What Is Revival? When God Shows Up!

Scripture readings: Isaiah 64, Psa 85:6, Acts 3:19

Isaiah 64:1 – 2 - Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains
would tremble before you! 2As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come
down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!
Acts 3:19-20 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.
20Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord……
Psalms 85: 6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
Our homes need revival. Our churches need revival. This nation and the world need revival. But
no military power can bring revival. No economic upturn brings revival. And no election can
bring revival.
Revival is the sovereign work of Almighty God.
In Isaiah 64, God’s people had been carried into captivity, His work was in disrepair, and His
people were dispirited, much like believers today. The Church has been carried into captivity by
the world, the flesh and the devil. Christians are discouraged. Many have no hope for revival.
They don’t even believe that revival is possible!
Why is there no revival? Listen carefully. Not because of liberalism in the churches, or disunity
among God’s people, or because we’ve been worldly and compromised. Friend, if we get all of
these matters changed, it still would not be revival. These aren’t the reasons for no revival.
They are the result of no revival.
What is revival?
Revival is when God comes down.
Oh, that you [Almighty God] would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the
mountains might shake at Your presence. (Isa. 64:1)
God loves to come down. He came down when the Lord Jesus stepped out of heaven to save
us. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down and baptized the infant church with wonderful
power. And Jesus is coming down again at His second coming. If you study the record of the
church in modern history, you will find from time to time in place to place, God has come down.
I want God to come down upon the church. Many of us don’t believe this is possible. Don’t get
the idea that Botswana has to be changed before we can have revival. You, my friend, can have
revival. You can have personal revival. You can have revival in your Sunday school class. You can
have revival in your family. You can have revival whenever and wherever—you can be a one-
person revival.
Revival is meeting with Almighty God, after seeking His face, yearningly
Most of us seek God to do something for our church, our family, our nation. But we’re seeking
God’s hand and not His face. Our heart needs to yearn for God. We should be saying, “O God,
will You come down?”
Revival is a time of refreshing – Acts 3:19
Revival consists in the return of the church from her backsliding and the conversion of sinners -
Charles Finney

What marks the end times

1. Wickedness increase – Eph 5:14-15 says these are evil times
2. People cast off restraint Prv 29:17Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;
but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction
3. People love the world and its pleasures, we find ourselves caught up in the rat race
4. Mass Deception – Matt 24:24"For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will
show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
2 Thess 2:3 Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come
except the apostasy comes first [unless the predicted great falling away of those who
have professed to be Christians has come], and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed,
who is the son of doom (of perdition),
1 Timothy 4:1But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the
faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,

Why do we need Revival

Revival presupposes that:

 the church is sunk down in a backslidden state

 the church is sleeping Eph 5:14Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from
the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
 the church has lost their first love Rev 2;4, But I have this against you, that you have left
your first love.
 there is a serious decline in the church’s appetite for spiritual things,
 followers have ceased to function as salt and light. Matt 5:13, 16.
 People are complacent in their sins and are not hungry for God. Isa 64:7 And there is no
one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You….. (v. 7)
=Is there a yearning, burning, longing for revival in your heart?
Dr. R. A. Torrey said,
“I have a theory…that there is not a church, chapel, or mission on earth where you cannot have
revival, provided there is a little nucleus of faithful people who will hold onto God until He
comes down. First, let a few Christians—there need not be many—get thoroughly right with
God themselves. This is the prime essential. If this is not done, the rest, I’m sorry to say, cannot
be done, and it will come to nothing. Second, let them bind themselves together to pray for
revival until God opens the heavens and comes down. Third, let them put themselves at the
disposal of God to use them as He sees fit in winning others to Christ. That’s all. This is sure to
bring revival in any church or community. I have given this prescription around the world. It has
been taken by many churches and many communities, and in no instance has it ever failed, and
it cannot fail.”
Get right with God. Band together and pray. Put yourself at God’s disposal. This is the message
of Isaiah 64.
You say, “Well, that’s so simple.” That’s true. It’s simple. The problem is, the Church is
complacent. There is none “who stirs himself up.”
Oh, friend, do what Dr. Torrey says and get right with God. If we don’t, one day we’ll wish we
had.

Results of Revival
It is the Presence of God That Produces Revival: God Himself. When God comes down, things
will happen.
1. People wake up from slumber (spiritual sleep)
2. People get refreshed
3. Restoration of first love
4. Dust is removed, shame, reproach, humiliation
5. People are set free from all kinds of bondages
6. Stagnation is totally removed
7. Habits are changed
8. Spells and curses are removed
9. Restoration to original state of dominion
10. People rise up from defeat and enemies are scattered
11. Mountains will melt - obstacles to God’s work—will melt away. Nothing can stop the
revival fire of Almighty God!
12. Sinners will shake - Holy Spirit conviction falls and sinners begin to shake. If we have
revival in Botswana. The lascivious will shake in the presence of God. The unsaved will
cry out for mercy.
 13. The Righteous will rejoice. For since the beginning of the world, men have not heard
nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the
one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who
remembers You in Your ways. (v. 4-5a)
God wants to meet with you. God wants to come down. And when He does, church will not be
a bore. God’s people will have joy unspeakable and full of glory. The righteous will rejoice. I
long to see that. I want my children to see that. I want God to meet with His people so they’ll
know this incredible joy.
So what stands in the way of this outpouring?
Is there a yearning, burning, longing for revival in your heart? If you get serious, God will send
revival.

Conclusion
2 Ch 7:14-16
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and
restore their land. 15My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this
place. 16For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy—a place where my name
will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.

Let our cry be

O God, we want Your glory again! O God, show Thy face, show Thy glory!”
Maybe you haven’t been willing to stir yourself up. Maybe you are satisfied with where you are.
Maybe you’re a dying leaf and don’t even know it.
But if you will seek God, He is waiting, leaning over the battlements of heaven. We don’t have
to persuade God to send revival, only permit Him to do so.
PASTOR PRECIOUS CHANAIWA
Theme: End time Revival
Prayer Points
1. Let us humbly go before God and repent of our sins, asking God to refine us for greater
revival.
-May His revival fire purge and purify us. Elijah prayed, and fire came out of heaven
blowing up the altar and burning up the sacrifice.
-May the fire get the excess off in order to purify.
-Ask Him to come down and touch you, come down upon the church, our homes and
the body of Christ at large so that times of refreshing may come.
Scripture: Acts 3:19-20 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be
wiped away. 20Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord……
2 Chronicles 7:14-16, Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will
forgive their sins and restore their land. 15My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to
every prayer made in this place. 16For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy
—a place where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear
to my heart.
2. Let us pray for the return of the church (starting with yourself) from her backslidden
state and from their first love.
-Pray for the conversion of sinners. May the Holy Spirit conviction fall and shake sinners
from their wicked ways
-May God shake us from our complacent state.
Scripture: Rev 2:4, But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Scripture: Ephesians 5:15 – 17, So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those
who are wise. 16Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17Don’t act
thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18Don’t be drunk with wine,
because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit….
3. Pray that the appetite of spiritual things increase, pray for yourself first and then the
churches.
-Pray that the church wake up from sleep and begin to function effectively as salt and
light in these last days.

Scripture: Ephesians 5:13-15, But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light
shines on them, 14for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O
sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
 Isa 64:7 And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of
You….

4. Pray for ourselves, that in these last days none of us shall be deceived or fall away.
Revival in the end times will protect you from the mass deception already taking place.
It is revival that will drive away mass deception. When people of God take up their
position.

Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:1But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall
away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons

5. Pray that the Spirit of God anoint you and I with revival fire and use you to spread that
fire. May we become anointed revival carriers in these end times. That we become
firelighters, fanning the fames of revival in our families, work, schools, and our spheres
of contact.

-Pray that our revival services produce the greatest moves of God we have ever
experienced in our church’s history.

Scripture: Matt 3:11 - …He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

Isaiah 64:1 – 2 - Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the
mountains would tremble before you! 2As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water
to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to
quake before you!