For me, revival and reformation involve a personal, daily heart searching. This means, as Paul wrote, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5 ). Revival and reformation, like conversion, aren’t a package deal but happen one soul at a time. Sure, there was a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but those people had individually been searching their hearts, searching the Scriptures, praying, and opening themselves up to the power of God. This Pentecost revival happened at the beginning of the great gospel proclamation. What a privilege for us to seek for the same Holy Spirit revival during the closing scenes of earth’s history.
As Adventists, we have the most wonderful message of “present truth”—the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14. But no matter how relevant and pertinent these truths are, we need power from on high, the power of the Holy Spirit, to be able to effectively proclaim this message to the world.
For years now, the Generation of Youth for Christ has been seeking the Holy Spirit in our desire to bring revival and reformation to not only our young people, but also to the entire church. We have been given truth; of that, there is no question. The question remains, What shall we do with the message that God has entrusted to us? Each one of us, as we surrender to the Lord in a sincere desire for personal revival, must answer that question for ourselves.
