Divine Awakening: Experiencing God's Power and Presence

 

Summary

In our time together, we explored the profound theme of "Awakening," a concept deeply rooted in the history of God's people and the church. This theme is not just a call for revival but a divine invitation to experience God in His holiness and power. We began by acknowledging the current state of the church, recognizing an impoverishment in worship, preaching, and prayer. This condition reflects a need for a fresh outpouring of God's Spirit, a season of awakening that only He can initiate.

We delved into the nature of such awakenings, noting that they are not man-made events but divine interventions where God does ordinary things in extraordinary ways. These seasons are marked by an intensification of spiritual experience, a profound sense of guilt before a holy God, and an overwhelming joy in the forgiveness of sins. They lead to an acceleration of God's work, where the gospel spreads rapidly, and many come to faith.

The early chapters of Acts provide a blueprint for understanding these awakenings. The Day of Pentecost, while unrepeatable, set a precedent for the Spirit's work in the church. We see repeated patterns of spiritual intensification and gospel multiplication throughout Acts, illustrating how God punctuates history with these remarkable seasons.

Key to these awakenings is a burden for prayer, an exaltation of Christ, and a boldness in preaching. Prayer becomes a desperate cry for God's presence, not just a request for revival. Christ is exalted as the all-sufficient Savior, drawing people to Himself. Preaching becomes a dialogue where the Spirit applies the Word to the hearts of listeners, leading to deep conviction and transformation.

However, awakenings also face opposition, both from outside and within the church. Yet, through this opposition, God brings about a glorious transformation in believers, marked by a renewed love for Christ, a hunger for His Word, and a willingness to forsake all for Him.

May we, in our time, seek such an awakening, praying for God's Spirit to move powerfully among us, exalting Christ, and transforming lives for His glory.

Key Takeaways:

1. The Need for Awakening: The contemporary church suffers from a lack of depth in worship, preaching, and prayer, indicating a need for a fresh outpouring of God's Spirit. This awakening is not something we can manufacture but a divine gift that brings a renewed sense of God's presence and power. [06:18]

2. Characteristics of Awakening: Awakenings are marked by an intensification of spiritual experience, where ordinary acts of God are done in extraordinary ways. This leads to a profound sense of guilt before God and overwhelming joy in His forgiveness, resulting in an acceleration of the gospel's spread. [09:33]

3. The Role of Prayer: A burden for prayer is central to awakening, where God's people are moved to seek His presence and power. This prayer is not about asking for revival but recognizing our utter helplessness and desperate need for God to act. [22:45]

4. Exaltation of Christ: In times of awakening, Christ is exalted as the all-sufficient Savior, drawing people to Himself. Preaching becomes centered on Christ, and conversations focus on His majesty and sufficiency, leading to deep conviction and transformation. [32:43]

5. Opposition and Transformation: Awakenings often face opposition, both from outside and within the church. Yet, through this opposition, God brings about a glorious transformation in believers, marked by a renewed love for Christ, a hunger for His Word, and a willingness to forsake all for Him. [46:39]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:31] - Introduction to the Theme of Awakening
- [01:41] - The Condition of the Contemporary Church
- [03:09] - Impoverishment in Worship and Preaching
- [05:10] - The Powerlessness of Our Witness
- [07:02] - The Nature of Revival and Awakening
- [09:33] - Characteristics of Spiritual Awakening
- [13:41] - The Day of Pentecost as a Model
- [16:46] - Seasons of Refreshing from the Lord
- [20:21] - The Increase of God's Word
- [22:45] - The Role of Prayer in Awakening
- [32:43] - Exaltation of Christ in Preaching
- [39:23] - Boldness in Application of Truth
- [46:39] - Opposition to the Gospel
- [49:05] - Glorious Transformation of Believers
- [50:47] - Closing Prayer

Study Guide

### Bible Study Discussion Guide: Awakening

#### Bible Reading
1. Acts 2:42-47 - The early church's devotion and growth.
2. Acts 4:31-33 - Boldness in preaching and the power of the Spirit.
3. Acts 6:7 - The Word of God increasing and multiplying.

#### Observation Questions
1. What are some signs of impoverishment in worship and preaching mentioned in the sermon? [03:48]
2. How does the sermon describe the nature of awakenings as divine interventions rather than man-made events? [08:08]
3. What role does prayer play in the process of awakening according to the sermon? [22:45]
4. How does the sermon illustrate the opposition faced during awakenings, both from outside and within the church? [46:39]

#### Interpretation Questions
1. In Acts 2:42-47, what practices of the early church contributed to their spiritual growth and community strength?
2. How does the sermon suggest that the exaltation of Christ during awakenings leads to transformation and conviction? [32:43]
3. What does the sermon imply about the relationship between the boldness in preaching and the effectiveness of the gospel message? [39:23]
4. How might the opposition described in the sermon serve to strengthen rather than weaken the church? [46:39]

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your personal prayer life. How can you cultivate a deeper burden for prayer as described in the sermon? [22:45]
2. The sermon mentions a need for a fresh outpouring of God's Spirit. What steps can you take to invite this awakening in your own life and community? [06:18]
3. Consider the current state of worship and preaching in your church. What practical changes can you advocate for to deepen these experiences? [03:48]
4. How can you actively participate in the exaltation of Christ in your daily conversations and interactions? [32:43]
5. Identify a specific area of your life where you face opposition. How can you view this as an opportunity for spiritual growth and transformation? [46:39]
6. The sermon highlights the importance of community in awakening. How can you foster a sense of community and shared purpose in your small group or church? [13:41]
7. What is one specific action you can take this week to contribute to the multiplication of the gospel in your community? [11:18]

Devotional

Day 1: The Church's Need for Divine Awakening
The contemporary church finds itself in a state of spiritual impoverishment, lacking depth in worship, preaching, and prayer. This condition highlights the urgent need for a fresh outpouring of God's Spirit, a divine awakening that cannot be manufactured by human efforts. Such an awakening is a gift from God, bringing a renewed sense of His presence and power. It is a call to recognize our spiritual poverty and to seek earnestly the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. [06:18]

Isaiah 64:1-2 (ESV): "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil—to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!"

Reflection: In what areas of your spiritual life do you feel a sense of impoverishment? How can you invite God to bring His awakening power into these areas today?


Day 2: Experiencing God's Extraordinary Work
Awakenings are characterized by an intensification of spiritual experience, where God performs ordinary acts in extraordinary ways. This leads to a profound sense of guilt before a holy God and overwhelming joy in His forgiveness, resulting in the rapid spread of the gospel. These divine interventions are not man-made but are marked by a deep awareness of God's holiness and a transformative encounter with His grace. [09:33]

Habakkuk 3:2 (ESV): "O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy."

Reflection: Can you recall a time when you experienced God's extraordinary work in your life? How did it change your understanding of His holiness and grace?


Day 3: The Power of Desperate Prayer
A burden for prayer is central to awakening, where God's people are moved to seek His presence and power with desperation. This prayer is not merely a request for revival but an acknowledgment of our utter helplessness and desperate need for God to act. It is a cry for His presence to be manifest among us, transforming our hearts and lives. [22:45]

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV): "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."

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you feel utterly helpless? How can you turn this into a desperate prayer for God's intervention today?


Day 4: Exalting Christ as the All-Sufficient Savior
In times of awakening, Christ is exalted as the all-sufficient Savior, drawing people to Himself. Preaching becomes centered on Christ, and conversations focus on His majesty and sufficiency, leading to deep conviction and transformation. This exaltation of Christ is key to experiencing a true spiritual awakening, as it shifts the focus from human efforts to the power and sufficiency of Jesus. [32:43]

Colossians 1:18 (ESV): "And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent."

Reflection: How can you make Christ the center of your conversations and actions today? What steps can you take to exalt Him in your daily life?


Day 5: Transformation Through Opposition
Awakenings often face opposition, both from outside and within the church. Yet, through this opposition, God brings about a glorious transformation in believers, marked by a renewed love for Christ, a hunger for His Word, and a willingness to forsake all for Him. This transformation is a testament to the power of God to work through challenges and opposition to bring about His purposes. [46:39]

James 1:2-4 (ESV): "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Reflection: What opposition or challenges are you currently facing in your spiritual journey? How can you view these as opportunities for transformation and growth in your faith?

Quotes

It is a wonderful privilege for us to be together and I have been thinking a great deal about our conference, about its theme. Those of us who speak regularly at the Ligonier conferences often wonder, but don't dare to ask, "How did you come up with this theme?" But whatever we may think about themes, we thank God that R.C. and others with him in thinking a long time ago now about this conference settled on this theme of "Awakening." [00:00:39]

We suffer from an enormous impoverishment of worship. The most obvious signal is what happens after the benediction is pronounced and people get on with the next part of their business and it's an indication that we know so little about what we have just been doing, and we know so little of that overwhelming sense of the presence of the God whom we have been praising that we would want to linger in His presence and continue to worship Him and that anything else would be a distraction from our greatest delights. [00:03:48]

I don't think I need to underscore for you that a revival or an awakening is not something that we can accomplish. Like many other strangers to these parts, I still vividly remember a Saturday afternoon at a conference in a church in a state that will remain nameless to protect the guilty, and I wandered outside of the church and looked across the road and there was another church that was advertising a revival the following week on the Tuesday and Thursday. [00:07:12]

What marks it really is not so much that God does things that He doesn't ordinarily do. It isn't that regeneration and conversion are somehow superseded by revival and awakening. It is not so much that God does extraordinary things in that sense but that He does ordinary things in an extraordinary way. And in doing so, He both awakens the church from its lethargy and revives the spiritually dead from their judgment and their condemnation. [00:08:43]

There is an intensification of spiritual experience, especially an intensification of a sense of guilt before a holy God and joy in the forgiveness of sins by that holy God. There is a movement from pleasure in the things of grace to profound joy in the things of grace, and along with that intensification and partly as a fruit of it, there is also an acceleration of God's work. [00:09:45]

The Day of Pentecost did not happen again, but many of the Spirit-given realities that marked the Day of Pentecost came again and again like waves beating on the shore. These very realities of which we've just been speaking, an intensification of spiritual experience, an acceleration of the gospel, a multiplication of those who were converted, was characteristic of that whole opening section of the Acts of the Apostles through the experience of Philip in Samaria. [00:14:46]

And you see this again and again as historians seek to trace this. Sometimes they can trace it back to a moment. Sometimes they can trace it back to a single prayer. You know what it is to be in a gathering for prayer when everyone is half-asleep, and then suddenly the gathering comes to life because of the prayer of an individual. [00:22:47]

One of the things that happens when the Holy Ghost comes in awakening is that preaching is re-centered on Jesus Christ, and conversations are re-centered on Jesus Christ, and you see this happening both on the day of Pentecost and punctuating these early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles right through Peter's understanding of what happens in the household of Cornelius. [00:34:05]

There is a boldness of application of the truth that in some sense seems to be possible or appropriate only in a season when the Holy Spirit, as it were, oils the channels between the Word and the needy hearts of people to make it possible to engage in this close application. One of the things that characterizes this preaching, you see it in Simon Peter in an amazing way. [00:39:23]

And then, of course, everything gets sorted out. Everything becomes tidy. No, then there is always painful opposition to the gospel. That's the story of early Acts, isn't it? And it always seems to come in the same style as in the early Acts. First of all, there is intimidation. "We've got to stop this." And then when intimidation fails, there is position seeking within the church. [00:46:39]

A burden for prayer, an exaltation of Christ, a boldness in preaching, a painful opposition to the gospel, and a glorious transformation of believers. I knew somebody, still know them, who experienced such an awakening. I asked them, "What was it like for you?" and the thing that struck me was that the pattern was still the same. They said, "I was just overwhelmed with a sense of conviction of my own sin. [00:48:29]

I had a desire to turn from my specific sins, but from all sin to Jesus Christ. I was overwhelmed with a sense of the joy of forgiveness and the love of Jesus. I wanted to devour the Word of God. I longed to be with Him in prayer. I saw the needs and the difficulties of others more clearly, and I felt that I would be willing to forsake everything for the Lord Jesus Christ." [00:49:05]

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Transcript
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