So we've been talking about revival and today I want to talk about revolution.
Not many people talk about revolution. It seems like everybody talks about revival and I think
that's because of the way in which the evangelical church is kind of wired.
We're kind of wired for short, quick, fast, want things to happen like overnight,
get all pumped and excited about it, then go back to normal. And I'm just not wired that way. I'm
much more of a belief that we should be working hard towards something that really truly impacts
the entire culture and society. And it's way harder work than a revival. So I use a term
around the church here, a kingdom of God revolution. So I'm going to try to explain
that. So let's go back over what I talked about as far as definitions of revival.
I mentioned that different writers have terms like a special blessing, an outpouring, a showering of
the spirit, manifest presence of God, awakening, all those different terms. Jonathan Edwards
called it a surprising work of God. A noted revival historian, Stephen Alford has defined
revival as quote, that strange and sovereign work of God in which he visits his own people,
restoring, reanimating, and releasing them into the fullness of his blessing. And I like that too.
Those are all really, really good. So basically a revival is where dead people come alive.
People who have lost their fervor, lost their zeal, and the spirit of God comes. And I think
a lot of times there are people who think they're believers. I mean, they've grown up in the church
or they've had a simulation of religion in their life. And when revival comes,
it, that's actually where they get saved because that's when they really encounter
the Lord. A revival is in a location, one location, and then it spreads out from there.
We have a movie that's come out. You may have seen it. Jesus revolution movie produced by
Greg Laurie and John Irwin distributed by Lionsgate. And this movie depicts the early
stages of the Jesus movement. So they talk about the Jesus movement. And in the 1970s,
I think it takes you like maybe a little bit of 1969 up to about 1971. And it's a story of
Pastor Chuck Smith, an evangelist, hippie evangelist named Lonnie Frisbee. And then the
evangelist later and pastor of Riverside at Harvest Christian Fellowship, Greg Laurie.
And there's kind of the intersection of these three individuals in the movie. I'm sure you've
seen it, but Time Magazine in June 21st, 1971 on the cover had Jesus revolution. Isn't that
interesting? Doesn't call it a revival. I've actually never heard anybody call the, the,
I'm sure people have, I just haven't heard of people calling that time period in America
in Haight-Ashbury as well as in Southern California as anything more than the Jesus
people movement or Jesus revolution. I haven't actually heard it called a revival. So I'm going
to, I'm going to go with that and say that I think that was a revolution. And I think there's
a profound difference. I think there's a profound difference between a revival and revolution.
I think that a revival is in one locale. It is short lived. It's an expression of heaven.
It's an expression of heaven coming down in an area that touches a group of people in a profound
way. And it's sort of the answer to that prayer, thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. And, and then it goes away. It ebbs and it flows. But a revolution is really
different. A revolution is different in scope and in magnitude. So a revolution is a work that
impacts all of society. Think of it as like the American revolution, the American revolution
in one sense is still happening today because there's countries around the world that are
becoming democratic for the first time. And they would look to America as their example of the
way we have built our nation on laws, built our nation on checks and balances, built our nation
on Christianity, those different qualities. Well, that was birthed in the Puritan
Revival or the or the separatist revival when the Pilgrims came so you could argue that that
Revival coming out of scruby England and then coming out of London
in the 1600s was key to what later became known as the American Revolution and
So revival sparks revolution. You don't you don't have a revolution coming out of nowhere
There's going to be some kind of revival work of God
that sparks people that sparks them to want to impact all of culture, so a
revolution is a
Ideology if we're going to think of it in a secular sense, but in a Christian sense, it's the kingdom of God
through
fired up
Holy Spirit
Anointed men and women going into a rent the arena of media going into the arena of entrepreneurship
going into the arena of
Sports or the church the family and bringing the kingdom there in it and it's so impacts
the whole culture that
people can say
That this was a revolution. I mean this was something that did a 180 this was changed
And I believe that's what Jesus came. I believe it when Jesus came. He brought not a revival
He brought a kingdom of God revolution. He spoke over 100 times on the kingdom of God
the greatest sermon ever given
every noted historian theologian and
and even sociologists would say the greatest speech ever given is the kingdom is the
Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5 6 & 7 and that's really the ethics
That's the ethics of the kingdom of God and in Matthew 6
He Jesus says something very interesting seek first of all the different things
You could seek with your life seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things
She'll be added unto you and what he's speaking of here is the things that we we normally pursue
So if you look back at verse 25 of Matthew 6
He says well you're worried about this and you're worth six times that you're worried you're worried you're worried and then he names
All those things that we all worry about
material things clothing
Finances and then he says look here's the solution of life
Here's the most noble thing that you can do
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you
So he's saying that if you'll seek the highest good if you'll seek the most noble purpose that's been given to man
Then all the secondary issues of your life will take care of themselves
But make the seeking of the kingdom of God first the most important thing in your life
So Jesus came bringing the kingdom. He he came he could have said he could have said seek first
revival
seek first that you would have this touch of the Holy Spirit and
Start shaking and fall over. He didn't say that Jesus is not a revivalist
There is no indication anywhere in Scripture that Jesus even thought of himself as a revivalist
He was a revolutionary though, and he came to revolutionize
planet Earth
One person at a time and I can say for my life I could say for all my friends here
At the road, we've all experienced a kingdom of God revolution in our hearts
We are what we're doing today is not at all what we were doing before we got saved
So God brought a revolution our lives
And so what a revolution is the kingdom of God revolution is when a larger a large group of people
that's enlarging more and more people are being so touched and shaken by the kingdom of God in their life and
Doesn't mean you become a missionary doesn't mean you become a pastor whatever it is
You're doing that you'd experience God there. And so that's what Jesus came doing. Now. Here's what's interesting. So
By the end of Jesus earthly ministry, he's only got about a hundred and twenty people left
Even though he had spoken to thousands. He only had the twelve disciples and about a hundred and twenty people
Left and he if you recall in Acts chapter 1
He's spending his time
last few days before he ascends to heaven talking about the things of the kingdom of God and even then the disciples are
Confused they think that he means oh, you're gonna bring the kingdom to Israel
He said no, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my
Witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea Samaria in the remotest parts of the earth. So Jesus is preparing them for some
thing that's about to happen that's going to literally change the world now in Acts 2
after a prolonged period of about 10 days of prayer the Holy Spirit falls upon the 120.
They're filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter preaches the gospel and 3,000 get saved. Now that
is a full-blown revival men and women. That's a move of God. First 120 are touched and then it
spreads out into the community. Well the rest of Acts is the kingdom of God revolution. If you want
to know a kingdom of God revolution is read Acts the book of Acts because the the revival was
sparked by by the Holy Spirit coming down and then that revival then sparked a revolution
that by Acts 17 6 in Thessalonica the elders of that town say oh those guys who have upset the
world have come here also. Now that's a kingdom of God revolution. So as we look at revolution
I'm going to look at revival and revolution in the last three episodes from scripture and the
next time we're together we're going to actually look at Josiah King Josiah and what God did when
they discovered the law of God and I've got two others after that but we're going to look at
examples of revival sparking revolution that affects the whole nation because that's my goal
honestly men and women we as we start empower you for that purpose my prayer for starting empower
you is to empower you to bring a kingdom of God revolution in your community bring kingdom of God
revolution in your marriage bring a kingdom of God revolution in your family and in your community
wherever you live and that's that to me is a trajectory of where the gospel should go it's
always bringing the kingdom of God and you may say well what is the kingdom of God well the kingdom
of God is a reign and rule of Christ the kingdom of God is when Christ is on the throne of your life
your friend's life your wife's life your husband's life I mean it's when a group of us have made
Jesus Lord ruler over our lives that's the beginnings of a kingdom of God revolution if you
get enough people that have that kind of a mindset that kind of a heart set and that kind of a vision
you can really start to affect society around you and impact it in a major way that's a revolution
so more on revolution next time and we'll be looking actually at several key passages in
scripture that give us an example of what a revolution looks like and then how that can be
utilized in our own life and impact our own communities so thanks for listening