A message that fits with a time of revival
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It was one of those times where Pastor Kelvin had planned the topics of the message series well in advance, but when the day came, it was obvious that the one for that day was exactly the right one. This past week, the attention of much of the American church has been drawn to the nascent revival that has broken out at Asbury University in Kentucky and is now beginning to spread to other colleges as well. More on that in a moment.
Pastor Kelvin’s message completed the series on Ephesians by focusing on Paul’s encouragement for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18). Pastor reminded us that while all Christians have the Holy Spirit’s presence in them, most of us seem to get by on “survivor’s rations” so to speak because of our devotional neglect and our self-focus. In contrast the disciples in the book of Acts were often described as “filled with” or “full of” the Holy Spirit.
How do we recognize the Holy Spirit at work?
Pastor Kelvin taught that four good evidences of the Holy Spirit’s active presence in our lives are:
- Unusual insight and/or urgency stemming from an encounter with the Word of God
- Special spiritual effectiveness in what we do or say that is hard to explain from a human standpoint
- A selfless humble attitude that truly desires that God receive the praise
- An increase of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22,23) showing through in our personality
We also learned that being filled with the Spirit is not a once and done project. It is a continuing pursuit. God wants us to continually allow the Holy Spirit to flow into our lives and out again in the process of ministry. Consider the two illustrations that Jesus gave.
- To the woman at the well, he talked about God’s Spirit in us as a large spring of water ever overflowing with life from God (John 4:13,14).
- While teaching in the temple courts at the Festival of Tabernacles, Jesus spoke of the Spirit as a great river running through our souls bringing life-giving refreshment to us and others (John 7:38).
Those descriptions fit what is happening at the Asbury Revival too.
This new time of spiritual renewal that has begun has classic signs associated with previous great spiritual awakenings, including being birthed in much prayer and being characterized by confession and repentance. In addition, as is also usually true, it has some surprising features. For example, in this case there is little visible up-front leadership. In this day of megachurches with famous pastors, fancy lighting, projection screens, and professional worship teams, this student-led revival is a stark contrast in its simplicity. I read that there are rotating teams of up to three people to lead music. However there are behind-the-scenes organized prayer teams and counselors. Even though the participants are mostly under 25 years old, there is none of the lights or words on the screen that churches often use these days. In spite of the simplicity, outside, people are in line for blocks in the cold to get a chance to go to the altar inside. In one recent picture, I saw a line of folding chairs in front of the altar rail to accommodate the many altar counselors continually needed. One visiting pastor took a picture of the sanctuary still at least three-quarters filled with worshippers after midnight!