Been thinking about the revival happening in Asbury seminary in KY since February 8, 2023. Also now happening at Cedarville and other universities around the country.
Spiritually speaking, I think what we are calling revivals are Jesus Christ within his people breaking free from the chains of sin and religious tradition.
They are almost always spontaneous, unplanned, begun and sustained by young, enthusiastic Christians. Accompanied by much prayer, repentance of sin, and free worship. And rarely have sermons or clergy control. When those things settle in they typically end.
The Type of Revival I’m Praying For
I think the ultimate revival to work toward, the revival that I am praying for, the ‘revival’ that makes me want to explode with excitement. And which keeps me writing, praying, seeking the Lord and sometimes speaking.
Will be the revival of the gospel of the Kingdom that was preached by Jesus and his apostles. I believe we only hear fragments of that one. And I’m not talking about how people fervently preach salvation or miracles, I’m talking about what exactly is preached.
When that revival occurs I believe it’ll cause all we see in Asbury and more, with widespread turmoil and persecution. And not just in seminaries and mega-churches, but among all ages and everywhere.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. Recently I’ve been hearing many Christians (and others) praying and talking about Christian revival. And I must admit the need for revival is self-evident and I understand why people are praying for it.
But I think it a fools errand to try to drum up some fervant church gatherings with zeal and with powerful religious effort, drum up a crowd with great bands and much hand waving and then call it “REVIVAL!”
The Gospels that are being proclaimed are producing the churches and the meetings that we see today. Some gospels that are commonly preached today produce almost Christians who exclusively sit in pews. Pew-sitting is 99% of their Christian life and the highlight of it altogether. The Pew-sitters (introverts) or Pew-entertainers (the extroverts). To intensify and double down on that type of Christian gatherings ought not every be called revival.
I don’t say that to be critical. I simply want to point everyone to their own particular gospel. It’s the gospel that we have, the particular gospel that we hear, embrace, and teach ithers which is producing what we see, (or do not see) in our Chrisitan gatherings.
Are your Chrisitan gatherings cold, indifferent?, are they crowds of idle Christians, staring at the back of each others heads, unable and unwilling to share anything spiritual themselves? Other than regurgitating what they just heard in the sermon, whether its biblical or not. Unable and unwilling to speak out the light and life of Jesus Christ themselves?
If Paul or Peter or Jesus Christ were here today in body, would they not re-evangelize us with the same gospel that they had and shared in the first century? I think there is a good chance they would and I think there is a good chance many Christians would seek them out for this exact thing. Most Chrisitians of today I think would instinctively say to them “Give us what you have because we don’t yet have it, it’s true, that after 20, 30, even 50 years of hearing Sunday sermons I still don’t have what you can give me in a few dozen hours of teaching.”
Their gospel contained within itself the spiritual food necessary to make disciples in a few short months of preaching and teaching. And it created the spiritual building blocks to make communities of Christians who shared their lives together, who endured horrible persecutions. Communities which naturally sprung up wherever it was allowed to be embraced.
Historically revivals which have a lasting effects on nations are precluded by preaching, preaching that is embraced by a large number of people who respond to it.
Never forget that it is gospels which produce revivals. Not emotionalism, exaggeration about miracles, zeal, nor passionate music. We can scheule and annual revival but the ones that make lasting impacts on society emerge from the gospels that are shared.
I’ve been present in special meetings (called revivals). The presence and love of the Holy Spirit is felt and easily noticed by almost all who are present. I think this happens in meetings like this not becuase we were calling it revival but becuase we were just worshiping the Lord as should be done in any and every Christian meeting. We should not have to call it revival, it should be the norm. Something is wrong with our norm because our norm is not in submission to the Spirit of God so we have special, different meetings just to escape the trap we’ve put ourselves in, the trap being meetings not led by the Holy Spirit this usually being because of insistence on tradition.
What we hope decades and even centuries of revivals to do to transform the church.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ preached everywhere I believe could do in just a few months to the church and then as a result do great damage to the world system.
Centuries of cycles of revivals and backsliding and revivals and back sliding or let us today each examine our fruit, then may we dig deeper and examine our gospel. Acknowledge its weakness and incompleteness and seek to perfect and purifiy the gospel we’ve embraced.
Below is a teaching from T. Austin Sparks called ‘God’s Way of Recovery’ which goes with this line of thinking about revivals.
Is essentially what most Protestants envision and pray for when we hope and pray for and and call revival.
I believe the concept of revival goes rapidly off track to the extent that they get linked to Sunday mornings and to the pagan idea of clergy.
Kanye West’s “Sunday Services” represents revival right now … if anything does.
In my opinion if what Kanye is doing has any lasting spiritual value, then the fastest way to kill it, is to link it to clergy. The best way to let it grow is to let it go independent of all management. Let it go viral.
I’m sure he is being told exactly what he needs to do is not that… like a good little submissive “worship leader” he needs to get under “a covering”.
Historically revivals have ended when the clergy begins to manage them.
