Principles of Apostolic Revial: Introduction

Recently I preached on a Sunday Evening in my home church on the subject “Principles of Apostolic Revival Part 1.”  I will endeavor in the next few weeks to write some of what I have been preaching.  Let me make the disclaimer that I am in no wise the expert on the subject of revival.  I often say that when I began in the ministry I had all of the answers, and now 16 years later, I have all of the questions.  I am in the ditches and trenches week in and week out slugging my way through, trying to make a difference in a lost and dying world.  These articles are simply based on book of Acts methods, and also my observations over the years.  Hope you are blessed…

Principles of Apostolic Revival Part 1:

If the Apostolic church were asked to sum up our doctrinal beliefs in one statement, we most likely would point to Acts 2:38 as the summation of the new birth message of salvation.  Of course it is not the only verse in the Bible dealing with salvation, and we must be careful not to make the same mistake others have made by basing their entire salvation experience on one verse of Scripture.  It is vital that we declare the “whole counsel of God.” The mercy and grace of God and the majesty of Calvary, along with justification by faith all play roles in our redemption.  Many years ago someone wrote to Bro. J.T. Pugh a letter from the mission field.  In this letter they made this statement… “Upon a life I did not live, and upon a death that I did not die, I rest my whole eternity.”  This may very well be my favorite quotation of all time.  The fact that I am banking my eternal salvation upon the life that Jesus lived and the death that he died, and not my own righteousness, is a powerful revelation.

All of this being said, somewhere we must mature as Christians beyond the point of just being happy to have missed Hell.  We must have loftier goals in our walk with God than to just “make the rapture.” If we are going to be the church God intended us to be, there MUST be a drive inside of the core of the church, but especially the ministry, to have Biblical Apostolic revival.  Revival that is more than a set of church services, more than emotions produced by the right songs, but something that produces lasting change in the lives of men and women.  Revival that causes sinners to cry out for forgiveness also causes lukewarm saints to fan the dying embers in their soul.  I have zero interest in just “holding the fort” til Jesus comes.  There are two prophecies concerning the end time church.  One says that there will be a great falling away and typifies the last day church as Laodecia, the lukewarm, half-hearted, spiritually blind people of God.  But there is a second prophecy that says in the last day God will pour out His spirit upon all flesh.  While some are walking out the back door, God is sending hungry people our way.  We are  experiencing it in the greatest measure that I have witnessed in my lifetime in our local church.  God is going to have a CHURCH, with me or without me.  We get to choose, we get to decide… which group we will be a part of.  If I felt that I must simply “hold on” until the rapture, I would resign my ministry, sell my books, and ride a pew to Heaven.  Thank God that’s not the case… we can and will have Apostolic Revival from now until Jesus comes.  Yes there will be seasons of revival and seasons of drought, but overall we can have a climate of Holy Ghost Revival.  In the coming weeks I will be focusing on the Biblical Principles that will when practiced promote revival and help disciple saints into Christian maturity.

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