What Does Revival look like to you?

[Ovedya]

I know I'm going to get it for this one...

I believe that the term "revival" and the concept is completely man-made. I believe the term is typically associated with the "tent revival" meetings that were popular back at the beginning of the charismatic movement. "Revival" was generally understood to mean a "revival of the Spirit" in Christians through a kind of Pentecostal experience. I believe that it was thought that these tent revival meetings were needed to try and spark a kind of Pentecostal experience - revival - in the church as a whole. And I also believe that some Christians even today believe that a revival is needed in the church before the Lord can return.

But I have not seen anywhere in the Bible that God requires any kind of "revival" to occur in the church before He can return. I personally believe that some Christians think that the church needs some sort of spiritual "jump start" because we are not spiritual enough, or something. And where I would agree that the church is in need of the Lord desperately, and we need some overcomers in the church, I do not see that a kind of "hyper-spiritual" experience is necessary. What is most desperately needed in the church today is a real "revival" ,if you will, of the Lord Jesus in the hearts of Christians. The church does not need any new kind of experience or display of faith. We need to be solidly grounded on Christ alone, and not dependant upon any kind of experience.

But lest I am mistaken for being opposed to the exercising of the gifts in the Body, let me put your minds at ease; I am not forbidding the exercising of the gifts at all. But the exercising of the gifts is intended to be a normal function within the Body. Just as your heart beating is a normal function. You do not need a "jump start" every morning to get your heart going. And neither does your physical body require a special experience to function. The gifts in the Body should be exercised in a normal way, not in a "hyper-spiritual" way. It is my personal belief that the focus on the gifts is largely man's attempt at hyper-spirituality, and they are not used according to the normal functioning of the Body. The Body of Christ is not in need of a "spark of revival" in the last days. It is in serious need of being grounded upon Christ alone, a return to the proper and normal functioning of the Body, and to the apostles' teachings.

Much Grace,

~O

[Gerioke]

I thought revival refered to a spike in new converts like back in the early 70s and now in the 3rd world

[Guest Bro David™]

But I have not seen anywhere in the Bible that God requires any kind of "revival" to occur in the church before He can return. I personally believe that some Christians think that the church needs some sort of spiritual "jump start" because we are not spiritual enough, or something. And where I would agree that the church is in need of the Lord desperately, and we need some overcomers in the church, I do not see that a kind of "hyper-spiritual" experience is necessary. What is most desperately needed in the church today is a real "revival" ,if you will, of the Lord Jesus in the hearts of Christians. The church does not need any new kind of experience or display of faith. We need to be solidly grounded on Christ alone, and not dependant upon any kind of experience.

I perhaps would like to bring you into the Night when you sleep and when you awaken the next morning.

When you go to bed your body is at rest.

When you wake up your body is awakened.

Now when you were at rest you are still alive.

Does that mean you do not need an awakening in your body to continue living.

I agree that the Contemporary feeling of Revival is up-played into a Road show by some Charismatic Churches.

But the revival must happen and continue to happen to awaken dormant zest and unity in the Body of the Church.

The fire at Pentecost was not a one time promised affair.

I do see however the natural disaster if the revival is not invoked by the Holy Spirit and if it is to stem from men.

Everyone will claim a revival when all they do is instigate the arena to look like one.

In closing I would say that Revival's today are real happenings in that if they Glorify God has the end Result.

Not just to print on their magazines that "300,000 accepted the lord in our mass revival".

YBIC

[Ovedya]

When you go to bed your body is at rest.

When you wake up your body is awakened.

Now when you were at rest you are still alive.

Does that mean you do not need an awakening in your body to continue living.

Not. But waking up is a normal function. It is not a necessary special experience required for something to happen. That's exactly what I was getting at. The church is already "alive" by virtue of Christ; Christ is the "life" of the Body. He does not need a special "awakening."

But the revival must happen and continue to happen to awaken dormant zest and unity in the Body of the Church.

This "zest" that you speak of, what is that exactly? And by who's assessment is the Body of Christ dormant?

The fire at Pentecost was not a one time promised affair.

Who says?

[BroChuck]

I believe that the term "revival" and the concept is completely man-made.  I believe the term is typically associated with the "tent revival" meetings that were popular back at the beginning of the charismatic movement. 

Possibly man made term But i'm speaking of a Change of heart.. not a Charismatic movement .. but for hearts to brought to a brokeness to a point that we believers fall on our face before a Holy God in Repentence of our sins .... as Church in Whole ... Its hard to believe that This 21st Century Church is even anything close the 1st Century Church .. .. Churches have allowed sin into their Local Bodys without holding others accountable ... tickling ears instead bring sin convicting Words of The Lord. This nation has allowed babys to be aborted .. has allowed the elderly to be just ignored and even starveded to death.... The Hearts of The Church need to Be Broken at all cost .. crying out to The Almighty Himself in Repentence.

"Revival" was generally understood to mean a "revival of the Spirit"  in Christians through a kind of Pentecostal experience.  I believe that it was thought that these tent revival meetings were needed to try and spark a kind of Pentecostal experience -  revival - in the church as a whole. And I also believe that some Christians even today believe that a revival is needed in the church before the Lord can return.

The Lord Could could return today .. so i dont believe that!

The Body of Christ is not in need of a "spark of revival" in the last days.  It is in serious need of being grounded upon Christ alone, a return to the proper and normal functioning of the Body, and to the apostles' teachings.

I believe That what we need is a Gods Holy Power poured out on us .. in a way that we will be convicted because The Church today isnt being told from The Pulpit What Sin is .. in James 4:17 Gods Word says

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Covers alot of territory...... The Church Sure needs a Spark of Something .... And That I Believe is God The Father To Release even a Fraction of His Power upon His Church .. But Only if we Humble ourselves before Him.

Love in Christ . Yur Bro .. Chuck

[Guest Bro David™]

Not.

[traveller]

Personally, I think revival is an action that precedes reformation. Look at IIKings21-23. Josiah was repairing the temple when his men found the Book of Law. Israel had gone through some bad kings and bad practices. Idol worship was everywhere. Josiah had the book read aloud to him. The result was that he repented before God. Not only that but he went throughout the land getting rid of idols.

This helped to spread the faith throughout the land and to set a firm foundation for the hard years to come.

2 Kings 23

Josiah Restores True Worship

(2 Chr. 34:29-35:19)

23Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem--the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.

3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for *Asherah, and for all *the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the wooden* image from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. 7 Then he tore down the ritual booths of the *perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the *Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. 11 Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 The altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. 13 Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. 14 And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17 Then he said, "What gravestone is this that I see?"

So the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel."

18 And he said, "Let him alone; let no one move his bones." So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.

19 Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke *the Lord to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel. 20 He executed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned men's bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." 22 Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before the Lord in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

It seems to me that the modern church today needs a spiritual "house cleaning".

Most churches today are trying to conform to the ways of the world.Churches are letting down their guard in tolerance.Some churches tend to grow "cold" and often times we need to be thawed out!How does one get "thawed"unless a fire is present ?

[Ovedya]

Possibly man made term But i'm speaking of a Change of heart.. not a Charismatic movement .. but for hearts to brought to a brokeness to a point that we believers fall on our face before a Holy God in Repentence of our sins .... as Church in Whole ... Its hard to believe that This 21st Century Church is even anything close the 1st Century Church .. .. Churches have allowed sin into their Local Bodys without holding others accountable ... tickling ears instead bring sin convicting Words of The Lord. This nation has allowed babys to be aborted .. has allowed the elderly to be just ignored and even starveded to death.... The Hearts of The Church need to Be Broken at all cost .. crying out to The Almighty Himself in Repentence.

I believe That what we need is a Gods Holy Power poured out on us .. in a way that we will be convicted because The Church today isnt being told from The Pulpit What Sin is .. in James 4:17 Gods Word says

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Covers alot of territory...... The Church Sure needs a Spark of Something .... And That I Believe is God The Father To Release even a Fraction of His Power upon His Church .. But Only if we Humble ourselves before Him.

I agree with the sentiment completely.

But I don't think that a kind "revival" is needed for this, but a vision is needed: A vision of the what the church is, a vision of what the Body of Christ is, and most importantly a view of God's economy. I'm going to touch on the subject of vision in response to Bro. David.

But I also think that it's important to be able to separate religion from the faith. As believers repentance is always needed among us. It is needed on an individual basis and it is needed in the church as a whole. But if, as a believer, you are expecting "the church" - Christianity (Especially Western Christianity) to repent of its sins, then I think you are misplacing your hope. Religion will never repent for its sins.

I know what that may sound like, but if you examine history you will see that this is absolutely the case with religion. Religion will never repent for its sins. Christianity will never repent for the degradation that it has suffered for the past 2,000 years. This is why we cannot put our trust in religion at all. We cannot place our absolute trust in the system of doctrines, creeds, practices, rituals, etc., all of which are man-made, because they will continually fail us.

So when you say that the church is in need of repentance from it's sinful ways, I will tell you that I agree absolutely. However, the likelihood that that will occur is slim to none, in my opinion.

God allowed the faith of Israel to fail for a reason. And He has allowed apostacy to enter into the church, and remain in the church for a reason. That reason is to produce the overcomers. The overcomers in the book of Revelation (chs 2 & 3 respectively) has one unique and common factor among them: They have all overcome the degradation in the church. So the real "revival" that I believe we should be seeking in the church is not a "revival" per-se, but more of a recovery of a few very essential elements. Those elements are the return to God's economy, the ground of the church (Which is Christ), and the one accord, which is based upon the vision of Christ as the essential element of the church and the Body of Christ.

This is a rhetorical question: Do you realize that a greater percentage of Christians today do not read the Bible on a regular basis? Do you realize that many believers are not clear on whether there is a heaven or a hell? Every year polls among Christians are revealing that many do not even have a basic understanding of many of the core doctrines of their faith. That's frightening. But rather than trusting in religion to take care of things, I believe that we need to recover each other - build each other up in the faith. We need to help produce the overcomers in this age, before Christ returns to bring in the next age.

[Ovedya]

I think perhaps let me explain.

If you look across the board in our Church History.

Could you name me one event in our Church History right up to the Early Church and into the Ministry of Paul and the Churches of that era that occured without an up-rising of sorts.

Please do not refute me point blank I took 2 hours of pure research to garner that.

Perhaps try to go through the History.

Event Christ when He gathered the flock was a form of Revival.

Could we then say God was not present before the coming of Christ ?

I'm not sure why you made that last statement, bro...

Iin any case I think that you are confusing terms here. What you are describing in terms of church history are not revivals that spawned certain movements, but the recoveries of certain truths according to God's vision. These periods in the church's history, however, are not related to revivals. They are related to God's revelation.

God's revelation (That is, His imparted vision.) in the church has two characteristics: One, it is nearly always progressive in nature and, two, it always issues in a new age in the church.

For example, God gave Noah a vision of the ark. Noah obeyed the vision and the age was turned (God's judgment was carried out and a remnant of mankind was saved). But Noah's vision was not as high as Abraham's vision; and Moses' vision was higher still than Abraham's. Finally, David's vision was higher still than Moses'. But the visions giveen to these men also had a couple of other things in common:

First, they were the God's primary vision to His people. They were the guiding and preserving visions of God's people. This is very important in terms of how God's people are preserved from apostacy. Proverbs 29 tells us that where there is no vision the people cast off restraint. This is related to God's direct divine communication with His people.

Secondly, each of those visions were carried out in a small way. They were carried out by small groups of people, or even by single persons alone. Generally speaking God works in small ways with small groups of people. He does not work according to the masses. It is nearly always small groups of people, or individuals, that God uses to turn the ages. But this is all related to the impartation of His vision, according to His will, and with a goal in in mind.