When you look at the division among God's people, when you look at the perversions, we need a revival. Dr. Tony Evans says revival is more than just making people go to church. It's making people come to life.
We're not better off because we showed up in the house of God. What we actually need is not a sermon. We need a revival. This is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of The Urban Alternative.
A lot of people attend revivals looking for more energy or enthusiasm, but today Dr. Evans begins a series that will teach us about what we really need to literally be brought back to life. Let's learn more. When we left on vacation, we went overseas to do a Mediterranean cruise. And I was looking forward to it. I love cruising.
It's very relaxing and you get to see numbers of different places. But a few days after we boarded the ship, there was a problem. The upper left side of my mouth began to hurt. At first it was just a low-level, irritating pain.
And so every now and then I'd grab my face and sort of just shake it off and ignore it. Each day it got worse. I took some aspirin. I took some Advil. I took some things to try to make it better because I'm so far away. After four or five days of this increased pain, now turning my vacation joy into a vacation job, I was now in excruciating pain so much and so that I could not get out of bed.
So I'm now on vacation, which is supposed to be relaxing and joyful. And I mean, I am in excruciating pain. So when I just couldn't take it anymore, I went down and the ships have medical centers in them to the doctor and said, I can't take this.
This is killing me. I can't move. I can't eat.
Who wants to go on a cruise if you can't eat? He gave me some codeine to address the pain. It didn't work. The pain was getting worse and worse. Finally, I got to a telephone and I called back to Dallas, Texas to my dentist. And I called my dentist and I said, I don't know what's wrong, but whatever it is, it's killing me. He asked me for the details of what I was going through and I explained it and I said, I just can't.
If I need to fly back home, I do that, but I just can't take it anymore. He said, you've been treating the wrong problem. You've been addressing the wrong problem. You've been addressing the problem of pain when really your pain is symptomatic of a much deeper problem. He says, from what you have described to me, you have an infected tooth.
There is infection or an abscess in your mouth and all the Advil and aspirin and codeine in the world won't solve that problem. In fact, he said, to tell you how bad it is, if you're taking those painkillers and they aren't fixing the problem, that means the true problem is overriding your attempts to make it better. He says, we have to address this infection if we're going to make things better, because if we don't address the infection, you will forever be popping pills that at the best can mask your real problem.
In fact, it's actually better that they didn't work, because if they had worked, you would think you were okay, when you really aren't okay and that infection could breed further into your body. So he prescribed some antibiotics. I was dealing with something to fix my pain. I was hurting and I was in pain, but he prescribed some antibiotics to get to my root problem. Because if I could fix the root, I would address the fruit that I was having to deal with and that was the pain in my life.
All my attempts failed because I was addressing the wrong thing. Now I was addressing a real thing. I was in pain, but the real thing wasn't the right thing. It was real.
I felt it, but it would not rectify my problem. Today we are going to embark on a journey, a journey taken from Psalm chapter 85 and the phrase found in verse number six, revive us again. That's where the series title comes from, revive us again. How do we know we need a revival? A revival presupposes something. It presupposes spiritual decline. I spent my time during my vacation reviewing the revivals of the Bible.
We will be going through them. I actually looked at the different revivals that took place in Scripture and virtually everyone was introduced with a crisis. People were hurting and it needed to get fixed, but in order to get it fixed, they had to first identify what was really wrong, lest they would be fixing the wrong thing. Spiritual decline was consistent with the need for revival. Revival need is evident from the lack of spiritual life and victory among God's people. Revival was needed because God's people had so strayed from him, producing spiritual decline, abandoning the will and the word of God.
They needed something that would get to the root of what was really wrong rather than simply popping pills to make them feel better. When you see the world infiltrating the church and the church not infiltrating the world, then we need a revival. Revival is not more religion. Religion has its place, but revival has to do with God changing something inside.
See, for us to become alive, God has to change something inside so there is the impartation of his life and we become alive. What then is the problem that is the root cause of the need for revival? Please notice some words in this passage. Verse 2, iniquity. Verse 3, fury and the word anger. Verse 4, indignation. Verse 5, anger. The need for revival was because God had been ticked off. Indignation, anger, sin, fury. God had been ticked off by his people because his people had rejected him.
You're going to discover something when we go through these revivals that in almost all of them, the word idolatry or some form of it comes up. God had been traded in. And the way it became evident that God had been traded in, that the true God had been traded in for a cheap, saccharine substitute, was the sin of the people. Their sin was their proof they had changed their God. So the sin was really the fruit of a shift of God's.
Producing indignation, if you will, or anger by God that had to be assuaged. I need to say a word here about the two sides of God because we have a one-sided view of God. And that's the love side, the side we like. You'll often hear people say, my God is a God of love.
That's true, but that's not the whole story. Because God is also a God of righteousness, he is a God then of wrath, fury, indignation, the side we don't like and don't want to talk about. We welcome the side of God that we are comfortable with. We don't want to talk about the side of God we are uncomfortable with, but that's like the doctor not talking to me about infection, just toothache.
We're not dealing with the whole story. So there will be a lot that won't be pleasant. Because when you're talking about the fury of God, the indignation of God, that's not fun stuff, but we're talking about life here. Now I know many won't want that.
Many want to simply pop a pill to get rid of the pain. But revival calls for something deeper. It calls for dealing with something that addresses the infection. He says, revive us again. In order to be revived again, that means he had already been revived at some other time.
Because he doesn't say revive us, he says revive us again. Well, he helps us out there in the first three verses. He tells us what he's talking about when he says the captivity of Jacob. Israel was in rebellion against God, and because of their rebellion, they were sent into captivity. You've read about it in the book of Daniel.
It's the Babylonian captivity, where for 70 years, they were now captive in a miserable place called Babylon because of their sin. But when the people cried out to God for revival and addressed the sin that was the fruit of the idolatry, God entered in and restored them back to the place that they left from. Andre Crouch said it best, take me back. Take me back to the place when I first received you. And some of us need to say revive us again because we remember a time when we were in love with the Lord. We remember a time when pleasing him was our passion. We remember a time when time with him wasn't viewed as a waste of time. We remember a time when we sensed his glory. But now, years later, we found our faith to be boring and inconvenience getting in the way.
And church okay, but it's really no big deal. Why? Because there has been a drifting to the wrong side, to the dark side. Well, Dr. Evans, we'll come back with more of our message in just a moment. First though, what you're hearing today is the beginning of a powerful series called Revive Us Again. This two volume 14 message collection will show you how to rekindle your relationship with the Lord and add some fire to your faith. It covers everything from the revival we experience as individuals to what can happen when an entire nation turns back to God. You can get both volumes of this powerful series on CD and digital download as our gift when you make a donation to the Ministry of the Alternative. And right now, as a special bonus and only for a limited time, we'll also send you one of the first copies of Tony's brand new book, God Himself, a journey through his attributes. This exciting work takes a look at God's wisdom and wrath, His sufficiency and sovereignty, and His goodness, grace, and glory. Dr. Evans dives deep into the character of God, giving you fresh new insights that will deepen your understanding and love for your Creator. Just visit us today at tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222, make your contribution, and let us send you, as our thank you gift, Revive Us Again, volumes 1 and 2, and Tony's brand new book, God Himself.
But don't wait, this special offer is only available for a limited time. I'll have our contact information for you again after part two of today's lesson and this. Bible study is like gold mining.
The deeper you dig, the more treasure you'll unearth. If you're ready to tap into the mother load, explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere through the growing list of online courses waiting for you now in the Tony Evans Training Center. Take your time with each online module that will take you verse by verse through the text with exclusive in-depth content from Dr. Evans, probing discussion questions, access to full length messages, and an online discussion forum where you can ask specific questions and get detailed answers. The focus is on understanding and application, equipping you to put God's Word to work in the real world.
Explore our growing list of courses covering many of the most important concepts in Christianity. The Tony Evans Training Center, a world of discovery anytime, anywhere. When we left for vacation, we went over to the east. We left when it was dark and arrived when it was dark, because we were on the dark side. When we came back just a couple of days ago, we left when it was light and we arrived when it was light, because we were on the light side, the sun side. We stayed in the light. You know why we stayed in the light? We were coming home. See, when we left, we were leaving home, going away from the sun. On our way back, we were coming home, coming to the sun.
It's all about which side you're on. He says that this issue of God's anger, His indignation, and His fury must be addressed. He said, like it was in the past when you restored us from our captivity. I need you to do for me now what you did for me then. Revive us again. In other words, one revival doesn't cut it, not when you've drifted.
You need to be revived again. When the people addressed their sin that led them into captivity, God restored them back to His light side, His right side. He makes it plain when He says at the end of verse 7, show us your lovingkindness, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. That word salvation means to be delivered or rescued. Rescue us from what we're having to deal with. I wonder if there's anybody here needing to be rescued, rescued from an empty life, rescued from an addiction, rescued from a situation.
You need to be delivered. Now, let me make a parenthetical statement here. Every problem that we have, every difficulty is not necessarily because of sin. I don't want to suggest that there may be trials in our lives and in life. So I'm not suggesting that, but I am suggesting the reason why we are in this perpetual mode of defeat is the absence of life. Yes, there are trials and difficulties, but that's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about where we are living in defeat. In spite of going to church, in spite of dedications, in spite of all that, spiritual defeat is the norm. Let me say something about this very briefly theologically. I just want to read from a powerful passage in Romans chapter 1.
Paul says in verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then to the Greek. For it is the righteousness of God. It is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith for. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. It's built in wrath. Let me tell you something about God's wrath. God's wrath is not capricious or reactionary. In other words, God's wrath isn't just, I'm upset today. God's wrath is His built-in response to that which is not in keeping with His character.
It's built in. It is the natural overflow of that which disagrees with who He is. So it's not just that God did— One of the beautiful things about the New Testament is that because of this covenant of grace, you don't see fire falling down from heaven. You don't see a lot of the stuff that you see—you ought to be glad you're in the New Testament.
You don't see a lot of that stuff you see in the Old Testament because in this covenant of grace, what God has done is that He has created a covering, but He's not canceled His character. So you see His wrath in the built-in outcomes of the actions. He says the wrath of God is revealed, is made manifest against anything that is not in keeping with God's character. His wrath is His displeasure. All of us grew up in homes when we could see when our parents weren't happy just by the look on their face. Their displeasure was evident.
He says, give us your salvation that is rescue us, deliver us. We want God to change our circumstances without addressing the reason why He's upset. God, get rid of my pain. Get rid of my not having a job, not having finances. Get rid of my bad health. Get rid of my single hood. Get rid of my situation. Get rid of it.
But we have not addressed the cause. But we want the salvation, the deliverance. We want Him to change our circumstances without a return to Him. The final verses from verses 8 through 11, He prays. I will hear what God the Lord will say. He's asked Him to revive us again. Because when He speaks, He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones who do not turn back to folly.
Don't go back to the old way. His deliverance, salvation, is near, closer than you think, to those who fear Him, that is, take Him seriously. And then in one of the most picturesque statements in all of the Bible, verse 10, loving kindness and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Loving kindness and truth have had a meeting, met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Oh, that's powerful. God's loving kindness is the mercy He shows to His people. Mercy is not getting what you ought to get. God can't compromise His truth in order to show us mercy. And when truth meets mercy, God has shown up. He says, and righteousness and peace have to kiss each other. Righteousness is the character of God. It is the standards of God that's righteousness, that which God calls right, kisses peace. Peace in the Bible means wholeness or wellness. It means God bringing things together. He says, when we get on God's righteousness, righteousness puckers its lips and kisses peace. So loving kindness and mercy meet righteousness and peace kiss. What does that mean? It means two things that were apart are now coming together.
There is a reconnect. We are functioning from a disconnect and wondering why we're not seeing the power of God when we're actually seeing the displeasure of God. Individually, as families, as churches, and even as a nation. What can I expect when God revives me? He says, righteousness will look down from heaven.
Verse 11, truth is going to spring up from earth and the Lord will give what is good. That's divine favor. People walk around, I want to be blessed, but they don't want to get rid of the fury, wrath, and indignation. I want to be blessed, but I don't want to change my direction. I want God to show his power, but I don't want to move from my space. No, indeed God will give what is good in our land. In this case, you can put our lives will produce its produce.
My life will go in the direction it's supposed to. Righteousness will go before him and will make his footsteps into a way. When God's people return to God and God then reacts and responds and returns to God's people, you have a clash of titans and revival that occurs and things change.
Not because you have to force them to change. They change because now God is in the mix and heaven has shined down and life and light has come out of darkness. God's favor is experienced once again. Dr. Tony Evans, talking about what happens when we recognize our need for revival. He'll come back with a final story to wrap up his thoughts for today, but first he wants you to be sure that you've received God's ultimate favor, his free gift of salvation. If you're at all uncertain about your eternal destiny, visit tonyevans.org and click on the link that says Jesus. Dr. Evans has a short video message for you and some free resources to help you be sure about your eternal future.
Don't put it off. Visit tonyevans.org right now. And while you're there, don't forget to request your copy of Tony's current 14-part series, Revive Us Again, including full-length messages we won't have time to bring you on the air, along with the special gift of his brand-new book, God Himself. They're yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep Tony's teaching on this station. Get all the details and make your request online at tonyevans.org before this limited-time offer runs out. Again, that's tonyevans.org. Or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members assist you.
That's 1-800-800-3222. When a rocket shoots up into the sky, you know there's something powerful going on inside of it. Next week, Dr. Evans explains that the same is true when a believer is lit up by the fire of revival. Right now, though, he's back with a final thought for today.
I have a meeting with my dentist. A few weeks ago when I talked to him, I was far away. And all he gave me was his word. He said, this is what I want you to do.
I didn't see him, but I did talk to him. And I told him, I need a revival in my mouth. He spoke the word. He told me what to do.
And I felt better. He told me in the word when he was talking to me. He said, when you come back, you come straight to my office and we're going to fix this thing once and for all.
You know what he was telling me? As long as you're far away, it's a temporary situation. But when you come back, when you draw near, and when you meet me face to face, and I look at this thing because we have now connected in proximity, we're going to take care of this thing. So while I'm happy that I've got relief for a period of time, I know that if I don't connect face to face, I'm going to be right back where I started asking for another revival. But if I can connect from the word to the person, if I can connect from what I heard him say to what he does when I see him face to face, he says, then I will even have a greater transformation. So through this series, you're going to hear the word, but I hope you don't settle for that. I hope you say, God, I want to meet you face to face so that you can deal with me and what needs to be dealt with because I want you to revive me again. you
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