I have a thought that the Lord's put
on my heart for this evening, and I
want you to turn with me in the
book of 1 Samuel chapter 17, if you
will.
1 Samuel chapter 17, and I've given this
a title, and the title is, why exactly
do we want an awakening?
What is the reason why we pray for
a spiritual awakening?
And it might not be as simple as
a lot of people think it is, and
maybe, just maybe, and I'm only suggesting it,
maybe our motives are not as pure as
we'd like to think that they are.
1 Samuel chapter 17, beginning at verse 45,
then David said to the Philistine, you come
to me with a sword and a spear
and a javelin, but I come to you
in the name of the Lord of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel whom
you have defied.
This day the Lord will deliver you into
my hand, and I will strike you and
take your head from you.
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, that
all this assembly shall know that the Lord
does not save with sword and spear, for
the battle is the Lord's, and he will
give you into our hands.
Now let's just go into the scene for
a moment.
The Philistines with their champion Goliath are gathered
on one side of the valley, and Saul
with the armies of Israel are on the
other side.
This is a representation, it's a pictorial representation
of this constant battle since the Garden of
Eden that's gone on in this world, where
the powers of darkness, and animated by the
devil himself, stand up and threaten the testimony
of the people of God.
Now the people of God had a history,
and they had a purpose on the earth,
and I would assume that the army, many
at least of the army, the soldiers that
were standing there, and the people that were
on Saul's side of the valley, they knew
their history, they knew they were called to
be a people literally unconquerable, people that are
representatives of the mercy, the grace, and the
power, and the goodness of God on the
earth, a special people, people set aside to
give glory to God, and to bring glory
to God, and yet at certain points in
history, like this one we're talking about, one
more time the armies of darkness amassed themselves,
and morning by morning they issue a threat
against the people of God, and the threat
was quite simple, you can't fight against us,
we're stronger than you are, and if you
send anybody you want out against us, and
if we defeat the person that you send
against us, you will serve us.
If you succeed in defeating us, we will
serve you, and that's exactly the way cultures,
and societies, and those who have countries that
have the gospel, have seen darkness pushed back,
and in one sense, the powers of darkness
have had to serve the word, and the
will of God, even if it was reluctant
that they had to serve it.
Remember in Psalm 2, the psalmist writes and
says, why did the heathen rage, and why
did the kings of the earth imagine vain
things, they gather themselves together, and they marshal
their forces, and they roar against the people
of God, and they essentially say to the
people of God, we're going to cast off
your cords from us, you see your presence
is a restriction on our behaviors, we want
to behave a certain way, we want certain
sins in our lives to that God calls
evil, we want them to be called good,
so now we're rising against you, we're stronger
than you are, we're lifting our voices, and
we're making this declaration, you will serve us,
that's what's going on in America today, whether
you recognize it or not, this same voice
that was animating Goliath, and the whole Philistine
army behind him, is now raised up again,
saying to the people of God, you are
not as strong as we are, you can't
fight against us, we're going to overpower you,
and you will serve us, in other words,
you will alter your doctrines, you will alter
your belief system, and you will acquiesce to
what we say is good, and we will
no longer have to serve the good that
you tell us, the word of God says
that we have to obey, now there was
no shortage, I'm sure of people in the
army of Saul, because the people of Israel
were a religious people, perhaps the most religious
on the face of the earth of their
time, there was no shortage of prayer meetings,
they all knew their history, many knew their
purpose, many of them would, when they had
the occasion, they would attend the synagogue, they
would be involved in prayers, and as they
knew it, and I have no doubt that
there's soldiers sitting on the sidelines, and they're
secretly praying, because they were afraid, it was
a fearful moment in history, they were really
under the threat of actually being brought into
subjection to a foreign power, a foreign power
to the kingdom, and the word, the will,
and the ways of God, and you can
just see these soldiers are praying, God, why
are we praying, and you're not hearing us,
how come this is being allowed to prosper,
where is our courage, why is there none
among us who will stand up and fight,
what was the fuel source of the fear
that had gotten hold of the people of
God, and the army of God of this
time, and if we look at that, and
we take that whole scene and kind of
more or less superimpose it on our present
day today, we ask ourselves the question, why
do we want revival, we're calling out for
revival, we're calling out for a spiritual awakening,
but I'm likening it to what must have
been in the hearts of some of these
soldiers at least, or some of the civilians
maybe that were with them, hiding on God's
side of the valley, if I can call
it that, do we want revival because we're
afraid of losing our own safety, and our
own security, is that the reason we're asking
for a spiritual awakening, verse 24 of the
same chapter says, all the men of Israel
when they saw the man, being Goliath, they
fled from him, and were dreadfully afraid, so
the men of Israel said, have you seen
this man that's come up, surely he's come
up to defy Israel, and it shall be
that the man who kills him, the king
will enrich him with great riches, will give
him his daughter, and give his father's house
exemption from taxes in Israel, so there's a
deep abiding sense of fear in this army,
because their own security is now being threatened,
their own safety is now being threatened, and
we have to ask ourselves, where did their
courage go, why were they so cowardly, why
was there not one man that raised up
among them, they had armor, they had muscles,
they had gone to their spiritual warfare conferences,
they had done all of this stuff, but
why is there nobody that has the courage
in a sense, to get up and say,
oh yeah, you think we're going to serve
you, have you forgotten who God is, no,
they all stand back, and they all cower,
and I have a suggestion to you as
to why they were afraid, they were under
the ministry, not only the kingship, but the
ministry of Saul, Saul at this point is
an impulsive man, he's a carnal man, he's
been rejected by God, he's yes, he's still
the king, he's still leading, he's still doing
as he sees it, spiritual things, but all
he has to offer these men, who are
called to fight for the honor of God,
is wealth, status, and power, he's offering the
men that are called to fight for the
glory of God, the very same thing that
the Philistine army are fighting for, they all
want wealth, they all want status, and they
all want power, sociologists tell us, those are
the three slices of the pie, in every
society that outside of the kingdom of God,
that's what everybody fights for, they all want
money, they all want to rise above everybody
else in wealth, they all want to be
close to the king, and they all want
special status in society, and under Saul's ministry,
that's what was being offered to the men
who were called to fight for the glory
of God, I ask you the question, what
have we been offering the people in America
in our pulpits, by and large, I know
there are good preachers out there, thank God
for them, but by and large, that's exactly
the gospel that's been preached for two or
three decades in America, you come to Jesus,
and he will prosper you, and he'll make
you powerful, and he'll give you a special
status in the church, and in the community,
we've lusted for titles, and we've lusted for
preeminence, I'm just so tired of it, watching
these guys with foot-long titles come walking
into conferences with their huge entourage, and their
little wee skinny shallow message, unable to fight
against the darkness, having no effect against the
darkness in our generation, are we asking for
a spiritual awakening, because we simply want to
win, or be the dominating thought in our
present cultural battle, we just want our voices
to be heard, above everybody else's voice, and
we're just, it's almost like a contest to
us, we just, we want the upper hand,
we want our thoughts to be above everybody
else's thoughts, we want to win the argument,
and sometimes that's sad to say, that's just
what it's all about, we just want to
debate those who are living in darkness, thinking
that somehow our debate is going to cause
them to slap their foreheads, and admit the
error of their ways, which is rarely the
case, do we want a spiritual awakening, because
we want to return to our former comforts
and lifestyles, with its accompanying self-focused and
powerless religion, verse 25, again we talked about
verse 25, where it was all about wealth,
and status, and power, and are we afraid
that we might lose our jobs, are we
afraid that our comfort might be taken away,
are we afraid that having a biblical viewpoint
might cost us something, and so we're just
saying, God, just send an awakening to the
nation, but the very, the core of it
is, we're just afraid for ourselves, we're just
afraid for our futures, we're afraid to lose
our retirement plans, we're afraid to lose our
jobs, we're afraid to lose our homes, we're
afraid to lose our status, we're afraid to
just lose a lot of things, and see,
when these are the core values, the core
elements, in the hearts of a fighting army,
it leaves the men of God, and the
women of God, standing under the threats of
darkness, trembling, and I think, in some measure,
we stand there today, there are so few
voices being raised up to challenge the darkness
of our time, as it was in their
time, until suddenly, a young man, just a
teenager, comes walking into the camp of Israel,
my God, I'm so thankful for the young
people in our Bible school, this is my
hope for the future, it's young men, it's
young women, who are young Davids, young Esthers,
that are just saying, if nobody else wants
to fight this, I will, if nobody else
cares, so the question that comes to my
mind, they're about to experience a spiritual awakening,
there's about to be a shout of victory,
the army of God's about to go down
the valley, and into the battle, people are
going to come out from caves and holes,
where they've been hiding, there's going to be
a shout, there's going to be a rout,
there's going to be a victory, one more
time, against the powers of darkness, which is
what we pray for, in our generation, but
what was the essential difference, in David, that
was no longer found in Saul, it was
no longer found in Saul's army, and it
wasn't found among the people that were associated
with him, in that particular battle, at that
time, it's these simple words, in 1st Samuel
17 29, and David said, what have I
done now, is there not a cause, his
words must have caused, even his own brothers
to think, did we miss something in the
battle, what is it that we missed, David
is talking about a cause, they don't know
what the cause is, the cause is really,
really simple, David said it this way, you
come to me with a sword, and a
spear, and a javelin, but I come to
you, in the name of the Lord of
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel,
whom you have defied, this day, the Lord
will deliver you into my hand, I will
strike you, take your head from you, and
this day, I'll give the carcasses of the
camp of the Philistines, to the birds of
the air, and the beach of the field,
that all the earth may know, there is
a God in Israel, you see that was
the difference, David's prayer, David's purpose, David's ministry,
David's heart, that made him a king, was
it's all about you Lord, it's all about
your honor, it's all about your glory, these
people, this dominant evil, cannot be allowed to
triumph over you, because you are God, and
the whole earth needs to know, there's a
God in Israel, I am not content, to
let this present weakness, or to let this
present threat, against my nation exist, when there
still is a God, who is the same
yesterday, today, and forever, it's as if David
was saying in his heart, you are the
God, that destroyed Egypt, and the power of
Egypt, through just an old man, and his
old brother, you are the God, who parted
the Red Sea, and made a way for
your people, to enter into the promised land,
you are the God, who brought down the
walls of Jericho, when all they had, was
a trumpet, and a shout of praise to
you, oh God Almighty, glorify your name again,
Jesus Christ himself, in John chapter 12, verse
27 and 28, the season of the cross
was rapidly approaching, and he said to his
own disciples, or at least in their hearing,
what should I flee from this hour, no
he said, I was born for this hour,
I was sent here for this hour, and
he said these words, Father glorify your name,
and a voice came from above, and this
voice that came from his heavenly Father, said
I have glorified my name, and I will
glorify it again, and so this is my
cry, and it ought to be the cry
of every saint of God, that's been praying
for a spiritual awakening, it's not about my
safety, my security, my comfort, my status, my
wealth, my power, it's not about me, it's
about you Lord, glorify your name one more
time in the earth, you deserve to be
praised, you deserve to be glorified, you deserve
to be revered, let the enemies of God,
let those who are inspired by hell itself,
let them trample in their shoes, as the
God of Israel, moves one more time into
the battle, if you have time to read
it, go to Ezekiel chapter 36, and begin
at verse 22, and go right to the
end, where God said to his own people
Israel, at a certain point in history, I
don't do this for your sakes, you have
profaned my name everywhere you've gone, in other
words, you've made my name small, everywhere you've
traveled, you've displayed something of me that is
not me, you were sent into the nations,
and you went into the nations, and he
said it was essentially a mockery, when people
looked at you, and said these are the
people of God, he says no, I don't
do it, for your sake, I do it
for my own holy names sake, I will
gather you out of the places where you've
been driven, I will bring you back to
your the place that I have determined you
should be, I'll sprinkle clean water upon you,
I'll put my spirit upon you, and cause
you to walk in my ways, and at
the end of the chapter, he says, and
I will do this also for you, because
you will inquire of me, and I will
fill your cities with flocks of men, not
because your prayers hit the right pitch, or
you sang the right song, or you found
the right formula, but simply because God says
I decided to rise up, and defend my
own name, I will be kind to you,
for my own names sake, so he was
telling his own people Israel, when I do
this, don't point to anything you have done,
it's not about you, don't boast of how
many people you got together to pray, don't
don't boast of all your petitions and plans,
it's not about you, I'm going to do
what I'm about to do for my own
names sake, so walk very low in my
sight, and acknowledge that I'm God, this is
the cry of my heart now, I pray
for this nation, I pray for the youth
of this nation, I pray for our cities,
but it's really with one purpose in mind,
that all the earth may know, I pray
for a spiritual awakening in New York City,
so powerful that the whole world will have
to stop and acknowledge that only God could
have done this, simply for his names sake,
I'm just so tired of the name of
Jesus Christ being taken in vain, so father
tonight, in Jesus name, God almighty, we bring
our prayers to you, and they might not
be any more than the little boy's lunch,
but you multiplied it, and you fed thousands
with it, so we're asking tonight, almighty God,
in Jesus name, that you take our little
offering of our prayers, and you would multiply
it, and you would save a multitude of
people, people that are destined for the slaughter,
God you would save them, from the womb
to their senior years, we saw it tonight
in one of the prayer requests, a new
despicable law, allowing people to be euthanized the
very same day they ask for it, without
a chance to even counsel with family, God
this is evil, we want to kill them
in the womb, and now we want to
kill them when they get old, and pretty
soon, pretty soon, we'll be including those in
the middle, I do ask Lord, we ask,
I thank you for my brothers, my sisters
online tonight with us, who are praying for
a spiritual awakening in the nation, but we
recognize Lord, that our prayers are just a
little lunch, and the need is so big,
but we ask you to take them, and
multiply them, and we pray the prayer that
Jesus prayed, Father glorify your name in Jesus
name.