“Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land” (Prov. 25:25).
I hope that this report of God’s unusual reviving work in Chile will be like cold water to a weary soul. Geographically, Chile has the dubious distinction of being the “uttermost part of the earth” in relation to Jerusalem. But there are strong indications that spiritually she is very close to the heart of God.
Sunday morning, April 10 was the last Sunday of a week of meetings with an emphasis on the deeper life and revival in the Alliance Church of Cordillera in the middle class section of Santiago, a city of some 6,000,000. The week of meetings went smoothly, but with little evidence of a spiritual breakthrough. The response to the preaching seemed to be “polite” with some indications of spiritual hunger. Nevertheless, it is difficult to gauge what is happening in the hearts. Undoubtedly God was at work in the hearts of many, for He has promised to bless His Word.
Saturday, April 9, was a day of spiritual retreat for Pastors and leaders of the Alliance churches in Santiago and the surrounding area… it was like a District wide spiritual retreat with an emphasis on revival. I spoke twice on discerning the difference between genuine and spurious revival, based primarily on I John chapter 4. There are numerous “revival movements” in Latin America, but there are indications that there is a lot of “tares” among the revival “wheat”. Sometimes some believers embrace revival movements for the wrong reasons, focusing on signs and wonders as the “acid test” or “ultimate proof” of the reviving presence of the Spirit of God. Regrettably, some believers repudiate and reject revival movements for the wrong reasons, focusing on signs and wonders as the “acid test” or ultimate proof that God’s Spirit certainly could not be a part of “that”. Frequently revivals polarize. Scriptures teach us the importance of establishing biblical criteria for embracing or repudiating revival, but often we can quench or promote revival for the wrong reasons. I spoke on these biblical criteria, with a lot of help from Jonathan Edwards, who wrote extensively on this during the First Great Awakening (1725-1745). Finally, I spoke on A. B. Simpson and His understanding of the work of the Spirit of God. At the end of the retreat there was an “open forum” with a time for questions and answers. There was a very keen sense of hunger and longing for a deeper work of God in the lives of those present and the churches they represented. At the end of the day, I was totally exhausted.
I went to my host’s home Saturday night and tried to recuperate strength to prepare for the next morning’s ministry, but alas, I was totally depleted of energy and felt it wisest to simply turn it in. Gratefully, Sunday morning the Lord ministered to me in a most gracious fashion. I felt led to reduce the proposed sermon in half, and went to the church. As we entered into the service, God ministered deeply to me again. There was a deep sense of the presence of God as we worshipped the Lord together. My spirit wept with gratitude to God, amazed at His love and deeply humbled in His presence. Thank God for Spirit-led worship leaders who know how to lead God’s people into worship, and so facilitate the seeding of the Word of God in the hearts of those present.
My text was Hosea chapter 14. (Dear reader, why not pause even now and read those 9 precious verses). It is an ideal text for preaching on revival. I focused in on the nine similes or parallels between the world of nature and revival. The little word “like” in the English text tips off the careful reader. I spoke on God’s “modus operandi” (his way of operating) as being like the dew from heaven (Hosea 14:5), indispensable and yet mysterious. We sometimes caricaturize God’s work in revival with extremity, forgetting that at times God is not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but rather in the still small voice (I Kings 19:11,12).
I proceeded to speak on the 7 subsequent similes, showing how when God manifests Himself as dew, the result is like the beautiful and unobtrusive growth of the lily (5), producing spiritual depth like the cedars of Lebanon (5), facilitating productivity in spite of adverse circumstances like the olive tree (6), producing a fragrant aroma like the cedars of Lebanon (6), fruitfulness like the kernel of wheat that first must be broken before the life in the seed is released (7). I spoke of the fragrant flower and fruit of the vine like the famous fruit of the vine from Lebanon, not unlike the country of Chile.
Finally, the prophet Hosea created a simile between God and the pine tree (8) probably alluding to the tree’s ability to be stable and fruitful in the midst of adversity.
In response to God’s Word, and in response to the faithful prayer support of many prayer partners who received word of this ministry trip and, I’m sure, joined in prayer support, there was an unusual response. This is difficult to describe. If you have ever been in the manifest presence of God, you know that words fail to describe adequately what happened. (Just think of Ezekiel’s description of the manifest presence of God in chapter one of his prophecy). I had told the people at the beginning of the sermon that I would be extending an altar call at the end of the message. As I extended God’s invitation, there was a slow response at first, and then people started to stream to the altar. Again, it is hard to describe. There was a sense of brokenness in my own spirit. A humbling. A deep gratitude. A deep awareness that in that very hour there was a team of prayer partners supporting the ministry of the Word. I asked the Senior Pastor to come forward and lead the people in prayer. He came and reiterated the point about the kernel of grain that must be broken before the seed can bring forth life. The fairly spacious altar was filled three and four deep as people knelt before the Lord of glory. Only God knows how each one was dealing with God and how God was dealing with each one. I sat down in one of the chairs as the front of the congregation. As people returned from the altar to their seats, some put their hand on my shoulder as, I assume, a gesture of gratitude. Indeed, deep within there welled up within me deep gratitude to God for the privilege of being an instrument in His hands, and also deep gratitude for those faithful prayer partners who supported me in that week of intense ministry.
Allow me to highlight one last jewel from the Biblical text. The use of the future tense in Hosea 14 accentuates the certainty of God’s response. The first three verses speak of the conditions to revival. As those conditions are met, God has promised that He will respond, and the results will be marvelous and beautiful, as illustrated from the world of nature. I was struck with the importance that faith plays in revival. God’s gift of faith, and our exercising that gift, are essential elements of revival. Without faith we know that it is impossible to please God. We know that by grace we have been saved through faith, and that even the faith is not out of ourselves, but rather it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We have been saved, we are being saved and we shall be saved, as the perfect tense of Ephesians 2:8 brings out. Certainly renewal is an integral element of our full salvation. And it is all by faith. By grace and by faith.
May God’s precious promises of renewal, revival and spiritual rejuvenation be abundantly fulfilled in us. May we meet the conditions by His grace, and for His glory blossom as the lily, the cedar, and the vine; may the church be like a field of golden grain waving in the prairie wind. Lord, be to us as the dew of heaven. You are indispensable to us. Move in your own mysterious and powerful and life-giving manner. And may the effects of Your precious manifestation produce glorious fruit, just like we see in the natural realm. And may that all redound to Your praise and glory. Lord, it’s all about YOU. AMEN.
