For more information and to purchase the full version of this book by Colin Urquhart visit the Kingdom Faith Resource Centre: http://www.kingdomfaith.com/ResourceCentre
TRUE
Revival
C o l i n Ur q u h a r t
Kingdom Faith Resources Ltd. Roffey Place, Old Crawley Road, HORSHAM West Sussex, RH12 4RU Tel: 01293 851543 Fax: 01293 854610 E-mail: resources@kingdomfaith.com www.kingdomfaith.com First published in Great Britain in December 2004 by Kingdom Faith Kingdom Faith Church is a registered charity (no.278746) Copyright © 2004 Colin Urquhart All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher. Short extracts may be used for review purposes. Unless otherwise stated, Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Internationl Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Limited
ISBN 1-900409-60-7
CONTENTS
1.
What is Revival?
2.
Revelation of the Truth.
3.
The Need.
4
A Submitted Heart.
5.
The Way.
6.
It is Done.
7.
Slaves, Sons, Servants.
8.
Thank The Lord.
9.
Fellowship With The Lord.
10.
Fellowship With One Another.
11.
The Place Of Prayer.
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1 WHAT IS REVIVAL? People use the word ‘revival’ in many different ways. ‘It is the work of God’s Spirit’, some say. It is certainly correct that without the Holy Spirit there can be no true revival. However, the Holy Spirit moves in many ways in the lives of believers, not all of which could be described as true ‘revival’. ‘It is a move of God’, others affirm. And so it is. Yet there can be many very powerful moves of God that would not properly be termed as true revival. It has to be said that many incorrectly describe such moves as ‘revival’ simply because they have never experienced true revival. Because what is happening to them is so much greater than anything formerly experienced, they assume this must be revival. ‘Revival is God invading society’. This is certainly the fruit of true revival. We must find out what God needs to do among His people in His Church to produce such an effect on the world. After all, the Church is called to bring definite and visible evidence that the Kingdom of God has come to be expressed in the lives of those who believe in Jesus Christ. It does not need a prophet to see that the Church patently fails all too often to accomplish her high calling!
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‘Revival is God bringing His Church back to her first love.’ Again, this is true; yet we are YET SURELY THE LORD still left with the question as to how He can accomplish this. There must be a process WANTS HIS SPIRIT TO through which God revives His people to MOVE IN A CONSISTENT produce this end result. From time to time news spreads rapidly around the world that WAY IN HIS CHURCH – ‘revival’ has broken out in some locality. It is NOT JUST IN UNUSUAL wonderful when God moves in a very special way, causing a season of great and unusual SEASONS OF BLESSING! blessing. It has been my privilege to experience several such times in over forty years of public ministry. But surely revival is something God intends for His whole Church, not only for particular localities at particular times. I would not minimise the importance of such times, these seasons of unusual blessing. Yet surely the Lord wants His Spirit to move in a consistent way in His Church – not just in unusual seasons of blessing! Surely there must be a way for any group of Christians anywhere to be able to experience the revival power of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing in scripture to support the idea that God ever wants to deprive His Church of the very best. It would be impossible for her to fulfil her commission if He were to do so. Enough of definitions. Revival is life! Revival is exciting! Revival is always available! God’s best is already ours through Jesus Christ our Lord! It was the great American revivalist, Charles Finney, who maintained that Christians could experience revival anywhere at
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any time, if they were prepared to face the cost and allow God to do what was necessary in their lives. Some disagree and criticise Finney for such a stance. Yet Finney experienced revival for decades in a long and fruitful ministry. Many detractors have never experienced what was familiar to him. ‘Revival is a sovereign work of God’, they say. And so it is! Perhaps these two sides are not opposite but complementary truths! If we are prepared to do what is necessary through the power of God’s Spirit to enable personal and corporate revival, we can experience a sovereign move of God that takes us out of the mundane experience of church life, away from striving to achieve great things while accomplishing little! Surely it must be possible for the situations in which we sow much and reap little, to be reversed so that we sow little but reap much! Yet we are left with this nagging question, ‘Is there anything we can do to encourage revival?’ I believe there is an emphatic ‘Yes’ in answer to that question. This short book will point you in the right direction for you to experience personal revival. Where the biblical principles outlined here are put into practice corporately, a revival can break out among believers. Before we begin to unfold this process (and that is what it is!) let me state where I stand personally, for there are theoretical books on revival written by people who have never experienced it themselves, and it is a good biblical principle that we are to speak of what we know. I have had the privilege of experiencing true personal and corporate revival during phases of my ministry. I have also had the privilege of speaking in some of the major revival churches in
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different nations, churches that number tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands. Although the nature of these revivals may be different, the life that it produces among God’s people is always the same. This is hardly surprising, for there is only one Holy Spirit. Wherever He is allowed freedom He will express the fullness of His life among believers. What is this life? I would say there are four main characteristics when there is ‘true revival’ among God’s people: 1. An amazing love for God and for other people. 2. A bold faith that enables believers to live consistently in God’s supernatural power. Faith working through love. 3. A sacrificial living for the cause of God’s Kingdom, living in holiness as true disciples, with a strong desire to see others saved. 4. God’s people really pray! The Spirit of prayer is on them. Love, faith, holiness, prayer; surely these are always God’s purpose for His Church, in every place at any time.
LOVE, FAITH, HOLINESS, PRAYER; SURELY THESE ARE ALWAYS GOD’S PURPOSE FOR HIS CHURCH, IN EVERY PLACE AT ANY TIME.
We do not need to wait for revival, but to become a revived people. To the four activities above, many others could be added. But these are the essential ingredients, all fully infused with the life and power of God’s Spirit. I have been greatly blessed and influenced throughout my ministry through three
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revivalists: Charles Finney, John Wesley and above all, Watchman Nee. You could not imagine three more different characters, who all approach the subject of revival from entirely different standpoints. And yet there is a consistency among all of them as to what is necessary for there to be true revival through the Holy Spirit: love, faith, holiness and prayer. Then the gospel of Jesus Christ will be both preached and lived in power. He will be glorified in His Church, which will be abundantly fruitful in impacting the world with the gospel. However, before we start looking at the process that can bring us closer to God than we have ever been, let me make this clear. Reading this book will not result in you experiencing a personal revival. Putting these principles into practice will, even if those around you show no interest in revival. Let this book inspire and motivate you to reach out for God’s best.
WITHOUT TRUE REVIVAL GOD’S PURPOSE FOR HIS CHURCH CANNOT BE FULFILLED.
When these principles have been operating in my life in the way God intends I have lived in true revival. When they have operated in those around me as well we have seen God move in phenomenal ways. Sadly I can also reflect that when any of these principles have been lacking I have not walked in God’s best, even though I have still seen much blessing. Sometimes we can be satisfied with the good without reaching out for God’s best. I am only thankful for the Lord’s merciful forgiveness when I have been guilty of settling for anything less! One thing is certain, without true revival God’s purpose for His Church cannot be fulfilled. For the word ‘revival’ means ‘to bring
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back to life.’ God has provided for us the fullness of His life through Jesus Christ, so that we can live in the fullness of that life, as Jesus Himself did!
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Other titles in this series include: TRUE AUTHORITY TRUE CHURCH TRUE COVENANT TRUE DISCIPLES TRUE FAITH TRUE GRACE TRUE LIFE TRUE LOVE TRUE SALVATION TRUE SPIRIT TRUE WORSHIP TRUE SONS TRUE LEADERSHIP TRUE PEACE & JOY TRUE PROMISE TRUE GOD TRUE HEALING TRUE PRAYER TRUE KINGDOM
All these books by Colin Urquhart, of other titles and teaching materials can be obtained from: Revival Faith Resources, PO Box 650 Old Crawley Road Faygate, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 4YA. email: resources@kingdomfaith.com www.kingdomfaith.com
For more information and to purchase the full version of this book by Colin Urquhart visit the Kingdom Faith Resource Centre: http://www.kingdomfaith.com/ResourceCentre