God’s Word and Revival

Scripture

Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles.  The proud hold me in utter contempt, but I do not turn away from your instructions. 
~Psalm 119:50-51, NLT

Quote

The bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.
~Martin Luther

The seventh stanza of Psalm 119 is ‘Zayin’ and again the emphasis is on the word of God and its ministry of hope and comfort. The bible is a supernatural book that has real power. The bible can give aid and comfort when nothing else can. Whereas the bible does not contain all information about science, history, etc., it does contain everything necessary for the salvation of sinners, the sanctification of the saints and spiritual direction for every pilgrim passing through this world. God’s word is perfect: that is complete, whole, not lacking and comprehensive in truth. It has the ability to spark or ignite divine life and to revive the life that is existent within us. The word the Psalmist uses in verse 50 is khä·yä’, a word we talked about just a few days ago. It means to live, to have life, to continue in life, remain alive, to sustain life, to revive, to refresh, to restore, to quicken, to give life and it is used 15 times in Psalms 119 [17, 25, 7, 40, 50, 77, 88, 93, 107, 116, 144, 154, 156, 159, 175] and 11 times the NASB translates it REVIVE. With our REVIVAL just days away: I thought it might be good to focus on this word REVIVAL.

I love book stores, especially stores that have old books. Many people do not understand the value of a good book and sometimes I find good books for a little of nothing. They had a book sale at the Fiddler’s Convention and I bought only one and it cost me 50 cents. It is a work book entitled SEEKING HIM by Nancy Leigh Demoss. If a book has C.S. Lewis name on it or Nancy Leigh Demoss,  I get it. Most of you know what I think of these women teachers: I wouldn’t walk across the road to hear Beth Moore but I would drives miles to hear Nancy Leigh. The workbook is on experiencing personal revival and I am on my second week. Yesterdays lesson was on PRIDE and it ripped me out of my frame. I want to share just a bit of that lesson…

PRIDE

  1. Pride blinds us, deceives us to our true spiritual condition. Like the Laodiceans, we are prone to think we are fine when actually, we make God sick.
  2. Pride causes us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.
  3. Pride makes ‘self’ the center
  4. Pride makes us overly sensitive and defensive anytime we are criticized or slandered. Pride keeps the focus on our reputation–what others think of us.
  5. Pride separates us from God and others. Pride repels! God hates pride and He resist the proud but He draws near to the humble. Our pride does not make us sick but it makes others sick of us.
  6. Pride is the essential vice, the utmost evil. It was pride that transformed an angel into a devil. Pride leads the parade of vices–lust, envy, jealously, greed, etc., follow pride. Pride leads the parade of vices and destruction comes last.
  7. Pride is the biggest hindrance to REVIVAL {Isa. 57:15} The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts. We have God’s word that He will revive us if we will humble ourselves and repent.

I really don’t want to confess anything, which is my pride, but the Holy Spirit put His omnipotent finger on three things immediately: [1] my affinity for Alabama football and the pride I take in being an Alabama supporter, [2] my pride in being from the South and Alabama. [3] My conservatism: I take tremendous pride in all three. The LORD spoke clearly to me through the scriptures: my problem is not Auburn Fans, Yankees or liberals; my problem is Jack. I do want personal revival. May the grace of God and his Holy Spirit consume all that is in me that dishonors Christ.


If you are interested in knowing more about Nancy Leigh Demoss…here is a link and some info…

https://www.reviveourhearts.com/ Grow in your love for the Word and the Lord Jesus as you listen to Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s twenty-five-minute program. She has several books. The one I am doing on personal revival is for small groups.

REVIVAL November 5-8 With Wade Morris

Dr. Wade coming to DBC for the seventh year in a row.

 

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