In the 1960’s and early 70’s
there was a revolution that rocked the United Kingdom and United States, then
made its way through much of the Western world with its “anti-establishment”
trend. It interrupted the accepted traditions
and beliefs, and created a counterculture or subculture whose values and
lifestyles were opposed to those of society.
Young people rose up and defied the established authority and the
prevalent cultural rules of right and wrong with their protests. They rebelled against parents, government and
God. Many experimented with drugs and
were addicted or died from an overdose.
Morals were thrown to the wind.
It was an age of “if it feels good, do it”. The consequences were harmful and, in most
cases, the new “freedoms” proved to be a greater bondage than the established
authorities. Were they wrong in all
their opinions? Probably not. Were the
authorities right about everything? Probably
not. Was God right about
everything? Absolutely yes! Turning from Him caused a downslide in morals
that entangled people in drugs and illicit relationships.
But
even before this rebellion settled down, there was a new kind of revolution on
the horizon, and it would break the chains of bondage brought on by the
previous revolution. It would release
every kind of captive. It would give
freedom to whoever wanted it, all ages, races, and social statuses.
I
was in high school in the 70’s, during this second revolution that overlapped
the end of the first one. This second revolution
was an outpouring of God’s Spirit that swept across our nation and through our
schools. I remember the students
standing in the courtyard before classes and singing worship songs. Many were brought into the kingdom of God,
and their lives were changed forever.
Yet, at the same time, the other revolution still continued. As a result of it, I also remember the threat
of a riot in our school. I saw some
students who obviously came prepared to carry out that threat. There was an air
of fear and apprehension. I don’t know
what caused the tension to escalate to that point, but the school had to cancel
classes for the day and send all the students home. What a stark difference in these two revolutions.
Just
as the 60’s counterculture rocked the lives of so many, the 70’s counterculture
brought many to Jesus Christ, the Rock upon which they
could build their lives and have a firm foundation of truth, freedom, real
peace, and a genuine relationship with Him.
The second
revolution was different from the first in a major way. These people didn’t revolt against the
government or parents or God. It was a spiritual revolution. It was a revival.
Andrew Murray
said, “A true revival means nothing less than a revolution, casting out the
spirit of worldliness and selfishness, and making God and His love triumph in
the heart and life.” This revival was certainly
one that changed hearts and lives forever.
Thank God, I was part of that revolution! And it changed me forever.
A
revolution is a breaking away from established authority. A counterculture is the society that is
birthed from this breaking away. It is a
“way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variance with the prevailing
norm.” Some call it rebellion, and
usually it is. But that is not always
true. Sometimes it is recapturing what
we have lost. Actually, this world’s
culture is in rebellion to God. When sin
came into God’s perfect world, a rebellious counterculture was established and
it continues today. Followers of Jesus
Christ are often considered the rebellious counterculture, when technically
it’s the other way around. Jesus came to
turn the world back to the original “norm”.
He came to empower us to be free born citizens of His kingdom.
A
revival is a revolution. It doesn’t come
through a series of meetings, emotional stirrings or the determination to turn
over a new leaf. This revolution begins
deep down in the soul. It is the hunger
and thirst of a desperate heart with a longing so deep that it refuses to be
turned away without receiving more from the Holy Spirit. This revolution is a breaking away from the
world (spiritually) and places us firmly in the kingdom of God, under the rule
and authority of Jesus Christ.
Let’s
go back to the quote from Andrew Murray.
What does it mean to cast out the spirit of worldliness? What does God say about the spirit of this
world? In 1 John 2:15-16, He says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world.”
The love of the world will draw us
away from God. It will never lead us to
Him, but will entice us to please our flesh, our carnal (sinful) nature. The lust of the flesh is indulging in the corrupt
state and behaviors of the world. The
lust of the eyes is covetousness, always looking for something more, but never
being satisfied with any of it. The
pride of life is a hunger and thirst for honor, riches and the applause of
men. We cannot live in both
cultures. We must make a choice. The
scripture clearly states that if we are friends of the world, we are the
enemies of God. The spirit of this world
is corrupt and in rebellion to the kingdom of God and God’s authority. Therefore, we are a worldly
and selfish people. But we don’t have to
stay that way. We can be born again of
the Spirit, living and walking in the Spirit.
But even as
God’s children we can begin to slide back into the ways of the world and the
thinking of the world. When we do, it’s easier to try to justify our
waywardness by attempting to reinterpret the Word of God so we can feel more
comfortable here. But God will never
change, and we only deceive ourselves when we try to alter His Word and the
working of His Spirit. It is imperative that we stay filled with His Spirit and
immerse ourselves in His Word. It will
keep us strong in the Lord. We can only
keep the worldliness cast out of us by “making God and His love triumph in the
heart and life.” The church cannot do
the work of the church until she has made her garments white and is pure and
holy before God. We need to be revived
and renewed.
To revive means
to “awaken to spiritual concerns, bring to life again, recall to activity from
a state of lethargy, recover from a state of neglect, oblivion, obscurity or
depression.” Be honest. Do you need to be revived? Do you need to be awakened from a spiritual
sleep? Have you become lethargic, let
your guard down and neglected your relationship with Jesus? It is so easy to slip into the pattern of the
world if we are not consistently immersed in His Spirit and Word.
Billy Sunday
said, “A revival does two things. First,
it returns the Church from her backsliding and second, it causes the conversion
of men and women; and it always includes the conviction of sin on the part of
the Church. What a spell the devil seems
to cast over the Church today!” Billy
Sunday preached in the early 1900’s.
Just imagine if he could see the Church in this day. We need a revival! We need Holy Ghost conviction!
My mother told
me about a revival that happened at a church in a mill town years ago. The church people had a renewal and revival
swept the entire city. They had services
every night for several weeks. The
people flocked in. Conviction would come
and souls would be saved. When the
services were over at the church, they would gather in homes to pray. But this revival wasn’t restricted to the
church building only. People were being
convicted of their sins in the mill and being saved right on the job. Their lives were so affected that they served
the Lord the rest of their lives. It
wasn’t just a temporary emotional experience.
What kind of
influence are we as individuals and as the church? When is the last time we have felt the
conviction of the Holy Spirit or have been reproved by the word of God? Conviction is given in God’s mercy, to show
us sin that lurks in our lives and will destroy us and our influence if we
don’t heed His call. If we want to
influence those in the world to bring them to Christ, we have to show them the
power of God in us. We cannot do that
until we answer the conviction of the Spirit.
The Church of the Lord Jesus needs to be a pure, holy Church.
What are
unbelievers seeing in us? What are they
hearing from us? Is it the same
conversations and interests they have, or are we empowered to share Jesus through
our lives and words? Does our life cause
them to be convicted of their sin and want to turn to Jesus?
If
we are to cast out the spirit of worldliness, we cannot resist the conviction
of the Word and Spirit of God. Only when
we lay aside everything else to seek after God will we experience the
revolution that will change us completely…and change our world.
We can experience a personal revival
when we shut out the voice of the world and begin to hear and act on the voice
of God.
“A revival is
nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.”
Charles Finney
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