Stirred up
(The first in a series on revival)
By Ken Horn
A sudden commotion broke out at the large reception I was
attending. The stir in the crowd marked the arrival of a celebrity. People
flocked to where he was.
Whenever such a stir takes place, it usually means that
someone or something notable has come on the scene.
Revival features both — the person of Jesus and the
amazing things He does.
Revival shakes things up. If you hate change, you will have
a hard time with revival.
And the change revival brings is all the more noticeable
because it comes in times of deadness, times when “there is no one who calls on
Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You” (Isaiah 64:7, NKJV).
Christians can be lulled into lukewarmness, apathy or fear. This caused Paul to
tell Timothy “to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on
of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:6,7).
One meaning of “to stir” is to rise from sleep to begin a
new day. The saying “Arise and shine” comes from Isaiah 60:1. The apostle Paul
says it this way: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will
give you light” (Ephesians 5:14).
Someone notable causes the stir that accompanies revival. It
is always Jesus.
In the midst of the commotion caused by the great move of
the Holy Spirit recorded in Acts 4, the crowd reacts: “When they saw the
boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and
untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus”
(v. 13). Oh, that that could be said of each and every believer. Genuine
revival, even though it has human beings at the core, always draws attention to
Jesus. If this element is missing, the revival is counterfeit.
Genuine revival turns people toward Jesus, changing their
lives … and their lifestyles. It causes a stir when this happens. When someone
realizes he is in danger and needs to be rescued, does he whisper, “Save me”?
No, he shouts it! Desperation, on the part of the lost as well as in behalf of
the lost, can cause a ruckus.
Before and during times of revival, Christians are stirred
to pray — to “stand in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30). And they are stirred to
witness.
I was a youth pastor during the hippie era. When several got
saved and started coming to church — in unkempt clothes, hair and hygiene
— believe me, it caused a stir. It took awhile for the outer changes to
reflect the inner ones. But which is more important? If you’re unwilling to
have “undesirable” people in your church, you don’t really want revival.
Revival also causes Christians to be stirred to change
themselves … with God’s help. Revival brings more light with it, and thus,
there is less need for legalism. Christians run to the light like moths to a
flame.
Believers are stirred to godliness. This is not just
opposing evil in society (like abortion or homosexuality), but the evil that
followers of Christ still battle in themselves. Revival makes people willing to be changed.
And when revival comes, changes can be sudden. Instantaneous
healings, deliverances and transformations take place in many, though certainly
not all, cases.
Revival also causes another stirring, one not nearly so
positive. When God begins to move, the great lion rouses, stretches and bares
his fangs. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Acts 6:8-12 is
an account of Satan stirring up the ungodly to attack the godly. While revival
will often attract abuse from this world’s satanic forces, when there is no
revival Christians are more likely to attack other Christians and destroy unity
within the church.
Revival signals the onset of spiritual warfare. Christians
rise up to fight the devil. And when revival comes, Christians rise up to love
the devil’s prisoners. They fight the source of sin, while loving the very
people who may be the instruments of that sin. This drives Christians to their
knees, dominates their thoughts, and dictates their actions.
The power of the Holy Spirit is stirred up in times of
revival. How much room do you have? God’s work in you is limited only by your
capacity. It is why you can be
filled and still expect more of God as you grow in Him.
Revival transforms minds. It helps fulfill Romans 12:2: “Do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind.” Thought lives are purified.
When revival comes, the Word of God prevails (Acts 19:20).
There is a high regard for Scripture in every genuine revival.
When revival comes, religious people become godly people.
There is a stir of expectancy. People have bursts of faith and begin expecting
miracles. God’s works follow faith, and answers to prayer build faith even
more, thus sustaining and increasing revival.
Doubt resists revival (Matthew 13:58), but faith stimulates
it.
If you want revival, exercise your faith. Believe God.
Expect answers to prayer — big and small.
The stir that brings revival must be a stir of God and
toward God. If you are stirred in
your own power — or toward some gifted evangelist — you will fail.
When revival comes, Christians become more dependent on God.
Philippians 4:13 becomes a hallmark: “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.”
Because people make mistakes, there are always problems
associated with revival. But it doesn’t negate the good revival does. (See
Proverbs 14:4.)
Revival is not all hype and pleasant words. There is always
repentance, brokenness and hearts tender before the Lord.
Oh, that You would rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your presence….
There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You …
But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter.
(Isaiah 64:1,7,8)
The church needs to get stirred up to take hold of God. Then
we will see revival.
KEN HORN is the editor of Today’s Pentecostal Evangel and
blogs at Snapshots (khorn.agblogger.org).
E-mail your comments to tpe@ag.org.
