Is It Time For A Revival ?
We are living in a time of great uncertainty. The world is at a crossroad. The things of old have passed because in this new millennium, it seems that we have done away with the old, the traditions and the time tested truths. Today’s generation thinks in a totally different way. But the enemy of our soul still has the same ambitions and that is to conquer the world. The Bible speaks of one who will come and do just that. He will rule the world as Revelation 13:7-10 says, “ It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority was given to him over every tribe, people, language, and nation. All who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slaughtered. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”
So first there must take place a great apostasy, a great falling away from God and truth, and everything that leads to holiness and godliness and, quite frankly, everything that leads to civilization as we have known it in the modern era. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 tells us ,”Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Messiah Yeshua and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”
We want to begin by looking at this little book of Jude. Jude was the half brother of Yeshua, the Messiah. He gives us great insight into today’s world. We begin at Jude 3-4, “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into indecent behavior and deny our only Master and Lord, Messiah Yeshua.”
Jude wanted to begin by writing about salvation, but not just anything about salvation but our common salvation. You know the things we have in common, like we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord. We have all been created by God. We all live on this planet together which was created by God. We have all been saved by Yeshua’s shed blood. You know the common things we share. But then the Holy Spirit grabbed hold of his heart and said, Wait! I have more pressing issues. There is a great spiritual battle taking place and everyone must fight this battle. So, earnestly contend for the faith. This faith, the bedrock of our walk with God. The foundation of what we believe is being uprooted. It is being challenged, it is coming under attack by spiritual forces behind the scenes by people unnoticed. You have to ask yourself, if someone comes into my congregation and is an enemy of God, you would think you would notice? No, that is too obvious. The devil is cunning, he is LIKE an angel of light. Jude wants to remind his readers of a few things and tell us what we are contending against. Jude 5-16 continues to say, “Now I want to remind you, though you know everything once and for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in sexual perversion and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Yet in the same way these people also, dreaming, defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak abusively of angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him an abusive judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ But these people disparage all the things that they do not understand; and all the things that they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have given themselves up to the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the ones who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, like shepherds caring only for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, churning up their own shameful deeds like dirty foam; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever. It was also about these people that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord has come with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.”
Jude gives us a short history lesson into the different ways people rebelled against God. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were like the fallen angels who left their own habitat and went after strange flesh. Israel who rebelled in the wilderness, Cain who killed his brother over jealousy and Baalam who sinned because of the love of money, and Korah who rebelled against Moses’ God given authority. Jude goes on to write this about the ungodly sinners. He says, that they are hidden, their deeds are done in darkness. John 3:19-21 tells us this, “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.”
He speaks of shepherds caring only for themselves. Who are these shepherds? They can only be pastors or bishops, people who tend the sheep. Jude is warning us that those that have crept into our congregations are hidden, because they are cunning. No one goes around saying things like I’m in it for the money or because I have a problem with godly people and so I want to deceive them. Many of our shepherds belong to the Masonic Lodge and have made vows to idols. Many of them are plants who have been assigned to deceive those who are weak. Most of all, our forefathers of the church changed God’s Word to fit their doctrine, instead of their doctrine fitting the Word of God. Many pagan ideas came into church doctrine through these founding fathers and so called doctors of the church, and they stripped the Jewish foundation to the Word of God in all of their counsels and have reduced Yeshua to Jesus who now is more Greek than Jewish, ( see the series on the Sins of our Forefathers). 2 Timothy 3:1-8 says this, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these. For among them are those who slip into households and captivate weak men and women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, worthless in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their foolishness will be obvious to all, just as was that also of Jannes and Jambres.”
Ephesians 5:6-13 says, “See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.
Even Jude is warning us of such things as he continues. “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Messiah Yeshua, that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Messiah Yeshua to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Messiah Yeshua our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
We know that church attendance is down. We see that teens and young adults are not sitting in pews. We know that less and less people are identifying as Christians or church goers. We see that we are in the end times according to the Scriptures. So what does this all mean? It means that it is time for revival.
Revelation 12:17 is one of many Scriptures that speaks of persecution by the antichrist. “So the dragon was enraged with the woman (Israel), and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua.”
Revelation 13: 15-17 speaks of those being killed who do not worship the beast. “And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause all who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”
Revelation 2:10-11 says this, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Messiah may rest upon me. For the sake of Messiah , then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
So we know by just a few of these Scriptures that persecution is coming, and in fact, is already here. So how is the best way to prepare for what is coming, that is actually right before us? Revival, true Revival. A true revival is more than a month or two, it actually can last for many years. In April 9, 1906, Los Angeles experienced a revival that lasted for at least three plus years and it spread to over fifty nations. Wm. J Seymour, a black preacher, is credited for the start of the Azusa St. Revival. Here is a little excerpt which was written at the beginning of this revival. “On the night of April 9, 1906, Wm. J Seymour and seven men were waiting on God on Bonnie Brae Street, when suddenly, as though hit by a bolt of lightning, they were knocked from their chairs to the floor, and the other seven men began to speak in tongues and shout out loud praising God. The news quickly spread; the city was stirred; crowds gathered; services were moved outside to accommodate the crowds who came from all around; people fell down as they approached, and attributed it to God; people were baptized in the Holy Spirit and the sick were said to be healed.” From there they moved to a building at 312 Azusa St. It is recorded that even the bars closed in the area and people from all over headed for Los Angeles, 312 Azusa to experience the closest thing to the day of Pentecost. So how does a revival begin? Well, it begins with much prayer and fasting. Acts 1:12-14 says, “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went up to the upstairs room where they were staying, that is, Peter, John, James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. All these were continually devoting themselves with one mind to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Yeshua, and with His brothers.”
It was also recorded worship at 312 Azusa Street was frequent and spontaneous with services going almost around the clock. Among those attracted to the revival were not only members of the Holiness Movement, but also Baptists, Mennonites, Quakers, and Presbyterians. An observer at one of the services wrote these words: “No instruments of music are used. None are needed. No choir for the angels have been heard by some in the spirit. No collections are taken. No bills have been posted to advertise the meetings. No church organization is back of it. All who are in touch with God realize as soon as they enter the meetings that the Holy Ghost is the leader.”
Acts 2:1-4 records this, “When the day of (Shavuot) Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.” This was their revival.
Exodus 19:18-19 tells us about what happened on Mt. Sinai at the giving of the Torah (Shavuot) and how it compares to the same day we call Pentecost. “Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the entire mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.”
And this was their revival. We too, must be praying and fasting so that we may have our revival with great signs and wonders and miracles. Like minded people need to gather and have genuine prayer and calling out to God, with true repentance, forgiving those we need to forgive and seeking God for His will in our lives, letting go of this world and preparing for what is coming to those who believe in the Messiah Yeshua. Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
In Jeremiah 33:3 God also says this, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
Isaiah 57:15 says ,“For this is what the high and exalted One says— He who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”’
Acts 3:19 tells us this, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Not only do we need to be revived, but so does our country.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “ If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
We also need our places of worship to be holy. Matthew 21:12-13 says, “And Yeshua entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, ‘It is written: My house will be called a House of Prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers.’”
Our sanctuary must also resemble God’s heavenly sanctuary. If it was important for Moses to build it exactly the same then it has to be important for us. God is Holy and we too, must be holy. Today, start praying earnestly for revival and begin by changing your lifestyle and you will be prepared for the coming persecution.
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