WHY WE NEED REVIVAL

(Selected Scriptures)

By Lasaro Flores

More and more am I convinced that we need, as the professing Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be revived, renewed, restored and reformed, which I believe are the four elements that consist of true Revival. But by that, I don’t mean a general or worldwide Revival, which is really my desire, but since the Scriptures don’t seem indicate that there will be one as in times past; nevertheless, if God doesn’t intervene on behalf of His people, I’m afraid that there will be multitudes in the churches that at the last, in spite of their “profession of faith”; or as it is so commonly practiced today in ‘making a decision for Christ’, will find themselves to be as those mentioned in Matthew 7:21-23. The Lord Jesus Himself says that not every one that calls Him “Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of (his) Father which is in heaven” (v.21). Yet there will many professing “Christians” that will try to justified themselves by what they did in the Name of Jesus: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (v.22). But note what the Lord tells them: “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (v.23). This tells me, beloved, that there are many that profess the Name and the Life of Christ and yet are dead, i.e. ‘spiritually’ (Revelation 3:1). Unless God of His grace does something for so many backsliding and dead “Christians”, they will enter into a Christless eternity!

As I look around me and see so many professing Christians that don’t seem to be concerned for their spiritual welfare and are content with the way they are living in this wicked world, it makes me tremble to think that unless God commands the clouds to rain showers of blessings upon them, as in times past to His backsliding people, they will find themselves without the hope of glory in them, which is Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:27). Although it is very true that God’s people “shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation” (Isaiah 45:17), yet it has to be confirmed “with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22), which has to be witnessed by the Holy Spirit to, or with, our spirit, according to Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God”.

Why do we need revival? Well, for the simple reason that just as a plant that has not been watered and nourished starts to wither, and if something is not done to correct this dangerous condition to the plant, it will eventually die, it can be said that if a backslidden professing Christian is not revived, it could prove to be fatal to them. Now, don’t misunderstand me: I am not saying that a true Christian can lose their salvation; but what I am saying is that here is one that professes to be a Christian, yet has backslidden; and if they continue in that condition without experiencing revival, there is definitely the danger that they have not the Life of Christ in them and so are spiritually dead. But here is the problem with respect to backsliding: For one to be in a backslidden condition, is to be devoid of the assurance of salvation; for it would be impossible for one to be living in sin and in rebellion to God, to claim to belong to God; “for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live… But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:13, 9). Therefore, Revival is the means by which God will bring one of His back to the Life of the Spirit; for Revival is for one who already has the Spirit of God in them but due to backsliding, He has been quenched in their lives. In other words, Revival proves that a backslidden Christian is a true Christian; whereas if they are not revived, there was no life to be revived.

Why do we need revival? Think of this: What can a withering and dying plant do to water itself? Absolutely nothing! Either one has to water the plant; or it has to rain! A backslider CANNOT do anything for self-revival! Even in the case that a backslider recognizes the spiritual state they’re in, in spite of all they might do to experience revival, they CANNOT revive themselves! The principle indicated by the Lord Jesus Himself when He said: “For without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5), is as applicable to revival as to anything in the Christian’s life. Whereas the Lord commanded the clouds not to rain in Isaiah 5:6, He has to “cause the shower to come down in his season” so that “there shall be showers of blessing” (Ezekiel 34:26) of revival for His people. We have to also remember that a backslider, that even as a true believer of the Lord Jesus, by backsliding have put themselves under the power of sin and Satan. Unless God of His grace comes to deliver us from them, we are totally unable to do anything of ourselves; and since this is true in every aspect of our walk with our Savior, how much more is this true in our backslidings! Grace, beloved, is the focal point in our revival, for it is the “unmerited favor” of God NOT to leave us in our rebellious state, which we so justly deserved to be left in!

Why do we need revival? When these two things occur in the life of a church; i.e. in particular, the lives of professing Christians, one definite thing will take place: It will separate the true from the false! After some time have passed, it never fails that before long Christians will revert to a “common walk” of Christianity; in other words, you will note a low ebb of “spirituality” and much “carnality”, even in the most “spiritual” church members. It can even be said that the atmosphere of the church will be lacking of the warmth and fervency of the Holy Spirit and a coldness of love towards one another, but especially towards the Lord; for they have “left (their) first love” (Revelation 2:4). But let God send revival; and there definitely will be a difference in the lives of the people. Those that experience a true revival sent by God will manifest such a brokenness of heart and contrition of spirit, and a repentance of sin that one would think they had not be saved in the first place. Now prayer and the Word of God becomes a delight to them that they just can’t get enough of it! But then, oh, how much they want to talk of the Lord and what He has done for them! Whereas before they were content to come to the house of God once a week, now they want to be there every time the doors are open. Their hearts are so full of love that they can’t help but love the brethren, including the lost! Their change is of such magnitude that it is evident that God has touched them with a mighty revival! O God, do the same with me and with Your people everywhere for Christ’s sake. Amen.

On the other hand, beloved, there may also be what is called a false revival. This type of revival (?) is one that is produced by man and his methods; or even by Satan himself, as in the tares that grow together with the wheat (cp. Matthew 13:24-30). But the sad thing of such a revival is that it is basically emotional and mostly feelings! Yet the danger here is that emotions and feelings usually pass away simply because the grace of God wasn’t involved in it. Oh, it would seem that they have been revived because they might act like they have been revived at first look, but they will be lacking those things previously mentioned that will occur in true revival. In fact, we might not be able to tell the difference unless we ourselves have experience true revival and thus be enabled to see that “the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God” whereas “that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned” i.e. those that have not the grace of God to revive them (Hebrews 6:7, 8).

Why do we need revival? We need revival, beloved, because if we remain in a backslidden state, we’re in danger that God will just remove us out of the way; in other words, He’ll quench out the light that we should be shining with as witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel. This warning was given to the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7). The Lord accuses them of having “left (their) first love” (v.4); or as the word “left” means to send forth, or away from them. Can you imagine a Christian doing that? Well, a backslider can do that; for in leaving Him as their “first love”, in essence they are saying to Him, “Be gone, we don’t need your love.” Someone might say that that is too harsh. I don’t think so; for note that if this is true of anyone of us, the Lord says that we are to repent or He will “remove (our) candlestick out of his place, except (we) repent” (v.5). Don’t be mistaken, people of God, our God is a jealous God; “(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 6:15). Backsliding is a very serious sin as far as God is concerned; for it is to depart from Him and rebel against Him! Oh, how we need to cry out for Revival before it’s too late! Amen?

Finally, at least for now, why do we need revival? Backsliding, oh dear people of God, is not only to live in sin, but also really enjoying sin. In this type of spiritual condition, we might deceive ourselves to think that even though we’ll admit that things are not as they should be in our relationship with the Lord, we might have a false confidence that we are still walking with the Lord. Do you really think that the Lord will have communion with us in our sin? Fellowship with the Lord means that your are walking in agreement with Him; or as Amos puts it: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (3:3). Furthermore, the apostle John tells us: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:6, 7). Now, the church of Laodicea truly had a very severe of backsliding in that they had cast out the Lord; mind you, the Head of the church, out of its doors. This is seen in Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”. Note that the Lord is outside the door knocking on it; therefore, at the moment He is not in fellowship with any one of them! Backsliding prevents that! Yet He invites that if anyone hears His voice, and opens the door, He will come in and once again have fellowship with them. I say, ‘once again’, because before backsliding, we can assume they had communion together. True revival can restore that relationship. Oh, I wonder how many in the churches right now are content with their religiosity while the Lord is outside! May grace be given to us so that we may open the door for Him come in and fill us with His Holy Spirit in revival. Amen.

Beloved, it would be foolish from our part to think that there is no need for revival today. If we cannot see the spiritual condition of today’s professing Christianity, then we have to say that we are totally blind to the seriousness of the situation. Look at the worldliness and carnality of so many that profess the Name of Christ; listen to what is being preached and taught that has be called heresy and even more seriously, apostasy. If one has the spiritual insight the size of a mustard seed, they have to admit that the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is no longer being proclaimed. Oh, people of God, there are many, many signs that can be shown that we have a very backslidden Christianity today. One of them is, of course, the lack of power and influence of Christians in the world. It’s sorry to say that the world considers us as just as a “religion”; for they don’t see the greatness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ in our lives and in the churches. Start praying, even right now, people of God, if you are concerned, that God will once again show Himself to be faithful to our prayers as He has done so many other times when His people has prayed for Revival; and that He will do this for His glory, to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and to magnify His Grace. Amen.