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THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT REVIVAL MOVEMENTS Philippians 1:6: "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it AS LONG AS YOU KEEP ATTENDING ALL OF THE BIG RELIGIOUS EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY." Of course, you might prefer the King James reading: ""Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work IN YOU will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 2:13: "For it is God which worketh AT ALL OF THE BIG RELIGIOUS EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY." Or, if you'd rather have the King James reading: "For it is God which worketh IN YOU both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Ephesians 3:20: "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh AT ALL OF THE BIG RELIGIOUS EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY." Again, I offer you the King James reading: "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh IN US." Hebrews 13:21: "Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working AT ALL OF THE BIG RELIGIOUS EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY." Or, as the King James has it: "Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working IN YOU that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Back during the Asbury "revival" fiasco, a preacher told me that people just "want to be where God is working." If you want to be where God is working, I have some good news for you: YOU'RE ALREADY THERE. Stay there . . . and don't frustrate God's working with a bunch of emotional, Laodicean nonsense. This notion that one must travel here or there to receive some sort of spiritual benefit is entirely unscriptural, and it's really not much different than Muslims making a pilgrimage to Mecca, Catholics visiting the Vatican, or a bunch of hippies running off to Woodstock. God's word is very clear in stating that what you really need can be found right where you are on your knees within the next five minutes, and if you reject that by insisting that you take off across the country to "be a part" of some movement, then you have kicked the doors of your heart and head wide open for the devil. You DESERVE whatever deception that might come your way, and there's plenty of it coming. Come to Romans 10, and we'll stick with the King James now. Verses 6-8: "But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Getting right with God is not something that one "goes to," nor is it something that one must experience only after have gone somewhere. Revival is spiritual, not emotional, is personal, not public, and it is "nigh thee" (Rom. 10:8), not in some distant place to which one must travel. The eunuch, if you remember, had gone all the way to Jerusalem and was RETURNING when God finally moved and got the gospel to him, not in a big religious setting, but rather in a simple and non conventional setting (Acts 8:26-39). People who need a "religious movement" in order to get right with God will need a religious movement in order to stay right with God. So, are they really worshipping God at all? If one must travel and be always on the go to this revival, that camp meeting, and that big tent meeting, then he is openly confessing that he has NO PERSONAL WALK WITH GOD. His entire spiritual identity involves and requires other people, and the bigger the event the greater the emotional high. Let's take a look at what God says about such people. The devil wants you to envy them and feel like they have something special that you don't have, but what does God say? For sake of time, I won't turn to every reference, but you know the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, and you know that Cain ended up a cursed fugitive and a vagabond! You know, there are really only two religious. There's the secure, peaceful and confident religion of righteous Abel that comes from resting on a blood sacrifice, and then there's the insecure and empty religion of Cain that comes from self-righteousness and turns a man into a wandering fugitive and a vagabond, never finding true fulfilment and joy. Sound familiar? This truth is also illustrated with the dove and the raven that Noah sent forth from the ark in Genesis 8. The dove found no rest or food, so she had the sense to return to the ark to find both. The unclean raven, on the other hand, just flew to and fro, refusing to return to the secure life in the ark. There are many people like that. Like Martha, they insist on being up and on the move all the time, instead of following the better example of Mary and SITTING at the feet of Jesus. Like Naaman the Syrian, they are all about doing "some great thing" (II Kgs. 5:13), but simple and humble things are beneath them, or so they think. Look at Proverbs 27:8: "As a bird that wandereth from her nest . . . (sort of like a certain raven, wouldn't you say?) . . . so is a man that wandereth from his place." See that? HIS place! God has a PLACE for you, and your responsibility is to PLANT yourself there like a tree and produce fruit (Psa. 1). But you can't do that when you're always wasting time and money running up and down the highways to everyone's religious event! Consider this from Job 39:13-17: "Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear; Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding." Please get the picture. Instead of staying in her place and caring for her family, she LEFT HER EGGS unprotected and caused great harm to her family. She just had to get out and go, just had to do something more "important" and more "interesting." Now she has dead children. I really love Nehemiah, a man who was so focused, dedicated and determined to do what God had called him to do. They tried to get him to come down and talk things over and maybe reach some "reasonable compromise." But he had the wisdom to refuse. His words have inspired me often: "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" (Neh. 6:3) Glory to God! He wouldn't leave! He wouldn't meet with the ministerial association, and he didn't see any need to charge off to someone's meeting or movement. He was ALREADY DOING a great work! What about YOU? What great work are YOU doing? What does your life mean? What are you so spiritually consumed with that you cannot be distracted or detoured? What calling are YOU abiding in (I Cor. 7:20), or are you just just a fugitive and a vagabond like Cain, who couldn't till the ground or bear any fruit? Look at Jude 11-13: "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." See that? Some people are like Cain. They're like dry and empty clouds that get blown around by the treacherous winds of Laodicea. Unlike a tree planted by the water, they're like dead, fruitless trees! They're like raging waves, instead of a peaceful river, and they're like wandering stars instead of stars that remain in their place and fulfill their ordered purpose. No one needs to "go to" a revival movement in order to receive anything from God. No one needs to "be where God is working." God is working in YOUR heart and life every day, so IF He tells you to "GO," it's not so you can GET revived; it's because you have ALREADY BEEN revived and are now ready to DO SOMETHING for Him (Mat. 28:18-20; Heb. 6:1; 13:13). These religious movements just turn my stomach, and the way so many Christians fall for them, preachers included, just turns it even more. True revival is a PRIVATE matter, and anyone who turns it into an emotional, public spectacle led by unqualified novices is doing far more harm than good. Some of you don't agree with that thinking, so let me show it to you. I grant you, there was a time when religious movements could be trusted for the most part, but that time has passed. God told the Philadelphia church that He had set before THE CHURCH an open door: "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." (Rev. 3:8) So, the Philadelphia church period saw great revival movements, and many souls came to Christ. But those days are passed, and God's message to TODAY'S church, the apostate Laodicean church, is quite different: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I WILL SPUE THEE OUT OF MY MOUTH. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that THOU ART WRETCHED, AND MISERABLE, AND POOR, AND BLIND, AND NAKED: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." (Rev. 3:14-19) Now, due to the tragic condition of the Laodicean church, would you think that God would trust that church with large revival movements where thousands of souls are at stake? Or would He maybe prefer to keep revival down to a personal and local level? Let's see. Look at verse twenty: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if ANY MAN hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in TO HIM, and will sup WITH HIM, and HE with me." There's your revival. Take it or leave it. As a general rule, the glory days of huge revival movements are gone, and anyone who tries to change that will be fighting against the word of God. Philadelphia is gone, the open door has been slammed shut by Laodicea, and only INDIVIDUALS can open it. That's Bible truth. Beware of anyone who tells you otherwise.