Leonard Ravenhill once wrote Why Revival Tarries, a book that I cherish. I have borrowed his title for this message. At one point in his book he wrote,
A blazing bush drew Moses; a blazing church will attract the world, so that from its midst they will hear the voice of the living God (p. 105).
Revival tarries because a church destined to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth has lost its way. We have surrendered to many tactics of the enemy that are designed to keep the church from blazing like the burning bush in the wilderness that transformed a man and liberated a nation from bondage. Here I summarize some of those tactics so that the seeking reader may respond to the fire of God.
A powerless Holy Spirit
Some Christian teachers are teaching the devastating doctrine that the Holy Spirit is not active today. The doctrine goes something like this: the supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit were only for the foundational period of the church. His miraculous works in and through the church were only for the apostolic first century for the purpose of bearing witness to the message of Christ. Once the apostolic age was over there was no longer any need of such supernatural manifestations and they gradually ceased entirely.
Usually, those holding to this heresy assign any current miracles or spiritual manifestations to the devil or to carnality in the church. In other words, the person or church involved in these things is demonized or functioning in the flesh. They believe that healings, or manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit such as prophecy have ceased. Some will hedge their bets by saying that they believe in these things but think they are a rare occurrence.
Those who embrace this doctrine cannot be one with other Christians because true oneness in Christ is supernatural and spiritual. Man cannot manufacture it. Religious men try to produce a semblance of unity using doctrinal statements and denominational boundaries but these feeble attempts only produce factions within the church. They result in walls being built around segments of God’s people for the purpose of controlling them and “keeping them safe”.
Often, this doctrine is out of fear of the danger of false or lying signs and wonders that we know will occur in the last days (Matt. 24:24). For this reason, the church must be a forum for judging spiritual manifestations. This is the subject of the next section.
A blazing bush drew Moses; a blazing church will attract the world, so that from its midst they will hear the voice of the living God (p. 105).
Revival tarries because a church destined to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth has lost its way. We have surrendered to many tactics of the enemy that are designed to keep the church from blazing like the burning bush in the wilderness that transformed a man and liberated a nation from bondage. Here I summarize some of those tactics so that the seeking reader may respond to the fire of God.
A powerless Holy Spirit
Some Christian teachers are teaching the devastating doctrine that the Holy Spirit is not active today. The doctrine goes something like this: the supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit were only for the foundational period of the church. His miraculous works in and through the church were only for the apostolic first century for the purpose of bearing witness to the message of Christ. Once the apostolic age was over there was no longer any need of such supernatural manifestations and they gradually ceased entirely.
Usually, those holding to this heresy assign any current miracles or spiritual manifestations to the devil or to carnality in the church. In other words, the person or church involved in these things is demonized or functioning in the flesh. They believe that healings, or manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit such as prophecy have ceased. Some will hedge their bets by saying that they believe in these things but think they are a rare occurrence.
Those who embrace this doctrine cannot be one with other Christians because true oneness in Christ is supernatural and spiritual. Man cannot manufacture it. Religious men try to produce a semblance of unity using doctrinal statements and denominational boundaries but these feeble attempts only produce factions within the church. They result in walls being built around segments of God’s people for the purpose of controlling them and “keeping them safe”.
Often, this doctrine is out of fear of the danger of false or lying signs and wonders that we know will occur in the last days (Matt. 24:24). For this reason, the church must be a forum for judging spiritual manifestations. This is the subject of the next section.
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