Can we expect any special working
of God - a mighty revival in these days?
There are many pessimistic and
fatalistic Christians in the world who would say, “No! Endtimes are
here!” But I don’t think there is a Christian in Heaven who would give
that answer.
The Word of God is loaded with
promises which Adonai Yahweh is waiting to make real through His people.
We all believe that He is
able to do
super-abundantly, but the doubt seems to be, “Will God bless us now?”
or, “Is it His will?”
We have already mentioned, last
issue, that Revival is the means of bringing the Church back to New
Testament principles. We must confess that it is God’s direct will that
believers live by the New Testament standards of faith, holiness and
witness. Then I ask, “Has God changed His mind?” No! Absolutely
no!
God has often used revival
throughout the centuries. Has God’s work now finished? No! Certainly
not!
In these tremendous days, revival
should be our great longing and expectancy. The Word of God is our hope,
for the Sovereign Master has given many promises of Revival. But the
promise comes alive to those who are longing for, and seeking the LORD,
and His greatest honour and exaltation.
Look at this definite promise of
nationwide awakening:
“If I shut up the heavens and there is no
rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send
pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My
Name humble themselves and pray, and seek My Face
and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven,
will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
(2 Chronicles
7:13-14)
If we are willing to be challenged
to pray for great things, Jeremiah 33:3 will do it:
“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and
show you great and mighty things which you do not know.”
Isaiah 44:3 is the promise for us
if we are truly thirsting for blessing (not just singing about it!):
“For I will pour water on him who is
thirsty, and floods on the dry ground: I will pour out My Spirit upon
your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.”
In 1949, Yahweh made this promise
real to the small expectant group of believers in the Hebrides Islands
(Scotland). The Islands were flooded by God.
We must recall also Hosea 10:12:
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, and reap
the fruit of mercy. Break up your fallow, unplowed ground, for it
is time to seek YHWH until He comes and rains righteousness on you.”
If we have ever needed revival, we
need it now - in the 21st century. And the New Testament declares:
“Now is the accepted time. Look! Now is the
day of Salvation.”
(2 Corinthians 6:2)
Malachi 3:10 is a promise very
precious to the writer. This is a great revival promise. Our Father
gives us a vision of how great a blessing we can expect. The promise is
not to the half-hearted, the complacent, or the self-centred. It is for
the thirsty, hungry and desperate - for believers who really long for a
blessing so great that we will not be able to fully receive it. Notice
the challenge made by the Almighty:
“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse
so that there may be food in My House, and prove Me now in this,’
says YHWH of Hosts, ‘whether I will not open for you the windows of
heaven and pour on you such blessing so that there will not be
space to contain it’.”
Now,
not in the future -
now!
If you will obey, you will prove Me, says the LORD.
There was a woman living in New
Jersey, in an area where there had once been a revival. Upon her spirit
came the impression that there would be yet another, and so she asked
the minister and elders to convene a “conference.”
They were not so minded, and so
with fixed intention, the woman arranged for seats to be specially made,
so she could hold meetings in her own house. Scarcely had she opened her
doors for meetings when the Spirit of God came down with great power,
and the sleepy church members found themselves confronted with convicted
sinners. And they could but say, “The LORD is in this place and I knew
it not.”
This sister proved the Lord. So
could we, if ... !
The promises of blessing are not
confined to the Old Testament. The Messiah called aloud so all could
hear:
“‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me
and drink. Whoever believes and trusts in Me, as the Scripture
has said, rivers of living water will flow from his innermost being.’ By
this He meant the Holy Spirit.”
(John 7:37-39)
This is no little blessing - this
is torrents of blessing from Holy Spirit.
Let us remember God’s direct will:
“The LORD is not willing that any should
perish,” but ‘’desires all men to be saved.”
(2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4)
The Master’s words encourage us to
believe and to ask for that which will
glorify His Name:
“And whatever you ask in My Name, that will
I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask
anything in My Name, I will do it.”
(John 14:13-14)
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you,
and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that
your fruit should remain; that whatever you ask of the Father in My
Name, He may give to you.” (John
15:16)
If these words mean anything, they
mean something very important. The Messiah does not say yes, when He
means no.
The Rain of Blessing
Here are a few of the general
promises of revival. If we will ponder them, our hearts must be filled
with expectancy and hope.
“O God, You are my God; I earnestly seek
You; my soul has thirsted for You, my flesh has longed for You, in a dry
and weary land where there is no water. I have gazed upon You in the
sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.” (Psalm
63:1-2)
The Bible gives us this specific
promise of blessing concerning the last days.
“Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the
coming of the Master. See how the farmer waits expectantly for the
precious ‘fruit of the earth,’ waiting patiently until the land
receives the early and late rains. You too be patient. Establish
your hearts, for the coming of the Master is near.” (James
5:7, 8)
In this exhortation, James
encourages believers to be patient in view of two things: the
expectation of the “late rain” that will produce the ingathering of
precious fruit; and the Master’s imminent Return.
The Father is waiting, and He will
remain patient until He reaps the endtime harvest of precious souls.
After that, His wrath will fall.
2 Peter 3 also reminds us of this
truth. Why has the Master not yet returned? Why has God not already
judged the earth? Because He is longsuffering, not willing that any
should perish. God is waiting for the precious fruit of the earth.
Now what does “early and late
rain” mean?
(Be aware that there is an
erroneous teaching out there which uses “latter rain” to apply to a
“spiritual phenomenon” by which advanced Christians become “manifest
sons of God.” It’s a dangerous teaching.)
This term, “early and late rain,”
however, is used a number of times in Scripture. The people of Old
Testament times knew its meaning very well. It applied to the seasonal
rains in the Middle East. The season commenced with great downpours of
rain, and finished with very heavy rains. In between the two great
rains, there were many smaller, intermittent rains. The first rains are
called “early or former rain,” the final as the “late or latter rains.”
In my first year in India I
experienced such seasonal rains. By the 15th June, the ground and air
was so hot that the heavens burst, and down came drenching rain. After a
few days it reduced to smaller but almost daily showers. At the end of
three months the final rains came. I will not forget that late rain (I
was waiting in a bus shed). It seemed as if the sky would break.
In Scripture the “early and late
rain” is used to illustrate spiritual blessing.
Isaiah 44:3 links water with the
Holy Spirit blessing:
“For I will pour water on him who is
thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit
on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring,”
as also does the Saviour’s words
in John 7:37-39 …
“‘Whoever believes and trusts in Me
… rivers of living water will flow from his innermost being.’ By this He
meant the Holy Spirit.”
Hosea 6:2, 3 speaks about revival
and relates it to the late rain:
“He will revive us after two days …
His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like
the heavy rain, like the late rain, watering the earth.”
Jeremiah says:
“They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us
now stand in awe of YHWH our God, who gives rain in its season, both the
former and the late rain, and who keeps for us the appointed
weeks of the harvest’.”
(Jeremiah 5:24)
Joel gives a precious promise,
firstly to Israel.
“He has given you the early rain
abundantly, and will cause the rain to come down for you, the early and
late rain as before. The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the
vats will overflow with the new wine and oil ... And after this I will
pour out My Spirit on all people.”
(Joel 2:23-24, 32)
This will surely be fulfilled to
Israel. But it has an application to the church age, as Peter, by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, declared at Pentecost.
(Acts 2:16-17)
This church age began with a great
and mighty rain of Holy Spirit blessing at Pentecost ... this continued
for many years. The following centuries right up until these last days
have had the intermittent showers of blessing.
Now in these last days, an endtime
downpour will surely come. As we look at the times - the return of the
Jews to Israel, the Middle East situation, the alignment of the nations,
the European Union, terrorism, lawlessness, calamities and trouble
everywhere, we cannot but believe that we are in the last days.
From Scripture we also learn that
the last days will be characterized by
apostasy;
and this we also see today. Perhaps less than 1/10th of Christendom,
today, is actually Christian. Worldwide movements aiming at uniting all
religions are tools being used to prepare the way for the reign of the
Beast.
The endtime rain will not come
upon apostate Christendom, but upon the faithful remnant, although, no
doubt, many may be saved from the apostasy as the power of God moves in
the church and the nations.
We cannot say how long the
downpour will last. It could be several years, it could be one
weekend. But certainly the final ingathering will take place. The
Master is patiently waiting for it.
The Holy Spirit is working in
mighty ways in nations of the world such as China and Nepal today. Could
this be part of the latter rain? How we should be awake, and on our
knees, obedient to His every word!
“Ask YHWH for rain at the time of the late
rain – YHWH who makes the storm clouds;
and He will give them showers of rain,
vegetation in the field to each man.”
(Zechariah 10:1)
For any readers who may be
sceptical of the possibility of revival today, I close this chapter with
two reports of revival, in different settings - Canada and the Solomon
Islands - that have taken place in the last half century.
Canada - 1972
In Portland, Oregon, the Book of
Acts came alive in 1972:
“More than 2,000 Christians have
discovered the power of the Holy Spirit. Many with suicidal tendencies,
mental depressions, and strange behaviour patterns - have been
completely delivered! Hundreds of marriages have been healed; in some
cases parties were separated and had filed for divorce. Scores of
pastors confessed the sin of pride, self-effort and frustration in their
ministries but now are experiencing joy and boldness in preaching the
Gospel.
“Within my own life, God had to
touch my son physically, and bring other things to bear upon my soul
until 1 was completely crushed and wanted more than anything else to be
a broken vessel, available for His use in whatever way He saw fit, and
that for His glory.
“Restitutions are being made and
the secular press is aware that something unusual is happening. The New
York Times, and a New Jersey radio station, called up long distance
enquiring as to what is taking place in Portland, Oregon.
“Some have asked for the formula,
and some have come to the meetings merely to see something spectacular,
and so missed the blessing. But others, on their faces before God, with
broken and contrite hearts, and with all humility, prayed:
“O, God, turn the searchlight of
Your Holy Spirit upon me and reveal anything in my life that is
displeasing to You. I confess it as sin. I give You every area of my
life - my home, my family, my possessions, my future, my will. Now fill
me with the Holy Spirit, and I thank You for doing so.”
“The outgrowth of the revival is
evangelism, but judgment must begin at the house of God. At one of the
meetings, a young woman concerned about her rebellious children, first
gave herself to the Lord, then committed her children to the Lord. When
she got home at 3:00 a.m., she found that her children had accepted
Christ at the very moment that she had turned them over to the Lord.”
Solomon Islands - 1970
George Strachan reported: “Sunday,
we went ashore at Kobiloko. Many were crying and leaders were disturbed
that they could not stop it. There appeared to be no real cause - yet
their distress was real. The church was full of concerned faces, but a
spirit of relief came when we explained that this was godly sorrow which
we had been praying for, for years. Those crying were taken to a
separate building and the meeting commenced. When we explained to those
who were crying that they should accept God’s provision by
faith, there was a change, and weeping turned to great joy.
“Of those present and in distress,
some had seen visions of Jesus on the Cross, others angels, and still
others saw a bright light, and were overcome by their own sinfulness.
One or two had seen the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, while one
girl saw Hell and just sobbed for her relatives. Then release came and
they returned to the meeting.
“All was in order, till the call
was given after the message. Then there was a surge forward, and many
broke into strong crying, both men and women. They were left perhaps ten
minutes, then there started outbursts of joy and praise. It spread over
the whole meeting and continued for another fifteen minutes. What joy!
What praise! What glory! What hallelujahs! Some stood on their seats and
just shouted praise to God. It was tremendous, such as I had never seen
or heard in all my life. Glory to God, revival had really come to the
Solomons!”
Next chapter: REVIVAL CONDITIONS
