Revival (Part 2): Dying to Self
Alright, well we’re there in the book of Hosea. Hosea chapter number 14. And if you remember last week, we began a series on the subject of revival. Today we are continuing this idea of revival. And as we study revival over the next several weeks, we’re going to be doing two things. We’re looking at the great passages about revival in the Bible. And then we’re also going to be looking at the great revivals in the Bible. We’re going to look at the actual revivals that took place in the Word of God. And the reason for that is because I believe that this transition back into a regular schedule, having the entire church family together, I want this to be the revival of Verity Baptist Church. I want this to be a time of renewal for all of us in our walk with the Lord and of course in our ability to know God. And like we talked about last week, to make him known.
And before us this morning, here in the book of Hosea, we have again one of those great passages on revival. Now the entire chapter basically is about revival. Verses 1 through 6 have an outline. A seven-step outline on revival. And I’m not going to go through that this morning. I am going to go through that at some point in this series later on in the series. But for this morning, what I’d like you to notice is just down in verse number 7 where the Bible says this “7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return;”
Now I want you to notice these words. “they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.” The entire passage has been about revival and we’ll break that down in another sermon. He talks about returning to God and repenting and rejoicing and being renewed through God. And all of those things. But here in verse 7, he talks about “they shall revive as the corn”. And we actually in this verse see the prerequisite for revival which is why I wanted to begin here. Even though last week we looked at revival we kind of had an overview of revival, I wanted to begin as we study this idea of revival. Because the next several weeks we’re going to learn how can you experience revival in your life. How can we experience revival in our lives?
And what we’re going to learn this morning is where it must begin. And it begins with this idea in Hosea 14 “they shall revive as the corn”. He is giving us giving us an idea of a prerequisite for revival. Go to John chapter 12. When the Bible says there “they shall revive as the corn”, there is a hint there as to something that is needed. Something that is required for revival. And I want you to notice that in John 12, Jesus kind of explains this and lets us know what the prerequisite is. Notice John chapter 12 and verse 24. John 12:24, Jesus is speaking, the Bible says “24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn” You see the word corn there. Just like in Hosea 14:7. It said “they shall revive as the corn”. He says “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground”. And I want you to notice these next 2 words, “and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”.
And I want you to notice this morning, when it comes to revival, if you’re going to experience revival, if I’m going to experience rival, and if enough of us are going to experience revival in this church, to be able to have our church experiencing revival, there is a prerequisite. And the prerequisite of dying to self for revival. There is a prerequisite of death before the corn can be revived. Hosea 14:7 “they shall revive as the corn”. The corn must fall into the ground and die. John 12:24. Now usually when we think of revival, we think of the need for revival because of the fact that something died. Something cannot be revived unless it is first dead, right. That’s why revival cannot apply to a new believer.
When a new believer gets saved, they’re not being revived, they’re being vived. They’re being given life. They’re being quickened by the Holy Spirit of God. Revival can only happen once something dies. Revival can only happen; it can only take place when something first dies. And usually we think, “Well, revival is needed or reviving is needed when there is a spiritual death”. Right, like a coldness in your spiritual life. A stillness in the church. Go to me the book of Romans. While you turn there, let me just explain this. Sometimes revival is needed because something died. Because something died spiritually.
Revelation three – you don’t have to turn there. Jesus said to the church in Sardis “Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. For I have not found thy works perfect before God.” Of course, a church can come to the place where it is ready to die – ready to die spiritually. And honestly, you just need to look around to be able to see that. You will see many churches…. They are telling us during this COVID 19 pandemic or whatever it is that many churches are not going to reopen. And the reason they’re not going to reopen even once they are able to reopen is because of the fact that they were already ready to die. They were already on their way out and this was just kind of the last blow that took them out of the race. There are churches all over this state, all over the city, all over this country where you find beautiful manicured buildings that will fit hundreds of people. 200 people. 300 people. 400 people. And you’ll see a crowd there of eight people. Nine people. Usually very elderly people. This is a very common scene throughout the country. You say why is that? Because a church is an organism that is alive.
But it can die, if it doesn’t revive. If there is no revival, it can die. And Jesus looks at the church in Sardis and he said “Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die”. But not only that, there are some churches that are filled with people that are dead. Because in Revelation 3, we learned that Jesus said that he would take the candlestick from a church. He would take a candlestick. It might still be filled with people but it’s not spiritually alive. So, we know that revival may be needed when something is dying spiritually. Maybe individually.
James 2:17, you don’t have to turn there but the Bible says this “even so faith if it hath not works is dead being alone”. Your spiritual life might die if you’re not working. And again, we realize that works, they are not needed for salvation. But when we talk about revival, we’re not talking about salvation. We’re talking about a spiritual awakening in your heart. And your spiritual life might grow stale, your spiritual life might grow weak, and it might grow dead, but there is another death that is also required. And this is not when something just happens to die. This is when something chooses to die in the Christian life. There is this concept that I want to show you here in the Bible. That we as Christians actually have to make the choice to die.
And I want to ask you this question, and of course I don’t want you to answer it aloud, but I want you to answer this question “When did you die? When did you die?”. Are you there in Romans six? Look down at verse number 11. Notice what the Apostle Paul says here under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Romans 6:11 “Likewise reckon”. You see that word reckon? That’s an older word that’s used commonly in the south. You’ll hear a lot of southern people say “I reckon”. But the word reckon means to come to the conclusion. To come to the opinion of. The day of reckoning is often referred to as a day of judgment when God will come to the conclusion of what needs to be done and what needs to be judged. Here Paul says, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead”
Here the Apostle is looking at believers and he says you know what you need to do is come to the conclusion. You need to come to the conclusion. You need to come to the opinion of. You need to come to the belief that you are dead. Here the Apostle Paul says “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,”. Now we’re not talking about a physical death. We’re not a cult here, right. We’re not talking about physically putting anybody to death. But he says you got to reckon yourself dead indeed unto sin. But notice he says “but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Go to Romans chapter number 12. Just flip a few pages over to Romans chapter 12. Romans 12 is a very famous passage. Romans 12:1 the Bible says “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,”. The Bible says that God wants us to present ourselves as a sacrifice. You say God wants us to kill ourselves? No, a living sacrifice. Present yourselves a living sacrifice, “holy, acceptable unto God,” I love these words “which is your reasonable service.”
You say, “Pastor, we’re going to get back to Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, Wednesday Night, Soulwinning. Then you want us to volunteer and work and you’re going to ask us to show up early to usher. And come in on our off days to clean the building. And you’re going to ask us to stay late and count the money. And you’re going to ask us to come and practice instruments and be in the orchestra. I remember how it was before this. Tt was pretty busy around here. Sunday morning and then come back to church on Sunday night and then come back to church on Wednesday night. And then spend my Saturday mornings out soul-winning or Sunday afternoons out soul-winning or Thursday afternoons. And then you want us serving and then you want us to read the Bible every day. And praying every day. I don’t know it seems like a little much. I kind of like this corona virus time. I was able to get backslidden and it was no one’s fault.”
But listen, the Bible says that as Christians we ought to present our bodies a living sacrifice. A sacrifice is something that is wholly given to God. None of it belongs to us. We say, God I’m giving you everything. I’m giving you my body. I’m giving you my soul. I’m giving you my might, my strength. I’m giving all of it to you. And you say, “I don’t know. It sounds a little extreme.”. You know it’s funny because God says it’s your reasonable service. God says the fact that he sent his Son to die on the cross for your sins, the fact that you were condemned to hell and you deserve hell and he forgave you; it is reasonable to give your life to Him. And he says you as a Christian, and myself as a Christian, and this church as Christians, we sometimes need revival because we’ve died spiritually. And of course, the need is there but I’m not looking at a church today that is dead spiritually. I’m looking at a church today that is excited to get back to church. It is exciting to get back to the things of God. But let me tell you something, Verity Baptist Church still needs to die in order to experience revival. We need to reckon ourselves dead. We need to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.
Go to Galatians chapter 2. Notice what the Apostle Paul says in verse number 20. Galatians 2:20 “20 I am crucified with Christ:” Again, not literally. Well notice this “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”. We’re going to come back to that in a second but I just want you to understand that in the Bible, there is this concept of dying to self. Dying to sin. Dying to the world. He says I am crucified with Christ.
So, here’s the question. When did you die? When have you died to self? When have you died to sin? When have you died to the world? Go to Colossians chapter 3. Notice verse number 5. The Bible says this, “5 Mortify” What does that mean? It means to subdue it. It means to put to death. You’re heard of a mortician ER. Someone who deals with dead bodies. He says “Therefore your members”. What are your members? Your body parts. He says “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:”.
He says look, there is a prerequisite. You say “Pastor, I like this idea of revival and I’d like to experience revival.”. But please understand this, you cannot experience revival until you have first died. You must reckon yourself dead unto sin, dead unto the world, dead unto yourself. See there is a prerequisite for revival and it is death. Hosea said that they shall revive as the corn. And Jesus said that the corn must fall to the earth and die. You cannot experience revival until there is first this death. Now there may be spiritual death. There may be a church that dies. There may be a Christian that dies spiritually. But if you will experience revival and if I will experience revival, we must first die. We must choose to die.
We talked about the prerequisite of dying to self. Let’s talk about the practice of dying to self. What does that look like? What does it look like? “Ok pastor, I want revival. I need to die. I need to die to self. I need to offer myself a sacrifice unto God. I need to mortify my members. I need to reckon myself dead unto sin. I can do that. But what does that look? What does that mean?”.
Well I want you to notice the practice of dying to self. See dying to self is something that has to happen every day. In fact, we’re going to look at that here in a minute. But I want you to notice what it means or what it looks like to die to self. Mark chapter 8 verse 34. The Bible says this “34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me,”. He says anybody who wants to be my follower. Anybody that wants to come after me. Notice what he says. “let him deny himself,”. That means to refrain from satisfying. It means to not allow yourself to do something. You want to do something but you deny yourself. “let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” What’s the cross the cross? It is an instrument of death. The cross would be a tool that they would use to put something to death.
He says look I’m going to die on the cross for your sin. But if you want to be a follower of me, you’re going to have to take up your cross. And I’m not against people using this terminology. Oftentimes we think about someone carrying their cross as some burden they have to carry. They have some sickness. And that’s the cross they have to carry. Or they have a problem in their marriage. Maybe they’re married to an unbeliever and that’s the cross they have to carry. And I understand that terminology and I’m not necessarily against that terminology. But that is not what Jesus said when he said take up your cross. What he said when he said take up your cross, he said you take up your cross and put yourself on it. Which is why Paul said I am crucified with Christ.
You say well what does that look like? It looks like this, you deny yourself. When there’s something you want, you deny yourself and say well wait a minute, I’m dead. When there’s a will you have, there’s a desire you want, you say well I’m dead. I’ve reckoned myself dead. I’ve mortified my members. And I can deny myself. I put myself on that cross.
Go back to Colossians. Colossians 3:1. Notice what Paul says “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” What does he say? He said I want you to seek the things that are of God. I want you to seek the things that are spiritual. Notice verse 2 “2 Set your affection” What is affection? It’s a feeling of fondness. It’s that fact that you like something. You love something. He says “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” See the practice of dying to self…. You say how could I die to self? It begins with limiting yourself. It begins with limiting yourself and denying yourself of the things that you may want.
Go to Galatians. You know the problem with you and the problem with me that I have is this, when we get ourselves into trouble, we give in to our desires. And you know we get so good at Christianity. We even sometimes spiritualize the things we want. Did you know that religion can be done in the flesh? The acts of religion, it can be done for a motive that is selfish. Like to be seen of men. Sometimes we spiritualize things. If you were honest with yourself, it’s just because of you. Because of your own motivations. It’s cause of your own envies. It’s because you want to prove something. And you got to defend yourself.
You know a dead person doesn’t get offended. I mean go down to the cemetery today. If I find a dead person and just start yelling at them “You stinking filthy blankety-blank let me tell you something. You’re this and you’re that. Your mom’s ugly.”. You’ll get no reaction from a dead person. They will just lay there. Try it the other way. Try flattering them. “You’re the greatest ever. You are so amazing. Let me give you a gift.”. You can’t manipulate them. You can’t get a response from them. They’re dead. And God says that’s how you and I need to live our Christian life. So, all the world’s trying to get a response from me. Hey, I’m crucified with Christ. I’m dead. “I’m getting offended here”. Dead people don’t get offended. “I’m getting lifted up with pride here”. Dead people don’t get lifted up with pride. “I’m being influenced by the emotions that I have in my heart”. No, the problem is this, you’re too alive. Jesus says if you’re going to follow me, if you’re going to be a follower of Christ, you must deny yourself. You must take up your cross. There’s a question I have for you. When did you die or have you died?
Look at Galatians 6 in verse 14. The Bible says this “14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross” An instrument of death. “of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Notice. “by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” See in order for a revival to happen, there is a prerequisite of dying to self. And the practice of dying to self looks like this, you limit yourself. You deny yourself. You put yourself in a cross and you say I’m dead. The affections and lusts of this world cannot entice me. You limit yourself.
There’s a second thing. In order to practice dying to self, not only must you limit yourself (You deny yourself. You say here’s what my flesh wants. Here’s what my pride wants. Here’s what my Envy wants. Here’s what my emotions want. Here’s what I want to do but I’m done). You must limit yourself. There’s a second thing though, you must lose yourself. You must lose yourself. Mark chapter 8:35. Notice what Jesus said, “35 For whosoever will save his life” I want you to understand the terminology when he says save his life. He’s talking about someone who wants to save their life for themselves. Someone who wants to live for self. Live for themselves. Live for the gratification of self. The uplifting of self. The making self-feel good. He says when you live for yourself, you will waste your life. Because the fullness of life, the impact of life, the influence of life, is measured by how much we live for others. And when you live for self, at the end, all you have is yourself.
“but whosoever shall lose” What does that mean? Whosoever will waste his life. Notice “his life for my sake and the gospel’s,”. You know what the world wants to tell you, “You go to church too much. Sunday morning. Sunday night. Wednesday night. I mean the door-knocking thing and then you give money to the church and then you are wasting your life”. Here’s what Jesus said “35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”
I’m saying if you take two individuals who live for self. They do everything they want to do. They’re hiking every weekend. They’re on the lake every weekend. They’ve got every toy you can imagine. They’re succeeding financially. Everything’s great. Everything’s wonderful. They live for themselves. They never invest in anyone else. You take somebody else who gives their life to God. Who loses their life? Jesus would say for my sake and the gospel. Who spends time every week out soul-winning trying to see people saved? Who volunteers and gives of themself and invest their lives? You take those two individuals who live for themselves and go to their funerals, it’ll become extremely clear which one wasted their life and which one did not. Even though the world would say you’re wasting your life…Jesus says, the way to make an impact, the way to have an influence, the way to experience revival, he says there’s a prerequisite. You must first die. What does that look like? Well, it looks like limiting and it looks like losing self. And by the way, this is a daily occurrence.
Someone said there’s only two options on the shelf – to live for Christ or to live for self. And you and I need to make that decision. And this is not just a one-time decision. This is a decision that must be made every day. Luke 9:23, a parallel passage says this “23 And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross” Notice this word. “daily, and follow me.”.
Go to 1st Corinthians chapter 15. So, you’ll remember Paul said “I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me”. This is what Paul also said 1 Corinthians 15:31 “31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”. Please understand this, Verity Baptist Church, if we will experience revival…How can we as a church experience revival? There’s only one way. It is something that happens personally in your heart. It is an awakening. It is an energizing of your spiritual walk with God. You say well how can we do that together? Well we can do it together if enough of us, all at the same time,….and the prerequisite is dying to self. You say what does that look like? Here’s what that looks, you wake up every day and you say “Today I am dead. I reckon myself dead. I mortify my members. I declare myself dead. I put myself on the cross. I am dead to self. I am dead to the world.”. He said, “I am crucified to the world”. Paul would say, and the world is crucified to me.
So, we see the prerequisite of dying to self. We see the practice of dying. So, what does it look like? It looks limiting and it looks like losing. And saying I have crucified my affections and lusts. The things I want to do, I’m not going to do. Listen to me, just understand this, this morning if you’re offended. You say “I’m offended. I can’t believe sister so-and-so, I can’t believe brother so-and-so, I can’t believe they would say…”. Look maybe they shouldn’t have said that. I’m not defending them. But I’m just saying this, if you are offended today, you are upset today, you are bitter today, you are angry today, you are envious today, you are jealous tonight, whatever that emotion is, if you’re experiencing that, it tells you that you’re not dead. The problem is this, you’re not dead. Because a dead person doesn’t get offended. A dead person doesn’t have to defend themselves. Paul said “I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me”.
So, let’s look at the purpose of dying to self. We saw the prerequisite of dying to self. Then the practice of dying to self like. I’d like you to notice the purpose of dying to self. Go back to Galatians chapter 2. If you would say, why would I want to die to self? What’s the point? Why would I want to die to self? Well there’s two reasons. You should want to die yourself to be a follower of Christ. Remember Jesus said whosoever shall come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. See not only is there a prerequisite of death. Being the disciple of Jesus Christ has a prerequisite of you saying I will die to say to self.
See the purpose of dying to self is to be a follower. What does that mean? Here’s what it means. It means that the life of Christ is lived out through me. Look at it again. Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ”. You’re dead Paul. Yep I’m dead. I’ve reckoned myself dead. I’ve mortified my members. But notice he says, “nevertheless I live”. He said I wake up every day. He said I die every day. But notice what he says. Don’t miss this. “Nevertheless I live” But then he says this “yet not i but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me”. Imagine how it would transform your life if you took off the little wristband that said what would Jesus do and you actually start living your life in such a way as to what Jesus would do. Here’s how it looks, you die. You get out of the way and then you let Christ live through you. You say why do I have to die? Because you’re in the way. Why do I have to die? Because Jesus wants to live through you. Because he wants to live his life through you.
I was reading a book recently and they gave an illustration of a farmer back in the 1700s or 1600s. He got a hold of this verse where it says “whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God “. And he understood that phrase. And I would agree with him to do everything to the glory of God. Do everything to glorify God. Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. He said everything I need to do; I need to glorify God. Meaning that when I do these things, others would think of God in a better way as a result. And he sat down to have breakfast and he thought on this idea whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. His wife noticed that he didn’t eat as fast as he used to. And he didn’t complain about the coffee. And he actually took time and prayed. And he went to work. And in jobs that he would have just normally said “It’s good enough.”. When he was asked to do a favor, to fix a tool for another farmer or something, he would have maybe just done it quickly and handed it off. He thought to himself “whether he eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God”. To glorify God, he took his time.
And here’s what I’m telling you, the Bible says that we ought to “Let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.”. You say why does that not happen usually? It doesn’t happen for one reason, you’re in the way. I’m in the way. We’re not dead. 2nd Corinthians 5:15, notice what he says “15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth” What does henceforth mean? It means from this point forward. “should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”. You say I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I want to be a follower of Jesus Christ. I want to experience revival in my life. Then you have to stop living. You have to die that he might live through you.
2 Corinthians 4:10 “10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,”. Notice what he says “that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”. How would it change your marriage? How would it change your parenting? How would it change your work? How would it change your life, your relationship with your neighbors, and those around you…? if people would say that guy died one day. She used to be a certain way. She used to be ornery and critical. He used to be a thief and a cheater and a liar.
They used to live certain ways but they died. And now all I can explain is this, that Jesus is living through them. See there’s a prerequisite for revival and it’s that. That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our bodies. Verse 11. “11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake,”. We die daily. We wake up every day and say I am crucified with Christ. I die daily. I reckon my body dead. I mortify my members “that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”. You say what is the purpose of dying to self? TO be a follower of Jesus. We are called to let him reproduce his life in us and through us. Go back to Hosea.
We’re going to go to Hosea and John if you want to find those 2 books. Someone said this, buried with Christ and raised with him too, what is there left for me to do. Simply to cease from struggling and strife, simply to walk in newness of life. Hey Pastor, why are you preaching this sermon? Because I want Verity Baptist Church to experience revival. I want to experience revival. I want you to experience revival. But we’ll never get there. Before we can even start talking about the great revivals, before we can start looking at the great revivals and the characteristics of revival, we will never get there unless we realize that there is a prerequisite for revival. Because nothing can be revived until it is first dead. And you’ve got to reckon yourself and I have to reckon myself. We have to choose to die daily.
So again, I ask the question, when did you die? Have you died? You say, why would I want to? To be a follower. There’s a 2nd reason. Why would I want to die? To be fruitful. You must to die to self to be a follower of Jesus Christ and you must die to self to be a fruitful disciple. Hosea 14:7 “7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine:” See when corn falls to the earth and dies, then it can grow. Then it can become fruitful. Then you can become fruitful.
John 12:24 “24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:”. You say Pastor, I’ve been soulwinning and never seen someone saved. Well, maybe the problem is that you’re not dead. “24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:”. You say, “I’ve seen people saved but I’ve never had somebody come to church and get baptized. I’ve never experienced that.”. I’m not trying to beat you up. I’m just telling you, I’m just explaining something to you, “except a corn of wheat falls to the ground and die, it abideth alone”. Unless you die in your Christian life, there will be no growth. There will be no fruit. There will be an abiding alone. Now look, if all you have is salvation then praise the Lord. Go to heaven. But if you want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, you must be a follower and you must have fruit. “24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. “
Go to John chapter 15. John 15:5 “5 I am the vine, ye are the branches:” This is Jesus speaking. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” Look at verse 8 “8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”. If you’re not bringing forth much fruit, maybe you’re not dead. I didn’t say you need fruit to be saved. You don’t need anything. Just believe on what Jesus Christ did. But if you’re going to be a follower of Jesus Christ, you’re also going to be a fruitful disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus said follow me and I will make you a Fisher of men. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. But I want you to understand something, you cannot be a follower of Christ and not reproduce yourself. Not produce fruit. Not be a Fisher of men. If you become a follower, you will become fruitful.
So, we begin with the process of revival. And unfortunately, this is where some of you will get off. On the process of revival. Because dying to self is too much to ask. Dying to self, it’s too tall of an order. But if you die you can bring forth much fruit. If you die, you will become fruitful and you will experience revival. We must die or remain unfruitful. Those are the options. When we talk about revival, we learned last week what it is. What is revival? And we brought it down into this week. Put it into this statement – “Revival is to know God and to make God known”. Revival is to come to the place in your Christian life where you know God in a deep way. Where you know God like you haven’t known him before. And where we corporately make God known. You say that sounds good. I like that.
Here’s the problem. The first step is you got to die. Nothing can be revived till it first dies. Hosea 14:7 says they shall revive as the corn. And then Jesus says except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone. But if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Let’s pray.