Revive Us Again Part 3 - The Evidence Of True Revival by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Three Levels of Revival

Jeremiah 24:7 — God's promise to give his people a heart to know him, that they would return to him with their whole heart, is the portrait of a revived person.

Isaiah 60:1-19 — This passage paints the portrait of a territory and a people who have experienced true revival. Arising and shining, nations and kings drawn to their light, abundance flowing in, walls called Salvation, gates called Praise — this is what territorial revival looks like.

According to scripture, there are clear evidences that attest to the presence of a true revival. There are false moves. There are similitudes of revivals. But when a genuine revival breaks out within a territory or within a life, there are biblical indices — signs and evidences that attest to the presence of a true revival.

Revival occurs at three levels:

• Personal revival — an individual experiences an awakening and restoration. The prodigal son in Luke 15:24 is a picture of this. The young man left, lived riotously, depleted everything until he was feeding with swine. One day he came to himself, arose, and returned to his father. The father embraced him, put a robe on him, kissed him, and restored him. That is the word — to bring back to life. The father's statement in verse 24 is key: "This my son was dead." The boy had not physically died, but he was dead in terms of being alienated from the reality and experience that was normal in his family. "He was dead but now is alive. He was lost and is now found." That is revival.
• Revival in the house of God — revival in the church. Malachi 3:3 — he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and shall purify the sons of Levi, purging them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering of righteousness. He will purify priesthood. He will purify the body. 2 Timothy 2:19-21 — in a great house there are vessels of gold, silver, wood, and earth. Some vessels are unto honor, some unto dishonor. If a man purges himself from iniquity, he will become a vessel unto honor, sanctified for the master's use, prepared for every good work.
• Territorial transformation — revival in society; the healing of the land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 — if God's people humble themselves, pray, seek his face, and turn from their wicked ways, he will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. There is something called the healing of the land — that is what we call territorial revival. The story of Jonah in Jonah 3 is the clearest picture. God was concerned not just with individuals but with the city of Nineveh. Jonah preached, the entire city believed God and proclaimed a fast from the greatest to the least. The king arose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, sat in ashes, and caused a decree to be published — not just experienced, but passed as law, as policy. And God saw their works and repented of the evil he had said he would do.

The Evidence of Personal Revival

An unbeliever does not need revival — an unbeliever needs salvation. The word revive means you were once alive and then went into decline or decadence and now you are being restored. Salvation is a translation. But revival is a restorative process. It means that you were once on fire, you were once vibrant, but for whatever reason there was a decline, and now God is bringing you into a restorative process.

The most evident sign that an individual is experiencing genuine revival is a restoration of passion and hunger for God. Not just for the things of God — first for God himself. A desire for God more than your necessary food. When you love him beyond money, beyond things, beyond ambition. He must become your obsession.

There are believers who carelessly and passively love the Lord. They are not antagonistic to spiritual things, but they don't have that press, that passion. There is an energy that passion carries. When you see a believer that is zealous and passionately in love with Jesus, the health of his spiritual life is palpable — you don't need them to speak in tongues to know it.

Only revived men can sponsor revival. Only transformed men can transform societies.

This hunger for God, this restored consecration, spreads like an oasis — starting from one point and spreading across. It will be evident in:

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• A restored prayer life and prayer altar
• A restored word study life
• A restored passion for the house of God and for serving God
• A restoration of the fear of the Lord — reverence, respect. Many people believe in God but do not reverence him.

Psalm 27:4 — one thing desired of the Lord: to dwell in his house all the days of his life, to behold his beauty and inquire in his temple. This is the language of revived men. It takes hunger for God to make such a statement.

The psalmist in Psalm 63:1 declared his heart longed for God as in a dry and thirsty land — to see his power and glory as he had seen it in the sanctuary. That is the cry of revival.

The first proof that something is wrong with your love life is the excuse of time. You always have time for who and what you love.

Spiritual growth as proof of personal revival has four indices:

1. Degree of conformity to the image and character of Christ in experience.

   • Your hunger for God and your passion for Jesus should translate into your desiring to be like him. Galatians 5:16-22, Colossians 3, Colossians 4 — believers need to be dexterous in character.
   • If you have to pray in tongues for people to know you are a Christian, something is wrong with your witness. The fruit of the Spirit manifesting evidently through your life — that is the first measure.
   • The greatest measure of character is love. The love of Christ furnished in you in experience.

2. Level of illumination and spiritual enlightenment.

   • It is impossible to be a revived, growing believer and wallow in ignorance. Colossians 3:16 — let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Colossians 1:9-10 — filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, walking worthy of the Lord, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.
   • The Zoe life we have received in Christ is activated and released through knowledge. A believer can have the same eternal life as another but, having gone past the realm of ignorance and accessed light, can produce possibilities out of that life. The same Lord is rich unto all, but our possibilities are defined by our level of spiritual understanding — not the love of God, but our level of spiritual understanding.
   • Understanding in the spirit is capital. The miracle of understanding is a real miracle.

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Apostle Joshua Selman
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3. The outworkings of the power of the Holy Ghost through your life.

   • Acts 4:33 — with great power the apostles gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and great grace was upon them all.
   • Acts 10:38 — how God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and with power. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him.
   • Divine possibilities finding expression through your faculty — this is proof that you are matured in the spirit and that your love and passion for God is yielding results.

4. Love.

   • The love of God abounding in you. The Bible calls it the bond of perfectness. The greatest measure of character is love.

When you love the Lord and hunger for his presence, it will affect your time in worship, your hunger for the word of God, your zeal and desire to serve God.

The Evidence of Revival in the Church

1. A restoration of the integrity of priesthood. The first proof that a church is experiencing revival is when priesthood is purified — when those who stand before God minister with integrity. When there is a restoration of the integrity of priesthood, you know that an awakening has happened within the church.
2. A restoration of the supremacy of the word of God as absolute and final authority.

   • For as long as culture can superimpose the word of God, for as long as visions and prophecies can superimpose the word of God, for as long as feelings can superimpose the word of God — revival has not happened to that church.
   • Matthew 4:4 — man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.
   • It is written is greater than I saw. It is written is greater than I heard. Many destinies have been destroyed because of what they saw, destroyed because of what they heard.
   • The word of God must be exalted above and beyond visions, above and beyond dreams. It is the coordinates of balance and safety. It is the basis for judging any other spiritual experience. Knowing that what is written can change what you saw — that is the cure to fear.
   • The body of Christ must return to a place where we value the supremacy of the word of God. When we respect the supremacy of the word of God, it will minimize being slaves to preachers.

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3. A restoration of honor to the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

   • The Holy Spirit is the first dimension of the Godhead revealed in scripture. In the beginning, the earth was void and formless — and the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the face of the waters.
   • He is the Lord of the harvest. He is the guarantee that the church will not fail. Independent of the Holy Ghost, there is no basis for victory.
   • He searches the deep things of God and reveals them to us. He is the Paraclete — allos paracleus — the one who is an extension of the ministry of Jesus. He makes men powerful. He is the custodian of the power of the Godhead, the fountain of wisdom, the one who imports the life of God into the spirit of the believer, the one who activates divine possibilities to your faculties.
   • That is why healings are not seen as they should be. That is why revivals do not break out as they should — because the project of kingdom come is being attempted in the strength of the flesh. The church must return to acknowledging the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

4. A restoration of passion for the lost. It is impossible to say the church is experiencing revival until there is a restoration of passion for souls.
5. A restoration of discipleship in its truest definition. Discipleship is the process that cultures believers to become like Christ in experience. We cannot say we are experiencing revival when there is laxity in discipleship.
6. A restoration of unity and love among believers.

   • Unity does not mean uniformity. There may be differences in approach to ministry and understanding of spiritual things, but difference should not equal hatred. Selling an idea of hate using the guise of spirituality is proof of the absence of revival fire.
   • One of the major sponsors of unity is mutual respect. Members must also be careful, because sometimes they are the source of hatred among men of God — comparing and elevating one minister above another creates a competitive spirit that the enemy exploits.
   • The Bible says when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were gathered together in one accord — that is the language of unity. There is a dimension of the glory of God, a dimension of territorial transformation, that cannot happen until the church comes into a state of unity.
   • A person should not have to be your church member to secure your love. Once he is a believer in Christ, think beyond denomination — think kingdom.

The Evidence of Revival in Society

1. A restoration of moral excellence.

   • The gospel when it penetrates culture creates moral excellence. When a genuine revival breaks into a territory, there is a notable improvement in the moral condition.
   • Crime rates drop. Corruption comes under arrest. The spirit of rebellion, lawlessness, and dishonor to parents are brought under the power of the Holy Ghost.
   • There is an attack over the younger generation — the devil wants to bring the spirit of lawlessness and rebellion. As the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we lift up a standard by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2. Kingdom influence in the marketplace and the matters of state.

   • It is impossible to say there is territorial transformation if the influence of believers is not growing across the social strata of society — across the seven mountains.
   • Productivity and value addition is the key to influence. Ask Daniel. Ask Joseph. We need to train believers that in addition to spiritual vibrancy, they must be productive. Educate your mind. Build skill. It is spiritual to be skillful. Do not excuse spirituality for laziness.
   • Make up your mind that when you stand at the palace, you will have something to tell Pharaoh. Pharaoh did not need to like Joseph — he was in trouble. Nebuchadnezzar did not need to like Daniel — he was in trouble. Gentiles will come to your light — not to your person, to your light. And their kings to the brightness of your rising.
   • Be the best at what you do — not from a competitive standpoint, but for the sake of the kingdom. Let the government call and ask who designed this. They may not like you, but they cannot deny what came out of you.
   • The value of the anointing is that it comes upon a life that is transformed and productive. When the anointing rests upon a mind that is dull of understanding and a destiny that is not productive, the anointing will remain dormant. That is why impartations are received in church — falling, shouting, arising — and yet nothing changes. The world watches that formula and says, "I don't believe in you." But here comes a generation that is vibrant, transformed, intelligent, productive, and anointed.
   • Believers — start with the altar but end with dominion. And bridging the altar and dominion is intelligence. Intelligence is the vehicle that imports realities received from the secret place and takes them to the marketplace.

3. Socioeconomic transformation.

   • Every time genuine revivals broke out in history, concurrently there was socioeconomic transformation.
   • This is the part of revival that is not taught. We end at personal revival and end up producing fanatics who love God — but revival does not spill like the river that leaves from the throne of God. It does not get to the church and does not get to society.
   • We must import the wisdom of the Spirit and use it in nation building — in policy formulation, in governance, in business, in the marketplace.
   • When interceding for territorial revival, focus on: the moral fabric of society; the raising of refined, educated, empowered witnesses who can grow in influence; and the transformation of the socioeconomic fabric of the territory. At that point, all and sundry will know that God has imported the value system of the kingdom, and it is evidently finding expression within that territory.