Foundations of Revival

A People Business

The church is in a people business. Like Christ who came to seek and to save that which was lost, the body of Christ continues to exist on earth primarily because it needs to reach out to those who need the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in which the church is involved revolves around its mission – people.
​
However, there are some who turned the Father’s house into a “people-only business.” There are some who become so focused on attracting people that they drift away from the Source of genuine revival.

​These people rely on programs, colorful lights, smoke machines, and other manmade types of machinery instead of depending on the awesome power of the Holy Spirit.

While the church is in a people business, we ought not to forget that we are also in God business. While we want to make our churches guest-friendly, we also need to remember to make our churches Spirit-friendly. It is God’s Spirit who draws people to His throne. It is God’s Spirit who causes revelation and understanding. It is God’s Spirit who breaks the chains of sin. Therefore, the church’s primary business should be to attract the presence of God.

She Constrained Him

I found the story of the great woman of Shunem so compelling when I read about how she “constrained” Elisha to eat bread and finally stay in her house whenever he passes by (II Kings 4:8). And I think the church needs to learn from this Shunammite woman – we ought to do our best to persuade the Spirit of God to dwell in our churches. We are called not to quench the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19) but to entertain Him.

The woman didn’t want Elisha just to pass by; she made it sure that the prophet would always come to eat bread and stay in her house. And she did this by creating a little room for him in her own home.

We do not want the Spirit of God to pass by our churches. We should not be satisfied by just hearing the stories of revival from the other side of the world. The church, just like the Shunammite woman, should make room for God’s Spirit to stay.​

The cause of God has no commercial age, no cultured age, no age of education, no age of money. But it has one golden age, and that is the age of prayer.

E.M. Bounds

A Little Chamber

Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set  for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be,  when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

II Kings 4:10

The room that the Shunammite woman built for Elisha was just little. Somehow it is also a reminder to the church that God is never attracted to the size of the church. He doesn’t care about how beautiful the facility is. It doesn’t matter to Him whether we have the most advanced technology or the most talented performers. The last time I checked, Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). What makes a church apostolic is not the size but the presence of the living God.

We also want to note that there are no “special services” in the sight of God. The Holy Spirit can move in any service. Whether it is a General Conference or a prayer meeting, God can show His glory if there are two or three people who would be hungry and thirsty enough for Him.
​
So what attracts the presence of God? What causes God to move and bring revival into our churches?

Foundations of Revival 

1. Bed – Worship

A bed is a piece of furniture primarily for sleep or rest.

While many Bible scholars are still arguing about the real meaning of Psalm 22:3, I still believe that God is inhabiting/enthroned on the praises of Israel or His people.

Worship is where God dwells. It is one of the things that attracts Him. Without it, the Spirit of the Lord has no reason to stay.

There’s something about worship that made David a man after God’s own heart. There is something about praise that caused the walls of Jericho to fall. There is something about singing songs to God that shook the foundations of the prison where Paul and Silas were chained. We surely do not know what it really does, but we do know for sure that it attracts the power of the Spirit of God.

Worship determines fertility. When Michal criticized how David worshiped, God shut her womb. Likewise, a church who does not know how to worship will never give birth to children in the Kingdom of God.

2. Table – Word of God

Many people treat the Word of God like a restaurant menu; they choose what they want to eat and ignore the others. It is also a sad day when people try to pervert the Word of God to attract more people to church. If they think the message might hurt the people, they won’t preach it. If they feel like the sermon might drive people away, they won’t even say it behind their pulpit.

There are some do not preach against sin anymore. There are some who do not teach people the principles of holiness anymore. Yes, it attracts a lot of people to church, but the effect of such perversion of the Word of God has an eternal consequence.

I heard a preacher explaining how genetically modified seeds can double the production of fruits. Scientists invented a certain chemical that they inject into the seed to increase the harvest. However, according to research, these genetically modified seeds will only be good for one season; they can no longer be used for the next harvest. Likewise, those who alter the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ might see an influx of people into the church, but it will only be suitable for one generation. On the other hand, 2,000 years later, the apostolic church is still here and is still preaching about the oneness of God, repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, the infilling of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and holy living!
​
We do not need to change the Word of God to have revival. What we need is to preach the only gospel to the whole world until the Lord comes!

3. Stool – Prayer

A chair or a throne has always been a symbol of authority. And in our life as a Christian, the symbol of God’s authority in us has always been prayer. We pray because we consider Him as Lord of our life. We pray because we find Him as the One who is in control of everything we are going through. People often choose not to pray because they still have some things they can depend on – little lords of their lives.

Prayer attracts God. In the pages of the Bible and of our history, there has never been any revival without a group of people who were seeking the face of Go through much prayer and fasting. Vesta Mangun put it this way: “There have been great awakenings without eloquent preachers, great revivals without established organizations. But we will never see a revival without much prayer.”

When the Church starts to have more time in restaurants than in prayer closets, her altar is broken. When the Church has a lot of people on the pews and no people in the prayer rooms, her altar is broken. When the Church has more preachers talking about prayer than preachers who actually pray, her altar is broken. It is time for the Church to go back on her knees and repair the broken altar of the Lord!

In one of his books, E.M. Bounds writes, “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.” There is no problem about programs or strategies, but we must never forget that prayer is the foundation of any revival because it is the prayer that attracts the presence and glory of God.

The cause of God has no commercial age, no cultured age, no age of education, no age of money. But it has one golden age, and that is the age of prayer. Until the Church learns how to travail in prayer, we can never attain the fullness of the revival that God wants to give to us.
​
4. Candlestick – Evangelism

God will never be attracted to a church who does not have any passion for souls.

Raymart Lugue

The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). He didn’t come to make us rich and famous; He came to go after every lost soul and bring them back to His sheepfold.

Since God’s agenda is the salvation of souls, He will never be attracted to a church who does not have any passion for evangelism. Like in Genesis 1, the Spirit of God is hovering or brooding over the whole earth looking for a place where He can show Himself strong (II Chronicles 16:9). We can bring a lot of our talents, skills, and education into the church, but if we would only bring people who need the saving gospel of Christ into the church, there is no telling what God can do in our midst.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God. . . and all these things shall be added unto thee (Matthew 6:33). Jesus is saying that the resources of the kingdom follow the kingdom. And the Kingdom of God is not about meat and drink (Romans 14:17); it is all about souls. Therefore, if the church focuses on evangelism, the resources of heaven would just follow. Money will not be a problem. Signs and wonders will not be an issue. All these things shall be added unto thee if we seek first the Kingdom of God.

Conclusion

The church still holds the keys to heaven. We still have the answer for this world today. We need to realize that while we want people to come to God, we must never forget that our first calling is to allow God to come to His people.

The foundations of revival will always be the preaching of the Word of God, prayer and fasting, worship, and genuine love and passion for souls.

Let me close with Andrew Murray’s words: “A revival among the believers is the great need of our day. A revived church is the only hope of a dying world.”