INTRODUCTION:
1. David
did not want to lose the joy of his salvation -- vs. 12.
2. He
knew the necessity of a pure life as a child of God.
a. Knew that sin in his life gave a wrong testimony of
God.
b. Knew that sin gave the enemies of God an opportunity
to slander his Lord.
3. If
we are to truly have revival, we must have David's desire for a pure life.
We must live for God.
4. Three
reasons for this are named in these verses.
I. FOR THE SAKE OF SINNERS -- VV. 13-15.
A.
Purity To Witness.
1. Vs. 13 -- David says of the time of
restored joy: "Then will I teach
transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee."
2. Where there is guilt, there will be an inability to
witness of God's righteousness.
a. David knew he needed purity for the sake of sinners.
b. I Peter 2:9 -- Saved are to be "an
holy nation, a peculiar people that
ye should show forth the praises of him . . . "
c. David knew he was of no benefit as a witness if he
wasn't pure.
3. When sin is eating away at you -- making you feel
guilty, you won't be an
effective witness for Christ.
a. How many feel "worthy" to witness of Christ today?
b. Do you think the preacher feels "worthy" to declare
a message such as this?
1) This was one of my greatest battles in surrendering
to preach.
2) However, I know God has called me to do this
and expects me to obey!
c. How many feel "worthy" to observe the Lord's Supper?
What do we do?
1) Let Jesus clean us up and make us able.
2) We depend upon His righteousness, not ours.
B.
Purity To Worship.
1. Vs. 14 -- "Deliver me from bloodguiltiness,
O God . . . and my tongue
shall sing aloud of thy righteousness."
a. Vs. 15 -- "O Lord, open thou
my lips . . . "
b. David couldn't open his mouth in praise of God because
he had no sense
of forgiveness until he confessed his sin.
c. He had no sense of purity in his life.
2. Guilt will shut our mouths, too.
a. May tell us why there is little true worship
today.
b. May be why our worship is lifeless -- because of sin
in our lives.
c. John 4:24 -- Can anything led by the
Holy Spirit be dull and lifeless?
3. I'm sure many saved cannot declare the righteousness
of God because of
their unrighteous lives.
a. Because of direct disobedience in failing to do what
we should.
b. Because of disobedience in doing what we should not.
4. We need pure lives that God might use us to bring
the lost to Christ.
(He won't use a dirty vessel -- II Timothy 2:16, 20-21.)
II. FOR THE SAKE OF THE SAVIOR -- VV. 16-17.
A.
Purity Pleases God.
1. Vv. 16-17 -- David is saying,
"I must be pure because that pleases You."
2. God is more concerned with internal holiness than
with external ceremonies.
a. If you attend church regularly, but don't live a pure
life daily, God
isn't impressed.
b. Amount of offering doesn't mean as much as the condition
of your heart --
Mark 12:43-44.
3. Rev. 4:11 -- We were created for His
pleasure.
a. Saved more than willing to accept the joy He gives.
b. Do we ever stop to think about bringing joy (pleasure)
to God?
B.
Purity Praises God.
1. God desires that we have a "broken and
contrite heart" -- broken over our sin.
a. BROKEN = to crush, burst.
b. CONTRITE = virtually the same as above.
2. James 4:9-10 -- There can be no
revival without true contrition over sin.
3. This is the kind of heart that God "wilt not despise."
DESPISE = slight, neglect, make little account of.
4. The greatest compliment to God and His grace is a
child of His living a life
of purity for Him.
III. FOR THE SAKE OF THE SAVED -- VV. 18-19.
A.
Praying For Others -- Vs. 18.
1. By this verse David was cleansed from his sin and
forgiven by God.
a. He was praying for others.
b. Saying, "Lord, rebuild Jerusalem and bring everyone
back to righteousness."
2. We are taught in the Scriptures to pray for one another.
a. James 5:16.
b. I Timothy 2:1.
c. Paul set the example as he prayed for all his brethren.
3. However, you can't pray for others if your life is
not right with God.
a. I Peter 3:7.
b. Psalm 66:18.
4. Remember the V. Havner quote from the first message
of this series?
a. "Too many 'revivals' begin with the assumption that
the present church
membership is in good shape. That is usually wide of the mark."
b. Why do we want to have a revival?
5. Too often we want it so all those "other folks" will
get revived.
a. That is "wide of the mark."
b. Borders on Phariseeism -- to suggest we are righteous
enough to judge
our brethren.
B.
Praising The Father -- Vs. 19.
1. What will happen when we are truly revived?
a. It will affect us.
b. It will affect our worship -- vs. 19.
2. True revival won't simply bring a "warm, fuzzy feeling."
It will cause us to be
concerned about others.
a. We will be spiritually minded -- Galatians 6:1.
b. We will seek after those who need to be saved and
those who need to
be restored.
c. Vv. 13, 19.
3. Also, real revival will cause us to truly worship
God.
a. John 4:24.
b. Much of what we call worship today is merely "going
through the motions."
1) Sing without hearing the message of those great old
hymns.
2) Hear the preaching without hearing the message.
4. An example of true worship.
a. Philippians 4:15-18 -- How Paul says
God felt about the Philippians'
act of service.
b. II Corinthians 8:1-4 -- What they did.
c. II Corinthians 8:5 -- Why they did it.
5. True revival, faithful service, and acceptable worship
will come when we give
God full control of our hearts, and our lives will be a blessing to others.
CONCLUSION:
1. True
revival involves:
a. A right view of sin -- exceedingly sinful.
b. A right view of God -- completely holy.
c. A right view of self -- needing purity.
2. We
must see that sin in our lives deserves judgment, and all we can do is
seek
God's mercy.
3. Real
church-wide revival must begin in individual hearts.
a. Do we really want to be revived -- or simply
have a week of services?
b. Do we really want to be right with God?
c. It can begin today.
