The past two newsletters dealt with the price one pays as he follows the Lord Jesus Christ. Revival goes hand-in-hand with discipleship because heart preparation is necessary if one is to walk in the Savior’s steps.

The greatest verse in the Bible on the subject of revival is found 2 Chronicles 7:14. This truth, delivered to Israel centuries ago, is preeminently applicable for believers in the twentieth century. The text states, 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.

The first thing a believer can do to bring the blessing of God back upon his experience is to seek humility. Pride fills the arena of Christendom today. Christian services, including evangelistic crusades, are filled with performers seeking praise. Carnal performers seek the exaltation of self. Christ isthe only one worthy of praise. Temperamental artists, charging exorbitant sums, want glory. These prima donnas must have worshippers or they will not perform. God deliver us from egotistical, haughty performers, and give us more old-fashioned, Holy Spirit filled soloists who want Christ to be uplifted. How embarrassed this crowd will be at the Judgment Seat of Christ when motives are investigated.

First Corinthians 4:5 states, Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels [or motives-Greek] of the hearts.

When God tests motives in that day, many will have nothing but an incinerated pile of ashes to throw at Christ’s feet in place of crowns (see 1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

Let’s see what God has to say about pride. In Proverbs 16:18 He states, Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Sir, lady-high and mighty-a destructive fall is predicted for your life and ministry. Fall on your knees and repent of this hindering sin in your life. Oh, how we need to be like Jesus who said in Matthew 11:29, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

We need the humility of John the Baptist who cried out in John 3:30, He must increase, but I must decrease. He must be exalted and I abased. When one genuinely practices this truth, God will exalt the sincere soul. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up (James 4:10). God says that the way up is down to self.

Glory seekers will never have the blessing and power of God upon them because God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble (James 4:6). Let’s ask God to forgive us for the sin of thinking that we are latter day gifts to the Church. Instead, Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time (1 Peter 5:6). The glory is coming at the Judgment Seat when rewards are distributed to the faithful. Do what you can for Christ and the souls of men now, and crowns to lay at Christ’s feet will be yours at that great Coronation Day.

Child of God, be faithful-even when no one seems to care-For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:11). Remember, Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (Matthew 23:12).

Prayer

Prayer is a necessity if one is to experience true revival in his heart. 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 Chronicles 7:14).

Modern Christians know little about this most effectual ministry. Jesus did. He said in Luke 18:1, Men ought always to pray and not to faint. Christ rose up early in the morning to pray (see Mark 1:35). He continued all night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12). Multitudes will rise up early to fish, ski, and golf, while others will sit up until the small hours of the morning watching vampires, witches, and bloodsuckers on “Shock Theatre.” How different these Christians are from Christ, after whom Christianity is named. These so-called followers need a heaven-shaking revival of body and soul.

Paul, who said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ, practiced what he preached. He said, Continuing instant in prayer (Romans 12:12); Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18); Continue in prayer (Colossians 4:2); and Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

In other periods of American history, entire cities and counties were deluged with revival as thousands per week-up to one million total-were converted. The secret was prayer. Finney describes the times of agonizing prayer that transpired in his day in his book Revival Lectures. He states: “Men prayed until their clothing was soaked through with perspiration. Some bled like Christ did in Luke 22:44. Two prayed themselves to death before the age of 40. To many it appeared as foolishness, but cities were turned upside down for Christ.”

Would to God that we had prayer warriors like this in every major city where the Jack Van Impe Crusades are conducted. Oh, to see a revival where sin is put out of business; where movie houses, brothels, massage parlors, and pornography dens are barricaded because the power of God, through prayer, has padlocked Satan’s establishments. Christian, pray without ceasing!

Confession

Prayer, however, is meaningless without confession because God’s holiness demands it. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalm 66:18). Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear (Isaiah 59:1, 2). This is why 1 John 1:9 states, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and, just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Bitterness

Bitterness is the greatest sin of the hour. There is nothing in the realm of sin that is damaging the Church of Jesus Christ and destroying one’s spiritual life more than bitterness. This spirit of animosity surely is not of God. If one is controlled by hatred, he certainly should question his profession of faith. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love (1 John 4:7,8).

A Spirit-filled Christian is known by the love he has for others. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22, 23).

You may say, “I have experienced the second work of grace.” Do you have love for other believers who may not agree with your interpretation?

You may say, “I have spoken the heavenly language, yea the vocabulary of angels.” But are you filled with love? First Corinthians 13:1 declares, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. The Holy Spirit says that heavenly languages, when boasted about without the evidence of love, become nothing but manifestations of the flesh.

The real evidence of the Spirit is found in verses 4-8: Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not [is not jealous]; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up [hey, look at my gifts], doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked [made mad], thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.

This is the love the crucified Savior manifested at Calvary. After they battered nails into His hands and feet, jammed a crown of thorns into the flesh of His head, ripped His beard from the facial area, scourged His back and chest into mutilated shreds of flesh, then-after all their brutality was unleashed upon Him-He lovingly cried, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).

Some carnal mind is already excusing self for the bitterness he holds by saying, “This was Christ, and He was God. Because of His Deity He could love in the midst of hate. Our humanity limits us in loving the unlovely.” Let me immediately answer you with the example of Stephen in Acts 7:51-60.

This mere mortal man, filled with the Holy Spirit, manifested the same loving kindness that his Savior did upon Calvary’s tree. The Scriptures picture Stephen preaching a strong, sin-denouncing sermon. The enraged crowd can’t take the truth and so verse 57 says, Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Now please get verse 60: And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Think of it …as they stoned him to death crushed his head with rocks-he asked his Lord not to hold them accountable for what they had done. Verse 55 tells us why his heart was so filled with love-he was filled with the Holy Spirit. There is the evidence.

A man can talk about every experience in the book and still be a trouble-making church-wrecker, but when the Spirit is truly in control, he won’t have to prove it. Instead, the love that flows from his heart to the saved and lost will indicate that the blessed Spirit of God is at the helm of his life. When the world sees this love in the Christian, a genuine moving of God will take place.

FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE

The Quest for Peace

I heard a story recently about a nagging wife who kept writing complaining letters to her serviceman husband who was on combat duty in another country. Finally, after receiving yet another hateful letter, the husband wrote back, “Will you please stop writing me vicious letters so I can fight this war in peace?”

We all want peace, don’t we? Personally and nationally we crave it. Yet, so few of us find it. I’ve read that over half the beds in our hospitals today are filled with people who have mental problems. These individuals have desperately sought for peace but haven’t found it. At last, they have reached the place where they can no longer cope with life, and they have become ill.

A noted doctor once said that if all the tranquilizers were taken away from the American people, we would have a national nervous breakdown so big there wouldn’t be enough well people to take care of the sick ones. People who take tranquilizers are trying to push the turbulence in their lives out of their minds. They have to resort to a little pill to put them in “peaceful” oblivion.

My heart goes out to those who do not know the meaning of peace. Each day is a repetition of the previous one, filled with hostility, despair, and loneliness. They are miserable, frustrated, and unhappy with themselves and everyone around them.

A picture of peace

Remember the story of the rich man who commissioned an artist to paint him a picture illustrating true peace. The artist painted a beautiful picture of a lake surrounded by trees. In the distance were majestic, snow-covered mountains.

When the rich man saw it, he shook his head. “It’s very beautiful,” he told the artist, “but it’s not a picture of true peace. Please try again.”

This time the artist thought a long time before he began to paint. On the canvas, he painted a huge, thundering waterfall. He showed the water churning over the falls and crashing onto rocks far below. Then, at one side of the waterfall, he painted a birch tree whose slender branches reached out over the roaring water. On one of the branches, he painted a little bird sitting quietly and contentedly on her nest, oblivious to the danger around her.

That is true peace — not an escape from the pressures and trials of life but the quiet repose of a heart at rest with God. Jesus said, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Jesus’ life was anything but peaceful. Yet, His last legacy to His disciples and to all those who would follow Him was the promise of peace. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

I love the old hymn that goes:

Trust and rest when all around thee

Puts thy faith to sorest test;

Let no fear or foe confound thee,

Wait for God and trust and rest.

Trust and rest with heart abiding,

Like a birdling in its nest,

Underneath His feathers hiding,

Fold thy wings and trust and rest.

I don’t know the things in your life that cause you unrest and destroy your peace. But I want to remind you that there is a way to handle them. God has given us guidelines that can take us through these troublesome times.

Guidelines for troubled times

In His sermon on the mount, Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). What does that mean to you in your everyday life? It means that if you will turn your thoughts to God, He will take control. Then, regardless of the conditions around you, you have His abiding peace, joy, patience — whatever you need at the moment — to draw on.

The Apostle Paul tells us that He [Jesus] is our [way of] peace (Ephesians 2:14). It’s only when we follow after Him that the walls of hostility which surround us come tumbling down. He is our way of living at peace with others. Paul also speaks of those who do not seek after God, and he observes that they do not know the way of peace (see Romans 3:17).

A verse that has helped so many who were going through turbulent times is Isaiah 26:3, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. When you keep your mind on the Lord and trust unwaveringly in Him, you can truly live in peace though the world around you be filled with turmoil and strife.

My prayer for you today is that… the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

CHANGED LIVES-one at a time

Dear Drs. Jack and Rexella Van Impe:

I find listening to you and your sweet wife very comforting. Sometimes I am troubled with what is going on in the world today, but always keep in my mind that all things burdensome must come to pass in order that Jesus returns. I want to thank you both for delivering that message of hope on a daily basis.

Sincerely and may God bless you both.

Dorothy

Dear Mr. Jack and Ms. Rexella,

I wanted to encourage you in the message you bring to the world. I love your show and enjoy watching both of you. You have such a heart for Jesus, it is refreshing to see. I’m praying for you and your safety always, as I know it is a dangerous course you are on.

Thank you for what you do. May the Lord bless you and keep you safe.

Your friend,

S. W.

HIGHLIGHTED PRODUCT OFFERS

Islamic Sharia Law and the One World Religion

Is Sharia law on the horizon for all 57 Muslim countries; and then the whole world?

Are Muslims calling for Sharia law in the USA?

Could it be part of the one-world religion predicted in Bible prophecy?

What Christian leaders are compromising the faith for ‘Chrislam’, and what it the immediate danger?

What are Islam’s plans for Israel, Christianity, and planet earth?

Get the answers to these are other critical questions in this powerful teaching from Drs. Jack and Rexella Van Impe – and you will discover the startling truth about the real threat of Islam and its place in these latter days!

Chrislam: One World Religion Emerging

You and your family need the facts about an abomination taking place right now – one of the vital signs of Bible prophecy that signals the soon return of Christ.

It’s the advent of Chrislam an ungodly blending of Islam and Christianity that’s being promoted by some Christian leaders today! They’re even reading the Koran alongside the Bible in Christian churches!

Drs. Jack and Rexella Van Impe have prepared this powerful video expose to show you how this dangerous trend fulfills Bible prophecy – and threatens to destroy Christianity.

Discover these critical answers:

• What two global leaders are promoting Chrislam?


• Which notable Christians ministers are open to it?


• What does the Bible say about Chrislam?


• How does Chrislam fulfill two key final prophecies before Christ’s return?


• And much more!