Exodus 34:27-35
Have You Been With God Lately?: Revival & God
I. Introduction
-What brings revival?
-As much as we'd like to believe it, we do not.
1. No formula/ no 10-steps to revival
2. "Drink a Ski!"??
-God's presence brings revival/renewal
II. Scripture
III. Getting With God
-Moses fasted 40 days & nights w/ God on the Mt.
-Fasting in the Bible....
1. Esther & Mordecai
2. Jesus, Paul, Anna (prophetess)
3. Cornelius, John's disciples.
-Fasted for 40 days...
1. Elijah, Jesus, Moses...
2. Daniel (3 weeks)
-Fasted during...
1. ...public/private calamities.
2. ...approaching danger.
3. ...ordaining/commissioning.
4. ...in times of sorrow.
5. ...before major decisions.
-But Fasting isn't the solution.
-But Moses, in v. 28, fasted
1. He fasted and communed w/ God
2. The focus was on God
-We don't believe God can handle revival anymore.
1. That's why churches have gotten away from it.
2. "It doesn't work."
3. Like it's an old beat up car.
-We are more focused on being good singers, entertaining preachers, & enlightening teachers, that we are no longer spirit filled.
1. We spend less & less time in the presence of God.
2. Communing w/ God?
-Bring in the right preacher/ singer/ program, etc. & we'll have revival.
IV. Our Focus
-Our focused is dominated with our reputation in the community.
-We want to accomplish what we want to do and what is best for us.
-We have a worldly preoccupation (not spiritual).
-There is very little difference between what we want & what the world wants.
-Query: Do you remember when we still thought "worldly" was a bad thing?
-How do we get the worldliness out of the church?
1. "Beat the Devil out of ‘em."
2. Do good to cancel out evil?
3. No, only the Savior can cleanse.
-Point: The only solution for worldliness and sinfulness in the church is being with God on the mountain of intimacy!
V. Worldly
-In Ch. 32 Moses is up on the Mt. w/ God and he comes back down to see the ppl dancing around the golden calf.
1. Aaron was dumb-founded!
2. Moses was angry.
-Point: If you spend a little time on the mt. w/ God you'll come back down and view things differently!
-How do I know that intimacy w/ God is a problem in the church today?
1. If it weren't I might see it in your face!
2. Being w/ God is powerful.
3. You cannot be the same.
-Biblical illiteracy is an epidemic in the church.
1. "Preacher, I know about Moses, Esther, & the Passion of Christ."
2. "No, you just saw the movie!"
-Parties, picnics, & potlucks have taken the place of prayer meeting!
-Sports, clubs, pageants, jobs, vacation, etc. have all taken precedent over church attendance.
-Feasting has replaced fasting
-Sin has become irrelevant.
1. Last I checked sin was still the problem!
2. We've turned sin into a mistake...
-Ill. A young girl once confessed to her priest that she thought she was guilty of the sin of pride.
1. "When I look in the mirror, I think I am beautiful."
2. Priest: "That's not a sin, that's a mistake."
-My goal is not to get you to read the Bible more or pray more...
1. That's another sermon.
2. You are missing the point.
-Query: Can the world tell you've been with God?
1. No: Have you been with God?
2. The world will be able to tell.
VI. Running from Intimacy
-I think we're running from intimacy.
1. TV, radio, computer, job, family, chores, ‘to-do' list, etc.
2. "So much to do; so little time."
-We are church shopping rather than God seeking.
-Seeker friendly church?
1. We are to seek the lost.
2. They don't care about God.
3. Problem: we're too friendly w/ sin and to foreign to holiness.
-Seeker friendly church = a church where you will be at home if you are seeking God.
-Ill. Somewhere in Acts after Pentecost the Bible says:
1. "One of the members saith unto Peter after the 3000 were baptized: ‘As surely as the Lord liveth thou hast not fed me today. Thou hast not encouraged me and my feelings are sorely oppressed because I have felt the Spirit of the Living God and He hath called me unto repentance. Therefore I have set my face to findth a church where by I might grow strong in the Lord without having to repent or worketh in the harvest."
2. "I'm not being fed."
3. You don't complain about that at the potlucks!
-Lots of churches are built around big personalities, charismatic leaders, gifted preachers, popular/ prestigious people.
1. It's hard to run a PR campaign for God.
2. Fewer & fewer churches are bringing people to Mt. Calvary to look upon the crucified Lord.
VII. Been with God?
-Being w/ God always makes you more like Him.
-v. 29b Moses didn't realize how different he really was b/c he was still focused on God
-Every service, every time God comes, we should leave reflecting the glory of God.
-Conviction is a good thing to us, b/c we want to be as close to God as we possibly can get!
-Some like to hear preaching on murder and homosexual, but do not talk about unsanctified attitudes and w/ words instigating hurt feelings.
1. Don't be proud about the fact you have hurt someone.
2. Ill. Board meeting fist fights
3. Note: "that's just the way I am" is the same excuse homosexuals use!
-Growing in grace does not make you more cranky & hard to get along with!
1. Closer to God = more loving.
2. Growing in grace is not becoming more prideful.
3. It is more humility.
-No sanctified person keeps track of their ‘holiness factor.'
1. Moses was not aware of the skin on his face shining.
2. He was still focused on God!
-Query: What has God done in your life lately?
1. B/c you're not doing a lot of things bad, doesn't mean you're growing/reflecting His glory.
2. Has anyone made a not of how much like Christ you look?
VIII. Cost of Discipleship
-We need to get back to the place where being a Christian cost you something!
-D. Bonhoeffer "Cost of Discipleship"
1. "Well, what's the draw in that?"
2. Hard to market Christianity as it is!
3. The HOLY SPIRIT is the draw!
-Virginia Owens: "Bible bookstores are now papered with announcements of Christian concerts instead of revival meetings."
1. Why is that?
2. B/c we can put on a concert ourselves, but a revival requires a coming of the Holy Spirit!
-Dr. G. Campbell Morgan: "The church patronized is the church paralyzed , therefore the church in peril. The church persecuted is the church prayerful, and thus powerful."
1. Why is that?
2. B/c they have had to be with God.
-Free, free, free salvation?
-It is free, but it will cost you everything!
IX. Christianity Isn't Easy...
-If we continue to proclaim that, we will continue to produce wimpy Christians! (delusion)
-There is peer pressure to conform to the world:
1. Reporters interviewing a 104 year-old woman:
2. "And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?" the reporter asked.
3. "No peer pressure," she said
-Just b/c you're a Christian doesn't mean you won't...
1. ...ever get fired, you will have perfect health,
2. ...or your business will be successful, or you will be rich.
-That's not why you sacrifice and commit to God.
-Point: You commit to Him b/c He is God!
-Ill. From Moses' perspective, the glamor of the world faded.
1. He turned his back on the shallow/easy/worldly but chose desert trial/ wandering with God.
2. He chose reproach of Christ over all the world had to offer. (Heb. 11)
3. It's called sacrificial.
X. Conclusion
-The sin of the church is not...
1. ...that we murdered, lied, committed adultery,
2. ...coveted, stole, worshiped an idol, gossipped, looked at pornography, slandered, cussed, etc.
-Point: The sin of the church today is that we have not been with God!
-2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
1. That's not a formula for revival.
2. Those are all about getting into the presence of God!
-Leonard Ravenhill: "The more men pray the less worldly the become. The less men pray the more worldly they become."
-The sin of the church is that we have never (or rarely ever) been so close to God that it was reflected in our daily lives.
-The preacher preaches Sunday after Sunday... no change.
1. SS. Teacher... no change.
2. Service after service.
3. Bible study after bible study.
-v. 30 others were afraid of Moses b/c of how close he was to God.
1. The world does not know what to do with someone who has been w/ God.
2. Neither does the Devil!
-I fear that most of us have never experienced the kind of spiritual power at work in Moses.
-A real church service has lasting effect on our lives and lives of pppl we come in contact with!
-Point: Getting closer to God isn't preparation for revival... it is revival!
Response:
