For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Isaiah 57:15
The Lord God is doing great things in our midst. Not because we planned revival, but because He did. I wish that you could see the church from my perspective, because I’m able to observe so many good things coming together for such a time as this.
We’re becoming renewed in our deep dependence on prayer.
We’re seeing the fruit of our love for the community.
We’re experiencing a re-ignition of gospel passion among our people.
That’s revival. And it’s all the more reason to pursue Christ with all our hearts.
As you pray for First Baptist Paducah and for our ministries to the ends of the earth, I would remind you of some of the distinctive goals of true spiritual revival:
- Revival is to satisfy God, not me. I humbly seek; He powerfully provides.
- Revival is to de-emphasize my many “me-centered” attempts to fix my deepest problems. We all fall into prideful self-sufficiency; revival exposes such as the folly that it is.
- Revival is to position me to draw near the flame of God’s truth so that I might be on fire for Christ. Revival fills me with love for God’s Son
and God’s Word, to the point that I can’t get enough!
- Revival is to convince me to love the Lord’s sovereign power and grace again. The simple claims of the gospel that once claimed my highest affections are renewed, even as my soul is re-aligned to a posture of vigorous praise and thanksgiving.
The fruit of revival is changed lives. My life, changed. Forever.
Pray for revival. World history demonstrates that God has sent revival to His people in times of national crisis, in times of conflict and war, and in times of particular economic and social calamity. The Bible describes our Heavenly Father looking throughout the whole earth to “give strong support” to those whose hearts are fully His (Second Chronicles 16:9). As we learned Wednesday evening in our study of “the walls of Jericho”: When God takes up our cause, we’re on the winning team! Revival reminds us whose team we’re really on.
If I might borrow a prayer request from Jonathan Edwards (Some Thoughts Regarding the Present Revival of Religion in New England), I would ask that you pray for me in this specific way: “that I may have more light, humility, and zeal; and that I may be favoured with such measures of the divine Spirit, as a minister of the gospel stands in need of, at such an extraordinary season.”
Thank you for lifting up our church family before Christ’s throne of grace. I’ll see you for prayer Sunday morning at 8:30 in the Carson Foyer.
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