Notice the last phrase: “do the things you did at first.” What were these things? Was it 24-hour praise and worship? Was it just confession of sin and publicly declaring their commitment to Christ? Acts 19:8-10 gives us a not-so-subtle clue as to what these things were.
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the Word of the Lord.
These on-fire early believers were unleashed from their own version of Asbury University with a mission and a message. As a result, everyone in the province of Asia heard the Gospel!
As I wrote in a previous blog, revival is not revival if it stays in the room. It must spill out onto the streets. As I read somewhere, if it stays in the room it’s a renewal. But if it spills out into the streets, it’s a revival.
Rooting for Revival
My prayer is that what happened at Asbury University, and then a growing number of other universities, doesn’t stay in the sanctuaries and auditoriums, but that it spills over into the streets until everyone, everywhere, has every last chance to hear and believe the Good News of Jesus!
What is revival? It’s when there’s a move of God in a group of believers that starts with an upward fixation on Christ, an inward consecration from sin, and an outward activation for the Gospel. It starts in the hearts of a group of believers, transforms their lives, and then spills over into Gospel demonstration and activation. It’s when a group of believers remembers their first love, repents of their wrongdoings, and returns to doing what they did at first.
And revival is needed now in this nation—and the world—more than ever.
Zoe, does that answer your question abouut what is revival?
I hope it does!
This article about what is revival originally appeared here and is used by permission.
