We live in days when God's people need revival. The world has become brazen in its love of sin and hatred of God and holiness. Instead of standing firmly for right and against sin, many of God's people have moved along with the world into the darkness. As a result of this move, Christians are cold to the things of God and unconcerned about the plight of lost souls.
Faithful believers hunger for revival, both personally and corporately (in their churches), and spend time before God begging for a glimpse of His glory. Eyes strain to find a spark of revival anywhere, and when it is found prayers are poured over that spark to fan the feeble flame. We need revival. We desire revival. We do not need or desire a false revival. A false revival is dangerous to the believer. It may look like the real thing, but it will distract from the focus of true revival. It will lead believers into error rather than truth. If we wish to avoid the distraction of a false revival, we need to understand what true revival is. On 8 February 2023, the so-called "Asbury Revival" sprouted. "The event was prompted after students spontaneously stayed in Hughes Auditorium following a regularly scheduled chapel service on 8 Feb. 2023 (wikipedia.com)." What has occurred since has left people divided about the legitimacy of this revival. As always, we must turn to the Scripture, our sole authority, to discern whether or not this revival is of God or men. To begin, we must acknowledge what Biblical revival is. We cannot discern between right and wrong, truth and error unless we know what is true. Truths Concerning Revival First, we need revival. Check out Revelation chapters 2-3. Here you will find the Lord speaking to the seven churches in Asia. Some churches received praise, while others received a warning. These warnings were a call to revival. The church at Ephesus had left her first love. The church at Pergamos allowed false doctrine to bloom among the members of the church. The church at Thyatira permitted a woman to teach and practice false doctrine. The church at Sardis was spiritually dead. The church at Laodicea was lukewarm; neither far from God nor on fire for God. The obvious conclusion is that God's people require revival from time to time. Second, God uses people of His choosing to produce revival. When revival came to the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, God used the prophet, Jonah. This prophet would be the last individual you or I might choose to send for this purpose. Jonah was headstrong. Jonah held prejudice against the people of Assyria. Jonah argued with God and became angry when God showed mercy to the people of Nineveh. Despite his want of character, God tremendously used Jonah. This is not an excuse for believers to live as they please, expecting God to use them, for God's people are called to holiness and Christ-likeness. Neither is this an excuse for the odd methods of men that are used to produce "spiritual results." I am merely pointing out that God can use odd people for His purpose and glory. However odd Jonah was, he was still the man of God, preaching the message of God, using the method of God to reach the lost for God. Third, revival results in individual change among God's people. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God said, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." The following are the changes that God spells out as the expected fruit of revival.
These are the changes that one would expect to see as the result of revival. Sadly, many revival meetings do not focus on these things, instead finding distraction in other "fruit" of revival, like attendance figures, emotional music, demonstrative preaching, etc. Fourth, revival results in corporate changes. In other words, New Testament churches are restored to fellowship with her Head. Jesus said to the Laodicean church, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20)." Jesus desires fellowship with His people, both individually and as a church family. When revival begins in the heart of the individual, it will affect the revival of the church body, as a whole. The one thing that Jesus identified as the sign of spiritual revival in a church was its desire to fellowship with Jesus. This fellowship will not be found through more church activities or more church fellowship meals. This fellowship will be found in a greater desire to hear from the Saviour through the preaching and teaching of God's Word. How we need revival in our churches! Fifth, true revival will result in a greater zeal for the evangelism of the lost. When an individual or church is spiritually lazy, it will not have a holy desire to see souls come to the Saviour. Why bring someone to Christ, for whom we hold no great love? But, when our love for Christ is revived, how greatly will we want others to know the same love we have received? Truths Concerning False Revival Once we recognize the special aspects of real revival, it is easier to recognize false revival. There are many characteristics of a false revival of which every Christian must be aware. First, Jesus prophecied the prevalence of false revivals in the Last Days. In Matthew 24:23-24 He said, "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." How many revivals proclaim the presence of the Holy Spirit or a move of God? These MAY be real revivals, but the claim does not make it so. This teaches us not to take these claims at face value, but to dig deeper. Second, Jesus told us that professing Christians would be deceived. In Matthew 24:24, we read, "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." True Christians SHOULD NOT be susceptible to these fake revivals, but fake Christians will fall for every "revival" that comes along. Third, the Bible proclaims the existence of false apostles and teachers. The existence of these false apostles should not be a surprise to us, but it is good to be reminded that they are out there. They look like the "real deal," but they represent the devil. "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)." Fourth, a false revival will promote false teaching. In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Paul told Timothy, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." These false revivals will promote fables, like public exorcisms, sharing visions and dreams, and emotional events. Fifth, a false revival will promote ecumenicalism. Each fake revival announces a "cross-denominational work of God." I do not believe that revival can only be found in an independent Baptist church, but I do know that real revival will cause God's people to look to the Scripture rather than hold on to and defend false teaching. Revival will spark a desire to follow God's Word to the letter and set aside every false thought, action, and doctrine. Ecumenicalism is the opposite of real revival. Paul told the church in Rome, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them (Romans 16:17)." Sixth, a false revival will ridicule discernment. There will be accusations of judgmentalism and jealousy. There will also be accusations of hateful speech, simply because a Christian sees and identifies a fake revival. Christians are commanded to discern between true and false, right and wrong. " Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world (1 John 4:1)." Seventh, a false revival will promote a different spirit. The Spirit of God is not present in a false revival because Christ and His Word are not exalted; Bible preaching is not the centre of each meeting; repentance is not the goal of each meeting. We are to "try the spirits whether they are of God (1 John 4:1)." That tells us a false spirit will permeate a false revival, making the undiscerning believe it to be a legitimate revival meeting. Christians and New Testament churches need revival, but revival is not always revival in the Scriptural sense. We do not need fake revival. We must use Biblical discernment to separate the false revival from the true. When you hear of a revival or a great "move of God," look for the signs. They will clearly show the real revival, in which you can rejoice. They will also expose the false revival, from which you must distance yourself.
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We can look at Novatian and those New Testament churches who stood with him and say, "See, New Testament Baptist churches aren't Protestants; New Testament Baptist churches were protested against from that time to this." We would be correct in that conclusion. But, if that is all that we learn from this situation, we have failed to learn from history and are likely to repeat the same errors that were made back then by those whom Novatian opposed.
Novatian teaches us the importance of separation. When we fail to separate from sin and error, things may move along much as before, but there will come a time when we recognize that we aren't where we used to be or what we used to be. There are two types of separation that Novatian's life and stand manifest. First, Novatian opposed those "Christians" who were faithful to God when it was easy but returned to paganism when things got hard. He believed that Christ's followers would follow Christ and avoid pagan practices in their everyday living as the Bible teaches. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (2 Corinthians 6:14-16)." Jesus never promised that living for Him would be easy. He said that His disciples would deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). Novatian was standing for personal separation from the world, even in the face of adversity. Second, Novatian opposed those churches that coddled these unfaithful "disciples." He preached that these churches were denying the faith and were no longer Scriptural, New Testament churches. As a result, he, and those churches that remained faithful to the Word of God, rejected the baptism of these corrupt churches as invalid. Novatian was standing for ecclesiastical separation from unethical and unbiblical churches, even in the face of ridicule. Today churches are making decisions regarding these same two principles of separation. Will they preach separation from the growing pagan influences of our world? Will they preach separation from the growing number of churches that infuse error into their doctrine and practice for the sake of numbers and popularity? We could learn a lot from Novatian! I pray that men of God will stand as Novatian did: identifying error and calling for separation unto holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16)! Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment? -Malachi 2:17
The Jews who had returned from Babylonian exile wearied the Lord with their words. I believe that many professing Christians also weary the Lord with their words. The Lord clearly states what He means when He says His people have wearied Him with their words. He gives two different, though intertwined, statements. First, the Lord is wearied by those who claim that God loves everyone, regardless of their lifestyle. We have a glut of preachers and churches who claim that the outside does not matter; it is only what is inside that counts (ie: "God sees the heart."). This is not in tune with the Scripture in either the Old or New Testament. Leviticus 18:5 says, "Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD." Ephesians 4:1 says, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called..." Both the Old and New Testaments call for believers to live, think, and respond like believers. I realize that not one of us is perfect, but this must be the goal of every born-again believer in Jesus Christ. If we love the Lord will all our heart, soul, and mind, we will also obey the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37; John 14:15). When we begin to make excuses for sin ("God loves me like I am."), we are guilty of making the Lord weary with our words. When we make excuses for ungodliness in the lives of fellow believers, we make the Lord weary with our words. We can even go so far as to say, "I know their life doesn't follow the Bible, but they are the best Christians I have ever known," we are making the Lord weary with our words. Second, The Lord is wearied by those who reject Him as a God of judgment. Too often, believers will talk about the "Old Testament God of judgment" that is always looking for something for which to punish His people. Then, they turn to talk about the "New Testament God of grace" that lets believers get away with wickedness and turns a blind eye to continuing bondage in sin. It might be hard for you to grasp, but we serve the SAME GOD in the Age of Grace that Moses served under the Law. He is not less holy than He was back then. He holds the same standard of holiness for His people today, regardless of whether His holiness is followed or rejected. He said in 1 Peter 1:15-16, "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." Notice how this applies to New Testament believers, but Peter reaches back into the Old Testament to prove the statement he makes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God has the same standard of holiness for you as He had for Abraham, Moses, and David. Rather than making the Lord weary, we must live in such a way as to be refreshing to the Lord. That comes about by humility and total surrender to God and His Word. Without these two key ingredients, believers will continue to make the Lord weary with their words. Back in the third century, something incredible happened. The churches in existence had gravitated into two camps. One camp held firmly to the teaching of Scripture, while the other camp felt that some Bible truth could be "tweaked" for the sake of convenience. One example of this "tweaking" is found in "clinical baptism:" a baptismal candidate, being too sick to be immersed, had water poured over him instead. The result of this "tweaking" was the churches in this camp teaching false doctrine, such as the necessity of baptism to forgive sins, the importance of the "saints," and other heretical doctrines.
In the middle of this conflict between these camps stood Novatian. He denounced the camp of corrupt churches, stating that their baptism was invalid due to their false teaching. He preached that any born-again believer coming from one of these churches to a church in the camp of faithful churches must receive Scriptural, valid baptism. Needless to say, the compromising churches reviled Novatian as "divisive." New Testament Baptist churches today are reviled as "divisive" when we refuse to accept any immersion from a church that is not a New Testament church in doctrine and practice. Things haven't changed that much over the centuries. The point is that the compromising churches "protested" against Novatian and those New Testament churches that stood faithful to the Word of God. They protested that their compromise was exposed for all to see and that there were real consequences for their compromise. These "protesters" began to deride these faithful churches as "Novatians" and "Anabaptists." These "protesting" churches further developed into the Catholic and Orthodox churches of today. The Bible teaches that "like begets like," so it is no surprise that in 1517 and after, many stood to protest the things in the Catholic church with which they disagreed. No, New Testament Baptist churches are NOT Protestant. They were the first to be protested against because they desired to remain faithful to the Lord and His Word. We, too, need to continue faithful to the Lord and His Word, no matter the names we are called and the "divisiveness" that is created. |
About Jerry JacksonJerry has been writing for many years now. He has written tracts for several churches, as well as his ministries in Papua New Guinea and in Canada. He has had the opportunity to have many of his articles published in several Independent Baptist periodicals over the years. His main goals are to teach truth and lift up the Saviour. Archives
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