Revival.
It’s a very caustic word to some.
It’s a source or irritation to others.
But to those of us who are hungry and desperate to find a closer walk with God, it’s the central focus of our eating, our drinking, our praying, our preaching and teaching…it’s all we think about 24/7! At least, it’s all I think about 24 hours a day, seven days a week!
But before real revival comes, and sometimes simultaneously, satan will send a counterfeit “revival” to try to discredit the true.
We have all heard the stories of wild antics being done in the name of a move of God; barking like dogs, roaring like a lion, people contorting their bodies in almost a demonic fashion. Then battle lines are drawn and people get confused over what constitutes a true move of the Spirit and what is not. Then the tendency is to simply discredit everything and throught the baby out with the bathwater.
I found these notes Jonathan Edwards wrote many years ago that need to be a guide for us as we continue to seek after and then experience a true revival experience.
How Can I Know If I Am Having A Real Revival Experience?
1. A real revival experience will raise the esteem of Jesus. People talk about “building the Kingdom” and say “it’s all about Jesus”; when in reality it’s all about their kingdom or their denomination. I am very disturbed by what I see happening in the American church as many mega churches are planting satellite campuses in different cities, beaming in the face a one man. Soon if this trend continues, there will only be 50 “true” pastors left in the US in the fifty major cities of the country! Every other pastor will be “useless to the “kingdom”! What happened to building people up into the image of Jesus and then releasing them to obey and glorify Jesus with their lives?
Please understand, I am NOT against big churches; if those churches are getting big winning the lost and not simply grabbing other churches parishioners!
When the Holy Ghost really begins to move they way we want Him to move and we need Him to move, He will not glorify a man or a building or a denomination: the Holy Ghost ALWAYS brings the focus and the attention and the recognition to rest on Jesus!
2. Real revival will impel people away from sin and lust. Real revival brings real change! Real revival brings all glory and honor to Jesus and will cause people to be sickened over the sad state of our culture, our nation and our world! When you can go to church, speak in tongues, fall out in the Spirit and then go home and cuss your wife out for burning the supper, watch naked people doing the wild thing on TV, hear people use God’s name in vain and not be grieved…you’ve not experienced real revival!
3. Real Revival will lead people back to the teachings of the Bible. That’s a real novel thought; the Bible! Not the next great book from Zondervan or Multnomah!
I remember reading about Lester Sumerall going to see Smith Wigglesworth on time. As Sumerall knocked on the door, Smith opened it up and said, “…you can leave your newspaper outside and come in!”
4. People are lead to truth instead of error. I realize, I am only seeing one part, therefore I can only prophecy one part! Yet a real revival will not only lead me back to truth, it will give me a hunger for the truth, to know it and be set free!
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed;
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
5. Real revival will promote love among people. Prejudice will cease. Fighting will stop. Politicians will work for the people and not their own agendas! Preachers will love people and not jockey for a greater position within their denomination. Preachers will stop being charlatans, and will preach the Good News for the Love of God and not the love of money!
Father I pray for such a mighty move of your Spirit to come to America all will know that Jesus is in the house!!!!
Technorati Tags: real revival, a genuine revival experience, Holy Spirit outpouring, revival
Amen, David.
Renew thy works in our day, oh Lord!
Great post Brother! I see so many posts about what “real” revival is and most of the time they talk about something they read in a textbook and they would not know a real revival if it lit their house on fire.
I don’t mind looking foolish when the Spirit comes. But I don’t want to look foolish for the sake of looking foolish. But unfortunately that passes for revival these days. Have you ever been in those meetings? They lack one more thing that I think you overlooked in your list (though I am sure you agree with)
6. Real revival stirs in you a hunger for the lost and a burning desire to see them saved. These fake moves are not streams of living water, they are swamps with no output. These movements are stagnant water completely inward focused.
Send your Fire Lord!
David,
This post makes me think you may want to chime in over at Charismatica. There’s an interesting discussion going on there, that you could probably add some insight to.
Anyhow, I enjoyed this post. I don’t know what to make of the conglomeration trend either– it’s like a Christian version of Wal-mart or Walgreen’s. If the trend continues we won’t have denominations any longer (hooray!), instead will have 50 supermega-churches with branch offices.
50 super mega churches with branch offices….but still only a very few people allowed to do ministry….
And that certainly isn’t God’s design! “To each is given…”
BROTHER-WATER IT DOWN- TICKLE SOME EARS- COOL DOWN-REALLY JUST DRY UP AND DIE AND ALL KINDS OF DOORS WILL OPEN IN MEGA CHURCHES. TELL JOKES AND NOT PREACH! LOVE YA MAN KEEP DOING WHAT YOUR DOING! BRO JOEY
And I don’t know how to flesh all this out…but we certainly need a discussion on how to release the giftings in people without the kookyness that has caused pastors to through the baby out with the bathwater
Really, we need more than a discussion; we need direction from the Lord on it
Thanks David great post, I will be linking it on my site to continue the ongoing discussion.
[...] Here’s a link to a great article posted on Revival Journal by David Copeland that I believe continues the discussion of my last article in a huge way. David not only has direct experience with Revival but has a lot of God given Spirit driven maturity and wisdom, Thanks David. *Top [...]
I particularly liked number 4. Revival not only fills us with more of God it creates a hunger in us for more of Him. It is that hunger that will drive us to our knees for more. That thirst that will cause us to endure hardships and transverse the deserts for more of Him. And to do all that with joy. Happy to find your blog. I’ll be back.
Sista Cala,
thanks for stopping by!! Without a doubt all we want is a genuine encounter with the Living God!
Hi.
I found your Web Site by Google,
and I wish you the best you can get,
the peace of God through Jesus Christ.
Welcome to visit my Site.
Allan Svensson, Sweden
Why does the revival tarry? It is because God’s
people tarry to obey the powerful command of
the Lord in Rev. 18:4. This is the most powerful
revival message of the Lord to his people in our time.
As in the days of Lot, it is now. Lot was not interested
to leave Sodom. God sent two angels to rescue him,
and they must persuade him to leave Sodom. When
he yet lingered, one of the angels said to him:
“Flee for your life sake …”
Just like as Lot, God’s people are not interested to
leave the great Babylon, but finally they must flee
for their life from there.
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/PAGE88.HTM
Why are the Christians divided in many churches and
denominations? It is because the truth of the Assembly
of God has never been preached in the churches. The
members of churches and denominations are not
permitted to know the truth of the Assembly of God.
If the truth of Assembly of God would be well known
among the people, then all God’s people would leave
the churches, according to Rev. 18:4.
I left the great Babylon 43 years ago.
God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge
because their preachers have rejected knowledge.
Hosea 4:6-11. Instead to preaching the truth of the
Assembly of God, they have preached lies about the
Assembly of God. The Pentecostalists have abused
the expression “Assembly of God” and used it as a
name of their church.
Evil spirits in the churches
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/SPIRITS.HTM
A catastrophic course
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/COURSE.HTM
Why did the Pentecostal Revival take an end?
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/CRISIS.HTM
What does hinder the Antichrist to appear?
What is the Restrainer?
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/MESSAGE.HTM#Antichrist