Church history is punctuated by seasons of great revival that swept across the US, UK, Europe, and elsewhere. The First & Second Great Awakenings, the British Evangelical Revival, and the Welsh Revival were among the greatest because of their far-reaching and lasting impacts on the individuals, churches, and nations involved. These revivals were invariably marked by fervent prayer, fasting, sound biblical preaching, and repentance. God was the central figure in these authentic revivals, and He alone received the glory. We are witnessing a growing number of spiritual movements in our time that are masquerading as authentic revivals, but seem to originate from a different spirit. Let’s examine how this spiritual deception sets the stage for the coming global false end-time revival and for the worship of the Antichrist.
In recent years, numerous “revivals” have broken out in places like Asbury College and on many major university campuses nationwide. I hope many people come to repentance and saving faith. Time will eventually bear out all truth. It’s not my intent to determine the validity of such movements in this article, but to remind each of us to examine the scriptures to see if what Christian leaders say about Jesus and His gospel in public and in these “revivals” is true. Acts 17:11.
The Holy Spirit and the spirit of Antichrist are both at work in the world today. The latter is the spirit of deception who masquerades as an angel of light. While excitement, joy, and belonging are good things, we must carefully discern what is simply a prolonged pep rally, albeit with spiritual overtones, from an authentic spiritual outpouring from the Lord, which can and does still occur, Psalm 85:6.
Sometimes the so-called “revival” is such a religious side-show, any discerning Christian would quickly know it’s patently unbiblical. Here are some examples from recent history. The Lakeland Revival of 1993 lasted four months and drew nearly four thousand people nightly. Each night, “worship” would be followed by a preacher who would come out, talk about being the Holy Ghost bartender, walk around, laugh, and stare at people until they began laughing. People would laugh, scream, roll uncontrollably on the floor, and run around the sanctuary. I remember sitting there as a young twenty-something Bible college student and discerning that it wasn’t the Holy Spirit at work in that place, but a different spirit, and I knew I had to get up and leave.
The Brownsville (FL.) “Revival” of 1995 was another prolonged event where, at times, people would scream and shake. They would even transfer this so-called “anointing” to others, and they would begin to convulse uncontrollably. People get “slain in the spirit,” bark, shriek, and hiss, which are manifestations not found in the Bible, but readily available at Brownsville, Lakeland 1993 & 2008, and other well-known “revival” epicenters. Space doesn’t permit me to list all of the false revivals in recent years, but they are facilitated by those who are deceiving and being deceived, 2 Timothy 3:13. God still heals, and the gifts of the Spirit work in and through His people for His glory. But I don’t condone the nonsense that people call moves of the Holy Spirit, such as getting slain in the Spirit, convulsing uncontrollably, false prophesies, or miracles on demand.
Jesus mentioned spiritual deception at least three times in Matthew 24:4-28. The Apostles consistently warned about end-time deception. What makes spiritual deception so dangerous is that it is a counterfeit of the work of the Holy Spirit. While some false revivals are easy to discern, others are not as easy to determine whether they are authentic or not at first. It might be some of the pop-up, spontaneous baptisms that seem to be all the rage lately. Baptisms are exciting and moving, but we are just following the crowd into the water if we don’t have a genuine testimony of heart change and true repentance. A false revival can be attending services where the deafening cadence of the music, lights, and professional worshipers on stage can evoke an emotional response from people. They can even move the crowd to tears by repeatedly singing shallow words, devoid of worshiping in spirit and in truth, for hours on end. Still, there is no repentance, almost no preaching, and no lasting change once the spotlights dim and the smoke clears.
“I contend that whatever does not raise the moral standard of the church or community has not been a revival from God.” A. W. Tozer
“The Holy Spirit, as the actual agent–the Word preached, and the prayers of the people, as the instruments–and we have thus explained the cause of a true revival of religion.” – C. H. Spurgeon
Why is it so important to discern between true and false revival? Because we are rapidly approaching a time when a world leader, the Antichrist, with the help of his religious leader, the false prophet, will deceive hundreds of millions and perhaps billions of people into worshiping him. My intent isn’t to get into the timing of the rapture of the church, because it is an absolute certainty. But we are quickly moving towards wholesale global spiritual deception. I aim to lovingly warn people and ask the question: If people, including many Christians, are being duped by false revivals and so-called Christian leaders now, how will they discern the truth from the lie when the deception will be so believable in the days leading up to Jesus’ return? He warned us to be alert to lying signs and wonders. Matthew 24:24.
When this world leader comes, he will seem like a great peacemaker, and for a time, he will bring false peace, albeit short-lived and temporary. Why does this matter in the context of discerning true from false revivals? Because even now, the stage is being set for a global false revival and spiritual deception en masse that will unite religions under one false savior. Can you imagine what will happen when the Antichrist is worshiped under the guise of a great revival and a one-world system of worship? The false prophet will perform great false signs and wonders by the activity of Satan and persuade scores of people to worship the Antichrist. Will there be powerful, moving, soul-stirring worship music? Maybe so, but one thing is sure: billions of people will be so moved to worship that they will say: “Who is like the beast and who can fight against him?” It sounds worshipful, doesn’t it? This coming global false revival will last a few years but will conclude at the lake of fire.
How do we prepare our minds and hearts as we are living in this time of false revivals and growing end-time spiritual deception? Paul gives us the answer in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12. We are supposed to love and believe the truth. Just as there are true revivals, spiritual leaders, and a real Jesus, there are many false ones. As people who love and believe the truth, we must discern the truth from the lie, and all the more in the days ahead as we near the climax of history. Reading and understanding the Bible under the illumination of the Holy Spirit will give us the wisdom and discernment to distinguish true from false revivals and endure til the end. John 17:17
All for Him,
Howard
