Revival

I'm much more interested in advancing the Kingdom of God throughout all facets of my life than having a "spiritual" experience (if that's what you mean by revival). Revival ("re-life") is available to all who will take up their cross and follow Jesus... with or without a preacher, acclaim or excitement.

Back in the mid-1980s, a small number of men in my home church began to pray together and ask God for our focus to change and for the Kingdom of God to come alive in our midst. From our first prayer meeting, we began to change and starting reshaping our lives to be obedient to God. Within six months (along with the normal program of our church) we began to have many people come to Christ from within and without the congregation. Lives were transformed and a number of people permanently changed their vocations to serve in vocational Christian ministry. There was no special campaign, no special evangelist brought in to work people into an emotional frenzy, and we didn't have a sudden mountaintop experience with the inevitable letdown. A group of not-so-holy men were sick and tired of the routine way we did church and did religious things, and we invited God to take His rightful place in our lives.

 

I don't think the church I go to is ready for revival ~ I agree with what you have to say though.

 

I'm just looking for the coming of the Lord. The Bible doesn't teach me to look for "revival".

 

The question may result from not being sure if you are talking about revival of God's people or using "revival" to mean evangelism of the lost.

If as you say that

then ONLY believers can be revived, because they are the only ones who had a faith to be renewed.

But you seem to also define revival with crowds of people coming to know Christ as Savior. Evangelism is one of the results of God's people being revived. But unsaved people can't be revived because you can't "re" something or someone who never had life in the first place.

Maybe this is part of the problem in understanding what you are asking...

 

Revival isn't just about exixting christians it is about bringing unsaved people to God hence revival, for example in the 1904 - 1905 revival in Wales 100,000 became christians.

Revival = a. A time of reawakened interest in religion.
b. A meeting or series of meetings for the purpose of reawakening religious faith, often characterized by impassioned preaching and public testimony.
5. Law Renewal of validity or effect, as of a contract or judicial decision.

1. Revival is linked to salvation:

Twice in Psalm 80 there is a prayer for restoration: verse 3 - "Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved." and again in verse 19 - "Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved." (Psalms 80:1-3, 18, 19)
And in Lamentations 5:20-22 there is a similar prayer, "Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old."

This is why "Revivalism" is so closely associated with "Evangelism" - to be saved is to be "born again," to receive new life.

2. Revival is a result of repentance and humility:

It is in the midst of David's well known prayer of contrition, after having been confronted with his sin, that he pleads, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Psalms 51:10)
The promise given through Isaiah is that God will not only live in heaven, but in the hearts of those who are "lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." (Isaiah 57:15)

In Peter's great sermon preached to the crowds who gathered after the lame beggar had been healed, he called for repentance, ". . . so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." (Acts 3:19, 20)

3. Revival is connected with forgiveness and joy:

Following a plea for restoration, there's a kind of rhetorical question asked by the Psalmist, "Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?" (Psalms 85:4-7) Certainly it is assumed that the answer from heaven will be a resounding "Yes." Certainly, one of the more constant elements of revival is the ecstatic joy experienced by those who become aware of the presence and love of the Lord.
4. Revival includes building up what was broken:

In the wonderful story about Nehemiah leading the residents of Jerusalem to a successful rebuilding of the wall, their critics asked the question, "Will they restore their wall?" The (KJV) renders this question in these words, "Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?" (Nehemiah 4:1, 2) And we know that is exactly what was done. The wall was revived!
Later, another famous leader during this same period of Israel's history, Ezra, gave wonderful words of encouragement when he declared "God has extended mercy unto us . . . to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations. . . ." (Ezra 9:8, 9 - KJV)

5. Sometimes, revivals happen in the midst of difficulties:

It is in a great Psalm of praise (Psalms 138:1-8) that these words are included, "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life." The KJV renders it this way, "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me."
The prophet Hosea provides two great promises to the people of his day, which are still applicable to us in ours, "They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." (Hosea 14:7)

Previously Hosea had called out to the people this message of encouragement, "Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence." (Hosea 6:1-3)

6. Revival results in the renewal of strength:

One of the Songs of David we often sing is from Psalms 103:1-5 - "Bless the Lord, O my Soul." The paragraph ends with the reminder that one of the things God does is that He ". . . satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
And of course this reminds us of the often repeated message in Isaiah 40:29-31that ends with ". . . those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

7. The ultimate revival is resurrection:

It may come as a surprise that both of the passages we'll mention here are from the Old Testament. Obviously, Job knew that his question would be answered with a resounding 'Yes!" "If a man dies, will he live again?" So he follows with this assertion, "All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come." (Job 14:14)
And Ezekiel relays this wonderful promise, "I will put my Spirit in you and you will live." (Ezekiel 37:14)

8. There is a longing for revival in the present generation:

The prophet Habakkuk, who lived in one of the more desperate times in Israel's history, prays a prayer we need to repeat in our own day, "LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day. . . ." (Habakkuk 3:2)
In summary then, we have these powerful Biblical connections to revival:

salvation, repentance, joy, rebuilding, preservation, strength, resurrection - and we can believe it is for our own generation.

http://www.joyfulministry.com/revival.htm

 

I don't want to split hairs but all the verse about revival are in the Old testament where the ministry of the Holy Spirit was far different than now.

I agree we need revival of believers. It's just that you must be specific about what revival is. Mention "Revival" to most church people and they think of preaching to the unsaved. Mention revival to most preachers and they think about preaching to the saved.

 

I don't know what bible you read but in mine Acts is New Testament :thumbs: . Please read the following and I have included the link at the bottom and please note the references are New Testament:

Church Planting Revival in North America


A BIBLICAL PHILOSOPHY OF CHURCH PLANTING

By Bob Larson
Baptist International Missions, Inc.
Chattanooga, TN

As I write this article, I would like to pay tribute to Dr. Bob McKeever. It was Dr. McKeever's teaching and material that helped me to fully understand the Biblical Philosophy of Church Planting. Bro.McKeever has recently graduated to heaven and many of the thoughts I will share with you in this article were given to me by him. I will try to write this article as he would have wanted it written.

In Acts 1:8 the Bible states, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." If we are going to be involved in starting New Testament churches we must understand what a New Testament church is. A simple definition would be that the New Testament Church is an organized body of saved and baptized believers united together for the main purpose of carrying out the great commission. The Great Commission is stated five times in the New Testament. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:45-47; John 20:21 and Acts 1;8.

When you study these verses it is plain to see that the church is under orders today to go with the gospel. The church today must understand that the Great Commission is not the great suggestion or the great option nor is it a choice. It is a direct command from our Lord and Saviour. Every New Testament church has been commissioned to go into the all the world with the Gospel. It is not something that the local church would have to vote on. It is a command that the local church must obey.

Every member of the local New Testament church is to be a missionary who takes the gospel to a lost world. Let me point out that the word "missionary" is not a Bible word but the concept certainly is a Bible concept. Just like the word "rapture" is not a Bible word yet the scripture teaches us that there will come a day when those that are alive and know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.(I Thes. 4:17) Another example would be the word "Trinity." You will not find this word in scripture, but the Word of God teaches that our God is a triune being and this concept can be found throughout the Bible. Consider three very descriptive New Testament words that would help us to understand what a missionary is and what he does. The first word would be apostle. The definition of an apostle would be a sent one. It comes from the Latin word "missio." The Bible states in John 20:21, "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." The second word that would describe what a missionary is would be the word ambassador. An ambassador is one who represents a sovereign to another country. In II Corinthians 5:20 we find this verse, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…" The third Bible word that describes what a missionary is and does would be the word witness. A witness is one who tells the truth. "Speaking the truth in love." Eph. 4:15.

In Acts 1:8 the church was instructed by the Lord Jesus Christ as to where they were to witness. The Lord told the church to go to Jerusalem. This was where they lived and functioned on a daily basis. They were also told to go to Judea. Judea was the area that encompassed Jerusalem. It was made up of cities and towns that were close at hand such as Bethlehem, Jericho and Damascus. Our Lord also included Samaria. Keep in mind that to reach Samaria, the church would have to reach out cross culturally to people who did not have the same ethnic background as they possessed. They were also instructed to witness to the uttermost part of the earth.

There are three key words found in Acts 1:8 that help us to better understand the Great Commission. Power would be one key word to consider when studying this passage. It's not always easy to serve the Lord, but it is impossible to serve Him without Holy Spirit power. We must have God's power upon our lives. There can be no lasting results without the power of God. No lasting salvation decisions, no revival, no victory, and no effective witness. Jesus stated in John 15:5, "For without Me ye can do nothing." Witness can also be considered as a key word in understanding this passage. A witness is one who bears witness with his life and is willing to die to get the message out. It certainly involves sacrifice. Then there is the little word both. This word both is what we could call the forgotten word in missions today. The Lord was not giving the church a progressive plan in Acts 1:8. It was a simultaneous plan. Every area mentioned was to be evangelized at the same time. No area was to be excluded. In other words, we don't evangelize one area to the exclusion of the other. Therefore, the main mission of the local New Testament church is missions and our mission field is the world. It is not a method but rather it is the method! To quote James Weber, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." All of us will one day give an account before God concerning what we have done with the Great Commission.

If the main mission of the local New Testament church is missions then there should be a two fold goal in mission work. Why have goals when it comes to mission work? Goals help us determine the path we take. Goals help us evaluate our progress. The first goal of missions is evangelism. Notice the following scriptures. "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:16) "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10) "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. (John 20:21) J. Herbert Kane said, "Missionary work that does not include evangelism is not missionary work at all." We are to preach to reach individuals. Biblical preaching needs to be clear, plain and without compromise.


The second goal of missions is planting churches. The reason church planting is vital to missions is that "Baptize" is the second part of the Great Commission and baptism is a local church ordinance. The responsibility of baptizing the new convert has not been given to individuals but it has been given to the church. Our immediate objective of missions is to reach the lost and the ultimate objective or long range objective of missions is to plant churches. As indispensable as evangelism is to missions, it is incomplete without the formation of local churches. The church is the primary agent in God's plan to reconcile mankind to himself. In Acts 16:5 the Bible states, "And so were the churches established in the faith and increased in number daily." Our part is to walk by faith and obey, trust and believe God. God's part is to give the increase. Planting churches involves sowing seed and the seed is the Word of God. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." (1 Peter 1:23) The church planter must sow the seed of the Word of God but God will cause the seed to grow. Paul stated "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." (I Cor. 3:6)


http://www.churchplantingrevival.com/articles/larson-planting_article.mgi

 

with this reply, I'm out because it's not something I want to argue/discuss whatever.

But I am certainly not against reaching people with the Gospel. Fully 60% of the people in our church had no previous church experience except maybe in childhood. What I was disagreeing with is the use of the word revival to describe evangelism or a new emphasis on church planting.

 

I do not think it is impossible to see a revival of mass proportions in churches that result in the turning away from sins and souls being saved.

But sometimes I think the only way we will see it is if one person or group has revival in their heart and life and that is seen and felt in a powerful way by others and then they get revival and then so on until the whole spirit and focus of a church changes and so on.

I think revival starts when people begin to see the unusual happen and realize it is not unusual it is really how God intended his people to be for the sake of the lost.

May it begin in me.

 

Not wishing to be critical, but I found I could not answer any of the 4 questions.

1) If I answered "I am ready for revival", that would be arrogant.
2) I don't know what "the revival gospel" is. How does it differ from "the gospel"?

3) Is my church ready for what God has for me? Sorry, I cannot tell the future - The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2.9:

"​

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

​

If I do not know, how can my church know?
4) To choose your fourth option would make me and my church sound smug and self-satisfied. We are not.

So I am afraid I have not voted in this poll. Sorry.

 

Hi~ I apologise now if I offend you I don't mean to but your post got me thinking

I can see where you're coming from by this and my slant of it is are any of us really ready and that to be ready is a leap of faith.

Revival gospel is the same as gospel ~ the only difference is the way it is delivered ie with more passion, being able to get across to younger people, being as encouraging as possible ... along that lines.

It's not being about seeing into the future or being smug it is about stepping out in faith and your church leader(s) should know when the time is right.

Again I am sorry if I have offended ... my only other point is that when revival happens it could be any time and I want to be prepared.

 

Let me assure you that you have not offended me in any way at all - I was just puzzled. I think I now have a little better understanding of what you are asking.

I am not sure, though, that I agree that preaching should be delivered with more passion, or with more ability to get across to younger people, during a time of revival. I believe that preaching and evangelism need to be done with passion, and with the aim of reaching all ages of people, at all times, perhaps especially during times of apathy towards the things of the gospel.

 

I could have worded it better and yes I agree with you too about reaching out to all ages :godisgood: :thumbsup: