of God he went to the cross and died as an atoning sacrifice for your sins and for the sins of the whole world and the Bible says that he was buried but then God raised him from the dead and he's alive and he offers you eternal life how do you receive it three simple words number one you have to repent you have to do a spiritual u-turn have you ever seen the u-turn sign that's repent it means to turn from sin and turn toward God and Jesus said if you don't repent you'll perish you said that twice and Luke chapter 13 you've got to repent and return to the Lord and just say god I'm sorry for my sin I repent and then you've got to believe you got to believe that what Jesus did on the cross was for you that he died for your sins personalize that thing and then when he rose from the dead he did that for you to give you eternal life he has eternal life and he wants to give it to you and he does that through the resurrection so Jesus Christ you've got to believe that that he died on the cross for your sin you got to believe in a bloody cross that can save you and an empty tomb that can give you eternal life you've got to believe that you've got to repent and you've got to believe and then you've got to receive you've got to invite him to come into your life you've got to ask Jesus to come into his life I remember the night when I asked my wife to marry me I remember that oh I remember it it was in April it's coming up I'll remember that you have to worry about that and I remember when I asked her to marry me she squealed and said yes ask her to put on the ring you know what you've got to ask Jesus Christ into your life you've got to invite him in your life the Bible says as many as receive him to them he gives the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name would you like to do that tonight if you'd like to repent of your sin and believe in Jesus and receive him as Savior I'd like to lead you in a prayer of commitment where you can tell God that right now now look just mouthing some words doesn't save you but pouring out your heart to God he's not listening so much to your speech he's looking at your heart he sees hearts so call out to the Lord right now if you'll call upon the name of the Lord he will save you no matter what you've done he'll save you pray something like this right now dear Lord Jesus thank you that you love me I am a sinner I cannot save myself I repent of my sin I turn from my sin I turn to you you're the only Savior I believe you died on the cross for my sins and you paid my sin debt at the cross I believe you then rose from the dead I believe you're alive I receive you right now come into my life I call upon your name save me right now Lord Jesus Christ just cry out to him right now save me right now Lord Jesus Christ I give you my life in Jesus name Amen well if you just did that you're born again your name is written in heaven and I rejoice with you angels are rejoicing I want to do one more thing before we go to our song I want all of us who are Christians if it's possible for you I want you to stop what you're doing I want us to pray to pray for this nation let's pray for revival right now Heavenly Father our hearts cry out to you tonight Lord we have been strangely warmed and encouraged by your word but also strangely challenged by your word Oh God let us be people who walk in humility hunger and holiness Lord if there's anything prideful in our life anything arrogant or cocky dear God we repent of it Oh God we want to be humble we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and you might exalt us at the proper time lord help us to be walking in humility every day just depending on you depending on you depending on you and Lord let us be hungry let us pray and seek your face don't ever let us go through a prayer let's say Lord a prayer last day is a wasted day I don't want to ever live a prayerless day dear God let us be hungry for you dear God not just for the things you give us not just for your hand but for you God let us use me if you never gave us anything else God you've already done so much for us o God help us to seek your face help us to be put that hunger blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness they shall be satisfied o God satisfy us and give us that hunger humility hunger and holiness God we pray dear God that your Holy Spirit would fill us manifest within us love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control and when we walk around Lord when we walk into a place let the aroma of Jesus the aroma of the fruit of the Holy Spirit just be in that room and when we walk out of a room let it smell like Jesus let it smell like the Holy Spirit of God let it just be the aroma of Christ everywhere we go because we are walking or God in true holiness which is the filling of your Holy Spirit Oh God you've given us the keys help us to use the keys and Lord we can't make you sin revival we don't even think that the Lord if you sovereignly choose to send it we don't want to miss it we want to be ready if the wind of revival blows let our sails be ready Lord it's been since the early 1970s that you sent revival or decades that the tide of revival has been out God send the revival back in God forgive us for those enemies of revival we talked about last week traditionalism formalism fanaticism legalism liberalism and now we cry out to you Lord with these three keys to revival Oh God let us have humility hunger and holiness in Jesus name and if you agree say Amen

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

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Id: xmE2K86EEe0

Length: 46min 4sec (2764 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 07 2020