Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries with Doctor Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we thank you that we can come now to hear your word. We pray that the words of my mouth, the meditations of our hearts, would be acceptable in your sight, for we ask it in Jesus’s name. Amen.

If there is one thing that this Church needs, it is revival.If there is one thing that your home needs, it is revival.If there is one thing that our nation needs, it is revival.

There has, through the history of the church, been many times where revival has struck. And I pray for your home, for this nation, for this church, that revival would begin. He’s a little-known character from the Old Testament. His name is Manasseh.

He was the son of Hezekiah, who was a godly king who loved the Lord. It was under Hezekiah that the altars.

Were built to worship the living God and great reform came across Judah because of the desire to follow the Lord in the life of King Hezekiah. Now, when Hezekiah died, the people from Judah and Jerusalem came wanting to pay Honor to this wonderful king and when he died, he left behind him a twelve-year-old son who Would reign for 55 years. And this son would have the longest reign of any of the kings of Judah His name, is Manasseh.

A name which literally means one who causes to forget. Manasseh, the one who causes to forget. And it was under the reign of Manasseh that all of the reforms and changes that his godly father had brought were reversed. And under the reign of Manasseh, altars that were dedicated to the glory of God were torn down. And in their place, the worship of Baal. We hear a great deal about Baal. Baal, who, according to ancient mythology, was a God, a pagan God, who came into being when he met the pagan God death, who slew Baal.

And Baal had a sister, according to mythology, Anath and she went and searched the world for the body of her beloved brother. And when she found the body of Baal, she gave 70 buffalo and 70 cattle, and 70 sheep as a sacrifice so that her brother might come back to life. And according to this mythology, Baal came back to life. And the Canaanite people and all of those in the area that eventually would be taken over by the Jewish people their highest God was the God, Baal.

Now, Baal worship had incorporated in it the use of sacrifice, not only animal sacrifice, but also the sacrifice of children. And there was also prostitution that occurred in the temple as people would go to worship Baal. Now, there were a wide range of Baal gods. One of them was called Beelzebub, a name which we are familiar with For Jesus was accused of being of the house of Beelzebub, that father of lies, for the name Beelzebub simply means lord of the flies. And so, a generation of children in the 1960s read with great interest the Lord of the flies, not knowing.

That, in fact, the Lord of the flies, an ancient pagan God who reminds us of the baseness of man.  And so, it was in this world that Manasseh lived. And it was to the allegiance of Baal that he said, I shall live my life, I shall build my temples, I shall consecrate all of my energy to honour Baal. And so, Manasseh very quickly and systematically had destroyed all that was given to the Lord in the reign before him and his father.

And as a matter of fact, with his own hands, he constructed an idol which was then brought into the temple of the living God. And this great blasphemy, as he removed all that was holy of utensil in that building and placed there a God Made of hands, made by the hands of Manasseh.

And so corrupt were the ways of Manasseh that even we are told, he gave his children as a sacrifice, an offering to Baal. Manasseh consulted with witches and astrologers and soothsayers He knew the practices of witchcraft and sorcery But Manasseh was true to his name.

Manasseh, one who causes to forget. And Manasseh, we are told, seduced the entire nation of Judah and caused the entire nation to bow their knee before Baal. Now, the nation of Judah, of which Manasseh was the king, was referred to as a vassal state, which simply meant that they were under the control of Babylon. Babylon, an all-powerful nation, had taken under its wing the nation of Judah. Manasseh knew that on occasion, to show the allegiance towards Babylon, that he would have to give certain items or send parts of his army to go and to fight with Babylon. But another principle that the Babylonians used to show their power over a vassal state was to come on occasion, and with bronze fetters and a hook in the nose, they would take the king.

Manasseh as a slave to show that they had total control over Judah. And Manasseh was taken away, bound, led.

By hooks in his nose, and brought.

To the land of Babylon. And in Babylon, we are told that in his affliction, Manasseh understood the lord, and he humbled himself.

And while a slave, Manasseh prayed to the lord. The lord heard him; the lord forgave him. And by the providence of God, he brought Manasseh from Babylon back to Judah to be king once again. And while king, he took away the foreign gods and idols. He removed from that holy place the very idol that he had made with his hands. He called the nation of Judah together. And he told them that they should follow the Lord.

And the nation began again to listen to the voice of the Lord. They were instructed in godliness and holiness. Manasseh is the story of revival.

Let me ask, do you really want revival Do you really want revival? If your answer is yes, then there is only one place where revival will begin, and that is in your heart.

And in your life.Revival will never occur in a corporate sense. Until individuals are revived themselves. And their spirits are set on fire.

For the things of Christ and their very life’s ambition is to Follow the Lord wherever he will lead. Do you really want that kind of revival? If a revival is to begin, then I would suggest that you and I do this. Go home. Go to a quiet place in you House and take a piece of chalk and draw a circle around yourself. And pray to God that a revival will begin inside that chalk mark. And that it will begin in you.

Life and in mine. There was a great revival that occurred in Wales at the turn of this century And so profound were the effects of this revival. That the London Times sent a reporter who went and arrived in Wales and met a policeman. And he asked him, I hear there’s a revival, and I’ve come to report about it. Where is the revival? And the policeman said, the revival is inside this uniform. If there is to be any growth, revival, commitment to the things of Christ.

It must begin with you.

There is one obstacle that is always present when any Christian would take a desire to see revival in his own life. And that obstacle is always the same.

It is the obstacle of sin.Carl Menninger, founder of the Mayo Clinic.Wrote an interesting book. Whatever happened to sin? He asks, what has happened to sin? Why is it that in the church of Christ, for a minister even to mention the name sin is seen as old fashioned? And yet the very message of the.

Gospel of Christ is that Christ came to forgive us of our sin And if we would see a personal Revival in our own lives, in dedication to Jesus Christ, then we must, as Manasseh did, see his sin and come before the Lord. Now, sin comes in different forms.

There are different types of sin, and Sin must be confessed, we are told.

I would suggest that there are three forms of confession. The first is private confession.This is related to those sins that I have committed against God and those.Sins which I have committed against him. I must confess to him and to him alone. And the scriptures tell us, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and.

Just to forgive us our sins.

And so, if you are harbouring some sin that has been committed against the.

Lord, then go to him.

But there is another type of confession.

And that is personal confession. This is sin that is not only against the Lord, but against another person.

Those times that I have hurt or maimed, whether intentionally or not, another person.

And where sin has been committed against.

Another person, we must confess that sin.

Sin not only to God, but also to the person who we have hurt. We are told by the lips of Jesus in Matthew five, if you bring your gift to the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar. First be reconciled to him. But then there is another form of confession, and that is public confession, where sin has been committed against the church.

Of Christ, where it is a public scandal. We are told that in that case the confession ought to be to the church. But it is easy to speak about. Sin in a general sense. Let me be more specific. Have you forgiven everyone? Is there any malice or hatred or? Spite that is in your heart? Do you cherish grudges? Is your angry person? Does wrath control you? Do you regularly lose your temper? Do other people make you jealous when they are preferred above you?

Does it make you envious? Are you easily offended, suspicious of other people’s motives? Is there pride in your heart? Do you spend your time sharing with others the great accomplishments of your life?

The position that you have attained? Have you been dishonest? Are your business practices above reproach? Could anyone open your books? Are you a gossip? Do you slander another people’s character? Do you criticize others unlovingly, harshly, or severely? Do you enjoy looking for the flaws in other people? Have you robbed God? When you are asked to do a.

Task for the Lord, do you say. I don’t have time? Have you learned to give your finances to the Lord? Have you learned to give your time to the Lord? Have you learned to give your talents to the Lord? Are you worldly? Do you spend more time talking about?

Your VCR than you do about the Lord? Is your life simply a walk-through vanity fair, always looking for some new trinket to add to the collection? Are you worried and anxious about tomorrow? Do you fail to trust God for temporal things and also for spiritual things, or are you continually crossing bridges before?

You come to them? Is your mind full of unclean thoughts? Are your words truthful? Have you committed the sin of prayerlessness? Where the week has gone by and you have not prayed with your wife, with your children, where you have not taken that time to quietly come before the Lord in prayer? Do you confess Christ openly or are you ashamed of Christ? And if you say why I have.

Done those things, I am that person. And I would say revival needs to occur in your life.David said, search me, o God, and see if there be any wicked way in me to take an inventory spiritually Of where you are today.

And you wonder why there is not revival in the church. You wonder why there is not revival in our nation is because there has been no revival in your life. Charles Finney was a lawyer, and he was converted later in life, and he was used by God to bring about.

Many wonderful revivals in churches. And his name is linked to the word revival. Having looked at many churches and the lives of Christians, he asked the question.
When can we expect a revival? He said, first, you can expect a.

Revival when the providence of God indicates that a revival is at hand. In other words, coincidences seem to be wworking in the form of a providence. That God is bringing together certain forces, certain pieces to say that a revival Is coming, and it is God who.

Prepares the way for such personal revival. Secondly, Phinney says, when you see the sin of the world and you personally are grieved by that sin, when you look at the world and you learn. Of various sins that occur, do you

Find that what you actually do is discuss that sin? For you, it is merely an item of discussion. You know that you are talking about sin, but it never touches you. And so, you are able to talk about other people’s sin coldly without any interest in the fact that it is.

Sin before a holy and righteous God, the church of Jesus Christ is very good at pointing at the sins of the world and talking about them unemotionally with little attachment, talking about them.

But if we would expect a revival, the sin of the world would grieve us, that it would hurt us, for we think of that sin in relation to the Lord, and it moves us to pray. It moves us to be concerned for the world in which we live. A revival may be expected when Christians pray for it. When was the last time in your home that you and your family said, Lord, bring a revival in our house? When was the last time that a?

Group of people are moved to come to a prayer meeting and to pray for revival? To pray that God would use the forces that he has put in place, that a revival moving of the Holy Spirit of God would fall upon families and individuals and our community and even our nation?

We may expect a revival, says Finney, when attention by ministers is directed toward revival and the conversion of souls, do you desire to see men and women come to Jesus Christ?

Is that one of your ambitions? and that is a noble ambition and one that will bring revival in your life and in the life of those that you touch?

And finally, he says, a revival may Be expected when Christians begin to confess their sins. Do we seriously confess our sins to the Lord privately at home? Do you come before the Lord and confess those sins? Have you gone to brothers and sisters whom you have hurt and ask forgiveness? A revival may be expected when Christians confess their sins. If God were to ask you, do you want a revival? What would you say? Do you really want a revival? A revival in your heart? A revival in your home?

A revival in this church? A revival in this community? A revival in this nation? Do you really want such a revival? Would you say, yes, God, I want to be revived. I want to remember again the love of Christ that when I first heard the gospel of Christ, I was so drawn to him it seemed as though there were nothing that I would not do to show my love for Christ. There was no mountain too big that would keep me away from worshiping with God’s people. Why, I would be there to pray with God’s people every morning and every evening I would begin and close the day with God’s word.

Do you remember those days? Do you long for those days that you might be revived and say, Lord, begin a revival? Let it not begin out there, but let it begin in my heart. Let it begin in my life. Let me make the commitment to you that I want the warm breeze of Spring to come again and to thaw out my cold heart that I might.

Once again see the blossoms that I might see that growth those leaves spring to life that I might hear the sound of the birds sing that I might know the joy of Christ that my eyes would be fixed upon him.

O God, let there be a revival. Let it begin with me. Do you really want to be revived? Manasseh lived a life of great wickedness. But when he saw the claims of the Lord, he knew the Lord and he trusted in him. And revival came and revival can come into your life. Today, if you would begin and ask, Lord, let it start with me. Let us pray. Oh Lord, please prevent us from simply saying, that was a nice message. Prevent us from saying, I want to get a copy of that and mail it to a friend. Father, let each of us ask you to revive us, that we would not be concerned at this moment with our neighbor, other members of our family, but at this moment we would say, Lord, revive me, take me out of the slumber. Prevent me from using the words of your holy religion in such a soft, cold way.

Lord, please revive us. Help us this day to seek your will to grow, to know Christ, to know the fullness of Christ, that our lives might have noble purpose, and that we would say there was a revival, began with me, began when I asked you, Lord, to refresh me, encourage me, strengthen me, revive me, for I ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you for listening to affirm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. That’s Princeton Ministries Post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. The Lord bless you and Doctor Smith looks forward to hearing from you.