August 31, 2008

Revival of Revelation

2 Chronicles 34

 

Proverbs 29:18  Where there is no revelation , the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keep the law.

 

Federal Judge Ruled South Iron School District Can No Longer Distribute Bibles to Grade Schoolers … for more than three decades the South Iron School District in Annapolis, Missouri, 120 miles southwest of St. Louis, allowed representatives of Gideons International to give away Bibles in fifth-grade class rooms.  After some parents raised concerns the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit. (Lake Sun Leader, Camdenton MO)

 

Gideons International distributes Bibles in more than 80 languages and 180 countries while the ACLU distributes troubles in places they show up.

 

If there’s ever a time for a fresh revelation of God’s Word, it is today.

 

Psalm 119:25 Revive me according to Your word.  [asking God to resusitate]

 

A primary catalyst to revival is God’s Word … the hearing and heeding it.

 

“Every encounter with God’s Word by God’s people is an encounter with God.”  - “Fresh  Encounter, H. Blackaby/Claude King

 

Once again  we return to 2 Chronicles for an episode of revival … “Revival of Revelation” 

 

The historical background is the reign of King Josiah.  Prior to him taking reign his grandfather Manasseh was King and led the nation of Judah into a blasphemous time of forsaking God … as He sacrificed some of his own sons in the fire, and practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft while consulting mediums and spiritists. 

 

2 Chronicles 33:10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

 

Could the same be said of us … God has spoken to us through His living Word, but we have paid no attention?

 

Well from Manasseh, his son Amon took the throne for 2 years and it was said of him, he did not humble himself before the Lord.  He was assassinated and the people made Josiah king in his place (2 Chron 33:25)

 

In the midst of such evil and perilous times Josiah revealed his righteous character in sharp contrast to those who preceded him.

 

2 Kings 23:25  Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did–with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

 

Today as the born-again we are called upon by God’s Word to (1) seek first the righteousness of God (Mt 6:33)  … and thus are we blessed (Mt 5:6).

 

Well it is from the life of this boy king that we learn lessons of revival.

 

1.   @ 8 Years Old Josiah Begins His Reign … “did what was right in the eyes of God.” 

 

Psalms 34:15  The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;

 

Proverbs 15:3  The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

 

It is said of Josiah … “not turning aside to the right or to the left” (34:2)

 

A prosperous & successful life stems from such a straight ahead life guarded by the Word of God.

 

Joshua 1:7-8  Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

 

Revival of Revelation Begins with God in Mind

 

2.   @ 16 Josiah Began to Seek God

 

The intentions from his heart to throne was to diligently seek after God.  The greatest way of seeking after God is to obey God.   He is not hiding from us.

 

Isaiah 55:6  Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

 

Revival of Revelation Begins by Seeking God

 

3.   @ 20 Josiah Began to Purge Property & People of False Worship (v 3-9)

 

God had instructed His people … No Other Gods … Do Not Bear False Witness (Exodus 20)

 

God is TRUTH = people of TRUTH  (set free by the truth)

 

Proverbs 13:5 The righteous hate what is false,

 

Psalms 40:4  Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.

 

Revival of Revelation Begins with Purging the False & Promoting the Truth

 

4.   @ 26 Josiah Began to Repair Temple of God (v 14-ff)

 

In the process of restoring the temple, Hilkiah the priest finds the “Book of the Law” of Moses … most likely a portion (scroll) of the Deuteronomy.

 

2 Chronicles 34:15  Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD.” He gave it to Shaphan.

 Oh may it be so in our lives and church gatherings … that the Word of God is found among us!

 

Hearing the Word of God Josiah TEARS his robes … signifying “deep sorrow” (indignation) over having not kept the law/Word of God.

 

Are we guilty of hearing God’s Word week after week … but failing to do God’s Word? 

 

Proverbs 28:9  If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.

 

Rather than our clothing, God desires we rend in sorrow our hearts.

 

Joel 2:13  Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

 

Revival of Revelation Begins with Restoring God’s Word

 

5.   @ 26 Josiah Renews the Covenant with God (v. 29-32)

 

2 Chronicles 34:31-32  The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD–to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. 32 Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

 

What needs renewing in your life with God through Christ?  Let us not be afraid to boldly come to the throne of God’s grace … for there we will find help.  (Hebrews 4:16)

 

2 Chronicles 34:33  Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the LORD, the God of their fathers.

 

Revival of Revelation Begins with Renewing YOUR Relationship with God

 

·  Begin with God in Mind

·  Begin with Seeking God

·  Begins with Purging the False & Promoting the Truth

·  Begins with Restoring God’s Word

·  Begins with Renewing Your Relationship with God

 

I am not suggesting revival come in mechanical 1-2-3 steps … but with God’s Word in hand and heart … we can begin to sense and experience revival. 

 

May it be so among us!

 

Amen

AUGUST 24, 2008

“Window of Revival”

 

The windows of opportunity … short periods of time during which an opportunity must be acted on or missed … are opening.  All around us opportunistic windows (times) are being opened where God is offering us a variety of harvests. 

 

John in Revelation records Christ speaking to the pastors (angels) to the churches in Asia Minor, and to Philadelphia He says … These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.  [Revelation 3:7]

 

Now God is not asking us to “open” the windows of opportunity … that’s for Him to do at His sovereign discretion … but He is asking us [inviting] you and me to be a part of it.  Do you sense it?  Will you be a part of it?

 

For some it will be the window of

 

·     Evangelism … learning & daring to share the Gospel with the lost.

·     Salvation … the lost confessing & believing in Christ.

·     Discipleship … growing in the character of Christ.

·     Worship … discovering the worth of God in all facets of life.

·     Fellowship … growing closer in body life as believers

 

Henry Blackaby talks about such times of inviting [open windows] leads the believer … to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.  Let us therefore live by faith leading to obedience.

 

Well the windows are opening and I believe we as the body of FBC Camdenton have a great starting point in the coming days with the revival services coming September 7-8-9.  I am calling it a “Window of Revival.” 

 

Revival services as we remember them [cottage prayer meetings; yard signs; special nights; choirs; evangelists, etc.] may be a thing of the past, God reviving His people is a present day work.

 

Revival Break Down:

 

·     Re = again (Law of “Re” … Chris Rutledge … think about all the re’s … return, recover, repeat, restructure, resurface … etc.)

·     Vive = to live

·     Revival = to live again

 

To Live Again … is spiritual life and vitality being restored.

To Live Again … is a recovering of spiritual health in the body.

To Live Again … is returning to a life of yielding service

 

The Old Testament is a treasure chest of showing us “windows of revival.”  One of them is that of King Hezekiah. [2 Chronicles 29-31]

 

Quick Facts:

 

·     Judah at a spiritual low point … King Ahaz … “Did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” … sacrificed to false gods … led the nation in spiritual decline … shut up the doors of the House of God.

·     Hezekiah son of Ahaz, Grandson of Uzziah (Isaiah mentions) became King @ age 25 … “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” … He re-opened the shut up doors of God’s house (temple) and began to lead the nation in “revival.”

 

Looking Through the Window of Hezekiah’s Revival

 

Hezekiah’s three pane window of revival involves … “consecrate” – “carry” – “come.”  Say those with me … “consecrate – carry – come.”  (One more time for emphasis!)

 

1. Consecrate …

 

Consecrate/consecration is somewhat of an old school term, but one that needs present day meaning and application. 

 

·     Consecrate: to set apart, dedicate something or someone for the Lord’s use/work.

 

Hezekiah in his “first year” called for the priests [we are a holy priesthood 1 Pt 2:5,9] to consecrate themselves and the house of the God.  Those who begin with God, begin at the right end of their work, and it will prosper accordingly. [Matthew Henry Concise]

 

2 Chronicles 29:3-5  ESV  In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. ⁴ He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east ⁵ and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.

 

“Whenever God speaks [through the Word] it is never for observation or discussion, it is for obedience.  – Henry Blackaby, “Fresh Encounter”

 

Consecration of Self & Soul … you yourselves are God’s temple [1 Cor 3:16]

 

God is presently and actively consecrating or sanctifying the born-again to the work [Eph 2:10; Mt 5:16] of the Kingdom as well as to the nature [character: Rom 8:29, Phil 3:10] of Christ. 

 

God works in willing vessels … lives that are ready and willing to give up so that they might be used for the greater call of God.

 

Consecrate the Mind … “attentions” … think on such things [true, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy]

 

Consecrate the Heart … “affections” …

 

1 Peter 3:15  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.

 

Colossians 3:2-5  Set your minds [affections] on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

 

Consecrate the Body … “articles” …

 

Romans 6:13  Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:3-4  For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

 

“The act of consecration is to recognize Christ’s ownership and to accept it; and to say to Him, with the whole heart, Lord, I am Yours by right, and I wish to be Yours by choice.” [F.B. Meyer]

 

2. Carry … out the filth

 

2 Chronicles 29:5 Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.

 

·     Carry Out … break out, pull out, depart,

·     Filth … immoral, unclean, unholy

 

What Ahaz had carried IN Hezekiah had it carried OUT as an act of consecration to God.  The “carry out” of consecration went from the lives and homes of the people to the land to remove the filth not of the Lord.

 

2 Chronicles 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.

 

·     Desecration to Consecration … set apart our body, mind, soul.

 

2 Corinthians 6:17  “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

 

Carrying out … is an act of agreement, surrender, and repenting from what is not of the Lord in your life.  “God revives His people when they repent.” – H. Blackaby

 

3. Come … yielding, entering, serving [YES!]

 

The third act following consecrate and carrying is to come.

 

2 Chronicles 29:31 Then Hezekiah said, “You have now consecrated yourselves to the Lord.  Come near, bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.

 

James 4:8  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

 

Hezekiah encouraged the people on HOW to come …

 

2 Chronicles 30:8-9  “Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. 9  “For if you return to the LORD, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.”

 

·     Yield … giving up of self … willing to yield (wisdom from above)

·     Enter … offering of self … enter with thanksgiving

·     Serve … humbling of self … through love serve one another.

 

The people through the consecrating, carrying and coming rejoiced!

 

2 Chronicles 20:36  So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.

 

How you?  How about FBC Camdenton?  How about Camdenton?  There can be through the window of revival as we … “consecrate – carry – come” to the Lord.

 

Pray:  Lord our hearts are too filled with sin and trash that needs carried out.  By Your grace and Your Spirit, move us today to “consecrate – carry – come” in this window of revival.

 

Amen!

 

 

August 10, 2008

I am on vacation in Florida and will be out of pulpit August 10 and 17.

August 03 2008

You Are Invited

 

Let me ask a question.  How many of you this morning feel rested?  I admit I got up this morning feeling tired, not rested.

 

The world we live in is often described in words like … busy, driven, fatigued, tired, exhausted, anxious, stressed and burn-out … “But seldom do you hear our society described as ‘well rested.’” [Richard Swenson, Margin]

 

Amidst so much unrest Jesus’ words … “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. [Matthew 11:28] … are inviting.

 

Jesus spoke these words in a day clamoring with unrest politically, nationally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Much like ours.

 

o    Invited … to Come

 

§     Jesus identifies the invited …“all you who are weary & burdened”

§     all who are = existing condition … we are those who are harassed, exhausted … etc.

§     weary = exhaustion (spiritual; emotional) … INTERNAL

§     burdened = heavy load dumped on the wearied person; indicates … EXTERNAL (works) [Lk 11:46]

 

§     Jesus says “Come” … which is both a command that pushes us and an invitation that draws us. [Joel Gregory]

 

Matthew 14:28-29 … Peter asks, “Command me to come to You on water.”  (2) Jesus says “Come.”

 

John 1:39 … Disciples of John ask Jesus, “Rabbi where are you staying?”  Jesus says, “Come and see.”

 

§     So Jesus says come, but we tend to GO to things like … worry [Jn 14:1; Lk 10:41], friends [Job 13:4] , running away (denial) [Jonah ran away, 1:3] … these are all what we would say are practical and lgocial.

 

§     But the invite isn’t either practical or logical … rather it is a movement of faith that calls us to come, as well as see that Christ is who we are to come to.

 

o    Invited … to Come to Christ … “come to Me”

 

§     Invitation of Intention … come to Jesus, alone, fully, totally by faith for salvation.

§     Come to Him as Savior and come to Him as Lord.

 

§     Believe IN … Christ the refreshing Water of Life [Jn 4:10-11]

§     Believe IN … Christ the nourishing Bread of Life

 

John 6:35  Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

 

John 7:38  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

 

This is no narrow pipe through which a thread-like stream may wind its way, it is a channel of amazing depth and breadth, along whose glorious length a ponderous volume of living water may roll its floods. Behold He hath set before us an open door, let us not be slow to enter. [Spurgeon, Morning & Evening]

 

1 Peter 5:7  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 

o    Invited … to Come Rest … “I will give you rest.”

 

We live in a world full of unrest with lives that are full of unrest.

 

Richard Swenson in his book “Margin” says, “The conditions of modern-day devour margin.  If you are homeless, we send you to a shelter.  If you are penniless, we offer you food stamps.  If you are breathless, we connect you to oxygen.  But if you are marginless, we give yet one more thing to do.”

 

We don’t like rest … in fact many see it as lazy and unproductive.  Swenson says, “There’s no glory in rest.”  We like “Superman” activity filled saving and protecting …  not mild mannered reporter Clark Kent.

 

And yet by God’s design we are made for rest.  We need rest in three areas:

 

§     Physical rest … least important of the three … though created for rest.

§     Emotional rest … more important … a no-worry life … swamped with decisions, debt, divorce (relationships of all kind), disasters cause us strife-filled unrest.

 

Mark 6:31  And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

 

§     Spiritual rest … supreme importance … relaxed mind and souls mean little without the spirit of man resting in the Spirit of God.

 

“Beyond the initial rest of salvation there is a deeper rest in submission.”  - Joel Gregory We come to Christ resting in salvation (not by works) to rest in submission to His Word for our lives.

 

So in our world of exhaustion, stress, and unrest there is hope and it is in Christ Jesus.

 

He is our rest in all measures and in coming to Him everyday we discover there is rest for our souls.

 

Matthew 11:28-30  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

 

Amen!