After many years apart, I traveled to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to reunite with my former pastor. When I walked into his office, I asked him a question: “Pastor Jerry, if you had only a week to live, what would be your final message to us?”
A book he wrote became the fruit of that question. He departed to his reward before he could see the finished product.
My wife and I FaceTimed him a few days before his death and had a precious time of fellowship on the phone. We’ll never forget it.
He spoke to us about what a battle it was to get this book published. Satan contested this message, and there was resistance from the publishing company at first. But I am so happy to say that it is now being published (see the ad at the end of this article).
Revival Is Not a New Covenant Word
There is a move of God that must be passed on to the next generation. For the last two decades, this has been my consuming passion, and I have written much about it myself.
Someone asked Dad Hagin before he went to heaven if he had any regrets. Dad said he wished he had taught more on the importance of being continually filled with the Spirit. You see, that is God’s New Covenant plan for every believer.
We talk about revival a lot. It’s a big buzzword, and I’ve written about it and preached on it for years. But not too long ago the Spirit of God posed a question that arrested me and made me ponder this theme. He said, “Did you know that revival is not a New Covenant word?”
I quickly went through the New Testament in my mind and realized that the word “revival” appears in only one place. Paul spoke about the revival of sin that came through the knowledge of the Law (Rom. 7:9). Think about that.
Then the Spirit of God, who is our Teacher, Counselor and leads us into all truth, according to the Word, began to expound on this truth.
Revival Is Really for Spiritually Dead People
Revival means to come back to life. I know this will make some people angry, but revival is meant for spiritually dead people and those who are backslidden. Under the New Covenant, God’s plan and standard is for believers to live Spirit-filled lives and to never need revival. That may come as a shocker to many but it’s the absolute truth.
A big part of true worship is to speak and sing Spirit-inspired utterances in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, according to Ephesians 5:18-19, Colossians 3:16 and James 5.13b, as well as to cultivate a life of thanksgiving and praise. It’s the life we are meant to live where, combined with our daily responsibility to walk in Romans 12:1-2, you will find true worship.
Today’s Church Knows Little of True Worship
The contemporary church knows very little about true worship. Many Christians mistake emotionalism for the true anointing of the Spirit. If we don’t like the beat or the style of music, we turn it off. The early church didn’t have music styles and beats. They didn’t have celebrity musicians and worship leaders. They supplied their own lyrics from their inward lives with God. They were continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit, even during times of persecution and opposition.
“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52, NIV).
Today we ask for personal prayer whenever we are going through difficulties. And there’s nothing wrong with that, of course. But the Word also instructs us to pray for ourselves: “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray” (James 5:13a, MEV).
Even in the prison house with their feet in stocks and their backs bleeding, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises (Acts 16:25). In other words, in the worst of circumstances, they prayed themselves and praised God. That’s New Covenant Christianity; it’s a life of faith.
It’s time for the members of the body of Christ to grow up and mature by saturating themselves with the Word and learning to be continually filled with the Spirit so we can enter into true worship. {eoa}
Bert Farias’ books are forerunners to personal holiness, the move of God and the return of the Lord. They also combat the departure from the faith and turning away from the truth we are seeing in this hour. Bert’s current passion is to promote a culture of the supernatural manifestations and ministries of the Holy Spirit in the church today and to pass it on to the next generation (Passing On The Move of God To The Next Generation). His newest release, now available on Kindle and soon on paperback, The Supernatural Church of Love And Power, is a book for the ages. Other materials/resources are available on his website, Holy Fire Ministries. You can also follow him personally on YouTube (Holy Fire Ministries), Facebook or Twitter.
This (left) is the ad for the book mentioned in the article.
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