The Marks of True Revival — Denny Kenaston

Hello, this is brother Denny. Welcome to charity ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold.

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This is one of the highlights of my year. Every year I never get over the privilege. That I have to be able to stand and share with you young people. You know someday You are going to be the leaders you're going to be the fathers and the mothers you're going to be guiding the next generation and It is well worth our time to invest everything we have in you as you come for Bible school.

It is well worth our time so I'm excited to be here and Rejoicing in all that God is doing. I Heard some singing going on over here already. Sounds like somebody got born again. Hallelujah on Monday you have this little piece of paper.

We passed out. I thought we might try to sing this. How many know this little song? Let's see. Oh good good because I don't know it too. Well, but I'll hide behind your voices there's two Stanzas and then the chorus but the second stanza I wasn't quite sure it would fit What we're doing here, so I put it together with the chorus then the verse then the chorus and I want us to sing this song as a Expression of our faith, you know He is here He is here Jesus said where two or three are gathered in my name.

There am I in their midst and I do believe that means more than just tacking his name on a meeting. It means with the motivation in their hearts to love the Lord Jesus but I think there is enough was here in that place that we could qualify for that promise and let's just Stand to our feet and sing this song together as a testimony of our faith in God's Word and his promise that he is here and a Prayer on our hearts that he will come and visit us in this session.

Can we do that? Yes, God our Father we We believe that today Lord not only do we believe it. But we sense it and we thank you father for your presence. We plead for your presence to be in our midst Lord.

We're my reminded of the song that all is vain unless the spirit of the Holy One come down. Lord you are the teacher of this Bible school. Come be the teacher teach me what to say dear Lord teach these young people right on the tables of their heart dear God your will your dreams your Visions your plans for their lives.

God. I pray that you'll do that father. Have mercy on us and teach us in this section. We pray in Jesus Christ name. Amen. You may be seated somebody in the back want to bring me some water. Anybody back there just a glass of water.

All right. In my traditional style I changed the name so you have to rewrite your name here. Give you a title for this series this week. It actually we have two titles we have a title and a subtitle, but you should write them both.

The title of these sessions is It's actually a plea or a cry revive us again. Revive us again is the title and the subtitle. Is this a study in personal and corporate revival. A study in personal and corporate revival.

The Purposes and Burden of a Study in Revival

The purpose for these sessions are there are many but I wrote six of them down here. I want you to just take note of them. Six purposes six burdens upon my heart as we enter into these sessions and do an in-depth study of Revival.

Thank You brother David number one. That God would visit each one of you with personal revival this week. Number two that we may take the opportunity to study the theology of revival, which is in the Bible.

Revival is in the Bible and there is a theology of it in the scriptures and we want to look at that. Number three we want to consider some biblical definitions of revival. Number four we want to consider some historical accounts of Revival which we'll get into that more in the sessions following maybe a little bit here today.

Consider the historical accounts of revival. Number five my burden that you might grasp the burden and potential for revival. And lastly To send you home praying for revival. To send you home praying for revival.

I'm trusting that God will inflame your hearts with a vision of what you can do as young people for his kingdom. I've been amazed as I studied the history of revival. How many times God laid his hand on young men and young ladies in this whole matter of revival.

So that's kind of the scope of the whole week. Today we want to start and if you want to open your Bibles to Psalm chapter 85 that's where we're going to begin and The title of the message for today is the marks of true revival.

Psalm 85 as a Pattern for Corporate Revival

Reading from Psalm 85. I don't know if you're familiar with that song, but it is a revival song. I have written at the top of my of That psalm in my Bible a cry for corporate revival. Psalm 86 is a cry for personal revival.

Psalm 85 is a cry for personal for corporate revival and that's where we're going to note. Here and just study this text a bit now as we read in Psalm 85 verse 6 through 13. There's a few words that I would like you to mark.

I have them marked in my Bible and they help me to understand the flow of the text and The the most important words which open up the text to us. So I'll just give you those words while we're reading here starting in verse 6 Will thou not Revive us.

You should mark that again that thy people may rejoice in thee. Mark that word rejoice. Show us thy mercy O Lord. Mark that word. Show us show us thy mercy O Lord and grant us. Mark that word grant us thy salvation.

I Will hear mark that word. I Will hear What God the Lord will speak? For he will speak peace mark that word unto his people and to his saints. But let them not return again to folly mark that word. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him.

That glory may dwell in our land. Mark the word glory. Verse 10. Mercy and truth are met together. Mark that mercy and truth and Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Righteousness and peace.

Verse 11 truth shall spring out of the earth. Mark that word truth and Righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him and shall set us mark that word in the way of his steps.

A Holy Desire for Personal and Corporate Revival

The purpose of this message this introductory this opening message is to Salt your hearts a bit to spark a fire of desire in your heart. Because young people no one ever experienced personal revival. No church ever saw corporate revival where there was not first a deep Desire in the heart of those that were involved so.

The purpose of this first message is just to begin to fan the flame within your own Heart that you would begin to get a glimpse of what God would do in your own heart in your life. Out of that desire comes a cry a heart that cries to God and God answers crying hearts young people to stir a hunger in your hearts and Also to give some definition to the subject of revival.

You know, there's a lot of ideas out today about what revival is and and I mean, there's probably Ten or twelve different examples of what people would call revival today. But we are not looking for something that people are throwing around.

We are searching for that which is clearly defined in the Word of God. We will not go wrong if we stick with the Word of God concerning the subject of revival. And the Bible has a lot to say about revival.

Revival is a Bible word if you were to look it up in the Greek you would find that it means to recover life or to live again and If you studied it in the Hebrew the Hebrew word for revival means to live or to keep alive and.

And Whether you realize it or not young people, that's one of the reasons why you're here this week to keep you alive. To keep you moving on the right path. To stir your hearts desires to do the right things and go the right way and many of you.

You know, that's why you came you came to keep alive to keep the fires that are already burning in your hearts. Burning amen. Habakkuk said Revive thy work in the midst of the years. He looked around him as a prophet.

He looked around him and he saw desolation on every hand and his heart out of the burden of Seeing all of those needs around him his heart cried out to God Revive thy work in the midst of the years. Hosea said it this way.

After two days he the Lord will revive us. That would be a blessed prophecy, wouldn't it after two days? He the Lord will revive us. Isaiah said it this way. He said God Revives the spirit of the humble.

So we begin to get a little Insight here and do what this whole subject of revival is about when we hear Isaiah say that he God Revives the spirit of the humble and in another place in the book of Hosea.

He said speaking of Israel they shall revive as the corn. They shall revive as the corn. Have you ever seen corn? Revive young people. Corn in it is an amazing plant. It can sit out there in that field and it can be dry and it can shrivel up and it'll Curl its leaves inward and you look at and you think there's no hope for that corn.

But a couple of beautiful rains come by and all of a sudden that corn Revives and it starts growing and God used that as an illustration. Speaking about us and maybe you've come to this Bible school and you feel a bit like one of those those pieces of corn one of those corn plants you just kind of Dried up and and you've been in a desert for a while and you've come here for a drink of water well, bless God, he shall revive you as the corn and Ezra prayed this Lord give us a little reviving.

Give us a little Reviving. The literal meaning of this word revival is this let me give it to you. Literally it means to realize to realize to activate to set in motion again to restore to renew to recover to quicken again.

Do you have anything that needs to be quickened again? Do you have anything that needs to be restored? Maybe there's some recovery that needs to take place in your life as you come to Bible school this week.

That's not unusual for this many young people to be gathered together that some have come and Maybe you gain some things in your Christian life, but you've lost them. And as you come here this week, maybe that was one of the prayers on your heart.

I've got some things I need to recover. Well, God is in the recovering business. Hallelujah, and I just want to encourage you to keep your heart open to the Lord. And let him continue to work in your heart and lead you and guide you.

I tell you he'll do Exceedingly abundantly above what you would even ask or think. That's our God. Do you have anything that needs to be made alive? Activated. Restored. I want us to notice also the little prefix in this word revival the little prefix are e if you ever taken a dictionary and Turn to the RE section of the dictionary you will find a lot of words and that little prefix RE it simply means do it again.

Do it again. Thus Revive us again. Just like the song says Revive us again till his heart with I love may his soul be rekindled with fire from above. Beautiful song to sing with all of your heart and soul and strength.

Revive us again fill his heart with I love may his soul be rekindled with fire from above. Do it again, that's what are e means do it again. Revival is for God's people young people. It's not for the lost.

It's not for the world. It is for us. The prefix are e in first something that was that needs to return if you have yourself an old maybe an old cabinet and and it's all beaten up and it's. It's battered up and it's lost its sheen and and you take that thing and restore it.

What are you going to do? You're going to make that thing look the way it did before. There was a day when it was beautiful. There was a day when it's time. There was a day when it was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, but now it's all beaten up.

It's all battered up. It's lost its shine. We're gonna take that thing and God's gonna do something with it and work it over and change it and make it shine again. That's what revival is and maybe you say that's exactly where I'm at brother Denny I'm all battered up and I'm all beat up and I lost my shine.

Well, hallelujah God can restore you. That's what revival is. Now let's turn back to the text here in Psalm 85. We've already looked at the word revive. That's the first word that I told you to circle and I've Spent the last 10 minutes defining that one.

But why is this word so important as we find it in this text in Psalm 85? It is because of the verses that follow we have in this song Beautiful definitions of what revival is and Why we need it continually.

Will thou not revive us again? Said the psalmist Will thou not revive us again? I'm sure that's where that song we all sing so often came from that text. Revive us again. Why? Why revive us again. Because of the things that happen when God revives us the next word We want to look at is the word rejoice, which is also in verse 6 Rejoice that word rejoice is more.

It is more than just to praise the Lord. It means more than that. Although it does mean that but it means more than that. You can be here in a meeting like this and praise the Lord you can pick up a songbook and and just like the song That the Samuel led I'll praise my maker while I breath and you can sing that song and you can you can praise the Lord.

And you can give praise to God, but that's not what this word rejoice means. This word is deeper than that. It's talking about Finding your joy your satisfaction your delight in God and God alone. And all that makes that makes that word revival make a whole lot more sense will come out revive us again.

Oh God that we may find our joy our satisfaction our delight in God in God alone. Yes, Lord. That's what we need. Oh Listen man is trying to fill the void in his heart with all kinds of things and sad to say young people many times Christian men and women are trying to fill voids inside of their heart in life with things that will not fill but when God comes to visit a heart a life a people all of a sudden their joy and their Satisfaction is in God and God alone.

Amen so beautiful so beautiful some of the some of the Historical accounts of revival that I've read. Oh, it's so beautiful to tell you know. You can tell when real revival has come to a community because the counts will say all the theaters closed down.

All the drinking places shut their doors because nobody would buy any more beer. Now that means revival has come to town brothers and sisters. That means revival has come to town and man is no longer trying to satisfy That void in their heart with anything else because God has come and God is filling the satisfaction of their heart in their life.

Will thou not revive us again? Oh Lord that thy people that these young people would find their joy their satisfaction. The delight of their heart in their life in God and God alone rejoice. So I think it's 1611 says in thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

Listen to that verse young people in thy presence is fullness of joy. You don't get that out of all the stuff out there in the world around us. You don't get fullness of joy from driving a fast car. You don't get fullness of joy by making a fancy new dress.

You don't get fullness of joy by going to the theater or watching some movie on a video. You don't get fullness of joy from those things. But you get fullness of joy in the presence of the Living God young people.

And at thy right hand there are pleasures. Look at those words pleasure. Forevermore hallelujah. God will you revive us that our joy and our satisfaction is in God and God alone. Amen the next word we want to look at is the word show.

That word show means reveal open our eyes. You know that little song open our eyes. Lord we want to see Jesus you know that little song show us thy mercy said the psalmist. Show us thy mercy reveal to us your overwhelming loving kindness.

That's a good prayer to pray. You know I've noticed as I am in the midst of God's people and as I work with God's people and as I pastor them. And I counsel them. I found that so many of God's people who are born again.

Who testify of being washed in the blood they do not understand that God loves them. They do not understand it. Oh, they know it up here. Yeah, they if you ask them their theology. They'll give you the theology, but in the depth of their heart.

They don't know that God loves them. Show us thy mercy. Said the psalmist and see young people. That's what happens when God revives our heart. We begin to see and sense that God loves me. And you know you know how it is.

You know it's that even me feeling you think I'm not worthy of this. But I know God loves me. And he does by the way. Even if you're sitting here, and you're struggling today He loves you even if you're sitting here, and there's sin in your life, and you came with a Some baggage along with you.

He loves you. Reveal to us. It is a spiritual seeing young people. It is a revelation. Which is given by the Spirit of God. And the next one is the word grant grant us thy salvation. You know what the psalmist is saying there give us the reality of thy salvation.

I Think that should be the prayer upon every one of our hearts as we come to the Bible school. Lord give me the reality of thy salvation. I Want more than a profession? I want a possession of Salvation in my heart and my life and many many times God's people float around.

Stumble around look back to some experience. They had some years ago, but the reality the Possession of salvation is not there. Lord grant us the reality of thy salvation. The next word we'll look at is the word here in our in our text.

And that's found in verse 8 and I kind of put a little cross stitch together here. You know Revive us. Rejoice us. Reveal to us and next to this verse. I have reprove us reprove us that's one of the very large parts of Revival young people is that God begins to reprove us.

You say wool that doesn't sound so good to me. That sounds kind of negative. No, not when God draws near to your heart and begins to reprove you and you know. This is God reproving me. You will want to get rid of it as fast as you can the psalmist says I will hear.

What the Lord where God the Lord will speak unto us? I hope that's your heart this week. I hope you came hearing hearing. Because You're getting a lot to chew on reprove us. God will open up the stock ears and he will give us ears to hear like Jesus said in the New Testament.

He that hath ears to hear let him hear that means You can have ears to hear or you can have ears that don't hear. You see but when God revives his people. His people want to hear what God the Lord will say to them.

And also in that verse for he will speak peace to his people kind of peace that passes. Understanding. That's what God will do when God speaks peace to a troubled soul through Jesus Christ. All is rest from there.

All is rest. Let's go on to the word folly. Because it's all there in the context. Grant us thy salvation. We will hear God will speak peace to us. But then at the end of the verse it says but let them not turn again to folly and many times.

That's where the problem lies. Not just with young people. With others also. But surely with young people. They'll come to a Bible school like this. It's a good week we hear lots of things we kind of get caught up in me the flow of everything.

I Mean the stage is set, you know. They get you in this prayer room and you say open up your life and so you open up your life and you start dealing with issues and God begins to touch you and Direct you and you leave this Bible school and you're full of a joy and enthusiasm and you go back home.

But you return to your folly. When you get back home, that's not good. God needs to heal our backslidings young people. God needs to heal our backslidings. That's what he said in the book of Hosea. I will heal their backslidings.

That would be a good prayer to pray this week wouldn't it. God heal my backslidings. Deliver me from this upon Christian this word folly means foolishness it means nonsense it means empty activities. I Noticed I was here this morning and they were giving you a little bit of direction.

They did they even told you that there won't be any foolishness through the week. And if if you're seen carrying on and just you know. Cackling and laughing and teasing and all that stuff. Somebody's gonna stop you and say whoa not here not here.

You know why? Because it works Absolutely against everything that we want God to do in your hearts this week. That's why nonsense and empty Activities, what is your folly young people? What is your folly?

When God heals you of your backsliding. You won't want it anymore. Whatever it is. Well, we could make a list here pretty fast. What is your folly? What is your empty activity? What are those activities that when you're done and you you lay down on your bed that night, you know.

There's just that empty feeling inside of you like what is it? You know as interesting as I was studying different accounts of revival that in the Welsh revival in 1904. You know that's over there in Britain, you know, England Wales Scotland Ireland, you know.

Soccer is a big thing over there. You know, that's their idol we're Slowly developing our own polishing it making it bigger and bigger. But it's not as much of an idol in America as it is in Europe and Soccer is an idol in Wales.

But in 1904 when God visited that country with revival. Very interesting things happened and one of them was the train. That went to the bigger cities where the big soccer games were held every Saturday.

Hat usually had hundreds of people on it going to the soccer games. There were four and five people in every car and that was all. You go to the soccer game. Here's this big Stadium where thousands of people gather together and there were only four hundred people at the game.

Praise God some of the soccer teams took the old soccer ball and burnt it. Gave the whole thing up and went out and served God praise God. I Mean, come on just kicking that ball around everywhere. You're going knocking that ball around.

Can you imagine spending your whole life kicking a ball around the field and by the way? No sermon in whatever print was ever preached against soccer, but just nobody wanted to go praise God. You know why?

They were being satisfied. They were being thrilled. They were being filled with the joy of the Lord and who wants to kick a dumb ball around who wants to waste all your Hours watching somebody else do it.

What a waste of time. Well, we kick the soccer ball around at our house with the little boys. But you know it comes a time to put away childish things. And become men and women who are on fire for God.

Who have done with lesser things. Young people look at let's look at the next word the word glory. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him that glory may dwell in our land. Now if you study that word glory.

That word glory it represents the manifest Presence of a holy God if you remember there the account and we'll look at it later on this week. But the account there of the dedication of the temple in Solomon's day.

You know the Bible says that that way when they were all singing together. And and they were all worshiping God together as one man the Bible says the glory of God filled the temple. That is the manifest presence of God.

That's something to long for that God would manifest his presence in my life. That God would manifest his presence in our churches in such a way that nobody could say anything except God was at church on Sunday morning.

Amen. I Mean that's what they said you know with the Chinese people. That's what they said with the Chinese people when they had revival. I Think it was in 1908. The Chinese heathen were saying the Christians God has come.

Let's go to church. The next word. We like to look at is I want us to notice the balance of true revival in verse 10. We have a just a beautiful verse where it speaks of Things being balanced of things coming together.

Mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. And by the way young people that Happens through the blood of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through the blood of his cross mercy and truth meet together.

Righteousness and peace. Kiss each other through the cross and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. But in revival Those things come so beautifully together. You know There is such a freedom when God is in the midst of his people.

There is a freedom to look at the needs in your life and be just delivered from them so quickly. Why. The truth is there. But mercy is there. Righteousness is there, but peace is there also and they can get along together Through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.

We thank God for that. The next word I want to look at is the word truth shall spring out of the earth and Righteousness shall look down from heaven. A holy word filled life is the result of true revival.

Don't ever accept any Counterfeit. You don't want anything that doesn't make you holy. Dear young people in fact as I study The accounts of revival it seems to me in every situation the burden the motivation the impetus for the desire for revival was holiness.

Holiness God. I want to be holy. I Want to be like Jesus. I want a righteous life. Well, that's the results of True revival. A heart that loves the truth is the outflow of true revival. One man said it this way revival days are Bible days and Bible days are revival days and you really can't separate them.

And We'll look at an account of that in the scriptures a little later on in the week. There is no difference. True revival will change the moral climate of a person a family a church or a community. True revival will change the moral climate of a person a family a church even a community.

And the last one we want to look at as we move along here Righteousness shall go before him and shall set us in the way of his Steps. Isn't that where we want to be? John said it this way in 1st John 2 6 he that saith he abideth in him ought himself.

Also, so to walk even as he walked God when God comes and revives his people he sets us in the way of his steps. He leads us in paths of righteousness for his name's sake we find our hearts Excited about Jesus and wanting to be like him with everything within us.

And I'll tell you why. Because when revival comes you are now on praying ground. And when you get on praying ground and realize that you can be like Jesus you will start praying Make me like Jesus. He will set us in the way of his steps.

Amen. What is revival. Let's give a couple of practical definitions here. What is revival? Revival is God visiting his people by his spirit. Revival days are days of heaven on earth. It's the heavenly Jerusalem in the midst of the people on the earth.

Acts chapter 2 verse 41 through 47 is a beautiful example of Days of heaven on earth. You can't read them for the sake of time. Duncan Campbell one of the instruments in the revival in It on the islands of the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland in 1952 and 53 he gave this definition of revival.

He said revival is a people Saturated with God. Then he changed it and said no a community Saturated with God by the way when God's people get saturated with God It does saturate the community with God also.

Don't you doubt that it happens. There's too many records for us to turn a deaf ear to them. When God's People get saturated with God the community gets saturated with God. Revival is God. Pointing his finger at me.

Have you ever sat before God and had God? Just move right in on your heart and show you something that you had that you needed to deal with. That happens in revival. It's God pointing his finger at me, you know many times we you know, we hear messages like this and we think.

Well, I'm I'm glad he's hearing that. It's good thing. She's listening. But let me give you a secret young people. It's not my brother. It's not my sister. It's me. Oh Lord. Standing in the need of prayer.

And I'll tell you when God visits his people the holiest man in the room is flat on his face flat on his face. Seeing like Isaiah did. Woe is me for I am undone and I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of an unclean people.

That was Isaiah's testimony when he got a glimpse of the glory of God in the Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And praise God for all that he's doing in our hearts in our lives.

But you know one little glimpse of God's glory. Yeah, so many things will come out that we didn't even know were there. Last night as we were sitting around at our house, you know in the circle and we always kind of let everybody share.

Why did you come to Bible school? What are you here for? What's your motivation and several people said these words? I Came seeking God and seeking a deeper relationship with God. And I trust that God is going to show me some more needs in my life.

Good way to come. Good way to come. Revival is Bringing your salvation experience up to date up to date. No more five-year-old testimonies of what God did for you back there. But then now you can say what God is doing for you today.

See God is not interested in what he did for you five years ago praise God. But that was only the door that was only the entrance into the kingdom. What is God doing in your life today? Is God a living God to you today.

Is he real to you today. Is he working in your heart. What has God done for you lately? Revival brings all those things right up to date right up to date and there's something fresh that you can share that God is doing in your heart and Something that he showed you and something that happened and some beautiful door of opportunity open for you.

Revival is when God brings your salvation experience right up to date. And you can stand and say I'm saved. Revival is allowing God to plow in your heart through his word by his spirits. Hosea said it this way.

So to yourselves in righteousness reap in mercy. Break up your fallow ground by Hosea. For it is time to seek the Lord till he come and reign. Righteousness upon you young people it is time to seek the Lord until they come and reign righteousness upon you personally praise God for righteousness imputed Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But my dear young people if righteousness imputed does not bring righteousness Imparted in your real life. You have no righteousness before God. Promise you it's time to seek the Lord until he come and reign righteousness upon you.

Revival is God's people getting thoroughly right with God setting themselves to leave no stones unturned. That's revival and God is no respecter of persons and Some of you in this room are going to take that seriously and you'll get the results by the end of the week.

I guarantee it. Revival is bringing the eyes of our hearts to a single focus again upon God. Our Lord Jesus said it so clearly in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 6 22 and 23 He said the light of the body is the eye and I believe is the eye of the heart.

The light of the body is the eye of the heart if therefore thine eye if the eye of your heart be Single upon God thy whole body shall be filled with light. But if the eye of your heart be evil not single My whole body shall be full of darkness.