HABBAKUK CH 3 V 2
INTRODUCTION
One modern religious scholar has said: ‘…we will not see the large scale revival’s that were witnessed, for example, during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries…There is simply not the required sociological, psychological and spiritual soil needed for such Christian seeds to take root.’
Is the possibility of true revival in Europe now dead? I certainly don’t believe so. Though we live in a society that’s no longer influenced by the Christian faith this isn’t any barrier to God. The English Evangelist John Blanchard has said: ‘Some time ago a piece of graffiti scrawled on a wall in New York announced, “God is dead. Nietzsche.’ Underneath someone added, ‘Nietzsche is dead. God.” Quite!’
Habakkuk can tell us something about real revival. The Jews of Habakkuk’s day had rebelled seriously against God and he prayed hard about this, but God didn’t seem to do anything - and it really got to him. Ch 1 v 2 ‘How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?’
Then the Prophet got God’s answer. The Babylonians – a people far worse than the Jews – were coming to punish the Jews in Habakkuk’s lifetime. Ch 1 v 6 ‘I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.’
This created an even bigger problem in Habakkuk’s mind. ‘How can God, who is just and good, who hates evil, send against His people a nation that He openly admits makes a god of its own might?’ Part of God’s answer was that He was still in total control, and the Babylonians – though used by God to fulfil His purpose – would afterwards themselves fall and be crushed because of their pride.
This whole amazing scenario compelled Habakkuk to cry even more in prayer to God. His burden? That God would show mercy and revive His people: Ch 3 v 2 ‘LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew [revive] them in our day, in our time make them known.’ As God’s people we need something of Habakkuk’s burden. But we need to ask the question…
WHAT IS REVIVAL?
God’s work, not our effort
Ch 3 v 2(a) ‘LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.’ Before anything else we must start with God. You might sometimes hear a Church or evangelist announce: ‘We’re going to hold a revival.’ That’s an impossibility. You can hold a series of special meetings which is what is often meant by revival, but that isn’t revival as the bible teaches it to be. Revival isn’t a work of man; it’s something God does. It’s given from above; not manufactured below.
Duncan Campbell: ‘It takes the supernatural to break the bonds of the natural. You can make a community mission-conscious. You can make a community crusade-conscious. But only God can make a community God-conscious.’ Duncan Campbell’s succinct definition of revival is: ‘A community saturated with God.’
This is what Habakkuk recognised – the people needed reviving and for that to happen God had to work and so he prayed hard for it: Ch 3 v 2(b) ‘Renew [or revive] them [your deeds] in our day, in our time make them known.’
The Church first, then the world
You can’t revive the world; only the church can be revived. What do I mean by that? You may get back from holiday and find your prized houseplant badly sagging so you give it some water and it perks up; you may doze off in front of a lovely warm campfire, and wake up to find the fire’s almost died. So you gently fan the red embers and add a bit of fuel, and fire builds up again; you may pull somebody unconscious out of a river with barely a pulse no breath in them. So you give him the kiss of life and it kick starts everything back to normal.
What’s common to each example here, is that there’s life there to be revived. It’s not a case of life being given, but life already present being restored; rekindled; re-animated. Can’t revive the world – it has no spiritual life – you can only revive God’s people.
In 1700’s Britain there was a big revival called ‘The Great Awakening.’ One of the leading preachers God used was a Church of England minister, George Whitefield. The discussion between a Baronet and a friend went like this: ‘This Mr Whitfield is truly a great man – he is the founder of a new religion.’ ‘A new religion sir’ exclaimed the friend. ‘Yes, said the Baronet, ‘What do you call it?’ The friend’s response? ‘Nothing but the old religion revived with energy and heated as if the minister really meant what he said.’
Now when God’s people are blessed, that blessing then overspills to society around and really affects it for good. Pastor Paul Harper comparing evangelism and revival said: ‘Outreach, yes; overflow, even better!’
God’s mercy, not our merit
We can also see that revival is never deserved; it can’t be claimed as a right. Ch 3 v 2(c) ‘…in wrath remember mercy.’ God shows mercy in revival when judgement is actually deserved. What tremendous hope this instils. If God works, it’s because of His mercy, not because of our goodness. Therefore, God can restore us at any time, no matter how bad the times. The basis of Habakkuk’s prayer is God’s glory and honour. As Matthew Henry put it: ‘[Habakkuk] does not say, remember our merit, but, Lord, remember [your] own mercy.’
WHAT MARKS OUT REVIVAL?
Prayer power. It’s usually found that before a revival occurs, God has drawn Christians together specially to pray; put on them a burden for renewal.
We see this action of God in PSALM 102:13,14 ‘You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favour to her; the appointed time has come.’ What’s the evidence of this time of favour? ‘For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity.’ Just as it’s unhealthy when God’s people lack interest and concern for God’s work, so a renewed energetic interest and concern is a healthy sign of blessing to come.
The remote town of Pond Inlet is on Baffin Island 400 miles above the Artic Circle. It’s accessible only by plane, thousands of miles away from any population centre. In Feb 1999 God visited this mainly Inuit community in a special way – He brought renewed life to believers and new life to the unsaved. Joshua Arreak was leading worship at the conclusion of several days of bible teaching, and people were in prayer together: He says: ‘And suddenly without our expecting anything supernatural, there was a visitation.’ Those who witnessed the dramatic changes brought by this revival said that it wouldn’t have taken place without prayer. What happened at Pond Inlet was preceded by a year of fervent, regular prayer.
J. Edwin Orr explains: ‘Whenever God is ready to do something new with His people, He always sets them to praying.’
Then when revival comes you can’t stop people praying. This was said about a revival in Wales in 1859: ‘The amazing thing is, that those meetings which were attended by the fewest people…the prayer meetings – those are now pre-dominant. In a real way, it is the spirit of prayer which is poured out upon us in these days.’
June 30, 1905, was the day a revival truly began in India. Pandita Ramabhai ran a Care Centre for Indian Widows called ‘Mukti,’ south of Bombay. She was teaching the Bible when the Holy Spirit came in power. All the women and girls began to weep, confess their sins, and pray for the Holy Spirit. Girls became stricken down under conviction of sin while studying, attending the industrial school or at work. Lessons were suspended, and all Mukti began seeking God. Two young girls were so gripped with the power of the Spirit that they prayed for hours and hours, until their faces literally shone with a heavenly light.
Preaching power. The ministry of God’s Word is greatly empowered by God’s Spirit. Brian Edwards says: ‘Preaching in revival times is not always graceful or polished, or even eloquent, but it is always powerful. By this word "powerful," I do not mean only that it changes lives, though it does that, but that the sermons are real and felt by the congregation.’
Didn’t Paul speak of this great effect in 1 THESS Ch 1 v 5? ‘Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.’
For the strength and health of revival, preaching and teaching is essential, to both proclaim and defend the truth. And it’s revival preaching that’s anointed; that has power. It changes hearts and lives.
Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr states: ‘When the revival power of the Holy Spirit comes down on a church everyone will know. The preaching will be "with great power." It won’t just be the preacher going through the Bible, teaching it verse by verse. Oh, no! There will be great power in the preaching. It isn’t something a preacher can plan out. It isn’t something you can prepare for. It isn’t something you can organize.’
Awesome Worship. After God delivered the Israelites from the threat of Pharaoh through the miracle Red Sea crossing, the people celebrated by singing: EXODUS Ch 15 v 1-2 ‘Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.’
When God’s revives His people He revives their tongues too – in singing! Thomas Payne says: ‘The ministry of song has played a very important part in most spiritual revivals, and might have been tenfold greater had this gift been better appreciated and more fully consecrated to the service of God.’
In a revival in Lowestoft, England in the 1920’s worship was awesome: ‘”O the singing!” people have said again and again as they tried to describe how the sound flooded out of the churches and into the streets.’
Again during revival in Borneo in 1973 it was testified that: ‘Somehow the singing was different. There was something beautiful, real and sweet about it.’
Hunger for the Word. When God’s Spirit revives the church there’s a craving for the Word. The people can’t get enough! It’s a ‘dangerous’ time for Pastors and teachers – they can get worn out! 1 PETER Ch 2 v1 speaks of this great hunger for the word: ‘As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word.’ Most of us will have seen a new born babe that’s breast fed who gets a whiff of mum’s milk. It’s like a bloodhound!
Titus Coan was used by God in Hawaii when revival came from 1835 to 1840. He said that a mark of the revival was the tremendous hunger for God’s word. The town of Hilo swelled to ten times its original size growing from 1,000 people to 10,000. This was due to people moving in from outlining areas so they could attend church and hear God’s word.
People really listen as if for eternity with bated breath. George Whitefield described the scene at Olney in Buckinghamshire in 1739: ‘Though it rained all the time, yet the people stood very attentive and patient. All, I really believe, felt, as well as heard the Word, and one was so pricked in the heart, and convinced of sin, that I scarce ever saw the like instance. The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword.’
This is reminiscent of an occasion recorded in NEHEMIAH Ch 8 v 3 ‘[Ezra] read it [the Book of the Law of Moses] aloud from daybreak until noon…in the presence of the men; women, and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.’
Today we talk about short attention spans and so on, yet when the latest Harry Potter book comes out thousands of younger and older people read it through in one sitting! Ah, but when God’s Spirit works there’s a tremendous appetite for the Word of God, and we can’t put it down as it were!
Life Enhancing Power. Believers are re-invigorated spiritually. The Christian is humbled in a new way, becomes more alert to sin, has a increased desire for God, and is all-out for God in serving Him, So much so that he is sometimes tempted to wonder whether he’d been a believer in the first place!
On the ‘Day of Prayer for Revival in India’ web-site this comment is found about revival: ‘Christians who have been living in sin, inactivity and spiritual "boredom" are revived. They come back to life. There is a new preoccupation with God and his word, with fellowship and worship. There is a new passion for lost people and sharing of the Gospel.’
An ‘oxygen fire’ is a fire in the presence of pure oxygen, or a high concentration of oxygen in the air, which can occur in, say, spacecraft like the Space Shuttle which carries supplies of pure oxygen. But also in hospitals where, for instance, oxygen tents are used. Combustibility in these circumstances is vastly increased – a ball of steel wool can burst in flames, even diamonds can burn. In revival it’s as if the pure oxygen of heaven is concentrated on earth, and a holy fire burns in the church, in Christians, more powerfully and brightly than ever before.
Life Giving Power. Lots of unsaved people get saved! Young and old; rich and poor; well educated or otherwise; religious; agnostic or atheist. God works powerfully in sinners hearts where it was thought the doors were shut forever.
It happens with Individuals: In Lowestoft, England in the 1920’s we’re told that: ‘Douglas Brown & Hug Ferguson were crossing the harbour bridge late on evening when they came across a man who, attempting to speak to them, broke down, leaned over the railings and wept like a child. He was under deep conviction of sin and felt he was too bad to be saved. The two ministers took him aside and there on the pavement led him to Christ. The next evening he was first down the aisle as a testimony to his new found faith.’
It happens with communities: This story comes from the Hebrides (off the west coast of Scotland) in the late 1940’s: ‘The service closed in a tense silence and the building emptied. As [Duncan Campbell] came down from the pulpit a young deacon raised his hand and moving it in a circle above his head whispered: ‘Mr Campbell, God is hovering over. He is going to break through. I can hear already the rumbling of heavens chariot wheels.’ An Elder then asked Duncan to see what was happening outside. He found that the congregation was reluctant to go home, and others, who’d been drawn out from their homes ‘by an irresistible power they had not experienced before,’ swelled their numbers. God greatly worked in the people’s hearts convicting them of sin and bringing much joy as they found Jesus as Saviour.’
Social Impact. What a world of difference revival makes to the Church. And at the same we can say what a difference it makes in the world! There is a real impact that is witnessed as a result of revival. ‘Ours is an age of style over substance. Many think that revival means promotion, slick advertising, charismatic leadership, and emotional preaching. There may be a big show, but what is the end result--the fruit? Heaven-sent revival is seen in the long-term, life changing effect of the Gospel.’ Anon.
In the Welsh revival of 1904 this eyewitness report recorded concerning the ponies that worked in the coalmines: ‘The horses are terribly puzzled. A manager said to me. “The haulers are some of the very lowest. They have driven their horses by obscenity and kicks. Now they can hardly persuade the horses to start working, because there is no obscenity and no kicks.’” There was a quick re-education programme needed for the poor ponies!
Of the revival impact in Borneo in 1973 it was said simply that: ‘The trees still have oranges.’ In other words children no longer stole them as they were used to do.
When revival broke out in Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada in Oct 1971 we’re told that: ‘Criminals were… confessing their sins and giving themselves up to the police. Restitution was common. People paid long overdue bills. Some businesses opened new accounts to account for the conscience money being paid to them. Those who cheated at restaurants or hotels returned to pay their full bill. Stolen goods were returned.’
REVIVAL FOR TODAY?
Can we know revival today? Humanly speaking it always looks impossible. But with God all things are possible! What are we to do?
Pray as you work. Never be tempted to think because you don’t see God working in a special way that it’s no use doing anything at all. Many Christians have succumbed to this way of thinking and given up Errol Hulse says: ‘Our prayers are real only if we live them. As we earnestly seek God for revival, we must not forsake the essential tasks of the church; preaching the truth, evangelism and a vital interest in and support for missions. We must pray for revival in the context of faithful work.’
Walk in the way of God’s blessing. Moses Kyak from Pond Inlet helpfully points out: “The essence of the revival in Pond Inlet was humility and asking God for His presence. The basis was God’s Word and seeking him for guidance.”
There is that rather interesting bible story about Abraham’s chief servant who was given the rather daunting task of finding a wife for his Master’s son, Isaac. He did exactly as Abraham commanded and went to Abraham’s own country, some 500 miles plus away. In a remarkable way God led the servant to Rebekah and her family, and she became Isaac’s wife.
GENESIS Ch 24 v 27 tells us the servant’s response: ‘Praise be to the LORD, the God of my Master Abraham…As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.’ The NASV says: ‘As for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brother’s.’
Henry Morris’ commented on this incident in this way: ‘The Lord leads along the path, a step at a time; but before He can lead us along the path, we must be on the path.’
The servant was walking obediently, in the way of blessing, and so he got it. So it is with us today – let’s walk in the way of blessing – seeking God’s face – and who knows what God might do!
Finally, let God be God. Don’t try and hem Him in, and expect Him to conform to your exact specifications and expectations! No revival is a copycat of another. Each has it’s own personality, affecting as it does different societies and cultures at different times. Michael Haykin gives this key advice: ‘Movements of spiritual renewal never occur in a historical vacuum. There are distinct cultural, social and economic factors that influence these revivals, and thus help to make each of them a unique work of God.’
We must therefore humble ourselves and ask God to come in His own time and way, trusting in the fact that His genuine work will never contradict but always be in line with His unchanging Word!
