2 Chronicles 15:12-13, “And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.”
Revival is personal before it is corporate, but it never stays personal.
Once God moves on the Christian, opens the book, and breaks the idols, the next thing that happens is the people gather. A man who has met with God in private cannot help calling other people to meet him too.
Asa’s revival ended with the whole nation entering a covenant with God. Hezekiah’s revival ended with Judah keeping the Passover together for the first time in generations. Josiah’s revival ended with the king and the people standing in covenant before the Lord. Pentecost ended with three thousand baptized and added to the church.
Christ Is the Head of the Body
A gathered group of Christians is not a club, a movement, or a religious organization. It is a body, and that body has a head.
Ephesians 5:23, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.”
Christ is the head of the church and the Saviour of the body. The church is not gathered around a leader, a building, or a denomination. The church is gathered around Christ.
In Matthew 16:18 Christ said, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Confession Is Public and Corporate
In revival the secret things come out. People stand up and own their sin in front of the assembly so that what has been hidden can finally be healed.
In Nehemiah 9 the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers, and gave three hours to reading the law and three hours to confessing and worshipping the Lord. A whole quarter of the day given to corporate confession.
James 5:16, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
There is healing that only comes through what we are unwilling to do alone.
In Ephesus the people came and confessed and shewed their deeds. They told what they had done. They brought the dark things into the light and the city was changed.
Tears Over Sin and Joy Over Restoration
People are weeping over their sin and rejoicing over their forgiveness at the same time.
In Nehemiah 8 the people wept when they heard the word, and then Nehemiah told them to stop weeping and go celebrate. “Eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared.”
The joy of the Lord was their strength. The same revival had a weeping morning and a feasting afternoon.
When the foundation of the second temple was laid, the old men who remembered the first temple wept and the younger ones shouted for joy, and the two sounds blended together so that nobody could tell them apart.
What This Means for Us
If God has moved in our private life and we have not connected that work to a local New Testament church, the work is half done.
Find a Bible-believing, soul-winning, KJV-preaching church and plant your life there. Be there every time the doors are open. Confess our sins and carry burdens.
Let our tears mix with their tears and our joy mix with their joy.
Read the next part. Once the people are gathered, there are things that can still stop the revival from spreading.
