DIVINE POWER YEAR

APRIL 2002        

Volume 31 Issue 4  No. 313

Preparing for Revival

According to the Church Calendar of 2002, March 31 is the Easter Sunday. The Day of Pentecost falls on Sunday the 19th May. If we consider Pentecost as a type of Revival, the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost can be taken as the days of preparation for revival. Let’s use this Season to seek the face of the Lord for a mighty Heaven-sent revival which we desperately need. The article here is a help.

The most important event after Easter was Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came that day on the waiting disciples. Several things happened after the Resurrection of Christ as a preparation for Pentecost. Pentecost may be understood as a fresh visitation of God among His people. What the disciples went through or did during those 50 days, between Resurrection and Pentecost, presents for us lessons on preparing for Revival. If we prepare ourselves in these areas, the long-awaited Revival will "suddenly" come very soon!

1. Faith in the Risen Lord

The birth to the burial of Christ is His humiliation, but with resurrection begins His glorification. The Holy Spirit would not be outpoured unless Jesus had been glorified (Jn 7:39). After resurrection, Christ spent forty days with His disciples to present Himself alive "by many infalliable proofs" (Acts 1:3). He sharply rebuked their "unbelief and hardness of heart" when they were hesitating to accept the fact of His resurrection (Mk 16:9-14). He also wanted them to know that His was a bodily resurrection. "Behold, My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have" (Lk 24:39). He didn’t want them to have any doubt whatsoever. He did not mind granting a special appearance to Thomas to convince him. He said to him, "Do not be unbelieving, but believing" (Jn 20:27). Peter and John saw the resurrected Saviour and cried, "It is the Lord!" (Jn 21:7).

Revival is not for sinners but for those who have confessed their faith in the Risen Lord. In other words, revival is not for the unsaved but the saved (Rom 10:8-10). Pentecost is only for the "disciples." That is, those who have enrolled themselves as slaves and followers of Christ the Lord. The Gift of the Holy Spirit is only for those who have repented and submitted to the lordship and authority of Christ (Acts 2:38). Hence the primary responsibility of any pastor or preacher who desires revival in a Church is to see that all the members are led to genuine repentance and heart faith. A corpse cannot be revived!

We have too many unconverted or unsaved persons both in our pulpits and pews today. We need prophets who will boldly proclaim to our pew-dwellers that baptism (infant or adult), confirmation, church membership, communion and one hundred such things do not save them (Mt 3:8,9). They should "repent and believe!" People shed tears over their problems when they hear a moving and comforting sermon. But rarely do they shed tears for sin! We need prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, John the Baptist and Jesus, Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:1) to preach repentance. Old fashioned revival demands old-fashioned repentance! Health and wealth are only secondary. It is wrong to speak physical and material prosperity to people whose "souls" are not prospering. Apostle John (he was a prophet too) rightly said, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers" (3 Jn 2).

A.W. Tozer, that great prophet, said, the first mark of a spiritual man is that he desires to be holy than happy! Revival is the restoration of joy in God’s house (Psa 85:6). But the oil of gladness will not be poured on those who do not love righteousness and hate lawlessness (Heb 1:9).

2. Study of the Scriptures

The resurrected Christ missed no opportunity to expound the Scriptures to His disciples. To the disciples who were on their way to Emmaus, "He expounded in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets" (Lk 24:27). Again when He appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem, He explained to them the fulfillment of what was written "in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms" concerning Him (Lk 24:44). The disciples were waiting for the Holy Spirit with several passages of the Scriptures in their meditation. In other words, their minds were occupied with the Scriptures. For example, Peter was explaining to the disciples the case of Judas from the Scriptures. "Men and brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas... For it is written in the book of Psalms..." (Acts 1:15-17,20).

The meditation and study of God’s Word has played a vital role in the revivals and restoration movements recorded in the Old Testament. The restoration under King Josiah and that under Ezra are examples. Read 2 Kings 22:8-11 and Ezra 7:10. Amos prophesied of days of famine, not of bread or water, but of the Word of the Lord (Am 8:11,12). I believe these days are already on us! From many pulpits we hear only stories and experiences and very little exposition of God’s Word. Comparing scripture with scripture has almost become a lost art. People want everything light—light music, light reading and light sermons! And preachers have come down to stay at people’s level instead of raising them to the standard of the Scriptures. Because preaching is more popular than teaching, even those who are called to be Bible teachers have become mere evangelistic preachers. Milk is necessary, but how long? No maturity without strong meat.

I am nobody to judge anyone, but most of today’s preaching is just emotional. Very few preach the truth to bring about a genuine conviction and lasting comfort. Read carefully the prophetic warning of Paul: "Preach the Word!... convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Tim 4:2-4). The revival blessings of God will come on us when His Word is given its due place (Isa 66:1,2). All that we see with our eyes today are temporal, with but one exception—the Bible! The Word is the Seed and the Spirit is the Rain (Isa 30:23; Hos 10:12).

3. Praise and Prayer

The Spirit of prayer and worship gripped the disciples even before Pentecost, especially during the last ten days following Ascension. Luke, who has given us "an orderly account" of the ministry of Christ and the Holy Spirit, mentions this graphically in his Gospel and the Book of Acts. Following Christ’s Ascension, "they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God" (Lk 24:52,53). As they went up into the upper room, "they all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication" (Acts 1:12-14). They were soaked in a spirit of prayer and worship on the Day of Pentecost "with one accord" (Acts 2:1).

The need of prayer as a preparation for Revival cannot be overemphasized. Prayer here is more than just asking God to send a revival. It means self-examination and confession of sins. Self-examination means we let the Lord turn His searchlight on us and reveal to us our carnality, corruption and casualness (Rev 2:23). And it’s a time of remembering our broken vows before the Lord (Eccl 5:1-6); and the wrongs we have committed against others (Mt 5:23,24). Prayer leads to true humility because it is in His presence we realize our nothingness and His holiness (Isa 6:1-5). Prayer is also an expression of our inability and inadequacy and therefore a pleading for His strength and power (Mt 26:41). God is pleased with such sacrifices and His fire will invariably fall on them (Psa 51:17-19).

When Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord, the fire fell. God breaks and makes His men on their knees. When Jesus prayed, Heaven was opened. When the early Church prayed, the place was shaken. Prayer releases the power of the Spirit to affect the earth. I believe we have preached enough about revival and published enough about revival, but have not prayed enough for revival. The more we pray for revival the more we will long for it, and the more we long for it the more we will pray for it. Leonard Ravenhill rightly said, One main reason we have no revival is that we have learnt to live without it!

There is a renewed interest in praise these days and several books come out each year on this subject. But by and large the result is "selfish-praise," just like we use to have selfish prayer—that is praying for ourselves and our own needs only. Who is concerned about the Church and the World? True, praising God helps to lift me out of my personal problems and supply my needs. But let’s rise above these childish things and praise the Lord of the Church for the blessing of the Church, and the Lord of the Harvest for the blessing of the world, and the Lord of Armies for fresh and new victories in the battles of the Kingdom. Just imagine what would have been the subject of praise and worship of the disciples before Pentecost!

4. Enthusiasm about the Kingdom

The theme of the discourses of the risen Christ with His disciples before Pentecost was the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). When the disciples mistook the mind of Jesus and asked Him, "Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" (v 6), He explained to them that He was actually talking about the spiritual kingdom that would be established in the hearts of men and women through the preaching of the gospel all over the world beginning with Jerusalem (vv 7,8). The Great Commission, as it is called, was given just before Ascension. He commanded them to GO! To all the NATIONS! Throughout the whole WORLD! To preach the GOSPEL! To reach every CREATURE! To teach all the TRUTHS! In His AUTHORITY! As His WITNESSES! In the power of the HOLY SPIRIT! With His presence with them ALWAYS! (Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-18; Lk 24:47-49; Acts 1:8). The departing words of a dear one cannot be lightly taken (Acts 1:8,9). In other words, the Lord planted in their hearts an enthusiasm and excitement about establishing and extending His spiritual Kingdom on earth through the preaching of the gospel.

Revival is not an end in itself. It’s a means to an end, the end being evangelism. Revival is not evangelism, but revival begets evangelism. David prayed, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You" (Psa 51:12,13). It is necessary that our purpose in seeking revival is proper. Evan Roberts of Welsh Revival prayed, "Lord, bend the Church and bless the world!" Most of the revivals of the past have given birth to great missionary and evangelistic movements. But there are also stories of revivals which died out too soon, one of the main causes being the failure of the leaders to channelise the revival blessings into aggressive evangelism and soulwinning. God is not interested to pour out His Spirlt on His people just to excite them or make them feel good. No! He is interested in the "world!" He sent His Son to die for the world. He sent His Spirit to convict the world of sin and woo sinners to the Saviour. He anointed the 120 disciples on the Day of Pentecost that they might be His witnesses all over the world. I am afraid one of the reasons for the delay in revival is that we do not yet know why we need revival.

5. Preparing the Leaders

During His earthly ministry Jesus was consciously training the twelve for the worldwide ministry ahead. He gave them the finishing touch just before His Ascension. John’s Gospel records His personal encounter with Peter, the leader of the twelve. He asked Him three times the searching question, "Do you love Me?" (Jn 21:15-17). Love is both the conerstone and the capstone for a Christian minister. When Jesus first called him it was to become a fisher of men (Mt 4:19). Now He commissions him to be a shepherd of men (Jn 21:15-17). You need love both for soulwinning and shepherding. One is love for the lost and the other for the found. Several thousands were to be born into the Kingdom in the next few days. The leader was prepared. Earlier Jesus gave him the keys (Mt 16:19) and now He gives him the "rod and staff" (Psa 23:4b). Souls must be brought in and brought up! Jesus also prepared him for the cross he should bear (Jn 21:18,19). Jesus is the Master-Trainer of leaders. He checked Peter’s unnecessary inquisitiveness into the affairs of a fellow-minister. Peter’s question was not out of concern but curiosity (Jn 21:20-22). After Ascension, we find Peter initiating an election process to fill up the vacancy created by Judas in the Apostolic band (Acts 1:22-26). He perhaps remembered the significance of the number twelve from what Jesus had told him earlier (Mt 19:27,28).

The lesson is clear. Leaders must be prepared ahead in order to preserve the precious and abundant fruits of revival. Following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we immediately read about the Apostles’ defence (2:14), the Apostles’ doctrine (2:42), the Apostles’ demonstration (3:1,6,7), the Apostles’ direction (6:1-4), etc. They had been already mentally trained to organize the thousands of folks who flocked in and the huge amounts of funds which flowed in, without corruption (2:41; 4:4,34,35). How many times we have observed today the loss of moral and ethical values following the increase of flocks and funds in ministries! Charisma alone is not sufficient for leaders. They need character.

Thank God for the several discipleship and leadership programmes conducted by genuine ministries, which emphasize sincerity over success, purity over popularity, depth over width, sacrifice over sensationalism, and conscience over convenience. I urge young people to read and reread the Book of Nehemiah and Paul’s epistles to Timothy and Titus. Read also Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill and Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders. You will never be the same again! Revival will knock down the hypocrites. Young men will then be wanted to remove the corpses and bury them away! (Acts 5:6,10).

For Youth!

High Velocity Vacations!

Duke Jeyaraj, New Delhi

It’s here. The holidays. The vacations. Bye Bye School. Bye Bye College. (At least for some time). The most earth-shattering two months in a student’s life are certainly the summer holiday time. Little wonder young people pump their fists in the air in celebration as they turn-in the last answer paper to the invigilators!

What shall I do? How do I spend these months? Questions. Good questions. Here I throw a few ideas. Little seeds that can germinate in the world you live in. What follows is sandpaper made out of Biblical principles. This sandpaper can be used to rub against the iron plate of your vacations so that your rest doesn’t become rust!

Don’t spend the hols worrying about your ruined-up exam papers buddy. "Will I flunk in that Calculus Paper?" "Hope I can atleast scrape through Physics!" Those thoughts boggle you. Bother you. Burn your peace. Bury those thoughts. They ain’t gonna help. Not one bit. If Jesus were to redo the Sermon on the Mount to the Yahoo Youth just out of the exam time, He would say, "Which of you guys can by worrying add one mark to your answer sheet? So take it easy. I am in charge!" Don’t moan about what is gone. Stay calm. Roll up your sleeves to pack your holidays with Jesus-glorifying activities. Kick-off the holidays with this prayer: "Lord, I give back to You the 5184000 seconds of free time (that’s what you’ll get if you get two months of vacation) You have given me. Give me wisdom to use it well." You could scent that spirit in the prayer of the Psalmist in Psalm 90:12. Warren W. Wiersbe put it correctly: "If we don’t give God our time, He won’t be able to use our talent or ability."

It is possible that you forgot to even give a look at The Book—the Bible—amidst the exam fever. You bunked reading the Bible. Now you can swim deep into God’s Word. Search it. Study it. You know what? Read 25 chapters a day. I am not kidding. Don’t cry—just try. If you keep at it for two straight months—your vacation months—you would have cruised through the entire Bible—all the 66 books of it! That’s something you can be proud of. That’s something that will pump spiritual Pepsi into your soul. It’s one thing to watch TV ads so that they become second nature to you. Here is another challenge: Why don’t you try and memorize some celebrated sermons in the Bible?— the Sermon on the Mount, Peter’s Sermon in Acts 2, Stephen’s Sermon in Acts 7, etc.—so that they become second nature to you?! Pace to the place where they sell good Christian stuff. Fish out works by top authors. Haven’t got clues? Let me give you: Max Lucado, Charles Colson, Philip Yancey and Ravi Zacharias—just to name a few—have put out recently some unputdownable books you may love to read.

Holidays are a grand time to catch up with all your friends and have a jolly good time. But never miss the time you need daily to talk to The Friend "who sticks closer than a brother!"—the Lord Jesus! If you are just out of high school or college, ask the Lord to guide you as to which course you must take up or which line of work you must pursue. Gather knowledge about the line that interests you by talking with persons with experience in that line. A carefully researched decision made with abundant prayer is far better than a decision taken in the last minute—any day!

Hanging out with friends for whom giving Jesus the finger is super cool is a pretty sure pathway to hang your faith. Watch out— they might drag you to watch a dirty movie. Be careful—they might flash pornographic images for you to see at the Internet Parlor. Young person, we are called to stand for our God in a depraved generation. Therefore, like the Psalmist, we must without a whiff of hesitation say, "I will refuse to look at any thing vile and vulgar!" (Psa 101:3). Our holidays must also be holy days. Quiz Absalom and Rehoboam. These Bible younguns wrecked their lives. How on earth did it happen? By the harmful sway they allowed their rotten friends to have over them.

Some of you from non-Christian homes will have brickbats awaiting you when you start living out your new faith in the holidays. Take it in your stride. That actually will fulfill your Master prediction bulls eye: "In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties" (Jn 16: 33). Be gutsy yet gracious. The changed lives you live must cause them to drop their jaws in amazement.

Cooling your heels before the TV the whole time in the vacation isn’t cool. Get warm. Swing a bat. Have a bowl. Kick a ball. Smash a shuttlecock. Chase each other in the beach. Knock off those extra inches around your belly. Shape up. Skip. Sweat it out before Satan seduces you in. Laziness is the invitation card you give Satan for tempting you. Roll up your sleeves. Get to work— social service! Your neighbourhood is dirty. The colony you live reeks with scattered garbage. Holidays are a perfect time for us to gang up together for "Operation Clean Up!" Some will watch you in utter shock. Some others will stop by to mock. But what an opportunity it will be for us to say that we are of the Jesus stock!

Sign up to become a VBS teacher. Start a prayer cell. Go out into the villages armed with tracts. Preach in the streets. Stand in street corners silently holding Gospel placards. Don’t say, "I can’t!" When you say that you are actually saying, "I won’t!" You can do it! To win you must first begin. To suceed you must proceed—with the little you have. To grow up in the Lord, you must glow wherever He has placed you. It’s flash-back time. It’s May 1988. A 13-year old boy has just got back to his town from Blesso—BYM’s famed Revival Program— which was held at Danishpet. The Lord had filled him with the Holy Spirit in that camp. Stanley uncle challenged him to start a prayer cell in the neighbourhood where he lived. "Can a 13 year old shy, reserved, timid, introvert like me, boy, start a prayer cell?" That was the query that boggled his mind. "The Holy Spirit will give me the strength," he believed. He went ahead and gathered his pals in the colony. A prayer cell was born that holiday month of May in Vellore. The boy I am talking about is yours truly—this writer!

Have a flair for writing? Write to the Editors of the Newspapers or magazines expressing your viewpoint. Write a tract for the generation of young people you belong to. Mass E-mail it to all your net-savvy pals. Have an ear for music? Join a guitar or a keyboard class. Who knows—you might become the next Berchmanns! Reach for the skies and bring back the stars! Do you have working skills? Join a part-time job. When Billy Graham—the famous evangelist—graduated out of high school in 1936, he joined a brush company as a door-to-door salesman in his summer vacation. He was just 18. What a way to make money for college! Also what an opportunity to share the Gospel with the people he sold brushes to!

Taking off to a mission field for exposure in the hols will cause your spiritual life to soar. Just before going for my B. Tech. in Allahabad I stayed a month in the BYM mission field at Sitteri Hills, Tamil Nadu. The impact of that stay was such in my heart that I found myself telling the Lord, "Whatever I do, I shall end up as a fulltime servant for You." I did just that! Here’s wishing you a high-velocity, vibrant vacation in which you go gaga for Jesus!