Regarding revival, there’s man’s part and God’s part

Regarding revival there’s man’s part and God’s part

–Does revival only happen by the sovereignty of God or can we actively ask God for it?
–Is revival a sovereign move of God or can Christians actively pray to God for revival?
Authors: Johnson and Pearl, Bible teachers and founders of:
The Pure Gospel and Revival website
www.repent-pray-revival.org
2022/8/26

“Regarding revival, there’s man’s part and God’s part.
Regarding revival, there’s man’s responsibility and God’s responsibility.
Regarding revival, man’s responsibility is to repent and pray while God’s responsibility is to come down and pour our His Spirit. (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:17-18, Acts 2:33)

Regarding revival, man needs God’s power and God needs man’s cooperation." -Johnson and Pearl

The principle of revival is:

Christians are responsible to preach “repentance and remission of sins among all nations", and to pray. (Luke 24-47 all the way to Acts 1:14) God is responsible to send down His power from on high (aka the Father’s Promise, Luke 24:49)“－Johnson and Pearl

Luke 24:47-49 King James Version
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Acts 1:14 King James Version
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

Preaching the Pure Gospel and “praying for revival" are the responsibility that Christ gave to Christians (Luke 24:47-49, Acts 1:14) That’s man’s part. God’s part is to send the Father’s Promise and send revival, just as God sent rain in due season in the past. (Deut 11:13, James 5:7-8, Hosea 6:3, Hosea 10:12, Joel 2:23, Psalm 72:5)

A Christian or a pastor is like farmer. (James 5:7-8) If a farmer wants to have a harvest, he/she has to do two things.

First, diligently sow seeds (The Bible likens preaching the gospel to sowing good seeds, Mark 4:14)

Second, he has to pray for rain and patiently wait for rain to come. (James 5:7-8, Deut 11:13-14)

Deuteronomy 11:13-14 King James Version
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

James 5:7-8 King James Version
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Therefore, sowing seeds and praying for rain are man’s (the Christians’) responsibility. It’s what we should do. However, sending rain is God’s responsibility. It is what God has already promised to do, and it’s what God WILL do. Although revival power or spiritual early and latter rain only comes from God, and it’s not something we humans can manufacture, but we do have the responsibility to do our part-and that is it preach the pure gospel and pray for revival until the Spirit of God is outpoured among us!

Man cannot be irresponsible, lazy to pray for revival, and throw all the responsibilities to God, and passively wait for God to send revival while doing nothing. (Sadly, this is the sorry state of probably 99% of the churches worldwide!)

*The same holds truth for salvation. Sinners cannot be unwilling to “repent and believe the Gospel", unwilling to deny self, and unwilling to take up his cross everyday to follow the Lord Jesus. (Mark 1:15, Luke 9:23). Sinners cannot push the responsibility to God, then passively wait for God to do something, or passively wait for God to give you salvation and the new birth.

Mark 1:15 King James Version
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Luke 9:23 King James Version
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Let me repeat this again:

Although revival power or spiritual early and latter rain only come from God, and it’s not something we humans can manufacture, but we do have the responsibility to do our part, and that is it preach the pure gospel AND pray for revival until the Spirit of God is outpoured among us, in our city, and in our nation!

Today, we cannot misunderstand the Bible and believe that revival only happens by the “sovereignty" of God and be lazy to preach the pure gospel and lazy to pray for revival.

First, the Calvinists’ interpretation of the “sovereignty" of God is incorrect and very wrong.

Second, just because revival never happened in a particular city or nation, we can still take the initiative and actively ask God for it, because God’s word already promised that the Father wants to send revival to every nation, and to the ends of the earth! (Luke 24-47 to Acts 1:8)

Third, actually, revival history of the past 300 years tells us that, every revival happened because someone( a vessel of God) repented and diligently prayed for revival, then revival happened. In other words, not one revival happened without repentance and prayer. God never send revival for no reason without someone repenting and praying for revival.

“All the true revivals have been born in prayer." －E.M. Bounds

Regarding revival, the correct theology and understanding is that:

As long as we meet God’s pre-conditions, God is willing to send revival to every nation, just as God is willing to send salvation to every nation!

The Bible says God is no respecter of persons.

Acts 10:34-35 King James Version
34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.

So God is willing to send revival to America, but God is also willing to send revival to China. Revival history prove that both nations has had revivals in the past. In the past, both American and Chinese Christians have prayed down revivals in their nations. Examples: China’s John Sung, Jonathan Goforth, Marie Monsen, and America’s Charles Finney, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, William Seymour, Charles Parham, Maria Woodworth Etter, etc.

The main point is: As long as someone is willing to seek God with ALL of his heart, deeply hunger for God, repent, and take up his cross daily and follow Jesus, constantly pray for revival, then he will have revival! This unchanging truth is what revivalists of the past all believed in. If it weren’t so, they would not have diligently prayed for revival, and persisted until God sent revival in answer to prayer.

Hosea 6:3 “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Psalm 72:5-6 King James Version

5 They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.

6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

Finney on revival does not interfere with God’s sovereignty

“Suppose you tell a farmer that God is sovereign and will give him a harvest only when it pleases Him, and that to plow, sow, and labor is wrong, and that it amounts to taking the work out of God’s hands, that it interferes with His sovereignty.

If a farmer believes this error doctrine they would starve to death. No doctrine is more dangerous than this to the success and prosperity of the Church, and nothing more absurd. Generations after generations have gone to hell, while the Church has been dreaming and waiting for God to save them without the use of the means. It has been the devil’s most successful means of destroying souls.” －Charles Finney

“Every church needs the pure gospel and revival, just as every farmer needs good seeds and rain.” －Johnson and Pearl

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“Without revival, sinners will grow harder and harder despite more preaching. Your children and your friends will remain unsaved if there are no revivals to truly convert them.” －Charles Finney, from a sermon called “When to expect revival".

“Today, most churches are either lazy, ignorant, or simply unwilling to pay the price and pray for revival.” －Johnson and Pearl