#185 Positioned for Revival (1 - Positioned Through "Practical Holiness")

If you were to take just the sheer numbers of conversions and baptisms and movements that were happening right now, and you put it in a book chronicling this time, you would say, well, they were in a season revival.

Welcome to the One Cry Podcast, a nationwide call for spiritual awakening. The goal, accelerating the movement of God through sharing revival truth, stories, and reports. Hey, well, welcome to the One Cry podcast. I'm Kyle Reno with Bill Elif.

We have the honor of hosting this, and I hope that you're having a great day, one, our listener, but I hope you're also catching the heart of this podcast is just to position ourselves to be a part of the next great move of God in America and across the world. And things are happening, aren't they, Bill, across our nation? They are. I tell you, you know, I don't know when, because it's a podcast, you can listen to this at all times.

But right now in 2024 and the beginning of 2025, we have been hearing for the last year extraordinary accounts of God's movement, uh, all across America, particularly in college campuses and, uh, and in churches, uh, churches as you're seeing a record number of people coming to Christ. And Kyle, I've, I've studied this most of my life. And if you were to take the, just the sheer numbers of conversions and baptisms and movements that were happening right now, and you put it in a book.

Chronic chronicling this time you would say well they were in a season revival yeah and so i don't i don't think we're about to be in it i think we're in it we may be in the foothills and not the tsunami of it you know but but we are in in it but you know the the purpose of today is we want to we want to talk about how do we personally position ourselves to experience revival and awakening and our churches yeah well i know we talked about this kyle i mean we it's possible to miss

the movement of god yeah we've talked about this numerous times and i just to echo what bill says and he's gonna really share today how we can best get in the right position and posture personally and as a people for a move of god and i i mean i echo what you said bill i don't Speaking personally, I don't say anymore or speak to the coming revival.

I speak to the revival that has already began. And that we are watching these moments, these embers that are turning into fires. And so I'm seeing it in our region. You're seeing it in yours. You hear stories of other places. And all the elements are right for a real move of God. And so I would say, and it would be the old hymn, Lord, do not pass us by. Right. The last thing you want to do is our grandchildren read about the revival that

happened in this era and you not be able to testify personally. Right. This is so real to me, Kyle, because I was in the Jesus movement in the 70s. And then I've studied it a lot. And what I watched personally, I mean, I saw in my own eyes in the 70s, churches and particularly pastors and youth leaders. I was a youth leader at that time, a college guy that saw the activity of God, but for a lot of different reasons. I think sometimes it was fear.

I think sometimes it was thinking this is going to require a lot of change in me. And I don't know if I want to change. I don't know if I want to pay the price. But they didn't. They knew that if they let God just do what he wanted to do in their life, in their church, it was going to upset the apple cart, you know, and they didn't want it upset. And so they quenched the spirit. And God kept moving. He just moved around them.

You know, the wind went around them. And so there's this little pocket. You know, I have this picture in my mind. One of my buddies was building a huge church. And there was a man that owned a piece of property, a home, that they needed to be able to build this auditorium, and he wouldn't do it. And they offered him three times the value of that home, and he wouldn't do it. And there's no reason, except he was just kind of a mean old guy. But he happened to be a deacon in that church.

And they offered him and they worked with him. He wouldn't do it. He wouldn't do that. And one day the architect came to my buddy, he was the pastor, and he said, I think I figured out a way for us to just go around that. And we have all the property around it and just go around that. And we don't need that property. So they redesigned the plans and began to, build this beautiful place. And then the guy came and said, Oh, I think I'm ready to sell. I said, Well, I'm sorry, you've missed it.

And, and his property really kind of became worthless because of where it was positioned after that. So we don't want to do that in terms of something even more valuable. And that is the movement of God, the revival. How do we position ourselves for the next few weeks on our podcast, we're going to talk about that.

How do we position ourself for revival, both personal revival, corporate revival, revival in my own life, my family, revival in my church, revival in my community. How do I not become a hindrance to revival, but I become a catalyst for revival? And I want us to look at one passage here today that is surprising. You wouldn't think about this in terms of revival, but it's in the Christmas story, really, in the early days of the birth of Christ.

And it's the story of a man named Simeon, and Simeon lived in Jerusalem, and we see the record of his life in Luke chapter 2, but I just want you to notice with me how he positioned himself to encounter Christ. And let me just pause right here and say something. What revival is, I heard Richard Owen Roberts say this one time. I can explain revival in one word. He said, God. It's God coming. It's God manifesting himself. It's God being put in his rightful place.

It's God on the throne of our churches. God on the throne of our life. It's just God. It's the manifestation of the presence of God by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So Simeon was positioned to encounter God. And the greatest manifestation we ever saw on earth of God was when God came to dwell in human flesh in Jesus Christ. The word was flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory of God. Now listen to what the Bible says in Luke 2, 25.

There was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. This man, pay attention to these words. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. How did Simeon position himself for revival? Well, first of all, he positioned himself because he was godly. He was godly. He was a righteous man. Now, that doesn't happen overnight. Righteous means right with God and right with man, right?

He was just taking the right steps, responding to God in the right ways. And so over a period of time, people looked at him and said, he's just a righteous man. He's devout. That word devout, the root of that word, means strong towards. When Paul says in Colossians 4, be devoted to prayer, he means strong towards. I know some people that are strong towards football. They're strong towards video games. They know every video game. They know how. But Simeon was devout towards God.

He was strong towards God. He was a righteous man. He was a holy man. And because he had cultivated his relationship with the Lord over the years, he was positioned to see God, right?

So there was a holiness in his life that positioned him to encounter revival. And if we want to see revival, the greatest posture we can be in is to cultivate personal holiness every day, right? You know, I often thought, as I've dealt with pastors all my life, and I am a pastor, as pastors, we are really guilty of what I call professional holiness.

And that is, you know, we just kind of live the way we want to all week long, and then Saturday comes around, and we think, oh, my sorrows, I've got to preach tomorrow. Lord, please forgive me my sins and cleanse me, fill me, use me. And God is real gracious because he loves his sheep and he wants to get his word to his people and he blesses and uses. But what if a man was walking with God on Monday and full of God on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, right?

Because we don't realize that holiness is cumulative. And then we come to the pulpit on Sunday and we are full of God. We are righteous and devout. So this positioned Simeon to encounter Christ, and it would position you and me for these coming days of revival. Secondly, he was looking for Christ. The Bible says about Simeon that he was looking for the consolation of Israel. In other words, it's talking about the Messiah, the coming Messiah. He was just expecting.

So this means he had he knew and believed that the Lord was coming he was just waiting for it to happen, i love being around people who are uh they understand enough about the ways of god, that they know that there are moments when god sends an extra measure of his power and his spirit it's like he opens the windows of heaven he comes down like the bible says rend the heavens and comes down to show the world who he is to remind us to bring us back to wake up his church to do what we should

have been doing all along. And some people are just looking for that. They're just looking for that. That doesn't mean they're not doing what they need to do today. If that's the case, that they're just sitting around being lazy and not doing what they ought to do, the blocking and tackling of the Christian life, but they're looking for more. They're just always looking for more. This is the way we position ourselves to see real revival. And he was looking for Christ. Then look at this.

Simeon was yielding to the Holy Spirit. The Bible says he was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he would see the Lord's Christ.

So there was a conscious aggressive obedience to the holy spirit he was yielding to the spirit and because of that the spirit of god was upon him now we know that was a a gift in the old testament era before the coming of the spirit in acts uh chapter two but but here was this man who, was so cooperating with God that the Spirit of God was upon him.

And this is the kind of men and women we need to be if we want to be ready at any moment for the activity of God or the explosion of his reviving power and work. And because of that, he was listening to the Holy Spirit. And when God spoke to him and said, Simeon, you're going to see the Messiah. You're not going to die until you see the Messiah. It could have been some men would have not been attuned to that.

Their hearts would be so dull. They would be so, their spiritual ears so full of wax and their hearts so seared because of sin that they just didn't have the capacity to hear. But Simeon was postured to hear God. And so he was waiting for God. And he had faith and he had belief. And he was looking. I wonder, you just kind of think about Simeon. And he got up every day and he went to the temple and thought, is this the day I'm going to see Christ?

Is this the day we're going to see this promised Messiah that everything depends upon his coming? And it did, by the way. And it does. So how do we position ourselves? We cultivate holiness, right? I mean, daily practical holiness. We cooperate with God and look for Christ with holy anticipation.

And we yield to the Spirit and His work on a daily basis. And we look to the Holy Spirit and listen to the Holy Spirit every day. You know, I just believe that I can hear from God. Some people think that's a weird deal, and I've never heard a physical voice from God. I think he could do that if he wanted to, but I just don't think he normally, we don't see that pattern that he normally manifests himself that day in our age. But I know that he communicates with me by his spirit, to my spirit,

through his word. It's always consistent with his word, what the spirit of God says to us. And he prompts us and communes with us. And you just got to think, you say, well, how could that happen? Well, he's God. I mean, for heaven's sake, he's God. And he loves us. And he promises that he will speak to us and commune with us. And this is what a relationship with God is all about, is the ability to commune. You don't have a relationship if you don't commune.

And so we can commune with God. And Simeon was in a position when God chose to manifest himself in Christ, Simeon was ready because he had heard from God and he knew that it was coming. And listen, he was obeying the spirit. The Bible says here in verse 27. He came, Simeon, let's talk about Simeon. He came in the spirit to the temple.

And when the parents, this is Mary and Joseph, brought the child Jesus to carry out for him the custom of the law, which was on the eighth day, he took him into his arms and he blessed God. He was ready. He knew that it was Christ. He saw the manifestation of Christ. Just think about this. Simeon was one of the first guys in human history that saw God. First, it was Mary and Joseph, the shepherds.

But on eight days later, Simeon, and you're going to see another prophetess, if you follow this passage on named Anna, They were ready. They were postured to see revival, which came in the person of Christ. Let me ask you a question. And Kyle, are you postured to see Christ? Are you postured to encounter Christ? And, you know, there's one more thing, Kyle, in this story is that he took, just think of this picture now, this old guy has been waiting his whole life for the Messiah.

And he takes Jesus in his arms. Just think of that. And it says that he blessed God, and he said, Now, Lord, you are releasing your bondservant to depart at peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles. That was very prophetic. And the glory of your people, Israel. So not only did he encounter Christ in this moment of personal revival,

but also then he did what revival always leads you to do. He proclaimed Christ. And we have that proclamation now for 2,000 years, he's been proclaiming Christ. So there's something about getting yourself ready, Kyle. About practical holiness, about cooperating with the Spirit, obeying the Spirit. He was righteous and devout. He was looking. He was prepared, and he was ready. And, Kyle, that's right where I want to be. Yeah.

I mean, just sitting here listening to you, all those aspects of his cooperation for revival, for a real move of God. And the thing that is really speaking to me right now personally, he just anticipated. Like, he anticipated, like, this is going to happen. This is going to happen. And I wonder just how he didn't get discouraged. I mean, I'm sure he did at times, but we don't see. He didn't give up. He didn't quit coming. He kept anticipating the presence of God.

And I would just think, man, I would just encourage our listeners, no matter what city, what church, what area, to anticipate, rightly position yourself, but anticipate that God desires to make himself known right now. Right now. So keep your spiritual antenna up. And, you know, Kyle, can I give you just a personal testimony before we pray together? When I was 17 and 18, I was in the middle of the Jesus movement. I came to the college campus where I was.

God began to move. I just got caught up in that. And it was everything that people said it was and wore for those who cooperated with God. People resisted it and they missed it and they said, oh, no big deal. But many of us, millions of us, saw a deeper manifestation of the power of God. And it changed us forever. And I never stand up to preach. I never go to a meeting somewhere, never do anything that I don't think, Lord, is it coming? Is it today?

When I'm preaching to a group of students, I always think, Lord, is Evan Roberts in this group? The next guy that God, next student that God's going to use to bring a movement across a whole nation. And I just, that's a gift from God. I'm not spiritual that I claim that that's from myself. It's just, I live with that anticipation. And do I get discouraged? Absolutely. Are there times where I think, Lord, where are you? What are you doing?

I mean, particularly as we've watched our nation just dramatically digress in the last 15 or 20 years. But it's those times when God sends revival. And now to see this movement. And I tell you, as for me and my house, I want a front row seat. I just want to see and I want to cooperate and I want to proclaim. And I'll be glad to say to the Lord, Lord, now my eyes have seated and I'm ready to depart in peace. Because I've seen the manifestation of your glory.

Wow. Well, I think for just our listeners today, and what it awakens in my heart in a renewed way, is I'm believing for that move of God's presence here among our nation. But if it doesn't happen everywhere, I'm going to be positioned right here. Yeah. I'm going to be positioned personally. You know, as much so as God's given us leadership, I'm going to help position other people for a move of God. So if the eyes of the Lord move to and fro, he would find us.

He would find us ready for it. So let's do this for just a moment in a fresh way.

Why don't you just walk into God's presence wherever you're listening? Bill, I'm going to have you pray for us in a moment. But walk in, and this is what I'm going to do. is say, Lord, I pray that you would find me positioned. I'm going to walk in right now, and maybe on behalf of your church, say, this year, Lord, I pray that you would find a church that's positioned in holiness, God, and attention to you, and desire for you, willingness to proclaim your work. So just fresh surrender.

Fresh surrender to the move of God in our nation and in the nations right now. Bill, why don't you pray for us? And I want us to just pray the scripture first. Through this picture of Simeon's life, Father, would you make us righteous and devout? Or I pray, Father, for every one of us who are praying right now, would you develop practical, personal, daily holiness in us? Would you show us that, Lord, just save us from professional holiness?

Remind us that holiness is cumulative, that we see things that we wouldn't normally see when our lives are right with you over a long period of time. And our spiritual senses are attuned to you. So, Lord, we pray for practical holiness. And Father, we also pray like Simeon, who was looking for the consolation of Israel, would you give us expectant hearts? Lord, that's faith. Faith believes that he is and he'll reward those who look to him.

So, Lord, just give us an expectant faith about revival that we believe that you're going to manifest yourself in greater ways, that there's way more than we've ever experienced. So build our faith and help us to look for you in every day, in every encounter, in every conversation, in every worship service that we walk into. I pray that this Sunday we would walk into our churches believing, could this be the day that we see a greater manifestation of God right here in our presence?

And we pray for that and we believe God for that. And Father, we thank you that he cooperated with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was upon him. And that he got up in the spirit and went to the temple. He he just practically obeyed in the power of the Holy Spirit. And he was positioned. Lord, if he hadn't paid attention to the spirit that day and the spirit of said, Simeon, go down to the temple. And he might have just missed Christ. Lord, you you were too good to let that happen.

He'd been looking for you for years and you prompted him strongly by your spirit. But then Simeon obeyed, and he got up in the spirit and went to the temple. And Lord, let us be found right there, Lord. And we sing that old hymn that Kyle mentioned, Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Lord, do not pass me by while on earth you are falling, Lord, don't pass me by.

And so we pray for that. And then, Lord, when we see your work and you do things that eye has not seen and ears not heard, Father, make us great proclaimers like Simeon. Let us stand up and say, well, this is God. This is the hope of Israel. This is the hope of the Gentiles. And, Lord, let us give a strong proclamation that gives all the glory to you, not to any man, not to any church. Oh, Father, please deliver us from that.

And we pray that we would just proclaim the glory of God to those who need to hear it. And so, Lord, make us ready and help us to posture ourselves for revival. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, listen, we're so excited about this series and more weeks to come. And I'll just encourage you. One, if this spoke to you, share it with somebody. We just looked at Simeon and how he was ready to declare. And revival's too good for it to stop with you.

And so I pray that you would be encouraged by these truths, but also share them with somebody else, share the podcast. We look forward to the days ahead. And just in faith, I believe that 2025 is an important year in the work of God's kingdom. So let's lean in and be positioned to the. Music.