Firstline

By Terry Virgo

On my recent return from the Ukraine, an old friend called and, having lovingly enquired regarding my wife's recovery from surgery, concluded with the question, ‘Have you heard about the revival?' I had not and my caller began to tell me about the sudden outbreak of healing that was taking place in Lakeland, Florida, and mentioned that his pastor was about to fly there.

I subsequently learned that CNN had broadcast that people were flying into Lakeland, Florida from all around the world because so many healings and miracles were taking place there, and an ever-growing crowd was attending its daily meetings.

I'd like to make one or two observations at this stage - not because I feel thoroughly qualified since my personal knowledge is inevitably limited and I am therefore very cautious to speak ahead of time, but because many have asked what my thoughts are.

Cautious negatives

At a recent gathering of our UK Newfrontiers pastors for days of prayer and fasting I shared my observations (a recording of that talk will soon be available on the resources section of my website). I began to speak with some ‘cautious negatives' about what I was observing.

One of the unique features of what has been taking place in Lakeland, Florida is that it is being daily shown live on God Channel. Turning on the channel, I was alarmed and saddened to find that immediately prior to the visit to Lakeland viewers were invited to send prayer requests by e-mail to an ‘upper room' in Jerusalem where they would be laid on an ‘altar'. I was horrified and deeply saddened that Christians were being encouraged to do such a thing when the Scripture makes it clear that we have a great High Priest who has gone through the heavens on our behalf. An altar in Jerusalem is hardly relevant!

This certainly did not get me off to a good start and for some of us that could be enough to write off all that followed as utter foolishness.

My second ‘negative' relates to how we weigh or assess what we observe. Sadly some would encourage us, in order to receive something from God in connection with the activity of the Holy Spirit, to allow Him to ‘offend our mind' in order to ‘reveal our heart'. Undoubtedly there can be an accumulation of intellectual knowledge which sadly ‘puffs up' rather than ‘builds up' but we make a terrible mistake if we want to find out whether something is of God or not by simply kissing our brains goodbye.

The Apostle Paul warns the Corinthians about being puffed up because of knowledge. But he also mentions the danger of becoming puffed up in ‘taking a stand on visions one has seen' (Col. 2:18). It seems to me that humility is required on all sides when trying to assess these things.

Test all things

The Scriptures tell us to test all things and we need to bring them to the plumbline of the Bible rather than abandon all previous knowledge accumulated by submission to the Scripture's revelation.

In '94 and '95 we in Newfrontiers did not embrace the Spirit's activity which was so rampant among us by abandoning our minds but by looking closely at the fruit of what was happening and searching the Scriptures. I will return to that later.

A third concern I have relates to the general atmosphere and ambience of the meetings which can be observed on the God Channel. Sometimes there is a celebration of ‘freedom' which debunks the supposed formality of church life. In some ways this can sound similar to what those of us who have enjoyed the breakthrough of being set free by the grace of God have experienced when we have realised we are no longer ‘under law'. Praise God for the freedom we enjoy in breaking out of mere religiousness! But sadly there can also be another sense in which ‘freedom' is used to cover what can become debased into a kind of abandonment and mockery that does not seem appropriate. Indeed, the editor of Charisma Magazine has recently warned about the dangers of putting bizarre behaviour on a platform with the implication that it is normative.

What do you mean by ‘Revival'?

Another observation would be in connection with the use of the word ‘Revival'. It's not strictly a Bible word so I guess we are free to interpret it as we like, but historically I have personally embraced what would tend to be the classic British evangelical view, namely a time of fresh activity of the Holy Spirit first among Christians, often leading to repentance and renewed devotion and prayer. This has developed into evangelistic breakthrough and conviction of sin among the lost leading to multiplied conversions and ultimately resulting in transforming impact on the culture.

What is being described in Lakeland appears to be more of a phenomenal outbreak of healings and powerful signs and wonders among gathered Christians.

Of course, some people's view of revival is so much rooted in history that they would crave a return to the days of the Puritans more than the days of the Acts of the Apostles. For myself, I would prefer a full recovery of New Testament Christianity.

But what about multiplied healings and can you ‘catch it'?

These opening remarks therefore seem to be couched in negative terms. However, a friend of mine who actually attended the Lakeland meetings for several days felt ‘I hate this ... I want to get out of here' but actually went on to be blessed and as he watched more closely felt that he saw remarkable compassion and mercy, particularly being expressed to large numbers of poorer people who were flocking to the meetings.

Since his return to the UK, he has witnessed a number of healings, as indeed others have. It is claimed that what is happening is ‘transferrable', and perhaps this is what makes these developments so fascinating and, for some, magnetic in their appeal.

One of the features of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that affected so many in ‘94/'95 was the fact that it was something that could be ‘caught' or ‘transferred'. People who attended certain meetings became ‘carriers' of a kind of ‘spiritual contagion' which subsequently broke out elsewhere.

It would be true to say that this has been a mark of historic revivals. People visited the 1905 Welsh Revival for instance and, on returning home, found that God's presence had accompanied them in an extraordinary way.

Also, it was observable in ‘94/'95 that some of the phenomena could be recognised even when clothed in contrasting denominational garb. So what happened in Toronto had a Vineyard feel to it while the similar breakthrough in Pensacola carried Assemblies of God trappings. (John Arnott certainly had a different style to Steve Hill when praying, ‘More Lord.')

Manifestations

What were often referred to as ‘manifestations of the Spirit' (and sometimes very strange they were) were in reality not literally ‘manifestations of the Spirit' but the different ways in which people's bodies responded to the Spirit's activity. Various phenomenal responses were noted when the Holy Spirit's presence seemed to be strong. Some fell, some shook and some laughed. Some seemed to happen in an involuntary kind of way; others perhaps were imitation. The pressure to conform on these occasions can become very great.

What influenced me most significantly was not the extraordinary physical manifestations but the extraordinary lasting change that I observed in the lives of people I knew. Many displayed a new love and devotion to God, and a new sensitivity to the Spirit's presence. Some embraced a new commitment to Christ and his mission to win the world for his name. The physical manifestations gradually faded but the transformed lives have remained.

Upon searching the Scriptures, I was drawn to Acts 10 where the Apostle Peter was in a trance (!) and saw a vision (!) and heard an audible voice (!), as a result of which he followed Cornelius's representatives who had themselves been instructed by an angel (!). Upon arrival at Cornelius's house, Peter began to preach but was interrupted by such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that he had to give way to his hearers who were suddenly overcome and speaking in tongues and prophesying (!).

Virtually every feature in this extraordinary story was outside of my experience - but all were clearly Biblical.

Now I am hearing stories of multiplied healings. As it happens, in the last couple of years we have already been experiencing more healings in our churches than ever before, and last year we gave a whole magazine to deal with this subject. Now people are experiencing a further increase, some of which seems to have its origins in what is happening in Florida.

How do we evaluate? We must get our doctrine clear.

We often imagine that God's gifts are proofs of holiness or marks of maturity given only to the most advanced Christians to demonstrate God's approval of their spiritual progress. But this is not the case. God's gifts aren't rewards! If that had been the case in Corinth, the church would have been completely devoid of gifts because, as D A Carson declares, the believers were ‘wretchedly, unacceptably, spiritually immature' (The Cross and Christian Ministry, Baker 1993). But Paul said that they ‘didn't lack any spiritual gift' (1 Cor. 1:7). In spite of their immaturity and carnality God gives gifts freely on the basis of grace. Christ's righteousness qualifies you to receive amazing gifts of the Holy Spirit (see Study 45 ‘Grace and Ministry' on the Bible Insight page of my website).

The vital place of the local church

In the New Testament, Holy Spirit gifts are given in the context of the body. Others are to benefit from and balance their use. Prophecy, for instance, is meant to be weighed by others in a context of love, spiritual authority and joyful submission. This means that unweighed prophecies of apparently massive proportion proclaimed on television are bypassing God's lovingly appointed safeguards. Who is weighing the prophecies that are being uttered?

What shall we do? We should go on preaching the gospel, praying for the sick and committing our lives to the local church where things find their right setting and safety. Some who testify to a powerful surge of blessing now in their church through contact with Lakeland, say that this is not happening to them in a vacuum, but in the context of healthy local church life where eldership oversight is clearly in place, Biblical foundations are already established and a longing to reach the lost with the gospel is already in focus. Praise God! This is how it should be.

Watch and pray

We should pray for 32-year-old Todd Bentley whose high profile through exposure to daily television broadcasts circling the world would frighten the most experienced preacher. Some of his references to angelic visitations are at least vulnerable to misunderstanding and tragically stories of shipwreck associated with previously high profile ministries who spoke frequently of angelic visitation are well documented.

­­In the midst of what has been historically regarded as authentic and powerful revival, Jonathan Edwards found himself exposed to extraordinary phenomena on all sides. He neither dismissed it all nor accepted it all but offered his own critique, sometimes defending and sometimes challenging what took place.

It seems to me that we do not have to take a stance simply dismissing what is happening as a circus nor to only demonstrate alarm at the dangers that seem inherent. Nor should we naively embrace and unquestioningly accept the complete package.

For myself, I long for the power of God to be released so that Jesus might be wonderfully glorified in our generation. I often pray the prayer based on the Apostle's plea that God would grant us boldness while He Himself stretches forth His hand and that signs and wonders are done in the name of His holy child Jesus. I shall continue to pray such prayers and long for the coming of His power and the glorifying of His name with huge respect for the local church and I believe a God-given desire to be mutually dependent and not independent. I believe God will lead us on to all that He has for us and safeguard us from danger for His great glory.