Revival Conference 2007 - Dean Taylor Interview

This is Dean Taylor, Revival Conference 2007. Brother Dean, what is revival? What is revival? You know, there's lots of different definitions of revival. I like one that Duncan Campbell says, speaking of the Hebrides, and he said revival is a going of God among His people. It's the manifest presence of God. And when God is in among a people, when God is there, it is, things must change. When we look through the Bible, we see through the Word of God, several times we have certain manifestations or certain outpourings of God in different ways, and revival does come with different definitions of that. One of the ones I, I heard a sermon from Symbola of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and talking about the first time, looking at Genesis chapter 4, it was Adam's grandson. And Adam's grandson, right there at the very beginning, in Genesis chapter 4, verse 26, it says, and to Seth, to him also there was born a son, and he called his name Enos. Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. I appreciate that. That whole thought there of calling upon God. And we see through the Bible, if there's not one testimony that bears out through all of this precious Word of God, is that God is jealous to be among His people, to be real among His people, to have people to take His Word and to live it and to bring it into their life. You know, Jesus said, in a sort of a curious thing, there in that intimate time with the apostles before the crucifixion, Jesus brought the apostles together, and He said to them, in John chapter 16, He said to them there that, that it was expedient that he go away. And He said to them there that, that if he doesn't go away then the Holy Spirit would not come. But if he goes, he would send the Holy Spirit, and when the Holy Spirit comes, that He, the Holy Spirit, would reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. He says of sin, interestingly enough, because He says they didn't believe on Him, didn't believe on Jesus. If you remember in the famous passage there in John chapter 3, when Jesus offered them, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, He goes on to say there that the light came into the world, but men chose darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. God wants to deal with sin, and He wants a people that are pure. He has been, from the beginning again, through the entire world, through the entire Word, jealous for a people that are in love with Him, that in love Jesus. And I firmly believe that a revival is that very thing. God among His people. Why do you believe that we do not see revival today here in North America? I know it's a familiar passage, but the condition is here. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their sin and their wicked ways, this is a promise, this is God's Word, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. You know, we can call sin a lot of different things. I think it was Zach Poonen that said, there is no blood for mistakes. What he goes on to mean in that is that there is no blood for excusing this for a genetic defect, or a disease, or calling it something else. There is only blood for sin. If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us. So why do we not see it? I can only say that it's not God's fault. God gave us the condition of revival. Wesley Duhl, in his books on revival there, talks about this, that God is continually wanting to pour out His revival here, but the conditions are here. 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. Amen. What is our role as God's people in revival? Well, amen. You know, besides that there, as we look through the revival history, and it shows over and over again, that these same qualifications there, prayer has always been a part. As in, not just a part, but prayer has been the force that has brought this in. In the time of Jonathan Edwards, in the Great Awakening, at that time there was little movements of prayer, and people in England were forming together little leagues of people that come together and prayed for revival. Jonathan Edwards took the same thing, and he wanted to encourage people to pray for extraordinary types of prayer. What he meant from that is not just prayer that you do in the morning, prayer at the inn, prayer at church, prayer over meals, but extraordinary prayer, where we go out of our way to pray for revival. They prayed for those things, they repented of their sins, and God came. When we look through the scriptures, the Bible foretells of a people that this will happen. Listen to this in Zechariah chapter 8 verse 20. This is a prophecy. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people and the inhabitants of many cities, and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem, and pray before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. I would say for the people of God to repent of their sins, and yes those little things that you know that are there, that every time you hear a sermon out there, and you hear about something that affects you, you know what's in your heart to deal with, deal with it, and open up the channels of God. God wants to pour this out in His church. If you had one last opportunity to address the church in North America, what would you say? The church in North America, you know the first word, again I think I heard this from Orr, it's a good word, the very first word of the ministry and preaching of Jesus, the very first word after the Acts of the Apostle, when the Holy Spirit came down upon them and Peter spoke in his sermon, the very first words that the 70 were sent out with, the very thing that Paul told before he was standing in his trial of what he came and preached upon all around the world, all around the world that he saw, was the word repent. It was repent. And repent to what? Is it something nebulous? Is it something there? Jesus Christ came into this earth, and He came to be the manifest presence of the Word of God, and He came and He preached us things, and He told us things, and then He sent the Holy Spirit, which He promised would teach us all things, and He gave us many things that are in the Word. You know, the Word of God is not something that needs to be looked at as irrelevant. Let me tell you something, I think it was, Martin Luther King Jr., he said when he was in the Birmingham jail, he said that the church now was becoming more of a thermometer instead of a thermostat. In the days of old, it was a thermostat. It set the temperature, but now we're just copying the temperature of the culture. It is our job as the people of God to set the temperature, not to imitate the temperature. So I would say manifest the presence of God among the nations. The salt is supposed to be there. If the world loses, if the salt loses its savor, then it's good for nothing. One little quick thing, do you know that it's a chemical impossibility for salt to lose its savor? You know that? The only way that salt can lose its taste is that it becomes mixed with dirt. I would pray, church, turn to the Word of God, and repent, and allow the Holy Spirit to take us to look like this. Let God do it, and let God do it by His grace. Amen. Thank you very much, Brother Dean.