Revival Generation

We're continuing in the series that was not planned two weeks ago, that we planned one year ago, on revival. Because I feel like I don't want to miss the moment that we're in as a nation and as a church. And if you're like me, over the past two weeks, your social media or online feed has been filled with videos and pictures and blogs of people who are experiencing revival. Obviously, starting at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, and now spreading to campuses like Lee University. They've been continually worshiping the Lord now for almost a week. Cedarville University, Samford University, and it's spreading around the country. This Wednesday, I decided to go myself, just to experience what God was doing. And there were some critics online who were saying, you shouldn't go, you shouldn't be a revival chaser, you should make room for the students. And I get that, I mean, I get the sentiment there. But with all due respect, my response to them is, it's very easy to criticize something you haven't encountered yourself. And you know how I know, because I used to be there. Very easy to criticize, I haven't experienced it, so it's not real. But we know at Long Hollow, once you have touched the hem of the garment of God, you're never the same, amen? We know that. And so I'm just gonna talk about that at the end of our time together. And I'm gonna share with you what we experienced. I took a group, a small group of pastors and then some church members. And I've been thinking about it the past few years about revival, and praying like you for revival. My heart is burning right now for spiritual and national awakening. Anybody with me right now? And so I wanna just remind you, revival is not what we're praying for, in a sense, although we wanna pray for revival. We're actually praying for more of Jesus, because revival is Jesus. The revival is a means to an end, which is Jesus. What we really want is more of God. And so as I prayed this week, and really asked the Holy Spirit, what would I share with our people? What is the secret to more of you? The Lord directed me to the Old Testament book of Exodus. And I wanna share with you today what I believe was the driving passion in the life of Moses to why God used this man so mightily. If you have a Bible, turn with me to the Old Testament book of Exodus 32, or I'm sorry, 33, Exodus 33. And we'll pick up in verse 12, and we'll just kind of read through the passage. And I just wanna show you a couple insights about Moses' driving passion. We like to say word at Long Hollow. If you're at home, you know that we believe it's the word that changes our lives. We wanna get into the word until the word gets into us. Amen? So if you're there, you can say word. Word of the Lord. So Moses said to the Lord, look, you have told me, lead this people up, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. So he's saying, you told me to go on this assignment to lead this nation of a million, two million people, but you haven't told me who's gonna go with me. What he's saying is, you haven't told me about you. I don't know about you. You said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor with me. And just one more side note here. Isn't it interesting that Moses says, God said to me, I know you by name. Let me ask you this morning, Long Hollow, does God know you by name? Does God know you by name? Are you and God on a first-name basis? He was with Moses. Now, if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways, and I will know you so that I may find favor with you. Now, consider that this nation is your people. And the Lord replied, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Verse 15, this is the greatest mantra of his ministry. If your presence does not go, Moses said, don't make us go up from here. Here's what Moses had, this mentality of, if you don't go, we won't go. In a sense, God, if you...think if we lived that way. If you don't go, then I'm not going to go, God. If there's a place you're sending me and you're not there, you can count me out. That's the mentality he had. And then it says, how will I be known that I and your people have found favor with you unless you go with us? I and your people will be distinguished by this from all other people on the face of the earth. The Lord said, I will do this very thing you have asked. For you have found favor with me, and I know you by name. Then Moses makes the boldest request of his life. Okay then, please show me your glory. Let's pray as we begin. God, we're asking today that you would meet with us in this place and manifest your presence among us that we would see your glory. We want nothing less and no one more than you. We ask it in your name. Everyone said, amen. Here's the driving secret of Moses' life. It's one thing, write this down. Moses wanted God more than anything else in the world. The key word there is God. He wanted God more than anything else in the world. Now, you have to agree, this request from Moses is the boldest ask of his entire life. And you got to get the backstory to know the question. Like you would think if you're wandering in a desert and you and I come upon a bush that is burning but is not consumed, and we hear the voice of God, that probably would be enough. Are you with me? But that wasn't enough apparently. And then you would assume that if we go to a waterway and God causes the water to stand up like two walls and we walk through the water and see our enemies perish behind us, that might have been the checkbox where you say, all right, God, that's enough. But that wasn't enough. Moses has seen God send water from a rock. Moses is going to walk up to a mountain called Sinai surrounded by smoke and clouds and lightning and thunder. And I don't know about you, I'd be throwing in the towel like, I get it, that's enough. But not Moses. Moses is going to ask this question, God, show me your glory. Here's what I think he's saying. He's not asking for more miracles, he's seen that. He's not asking for more activity of God, he's experienced that. He's not asking for a demonstration of the power of God, he's already enjoyed that. What he's asking for is he wants God. He's saying, I want you, I want more of God, I want to know you, God. Let me ask you today, do you want more of God? No, really, I'm asking you, do you want more of God? God himself, not what God can do for you. God, I'm not following you to make a deal with you, I'm not after you as a utilitarian genie trying to rub the lamp to give me whatever I wish for. No, God, I want you and you alone. Jesus, you are the treasure of my life. I said this last week, you can't be full of self and full of God at the same time. Moses is not satisfied with a fat-free, sweet and low substitute for the presence of God. He wants the fullness of God, he wants to know God, he wants to experience God, he wants to encounter God, and God grants his request. Look what he does. Exodus 33:21, the Lord said to Moses, here's a place near me. You're to stand on this rock on the mountain. And when my glory, watch this, passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and I'm going to cover you with my hand until I have passed by. He says twice, passed by, I've passed by. And then I'll take my hand away and you will be able to see my back, but my face will not be seen. Now, have you ever pondered why in the world would he create this environment for Moses, not to see the front, not to see the side, not to see the middle, but to see him as he passed him by? God's already passed by, he's gone. Now, I don't know for sure, but I believe the reason God does this, he covers him, is because Moses could not take in the full glory of God, and neither can we. See, if God revealed all that who he was in that moment, I believe Moses would still be standing on the mountain. Maybe that's why heaven is for eternity. You've ever thought about this? Because we will spend eternity trying to comprehend fully the breath of God, and the width of God, and the magnificence of God, and the majesty of God, and the holiness of God, and the goodness of God. It's going to take us eternity to just begin to understand who God is. And so Moses says, hey, I want to see your glory. God passes by and God grants his request. And one of the things about a man who experiences the manifest presence of God is that that man or woman is marked for life. See, Moses, because he saw God, there's going to be a residual effect on his life, and he's never going to be the same. And some of you know what I'm talking about, right? Like when you truly encounter God, you're never the same. Amen? Anybody amen to that? There's a residual effect. You're ruined in a good way for the rest of your life. Think of Isaiah. He's standing in the presence of God. He sees him high and lifted up. He gives his life now for God. He's never the same. You think of Paul the apostle. Paul is on the road to Damascus. He's blinded. He hears the voice of Christ. He sees a vision of Christ, and he is never the same. Think of Samuel. Two times, three times, he hears, God, is that you? God, is that you? He hears the voice of God, and he gives his life for God. He's never the same. Even Jacob, the Old Testament early church father of the nation, he's wrestling with God all night, and then God names the nation after him. He's never the same. Here's what you have to understand. One moment in the manifest presence of God, and you will be marked for life. You'll never be the same. Now, Paul is going to help us with this passage in the Old Testament. One of the great things about New Testament Bible study is when you study the New Testament, it gives sometimes commentary on Old Testament passages. That's what Paul does. And so in the book of 2 Corinthians 3, Paul, with this passage in mind of Moses going up to the mountain, seeing the glory of God, his face starts to shine, the Bible says, and he has to cover it with a veil. Remember that? He's got a hood on for a while because people can't look at him. And Paul's going to give commentary in verse 12, but he gets down to verse 18, and here's what he says. We all now, Christians, New Testament believers, we all now, with unveiled faces, are looking in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. Notice how many times the word glory, weightiness, presence of God. That is from the Lord who is the Spirit. And so what he's going to show us is the way for you and I today to be transformed into the image of Christ. And the way we do that, watch this, is through this word right here, looking. Circle this word if you have a Bible out or highlight it on your phone or write it in your journal. The word looking, the ESV translates it beholding, beholding the image of God. And this is an idea, listen to me long haul, this is the idea of lingering in the presence of God. This is the idea of contemplating the things of God. This is the idea of gazing intently, not being a rushed, to gaze into the face of Christ. This is like showing up to a house and taking off your coat and unpacking your bags and staying a while. You linger in the presence of God. Now, some of you, I would assume, in a group this size have never experienced God like this. You've never encountered God like this. I would even say some of you have come to services like this for a long time and you've never had a fresh touch from God on your life. Why? Because many of you, with love, of course, many of you, the moment you get here are worried about where you're going to eat lunch after you leave, right? So you've never encountered God. Instead of worrying about leaving when you get here, and I know that because I did that years before I came to Christ, but instead of leaving or thinking about what's happening after here, what if you showed up early because you didn't want to miss a moment of a move of God? Like you came here with this expectancy that God was going to work in your life. Did you come this morning expecting God to work today? I hope you did because I believe he is. I believe he's working now and he's going to work. Friends, what I'm talking about is not one-hour-a-week Christianity. That's not what I'm talking about here. I'm not talking about your grandmother's faith. I'm not talking about dumbed-down discipleship here. I'm not talking about what are the irreducible minimums that I can check boxes on so that I can get to heaven and miss hell in order to not go and spend eternity for Christ. I'm talking about people who are hungry for God. I'm talking about people whose hearts are burdened for a move of God, not heaven tomorrow, but they want to experience heaven on earth today. Are you with me? That's what we're praying for. Now, I'm going to say this to you, and again, I went back and forth this week with the Lord. Should I say this? Should I not say this? But I decided to say it. And I want to say, I want it to land the right way. I want you to hear it the right way. I have nobody in mind when I'm saying this, but I feel like some people here need to hear this. And I want to say this with love, so I want you to hear it the right way. But look at me. If you're here to punch a time clock to show up at church because that's the middle Tennessee thing to do, I'm going to ask you to give us your seat. There are a lot of churches in this town that are going through the motions. There are a lot of churches in this town looking for crowds for the sake of filling a building. That is not this church. What we are praying for as a staff are a group of men and women who are hungry for more of God. What we're praying for are women who are thirsting for more of God. Now, are guests welcome? Absolutely. Are people far from God welcome? Absolutely. But what we're praying for is a generation of students who will stand up and say, I'm not going to be forced into the mold of the world. I'm going to live for Christ. That's what we're looking for. That's what we're praying for here. I'm praying for a generation of spirit-filled, sin-hating, sold-out-for-Jesus believers who won't shrink back, won't shut up, and won't stop until the return of Christ. That's the kind of church I want to be a part of. Amen? That's the kind... John Wesley said it this way. John Wesley, who changed the world for Christ, said, you give me 50 men who love no one more than God and hate nothing more than sin, and I will turn this world upside down for Jesus. I don't know about you, I want to be that man. I hope you want to be that woman. Listen, I want you to hear my heart. I'm not trying to be cute. I'm not trying to be offensive. I'm not trying to be charismatic. I'm not saying this for sound bites online. I'm just tired of playing church. I'm tired of coming in because it's the routine, mundane thing to do. I'm tired of being a part of tradition that gets in the way of advancing the gospel. I'm tired of people coming in here acting like everything is okay when their entire world is falling apart at home. I'm tired of people putting on an act. I'm tired of people acting like clandestine Christianity, or secret service Christians, or undercover disciples, or false identity Pharisees. Listen, Jesus had a lot to say about those things. It's time today, Long Hollow, for the church of Jesus Christ to stand up. It's time today for the church of Jesus Christ to not shrink back. In a sense, it's time for the church to finally be the church. Amen? Yes, we need us to be the church. And that's what we're seeing. We're seeing a hunger by this young generation to say, we want more of God. Now, Paul's going to give us the secret to that. Because I know you're thinking, well, how am I transformed today? Paul gives us the secret. And in the text, he says, when you look or behold Christ, your heart is transformed. Watch this. You cannot look at, here's what he's saying, you cannot look at, gaze at, contemplate two things at once. Meaning, you cannot be negative and look intently at Christ. You cannot contemplate your problems and consider the glory of God simultaneously. You cannot gaze and worry about your problems and long for Christ at the same time. You cannot focus on things that are bad and focus on Jesus at the same time. And here's why I say that. You will be amazed when you linger in the presence of God and God begins to change your heart. See, when God begins to change your heart, you will be amazed what happens when you get right with him. You'll be amazed. You'll start to have a hunger for the things of God. It'll blow your mind. You'll start to have a passion for the word of God. What used to be words on a paper are now the breath of God to your soul, like a healing balm of Gilead over your head, like the Old Testament prophet. The word of God becomes alive. You stop desiring the things of the world and start desiring the things of God. Only God can do that. Now, here's how you get that, and I say this obviously against me in a sense, but I want you to hear my heart. You don't need another sermon to get there. You don't need another Bible study. Bible studies are good. Sermons are good. Don't stop coming back. Amen? Every week, but you don't need another conference. You don't need another meeting to go to out of town. You get there from a fresh touch from God, a fresh encounter with God. Here's what Paul says, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is what? Freedom. Freedom. I know on a room this size, there are some who would say, I need freedom right now. Some of you are so crippled and bound up by addiction, you would say, I need freedom right now. Who in here would say, I need healing today? Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's healing. How many in here would say, I need to be refreshed by the Lord today? How many would say, I need to experience the power of God today? I yearn for the presence of God today in my life. Friends, a fresh touch from God, just a moment in the presence of God, will mark your life forever, which is why I decided to go to Asbury. So that's why we drove up. Small group of pastors and staff members, we decided to drive up to Asbury just to be in the presence of God for a moment, if it was just that. And when we had gotten there, I noticed a couple of things, and I wrote extensively about this on a post online, if you're interested. But I'll tell you five things that we learned by being in the room. Five things we learned by being in the room. I'll tell you five things that we learned. Number one is this, what we saw is a group of people worshiping God, regardless of race, nationality, denomination, or even age. In fact, if you saw some of the videos I put online, there was a baby in front of me, and children, all the way up to senior adults, 80 and 90-year-old men and women, and they're just a fresh touch from God. And here's what it reminded me of. That's what the kingdom of heaven is going to look like, amen? And God reminded me that when you get to heaven, everybody there is not going to look like you, let me remind you, amen? And that's what heaven is, every nation, every tribe, every tongue with a seat at the table of the Lamb of God. I've learned from some people who actually are on the ground, and friends with people on the ground, behind the scenes. And they said the worship team that gets up to lead worship is anyone's feet that steps on the platform to lead at Asbury, and they do it in two-hour shifts with two to three people who are prayed over and identified by the Holy Spirit, which is an interesting, long discussion. But the Lord identifies these are the three, and they put them together. And before a person's feet hit the platform, they spend 30 minutes in a room where people who have been prayed over and anointed actually anoint and pray over them. And then for the next 50 minutes or an hour, they go to what they call the consecration room where they prepare their hearts before their feet get on the platform. And it just reminded me of what the church should be like, right? Like, this is the model of church. And what they said is their motto is, this is their motto, radical humility. This is the worship team's model, radical humility and racial or ethnic unity. That's the model of the revival forum. And I think that's the model of the church. Number two, what blew us away was that people worshiped and rejoiced in worship. They weren't just singing songs because just it was the thing to do or they were supposed to. Like, the people actually had a joy in worship, and I did as well, and just full confession, I've sang these songs probably hundreds of times. I knew these songs. But in that moment, watch this, in that moment, the words had meaning. It's like the words had come alive to me. It blows me away because everybody in the place was singing. And then we come here this morning, and brother, with all due respect, I know you because I know me. Many of you sat in this service while others around you were praising the Lord, and you wouldn't even open your lips to praise God because you're too worried about when, I just don't sing, Brother Robbie, that's not what I do. Well, brother, you may not be going to heaven or like heaven because that's all we'll do in heaven is sing and praise Jesus. Amen? So you might want to start now with the love of Christ, of course, right? How dare us come in here with arms folded and lips closed, not praise the one who saved our soul? Let me show you a little trick. It's real easy. It's actually easier than you think. Somebody raise, everybody raise their right hand just for a moment. Raise your right hand for a moment. Everybody. That wasn't hard. You see that? Andy, you saw that? Andy, you see this? That's not hard. You can raise a hand in worship. It's okay, right? It's okay. Number three, people expected to encounter God there. There was this anticipation and expectancy that God was there and God was working. What would happen if we come in every Sunday expecting God to mend our marriage and heal our family and restore us to himself? God was there and we sensed it. Number four, and this is the one that'll blow you away. The people there were hungry for a moment in the presence of God. In a sense, they were hungry for more of God. Now, when we got there at 10.30, they would not allow anyone into the chapel because it was the student service. So, we waited an hour. But by the time we were let in, there were literally hundreds, if not thousands, already in line. This was the line from yesterday. Now, I want you to see this. This comes down. It's already way back there. The line goes. This is the line down the street. It's going to go. There are hundreds and thousands in this line. And they're all waiting just to get into a worship center for a glimpse of the glory of God. This line goes down the street and it just keeps going. When was the last time you saw people waiting to worship Jesus before? Amen? You know what I'm talking about? Listen, two weeks ago, we saw the raunchiest five minutes of the Grammys and thought, what happened to the world? And two weeks later, God's like, just wait. People are going to wait six to seven hours to be in my presence to worship me. Amen? I don't know if you know this. God's doing something right now. God's doing something right now. And here's the reality. Some of you are going to miss it. It's going to come and go. Look at me. And some of you are going to miss it. Here's the fifth thing I noticed from that revival. The people were present in God's presence. They were present in the presence of God. Nobody wanted to leave. People said, what was it like? Did you feel or sense the presence of God? Absolutely. It wasn't just overwhelming, sloppy on the face. It was like waves of invitation and just a refreshment of God. You guys were there. Ben and Nutea were there. They went actually after the service and drove straight there and texted me after. It's like waves of just the presence of God. And no one wanted to leave. Why? Because time stood still as we just praised and worshipped God because He's worthy to be worshipped. Now, listen to me. You hear that and you think, man, I need to go. Let me just remind you, everybody can't go to Asbury, nor should everybody go to Asbury. Let me remind you, you don't have to. Our God is not bound by geography or location. He is omnipotent and omnipresent, meaning He's all-powerful and He's everywhere at the same time. But the Bible is clear, and this is the point I want you to get. The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people, Psalm 22, 3. God is enthroned. God inhabits. He shows up when the people of God praise God. Let me say it this way. When the praises go up from His people, God's presence comes down. The manifest presence of God comes down. Do you want to know why you haven't experienced or encountered the presence of God? Maybe it's because you haven't lingered long enough. Do you want to know why you're so discouraged and down and lost hope? Maybe it's because you haven't praised God. Do you want to know why your prayers are so dry when you pray? Maybe because you're bringing a shopping list for God to check off, and then you go on to the next thing in life. And I'm just going to call us in just a moment to just linger in His presence, to gaze at His holiness, to seek His righteousness, to understand His goodness, and not to be in a rush. And so I don't know where you are today, but I'm going to ask you to join me in praying for one major thing, and that is nationwide revival. I've been praying for years for nationwide revival, but I feel like we're on the cusp of a spiritual awakening, potentially, that could happen. Now, I will say I'm praying selfishly, in a sense, for this, because I know, and I don't even think you know, and I don't truly know, we have no idea how God reviving a nation can change the trajectory of a country for generations. And I believe that if God decides to blow a fresh wind of spiritual awakening on this country, it will change the lives of my kids, your kids, our grandkids, and our great-grandkids for years and years to come. You ask anybody from the Jesus movement, which the movie comes out Friday, by the way, Jesus Revolution, you ask anybody, and I've talked to them, who were saved during that period, it said it wrecked their family for good for generations. It changed the course of their family forever. So I want you to pray with me. God, would you send it to Vol State? God, would you send it to Trovecca? Would you send it to Belmont? Would you send it to TSU? Would you send it to Vanderbilt University? Would you meet us here like you are meeting us there? But let us pray as parents, and I'm going to ask you in a moment, if you represent one of these schools, if you're an administrator, a teacher, a coach, a student, you can trace most revivals through history in America. You can trace them always back to a group of students on a campus, always. And Candy and I talked about this last night. Why is that? Why is it just students? Here's why. Because students, I think, are more receptive to the things of God. Many of us have adults, we become so institutionalized and compartmentalized and traditional that we miss the things of God. But students are like, hey, if this is God, I want more of it. So let's begin to pray. Let's pray for the students at Hendersonville to experience revival, Gallatin, Liberty Creek, Beach, and Hunter, and DA, and Pope, and Good Pasture, and Ellis Middle School, and Knox-Dawson, Station Camp, and homeschool students as well, that all of us would experience this collective move of God. Now, let me remind you before we close, and this is the final thing, I promise. Before God can send revival to the hallways of the schools, he has to first send revival to the home you live in and to your heart personally. We can't say God revived them before he revives us. Here's personal revival. You draw a circle on the ground and you get in it, and you say, God, revive everything in this circle first. And so here's what I know. And a group decides because I know me. There are some of you who would say, I need a personal revival. Look at me today. I need a personal revival today. Just a moment, I'm going to invite you to do that, to ask God for that publicly. Tonight, we're going to offer a worship service for students that is only for students. I got two calls this week. They were the sweetest calls from two girls. I think they were two 16-year-old girls independent of themselves. They called the church and said, basically, Pastor Robbie, we know you, you don't know us, but God has placed on our heart to gather together with other students for a, her words, spontaneous worship gathering of worship and prayer. Would you open the church for us to come? I'm like, will we open the church? We'll shut down the services for that, amen, for students. I mean, that's something only God can do, amen? Like God is working. So tonight, watch this, tonight at 6.30 in our student center, it's only going to be students worshiping God. Now, parents, you're welcome to come, but let me invite you to do this. When you come, prayer walk the building, prayer walk the campus, and ask the fire of God to fall upon our students in Jesus' name, amen? I can't wait for that tonight. It may go all night into the morning, so you need to be prepared. I'm praying it does, amen, for the glory of God. I know in a room like this, there are some who would say, man, I need freedom today. I need revival today. I need a touch from God. I'm going to ask you to do something we don't normally do here. With every head up and every eye open, with all the lights still on, I believe the Lord's leading me to do this, and so I'm going to do it. Because if you can't take a stand in this place surrounded by friends, you're never going to stand for Christ outside of this place, amen? I'm going to ask you, if the Holy Spirit of God is prompting your heart, and you're saying, I need a revival, I need a touch from God, I need the Holy Spirit to work in my life, I'm going to ask you right now in front of everybody, would you just stand right where you are, just right where you are, right to your feet, just stand. I need a fresh touch from God. I'm going to pray over us, and in just a moment, I'm going to ask you to come as we worship, and we're going to get on our face before God, and we're going to pray for our schools. I mean, this generation needs a revival more than any generation, I think. We're going to believe God can do it. Father, I pray for those who just stood. When you spoke that to my heart, I thought no one's going to stand with the lights on and heads up, and nobody's going to stand. But God, we are desperate for you. There are people in here who want more of you. God, we're tired of routine Christianity. We're tired of going through the motions. We're tired of singing songs that we sung out of routine for all of our life. God, give us a richness in worship today. Let us sing, God. Let us open our lips and praise you, and I pray for freedom, God. Your Word says, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, God. We sense your presence even now. Soften the hardened hearts. God, I pray for the skeptic even now who's looking at this and saying, this is not of the Lord. What are these people doing? God, I pray you soften their heart right now. Send revival to them by sending Jesus to them. God, set those free in here of addiction. Set them free, God, of alcoholism. God, set them free of anything that would get in the way of you. God, I pray for marriages to be restored right now. Pray for relationships with kids to be reconciled. And God, we pray for revival to come. Holy Spirit, have your way. Holy Spirit, we welcome you into this place. We know when you show up, we bow down in worship. Radical humility, racial unity. That's our prayer. We ask it in Jesus' name.