E21: Psalm 119: Living Life in the Light of God's Word - Biblical Revival

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Amen. I love when we sing songs that

ask rhetorical questions that we all obviously know the answer

to. Who is like the Lord our God?

No one. Aren't you thankful for that

this morning? And we serve the one true and

living God. I wish there were some people

here this morning who love to praise Him for that.

I said, aren't you thankful for that this morning?

If you have your Bibles, if you would turn to the 119th Psalm

this morning as we continue walking verse by verse, section

by section through this wonderful chapter in Scripture.

Many of you may not realize this, but we have been looking

at the 119th Psalm in each of the eight verse sections.

We have been going through this since early April and here we

are on the 20th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter

Hresh. We find that they're in verse

153. We'll be looking this morning

from 153 all the way to 160 in our eight verse section.

The psalmist here this morning is going to use a term that will

be quite familiar to all of you who have been here throughout

this study. He's going to use a term that we

have seen multiple times in the 119th Psalm and and in this

particular section, he's going to repeat it three times so that

we will understand that this is a major theme of the verses that

fall under the heading of Resh. The NIV translates this

statement like this preserve my life.

I told you it would be a familiar statement.

Those of you who have been listening and learning through

the 119th, you know this, that he has often said this.

Preserve my life. The ESV, if you're reading from

that, says this give me life. The King James Version says this

quicken me. And that's a word that we, we

don't really use a lot in our time, but it means to restore me

or resuscitate me or to bring me back to life, to quicken me.

The new American Standard and the LSV, which is the legacy

standard, they translate this revive me.

And I think that the NASV and the LSV get it right.

They hit the nail on the head when we go back to the Hebrew

and we really see what is the psalmist asking for here today.

He is asking that the Lord would revive him, that he would bring

revival upon his life. We know as we have walked

through life with him and our study living life in the light

of God's Word and as He's taught us how to do this, we have seen

that He's had many obstacles, many UPS, many downs, many

trials, many victories, many setbacks, many persecutions,

many. Suffering.

And he comes to this point when he cries out to the Lord, revive

me Now, if you've walked with Christ any amount of time, you

know this. There are times in our walk with

Christ where we all need revival.

In fact, truth be told, there are some of us who are here

today who are in need of a revival.

You are in need of God's strength and power to quicken

you where you are in your spiritual walk.

There's no shame in admitting that.

There's no shame in saying, well, from time to time, I need

revival. He knows this, and he's not

pushing you away just because you simply need a revival.

In fact, he longs to give you the revival that you need.

But I don't want anyone to be confused.

Today, because the term. Revival can be so confusing in

the American mind and in the American church because we have

often used this term for a week long meeting that we do twice a

year and nothing really ever happens or our emphasis is just

for that corporate happening, that something would happen

corporately that our church would go through if you would in

quotations revival. But I want us to see today that

corporate revival is never going to happen unless there is first

individual revival. And psalmist is not even going

to approach God corporately. He's not praying on behalf of

Israel here. He's praying on behalf of

himself. He is saying that I need a

personal revival in my life. And again, that term to the

American can be confusing because I don't think we really

understand what revival really is.

But I, I hope that when we leave today, we can't can no longer

say that because we're confused about revival and some of us

even almost afraid of revival because of such movements that

call themselves revival. In fact, in in our time we have

seen many of those. In 1994 we see what was known as

the Toronto Blessing that broke out in an airport vineyard

church there in Toronto. This so-called revival was known

for bizarre and physical manifestations like animal

noises and uncontrollable laughter, uncontrollable crying

and never led to anything other than emotions and.

Chaos and in fact, anyone who is truly a theologian would quickly

see the things that were going on there and they could quickly

give just criticism to the fact that.

What they were doing was not based on the Bible.

There was no theological doctrinal grounding for anything

that took place there. Though those who were defenders

of this claimed revival said it was refreshing, most of the

critics agree that it was chaotic and God doesn't work in

the realm of chaos or confusion. In fact, he's a God of order.

In fact, that's why we were commanded in the church that

things be done decently and in order.

And it is the Scriptures that tell us exactly what decently

and in order looks like. And when we stray away from

that, when we violate the Scriptures, we find ourselves

very quickly in the midst of chaos and emotional frenzy.

Which brings us to the next known revival in our day, which

was the 1995 Brownsville revival there in Pensacola, FL.

Many of you are familiar with that.

It was a movement of intense emotional experiences.

Though there was a call for repentance, there was no

evidence of any lasting repentance that took place.

It was just simply repentance in order to be a part of the

emotional frenzy. Some may have praised its

impact, but critics can quickly point out the fact that that

this whole movement was relying on feelings and unverified

miracles. I just want to help you.

Jesus himself said a wicked and perverse generation seeks after

signs, miracles and wonders. And so we have to be very

careful when we call something a revival simply because it's

based on some type of emotional, frenzier, unverified, tangible

miracles. Because when Jesus did miracles,

they were all verified. They were all tangible and they

were all for a greater purpose, to draw attention to the Savior,

not to the emotional act and emotional trend that was going

on in that day. And then we have in more recent

times, the Lakeland Revival. Brought about under the

so-called leadership of a man named Todd Bentley.

This revival too, claimed many miracles, angelic encounters.

It claimed all sorts of crazy practices, in fact, aggressive

practices where people would kick people, kick people, and

the demons work to come out and the spirit was to come in.

I want to just make it clear to everyone here, if revival breaks

out this morning and you kick me, I'm going to file assault

charges on you. If you kick anyone else, the

same charges will also be filed on you.

Nowhere in scripture do we see anything that gives us a reason

to kick others. That the demons may leave in the

Spirit may come in. We saw ridiculous things like

this in the Lakeland Revival and as we know Bentley was later

discredited due to his life and the movement was an over and

squashed and it too had no verifiable evidence of anything

and no lasting fruit, no lasting repentance.

It was simply that, just a flash in the pan movement.

So I've told you these things to make it very clear that this is

not what I'm talking about today.

This is not what the psalmist is going to teach us about.

He's not teaching you about the old Baptist fall revival summer

revivals where we meet together and and we we get some good food

before it happens. And then some people come to

know Christ, though that's always great that people come to

know Christ. We're not talking about that

desire to just have a corporate revival for the sake of having a

corporate revival. We're not talking about an

emotional stirring. What in fact we are talking

about, what the psalmist is going to talk about, is true

biblical revival, to which we are much confused about because

many Christians are enamoured by corporate revival, right?

As soon as a group of college students on a campus start

singing songs around the fire, we want to label that a revival

very quickly. But generally, in the end, it is

just an emotional service that started up in people's feelings,

and as soon as their feelings had faded, it faded as well.

What the psalmist was talking about today is true revival, and

true revival is going to bring lasting results.

So as we look at Psalm 119 in the 153rd verse, let us begin

this journey on answering these questions.

What is biblical revival? What does biblical revival

consist of? I guess what does biblical

revival look like? 153 says this.

It says look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not

forgotten your law. Defend my cause and redeem me.

Preserve my life. That's the one that the NASB

says Revive me according to Your promise.

That's the first sighting of that in this section.

Next he says salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not

seek out your decrees. Your compassion is great, O

Lord, it preserve my life. There it is again.

Revive me according to your laws.

Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from

your statutes. I look on the faithless with

loathing, for they do not obey your word.

See how I love your precepts? And he says again, Preserve my

life, revive me. O Lord, according to your love,

all your words are true, all your righteous laws are eternal.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your

word. Holy Spirit, we ask as we look

at Your Word and as we listen to Your Word today, that truth

would be revealed to the depths of our hearts.

Lord, that if we need. Revival today individually, God,

I pray that your word would teach us exactly how to procure

that revival, that we would be careful to give you all the

thanks and all the glory for it in Christ.

God, I pray for the soul who's here today, who is spiritually

dead, needing revival in the form of salvation.

Lord, we pray that by Your Spirit today and Your quickening

power as the Word of God is preached, that you would birth

new life into them and they would turn from their sin and

turn to Christ as Lord and Savior, trusting in Him and Him

alone to free them from the wrath and the judgement of God

that is to come upon the wicked. That they would walk out this

morning forgiven, clean, holding on to the promise of eternal

life that You've made to all who believe and trust in you and

God, we will be careful to give you all of the praise and all of

the credit and all of the glory for what you're going to do as

your word is proclaimed this morning.

We pray all these things in Christ's name, Amen.

So as we open the Word of God and as the psalmist begins to

teach us about true biblical revival, let's learn some things

about this. First, I want you to see this

that biblical revival will be built on God's promises.

It will be built on God's promises, not on human emotion,

not on human manipulation. It will be built simply on the

promises of God. He says in 153, if you look back

there with me, look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I

have not forgotten your law. He says I am in a bad place, I

need deliverance, I am suffering and I'm holding on to your law.

I haven't forgotten your law. I have not forgotten your

promises. We see the Psalmist here

beginning this section calling on God in prayer.

I want you to recognize that. I want you to see his

desperation. He he doesn't call a friend, he

doesn't call a shrink, he doesn't call a pastor.

He specifically calls on God in prayer.

I can tell you this, if you want to experience revival in your

life today, you're in that dry desert and you need to drink

from the well. Call on the one who is in

control of the well. Call to Him.

The psalmist here desperately crying out to his mediator and

his advocate is, is that not what the scriptures say that the

Lord Jesus Christ is for us? Hebrews Chapter 9 verse 15 says

Hebrews 9:15

that the Lord is our mediator. He is our go between.

In fact, there is one mediator between God and man, the man

Christ Jesus, and He's calling out depending upon his mediator,

seeing him also as his advocate as first John chapter 2, verse 3

1 John 2:3

teaches us that the Lord is our advocate who speaks in our

defense. The psalmist here saying, look

upon my suffering and deliver me, knowing that that the only

one that he could cry out to and receive this kind of revival

that he's asking for is God himself He's dependent upon.

God for his deliverance. Oh, Please note, he's not trying

to deliver himself. He's not trying to get all his

eggs in the right basket. He's not trying to, as we hear

all the time, get his life straight.

He's running to God in desperation.

And I would to God that we as Christians would understand that

because it's not being preached in the churches.

Desperately running to God, knowing that He hears us, and He

hears us based on his promises to hear us.

Here he is dependent upon God for deliverance, knowing full

well. What the word of God says Second

2 Samuel 22 · chapter mention

Samuel chapter 22 verse two. He said the Lord is my rock, my

fortress, and my deliverer. The psalmist trusting in that

that the Lord is his deliverer, the Lord is his.

Folk fortress. He can count on the Lord in any

and every situation. Psalm 3/8, it says from the Lord

comes deliverance. From the Lord comes deliverance.

Oh, it's not just a coincidence that he begins this section

crying out desperately to the Lord in prayer.

He knows that the only hope for revival for him is to cry out to

God in desperation. But let me make this clear to

all of you, because often times what we try to do when we need

revival, we try to fake it as if we don't.

And we put on those pharisaical masks as if everything is OK and

as if everything is all together.

Did you know that's that's what hypocrite means, a wearer of

masks. And we become a hypocrite

instead of running to God in desperation and calling on him

and saying, God, I need revival. And we play it all.

We ignore. It as if it's going to go away

when we know good and well it's not going to go away.

The psalmist here not falling into that trap, but calling on

God in prayer desperately. Why?

Because he knows true revivals built on God's promises.

He's going to the promise maker and the promise keeper.

He's saying, Lord, I need revival and I know that the only

way that I can have revival is because you have made me

promises in your word. He's calling on God in prayer

and he's confident in God's word.

Look at 154. Defend my cause and redeem me,

preserve my life, Revive me according to your promise.

He's going back to the Scriptures and he's saying I'm

holding on to the fact that God has promised to deliver and to

revive those who trust in him. He's simply trusting in God as

his helper, as his Savior, as his defender.

Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14 it says.

Hebrews 4:14

Therefore, since we have have a great high priest who has gone

through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly

to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest

who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one

who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was

without. Sin watch what He says in 16.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence.

Does not crawl in a corner and hide from God.

He knows right where you are. And he has sympathy on you and

compassion for you. He says, let us approach the

throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and

find grace to help us in our time of need.

The psalmist simply trusting in God as his helper, his Savior,

and his defender, knowing that he can confidently approach his

throne in his time of need. Christian, let me tell you this,

if you need revival, Jesus Christ, our Mediator, our

Advocate, and our friend has made a way for us to approach

God's throne of grace. And He has enough grace for us,

and anything that we need, He will provide that grace.

If it is the need for revival, cry out to him today.

For that revival, be dependent upon God and His Word,

confident. And that which he has promised,

clinging to things as the psalmist did in Psalm 46, verse

one, where he says God is our refuge and strength, an ever

present help in trouble. Well, far too often, friends, we

forget that, don't we? That he's an ever present help

in trouble, you say? Well, Kirk, you don't

understand. I got myself into this.

Yes, you did. And He will get you out of it.

He is our Deliverer, even from the troubles that we bring upon

ourselves. What a kind and gracious and

merciful Savior He. Is the Psalm is here reminding

us to trust him a refuge in our strength or ever present help in

trouble. In verse 2 of that same 46

Psalm, he says therefore we will not fear though the earth give

way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its

waters roar and foam in the mountains quake with their

surging. He says there's nothing for us

to be afraid of because we are confident in God and we are

confident in his word and the promises that he has made to us.

The Psalm is here, trusting that, trusting it, turning to

the Scriptures for hope. Not only for help, but for hope.

Oh, wouldn't it be nice in this hopeless society and hopeless

world that we live in, to find hope?

You can find hope in the Word of God, the Psalmist teaching us

that very clearly. That his hope comes from God's

word. He says preserve my life

according to your promise. He just say preserve your life

according to what I deserve. Revive me if you think I'm

worthy of it. Now see, he says, revive me

according to your word. He's turning to scriptures for

hope. In 119 Psalm, when we were at

verse 114, you learned this when He said that you are my refuge

and my shield. I have put my hope in your word.

Why was God his refuge and his shield?

Because he had put hope in His word.

And when we put hope in God's Word, he serves and acts as our

refuge and our shield. How about this in the New

Testament, Paul in Romans chapter 15, he says this for

Romans 15 · chapter mention

everything that was written in the past, verse 4 of Romans 15.

It was written to teach us so that through endurance and the

encouragement. Of the Scriptures, we might have

what hope here the psalmist is, and he's in a desperate

situation. He's calling on God, and now

he's finding hope. Where's he finding hope?

He's finding hope because of his confidence in God's word.

Isn't it interesting? When you meet people who are

confident in God's Word, you meet people who walk around with

hope all the time. Isn't that what we should be

doing? Are you here this week after

week after week at the end of our service?

That we should go out and be light in darkness, and that when

people inquire of what the hope that we have.

Because when we're walking in truth to the word of God, when

we were walking and living life and light of the scriptures,

guess what's going to happen? We're going to walk in hope and

the lost world whose hopeless is going to look at us and they're

going to say. What is different about you?

The whole world seems to be freaking out and you're not

freaking out. We get to sing at the top of our

lungs in that moment. Don't mean my hope is built on

nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.

My hope is built on the promises of the word of God.

You want to see revival in your life.

You'll see revival only when it's built on the promises of

God. Thomas Watson, the Puritan, said

this. He said God's promises are dated

in heaven. They are as unchangeable as God

himself. So God has promised us hope and

his word, and that hope is not going to change.

When the psalmist says according to your promise, according to

your word, you know what he's saying.

Revive me, Lord, just like you said you would.

Revive me, Lord, just like the scriptures declare it you will.

Lord. I am trusting in your word.

I'm not trusting in what I see. I'm not trusting in what's going

on around me. I'm not trusting in Fox News.

I'm not trusting in politics. I'm not even trusting in my own

sin and my own weakness. I am trusting in You and.

Your word, there's where my confidence lies, and in that you

have hope. Doesn't hope always bring

revival? And so do you want biblical

revival in your life? Do you?

Well, it comes by trusting God's promises.

It comes by trusting his word to desperately cry out to him in

prayer, knowing that he will work according to the Scriptures

and having great confidence in that.

So we see that biblical revival will be built on God's promises

first. Secondly, we see this biblical

revival will be brought by God's mercy.

He says in 155 salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not

seek out your decrees. 156 says your compassion is great, or in

some of your translations it says great are your mercies.

Oh Lord, preserve my life again. Revive.

Me according to your laws. He keeps going back to God and

his Word, His statutes, His laws, His precepts, His

commands. And so the psalmist knows that

sinful man must depend upon God's endless mercies if he's

going to have a biblical revival take place in his life.

Let me just ask you this simple question.

How many of you are thankful that God had mercy on you at

salvation when you came to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

And that is a huge deal. But how many of you are also

grateful that God's mercies continue in your life over and

over and over and over again? I am thankful for that, and I'll

just be transparent. I'm thankful because most days I

blow it and I am in need of His mercies constantly.

And without His mercy, there would never be any revival in my

life. The psalmist understands this

and he turns to God and His compassion and His mercy,

refusing to take the path of wickedness.

Watch what he says in verse 155. He says salvation is far from

the wicked, for they not seek your decrees.

That's not just out of place. He didn't just throw that in

there. He's making a.

Comparison, he's saying there's a group of people who they don't

have your mercy and they don't rely on your mercy and they

don't trust in your mercy, but without your mercy I have

nothing to trust in. I have nothing to rely on.

And so the psalmist here is saying this.

He's saying that if I'm going to have revival, I know that

revival must come because of your mercy in my life.

That's why he says the wicked before from salvation.

And they don't seek out your decrees.

They don't. Seek your word so they know

nothing of your mercy, But on the other hand, I know much of

your mercy because you have saved me by your mercy, and you

continue to save me by your mercy.

And So what he's doing here, he's refusing to.

Take the path of wickedness, and one who's depending on God's

mercy to revive them will refuse to take the path of wickedness.

He's saying I don't want to be like them.

You know why He knows he doesn't want to be like them?

Because he once was like them. Isn't that true of all of us?

We've all taken the path of wickedness.

Salvation was far from. Us, we had not received the

mercy of God, but God then showered us with His mercy in

Christ. The psalmist refuses to take the

path of wickedness, Noticing the difference between light and

dark. You want to see revival in your

life? Learn the difference between

light and dark. I know it's hard in a culture we

call right wrong and wrong right, and everything is so hazy

and confusing. Can I speak boldly for a moment?

Light and dark cannot coexist. You can't be darkness some of

the time and claim to be light some of the time.

You were either in Christ or you are not in Christ.

You are either in the light or you are in the darkness.

There is no in between. The psalmist identifying that if

I'm going to have revival, revival is not going to come in

the darkness. Salvation is far from the

wicked. I need the Lord's mercy.

So I'm refusing the path of wickedness.

Now be it. He's saying that wicked men need

God's mercy. Yeah, we, apart from the mercy

of God are all wicked, aren't we?

There's none. Righteous.

No, not one. Romans 323.

We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God.

So we see here that the psalmist has repented of that wickedness,

has distinguished himself from the darkness.

He's turning to God depending upon his compassion, His

compassion alone. The one who's depending on God's

mercy to revive them will refuse the path of wickedness.

You're not going to find revival there.

So if there's sin in your life today and you want to see

revival, turn from the wickedness of your sin and turn

to the mercy of God. And then we see this.

The psalmist is relying on God's mercy alone.

He's not saying Lord, I've done great things.

And so bring revival in my life. Lord, all my ducks are in a row.

So bring revival in life. You know how we know his ducks

aren't in a row? Ducks don't get in a row.

You look at your life. Just when you think you got all

your ducks in a row, what happens 1 jumps out of the line?

He's not claiming by his own works that he deserves revival.

I wish that we would get that church.

He is solely depending upon God's mercy alone, just as He

did at salvation. He is continuing to do this.

Are you listening to me, Church? Just as you had confidence and

relying on God's mercy alone to save you, continue to walk in

that. Continue to rely on His mercy

every single day of your life. Continue to go to His well of

compassion that He has for those of us who are wicked by nature.

Oh, He's seeking God's compassion here for the Sinner,

knowing full well that's what he is, and were it not for God's

mercy, that's what He would always.

Be. But he's saying, Lord, revive

me, preserve my life in spite of me, according to your mercies,

according to your word. He's seeking compassion.

And if we're seeking compassion, where else can we go?

Psalm 111, verse 4 says this. He has caused his wonders to be

Psalms 111:4

remembered. The Lord is gracious and

compassionate. I am thankful, and I know many

of you are as well, for the grace and the compassion of the

Lord that is continual in our lives.

You want revival, Depend upon that.

It's brought by God's mercy, His compassion, His grace.

It's brought no other way. In fact, in our Scripture

reading today, let me remind you of what it said in Joel chapter

Joel 2:12

2, verse 12. It said there in Joel even now.

Declares the Lord, Return to me with all your heart, with

fasting and weeping and mourning.

Rend your heart and not your garments.

Return to the Lord your God, for He is what?

Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love,

and He relents from sending calamity.

If you're in need of revival today, stop running from God.

See who He is biblically. He's a God of mercy.

He is a God of compassion. Run to him.

And I know what many of you will say.

You'll make excuses, but you don't know what I did yesterday.

Can I read for you again Lamentations chapter 3 verse 22?

Lamentations 3:22

It says it's because of the Lord's great love.

We are not consumed for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

Anyone here thankful that His compassions, His mercies for us

are daily renewed? Every morning that I wake up and

I see the sun come above the horizon, I say Thank you Lord,

because whether I realize it or not, whether I realize to the

depth that I need it or not, I am in need of His mercies every

single day. You know why many don't

experience revival in their lives?

I believe because they've forgotten how in need of God's

mercy they really are. Were it not for His mercy and

His love for the Sinner, Lamentation says, we would be

consumed. Oh, I've often wondered that.

Lord, why didn't you just kill me when I was wicked?

Why would you even still allow me to exist?

I know the American church doesn't think like this.

We think God owes us something because we're a bunch of

entitled full of brats. The only thing that God really

owed me was death and hell and I asked myself daily why did I not

get what I deserved? I'm a theologian.

I know the biblical answer to that.

I I can give you all the mysteries behind that in Christ,

but what it ultimately boils down to is this, because of the

Lord's great love for me, that's so hard for me to understand.

How could He ever love me? How could He give me such

compassion? How could He give me such mercy?

Continually. Well, it's enough to think about

that at salvation. He's continually giving me

mercy, just as a psalmist is seeing here, depending upon

that. Why?

Because biblical revival will be brought by God's mercy.

Oh, we leave God's mercy out of this equation.

You'll never see revival. So you know what that means.

We run to God and we plea with God.

God gives me mercy. God, I am in need of your

compassion. I am in need of your loving

kindness. Lord.

Thirdly, we see this. You've seen biblical revival

will be built on God's promises will be brought by God's mercy,

then I want you to pay attention to this.

It will be bent on obeying God. There will be lasting obedience.

This is the problem with many of the so-called corporate

revivals. There's no lasting obedience,

there's no life change. He says in 157.

Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from

your statute, so I'm still focused on your word. 158 He

says, I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not

obey your word. The psalmist here teaching us

that true biblical revival will bring a new desire for obedience

to God's Word. There are many who claim to have

experienced revival, but there is no bend in their life toward

obeying God. Can I help you all out so that

you're not deceived? That's not revival.

That was a warm fuzzy. That was an emotional high.

That was the flash in the pan. That was not God bringing

lasting change. Because when God brings change,

you know what happens? It lasts.

You don't believe me? Ask Israel, who once was Jake

Jacob, who walked with a limp forever.

God changes us. He bends us and conforms us.

How is he bending us and conforming us if we're in

Christ, to the image of Christ? And so then we have to ask

ourselves as Christ obedient and every single command and every

single facet of the law, he was obedient in our stead.

That is the hope that we have. And our response ought to be out

of appreciation for what has been imputed to us in Christ.

We ought to then live a life of obedience unto God and for his

glory. So the psalmist reminding us the

importance of revival being marked with obedience.

In fact, Deuteronomy chapter 30, way back in the Old Testament,

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

we see this in verse 2. God's already told the

Israelites, you're going to, you're going to rebel against

me, you're going to need revival.

But here's what he says in verse 2.

And when you and your children return to the Lord your God and

obey him with all your heart and with all your soul, according to

everything I command you, then the Lord your God will restore

your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you

again from all the nations where he scattered you.

You think obedience isn't important in regard to revival?

In fact, all true revivals will be marked with God wrought

obedience and repentance. And in every situation we'll see

that everything that the psalmist talks about, there are

no accidents. He says many are the foes who

persecute me. But I've not turned from your

statutes. What is he saying there?

He's saying this, that I'm going to live a life bent on obedience

to God despite any persecution or opposition, even in the face

of my enemies. I'm going to continue to obey

God because that's what true revival will bring upon my life.

True and active obedience, even in the face of those who hate

me, even when it's unpopular to obey the word of God.

He says, I have not turned from your statutes.

He desires obeying the Lord over the respect of wicked men,

faithfully obeying God in the face of of any obstacle, any

obstruction, any persecution, any enemy that may come his way.

He says, God, I have not turned from your statutes.

I am still obeying you despite all of the things that he has to

face, refusing to fear men, but instead fearing God would that

there would be a revival of that in Christ's church in America.

How about you where men and women fear God and not man.

When we get back to that biblically and what that looks

like, Psalm 118, the psalmist declares in verse 6, the Lord is

with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Psalmist declaring there and I'm going to obey God and I'm going

to be on the side of God and everybody else who opposes me.

I'm going to give no thought to them because they can't do

anything to me anyway. Not that will affect eternity.

And so we see that biblical revival will be bent on obeying

God's Word despite persecution or opposition, but also

despising disobedience and sin. Watch the psalmist here doing

what we're afraid to do. In our time, he says.

I look on the faithless with loathing, he said.

I am loathing the wickedness of the faithless.

I'm loathing the example that they're giving.

I'm loathing the indoctrination that they're pouring into my

children in my home. I don't approve of such things

because they are not of God, because he's bent on obeying.

God. Why?

Because true revival is happening in his life.

He's holding on to God's Word and he's despising that which is

evil and he's clinging to that which is good.

Is that not what Scripture tells us to do?

Living a pure and obedient life in the midst of darkness and

chaos and confusion and doing all of this due to the fact that

we have a genuine love for Christ?

When is it not true what Jesus Himself said, that if you love

me, you will obey my commands? We in the American Church almost

act as if that is optional. You can love me and it's somehow

later you decide to obey me. So be it.

No true life in Christ, true revival in Christ will be marked

by obedience. John 14, verse 21.

John 14:21

Here's what the Lord has to say about it.

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, He is the one who

loves me. Let me give you a good

hermeneutical practice. You can use this.

Reverse what you just read. He who doesn't obey me does not

love me out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

He who loves me will be loved by my Father and I too will love

him and show myself to him. He's saying those who are the

real dude who really love me and they don't just talk about it,

they'll actually obey me. There's been something that's

going on in their life. There's been a change.

First John, the 5th chapter of John's first epistle, he says

this in verse three. He said this is love for God.

You know what love for God looks like to go to church, fill out a

membership card, be a part of a small group?

Nope. This is love for God, to obey

His commands, and His commands are not burdensome.

What do you think that John would throw that in there?

His commands are not burdensome because you know what the world

wants you to think. The world wants you to think

that it is a heavy load to try to carry obedience to God.

Did you know this is not a heavy load to carry obedience to God

at all? God does the work in and through

you. Jesus said come on to me, all

you who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is

what? Light.

But you know what? The world has tricked you into

thinking that it's hard and it's difficult to be obedient to what

God has commanded us to do. Not in Christ Jesus is it.

It isn't. You have been indwelt with the

Holy Spirit who lives in you as your guide and your counselor

and your comforter. You have been given the Word of

God as instruction. You simply surrender yourself,

and in surrendering yourself, God does a work of obedience in

you, through you. So many times the world doesn't

really have any interest in being obedient to God.

Their question is simply this, how much wrong can I still do

and be called a Christian? That ought not to be our heart.

Our heart Heart ought to be the heart of what the New Testament

teaches. To abstain from even the

appearance of evil. To desire holiness.

To desire purity. If you have seen real revival in

your life, you will desire holiness.

You will desire purity. You will not accept anything

less. This is what the psalmist is

teaching here, prioritizing righteousness.

Oh, could the church. Hear message after message about

that. When are we going to prioritize

righteousness? What is righteousness?

Right living. And who decides what is right?

God. And He has revealed it in His

Word. And when is it going to become

important to us? Oh, if you experience true

revival, let me just make you this guarantee.

It will become important to you because immediately you will

right wrongs. You will.

Is that not what happened to our friend Zacchaeus?

When the Lord changed him and revived him, what happened?

I've got to right my wrongs. Why?

Because righteous living became a priority.

Obedience. Don't dare say that you've

experienced any kind of revival with righteous living is not a

priority in your life. You're not hating sinful

practices. Yours first, desiring to please

God with every fiber of your being.

You have no inward desire for that.

Don't dare lie to yourself or anyone else and tell them that

you've experienced some kind of revival.

Revival will be bent on obeying God and obeying His Word and

hating sin, loathing the practice of wickedness, walking,

and righteousness and purity. Psalm 16 says, For the Lord

watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the

wicked will perish. Oh, don't think that you can

hold on to your wickedness and live.

The way of the wickedness will perish, and it is the way of the

righteous that the Lord watches over.

So we see. Thirdly, the biblical revival

will be bent on obeying God. Fourthly and finally, biblical

revival will be based on God's faithfulness.

Oh, I'm so thankful that biblical revival is not based on

Kirk's faithfulness. Anyone here thankful that one,

we're faithless. He's still faithful in every

single situation. God is faithful.

And I'm thankful that the psalmist is going to teach us

that true revival, real biblical revival, is going to be based on

God's faithfulness, not on ours. I would never see revival.

You would never see revival, he says in 159.

See how I love your precepts, preserve my life.

Revive me, O Lord, according to your love.

Some of your Bibles say according to your loving

kindness. The older I get and the more

that I grow in Christ, I am that much more thankful for the

loving kindness of our Lord, because it is His.

Kindness. It leads us to repentance.

Perhaps you're here today and you're here today because God

wants to bring revival in your life.

He wants you to see His kindness, to bring you to this

point where you can hear what is true.

Biblical revival so that he can shower you with loving kindness,

he says in 160. All your words are true.

All your righteous laws are eternal.

Psalmist, you're reminding us that God will bring revival to

his people when they look to Him and when they trust in His

faithfulness and stop trusting in theirs, right?

You can't approach revival as if it's something that you deserve,

something that you have merited on your own or could ever merit

on your own. And we approach true revival

like the psalmist here, dependent upon God's

faithfulness, His faithfulness to love His people.

Again, I ask myself over and over and over again, why would

God ever love me? The only answer that I can come

up with is because He chose to. And He doesn't answer to me.

And I'm so overwhelmed that He would ever choose to.

True revival will be based on His faithfulness, His

faithfulness to love his people. Isaiah 54 verse 10 speaks of

Isaiah 54:10

this, says though the mountains be shaken and the hills be

removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor

my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has

compassion on you, but we can take his faithfulness to the

bank. We can know that that's

something that we can depend upon.

Psalm 136, one it says, give thanks to the Lord for He is

good, His love endures forever, His love and His compassion and

His faithfulness to show love and compassion to His people.

We can simply count on that with the utmost confidence that we

can count on anything. God's faithfulness to love this

people, showing US time and time and time again is undeserved,

and His enduring, loving kindness to us.

I could spend the rest of the afternoon, but I know it's

Sunday and you have to beat the Methodist to the chicken place.

I could spend the rest of the afternoon speaking on how God

has shown me undeserved love and enduring loving kindness over

and over and over and over in my life.

Jeremiah verse 3 of the 31st chapter says this.

The Lord appeared to us in the past saying, I have loved you

with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with loving

kindness. Oh, if you want to see revival

in your life this morning, let that revival be based on the

faithfulness of God to show His loving kindness to continually

draw you unto Himself over and over and over and over again.

Many of us can testify to this and we know that we're saved

because when we have tried to rebel against God, He is always

in his faithfulness unto his promises drawn us back through

his loving kindness, letting us know that Kirk, you can do a

million knuckleheaded things, but God is not going to stop

loving you. He's not going to stop being

kind to you in Christ Jesus. He is already preordained this

since before the foundations of the earth.

What a marvelous place to be be able to trust in God's

faithfulness to love his people. Or you want to see revival?

Stop thinking that you deserve it.

And just know this, you don't. It's just like salvation.

You don't deserve salvation. He gives it because of his

loving kindness. And cry out to him, as the

psalmist is doing here. Revive me according to your love

and kindness. You know what?

I could bring nothing else to that statement.

I can't say, Lord. Revive me because Kirk's good

enough. Revive me because Kirk's smart

enough. You've listened to me speak.

You know that's not the case. Revive me because I'm worthy.

Oh, the psalmist says. Revive me according to your love

and kindness, because you're faithful to love the unlovable

and to love us with an enduring love to love his people, showing

his undeserved, enduring, loving kindness along with his

unmerited favor upon our lives. Oh, Paul speaks of that, doesn't

he? In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 4.

Ephesians 2:4

But because of his great love for us, God, not you, not

anything you could do, But because of his great love for

us, God, who is rich in mercy. Made us alive with Christ even

when we were dead in transgression.

He is the God of revival and he is faithful to revive you.

He says it is by grace you have been saved.

How does he do this? Grace is grace offered to you

unmerited favor in the form of His loving kindness.

You're going to see revival in your life.

No Trust in God's faithfulness to love His people.

And secondly, God's faithfulness to fulfill His proclamations.

And when I say to fulfill His proclamations, I mean this.

Every single word He has spoken. It is true, we can count on it.

Numbers 23 reminds us of how much we can count on God's

proclamations. In verse 19, it says God is not

man that He should lie, nor Son of man, that He should change

his mind. Does he speak and then not act?

Does he promise and not fulfill? Again, speaking in rhetorical

questions, we know the answer. No, God doesn't lie.

In fact, Paul tells Titus he cannot lie.

He doesn't lie to us and he fulfills every single promise

that he has ever made. Everything that He has

proclaimed He will fulfill, stemming from eternity past when

He made promises unto Himself in the wise counsel of the Triune

Godhead, all the way to eternity future where we're in His

presence, living and walking face to face.

Everything that He has promised, He is faithful to fulfill.

You want to see revival in your life?

Trust in God's faithless to fulfill everything that He has

proclaimed all the way from eternity past into eternity

future places we know nothing about.

God has always been faithful, and He will always be faithful

to do that which He has proclaimed.

Everything that is spoken will come to pass exactly as He has

said. Hebrews, chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

It's why the author of Hebrews instructs the church to do this.

Let us hold unswervingly verse 23 to the hope we profess.

For He who promised is faithful. True revival does not trust in

the faithfulness of the one who's receiving revival.

True revival trust in the faithfulness of the only one who

can bring the dead to life. That is Christ, what he has

proclaimed in his word. He's eternal and he's true.

Therefore what he speaks is eternally true.

And he doesn't change Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today

and. Forever, Malachi tells us, tells

us this about our God, Malachi 3/6 He says, I, the Lord your

God, do not change. Some of us act as if God somehow

has changed his mind about what he said.

He has promised each and every one of you believers in this

room today that if you will come to Him broken and contrite in

heart, He will hear your cries and He will restore you.

He has promised you that in some way, shape, or form through the

entirety of Scripture, that promise is still good for each

of you today. He has promised to the

unbeliever who is dead in sin and in transgression.

He has promised to quicken you to new life today as you call on

Him and as you repent of your sin and you trust in Jesus

Christ as Lord and Savior. He is the only one who can make

the dead alive. Bring true revival.

And so if he brings revival to you today, it's not because of

you, it's because he's faithful and all true revivals based on

his faithfulness. So we wrap it up Biblical.

Revival. Who wants it?

Oh, why would you settle for some emotional chaotic event?

When you can actually experience true biblical revival.

Now let me just help you. Today, some of you are going to

experience true biblical revival.

There will be no flashy lights. There will be no hoopla.

There will be no show. I'm not going to slap you in the

forehead or kick you. You're simply going to heed the

words of Scripture that we've seen today.

And you're going to take God at His Word, and He's going to show

you just how faithful He is. And you're going to walk out of

here. Whether you realize it today or

whether you realize it down the road, you're going to walk out

of your trusting in God. And you may not see the evidence

of this immediately, but you're going to notice your life is

going to change. He's going to conform you into

the image of Christ. And in doing that, you will see

true and real revival in your life, biblical revival.

It will be built on God's promises, brought by God's

mercy, bent on obeying God based on God's faithfulness.

So, believer, those of you who profess Christ, are you in need

of revival? God has come to you today in His

Word and He's letting you know if you're in need of revival,

here is the answer. Here's what you need to know.

Do you need the Lord to revive you and to restore you

spiritually? Listen, we've all been there.

You say, well, pastor, you've been there.

Yes, more than likely I will be there again.

And I'm thankful for the word of God that I can go back to and

say, OK, how do I experience revival again?

I go to the 119th Psalm and I go, I start at verse 153 and I

read all the way to 160 and I find this.

Here's how true, real biblical revival happen.

So call on the Lord desperately, just as the psalmist did.

Confess your struggle. Maybe your struggle is

opposition. Maybe your struggle is a trial.

Maybe your struggle is an enemy, a family member, or you're at

odds with one another. Maybe your enemy is sin, the

fact that you're still prone to it.

There's abiding sin in your life.

Confess all of those things to the Lord.

Confess them, admitting that you need His help for deliverance.

Is He? Is He your deliverer?

The Scriptures say over and over that He is.

Let Him deliver you. Trust Him to do that.

Confess your sin first. John 19 says if we confess our

sin, He's what faithful and justice forgive us our sin that

cleanses from all unrighteousness, and then

conform in obedience to His Word.

Just as the psalmist was saying there Lord, I'm not straight

from Your Word. I want to conform to obedience

in Your Word and then count on His faithfulness to revive You.

It's that simple. Walk out of here knowing this,

that if you trusted God, He's going to bring revival in your

life. You might not.

Bark like a dog, laugh uncontrollably, cry

uncontrollably, but you will be changed because God is faithful

to fulfill all that He has proclaimed to the unbeliever.

I make you aware of this, not to be mean or aggressive to to you

or toward you. You were dead in your sins and

your transgressions just like I was before.

God breathes new life into me and the only hope you have of

coming out of your spiritual death is for God to work a work

in you today through the power of the Holy Spirit as the Word

of God has gone out. My prayer for you is that the

Spirit would quicken you to come to new life, just as the word of

Jesus Christ quicken Lazarus to physical life there in John

John 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11 made today, the word of Christ quicken you.

To spiritual life so that you can see the wickedness of your

sin, your need for repentance, and you can see that the only

hope that you have in this life and the life to come of

forgiveness and eternal life is through.

Christ and Christ alone, may you today, by that power, the power

of God, surrender your life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,

trusting in Helm and Him alone to save you, to take that which

is spiritually dead and make it alive.

He is able. Trust in him today.

Cry out to him, call on his name, for whosoever shall call

upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Let's pray together, Father, in the name of Jesus.

We come to you now, thanking you so much for your word, thanking

You that you have not left us in the dark.

Thanking You that we don't have to have catchy stories or cool

illustrations, fancy backdrops. Lord, all we need is your Word.

And as we've seen today, Your word will bring revival to your

people. Your word will birth faith and

those who you desire to save. What we ask that that happened

in our midst today, we we know it's only because of your grace

and Your mercy that it would happen.

We trust in you. May your will be done.

May our lives never be the same. We pray and we ask these things

in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

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