The Enemies of the Revivalists

When I look around and see the state of the Church I can only weep. When I see the defeated states of many Christians and how the Devil leads them captive at his will I can only weep. This Sunday marks one year that I have preached some form of repentance on almost every speaking occasion. It was one year ago that an urgency developed in my Spirit. Little has changed. I enquire of the Lord over and over again and I keep getting the same answer as to the problem; secret sin. God has dealt with His people time and time again to lay these things down and yet they will not. they want their sin more than they want a move of God. There is something about befriending the world that causes one to sympathize with it. Rather than seeing the world as the enemy of God, suddenly there is a fancy or affinity with the world that causes a war to take place in the heart of the Christian. This ‘affinity’ opens the door to compromise and when that door comes open, a person is of little use to speak to the times. We all know how timid we get when we have unrepentant sin in our life. This is the great battle of our day in the lives of ministers. Can we be in a place where God can use us to speak to our times? If not, why not? This is why prayer is desperately needed for all of God’s ministers. The temptations to sin on a personal level are great and so to are the temptations to just “go with the flow” and preach like the prophets of Baal. Preachers and prophets are and were men and women of like passions as everyone else. The enemy turns every ‘gun’ he can spare on someone whom God seeks to use on a prophetic level. The pressure is enormous. The strain is almost unbearable. The need for grace is imperative. \tThe Devil is desperate in our times. He knows that the end is near and the stage is being set for the end of this age. He is working like never before to entangle Christians in secret sins and all manor of compromise. He is challenging their Bible reading times, prayer times, focus on God and everything else. He wants Christians to try to live this Christian life in the ‘flesh.’ He wants people to hear Christian’s call themselves Christians, but have not the Holy Spirit. He wants a bunch of empty shells walking around who have only a memory of how things ‘used’ to be. He wants us utterly distracted and powerless. The key to understanding why a person cannot discern the signs of the times and speak to their generation is the same as they were back in the Old Testament. You cannot RESIST the Holy Ghost and expect the Holy Spirit to be there to give you His perception of the world, Church, or your personal life. You cannot grieve, resist, and vex the spirit of God and then expect the Spirit to give you insight or unction to speak to sinners.Why did a majority of Jews miss the first coming of Christ? Simple; They did always resist the Holy Ghost. They had the scriptures read to them every week, how could they miss it?! It’s a simple progression: The word + rebellion = DECEPTION. Light + Sin = BLINDNESS. These things are the real enemy of the prophets of God. Rebellion, compromise, pride, and a host of other enroads of the Devil. It is my prayer for 2005 that the Saints of God will trade in their secret sins and secret compromise for a fresh filling of the Holy Ghost. God Bless,-Robert

This is a testimony of Br. Yun, page 296-297, The Heavenly Man."Many pastors in Europe and America have told me they want to see great revival. I'm frequently asked why China is experiencing revival but most places in the West are not. This is a big question to answer, but some reasons are very apparent to me.When I'm in the West I see all the mighty church buildings and all the expensive equipment, plush carpets and state-of-the-art sound systems. I can assure the Western church with absolute certainty that you don't need any more church buildings. Church buildings will never bring the revival you seek. The pursuit of more possessions will never bring revival. Jesus truly stated," A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15The first thing needed for revival to return to your churches is the Word of the Lord. God's Word is missing. Sure, there are many preachers and thousands of tapes and videos of Bible teaching, but so little contains the sharp truth of God's Word. It's the truth that will set you free.Not only is knowledge of God's Word missing, but obedience to that Word. There's not much action taking place.When revival came to believers in China, the result was thousands of evangelists being sent out to all corners of the nation, carrying fire from the altar of God with them. When God moves in the West, it seems you want to stop and enjoy his presence and blessings too long, and build an altar to your experiences. You can never really know the Scriptures until you're willing to be changed by them.to be continued,In ChristJeff

"All genuine revivals of the Lord result in believers responding with action and soul winning. When God truly moves in your heart you cannot remain silent. There will be a fire in your bones, like Jerimiah, who said,"His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." Jeremiah 20:9.Furthermore, it's only when we step out in obedience and share the gospel with people that we come to know God's blessing in every area of our lives. That is why the Apostle Paul wrote to his co-worker Philemon, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Philemon v.6.I've seen people in Western churches worshipping as if they're already in heaven. Then someone invariably brings a comforting message like, "My children, I love you. Don't be afraid, I'm with you.? I'm not opposed to such words, but why is it that nobody seems to hear a Word from the Lord like, "My child, I want to send you to the slums of Asia or the darkness of Africa to be my messenger to people dying in their sin?"Multitudes of church members in the West are satisfied with giving their minimum to God, not their maximum. I've watched men and women during offering time in church. They open their fat wallets and search for the smallest amount they can give. This type of attitude will never do! Jesus gave his whole life for us, and we give as little of our lives, time and money as we can back to God. What a disgrace! Repent!This may sound strange, but I even miss the offerings we used to give in China. On numerous occasions the leader of a meeting would announce, "We have a new worker who is leaving tomorrow to serve the Lord." Immediately every single person would completely empty their pockets of everything they had. With that money the worker would buy a train or bus ticket and leave the next day.Often this money was not just everything we had in our pockets at the time, but everything we owned in the whole world. Just because you have a church building doesn't necessarily mean Jesus is with you. He is not welcome in many churches today. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Often this verse is used as an invitation for salvation, but actually the context Jesus was speaking in was very different. He was standing outside the door of the church in Laodicea, knocking to get in!" to be continued, Br Yun, The Heavenly Man.Page 297-298In ChristJeff

"Of course not all Western chruches are asleep! Of all the strong churches I have visited in the West I've noticed one thing they all have in common; a strong and sacrificial commitment to missions among unreached nations. I'm not talking just about local outreach, or even attempts to start churches in other cities in your nation. I'm talking about a heart to establish God's kingdom in the most gospel-starved and spiritually dark areas of the world, where nobody has ever heard the name of Jesus. When you start putting your time, prayers and finances there you will soon experience God's blessing on the work of your hands.The Great Commission has not changed. There are many chruches trying to create a heaven here on earth, but until the Western church obeys obeys the Great Commmision and takes the gospel to eht ends of the earth, people are just playing with God and are not really serious about the truth. Many churches look beautiful on the outside, but are dead where it counts, on the inside. If you truly want to see God move, the two main thing you must do is learn the Word of God and have the obedience to do what God tells you to do."to be continuedIn ChristJeff