Following Judah's Lion

Revival

Is.57:14-15 - 14 And it will be said:
Build up, build up, prepare the road!
Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.
15 For this is what the high and exalted One says—
he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
I live in a high and holy place,
but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Is this not the time to ask for, to beg for, a spiritual revival? I realize that the subject of revival is passé and out of the context of contemporary Christianity, but what can be done without it at this point? The entire world is about to collapse under the weight of sin, and yet the church houses are still dark except at the usual times. Where are the all night prayer meetings; where are the fastings; where are the tears; where is the desperation? Believers talk of North Korea and Iran gaining nuclear capability and they wring their hands and offer foreign policy advise. They speak of the gay agenda and the liberal influence and the socialist movement, and yet they are blind to their own spiritual plight before God. This cannot be what God intended for His bride.
Billions upon billions of dollars of God’s money is spent upon building mortgages while millions dies of hunger and disease. We are more faithful to feed our pets than we are our spirits. Pastors play golf every week and enjoy multiple lunch times with all kinds of useless conversations. No where is there even a scant trace of desperation at the spiritual vacuum and the rapidly unfolding destruction. It is an unwritten rule that a pastor leave his people with a feeling of encouragement and an uplifted spirit. Conviction, repentance, and self assessment do not translate into contentment and good offerings.
Are there any who even entertain a thought of genuine revival? I realize the overwhelming majority do not even see the need or even understand the nature of revival, but are there any who do? I sat several years ago in a pastor’s study in a very large church with he and his staff. I suggested we seek a revival, and I asked if they could imagine more people than the auditorium could hold and men and women on their faces throughout the massive parking lot. One of the associate pastors spoke up and said, “We are not set up for that.” That statement says it all.

The church is asleep in comfort and ease.

Jer.5:30- 30,31 - 30 A horrible and shocking thing
has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy lies,
the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it this way.
But what will you do in the end?

How can you converse with a sleeping man? How can you correct him or warn him or direct him while he sleeps. You cannot. He must first be awakened. And so it is with the church. When I speak of such things I am often met with caustic retorts and personal invectives from those who see things through rose colored glasses. Oh yes, these views are in the minority and are not warmly embraced by the majority of believers. In fact, these views are usually not even given a hearing, much less a thorough and fair assessment.
But we do not answer to man. And we also do not claim to be completely free from capture on some level in this hedonistic and pluralistic quagmire. We are also in need of the revival of which we speak. We see self righteousness as our mortal enemy, but do you see cultural assimilation as yours? It is most difficult to see from where we came since we have been born in Babylon and into a compromised and backslidden church. We have nothing experientially from which to compare. And many of the believers we know love Jesus and are warm and authentic people. I do not dispute that and I know many believers just like that.
But that is one on the monumental problems since we continue to “compare ourselves with ourselves”. We have adjusted our spiritual atmosphere so that our lives are in open compliance with the fallen culture, even though we retain a few moral objections that do little more than soothe our consciences. The church over the centuries has grown weary of battling and laboring to stay separated from a culture that is antichrist and seeks to remove all semblance of spiritual power from the church. The culture, in fact, embraces religion as a part of our community and even part of our heritage. That friendship is deadly.
And so here we are. Caught in the clutches of deep spiritual compromise and in some quarters rank heresy, and yet the ecclesiastical machine rolls on. Soothing our consciences we castigate sinners and speak out against certain unpalatable sins, while our eyes refuse to be drawn to the mirror of God’s Word. We treat the Bible as a guide to the western lifestyle, and construct clever sermon series’ that are more like assembly directions to a children’s toy than they are mighty challenges to seek the face of the Risen Christ.

Jesus asked, “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”

Let us exhort one another while it is still called day. Soon we will be face to face with the One to whom we owe everything. Invite the Spirit to bring a revival that strips us of everything but Christ, and let Jesus Christ be glorified in the midst of His own bride.