I am not present to witness repentance of sinners, soundness of what is being taught, and by whom - or if anything is being taught. I know there is praise. Praise is a wonderful, essential, element of worship. I know that praying and singing led to Paul and Silas being freed from their chains, and opened prison doors, in Acts 16:25-26: "But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened."
Singing and praise is important!
I know, too, that Joel 2:28-32 says, "It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls."
So, while I do believe there can be genuine outpourings of the Holy Spirit, I also believe, as one Pastor said, "God can make a straight blow with a crooked stick." I should not expect perfection with imperfect people. Yet, with the Holy Spirit of the Living God I know there is absolute perfection - no error.
With these acknowledgements, I will point out that people are migrating from far and wide to participate in these 'Revivals'. Jesus warns of the last days, in Matthew 24:23-26: "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them."
We do not need to travel to find Jesus. For there to be a suggestion that Jesus is more profoundly present either here, or there, could be suspect. Discernment is called for. I submit for consideration that God, through Jesus Christ, will meet the Seeker right where they are! Jesus promises in Matthew 7:7-8:
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Acts 17:27 says, "...that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us."
God is near to EACH ONE OF US, and responds to the Seeker WHERE THEY ARE.
The current Revival events are full of people. They are getting a lot of attention, and gaining in momentum. I am reminded that there was a time when Jesus, while He walked the earth, had a large following of Disciples. He was quite popular. People came for miles to see and hear Him - even just to touch the hem of His garment and receive healing.
Then Jesus was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum one day… Here's what Jesus said, and what happened as a result of His teaching - His words - as told in John 6:50-68:
"This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?" But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." AS A RESULT OF THIS MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES WITHDREW AND WERE NOT WALKING WITH HIM ANYMORE. So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life."
When the many Disciples found Jesus' words too difficult, they walked away leaving only the few. Jesus did not depart from them. They ultimately rejected Jesus when His words became too difficult for them to receive. I wonder how many will remain with Jesus when the Revival fervor wears down? Only God knows what seed will take root, grow, and endure till the end.
In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus tells us, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are FEW WHO FIND IT." So, while these sweeping Revivals may be cutting a broad swath, it is good and necessary for Christ's Child to know the scriptures, as well as pray for and exercise discernment regarding what is taking place and our opinions and involvements.
Finally, I wrap up this written commentary with Romans 12:1: "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."
True worship is to present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. It is not necessarily singing and praise. Let us worship God, and bring Him glory - in all we do, wherever we are. Amen.
