Claiming God's Promise Of Revival

Scripture: 1 John 5:13-15

Sermon preached at Gospel Light Christian Church, Singapore
by Pastor Dr Paul Choo
on 14 July 2002 8 am English service

Introduction: Last week we learned in the sermon titled "Prayer Still Moves Mountains" that God's infinite power is still available to remove insurmountable obstacles. Therefore, it is not a question of whether God can revive GLCC but rather a question of whether it is His will to do so.

Does God want to revive His church?: Before we look into the Bible for God's promises of revival, let us deduce from what we know of His character (as revealed in His Word) whether He wants to revive us, by asking ourselves the following questions:

(1) Does our Heavenly Father want His children to be weak and frail? Don't fathers want their children to be strong and in good health? Surely a spiritually weak and worldly church is a disgrace and insult to Him.

(2) Is God concerned about the increasing numbers of people going to Hell? In these "Last Days" as earth's population reaches unprecedented levels, the population of hell will also increase accordingly - unless there is a mighty world-wide revival.

(3) God foretold that "all nations will be blessed" through the Gospel of Jesus Christ (GAL 3:8) but has this prophecy been justified? The word "nation" means "people or ethnic groups." Presently there are many people groups (including many very huge ones) that have not benefitted from the Gospel.

(4) Did God send His Holy Spirit to indwell His people in the New Testament era, so that we should continue to live flesh dependent lives? Surely it must be God's purpose that we live Spirit-filled revived lives.

(5) Is it a coincidence that Pastor Mike came to GLCC to show us these truths and the Holy Spirit thereafter stirred up Gospeliters to pray every morning for a revival? We do not believe that anything happens by chance but we believe that the Holy Spirit works "all things together for good' (ROM 8:28).

We can know that God will revive us: In today's scripture passage, we learn that God wrote the Bible that, we may know that we have eternal life" (I JO 5:13). We know for sure that we have eternal life because God's promise in JOH 3:16 guarantees us of it. Besides knowing for sure that we have eternal life simply because God's Word says so, we can also know for sure "that if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us and we have the petitions that we desired of him" because His Word says so in l John 5:14,15.

In other words, since it is God's will that His children be revived, then we can be sure that our petition for a revival will be granted. Exactly when and how He will do it we do not know but we can be "confident that he has heard our prayers for revival and know that we already have the petition that we desired of him. " In modern-day jargon, "It's a done deal! " Besides our prayer for revival, we can be equally confident when we pray for other matters that are clearly in God's will, eg. salvation, missions, sanctification, obedience.

Therefore, when we continue to pray on such a matter we are bending our will to God's will, rather than trying to bend God's will to ours. In other words, the purpose of prayer is not to get God to do our will but rather to get us to know His will more clearly.

Let us claim a revival promise: Throughout the Bible, in both Old and New Testaments, we read of God's desire for His people to be spiritually strong- Let us ask the Holy Spirit to "seal" one of these "revival verses" to our heart, which we can claim and then pray in simple faith knowing that God will answer our prayer. The following are some verses that have been claimed by godly men in previous revivals: Isaiah 43:19 "Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." Jeremiah 32:27 "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there any thing too hard for me?" Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Ezekiel 34:26 "...there shall be showers of blessing." Joel 2:15-26 "...wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? ... Fear not, 0 land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things .... And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten .... and ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God..." Malachi 3:10-11 "... if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it..."

Let us prepare for the revival: God desires to revive His people but are we ready to be revived? If the Holy Spirit sweeps our parents into His kingdom, will our Chinese ministry be ready. If He sweeps our friends in, will our SF's be ready? Can our children's ministries handle an influx of children?

Conclusion: Let us begin by claiming a revival promise, praying in simple faith and stepping forward in His strength to prepare for the "showers of blessings."