Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday evening, May 05, 2002, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia. For more outlines, including a zipped file of all of my 1999, 2000, and 2001 sermon outlines, click on the link at the bottom of this note, and go to our website:

THE KIND OF REVIVAL WE NEED

By Michael D. O'Neal Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church Albany, Georgia

Scripture Reading: Hosea 14:1-7

Text: Hosea 14:7

Hosea 14:7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

Introduction: Our theme this year is "Lord, Send A Revival!" I can't say that we have had one yet, but I have seen hints of it in some people's lives and in the church services. We have seen a stirring in the hearts of more people about soul-winning. We have seen more converts coming to the evening services.

Revival is not evangelism. Revival PRODUCES evangelism. Healthy saints will go soul-winning! The reason why few Christians win souls is that few Christians are really in fellowship with God!

I have defined revival as the supernatural work of God in the hearts and lives of submissive believers that brings:

life from death
laughter from despair
liberty from domination
labor from decay and delapidation

Let me give you some descriptions and illustrations tonight of the revival I'm talking about:

I. WE NEED A REVIVAL THAT WILL BREAK UP COLDNESS

(Break through the ice)

Churches are cold and dead! May God give us a revival that will set Christians on fire

A. In soul-winning

Of John the Baptist Jesus said:
John 5:35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

B. In the scriptures

Luke 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

II. WE NEED A REVIVAL THAT WILL WAKE UP A CHURCH

Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

People are asleep! They don't have a clue what God is doing or what the church is doing! Christians and churches need to WAKE UP

A. To their own condition

B. To their own commission

Spread the message here at home
Support missionaries on the foreign field

III. WE NEED A REVIVAL THAT WILL FLAKE UP THE CRUST OF SIN

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

A. Through confrontation

Preaching against sin
Holy Ghost conviction

B. Through confession

C. Through cleansing

D. Through commitment

IV. WE NEED A REVIVAL THAT WILL TAKE UP A CROSS

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Cross-bearing Christianity, as is seen in Rom. 12:1 is:

A. A sacrifice that lives - "a living sacrifice"

B. Sanctified - "holy"

C. Satisfying to God - "acceptable to God"

D. Service that is reasonable - "which is your reasonable service"

V. WE NEED A REVIVAL THAT WILL STAKE UP CORDS OF CONVICTIONS

Isaiah 54:2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

A. Convictions about belief

B. Convictions about behavior

VI. WE NEED A REVIVAL THAT WILL MAKE-UP BETWEEN CHRISTIANS

1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

My wife and I were confronted and cussed out yesterday in a convenience store by a woman who claims to be a Christian. She and her husband have three crosses in their yard. Of course, anyone who spends much time with her can tell she is a brick or two shy of a full load as well as being full of the devil, but it is sad to see someone who has symbols of Jesus in her yard to show hatred toward Christian people in public with foul language.

We need a revival that will make-up between Christians. There must be an end of

A. Bitterness

B. Backbiting

VII. WE NEED A REVIVAL THAT WILL SHAKE UP A COMMUNITY

A. About the sweetness of the Lord

Psalms 126:2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.

B. About the severity of the Lord

When the power of God was seen in the early Jerusalem church, people sat up and took notice. Ananias and Sapphira lied about their giving. God KILLED them on the spot! The results were interesting:
Acts 5:13 And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.

Will you join me in PRAYING for this kind of revival?
Will you join me in PRESSING for this kind of revival?
Will you join me in PARTICIPATING in this kind of revival?

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