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Revival and the New Wine
Are You Ready?
by Karin Paparelli
We are all waiting expectantly for revival to sweep across Long Island.
I believe it is the Lord's desire. But as we wait I believe there are
several things which must take place in order for this revival to come.
First: There must be a maturing of the body of Christ according
to Ephesians 4:13. Those already in the Kingdom must know their position
in Christ and in relation to one another. This maturity will be evidenced
by "putting off the old self and it's deceitful desires" and
by " being made new in the attitude of your mind...being like God
in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph 4:22-24). The mature in
Christ will live in humility, gentleness, meekness, forgiveness. Bearing
up with one another, and speaking words of life. We will be rid of all
malice, anger, pride, slander, rage, bitterness, impurity, greed, sexual
immorality, coarse joking and foolish talk. We will live carefully, making
the most of every opportunity to do good. Our minds will be set upon things
above and not on earthly things. We will live sacrificially, giving to
all who have need. We will lay down our lives and pick up our crosses
and follow the Lord. We will not live in fear but will move in courage
and boldness. We will not cease praying and will always be full of thanksgiving.
We will walk by faith and not by sight. The peace of Christ will rule
our hearts and we will be clothed with great compassion. We will be watchful
and alert, always about our Father's business. And above all we will put
on love, which binds us all together in perfect unity. None of this is
possible without God, but with God all things are possible. He will not
ask of us what we cannot attain. We must press in.
Second: There must be true unity, among ALL believers. The Lord
has revealed that there are some that are already in the fold that have
not been recognized as part of body of Christ. We must be willing to accept
ALL that the Lord calls His own.
Unity. That seems to be the Christian buzz word today. But what is unity?
Is it pastors gathered together at a prayer meeting? Is it churches sharing
a worship service? Is it our youth coming together to Rock the Island?
I believe unity is all these and more. I would say this is the start,
but we have so much further to go.
Romans 14:1 exhorts us to "accept him whose faith is weak, without
passing judgement on disputable matters." Is this truly in evidence
on Long Island? Mercy triumphs over judgement and love covers a multitude
of sin. Are we willing to extend mercy to those who believe differently
than us? Are we willing to let the love of Christ cover a multitude of
sin? Will you sit at the table with a brother or sister and say "It
doesn't matter to me what your doctrine is, I love you because we both
call Jesus our Lord?" In our work at Building The Kingdom Ministries,
we have had the opportunity to meet with all kinds of Christians from
all kinds of churches. We have found that every church has it's faults,
every church has it's strengths and none is without sin. No one in the
body of Christ has the right to sit in judgement of another. Not one!
The Lord is the only true judge and when He judges He does so rightly
for only He knows the intent of each man's heart.
Spiritual pride will be the biggest obstacle here. I heard a friend say,
"We need to be willing to be humiliated in order to become humble."
Are we really willing to be humiliated for the sake of unity?
Third: Our unity must be evidenced by our behavior. Unity, the
kind of unity Jesus prayed for goes beyond what we do in our churches.
It spills out into the streets. That is where the world can see the witness
of Jesus. On Long Island we have made great strides toward unity in the
body of Christ, praise be to God! But it is time to put our unity into
action. We need to take the love of Jesus to the streets, where the world
can see. That is what Jesus did. He walked the streets, dined with sinners,
preached in fields. We have done this individually, now we need to do
this corporately. Our faith should be demonstrated by our works, for faith
without works is dead!
Fourth: Our sole purpose as the church should be to share the good
news of Jesus Christ. Evangelism must be the heart and goal of every believer
not just a few. Jesus told us to go out into all the world and preach
the good news to all creation. He didn't say " Those that are called
to be evangelists go out into all the world and preach the good news..."
For too long we have been deceived that only a select few can successfully
witness Christ. But as each of us matures, each will have a hand in the
harvest. Our love for Jesus will naturally spill over to all we meet.
And they will ask "How can I know Jesus too?". The burden for
the lost must become every Christians driving force, from our elders to
our children.
I believe when revival comes, our buildings will become training centers
used for discipling new converts. They will no longer be large enough
to hold the body of Christ for worship services, these will need to be
held in arenas and outdoors in fields.
When will revival come? When His purpose becomes our purpose, when His
heart becomes our heart, when His life is our life, then revival will
come. The new wine has been prepared. It is ready to be poured. But it
cannot be contained in old wine skins for they will burst. This new wine
will challenge all we thought the church should be. It will challenge
how we relate to the body as well as the lost. It will challenge everything
we thought we knew. When Jesus walked the earth many rejected Him because
they were unable to perceive the Lord among them. He did not fit their
model. He did not follow their plan. Neither will this move of God.
Let us prepare our hearts now so we will not fail to perceive the Lord
among us. Will you allow the holy Spirit to create in you a new wine skin?
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