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Dr. Ronald Powell
When a church prepares for revival
Our Text:
I Samuel 7:3-13 (NIV)
3 So Samuel said to all the Israelites, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."
4 So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
5 Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you."
6 When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the Lord." Now Samuel was serving as leader[a] of Israel at Mizpah.
7 When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines.
8 They said to Samuel, "Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines."
9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel's behalf, and the Lord answered him.
10 While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.
11 The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,[b] saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us."
13 So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel's territory. Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines.
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Introduction:
When a nation needs the Church, The Church finds itself in need of revival.
When a church prepares for revival, it's becomes very important to have a time of personal self-examination.
In our text, Israel as a nation is in serious need of revival. Both politically and religiously, the nation was weak. It was in this context of corruption and decline that Samuel emerged as God's man for the hour.
Samuel stressed the demands the people faced if they were to experience spiritual renewal. Those same requirements for revival challenge us today.
I. Revival Requires Sincere Repentance
(1 Samuel 7:2-4)
In the face of the tragic consequences of their own sin, the people recognized their need to be restored to God.
Yet repentance is more than simply feeling sorry for our sins. As one writer said, "Repentance without amendment is likely continually pumping without mending the leak in the pipe." Sincere repentance involves turning from sin and turning toward God.
II. Revival Requires Sacrificial Commitment
We don't like to hear much about sacrifice these days. Perhaps that's why we know so little about revival. Sacrifice prepares our hearts to hear God and our lives to receive His touch.
(1) They had to give up the false gods.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said that, rather than freeing ourselves from idolatry, we've merely transferred our idols. We no longer worship wood and stone; today our gods have electrodes and silicon chips, steel and glass, paper and ink.
(2) They submitted their lives to God's authority.
The world tells you to push your way to the top and get ahead. In contrast, the way of Christ is a way of submission. By submitting Himself to a cross, Christ allowed God to exalt Him. Only as we give ourselves to Him can God lift up our lives.
The sacrifice of 1 Samuel 7:9 was one in which the entire sacrifice belonged to God; none went to the priests. That is the submission that brings revival: a surrender to God of every part of our lives.
III. Revival Requires Significant Action
Though the people were afraid, they were willing to trust God and act on the basis of that trust. God calls on us to move out in faith and claim the victory He has already promised.
Closing:
- The choice is yours: do you really want revival? Are you willing to pay the price?
- There are challenges facing you today -- perhaps financial, or family, or career, or perhaps your relationship with Christ.
- Our Families, Community, and Nation is at stake today and it is our time to seek revival!
Text Footnotes: - 1 Samuel 7:6 Traditionally judge; also in verse 15
- 1 Samuel 7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help.
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