Alright, well we’re there in Hosea chapter number 14. And like we’ve announced this morning, we are concluding our series on revival. And we’ve been looking over the last eight weeks at the subject of revival. We’ve been looking at the great passages in the Bible about revival and we’ve been looking at the great revivals in the Bible. And tonight, we’re going to finish up. If you remember, when we started this series, we started by defining revival. We talked about the fact that revival is when we know God and then when we make God known. And you will experience revival in your life and this church will experience revival when we corporately know God and endeavor to make God known. And then we’ve been talking about how do we do that? We talked about revival and dying to self, and revival through the house of God, revival through the Word of God, revival through prayer, revival through soul-winning.
And this morning I want to end this sermon with a sermon on just steps for revival. And here in Hosea chapter 14, you’ll find that the Prophet gives us the steps for revival. And I would encourage you to write these down as we walk through this chapter this morning. And on the back of your chorus of the week, there’s a place for you to write some things down. I want you to understand that these steps for revival really build on each other. They’re like a domino effect. As you begin one, one will topple the other. And it will lead towards revival. But you cannot remove any one of these. You need to have all of these in order to have revival. I want to give you these eight steps. We’ll do it as quickly as we can this morning. You’re there in Hosea 14 and notice verse number one. Notice what Hosea says “O israel,” I want you to notice this word “return”. He says “return unto the Lord thy God;”. And this is really where revival begins. And in fact, if you’re taking notes, I would ask you to write this down.
Number one or step number one is this, for revival, first we begin with repentance. If we are going to experience revival, if you’re going to experience revival in your life, you’re going to have to experience repentance. And again, I’m not preaching to unbelievers this morning. I’m preaching to people that are saved. And you understand and I realize that from time to time we might have unsaved people in church. But I’m preaching to a church of believers. And when we talk about repentance here, we’re talking about turning back to the Lord. That’s what we mean. When we talk about getting right with the Lord, and this is what Hosea is saying to the nation of Israel, he says “O israel, return unto the Lord thy God;”. Now why do they need to return? Here’s why. “for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.”. See, they had spiritual failure. They had fallen by their iniquity. They had fallen out of the way. They had fallen out of the walking steps that they had with God. And here Hosea is pleading with them that they would repent and that they would return.
Notice verse number 2 “2 Take with you words,” Notice what he says “and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.”. And I want you to see this in Hosea chapter 14. We have the prophet here speaking to this nation and he’s ending the book of Hosea with this call to repent and to be revived. But he’s been dealing with the nation over this book. And I preached through the book of Hosea and I’m not going to go through the entire book today. But I want you to notice verse number 15 of Hosea chapter 5. Notice what he says. He says, “15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face:”. Notice he says “in their affliction they will seek me early.”. This is Hosea speaking as a mouthpiece of God. And this was the message that God is bringing to the nation of Israel. He says, I will go and return to my place, till they, he’s talking to the people of God, till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face. Notice this word “affliction they will seek me early.”. And I want you to understand that the Bible teaches this concept. Keep your place in Hosea. Go with me if you would to the book of first Corinthians chapter 5.
And here’s what I want you understand. Often God will bring a believer, God will bring chastisement, God will bring affliction, God will bring his punishment upon a believer. You say why? The purpose is this, sometimes we think “Oh God will punish me because of my sins.”. And it is as a result of your sin. And sin often has a result of punishment. The Bible says we reap what we sow. And we understand all that. But theologically speaking you need to understand this, God never punishes you for your sin if you’re saved. Your sins have been forgiven as far as the East is from the West. The Bible says they will not come into his mind. He will not remember them. You say well, why is it then that God will chastise us as believers? There’s always one purpose for the punishment of God in your life. And it is to turn you back to him. The purpose of chastisement, the purpose of affliction, the purpose of God bringing his punishment upon you is that he might get your attention and draw you back unto himself.
Are you there in 1st Corinthians 5? I want you to notice in verse 5. There’s a young man in the church at Corinth who has involved himself into some sins that can’t be ignored. They had to be dealt with. And of course, we’re not going to study this all out. And they practice church discipline upon this young man and the apostle Paul teaches the concept of church discipline here. But I want you to notice what he says in verse number 5. And this might shock some of you if you’ve not read the Bible. If that’s the case, then what you know about the Bible is what you’ve heard from mainstream Christianity. But I want you to notice what Paul says about this young man who’s a saved young man in this church. 1st Corinthians 5:5 “5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”.
Now when he talks about the Spirit being saved here, he’s not talking about salvation like you and I would consider salvation, like going to heaven. He’s talking about the fact that he’s actually praying. Paul is talking about the fact that he has taken this young man and he has prayed that God would deliver him to Satan, that Satan would have his way with this young man. You say why? Because Satan, the Bible says “The thief has come to steal and to kill and to destroy”. And here Paul says I’m actually praying that God will allow Satan to destroy this young man’s life. Why? That his flesh might be destroyed but that his spirit, that spiritually he would return back to God. He said “5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”. And that’s not the only place that the Apostle Paul says this. You don’t have to turn there but in 1st Timothy he talks about Hymenaeus. He says “Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.”
The Apostle Paul actually would pray for individuals. He would look at individuals. He says God, will you destroy the life of this person that they might get right with you, that they might turn back to you or that they might, if they are reprobates, that they might learn not to blaspheme. Now I want you to notice that there is a work that God does in the life of a believer. The believer who’s not right with him, who’s living in sin. Where he works on their behalf to destroy their lives. He works on their behalf to bring affliction. You say why would God do that? Well, he said in Hosea 5:15 “…till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.”. God says, I’m going to afflict you. Why? For the purpose of motivating you to get right with God.
Psalm 119:67 “67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.”. Look, look please understand this, if you are saved, when you live your life in sin contrary to the will of God, the Bible says that God will bring affliction. He will bring destruction upon your life. You say why? Because God hates you? No. Because he loves you and he wants to turn you back. In fact, the Apostle Paul would pray. And I don’t know if I should even say this. I would imagine that some of you are not even mature enough maybe to understand this or to hear this. But I’m just going to say it anyway. You know, I’ve taken a lesson from the Apostle. I actually have a prayer list, a weekly prayer list where I pray for and my wife has a prayer list where we try to pray through it every week. But then I also have a daily prayer list of things that I want to pray for every day. And of course, my family is on that list but then there are other things, that are more urgent things, that I feel like God needs to hear every day. Or things that I want to talk about to God every day. You know, on that prayer list, I have a list of names of people who I’m praying that the Lord would deliver this life unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved. “Well I’m asking Lord, if you would allow me to, I’m delivering this individual, I’m delivering these people unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme”.
And you say, I don’t think you should pray that Pastor. I don’t think that’s something that we should be talking about. Hey, that’s what the Bible says. And you say, well that’s cruel and that’s mean. Listen to me, the first step in revival is repentance. And often times God has to get our attention to turn us back to him. The Psalmist said “Before I was afflicted, I went astray.”. And that’s the story that many of you have. There’s a story that many of us have. I’ve not always just walked with God. God had to get my attention. He said “Before I was afflicted, I went astray. But after I was afflicted, he says now have I kept thy word”.
Now you say, “I don’t know Pastor. I mean you seem a little too serious about this. You’re actually praying that Satan would destroy certain individuals. I mean it’s Sunday morning. I just want to talk about the love of God. It’s supposed to be happy-go-lucky”. Somebody needs to wake up and to realize that this is a serious thing that we’re dealing with. This is not a game. You are dealing with God Almighty. God is interested in you. He’s interested in your life. He created you. He gave his Son for you. And he expects you to know him and to make him known. And you say well, I’m going to go astray. You go ahead buddy. But realize that God’s going to bring his affliction to turn us back to God.
Psalm 85, the Psalmist said this “4 Turn us, O God of our salvation,”. Don’t miss it. “and cause thine anger toward us to cease. 5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? 6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?”. You go ahead and fool around with sin and you don’t take this seriously. And you just go ahead and laugh and cut up while I’m preaching and act like there’s no big deal. But you remember this, when God gets ahold of you, when God decides to come down hard on you, when the affliction of God comes upon your life, remember that all God wants from you is “O israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2 Take with you words, and turn to the Lord:”. Keep your place there in Psalms but go to Isaiah 14.
You say what are the steps to revival? Well, the first step is repentance. And by the way, let me just say this, this is why most people will never experience revival. Because the first step is too hard. When God brings down his judgment upon you, when God brings down his affliction upon you, when God brings down his punishment upon you. You say “God, what do you want from me?”. He wants you to turn, wants you to return. Revival must begin, revival must begin with the repentance. Let me give you the second step. Repentance is just the first step. Repentance is just the first step.
Step number 2, repentance should lead to getting right with God. It should lead. I say it that way for a reason. Because oftentimes people experience repentance but there’s no actual getting right with God. Repentance should actually lead to you getting right with the Lord. Hosea 14, notice verse 2. Notice what he says. “2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD:”. Notice these words “say unto him,”. This is the children of Israel that Hosea is pleading with to return to the Lord. He’s telling them, I want you to say this to God. “Take away all iniquity,”. Revival begins in your heart and in your life. When you decide that you’ve had enough of the punishment of God, enough of the affliction of God, enough of God trying to get your attention. Please get this, when bad things happen in your life, that doesn’t necessarily mean that God is upset with you or that God is punishing you.
After the Red Hot Preaching Conference, we’re going to begin a new book of the Bible, a new study on Wednesday nights. We’re going to study the book of Job. And in the book of Job, we’re going to learn that when things bad things happen in your life, it doesn’t always mean that God is upset with you. But listen to me, when bad things happen in your life, you better make sure to stop and ask yourself “Search me O God and know my heart. God, is there something you’re trying to get ahold of in my life? Is there something you’re trying to teach me? Is there something that you’re trying to get my attention about?”. Because it may be that God wants you to repent. Again, with repentance, repentance should lead to getting right. There is no repentance if there is not a prayer that says “ Take away all iniquity”.
Go back to Psalm 51. If you’re familiar with the Book of Psalms, you know Psalm 51 is that famous Psalm where David, who committed adultery, who killed Uriah the Hittite to cover up his sin, has now had Nathan the prophet put his finger in his face and say “Thou art the man”. And David is getting right with the Lord here and he writes Psalm 51 as a confession of his sin. And I want you to notice the characteristics of confession. You know God comes down hard and then you say, okay I want to repent. But the problem is that we never really do it correctly. Because see, repentance requires you getting right with God. And you getting right with God requires confession. What I’ve learned over the last 10 years of ministry is this, that confession does not come naturally to any of us. In fact, oftentimes confession has to be coached and taught because we just by nature refuse almost subconsciously to confess properly, to ask forgiveness properly.
You say what is a proper confession? They’re really two characteristics to confession. This is when we confess our sins either to God or to man. We should never minimize it or make excuses for it. Have you ever had somebody apologize to you, and all they’re really doing is minimizing, making excuses for it? “I’m sorry but you know the thing is that if they wouldn’t have”. And “You know it’s not as bad as so-and-so”. And that’s not an apology. That’s not a confession. Here God documents a confession of a man who’s honestly getting himself right with God, who’s honestly returning back to the Lord. Psalm 51 and verse 1. Notice what David says “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies”. Does he say “blot out my mistakes?”. Or “blot out my sickness or addictions”. No, he says “blot out my transgressions.”. I’m just saying, just call it what it is, sin. I’ll just call it what it is. Transgression. Here David says, blot out my transgressions. Notice, there’s no minimizing here. “2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions:”. You don’t say, “I messed up God”. He didn’t say “I made a mistake God.”. He didn’t say “Well you know God, I couldn’t really help myself. If she wouldn’t been up there bathing herself. It’s not really my fault”. No, there’s no minimizing of sin here. He says “3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”.
Notice, a proper confession has no minimizing of our sin. But I want you to notice a proper confession has no making excuses for our sin. If you notice these words at the end of verse 1, he says, “my transgressions”. In verse 2 he says “mine iniquity”. He says “cleanse me from my sin”. And verse 3 says “I acknowledge my transgressions”. He says “my sin”. And verse 4 he says “have I sinned”. See, true repentance, see some of you are like, “Forget revival. If this is what revival takes then I’m not interested”. Yeah, you’ll never experience revival because this is what revival takes, you repenting and turning back to God. Turning back to God and repenting means a legitimate confession of your sin. You say, “God, I’m not going to minimize my sin. I’m not going to make excuses for my sin. I have sinned against you God.”. We should not make excuses for our sin.
Please understand this. And you know this God is a loving God. 1st John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”. Revival requires repentance and repentance requires getting right with God, coming to God and confessing your sin. And at times when we sin against others, coming to others and confessing our sins. And that means we don’t make excuses. That means we don’t minimize it. That means we don’t sit there and downplay and say “Well it’s not that bad and really it was because of this”. No, you just say I have sinned. It was me. I want to get right with God.
Step number three. Go back to Isaiah chapter 14 if you would. Step one, first we begin with repentance. Step two, repentance leads to getting right. Step three, getting right leads to reestablishing a relationship. The truth is this, you cannot have a proper relationship with God while living in sin. Hosea 14:2 “2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity,”. And here’s what he says. “and receive us graciously:” He says receive us. Here, the children of Israel, as they are taking the advice of Hosea and attempting to get right with God, they said God, take away all iniquity. Make us righteous. But then you reestablish your relationship. Would you receive us? Will you receive us graciously? Go to 1st John in the New Testament.
All these steps are needed. You need to repent. You need to acknowledge your sin. And look, you say well how do I know? Look, if while I’m preaching the Holy Spirit’s bringing things to your mind that God wants you to deal with, those things, if it’s specific sin, maybe it’s you’ve not been faithful to God or haven’t been faithful to your relationship with God or whatever. It might be something specifically that God is bringing to your mind. Hey, God wants you to deal with that. You know the biggest mistake that we make, people have a tendency to make excuses and minimize their sin.
The biggest mistake that we make is that sometimes we will make excuses and minimize the sins of others. Oh, it’s no big deal at all. Look, don’t ever minimize somebody else’s sin if God’s dealing with them. If you’re not mature enough to help God then you better get out of God’s way. That’s why sometimes we tell parents, hey don’t bail them out. Let them fail. God’s dealing with your kid and God needs to put them through the wringer. You don’t step in to that thing. You move out of the way of God because God might end up swatting you in the process. You don’t bail them out. You let them fail. You let God deal with them. Like with the prodigal son, the father was there the entire time. He never came after his son. He waited and he came to the end of himself. Repentance leads to getting right. Getting right leads to a reestablished relationship.
1st John 1:6. “6 If we say that we have fellowship with him,”. Please don’t miss this. “If we say that we have fellowship with him,”. You know it’s easy to say you have fellowship with God. You know it’s easy to make it look on Facebook like you’re having fellowship with God. You know it’s easy on a Sunday morning. You dress-up and show up to church and make it look like you’re having fellowship with God. But you know what, God says “6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”.
You know the Bible says that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil? You know, sit there and tell me you have fellowship with God while you’re walking in darkness. What does that mean? While you’re walking in a certain way. You say, “Well my parents don’t know about what I’m up to, my wife doesn’t know what I’m up to, my husband doesn’t know what I’m up to, my employer doesn’t know what I’m up”. Listen to me, if you’re walking in darkness, you’re not living in fellowship with God. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. See, getting right with God, the Bible says that our sins have separated us from God. Getting right with God actually allows for a reestablishment of relationship with God. But you can’t get there, you can’t get there unless you’ve repented. And repentance should lead to getting right with God. And getting right with God should lead to confessing, not making excuses.
From time to time, my wife and I have to deal with situations, to step in into situations. Sometimes we have to talk to people about things. And whenever I talk to someone and have to kind of call them out on something and say “Hey this isn’t right. You can’t do this. Or there’s something that you should not be doing. Or this cannot be allowed to go on or whatever”. And they immediately just start making excuses. There’s nothing you can do. This person is not ready, they are not ready to get right with God. Because you cannot get right with God until you say “It is me oh God”.
Repentance leads to getting right. Getting right leads to reestablishing a relationship. And reestablishing a relationship leads to rejoicing in the heart. Look at Hosea 14:2. “2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously:”. Then he says “so will we render the calves of our lips.”. You say what does that refer to? Here’s what it’s referring to. Those calves are a sacrifice. He says we’re going to render a sacrifice of our lips. We’re going to rejoice. We’re going to offer sacrifices to God with our lips. Go back to Psalm 85:4. “4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. 5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?”. Notice verse 6 “6 Wilt thou not revive us again:”. Notice these words “that thy people may rejoice in thee?”.
Let me tell you something, let me explain something to you, you know why you’re so miserable in the Christian life? You know the Christian life was meant to be joyful? The joy of the Lord is our strength. But you watch Christians and they are just miserable. You watch young people’s life and they are just miserable. Let me tell you something, that’s sin in your heart. You can’t rejoice in the Lord when you’re not right with God. In fact, getting right with God leads to rejoicing which is why the psalmist says hey, “6 Wilt thou not revive us again:”. Why do you want to be revived again? “that thy people may rejoice in thee?”. Because you cannot rejoice in the Lord. Look, the Bible says the wicked flee when no man pursueth. What does that mean? It’s like about a guilty conscience. Fleeing when no man is pursuing, nobody even chasing you. Nobody asking you questions. Nobody even doing anything. And you’re all suspicious. That is called a guilty conscience. The wicked flee when no man pursueth. Don’t miss this “but the righteous are bold as lion”.
See, you cannot rejoice in the Lord without getting right with the Lord. You cannot get get right with the Lord without confessing, and not making excuses and not minimizing. But you can’t do that until you’ve repented. Look, this is all a step by step process. You want to have revival? We need to repent. You need to get right. That’ll lead to relationship and relationship will lead to rejoicing. And please understand this, there is nothing better than a clear conscience with God. And man, there is nothing better than laying your head down on your pillow at night and saying “I am right with the Lord”. You can rejoice in God. And it is rejoicing that leads to restoration.
Notice Hosea 14:3. “3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.”. It talked about the fact that the children of Israel, some of their sins were the fact that they were worshipping other gods and worshipping idols. Notice verse 4 “4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.”. That’s not good. I don’t know about you but that’s not what I wanted in my life. I want God to look down at me, to look down at my family, to look down at Verity Baptist Church and say “4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.”. See, we like the restoration but please keep in mind, that to get to the restoration, there must be repentance. There must be getting right. There must be a reestablishing of the relationship. There must be joy. That leads you to restoration. I will hear their backsliding.
Go back to 2nd Corinthians. The Apostle Paul wrote about a young man that needed to be disciplined, church discipline. He talked about the fact that he would deliver his soul unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved. And look, some of you, the prayer you need to start having for your husband is “Lord, do what you got to do to get him right.”. Some of you, the prayer you need to start having for your wife is “Lord, do what you got to do to get her right.”. I mean the prayer for your kids or grandchildren that have gone wayward is “Lord, I love them. But I’m going to deliver them unto Satan that they would get right with you.”. Or “Do what you got to do”. Some of you might stop asking me to pray for your family to get saved if you hear me pray on Wednesday. God wants everybody saved. He’s not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. You hear me pray for somebody and you know what you hear me say? “Do what you got to do in their life. Move circumstances around in their life. Do whatever you got to do.”.
Here’s how God interprets that; the Holy Spirit interprets that. Car accident. Bankruptcy. Lose their job. Lose their health. “Do what you got to do to get them right with you. To get them to the place where they’ll hear the gospel and they will get saved.”. You say, that seems a little too serious. Then Christianity is just a little too serious for you. Rejoicing leads to restoration and God wants to restore. Here in 1st Corinthians we have this young man to deliver his soul unto Satan. But notice in 2nd Corinthians, the young man has gotten right with God. 2 Corinthians 2:6 “6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.”. Don’t try to shield them from the affliction that God brings in their life. “7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”. See, the purpose is restoration.
You know that the purpose of church discipline is restoration when possible. Obviously, we’re not talking about a reprobate or something like that. Then there is no restoration. But you know, the purpose of the affliction that God brings upon the life of an individual is that they might get right with him. Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”. But you know what, ye that are spiritual need to be spiritual enough to realize that repentance requires getting right. Now getting right requires confessing, not making excuses, not minimizing, and forsaking. That repentance brings a re-established relationship and a reestablished relationship brings rejoicing. And rejoicing can lead to restoration which is what God wants in your life.
Step number 6, restoration leads to spiritual grounding and spiritual roots. Notice Hosea 14:5 “5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.”. If you notice, in the passage here, he begins by saying you got to turn back to Israel. Israel, you got to turn back to God. But towards the end here, he’s talking about they’re putting out their roots to God. And look, here’s what I’m telling you, this is what God wants in your life. This is what God wants in your life. This is what God wants in my life. He wants us to get right with him. He wants us to repent and get right with him. He wants us to rejoice in him. He wants us to be restored in him. He wants us to re-establish a relationship with him. Then he wants us to get some roots down. “and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.”.
Go to Colossians 2. Once you get to step 6, you start experiencing revival, knowing God. What does that mean? Colossians 2:6 “6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:”. Notice these words, “7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”. He said rooted and built up in him. You know what we want? Look, please understand this, this is what we want here at Verity Baptist. What are we trying to accomplish? You say, every time I go to church, the Pastor has an agenda. Let me just tell you what my agenda is. My agenda is that you will be rooted in Christ, that you will become established, that you will be established in the faith, that you will become grounded in the Word of God, that you’ll be rooted as a Christian. Like the song says, “I will not be removed. As a tree planted by the waters. I shall not be moved”. Someone talks about the tree that’s rooted in the waters. A tree that is rooted and has roots down deep. It’s not going to get moved. It’s not going to get shaken. It’s not going to get blown down. That’s what God wants for you. Please understand, you can’t get to roots if there’s no restoration. You can’t get to restoration if there’s no rejoicing. You can’t get to rejoicing if there’s no relationship. You can’t get to a relationship if there’s not getting right with God. You can’t get to getting right with God if there’s no repentance. All of these things are needed. You never will be the Christian that’s rooted if you skip these steps.
And then notice what he says in Colossians 2:7 “7 Rooted”. Then he says this “and built up”. Rooted and built up. It’s funny. Because in the Bible, you find this theme. He says you get your roots down. And in nature you find this thing. You get your roots down into the ground then you build up. Hosea 14:5 “and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.”. And verse 6 “6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.”. He says “his branches shall spread”. What is that referring to? Well, if you don’t mind writing in your Bible, next to verse five I’d write these words “to know God, cast forth his roots as Lebanon”. What does that mean? To know God deep, to know God in a foundational way, in an established way. Jesus talked in Matthew chapter seven about the wise man that built his house upon the rock. He’s talking about having a foundation that’s rooted in God. This is revival. To know God and to make God known.
Isaiah 37, here’s what I believe. I believe that if we can have a church that is rooted, have a church that’s growing, if we’re going to have a church filled with people that know God, we will have a church full of people that are making God known. You say Pastor, what’s your church growth plan for Verity Baptist Church? Here’s my church growth plan, to get you as thoroughly right with God as possible. Get me as thoroughly right with God as possible. Look, when it comes to church growth, I don’t know a lot about church growth. I know we could bring in a rock concert and have a thousand people. That doesn’t take a lot of spirituality. Rock bands have nothing to do with Jesus. We would have thousands of people show up to hear them. Well there’s lots of things you could do to get a crowd. I’m not trying to get a crowd. I’m trying to get an army of believers that are right with God, that are going to engage in spiritual warfare. We’re trying to get people that are right with God, that know God and want to make God known.
Isaiah 37:31 “31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah”. Notice these words “shall again take root downward,”. What is that? Knowing God. “and bear fruit upward:”. Making God known. Rejoicing leads to restoration. Restoration leads to spiritual grounding and spiritual roots. Roots lead to reaching others with the gospel and all of this. All of these things that I’ve been explaining over the last 40 minutes to you, we begin with repentance which leads to getting right with God. You cannot get right with God until you are able to come to the place where you will not minimize and you will not make excuses for your sin. Like David, you’ll say “My sin is ever before thee. I acknowledge my transgression. It wasn’t a mess-up, it wasn’t a mistake, it’s not a sickness, it’s not my dad’s fault, it’s not my mom’s fault, it’s not my wife’s fault, it’s not my husband’s fault, it is me.”. That will lead to you getting with God. Getting right with God will lead to an established relationship with God. An established relationship with God will take away the guilt, will allow you to walk in light, will lead you to rejoicing. Rejoicing will lead to restoration. Restoration will lead to roots. Roots will lead to reaching.
And you say Pastor, if we can get all that done in the life of one individual, what would you call that? I call it one word, revival. Hosea 14:7 “7 They that dwell under his shadow”. Notice how the Bible is so consistent. “They that dwell under his shadow shall return;” Notice the words “they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.”. And please understand this, I’m not interested in having a church where we’re just kind of hunkering because it’s the end times. And we’re just going to make it through. Maybe that’s what you’re interested in. I’ll just tell you right now, that’s not what I’m interested in. You say Pastor Jimenez, we just came out of this COVID 19 thing and we’re still kind of in the mix because churches are shut down and they’re not growing, they’re not reaching. You know, what do you think? I don’t know about you but my plan is to go forward. My plan is advance. The war is not over. The devil is still out there. People are still dying and going to hell. Marriages still need help. Children still need to be raised for God. There’s still work to be done. I’m not going to hold down the fort. We’re advancing. The gates of hell will not prevail against us. How do we do that? By knowing God and making God known.
But that’s not going to happen, look that’s not going to happen while you hide things and walk in darkness. That’s not going to happen while you make excuses and minimize and take no responsibility. That’s not going to happen while you live with guilt and shame over sin that you’ve not dealt with. That’s not going to happen while you avoid a relationship with God who created you because you refuse to take the steps to get right with him. It’s going to happen until we get right with God.
Habakkuk 3:1, notice what the Prophet prayed. Here’s a prayer of Habakkuk. We’ll finish right here. The Bible says this. “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.”. I always enjoy reading the prayers of the men of God. Verse 2 “2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech,”. Notice “and was afraid:” Why? Because sometimes when God speaks it’s scary. “I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.” I get it, we’re living in a wicked nation and a wicked state and the judgment of God may come and may be coming upon this nation as we speak. My prayer and your prayer should be the prayer of the Prophet who says “in the midst of the years of your judgment, in the midst of the years of your wrath God, remember mercy”.
So, here’s what I’m inviting you to do, I’m inviting you to get right with God as thoroughly as possible. What God is dealing with you, maybe it’s a specific thing that God says this is your problem, this is what you need to deal with. Maybe it’s not being consistent to church. Maybe it’s you’re not praying. Or maybe the Holy Spirit is bringing something to your mind saying “Here’s something God wants me to deal with. I’m inviting you to get right with God, to know God, so that we may make God known”. I want you to go to hymn 271, “I just want you to see the word here says “I’ve wandered far away from God, now I’m coming home. A path of sin too long I’ve trod, Lord I’m coming home. I’ve wasted many precious years, now I’m coming home. And now repent with bitter tears, Lord I’m coming home. I’m tired of sin and straying Lord, now I’m coming home. I’ll trust, I love, believe thy word, Lord I’m coming home. My soul is sick, my heart is sore, now I’m coming home. My strength renew, my hope restore, Lord I’m coming home.”. I pray that this would not just be a song we sing this morning but it would be a prayer of our hearts.
Let’s pray.