Abundant Life Ministries

WHY WE NEED A REVIVAL

Every city in the nation has a fire department and their main functions include to extinguish fires, protect citizens during emergencies, execute rescues, minimize fire damage by responding to alarm, handle minor medical care and other emergency services, prevent fire damages by conducting surveys and inspections for hazards and enforcing codes. They provide these services to keep people and the city safe. Now can you imagine what will happen if the fire department falls asleep and fail to do their job.

Without a doubt, many citizens will die and the city will be burned. Of course, you'll be one of the first people to condemn them for their lack of concern, carelessness and ineptitude. But do you realize you're in the same boat, if you fall asleep and let men and women go to hell because of your nonchallant attitude to share the gospel with them. Before the departure of our Lord Jesus Christ from the earth, He commissioned all believers to "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:15-16).

The Great commission is given on Christ's mediatorial authority; His sacrificial death on the cross is for the salvation of all mankind. Therefore, for the gospel to be proclaimed to the whole creation, everyone of us has to be involved; since His desire is that none should perish but to have eternal life. It's just as much the business of the Church (believers) to be awake as the fire department and not take the devil's opiates and fall asleep.

So, "why do you need a revival?" A revival does two things. First, it return the Church from her backsliding and second, it causes the conversion of men and women and it always includes the conviction of sin (John 16:8-11) on the part of the Holy Spirit - as He stirs the heart of people to repent, to humble themselves, to pray earnestly and to hunger for God's presence. When that happens God always responds with a revival.

Certainly, you know you need a revival, when evil is thriving in your city - resulting in high crime rate, increase in gang violence, callous killings of innocent citizens in schools, churches and social gatherings by insane and demon-possessed individuals. When boys and girls who walk your city streets know more evil than their gray haired parents and grandparents because you fell asleep and neglected to pray for your city. The Bible says, "When I cry unto you, then shall mine enemies turn back this I know, for God is for me" (Psalm 56:9). When we pray, the power of evil is curtailed, but when we fall asleep bad things happen.

You know it's time for revival, when you are not willing to make sacrifice of your feelings, sacrifice of your time and of your money to help others and to advance God's cause. But the Bible urges us, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace, in various forms" (1 Peter 4-10). It is in our service that all will see God's grace in action as we demonstrate our faith. Service is the embodiment of Christian love toward others that draws them to Him.

You need a revival, when you blame God for things you have no right to blame Him for. If you don't do what you supposed to do. You walk in the flesh instead of the Spirit, and you end up in debt, prison, divorce or sickness. When the Bible commands, "But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do" (Galatians 5:16-17).

You can tell you need a revival, when you care more about your reputation and influence than to stand up and let people know you stand for Jesus Christ. What will you do if God tells you to stop work and go on a mission trip to a remote village in Honduras - where there's no electricity or running water. Will you say "yes" or will you give "excuses"? There are many Christians who has never done anything for the Lord, I have no doubt there are ministers as well. However, Jesus made it very clear when He said, "But whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:33).

If Christians are on fire for the Lord and souls are being won into the kingdom of God, there's no need for revival. If people's lives are being changed to the glory of God by the hands of the laity and not by the clergy, then there's no need for revival. Unfortunately, that's not the case and even where they exist, it's miniscule in scale.

At the peak of the pandemic, I heard the story about a Christian doctor who invited members of his church to pray for ten covid-19 patients in his hospital who needed ventilators, but none was available, due to a nation wide scarcity of the equipment. For three days, they prayed for them. Sadly, they all died. According to the story, secular radio DJs in the city made fun of the doctor, calling him a crazy man for thinking prayer is equivalent to a ventilator. Obviously, those patients did not die because God doesn't answer prayers. He does. But prayer has to be backed by power that only comes through intimacy with God. The Scripture alluding to this truth says, "... The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:16). Church attendance or merely being a Christian does not confer such power on you but daily personal study of God's word and unfettered fellowship with the Lord.

A recent poll conducted here in the US show that there isn't much converts today, rather Christians are simply moving from one church to another in search of preaching and entertainments that appeals to their fancy. As a result, seeker-sensitive church is now in vogue. Basically, the seeker-sensitive church tries to reach out to people by making church experience as comfortable, inviting and non-threatening as possible. There's nothing wrong with that, if Christ and the preaching of pure gospel is central - method of delivery may change but not the message.

The idea behind the concept of seeker-sensitive church is to get as many people as possible; they use theatrics, musical entertainment, lighting, 20 minutes sermons usually focused on self-improvement. Rarely are sin, hell, satan, atoning blood of Christ, the cross spoken of, and Jesus Christ as the exclusive way to heaven is rarely mentioned. The focus of the church is not Christ-centered but man-centered. What a spell the devil seems to cast over these churches.

God never intended that the devil should triumph over His Church. In fact, Christ Himself said He will build His Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). But Christians have become careless and unconcerned for the lost and the purpose He has for His Church. The truth is that if the Church is down on her face in prayer, they would be more concerned for the unsaved in the world and their own spiritual condition. The church has degenerated into an amusement joint, hence the need for revival.

Apparently, we need revival when apathy, complacency, carelessness and lack of concern keep Christians asleep. It's as much the duty of Christians to be awake and work and labor for the men and women of their city as it is the duty of the fire department to rush out when the call sounds.

You'll get lost trying to find your place in life but you'll find it when you come to the foot of the cross.

A CALL FOR REVIVAL

The Welsh Revival of 1904 -1905 was the largest Christian revival in Wales history; though, there had been other revivals in Wales prior to that, but none of them can be compared to this one. According to stories, it was preceded by great preaching of biblical truths, and precipitated by the move of the Holy Spirit, an intense passion for Jesus - that on several occasions during meetings people can be heard crying out: "No more, Lord Jesus or I die", there was earnest agonising prayer - coupled with heart-broken humility and a great hunger for God's presence. And God's gracious response was the most dramatic revival in terms of its effect on the population, and it also triggered revivals in several other countries. The Awakening swept the rest of Britain, Scandinavia, parts of Europe, North America, the mission fields of India and the Orient, Africa and Latin America.

A description of the effect of the revival reads: "The bars were not the only places to be emptied. Dance halls, theaters and football matches all saw a dramatic decline in attendance. The courts and jails were deserted and the police found themselves without any work to do. The story was told of policemen who closed their stations and formed a choir to sing at the revival meetings. Long-standing debts were repaid, church and family feud were healed and a new unity of purpose was felt across denominational divides". Without a doubt, that sounds to me as what we desperately need right now in our nation.

Isn't it amazing that the set of problems they had at the time, are the same set of problems that still plagues our society today. Interestingly, while the Church in the US acquiesced with the ills of our society, the Church in Wales was an agent of change for their nation. They did exactly what the Bible commands God's people to do in such circumstance: "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, pray and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

The Church in Wales was aware their nation had fallen away from the Lord and were serving other gods of money, liquor, football, promiscuous lifestyle etc. But most importantly they also knew the antidote to their problems was to turn to the Lord in earnest humility, prayer, proclamation of biblical truths, repentance and an intense passion for Jesus, and they would find forgiveness and restoration.

Our nation is in the same predicament, unfortunately, most of the churches in America are like the church in Sardis in the book of Revelation chapter 3 verse 1 that "have a reputation for being alive but dead". Today, there are more Christians in the US than any time in history. There are thousands of churches and para-church ministries nationwide who claim to be changing lives. Hundreds of Christian Television and Radio stations are on-the-air twenty-four hours a day; Christian books and literatures abound. We are neck deep in Bible teaching, praise and worship DVDs, CDs and MP3s, yet our society is on the precipice of decay and destruction. The fear of the Lord is at all time low.

Ironically, the Church is in deep slumber. We have ceased to be the standard of righteousness for our society, quite frankly the society has become the mirror by which we serve God and see ourselves. We accuse the world of being irreverent to God and the things of God, when we have shown them nothing to revere. They know they are breaking God's law because we haven't lived it out ourselves and proclaim it. The scripture says, " You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp-stand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).

A light is meant to shine and give direction ; it's to radiate and point others to the proper path. Light-radiating people live so that others see their good deeds and give praise to their Father in heaven. Sadly, we have gotten so fat that we are unable to get through our church doors to make any impact on the world. We have been commissioned by our Lord Jesus Christ to preach the gospel to the whole creation instead we now preach the get-rich-quick gospel. We preach the gospel of complacency instead of compassion; success instead of sacrifice; prestige instead of prayer.

It's time for the Church in America to be the Church again. When we talk about Church, we are not referring to church buildings or place of worship but the body of Christ (Ecclesia of God - the Called out ones). And in order for the Church to be the Church, we need a revival - a spiritual reawakening of the Church. The Titanic vessel has hit the rock and it's beginning to sink. But if God brings revival, if we seek Him with all our hearts, minds and strength; in truth and Spirit, what happened in Welsh revival will happen here in our nation. For the Bible says that "...God doesn't show favoritism but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him (Acts 10:34-35).

John Piper sums up what we need to do to have a revival of that magnitude: "...An increase in earnest desire for more of Christ and His word, fervent prayer, boldness in witness, purity of life, lots of conversions, joyful worship, renewed commitment to missions, and you feel God has moved here".

It's not until we hit a dead end do we recognize we're lost. But the Lord's hand is always stretched out to save us.