Participants: David Shin
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000355
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00:31 I would like to welcome you today to Faith Chapel.
00:33 My name is David Shin, and we will be spending 00:36 the next few moments together in a study 00:38 of God's word, but before we do so 00:41 I would like to invite you to bow your 00:43 heads with me as we pray together. 00:46 Father in heaven, we thank you today for 00:49 the privilege and opportunity we have 00:51 to study your word and we ask that your 00:53 Holy Spirit would lead us and guide us 00:56 into all truth in Jesus name, amen. 01:00 Not too long ago I read a book by one 01:03 of my favorite authors. His name is 01:05 Malcolm Gladwell. He is a former writer for 01:08 the Washington Post. He currently writes for 01:10 the New Yorker and most recently he was 01:12 on a panel of experts in Time Magazine 01:14 relating to some sociological trends 01:17 in the future and he begins one of his books 01:20 to tipping point by asking seemingly innocuous 01:24 question that illicit to mind boggling answer, 01:27 and it goes something like this. 01:28 If you were to take a sheet a paper a fairly 01:30 large sheet of paper 8 ½ by 11 01:33 and fold in half and fold in half again you repeat 01:36 this process 50 times. He asks what would be 01:39 the thickness of that sheet of paper and 01:43 I thought to myself with some bravery 01:45 and courage that I could muster perhaps the 01:48 thickness of own book or the thickness of 01:51 several encyclopedias, but did you know that 01:54 if you fold a sheet of paper in half 50 times 01:57 that the thickness of that sheet of paper 02:00 is equivalent of the thickness or the 02:04 distance from our earth to the sun, 02:06 93 million miles. Now if you are like me 02:11 I was simply incredulous, I could not believe that. 02:15 I thought this was probably science fiction. 02:17 This is a different journal of literature than 02:19 I've ever read, but it's a fact. 02:20 It's a law called geometric progression 02:23 because every time you fold that sheet 02:25 of paper in half you are doubling the 02:28 thickness of that sheet of paper and 02:31 in case some point if you were to fold that 02:32 sheet of paper in half 51 times, it will be the 02:35 equivalent of the distance from our earth 02:36 to the sun and back, and Malcolm Gladwell 02:40 makes a simple illustration. 02:42 The reason that we have so much problems 02:44 with this illustration and most of us were 02:46 sitting there in a state of shock and disbelief 02:50 simply because we believe that causes 02:53 and effects are equally proportional. 02:56 In another words something that has 02:57 an effect of 93 million miles we think would 03:00 have an equivalent cause, but he points 03:02 out that especially when it comes to 03:04 sociological trends, phenomenas that 03:07 sweep across society many times, 03:09 a little thing can make a big difference. 03:12 A seemingly insignificant cause can yield a result 03:16 of epidemic proportions. Our study today is 03:20 entitled the "Tipping point of Revival". 03:24 And we just like to go a little bit in our 03:27 study of revival. Now revival simply means 03:29 a reawakening to live again. 03:31 In a spiritual sense it means that at one 03:33 point in your life, you are spiritually alive. 03:37 You revived but you need to be revived 03:40 for whatever reason you fell away from the 03:41 Lord and your need of rejuvenation. 03:44 And I just like to put before us as a given 03:48 before our study that revivals have a cause, 03:52 revivals do not just occur in a vacuum. 03:54 In another words we don't wake up one day 03:56 and say oh we are having a revival. 03:58 Everything in life has a cause except for God. 04:00 God is the uncaused cause. And I would like 04:03 to ask this question before we go to 04:05 scripture today. What is the cause of revival, 04:09 the tipping point, the catalyst that needs 04:12 to be in place, the condition for revival 04:15 to take place, not only corporately but 04:18 individually? And as we go to scripture 04:22 I would like to read to you a few quotations; 04:25 one is from an unknown poet, one of the 04:27 greatest revivals in the scope of human history. 04:31 And this poet says, of all the armies that 04:34 ever marched, of all the navies that ever sailed, 04:37 and all the parliaments that ever sat, 04:40 and all the kings that ever reigned put them 04:42 together, have not affected the life of man 04:45 on the earth as powerfully as that one 04:49 solitary life. He is speaking of Jesus Christ. 04:53 In his 5 volume work on world history, 04:56 historian and religious skeptic, H. G. Wells 04:58 found himself devoting the most space to 05:01 Jesus Christ. He wrote, a historian like myself 05:04 cannot portray the progress of humanity 05:08 honestly without giving Jesus of Nazareth, 05:11 the foremost place. Essentially these 05:14 individuals, one of them a religious skeptic, 05:16 is essentially saying that of all the individuals 05:20 in the scope of human existence, no person 05:23 has affected the landscape of human history, 05:27 more than Jesus Christ, more than Marcus Aurelius, 05:31 more than Caesar, more than Alexander, 05:33 more than Plato, more than Aristotle, 05:35 Jesus Christ has impacted the human race like 05:39 no other man. And so as we go to this question 05:44 of what is the nature, the condition of revival. 05:46 I would like for us to go to a passage in the 05:50 book of Mark. Mark chapter 1 and verse 34, 05:54 to look at the greatest revival in history 05:57 and he said, and He healed many 06:00 that who were sick with various diseases, 06:03 and cast out many demons; and He did 06:06 not allow the demons to speak, because they 06:09 knew Him. The Bible is essentially saying friends 06:13 that Jesus started the greatest revival in 06:16 human history. You remember previous 06:17 to this during the intertestamental period, 06:20 there was virtually no prophetic voice. 06:22 Miracles and prophecy were non-existence 06:25 and suddenly Jesus and John the Baptist 06:28 storm on the seen and start the greatest 06:31 revival in human history. Now I would just like 06:34 to give you a little bit of background on the 06:35 book of Mark. The book of Mark is 16 chapters 06:39 and it's one of the shortest of all the gospels. 06:42 In many ways one of the most profound 06:44 and concise and the book of Mark essentially 06:48 tells us that Jesus was moving quickly, 06:50 there are two words that are particular to 06:54 the book of Mark. The words are straight away 06:56 and immediately and Jesus in the book of Mark, 07:00 and the verse that we just read, 07:02 illustrates that He healed people not only 07:05 physically but spiritually. He cares 07:08 about a holistic restoration of people 07:11 back to the image of God, back to where 07:14 Adam was before the fall that is gold in salvation, 07:17 so God cares about your health, not only 07:20 physically but also spiritually. 07:22 And let's look at the next verse, in verse 35, 07:25 in the midst of the survival, now in the 07:27 morning, having risen a long while before the day, 07:31 He went out and departed to a solitary place; 07:35 and there He prayed. The Bible essentially 07:39 illustrates to us, Jesus in the midst of the 07:42 spiritual awakening, in the midst of this revival 07:45 taking place, goes off to a solitary and secluded 07:49 place to pray and to seek his Lord. 07:52 Now I don't know about you but I am not 07:54 particularly a morning person, and so when 07:57 I read this text, I was curious to see just exactly 08:00 how early Jesus got up to pray, and so 08:04 I took a little bit of Greek in the seminary just 08:07 enough to get by and so I broke out my 08:09 Greek New Testament and looked at the 08:11 original language and it's interesting to know 08:13 that when you look at the word morning in 08:16 the original, it refers scholars are in general 08:19 agreement during our cross sectional study 08:22 of the word morning that refers to the hours 08:24 of 3 to 6 A.M., the last watch of darkness 08:28 and essentially the book of Mark does not 08:32 want to leave us in a state of ambiguity as 08:35 to exactly how early Jesus rose. 08:38 And so he uses another adverb marked us 08:41 so that we have an exact, or approximate 08:44 notion as to how early Jesus rose and it's 08:47 accurately translated in New King James version. 08:49 A long while before the day and so if you 08:53 follow him, the book of Mark is essentially 08:55 saying, in the morning between the hours of 08:57 3 and 6 A.M. a long while before the day. 09:00 In another words, it's the earlier part of that 09:03 3 to 6 hour segment, and so if you will follow 09:07 me that Jesus when he rose, we can safely 09:11 assume here today that he arose between the 09:13 hours of 3 to 4 A.M to pray. Now before you 09:19 misunderstand me, I'm not saying here that 09:21 if you don't get up between the hours of 3 09:24 and 4 A.M. to pray that you are not a Christian, 09:27 or that Jesus does not love you. 09:29 But I don't believe that's the point in the book 09:31 of Mark at all, is simply illustrating the simple 09:34 point that every revival, every spiritual 09:38 awakening, every renaissance of Christianity 09:41 is linked with a radical prayer life, 09:45 notice the keyword, "Radical." Every revival 09:48 is linked with a praying person. 09:52 It's the tipping point, is that simple seemingly 09:55 insignificant cause that yields a result of 09:59 exponential proportion and even as folding 10:02 that sheet of paper in half 50 times yields 10:04 a result of 93 million miles. 10:06 This discipline of prayer will yield a result of 10:10 epidemic proportions because we are dealing 10:13 with the almighty, omnipotent and eternal God. 10:18 And I went up to the library because I was 10:20 little bit curious to see if this essential point 10:22 of revival was prevalent in history, and I studied 10:26 some of the greatest revivals ever known 10:29 in the history of mankind outside of this one 10:31 we just read in the book of Mark, I study 10:33 the Great Reformation I studied 1904, 10:36 I studied the First Awakening, 10:38 the Second Awakening and in every revival 10:40 you will find this essential elements of prayer. 10:44 I studied this person by the name of Wesley, 10:47 he was a reformer and in England and 10:51 he asked his mother one day whose name 10:53 was Susanna. Incidentally, she raised two spiritual 10:56 giants, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley 10:59 who was the reformer and the other one was 11:01 the hymn writer. And he asked his mom one 11:04 day Susanna, what is the definition of sin? 11:07 And she responded by saying 11:09 "Whatever weakens your reason, 11:12 whatever impairs the tenderness of your 11:14 conscience, obscures your sense of God, 11:16 takes off your relish for spiritual things, 11:19 whatever increases the authority of the 11:21 body over the mind, that thing is a sin to you, 11:25 however innocent it may seem in itself." 11:28 Wesley went out and lived a phenomenal life. 11:31 Another account by Ravi Zacharias says 11:33 that Wesley wore plain clothes. 11:36 He preached 40,000 sermons during his life time. 11:39 I want you think about that, that is awfully lot 11:42 of sermons. He traveled 250,000 miles on horseback 11:46 preaching. It's no wonder he married at 48. 11:49 He worked with 15 different languages. 11:52 At the age of 83, he was angry because his 11:54 doctor wouldn't let him preach more than 11:56 14 times a week. At the age of 86, 11:59 He has written in his journal these words. 12:00 Laziness is slowly creeping in. There is 12:03 an increasing tendency to stay in bed after 12:05 5:30 in the morning, what a man? 12:08 What dedication and focus, and Wesley was 12:11 a reformer during a time when England had 12:13 fallen to the lowest depths of the depravity 12:15 and decadence ever known before. 12:18 And there is one statement by Berkley, 12:20 discordance to the magistrates and 12:22 men in authority that Britain had collapsed 12:26 to a degree that had never been known 12:29 before in any Christian nation. 12:32 Now this is not just an isolated account other 12:35 great English historians like Clokey and others 12:38 generally agree that this was a lowest moment 12:41 in English history. The bars were overflowing, 12:46 slavery was rampant and every sector of 12:49 English society had fallen so low that people 12:52 assumed that England was going to loose its 12:55 Christian roots. At the time Wesley was 12:58 in college, he had just graduated from 13:00 Cambridge University and he got together 13:03 a few of his friends like John Whitefield and 13:05 then they started praying, sometimes 13:07 they prayed all night and from this place 13:10 of prayer history records that John Wesley 13:13 under the unction of the Holy Spirit went out 13:16 and shook England to its very foundations. 13:20 Ethics were reinstituted into the judicial system. 13:23 Slavery was abolished and every sector of 13:27 English society was restored back to its 13:31 prominent place, and it all started from the 13:34 place of prayer. I want to read you a statement 13:37 from the book Great Controversy, 13:39 from the sacred place of prayer came the power 13:43 that shook the world in the great reformation. 13:46 Luther did not fail to devote three hours 13:49 each day to prayer; and these were taken 13:51 from that portion of day most favorable 13:54 to study. I want you think about that, 13:57 here is a monk, obscure, living in Wittenberg 14:00 and he gets down on his knees and praise 14:02 for an extended period of times, 3 hours a day, 14:05 and these were the moments for most 14:07 susceptible for study and according to this 14:10 historical count, it tells us from that sacred 14:12 place of prayer came the power that shook 14:15 the world in the reformation. 14:18 I just like to talk a little bit about prayer 14:20 here today. One author says that prayer is the 14:24 breath of the soul. It is the secret of 14:27 spiritual power. This author in trying to capture 14:30 the necessity and the essential nature of prayer, 14:34 he is saying that prayer is like breathing. 14:36 It's a metaphor, I remember metaphor 14:38 and simile from elementary school, 14:40 and is essentially saying that prayer is like 14:43 breathing and even as your lungs starve for air, 14:48 your soul starves for prayer. 14:51 Now my father was a marathoner, 14:54 and somehow I didn't get those genes, 14:56 I can't even run 5 miles. 14:57 A marathon is approximately 26.2 miles, 15:01 it's a grueling, enduring event and I would 15:05 notice something about my dad when 15:06 he would run these marathons and it 15:08 was simply this that, the more his physical 15:11 exertion, his breathing would go up, 15:13 it's common sense, its not rocket science here. 15:16 His breathing would become deeper and 15:17 more discipline and there was this cadence 15:19 to his breathing. And I just like to say here 15:22 today that if you want God to move like 15:25 never before. You want God to pour out the 15:28 revival on your community, on your own soul, 15:30 or your evangelist series and you are not 15:33 increasing the discipline and the cadence of 15:36 your praying. It's like trying to run a marathon 15:39 without breathing, even as your body starves 15:43 for oxygen, your soul starves for prayer. 15:47 And I just like to ask this question if prayer 15:51 is the tipping point, the catalyst of revival, 15:53 how is it that we are to seek this revival 15:57 or pray for this revival and I just like to very 15:59 quickly go through 3 corollaries about how 16:03 we as Christians individual seeking 16:05 this divine injunction from the Lord to pray 16:09 for revival, how do you do it? Number one, 16:11 we must ask for. In Matthew chapter 7 16:15 and verse 7, we have these words that are 16:18 read to us from scripture. 16:20 Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and 16:24 you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 16:29 One of the conditions of seeking for revival is 16:33 we must ask for, it sounds so elementary 16:35 but did you know that there are certain things 16:37 that God will do regardless of whether 16:39 you want it or not. It sounds kind a strange 16:41 when I say, but there are certain things 16:43 that regardless whether you believe or not, 16:45 whether regardless of whether you accept 16:47 or not, God will do these things and 16:49 they have do with what Theologians call 16:51 the sovereign will of God. Case in point the 16:54 second coming, whether you accept it, 16:56 whether you believe it, whether you have faith, 16:58 the second coming has an eminent reality 17:00 is going to take place. Now we have the volition 17:04 and the choice, the free will to choose 17:05 which side we are going to be on. 17:07 But as an event the second coming is going 17:10 to happen, there are other events like 17:11 Millennium in Heaven. These are events that 17:13 are part of God's sovereign will that 17:15 will take place irrespective of 17:18 human choice. But there are other things 17:21 that God will not to do unless we ask for, 17:24 and one of them is forgiveness. 17:26 God will not forgive us unless we want to 17:29 be forgiven. God will not save us unless 17:33 we want to be saved and revival is no 17:36 exception. God will not revive us friend unless 17:39 we want to be revived. He will not pour out 17:42 his blessing upon us and this is a condition 17:44 that is simple in relation to the kingdom of heaven. 17:47 Ask and it shall be given unto you seek 17:50 and you shall find, knock and the door 17:52 shall be opened unto you. 17:55 There is an interesting story of a young man 17:58 by the name of Evan Roberts. 18:00 He was a young person living in the late 18:04 1800s right at the turn of the century 18:06 and he had this burden for England and 18:10 at the age of 13 he started praying for 18:12 revival to take place in England and 18:15 he prayed for 13 years. Can you imagine it, 18:18 a teenager praying for 13 years? 18:19 At the age of 26 he decided that 18:22 he would take and call it ministry and 18:24 he started preaching the word of God, 18:26 17 young people gave the hearts to Lord 18:28 one night. And in four months this is not 18:31 apocrypha you can read it in your history books. 18:33 In four months, 75,000 individuals gave their 18:38 hearts to Lord and were converted. 18:40 In five months 85,000, in 6 months a 100,000 18:45 individuals were converted and these 18:47 were not some shallow conversions. 18:49 These were conversions that were genuine. 18:51 The police didn't have anything to do 18:53 because crime had plummeted to the lowest 18:55 depths in history. The bars were closed and even 18:58 the mules that were being driven by these 19:00 minors had to learn a different language 19:03 because they stop cursing, and so here is 19:06 one individual he asked the Lord for revival. 19:09 He asked for 13 years at the age of 26, 19:11 God used him in a powerful way. 19:14 It's the catalyst the condition for revival to 19:17 take place. So, number one, we must ask for. 19:20 Our second corollary is we must sacrifice for it. 19:24 In Luke chapter 6 and verse 12, 19:27 we have the statement found in the 19:29 New King James Version. Now it came to pass 19:32 in those days that He went out to the 19:34 mountain to pray, and continued all night 19:37 in prayer to God. Here we have this account 19:41 in scripture of Jesus praying all night. 19:43 Now I am not saying here today that 19:45 we should do it every night and we are not 19:46 told the frequency or the manner in which 19:49 he prayed, but in times when Christ felt the 19:52 most need of God's presence, 19:54 He would spend all night in prayer before his God. 19:58 Here is a statement by E.M.Bounds, 20:01 and he goes something like this, there was a 20:03 time when we gave whole nights to 20:05 chambering and wantonness, and dancing 20:08 in the world's revelry; we did not tire then; 20:11 and we were chiding the sun that soon rose, 20:14 and we were wishing that the hours would 20:16 lag a while that we might delight in wilder 20:19 merriment and perhaps deeper sin. 20:21 Oh, why do we then weary in divine 20:24 and heavenly appointments? 20:25 Why do we weary when asked to watch with 20:29 our Lord? Essentially E.M. Bound is making 20:32 the statement, remember when you on the world 20:34 used to pull these all-nighters staying 20:36 up all night and you would, 20:37 when the morning hours would come you were 20:40 just almost aghast. You were disappointed 20:43 because you are having so much fun in the 20:45 decadence and the depravity of the world. 20:48 And why is it E.M Bound is asking when you 20:51 give your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ 20:53 that suddenly someone ask you to pray for 20:56 an extended period of time and you are like 20:57 oh, no, I don't want to do that, perhaps 20:59 it's a little bit fanatical. Now since when they 21:02 were talking to God become fanatic imagine 21:04 that you are out with the friend on night 21:05 and they ask you to spend some extended 21:08 time with them and you look at your watch 21:09 after an hour, you say, oh, I can't spend more 21:12 than hour with you because it will be legalism 21:14 or fanatical. Prayer is a privilege and 21:17 we have the opportunity to talk with our Lord 21:20 in this way. There is a statement by 21:24 Dr. Wilbur Chapman that goes something like this. 21:27 Revivals are born in prayer. 21:30 When Wesley prayed England was revived; 21:33 when Knox prayed, Scotland was refreshed; 21:36 when the Sunday school teachers of 21:38 Tannybrook prayed, 11,000 souls young 21:42 people were added to the Church in a year. 21:44 Whole nights of prayer have always been 21:47 succeeded by whole days of soul-winning. 21:51 Prayer is the catalyst. It is the secret of revival 21:55 and every revival that has gone throughout 21:58 the whole scope of human history have 22:01 been linked with a radical and passionate 22:04 prayer life. So number one, we must ask for it. 22:07 Number two, we must sacrifice for it. 22:10 And number three, we must live it. 22:13 Personal revival always precedes corporate 22:18 revival and there is this notion that has 22:21 been promulgated throughout secular 22:22 history or secular educational society 22:25 and that is the dichotomy between the public 22:28 life and the private life. In another words, 22:30 it doesn't matter what I do in my private world 22:32 and we tend to compartment lives 22:34 of Christianity and there cannot be a 22:36 difference friends between what we do 22:38 in church in the morning and what 22:40 we do in the community on Saturday night 22:43 or Sunday night, where we cannot have this 22:46 disjuncture, this compartmentalization 22:49 that is taking place. Not too long ago I had a 22:53 revival in my own prayer life, and I read the 22:56 statement from a Christian author that 22:58 said that the necessity of praying and of a 23:03 simple diet in the life of Daniel was the secret 23:06 of his intellect and spiritually, and I don't 23:09 know about you but I can use some more brain cells, 23:11 and I want to be more spiritual and I tend to 23:14 be health indices naturally but I decided 23:16 that for an extended period of time, 23:18 I would even eat more simply because 23:21 I wanted God to be able to speak to my mind. 23:23 And I would go off, I noticed that Daniel 23:26 would pray three times a day. 23:28 And so in my day time I would put out specific 23:32 moments in time in which I would go off and 23:35 spend sometime with the Lord, morning, 23:37 noon and night. And I found something that 23:40 came to me during this time. 23:42 Number one, my Christianity took off 23:45 to a different level because I was spiritually 23:48 breathing more, I was praying more. 23:50 And the other thing was I said, 23:52 why wasn't I doing this before? 23:54 And I found out something about God 23:57 during this time, and that was this; 24:00 that the God of heaven are heavenly omniscient, 24:03 omnipotent God, wants to connect with the 24:08 human race like never before. 24:10 He wants to commune with you and 24:12 I don't know about you but God is busy. 24:14 Have you ever met someone that or 24:16 try to meet an individual that is important. 24:19 You have to go through the secretaries 24:21 and all these blue tape and even after 24:23 that you have to meet them on their terms 24:25 as far as time, but here is God, 24:27 the ineffable God of the universe, 24:29 that says I will meet you on your terms 24:32 especially when it comes to time that no matter 24:35 what moment of the day that you give me, 24:37 I want to commune with you as an individual. 24:41 Everything a Christian should do from thoughts 24:45 of man of blessing says should be as 24:47 transparent as sunlight and God wants 24:51 every area of our lives to be dedicated 24:55 unreservedly to Jesus Christ. 24:58 We must live it, we cannot compartmentalize 25:01 our Christianity and corporate revival is 25:04 always preceded by personal revival. 25:07 So the three corollaries, the three keys in 25:09 seeking revival. Number one, we must ask for it. 25:12 Number, two, we must sacrifice for it. 25:15 And number three, we must live it. 25:18 I like to read to you this statement from 25:21 Richard Ellsworth Day, that goes something 25:24 like this. It would be of no surprise, 25:26 that if a study of secret causes were undertaken, 25:31 to find that in every golden era in human 25:35 history proceeds from the devotion and 25:38 righteous passion of some single individual. 25:42 This does not set aside the sovereignty of God. 25:45 It simply indicates the instrument through which 25:49 He uniformly works. There are no bona fide 25:52 mass movements; it only looks that way. 25:55 At the center of the column there is always 25:58 one man or woman who knows God, and 26:01 knows where he is going. Richard Ellsworth Day 26:05 is essentially saying this that when you see 26:07 these mass movements in society, these spiritual 26:12 phenomena, the spiritual awakening that are 26:13 taking place. We many times thinks it's a 26:15 multiple cause or it's a myriad of individuals 26:17 that are driving this moment and it says 26:21 you will be surprise to find that at the center 26:23 of the column, is one man or one woman 26:27 who knows God and knows where he is going, 26:30 and this person is unreservedly dedicated 26:33 to the Lord Jesus Christ and is willing 26:35 to spend his or her time on their knees. 26:39 I want you think about that? Luther, 26:41 one person, he started the reformation 26:44 and he stared from the place of prayer. 26:45 And John Wesley shook England to his very 26:48 foundations and its depths and he started 26:51 with one person. Robert Evans, another 26:53 13-year-old son who prayed for 13 years 26:58 for revival, and at the age of 26 a 100,000 27:02 individuals were converted to Lord in six months. 27:06 Revival begins with prayer. 27:09 There is a statement by E.M. Bounds that 27:11 goes something like this. That the strongest one 27:15 in Christ kingdom is the one who can knock 27:18 the best, and the secret of success in 27:21 Christ kingdom is the ability to pray. 27:26 And so today I would like to invite you to 27:29 seek God as a person, seek that time with 27:33 prayer and make God the preeminent priority 27:36 in your life, and make Jesus the center 27:40 praying person that he wants you to be. 27:43 I would like to thank you for joining us with this 27:45 today and may God bless you and keep you to 27:48 that end and join us again next time 27:51 for another edition of Faith Chapel. |
Revised 2014-12-17