REVIVALTALK

     In the early twentieth century, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit forever changed the world. This revival that gave birth to what was later called the Pentecostal movement.  The Pentecostal-Charismatic movement today numbers approximately six hundred million.       This revival had its roots in the holiness movements of the late 1800s and the revival that began in Topeka, Kansas, and later spread to the Asuza Street Mission in Los Angeles, California.        One of the characteristics of this revival was the Infilling of the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking with other tongues.  This experience is defined in the Bible as the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit.”  What does it mean to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?  It means to be immersed into the Holy Spirit, to be in-filled with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we might live an overcoming life.        In Matthew 3:11 – John the Baptist ga...

In 1 Samuel 22, David finds himself in an interesting situation. He was on the run from King Saul and hiding in the cave of Adullam. We know previously David had killed a lion and a bear and had become popular in a face-off with Goliath. Now, the honored sling man, singer, shepherd, warrior was suddenly hated, feared, lied about, and plotted against by Saul. David was running through the fields, slimy riverbeds, watery pits, deep ditches, miry mud, and briars. He was half-naked, filthy, stumbling, crawling, and clawing his way into a cave.   What a change from the freedom he had known as a shepherd, singing, and worshipping God everyday, being from a good family with food, shelter, and all his needs met. Now, he was in a dark, wet, cold, stale cave, hungry, exhausted, broken, and alone. David had a destiny of becoming King of Israel, but he was more like Robin Hood surviving day after day. Saul had been successful as King until he began to disobey the laws of the Lord.  H...

  II Peter 1:2-4 – “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”             What happens when we experience salvation?  We are born again.  Everything in our life changes.  John 5:24 says, “we pass from death to life.”  The Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 1:13, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”  II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone  is  in Christ,  he is  a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all thin...

  Psalms 85:4-7 – “Restore us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease. Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?  Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation.”             The Psalmist asks the question, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Then He follows up with this prayer, “Show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation.” We are asking the same question, “will you not revive us again?” Will you show us Your mercy?  Many of us are praying for our families and friends to experience true salvation.             We need divine intervention. We need true revival. Revival is a sovereign move of God. We cannot make it happen, but we can prepare for it. How do we prepare? We need...

  Acts 2:2 – “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.”              There is a fresh new wind from heaven blowing on the Body of Christ today. This wind is the wind of revival. After Jesus ascended to heaven there were 120 who gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem.    They were praying and waiting on the promise of the Father.    Jesus had instructed the disciples in Luke 24:49, “ Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem   until you are endued with power from on high.”              Throughout the Bible wind is figuratively used to represent the Holy Spirit. In John 3:8 Jesus used the wind to describe the Holy Spirit, “ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it com...

  Exodus 12:19 – “For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses…” Several years ago I met this gentlemen who lived alone.  He had been married, but had lost his wife to illness.  He was blessed with several sisters who loved and cared for him.  They would come and clean his house each week, but several times a year they would come and give the house a good spring-cleaning.             What is spring-cleaning?  It is cleaning the house from top to bottom.  It usually occurs when the season changes and the weather gets warmer.  One thought is that it originated with the Jewish people when they would give their homes a thorough cleaning leading up to Passover.   In the days before Passover the family will clean the house and remove any leaven (a substance like yeast or baking powder).  In Exodus chapters 12 and 13 Moses instructed the peo...