The other day, while leading a Praise Night event, I took a moment to read to the congregation a chapter of the book Sounds From Heaven, the story, told in the words of those who lived through it, of the last great awakening in the British Isles, the Lewis Revival of 1949-52.
I had not heard at the time of the Florida Revival, nor now do I know much about it. So I am not going to comment on the specifics of it.
And I want to preface my comments with this thought: I have never lived through a real revival of the Church. I have been to meetings where it has seemed as if heaven and earth touched for a moment, fleetingly. And usually this revolved around an anointed testimony, preaching or a song, combining in a way which seemed to express God's heart for that congregation at that time; and we glimpsed the heart of God. But I have never lived through an outpouring of God's Spirit on the Church at large.
Having said that, I know those who have, among them my mother, a convert during most recent revival in Lewis.
And in many conversations, sermons, testimonies on the subject, and some research on it by yours truly, I want to say this:
Revival is exemplified by one thing: Repentance.
Healing, miracles, supernatural occurances do happen, yes. But the core thing is the glory of God, and when we, as fallen (even saved) man see that, we experience what Isaiah did when he saw the Lord (Isaiah 6) - Woe is me - deep understanding of our sin, repentance before God, cleansing, and, as a side-effect of revival (because revival is actually what happens to the church, not the world), salvation of lost souls.
So conviction of sin (sorrow), followed by repentance (relief) and then unspeakable joy is what characterises a revival, and people who have been there and seen that rarely buy the t-shirt.
It's just not that sort of thing.
You've come into the presence of the King of the Universe, the creator of heaven and earth, the source of all being, and the judge who will one day wrap up this thing we call reality like a dirty hand-towel, and throw it away.
So think on this. If your revival is causing people to fall on their faces before God and beg for forgiveness, then that is what I would expect to happen when we come face to face with the indescribable purity and light that surrounds the Throne.
Until then, keep praying that He will send revival. We need it.
1 comment:
Agreed BIG TIME!
This is where my love for the emerging movement becomes confused. They do so much well, but they fail to call sin, sin and lead us to repentance - the heart of the Gospel.
There is something humbling about facing the God and creator of all things and knowing that he knows all you have done. And then in that humility finding grace and forgiveness.
Again this is the problem with the pluralistic society. Tehy seem to think that all religions are equal - and at some basic level they are quite similar. However some of the central tenets of Christian teadchiing is that we are broken people in need of a saviour - and there is only one: Jesus. It is ONLY when we understand that that we can begin to be truly used by God.
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