There is a concern for the spiritual health of America among some
Christians who have been praying for revival.
The problem is most have never experienced a revival and think
evangelism and revival are the same.
This could not be further from the truth. The prophet Hosea gives us an indication of
what revival is all about. Hosea 10:12 says: “Sow to yourself in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow
ground; for it is time to seek the Lord till He come and reign righteousness
upon you.” The Psalmist speaks about
revival when he says, “Would Thou not revive us again: that Thy
people may rejoice in Thee.” Psalm 85:6
When we speak about revival we
think of spring and fall revivals.
Revivals are planned by the church board, a date is established, an
evangelist and song evangelist are called and advertising is designed to bring
in the "lost". Revival has
become purely mechanical and "willed" by man and not by God. Revival cannot be organized, subsidized and
advertised. If we are really going to
get a concept of revival we have to get a vision of God’s sorrow over sin. We
have to get a vision of how, day by day, we offend God. As a nation we daily offend the LORD and as a
church we offend the LORD with our weakened message of salvation.
If America is to have a change of
heart it must start in the pulpit. Joel
1:13, “Gird yourselves, and lament, ye
priests: howl ye ministers of the altar, come lie all night in sackcloth, ye
ministers of my God.”2:12, 17 “Turn ye now even to Me with all your heart and
with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not
your garments.”, “Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the
porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not
Thine heritage to reproach.”
Some will say not to worry about
the condition of the church and country that "this too shall pass". The problem is we have fooled ourselves about
the evil that exist in our country and the church; the evil today is such that
we have never seen before. The only
thing that will change this condition is fire of the LORD. Many talk about revival but are not willing
to have the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit refine and purify them. Jesus came to bring a fire on the earth that
is a consuming fire baptizing us with the Holy Ghost.
The need for revival is definite
the church is in such turmoil that there is very little difference between
those in the world and those who call themselves Christians in the church. Ministers
have changed the message from the pulpit.
Preachers have heeded the cry from the pew of a feel good message. Scriptural doctrine has been forsaken and the
message of Christ's plan of salvation has been ignored and many are ignorant of
true repentance. If there is to be a revival
in American churches, there must be a change in the message of salvation and
true biblical salvation preached.
The problem we have in American churches is we have a large
number of people who are associated
with the Christian faith without accepting biblical salvation. They came into the Christian faith under
false pretense by making an intellectual decision to become a Christian without
first being convinced they were sinners.
It was during the early 1800's that the church shifted the message of
repentance. We no longer preach about
conviction, confession, repentance and restitution. The message of true repentance is a negative
message and does not appeal to a carnal nature.
There are many in the church today professing to be Christians while
living defeated lives and living with a false sense of spiritual security. They have come to an intellectual decision to
become a Christian without being drawn by the Holy Spirit. The process of salvation starts with
conviction of sin. The sinner must first
be convinced he is a sinner. Once
convinced he must confess he is a sinner.
Confession is followed by repentance and restitution for a life of sin. The
elements of conviction, confession, repentance and restitution are necessary
for true biblical salvation.
Today men are not experiencing conviction of sin, they are
becoming "followers" of Christ without having their conscience roused
or a sorrow for their separation from God.
Men today are more concerned about their relationship with one another
than a relationship with God.
The bottom line is none can come to Christ as their Savior
until they are thoroughly convinced they are in need of a Savior. No one can come to Jesus as a Savior, till he
realizes that he is a lost sinner and convinced he is doom without the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ for his sins.
Today the world has very little concept of sin. Most individuals are morally dyslexic and
cannot tell the difference between right and wrong. We have come to accept within the church the
concept that sin is more on the order of error than a disregard for the
commandments of God. We have taken away
the shame of sin. As long as we are
ignorant of the power of sin in our lives we will think of it as a disorder or
syndrome and never find deliverance from sin.
Paul did not want the Galatians ignorant of what the fruits
of sin were, Galatians 5:19-21 Now
the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of
the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Many experience embarrassment when they are caught in the
act. A guilty conscience is not
conviction or remorse over sin. The
philosophy of the day is to commit the act and ask forgiveness when caught--
after all Christians are required to forgive on another. This is not conviction this is "I'm
sorry I got caught." True
repentance is what Paul explain to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 "Now
I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for
ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in
nothing. For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of:
but the sorrow of the world works death."
When the Holy Spirit convicts us there is a deep sense of
guilt, remorse, uncleanness, and ungodliness within our spirit. This feeling of guilt of sin cannot be manufactured. It is here that I will no doubt be considered
a heretic by many Evangelicals and Fundamentalist. The evangelist approach to revival has
contributed to the weakening of the message of Salvation by focusing on numbers
rather than true conversions. Most Evangelical,
Fundamentalist and Holiness Churches have an invitation system to bring men,
women and children to Christ. The
congregation will sing a hymn while the preacher calls men and women to come to
the front to make a public confession to "accept Christ". Salvation is offered with the decision to
allow Jesus into their hearts. This
custom has no foundation in biblical practice and circumvents the work of the
Holy Spirit.
The "old fashion altar call" was unheard of until Charles
Finney used it around 1830. Finney
developed the modern evangelistic methods of forcing a decision to get
results. The process was later used by Dwight L. Moody, Peter
Cartwright, Sam Jones, R. A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Bob Jones, Gipsy Smith,
Mordacai Ham, John R. Rice, Billy Graham and many evangelists today all used
the method with impressive success. The invitation system had come to stay.
Today the "old fashion altar call"
has replaced the Holy Spirit as the first step to salvation to a forced
decision. Jesus told his discipiles,
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth;
It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when
he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment:" John 16:7 We are
not called to save people or force them to make a decision, but rather to be a
witness of what Jesus Christ has done in our life. Our pleading, begging and singing sinners to
kneel at an altar may not bring salvation to the lost sinner but it will bring
a weakness to the church. They must
first be convinced by the HOLY SPIRIT they are sinners, not by the fear of
hell, the imminent return of Jesus Christ, or the emotional appeal of Almost
Persuaded sung for one half hour but by a godly sorrow for their actions
against a holy God.
It is
conviction that causes one to realize that he or she is separated from being in
a right relationship with God. Unless a sinner repents, he will stand condemned
before God and lost forever. Luke 13:5 "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Before there can be true repentance, a sinner
must have an understanding and acknowledgement that he is guilty of sin
accompanied by a godly sorrow.
Conviction of sin brings a man to an awareness of this hopeless,
helpless condition. The guilt of sin was laid upon the sinner by the Holy
Spirit-conviction, to the point he sought forgiveness of his sins so that he
could find peace within his soul.
If America
is to have a revival with true repentance and turning from our wicked ways the message
from the pulpits must be a message of biblical salvation. The message must speak to the lost condition
of man and his separation from God. The
sinner must be convinced and convicted of his lost and sinful condition by the
call of the Holy Spirit and the church must be convicted of her wickedness and
repent and turn again to the LORD.
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