“Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 ESV
The other day a very nice Christian lady I know jubilantly told me of the “revival” currently happening at Asbury University in Kentucky. She was convinced that the happenings were clear evidence that the Lord was doing mighty things indeed, despite our nation’s well-known godless and woke lurch toward Gomorrah. She declared it to be a revival and that’s what they say…you know, the ones who are allegedly experiencing and doing the reviving. But is it?
Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but this very well may be no more a revival than a rock concert is. Sure, there’s plenty of euphoria and emotions are running full throttle and there’s plenty of talk about the Spirit. But fervent feelings aren’t necessarily truth. A man can eagerly run east seeking a sunset, dashing over hill and dale. He can convince himself of a good many things that aren’t true. This looks like the sad case in Kentucky I’m sorry to report. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the alleged “third Great Awakening” is evidence of precisely what ails modern Christendom which is, as always (sigh), lots of emotion with nearly zero biblical literacy. Let me explain.
First, we’re commanded to test everything because the Devil is a liar (John 8:44) and our hearts are deceptive (Jeremiah 17:9).
The biblical evidence that man is a master, a black belt, an expert of John Wickian proportions, of seeking his own glory rather than the true God’s is abundant. Because of this, count me a skeptic on all of my own as well as everyone else’s feelings. Ayn Rand, that great atheist novelist/philosopher, once said that emotions aren’t tools of cognition. She was right. Nor are they sound exegetical tools either. A good rule of thumb is that our emotions usually, if not always, run contrary to God’s revealed word/law. A feeling or an experience is nice, but it isn’t biblical revelation. Sorry. The saints of old searched the Scriptures for truth; now we’re told to search our hearts.
You see, a revival didn’t happen at Mount Sinai where the doofuses (a technical theological term, that…trust me) made a golden calf to worship the true God – that is, worshipped the true God in a idolatrous way. The biggest revival in Scripture was at Nineveh. Jonah preached repentance at the great city which resulted in their city-wide sorrow from sin and turning away from evil and to God. That’s the critical thing missing in man’s so-called revivals: repentance. The easiest test of our religion, to see whether it conforms with Scripture or not, and it must or else it’s false religion in dazzling garb, is whether or not the people being revived are actually repenting of sin or not. No repentance, no revival. We simply can’t be revived and stay dead in sin. No dice. Sorry.
If this all sounds harsh it’s only because of our desultory biblical literacy. I’ve no way to know every heart there at Asbury. In fact, I personally know a great and true Christian who was saved at a clearly heretical church. The thing is, they were saved despite the false teaching, not by it. And as soon as they were able, and knew better, they left the bad church and found a true one.
Take a quick survey of the disciples. Peter opened his mouth often to change feet. John and James consistently outdid each other in shortsightedness. Saul/Paul was so convinced that Jesus wasn’t Lord that he helped hunt down and persecute the saints. The surest truth in God’s word is that our minds need to be renewed (and continually, not just once) because the mind is, by default, set on the flesh. It is God who creates a new heart in us because the “old” one has this terrible tendency to think rather daft things about reality – chiefly, that he’s (man) not so bad as all that and, therefore, that God isn’t quite so righteous as to require…well, you know, the sacrifice of Christ as a propitiation.
A revival without repentance is a contradiction in terms. It’s like a dry rain or an easy going wokester. To listen to the Asbury attendees there’s much talk about the Spirit as in the Holy Spirit but, at least so far as this writer has heard, no talk about sin and repentance. That’s interesting because of this:
“And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16:8-11, 13-14 ESV
Isn’t that weird? In the one place in the Bible where we get the clearest definition of the work of the Holy Spirit, given by Jesus Himself in the Upper Room Discourse, we see His work as bringing our focus to faith in Christ for the deliverance from sin and its penalty. But there’s no talk of this in the alleged revival. How can there be all this impassioned talk about the Holy Spirit and yet nothing at all about His real mission as detailed by the second member of the trinity? Only American Christianity could presume to know the Spirit better than the Son. There’s no doubt that the attendees at Asbury are very sincere. But without coming to God on His terms we’re all running east looking for that sunset, aren’t we?
And this brings us to the point at hand. God is a holy God…and that makes Him, as far as we’re concerned, a dangerous God…one to be feared and obeyed, not only loved. Yes, all that. It’s all true because He’s God and we’re not. If the Pharisees had the terrible tendency to presume upon the privileges of Israel’s unique status with the Lord insofar as law was concerned, modern Christians often presume way too much upon His grace. Both legalism and antinomianism achieve the same rotten end, by the way: diminishing in our eyes the true awesomeness of God’s inconceivable righteousness. This diminishment comes out in diverse ways. Sometimes it manifests itself in our definition of worship and, yes, in this case, revival. But again, due to God’s righteousness, our sin, and our dire need of grace, we need a revival of exactly that: righteousness.
And there’s only righteousness through faith, which comes along with, is never separate from – ever – the repentance of sin. Revival is a coming to Him. At the cross. Always. And only there. Never in any way else or else it isn’t Christianity but something else. And if it’s anything else – anything at all – it’s a golden calf dance with new steps.
“And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my Lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.” Exodus 32:22 ESV
But before that, we remember what Aaron said, appeasing the people who demanded to worship according to their feelings rather than the facts of God:
“When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” Exodus 32:5-8 ESV
Yeah…you know how the people are. And to that we caution: the Holy Spirit isn’t what we make Him. We should and must tread carefully. He’s the third Person of the trinity, not our plaything to attach to whatever whim of doctrine catches our fancy. Ascribing to Him to our sensationalism without repentance of sin is the modern golden calf. So, was the Asbury Revival biblical? Strictly speaking, I think not. Real revivals go “outward” geographically rather than bring people to an event. And they start in and find their motive power in the word of God, not feelings. The Holy Spirit isn’t our emotional euphoria. He’s the Person in the holy trinity who shines light on our sin and need of repentance. He shows us Christ. Focus on the Spirit by Himself is a clear sign of something heretical and weird going on.
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