Reconsidering Obstacles to Revival

Reconsidering Obstacles to Revival

➤Many years ago, I preached a message called “The Road to Real Revival,” in which I listed seven stops along the road leading to real revival.

1. Real repentance
2. Real forgiveness
3. Real love
4. Real prayers
5. Real desire to see God move
6. Real humility to let God move
7. Real expectation that God will move – until He does

My thoughts and convictions were not uncommon. I’d either read about or heard other preachers say much the same thing for as long as I can remember. One of those preachers was Fredrick J. Huegel (1889-1971), who served as a missionary in Mexico for 40 years after serving as a chaplain in the military during World War I.

In a book called Herald of the Cross, which tells of his ministry life and work, his son John reveals how his dad reached a point of deep repentance during his missionary life in Mexico.

During a period of regular meetings and prayers with fellow pastors, all seeking spiritual revival, Fredrick experienced a profound revelation. He became acutely aware that some of the greatest barriers to genuine revival were not external but rather internal – rooted in his own life and in the local church.

This realization prompted him to respond with a depth of repentance greater than he had ever done before. His conviction extended beyond himself, as he discerned that all the Protestant/Evangelical churches needed to embrace this same deep repentance if they would ever hope to see real revival. Only through confronting their own hearts could they hope to see true revival in their communities.

Prior to his profound personal awakening, Huegel and his fellow pastors firmly believed that Roman Catholicism represented the chief barrier to spiritual revival. Their reasoning stemmed from the fact that Catholics openly condemned the Protestant and Evangelical churches and maintained a strong religious influence over the majority of the population. However, after experiencing a fresh spiritual quickening, Huegel and his companions began to see their situation differently.

They recognized that, in many respects, their own practices and attitudes were not significantly better than those of the Catholics whom they had criticized. This realization marked a turning point in their understanding of the obstacles to genuine revival.

The following is an excerpt in Fredrick’s own words.

 “Why talk of evangelizing the masses when there are enormous blocks of paganism in my own being that need to be exposed? Should I give to others what I have not given to parts of my own soul? Still in darkness? I had to go through the greatest trial of my life, equivalent to 1000 deaths, to discover my own condition. This frightened me. The result was that I undertook a great crusade to implant the Cross of Christ in all of the areas of my being that were still under the sway of paganism and darkness. The struggle took two years, with Christ inspiring and guiding me. I had never imagined that there was so much garbage; that I had so many unchristian things. How much flesh!

 “Flesh everywhere? Sermons inspired by the flesh; prayers that sprang from the flesh; evangelistic and missionary work originating in nothing but the flesh. And Jesus said, ‘The flesh profiteth nothing.’  What should I do?

 “The answer came. ‘You have been crucified with my son. You have to die taking advantage of the death of the Savior. That great mountain of self-centeredness and carnality, you have to get rid of it! Go to Calvary with everything! To Calvary with your life and your flesh! To Calvary with everything that is not inspired by the Holy Spirit: sermons, prayers, struggles, whatever may seem saintly, to Calvary with it all, so that it is no longer you, but Christ who works in you.’

 “Finally, the Cross of Christ worked in me, and after the Cross, a glorious resurrection. Oh, what glory! What an abundant life! A great revival, rivers of the water of life; a life of victory, fullness of life in Christ Jesus!

Once again, I am greatly challenged by my own need for honest, deep, personal repentance as the doorway to real revival.

Now, before I expect to see myself lead others into revival, I’ve begun to work on my own checklist until I see real revival in me.

1. “Confess to God and turn away from any known sin, no matter how small I think it is.”
2. “Sincerely ask God to show me blind spots where I need to repent, and do so immediately.”
3. “Ask the Holy Spirit to forgive me for grieving Him through any sin.”
4. “Listen to and obey the Holy Spirit.”
5. “Ask the Holy Spirit exactly what to pray for.”

Evan Roberts (1878-1951), the leading preacher of the Welsh Revival (1904-1905), which resulted in some 100,000 conversions, made his own prayer list to bring about revival and encouraged others to follow and pray the same.

1. “Confess any known sin to God and put right any wrong done to man.”
2. “Do away with anything doubtful in yourselves,” or “remove anything doubtful from your life.”
3. “Obey the Holy Spirit promptly” [and completely].
4. “Publicly confess Christ before the world.”

Charles Finney (1792-1875), one of the outstanding leaders among several other preachers who participated in the Second Great Awakening in the United States (1790-1840), which resulted in hundreds of thousands of conversions, had his list, too.

1. “Deep conviction of sin and repentance.”
2. “Extraordinary prayer” [if one expects God to move in an extraordinary way].
3. “Obedience and full consecration” [to God].
4. “Removal of ‘stumbling blocks’ and wrongs.”
5. “Bold, direct evangelistic preaching.”
6. “Use of appropriate ‘means’ with expectation of God working” [Call people to repent, and to come kneel at the altar to seek Him, demonstrating sincerity.].

What might your list be? Write it down and follow through.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

God wants to move. We want to see Him move. Let’s not focus on who’s out there before we give adequate attention to who’s in here.

Watching His plan unfold,

Mark S. Case