What Do You Mean by “Revival?”

“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.”

Malachi 3:2-3 ESV, emphasis mine.

Charles Finney remarked “There can be no revival when Mr. Amen and Mr We-Eyes are not found in the audience.” That’s to say, if it’s not marked by a holy travail over the lost plight of the sinner destined for hell, and prayer for souls to be saved–you might not be experiencing a revival yet. Finney also stated that “a revival of religion presupposes a declension.“

In order for us to want–and obtain– a heaven-sent revival, we must first come to terms with one fact–that we need it! I’ve heard Art Katz state that the reason we’ve not seen it, is because we’re satisfied without it. God will not force the genuine thing on us if we’re content with the substitute.

That being said, when someone is near death and dying in a hospital bed about to breathe their last breath, they need to be revived if they’re going to live. Such is revival–a drastic measure taken in order bring something back to the life it’s supposed to attain to.

After recently being privileged to be involved in a conference the ministry I’m a part of organized here in Lima, I’ve been compelled to think and process my thoughts on revival and the presence of God. A leader in my life and a spiritual figure whom I personally expect history to remember as a revivalist, Dr Michael Brown, was with us and preached simple yet pointed messages on repentance and holiness in the context of it being a precursor that paves the way for revival. He was a key leader during the Brownsville Revival of the late 1990s, and although that move of God was not without its detractors (just do a Google search), it is also undeniable that one of its hallmarks was repentance and personal holiness.

I’ve got friends all over North America, Europe and on the mission field various places the world over who were all wrecked and never to be the same again, and serving as missionaries spreading the fire they caught as a result of this particular move of God in little ole Pensacola, Florida. So why does it bother me so much when I see people throw the word “revival” around so casually and calling anything the Holy Spirit is doing in their midst a “revival”, when repentance and holiness may not even be a visible sign? I’ve seen various friends ‘like” a statement on Facebook lately about how good it would be to start a Christian revival, but would it really be that great? I fear that whatever it is these dear saints are longing for, may be selling itself short if it lacks tears, travail over lost souls, desire for repentance, and personal holiness. Especially so if the focus is ourselves and how good it would be for us if we had one, and not focused on Christ Himself Who is worthy of all such focus.

I was talking to a Peruvian co-laborer months ago who told me Lima, Peru’s capital is experiencing revival. Out of desire to get in the presence of God myself like I’ve experienced only on rare occasion over the last 10 years, I’ve personally asked this brother WHERE?–since if it’s true, I’d love to “jump in the river.” After realizing we might not really be on the same page and what he would call a move of God might be different than what I’d call one, I finally couldn’t help but ask him “what do you mean by “revival“? I couldn’t honestly see any of the things I’ve come to expect as a result of time in the presence of God and all the things I associated with the move of God in Pensacola, that I was affected by. I don’t say this out of judgmental arrogance either, because I genuinely believe this brother’s sincerity, and would never balk at some of the things I’ve seen God do here when His Spirit was manifest in special ways. When we had this fire conference with Dr Brown who preached repentance and holiness last week and brought the saints to a level many of them who attended have since told me they’ve seldom–if ever–experienced for themselves, I have got to wonder….

The elevator ride, or the destination?

If you have never had a chance to read the book of Dr Michael Brown’s entitled “A Time for Holy Fire“, I highly encourage you to as some of my remarks are gleaning from that book even if not directly making quotes. One of the things he writes in a chapter entitled “The Proof of the Revival Is In The Living“, he quotes some signs 18th century revivalist Jonathan Edwards gave as being positive signs an alleged ‘revival’ is from God, among which included a hunger for the Word of God and desire to study Scriptures, since if something gets your attention away from His word–even if outwardly it appears from God–the fruit very clearly implies otherwise. Other signs: if Jesus is being lifted up as the center and focus; the desire for the truth and to get the sin out of one’s life.

In a special meeting our ministry team had with him, he used an analogy so simple that I can’t think of it in any other way now, but it’s the idea of riding an elevator: If we need to get to the 50th floor of a building, we’re going to take the elevator and not walk, as the elevator will get us there faster than the many flights of stairs. The destination is the 50th floor, and not the elevator itself. Yet many Christians, with good intentions at that–mistakenly desire–and settle for–the elevator ride, when it’s a means to an end. We shouldn’t desire just a visitation from God that helps raise us up to where we need to be as a Church, but we should be a people who ARE raised up and who are a habitation of the manifest presence of God!  Our goal is not the elevator ride, but ultimately the destination it takes us to. Our goal in and of itself is not the revival, but where that revival brings us–back to life from the dead! Simply put, if we were fully spiritually alive, a revival wouldn’t be so necessary and needed, but because of the condition we’re in as a church, we need to be woken up out of our coma-like state.

If some kind of outpouring of the Holy Spirit takes place in our midst and people are getting healed I’m not going to write that off; if something is happening and believers are getting refreshed in God and strengthened in their faith–great. But I will hesitate to throw the word revival on it just because of those things alone if repentance isn’t also a hallmark or fruit. For me, a true revival means fire. Fire burns up the sacrifices presented on the altar. Revival doesn’t just result in a Holy Ghost bubble bath.

In a previous post of mine, specifically on the fire of God, I stated that the closer we are to Him and His consuming presence, the less we are like this world we’re surrounded by. The fire of God purifies and purges (1 Peter 1:22-25, Proverbs 17:3). The fire distinguishes and separates wheat from chaff (Luke 3:16-17), soul from spirit, unholy from holy. It brings to the surface the works of the flesh that they may be exposed and repented of. Fire spreads, it ignites. As Leonard Ravenhill stated, fire begets more fire. Likening this to electricity, Dr Brown states:

Some things are good conductors; others are not. High-voltage wires can carry quite a shock; thick rubber will stop the watts in their tracks. So also in the Spirit: A pure heart is easily ignited; unbelief and sin will quickly quench the flames. A holy life will transmit the Spirit’s jolt; the flesh will blunt the force. What about you? What is your spiritual composition? (A Time For Holy Fire, p 182)

Friend, I guarantee you, either repentance will pave the way for revival, or revival will bring to the surface that sin which may be well hidden from others, since one cannot see revival without a pure heart and life, and in the midst of the fire, the dross WILL come to the surface. I say soberly preaching to myself as well as you dear reader: we better be careful what we’re praying for if we aren’t really ready for it.

Revival Fire or Charismatic Hype?

A few years ago I attended an event commemorating the anniversary of the charismatic movement in The Netherlands while I was living there as a missionary at the time. I got emails from people ahead of time promoting this event to be “history making.” The main attraction was a well-known international worship group. As it got dark that night and the contemporary music blared, people started to wave glow sticks and their cell phones around. Despite all the organization that went into planning this, I was confused and befuddled over one key aspect that I felt was missing. I wondered to myself: where was the fire we were commemorating and celebrating?

What I saw was a bunch of glow stick type bracelets wrapped around thousands of wrists as many hands were lifted up in adoration of one true object of affection–Jesus Christ. I heard amazingly anointed worship and musical stylings I personally enjoy blaring through lots of loud speakers. Surely, I was grateful to have gone, don’t get me wrong. But I wondered: where’s the fire? Is THIS what revival is? Just hype and some Holy Ghost goosebumps?

Nearly one hundred years prior, in Azusa street, in Whales, and the various places of the world where the spark of the new restoration of the power of the Holy Spirit was renewed, it spread around the world so that history was made and the face of the Church changed ever since. Peoples’ lives were impacted; missing limbs grew back; some ministers mounted wheelchairs on the walls of their churches to commemorate God healing peoples’ bodies so they didn’t need them anymore. I wondered to myself, if this move carried on for the last 100 years, then where’s the evidence of it? Shouldn’t we have at least what they had then, and have carried it forth further since? Is all we’ve got to show for it a bunch of glow sticks–fake fire light? Hopefully, I am wrong and despite some of the more hype meetings I’ve been in, I can say God IS moving in various places the world over!

I recall seeing a bunch of young people in this one group on the ground that night, and every time I looked at them, I watched them lay hands on one another and the one whose turn it was to be prayed over was just flopping around on the ground and shaking and then they’d take turns and pray for one another. However, when they were done, I noticed some from this group smoking cigarettes. I don’t know their stories before coming to that event, such as how new to the faith they may have been–and I’m all for striking when the iron is hot and receiving from God. When the anointing is present, go ahead and operate in it while the grace is there to do so. But I couldn’t help but think 100 years of Pentecost and all we do is lay hands on ourselves? Watching this is watching the undirected power of a garden hose just flop around on the grass while it sprays in every direction until it’s picked up and directed at a flower garden or plant that needs watering. The point is not that water flows through the vessel-the hose, but that you direct it AT something and bring life to it.

When I think of Christians just laying hands on each other constantly and imparting the life giving power of the Holy Spirit on one another, I think of children spraying each other with a garden hose in their parents’ backyard, while all the plants in the garden die from lack of nourishment. Is it really revival if we have a dying generation all around us, and all we do is hose each other down with the life of the Holy Spirit and have fun? Is it really that special if we’re just in it for the elevator ride?

The fire of God and the power of the Holy Spirit isn’t meant for us to hose each other down–it’s meant to bring life and power to a sick and dying world all around us. Revival is meant to restore to a proper intended state of life and vitality, and even as I post this article on the subject, it still is not even done justice by my mere illustrations and analogies. It just burns in a way that you WILL know when you experience the real thing.

Friend, what do you mean by ‘revival?’