The Means of Revival

 

The Means of Revival
John 7:37, Ezekiel 47:1-12
 
If you have your Bible turn to John chapter 7. Remember we are looking at how to have Revival in Our Time. We’ve seen the Meaning of revival. "Revival is the sovereign, supernatural movement of God among his people, that comes about as a direct result of their prayer, repentance and holiness, that results in a fresh walk with the Lord among believers and the drawing of the lost to Christ", and we’ve looked at the Method of Revival which is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14. But today, I want to share with you The Means of Revival.
 
What does revival look like, and how does it happen? One of the pictures the Bible uses to help us understand what revival looks like is water. In particular, it is water coming to a thirsty land. In fact, the picture is found in 2 Chronicles 7 where we find that great verse that I quoted a moment ago. But immediately preceding that verse, God says, “If I shut up the heavens so that it doesn’t rain”.
 
When Elijah squared off with the false prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, and issued the challenge to the people of God to serve God only, that event was initiated by a famine caused by Elijah’s prayers.
 
Why does God choose that picture? Because we can relate to how precious, how life giving, how vital water really is. Water is essential to life. And when water is in short supply, all of life is threatened. Revival is like that. 
 
 
Now with that in mind, I want to direct your attention to John 7:37-39. 
 
Now listen: every church is either a river of revival or they are a dry desert river bed. Every Christian is either a sponge soaking it up or they are a well giving it out. When revival comes, we become an Artesian well. We become channels of blessings through which God can pour the living water out upon a lost world and out into his church as well.
 
So by simple definition, the means of revival is actually the Holy Spirit of God having the freedom to flow in and through our lives as He desires without restriction or quenching.
 
Now, when Jesus said in John 7 of the river of revival that we would become channels of living water, that the river of living water would flow out of our life, that the Holy Spirit in all of his fullness and all of his life giving power would flow through us, that we would be channels of blessing, that we would not just be reservoirs of truth, but we would truly be rivers of blessing to a lost world, he is referencing a prophecy found in Ezekiel chapter 47.
 
Ezekiel 47 pictures this river of revival that would come out of the temple, this river of revival that would flow out of the temple of God. 
 
Listen to this text: Ezekiel 47:1-12
 
First of all I want you to see what I would call
 
1. The Source of the River. 
 
Verse 1
Now what house is he talking about? Well look down in verse 12. 
 
Now notice these waters issued out of the sanctuary of God. So immediately we discover that God is the source of the water. God is the source of revival. We see that same principle in 2 Chronicles 7:14 where God says "I will hear from heaven. I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land." 
 
Now the Old Testament temple was a house of three rooms. It was the outer court, the holy place and the holy of holies. The New Testament temple is a believer. The believer is a house of three rooms. You are body. You are soul. And you are spirit. If there's going to be a flowing of the river, if you are going to be a channel of blessing then the river is going to flow out of your temple.
 
That means that when revival comes, when the Holy Spirit is flowing from the temple, then from your body, from your soul, and from your spirit, the very presence of God will flow. That's the Source of the river.
 
Then I want you to notice
 
2. The Course of the River
 
verse 1
 
Now notice something very significant here in this verse. Notice that the river flows past the altar. What’s the point of that? That tells us that revival always comes by way of the altar. Now the altar is the place of sacrifice. 
 
The altar of revival is the place of sacrifice. What altar are we talking about? Well obviously it’s not the place where countless bulls and goats and lambs were sacrificed down through the centuries of time gone by. We’re talking about the altar that was erected on an ugly hill called Golgotha 2000 years ago where Jesus shed his blood and Jesus poured out his last drop of life for you and me. The river of revival has to flow by an altar. 
 
Remember back there in John 7, John was very careful to insert that what Jesus was referencing was the Holy Spirit, and He had not yet come because Jesus had not yet been glorified. 
 
Look back at verse 39
 
What does that mean? That means Jesus had to go the altar of Calvary and die, and raise again and ascend back to the Father, and after that the Holy Spirit would come. 
 
And once that happened, the Holy Spirit would come and fill the temple of the believer. Only by an altar can revival come.  It's not only his death for us, but it's our death with him. I am crucified with Christ and yet not I, but Christ lives in me. 
 
Jesus said it like this: “If any man would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Jesus said any man who would keep his life would lose it, but any many who will lose his life for my sake and the gospel, the same will keep it.”
 
 
 
 
Listen: The river of revival flows only through the life of the person who knows what it's like to take up his cross and to give his life completely away in order that the river of revival might flow through him because this river only flows by the way of an altar, by a person who has taken death to self.
 
You know what a cross is? A cross is an "I" that has a big mark run through it. I want to tell you, that “I” has to be crossed out for the Holy Spirit to fill us. Self must be taken from the throne. Christ must be upon the throne for revival to come. Our church will be a river of revival only because it has people who have allowed the Holy Spirit to be number one in their life. They have allowed the Holy Spirit to bring them to the altar of sacrificial living and sacrificial giving and sacrificial serving. 
 
There are a lot of people who desire another Pentecost. They pray "Oh, God send another Pentecost. Oh, God, send another day of revival. Oh, God please send another Pentecost upon us." I know what they mean. They want God to repeat what happened historically at Pentecost. 
 
But let me remind you that before Pentecost came Calvary. If you want another Pentecost then Calvary must first come in your life. You must take up the cross and be willing to follow Jesus to the place of death. That's the course of the river. It flows out of the temple by way of the altar.
 
And then notice
 
 
 
 
3. The Force of the River. 
 
You can try to stop a river by throwing rocks in it but you can't stop it. When revival comes, when a river begins to flow you can try to sand bag it and it just moves the sand bags out of the way. You can build a dam and it will break the dam. It will overflow the banks. When a river comes it just goes as it wills. That's the way revival is. And when revival comes, the devil might as well watch it and enjoy it because he can't do anything about it. 
 
Are you ready for that kind of revival? Are you ready for that kind of river of revival, for revival to come as a mighty river, for God to move the way he wants to move in our life as a mighty force to accomplish what he wants to accomplish?  
 
God forbid that anybody would be found guilty of restricting the water of God's love and God's power and God's will that God wants to give. God's love is like a mighty river. God's spirit is like a mighty force. 
 
Now when that occurs what are the results? I want you to notice the effects of this river.  Now watch this:
 
First of all, where the waters flow the trees will grow. 
 
verse 7
 
Now rather than the sterile life of a barren desert, automatically trees were everywhere. 
 
 
I remember in my Bible in Psalm 1, I read where God describes the life of a Spirit filled man and it says that the Spirit-filled man is like a tree planted by the rivers of living water. His leaves will not wither and whatsoever he does will prosper. I'm telling you where the water flows the trees will grow. Those trees will be a blessing to everybody.
 
Secondly where the waters flow the fish will go. 
 
Verse 9
 
I believe God had more in mind than just physical fish. Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” He said, “Peter cast your net on the other side of the boat for a great catch of fish.” Peter pulled up his net and he had so many fish that he had to call on the other men to help him get the catch in the boat. When revival comes you won't have to worry about inviting lost people to come to the church. God says when this water is flowing, the fish will be there. And notice there’s every kind (v. 10). Everywhere this river flows the fish will go.
 
Is your net filled with fish today? How many fish have you caught lately? Has our baptistry been filled with fish? Has it been filled with people who profess faith in Christ who've been changed by the power of God? 
 
You know one of the reasons our nets are often empty is because we try our plans and our paraphernalia and our programs and it's not what the Holy Spirit wants. Rather we ought to be seeking the face of God and seeking the Holy Spirit and letting the Holy Spirit move as he wills.
Why? Because where the water flows, the fish will go.
 
Thirdly, where the waters flow the fruit will show. 
 
verse 12
 
There was abundant fruit everywhere this river went. It says this fruit was all along the banks of this river. Isn’t that a beautiful picture? There are all kinds of fruit trees along this river. I think it's referring to the fruit of the Spirit. Revival brings the fruit of the Spirit. 
 
Galatians 5:22 says "And the fruit of the Sprit is love, joy, temperance, goodness, meekness, faithfulness." 
 
That's when the church acts like the church. That's when all the meanness, all the division, all the rancor, all the strife, all the ungodliness is taken out of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ because the river is flowing. Remember, we’re talking about the force of this river, and one thing is abundantly clear: a flowing river is not polluted.
 
Did you ever notice that? Why? Because the force of the river sweeps away the trash. You on’t find garbage in a flowing river. In fact, flowing waters will sweep it out to sea. What is so significant about that? God said confess you sin to me, and I will bury them in the depths of the sea and remember them no more!
 
Wherever the river is flowing the fruit is growing. The fruit of the Spirit is showing forth. 
Now let me ask you, when you look at your life which do you see more of, trash or the fruit of God? 
When others look at your life what do they see? The pollution of the devil or the beauty and fruitfulness and blessing of God?
 
Where the waters flow, the trees will grow, the fish will go, the fruit will show and
 
Number four, where the waters flow, the health will glow. 
 
Verse 12 also says the leaves of these trees is for the healing of the nations. It's medicinal. What did God say over there in 2 Chronicles? “I will heal their land.”
 
Listen: revival is to bring healing. There are many today who need healing of the body, including me. There are many today who need the healing of their marriage. There are many today who need healing from drug addiction, healing from alcohol addiction. There are many today who have a disease of the mouth called gossip and they need to be healed. 
 
There are many today who have a broken heart. There are many today who need to be healed from abuse of the past. There are many today who are being controlled by their parents who are dead and long gone. They need to be healed. There are many today who need to be healed from a broken marriage, a broken home, a failure somewhere in their life. 
 
There needs to be healing and only the Holy Spirit can bring that. Not counselors, not preachers, not sermons, only the Spirit of God can bring that. 
God says "And I will heal their land." Many of the saints of God have been wounded. It breaks my heart when I see people of God who've been so faithful, who've worked so hard, who've given so much, who've been so tireless, who've loved Jesus and done so much in the vineyard of the Lord and they're so broken. They are suffering and hurting and bleeding. And it is a glaring symptom of our need for revival. 
 
And if that describes your life, have I got good news for you. There is a river that is flowing, and wherever this river flows there is healing. It is the river of God, and God desires to turn it loose in your life and mine. 
 
But let me show you something else. He not only wants to flow to you; He wants to flow through you. Lister: if the river stops with you, you’ll get stagnant. You ever been around a pool of water that has not outlet? It gets that old green scum on the top and stinks. It’s full of garbage and rottenness with no way to flow and be cleansed and refreshed. 
 
Do you know why some people are so mean and hard to get along with? Do you know why so lives stink so bad? Why there is such rottenness in your life? You’re a stagnant pool of the blessings of God. God has filled you life with goodness and blessing and love and kindness and you’ve had the audacity to store it up and soak it up and drink it up and nkw your so ripe and full you about to burst. 
 
Did you ever stop to think that maybe you should take some of what God has given to you and share it with someone else? 
 
Maybe if the river of love was flowing out of you and me, maybe some of the folks that are hurting so bad would receive this healing. Maybe some of these folks who don't come to church, maybe if we'd love them a little bit more, maybe they'd come back. 
 
Maybe if we'd be more loving and we genuinely cared about folks, they would be blessed by just being close ot the river of God in your life and mine. 
 
Jesus said if any man is thirsty let him come unto me and drink. I can just imagine that scene: Jesus makes that statement and some old reprobate on the back row, with arms crossed and a scowl on his face says, “I ain’t thirsty!” And I can just hear Jesus saying, “Then I’m not talking to you!” But if you are thirsty, man have I got a deal for you!
 
Jesus said if any man is thirsty let him come unto me.
 
How thirsty are you? We'll not have revival until we're thirsty for it, until we long for it, until it's more important to us than anything else - to have the reality of Jesus working in our lives, until we'll settle for nothing else. 
 
As long as coming to church on Sunday fills the need, as long as going through the motions is all we want, as long as having a nice church building with nice people and nice programs and nice programs meets the need we'll never know the kind of power the early church had. Jesus said if any man thirst let him come unto me. 
 
One more thing and I’m through: 
 
Notice in Ezekiel 47:3-5 Ezekiel saw a man walking along the river measuring the river. He said he had a line in his hand and he walked 1500 feet down the river and the water was ankle deep. And he walked 1500 feet more and it was knee deep, and he walked 1500 feet more and it was waist deep. Then a mile from the very headwaters of the river it was so deep you had to swim. 
 
What does all that mean? Here is the illustration. And remember we are talking today about the Means of Revival.   
 
Ezekiel said, "I walked out there 1500 feet from the source and I was ankle deep." You get the picture? If you are saved, and you're only in the Holy Spirit ankle deep, there's a whole lot of you showing. You may be saved, you may be in the river, but your shallow. That's where a lot of people are. 
 
He said, "I walked down 1500 more feet and I was waist deep". Now we’re getting there, but even if you're waist deep, your feet are still touching bottom. That means you can still decide where you want to go and when you want to do it and if you’ll go any farther. God’s got more of you, but there's still a lot of you showing. 
 
He said, "I went on down and the waters were so deep that I had to swim." 
 
Now two things come to mind in regard to that: First, when a person is swimming the only thing you can see is their head. The Bible says the head of the Christian and the head of the church is Christ. When the Holy Spirit takes over in revival the only thing people can see is the head. That's Christ.
And number two, when you’re in that deep, if the current is strong enough, it will carry you away. And dear friend, I would say when the only thing that can be seen in your life is Jesus Christ, and you are being carried by the Holy Spirit wherever He wants to take you, that’s revival. 
 
Now here’s the question of the hour: How deep do you want to go? 
 
Let's pray together.