the miracle of Revival

The above image seems to capture something of that malevolent spirit which stalks mankind like a prey.  The Komodo dragon kills with its mouth, which is filled with a cocktail of deadly organisms.  Just one bite and then that poisonous brew, once it enters the bloodstream, quickly brings down even very large animals.  Isn't that just like the devil?

I've heard it told by some who supposedly have seen manifestations of demons, that the appearance of those spirits is hideous.  Yet, the Bible describes Satan as one who used to be a magnificent creature to behold.  But wickedness corrupts everything it touches.  The Bible now describes the devil as "that old serpent."  Still, that "old serpent" is very real, very powerful, and he goes about seeking to kill and devour whomsoever he can.

I'm not trying in some perverse way to glorify the powers of darkness.  Sometimes, though, I think it would be a good thing if people could get a glimpse of those demonic beings which roam the earth.  I suppose it might then be easier to get more people to pray and seek God for His protection and deliverance~and for Revival!

The tragic reality is that we all have seen~not the physical appearance of those wicked spirits, but we have seen what they will do when they overtake human beings.  There are real examples in Nature, of parasites which, having gained entrance into the body of some insect or animal, the parasite then takes control of the host's body and uses that still-living creature to destroy either its own offspring, or itself, or both.  The parasite then feeds upon those remains.  But there is nothing in Nature so monstrous as what happens to people who fall prey to demon spirits.  Healthy minds recoil even from contemplating the unspeakable things which men and women have actually done to themselves and to others.  What more evidence do we need to convince us that we live in the midst of a very dangerous world inhabited by "dragons," demons from hell?

If your eyes were wide open to see the cities filled with demons attached to and feeding upon multitudes of human beings, you would doubtless scream in horror.  Diseases; addictions; perversions; greed; pride; hatred and violence; insanity; bloodlust: almost everywhere you would look you would see the devil in some form or another.  It is no wonder why that the hope of Revival seems infinitely far from the minds of most people.

And that is the greatest tragedy of all.  For, Revival is exactly what is needed to "destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).  Indeed, the manifestation of God's Spirit in power (which is what Revival is) is the only thing that is capable to drive out those wicked spirits from among men~and to bring men themselves to genuine repentance.  Whereas the salvation of one soul is a great miracle.  So also the healing of one body is a great miracle.  But Revival is the greatest miracle of all, in that, Revival entails the saving of very many souls and the healing of very many bodies, and relationships, and lives, and homes, and communities.

Do you know that history records true instances of when that entire cities were converted, by the power of God?  Every man, woman, boy and girl.  Scores of thousands of them!  The first instance that comes to my mind is ancient Nineveh, where 120,000 souls were humbled and brought to genuine repentance before God, through the preaching of Jonah.  But it wasn't Jonah's eloquent speech which struck terror into the hearts of the Nineveh's inhabitants.  Rather, it was the outflow of God's omnipotent Spirit which accompanied that pitiful man, Jonah, as he walked through the streets of that proud city, proclaiming God's imminent judgment.

Then there is the example of Samaria, in the early days of the Apostles of Christ.  One source I found stated that, in that time period, the city of Samaria consisted of upwards of 6,000 souls; which, through the preaching of Philip the evangelist, evidently every one of those souls was brought to Christ! (see, Acts chapter 8).  Of course, Philip himself had earlier seen multiple thousands of souls come to Christ on a single day!  And not just once did that occur; but multitudes came to Christ in the days of the Apostles (and afterward), in wave after wave of God's Spirit poured out in Revival.

Some foolishly believe that God doesn't do things like that anymore.  But that only goes to prove that they know nothing about the history of Revival in the Church.  Several years after the beginning of the Korean Revival, people were still being saved by the thousands.  Here is what the noted missionary Jonathan Goforth wrote about the Korean Revival:

The revival [which started in 1907) was still going strong in 1910 and the afterglow of revival continued for a least a few years after that date in various towns. Goforth wrote: ‘It was clear that the revival had not died down by 1910, for in October of that year 4,000 were baptised in one week (source, here).

More recently (1970-71), the Canadian Revival resulted in untold thousands of conversions; as suggested by the fact that more than 3,000 Revival teams were sent throughout the world~from a church of what had been, before that Revival, only 175 people.  Don't tell me that Revival is a thing of the past.  That sort of idea is not of God.

God is more than willing.  In fact, He wants to come down into the midst of this world and go with fury through the very "habitation of dragons."  God wants once again to display His awesome power to "destroy the works of the devil," and to save multitudes of souls for whom God's only begotten Son once suffered and died, that they might be saved.

"What's keeping that from happening?" you may ask.  Well, perhaps, you are keeping that from happening.  Are you truly seeking God for Revival?  Are you diligently praying for Revival?  Are you earnestly striving to get all sin out of your life~as if an 8-foot rattlesnake had slithered into bed with you?

God needs partners, intercessors, in order to send Revival.  Hear what God says about that in His own Word:

Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear....

Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness....  [W]e look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.  For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us.... [A]nd the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.  

And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor.... 

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 

But to the intercessor, God says:

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.  Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense;  he will come and save you. [Intercession, and preaching] 

...and see what happens: 

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.  Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing [healing]: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.  And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water [salvation]: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes [devils cast out]....  And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.  (Isaiah 59:1-16; Ezekiel 22:30; Isaiah 35:3-10)

Salvation!  Healing!  The devil cast out!  Joy and gladness returned to the saints of God!  What more could we ask of God than that?  What better could we desire or hope for?

How is it, then, that we are yet so slothful, if not even downright apathetic, so as not to seek God with our whole heart, for Revival?

We often speak of spiritual warfare, and we just as often complain about the apathy of the multitudes who evidently are indifferent to the realities of that warfare.  But shall the host of unbelievers prevent us from receiving from our God those things He has promised to those who will diligently seek Him?

I remember what a well known missionary, Paris Reidhead, testified.  Believing that God had sent him to take the Gospel to a region of very primitive people, Reidhead labored intensely among them for quite some time.  But after a while, and seeing no apparent fruit of his labors, he complained to God that those people weren't interested to hear what he had to say.  Reidhead was not a little upset, he later confessed, that God had sent him to speak to such ungrateful people as that.  And when he went to talk to God in prayer about his frustration, God sternly rebuked him, saying (I paraphrase): "What? Do you think I sent you for their sakes?  I know what they are!  They don't deserve one good thing I can give them.  But I didn't send you for their sakes.  I sent you for my Son's sake.  He deserves every good thing I have to give!  And I promised him that I would give him souls for his suffering!  I sent you for his sake.  Now, you go and preach, and preach for the glory of Christ alone!"

I have said, with fear and trembling, that I weep for God.  It is true.  Not that I am anyone special.  But I've got a little glimpse of what it is that God wants, and that Christ wants.  The Apostle Paul wrote, "...looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God" (Hebrews 12:15).  In America, there is such "failing of the grace of God" that I cannot bear it.  And why should I care?  Only, because of the Son of God who lives within me: he cares.

And He wants Revival.

And I believe that Father is willing to give it to him.

So, the Holy Ghost is seeking for a man. . . .