Skip to main content

Revival Through the Holy Spirit

There are a few things that are associated with a Holy Spirit revival.

A great sense of sin is experienced both by Christians and unbelievers.

Sometimes this sense of sin is the result of Holy Spirit preaching. Sometimes it is unrelated to preaching; it just happens.

Consequently, there is repentance toward God, confession of sin and restitution among the believers.

And confession that Jesus Christ is Lord by the unbelievers.

Because of this confession, repentance and restitution, the community of believers has great love and joy.

Because the confession that Jesus is Lord the new believers suddenly love the believer that they hated a few minutes before.

There is a great change in the moral climate of the community, even if a majority of the community is not touched.

Here are a few of the changes:

1. There will be much less profanity.
2. There will be much less drunkenness.
3. There will be fewer pre-marriage pregnancies, abortions, and divorces.
4. There will be much less sexual promiscuity.
5. There will be less lying and cheating.

However, when this awakening hits a community there will be a negative reaction in the people who have not been touched by the Holy Spirit.

It will happen first in the Christian Churches, all kinds, Catholic, Fundamentalist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and liberal. The untouched will not sit still when their close friends become joyful, loving and moral. It will start with ridicule and then turn to violence. This reaction will spread to the secular side of the society because of these new Christians, white collar and blue collar, sophisticated and red-necks work side by side with their unconverted peers.

There will be a noticeable difference in the businesses in the community. The retailers will not like it.

I know all of this from three sources. One, the Bible, two, my own experience, and, three, Revivals in History.

1. Please read the following accounts of Revival and Riots.
A. Antioch in Pisidia—Acts 13:26-51 (envy)
B. Iconium—Acts 14:1-5
C. Lystra—Acts 14:6-20
D. Philippi—Acts 16:12-34
E. Thessalonica—Acts 17:1-9
F. Corinth—Acts 18:1-17
G. Ephesus—Acts 19:8-41 (economics)

Please keep this post; you will want to read these references at your leisure. If you do not have a Bible I will send you one, free.

My own experience and with other microcosm revivals will be in the next post.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ripe for Harvest: Prepared to Give an Answer

As you read through the book of Acts, look at every conversion, and see what happened right before it: what was said, who said it. The situations are the same today.     A long time ago, my duty in the Officer’s Christian Fellowship was the east coast of the United States. I went to an officer’s office at Fort Lee, VA, and stayed overnight, then I went on to Norfolk and Fort Bragg.    Forty years later, I was no longer on the staff of OCF, but I had to go to Denver. While I was in Denver, I checked in at the OCF offices. There was the same Air Force officer I had met in Fort Lee, retired now, a colonel. I had stayed in his house when he was a first lieutenant. He asked me, “Do you know what happened when you stayed overnight?” I said, “No, I just remember staying in your home.” He said, “You led the next-door neighbor to Christ.” I had no memory of it.    Ten years after that, I was speaking at a banquet at the Hotel Salisbury, and who was th...

Why Is Obedience So Hard?

There are several reasons why obedience seems hard. I will comment on some of them and then speak positively on how obedience is easy. We think: 1) Obedience is an infringement on freedom. Since we are free in Christ, and obedience is somehow contrary to that freedom, we conclude that obedience is not good. Yet we know it is good. Thus, we become confused about obedience and are not single-minded. 2) Obedience is works. We who have been justified by grace through faith are opposed to works; therefore, we are opposed to obedience. 3) We have tried to obey and have failed—frequently. Therefore, the only solution is to disobey and later confess to receive forgiveness. It is easier to be forgiven by grace than to obey by effort. 4) We confuse obedience to men with obedience to God. Although these are sometimes one and the same (see Romans 13, 1 Peter 2-3, Ephesians 5-6, Colossians 3, and Titus 2), sometimes they are not the same (see Colossians 2:20-23, Mark 7, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, a...

Marriage Counseling, Part 2

Dear Friend, This letter is long overdue. It has been in my head for months. First, I think you know that I both love you and like you and respect you. If you do not know that, please take my word for it. You know that I am willing to be confronted without dissimulation. In the many years we have known each other, I have assumed you were a Christian. I do not have to know absolutely (God knows those who are His). You have had an interest and an education in Christianity. Even if you were not, or are not, a Christian, this does not affect my love, like, or respect for you. The last few times we have been together, you have assured me that any adultery was in the past and that you were ready to get right with the church and with your family and that you had repented toward God. You assured me that you loved your wife and your children and you were committed to them. I recognize that Christians can (and sometimes do) sin repeatedly. I also understand that it is possible for Chri...