The Pastor and Revival — Al Henson

The Pastor’s Dependence on the Holy Spirit

Well, the subject this morning is the pastor and revival. The pastor and revival. If you have your Bible there, turn to the book of Luke. And I really want to share just four thoughts as I was meditating this last evening and some meditations concerning the pastor and revival, the pastor and personal revival, the pastor and revival in his church.

You know, there's so much that could be said on this subject, the volumes and thousands of volumes of books have been written about the pastor and revival. So there's much that could be shared here. But just in the way of introduction, again, I think one of the most important things in our life is that we must realize that and understand the work of the Holy Spirit in revival.

And I don't want to deal with that. I just want to refresh your mind there this morning. The work of the Holy Spirit, perhaps a threefold work of the Holy Spirit in revival. He initiates it, he empowers it, and he orchestrates it.

He initiates it, he empowers it, and he orchestrates it. And Acts 1 there, you're familiar with the story. Jesus told one of the disciples to so understand this principle that revival is the total work of the Holy Spirit, the total work of the Holy Spirit.

And you need to understand that revival is his work, all of it is his work. He initiates it in the sense that even the recognition of the need of revival only comes through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.

The ability to repent, and this is a difficulty, even in meetings like this. You men need to understand that truly as you're being ministered to and the word is being preached to you and you see your own need that you really, you can't even repent since you need to repent.

And I've been there and I've been around others who are there, they see their need to repent but it's just like, I can't repent and we can't without the Holy Spirit. These are graces of God, faith. He's initiator, faith can only be initiated, the faith that can cause you to be willing to open up and openly express your heart and life and be honest and open as our dear brother preached yesterday.

That kind of faith that has, that love casteth out all fears and he that feareth is not made perfect in love. That kind of faith is initiated in your heart by the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the word of God and the teachings of the scripture and the word, faith cometh by hearing.

But you see faith, faith cometh by hearing, hearing comes by the word of God but the word of God coupled only with the Holy Spirit is really hearing and understanding. Other than that it's knowledge. So this work of the Holy Spirit, he initiates it, he empowers it, he orchestrates it in Christ so it taught this principle to the disciples.

He says to them, don't you dare go out and preach, don't you dare go out and witness, don't you go do anything but you wait. You wait and tarry here in Jerusalem and then you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and then you shall be witnesses unto me first in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

And so they waited, they waited and I wonder maybe if we ought to not go back and I'm going to be sharing some of this principle through one of the things the Lord has laid on my heart this morning but maybe some of us need to go back and just simply give it for the church and say hey there's no need of me preaching, really to preach would be in disobedience to the scriptures, I don't need to preach but we need to recognize our need of revival and we need to tarry before the Lord in prayer until we sense that God is hearing and answering our prayers and has sent unto us the Holy Spirit that we might have genuine repentance and genuine faith and a genuine work of God.

Revival Begins When the Pastor Waits on God

One of the greatest services and I want to share principles or thoughts and I want to share illustrations and I never like to do a whole lot of this because sometimes I feel like when I share illustrations I elevate a ministry and I don't want to do that.

But some of our better services, I remember once I, just an example of a service in which we had, once I went in and I had no peace from the Lord to preach based on the very thought that I had that I just shared with you.

And so I sat there on the front pew or the front chairs as the singers were singing and courses were being done and the Lord just was burdening me with this very thought again. So I went to the podium and I simply shared with the people, I said God has not given me anything to preach and I'm not sure why, I'm young and all of this, I'm not sure why.

And so I said I want our song leader to come lead some courses and I'm going to go over and pray and maybe a couple of you pray and maybe the Lord will give me something. I don't have anything to say.

And so they were singing some courses and I went over and I was praying they'd sing some more and they finally stopped and so I went back to the podium and the only thought I'd had while I was there on my knees, the only thought that I could honestly say that I felt like was initiated by God in my own heart and the Holy Spirit was the thought of why is the Holy Spirit quenched in our church.

Because it was obvious that there was a quenching it seemed of the Spirit that evening and the normal freshness of the Spirit and the joy of the Spirit wasn't there. And I'd sensed that in the morning service and I'll tell you when I sensed that normally every service the Spirit is there and working and moving.

Every service and when I sensed that I get quite concerned and I don't want it to go two or three weeks that way I get concerned quickly and I'd sensed that in the morning service and all afternoon I'd been praying Lord about this and I came into the evening service it was the same way and so I simply came before the people after that time of the same courses and I shared with them my thoughts and I said bow your heads if you would and I said I think the Lord wants me to ask the question is if you're here tonight and you sense that there's something in you that's quenching the Spirit would you please lift your hand.

Well your heads bowed and eyes closed and to my amazement I do not know that there was anybody there who did not lift their hand. I had them raise their heads back up and I said to them do you know that almost every one of you raised your hands.

I didn't see any hand that wasn't raised but there may have been a few because there's a big crowd there and I said I feel led that God wants to give this kind of invitation instead of an invitation where you go to a prayer room an invitation where you come to the altar I want those who are truly burdened that our church have the Spirit and power of God upon it you're burdened about that I want you to stand just where you are and I want you to confess in your heart why you are a hindrance to the Spirit and then once you've confessed that then go to the altar.

Well five hours later people were still standing. Two men surrendered to the ministry that night. They said that was that God they were a hindrance to the Spirit because God had been dealing with them about the ministry and they had not yet yielded at that point to the Holy Spirit and it was amazing such a cleansing of the whole church and God just did a wonderful work in that church service but the power of the Holy Spirit just this Sunday morning in the middle of the service a man had been visiting us for a couple of weeks I just talked with him our marriage counselor had been counseling with him and I just talked with him just briefly him and his wife were separated and he'd been visiting for a couple of weeks.

In the middle of the service he gets up and he was under such duress of the Holy Spirit right in the middle of everything they begin to walk down the aisle and he began to waver. I thought he was going to fall.

He was so under distress of the Holy Spirit of God that he simply could not he couldn't even walk down to the aisle and I punched my associate pastor and caught him and helped him and another man had to help him and they carried him on back into the prayer room and later he comes after the service is over with and shares the testimony of how that he and I remember the moments I talked with him about how he had shared with me that he wished his wife would would really meet God and get right with the Lord so that their marriage could come back together.

Well when he came up this time he said I have never seen myself in such a state in such a destitute position and exactly he was so captured by the Holy Spirit that he had no awareness of anything else was there other than he needed to get to God and the Randy Smith the associate pastor shared there in the podium how that he for 25 minutes this man poured out and then he shared testimony he said I thought my wife was the problem but he said I see that his eye and he asked the congregation to pray he said I'm going to go back to my wife this afternoon and tell her what God has done in my heart pray that God will use that in her heart in her life and so we prayed and he went that afternoon and you know what she showed up with him in church on Sunday night now she didn't come to the altar but that's the first time they've been together in a year.

But the Holy Spirit is the initiator and the empowerment and orchestrates. And even in these meetings in these days you know we can have preachers here who know the Word of God who can preach and teach the Word of God but without the element of the Holy Spirit and the working of the Holy Spirit it is all fruital.

This is the reason why we need to in one accord with supplication beseech the Lord. One of the thought there before we move here in Luke in chapter 7 is that as you are seeking the Lord for him to move his Holy Spirit upon your own life or upon your church set things in order.

That's the other thing they were doing in the book of Acts in chapter 1 they were so sensitive to setting things in order there that that as they begin to read the Old Testament they understood that someone was to take the place of Judas Iscariot.

And they I think in the back of their minds they felt like well knowing that he is the Holy Spirit that's the adjective he is the Spirit of God and he is holy that he is so holy he may not move upon us until we fulfill even this one office.

So they're setting things in order. And as you're seeking the Lord as a pastor and for your own local church that God would move and do a work there constantly be setting things in order. Oh I think brother Bill McCloud I think he was sharing somewhat of this principle last night when he spoke about that the Holy Spirit needed to be sought and obeyed.

Sought and obeyed was in brother Harold Salmon's church just a couple of weeks ago brother Salmon's lift your hand there dear brother in Christ brother Harold Salmon's and I was there for a week of meetings and I'd sent a dear brother that that I've met that I know I think is sort of like an unable carry.

He's nothing. He's just a man of prayer and he just prays. That's what he feels like God is calling to do. He's 31 years old and he just prays and it was a blessing I've got to know him and and I asked him where to go up a few days in advance four or five days in advance and lead this church in orchestration of prayer.

And I'd wake up every morning I slept with him in a room. I'd wake up every morning to him pray and just all during the course of the day him praying and I try to get he wouldn't want me to listen in.

He said I don't particularly like to pray with people. And I said well would you promise me that we'll spend one every day praying together. I'd like to pray with you and I'll try to leave you alone. But he'd be praying in and I try to slip over to hear what he was praying.

I wanted to learn from this man of prayer but he went up and he began to lead the church by faith to pray and to seek the Lord. And when I by the time I got there on Monday evening the church was was the Spirit of God was there.

God had heard their prayers and the Spirit of God was there. I didn't feel led to give an invitation on Monday evening because I was just laying out some principles of revival and of Christ and that Christ is all and he's the one you need to meet when you go to the prayer rooms.

And on Tuesday night the Spirit of God had so mounted in the church on Tuesday night that the the choir was singing a song and tears were flowing down the cheeks as they were singing. And I knew this was unusual you could tell the people were looking around.

They were so they had been. They had not not expected that much of the energy and presence of the Spirit of the Lord. And so I preached what I felt like was the message of God that night and in the in the root sin of pride and and the essence of self which is a an anti God state of mind or a God complex and the people didn't obey the Holy Spirit.

There was some a few eight or nine or ten out of the sixty or seventy that were there went to the prayer room but all the time the invitation was given it was like the Lord was rising up in me and saying I'm God I'm the Lord.

I will not be treated this way. Don't they understand. They've asked me they've sought me. They've they've said that they have faith in me and they have trusted me to come and I are based on their faith that I have come and I have moved upon their hearts.

But now they're not setting an order all the next day the Lord gave me the message of and I knew what the church was going to be like the next night the message that my spirit will not always strive with man.

The next night we walked in and it was so cold and so dead. You know you wouldn't. It was so if nothing else proved to me the reality of God. It was Tuesday night versus Wednesday night. Tuesday night the Spirit of God was there such that just in the presence there was a weeping but on Wednesday night it was such a coldness that you didn't even feel comfortable reaching out and shaking someone and that place was as dead as it could be like a funeral home.

So I taught this principle of not only we must seek the Holy Spirit but we must obey him and that he is Lord he is God and he'll not be treated this way. And who God is. Well the Lord blessed us and I just encouraged the people to go get to before the Lord get on their face and say God we're sorry forgive us at this point and Lord if you'll send back the Holy Spirit tomorrow night we will obey.

Well we came in on Thursday night in the spirit was back. It was such a testimony of this truth. The spirit was back and working. The pastor was sharing with me and through letters and all that how God now has continued initiated a revival in his church just a core group of people really meeting with God and now it's spreading and he's been able to make restitution with his church and went before the church and made restitution before the church and how God blessed that.

And what a precious service it was. But the first thing that I just wanted to share with you about the pastor and revival is this importance of the Holy Spirit. He is God with us and he is our God helper.

I come alongside one and oh don't be afraid of the Holy Spirit don't be afraid of him. Secondly here in Luke 7 I like to call this the ninth beatitude. The ninth beatitude here in Luke 7 and I want just to read follow me through 18 through 23 and I've got two or three pages of things to show.

Receiving Christ’s Work Without Taking Offense

And I thought I'd just start when my time is up I'm gonna quit. And I've got about seven things here I'd like to share what we've got through one of them Luke 7 18. And the disciples of John showed him all these things and John calling unto him.

Two of his disciples sent them to Jesus saying art thou he that should come or look we for another. When the men were coming to him they said John the Baptist has sent us unto thee. This is John the Baptist disciples now are going to Jesus saying art thou he that should come or look we for another.

And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities. It's obvious Christ didn't even say anything to them. When they come and ask him this question he goes out and heals many of their infirmities and of plagues and he casts out evil spirits.

And unto many that were blind he gave sight. And then after he had performed all of these miracles he went to the disciples of John the Baptist and he said to them in verse 22 and Jesus answered and said it to them go your way and tell John what things you have seen and heard how that the blind see the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead are raised to preach the poor and the and the and to the poor the gospel is preached.

And then he makes a statement here. And blessed is he whosoever is not offended in me. I think the message of this that I just want to get across when I think of the pastor and revival I think John the Baptist here I think there's no question that John the Baptist understood the kingdom of God.

I don't think he has any doubt. He understood that this kingdom was to be a spiritual kingdom and to be ushered in. He understood it at greater depths and probably with you and I ever will understand the kingdom of God.

And there is no doubt that John the Baptist was one who had who was walking bearing his cross one totally and completely committed to God. But he sends his disciples to ask again is this the one that is to come.

And Christ responds blessed is he whosoever is not offended in me. And I don't want to read anything into scripture but I do want to try to understand this statement. I think if Jesus makes a statement like this to John the Baptist it is important to understand.

And I think that the picture is that John the Baptist had went out and he had preached repent for the kingdom of God his hand and he ate locusts and honey and was clothed in camel skin. And I think John the Baptist in his own mind had summed up that when Jesus came he had do it the same way but Jesus didn't.

Jesus didn't eat locusts and honey but he ate a good food and and and just enjoyed food. And he didn't wear a camel's cloth but he wore some of the most valuable and and precious robing of that day. And I think in the back of John the Baptist his mind he had began to doubt or question if Jesus was really the the one that was to come because he was doing it a little bit different and a little bit offended at the way Christ was doing it.

And so Jesus says to his disciples when they come he does all of these miracles. He says now you go back and tell John the Baptist what you've seen and heard that I'm raising the dead that I am healing the sick that I am casting out demons and that I am preaching the gospel to the poor.

But you tell John the Baptist one other thing blessed is he who is not offended in me. The point is this dear brothers Jesus is not going to do it the way you think he is the Holy Spirit's not going to do it the way you think he's going to do it.

And we read about the revival that took place in Canada he'll never do it that way again. We can't box that up figure out how it happened and what caused it to happen. Oh there are some similar principles the principles of humility and the principles of prayer and the principles of God's people humbling themselves and pray and seeking the face of the Lord.

But not only with the Holy Spirit initiated he will orchestrate it too and I share with you. I believe when he does it you'll look and it'll not be any way the way you thought it would happen or through who you thought it would happen or the way and blessed is he when Christ does come and does his work.

You're not offended. And I think often that the Holy Spirit is hindered because we are looking for it in a certain way and he is moving at other points and we're not seeing what he is doing. This dear brother was sharing yesterday about in his own church how that that the Holy Spirit sometimes comes in and takes over and he don't want two songs a message and an illustration and an invitation.

He wants something else. He by the way Jesus is the Lord of the church and he is the one who carries out that Lordship. How about us giving him control of the services. You don't be offended what he does.

My prayer often is in my own life as I go into the services and then I tell my pianist and my organist and my song leaders and everyone I must. Sometimes they get a little bit distraught with that but I praise God for their hearts are right and they don't they understand.

And I tell them that you tell anyone who's who's set up to sing a special or anyone who's done anything that that the Holy Spirit is is the controller of this service and that I am praying desperately every moment that I'm in that service.

Oh Holy Spirit is what are you doing. What do you want to do. Is there's something you want to change. Is there's something that you want to do different because I want you to have control of the service.

You may do something totally different than I think you want to do this morning. So I just encourage you another thought concerning the pastor and revival is that the he will not do it the way you're thinking he's going to do it in your church.

It will not happen the way you think it's going to happen. Point another point. Turn to John if you would in chapter 5 verses 19 and 20 just practical insights into the pastor and revival. Just thoughts.

Following the Father’s Work in Ministry

And John 19. Excuse me. John 5 19. John 5 19. Let's pick up in verse 70 but Jesus answered and said my father worketh hitherto and I work as the principle as part of the principle I want to share with you in John 5 and verse 17 the father worketh hitherto and I work down in verse 19 then answered Jesus and said unto them verily verily I say unto you the son can do nothing of himself.

But what I see the father do there it is again what I see the father do for what things soever he doeth these also doeth the son. And because the father loves me says in verse 20 he shows me the things that he is doing now the principle is this the principle that seemed with Christ in his ministry that he was just tearing before the Lord and a constant meditation of prayer and sensitivity to God with the confidence that whatever God was doing God would show him.

And when God showed him what he was doing the father showed what he was doing he had just jump in and get in the middle of it. And I know it as a pastor as a leader in your church that your thoughts are what do I do what I get involved in.

Well I've learned the principle of sort of learning to meditate and and and be sensitive to God. And and in the course of my day listen and watch and believe the father to show me what he is doing and then jump in and get right in the middle of it because God may be trying to orchestrate something that that that if you going and everything's planned out and everything's organized and everything's ritual you'll just miss the whole thing.

Remember dr. John all rice secretary who'd been his secretary for 40-something years had the opportunity to chat with her a moment and I said could you help me a little bit in this thought of how did dr. Rice making decisions and and how did what was he like.

And she shared two illustrations. She said well the people who when he's out preaching and revival is the pre. The people who was with him in the height of his ministry said he would go and he'd preach and God would move.

So he'd go back to the hotel room and he'd walk the floor after God had moved in. And somebody was the gentleman who shared with her this illustration said and I never seen anything like it. Did God move.

He'd go back and walk the floor and he'd say pray for me. He said I am in such a destitute need of God and I so need the Lord. And and and we've got to have God involved in this thing. And and God's got to be the one who's doing it.

And he'd walk the floor and play pray and then get on his face to say God please have mercy on us and move. This is the reason why God used this man. Dear brothers and in Christ we must get it out of our mind into our hearts and our lives.

Yesterday in your times of prayer and your attitudes before God do they have indication of an absolute dependency upon the Lord. Are we even coming here in these days believing the Lord to move among us.

But yet we are not begging him and beseeching him as if God was just going to be here because we've come. Oh he is Lord. Then she said another illustration relationship to this principle. She said it was amazing.

She said when I was in his office I didn't know when he was praying to God or talking to me. She said I never knew when dr. Rice was talking to me or talking to God said he would just flow from one to the other.

She said I'd be sitting there and we'd be trying to make that. We'd be making decisions. I'd be taking dictation. He'd be talking to me. The next thing I knew he is talking to God about something he was saying or something that we were trying to make a decision on.

He'd be talking to God about Lord. What do you want to do. What do you. What's your heart and this. What's your mind in this. And and then he'd flow back into talking to me and to God. I was in a staff meeting.

I was going to be gone for a week side to that when I'm in those kind of meetings she buzzed me back and she said brother Allah I'm sorry to bother you but I just for some reason I sensed that there's a phone call here that you need to take.

So I took it reluctantly. I must be honest I took it reluctantly and not with the right heart and have the right heart about it at all. I said you don't understand. You know I'm gonna be late for my flight now if I don't hurry up and get out of here and blah blah blah.

Well it was a nurse who was head of the emergency room at the nearby hospital there and she had called and a young couple the baby had died of crib death and they were there and she wondered what I come over.

I want to back up from that point and show you how God orchestrates and how we are not sensitive to the spirit how we can miss something big that God's doing. On Saturday I was playing with my son and this was on Monday.

On Saturday I was playing with my son. You know how you sometimes you take your children swing them around they want to be swung. I was swinging them around and I pulled his arm out of socket so I had to carry with that emergency room.

While I was in the emergency room a serious car accident that happened and kids to teenagers teenage car accident happened and and none of them were were in death and life situation. But there was a serious car accident show you how God was orchestrating things.

Well they were back with the kids and this nurse that had called me was there and parents were coming in and they didn't have the time to come out and talk with parents. They were running around yelling and screaming I want to know how my child is.

You can understand that. Please somebody tell us. And so I went up to the nurse and just simply introduced myself and I said if you don't mind I'll get the attention of these parents for you and I'll tell them that I'll go back and check on their young people and come out and maybe they will listen and quiet down.

She said what I appreciate. I got all the parents and I said the nurse is gonna let me go back and I'll go to each of young people and I'll come out. So I went back there. Young people had broken bones and cuts but there was no one serious.

And I came back out and I said there's some broken bones and there's some cuts but everybody's gonna be all right. Just be patient. They're trying to get doctors and all in here. Well God had allowed my son to pull his arm out of the socket so I could meet that nurse.

And after all over she I prayed with parents and everything like that and she said you never know how much I appreciate that. Well she'd called me on Monday. I went over just to quickly. I cancelled out my flight talking on the phone.

I said Lord are you doing something. And I went over and I began to sense God was doing something. And so I just counseled the whole trip that week. It's cancelled out the trip. I began to minister to that young couple.

It wasn't. It was the next day that I found out and I got to go through all the counseling. I found out that a man that I had visited two years ago was her father and he had rejected Jesus Christ when I'd witnessed time.

Well I went in to the funeral home and I had a real assurance that God was in this whole thing. And I went the funeral home the night prior to the funeral service and I just stood up and I share with those people out of out of Corinthians what I thought God was doing that this was going to rebound a readout to the glory of God and that for not to them to say why God why God was doing something.

And I talked to them of eternal things versus temple things. Don't thought maybe I'd be rejected. I wasn't that little that young couple that I'd already witnessed to a couple times. They followed me out and the father looked at me and he said do you mean that God loved us enough that he took our son to get our attention that we might be saved and that through our salvation.

Then we'll end up in heaven and we'll be with our son. And do you mean that God may have looking down to the future knew that if he hadn't have taken our son we would have went to hell. Our children would went to hell.

And all I said yes that's quite possible. And he said well my wife and I'd like to get saved. We believe what you said is true. And they got saved. Well the next day at the funeral the next day at the funeral after the funeral service the granddad that I had witnessed who came up and he said could I talk to you.

I want to get saved. Well he got saved. He is now heading up one of our flocks in our church within the next week 23 I had personally led to the Lord 23 of those family members and all of them are faithful in the church.

Now God was orchestrating. And so the principle is this listen and watch for the father moving. And when you see him move and him he is working. Then you just work with him work with him. In this area of revival sometimes pastors run back to the church and they begin to preach and thunder and get right with God instead of just praying and waiting and sensing God to move and then moving with the father.

Moving with the father. Then one last I'm going to share one more and then I'm going to close turn to Joel to quickly. Joel chapter 2. Joel chapter 2 the Old Testament prophet of Joel my southern accent and language.

Joel’s Pattern for Seeking Revival

We may not pronounce it. I don't know how y 'all pronounce it Joelle Joel. But Joel in chapter 2 there's much to be shared around this. But I just want to share three things. If I want to brother out if I wanted to see a revival in my church in my own life.

What I do. I think the Bible gives a formula for the practical things now 2nd Chronicles 714 talks about the spiritual things you need to be doing humbling yourself and pray and seeking the faith. These are the practical things you need to do here in Joel chapter 2 after it deals with the spiritual heart and the rending of heart and verses 13 that humbling of oneself in verse 13.