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Shillong Revival |
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Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place |
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The Nature of Revival |
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By Rev. Lyndan Syiem & Mrs. Radiancy Ryngnga
"What exactly is Revival?"
Does the Bible have anything to say about revival? Does it always come when we meet certain conditions? In other words, is there a “revival formula” by which we can engineer into existence a season of revival? With the revival now picking up momentum more questions are being asked. This article is our prayerful attempt to present what we have seen & experienced over the last few months in the Shillong area, which is experiencing a wonderful season of revival.
By now, many people have seen manifestations of the revival; either in churches, in schools or in their own families, and some have even experienced it personally. Many accept this Revival as a supernatural work of God; some reject it outright as mere emotionalism or mass hysteria; a few attribute it to demonic activity, while others prefer to remain non-committal on the issue. Whatever their positions, many are asking the question: "What exactly is Revival?" Over the past few months, we have been invited to many churches and schools, in both urban and rural contexts, to speak about Revival, to counsel people, and to teach counselling. We feel it is important to share from our firsthand experiences, and not merely from academic theorising.
'Revival': an extraordinary, gracious season of the Holy Spirit’s activity
The word 'Revival' (and the verb 'revive') is derived from the Latin root, “revivere”, which means "to bring back to life." 'Revival' means a renewal of spiritual life, both individual and corporate, accompanied by moral and social transformation. Although the word 'revive' is found in only two passages of Scripture (Psalm 85:6, Habakkuk 3:2), the concept of Revival is clearly taught throughout the Bible and specific cases of Revival are also recorded. As a concept, Revival is implicitly contained in II Chronicles 7:14, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Joel 2:12-17, 28-29. Specific cases of Revival are recorded in the Bible: during the time of the prophet Elijah, during the reign of King Hezekiah and King Josiah, during the time of the scribe Ezra, with the climax being the New Testament Revival, beginning on the day of Pentecost.
We would like to clearly state that Revival is not merely religious ecstasy, as commonly misunderstood. While the elements of religious ecstasy are admittedly very strong, the defining characteristics are actually personal and religious renewal, resulting in moral and social transformation. Revival is not merely about the sensational but is primarily about the transformational. While the most publicised aspects of the Revival in Shillong over the past few months, were the miraculous crucifixion image on the cross and the strange appearance of birds in churches, the unnoticed but more substantial aspect was the large-scale turning of people to Christ in repentance and faith, the deliverance of many alcoholics and addicts, the healing of relationships and the restoration of broken homes.
Seasons of “revival” have always been extraordinary times of heart-searching, when many simultaneously experience a deep conviction of sin and the need for repentance and life change, under the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit. Theologians and church historians define “revival” as a special time in the life of the church when the Spirit of God is manifested in greater measure than usual.
Revival comes because of the outpouring of the Spirit of God on all people (Acts 2:17-18). While the Spirit has always been active from eternity and will continue so to eternity, Revival is an extraordinary season of his activity. The Bible teaches us that the Spirit of God is not just a manifestation of God, or an impersonal force or an abstract influence, but is a Person who possesses all the attributes of personality. He thinks, He acts, He leads, He feels, He can be lied to, resisted and grieved, and above all, He has his own will. Therefore we always use the personal pronouns 'He' and 'Him', never the impersonal 'it'. He is also known as the Holy Spirit, the third Person in the Trinity, which consists of God the Father, God the Son who is Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit: Scripture clearly shows that the Holy Spirit is present and active throughout Creation. In relation to people, his work is to convict them of their sins, to lead them to saving faith in Jesus Christ, to renew their lives through a spiritual rebirth, to transform people by breaking old habits and building new ones, to empower them to live a holy life, to dwell within their hearts and to give them the assurance of God's salvation. While the Holy Spirit does all of these all the time, during times of Revival his activities are more pronounced, evidenced by the large-scale turning of people to Christ. People become more open and obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit within them, and because of this we see the radical transformation of people's lives and renewal in families, in the church and in society.
Personal Life Transformation: We know and have personally seen many cases of alcoholics and addicts being miraculously delivered, compulsive gamblers changed, broken families coming together, and restless people with raging conflicts within finding peace in Christ. However, the media and people in general focus on the more sensational aspects of Revival like school children fainting, crying and struggling due to conviction of sin, the fervent prayers and energetic singing, the seeing of visions and speaking of prophecies. It must be admitted that such happenings are very disturbing for someone who is not familiar with Revival and who has no explanation for such phenomena. In the absence of a proper understanding of Revival, there have been many attempts to explain the fainting and crying of children in purely naturalistic terms.
A paradigm shift in worldview required to understand revival: To someone who sincerely seeks to understand the above phenomena, what is first required is a paradigm shift in worldview. We have to move from a naturalistic, deistic view of the world where all happenings can be explained by science, to a super-naturalistic view where God is present and active, and sometimes actually intervenes in the happenings of the world. Given the -justifiable- assumption that God is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, there is no reason why he cannot step within human time and space to intervene in the affairs of the world. Of course, He does not always do this because He usually works through the laws of nature -which science has discovered. But occasionally God does set aside His own laws, miraculously as it were, and intervenes in human affairs, as during times of Revival.
What might be the purpose of school children fainting, crying, praying, singing, seeing visions or speaking prophecies? If we accept that God is behind this Revival, we may ask what is the purpose of school children fainting, crying, praying, singing, seeing visions and speaking prophecies? Not mere sensation for sure, but transformation. Children (and adults as well), cry and struggle because of conviction of sin. They pray, or are led to pray, for forgiveness in Christ's name and having received it, sing out in joy. They sometimes see visions of heaven and speak prophecies from God. We have counselled and prayed for literally hundreds of people in such a manner, and people do find peace of mind and joy in spirit. Sometimes however, despite our best efforts people do not find peace. In such cases the problem lies at home, in their families. If someone in the family is living in sin and is resisting God, conviction often comes upon the young ones. Therefore what we do is call the whole family to repentance and commitment; only then do the young ones find peace and joy.
Evil spirits and a season of simultaneous increase in visible demonic activity: However many times this is not enough. We often come across people still being in conflict. Then we are forced to conclude that they are being troubled by evil spirits. The biblical response to such cases is to cast out the malevolent spirits in Jesus' name and our experience is that they must leave (Mark 16:17, Matthew 10:8, Acts 16:16-18). Don't be surprised at this demonic activity because Satan will do everything in his power to obstruct the transformative work of Revival. But don't be alarmed either because Satan is no match before God (I John 3:8, 4:4, Col. 2:15). At the same time however, don't judge the Revival merely on the basis of a few cases of demonic activity. Because these constitute barely 5% of unusual Revival phenomena; 95% of what happens comes from the Holy Spirit and leads to transformation and renewal.
This relatively small percentage comprising of demonic cases often generates bad publicity about Revival. Unfortunately there is very little subsequent discussion when such people are healed and made whole. In order to judge the Revival fairly, one must also take into account the Holy Spirit's work in 95% of the cases and the subsequent healing of the 5%, for a complete picture of Revival. A word of caution however, is that during times of Revival (more than any other time), we may encounter people with psychological problems and personality disorders. Therefore we must be discerning, because such people need professional counselling and psychiatric treatment.
Is there a Biblical basis for ascent from the natural world into supernatural realms? Another phenomenon during the Revival that has troubled parents, teachers and elders is instances of children sleeping during daytime and claiming visions and prophecies when they wake up. Many are asking: "Is it correct? Is there a biblical basis for this ascent from the natural world into the supernatural realms?" Yes, there is a biblical basis. In Acts of the Apostles 10:9-29, we read how Peter fell into a trance and saw a vision from heaven that contained a message for him. We also read in II Corinthians 12:4, Paul's testimony of being "caught up to paradise." In Revelation 1:17-18, John describes a vision of how he fell faint at the feet of Jesus. A word of warning here: children should not pretend to see visions as an excuse to dodge their studies. It is downright dangerous to sham the things that are of God. On the other hand, those who do see visions should not become conceited but in humility, witness of your experience to others.
Is this a Presbyterian Revival? Finally, it is essential to emphatically clear the misconception that this is a Presbyterian Revival. Yes the Presbyterian Church has been praying and preparing for Revival, for many years now. But Revival is not the exclusive property of the Presbyterians. There is nothing denominational about the work of the Holy Spirit. We cannot also limit Revival to Christians alone. Time and again we have observed the Holy Spirit transcending the boundaries of creed and ethnicity to convict and to transform people from all faiths and persuasions. The God who created us all is the God who loves us all, and He offers us his gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.
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