Sabbath Greetings Everyone,
What exactly is "revival" and why do we need it amongst those who call themselves the true followers of Jesus Christ; those that make up His Body, which is the Ekklesia (called-out ones).
What can we learn from the examples in regard to revival as shown in the Bible so that we can apply the principles of revival to our own lives and in the Ekklesia as a whole in our time? There are many examples of revival in the Bible for the concept of returning to God and living passionately for Him and for the things of God is woven throughout the whole Word of God.
Psalm 85 is a psalm written by, or perhaps written for, the sons of Korah and within it, contains a beautiful prophecy. The palmist prophesies of a time in the future when Jacob is going to return to God. In this psalm the writer is addressing God in prayer as if he is speaking for the people of God after they have repented and have been delivered from their captors and brought back from bondage. The people are praying that God would grant them revival; "Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?"
Psalm 85:1 Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
85:2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
85:3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.
85:4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.
85:5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
85:6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
85:7 Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.
In this psalm the writer prays that God would grant an awakening to the need of the people to return to God with renewed hearts and an absolute commitment to repent of their old ways of living. The setting appears to be at the beginning of the restoration of Judah after the seventy years of their captivity in Babylon. What is written for those in the past is also written for the people in the end times, so we can see that this also looks forward to a time in the future when God is going to set up His Kingdom and rescue Jacob from its captivity to modern day Babylon.
This Psalm is a prophesy that speaks of the time when God's Kingdom is about to be restored on earth. It is a prayer, a petition for restoration and revival upon the earth and an expectation and faith that this is going to happen in the latter days. The psalmist speaks for the people who are asking God for revival so that the curse of disobedience and a departure from Him is removed, and in returning to Him and His ways; He will have cause to bless them once again. When this finally takes place the people of God will greatly rejoice in their Savior for what He has done for them and they will be forever grateful that He delivered them from their bondage to sin.
The Hebrew word for "revive" is chayah (Strong's #2421) and means: keep live, make alive, certainly, give or promise life, let, suffer to live, nourish up and "to be restored".
Revival must begin on a personal level, first with each one that God is calling and who have repented and have made the decision that they want to live zealously in all His ways and to be a part of God's great Plan of Salvation for all mankind.
Everyone who has ever lived has sinned and is in need of repentance and when the called out ones experience their own type of awakening to the need to repent and change, and actually do it, then God can use them to teach others.
When David was confronted by Nathan the prophet for his sin with Bathsheba, David instantly repented. Nathan told the king that he was the rich sinning man in the parable who took the poor man's lamb; " thou art the man"! It is like Nathan woke David up to his sin and David knew that he had to do something about it immediately; not only in what he had done, but also the wickedness that laid in his heart. David experienced a type of revival, a new determination that he would purge those things from his heart and to commit that he would not sin against God again.
In David's heartfelt prayer of repentance, he ask God to not let the Holy Spirit depart from him, and to bring back the joy of God's salvation that he had before he had sinned. David had reason to rejoice again because of God's mercy that allowed him to be put back on the path that leads to eternal life.
Psalm 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free [resolute] spirit.
After David repented of his sins, and cleaned up his own heart, he made a commitment that he would now go on to teach others the way of forgiveness and repentance that leads to salvation.
Psalm 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
All of creation awaits the establishment of God's Kingdom on earth when the sons of God will assist Jesus Christ in restoring the earth to a beautiful, pristine Garden of Eden once again and help Him teach all mankind how to walk in God's ways.
Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
What is the event that the creation is waiting for that will restore it to wholesomeness and beauty again? The whole creation is waiting for the manifestation [the appearing or revealing] of the "sons of God", for when the firstfruits have been made ready, (Ephesians 6:27) and are resurrected to spirit and then appear with Christ at His coming, that is when the real work of restoration will begin.
"Manifestation" in Greek is apokalupsis (Strong's#602) and means an unveiling, uncovering, revealing.
That means they are waiting for us, Brethren, if we are the called, have repented and are living our lives to please God and wholeheartedly keeping the whole Word of God; in the letter and also in the spiritual intent of all of His laws.
But what condition is the Ekklesia in today? Are we really ready for our jobs of restoring the earth and helping Christ convert the whole world? Each one of us has to ask ourselves this question to see if we are truly walking with God and doing all that He says, and that we are obeying Him from our hearts and not just in lip-service.
2nd Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
As most of us know the Ekklesia is in a mess; it is scattered all over the place, there is no cohesion, there is so much competition and rivalry with hundreds of splits; much truth has been lost and leaders are unwilling to examine what has been handed down to them by former leaders: teachings that do not square with what the Bible teaches. Instead of looking into our own Bibles to prove all things, we want our leaders to tell us what to believe and what to practice. For many years our leaders discouraged the members from questioning their elders, and many have been ostracized or even disfellowshipped when all they wanted was to understand why the ministers teach what they teach when things did not make sense to them.
In Ezekiel 34 and Jeremiah 23 we read about how God condemns the shepherds (pastors) for looking out for themselves, setting themselves up as the elitists in the congregations and taking the best for themselves (giving themselves high salaries, fine homes, all the perks) from the people while at the same time not tending to the needs of the flock and causing the sheep to be scattered.
Ezekiel 34:1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
34:2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
34:3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
34:4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
35:5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
Jeremiah 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
23:2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
Many of the leaders of the COG groups think of their group as "the true church" and they teach their members that if they reject their leadership it is the same as rejecting God's rule over them; and to disobey them, is the same as disobeying God. This dates back to when HWA taught this to his followers. This is not how elders are to treat those whom God has placed in their care.
Most COG group leaders form their own corporate organizations and direct their people to bow down to these corporate entities as a type of "golden calf" and they demand that the people of God put the organization and the minsters before God. Whenever we put men or organizations above the Word of God we set them up as our idols for we look to them as our supreme authority rather than to obey God and His whole Word as authority over our lives.
Isaiah 3:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
Like the people in the world, many of God's people have come to the place where they worship the work or their own hands: things that are temporal, material, or even man-made corporate entities that are set up by men and the State and are NOT the Body of Christ. We have been taught that these organizations, including the old WCG, was the one true church and to leave their organizations, that we are, in fact, leaving the "church" and are outside the Body until the leaders let them come back in.
We are to obey God rather than men! And Jesus only is our mediator, no man is to come between God and His children. Ministers are to be helpers to the brethren in teaching them true doctrine and leading them to obey God in all things. And yes, there are some very faithful ministers and God wants us to esteem them very highly for their work's sake and support their ministries, but only if they are leading the people to the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and are not leading us to adulate themselves and their organizations. Most of us are already aware of all the abuse that has taken place in the Ekklesia. I am not revealing anything new here.
But what is the people's responsibility when they find themselves involved with pastors that are not truly taking care of the flock?
The regular members of the Ekklesia, too, bear much responsibility; for they tolerate the abuse and willingly submit to it. Many of God's people are like the abused wife who stays in an abusive marriage because of the invisible chains that hold her. We have been so indoctrinated with teachings that tell us we MUST submit to our elders, even if their example is ungodly, and even if they are teaching the traditions of men rather than true doctrine. We have been taught not to ask questions and that if we want to have Bible Studies with other members in our own homes, we MUST have an ordained elder present. And besides that, many members have come to love the perks of being in organizations that act as social clubs where they can get together with friends and have good times, nice feast sites to travel to, and to meet new people.
Yes, our leaders are leading us astray and the people love to have it so. Instead of desiring the pure milk of the Word of God, we would rather be told how "good we are", "how we are growing", that there is a "spirit of unity" at our gatherings, etc, etc.
Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
Isaiah 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
30:11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
I know many may not want to hear what I am saying in this article but someone has to say it; we have for too long been like the proverbial spectators in the fairy tale who watch and see what's happening all of these years but then refuse to admit that the "emperor has no clothes". And when someone yells out what is rightly the case, the others tell him "be quiet, don't say those things." It is not just me saying this, James has been telling the people for years through his Blog and there are a number of others now who are waking up and see the need to rebuke the old ways, to repent of our denial about these things and are starting to seek God with all of their hearts. Many of you reading this are those who have come to see the abuse and the errors that we have been taught and are already coming out from under these men's authority.
Isaiah 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
What Isaiah bid of the people in his day to do, God is telling His children in our modern times as well. "House of Jacob" can refer to the spiritually called out ones whom Paul refers to as the Israel of God. (Galatians 6:16).
Isaiah 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
In prior weeks we examined how we are to hunger and thirst for God and His righteousness and last week we studied about praying and fasting. This week we will look at some of the many Scriptures that admonish God's people to return to Him, not only the physical nations of Israel that have gone astray, but His message is for His called out beloved children who have strayed and perhaps do not even realize that they have.
We must follow men only if they are following Christ (1st Corinthians 11:1). If elders and ministers are showing themselves unfaithful to the Word of God and are not walking in the light of Jesus Christ, they will lead those under them astray. It behooves us to separate ourselves from such leaders and their organizations.
There is no commandment in God's Word that requires us to follow those who are in rebellion, in fact, God commands the very opposite! We are to come out from among those who are not zealously following God's laws less they take us down with them.
We are commanded to let no man take our crown so we must do whatever we must to not let that happen. We are going to have to be strong and leave those who are not zealous for the ways of God and/or those who are teaching falsehoods, even our beloved friends and brethren if they are going after the ways of the world or the ways of false religions and refuse to repent.
Let us be courageous, everyone, and cling to our Great God and all of His Word. Jesus only is our Mediator; none of the leaders are no matter how important they seem to be.
2nd Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Do not worship these men as if they are gods, we are all brethren; Jesus told us not to call any man our "master". We are to show the fruits of the spirit to all and be respectful to everyone. Some people are called into the various offices, and we are to respect the office, but that does not mean we are to worship the man and exalt him as some kind of elite just because he fills that office. Here is God-inspired advice from Peter regarding the responsibilities of the elders and those who are under their care:
1st Peter 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.
5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
If My People
In 2nd Chronicles 7 we have a verse that is often applied to the ancient people of Israel and to their modern day descendants; we think of the various Isrealitish nations that have gone after false religions or those who do not seek after God at all and are living in sin and debauchery. This verse does apply to them but it also applies to the Israel of God, the spiritual people of God. It is the Ekklesia that is in truth, called by God's name and we are supposed to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood.
1st Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
The followers of Christ are called to be His people. Why does He call us? to do His will on earth and to show forth His praises and to be a light to this dark world. To the ones who have become a part of this holy nation, God gives a special and wonderful privilege. Those who obey and follow God are called by "My Name", says the Lord. What does it mean to be called by His Name?
"In biblical times, a name was more than just a personal means of identification. Names conveyed authority. They showed character and issued promise. They even displayed a certain fate and/or destiny. Human names carried a great meaning, but God's name encompassed His whole identity. It expressed his power and his omnipresence. His name clearly defined His relationship to His people." (On-line definition of biblical names)
What matters most to God is: do we belong to Him, or to the world? God says we are His people when we are meeting the criteria of what it means to be His children.
Revelation 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
To be called by God's Name means that we are a special people, the elect, chosen to shine His light around so that others may see God and come to know what He is about; they are to be living examples of what it means to live according to every Word of God.
We are not called to be fence-sitters. There cannot be any passive spectators in the Ekklesia. Either we are for God and all that He stands for, or we are against Him. To choose God and His ways means we have made up our minds to follow God and to be His through all of eternity. "My beloved is mine, and I am his" (Song of Solomon 2:16)
Ezekiel 37:27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
God is calling for His people to turn from their wicked ways:
2nd Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
The Hebrew word for "turn" is shub (Strong's #725) and means to turn back, return.
God says that IF His people TURN from their wicked ways, then He will hear their prayers from heaven. The word "turn" means to repent and essentially means to: turn around and go the other way, or to return to something and that is what revival entails. Revival is to repent of being wicked, and being lackadaisical in our approach to the things of God. There can be no revival without repentance but if God's people repent and return to God, He promises to forgive and to heal their land.
When we "turn from our wicked ways" and seek God's face, only then will He say to us: "I will hear from heaven and forgive your sins and heal your land." There can be no revival without repentance or a turning away from sin and a turning to God.
In this verse God is telling His people that if they would do four certain things, then there are three things that He will do. The people must humble themselves, pray, seek Gods' face, and turn or repent, meaning to return back to Him and to do His whole Word. If we will do those things, God promises to hear our prayers from heaven, forgive us and heal our land. If modern day spiritual people of God would do these same things, for they are the ones that are spiritually called by God's name, God will do for us what He said He would do for ancient Israel.
Lamentations 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
Habakkuk 3:2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
The prophet Habakkuk prayed to God to send revival and to revive His people and in His righteous indignation (or wrath) to remember His mercy. The prophet remembers the works of old when God did mighty acts, including the exodus from Egypt, the plagues sent upon Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea and the conquest of the land of Canaan.
As Habakkuk ponders upon God's intervention in the affairs of mankind in the past he is filled with an awe-inspiring sense of God's great power and he prays for God to do mighty works again "in the midst of years" [quickly]. We, too, as individuals and as a corporate body can pray for forgiveness when we find ourselves drifting away from God. and we can pray for each other and for the Ekklesia to return again to Him.
Most of us can see that the Ekklesia is in need of serious revival. We must start with ourselves and per-chance revival will spread to those around us; to our families and in our assemblies. If we do our part in turning from our wicked ways and our Laodician attitude, then God can use us to witness to each other and to the rest of the world. There is a work to be done, a proper witness of what God's ways are all about, and, no, the Ekklesia as a whole with its many schisms is not currently providing a good witness to the world in this later day generation.
When Christians do not act like Christians, they become the laughing stock among the unbelievers and brings reproach on the whole Body of Christ.
Romans 2:24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
1st Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Without repentance, there can be no revival and without revival, there can be no forgiveness of sins. Revival makes it possible to have forgiveness of our sins, which makes it possible to attain to eternal life if we truly repent and then commit "to sin no more". That's what revival is all about.
Revival is coming, perhaps just for a few at this time; many are called but only a few will respond and only God knows how many will open the door to His knocking, but when we do God's Work and preach the Gospel and teach the nations to observe all the things that we have been taught by Christ, we are sowing seeds of revival that will take root eventually in the hearts of those who heard our message but did not respond until the ground was fertile enough for them to finally receive it. (At the time that God decrees for each person when they are finally called.) Those few who do respond and go through revival at this time will be used to help others to seek revival in the future.
Isaiah 58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
For those who are the precious called of God (those God calls His children), we must seek revival now and warn each other of the need for Revival in the Ekklesia while we have the chance while it still possible to do so before the tribulation begins. And even if the tribulation were not eminent, this day or tomorrow may be the last day of our lives and then it will be too late.
The End Time Generation
Where are we in the time-line of history? We are basically the last generation, the generation that would experience the end times. We are the end-time recipients of the Lord's promises to the tribe of Joseph's descendants and have been more "blessed" with material blessings than all the generations before us. In the later days certain nations were prophesied to became great and prosperous. We know that America began to grow and to become prosperous right around the 1800's and increased exponentially until there was an explosion of prosperity and technological advancement after World War 2. As the prosperity of the nation increased, so did iniquity increase.
2nd Timothy 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For those who are older, all we have to do is think about what it was like in the 50's, then 60's, 70's, 80's; and now what use to be unthinkable in way of behavior, speech, dress, and open immorality, is the "new normal" in the 2000's. In 2016 we are living in unprecedented evil times that abound in wickedness with no fear of God at all in the hearts of most people.
Instead of overcoming the world, the Ekklesia has let the world come in and influence our beliefs, the way we live, and the way we conduct ourselves with each other. But God calls us to to come out of Babylon and not to let her influence us by her example and her teachings.
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
The Greek word for "repentance" is "metanoia" and it's not just remorse or regret but it means "a change of mind" so revival cannot occur until there has first been a change of mind and this takes the Spirit of God and only God can grant repentance to those who have been taken captive by Satan.
Only by the power of God can a person be led to repentance by the knowledge of the truth in order that they might come to their senses and by doing so, "escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will."
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
In David's prayer of repentance of his sin with Bathsheba, David prayed for God to create in him a clean heart and that his spirit might be renewed within him. The cleansing of the heart and the renewing of a person's spirit depends entirely on God and only God can renew our minds (Romans 12:2). But we must yield to what God is doing with our hearts.
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,
3:20 when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
In Peter's sermon given on the Day of Pentacos in 31 A.D. he told the people that they must repent. The Greek word for repent is "metanoeō" which means to change one's mind and turn back ("turn back" is the Greek word "epistrephō" meaning "to turn to" God).
Pray and fast that the Ekklesia has a change of mind and we all turn back to the faith which was originally given unto the saints by the prophets, Christ, and the early apostles.
Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
In the Book of Jeremiah, God paints for us a graphic picture of what revival is like. In this metaphor, God says that He can take Broken Vessels (or vessels that are marred) and remake them into something that is beautiful, a vessel that is fit for the Master's use. That is what He did with David and with many others that we read of in Scripture and that is what God is doing with us. He can refashion/remold us and make us into a glorious son or daughter of God that will be made into His image for all of eternity if we will just yield ourselves to the Master Potter's Hands.
Jeremiah 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
18:5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
18:8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
18:9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
18:10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
What is True Christian Revival?
Revival is a type of spiritual reawakening to the fact that we have lost our first love and have backslid into sinful habits; it can also be a sudden realization that we have been blind in certain areas and that we need to come out from the blindness, accept correction and change belief systems and our ways in accordance to what God is revealing to us.
It engenders the renewal of a passionate love for God and His Word, a deep desire to start putting God above everything else and to remove the things in our lives that have diverted our attention away from complete devotion and obedience to Him. When God sends revival to us, we will want His holiness more than we want the enticements of the world that may have been drawing our attention.
The Holy Spirit invokes a new awareness of our personal and corporate sins. We see things that we may have known before, but now in a new light. We begin to see sins or laziness that before we just took for granted, sins that were tolerated with no real effort to do anything about them.
But after a renewing of our first love we now want with all our hearts to repent and grow in righteousness and to be in God's complete will. Revival inspires and often deepens a believer's faith perhaps even more than he has ever had before! God's Spirit opens the believer's eyes to His truth in a fresh, new way and leads us to a new passion to keep it.
Revival generates an intense need to begin all over again with a clean slate and a desire to live in complete obedience to God's laws and His way of thinking.
Revival can break the chains of addiction that may have held us captive for years with a renewed energy and will to come out from the lures of this world.
Revival often comes as a result of going through severe trials that are an outcome from neglecting our spiritual responsibilities and/or are the consequences of drifting away from God and His commandments. It is initiated by a prompting of the Holy Spirit that tells us that there is something wrong in our lives, creating an awareness that there is something amiss that needs to be dealt with. We sense some kind of sin in our lives and we feel a deep agony in the pit of our souls that makes us want to do anything to rid our lives of whatever it is that is causing this feeling of separation from Him.
When we respond in a positive way, we will go to God and ask Him to show us what it is that we need to change, acknowledging our need to come back to Him. He will answer our prayer and remove the blinders that have kept us from seeing our sins and then we will begin to see ourselves as God sees us which makes us see how sinful and negligent we have been in our lives.
But if we ask for forgiveness He will apply the atonement of Christ's sacrificial blood over our sins and wash us clean. This is a very humbling experience for we experience God's grace all over again, but this time in an even more profound way than when we were first being called to be a disciple. We come to see just how MERCIFUL our Creator is in dealing with our sins and that He is ever ready to forgive the sinner when he or she genuinely is sorry for what they have done and humbly approach Him and ask for a renewal of their conversion (the joy of their salvation) and to be accepted back into His graces again.
We are reminded of the parable of the prodigal son and his loving, compassionate father who waited every day for his son to return. Revival can make us see God in a way that we may have never been able to see Him before even though we were being called and convicted in our initial coming out of the world.
When Isaiah came into God's presence all he could do is fall down and proclaim how unclean he was for He experienced the nearness of God's holiness and majesty and in comparison he saw himself as far from holiness!
Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Just like with Isaiah, sometimes it takes a close encounter with God to ignite a revival within our spirit for it is then that we really begin to see God for who He is. When we see God's Holiness it engenders a great awe of Him and what He is really like and that He is truly a Merciful Being to those who put their trust in Him and go to Him for forgiveness in sincere repentance. It then gives us a whole new appreciation of our loving Savior and we want to spend the rest of our lives pleasing only Him and out of gratefulness, we want to serve Him in whatever He would have us do (John 21:15-17). Revival represents a restoration of our fellowship with God, and like David as we mentioned earlier, David so succinctly describes for us what it was like for him to undergo intense revival in his life.
Psalm 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
What David had done in his double sin of adultery and murder were horrible things, but David repented and God showed him mercy and David went on to become a man after God's own heart. He never forgot what he had done, but, most importantly, he never forgot what God had done in granting him mercy and giving him a second chance to renew the relationship, go forward and partake of God's saving grace that allowed him to still be called a child of God. David still made mistakes as we all do, but he never again committed the kinds of sins that he did in relation to Bathsheba and Uriah. David's repentance and revival brought much fruit to David's life and will produce much fruit in the future when David is raised up and is made king over Israel in God's Kingdom.
Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Malachi 3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
Jeremiah 24:6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
24:7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
Throughout God's Word, the Eternal calls His people to revival; and in Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the call to repent and to return to God is outlined in Christ's letters to the seven churches.
Revelation 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
The seven letters address serious problems and are to be applied to all the Ekklesia; the problems that Christ addresses in each of the churches can pertain to any individual at any given time. At the end of each letter, Jesus concludes His message with: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches". This is repeated seven times along with the seven messages and is a warning to all who hear these messages to understand with their hearts and then repent and return to God. If they will repent then Christ lists in His letters the rewards for doing so.
In the letter to Ephesus, Christ commended the people for their perseverance and discernment, but He stated that they had left their first love (Revelation 2:4-5).
When we are first called, we are very excited to discover God's truths and everything is so new to us; and we embrace what we are learning with much enthusiasm, but as time goes by that excitement wanes. We lose the zeal that we once had and we may begin to take the truth of God's Word for granted. Revival helps to restore that first love and our passion for Christ and His Word.
In His letter to Smyrna, Christ acknowledges that they were suffering and living in poverty, but admonishes them to remain faithful unto death. Enduring severe trials, in addition to the cares and worries of this life, can beat us down, leaving us physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. Revival can lift our spirits up to new hope and faith and energizes us to remain faithful no matter what we are going through.
In the letter to Pergamos, they are told to repent of holding to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which teaches that church leaders rule over the people and that the people must submit to them rather than to God. They were incorporating this false ideology into their belief systems, a doctrine that Christ says He hates. When we seek revival we are motivated to diligently search Scriptural to prove all teachings and rightly discern what God's true doctrines are, and then turn away from all error that we have been taught in the past.
The letter to Thyatira talks about the problem of compromise with the world and embracing its teachings rather than seeking God and His commandments; in addition they were tolerating heretical teachers (Jezebel) who were seducing God's people "to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." The people needed to open their eyes to what was going on and repent of listening to false teachers. Christ gives very stern warnings of what would happen if they continued to follow them and to do as they say rather than what God says. Revival opens our eyes to rightly discern what values we should hold and that we should obey God rather than listen to false teachers. We need to examine the messages that we hear and compare them to the message of the Bible. Revival helps us to find the truth and to cling to it.
2nd Timothy 4:4 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
The letter to Sardis states that they are a dead church, a church that goes through the religious motions outwardly, somewhat like the ancient Israelites were doing in Isaiah 58:2-8, but they were not wholeheartedly serving God from the heart and their fruits showed it. These people may have outwardly seem to be righteous and keeping very busy with the externals of religious activity, but they were, in truth, devoid of spiritual life and energy. Revival helps to resuscitate spiritual power into a person's life and helps them to repent of dead works.
The letter to those in Philadelphia commends them for their faithfulness, but warns them to hold fast to what they have [their sincere humility and zeal for God] and to let no one take their crown.
To those in Laodicea, Christ says that He is knocking on their doors desiring that they let Him into their lives, to repent of their lukewarm, complacent attitudes and their spiritual blindness. He wants them to be on fire for His truth and to keep growing rather than thinking that they have all the truth they need and therefore do not need to grow anymore. Revival stirs up our recognition for our need for zeal and passion to live all the ways of God and to never let down, to keep striving to reach the full measure of Christ and to be developing the mind and divine nature of the Father until the very end of our lives and to keep bearing fruit.
All of these churches were in need of revival except perhaps Philadelphia but even to those, Christ says to be sure to stay faithful and not let any man take what they had away from them.
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
And, we, in this end time age, all are in need of revival just as theses seven messages indicate for the Book of Revelation is directed at the end time Ekklesia (Revelation 1:1-3).
The evidence of revival is by the fruits it brings. First there is confession of sin with sincere repentance, then there a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the believers who are seeking revival and their lives become changed. Idols are thrown out, false teachers are rejected; God's people spend more time in prayer, study, and obeying God's Word including the command to go and preach the Gospel to all nations. Individual members begin to discover their spiritual gifts and learn to use them powerfully to benefit and encourage the other members of the Body of Christ. They are enthusiastic to talk to others of like mind and want to share the joy they feel in knowing God and what His plans are.
Malachi 3:16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.
3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
Revival comes as a result of God's children being deeply moved with a convicting awareness of personal guilt and a heart-wrenching need to repent and draw closer to God than ever before. We experience the awesome forgiveness that Christ makes available to those who turn to Him in sincere repentance and seek to have a close dynamic relationship with their Lord and Savior. They desire with all their hearts to go on to seek their salvation through Christ committing to stay faithful to Him throughout all eternity. The modern day Ekklesia of God has a great need to break away from religious ritual and rote ceremony, a lackadaisical attitude and a pride that says that we do not need revival.
We all need revival to some certain degree, it is not a one time thing, but we should be seeking the cleansing power of God's Holy Spirit continuously.
Lamentations 3:22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
3:24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Revival is something that is intensely personal to each individual, as it should be; God's Spirit is at work and by it creates a deep emotional need for a true and lasting relationship with our Lord.
Brethren, let us REKINDLE the flame of desiring God and His righteousness and doing all His will from the heart, and if each one does this, like a ripple effect when a stone is tossed into a pond, the Ekklesia will be effected and revival will come to those who want to return to God with all their hearts.
Someone needs to stand up and say the hard things that need to be said and to tell it like it is in hopes that many others will see a need for renewal and revival as we draw closer and closer to the end of this age. We all need to step up to the plate and help warn the brethren (and the world) about what is rapidly approaching. You, too, if you are seeing the sin and error in our midst, need to warn your brothers and sisters. It doesn't matter if your voice is loud or even a whisper or if your sphere of influence is large or small. What matters is whether or not you are faithful with the insights you have been given and if you have been given the discernment to see a need to return to the Lord, let us sound the alarm while we still can, because time is quickly running out.
Why does God want us to warn each other when we see that they are going astray? It is because God loves us and He wants us to make it into His Kingdom; plus He does not want us to have to go through tribulation unless it is absolutely necessary to the saving of the soul. He sends people to warn out of His great love for His people.
James 5:19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Ezekiel 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Here is from a recent post in which James, too, calls us to repent and turn wholeheartedly to our espoused Husband and seek revival. I cannot think of any way of saying it better, so I will just quote what he had to say:
"Brethren, if we all sincerely repent and wholeheartedly turn to our espoused Husband in passionate zeal for his ways even now; he would rejoice in us and we should all be saved from his correction.
I call on all peoples to repent of their idolatries and spiritual adulteries and false human traditions, and to open up the Word of the Lord and study it with an open mind to seek out the truth of God and not with preconceived ideas of proving their traditions.
Remember how they throw out the book of Nehemiah so that they could cling to their false traditions and continue to pollute the Sabbath by buying and selling?
Remember how men threw out the scriptures concerning the Sabbath, changing the Sabbath of God from the commanded seventh day, to the first day of the week in rejection of God's word for man's traditions: While we still call the Sabbath holy as we routinely pollute it.
We are loyal to the traditions of men and NOT to the word of God; even out-rightly rejecting parts of God's word that we do not want to obey. That is a shame and a disgrace, a blot on our conversion that must be removed.
Joel 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
2:13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
2:14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
Regardless of what happens to us physically; if we are faithful unto our death; we have the Promise of Almighty God to bring us out of our graves and into his Promised Land of eternal life.
No person, no not an angel or some elder, prophet or pope can separate us from the love of our Mighty One! Only our own sins and our refusal to keep every word of God can separate us from God; and even then he still loves us and will correct us!
What man or spirit can condemn the faithful when our High Priest daily makes intercession for us His beloved?
Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
"The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach," they replied. "The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire." (Nehemiah 1:3)
Nehemiah sat down and wept. For several days he mourned and fasted and prayed. His prayer is remarkably similar to that of Daniel in Daniel 9. He prayed that somehow God would "grant him mercy in the sight of" the king.
Will you watch your beloved walk out in front of a speeding truck and not call out a warning? Is it any different to watch this world or one of your brethren rushing to his destruction and not warn him of his sin?
Love does not tolerate or overlook sin!
1 Corinthians 13:6 LOVE . . . . Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying [or perverting the teachings of] the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Such wicked men who pervert love into compromise with God's Word; turning his grace and forgiveness into a license to sin, would lead you back into spiritual Egypt!" (James Malm)
God is in the process of reconciliating men and women to Himself; He is going to bring REVIVAL to all mankind eventually, the likes this planet has never seen! Do you want to be a part of this great awakening that is going to come upon the whole earth (and it appears that it will be soon)? As a party of one we can start with ourselves and then pray for revival among all of God's children and then pray that revival spreads throughout the whole world; the World, too, is in desperate need of REVIVAL.
Revelation 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Have a wonderful Sabbath everyone,
Constance
