Watchman on the Wall

Southwest Radio Ministries: Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. God is still on the throne and prayer changes things. Today, Bob Sanders will share what true revival is and we'll have an important ministry update.

As we begin today, I want to personally invite you to join us for a life-changing pilgrimage to Israel with Southwest Radio Ministries host, Josh Davis. Explore ancient Jerusalem, worship at the Mount of Olives, and reflect by the Sea of Galilee. A transformative journey of faith awaits, November 1st through the 12th of this year.

Get all the details and reserve your spot today. Visit swrc.com and click on the Israel tour banner on the homepage, or call 1-800-652-1144 to get more information. That's 1-800-652-1144. Spaces are limited, so make sure you reserve your spot today. November 1st through the 12th, come with Southwest Radio Ministries to Israel. 1-800-652-1144.

Many Christians use the word revival, but how many truly understand its biblical definition? A key chapter in the book of Psalms provides a portrait of authentic revival as one man pursued God from the depths of spiritual despair. Are Christians today seeking revival for the wrong reasons? Dr. Bob Sanders joins Josh Davis on today's Watchman on the Wall to explain what real revival is and what real revival is not.

Josh Davis: Greetings friends, and welcome back to Watchman on the Wall. Yesterday, we visited with Dr. Bob Sanders talking about God's pursuit of man in redemption. Today, we're continuing our conversation as we discuss the second half of his book, Man's Pursuit of God in Revival. Brother Bob, thank you so much for joining me, and I look forward to this discussion today.

Bob Sanders: Thank you, Brother Josh. I'm looking forward to our time spent in what I believe to be a very, very serious and needful thing, as this area of revival in the lives of the church and church members.

Josh Davis: Amen. It is such a vital need, and I know that many of our listeners would understand how desperately America needs revival. But we understand that the scripture tells us that judgment has to begin at the house of God and that it's me, it's me, it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. You do a great job of talking about the need for personal revival in our days, and you look at scripture. So what passage of scripture and what character is the focus of your writing here in the part of your book on revival?

Bob Sanders: Well, we're going to be looking at Psalm 73 that was written by a man by the name of Asaph. The most important thing that I think is needful to understand in order to get the full meaning of this area of revival out of this psalm is the fact of knowing who Asaph is.

Asaph is not just a random individual, but he is a Levite. He is a particular individual that David has put over the lead the worship service there as the ark and as the tabernacle is being brought back there to be set up there in the city, and Asaph is the worship leader.

Josh Davis: That's fascinating to think about because this man who's involved with leading public worship really reaches a place, and we'll unpack what it says in Psalm 73 as we go through the interview, but he really is someone who needs personal revival.

Before we get too far into the story of Asaph and Psalm 73, let's just pause for just a second and let you define the way that you use the term revival in your book. This is a term that gets thrown around by many different people and there are so many different uses of this phrase and sometimes it begins to lose its real biblical definition. What kind of revival are we talking about, and what's the definition that you give to revival as it pertains to your book?

Bob Sanders: Well, I think the very first thing that will bring clarity to understanding what I believe is true biblical revival is beginning by identifying who the subjects are in revival. Revival is not something that is experienced necessarily by the sinner. Revival can only be experienced by those that have been redeemed by the marvelous grace of God.

A lot of times when we hear people talking, and I don't think it's intentional, but they put revival and evangelism under the same heading. The truth of the matter is salvation of sinners is not the same as revival among the church or among God's people. I think ultimately when true revival does come, I believe that it will break out in sinners who will ultimately be saved as the result of revival.

But revival is not receiving life. Revival is life being brought back to its fullest potential in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when you think about revival, sometimes the question comes up, well, are we talking about a personal revival or are we talking about national revival?

The truth of the matter is national revival can only be experienced through people that have experienced personal revival. God works in the individual lives of His children. The truth of the matter is if we're going to have revival, it must begin with us as an individual.

Josh Davis: Amen. There's so much rich truth to what you've just said, and we do tend to get revival and awakening confused and we use that term revival so loosely. I'm so glad that you gave us that very helpful definition.

Friends, we're visiting with evangelist Dr. Bob Sanders. We're discussing his timely and timeless book, Redemption and Revival. It's available at swrc.com. Our website is swrc.com, our phone number, 1-800-652-1144. Again, 1-800-652-1144. Let's jump into Asaph and Psalm 73, and you say that it provides a complete picture of revival. Can you explain what makes this particular passage of scripture so important for Christians today in the understanding of biblical revival?

Bob Sanders: Well, Brother Josh, the thing that I think really comes out, the need for revival in our day and age is brought out in the life of Asaph. In the life of Asaph, as I said, he's the worship leader. He's the one that's going through the motions of the church services and the offerings and all these particular things.

But the truth of the matter is while his activities have not changed, his affections have. The truth of the matter is Asaph is doing everything he's doing because of law, because of the aspect of this is what he has to do to keep up a good image. He's not doing it out of love.

As I thought about this particular aspect, I thought about this thought: law governs the flesh. In other words, the idea is he's doing what he had to do because the law convicts him. In other words, we have a lot of folks that this coming Sunday, they'll get up and go to church.

Now, they're not going to church because they want to go to church. They're not going to go to a Sunday school class necessarily because they're wanting to learn the Word of God. They're doing everything because they're convicted by an overseeing law putting pressure on them.

But the glorious news is while the law governs the flesh, love governs the spirit. In other words, the idea is later we'll find he did what he did because love constrained him to do it. You know, the truth of the matter is, Brother Josh, that is the true essence of what we know when revival comes, is when we're no longer driven by the pressures of the law or guilt, but we're in love with Him and we want to do everything we can do because we love Him so very, very much.

Josh Davis: Yes, that's both convicting and encouraging to us as we're trying to draw our hearts back to the Lord, and that's really the essence of this personal biblical revival experienced by Asaph in Psalm 73. In the book, you just walk from the beginning to the end of this powerful chapter, and Asaph is just very open and honest with his readers and with those under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course, in Psalm 73 with those who would need to heed the same message that he learned the hard way.

As you say in the book, I love the way that you put it, "His Christianity had become the servant of his carnality and the merriment of his loving devotion had been replaced with the misery of lawful duty. While his activities were unchanged, his affections had." He was a man just going through the motions. As you continue in another chapter, you write, "A focus that is faulty will ultimately lead to believing facts that are false. Asaph would later learn that the facts that he had gathered were faulty because his focus was faulty."

What spiritual deductions, as you call it, did Asaph experience because of his sin? That was really the root cause of his need for revival. How does that speak to us today? Maybe I can ask you an even broader question here. What caused Asaph to need to be revived, and we'll talk about the low point that he got to momentarily?

Bob Sanders: As we talked a little bit yesterday on the broadcast, this year on Easter Sunday of this year, I will celebrate being saved 63 years. I have lived through moments like this. As a child of God, basically we gain our perspective of the Christian life or our relationship with God from one or two avenues.

One of them is we look at life through the lens of the world or we look at life through the light of the Word of God. What has happened even though Asaph is the worship leader, even though Asaph is the man that is leading everything that's going on, he's got folks under him and they're looking to him, what has happened in Asaph's life is he looked at life through the lens of the world.

He began to look at these individuals and their lives. When I thought about that and you look at life through the lens of the world, the Bible tells us in 1 John chapter number two and verse number 16 that the only thing that's in the world is the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. So when he's looking, that is the senses that's being touched.

He's looking at them and he's watching them. What he has done is he has taken his view away from looking at the Christian experience through the light of the Word of God. May I say when you begin to look at things through the world and how the world's acting and what's going on in the world, it isn't very long that you will develop ideas and ideologies that are truly unbiblical, untrue, and in other words will bring about an area of discouragement in your own Christian life.

Josh Davis: This moment of discouragement, the spiritual deductions that began to happen in his life as his focus shifted away from the Lord, led him to a place of despair. As you read through Psalm 73, and by the way, listeners, I would encourage you to read through that chapter and you'll understand exactly the context of what we're talking about and how it all happened. He gets to just such a very low moment, a moment of spiritual desperation and spiritual despairing. Can you explain that for our listeners as well?

Bob Sanders: When he begins to look at the world and looks at these unrighteous, wicked people, he looks at them from about four or five different vantage points. He looks at them when he talks about their passing, and what he means by that is he says, you know, there's no violence in their death. They just seem to live life and just sort of one day pass off the scene.

Then he looks and he says they don't seem to ever have any real problems. They just sort of go along and every life is just very, very good to them. Then he looks at them and he says, you know, they're full of pride, they're boastful, they brag on themselves, they seem to be in the elite.

Then he said everywhere you turn, seems like they always have plenty of this and plenty of that and they're never really in any major need in their life. Then their lives, even when you look at them, their lives are polluted with violence and wretchedness. He's looking at them and as he's looking at all this going on, as I said, he's looking at it from a worldly perspective.

He's looking at it, and what happens is he becomes envious. He begins to look at and he thinks that, and I hate to say this, but he gets a false view of God and the goodness of God and the mercies of God. He's thinking that God's being unfair, that God's allowing these people to have everything and he's getting nothing.

In reality, if you think about that, is that really not where man first was brought to there in the garden and the sin of what the devil did, is when he convinced Adam and Eve that God was withholding from them the best that He had? All of a sudden, you know what happens? We begin to believe things that are untrue, but our hearts will not allow us to see them for what they are.

Josh Davis: That's very good, and you're just so full of this biblical insight. I love the fact that this book, Redemption and Revival, is thoroughly biblical. You're just letting the scripture speak for itself. Friends, I just encourage you to get a copy of the book. It's swrc.com is our website, or give us a call, 1-800-652-1144. It's called Redemption and Revival.

Brother Bob, you're touching on something that's so very important and so very crucial for us because as you were just explaining that, my mind is going to many Christians that I've heard and seen evidence of that they're looking around at the world and they're saying it seems like they have everything that they want, their life is going so well and they are the most wicked ungodly people. Here I am trying to do what's right, trying to serve God, and all I get is trouble and pain and misery and heartache and it just seems to not be paying off for me. Not that following God is supposed to pay off, but there is a great turning in the life of Asaph and in Psalm 73. It's a book about revival, and praise God that downward spiral came to an end. What turned things around for Asaph?

Bob Sanders: The thing that turned it around for Asaph, and you read there in the psalm itself, is that the Bible said when he went into the sanctuary of God. In other words, it's not just the fact that he went back to church or he went back to a particular tabernacle or whatever it was, but he went back to where God was.

In other words, the idea there in the tabernacle, it is the dwelling place of God. Literally what he is, is he got back into the place where God's presence was, and not only could he see God, but he could hear God. In other words, he could hear God speaking to him.

The truth of the matter is the value of the Word of God. In other words, if we could get back into the Word of God and allow God's Word to speak to our hearts, allow us to see God for who He is. Then once we begin to see that, all of a sudden for the first time in reality looking at life through the light of the Word of God, he saw therein.

He saw where they were headed. He saw what was awaiting them. It's what I call in the book, I call it an "until" moment. In other words, the scripture says it was not until he went into the sanctuary that this is changing.

In our lives, what we really need to me that is the spark or the beginning of revival in our heart and life is when we have one of those "until" moments. What I mean by that is some examples I bring out in the book. Here's Jacob by the brook. He's going back to meet his brother.

He's sent his family and everything over, and yet he's a man of fear, he's a man that's still Jacob. He's a conniver, he's a trickster, but he has an "until" moment there when he meets God by the brook. All of a sudden in that "until" moment, God asked him a question, what's your name?

In that moment, Jacob has to confess, I'm Jacob the trickster, and he sees himself for who he is. Revival comes when we see ourselves for who we really are. There is the picture in the prodigal when he's down there and he's wasted his substance on riotous living.

All of a sudden his finances are gone, his friends are gone, everything's gone but one thing, a father that's at home. All of a sudden for the first time, he has an "until" moment and he says, you know what, even the servants in my father's house have it better than I have. In that "until" moment, he arises and goes back to the father.

Revival is not only seeing ourselves for who we are, but revival is a willingness to return. There we see it in the life of Simon Peter by the fireside when the Lord begins to question about his love. There he admits that he has a superficial love for God. Think about this, dear friend. Real revival really comes when we admit who we are, when we're willing to arise and return back to God, and admit in our own heart that we do not love God like we should and we're willing to do something about it.

Josh Davis: Amen, Brother Bob. Thank you so much for sharing this. Friends, there is so much vital information, and this, as we said on yesterday's program, is the kind of book that you can come back to every single year. It'll challenge your walk with the Lord, it'll help you grow in the Lord.

I know that we have many pastors who listen to Watchman on the Wall. This is a great resource for you, information that you can give to your congregation. You could walk them through a series of messages on Mephibosheth in redemption, on the need for revival Psalm 73 with Asaph, and this would be very helpful for our churches, for our Sunday school classes, our small groups, even pastors who are preaching from the pulpit. A wonderful, wonderful resource. Pick up your copy today.

But more importantly than reading a book, more importantly than listening to the program, our heart is for you to walk with the Lord in a greater way and that your life would come in line with the Word of God and the God of the Word. So, Brother Bob, thank you so much for joining us for these two days. We are so grateful for the information that you have brought to us.

Bob Sanders: Thank you, my dear friend.

Southwest Radio Ministries: Dr. Bob Sanders' brand-new book, Redemption and Revival, traces the full arc of the believer's spiritual journey from God's gracious pursuit of man to man's passionate pursuit of God. Through rich biblical typology, the historical account of Mephibosheth reveals the power of redemption, while the life of Asaph illuminates the pathway to true revival.

Together, these accounts point to one divine goal: restoring the believer to an abiding, intimate communion with the Lord. Written to both encourage and enlighten, this book challenges every child of God to refuse spiritual complacency and to seek nothing less than the fullness of God's presence.

Redemption and Revival is a call to embrace the light, to lay aside self, and to walk daily in deep, unbroken fellowship with Him. Order Redemption and Revival today by calling 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. You can order Redemption and Revival on our website, visit swrc.com.

Discover God's pursuit of your heart and your call to pursue Him in return. Redemption and Revival, this book invites you into deeper abiding communion with the Lord. Begin your journey today. 1-800-652-1144. Now, let's turn our attention to a very important ministry update. Here's Watchman on the Wall host, Dr. Larry Spargimino.

Larry Spargimino: Hello friends, this is Pastor Larry with our ministry update. The world and civilization seem to be plunging into chaos and dissolution, but we must never forget the love and grace of God. The name of Jesus is being honored in more places than ever before.

Before I proceed, I want to thank our many friends and supporters for their continued faithfulness. We have some long-time faithful friends and supporters. I've been with this ministry for 25 years and some of you have been friends in ministry from before I even came to serve with Pastor Noah Hutchings.

You might wonder who we are. For 93 years we've been dedicated to equipping our audience with Bible-based teaching about end-time events and Bible prophecy. Our purpose: to guide your understanding of the signs of the times. We are a Christian non-profit organization with a God-ordained mandate. We believe in defending the faith once delivered to the saints.

You know, so many platforms and methods of outreach have been added. Technology can be very helpful, but our core message and ministry goals have not changed at all. Jesus could come at any moment. His return is imminent. Nothing else has to be fulfilled before He comes. So friends, are you ready?

We have a number of new platforms and specialists who are working with us. Access to all of our programs, audio and video, are now on our website, swrc.com, and there is easy access with our free app. If you go to our website and check the menu, you will find several categories: listen, watch, read, shop, and events. You can also make a contribution.

For events this year, we have three conferences. On May the 1st and 2nd, we will be at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, a suburb of Wichita. We will have messages on the end times as well as current trends and developments, especially those of interest and concern to the Christian community.

And then we will be at the Cornerstone Church in Northfield, Minnesota. That is scheduled for September the 18th and 19th. This is a Prophecy in the News Live conference. On October the 22nd through the 24th, we will be back at the Delta Hotel in Bristol, Virginia.

Now friends, there's nothing like being at a conference. You can meet and fellowship with the speakers and you can visit with individuals who are part of the Southwest Radio church family. That's a wonderful, wonderful time of fellowship, having some good food together, and just renewing old acquaintances.

We exist not to compete with the local church, but to assist the local church. We are not in any way competing with the local church or with its ministry. We provide news from a Christian perspective, up-to-date information, and the insights of pastors, missionaries, scholars, and the laity all packaged for your listening and viewing.

You know, at one time pastors, elders, deacons, and Sunday school teachers were really not trained in a way that would allow them to effectively serve God in our contemporary world. Times have changed and we're aware of that fact. Today Christians are wondering what in the world is going on. Why are my kids so confused? What do I need to know about the modern world and the forces that are being applied by Satan and his minions in today's world?

And what about AI, short for artificial intelligence? AI is gaining in popularity and global appeal. Secularism and materialism have become the worldview of many of our national and local leaders. We want to help you and your pastor, your church, and your friends to do just that.

In fact, there are two verses that summarize our responsibilities before God and men. 1 Thessalonians 1 verses 9 and 10 tell us this. They're great verses: "How ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."

Southwest Radio Ministries: Dr. Bob Sanders' brand-new book, Redemption and Revival, traces the full arc of the believer's spiritual journey from God's gracious pursuit of man to man's passionate pursuit of God. Written to both encourage and enlighten, this book challenges every child of God to refuse spiritual complacency and to seek nothing less than the fullness of God's presence.

Order Redemption and Revival today by calling 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. You can order Redemption and Revival on our website. Visit swrc.com. Discover God's pursuit of your heart and your call to pursue Him in return. Redemption and Revival, this book invites you into deeper abiding communion with the Lord. Begin your journey today. 1-800-652-1144.

Tomorrow, the latest headlines from the end times with Josh Davis. Be sure to tune in on your favorite radio station, online at swrc.com, as a podcast, or by downloading our free SWRC mobile app. Watchman on the Wall is a production of Southwest Radio Ministries and is supported by faithful friends like you. To learn more, visit swrc.com.