Revival Thoughts
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Wow! God is doing some awesome things in many places around America and the world. His Spirit is being outpoured and we must continue to pray and believe for awakening in Catawba County. After many years of ministry, let me make some observations about revival, cautions and some general principles present in any real move of God. 1, All genuine revivals have their root in prayer. From the days before Pentecost in Acts 2 until now, every awakening has been birthed and sustained by faithful believers who refused to be content and stayed faithful in prayer. Tommy Barnett made a statement at His pastor's school that everything happening in Phoenix was a result of prayer. He stated they do not talk about prayer alot to the pastor's because they assume pastors and churches should already know this. However, sometimes this is not the case. If we are hungry for a move of God, it is essential we pray. Any purported revival that does not have prayer at its core will be short lived and a work of man and not God. Find out where the prayer meeting is taking place and you will know where God is moving by His Spirit.
2. All genuine revivals are founded on the Word of God. Throughout the scripture and church history, the Word has been preached in fullness and great authority and power in spiritual awakenings. Powerful, biblical preaching has always been at the heart of great moves of God. Paul said " it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who would believe ( I Cor 1:21)." God's intent in any revival is two- fold: To refresh the church and bring repentance to the world. A revival without repentance is like a cloud without rain. Revival preaching opens the way for the Holy Spirit to deal with the hardened heart of man and reveal Jesus to the world. The gospel is still the " power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ( Romans 1:16 )." 3. We do not gauge the validity of genuine revival by spiritual experiences alone but by the guidance of scripture. The word is the " Plumb-line"of faith and practice. Having said that, there are many examples of God's revealing himself to man in the word, we may not totally understand today. We tend to evaluate manifestations based solely on our personal experience alone. If I haven't experienced it, then it is not valid. The problem with doing this is that my walk with God is limited to my finite nature instead of an infinite God. Pentecostals often use phrases such as " Being slain or drunk in the Spirit. To those who have not been brought up around that kind of terminology, it may seem confusing and even anti- biblical and one can certainly understand reason for concern. To those new to biblical manifestations it might be better to say, " Being overwhelmed by the presence of God," because there are many biblical examples of that kind of experience. So that we are on the foundation of the word, let me cite 4 examples. •
•
•
•
When Ezekiel saw the glory of God, he fell facedown and heard the voice of God speaking (Ez. 1:28). The Hebrew word for fell here is Naphal, which means to " overthrow, overwhelm, slay, throw down, or cause to fall." The implication here is that this was more then Ezekiel voluntarily bowing but an overwhelming presence of God that brought Him to the ground. The prophet Daniel tells of an experience, where after seeing a vision from heaven, his strength left him and he fell into a deep sleep with his face to the ground (Dan 10:9). The experience was so overwhelming for him that a heavenly hand had to help him to his hands and knees and then he stood up trembling (v.10). God spoke to him and he received divine ability to function (v.19). When Paul was describing his conversion experience, he says the glory of God from heaven caused him (and his companions) to fall to the ground (Acts 22, 26) and God spoke to him. On can hardly imagine they all bowed together in unison and on cue as the text implies otherwise. When John saw Jesus on the Isle of Patmos, he fell down as a dead man and then Jesus spoke to him (Rev. 1:17). Please note, that each of these experiences was not just for the personal benefit of the individual to feel good but that God had some specific
message he wanted to reveal to the person and then have them give that message to the listener. In any spiritual experience, God is after life transformation.
There are other examples biblically and throughout church history where God's presence has overwhelmed people where they are at a loss for words to give adequate description. Even the people said of the ministry of Jesus " Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel ( Matt. 9:33)."My point in mentioning these is to be like the Bereans who " examined the scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true ( Acts 17;11)", even if we do not always understand it. We must also remember, the Holy Spirit will always draw attention to Jesus and not himself. If Jesus is being glorified and lifted up, the Holy Spirit is at work and we will not glory in the miracles but in the Jesus who performs the miracles. 4.Throughout church history, all moves of God have had excesses. Whether, we like it or not, this is an established fact. This is when the guidance of scripture and proper pastoral care are needed so fire does not become unbiblical wildfire and flesh. A word of caution however: One of the things happening around the country is that teens are becoming ignited by the power of the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, many of these outpourings are beginning with teenagers. Sometimes their exuberance may need some guidance but should not be squashed by those who have become too proud to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth, have nothing but criticism for things they don't want to understand and are too embarrassed to " Let go and Let God." The fact is, if some spiritual leaders can't control it, they will try and stop it. I would rather have a spiritual fire that needed pastoring then a valley of dry bones that haven't moved toward God in 50 years. This generation is coming alive in the Spirit and we must facilitate, not dominate the Lord's intention in doing this. Do not be guilty of quenching God's glory in this generation. I certainly don't have to extend my hand to steady the ark. God can do that. As we look toward the hope of the rain of God, Let's remember that what we are seeing is only a small part of what God is going to do. Rick Joyner from Morningstar calls the present move of God just a birth pang. It is not the full manifestation or revelation of spiritual awakening we are yet to see. I am believing the Lord for His glory to invade communities like the Lord did in the first and second great awakenings where entire cites came under the influence of the overwhelming presence of Christ that literally changed the entire atmosphere of communities in America. Anyone want to come along with me? Pastor Mark " Do not put out the Spirit's fire, do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. (I Thess. 5: 19-21)."
2. All genuine revivals are founded on the Word of God. Throughout the scripture and church history, the Word has been preached in fullness and great authority and power in spiritual awakenings. Powerful, biblical preaching has always been at the heart of great moves of God. Paul said " it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who would believe ( I Cor 1:21)." God's intent in any revival is two- fold: To refresh the church and bring repentance to the world. A revival without repentance is like a cloud without rain. Revival preaching opens the way for the Holy Spirit to deal with the hardened heart of man and reveal Jesus to the world. The gospel is still the " power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ( Romans 1:16 )." 3. We do not gauge the validity of genuine revival by spiritual experiences alone but by the guidance of scripture. The word is the " Plumb-line"of faith and practice. Having said that, there are many examples of God's revealing himself to man in the word, we may not totally understand today. We tend to evaluate manifestations based solely on our personal experience alone. If I haven't experienced it, then it is not valid. The problem with doing this is that my walk with God is limited to my finite nature instead of an infinite God. Pentecostals often use phrases such as " Being slain or drunk in the Spirit. To those who have not been brought up around that kind of terminology, it may seem confusing and even anti- biblical and one can certainly understand reason for concern. To those new to biblical manifestations it might be better to say, " Being overwhelmed by the presence of God," because there are many biblical examples of that kind of experience. So that we are on the foundation of the word, let me cite 4 examples. •
•
•
•
When Ezekiel saw the glory of God, he fell facedown and heard the voice of God speaking (Ez. 1:28). The Hebrew word for fell here is Naphal, which means to " overthrow, overwhelm, slay, throw down, or cause to fall." The implication here is that this was more then Ezekiel voluntarily bowing but an overwhelming presence of God that brought Him to the ground. The prophet Daniel tells of an experience, where after seeing a vision from heaven, his strength left him and he fell into a deep sleep with his face to the ground (Dan 10:9). The experience was so overwhelming for him that a heavenly hand had to help him to his hands and knees and then he stood up trembling (v.10). God spoke to him and he received divine ability to function (v.19). When Paul was describing his conversion experience, he says the glory of God from heaven caused him (and his companions) to fall to the ground (Acts 22, 26) and God spoke to him. On can hardly imagine they all bowed together in unison and on cue as the text implies otherwise. When John saw Jesus on the Isle of Patmos, he fell down as a dead man and then Jesus spoke to him (Rev. 1:17). Please note, that each of these experiences was not just for the personal benefit of the individual to feel good but that God had some specific
message he wanted to reveal to the person and then have them give that message to the listener. In any spiritual experience, God is after life transformation.
There are other examples biblically and throughout church history where God's presence has overwhelmed people where they are at a loss for words to give adequate description. Even the people said of the ministry of Jesus " Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel ( Matt. 9:33)."My point in mentioning these is to be like the Bereans who " examined the scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true ( Acts 17;11)", even if we do not always understand it. We must also remember, the Holy Spirit will always draw attention to Jesus and not himself. If Jesus is being glorified and lifted up, the Holy Spirit is at work and we will not glory in the miracles but in the Jesus who performs the miracles. 4.Throughout church history, all moves of God have had excesses. Whether, we like it or not, this is an established fact. This is when the guidance of scripture and proper pastoral care are needed so fire does not become unbiblical wildfire and flesh. A word of caution however: One of the things happening around the country is that teens are becoming ignited by the power of the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, many of these outpourings are beginning with teenagers. Sometimes their exuberance may need some guidance but should not be squashed by those who have become too proud to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth, have nothing but criticism for things they don't want to understand and are too embarrassed to " Let go and Let God." The fact is, if some spiritual leaders can't control it, they will try and stop it. I would rather have a spiritual fire that needed pastoring then a valley of dry bones that haven't moved toward God in 50 years. This generation is coming alive in the Spirit and we must facilitate, not dominate the Lord's intention in doing this. Do not be guilty of quenching God's glory in this generation. I certainly don't have to extend my hand to steady the ark. God can do that. As we look toward the hope of the rain of God, Let's remember that what we are seeing is only a small part of what God is going to do. Rick Joyner from Morningstar calls the present move of God just a birth pang. It is not the full manifestation or revelation of spiritual awakening we are yet to see. I am believing the Lord for His glory to invade communities like the Lord did in the first and second great awakenings where entire cites came under the influence of the overwhelming presence of Christ that literally changed the entire atmosphere of communities in America. Anyone want to come along with me? Pastor Mark " Do not put out the Spirit's fire, do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. (I Thess. 5: 19-21)."
