Do we really want revival?

by Bill Campbell

November 12, 2006

This question has been disturbing me for many months. Many people say we do. We even express an interest in it. The problem is that we define revival in our humanistic way which completely changes what Jesus was trying to do.

Let me say what revival is not. Revival is not repairing the old. In Luke 5:36, Jesus told the Pharisees a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.” When most people pray for revival, they are asking God to put a patch on their current worship culture. People want the move of God to match the move of man. The problem we face when there is a revival from heaven is that it will not match the old garment most of us are wearing. Young children often want to hang on to an old blanket or doll until it is so worn that you can not recognize it. This is what has happened to many Christians. They refuse to let go of what has died to embrace the newness of life that Jesus wants to bring them.

Matthew 16:25 “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

The Law of God, that was supposed to be a picture of the Kingdom of Heaven to come, had become ineffective to the Jews in the Jesus’ day. In the same way we as Christ’s Body or Church were to house the presence of the Creator of the Universe while doing his purposes. Now we have the name Christian but we no longer have the image in us. We are no longer the Church or Body of Christ. We go to a church building while building our own kingdoms. Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

What Paul feared, we have done. The cross has become ineffective and powerless. We have placed our hope in the future not believing the Kingdom of Heaven has come to earth. Religion has conveniently placed God’s presence out of our reach and taken away our responsibility to fulfill Gods purposes.

The word revival is not in the Bible as we have defined it. Most people would say revival is revitalization, recovery, resuscitation, or resumption. Jesus would not agree. He would want new birth, life, and a resurrection of your spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” A new creation does not even use the old dirt. It comes through God’s creative word.

When Jesus taught, he did not try to put His new wine into the wineskin of the old covenant because that had been corrupted by men. He fulfilled the law and thus redefined it. It became the new covenant. Jesus overturned the old (Matthew 12:21) system of rebels and replaced it with “God with us” and in us. The problem we face today is that denominations, organizations, governments, and church systems are instinctively self preserving. Even when they have lost the presence of God or the Fire of His presence, they can not admit it. We tend to justify our current condition and redefine what God wants by saying, “We are entering a new day and God is changing His direction.” Our houses are being built bigger and better. We are storing up resources in holes in the ground that produce nothing. Meanwhile God’s Kingdom is left in a mess while we are admiring the massive systems of religion that we have built.

Do we need revival? Yes! Are we willing to burn our old garments and put on new clothes? In all probability, we are not ready to get rid of our old baby blankets and stuffed animals. Historically religious systems do not die on their own. There is one thing I fear, and it happened to Israel in Jeremiah 7. Look at the progression in these key verses:

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Stand at the gate of the LORD’S house and there proclaim this message:
Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD.
This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.

Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching declares the LORD.
I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.
So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.

Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.”

In one chapter God’s message went from a call to reform to a sentence of abandonment and rejection from the presence of the Lord. The verdict was for a generation. Is there hope for this generation? I am calling, I am praying, and most importantly I am becoming. Everyone wants a revival, but who wants to carry it and become a revival. One of the greatest opponents of God's Presence is living in idleness. God’s presence always comes for a purpose! It is to bring healing to us, our families, our neighbors, our cities, our nation, and to the nations of the world. The water we drink from God comes in like a flood, and is supposed to go out like a river. If we only drink and never do or become we end up dead and lifeless. Revival does not come to refresh. It comes to wash away the dead and bring life. Once you are given life, you then have a destiny and purpose to fulfill for your God and King.

Revival simply prepares you to become a new garment. It gives you a new wine skin to carry God’s life giving presence and to see His purposes fulfilled. I have seen many people who have become addicted to the process of revival and repentance. This creates a problem as the heart becomes calloused and repentance becomes a ceremony.

Let’s look at Hebrews 6: 1-8.

¹Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,
²instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
³And God permitting, we will do so.
⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
⁷Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

Some may disagree with me, but revival was meant to produce something. It was meant to produce a disciple. God’s presence was given to sustain a disciple to go through the process of death and to give life to the dead. Now revival has become a tool for our own purposes to build our own kingdom.

Do we really want revival?

Bill Campbell




Do we really want revival? by Bill Campbell November 12, 2006 Do we really want revival? This question has been disturbing me for many months. Many people say we do. We even express an interest in it. The problem is that we define revival in our humanistic way which completely changes what Jesus was trying to do. Let me say what revival is not. Revival is not repairing the old. In Luke 5:36, Jesus told the Pharisees a parable: *“No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.”* When most people pray for revival, they are asking God to put a patch on their current worship culture. People want the move of God to match the move of man. The problem we face when there is a revival from heaven is that it will not match the old garment most of us are wearing. Young children often want to hang on to an old blanket or doll until it is so worn that you can not recognize it. This is what has happened to many Christians. They refuse to let go of what has died to embrace the newness of life that Jesus wants to bring them. Matthew 16:25 *“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”* The Law of God, that was supposed to be a picture of the Kingdom of Heaven to come, had become ineffective to the Jews in the Jesus’ day. In the same way we as Christ’s Body or Church were to house the presence of the Creator of the Universe while doing his purposes. Now we have the name Christian but we no longer have the image in us. We are no longer the Church or Body of Christ. We go to a church building while building our own kingdoms. Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” What Paul feared, we have done. The cross has become ineffective and powerless. We have placed our hope in the future not believing the Kingdom of Heaven has come to earth. Religion has conveniently placed God’s presence out of our reach and taken away our responsibility to fulfill Gods purposes. The word revival is not in the Bible as we have defined it. Most people would say revival is revitalization, recovery, resuscitation, or resumption. Jesus would not agree. He would want new birth, life, and a resurrection of your spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “*Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.”* A new creation does not even use the old dirt. It comes through God’s creative word. When Jesus taught, he did not try to put His new wine into the wineskin of the old covenant because that had been corrupted by men. He fulfilled the law and thus redefined it. It became the new covenant. Jesus overturned the old (Matthew 12:21) system of rebels and replaced it with “God with us” and in us. The problem we face today is that denominations, organizations, governments, and church systems are instinctively self preserving. Even when they have lost the presence of God or the Fire of His presence, they can not admit it. We tend to justify our current condition and redefine what God wants by saying, “We are entering a new day and God is changing His direction.” Our houses are being built bigger and better. We are storing up resources in holes in the ground that produce nothing. Meanwhile God’s Kingdom is left in a mess while we are admiring the massive systems of religion that we have built. Do we need revival? Yes! Are we willing to burn our old garments and put on new clothes? In all probability, we are not ready to get rid of our old baby blankets and stuffed animals. Historically religious systems do not die on their own. There is one thing I fear, and it happened to Israel in Jeremiah 7. Look at the progression in these key verses: “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: Stand at the gate of the LORD’S house and there proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching declares the LORD. I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim. So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.” In one chapter God’s message went from a call to reform to a sentence of abandonment and rejection from the presence of the Lord. The verdict was for a generation. Is there hope for this generation? I am calling, I am praying, and most importantly I am becoming. Everyone wants a revival, but who wants to carry it and become a revival. One of the greatest opponents of God's Presence is living in idleness. *God’s presence always comes for a purpose!* It is to bring healing to us, our families, our neighbors, our cities, our nation, and to the nations of the world. The water we drink from God comes in like a flood, and is supposed to go out like a river. If we only drink and never do or become we end up dead and lifeless. Revival does not come to refresh. It comes to wash away the dead and bring life. *Once you are given life, you then have a destiny and purpose to fulfill for your God and King.* Revival simply prepares you to become a new garment. It gives you a new wine skin to carry God’s life giving presence and to see His purposes fulfilled. I have seen many people who have become addicted to the process of revival and repentance. This creates a problem as the heart becomes calloused and repentance becomes a ceremony. Let’s look at Hebrews 6: 1-8. ¹Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, ²instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. ³And God permitting, we will do so. ⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. ⁷Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. Some may disagree with me, but revival was meant to produce something. It was meant to produce a disciple. *God’s presence was given to sustain a disciple to go through the process of death and to give life to the dead.* Now revival has become a tool for our own purposes to build our own kingdom. Do we really want revival? Bill Campbell
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