The gospel and Revival

To bring back to life, to revive, resurrect, to re-impower, are all terms synonymous with 'Revival'. It implies bringing to life again that which died and within Christian circles is often discussed and desired. And I can see why because the examples of 'revival' that we have are awe inspiring but it does leave us with the impression that God comes and goes at his will. This gives rise to a doctrine that teaches we must plead with God to pour out his blessings upon us and several old testament verses are quoted such as 'if my people will humble themselves and pray, i will turn and heal their land'. At the heart of this is the concept that God blesses people when they perform well as someone once said to me ' Wales could have revival again (as in the 1904 one) if God's people will return to holiness and purity' or something like that! I was so shocked at coming face to face with this philosophy that i didn't reply, I mean, where do you start? What adds fuel to the fire is the accounts we have of how revival came to various places with all night prayer meetings, fasting, etc. So what is happening here?

I believe that God's word is our rock and when we move away from it we get carried about by every wind of doctrine, so we must reconcile demonstrations of God's power with his word and specifically with what Jesus accomplished at the cross, if not we are in strange waters! so whilst accounts of revival are exciting we must be careful of how they are interpreted by the writer and bring everything under scrutiny of new covenant truths.

The foundation of the new covenant is that God has made us completely acceptable in his sight, forever pleasing to him because of Jesus work at the cross and now all the promises of God are yes and amen in him. We now stand on grace ground, we are in such a position with God were blessings come as a result of us being one with Christ, we are inseparable from him therefore God treats us as Jesus at his very right hand of power and authority. It is absurd to think that we can earn anything more than what is already freely given unto us in this new covenant.

Colossians 2:10
And you are COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of all principality and power

How can you improve on completeness?!

Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified

The scriptures paint a picture of perfect union with God for anyone who is trusting in Jesus Christ. Our acts of holiness and purity have nothing to do with God releasing his blessings because they are already released Eph1:3 the key rather is within the writings to the church, mainly the Pauline epistles which instruct us with the knowledge of this union. We have an identity in God that is only enjoyed and experienced when we know of it hence Paul’s prayers in Ephesian’s 1 and 3, ‘I pray that you may know....’ acts of holiness and purity flow from the knowledge of this union and are not conditions to getting union!

So experiencing God is when we know, recognise, acknowledge what we already have because of our union with him.

Philemon1:6

That the communication of your faith may become effective by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

At the heart of revival theology is a misunderstanding of a believers identity in Christ, its promoting a struggle with God to receive something from him which he has already given. The truth is that our minds need to catch up with our new born again Spirit!

The power that is manifested during revival has been there for us all along just as the power demonstrated by Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake, F.F. Bosworth etc is availbale to every believer, God is not holding back anything from us but the difference is that these men believed what I have written about our union with Christ, that God has done everything he will ever do for man when he sent Jesus to the cross. This confidence propelled these men into the most amazing signs and wonders. God hasn’t visited us sporadically over the centuries when our performance peaked but rather we see that latent power when his people believe what is true of them because of Jesus.

I don’t know of all the details of each revival but the word of God helps us to dissect information so that we see the truth. All night prayer meetings will not accomplish the manifestation of God’s power but it has the potential to sensitize you to what God has already given. Fasting will not make God move on your behalf but it has the potential to shift your focus from carnal realities to spiritual realities where you can see clearly the finished work of Christ. You being holy?.... well, can you really do that? How holy is holy enough? who are we fooling? Our holiness could not earn us a thing from God, if it could then Jesus would not have come and made us holy which simply means separated unto God. Revival is not a word contained in the bible but we could use it to describe some words that are:

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.

We have been revived when we received the gift of righteousness and the indwelling spirit of God and all that’s left is for us to know it and our world will never be the same again!

What do you think? Maybe you have read books on revival and have a few spanners to throw?