Preparing for and Sustaining Revival (11/4/23)

The Holy Spirit wants to prepare our hearts for an outpouring of His power, grace, and anointing. He desires our hearts to be ready for Him to move so that we can properly steward revival. If we are old wineskins, we will burst when He releases His fresh wine in the days to come. The Lord desires to release a revival among His people that does not fade away after a short period of time but continues to the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ.

History of Revival

The Holy Spirit has breathed upon the church in critical moments throughout history. We are at another one of those moments. Darkness is covering the nations, and the glory of the Lord must arise and be seen on His people. Much of the church is asleep to the hour that we are currently in and the nearness of Christ’s return. Much of the church is dry as dead bones because the Lord’s glory has departed just as it did from Israel under the leadership of Eli. When sin and worldliness are allowed or tolerated, the Lord’s glorious presence will eventually depart.

As in times past, the church is as dry as the valley of bones in Ezekiel chapter 36. The Lord must have His church alive with the fresh life of the Spirit of God. Countless multitudes in the younger generation are teetering on the precipice of eternal Hell, when Heaven is their eternal destiny. Now is the time for the fresh wind of the Spirit to breathe life on the dead bones and revive the church.

“Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.” (Ezekiel 37:4-5 NKJV)

Desperation

Are we truly desperate for the Holy Spirit to move in our midst, or are we satisfied with our current way of doing church? We must have the Lord impart to us a desperation for the Holy Spirit. Everything changes when the Holy Spirit is among us in a tangible way. Our preaching and teaching can only impact people to a certain extent when there is only a small measure of the Holy Spirit among us.

When the Holy Spirit dwells among us as a burning flame, people will encounter Jesus and be born again. Believers will surrender their lives to Jesus and transition from converts to disciples. People will be healed, delivered, and transformed very rapidly. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is needed more than ever and we must have a desperation for Him. True godly humility helps us see our current spiritual state, and it helps us understand that we absolutely cannot get to where we should be without the Holy Spirit.

We honor the Spirit by acknowledging His importance. The Holy Spirit responds when He sees believers humbling themselves before Him and confessing their desperate need for Him. Some churches and believers just merely want more of the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, we should be far beyond merely wanting Him. We must see our desperate need for Him. Without Him dwelling among us in a significant and tangible way, we will not come to the fullness of Christ’s measure or be made ready as the bride of Christ.

If we can live without having the Holy Spirit among us in power, then we will certainly live within Him. Maybe all our other religions activities need to come to a stop so we can make the Holy Spirit our top priority. We will either conduct ministry according to what people want or we will conduct it according to what the Lord wants.

Ministry of the Holy Spirit

““But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (John 15:26 NKJV)

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14 NKJV)

The primary function of the Holy Spirit is to testify of Jesus and glorify Jesus. If we get our attention and focus off of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will lift and revival will cease. We must honor and respect the Holy Spirit in the fear of the Lord. However, His focus will be on Jesus and therefore ours must be as well. We must partner with the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. If a church or movement starts to drift from the truth the Holy Spirit is directing and begins focusing on their own doctrine, the Holy Spirit will end the revival. We have to abide by what He is teaching, revealing in scripture, and speaking about the things coming. Some unbelieving believers don’t believe the Holy Spirit gives new revelation. These ones have already shut down the moving and speaking of the Holy Spirit with their false doctrines and traditions of men.

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit

If we want revival, then we must allow the Holy Spirit to move in power. I have witnessed many different kinds of manifestations and experienced them as well. When the Lord touches people with His power, the human body handles that power differently. People fall, shake, pass out, become weak, yell, laugh, cry, groan, etc. I have experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit, in which all I could do was yell because His fire was so intense. I have been knocked unconscious (briefly) by the power of the Holy Spirit. I have laid on the floor and groaned as waves of His fire swept over me.

One time in a Randy Clark meeting, I was inwardly crying out for the Holy Spirit and the anointing. I was yielding control to the Holy Spirit. As I did this, me and several other people began having violent and powerful manifestations of the Holy Spirit. He was shaking and moving our physical bodies as we yielded control to Him. We must allow the Holy Spirit to move freely if we want revival. Scriptures that show the Holy Spirit overwhelming one’s physical body with power so they can no longer stand are 1 Kings 8:10-11, Daniel 10:7-11, and John 18:4-5). 

There are some ministers who call all of these manifestations demonic. This is very dangerous. There are demonic manifestations, but we need to discern the difference. The enemy will counterfeit everything that the Lord is doing, just as the magicians succeeded in counterfeiting a few of the plagues that the Lord did through Moses. There are real tongues from the Holy Spirit, and there are false tongues from demonic spirits. There could be real laughter from the Lord and false laughter from demons. We can’t call everything evil. We must grow up and discern the difference.

Recently, there have been a number of younger ministers criticizing the Toronto Blessing revival that started in 1994. Some have called it the work of demonic spirits instead of the Holy Spirit. It is extremely dangerous to call the work of the Holy Spirit demonic. There are many Pharisee-like people in the body of Christ who criticize all things considered charismatic. You can identify them by their bitter and poisoned spirit as well as their mockery. They actually have demons of mockery in them.

I am not suggesting that everything that happened at the Toronto revival was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit moves, demons manifest in people, and people can behave in a fleshly way. Sometimes people will roll around on the floor or act foolish because of the demons manifesting in them. Ideally, those demons then need to be cast out once they start manifesting in a public setting. That is exactly what Jesus did, and we are to follow His example.

However, oftentimes, the demons don’t get cast out of people who are manifesting at revivals. This has been a mistake, and the Lord has been emphasizing deliverance since 2020 in order to correct this mistake and prepare us for the next revival. We shouldn’t allow demons to put on a show. The love of God is demonstrated by casting the demons out and setting the person free.

Some carnal believers can get into the flesh while in revival meetings. I have witnessed a woman make "bull horns" by putting her fingers to her head while staggering drunkenly through a “fire tunnel”. It was extremely foolish and carnal. My words cannot properly express the memory in my mind! We have to do our best to discern fleshly behavior and shut it down.

It is a difficult thing to allow the Holy Spirit to move while putting a stop to demonic and fleshly manifestations. The larger the meeting, the more difficult it is. Let’s say, for example, that there are 30 demonic or fleshly manifestations in a meeting of 1,000 people. The majority of the people are being touched by the Holy Spirit and impacted in a positive way. The primary minister is ministering to people and doesn’t see all of the ungodly manifestations. Or maybe the primary minister simply can’t stop ministering to people to deal with certain things. It’s more complicated than the critics understand. Ideally, there would be a team assigned to address the fleshly and demonic manifestations.

The enemy will attempt to bring demonic and fleshly manifestations into a revival so he can get people to think that it is not of God. Satan has been very successful in keeping believers from embracing manifestations of the Holy Spirit. We cannot allow Satan to win. The younger generation needs to know and experience the Holy Spirit. When you encounter the Holy Spirit, everything changes. He imparts a hunger and a burning for Jesus. The Holy Spirit causes us to follow Jesus and desire to know Him in a greater way. Every power encounter with Him matters.

We cannot control the Holy Spirit. We have to allow Him to move and minister as He sees fit. We cannot shut down His movement just because it may offend our carnal minds. Many of the things He does and the way He does them are unusual, but we have to trust Him. If we worry about what others think or how people will judge us, we will make decisions based on the fear of man. We should fear the Holy Spirit because He is our Master. I am afraid of what the younger generation will become if we don’t have the Holy Spirit come to His church in power.

The Holy Spirit knows that we are not perfect. As long as we yield to Him and allow Him to move among His people, He will give grace. We may allow the flesh to operate when we should be shutting it down. The grace given by the Spirit will allow for some mistakes and give us time to make corrections. He will lead us and guide us into making good decisions and judgments. He understands there will be a “learning curve” for His leaders, and He will lead them into all truth. He is faithful and trustworthy.

Valuing the Anointing

Elisha is an example to us regarding valuing the anointing. Gehazi was Elisha’s servant and was in training to potentially assume the prophetic ministry from Elisha. A woman’s son had died, so Elijah told Gehazi to go raise him from the dead.

“Then he said to Gehazi, “Get yourself ready, and take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him; but lay my staff on the face of the child.” And the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her. Now Gehazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, “The child has not awakened.”” (II Kings 4:29-31 NKJV)

Gehazi was unable to raise the child from the dead and Elisha had to do it. The anointing was not on Gehazi to perform this miracle, as it was on Elisha. In 2 Kings 5, Elisha ministers to a leper called Naaman and he is healed. Naaman offers Elisha money for the healing. Elijah declined to take money for performing a miracle. He was not a prophet for profit. He wouldn’t allow the desire for earthly things to corrupt the anointing (as so many have in our day). However, Gehazi failed an important test and forfeited his calling to become a prophet and minister in God's miracle working power.

“But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?” And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’ ”” (II Kings 5:20-22 NKJV)

Gehazi gave in to his self-life (the flesh) and lusted after worldly things. He proved to the Lord that he cared more about worldly things than the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, the Lord could never trust him with true power and authority as He had trusted Elisha. The Lord had Elisha prophesy leprosy on Gehazi for his sin, and he never went on with the Lord to fullness.

The church is being tested as Gehazi was. Will we yield to the lust of flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, or will we prove that we want the anointing and power of God more than anything in this world? The remnant will choose the anointing and power of God. Sadly, much of the church has already chosen to seek after money and fame and thus partake in the leprosy of Gehazi. Those who choose worldly things over the Spirit of God will begin to decay, just as leprosy destroys the body. Still living, but wasting away day by day.

Those who choose the Spirit will be healthy and whole under His anointing. The resurrection power of the age to come will be entrusted to the remnant church, which, like Elisha, desires the things of the Spirit over the things of the flesh.

Repentance 

Many past revivals have started with repentance. One function of the Holy Spirit is to convict people of sin (John 16:8-11). Jesus came out of the wilderness of testing and began to preach the kingdom of God.

“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” (Matthew 4:17 NKJV)

One of Jesus’ first messages to the people was that of repentance. Jesus did not preach a false grace message like that that has permeated the church today. Jesus didn’t preach that it was alright to continue in sin because everyone is just a bunch of sinners that can’t really overcome. He didn’t excuse sin but taught repentance by God’s grace. Jesus ministered revival in three cities by moving in powerful signs and wonders. These cities failed to repent of their sins, and Jesus gave them a stern rebuke.

“Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”” (Matthew 11:20-24 NKJV)

When Jesus ministers among us in miracles, He expects repentance. Demonstrations of God’s power prove that the God of the Bible is real. When physical manifestations of His power are displayed, it requires less faith to believe in Him. Because of this, He expects obedience to Him and His word. When powerful miracles are demonstrated, the Lord requires us to abide in His grace that is released, which empowers us to repent. If we do not repent, the power of the Lord will lift and He will depart. The revival will end. We see this clearly with the church in Ephesus.

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:4-5 NKJV)

It’s interesting how the Jesus of the Bible preaches a much different message than the false grace teachers of today. Any gospel that tolerates sin or makes excuses for it is a false gospel. Many use the example of Jesus forgiving the woman caught in the act of adultery to make the case that God is understanding of our sin and that we can continue in it while just asking for forgiveness.

We must understand that the woman committing adultery had not yet experienced the love and mercy of God. She didn’t have the Holy Spirit in her and therefore could not overcome sin. She was living under the law that could only point out what sin was but did not give her the power to conquer it. Jesus brought a revelation of the loving kindness and mercy of God. Through belief in Him, came the grace that was needed to overcome the woman’s sin. One encounter with Jesus gave the woman the power she needed to live righteously. Jesus even told her not to sin anymore (John 8:11).

So we can see the expectations of Jesus when we encounter His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. He expects us to abide in that grace and repent of our sins. Obviously, none of us will ever be perfect, and we still sin. Especially in our thoughts or with our words. The fully mature and spiritual man is the one who has conquered his speech. Most of us are not perfect yet, myself included. So when we make a mistake and sin, we have Jesus as our advocate, and we have forgiveness in His name when we repent and ask for His forgiveness (1 John 2:1-4).

However, there is a difference between making a mistake and sinning, and living a lifestyle of unrepentant sin. Jesus will allow a certain measure of this when we are spiritually immature and still need time to get free from demons and sin. But when we reach a certain age (spiritually), He expects us to repent of a lifestyle of habitual sin.

“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.” (I John 3:4-10 NKJV)

Jesus came to keep us from a lifestyle of unrepentant sin. If we choose to live in habitual sin, we practice lawlessness and prove that we really do not know Him. If we do not practice righteousness, then we are demonstrating by our works that we are children of the devil. If we abide in Jesus, He gives us the grace to overcome habitual sin and empowers us to walk in holiness. Christ’s life in us overcomes sin and the world through us, if we yield to Him.

Unto the Fullness of Christ 

I have written extensively about the following, but it should be mentioned briefly to close this article. Revival will not continue if we focus on manifestations of power, healing, and miracles. Those things are good, but we will have to journey on with the Lord if we want the outward demonstrations of power to continue and increase.

In order to maintain revival, we must allow the Holy Spirit to make us disciples of Jesus. It’s through the carrying of our crosses that our self-life is crucified. As our self-life is crucified, Christ increases in us. From one degree of glory (increase of His life) to a higher level of His glory. This process continues until we come to the measure of the stature of His fullness. 

Jesus wants us to have deep intimacy with Him. He desires that His believers (living stones) be built into a temple for Him to dwell and rest in. The Father wants to make us ready as the bride for His Son, and our destiny is to become His royal priesthood. The Lord is placing a heavy emphasis on the royal priesthood because it is time for it to arise. The royal priesthood is our high heavenly calling. It is greater than any earthly ministry calling.

If we only focus on revival as we have seen demonstrated in the past, and refuse to journey on with the Lord to the higher aspects of the spiritual life, the Holy Spirit will end the revival. It is more important than ever that we allow the Holy Spirit to bring us to Christ and transform us into His image. It’s time to go on to maturity and fullness. If our hearts are properly prepared for revival, we will not resist the Holy Spirit and grieve Him. He will continue to lead us and reveal Christ’s will as we follow Him closely in revival.

The royal priesthood is considered "fullness" because the focus of the priesthood is ministering to the Lord and not being ministered to by Him. The priesthood puts the will and purpose of the Lord above its own desire or need. In order to reach fullness, we must first have the Holy Spirit revive and ignite our hearts with passion for Jesus. May the church burn for Jesus Christ, brighter and hotter than ever before!

-Ty Unruh (November 2023)