The Enemies of Revival
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1 Samuel 17:15-29
The Enemies of Revival
Revival Message 2 of 4
Introduction:
The citizens of Feldkirch, Austria didn't know what to do. Napoleon's massive army was preparing to attack. Soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town, which was situated on the Austrian border. A council of citizens was hastily summoned to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white flag of surrender. It happened to be Easter Sunday, and the people had gathered in the local church. The pastor rose and said, "Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed. As this is the day of our Lord's resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us." The council accepted his plan, and the church bells rang. The enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before the service ended, the enemy broke camp and left.
I tell you that story because all around us right now are forces that are surrounding us and don’t want revival to break out. The devil doesn’t desire to see a church excited and renewed for the Lord.
And he will do anything he can to stop it. Now the passage we are looking at tonight speaks about the Israelites facing their enemy. But the enemy has intimidated them and held them back from victory. Now that is what the devil is doing right now, he is trying to hold back revival.
(Read Scripture)
You know in the military branches there are elite groups of soldiers. For instance in the Army you have the Green Berets, in the Navy you have the Seals, in the Marines you have the Raiders. Well, I want you to know that the devil has a special ops group as well.
And this group specializes in attacking churches. And this group is made up of three branches. And friend they are the enemies of revival.
The Enemies of Revival
Point 1 – Routine (vs 15-16)
· The first of these enemies is found in verses 15-16, it’s not something that you see on the surface but friend this enemy is there.
· Who is this enemy? Well, at first glance you might think that it is goliath. And goliath is definitely an enemy, but he is a foot soldier compare to the enemy we see here.
· You see the real enemy of revival that we read about here is routine. For forty days the enemy came and intimidated Israel.
· Now one of the major problems we have in churches today, and why revival is breaking out, is because we get caught up in routine.
· Each Sunday we come in and we sit, we listen and we get right back up to go right back into our same old routine.
· We don’t change.
· Once upon a time there was a town of ducks. On Sunday morning all the ducks came waddling out of their houses and waddling into church where they squatted in their pews. After they sang their duck hymns and said their duck prayers, the duck minister began to preach. “Ducks, you were born to fly. God has given you wings to soar like eagles. Fly, ducks, fly!” This rousing message was met with cries of “Amen” and “Preach it!” After the service the ducks lined up to thank the minister for his inspiring message, and then they all waddled home.
· You see, the devil gets us in a routine, and we just stay right there where we are.
· The Israelites for forty days heard the Philistine’s challenge, and for forty days they stayed right there where they were because they were afraid to change.
· Routine had taken hold on the camp, and they were satisfied remaining like that.
· Friends, I look out at churches today, and they haven’t been in a routine for forty days, but they have been in the same routine for forty years!
· And they wonder why they can’t have victory. Listen the devil wants the church to get into a routine where we just stay right where we are.
· Because if we stay right where we are we are not a threat.
Point 2 – Reluctance (vs 17-27)
· Now the second of the devil’s special ops group is found in verses 17-27, and what is that we see happening here?
· Well, the men of Israel are there in their camp and they hear the challenge given by Goliath and how do they respond? They are reluctant to go.
· The second enemy of revival friend is reluctance. Where we see the challenge but we are afraid to do anything about it.
· These were men of Israel, they were the chosen people of God, this nation had seen the mighty hand of God do great things among them, but right here at this moment, they were reluctant to face Goliath.
· The adversary was too big in their eyes, and they wouldn’t pick up the sword and go and face him.
· You know where reluctance wins out the most in the church? At the altar call.
· You see at the altar is where victory is found, but we are reluctant to go to the altar because right in our path is that giant and he is intimidating to us.
· And that reluctance just takes a grip on us, and what do we do? We stay right there where we are at, and nothing changes.
· Why are we reluctant, we are afraid of what someone might think. We are afraid we will embarrass ourselves, we are reluctant because people will see us.
· Listen if we allow reluctance to hold us back, we are already defeated.
Point 3 – Resentment (vs 28-29)
· Now the third enemy to revival is found in verses 28-29. What took place here?
· Well David came to the battlefield and he saw what was happening and he begins to talk to the men of the camp about the giant.
· But what do we find his brother doing? Well his brother is angry with David.
· You know why we struggle to have revival? I will tell you, the third enemy of resentment has taken a hold on people.
· Someone has made up angry, by what they did or what they said, and we allow resentment for them to fester in our lives.
· David came and just made the comment to the men about the enemy, and Eliab gets offended by David.
· You know in a lot of ways we can see ourselves in this exchange. We can get angry with a brother, and what good comes from it?
· Nothing, if Eliab would have had his way, David would have been sent home.
· And you know where the Israelites would have been, right there in the same place, listening to Goliath, being defeated by the Philistines.
· You know this enemy is effective, he turns family against family, he turns brother against brother, he turns church against church.
· Eliab made assumptions about David, and friend resentment set in. If we allow resentment to take a hold of us, we will never be the church God has called us to be.
The Example for Revival
Now there are enemies to revival, but friend I want you to know that they haven’t won yet. Oh, the devil wants to stop revival from happening, but friends we can have revival.
You can have revival right now in your heart. Now David gives us an example for revival in the next few verses.
Point 1 – Rely on Christ (vs 41-47)
· Now if you want revival, if this church wants revival, the first thing you must do is rely on Christ.
· David walks into the camp, he sees men who are in a routine, reluctant, and resentful. But David doesn’t let those enemies take a hold on him.
· David wants victory, he knows that this enemy can’t oppose the Lord.
· So, David goes out to meet the enemy. And what does he say to Goliath? “I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel…this day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand”
· Friend David was rely on Christ to give him the victory. You want revival you want victory, friend it doesn’t come from your self, it comes from Jesus Christ.
· David stepped out from among that camp, just a boy among the men, but he had more faith in Christ than any of those older ones.
· A child that stood with Christ, friends when we rely on Christ, we can have the courage to face the enemy.
Point 2 – Run with Confidence (48-51)
· Now here is the second thing in the example for revival and that we run with confidence.
· David is relying on God, there is the enemy, does David try to sneak up on him? No. Does he walk to him? Does he approach him cautiously? No.
· What does he do? David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
· Now David you know the story, what does David run toward this giant with? A rock and a sling.
· But what is he really running with? He is running with the Lord.
· He slings the stone, the giant falls, and David uses the sword of Goliath to chop off Goliath’s head.
· Friends, David ran to meet the enemy, but he was running to victory.
· You know where we should be running too? Running to the altar. Running to Jesus. Because there is the victory!
· David had his mind made up, he ran with confidence and won, and friend what you need to do, is make up your mind to find victory tonight with Jesus, by running to this altar.
Point 3 – Revival in the Camp (52)
· Now what happened once David defeated this giant? Well friends there was revival in the camp.
· Everyone else who held back for whatever reason, now they are excited. They are revived and they are running toward the enemy.
· How did this all start, it started with David, who put his trust in the Lord.
· You know revival in the camp can take place with just one person.
· Perhaps the only thing that is needed for revival to take a hold in this church, is for one person to put their trust in Jesus. That they are willing to step out and rely on Christ.
· Listen, it only takes one. And when one person is revived, the rest will be revived.
Closing
· You know the devil doesn’t want revival, he doesn’t want to see victory in this church.
· He is sending out his special forces on you right now. Well, listen you don’t have to be defeated by them.
· If you would just rely on Christ and come to Him, you will find that revival can occur. But if you stay in the same old routine, if you allow reluctance to take a hold on you, if you continue to allow resentment to reside in you, you will never have revival.
· Friend, be free from these enemies, come and allow Christ to revive you tonight for his glory!