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00:00 Morning
00:02 church. It's good to be back in his
00:04 Sububang family. It's good to be back in
00:05 First Baptist Church. Uh thank you so
00:08 much everyone. First of all, before I
00:09 before I get into God's word, thank you
00:11 so much for your well-wishes. Thank you
00:12 so much for your visitations. the nur
00:14 there were so many visitors going coming
00:16 on that on that uh to our room that the
00:19 nurses had finally begun to memorize our
00:21 names the daughter's name what does it
00:22 look like what does she look like and
00:24 what time and what time is the feeding
00:26 hours so that they will know what time
00:28 to send guests up and so on so forth so
00:30 thank you so much for your prayers and
00:32 visitations I want to give thanks to God
00:34 that even the C-section was was by God's
00:36 providence because the reason why we
00:38 went for C-section is because uh May's
00:41 blood pressure was a little high and the
00:42 umbilical cord was twice around the neck
00:44 and getting quite tight. And so the
00:46 doctor had suggested we should actually
00:48 do C-section. And by God's grace, as we
00:50 as we brought as we brought uh baby Noel
00:52 into the world, we also realized that
00:54 she actually pooped inside the womb. And
00:56 so if she had gone by natural birth, she
00:59 would have consumed some of the liquid.
01:01 She would have gotten very sick. So
01:02 truly, it is by God's providence that
01:04 the C-section was ordained. And um just
01:07 want to let you know, thank you so much
01:08 for your prayers. May and the baby are
01:10 doing well. I have uh got pinched
01:13 already by what is it like to be a
01:15 father of a newborn. Thank you so much
01:17 uncles and aunties for your advice to
01:19 brace for the lack of sleep. Already at
01:21 2:00 in the morning and 5:00 in the
01:24 morning she's hungry. I praise God that
01:26 she's not a picky eater. She just eats
01:27 and eats and eats but she's hungry. So
01:29 she just drinks like 2, three ounces of
01:31 milk every single time. But as soon as
01:33 she's done she goes.
01:37 So I want to give thanks to God for
01:38 that. Yeah.
01:40 spiritual revival. I want to talk about
01:43 that. I know this passage may be
01:45 familiar to quite a number of us because
01:48 we teach this to Sunday school kids. For
01:50 the fruit of the spirit is law of joy,
01:52 peace, patience, kindness, and so on so
01:54 forth. And we memorize it and we think
01:56 that is what spiritual revival is. And
01:59 then come the 1990s and 2000s where
02:02 spiritual revival was redefined to
02:05 something that I must say is quite
02:07 unbiblical. And so before I begin, I
02:10 like to begin with a word of prayer and
02:12 then I'm going to show you I'm going to
02:13 show you one video and also one picture
02:17 of what spiritual revival is not. And
02:20 then we'll get into the text. We'll look
02:22 at some of the interesting points of the
02:24 text and then we're going to go straight
02:25 into application. And so would you
02:28 please uh join me as you come to the
02:30 Lord in prayer. Father, we give you
02:32 thanks so much for this morning. This
02:35 morning that is made to worship you
02:37 every day. Our heart calls out to
02:39 worship you. Father, we thank you that
02:41 even right now we remember our brothers
02:43 and sisters in Sabah, 150,000 of them
02:46 looking up to you and saying, "Dear
02:48 Lord, deliver us. Dear Lord, save us.
02:50 But dear Lord, we trust in you.
02:54 Our enemies may have money and
02:55 resources, but God, we have you." And so
02:58 we remember you, oh God. We remember
03:00 you, the sovereign God that that call
03:03 that beckons us to worship you. And so
03:06 Lord, as we talk about spiritual
03:07 revival, we ask even right now, oh God,
03:09 that your Holy Spirit will continue to
03:11 open our hearts and to teach us what
03:14 really is what is what really is it that
03:16 you're doing in our lives, working in
03:18 our lives. And so God, we pray as we get
03:21 into your word, we approach it humbly.
03:24 Father, we pray that you will bless your
03:26 servant. Bless him, oh God, that it not
03:27 be his wisdom. Let it be your wisdom and
03:29 your your wisdom and your words alone
03:32 speaking to us this morning, convicting
03:33 our hearts and calling the church to
03:36 transform society, transform this world,
03:39 to come back to you. Thank you so much,
03:41 oh God. It's in Jesus name we pray.
03:44 Amen. This is the first thing that
03:46 spiritual revival is not.
03:56 Pick it up.
03:58 Sing it.
04:19 All right. Who's first?
04:23 That's not spiritual revival. And I will
04:26 say to you in your face, that is a show.
04:32 There is no blessing that comes off the
04:34 sweat that was on that speaker's jacket.
04:37 That is not spiritual revival.
04:40 But often times we take the drama, the
04:44 excitement to run forward to get any
04:46 kind of blessing. Maybe to be pushed
04:48 backwards onto the floor, maybe to may
04:50 maybe to maybe to a touch of us and then
04:52 suddenly laugh and cackle until we until
04:54 we cannot breathe anymore. Or it may be
04:56 even something like this. And this is
04:58 going on on a regular basis. People
05:00 while we are worshiping the one true God
05:02 here this Sunday morning in 12 hours
05:04 time at 10:00 in the morning that
05:06 gentleman is going to have another
05:07 service. Never mind that he had that.
05:10 Never mind that he had an affair. Never
05:12 mind that. Never mind that he is
05:14 actually taking billions of dollars for
05:17 the ministry for his own personal gain.
05:18 Never mind that he has real estate and
05:20 five bungalows in in very very prominent
05:23 areas in United States. That is not
05:26 spiritual revival.
05:29 And a bit more closer to home, I'd like
05:31 to say this. Spiritual revival is not
05:34 just the excitement of running over to
05:36 the front and asking pastor please pray
05:38 for me.
05:40 Yes, that's a vital role. It's a very
05:42 important role. I myself that was the
05:45 beginning of my of my of my revival.
05:48 That's the beginning of my journey. I
05:50 was 16 years old. Some of you may think,
05:53 oh, you have been a Christian ever since
05:54 you were born because you were born with
05:56 a with a pastor as your father. No, no,
05:60 no, no. In fact, I hated God. When I was
06:02 13 years old, I didn't want any part of
06:04 the church. You know why? Because I'm
06:05 always pastor Dr. Don's son.
06:09 You pastor son. I thought you know
06:10 better. Your pastor son help clean the
06:12 chairs. Your pastor son might help do
06:13 this. I'm like I'm sick and tired of
06:14 being pastor son. Friends call me Mark,
06:18 you know. And so I hated God. I ran
06:20 away.
06:21 But it was that one time when I realized
06:23 that if Jesus is the one true God, he is
06:26 everything worth living for. And a
06:28 pastor at that time spoke into my life.
06:31 And on Easter Sunday, I ran to the
06:34 front. I cried
06:36 so hard until people thought I was
06:38 getting a heart attack
06:41 because I realized Jesus, you're the one
06:43 true love. You're the one true God.
06:45 Jesus, you are worth living for.
06:48 That is the beginning of our spiritual
06:50 journey. But that in itself is not
06:53 spiritual revival. Friends, if you come
06:55 here every Sunday to be prayed over
06:57 again and again again, but there's no
06:59 change in that life, that's not
07:01 spiritual revival.
07:05 And some of you may think that people
07:07 come over here to receive the Holy
07:08 Spirit. No, no, no, no, no, no. Friends,
07:12 I want to say this very, very light,
07:13 very, very clear. The Holy Spirit is in
07:16 you when you confess Christ as Lord and
07:18 Savior.
07:20 The Holy Spirit is in you the moment you
07:22 confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
07:25 Paul speaks it very clearly in first
07:27 Corinthians. Now concerning spiritual
07:29 gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be
07:31 uninformed. You know that when you were
07:33 pagans, you were led astray to mute
07:35 idols. However, you were led. Therefore,
07:37 I want you to understand that no one
07:39 speaking in the spirit of God ever says
07:41 Jesus is a cursed. And no one can say
07:44 Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit.
07:48 So friends, we're I'm not talking
07:50 anymore about receiving Jesus Christ as
07:52 Lord and Savior. You have done that. If
07:54 you if you have confessed Jesus Christ
07:55 as Lord and Savior, I say to you now
07:57 that the Holy Spirit is with you and in
07:60 you right now changing hearts, changing
08:03 minds, causing our hands to serve and
08:05 cause our feet to bring
08:11 that we begin with God.
08:14 What therefore is spiritual revival.
08:17 In fact, Galatians chapter 3 13 to
08:20 verses 13 and 14 also says this as well.
08:25 It says
08:27 it says this, the law is not based on
08:29 faith. On the contrary, the man who does
08:31 the the man who does these things will
08:32 live by them. Christ redeemed us from
08:35 the curse of the law by becoming a curse
08:38 for us. For it is written, cursed is
08:40 everyone who is hung on the tree. This
08:42 is what it means. He redeemed us in that
08:45 uh uh uh in order that the blessing
08:47 given to Abraham might come to the
08:49 Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by
08:52 faith we might receive the promise of
08:55 the spirit.
08:58 If you take Jesus Christ as Lord and
09:01 Savior by faith, Holy Spirit is with you
09:08 is with you.
09:10 So why I want to talk about a spiritual
09:11 revival is the journey that is in your
09:13 heart. Why I want to talk about
09:15 spiritual revival is that when you come
09:18 and we welcome you to come we have lady
09:20 ministers here for those who for women
09:22 who prefers to hear and be consoled by
09:25 uh by by fellow lady. We have pastors
09:27 and elders who'll be more than happy to
09:29 pray for you. But our hope is for
09:33 spiritual revival to commence and
09:36 continue and to blossom so that you may
09:41 become a disciple of Jesus.
09:46 Spiritual revival is not something that
09:49 happens one shot is a continuous effort
09:52 that happens in our hearts. So the first
09:54 point I want to just say this spiritual
09:56 revival is a way of life. First point,
10:00 spiritual revival is a way of life.
10:04 There's uh the text that we that was
10:06 just read. So I say walk by the spirit.
10:09 Okay, if you have uh that word walk by
10:13 the spirit, to walk with the spirit is
10:14 this very interesting word called
10:16 paripate.
10:17 Perryete basically means is to make
10:20 one's way or progress to make due use of
10:23 opportunity. So it means for the Greek
10:25 is this you're on a journey. You're in a
10:27 process of doing something. As you
10:29 progress towards that goal, as you
10:32 progress towards achieving that uh
10:35 achieving something that is parapete. So
10:39 walk with the spirit. Okay, that's fair.
10:42 The Hebrew when they read paripate they
10:45 are reading also a Hebrew culture in
10:47 their life in their mind to say that it
10:49 is not just achieve a goal. No, it is a
10:52 life journey. And so for Hebrew it means
10:55 to live. It means to regulate one life
10:59 one's life. It means to conduct oneself.
11:02 It means to pass one's life. Meaning it
11:05 is to go through life together hand in
11:07 hand with the spirit. And so we will
11:10 normally see in the RSV, in the ESV, in
11:12 the HCSB and the NIV, it says walk by
11:15 the spirit. A little translation from
11:16 the Greek. We also see a more dynamic
11:19 one. For example, the older NIV and the
11:21 NRSV live by the spirit because that
11:24 what is wanting to capture. And so guys,
11:27 if spiritual revival is a way of life, I
11:29 like the way the Amplified Bible puts
11:31 it. Put everything. Here's what it says.
11:34 It says, "But I say walk and live
11:37 habitually in the in case you don't
11:40 know, Holy Spirit, not evil spirits,
11:43 responsive and to responsive to and
11:45 controlled and guided by the spirit.
11:49 Friends, spiritual revival is a way of
11:51 life. It's a continuous journey. And so
11:56 guys, you are spiritually revived if you
11:60 prioritize God. How can we tell that the
12:02 Holy Spirit is working in you? Friends,
12:04 you are spiritually revived if you
12:06 prioritize God. It says here, but I say
12:08 walk by the spirit and you will not
12:10 gratify desires of the flesh. Uh Matthew
12:12 Henry puts uh uses this illustration uh
12:15 very frequently. He says this, "If you
12:18 walk and prioritize hand with God,
12:20 you're on a journey in a world that is
12:22 against you like a man that is on a boat
12:24 that is going up river. The moment you
12:26 pause and stop and think that you're
12:28 done, no, you go back down again." Okay,
12:31 for those who have been rafting or
12:33 kayaking against the flow, you know
12:36 exactly what I mean. The moment you
12:38 pause that two hours of work going up 20
12:42 meters up the river disappears in 10
12:46 seconds, 20 seconds depending on how
12:48 fast the undercurrent is. Same thing
12:52 when it comes to spiritual to to our
12:53 spiritual revival. as we continue to be
12:56 discipled by Jesus. As we continue to
12:58 walk and live habitually with the Holy
13:01 Spirit, allowing him to change our
13:03 lives, allowing him to speak into our
13:05 decisions in order to him to revive the
13:07 way we look at things in our lives so we
13:10 know what is God's priority so that his
13:12 will on earth will be fulfilled as it is
13:15 in heaven. When that happens, we are
13:17 going against the flow.
13:19 Just two day just two days ago United
13:22 States of America they redefined
13:24 marriage to now include homosexual
13:26 marriages in the state
13:28 now the state's definition is any union
13:30 may be heterosexual homosexual
13:34 if we prioritize God then against the
13:38 flow of society today we will say
13:41 marriage is by one man and one woman as
13:44 ordained by God
13:46 it's against the flow and if If we let
13:49 that go,
13:52 if we let that go,
13:54 it will go down again that river and
13:57 we'll go back to whence we were, which
13:60 is in the pit of sin. A waterfall
14:03 eventually, we might actually make it
14:05 into a waterfall
14:07 that will hit us so hard we might not be
14:09 able to get up. But thanks be to God,
14:11 you prioritize God. That means the Holy
14:14 Spirit is working in you and working
14:16 with you. I'm asking you to continuously
14:19 work with him. I'm asking you to
14:22 continuously let him change your heart
14:24 and make the effort to go up forward.
14:28 Good.
16:39 God. Spiritual revival is an ongoing
16:42 journey. You are spiritually revived.
16:44 You prioritize God. Next thing we'll see
16:47 in the text is this is that spiritual
16:49 revival is getting rid of every form of
16:52 idolatry. Now Paul and his grammar is
16:55 very spot-on. And so the first thing we
16:58 will see is this. For the desires of the
16:60 flesh are against the spirit and desires
17:02 of the spirit are against the flesh.
17:04 Basically Paul is already you he's
17:06 drawing a line. Walk by the spirit. As
17:09 you walk by a spirit, you will not go.
