26th, February, 2022.

UNDERSTANDING BIBLICAL REVIVAL Pt.6

Psalms85:6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

REVIVAL BREEDS UNITY

I have spent time reading books on revival and listening to those who were part of the revival of yore. A recurring story in most revivals is the unity of brethren. The revival of the 70s& early 80s in Nigeria knew no denomination. Brethren saw one another as brethren not as members of a particular church. Being a Christian and having a solid relationship with the Lord was more important than the name or denomination of church. To understand revival and the gains that come with it, we need to study the early church and revival history. Whenever God brings revival to His people especially on a corporate level, the wall of division is broken and Christ takes the centre. Christ still desires to take the centre in the body of Christ not any church founder or denomination.

Take a look at the early church:
ALL THE BELIEVERS WERE UNITED IN HEART AND MIND. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. Acts 4:32 NLT. You may not understand this scripture when compared with what obtains today but that's the reality of revival. Today, one of the challenges we have in the body of Christ is lack of unity. We are fighting one another instead of fighting our common enemy- Satan. The enemy has infiltrated our rank and file and churches are now competing instead of forming a united front to win souls. I have seen believers fight each other mentioning the names of their General overseers and bragging over the "grace" they carry. I can't imagine believers in the early church fighting each another and saying, "The God of my Pastor, Peter the rock, the man that spits fire will deal with you". It sounds weird. We can't plunder hell with that attitude.

Stop seeing your church as better than every other church. Some persons do not believe other pastors are genuine and truly called into the ministry except their Pastor. This is the attitude of a lukewarm believer. The disciples of Jesus saw a man casting out devils and they felt threatened because their expectation was that such should have happened from their camp: “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us”( Lk9:49). Listen to what Jesus said, "Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you”(vs 50). A united devil will do more exploit than a divided Jesus. I hope you understand what I'm saying here? Christ himself can't be divided but when His followers are divided, Satan will overrun them and get his evil agenda fulfilled. Ask the Lord to give you a heart that loves the brethren and His kingdom. Ask for revival.