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  REVIVALS IN THE BIBLE
  by Dean Taylor
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Summary: This sermon delves into the concept of revivals in the Bible,
focusing on the revivals of Asa and Jehoshaphat. It emphasizes the
characteristics of biblical revivals, such as occurring in times of
moral darkness, beginning with consecrated servants of God, resting on
the Word of God, leading to a return to worship, destruction of idols,
separation from sin, obedience to God's laws, restoration of joy, and
experiencing God's blessings. The sermon highlights the importance of
fully trusting in God's promises, seeking Him in prayer and fasting, and
worshiping Him in spirit and truth to bring about revival.

Duration: 34:59

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon delves into the concept of revivals in the Bible, focusing
on the revivals of Asa and Jehoshaphat. It emphasizes the
characteristics of biblical revivals, such as occurring in times of
moral darkness, beginning with consecrated servants of God, resting on
the Word of God, leading to a return to worship, destruction of idols,
separation from sin, obedience to God's laws, restoration of joy, and
experiencing God's blessings. The sermon highlights the importance of
fully trusting in God's promises, seeking Him in prayer and fasting, and
worshiping Him in spirit and truth to bring about revival.

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CONTENT
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H.E. Pearson said this, But when do the acts of the apostles stop? How
long will he continue to work and teach in this manner? So long as he
has a believing body of disciples who still go forth into all the world
as witnesses bearing his message. The wondrous story of the revival
there in Acts, the wondrous story opens with the endowment of power and
throughout exhibits its effects in qualifying witnesses for their work.
There is never any hint that this power ever was or will be withdrawn.

The narrative stops, but the history goes on. Wherever devout disciples
claim in prayer and by faith their full share in that Pentecostal
fullness, they may go forth endued with power from on high. Throughout
all the ages, wherever Christ's witnesses have gone forth in obedience
to his word, the same essential marks have attended their service and
explained their success.

Amen. I'd like to talk a little bit about revivals in the Bible, just a
little bit. I'd like to focus down on perhaps two revivals, the revival
there of Asa Jehoshaphat from the Old Testament and see some patterns
there of revival from the Bible and also looking at those in the book of
Acts.

I'm a pastor at a little church in northern part of Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania. My name is Dean Taylor. We were sent out a few years from
Charity Christian Fellowship.

It's Living Hope Christian Fellowship was the name of our church. And I
want what we heard about today, what Brother Don just told us about. I
want that.

I don't want to just be nostalgic about it. I don't want to just think
about the good old days. I want that in my life.

I want it for my children, Brother Don, and I want it for our church. I
want to see those things again. It's my belief that God wants that even
worse than I do, that in His Word, He's given us certain principles,
certain things, certain promises, that if we come to those promises in
faith and taking those for ourselves, we can experience what we just
heard.

That's my prayer. So if we could, let's pray just for a minute. And then
let's see what God has to tell us about these Old Testament revivals,
the Book of Acts, and then look at our own life.

Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come here in the name of Jesus
Christ. I want to talk about Your name, Your honor.

Oh, Father, we want these things, Lord, but I know You want them more.
Father, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, can You speak through me in
this little time slot here, Lord, and let us hear what You have to say.
It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. We've looked at the revivals in the Old Testament. The first one I
would like to look at is the revival there of Asa.

I like this little summary I found by Wilbur Smith. He was a writer of
revival, and he gave a summary of what he sees as nine characteristics
that are found throughout the revivals in the Bible. And to distinguish
this from perhaps other outworkings of the Holy Spirit, this wouldn't be
including like the Mount Carmel where Elijah saw the manifestations of
God there.

But these are when revival comes out, it affects the whole community,
and there are certain characteristics that he noted there. I'd like to
give them to you. I think they're precious.

I like them. So we look at these nine characteristics. Wilbur Smith has
this number one.

Number one, that revival occurs in time of moral darkness and national
depression, when times are bad, when sin is abounding, when these things
that we've heard, these different pastors here sharing about the burden
and concerns on their heart, like we experience here today, times of
national depression. Number two, each of these revivals that we see in
the Word of God began in the heart of a consecrated servant of God,
someone who themselves took these promises of God, took the Word of God
in their own lives and became the energizing power behind those
revivals. Number three, each revival rested on the Word of God, on the
Word of God, and proclaiming the Word of God with power.

Number four, Wilbur Smith gives us, that all resulted in a return to the
worship of God. So we look through these patterns. It's not just a
reformation of manners, it's not just a reformation of their own life
getting back together, but a reformation of the worship of God.

And each of these also, interestingly enough, there's a return to blood
sacrifice. The worshiping of God and the blood sacrifice. We see both in
the Old Testament and I believe we see in the New Testament, and I
believe we see that same blood sacrifice today, as we have the blood of
Jesus shed for our sins.

Number five, in each we witness a destruction of idols. Idols. In each
revival there was a recorded separation from sin.

Recorded. Put down in the Word of God a separation from sin. In each
revival we have people not only just separating from sin, but we see a
returning of the people of God to following after God in His ways and
His laws and obedience to God.

A turning away from sin, but also a turning to God's ways. It's one of
the things we see as a pattern, Wilbur Smith gives us here. We see in
number eight, a restoration of the great joy of gladness.

This is not a bad thing. This is not a sad time. It's a time of
rejoicing for the people of God.

And that's a pattern we see all through the Scriptures. And number nine,
he puts in there we see a blessing of God upon His people. I added two
more as I looked into these things.

Looking upon maybe some of the idea from Charles Finney, we see that
each of these times it was on the brink of judgment. That God's hand of
judgment was on the people of God, on the church of God, and there it
was, and was there going to be judgment, or was there going to be
revival? In these cases we see here there's revival, but sometimes
there's judgment. Another one that I find precious and I hold on to is
that in each of these things I've noticed that these people did not have
to have their lives entirely perfect, or let's say their theology
completely perfect for God to bring revival in their life.

That God saw a heart that many times would say, and their heart was
perfect toward God. And God saw that heart and brought revival there,
and then worked that revival amongst those people that are there. Asa is
one of the ones that are a perfect example of that.

So let's take those nine characteristics that Wilbur Smith gave us, and
let's look at some of those things that we see in those Old Testaments,
and taking that into the book of Acts as well. Turn your Bibles, if you
have them here, to 2 Chronicles. And we look at 2 Chronicles chapter 14.

Asa's father was very zealous for the nation of Israel. He was one of
the ones that fought against Jeroboam and trying to tell him that the
worship of God was only to be through Judah, and the proper worship
would be that way. Very zealous.

He did some wonderful things, but he was very zealous for that, but also
during his time that he allowed idolatry. He allowed sin to be coming up
and growing all around him. And it's interesting that here's someone
who's very zealous for religion, and very zealous for the things of
being very proper in his mind, but right underneath him was sin growing
everywhere.

But then his son rose up, and his son, as soon as he came to office, as
soon as he came to being king here, suddenly had something within him
that made him want to seek after the Lord, and after revival, and Judah
in that time. As we see here in Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 14, verse 6
here, and he built thin cities in Judah for the land at rest, and had no
war in those years because the Lord had given him rest. And he went into
many different things of putting away different gods and such.

In verse 3 up there, he took away the altars of the strange gods in the
high places, and break down the images, and cut down the groves. That's
the ashtaroth, the gods that displayed the image of the female. And he
sought the Lord.

But as soon as they did this, as soon as Asa did this, and made these
little changes in his life, a big test came his way. And this happens to
us as well. How many can testify to that? As soon as you get yourself
wanting to turn to God, God brings a big test.

And here's what happened to the entire of Judah right here. So there
they are starting to have reformation in their life, getting things
taken care of, getting rid of false gods, and God sent this, or this
army came in verse 9. And we see that coming out of Ethiopia, somebody
came up and told Asa, there's a million man army from Ethiopia with 300
chariots coming against us. What are you going to do? Fortunately, he
had already started to get his life together.

He had already started turning to God. And so he had something to build
on there. But instead of doing this in his own strength, notice what he
did, because it's absolutely essential if we're going to understand
revival in these other different ways.

It says here in verse 9, it tells us about the million man army. And in
verse 10, then Asa went out against him and they set the battle in array
in the valley. Look at verse 11.

And Asa cried unto the Lord his God and said, Lord, oh, note these
words, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many or with them
that have no power. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on thee, and
in, notice this, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord,
thou art our God.

Let not man prevail against thee. So the Lord smote the Ethiopians.
There it is.

He didn't see his own strength. He didn't try to rest into something
that he had, but he knew that he had no power apart from God. Well, as
they were coming back from this little victory there, God sent a prophet
to Asa, just in case Asa was able to take that minute where he destroyed
those Ethiopians and just in case he was able to take the victory to
himself, a prophet came to him and said this to him, Asa, 2 Chronicles
chapter 15, verse 2, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah,
and Benjamin, the Lord is with you while you be with him, and if ye seek
him, he will be found of you.

But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. Now that's an impressive
verse, isn't it? You know, God does not want to give us something that
we can just put into our pocket and then we can walk away from him and
forget about him. I love this writing by Evan Hopkins, who was one of
the main writers in the Keswick people, the Keswick movement, and he
said, he gave this analogy of a candle in a dark room, if this room was
completely dark and Evan Hopkins says there that if I was to light this
candle and then I'm going to tell you, I'm going to blow this candle out
and every one of you hold on to the light.

You can't. But your illuminating source of light comes from the presence
of that light and the same it is with God. God wants our power and our
source continually to be resting upon him and that's a key.

And that's why the prophet went to Asa and said, as long as you're with
us, as long as you're with God that he'll be with you. But if you
forsake him, he's going to let you walk off. He's going to let you go
try it in your own way.

He's going to let you try these things. Why? How shall you escape if you
neglect so great a salvation? This is what he's saying. So he goes on.

Asa gets excited and this is when revival came. And it says here that he
called the people together looking over. We're in chapter 15 verse 7
there and another prophet and he goes and talks to them and tells them
to be strong therefore and let not your hands be weak for your work
shall be rewarded.

He gave a promise to him in verse 8 and when Asa heard these words and
the prophecy, it goes on to say that he gathered all Israel together and
looking down verse 9 and they gathered all Judah and Benjamin and the
strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh and out of Simeon and
they fell to him in Israel in abundance when they saw the Lord was with
them. Different ones came over with him. So they gathered themselves
together in Jerusalem in the third month in the 15th year of the reign
of Asa and they offered them to the Lord the same time of the spoil
which they had brought and they offered to him 7,000 sheep and 700 oxen
the blood sacrifice there.

We just want to worship the Lord and it was great joy. Now the people
repented of their sin. They turned from their idols.

They destroyed these asteros and these things that were in their way and
they turned to worshiping God in a blood sacrifice and here they made
this covenant to seek the Lord. They got excited. I think perhaps a
little too excited as you read this verse 12 and they entered into a
covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and
with all their souls that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of
Israel should be put to death whether small or great, whether man or
woman and they swear unto the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting
and with trumpets and with cornets and all Judah rejoiced at the oath
and they rejoiced and praised the Lord there.

It even says that his mother had her own personal asteros there and it
says there in verse 16 verse 16 there look at that and it says and it
took his and the mother of Asa the king and removed her from her being
queen because she had made an idol in the grove and Asa cut it down and
Asa cut down her idol and stamped on it and burned it in the book of
Kidron. He stomped on those idols even one that was in his own family.
You know sometimes where God wants to bring something in our life but
sometimes even our family ties can be something that needs to be stamped
on so some bondage there that's there looking at that there's one thing
he goes on and it makes us wonder why when did it ever end and as Asa
went on as strong and as powerful as he saw God move with his people in
there and the next chapter he started to get strong.

He started to rest in those things. He started to have all the riches
and the abundance of the spoils of war and the different things of war
and then he started to rest on his accomplishments. Remember that
revival from that quote from Leonard Ravenhill that we are in grave
danger when we allow our accomplishments become the source of our
confidence and that's what happened.

He had an accomplishment but then he allowed that to be his confidence
and he got into this little battle with the king of Israel and instead
of trusting in the Lord he went and trusted in his own money and he went
and actually got he got treasures out of the house of Israel and came to
the king of Syria and made a league with them to go kill them and to
kill the nation, the kingdoms, the army that's coming from Israel the
army that's coming from the northern tribes there took the very
treasures and gave it to him so God sent another prophet and rebuked him
that he said wasn't it enough? Didn't you see the mercies of God and the
wondering workings of God when you saw him destroy the Ethiopians?
Didn't you see the miracles of God and now you do this? He gave this
wonderful scripture to him it's a scripture of revival in 2 Chronicles
16 verse 9 it says to him and the prophet rebuked him and said for the
eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. That means
God's like looking all around the earth to show himself strong in behalf
of them whose heart is perfect toward him remember that Asa wasn't
perfect but his heart was perfect toward him and God wants to show
himself strong there to show himself strong to his heart who's perfect
toward him. Herein thou hath done foolishly therefore from henceforth
thou shalt have wars well you know what happened to that prophet he was
thrown in jail Asa started then trusting in God I mean trusting in the
physicians to heal himself from these different things that happened and
the Bible still gives a favorable account of Asa's revival and Asa's
life but there it went on that in this little disclaimer so where are we
in this thing? It's a very clear message when God had us trusting in
only him in only him he brought the revival but then trusting in our own
strength moving on to his son nothing would be more of a joy to a
revival king a revival preacher than having a revival son and as
Jehoshaphat came on to the scene soon as he was in in Chronicles chapter
17 as soon as he was there he also started to bring reform and to bring
revival in the land of Judah there and started to make some beautiful
things happen in verse 3 and the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he
walked in the first ways of his father David and sought not unto Balaam
so he sought to do the things of God he set up a teaching ministry where
people would go and hear the word of God and stand on God's word in
verse 9 it says and they taught in Judah and had the book of the law of
the Lord with them and went about throughout all the cities of Judah and
taught the people and it says in verse 12 and Jehoshaphat waxed great
exceedingly and he built in Judah castles and cities and store God's
blessing was on him while he was with them but now look what happened in
chapter 18 the same thing that happened to his father the same thing
that happens to us today now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in
abundance and joined affinity with Ahab do you know who Ahab's wife was
who was it Jezebel that's who he formed an allegiance with that's who he
gave his own son to marry their daughter that's what happened to
Jehoshaphat so he went out and they did the same thing we're going to go
out to battle together to fight another war and God had to send another
prophet and while he was there this time the king of Israel was going to
disguise himself and they were going to do this full trick and try to go
out to battle with this thing but now God sent them a test and my heart
comes to this point look here in 2 Chronicles 18 looking at verse 31 and
it came to pass when the captains of the chariot saw Jehoshaphat that
they said it is the king of Israel therefore it came to pass when the
captains of the chariot saw Jehoshaphat that they said it is the king of
Israel therefore they compassed about him to fight and there it is they
were about to kill him there is the imminent judgment but look at what
he did but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him our God is so
merciful but you know what that day another one didn't come home an
arrow went up into the air and killed the king of Israel that day you
know we come to meetings like this we come to meetings and many times we
walk out one or two ways either improved or shot one man walked out
revived that day the other walked out shot well it changed his life and
it changed Judah he went on and started to come he went on in 2
Chronicles chapter 19 God sent another prophet to him and Jehoshaphat
actually became a missionary and actually went out into all of the lands
and tried to bring them back from their gods and from their idols and
from their asherahs and all these different things that they were
experiencing and to bring them back into trusting after God he was
crying to them and preaching to them and in chapter 19 9 and he charged
them saying thus shall you do in the fear of the Lord faithfully and
with a perfect heart and what cause whoever shall come to you of your
brethren that dwell in the cities between blood and blood between law
and commandment statues and judgment you shall even warn them that they
trespass not against the Lord and so wrath came upon you and upon your
brethren this do and you shall not trespass he's going to them and he's
telling them these things well again God sent a test again God sent a
test and it came and this time the Bible just last time it says there
was a million man army this time the Bible just says a great multitude
came and look what Jehoshaphat did you know you know he heard those
stories of his father you know he did and so as he's there he's looking
at these things and Jehoshaphat this is chapter 20 verse 3 and
Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a
fast throughout all Judah fasted and prayed now he feared God put a fear
in his heart the Holy Spirit put a fear in his heart and there he did to
call the people together to fast and pray and Judah gathered themselves
together to ask help of the Lord even out of all the cities of Judah
they came to seek the Lord now we're not going to have time to get into
acts here but let me just focus on this last revival here with
Jehoshaphat and finish this there's something here that Jehoshaphat does
that I see when I read revival histories over and over again and I'll be
honest with you I don't understand it I don't.

I read about it it almost makes me have to confess it almost makes me
cringe a little bit they remind God of his promises I don't understand
that but here it is somehow I wonder sometimes that we have upon our
heart idols we have within our heart an image of God how we worship God
and as A.W. Tozer said the way we behave is very much reflection on how
we view God and our view of God I think sometimes needs to be arranged
and we need to get those Gods that we have now placed upon our hearts
out and when we remind ourselves of God's promises when we remind
ourselves of God's law and his ways it's like taking all those false
images of God out of our heart and putting the real Jehovah of God in
and then we can worship God in spirit and in truth and I don't know
that's the only way I come up with explaining this thing about reminding
God and a fear of God reminding God but look what Jehoshaphat did Moses
did the same thing in Exodus 32 but look at this the army is there and
they gather themselves together and Jehoshaphat stood in the
congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the
new court and said O Lord God of our fathers, listen to this art not
thou God in heaven and ruleth not thou over all the kingdoms of the
heathen and in thy hand is there not power and might so that none is
able to withstand thee God's name is glorified there and art, verse
seven, art not thou O God who did drive out the inhabitants of this land
before thy people Israel and gave it to the seed of Abraham thy friend
forever wasn't you O God who made those covenants and promised it was
your word that promised those things that was you and they dwelt therein
and have built thee a sanctuary therein for, notice this, for thy name,
and here's the promise Lord, saying if when evil cometh upon us as the
sword, judgment or pestilence or famine we stand before this house and
in thy presence for thy name is in this house and cry unto thee in our
affliction then thou wilt hear and help and now behold the children of
Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir whom thou wouldst not let Israel invade
when they came up out of the land of Egypt but they turned from them and
destroyed them not, behold I say how they reward us to come to cast us
out of thy possession which thou gave us to inherit O God, wilt thou not
judge them and look at verse thirteen, oh it's a precious verse and all
Judas stood before the Lord, all Judas stood before the Lord with their
little ones, their wives and their children now there was a multitude of
army coming against them, perhaps over a million, they should have been
mustering the troops, they should have been getting things together,
they should have been organizing but there they stand with their wives
and their little children there talking about the promises of God and it
is but look what happened, God sent another prophet and he said this to
them and he says it to us today as well, he said be not afraid nor
dismayed by the reason of this great multitude for the battle is not
yours but God's, you see it's God's name it's God's name that we
blaspheme among the heathen, remember Ezekiel 36 tell them I'm not going
to do this for your sake but for my sake whom you blaspheme among the
nations that's why God saves us that's why this is happening, tomorrow
verse sixteen, go ye down against them, behold they come up by the cliff
of Ziz and ye shall find them at the end of the brook before the
wilderness of Jeruel, now look at this ye shall not need to fight in
this battle set yourselves stand ye still and see the salvation of the
Lord with you O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed tomorrow
go out against them for the Lord will be with you and Jehoshaphat, look
at his response, bowed his head with his face to the ground and all
Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord worshipping
the Lord and in verse twenty they believe, you know it says in Romans
chapter four in Romans chapter four, I believe it is, isn't it there
where it says talks about Abraham's faith being fully persuaded that
what he had promised he is also able to perform therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness are you fully persuaded that what he had
promised he is also able to perform, well here's what happened, they got
up, notice and they rose early in the morning hallelujah, they didn't
wonder what was going to happen they didn't happen to see if there would
be maybe a little confusion, bingo, they rose up early in the morning
and took the promises of God in the morning and went forth and went
forth into the wilderness of Tikoa and as they went forth Jehoshaphat
stood and said hear me oh Judah, he gives a big altar call here, and the
inhabitants of the Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God so shall you
be established believe his prophets so shall you prosper and when he has
consulted with the people he appointed singers into the Lord,
Jehoshaphat's not getting an army together here, he's getting singers
together, and he went out and appointed singers into the Lord and that
they should praise the beauty of holiness the beauty of holiness the
beauty of being a people of God, a choice people of God, and they went
out in front of the armies and they went out there and God said he sent
ambushments and they destroyed each other and it says that it took them
three days to sweep up all the spoil three days Jehoshaphat learned a
good lesson so as we look at these things and we look at these
characteristics that we see in the Bible, I don't believe it's any
different in the book of Acts it goes on, we don't have time to get into
the book of Acts in the book of Acts it continues in the same way, over
and over men believing the promises of God just one word about the book
of Acts was Acts a one time event like I asked in the very beginning no,
there's no hint that it ever ends in chapter 4 right after chapter 2 we
see the same people who were filled with the power of God getting on
their knees again and praying, expecting God to fill them again, and
that's what we want, that's what we're asking God to do so, looking at
these, in conclusion, looking at these things that Wilbur Smith gives us
of these characteristics of biblical revivals they occur in times of
moral darkness, are we there today? they each began in the heart of a
consecrated servant of God is there one here today? each revival rested
on the word of God please, leave your psychology at home if you want
revival leave all that at home number 4 all resulted in a return to the
worship of God the worship of God there's no other way and this blood
sacrifice each witnessed the destruction of idols do you have idols in
your life? you know we all came here attracted I'll just say this one
thing we all came here attracted from something we saw on the internet
an internet sermon and this is like a new thing, a new printing press,
perhaps like it was in the time of the reformation able to get material
out and get sermons out and many of the testimonies of people that are
there have heard of these great things but let me tell you, you know
what that asteroth was? it was the image of the female and men use that
for an excuse to look upon the image of the female if you're here today
and at one click you're clicking on sermon index and the next click
you're bowing to the God of asteroth I ask you today to repent of that
repent of it so that God can use this as a means to bring revival and
purify the church there's gods, many gods in us, we need to get rid of
each was recorded with a separation from sin and each revival the people
returned to obeying God's law and number eight there was restoration of
great joy and gladness and number nine, each revival was followed by a
period of blessing great rejoicing over the things of God I, bless the
Lord like I said, I want what we heard about today, I want that in my
life, for my children for my church and for my country I want those
things may God do it

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/SiCTbtlNqnc.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/dean-taylor/revivals-in-the-bible/
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