As we bear in mind that the point of revival is for us to be what we should be, this promise bears both assurance and accusation.
It assures us that if we hunger and thirst for the righteousness that revival brings, we can have it. Along with this assurance comes the accusation that if we stand in need of revival and don’t receive it, we must not desire it that badly.
I am persuaded that the biggest barrier between us and revival is that we aren’t sufficiently bothered by our current situation to be truly hungry for revival. This condition is called apathy. Apathy is the barrier to revival.
The absence of God’s power should bother us. Jesus promised us that we would receive power in Acts 1:8. We see that power displayed throughout the book of Acts as multitudes were born again, cities were turned upside down, and Christianity spread like wildfire through the Roman Empire. Nowhere are we given an expiration date for this power. In fact, at Pentecost, Peter referenced a prophecy from Joel 2:28-32 that carries through to the Sun being turned to darkness and the moon turned to blood, events that happen during the Tribulation.
Since these events haven’t happened yet, that promise still carries on for us. If we don’t see that power working in our lives and ministries, its absence should bother us.
It should bother us that we are not making the difference that we should be making in our community. Followers of Christ are supposed to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). Salt holds back corruption, and light drives out darkness.
A society influenced by Christians living in the power of God should be one where evil is on the retreat, not on the advance. In America right now, it is darkness that seems to be driving back the light!
Isaiah 57:15
“For thus saith the high and lofty One That inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, With him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
When the early Christians went forth filled with the Spirit, they changed the world around them. In just a few months, they had “filled Jerusalem” with the doctrine of Jesus (Acts 5:28). Within a generation, they had “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6), though I like to think of it as turning the world right-side up. Before the end of Paul’s ministry, the Gospel had even taken root in Caesar’s household (Philippians 4:22).
Nowhere does the Bible say that we should expect to do less for God than these early Christians did.
The sign gifts like speaking in tongues may not be in operation the same way anymore, but those signs were for the Jews (I Corinthians 14:21). It wasn’t the sign gifts that transformed the Gentile world. It was the preaching of the Gospel (I Corinthians 1:21).
The Gospel of Christ that was “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Romans 1:16) is just as powerful today, and God is no more willing that any should perish today than He was then.
We should be bothered that souls are going to Hell that might be saved if we were to have revival. While revival, at its heart, is about God’s people becoming what they should be, one of the most predictable outgrowths of revival is souls being saved. If God’s people are what we should be, we will be soul winners!
Souls not being saved can be primarily attributed to two factors. One is that God’s people are not sharing the Gospel as they should. If Christians are not sharing the Gospel, it is no surprise that the lost are not getting saved. The sad truth is that many Christians today, even in sound churches, are not sharing the Gospel as they should. Revival would change that.
The second major reason for souls not being saved is that even of those sharing the Gospel, many of us are not doing so in the power of God. The Apostle Paul attributed the Thessalonian believers’ conversion to him sharing the Gospel in word, in power, and in the Holy Ghost (I Thessalonians 1:4-6).
If we are only sharing the Gospel in word, it will lack the power to bring many to conviction who might have been saved if we had the power of the Spirit on our ministries. There can be many different reasons that God’s Spirit is quenched and His power is absent in our lives, but as Jesus said, “without me, ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
There is enough power in the Gospel and the Word of God that if we just share it in our own strength, God can use it to bring some to salvation. But the results will be far less than if we shared the Gospel from the Bible in the power of the Spirit.
It should bother us that we are not right with God. That seems like a strong statement, but the Bible describes God’s expectations for His blood-bought Christians, and we, as a group, if not as individuals, clearly fall short. Jesus gave Himself for us that we might be a “peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). We are to be holy as He is holy (I Peter 1:15-16), and separate from the evils of this world (II Corinthians 6:17).
I fear that all too often, we forget that the Spirit whose help we need so desperately is the Holy Spirit. We go on autopilot without examining everything in our lives to be sure that it is as holy as it should be, and we are without the zeal for good works that would motivate such diligence in being sure that our works are holy.
We also fall short in our fruits. We are not just to “preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), but also to be bearing much fruit (John 15:1-16). If we are not bearing fruit, we are in danger of being taken away. If we are not bearing much fruit, we are in danger of being purged to increase our fruitfulness (John 15:2).
You may say, “We are just responsible for preaching the Gospel; we can’t make people get saved,” and you would be correct. We cannot persuade any particular person ourselves to be saved, and some people will reject Christ and His gracious offer of salvation no matter the circumstances.
We sow and water the seed, and God gives the increase (I Corinthians 3:6). We may not see that increase, but unless something is wrong, that increase will be there. We may not be able to predict which seeds will blossom, but just as the farmer, who doesn’t know which seeds will sprout, would be distressed if none bore fruit, we ought to be distressed if our witness isn’t fruitful.
Revival is, at its heart, us becoming right with God; it is us humbling ourselves to acknowledge that things aren’t as they should be, prayerfully seeking God’s face, confessing whatever is not right, and receiving the help we need to make things as they should be. This means that if we are in need of revival, things aren’t right between us and God. That isn’t a minor detail; it is a big deal!
I am convinced that when we become truly distressed by our weak condition and lack of fruitfulness for God, and reach the point where we say that we cannot continue as we are. When the lost fate of those perishing and passing into a Godless eternity grieves us enough that we must do more about it.
When we are desperate enough for God’s holiness in our lives and His help in bringing others to Him, that we are willing to fast and go without physical food to get spiritual help. And when the first need we think of is our hunger for God, then we will have the revival that God wants to give us. According to Matthew 5:6, we are not missing revival because God doesn’t want to give it to us enough; we are missing revival because we don’t want to receive it enough.
Apathy is the barrier to revival. Don’t let it take root in your life.