When God Moves in Revival

Can you believe it? We're already halfway through with 2011! And before the very last day of the first half ends, i'd like to share with you the things i've learned this month :)


This June, i was on a series of studying about Revival thru the help of a devotional book by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Now im gonna try my best to summarize a whole month's worth of scrambled notes of insights, verses, and lessons! Some of you may find these as fresh new revelations. Some might know most of these already. Either way, if you can find the time, then go read & reflect. Besides, in learning, it's always a good idea to once in a while go back to the basics, right? :)


How does a revival start?

"..it is the rediscovery of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith that has led ultimately to revival. There is always a preliminary to revival. It appears to come suddenly, and in a sense it does. But if you look carefully into the history, you will always find that there was something going on quietly, there was a preliminary, a preparation unobserved by people."
Revival doesn't just start immediately, catching everyone in a surprise. No. It starts with a preparation, which is a rediscovery of these grand and glorious truths. Take for example the well-known Evangelists or our century. (they are MLJ's fave examples) Luther, Whitefield, the Wesleys. Before revival in their certain places even occurred, their eyes had been opened to the truth of justification by faith alone. (Ephesians 2:8)
What is that truth from the Gospel God has been telling you repeatedly these days? What does He keep on reminding you from the beginning, and reminding you still up to now? Until you, and i, truly open our eyes to see that, and until "...it has gripped us", revival would never start.

Is the Lord Jesus Christ central?


"If the Lord Jesus Christ is not crucial, central, vital, and occupying the very center of our meditation and our living, thinking, and praying, we have no right to look for revival."
This line has been a cliche, ika nga ng karamihan, "gamit na gamit na", but it's something we need to put in mind & heart every single day. It's never about us. It's always about Him. If he is not the center of all the service, missions, and labor we do, then we're in no place to ask and expect for a revival.

What does revival really means?


"Revival means the outpouring of the Spirit of God."
"it is something that comes like a tornado."
"...something that cannot be explained in human terms, something that is so striking and so extraordinary that it will arrest the attention of the whole world."
"Revival is nothing that man can produce or organize; it is plain that it is an act of God; God authenticating His people, their work and their message, and saying, "Yes, these are My people. And i am doing something in their midst that i never will do among anyone but My own people."
THAT is revival! revival is not just the non-stop playing of upbeat praise & worship songs, of people jumping up and down, shouting and crying out loud like it's their last day on earth. It is God's Spirit taking our breath away, causing us to fall prostate before Him as we become conscious of  "a glorious presence in our midst." For me, it is simply God saying, "See, i told you I'm alive, and I'm nearer that you'd ever imagined."

Hindrances to Revival


*Opposition to Enthusiasm
"to dislike enthusiasm it to quench the Spirit."
and the Bible is clear on this, we should not put out the Spirit's fire (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
Are you going all out as you serve God?
We're young, we're free. We can't keep on giving lame excuses on why we should just sit back in crowds, do nothing at all, and expect others to do everything. "Oh, if we wait until the whole Church moves, revival will never happen."

*Blindness
"Unless we as individual Christians are feeling a grave concern about the state of the Church and the world today, we are very poor Christians indeed."
"..the first thing that we must realize about the situation we are in is its desperate character."
Let's admit it, we are slowly 'dying'. The generation of young people that is supposed to be the front liners is stuck at the end of the line, taking bites and nibbles of the worldly pleasures, some completely giving in. What do you have in mind today? Complains like, 'i don't have new clothes!' 'My allowance got cut off.' 'my parents are too strict!' 'I am tired of being a bum i wanna work!' Come on, you gotta wake up! Do not be completely blind of the REAL things you should be concerned of. Many children out there barely have anything to wear, walks miles and miles everyday to reach school to save a peso from their supposed-to-be 10peso allowance, no parents to kiss them good morning before they start the day, and collects junks and trade them for money so they can eat AT LEAST one meal a day; Rape victims. Abused children. Homeless families. "It is a terrible state for the Church to be in when she merely consists of a collection of very nice and respectable people who have no concern for the world." If our eyes are shut to this state we are in, we'd never get the revival we are praying for.

The Real Reasons for Revival


*the glory of God
Ezekiel 36:22 says, "It is not for your sake that I am doing this..but for the sake of My holy name."
With all the amazing realities about revival, it seems as if it is given for man alone. But it isn't. It's still for the sake ofGod, for His power to be manifested and for His name to be magnified.

*the honor of the Church
"...it must always come in the second place, never in the first.."
i particularly like this part. MLJ went on sharing about Moses. (check Exodus 32:30-32)
"God had been giving Moses some wonderful intimations of His loving interest in Him, but Moses is not content with that. Moses does not merely seek personal blessings. He wants to make sure that the children of Israel, as a whole, are going to be involved in this blessing."
i am in awe of Moses's love for Israel,which symbolizes the Church.
"I do not want to go on living if You are not going to include them in the blessing, I don't want to go on without them, Moses said in essence. -THIS is true intercession."
Examine yourself, do you have the same heart Moses has for God's people?

*Outsiders
Exodus 33: 16 "How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
His very presence, through revival, will distinguish His people among the 'outsiders.' but not to put a wall between them.
"...[revival] is for the sake of those people who are outside, who are scoffing, mocking, jeering, laughing, and ridiculing."
"..that they may be stopped short and apprehended and may develop an interest in which God is leading them and is directing them."
"He is doing something that is going to arrest the attention of all the people of the earth."
"This should make us ask, therefore, whether we are concerned at all about these people who are outside."
We wont be revived unless God sees the passion in our lives to minister to the lost. We are called to "..be fishers of men", young and old alike. And as one of my leaders said, "...and we are not just simply to catch fish, we feed them AND take care of them." It's what we're wired to do. So check yourself if you are doing exactly the same.


I think this is very timely as Asiafest is coming real soon. It won't be just an event. Not Planetshakers or Phil Stacey's concert. It will be one of the biggest revival that awaits the history of the Church. i won't blame you if you'd say im a little OA with this, but i couldn't help but be excited! and i believe most of the youth are feeling the same way too. 'Oh sure, we've experienced too many revivals before, what difference would this make?' you ask? i say a HUGE one. "The Spirit had been given before, but He had not been poured out before." "It will be something overwhelming. It will be something en masse as it were."

Are you ready to catch it?

Prepare (render, consecrate) your heart, soul, mind, and body, because He is a generous God, and He won't be stingy with the outpour of His spirit, if and ONLY IF, you are willing. :)