Believers all across the country are talking about revival. I hope and pray we see revival in the last days. But one thing makes me uneasy about the majority of this talk that has fallen upon my ears. There is too much emphasis on subjective experiences and leadings and not enough on restoring the authority of the word of God to the place that it ought to have in the church.
The pattern for revival in the Bible is rescuing the word of God from underneath the rubbish that obscures it (see the account of Josiah’s revival in 2 Kings 22). Thankfully, in our day we haven’t lost the entire Bible under rubbish. Nonetheless, much truth lies buried under unbiblical doctrine and practice. Some of this rubbish keeps us from the word, and some of it keeps us from understanding the meaning that God intended. This rubbish must be removed. Any revival that doesn’t focus on removing rubbish and pursuing greater conformity to the word of God is no revival at all.
Sadly, some of the rubbish that hinders biblical revival is misconceptions about revival. Two common ones are confusing revival with emotions and confusing revival with promptings and impressions. These misconceptions actually hinder believers from walking with God according to the dictates of His word.
Revival is not an emotional high. Erase that thought from your head. Revivals based on emotion burn out as fast as they start. The work of God, though it can effect your emotions, is not based on them. Anything that starts with emotion will end when the emotion passes. And it will pass because emotions always pass. True revival causes the heart to go forth in the service of Christ at a diligent pace regardless of what it feels or doesn’t feel. This deeper zeal, the settled purpose of the heart, is the zeal that matters the most. The deeper that the roots of purpose and character go, the more stable and consistent the emotions will be.
Revival is also not a continual string of extra-biblical leadings and impressions. Regardless of what their intentions are, those who seek experiences will undermine their diligence to follow God in His prescribed way, which is applying the directives of the word of God with Bible-gained discernment and wisdom. The lion’s share of your guidance should be the word of God itself. God does providentially direct and guide his people in the implementation of biblical truth but never in such a degree that He undermines His own primary method, which is the word of God. Extra-biblical guidance must be subordinate, not coordinate.
May we all pursue revival according to God’s pattern. May we exalt God’s word above all things—including emotions, feelings, and impressions—regarding it as the only rule of faith and practice. May we remove everything from our life and from our understanding that obscures the word of God.
Eyes wide open, brain engaged, heart on fire,
Lee W. Brainard
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