In 1971, evangelist twins, Ralph and Lou Sutera, were involved with the Saskatoon Revival, which traveled around the world and impacted lives, churches, communities, and mission fields.
Today, we’re going to look at a couple questions concerning revival.
What is revival in the local church?
In order to understand what revival is, we need to understand the difference between a few commonly-misunderstood words: evangelism, spiritual awakening, and revival.
Evangelism is when men, by human means, organize themselves to proclaim the Gospel to the community. It’s primarily a ministry to those who have never genuinely received Christ as Lord and Savior.
Spiritual awakening is when God, without any human means, sovereignly and supernaturally makes unconverted people consciously aware of His presence and of their need for Christ. It’s when He sovereignly compels them to fall on their knees and repent of their sins.
Revival is a cleansing, a spiritual adjustment, a restoration of health, vigor, vitality, and awareness of God to those who have already received Christ as Lord and Savior.
Now, revival is a very positive thing. Some people think that it’s something negative, but God is a good, loving God and there’s nothing negative about revival except our own sin.
Who needs to be revived?
There are three categories of people who need reviving: the preaching level, the prominence level, and the people level.
In the preaching level category, preachers need to be revived, quickened by the Spirit, and the revival needs to be continuous, day by day, walking with God in the Spirit.
In the prominence level category, leaders of the church need to be revived so that, as they minister, the Spirit of Christ will flow through them; they will serve Christ in His fullness; there will be no hindrance; and the flesh, desire for prominence, and desire to be recognized themselves will not take over.
In the people level category, the congregation needs to be revived. We all need revival. God is no respecter of persons when it comes to His blessings and to our needs. The only difference between these three categories is a difference of function. We’re all the same – we all need to be cleansed, need fresh touches from God, and need God to be in full control of our lives.
Thus, the whole church needs revival – nobody’s left out.
Catch the rest of this talk by Ralph Sutera on What Is Revival? on VCY.tv
