Experiencing Personal Revival

I believe it was in the mid-1990s I was discipling a group of men at my home on a weekly basis and this group of men about 10 to 12 men met my home on Tuesday evenings for about two hours each week and at the time I took these men through Charles Finney's book lectures on revival and when we got to the chapter on revival where Finney was discussing how to break up the fallow ground of your heart, things began to get interesting in that little discipleship group. I've seldom seen a group of men come under such conviction as sin. The Holy Spirit began to strip the bark off these men and bring them into wonderful personal revival.

This is how it happened. Finney was using the text from Hosea chapter 10 and verse 12 which states, break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and reign righteousness upon you. Then Finney went on to relate the following illustration.

He said, the Jews were a nation of farmers. Scripture therefore commonly draws illustrations from that line of work and from scenes farmers and shepherds would know well. So when the Prophet Hosea addresses Israel as a nation of backsliders, reproving their idolatry and threatening them with the judgments of God, he uses fallow ground as his illustration.

Fallow ground is ground once farmed which now lies waste. It must be broken up again before it is ready to be planted. To break up the fallow ground is to break up your hearts to prepare your minds to bring forth fruit to God.

If you intend to break up the fallow ground of your heart begin by looking at your heart. Self-examination consists of looking at your life, considering your actions, remembering the past and learning its true character. Examine your sins one by one.

Your sins were commanded one by one and as best as you can they should be reviewed and repented of one at a time. Then Charles Finney goes on to name sins omission and sins of commission from a list he compiled. And as the man in my discipleship group read those specific sins and pondered them, they each began to break up the fallow ground of their heart and get honest with themselves and honest with God.

And many of those men experienced a powerful personal revival. And because of that time, years later, I wrote a book on personal revival entitled, Return to Me. And in that book I listed 75 hindrances to revival with the same intent as Finney to allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction of sin and to bless with personal revival.

Through the years I've had the privilege to meet with leaders of churches and read to them these 75 hindrances to revival. And time and time again, I've seen men come under conviction of sin and repent in brokenness and enter personal revival as a result. As I've been a student of historical revivals, friends, I've noticed a common denominator in many of them.

It was when the preacher began naming sins that audiences fell under conviction and began to repent of those sins. This was especially true under the mighty preaching of John Song in China. John Song had a famous sermon entitled, Open Your Coffin.

And during his sermon, he would produce a miniature wooden coffin with a lid and he would instruct his hearers to open the lid of their coffin and he'd reach into his little wood coffin and pull out slips of paper that had specific sins written on them. He would ask his audience to raise their hand when they heard their sin called out. The brokenness and confession of sins that would occur under Song's preaching ended up in wonderful scenes of powerful revival.

I want us today, friends, to do as the Prophet Hosea says and as Finney did and John Song did and to break up the fallow ground of our heart as we ask God to show us anything in our lives that may be hindering him and us seeing a revival. I want to go over this list of 75 hindrances to revival and I want you, friend, to be honest enough to admit guilt on any of these. It is not my desire to call you out and make you feel uncomfortable but to be a human instrument and allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and personal revival to you if you need it and desire it.

Here now is that list and see if you escape it. Number one, sin no longer shocks you. Number two, the world possesses your heart.

Number three, you are bitter against another person. Number four, you complain frequently and grumble about your circumstances in life. Number five, you seldom read your Bible.

Number six, seldom if ever do you pray and if you do they are selfish prayers centered around I, me, and us. Number seven, you care little for those around you perishing and going to hell. Number eight, you do not support mission endeavors either with your time or with your finances.

Number nine, your time and your money are yours and to do what you please and to please yourself. Number ten, the things of God hold little importance in your life. Number eleven, attending church is a bother.

Number twelve, throughout the day your focus is on everything but God. Number thirteen, you continue to repeat the same sins. Number fourteen, you have a habitual sin which you keep confessing but you never get victory over.

Number fifteen, you never pray for revival. Number sixteen, you are content with watered-down preaching. Number seventeen, your conversation is filled with sports, the world, entertainment, but seldom ever do you ever speak of God or spiritual things.

Number eighteen, you continue to have lustful thoughts. Number nineteen, you enjoy sexually stimulating entertainment. Number twenty, you have no witness to the world that you are a saved individual.

Number twenty-one, you have ceased to pursue God like the heart after brooks of water. Number twenty-two, you do not want to know God in a deeper way. Number twenty-three, you do not want an intimate relationship with God in a loving way.

Number twenty-four, Jesus is not your master. Number twenty-five, you love your sins. Number twenty-six, there is no delight in church worship.

Number twenty-seven, you do not pursue a life of holiness. Number twenty-eight, the most important things to you are your job and your family. Number twenty-nine, you are not moved to indignation with the wicked society around you.

Number thirty, you were given to fits of anger. Number thirty-one, you have unforgiveness towards another. Number thirty-two, you resent certain individuals and they disturb your peace.

Number thirty-three, someone has offended you and you cede when you see them. Number thirty-four, you are comfortable in the world and its amusements. Number thirty-five, you have little thoughts regarding eternity.

Number thirty-six, things of eternal nature do not grip you nor stir you. Number thirty-seven, you have no joy in the Lord. Number thirty-eight, you have a spirit of ingratitude.

Number thirty-nine, you care little for advancing the kingdom of God. Number forty, you have a lack of love for God. Number forty-one, self is king.

You know nothing about the cross and the life of the believer. Number forty-two, your mind is set upon material things. Your thoughts are occupied with things.

Number forty-three, you are a very prideful person. Number forty-four, you tell lies. Number forty-five, you are a hypocrite.

Number forty-six, you are envious of others. Number forty-seven, you have no taste for spiritual things. You are uncomfortable discussing deep spiritual truths.

Number forty-eight, religion is a chore to you. Number forty-nine, you do not like to hear the word of God preached. Number fifty, you have no interest in disciple-making and pouring what you've learned into the life of another.

Number fifty-one, your prayers are formal and without heat or heart. Number fifty-two, you have dry eyes when you pray. Number fifty-three, your heart does not break over the lost condition of others.

Number fifty-four, it's all about you. Number fifty-five, you have no desire to find out what is on God's heart. Number fifty-six, you have no desire to go deeper with God.

Number fifty-seven, Jesus is welcome as your Savior, but he is not welcome as your Lord. Number fifty-eight, your heart has grown cold and callous towards spiritual things. Number fifty-nine, you seldom hear the voice of God.

Number sixty, you would rather play golf or any other hobby than read your Bible. Number sixty-one, you have little conscience regarding sin in your life or around you. Number sixty-two, you are a legalist and a Pharisee.

Number sixty-three, you feel you are above others. Number sixty-four, you are proud of your academic achievements and feel you are better than others because of them. Number sixty-five, you have little concern over the plight of the lost and perishing in other countries.

Number sixty-six, you have behaved badly toward another and feel no remorse. Number sixty-seven, you are full of yourself. Number sixty-eight, you are dissatisfied with your life and you harbor resentment toward God.

Number sixty-nine, you have hatred in your heart toward another. Number seventy, lust easily consumes you. Number seventy-one, you like to boast and brag about what you have and what you've done.

Number seventy-two, you have an ungrateful heart toward the God who saved you. Number seventy-three, your feet are quick to evil. Number seventy-four, you feel that God does not hear your prayers.

Number seventy-five, you are insensitive to spiritual things. Well, that's the list, friends, and I pray that God, in his mercy and by his grace, will grant the necessary grace of repentance to enter into a deeper relationship to him and to be in a red-hot love relationship with Christ Jesus. Let us self-examine ourselves under the light of scripture and under the light of the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray.