2 Kings Chapters 22-23
A Real Revival
The Word Revive= to bring
back to life or consciousness / to resuscitate
#2 To impart new health –
vigor or spirit
#3 To restore to use, activity of value.
A) So taking all of that into consideration we could
say that Revival is a matter of Resuscitation /
Impartation / and Restoration
B) Quite frankly that is exactly what I need – it is
exactly what you need
1) You see living in this
world has a way of just sucking the life right out of us.
C) That is why we as
individuals / we as a Church need to experience a real revival – radical reform
–
D)Studying for
E) What we have in our text is a Picture of a Real
Revival
1) Perhaps in your own heart today you feel dry, and
you need a personal revival.
2)
Perhaps your marriage is dead, or your children are not walking w/ the Lord,
and your family needs revival.
GOOD
NEWS God is in the business of revival.
A) And in our text we will
see before us a genuine revival that took place in the
RD V.1-2
The first thing we want to consider today is where does revival
begin?
Answer: One heart in love with God.
In the late 1800 there was an
evangelist named Gypsy Smith. He traveled the world twice preaching the Gospel.
Wherever he
preached revival broke out.
One day a delegation came to
him and said: “We desperately need revival in our area. It is so dry and dead. What can we do
to see revival?”
Gypsy Smith said: I will tell
you exactly how it will come about. You go home, lock yourself in your bedroom,
get a piece of chalk and draw a circle around yourself, and pray fervently and brokenly
that God will start revival in that circle.
THAT is where it
starts.” Starts with us
It is so easy for us to pray:
“Change HIM/HER Lord.”
But that is not where revival starts. It starts with
us
One heart on fire for the Lord is all
that it takes.
As you study history and read
of the records of revival you will find that there was always ONE individual
that was on fire for the Lord and that excitement caught on.
EXAMPLE: In 1858, there was a man named Jeremiah
Lambierre who was a stock broker on Wall Street.
He was very aware of the
depravity that existed in his profession, but
rather than put down others he made a covenant between himself and the Lord
that every single day during his lunch hour he would go pray.
He missed out on the food and fun that
the others were enjoying.
Almost one year after he had
begun to pray the stock marked crashed.
When that happened many of his friends asked if they
could join him.
Within 6 months of the 1859
Crash the churches of
10,000 men packed the churches of
The great revival of 1859
started with ONE MAN asking the Lord to work revival in his own heart.
A) You study Revival common theme – One person / one small group
fervently seeking the Lord for a consistent period of time.
B) Last one - Chuck and Kay praying for the hippies
Result was revival broke out that swept the nation
C) Here it was One BOY: Josiah. Josiah was
given to the things of God. Sought
after God
We
read here in v. 2 of Josiah that he did what was
right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David;
he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. {Josiah Stayed
centered
White water rafters tell us that one of the secrets of
white water canoeing is to stay in the “tongue” of the river.
There are currents and
offshoots to the right and to the left, but they will ultimately lead you to
cracking up.
The key is to STAY IN THE CENTER.
That is what Josiah did. He stayed in the grove.
APPLICATION: We can go off to the right
and become rigid LEGALISTS like
the Pharisees in their ultra-legalism and judgmental attitude.
We can go to the left and become liberals, like the Sadducees in the day of Jesus.
The Lord has NOT called us to
become LIBERALS or LEGALISTS. He has called us to stay right in the center.
Josiah stayed centered! – Result Ch.23:25
25 Now before
him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with
all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor
after him did any arise like him.
Well let’s consider the
Realities of Revival that we see here in Ch.22-23
Seven realities of revival we see in
this passage.
1) Repairing of the Breaches – v.3-7 RD
A) Now the word damages in v.5 is breaches in the KJV
– it refers to holes or gaps in the temple.
B) The
1) It was in
a terrible state of disrepair.
C) We know that the
“You also, as living
stones, are being built up a spiritual house.”
“ in whom you also are being built
together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
D) Revival is the work of
the Lord. The Lord works in the atmosphere of love.
1) Fruit of the Spirit is LOVE!!!!
E) So one of the first signs of revival is when the
Lord begins to repair the BREACHES in the Body
of Christ.
EXAMPLE: When revival began in the 60’s at Calvary Chapel of
Costa Mesa there was an EXTREME division in our society between hippies and the
establishment.
A) There was deep seated distrust and animosity
between these two groups.
B) But when the Lord began to work at CCCM that breach was closed.
C) This was not learned
behavior.
1) It was the reality of
Jesus being central.
D) It was the love of Christ shed abroad in hearts.
Newspaper photographers were
amazed to see longhairs and businessmen digging ditches side by side, loving
one another.
Recently have experienced
that among some of the
We try to meet weekly to
pray. – Rich time. Where there had been a distance
Kind of all doing our own
thing – busy with our own Churches – there is a unity that has developed among
us.
Revival is marked by love. People coming together and putting away
their differences. Petty divisions
A)
Jesus becomes central.... Jesus becomes the thing that closes the gaps.
1) The Breaches were repaired!
2.) Rediscovery of God’s
A) in that day, the people
had become so carnal and cold that they had LOST the Word of God.
B)
Evidently, Manasseh and Amon had destroyed, or attempted to destroy all of the
copies of the Law.
1)
But one copy was tucked away in the
C) NOTE that: The Word of
God was LOST in the House of God.
1)
That can happen today.
D) The word of God gets lost in the midst of the Liturgy 1) or it gets lost in
the mist of the entertainment or the stories or a desire to be relevant
.
IF you are sensing a spiritual lethargy, or a spiritual
dryness,
A) It could be due to the fact that the Word of God
has been lost among Christian activities or service.
B) Or it is possible that the word is being choked out
by worldly distractions?
QUOTE: Little Boy - “Daddy, mommy’s Bible must be a lot more interesting than yours.” “Why
do you say that?” “Because mommy reads hers a lot more than you read yours.”
C) When you see Christians wanting more and more of the Word of God,
know this, Revival is coming.
1) Because In times of
revival there is a rekindling in the heart of people for the Word.
D) The Word was uncovered in the day of Revival.
3.) Remorse and
A) Josiah realized how OFF-COURSE they were and he was
GRIEVED
B) We can only know that we are missing the mark when
we know what the mark is.
1) We know that when we read
the Word of the Lord.
C) The word brought
revelation and the revelation brought remorse – brokenness – SIN
We live in a day and age
in the Church today:
A) Where there has been a lowering of the Standard of
holiness –
B) There are a lot of people today who are
rationalizing compromising behavior
1) In a the October 2001
issue of Emerging Trends published by the
Headline: Religion is
gaining ground, but Morality is losing Ground
C) Church attendance is up
13% from 1998
1) 1998 32% of Americans ….
Today 45%
D) But one third of “Christians” between the ages of 18-35 have
no problem with a couple living together before they are married. (Evangelical
Only a small minority of Christians say they believe in a definite set
of moral absolutes.
(Barna Research)
78% of Americans say our moral values in
E) Christianity today: Perplexing problem: Christian
college campuses – Student leaders –
1) Fornicating with
boy/girlfriend and not seeing a problem with it.
In a time of Revival that doesn’t happen – See sin for what it is and you call it for what it is!
Brokenness over sin!
4.) Requesting
A) After Josiah
HEARD the Word, he said that he must APPLY that which he had been taught from
the Word.
B) Discipleship is a true mark of Revival – People
wanting to go deeper
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,”
Greg Laurie rightfully said:
Not every believer is a disciple – but every disciple is a believer. –
Disciple = a learner – one
who is intent on seeking after the Lord wanting more of the Lord
A) No longer content to settle for a mediocre
Christian experience – want more want to go deeper
B) This is one of the things that is exciting me right
now in our fellowship –
1)I could rattle off – 15-20
awesome things that God is doing – ways working – lives being changed and
impacted –
C) but in my heart and in the heart of many that I
talk to there is a hunger for more:
1) Boldness to pray – Lord
thank you for all that you have done – but don’t stop – Pour out your spirit
Lord
D) So Josiah sent men to the Prophetess to get further
instruction –
RD V.15-20
In the midst of this revival, when they inquired of the Lord as to
the judgment that was going to come down, the Lord told them:
A) “Yes, it is going to
come down.”
B) Question: IF there is a
revival, and people are getting right with the Lord, WHY would the Lord still
send judgment?
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap
corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting
life.
A) The nation had sowed to
the flesh....idolatry and perversity for almost 100yrs
1) The crop was planted
& the harvest would come in.
B) The sins that were
committed would have their repercussions. {Reap what Sow
1) Sin
ALWAYS brings about death and destruction.
5)
Responding Outwardly Ch.23:1-3
RD
A) When revival takes
place you are ready to take your stand. You are ready to go forward to the
altar.
B) You are no longer
playing the “cool Christian”, or the “silent saint”.
C)
That kind of cool Christianity MELTS in the fire of God’s Spirit as He works in
your life.
1)
You are ready to openly make your stand with God and for God WHATEVER it takes.
D) Do you have a sense
that you need to take a stand outwardly and openly?
1) That is one of the signs of revival
E) People who normally follow take a stand and begin to lead –
1) people
who are used to going with the crowd are no longer afraid to go against the
grain
2) Time
to get serious
Watch,
stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong
David
to Solomon1 Kings 2:2
Be
strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.
6.) The Repentance from sin v.4-24 Summarize
A) Inside the
B) All of the idols – were
either crushed or burned –
1) The Pagan priests were
done away with.
C) The High Places were
taken down – It was a complete house cleaning!
NOTE:
The order of these things.
A) There are some who
think that THIS is to come first in Revival. But it does not.
B) In the Bible you ALWAYS
see the moving of God FIRST
1)
and the removal of sin as a RESPONSE to God.
EXAMPLE:
In 1904, one of the greatest revivals in history began in
Unlearned
and without eloquence, he began to preach.
People responded to his message in such a way that by 1905 there was not
one functioning pub or bar opened.
It was NOT because
Christians picketed them. It was because no one was going.
Morality
can not be legislated.
Revival is needed. Sin needs to be removed from society as a
response to the love of God.
His
light dispels darkness.
7.) Restoration Of
A) Passover had been forgotten and ignored for almost 100yrs.
B) BUT - In the midst of revival there was a renewal
of the Passover.
1) Passover remembrance of
Deliverance
C) When Christians are being revived they have a
renewed desire to celebrate Communion.
Counterpart....... Passover’s
D) Communion remember What
Christ did
1) Times of revival – time
where focus on More of Jesus
Give me Jesus – you can have all this world
….
The revival of the 60’s was
called the “Jesus Movement”.
A) The reason is that
everyone that was being revived was
talking about Jesus.
B) That is ALWAYS the result of true revival. Glory is
brought to Jesus.
1) Focus is brought to Jesus
C) More and More of Jesus
Will YOU draw a circle around
YOUR life today and ask God to revive everything in that circle.
A) Will YOU ask God today to make these seven things
REAL in YOUR life?
Flyer 3 days 3 nights pray fast – Full 3 days / one
meal / certain activity