Revival - 4

Revival - 4

Three Secrets to The Revival in The Hebrides

by Rick Welborne

2 Chronicles 7:11-16 (NKJV)
¹¹  Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the LORD and in his own house.
¹²  Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
¹³  When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
¹⁴  if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
¹⁵  Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
¹⁶  For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 

1. The people of the Hebrides placed their faith in a covenant keeping God.

Kathie Walters - "The Hebrides revival 1948-1952 - was a powerful move of God in response to the prayers of seven men and two elderly ladies who refused to let go of God and who wouldn't take "NO" for an answer - They believed He was a covenant-keeping God and that if they kept their part, God would be true to His promise to "Heal their land." The power of God moved from town to town and the presence of God fell upon whole communities.”

--These people believed the tremendous fact that revival lay within their power…within their reach. A covenant is an agreement binding on both parties.

--If God is a covenant keeping God and He is, this promise (If My people) is binding upon Him as well as on us if we keep our part of the covenant.

--If we keep our part...then, He must fulfill His. Obviously the responsibility falls on us because God wants His children to live life fully. 

John 10:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

--If God is God, then what He says is true. His Word must come to pass. I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  

--God has promised revival and He is waiting to send it. Waiting on us to repent, waiting on us to humble ourselves before Him, and waiting on us to seek His face.

--This being true, God is waiting on His people to keep their part of the covenant. 

--The people of the Hebrides staking everything on this fact, began to meet three times a week in a little bam to keep the conditions of the covenant.

--They were confident that their covenant keeping God would stand by His promise and hear from heaven.

--Each night that they prayed they renewed their faith in God's promise and boldly declare in the Presence of God that revival was coming.

--Nothing could deter them from believing that revival was coming even though it seemed slow in arriving.

--They absolutely believed that God would send revival! Listen about Duncan Campbell:

"Duncan Campbell, in his biography by Andrew Woolsey, describes the revival as "A community saturated with God." He goes on, "The presence of God was a universal, inescapable fact: at home, in the church and by the roadside. Many who visited Lewis during this time became vividly conscious of the spiritual atmosphere before they reached the island." 

"The scripture, 'Wither shall I go from your Spirit, or wither shall I flee from your Presence?' took on a very real meaning. One night a man went to the parsonage in great concern of his soul. He was brought into the study and the minister asked him, 'What happened to you, I have not seen you in any of the services?' 'No,' he replied, 'But, I can’t get away from the Spirit.'" 

2. The people of the Hebrides humbled themselves before God. 

Walters - "The little band of prayer warriors made their way to the farmhouse to plead the promises of God. Just after midnight Duncan Campbell asked John, the local blacksmith, to pray. John rose to his feet with his cap in hand and prayed a prayer that will never be forgotten by those who were present." 

"In the middle of his prayer he stopped and raised his right hand to heaven and continued, 'Oh God, You made a promise to pour water on the dry ground, and Lord, it’s not happening.' He paused again and then continued, 'Lord, I don’t know how the others here stand in Your Presence; I don’t know how these ministers stand, but Lord, if I know anything about my own heart, I stand before You as an empty vessel, thirsting for Thee and for a manifestation of Thy power.' He halted again and after a moment of tense silence cried, 'Oh God, Your honor is at stake; and I now challenge You to fulfill your covenant agreement and do what You promised to do.' 

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)
¹⁴  if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves,

--God is holy and humanity must humble itself before Deity. 

James 4:6-10 (NKJV)
⁶  But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
⁷  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
⁸  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
⁹  Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
¹⁰  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. 

--Before a man can stand on holy ground, he must be clean.

--One of the men in the barn rises from the hay and reads these verses from Psalms 24:

Psalm 24:3-5 (NKJV)
³  Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?
⁴  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.
⁵  He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 

--These Words fell upon the people as fire from Heaven and burned into the hearts. God, are my hands clean and is my heart pure? These verses really sober me up from Isaiah’s revelation of God in the temple: 

Isaiah 6:8-12 (NCV)
⁸  Then I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom can I send? Who will go for us?“ So I said, “Here I am. Send me!“
⁹  Then the Lord said, “Go and tell this to the people: ’You will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not learn.’ 

¹⁰  Make the minds of these people dumb. Shut their ears. Cover their eyes. Otherwise, they might really understand what they see with their eyes and hear with their ears. They might really understand in their minds and come back to me and be healed.“
¹¹  Then I asked, “Lord, how long should I do this?“ He answered, “Until the cities are destroyed and the people are gone, until there are no people left in the houses, until the land is destroyed and left empty.
¹²  The LORD will send the people far away, and the land will be left empty. 

--How does these Words affect us? Conviction or apathy.

--Here were people who were willing to meet the demands of a holy God.

--Their personal cost was not even considered in light of God's glory. 

--The price has never changed thru the ages: broken-ness before God, an emptying of one's self in all areas, a forsaking of all sin and habits, and total surrender to God and His purposes.

3. The people of the Hebrides travailed in prayer until they prevailed.

--Every true revival that has broken upon the face of the earth has been proceeded by the people of God travailing before God on their knees.

--Travail - birth pangs - agonizing in prayer to bring forth God's purposes. 

--The people in the barn were undeterred by the cold and discomforts of the barn, undeterred by the seeming silence of God, undeterred by the fact that no one else seemed to be interested in revival.

--They were undeterred by the fact that the world seemed to be just as godless as ever. They continued to travail before God. 

--They continued on their knees or their faces to cry out to God's throne. 

--Their prayers were not halfhearted displays of oratory but wrestling with God.

--These prayed as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane.

Hebrews 5:7-9 (NKJV)
⁷  who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
⁸  though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
⁹  And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

--Men who had made a covenant with God stood in the gap and prayed.

--In their desperation they stormed the throne of God. We do in a crisis but what about daily going after God? 

--Their praying was characterized by their burning passion, their concern for the lost, and their absolute confidence in God.

--They prayed until they lay helpless and exhausted. 

--What depths of reaching out to God! God help us!

--They prayed until they travailed, the travailed until they prevailed.

--They prayed until God answered.

--Travailing must always proceed prevailing. Listen to what happened when revival came:

Walters - "Within 48 hours the drinking house, usually crowded with drinking men of the village, was closed. 14 young men who had been drinking there were gloriously converted. Those same men afterwards could be found three times a week with others down upon their knees before God, praying for their old associates and for the spread of revival. It was in this village that within 48 hours, many young people had surrendered their lives to Christ, and could also be found in the prayer meetings!"

--I think many times we assume that revival will just impact the church but that is definitely not the revival I am praying for…I want it to spread like wildfire into the community!

Play the Video! Charamastica – God Stepped Down

Result: Revival & Transformation.