Pathway to Revival — E.A. Johnston

The Church's Need for Revival

I've got a serious message for us today, friends, and I know you will be challenged by it. I've been a student of revival for four decades, and it's a strange thing to observe that when the church needs revival the most, she has the least interest in it.

England's Moral Decline Before Wesley and Whitefield

When I was in London researching my 1 ,200-page, two-volume, definitive biography on the great British evangelist George Whitefield, I was surprised at what I found out about the times in England which existed right before Wesleyan Whitefield emerged on the scene.

England was bankrupt morally and asleep spiritually. Before Wesleyan Whitefield, there was apathy and apostasy, decay and degeneracy. Prostitution was rampant in society, and public drunkenness was a plague on society.

Why, in London at the time, every sixth house was a gin house, and members of parliament would show up for work dead drunk, and the ministers of the Church of England were predominantly unconverted, unregenerate men who never read their Bibles and seldom preached out of it.

And against that immoral, black velvet background shone two brilliant diamonds, John Wesley and George Whitefield, and the revival of religion under them shook two continents for God and the gospel. Well, today we are in the same condition as a morally bankrupt nation and with a church that's sound asleep.

Diagnosing Spiritual Apathy and Divine Judgment

Our churches lie in spiritual apathy and declension, and our houses of entertainment rather than houses of prayer. Our denominations have fallen into apostasy and irreverence, and the nation is a God-provoking nation of sinners and atheists shaking their fists at God in moral upheaval and perversion and daring Him to do anything about it.

There's no fear of God in the land today, nor in the church. God has pushed the back door of the church, and in some cases shoved out the door completely. Consequently, we live under the remedial judgments of God in the land and the withdrawn presence of God in the church.

When was the last time, friend, you felt the power of God in a meeting? Our churches are run on money and manpower and programs, but in former times it was run on God and prayer and holy ghost power, and there's few real conversions taking place.

Well, in order to fix a thing, one must first realize it is broken. The church in America is a broken thing. Her hedges are broken down. Her weekly prayer meeting is broken down. Holy living is broken down, and there is no power of God among the people of God.

It's just deadness and decay everywhere. Well, that's my little introduction, friends, and our text today is about revival. My message is about revival, and my text can be found in 2 Chronicles chapter 14 and 15.

The Revival Hope in Asa's Reign

For there is hope here. There is hope for today, so long as we have revival. If we don't, then it's utter ruin and destruction. My message today, friends, is entitled, Pathway to Revival, and my text can be found in 2 Chronicles chapter 14.

Not to be confused with 2 Chronicles 7 .14. This is a different passage, and this is a story of a first-hand account of revival found in Scripture, and a first-hand account of revival that I witnessed in the church, which I'll share with you later, friends.

Well, let's look at our text in verses 1 through 3. Here now is the Word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of His holy Word. So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David.

And Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. Well, why was that? Why was the land quiet for ten years? Ten years is a long time to have peace. Well, let's look and see, friends, why King Asa had peace in Israel.

Removing Idolatry and Returning to God

And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord, his God, for he took away the altars of the strange gods in the high places, and broke down the images, and cut down the groves. Well, let me pause here to say, notice what King Asa did.

He removed, he broke, he cut. He had his men remove the altars of Baal and idolatry, the strange gods that Solomon and his son Rehoboam set up in groves and high places to worship idols who were not the one true God.

So with King Asa there was a removing, a taking away, a breaking in pieces, a smashing all the false idols he could find, and a cutting down of the places of idol worship, which were the groves and the high places which the people worshiped idols there, which were an abomination to the God of Israel.

He took away the negative things that were against God in the land. Now notice, friends, what he did next. Look at verse 4, which reads,. And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of the fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

He replaced idolatry with reform. He led the people in a return to God. King Asa took away the negatives against God, all things that were in the house of God that were God dishonoring, God provoking, and irreverent to God.

And he implemented positive things like prayer, seeking God in earnestness and sincerity of heart, and obeying God's law and commandments. In other words, he cleaned house, so to speak, spiritually. We see more of this in chapter 15.

Turning Back to God in Times of Trouble

Look at verses 3 and 4. Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

This is like the picture of England right before Wesley and Whitefield emerged. Israel is in a long season away from God in backsliding in worship of false gods. There's lawlessness in the land and disobedience to God.

Much like our situation in America today, there's no fear of God in the land, nor in the church. We've been a long time without the favor of God because we pushed God out of our nation by legislation.

We did wayward prayer in school and the public display of the Ten Commandments, and we have no modesty in society. Starlets and harlots can walk around naked in public, and no police arrest them. Female actresses are given awards for sex scenes in movies and applauded, and even the church looks at such vile and perverse entertainment and enjoys it.

We as a people of God haven't worshipped the true God in a long, long time. The God we serve is more like a Santa Claus God of our own imagination, who exists to bless his little darlings, and he's a sin-tolerating God.

In our congregations lie in lawlessness and disobedience and sin against God. This is the status quo in many of our churches today. We've replaced the Spirit of God in our sanctuaries with glowing orbs, spinning disco lights, loud rock, man-pleasing music, man-pleasing preaching, and sin-loving lives, both in pulpit and pew, self is on throne and ruling there, because we feel we were once saved, always saved, we can sin all we want to and still get to heaven, but God says, No!

There's no lordship in the life of the average Christian these days. He or she runs the show, and not the Lord, but the King, Asa, he changed things for the better during his reign, and there was a radical change in praying, preaching, and preparing hearts to honestly evaluate all the hindrances to revival in the personal life, recognizing sin and removing sin.

Renewing the Altar of the Lord

Look at verse 8 of chapter 15. He took courage and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin and out of the cities which he had taken from Mount Ephraim and renewed the altar of the Lord that was before the porch of the Lord.

I will stop there, friends. This is the pathway to revival, to renew the altar of the Lord. Is the altar of the Lord broken down in your home? Do you have a family altar in the home? Will you pray daily?

Would your spouse and children? Are you the spiritual leader in the home, or are you just a derelict dad who loves his sports more than Jesus? We see how King Asa cleaned house and reestablished true worship in the land, and he led the people into a public ceremony where they made vows to God.

Why, just look at verse 12 of chapter 15. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul. You see, friends, when you get serious with God, then He gets serious with you.

Praying for Revival

I saw this happen in a church where revival came. Let me tell you that story because it's pertinent to our text today. Years ago, I had a hunger for revival, so me and another man met in the chapel at our church from 6 .30 a .m. to 7 .30 a .m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Of every week for a period of six months, praying desperately to God for revival. But revival didn't visit our church because there was an aching in the camp, but revival came to another church out of state that we found out about.

It was a country church in a neighboring state, so one night, me and this man, I've been praying with for revival. We drove down there to see what it was all about. It was a Saturday night, and we got there late, so we had to sit up in the balcony.

Encountering God's Presence in a Silent Church

The church was jam-packed, and it was obvious to us we came as the service had already commenced, but it was complete silence in the sanctuary of several hundred people. All that could be heard was weeping.

I noticed that the choir members on stage were passing a Kleenex box back and forth between them, wiping their eyes. There was no pastor on the platform, just his empty chair. Suddenly, I felt like weeping myself.

Tears began to stream down my face as I sensed an almighty presence of God in that sanctuary. I looked over at my friend, and a big tear ran down his cheek. God was there, and all you could do was weep in His presence for your lack of holiness.

Well, we had gotten there at 730, and by 1030 that night, the service ended, and the people slowly left. Out in the parking lot in the darkness, I found the pastor as he made his way to his pickup truck, and I stopped him, and I asked him, Please, we are from out of town.

Can you tell us what's going on here? Well, he looked exhausted as he replied, All I can tell you is I had a sermon prepared, but the Holy Spirit showed up, so I sat down. Then he turned to go to his truck.

I called out in the night, Brother Pastor, then what happened? He turned his face to me with these words, We're dead people, dead, and with that he got in his truck and drove away. Well, that Monday, I telephoned the church secretary of that church, and she was kind enough to explain to me what had been going on in that church.

A Missionary's Suffering and a Men's Retreat

You see, friends, the men of the church had gone on a weekend retreat led by an American missionary to Africa, and this missionary's wife was recently slain. She was in her car near their home in Africa when she was ambushed on the road, dragged out of the car, and beaten to death.

This missionary was on furlough with his teenage sons during this time, and he felt led to lead a retreat for the men of this particular church. God showed up that weekend and did a work among the men, and when the men returned home, they were different men in the home.

Family Worship and the Transformation of a Congregation

They were now gentle and tender with their wives, and led them in daily prayer at the kitchen table, and they set up family altars in the home, and this was so overwhelming to the woman of the church, to the women in the church, who saw for the first time what it was like to have a godly husband in the home.

So one night at church, the women of the church interrupted the service by coming down front and kneeling and giving themselves to the Lordship of Christ in surrender to Him. Now this had an overwhelming effect on the children of the home.

The teenagers saw firsthand what it was like to now have two godly parents in the home, and the evening that my friend showed up and I, when we showed up at that church, the reason why the people were weeping was the night before, the night that we got there, right before we got there, the teenagers of the church had come down front in brokenness and got saved, and that broke the church.

The reality of God in their parents' life was too much for these teenagers, and they began to seek the Lord themselves, and they got saved that night. Revival transformed that entire church, and to top the story off, friends, one year later, that church pooled their personal finances, their personal resources, and they purchased the local abortion clinic, and they turned it into a Bible bookstore.

A Call to Personal Revival and Repentance

That's the end of my story, friends. If there are any dry eyes still here, well, I guess your heart is thicker than a brick wall. Maybe you need a personal revival. Maybe you need to clean house and clean yourself up and get right with God and stop playing church on Sunday, being one way at church and another way in the home.

Perhaps it's time to renew the altar of your heart before the Lord. Let us pray.