Introduction:

by show of hands, how many of you believe that the United States us in need of Revival?  Not an outward change for a few weeks, but a change of heart of the people in our country! 

In this section, we see that the Ark has been returned to Israel, but Israel had not returned to the Lord.  So Samuel calls the nation of Israel to repentance to put away their foreign gods from among them, and prepare their hearts for the Lord and serve Him only.  The result would be that the Lord will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines.

Israel Had The Ark Back; But Things Were Not Really Set Right.  Israel realizes that they are no more right with God just because they have the Ark again.  Instead, all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.  They Had Good Reason To Lament.  Their cities were in ruins (morally the United States is in ruins), their armies were defeated, and they were under Philistine domination, all because they were not right with God. 

A.                 The Inward Elements of Revival (v.2-4).

1.                  A Lamenting after the Lord (v.2).

a)                  ‘…all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord…’  (v.2).

(1)                 Lament means to “wail, to make ritualized motions and sounds of sorrow, here as an act of repentance, implying a change of behavior, more specifically “to change one’s manner of life, with the implication of turning toward God”. 

Its not just tears without repentance like Esau who "sold his own birthright for a single meal.  For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”  (Hebrews 12:16-17, NASB95)

It is the kind of tears that Isaiah called on unfaithful Israel to do, reminding them, “Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, to shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth” (Isa.22:12).

(2)                 James 4:1-9—Lament or (be miserable NASB) carries the idea of “being broken and feeling wretched because of one’s circumstances”—in this case, that of being sinful, lost, and separated from god.

It is exactly the feeling expressed by the tax collector spoken of by Jesus who “was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner! ’ (Luke 18:13).

Jesus Himself said “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  (Matthew 5:4, NKJV)

This corresponds to what He said in Luke 6:21 "Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “  (Luke 6:21, NASB95)

However, just a few verses later Jesus says "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.” (Luke 6:25, NASB95). 

To laugh now and not mourn is the same attitude of those in Noah’s day, Jesus said "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.  “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”  (Matthew 24:37-39, NASB95)

(3)                 The flood took them away to a place where there will be eternal weeping (Luke 13:22-28).

(4)                 Again, there needs to be a lamenting from the heart.

Paul wrote that “godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”  (2 Corinthians 7:10, NKJV)

b)                  Peter Had Sorrow That Produced Godly Repentance (Matt.26:74-75)  

(1)                 Remember in (Matthew 26) where a servant girl said to him, “you were with Jesus of Galilee” & he denied it.  And not only once but three times, and the third time

Peter said, “I swear by God, I don’t know the man.”  And immediately the rooster crowed. Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”  And he went away, crying bitterly.”  (Matthew 26:74-75, NLT)

(2)                 When Peter finally realized the grievousness of his sin, he turned from it in disgust.  Like Judas, he fled into the night; but unlike Judas, he returned to the Lord in faith.

(3)                 His faith had slipped and weakened, but it was genuine faith, and Jesus Himself had prayed that it would not fail:

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you; that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”  (Luke 22:31-32)  

2.                  A Returning to the lord with all your hearts: Inward Repentance!

a)                  ‘…if you return to the Lord with all your hearts…’  (v.3).

(1)                 The Opportunity To Repent Was Given (Joel 2:12-16).      Romans 2:4-5

Even in the midst of judgment God calls out.  Through the prophet Joel the Lord says “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.”  Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.  Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him…?  “Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. (Joel 2:12-16, NASB95)

(2)                 The Lord was ready to forgive and bless, if genuine repentance was demonstrated:

The Psalmist says "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”  (Psalm 34:18, NASB95)

David goes on to say that "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. “  (Psalm 51:17, NASB95)

b)                  Returning to the Lord involves several things: it calls for…

(1)                 A Self Examination of us and our country (Psalm 139:23-24)!  The New Living translation says ‘point out anything that offends you.” 

Jeremiah said “Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord” (Lam.3:40).

Through Ezekiel, the Lord says of the genuinely repentant man: “Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die” (Ezek. 18:28; cf. Ps. 119:59; 139:23-24).

Paul admonished the Galatians, “Each one must examine his own work” (Gal. 6:4)

And to the Corinthians, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!  Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (2Cor. 13:5). 

Isaiah writes ‘Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”  (Isaiah 55:6-7, NKJV)

(2)                 A Fear of God!  Although most believers know that intellectually, I’m afraid very few realize what that means practically.  Our country has no fear of God!

Clearly, the “fear of God” is not optional: “Live in the fear of the Lord always” (Prov. 23:17); “fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28); “in all things obey . . . fearing the Lord” (Col. 3:22).

(3)                 God Has Always Called His People To Have Such A Perspective Of His Holiness:

Standing in the presence of God’s holiness, Isaiah pronounced a curse on himself, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!”  (Isa. 6:5)

During our Lord’s earthly ministry, the disciples often came face to face with His power and holiness. On one occasion when they were crossing the Sea of Galilee, a storm appeared.  Although they were afraid of the storm, they feared greatly (literally “feared a great fear”) when Jesus calmed the storm (Mark 4:41).  They became much more fearful of the presence and power of God than they were of the deadly storm.

Today the challenge for Christ’s church is this: “Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2Cor. 7:1).

Fearing God Will Lead to the Obedience of God.  Genesis says that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord…  Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations.  Noah walked with God…  Noah did; according to all that God commanded him…  By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household…  (Genesis 6:8-9, 22; Heb.11:7)

3.                  The putting away of foreign gods in their heart (v.3)!

a)                  ‘…Put away the foreign gods from among you…’  (v.3)

(1)                 The Inward Was More Important Than The Outward, And It Had To Come First.  That is why Samuel first called Israel to return with all your hearts, and then told them to put away the foreign gods. 

(2)                 However, inward repentance is a secret thing, it is hidden, and therefore no one can really “see” the heart of another.  No one could see their heart, but they could see if they put away the foreign gods.

(3)                 The heart needs to be changed first not merely an outward reformation.  There is a danger in thinking you can change on your own!

b)                  The Danger of reformation, changing outwardly but not inward (Matthew 12:43-45).     

(1)                 The Scripture says that ‘faith without works is dead’, so is ‘works without faith.’ 

(2)                 It may be that this man made a moral decision to forsake the sin that entrapped him and for whatever reason this man was temporarily freed from the demons presence and influence. 

(3)                 A mere outward change or outward righteousness is one of the greatest hindrances to the gospel.  The Pharisees were classic moralists.  Under the illusion of their own goodness they became unreachable with the saving message of the gospel.

(4)                 Their strict standards of morality gave an illusion of safety and prevented them from seeing that trust in themselves was their greatest spiritual danger and a massive barrier between them and God.

In His series of woes against the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23, Jesus said “For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.  You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also … For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness … (Matt.23:25–32)

(5)                 By itself, morality leads to self-righteousness and is a damning thing!  A person is better off to be in darkness and now it, then for someone to be in darkness and think he is in light (1Jn 1:6). 

When John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism he said "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance" (Matthew 3:7-8, NASB95)

4.                  The Preparation of the Heart (v.3).

a)                  ‘…Prepare your hearts for the Lord…’  (v.3)

(1)                 John was to prepare the hearts of the people for the work that Jesus was going to do. 

Matthew writes that John was “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God."  (Luke 3:4-6, NKJV)

King Rehoboam ‘did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.”  (2 Chronicles 12:14)

5.                  The Allegiance to One Master (v.3).

a)                  ‘…and serve Him only…’  (v.3).

(1)                 God Deserves Our Worship & Service: because he is worthy and wants to transform us.

There is victory in worship: When the Lords people went out to battle, Jehoshaphat "had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”  (2 Chronicles 20:21, NKJV)

(2)                 Satan Desires Our Worship & Service: because he wants to destroy us, and worship is the easiest way to achieve that. 

Paul wrote to the Romans saying Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”  (Romans 6:16, NKJV)

(3)                 Jesus takes it a step further by joining service and worship together, because the thing that we serve is the thing that we worship.  Idolatry is a subtle way for Satan to take control over us:   

Remember when the devil took Jesus up on a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, "And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve."  (Matthew 4:8-10, NKJV)

(4)                 Idolatry is simply putting things ahead of God and people.  We are to worship God, love people, and use things, but too often we use people, love self, and worship things, leaving God out of the picture completely.

(5)                 The highest for of worship is to do God’s will (Romans 12:1-2) body a living sacrifice

There were three young men in the O.T. who did just that.  They would not bow to the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, they said "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”  (Daniel 3:17-18)

(6)                 Samuel was calling on Israel to turn their backs on these other gods and serve Him only. 

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24: No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.”  (Matthew 6:24, NKJV)… 

God used King Josiah to lead a spiritual revival because his heart was tender and he humbled himself before the Lord.  2 Kings 22:19 says "because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the Lord."  (2 Kings 22:19, NASB95)

(7)                 If you are a Christian, you don’t have a choice but to serve God (1Cor.6:19-20).

6.                  The Result Is Deliverance (v.3).

a)                  ‘…He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines…’  (v.3).

(1)                 Because they had repented the lord had delivered them from their enemy. 

The Lord promises that "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."  (2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV)

David said concerning Goliath, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37)

David said in the face of Goliath, "This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel." (1 Samuel 17:46)

(2)                 A great example of this is in (Jonah 3:1-10 cf. Matt.12:41) where God saw that the Ninevites had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction he had threatened.

B.                The Outward Elements of Revival—Doing it (v.4-6).

1.                  Doing the will of God is what counts (Matt.21:28-32).

a)                  ‘…they put away their foreign god’s and served the Lord only…’  (v.4).

(1)                 They didn’t just agree and say that it was a good thing, but they did it!

Just like in Acts 19, those in Ephesus who believed "Came confessing and telling their deeds.  Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together [putting away their foreign gods] and burned them in the sight of all.  And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.”  (Acts 19:18-19, NKJV)…do you have books that you need to burn?

b)                  What’s in your life that you need to put away (Colossians 3:5-10)?

(1)                 ‘Put to death your members…  Paul uses a figure of speech known as metonymy.  When he speaks of killing bodily parts or members, Paul is actually referring to the sins associated with those members (Matt.5:29-30).  Paul is saying that believers are:

(a)                 To make a decision to put sin to death, bringing the flesh under subjection to the Spirit-filled new nature. 

(b)                The positional reality must be worked out in the believer’s practical living.

(c)                 We must yield to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:13), the Spirit’s weapon is the Word (Eph. 6:17), as the believer is strong in the Word, he “overcomes the evil one” (1 John 2:14)

2.                  The example of leadership (v.5).

a)                  ‘…Samuel said, ‘gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you…’  (v.5).

(1)                 Samuel, their leader, calls the people to gather together and pray.  Samuel knew the work God was doing could only be completed through prayer.

(2)                 Also, once a month Pastor Bryan says, gather tonight for “All church prayer, do we do it?

It is a good & healthy for Christians to gather together, the writer of Hebrews says "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  (Hebrews 10:23-25, NKJV)

3.                  The submission to leadership (v.6). 

a)                  ‘…so they gathered together…’  (v.6). 

(1)                 This showed the spiritual need Israel felt at the time.  They did well to express their repentance both with the desire to put away the bad, and to pursue the good. 

The writer of Hebrews says "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you."  (Hebrews 13:17, NASB95)

4.                  The Pouring out of your soul (v.6). 

a)                  ‘…so they drew water and poured it out before the Lord…’  (v.6).

(1)                 A ceremonial pouring of water, in this context, was a demonstration of having one’s soul poured out before the LORD.  It was an expression of emptiness and need.  

The Psalmist exhorts us to "Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us."  (Psalm 62:8, NKJV)

Jeremiah says to "Arise, cry out in the night… Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him For the life of your young children…’  (Lamentations 2:19, NKJV)

Hannah who was barren and "in bitterness of soul… prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish…”  Here husband thought she was drunk "But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit.  I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord."  (1 Samuel 1:10, 15, NKJV)

5.                  A time for Fasting and confession (v.6).

a)                  ‘And they fasted and confessed their sin…’  (v.6).

(1)                 There is outside on the tables, a sign up sheet for fasting and praying for the Easter Service.

(2)                 What time is it?  Its time to…

(a)                 Lament after the Lord

(b)                Return to the Lord with all your hearts

(c)                 Put away your foreign gods from among you

(d)                Prepare your heart

(e)                 Serve Him only

(f)                  To do God’s will

(g)                Submit to leadership

(h)                 Pour out your soul

(i)                   Fast and pray

(j)                   For deliverance

(3)                 Today is the day of salvation…!  today is the day that the Lord has made…!  today is the day to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works you have seen!

(4)                 Today is the day to know “the time of your visitation”.  In A.D. 70 great judgment fell, when Jerusalem was utterly destroyed by the Roman general Titus (later emperor). Over one million Jews were slaughtered; thousands more were taken captive; the Temple was plundered, desecrated, and then utterly destroyed; and the rest of the city was burned to the ground. One historian comments that Jerusalem had no history for 60 years. Just as Jesus had predicted when He wept over the city, "Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you. They will crush you to the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you have rejected the opportunity God offered you.”" (Luke 19:43-44, NLT)

(5)                 Today the Lord is offering us the opportunity to get right with Him!

I.     The Elements of Revival, 1 Samuel 7:1-6

A.     The Inward Elements of Revival (v.2-4).

1.      A Lamenting after the Lord (v.2).

2.      A Returning to the lord with all your hearts: Inward Repentance!

3.      The putting away of foreign gods in their heart (v.3)!

4.      The Preparation of the Heart (v.3).

5.      The Allegiance to One Master (v.3).

6.      The Result Is Deliverance (v.3).

B.     The Outward Elements of Revival—Doing it (v.4-6).

1.      Doing the will of God is what counts (Matt.21:28-32).

2.      The example of leadership (v.5).

3.      The submission to leadership (v.6).

4.      The Pouring out of your soul (v.6).

5.      A time for Fasting and confession (v.6).