Almost Revival
In June of 1995, after years of planning, research and billions of dollars, the space shuttle Discovery was scheduled to launch for the first of seven missions which would rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir, in preparation for the launch of the international space station in 1997.
The date had been carefully chosen, weather conditions were favorable but strange noises were coming from Launch Pad 39-B. Upon investigation technicians found six dozen holes in the insulated covering of the main external fuel tanks.
All of the complex planning and high-priced preparation were useless as the mission grounded to a halt because a family of woodpeckers decided that the space shuttle looked like a great place to live.
The story of Joash is a fascinating one, his reign was filled with promise. After a steady decline in the kingdom from the time of David a bloody coup had taken place, upon the death of her son the king, Joash’s grandmother had killed all of the royal family and set herself upon the throne. But Joash’s great aunt had snuck the infant Joash out with a nurse and they hid for six years in a secret place at the Temple of God. When Joash was seven years of age, the priest, Jehoida, staged an uprising against the wicked and idolatrous grandmother, placing the boy Joash upon his rightful throne.
The temple of Baal in the city was destroyed, the priest of Baal was put to death, the covenant was re-established as well as proper temple worship.
It looked as if another golden age was coming to the kingdom of Judah. It looked like revival was coming. The plans had been laid, the process had begun but then something went wrong. You could say that woodpeckers were discovered in the fuel tank of the revival.
The question for us this morning is why. Why did such a perfect opportunity for revival slip away? What kept God from pouring out His blessing? What did Joash do wrong?
The reason that these three questions are important to me this morning is that I believe we are in a time that in many ways is similar to the beginning of Joash’s reign. A time that looks as if we could be on the brink of revival.
Yes, society has experienced moral decline. Yes, terrible things have happened but there are positive signs, signs that people are growing discontent with the status quo.
So I think it’s important for us to look at the lesson of Joash – of almost, but not quite revival, so that we might see the traps to avoid, the things that quench revival. In the story of Joash, 4 roadblocks are visible to revival. The first is . . .
#1. “Follow the Leader” Faith – v. 2
READ: v. 2
READ: 2 Chronicles 23:16
READ: 2 Chronicles 24:17-18
As long as Jehoida was around to guide him, Joash did, Ok. Not perfect, but ok. But it seems as if there’s little conviction in him. It wasn’t possible for Jehoida to make a covenant on behalf of the king. The king needed to dedicate himself to the Lord, but I don’t believe he ever really did that, and then, as soon as Jehoida is gone, Joash is easily led astray by those who wanted him to turn against the Lord, to reinstate idol worship, and mix it with the worship of the One true God.
Joash was a follower, and that can be ok as long as you’re a follower with conviction, but Joash seemed to be a follower primarily because he had no conviction.
The same danger exists for us today. It’s tempting to follow the crowd or even to follow a charismatic leader. But that’s dangerous even when the leader is a good one because you need to have a personal relationship with the Lord, and if your commitment is leader based it’s easy to be led astray or be turned around by some other leader. And it’s also dangerous because people will let you down.
Though we often think of revivals in terms of their leaders – Jonathan Edwards, D.L. Moody and others, I don’t believe revival has ever come because a leader desired it, but only because the people desired it enough to repent of their sin and seek God in prayer with changed hearts and lives.
A leader may play some part in imparting a vision under God’s anointing of what He wants to do which results in inspired people who make those changes. However, I don’t believe revival will ever happen where people seek to ride the coattails of a leader into revival. For that reason I believe that “follow the leader” faith is a roadblock to revival. The second roadblock is . . .
#2. Neglecting the Strongholds – v. 3
READ: v. 3
The high places were centers of idol worship on mountains and hilltops, often poles to the goddess Asherah were erected. Altars, similar to the ones in the temple used for animal sacrifices, were found there.
But they weren’t in the cities, and the pagan priests who operated them were often very politically powerful. It sounds as if Joash, once he got to the age where he could have done something about it, simply wasn’t willing to make the effort.
We have to remember that idol worship had become more prevalent than genuine worship. The stories in Kings and Chronicles make it clear that many kings like to play both sides of the fence – keeping a pagan god on the side just in case the God of Israel didn’t come through in a tight spot.
Well, what does this have to do with us? We don’t have high places, we don’t worship idols. Maybe not, but we do have places hidden in the hills of our lives, places where God is not sovereign, those habits and sins, inappropriate relationships, temptations we indulge. What about your dignity and your reputation? Are you willing for those to be brought low? Are you ready to surrender every corner of your life to God’s sovereignty or are you hanging on to the high places?
The next roadblock to revival is that which should never be surrendered . . .
#3. Surrender of the Sacred – vv. 17-18
READ: vv. 17-18
When face with a crisis, Joash doesn’t turn to the Lord, he doesn’t call upon the nation to fast and pray, instead, he surrenders the sacred objects, the things dedicated to the Lord. He uses them as a bribe to get his enemy and the enemy of God to leave him alone.
What about us? When push comes to shove in your life what gives way? Is it those things that are sacred to the Lord? When the budget is tight, what gets cut? When something exciting is happening on Sunday morning, where do you find yourself? When your daily schedule is tight, does the laundry wait or does the Lord?
Now, please don’t hear this as some kind of legalism that says you have to “do your time” to be right with the Lord. But if we are earnestly seeking a deeper walk with the Lord, if we’re hungry for revival, then all of our resources: time, talent and treasure must belong first of all to God and if we surrender the sacred for the sake of convenience we should not expect revival or even personal blessing!
The last roadblock comes from 2 Chronicles!
#4. Ignoring the Call to Repentance – 2 Chron. 24:19-22
READ: 2 Chronicles 24:19-22
Even after Joash had strayed far from the path that the Lord had marked out for him, God in His mercy sent messengers to warn him, to invite him back, to offer revival, restoration. But Joash didn’t want to hear what he was doing was wrong, so he killed the messengers.
I believe it is God’s will for us to experience revival – I believe that’s always God’s will. But I also believe that unless we as individuals and as a community of believers heed the call to repentance, we will never experience all that God wants for us. And it won’t be because God has established a system that says: you act right and I’ll bless you, but simply because the blessing of God and intimacy with Him are simply incompatible with an unrepentant life.
READ: 2 Chronicles 7:14
CONCLUSION:
I believe the Holy Spirit has been working powerfully in people’s lives here this morning, convicting those with high places that need to come down, of sacred things that you have surrendered that need to be reclaimed for the Lord. You can choose to ignore God’s call to repentance and continue with life as usual, or you can choose to surrender.
I believe with all my heart that the Lord is willing and anxious to move in revival power in this church. His plans are made, the shuttle is on the launching pad. But there are some woodpeckers we need to deal with. The way we deal with them is repentance – genuine sorrow for sin and a turning back to God – a sorrow that leads to a change of behavior.
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