"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face...and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?" (Josh 5:13-15).

During the above event in the life of Joshua, the children of Israel had just crossed over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan. As they prepared to do battle with the inhabitants of the land, Joshua had an encounter with what some theologians referred to as a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. In this encounter, Joshua was no doubt greatly encouraged as he was reminded that the captain of the Lord's armies was with him and his people. But before he realized who the man standing in front of him was, Joshua asked, "Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?" (Joshua 5:14). In other words, Joshua was asking, "whose side are you on, our enemies or us?" The man with the sword drawn in his hand responded, "Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come." One preacher said of this response: "The captain of the armies of the Lord didn't come to take sides, He came to take over." When Joshua realized who he was talking to, he fell on his face in worship and said, “What saith my Lord unto his servant?” Jesus is the captain. Don't try to get him on your side. Make sure you're on his side. Don't try to get God to take up your cause; make sure you're fighting for his cause.

God is not impressed

“His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”
Psalms 147:10-11

God is not impressed with the size of our church buildings or the sound and lighting system. Is it wrong to have lights and amplified sound? No! However what we need most is what only God can do. What we need is for the Spirit of God to open blind eyes, convict distracted husbands, and restore broken families. What we need is for the saints to be grieved over the spiritual ruin in our world and be moved to action. But the truth is that we have learned how to attract a crowd on Sunday morning with our programming and activities. We've learned how to entertain the crowd and keep them for a little while. We know how to put on a show. But all along God is looking down and saying, "looks like they got it all figured out. They don't need me. Yes, the church prays, but its not a praying church. They are not looking to me for my guidance, wisdom and power to fulfill my mission to make disciples of all nations."  When we try to find in something or somebody what we can only find in Jesus we are practicing idolatry. In his new book, Old Paths New Power, Daniel Henderson writes, "We are beyond carved idols, but we have varieties of mechanisms in our promotional repertoire that compete with the glory of God. In our local churches, many components of our worship experiences come close to a modern carved idol. They are not chiseled with wood but technologically mind-blowing products sold in Silicon Valley, designed by Sony, manufactured by Microsoft, or promoted by way of high-tech projection. While none of these modern worship supplements are wrong, I doubt the Lord is going to bring revival in such a way that our gadgets get the glory."   If we would seek in prayer the glory of God in the face of Jesus, we will find that God's manifest presence will do more in a moment than the latest gadget could ever do in a life time. The glory of God will not only transform us into the image of Christ, it will change our hearts to grieve over the things that God grieves over.

But sadly, although lives all around us are on a wide road that leads to destruction, including some of our own children, we don't weep before God in prayer. We are in a spiritual coma. We sit on our couches and watch television all day or zone out on our smart phones watching YouTube videos or playing silly games. The condition of the church today is not one that will move God to send revival; rather the the condition of the church is one that necessitates for God to send a wake up call. In fact, the alarm is already sounding in the spiritual decline we see in our nation, in the changing laws that threaten our religious freedoms, and the increasing violence in our cities. Do we hear the alarm? Will we not fall to our knees and repent of our complacency? "...the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Psalms 147:10-11

Revival

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Isaiah 57:15

After being given a tour of Bellevue Baptist Church, the late Pastor Adrian Rogers was asked by a group of pastors, "When did you get a vision for this great church and all of its worldwide ministries?" Pastor Adrian Rogers responded, “God never gave me a vision for this. He gave me a vision of Himself and this is the result.” 

Anyone who ever accomplished anything for God of eternal value did so because they saw God as He is, high and lifted up. When we see God as He is, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty,’ we will fall down before Him. We repent of the sin in our lives that becomes exceedingly sinful in view of His glory and grace. When we see both the satisfaction of His wrath for sin and demonstration of His love in the cross of Jesus, we sing, ‘Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.’  When we hear the voice of our risen Savior, seated at the right hand of God ,saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” We respond, “Here I am! Send me.”  We make disciples!  When we see our spiritual poverty in light of the LORD's sovereign power, we pray without ceasing, knowing that apart from Christ we can do nothing. This is what true revival looks like, and it happens when we are rocked to the core of being before the presence of God. "We must remember that there is a difference between seeking revival from God vs. seeking God for revival (Daniel Henderson). We need a high view of God, and the rest will follow. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33