Hindrances to Revival

“I have no confidence at all in polished speech or brilliant literary effort to bring about a revival, but I have all the confidence in the world in the poor saint who would weep her eyes out because people are living in sin.”

Charles Spurgeon

Kirk Cameron’s Comment

I believe revival would be the most wonderful thing I could ever see in this lifetime. Clean hands, a pure heart, and an obedient life is what I want to offer the Lord. Let this lesson help you search your heart for anything keeping you from fully serving God.

Questions & Objections

Lesson

While it may appear controversial to some to say that sin on our part could hinder a revival, it is both a biblical and a historical fact that when God’s people sanctified themselves, it preceded a move of God’s Spirit. Therefore, if we are serious about reaching this sinful world with the message of salvation, it is wise to search our hearts under the spotlight of a tender conscience to see if we harbor any secret sin. The content of this lesson comes from Oswald J. Smith’s book The Revival We Need. In it he wrote:

It is a common experience to find souls kneeling at the altar and calling upon God with apparent great anguish of heart, who fail to receive anything. And it is just as common for groups of people to gather together for nights of prayer for a revival and yet never have their prayers answered. What is the trouble? Let the Word of God answer: “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Hence, let us uncover our sin first of all; let us make straight the crooked ways, let us gather out the stones, and then we may ask in faith and expectancy for showers of blessing.

Let us take our sins one by one and deal with each transgression separately. And let us ask ourselves the following questions. It may be we are guilty and God will speak to us:

1. Have we forgiven everyone? Is there any malice, spite, hatred or enmity in our hearts? Do we cherish grudges; and have we refused to be reconciled?

2. Do we get angry? Are there any uprisings within? Is it true that we still lose our tempers? Does wrath hold us at times in its grip?

3. Is there any feeling of jealousy? When another is preferred before us, does it make us envious and uncomfortable? Do we get jealous of those who can pray, speak and do things better than we can?

4. Do we get impatient and irritated? Do little things vex and annoy, or, are we sweet, calm and unruffled under all circumstances?

5. Are we offended easily? When people fail to notice us and pass by without speaking, does it hurt? If others are made much of and we are neglected, how do we feel about it?

6. Is there any pride in our hearts? Are we puffed up, do we think a great deal of our own position and attainments?

7. Have we been dishonest? Is our business open and above reproach? Do we give a yard for a yard and a pound for a pound? Are we honest in our statements, or do we exaggerate and convey false impressions?

8. Have we been gossiping about people? Do we slander the character of others? Are we talebearers and busybodies?

9. Do we criticize unlovingly, harshly, severely? Are we always finding fault and looking for the flaws in others?

10. Do we rob God? Have we stolen time that belongs to Him? Has our money been withheld?

11. Are we guilty of the sin of unbelief? In spite of all He has done for us, do we still refuse to believe the promises of His Word?

12. Have we committed the sin of prayerlessness? Are we intercessors? Do we pray? How much time are we spending on our knees? Have we crowded prayer out of our lives?

13. Are we neglecting God’s Word? How many chapters do we read each day? Are we Bible students? Do we draw our source of supply from the Scriptures?

14. Are we burdened for the salvation of souls? Have we a love for the lost? Is there any compassion in our hearts for those who are perishing?

15. Have we failed to confess Christ openly? Are we ashamed of Jesus? Do we keep our mouths closed when we are surrounded by worldly people? Are we witnessing daily?

16. Are our lives filled with lightness and frivolity? Is our conduct unseemly? Would the world by our actions consider us on its side?

17. Have we wronged anyone and failed to make restitution? Or, has the spirit of Zacchaeus possessed us? Have we restored the many little things that God has shown us?

18. Are we worried or anxious? Do we fail to trust God for our temporal and spiritual needs? Are we continually crossing bridges before we come to them?

19. Are we guilty of lustful thoughts? Do we allow our minds to harbor impure and unholy imaginations?

Feathers for Arrows

Many years ago, a young man purchased two Java sparrows for his bird aviary. They were attractive little birds, with smooth gray feathers and brightly colored beaks. As usual, the pet store had placed them in a brown paper bag and stapled the top. It was a workday and some time before he went home, so he cut a small opening in the side of the bag as an air hole and placed the bag on his office desk.

As the day passed, he was amazed at the pattern of human reaction. Most who stepped into his office wondered why on earth he had a moving paper bag on his desk. When he told them it was a bag of birds, they would pick it up, put their eye to the hole and say, “Wow! What sort of birds are they?” It was at that moment that he would mumble, “Mexican eye-peckers.” It was amazing to see how quickly a bag could be pulled from the eye.

If we are so quick to care for the eye, how much more should we care for the soul, the very life that looks through the eye?

Imagine if you picked up a newspaper and noticed the following advertisement: “Wanted: eyes—must be fresh. Transplant doctor offering $500,000 for one eye; $1,000,000 for a matching pair.” All you have to do is go in and let them painlessly remove both of your eyes and a million dollars is yours! Now you can see the world! No, you can’t. If you sell your eyes, you will sit in darkness until the day of your death. Think about it. How much would you sell your eyes for? I am sure that you wouldn’t think of it; they are priceless. Yet they are just the windows of your soul. If the eyes are priceless, how much must your soul be worth? The Bible says it is without price.

Of all the things that should be supremely important to you, it’s not your eyes (or your health) that you should be most concerned about—it is the eternal salvation of your soul.

Words of Comfort

When we returned home after three weeks of ministry in Hawaii, we found everything in order, except that the greenhouse door was opened slightly. It was a good greenhouse. I had made it myself, and hardly spilled a pint of blood in doing so. It had a strong wooden frame with a thick plastic covering. I was pleased that, even under the hot penetrating sun, it had lasted three years. There wasn’t a single hole in it.

I was always very careful if I carried a rake or sharp garden tool inside. One dumb move and there would be an irreparable tear. So I was a little concerned to find that the greenhouse door wasn’t closed all the way.

As I gently pushed it open, I saw a black cat on the far side of the greenhouse. It glared at me, aware that it shouldn’t be in my precious greenhouse. Sometimes animals, especially cats, panic if they can’t find a way out. It was important that I didn’t alarm the animal and cause it to damage my tomato plants. All I had to do was to gently coax it out the door. I smiled and gingerly whispered, “Here, kitty ... it’s all right. You come out the way you came in ... over here, kitty, kitty.” The petrified animal glanced at me, then looked up at the wall of the greenhouse. I yelled, “No!” That was all it needed. It went vertical, up the plastic wall with its sharp penetrating claws, making holes in the plastic with every terrified step. Then it darted past me and disappeared out the door.

Questions

1. What is often the catalyst for revival?
2. Why do you think our sin could hinder revival?
3. Why are our prayers sometimes “unanswered”?
4. What must we do to receive “showers of blessing”?
5. Of which of the listed transgressions are you guilty?

Answers to these review questions are provided in the back of the printed book / source PDF.

Memory Verse

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

Last Words

Lord God, deliver me from this miserable, wretched life, and receive me among Thy chosen. Oh, Lord God, defend this realm and maintain Thy true religion. Lord, have mercy upon me and receive my spirit.

Edward VI (1537–1553), King of England