The New Testament letters give us a clear picture of what the church should look like. The Bible, not culture, is our standard for the church today. These men and women of the Bible were mightily touched by God and they “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). J.B. Phillips in his preface to “Letters to Young Churches,” writes,
“The great difference between present-day Christianity and that of which we read in these letters is that to us it is primarily a performance; to them it was a real experience. We are apt to reduce the Christian religion to a code, or at least a rule of heart and life. To these men it is quite plainly the invasion of their lives by a new quality of life altogether. They do not hesitate to describe this as Christ living in them. Mere moral reformation will hardly explain the transformation and the exuberant vitality of these men’s lives—even if we could prove a motive for such reformation, and certainly the world around offered little encouragement to the early Christians! We are practically driven to accept their own explanation, which is that their little human lives had, through Jesus Christ, been linked up with the very life of God…These early Christian were on fire with the conviction that they had become, through Christ, literally sons of God; they were pioneers of a new humanity, founders of a new Kingdom. They still speak to us across the centuries. Perhaps if we believed what they believed, we might achieve what they achieved.”
Today we see the American church in more or less a parlous state that is ineffective in impacting the world. I believe God wants to bring another Great Awakening to America. I believe the only hope for our nation is an outpouring from the Holy Spirit upon the church, resulting in revival fire.
We Need a Revived Church
We need a revived church. Revival is the spark that lights the fire of a Kingdom of God Revolution, meaning that God lights these little fires in the hearts of individuals that collectively become a corporate conflagration that impacts every sphere of influence in our culture. This is what happened in America in the 1740s under the leadership of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield. This is what occurred in the early 1800s under Charles Finney. This is what happened at Azusa Street in the early 1900s. God never tires of bringing revival fire to the church.
So, the most urgent need of our hour is a revived church and that means a revival among individual believers. There is no church without people. The people are the church. Corporate revival is the fire of God falling upon individual believers. This is what we see in the New Testament.
The revival we read about in the book of Acts and that which J.B. Phillips is speaking of, began with an encounter with the Holy Spirit, a baptism of fire that came down upon the early disciples and lit them on fire. This was prophesied by the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, when he said of Jesus,
“I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I is coming, who sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16).
In other words, the baptism of repentance with water, the old way, the Jewish manner of becoming a proselyte Jew, was not going to be complete for the new work of the coming Holy Spirit that would take over the whole earth. The dispensation of the Law and ethical codes was passing away and the work of God’s grace and power through the baptism of the Holy Spirit was coming.
The Old Order is Done
The Messiah Jesus was coming to “baptize”—immerse, overwhelm, overtake—His people with the Holy Spirit and it would be like a fire in one’s heart! John is symbolic of the old order, the way of religion, the way of the Law. Many churches are still stuck there.
- For most churches today, Christianity is mainly about doing the right thing.
- Observing the church year calendar.
- Reading a liturgy and keeping tradition.
- Doing what the denomination tells you to do.
- Staying orderly, staying traditional, and staying comfortable.
But John is saying there is a new way coming, a new baptism like the world has never seen before. Jesus, the Messiah would come with a new kind of baptism, “with the Holy Spirit and Fire.”
Do you long for such an outpouring? Do you desire to experience the same power as the New Testament church?
Pastor Steve
