After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Acts 4:31

From Jim Wood, Founder of Wears Valley Ranch.

I have not been to Asbury University. I know folks who have. The reports I’ve received are very encouraging. Thousands of people are joining in worship, confessing their sins, asking forgiveness and cleansing, rejoicing in God’s grace, and proclaiming the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Not surprisingly, there are doubters and critics. The main accusers seem to be very religious defenders of their own brand of orthodoxy. If they are not in charge, be careful.

I vividly recall the awakening that took place when I was in my teens. The story of one part of that time is currently filling movie theaters with a remarkable film about the Jesus people movement. God was moving across our country and around the world at that time. The media was fascinated for a while. My sister and her husband were living in southern California where he was getting his PhD. They helped fly me out to visit, so I could see what was happening first hand. I spent a month visiting Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa, worshiped one Sunday at Calvary Chapel, went “street witnessing” on Sunset Strip in Hollywood (starting after midnight), and heard the testimonies of many changed lives. God was definitely doing some amazing things.

Those of us who have studied the history of revival see that, along with any authentic work of God, the enemy seeks to distract from and discredit what God is doing by manifesting all manner of ungodly and counterfeit spiritual activity. Critics often focus on these things to justify rejecting the good that is happening.

A genuine spiritual awakening is when the sovereign Lord graciously works in an unusual way to stir his people. They respond in faith, are devoted to prayer, repent of sins, share their faith with renewed fervor, and worship with joy and reverence. If revival results, the impact on society is tremendous and undeniable. Such events have happened throughout the history of the church. They typically occur when societal conditions have sunk to horrifying lows and much of the professing church is characterized by carnality and conformity to the world around it.

As a remnant of God’s people become desperate, we resort to prayer, recognizing our only hope is intervention by God himself. One of my mentors as a teen was Dr. L. Nelson Bell, the father-in-law of evangelist Billy Graham. He was a student of the Scriptures and a man of prayer. He often referred to a passage in Zechariah as one of his favorite verses:

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
Zechariah 4:6

Dr. Bell was a man of action who accomplished many wonderful things as a missionary in Asia and here in the United States. His extraordinary life demonstrated a humble reliance on God. He shared the concern of many that there was a tendency on the part of professed trinitarians to ignore the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

An authentic work of the Spirit will bring conviction of sin (John 16:8) and draw us to trust Jesus, as the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). Jesus makes it possible for us to be reconciled to the Father, but we must be born of the Spirit (John 3:3-8). We receive the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). We are able to call God our Father because of the work of the Spirit (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6). The purpose of God in the Gospel is not simply our forgiveness so that we avoid hell. It is that we might be the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16).
Christ in you is the hope of glory Colossians 1:27.

Some of us grew up singing a prayer penned by a medical doctor who became a Presbyterian pastor in Scotland. William MacKay wrote these words in the 1860’s, a time when, despite the horrible bloodshed in the United States, God was moving here and around the world.

Revive Us Again
We praise Thee, O God!
For the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died,
And is now gone above.

Refrain:
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.

We praise Thee, O God!
For Thy Spirit of light,
Who hath shown us our Savior,
And scattered our night.

All glory and praise
To the Lamb that was slain,
Who hath borne all our sins,
And hath cleansed every stain.

All glory and praise
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.

Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.

I urge you to sing it, play it, pray it! May God grant it!