PREPARE FOR REVIVAL
Friends, it’s a pleasure to come on air again. And we appreciate you, our listeners, and pray that the Word you hear will impact upon your life and bring necessary transformation to the glory of GOD. The essence of these messages is to bring change. If by the end of listening to them and it does not alter your life that means you have not taken a decision to do something from the things you hear. I pray and encourage you to take responsibility after hearing a message like this.
Today we are bringing you the Word of GOD which says, Prepare for Revival.
PREPARE FOR REVIVAL
I am targeting the people of GOD: the people that know GOD already. Prepare for revival. And we are reading from The Book of Isaiah 6:1-8.
Isaiah 6:1-8
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
Let us pray.
Prayer
Our FATHER IN HEAVEN, the FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, we know it that you are at the brink of ushering in another period of revival in our land. And we plead with YOU that you will enable us and enable my hearers to prepare for the coming revival: that none of us will miss it any longer…in JESUS Mighty Name I pray. AMEN!
Prepare for revival. And if there is anything, any singular need of our time in our land, it is a Heaven-sent revival. Revival comes at the sovereign and gracious decision of GOD. It is only GOD that sends a fresh movement of HIS Spirit among HIS people. But revival will not come unless it is desired, because it is an invasion from heaven. Revival is an invasion from heaven.
So let us start by defining: What is Revival? It is the restoration of life. In our own context, restoration of divine life: spiritual life – GOD’s kind of life. The word is a compound word. Revival is a compound word: Two words in one, and means, “Life again”. Re means again, then Vivere is a Latin Word which means to live. So revival is restoration of life – life-again.
Who needs a revival?
People need revival when the life they had in them is now declining. People need revival when the fire they had in them is now dying out. This word revival is used in two senses in the scriptures:
I. It is used in an emotional sense. When someone is dead emotionally he can be revived. In (Genesis. 45:26, 27): ” And they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart stood still, because he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.
Can you see that? As far as Joseph was concerned the bible said his heart stood still. He was unmoved; he could not be touched. Heh! He was dead emotionally. But when he saw all that they came back with: the carts, the goods, and he heard the words Joseph had said to his brothers to relate to their father, the bible says the spirit of Jacob their father revived. I pray in this season that GOD will revive your heart in the Mighty Name of JESUS CHRIST.
I pray that as many as have their hearts standing still like that of Jacob previously, they are not touched again, nothing moves them any longer, may you be revived in the Mighty Name of JESUS CHRIST. Amen!
II. The word is used in a spiritual sense. “Psalm 85:6 the Bible says, ‘Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?”
Notice that these people are not dead physically. They are alive, but they need revival, and the Psalmist is saying and asking GOD, will you not revive us again?
In Habakkuk 3:2
O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
Our text brings us to Isaiah the prophet. We shall see in this: the when of revival, the where of revival, the how and the why of revival.
a. When? In the year that king Uzziah died. It was a critical time, a time of loss and a time of great anxiety or concern. Are we not in such a time in our own nation? We are in a critical time: a time of great loss, great anxiety, great concern about the future. Yes Uzziah accomplished a lot of things in his own time. He started reigning as a king at the age of 16 and reigned for 52 years in the Judah. His reign was a time of great prosperity politically, militarily, economically; he made progress personally. He was a military genius, inventing weapons of war that made the armies of Judah very effective. He subdued the enemies of Judah; and his fame spread far and wide. But his biography did not end with success but failure. The bible says in (2 Chronicles 26:19-23) that Uzziah was a leper. He died a leper; and many years after he died he left a vacuum that caused Isaiah some concern. Isaiah was from a noble family in Judah and he knew the political implications of Uzziah’s death
Some of us are forced to look up only when we lose something or someone dear to us. Isaiah was forced to look up when his earthly king died. And what did he see? He saw the king that never dies seated on His throne and in full control of the affairs of the world. It was in the year that king Uzziah died that lsaiah received a touch of revival fire. It is when you see your need and are desperate enough that you will position yourself for the touch of revival fire. Is there any other time like this? We are in our nation. We are in a position to seek and receive revival like Isaiah.
b. Where did Isaiah burn with revival fire? The bible says in verse 1, in the temple – the place of sacrifice, the place of prayer and the place of worship. It is in the Temple of GOD. And the bible says, your body is the temple of GOD – if you are born from above; it is in the temple of God, the Body of Christ (the church) that revival fire will burn. In 1 Corinthians 3:16: The Bible says, “16 Do you not know that your body is the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” The body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:19: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the HOLY SPIRIT who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own.
You are not your own: the Individual Christian.
It is on the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that revival fire will burn. It is in the place of prayer and worship that revival fire will burn. It was in the place of prayer that the revival tire came down on the day of Pentecost:
In Acts 1:14: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Let’s go to our Acts 2:1-4:1 1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it tilled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
We read also in (Acts 4:31): “31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all tilled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
A prayerless Christian should not expect Revival Fire! A prayerless Christian should not expect Revival Fire!
c. How did Isaiah burn with revival fire? It came to him in the form of
God’s purifying power (Isaiah. 6:3-7) you notice the process of purification:
- The Revelation of the Awesome holiness of God (vv. 3-4). You need to have the revelation of the Awesome holiness of GOD. And that will impact on you to change your attitude and character and the way you see things, even the way you dress.
- Revelation of the utter sinfulness of God’s man. You need to have the utter sinfulness of GOD’s man. Before GOD no person is acceptable. You see the holiness of GOD.
- Application of the dynamic purifying power of God.
We cannot burn with God’s revival until we see the ugliness of our sinfulness in the light of GOD’s awesome holiness. Many Christians feel they are okay morally and spiritually in spite of the justifiable accusations constantly brought against them by the devil and their guilty consciences. They still feel okay because they are strangers to the holiness of GOD.
- Why do we need revival fire? GOD sends revival fire primarily for HIS glory and secondarily for the good of the people for whom CHRIST died. GOD’s revival fire brings salvation, brings deliverance, brings healing, brings health, brings holiness, brings righteousness and joy. That’s why the psalmist says: will YOU not revive us again that YOUR people may rejoice in You?
We saw in Acts 8:6, 6And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.
5And there was great joy in that city.”
Isaiah could not be an effective tool that would bring glory to GOD until he was purged by God’s Revival Fire. The same thing applies today to us. You cannot be an effective tool in the hands of GOD unless we are purged and receive revival that will make us useful in the hand of GOD. He could not carry the message of GOD with impact and effectiveness until he was purged with revival fire. It was after the fire had touched his lips – the coal that touched his lips and his sins were atoned by GOD and he was drafted into his agenda for the people of Judah.
Let’s begin to close.
Those who desire to burn with revival fire must:
- See their sinfulness in the awesome holiness of GOD.
- They must resent – they must desire less their sinful condition and cry to God for cleansing.
- They must experience the touch and power of GOD which will burn and shine in their lives.
We need revival in our time. I pray that we prepare for the coming revival.
Let us pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly FATHER, in YOUR determinate will you are going to send a revival in our land. And I do pray like the prophet Habakkuk: revive us again; revive YOUR people; revive YOUR work so that we might rejoice, so that we might bring a change in our land…in JESUS Mighty Name I pray. Amen!