Now is the Time for Revival

Money can't satisfy you. Having the nice food can't satisfy you.

Having the nice club, bling, bling, can't satisfy you. Dr. Tony Evans says true satisfaction is a result of revival, a process of restoration with two vital parts. Once it becomes a priority, now you've not only turned from your sins, you are returning to your first love. 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. Today, Dr. Evans explains there are two parts to revival, and being only half revived doesn't get the job done.

Let's join him. I'm sure all of us have alarm clocks, usually by the side of our beds, and these alarm clocks have a major assignment, and that is to let us know it's time to get up. They are set at night to go off in the morning, either with a loud noise or with the coming on of the radio, to tell us that we should no longer be sleeping or slumbering.

It's time to wake up. Alarm clocks can go off at the most inconvenient time. They can go off when you're not ready to get up. They can go off when you don't want to get up.

They can go off and you resist them. It's called a snooze button. That's where you are resisting the call of the alarm that's demanding a response right now.

That means the comfort of the bed must be left, the convenience of the covers must be rejected, because you've got to get on with your day. The alarm clock is critical if you want to accomplish something in life. God had an alarm clock in the Bible, and they were called prophets. Prophets were God's alarm clocks. They would sound the alarm in order to call God's people to a spiritual response so that they would wake up from their stupa, from their sleep and their slumber.

He would create an alarm. In the same way that oftentimes our alarm clocks aren't appreciated when they interrupt our relaxation, sleep, and rest, biblical prophets were often not appreciated when they would sound the divine alarm when God wanted to wake them up from their cozy situation. Our theme is revival, and regularly throughout the Bible, God would call the people to a revival through the alarm system called the prophet. Today I want to look at one of those prophets and his call. The prophet's name is Haggai, and he is known as a minor prophet. They are major prophets. They're the ones with the big books, the Ezekiel's and Isaiah's. Those are major prophets.

They wrote and talked about a lot. Then there are the minor prophets. Now, those are the little books. In fact, Haggai—you flip the page, you finish. Haggai only has two chapters.

He's a minor prophet, but he's a minor prophet with a major message. Let's set the context of Haggai's prophetic message. Israel has been under the judgment of God in Babylon for 70 years. They rejected the earlier prophets, like Jeremiah, who said, if you don't change, God is going to intervene and judge.

They did not change. They refused God. God intervened and judged, and the Babylonians invaded Israel, destroyed the temple, and took many of the Israelites into slavery in the Babylon. That's where books like Daniel come in, where Daniel and Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego have been taken to Babylon.

That was all part of that judgment. For 70 years, they had been living in Babylon in this foreign place, not home. Unhappy, miserable, and wanting to come out of judgment. At the end of 70 years, God's grace and mercy intervened, and God brought them out of captivity from Babylon. The book of Haggai is written to the returning Jews who are now returning back to Babylon. In fact, they have now been back in Israel for over 15 years. When the book of Haggai, when Haggai the prophet comes on the scene, they are back in Israel for 15 years.

Let's see what Haggai has to say to these returning folks who are now back in Israel. Verse 2, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the people say, The time has not yet come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt. So these returning people, who've been back home now for more than 15 years, have not started to rebuild the temple, which was destroyed when the Babylonians came many years earlier to take them into captivity. The temple has been left in ruins. When asked why, the people said, We don't have time to rebuild the temple. We don't have time. Now, we know one of the reasons that they didn't have time, or said they didn't have time, because it's recorded in the book of Ezra.

You don't have to turn there, chapter 4, verses 4 and 5. The people have become discouraged. They had some opposition. They had some resistance. They had some inconvenience. And they said, We're not fooling with this. Temple is nice, need the temple, but we're not fooling with this, because we don't have to go through all this inconvenience.

So they, rather than deal with the inconvenience, they said, We don't have time for this. So they left the house of God on hold. Now, not dealing with the temple was major.

It was major. Because in the Old Testament, the temple was the hangout of the manifest presence of God. And the temple was where the glory of God came, where God sat in the midst of His people. So when they said, We don't have time for the temple, they were not just saying, We don't have time for this building, although the temple was a building. What they were also saying is, It's not that big a deal not to have God in our midst. Because with the temple came God in their midst.

Let me tell you what they were satisfied with, which is what we're satisfied with today. We're satisfied with God in the vicinity, even though He may not be in the midst. They said, Well, as long as we can have God in general, we don't need God in specific. In the midst means the manifest presence of God. In general means God is there. To have God in the temple, that is His manifest glory, is to see God at work, to experience God in a powerful, personal way. To simply have Him in the vicinity is meaning that God is in the general atmosphere. It means it's a good day.

It means the sun's rising. They were satisfied with God in general because they lost the need to see God in specifics. They had what I like to call God on the loop. Like the loop that goes around our city and every major city. It's in the vicinity, but it's not the same as being downtown.

It's on the periphery, on the margin. They were satisfied because they were still carrying on religion. Religion didn't stop, but they said, We're not fooling with this temple.

It's too much trouble. We don't need God in the midst as long as we have God in the vicinity. Many of us came to church today with God in the vicinity, but we're going to go home and He's still not in the midst.

And there's a big difference between general God and specific God. General God, He's there. He's so high you can't get over.

He's so low you can't get under. He's so wise you can't be around. General God is, He's omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, full of veracity. He's full of grace, mercy, and peace. That's general God.

But God in the midst means I've experienced it, means I know it for myself. God in the vicinity is, He's good to everybody. God is good all the time and all the time. God is good.

That's the vicinity. God in the temple in the midst is, He's been good to me. He came through for me. He answered my prayer. I saw Him come out of nowhere and He made Himself, brought Himself into my situation. So I want you to not look at the temple merely as a building.

It was a building, but it represented something deeper. Now let me show you what else. If you turn over one page, you'll run into another minor prophet. His name is Zechariah. Zechariah says, verse 2, the Lord was very angry with your fathers.

That's before you ever went into captivity. Therefore say to them, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Return to me, declares the Lord of hosts, that I may return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Their not returning to Him, to God, was being demonstrated through their neglect of the temple.

So here it is. How do you know when you are returning to God? Now you pretty much know when you're turning from sin because it means something you're doing you're not doing anymore. So you can measure that. But how do you measure when you're returning? Real simple.

One word. First. You know you're returning when you put God first. That's when you know. When God is first, you are returning because that means you have now reprioritized Him and you have repositioned Him in your life which means you are returning to Him.

Regardless of how your emotions are at any given moment. See that's why so much is said about first in the Bible. He says you are to bring your firstborn to the Lord. Deuteronomy 26 says that you are to give the first of your flocks to the Lord. Colossians chapter 1 verse 18 says, Jesus Christ is the firstborn of many brethren that He might have first place in everything. Revelation chapter 2 says you have left your first love.

See once you put God first, once He becomes the priority, now you've not only turned from your sin, you are returning to your first love. You are putting God first and therefore calling God down in your midst. Our problem is we are satisfied with a left over relationship with God.

We are satisfied with the left overs and nobody wants to eat left overs every day. But what we're satisfied spiritually with is giving God left overs which means we have not returned to Him. Even if we've turned from sin which means He is not in the midst. And if He is not in the midst, we do not have the full expression of His presence operating in our lives.

Now how do you know you're not putting Him first? Well one, you say I don't have time for spiritual priorities, but notice what He says in verse 5, consider your ways. In other words, you need to think about this. Okay, so I'm going to give you something to think about because He told me to tell you to think about it. He said consider your ways.

Think about this. You have sown much, you worked hard, and harvest little. You want to know where it all went. You eat and there is not enough to be satisfied. You drink, there's not enough to become drunk.

You put on clothes and no one is warm enough. And He who earns, earns wages to put them in a purse full of holes. Here's how you know that you've not returned to God. You're living a dissatisfied life. The money can't satisfy you. Having a nice food can't satisfy you. Having a nice club, bling bling, can't satisfy you. You're living an unsatisfied life. Guess why you're living an unsatisfied life? God says because I make sure that all your hard work does not satisfy. It won't satisfy you. It won't be enough. And I will make sure that what you get, you put in a pocket full of holes. Soon as you get it, you lose it.

Soon as you pay off one thing, something else breaks down. And so it keeps going up. You keep trying to get more and more and more and more and more.

Nothing wrong with having it in and of itself. But you're getting it without a relationship and you wonder what happened to it. I cut a hole in your pocket. So that it went in and went through. You wonder where it went.

You wonder where it went. You said, boy, I sure am unlucky. No.

Luck's got nothing to do with it. God is saying, you want to use me. You don't want to return to me.

You don't want a relationship. The Bible says, seek ye first the kingdom of God. Dr. Evans will have more on how to find satisfaction in life when he continues our message in just a moment. First, though, I want to tell you about his popular devotional book, Stronger Together, Weaker Apart. This book will teach you how to harness the power of prayer in overcoming anger, disagreements, and misunderstandings.

You'll learn how to heal relationships, find common ground, and impact our world in meaningful ways. If you get in touch with us and request Stronger Together, Weaker Apart right away, we'll send it to you as our way of saying thanks for your contribution toward Tony's ministry. And along with the book, we'll include all 14 lessons in his current two-volume teaching series, Turning a Nation to God. When you make the arrangements online at TonyEvans.org, you can instantly download the digital copies while we send the CDs and book your way. This limited-time offer ends in just a few more days, so visit TonyEvans.org right away or call us any time of the day or night at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our resource team members help you.

That's 1-800-800-3222. Well, Dr. Evans will return with more of today's lesson right after this. If you're like most Christians, there are people in your life who know you but may not know Jesus. You really want to do something about that but don't feel equipped to share your faith effectively.

In other words, maybe if you knew more, you could do more. Well, that's where the Tony Evans Training Center comes in. It's an online Bible school with classes that will take you deep into the most important core concepts of the faith. You can start with our free introductory course on evangelism, then move on to subjects like spiritual warfare, marriage building, maturing in the faith, and many more. The content is challenging, but you can move through it at your own pace any time you're online. There's also lots of custom content from Tony and an online forum where you can get your specific questions answered.

Go to tonyevans.org and follow the link to the Tony Evans Training Center. It's like having a seminary on your smartphone. He says, consider your ways. Your hard efforts are not bringing you enough. Enough means to be satisfied.

Okay, let me put it another way. There's very little contentment in your life. Paul says, I have learned to be content whether times are good or times are bad. I have learned to chill whether my stuff is up or my stuff is down. I have learned to be cool whether the stock market is headed north or whether the stock market is heading south. I have learned to chill. How you doing?

I'm good. Because I have satisfaction. I have contentment.

You see, that's what he said. He says, but the proof you haven't returned to me is your state of discontent. And everything you do to make yourself content won't be enough. You'll drink, but you won't get drunk enough to be content. You'll eat, but you won't be full enough to get content. You'll make more money.

You'll sow more, but it'll go into a pocket full of holes. I will not grant you contentment without me. But if you return to me, he says, that means putting me first.

That doesn't mean some vague thing. Yeah, I'm returning to God. No, no, no. Because you can come to church every week and still not put him first. So you can come to church and he not be first.

That just could be the religious thing. All right, watch this now. Watch this. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, verse seven, consider your ways. That means you better think about this.

You better think about this. Go up, watch this, watch this now. Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple that I may be pleased with it and be glorified, says the Lord. Go up to the mountain, chop down some trees, bring back the wood, rebuild the temple so that I'm happy. You want me to make you happy. OK, how about making me happy first? Says you calling on me for all this stuff. Well, make me happy. Go up there.

Let me tell you, you can't chop down wood without sweating. You got an axe, which is the kind of stuff they would have back then. You got to climb up a mountain.

That's a little inconvenient. You're going uphill, climbing the mountain. So let me tell you something. Returning to the Lord has to be demonstrated in what you do, not how good you sound. He my rock, my sword, my shield.

He my will in the middle of will. That sound good, but you haven't done nothing. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.

That's nice to talk. Go up to the mountain. Let's not have a mountain discussion. Get up. Go up to the mountain. Chop down the trees. Bring back the wood. And let me see what you're going to do with the temple.

Let me see what you're going to do, not how nice you can talk. Go to the mountain. Chop down the trees.

Bring back the wood. We build a temple so that I'm happy. So you please me. Glorify me. Put me first. Now the problem with that request, watch this now, is that the Bible says in a number of places, one place is Ezra 3.7, that when the people went back from Babylon to Israel, the king, then it was Persia because Persia took over Babylon, the king of Persia, watch this now, gave the Jews the wood to rebuild the temple.

Okay. He gave the Jews the wood to rebuild, see somebody, now follow me now. He gave them the wood to rebuild the temple. They had the wood to rebuild the temple. Well now, if I already have the wood to rebuild the temple, why do I need to climb up the mountain to chop down the trees to get the wood in order to rebuild the temple when I have been given the wood to rebuild the temple 15 years ago because they've been back now for 15 years.

Well the reason why I got to go up the mountain to chop down the trees to get the wood to rebuild the temple is because the wood I got when I left Persia is in them panels in my house when I remodel my home. They took the goodness of God and used it for themselves rather than for the glory of God. They took what everybody wants, a blessing, and left God out of being blessed. They wanted a new car for them, new clothes for me, new house for me, but nothing came back to prioritize God. It was so I could get paneling on my walls, I could get this nice wood in my house, forget your temple because you're not important except to bless me. And that's the problem today with being blessed. No problem being blessed, but when you leave God out of the blessing, when I get the wood in order to build his temple, use it for my house and skip his temple for 15 years, what am I saying?

God, you don't matter. As long as you give me the wood, I don't need you in the midst. Verse 9, you look for much, but behold, it comes to little. You want a lot, you want a lot. You come to me talking about, give me this, give me that, bless me this, bless me that, bless me that. You want a lot, but it comes to little. When you bring it home, uh oh, uh oh, I blow it away.

Oh, wait a minute now. Why, declares the Lord, because my house lies desolate while each one of you runs to his own house. Therefore, because of you, the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. I call for a drought on the land, on the mountains, I call for a drought on the grain, a drought on the new wine, a drought on the oil, a drought on what the ground produces, a drought on men, on your own life, a drought on your cattle, and I call for a drought on the labor of all your hands. You thought you had a bad day, you thought these things aren't right. He says, consider your ways.

Here it is, don't disconnect me from your mess. Just like I can bless, I can curse. Just like I can bring good, I can bring bad. You want to call on me for good, but you think the bad's just happening by impersonal forces. Let me explain, God says. If the ground is not producing, it's because I told it not to grow nothing. He says if the cattle are not reproducing and giving you good milk, it's because I told them to give you stale milk.

He says if the vine is not producing grapes, it's because I told the vine not to produce grapes. If there is calamity in your world, that didn't just happen because of impersonal forces operating in the universe. Because you refuse to turn and you refuse to come to me, then yeah, I will blow on your stuff and let you see I can shut you down. I don't care how powerful you are, how great you are, what gravity, what goes up, must come down. But the beautiful thing is, if you've returned to the Lord, then it coming down don't stress you all out.

It don't stress you all out. I hope I don't have anybody in here trying to pull out their head and all scared about how I'm going to make it. I hope we don't have anybody like that in here because if you've returned to the Lord, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. If you've returned to the Lord, I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread. If you've returned to the Lord, he is able to do exceedingly abundantly above. Or you can ask or think if you've returned to the Lord, then he can sustain you during the rough times.

So I hope there's nobody in this house that's losing it. Somebody ought to trust him. Somebody ought to believe in him and put him first. See everybody, look, everybody want to pray now. I mean everybody talk about pray, pray for this, pray for that, pray for that. Everybody want to pray. God said, I know how to get you to pray.

I know how to, I know how to work this thing so that I'm first. He says because of you, the sky shut up. Because of you, there's a drought. Somebody, somebody needs to return. Somebody needs to come home.

You need to turn and return. Dr. Tony Evans talking about the link between revival and survival and these tough times we're experiencing. Part of his two volume compilation, Turning a Nation to God.

Get all 14 lessons in this powerful collection to review on your own or share with your small group or Bible study. Contact us right away and ask for the details on the set called Turning a Nation to God. And if we hear from you right away, you can get all these messages on CD and digital download, as well as a copy of Tony's book I mentioned earlier, Stronger Together, Weaker Apart. This entire resource package is our way of saying thanks when you make a contribution to the ministry of the alternative. We're grateful for your support because it's the only way we can continue bringing you this program and maintain our outreaches to pastors, their families and churches wanting to reach their communities. So get in touch before this special offer runs out. Just call us at 1-800-800-3222 and one of our resource team members will help you make the arrangements. Or visit us online at tonyevans.org. People with a vibrant faith are often called on-fire Christians. Well, next time, Dr. Evans will tell us what gets them lit and keeps them burning. I hope you'll join us. The alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you.