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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 49
3 May 2009
True Revivals
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the
Worship Service, 2:00 pm, May 3, 09)
Text:
2 Chron 34:22-33
Nowadays, many are deceived by
charismatic leaders with the sign gifts of speaking in tongues,
prophesying, healing, performing miracles and wonders, and so forth as a
sign of revivals. They even thank and praise God for drawing so many to
their church with worldly music and entertainment and social gospel. It
is vital for you and me to discern true revivals from counterfeit ones.
Let us have a look at a true revival which led to reformation recorded
in God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures, in the days of King Josiah.
God’s Sovereignty and Human
Responsibility
The living and true God of the Holy
Scriptures is sovereign. No man, no power, no authority nor wicked
forces of Satan can hinder God in whatever He has planned to do
according to His sovereign will, His power, His grace, His mercy, His
timing, and for His glory alone (Ps. 115:3; Isa. 46:9-11; Dan. 4:35;
Matt. 20:15; Rom. 9:15-23; 1 Thess. 1:9). This demonstrates the
sovereignty of God, who is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent
forever and ever (Ps.139; Matt. 19:26; Heb. 4:13; 1 John 3:20; Rev.
19:6). However, man has full responsibility for all that he does, and he
will be judged according to what he has done (Rev. 20:11-15).
By God’s sovereignty, King Josiah’s
name had been prophesied by a man of God from Judah nearly 300 years
before he was born (1 Kings 13:2). Also by God’s sovereignty that “a
book of the law of the LORD given by Moses” was preserved and found,
and this led to the true revival and reformation (2 Chronicles 34:14).
King Josiah was a descendent of King
David, and a great-grandson of the great reformer, King Hezekiah (2
Chronicles 29-32), but his grandfather, King Manasseh, and his father,
King Amon were very wicked, worse than the heathen; especially, the evil
55-year reign of King Manasseh was full of all the abominations like
idolatry, witchcraft, sacrifice of children, bloodshed, and immorality,
“more evil than did the nations” and “wickedly above all that
the Amorites did” (2 Kings 21; 2 Chron. 33).
Surrounded by the majority of ungodly
and wicked people, even his father, who worshipped idols and followed
heathen practices, but by God’s grace and providence, King Josiah was
spiritually supported by the prophets Zephaniah (Zeph.1:1), Jeremiah and
the prophetess Huldah as well as by his good men, especially the high
priest Hilkiah and the scribe Shaphan (2 Chron. 34, 35). Josiah may also
have been influenced by his good mother, Jedidah.
However, King Josiah played an
important role in the revival and reformation. If he were a wicked king
like his grandfather or his father, God would have never used him. The
responsibility of King Josiah is shown through his seeking of the LORD,
fear of the LORD and humble submission to the LORD. As a result, God
heard his prayer, preserved him from the coming destruction, blessed him
and used him to start the revival and reformation. Do you and I fulfil
our responsibility?
True Revivals
Seeking God Himself First:
God is holy, righteous,
gracious and merciful. God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at
all (1 John 1:5). Those who walk in darkness of sin can never have
fellowship with God (1 John 1:6). Therefore, seeking after the LORD
requires a devoted heart that is willing to separate itself from all
kinds of sins and worldly pleasures in order to get closer and closer to
the Lord. “For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet
young, he began to seek after the God of David his father” (2
Chronicles 34:3). King Josiah began to seek after God at the age of
sixteen. At this age, young men are old enough to have full energy of
life with youthful desires and ambitions, and most of them are easily
tempted to enjoy life with youthful lusts and worldly pleasures and
attractions. Therefore, it is very pleasing to the Lord when you and I
seek after Him at our young age. King Solomon taught in the book of
Ecclesiastics, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not…” (Eccl. 12:1). And the prophet
Zephaniah preached in Josiah’s days, “…, before the day of the LORD’s
anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth”
(Zeph. 2:2-3).
King Josiah was really wise to seek
after the LORD before the evil days came, before the judgment of God
fell on Judah because of the serious sins and wickedness of his father,
King Amon and his grandfather, King Manasseh. King Josiah had a tender
heart, and that is the result of his seeking after the LORD and being
close to Him. While hearing the Word of God, he was trembling with fear
and quickly humbled himself before the Lord, rent his clothes and wept
in deep repentance, so when he prayed to God, God heard him (2 Kings
22:19; 2 Chronicles 34:27). The Lord says that He will look to him that
is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at His Word (Isaiah
66:2).
It is essential for you and me to
cultivate a tender heart like King Josiah, seeking after the LORD
sincerely, wholeheartedly and humbly, leaving the world and its
attractions behind, and counting “all things but loss” to win
Christ and to be found in Him (Phil 3:8-9).
Many are seeking experiences,
feelings, healing, material blessings, power, signs and wonders, or
human agents as revivalists instead of seeking God Himself. Their
revivals are not true. Dear friends, are you and I truly thirsting for
the Lord Himself and seeking after Him and rejoicing in Him? If not, we
do need to be revived by Him and pray, “Wilt thou not revive us
again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Ps 85:6).
Thirsting for God’s Word with a Humble
and Submissive Heart:
“My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy
word” (Ps 119:25). The verb “quicken” here is from the same Hebrew
term khayah, which means “live, to give life, revive, quicken,
keep alive, restore to life, cause to grow” (BDB Lexicon). True
revivals are always related to God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures. God’s
Word is “quick, and powerful” (Heb 4:12) and able to regenerate
and sanctify us (John 17:17; 1 Peter 1:23) as well as to give us life or
revive us. The Holy Scripture is the complete revelation of God to man
and it has been preserved by God from generation to generation
(Ps.12:6-7; Matt 5:18; Rev.22:18-19). Without the Scriptures, man cannot
know God and His plan of salvation fully and correctly, and the Church
cannot worship and serve God properly. And without the Scriptures, there
is no true revival or reformation. That is the reason why Satan has
tried his best to attack God’s Word since the beginning. By his lie and
deceit, he made Eve doubt God’s Word and then disobey God’s Word (Gen.
3:1-6). Then, those who arrogantly criticize, question, twist,
misinterpret, or cast doubt on God’s Word can never be revived by God’s
Word.
Under the reign of King Josiah, the
Book of the Law was found, read, and obeyed, and then the reformation
spread throughout the nation. Satan must have tried to destroy God’s
Word under the wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon, but he could not
because God did preserve His Word as He promised. While God’s house, the
temple, was under repair, Hilkiah the priest “found a book of the law
of the LORD given by Moses” by God’s providence (2 Chron.
34:14). Without any doubt despite the fact that the book of the Law of
Moses was only a copy (apograph), King Josiah heard God’s Word with fear
and trembling, rent his clothes, humbled himself, wept before God and
asked Hilkiah, Shaphan and others to inquire of the LORD for him and his
people concerning the words of the book (2 Chron 34:19-21, 27). This
proves that the Scripture is inspired by God and it has power to convict
the hearer of his sins and to quicken his spiritual life when he reads
it with a tender and God-fearing heart (Isa. 66:2; 2 Tim. 3:16; Heb.
4:12). God is pleased to use those who trust in Him and are willing to
follow Him wholeheartedly and obey His Word carefully. King Josiah
“did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the
ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to
the left” (2 Chronicles 34:2). His heart was determined to follow
God’s will and way without any compromise to turn to the left or right.
There was no king before him who “turned to the LORD with all his
heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all
the law of Moses” (2 Kings 23:25).
The Holy Scripture was also loved,
read, kept, taught and preached in the 16th century
Protestant Reformation and in the true revivals in Wales, Scotland, and
Switzerland in the mid-18th century and early 19th
century as well as in the first and second Great Awakening in America in
the 18th century and 19th century. In the book,
John Sung My Teacher, written by my the late Rev Dr Timothy Tow, we
learn that Dr John Sung was thought to be mad and was forced to stay in
a hospital for 193 days, and during those days, he read the Holy
Scriptures for 40 times. God’s Word did revive him and prepare him for
the revivals in Asian countries. How about you and me? Are we thirsting
for God’s Word and reading it with a tender, teachable, prayerful,
humble and submissive heart? If not, we do need to pray God to revive us
again.
Repenting of Sins:
King Josiah humbled himself in repentance, rent his clothes, wept before
the Lord (2 Chron. 34:18, 27) and said, “for great is the wrath of
the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept
the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book”
(v 21). True revivals always go along with conviction of sins and
sincere repentance. The messages against sins and of God’s salvation in
Christ were preached, and the hearers repented sincerely and cried unto
the Lord for mercy and salvation. Nowadays, many attend charismatic
churches because they feel good and encouraged even though they are
living in sins and worldliness! They do not want to hear the messages
against sins or self or worldliness. There is no sincere repentance
among them, then how can they be truly revived? How about you and me? Do
we deeply repent for not having kept God’s Word and loved Him with all
our heart, soul, mind and strength?
Separating from Sins, Idolatry, Wrong
Doctrines and Worldliness:
God is a holy and jealous God, and He requires His people
to sanctify themselves, to be holy, and to worship Him alone according
to His Word (Lev. 11:44-45; Deut. 5-6). God also requires His people to
“separate” themselves from unrighteousness, filthiness, idols, and
unbiblical doctrines and practices, “perfecting holiness in the fear
of God” (2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:1). Furthermore, God’s people are supposed
to “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Ps. 29: 2;
96:9).
With the same holy zeal, King Josiah,
in the twelfth year of his reign, had concerns about the house of the
LORD and demanded his men to repair it (2 Kings 22:5-7). In addition to
purging Judah and Jerusalem from high places, idols, and images, he also
“broke down” the altars and “cut down all idols throughout all
the land of
Israel” (2 Chron.
34:3-7). After the book of the law was found and read, King Josiah
continued to take away “all the abominations out of all the
countries”, put down the idolatrous priests, broke down the house of
the sodomites and high places (2 Chron. 34:33; 2 Kings 23:5-14).
Many are proud of their church with
wealth and big membership, but they fail to see that they are
compromising and tolerant towards sins, wrong doctrines and worldliness.
They even bring worldly music and entertainment into the church. Then
how can they have true revival? Dear friends, do you and I apply
Biblical Separation in our lives and our church? If not, we do need to
pray God to revive us again.
Sharing God’s Word to Others:
King Josiah “went up
into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the
people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the
book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD” (v 30)
and he called all that heard the words of the law to “serve, even to
serve the LORD their God” (33). He also encouraged the priests and the
Levites to “the service of the house of the LORD”, to serve the
LORD their God and His people Israel, to prepare themselves, to sanctify
themselves and to prepare their brethren (2 Chron. 35:2-6). King Josiah
restored the proper worship and kept the Passover so solemnly that
“there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of
Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a
passover as Josiah kept” (2 Chron. 35:18). Then, is God’s Word
preached and shared to others through your lips and mine? If not, we
need to pray God to revive us again.
Conclusion
Dear friends, do you and I truly seek
God first, thirst for God’s Word, repent of our sins, separate ourselves
from sins, wrong doctrines and worldliness, and share God’s Word to
others? May God revive us again and help us serve Him faithfully with
our love, holy zeal and humble submission unto the end. Amen.
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