REVIVAL: THE URGENTLY NEEDED ANSWER and REVIVAL (a poem)
It is common to hear, today, that the only hope for the survival of our country,
as we have known it, is revival in the Church. Then, some of the same
believers will be heard saying, "The day of great awakenings is past."
If both statements were true, there would be no hope!
While it is true that we need revival, we can only have it on God's terms
- not attempting to 'pray down' revival while preaching Old
Covenant-style messages! When we preach New Covenant messages
consistently, we will experience the New Covenant, the crucified life or
revival.
On an individual basis, we have witnessed such revival for almost five decades
around the world. So it is no mystery, nor is our God capricious. It
has always been, and always will be, that revival must happen on an
individual basis, which can then spread from one believer to another.
Such is the goal of intentional discipleship. It is the ministry of the
Spirit's filling, which is readily available to prepared hearts.
Dr. Charles R. Solomon | bio - contact - website
Being at the end of fleshly resources is the common requirement, and experiencing the cross (Gal.
2:20; Rom. 6:6), is the common answer. We must be emptied of self
before being filled with the Spirit. However, it is difficult for a
church to admit defeat and being powerless, since it has been the 'go
to' source for these many years. Then, expecting revival to be a mass
outpouring in one fell swoop, as in some past awakenings, ignores the
need for heart preparation for each believer. In such awakenings, they
were filled with the Spirit, and the cross had to become a reality; but
they were not aware of the role of the cross. Therefore, they could not
deny themselves and take up the cross daily, since they did not know
they had taken it up once! As a result, revival did not continue. In the
case of the Welsh Revival of 1900, Jessie Penn-Lewis added this vital
dimension in her fine writing, after revival was no longer in progress.
Now we need revival based on the experienced cross, as we have witnessed
it since 1970. (This is simplified and packaged as the Wheel & Line (in Chapter 4) - a tested tool for troubled times!)
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