RUSSELL AND HELEN SANDERS

SPIRIT OF LIFE MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL

5-13-2023

WILL THERE BE AN END TIME REVIVAL?

This message was written a year ago, but God laid it on my heart to put this out again. If you have been a Christian and have been in church for any length of time you would have heard someone speak about “an end time” revival. Many are waiting in anticipation for this to happen. They are not making it happen, they are hoping someone else will make it happen.

A survey from Nashville-based Lifeway Research found that more than half (58 percent) of churchgoers feel comfortable in effectively sharing their faith. But most (78 percent) have not shared that faith with anyone over the past 6 months. Seventy-eight percent is an extremely high number that do not share their faith, my friends. This means that over three out four people have not heeded Christ’s great commission in the past year. If the majority of the church are not witnessing to the lost, and they expect an end time revival, I would ask where it is going to come from?

There was a great move of God at the turn of the century at the Azusa Street revival. Billy Graham’s crusades were true revivals. I believe when the Charismatic Movement hit America there was a great revival. People from all denominations were being filled with the Holy Spirit, and many got saved. The sad thing is that this movement waned because they were not taught to witness. They were content to go to church and enjoyed the newfound freedom to worship and pray in tongues, but they were more interested in hearing the “current” word from the Lord than going out the door and winning the lost. There was little if any preaching on winning souls.

People want a “Book of Acts” move of God, but if I recall correctly from the Book of Acts, they added souls to the church daily. (Acts 2:47.) Those that were saved and shared their faith with non-believers knew that they were putting their lives on the line, but they witnessed anyway. There were multitudes of martyrs. They paid the price to be a voice for God. We do not see that in the United States. It is happening in third-world countries like China and Iran. Many are tortured and are dying for their faith.

In speaking of the time before the Lord’s return, In II Thessalonians 2:3 it says, “Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”

Let’s break it down. First, we are told not to be deceived. The church at Thessalonica had heard that the Lord had already come, and Paul was letting them know that it was not true. He then told them that there would be a falling away first before the Lord’s return.

The word falling away comes from the Greek word “apostasia” which means defection from truth, or forsaking truth. Some think that this word falling away means the rapture, but they are mistaken when you look at the original Greek word. This falling away ushers in the son of perdition, which also means son of lawlessness.

So, to interpret this scripture we might say, do not be deceived that there will be a great revival because it will not happen. There will be a great falling away from what the bible calls truth, and there will be false prophets teaching things will get better when they will not. (See Matthew 24:24.) You cannot have it both ways. One is truth and the other is a lie.

In January of 2020, the Spirit showed me that we were now living in the days of lawlessness. There is little respect for law enforcement, and many cities have had fires and looting. Statues have been destroyed that represent our history, and churches have been set on fire by arsonists. Major chaos hit when there was election fraud.

In 2022 someone working at the Supreme Court leaked a document about Roe vs. Wade being overthrown. It led to rioting around the Supreme Court, and those that favored keeping Roe vs. Wade demonstrated in front of the Justices’ homes to terrorize them if they voted to throw out Roe vs. Wade. Roe vs. Wade was rejected by the Supreme Court as being unconstitutional, but legislation is currently being drawn up to reverse this decision by our Supreme Court. Our nation is in chaos. We are on a downward spiral with little hope of coming back. 

In the past, every nation that exalted itself above God was overthrown. The scripture tells us in Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” This would apply to political and spiritual. When sin is winked at in the church and the government then you can be sure it is the end of a nation. Judgment will start at the house of God, then the nation. Judgment comes to bring people to godly sorrow over their sin. Godly sorrow leads to repentance. Repentance leads to restoration. 

Yes, there is a remnant that will stand strong, and there are sparks throughout our country of what might be called revival,  but we must remember Jesus words in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

The narrow way is the only way to find life. We must be the ones that lead others to that way through our witness while we still have that freedom. I pray that you are part of the 22% that do witness and not the 78% that do not. Faithfulness to truth will be rewarded. What is truth? God’s Word is truth, not man’s opinion of what they think truth is.