Pillars of Revival

Revival can only rest on what God says as opposed to what we think or do. It is only when we do what God says that we can have true revival.

Only God determines what revival is. And only He should guide how we should go about revival.

I want us to look at the Old Testament to let us appreciate that any revival not driven by the word of God is very short lived and/or disproportional.

The second thing we will notice is that revival sought for its own end does not also go far.

Josiah discovered a hidden (neglected? lost?) ‘Bible’, as we may say.

What happened?

He realized that judgment was sure as judging from what he was reading they had passed the ‘sell by’ date by which judgment from heaven was due.

He repented. But he went farther. He sought to know God’s will concerning the same. He was told that yes, judgment was due. But because of his repentance he would be spared the same. In other words judgment had been deferred to a date after his decease.

What he does after the answer is what I want us to look at.

He continues seeking God using the ‘Bible’. No wonder he could institute a Passover unlike any they had observed since they settled in Israel as well as cleanse Israel of Jeroboam’s idolatry.

You see, he didn’t have to do anything since he was already assured of safety from harm and judgment. In any case the judgment couldn’t be changed by anything he did. Yet he did.

Compare that with many others who had more ‘powerful’ encounters and revelations.

Ahab has an encounter with a devastating drought and God answering by fire. He at one time faces the wrath of God.

Then he repents to the point of wearing sackcloth. Then God says that because of the repentance He will defer the judgment to a later time.

What then does he do?

He continues with life as if nothing had happened.

Look at Hezekiah. He prays in bitterness and entitlement and God adds him fifteen years. Then a team of friends from afar visit him and he does something God was opposed to.

Among the things God said in judgment was that his children would be made Eunuchs in another land.

What do we see in this spiritual giant whose past had so much spiritual potency?

He says that it is fine since he was exempted. And he continued with his downward trend until his son became the wickedest king Judah produced.

Solomon and Saul started very well. Success made them depart from the ways of God.

Samuel was a very effective prophet. But I suspect that the absence of the Bible was the reason his children could not follow his integrity lessons.

You see, Samuel followed instructions from God. But he was not home long enough to pass everything he got to his children.

Compare that with David as he is the closest to Josiah we see.

He was able to keep his focus on God as he was sold out to God’s word. And no wonder he becomes the reference for faithfulness and commitment to God.

Otherwise explain to me how he could feel guilty for just cutting a piece of cloth from Saul’s cloak when the same Saul was there looking to kill him, among other things?

Moses was focused as he was always in the presence of God hearing everything He was saying. Aaron, on the other hand, was with the crowd. It was therefore very easy for him to be swayed by it. As long as Moses was around, he was very committed as he was following what his younger brother had heard.

Only consistency with God’s word can keep us consistent in our walk of faith.

Josiah caught the word and the word transformed him and everything he did just as it had transformed David.

Lack of the same is what made many wither in their walk of faith.

You see, even in water we can only sail when we make it our ‘foundation’. We will drown when it is unable for whatever reason to support us.

It is the same with spiritual things. The only sure foundation is God’s word.

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. (Psalm 119: 89, 90)

Remember Jesus saying that heaven and earth will pass away but the word will not?

What does this have to do with revival? You may be asking.

Just as a house is as stable as its foundation, a revival is as lasting and powerful as its foundations.

A revival whose foundations are prayer and repentance, though the two are integral ingredients of the same, will fall short of some key elements of spiritual impact. It will be worse if emotionalism and experience are involved.

For one, there will be spite for scriptural instruction and knowledge.

As such, the Bible will only be used to justify the experience as opposed to what it actually says. Even their theological instruction will sadly lean in that direction, fighting simple Biblical truths with their agreed experiential explanations.

Due to that, the marketplace will be inundated with believers who use ‘force’ to explain what they believe. By that I mean they will use their experience to force you to agree with them. And of course they will try their best to force that experience on you.

A case in hand is the Pentecostal (also called Charismatic) revival of 1906.

They elevated experience above the scriptures. And I am speaking as a child of that movement.

To them, nothing else matters if you can, or can’t, speak in tongues. Their whole theology revolves around that single experience whether it is real or conjured.

These are some of the things I have said elsewhere on the blog and so I won’t repeat them again.

If I may repeat just one incident, I got saved when I was nine in the movement. I had a lot of questions (I still have them as anyone who reads my blog can attest) concerning my new faith.

Unfortunately, the leaders, especially those who had Bibles (I got mine much later), would always respond to my question with the answer that the reason I had so many questions was because I did not have faith. This more or less insinuated that I was at fault for having so many questions. Until I rebelled. But then God brought me back and connected me to the Bible where I found answers to my innermost inquiries.

That is the reason my passion for the Bible as the one and only authority in faith and practice never wanes. I still rue over the almost ten years I wasted being judged instead of being guided to the Bible for answers.

Incidentally, to this date nothing has changed as I interact with them from many different places, even countries as I have ministered.

No wonder the prosperity ungospel found a very fertile home as they also thrive in using just a verse, or a couple of them, to prove whatever they need to justify.

That is the reason I suspect they are the ones worst hit by this virus as their theology has no place for it since they have no explanation as their tongues have been unable to ‘send it back to sender’ as their erroneous theology indicates.

Yet the scriptures have adequate explanation for this as it has for everything under the sun. And I do not need to have a ready answer for everything nor should I expect the Bible to agree with my experience.

Back to Josiah. The word made Josiah want to not only change but also make a difference in his generation.

And that is what the Bible does. You can never consistently take in the word of God and fail to want to influence whatever and whoever is around you. I can hide my experience and constrain it to only those with similar ones but I can never do the same with God’s word.

You see, the word is alive. This means it cannot be constrained. That is why prison warders are some of the best trained soldiers everywhere as they are dealing with constrained human beings. And even then there are always prison breaks.

That is why the lockdowns and curfews and distancing are so difficult. That is why working from home by force is so limiting as could be called imprisoning. Yet if it were by choice it was viewed as liberating.

The other day they were saying that mental health is becoming such an issue with these lockdowns. In the same report they were saying that divorce rates are shooting through the roof, and not because of infidelity as was the case previously. It is because of that sense of imprisonment. I suspect that a couple being constrained, like most people do, will blame their situation on the ones closest to them.

This is what being without a solid foundation will do to anybody. And in the spiritual it will affect our theology and especially our understanding of God.

A foundation of God’s word also offers security. You can’t be consuming God’s word and fail to trust God as the word always and ultimately focuses on God. As such, the externals will be unable to ruffle one’s faith. An example is useful here.

Jeroboam was given the kingdom God had promised him. He became scared that the absence of the temple in Israel could swing the people back to David’s seed. Then he thinks of better security and introduces idols to kill that insecurity.

Compare that with David when he was overthrown. Then the priests want to take the ark to accompany the king. Look at his response.

He orders them to return the ark to Jerusalem. And why?

God is still in charge. If He decides that He is done with me then the ark is of no use. And if He still has use for me, He will get me back to Jerusalem and the ark. And we see the same when someone grievously curses him. Again the army wants to deal conclusively with him. But David forbids them by demonstrating his surrender to God that he knew was in complete charge of everything and was capable to use those curses for David’s good.

God does not need us to fight for Him. We can only fight His battles when we are completely surrendered to His agenda. And the only way we can know that agenda is reading the word He released for our instruction.

As we prepare for the coming revival, isn’t it imperative that we elevate the place for the word of God in our lives and the lives of the ones who are seeking to be joined to Christ?

Otherwise we could be found unprepared for the hordes God is bringing to His family to help them become spiritually healthy brethren.