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[0:00] Psalm 119 verse 25 it says, My soul cleaveth unto the dust, quicken thou me according to thy word.

[0:22] My soul cleaveth unto the dust, quicken thou me according to thy word. It's easy to get held fast by this dusty old world, isn't it?

[0:39] To cling on to this dusty old earth. But let's cry out like the psalmist did, bring me to life. Make me live, revive me, quicken me according to thy word.

[0:52] We see this word quicken through Psalm 119 various times in fact. But this particular one, the psalmist cries, quicken me, make me alive, revive me according to thy word.

[1:07] I want to talk tonight about the subject of revival. Revival is something I love to talk about, revival. It's something that we as believers love to think of revival, of that reviving again, of his revival power.

[1:22] Revival, it means an awakening. It means a coming awake of the saints of God. It means a conversion of sinners unto God. Revival, it means a renewing.

[1:33] It means a renewing of God consciousness, of sin consciousness, a renewing of spiritual health and vitality and strength. It's something we all need, isn't it?

[1:43] Amen? Don't you need reviving tonight? I know I do. I know I do. That reviving, that renewing again, that renewing of our first love, that reviving, that refreshing that he wants to give unto his people, that revival that is a source of rejoicing through the word of God.

[2:00] We see instances of God visiting his people, of God's people awakening, of God's people being revived with spiritual life. And reviving is something that's God's own doing.

[2:12] It's by God's own hand. It's God's granting that gives revival. It begins and it ends with him. The reviving of God, the refreshing, the renewing, is God's own doing.

[2:25] He restores the backsliders. He is the one who returns his people to his word. He returns his people to repentance and faith and spiritual life.

[2:35] Revival is something that we as God's people ought to long for and hunger for and seek out that holiness, that relationship with God, that faith, that it be renewed, that passion, that it be restored for souls, for spiritual truth.

[2:54] Revival is something that Australia needs. We live in a nation, brothers and sisters, Australia is a nation that you could honestly say, I think, is degenerating.

[3:05] It's degenerating into evermore godlessness. And we need revival in this land. We need revival in this community, in this place where we live, in this area, in this town of Adelaide.

[3:19] Revival is something we need. Revival in our church life, revival in our personal lives. Revival is the returning of God's people to the word of God.

[3:29] Someone put it like this. The revival is the return of the people of God to the word of God, in the house of God, by the power of God, according to the plan of God, under the direction of God, and thus receiving the blessing of God.

[3:50] Amen. It's God from beginning to end. It's God at work in His people. And the revival of a community, it starts with just one, just one, just one who will humble themselves and seek His face and ask His mercy.

[4:07] The revival of old, those revivals of old, started with just one or two saints gathering together, prayerfully to seek God's face, to seek God.

[4:19] And it happens as God's people set their house in order. We see in 2 Kings 20 verse 1, that the prophet Isaiah came to Hezekiah and said, Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order.

[4:37] Set thine house in order. And Christians, tonight, God says to us just the same thing. Set your house in order. Set your house in order.

[4:49] God doesn't want us to play games with Him. The Word of God says that our God is a jealous God. He doesn't want to have rivals to compete with for your affection.

[5:03] And we see that through the Word of God, when revival came, the false gods had to go out the window and be crushed to powder and destroyed. Our churches need revival.

[5:14] Our families need revival. We need revival. Many are ignorant today, where worldly things creep in and take God's rightful place. Another instance in Psalm 119, where the psalmist cried, Quicken me, or in other words, revive me, in other words, make me alive, is Psalm 119 verse 37.

[5:39] Speaking after, following after worldly things. We could put our own mind to what this could relate to in our own lives.

[5:50] In Psalm 119 verse 37, the psalmist says, Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way.

[6:02] Quicken thou me in thy way. He's talking to the Holy One, and he says, make me alive in thy way. That was the prayer of this man. And he says, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.

[6:16] He cried out, he said, turn away mine eyes from beholding worthless things, vain things, worldly things, and reviving so that I will walk in thy ways, in your ways, O God.

[6:30] What are some worldly things that we could consider today that are drawing people away from the things of God? The things of God. One, I put it to you tonight, and I trust I'm not treading on toes, but I believe this is the case.

[6:50] One example we could cite tonight is, for example, Harry Potter. Harry Potter. Some Christians will think, ha, it's just a harmless novel, it's just stories, it's just a fantasy that's harmless and quite innocent.

[7:08] But they overlook the dangers, the dangers that are written between the lines, as it were, or even in apparent sense.

[7:19] The dangers of such a thing that some Christians would think, it's just harmless fantasy, just harmless fun. And I know some who think such as that.

[7:31] And it saddens me when they do. But consider Harry Potter for one example of this, that you could consider is vanity that we should turn our eyes away from.

[7:42] Harry Potter, for example, Harry Potter is this character that his parents were apparently killed on Halloween night.

[7:53] And he supposedly survives, and he receives a lightning bolt on his forehead, and gets the special powers of witchcraft. The lightning bolt has long been a satanic symbol.

[8:07] It says in Luke 10, verse 18, our Lord says that he beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. How more satanic can you get? The mark of Harry was placed in his forehead.

[8:23] It's alike to that of Revelation 14, verses 9 to 10. Harry Potter books have changed the world view of many people.

[8:35] People who get saturated and hooked into this sort of thing, get their world view altered. It changes their belief system.

[8:46] Away from the Judeo-Christian belief system, to a neo-pagan world view. A world view that has no absolutes. That's the world view of Harry Potter.

[8:58] The author of Harry Potter, J.C. Rowling, to write the book, admitted that she had to do intensive research into the Wiccan witchcraft movement, and wrote the book from that research.

[9:13] In book four of the Harry Potter series, it introduces human sacrifice, and blatant inversions of scriptural teaching, by using terms of bone of my bone, flesh and blood, and Harry's precious blood, in a ritual to raise a wicked, evil creature from the dead.

[9:33] Harry Potter books creates a satanic interest. It's dangerous. France tonight, I put it to you, Harry Potter is dangerous.

[9:45] The psalmist cried, Turn away mine eyes from beholding valency, and quicken thou me in thy way.

[10:00] Psalm 119, verse 40. There's another quicken here in this Psalm 119. In verse 40 it says, Behold, I have longed after thy precepts.

[10:15] The psalmist had a longing for the Word of God. I know there's someone here, who loves to write out the Word of God. He loves the Word of God so much, that he likes to write it out. That's a good habit.

[10:26] It's a good thing to want to dig deep into the Word of God, to let it dig into our hearts, to let it speak to us, to want to write it out, to want to put it into our hearts.

[10:37] Behold, I have longed after thy precepts. Quicken me in thy righteousness. There's that word again. Quicken me. Make me to live.

[10:48] Make me alive in thy righteousness. Give me life. Cause me to live in thy righteousness. We see through the Word of God.

[11:00] When revival came, the Word of God was centre stage. The Word of God was central to revival. For example, in King Josiah's time, in King Josiah's time, we see an example for us of radical repentance and revival.

[11:27] 2 Kings 22. You might want to flick there. In King Josiah's day, it was a backslidden nation. It was a nation apostate and godless, astray from God.

[11:43] And King Josiah was a very young king. Eight years old when he became king.

[11:57] And the King Josiah is an example to us of radical repentance and revival. A spiritual revival happened in King Josiah's day.

[12:10] Even in this day of great idolatry an abomination in the land. It took some time. But when he turned 16, just 16, he began to seek after God.

[12:27] He had a godless upbringing. He had fathers and grandfathers that were not following after God. He didn't have a good example to follow.

[12:39] But he started to get a humbling and a thirsting for God and the things of God. And when he was just 16, he began to seek after the Lord. And when he was 20, he set about totally destroying what was keeping him and God's people from being faithful.

[12:58] From doing what God had called them to do. 20 years old, just really, a very young man. It started at the point when he discovered the Word of God.

[13:09] They found the Word of God and had been hidden away, lost away, maybe covered in the dust and debris of the time. And someone dusted off a copy of the Word of God.

[13:20] And they started to get a hold of the Word of God. And when King Josiah got a hold of the Word of God, it got a hold of him. And he started to see that the people of God had been unfaithful and that he had to make some radical shift.

[13:36] It all started when the Word of God came to the King. He recognised the authority of the Bible. That's what we need today, brothers and sisters. We need to recognise the authority of the Scriptures.

[13:49] This is our authority. Not what some modern day prophet proclaims, but what God says in print. The authority of the Bible.

[14:01] And revival breaks out when there is a radical obedience to the Bible. That's when revival comes. When true revival comes. The nation had now put itself under the authority of God.

[14:14] Under the authority of the Word of God. That's when revival started to happen in King Josiah's day. And Josiah sought God's guidance. He was so convicted.

[14:25] He was so moved. He was so compelled by the Word of God. So convicted by what he heard that he wanted to seek after God's will. And he called out to those around about, those that were in the spiritual authority of the nation.

[14:43] He said to them, Go ye, this is verse 13 of 2 Kings 22, 2 Kings 22 verse 13. He says, Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found.

[15:02] for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book to do according unto all which is written concerning us.

[15:17] He cried out to the spiritual leaders of the nation and he said, Go and seek the Lord for me so that we can do what this book says to do. It sounds a bit like Psalm 119 verse 25.

[15:29] My soul cleaveth unto the dust quicken thou me according to thy word. It was the word that brought life. It's alive.

[15:40] It's quick and it's powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. It's the word. It's the living word of God. And so when the word came, life came.

[15:51] And then we read in 2 Kings 23 verse 2. 2 Kings 23 verse 2. We see that the king called the people together.

[16:03] All the people both small and great and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

[16:14] They read the word of God to small and great to the youngsters to the youngsters. The word of God was read and heard and the people committed to obey it.

[16:26] in verse 3 of 2 Kings 23. They covenanted to obey the word of God. And then we see what the king did next. The king commanded that all the pagan heathen worship would be destroyed and defiled.

[16:42] All the idols and images would be cast down and smashed. The idols, the images would be obliterated, destroyed and then defiled by the bones of the heathens.

[16:57] He broke down the houses of the sodomites that were by the house of the Lord. Verse 7. This accommodation that was going on, he wouldn't have a bar of it.

[17:08] He said, no, that's got to go. Those houses have got to be smashed down. In verse 13, King Josiah tore down the idolatrous altars and high places where the people had committed abominations.

[17:19] He smashed the images and he burnt the idols. It was radical repentance. It was radical revival. And in verse 20, it says, he slew all the priests of the high places.

[17:34] And then in verse 21, he restored the Passover. This was a time of great rejoicing, something that had been abandoned for much time. And what does the Passover speak to us of?

[17:47] It pictures our redemption it pictures our Saviour of his bleeding and dying of his saving grace. That was restored along with the worship of the saints.

[18:00] In verse 24, it says he got rid of the wizards and the spiritualists. He didn't mess around with things like Harry Potter. No way. He didn't want a skerrick of such things left.

[18:13] And in verse 25, it says of this king, this king Josiah, like unto him was there no king before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might.

[18:29] According to all the law of Moses, neither after him arose there any like him. So King Josiah was particularly recognised through the word of God as being such a man who was used of God in great power.

[18:48] Friends, the high places must be torn down. The high places must be torn down. Are you willing to do that?

[19:03] Are you willing to search out the high places, the idols, the images, the things that will obstruct your worship and devotion, your adoration to God, your obedience to his word.

[19:18] Search out your heart. Search out your heart. Let the Holy Spirit signify to you where those things exist. Revival.

[19:31] We want revival, don't we? Don't you want revival? Isn't it time? Isn't it time for revival? When is the revival needed? Someone put it like this. Someone points us to notice when revival is needed.

[19:46] When there is no spiritual power, revival is needed. When folk have lost that concern for the lost, revival is needed. The concern for souls.

[19:57] When folk neglect to worship and fellowship, revival is needed. Revival. When the church is torn by schisms and divisions, revival is needed.

[20:10] When hypocrisy abounds, when we don't see conversions, not talking about decisions, talking about conversions, that's what we need to see.

[20:21] When we see backsliding, when we see a critical spirit, when we see pride, revival is needed. Brother, revival is needed. Sister, revival is needed in our world today.

[20:36] When people hold on to unforgiveness and take offence, we need revival. We need revival. I need revival. We need revival.

[20:48] All around us, our society and culture is being shaped. It's being shaped. Our children are being shaped.

[20:59] It's happening so much. I saw something today which was quite alarming talking about secular schools and I know I'm a product of the secular school system so I thank God for helping me get through it in one piece.

[21:16] I remember in year 12 just at Elizabeth High I started a Christian fellowship with another student there when I was in year 12. I was glad that we could be a witness of sorts in that place but we know oft times in secular schools it's a hard place for our young people to grow up and to be educated and likewise in the universities.

[21:40] I'm studying myself in university by distance at the moment and I know what goes on. The philosophies that we often can get bombarded with by secular education and there's a deliberate program that is shaping society today.

[21:58] It's shaping the worldview that we have and this video that I saw just today was describing how secular schools can all too easily become Christ denying indoctrination centres.

[22:15] Indoctrination centres and I know parents here tonight have all got to be very aware of that kind of thing today. The worldview, our worldview, in other words it means what guides our daily decisions and actions.

[22:30] Our worldview can be shaped and conditioned by the secular media and the forces of the power of the air if you like, the bombardment that we're all getting all the time through whatever media we come across.

[22:44] There's that worldview that is contrary to biblical worldview. Revival happens when the Word of God is centre stage.

[22:56] Just an example to illustrate this. As an example we can consider what happened on HMS Bounty. The mutiny on HMS Bounty.

[23:07] It's a familiar story. You probably can recall such a story of the drama of the mutiny on the Bounty. People often retell this story and they focus on what happened on board the ship.

[23:21] The mutiny. Yet the most amazing, the most interesting part of this real life drama is what happened after the mutiny. After the mutiny on the Bounty.

[23:34] In the spring of 1789 in response to the cruelty of the infamous Captain Bly the mutinous sailors physically took control of the ship.

[23:46] They exiled Bly and those faithful to him to float away in a dinghy. and they settled on this tiny two square mile rock in the South Pacific known as Pit Can Island.

[24:00] Knowing that they could never return to or be found by civilisation without the risk of being hanged for their mutiny, they settled on this tropical island.

[24:13] This tropical island. They burnt the ship, they took Tahitian wives and they made what they anticipated would be their own paradise. There was only one problem with their plan.

[24:26] You see, these were sailors who mutinied because they could not stand anyone else setting any standards for them, for their lives, for their decisions.

[24:37] They valued only their selfish individual ways, their hedonistic, self-pleasing ways. And so they established this community on Pit Can Island.

[24:49] And how did it start? There was no morals there. There was no laws there. There was no standards there. Pit Can Island became a filthy, obscene community, marked by adultery, violence and drunkenness.

[25:04] And within a decade, the natives saw and endured more than they could any longer accept. And the natives attacked the settlers and killed all of them but one, Alexander Smith.

[25:20] And as the only survivor forced to make peace and learn to live with the natives according to what they would accept, Smith stumbled upon and began to read a Bible that the crew members had previously salvaged from the bounty.

[25:37] They put it aside and Smith came and found the word of God. A bit like Josiah found it. Smith found the word of God and reading that Bible, it radically transformed his life.

[25:52] Later he would explain to his superiors when they came across him, he said this, I'll quote, When I came to the life of Jesus, my heart began to open like doors swinging apart.

[26:07] Once I was sure that God was a loving and merciful Father to them that repent, it seemed to me I could feel his very presence, sir, and I grew more sure every day of his guiding hand.

[26:26] The story doesn't end with Smith. Through the change it brought to his life, others on the island became increasingly interested in the Bible. that Jesus it speaks of and the salvation and the revival it offers.

[26:46] And in a short time, the entire island was transformed and enlivened, so much so that when the British Navy came across Pitcairn Island in 1808, they were amazed by the orderliness and the decency and the godliness of the native society that they found.

[27:06] And because of this, they later spared Smith's life, they pardoned him for his part in the mutiny, and for much of the 19th century, the word Pitcairn came to refer to individual or societal godliness.

[27:25] It was an example of godliness. Why? All because Smith sought the word of God and found salvation.

[27:36] He found revival. He found life in the word. What an example of Psalm 119, 25, My soul cleaveth unto the dust.

[27:47] Quicken thou me according to thy word. Quicken thou me according to thy word. God will revive his people. God will revive where there's an obedience to his word, where there's a repenting, a brokenness, where there's a forsaking of those ways that are contrary to him, where there's a turning from backsliding and compromise.

[28:14] Proverbs 14, verse 14, it says, the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways. Friends, we don't want to be filled with our own ways.

[28:26] We want to be filled with his way. To be filled with his way. To find his way. To find his word. To find his way. To not disobey him. Revival.

[28:37] Revival can happen today. It can happen in answer to believing prayer. In answer to earnest believing prayer. As our Lord wants us to come unto him. To plead with him.

[28:48] As Josiah called the priest to pray for him. To seek God for him. We need to seek God in prayer. In humility. In repentance.

[28:59] In believing. Individually and corporately. Revival is marked by prayer. Revival is marked by humility. It's when we realise, well, my ways don't match up with his ways.

[29:14] Something's got to change. Something's got to change. humility is a sense, in the sense of wanting to seek God's way. Humility in the sense of a unity of one accord.

[29:27] It says in Proverbs 13 verse 10, Only by pride cometh contention, but with the well advised is wisdom. Only by pride cometh contention.

[29:40] You know, sometimes we can get so filled with our own ways that we can get so proud, and I'm speaking for myself, I can get proud about my opinion, about my way of looking at things, and it can become a contention.

[29:54] We don't want that. We don't want strife and contention, because contention comes by pride. discord is the opposite of one accord.

[30:06] Where did it happen in Acts that God moved when they were in one accord? One accord. It was such brotherly love, such a unity of the faith.

[30:21] It wasn't an accommodating thing, but it was a Bible-based thing, that unity of the word. And friends, as we return to the word of God, there'll be a reviving again.

[30:36] In Psalm 11, verse 3, it says, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The foundations are under attack today.

[30:48] As we know, in secular thinking, the Bible is fair game. It's always smiled upon by those that will mock.

[31:01] It's truth. When it convicts their hearts, they'll try to find fault. But we need the word of God. We need that foundation.

[31:13] And we know it's God's truth. It's short. It's totally reliable. We're living in a day, like Hosea said, that my people shall be destroyed for lack of knowledge.

[31:25] We need the word of God. God. And as the Lord said to the Pharisees, Mark 12, 24, he said, Do you not therefore err, because you know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?

[31:41] People err, in other words, they get into error, because they do not know the scriptures. That's where error happens, because they do not know the scriptures.

[31:55] But where people earnestly seek the scriptures, revival happens, revival happens. The remnant church down through history, we see there was a faithful church right through the pages of history.

[32:11] We know there was the dark ages, when there was a falling away and much darkness descended, upon the church, of the popular church of the day, because the word of God was hidden from the people.

[32:29] But there were still faithful saints who sought the word of God. And thank God there was people who sought that the word of God would be translated into the language of the people. And friends, when the Bible came to light, revival came.

[32:45] And it can happen today too. I put it to you tonight that we can know revival as we take heed to the word of God.

[32:57]  Let us pray. God bless you.