It Must Begin With Me

THERE is a message in the words of Joel and Zephaniah for you and me today. The messenger of the Lord affirms it.

"Gird on sackcloth and lament, O priests, wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because cereal offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God; and cry to the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes" (Joel 1:13-15, R.S.V.).

These words, written by the prophet and addressed to Judah, speak to every Seventh-day Adventist worker in this late hour. The call to repentance and reformation among the spiritual leaders of Joel's day challenges you and me in 1969.

Zephaniah also speaks to both his generation and ours. What a challenge to wholehearted repentance and to godly living his words contain!

"Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger" (Zeph. 2:1-3).

Time is short. There are no hours to waste. This is made clear in the Amplified reading of verse 2: "The time for repentance is speeding by like chaff whirled be fore the wind!" * The importance and the urgency of Zephaniah's appeal is emphasized in the same verse: "before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you."

What a scene of revival and reformation is unfolded before our eyes in these inspired words. It is of our times, the days just be fore the great day of the Lord, that Zephaniah and Joel speak. The Holy Spirit used these two men of God in an effort to arouse Judah. He seeks to use their inspired messages to stir the hearts of God's leaders in the church today.

Whether we lived in the days of the prophets or whether we live and labor in our day, if we will heed God's Word and seek the Lord in all earnestness, revival and blessing will come: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).

The pen of inspiration vividly describes the glorious reality of this movement Godward in our day! "I have been deeply impressed by scenes that have recently passed before me in the night season. There seemed to be a great movement a work of revival going forward in many places. Our people were moving into line, responding to God's call." --Selected Messages, book 2, p. 402.

It is coming, brethren! There is no question about it. The Lord's messenger beheld it in vision the remnant "moving into line, responding to God's call." Precious assurance! What a day it will be when the full momentum of this movement Godward becomes a glorious reality of the church.

You and I Have a Part to Play

You and I must play major roles in leading God's people into line, responding to His call. Leaders are men and women who lead. Leaders are in the forefront. Leaders not only sound the alarm, they set the example. Every worker in God's church is a leader. What an awesome responsibility rests upon us!

I like to think not only of the responsibility that is ours to lead God's people into this richer, fuller experience that will prepare us for the kingdom, but I like also to sense the privilege, the honor, the opportunity that is ours to be in the forefront of this movement Godward.

What a challenge is found in these inspired words: "When churches are revived, it is because some individual seeks earnestly for the blessing of God. He hungers and thirsts after God, and asks in faith, and receives accordingly. He goes to work in earnest, feeling his great dependence upon the Lord, and souls are aroused to seek for a like blessing, and a season of refreshing falls on the hearts of men." --Christian Service, p. 121.

Revivals Begin With One Leader

Did you notice the key thought in these words? Revivals begin with one burdened, dedicated individual!

Some years ago a man in England, hearing of the great Welsh revival, decided to go down to Wales and see for himself what was happening. Upon arrival he approached a burly policeman standing on the station platform.

"Excuse me, officer," he began, "can you tell me the location of the great Welsh revival we have been hearing about in London?"

The man in blue, whose own heart had been stirred by by the Spirit of God, drew himself up to his full six feet two and with his finger stabbing toward his own chest, replied, "That revival, sir, is right here beneath these brass buttons!"

"Right here beneath these brass buttons" perhaps you or I could or should say of revival in our day, "It is right here be neath this black tie!" Revival can it must---begin with you, with me!

Usually we conceive of revival as a collective experience, a time when tongues of fire fill a crowded room and the rushing wind stirs the multitude. This, of course, was the experience at Pentecost. No doubt it will be repeated, but the point I do not want to miss is that a collective Pentecost is possible only because there are Pentecosts in individual hearts. "We must enter upon the work individually." --Selected Messages, book 1, p. 122. Leadership in revival may be an individual matter. Revival itself must be an individual experience.

I repeat to enter into this experience is not only an awesome responsibility it is a glorious privilege. Revival, reformation could should begin with one person; that person could, should be you, me! "When churches are revived, it is because some individual seeks earnestly for the blessing of God."

Take your Bible, read accounts of God-inspired revivals in Old Testament times. The Lord used one man to inspire awakenings in both Judah and Israel. While Elijah's fearless ministry checked the rapid spread of apostasy in Israel, God was using Jehoshaphat to effect a revival in Judah. (See Prophets and Kings, pp. 155-203.)

Hezekiah, Josiah, Ezra, and Nehemiah were among the men of God who sought "earnestly for the blessing of God." They were used to bring great spiritual refreshment to God's people in their day. These revivals were each fired by one man. If the Lord used one man to bring reformation in Old Testament times, the same God can do the same needed work for His people in our day when every individual "hungers and thirsts after God" and "goes to work in earnest."

Preparation a Must

But there must be a preparation. Elijah, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Ezra, or Nehemiah could never have been used as channels of revival power without the needed preparation. You and I must be willing to pay the price of Holy-Spirit-indicted power that alone will rouse the Laodiceans of our day!

What is that price? Read 2 Chronicles 7:14 again. The conditions are plain. Four steps God's people must take, the inspired writer declares, if they find forgiveness and "healing" (revival and reformation). The first: "My people . . . shall humble themselves." We are right back where we began our message---God calls us first to true repentance. There can be no sham contrition, no feeling of regret because punishment is assured the impenitent. Heart sorrow for sin must precede revival. My friend, do you know what true repentance is in your own experience?

The next step? "My people . . . shall . . . pray." It can be no hurried mumbling, no superficial rote. Only wrestling with God for our own needs and on behalf of the people we serve will bring spiritual refreshment either to our own souls or into the experience of those whom we shepherd. Fellow worker, do you really know how to pray?

In addition to repentance and prayer? The Lord says, "My people . . . shall . . . seek my face." Foremost among the ways we seek and find the Lord is to search for Him in His Word. True revival will be Bible based, resting foursquare upon the warnings and the promises of the inspired Word. If you and I are to become vehicles of revival and reformation, we must seek the Lord more earnestly and more prayer fully in the Word of Life.

"If my people . . . shall . . . turn from their wicked ways." God calls today for a repentance that includes the forsaking of sin. Here is the reformation that is an intrinsic part of revival. God's people not only must be aroused but we need a continuing experience of victory in our lives. Sin must go. Compromise must be abandoned. Through. Jesus Christ our Lord victory over the evil one is to be ours. What a sobering challenge! What a precious assurance! God challenges you, He challenges me with such an experience.

There Is Help for Us

We need not seek this experience alone. In fact, we can never hope to realize this fullness of God's blessing alone. It will come only with help from above and beyond our selves. Paul's words contain the secret of hope and help: "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57).

"I've tried in vain a thousand ways

My fears to quell, my hopes to raise;

But what I need, the Bible says,

Is ever, only Jesus."

"It is through the impartation of the grace of Christ that sin is discerned in its hateful nature, and finally driven from the soul temple." --Selected Messages, book 1, p. 366. "Christ looks at the spirit, and when He sees us carrying our burden with faith, His perfect holiness atones for our short comings. When we do our best, He becomes our righteousness." --Ibid., p. 368. "Christ will never abandon the soul for whom He has died." --Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 118.

Thank God, He has provided help through Jesus Christ His Son. We do not fight the battle alone! Never-failing strength is ours! With that help you may be the man, the woman, the Lord will use to spark revival in your district, in your conference, in your institution.

The Results of Such Personal Preparation

What will be the results of this revival experience with Jesus in our ministry? The Lord's messenger declares that when we ask "in faith" we shall receive accordingly. When we go "to work in earnest, feeling . . . [our] dependence upon the Lord, . . . souls are aroused to seek for a like blessing, and a season of refreshing falls on the hearts of men."---Christian Service, p. 121. The revival will come, brethren, when you and I desire it enough to pay the price of preparation. That price is a full break with sin and the world and a complete and constant dedication to Him who is "the way, the truth, and the life."

God Is Depending on You

"I have waited anxiously, hoping that God would put His Spirit upon some to use them as instruments of righteousness to awaken and set in order His church."---Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 663. You and I may be the "instruments of righteousness" the Lord desires to use to awaken His church and to bring revival and reformation to our part of His vineyard. Remember "when churches are revived, it is because some individual seeks for the blessing of God." Fellow workers around the world, may God make of you and me such individuals the individuals through whom He can and will bring revival and reformation to our home, to our church, to our conference. And may He do this soon, very soon, that we may not longer delay our Lord's return!