Who Do You Say I AM?

REVIVAL COMES THROUGH REPENTANCE

By Alan Brozik

10-7-26

(written 1-10-26)

As I was praying, a thought came to me that I believe was from the Holy Spirit: “Revival comes through repentance.”  Lord, as I meditate on this I ask that you would teach me through your word and Spirit.

Three examples immediately jump out from scripture.  The first is what Jesus’ preached as He began His earthly ministry, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17 ESV).  This sparked a nationwide revival among the people of Israel who were looking for their Messiah.

The second is Peter’s first sermon at Pentecost after the Holy Spirit came upon them and filled them.  He said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…so those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls’ (Acts 2:38, 41 ESV).

John the Baptist preached the same message when preparing the hearts of the people to receive Jesus as their Messiah, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2 ESV).  The people “were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:6 ESV).  However John made a stipulation for the Pharisees and Sadducees who had come to see what was happening calling them a “brood of vipers” and saying they must “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (John 3:7-8 ESV).  As a prophet of God, John was able to discern that their hearts were not in a place of truly repenting of their sins.  The proof of true repentance is bearing fruit.

A third example comes to me as I sought the Lord on the subject of repentance and revival.  It’s found in 2 Chron. 7:14 which is a familiar passage and one God has taught me about before:

‘…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:14).

The moral of the story (concerning “revival comes through repentance”) is that when I pray for revival in the land I must pray for repentance to precede revival.    I must pray that God would turn the hearts of the people towards Him in true repentance, seeing and understanding the deceitfulness and wickedness in their own hearts.  This must start with the church.  I must pray:  “…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14 ESV).

Breaking this down, the action of repentance is actually the last step in a fourfold process prior to the beginning of revival.  Repentance starts with the attitude of the heart:

Our Part

“If MY people who are called by MY name”

  • The context of this passage was the dedication of Solomon’s temple, God appearing to him afterwards telling him what would need to happen when Israel wandered away from their relationship with God.
    • this was addressed to Israel, but
    • the church, as the “bride of Christ,” is also God’s people
  • Step One: “humble themselves”
    • Repentance requires humility which is a correct evaluation of my heart in relationship to God
  • Step Two: “pray”
    • Repentance requires an understanding that I have sinned against God
    • Repentance requires a confession of my sins to God
  • Step Three: “seek My face”
    • Repentance requires fervently seeking restoration to God
    • Repentance requires heartfelt “godly sorrow [that leads to] repentance” not just saying “I’m sorry” (2 Corinthians 7:10)
    • Repentance requires a sincere, earnest desire to turn to God
  • Step Four: “turn from their wicked ways”
    • Repentance requires a twofold action
      • Turning away from sin (sin is being conformed to the pattern of the world)
      • Turning towards God (with godly sorrow, reverence, and awe)

“Then” (God’s Part)

  • “I will hear from Heaven”
      God’s throne is in heaven and his presence no longer occupies the Holy of Holies in the temple at Jerusalem as in the time of SolomonJesus is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for those who have accepted Him as their personal Savior.
    • The Father hears our prayers in heaven through Christ Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross
  • “I will forgive their sin”
    • God the Father made a way of forgiveness through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Christ Jesus to all who would accept, believe, confess, and call on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:9-10, 13)
  • “I will heal their land”
    • Reference to the land is the land of Israel which is God’s property He has given to His people Israel
    • Two of the three evidences of God’s correction to Israel to lead them to repentance were against the land itself (2Chron. 7:13)
      • Drought – “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain”
      • Natural disasters (natural, geological, and war are ways God has used in Scripture) – “Command the locust to devour the land”
      • Plagues on the people themselves – “Send pestilence among my people…”
    • America has forsaken the statutes and commandments of God on which the country was founded and turned to worshiping other “gods.”
      • We have been experiencing the above mentioned corrections from God calling us to repentance as a nation.  Repentance starts with the people of God, the church. The land is still God’s but the nation cannot stand if it does not come to repentance
      • Revival comes through repentance

Consequences of Idolatry and an Unrepentant Heart

While the following passage is spoken directly to Israel, it also applies to any nation on whom God’s favor has rested, like America:

“But if you [plural] turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord , the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them” (2 Chronicles 7:19-22 ESV).

History bears out these statements God made.  It happened to Israel just as God spoke.  “God cannot be mocked.  Whatsoever a man (or nation) sows that will he also reap” (Gal.6:7).  God has raised up and also brought down nations and civilizations that turned away from Him to serve other gods.  We are no different today! “God (Jesus Christ) is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8)

Join me and others praying for God to bring

“Revival Through Repentance.”

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