For the next few weeks we will be getting into the matter of the need for a new revival. We need to be poor in spirit before the Lord, pure in heart toward Him, and have a turned heart to the Lord so that we may see the vision of the new revival, have the living of a new revival, and practice the new revival in our daily living.
There are three main aspects of the new revival: reaching the highest peak of the divine revelation, living the life of a God-man, and shepherding according to God.
As believers in Christ we have eternity in our heart (Eccl. 3:11), and God fills the God-shaped vacuum in our being; now we need to have the vision of eternity by reaching the highest peak of the divine revelation, we need to live the life of eternity by living the life of a God-man, and we need to do the work of eternity by shepherding others according to God.
May the Lord really shine on us as we open to Him and get deeper into the matter of having a new revival so that we may see the vision, have the living, and do the work of eternity.
If we see the high peak of the divine revelation, we will rise up to pray for the Lord to give us a new revival, a revival such as it has never been reported in history; this is a revival that will turn this age from the age of grace to the age of the kingdom and will bring the Lord back.
We all should declare that we want to live the life of a God-man; eventually, the God-men will be the victors, the overcomers, the Zion within Jerusalem, and they will bring in a new revival which has never been seen in history, and this will end this age.
As we endeavor to cooperate with the Lord to enter into and participate in Christ’s universal shepherding, there will be a new revival among us. May the Lord unveil us to see the vision of the age so that we may reach the highest peak of the divine revelation.
Our Aspiration to be Revived is fulfilled only by Christ as the Life-Giving Spirit
Among all of God’s elect there has always been an aspiration to be revived. This matter of revival is the “kernel” within the “shell” of the books of the Minor Prophets. In Hab. 3:2 he prays, O Jehovah, revive Your work in the midst of the years….In his prayer for revival, Habakkuk represents all of God’s elect throughout the generations, since all of God’s people have always had an aspiration to be revived.
Actually, since the fall of man there has been in all creation an aspiration for revival, restoration, and freedom (see Rom. 8:19-23). Adam’s fall brought in corruption, slavery, and death into all the creation (Rom. 5:12), and today everything is decaying, being corrupted, and eventually dies.
All the things that are under this slavery aspire to be revived. This universal need for revival and restoration can be met only by Christ and in Christ. Only Christ – who was resurrected on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4) is the renewing power.
In Hosea 6:2 we have another prayer, He will enliven us after two days; on the third day He will raise us up, and we will live in His presence. Hallelujah, Christ is the reality of the third day – He not only has been raised on the third day by He is also the reality of resurrection! Christ is the element of revival and restoration for both man and all creation.
The corruption and desolation and decaying on earth today can be swallowed up only by Christ’s resurrection. How can we experience a new revival? The way to experience revival is to contact Christ by repenting and confessing our sins, failures, and darkness, thereby entering into Him as the resurrection.
“With the Lord one day is like a thousand years (2 Pet. 3:8). According to this principle, the two days here may signify the first two periods of a thousand years each, counting from A.D. 70, when the Roman prince Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, cruelly killed thousands of Jews, and scattered the Jews among the nations. From that time the Jews have been without king, without prince, without sacrifice, and without the temple, fulfilling Hosea’s prophecy in 3:4. For two thousand years God has left Israel in a dead condition. After this two thousand-year period, the third thousand years will come. The third day may signify a third period of a thousand years, that is, the millennium, the age of restoration, which will be in the reality of Christ’s resurrection (Rev. 20:6). At that time Israel will be raised up, that is, restored.
Christ was resurrected on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4), and as the pneumatic Christ, the life-giving Spirit, in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:45), He is the reality of the third day (John 11:25). Whenever we contact such a Christ, we are brought from the desolation of the two days to the resurrection of the third day.” (Hosea 6:2, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
Christ today is the Spirit; whenever we touch Christ as the Spirit, we are in the reality of being revived, and we will be raised to live in the Lord’s presence. Hallelujah, we have a way to be revived day by day!
Without being revived, we cannot do or have anything living; but when we touch the Lord and enjoy Him as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, we will be full of life, we will be revived, and we will also revive others! We need to tell the Lord,
Lord Jesus, revive Your work among us and in us throughout the years! Revive us and fill us with Your life! We don’t want to be in desolation, under decay and corruption; restore us, revive us, and cause us to live in Your presence! Oh Lord, may there be in us a deep aspiration to be revived and may we come to You, repent, confess, and enjoy You as the life-giving Spirit so that we may be revived! Lord, bring in a new revival such as the world has not seen, a revival that will end this age and bring You back!
Having a New Revival by being Daily Revived and by Enjoying the All-Inclusive Spirit
In creation God has a natural law: every 24h there is a new sunrising, a new beginning for the entire creation. We believers should follow the sun rising to be revived every morning. We need to have a new revival every morning; we need to have a morning revival at the beginning of every day!
We may be desolated during the day or at night, but in the morning we can have a new beginning, enjoy the Lord as the life-giving, compound, all-inclusive Spirit, and be revived!
In the morning we can enjoy Christ as the Desire of all the nations (Hag. 2:7). The Desire of all the nations is Christ (Mal. 3:1); even though many people do not know Christ, all men desire Christ.
All people desire to have peace and live a good life with virtues such as light, love, patience, humility, meekness, endurance, joy, and righteousness. Christ is the reality of peace, joy, love, patience, and all the virtues; without the nations even knowing it, what they desire is Christ. What we desire as believers in Christ is not more patience or humility – we desire more of Christ!
This Christ is also the Messenger of God with a fresh message from God to us (Mal. 3:1), and His message comes to us especially early in the morning as we spend time with Him, and this revives us. As we touch the Lord, receive Him, and enjoy Him early in the morning, we are being revived by Him and we enjoy the supply of the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving Spirit. The result is that we are like well-fed calves leaping about – we are full of life and joy (Mal. 4:2)!
By enjoying Christ as the sun of righteousness with healing in His wings, He arises in our being and His rays illuminate all our darkness and turn our death into life. May we see that our inner aspiration for revival is met only by Christ as the Spirit, and may we pay the price every morning to touch the Lord, receive the resurrected Christ as the Spirit, and be revived every morning!
Then, throughout the day we need to enjoy the outpouring of the Spirit spoken of in Joel 2:28-29. This Spirit was poured out already at the day of Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius, and all we have to do is to experience the outpouring of the Spirit all throughout the day so that we may enjoy Christ’s divinity, His humanity, the effectiveness of His death, and the power of His resurrection as our portion, our inheritance!
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You to live a life of being revived every morning and being filled with the Spirit every day. Lord, we desire to be revived, and we want to pay the price every morning to contact You, enjoy You, and receive You as the fresh message from God, the fresh dose of divine life that revives us and causes us to leap about full of joy life and joy! Lord, keep us contacting You throughout the day so that we may experience the outpouring of the Spirit and enjoy the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving Spirit! Amen, Lord, stir our spirit up to be daily revived and filled in Spirit!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of the Minor Prophets, msg. 35 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Need for a New Revival, week 1 / msg 1, Reaching the Highest Peak of the Divine Revelation (1) – The Vision of the Age.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version. Recommending the footnotes on the verses quoted in this article – they are so rich!
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Revive Thy work, O Lord! / Now to Thy saints appear! / Oh, speak with power to every soul, / And let Thy people hear! / Revive Thy work, O Lord! / While here to Thee we bow; / Descend, O gracious Lord, descend! / Oh, come, and bless us now! (Hymns #797)
# We’re renewed and revived by the Lord day by day; / He is grace upon grace and refreshing as dew. / Shining brighter and brighter, our path’s a clear way, / As morning by morning His mercies are new. (Song on Being Revived)
# Christ to me is so subjective, / Life imparting all the way; / As the Spirit He revives me / And refreshes day by day. (Hymns #537)
About aGodMan
[The] matter of revival is the “kernel” within the “shell” of the books of the Minor Prophets….Habakkuk 3:2a speaks of revival….Among God’s elect there has always been an aspiration to be revived. As long as you are a saved one, every day, consciously or unconsciously, there is an aspiration with a spontaneous prayer within you: “O Lord, revive us.” Although we may not realize it, such an aspiration has been within us through all the years of our Christian life.
God always considers His elect as a corporate Body. This means that Habakkuk and we are one in the unit of God’s elect. Thus, when Habakkuk prayed for revival, we also prayed….Such a prayer is an everlasting prayer. (Witness Lee, Life-study of the Minor Prophets, p. 219)
Amen! O Lord Jesus! Keep us poor in spirit, stirring up our spirit, to be burning in spirit, filled with the Spirit, to have a new beginning each morning, for a new revival, a revival such as it has never been reported in history. Hallelujah! Thank You Lord Jesus! Praise the Lord! Amen.