Missed Blessings Unbelief — E.A. Johnston

Revival and the Manifest Presence of God

I want to begin this message, friends, on the manifest presence of God and revival by relating a story by Rhys Howe, who was a man of faith, a man of prayer, and founder of the Bible College of Wales.

Rhys Howe's Account of Revival in Africa

When Rhys Howe was a missionary in Africa, he witnessed powerful revivals. This incident I'm about to read you tells of that stirring time. These are his words. The Sunday was October 10th, my birthday, and as I preached in the morning, you could feel the spirit coming on the congregation.

In the evening, down he came. I shall never forget it. He came upon a young girl, Kvasa by name, who had fasted for three days under conviction that she was not ready for the Lord's coming. As she prayed, she broke down crying, and within five minutes, the whole congregation were on their faces, crying to God.

Like lightning and thunder, the power came down. I had never seen this, even in the Welsh revival. I had only heard about it with Vinnie and others. Heaven had opened, and there was no room to contain the blessings.

This went on for six days, and people began to confess their sins and come free as the Holy Spirit brought them through. They had forgiveness of sins and met the Savior, as only the Holy Spirit can reveal Him.

Everyone who came near would go under the power of the Spirit. People stood up to give their testimonies, and it was nothing to see twenty-five on their feet at the same time. I will stop there, friends.

The Hunger for Revival and God's Power

That remarkable story of the power of God in a meeting is something I hunger for today, to see God move like that in the midst of His people. Psalm 110 .3 declares, Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.

That's revival, friends, when the glory comes down and all our human props are kicked out from beneath us, and we are melted down by the power, by His power, and the awful solemnity of a holy God. But we must ask ourselves the burning question, Why aren't we seeing revival today?

How Worldliness and Unbelief Hinder Revival

Why is it so rare to experience the power of God in a meeting? I believe there are good reasons which could explain the withdrawn presence of God in our churches today. I believe a worldly church won't see God in revival.

I believe a self-satisfied church won't see God in revival. I believe an unrepentant church won't see God in revival. I believe a self-reliant church won't see God in revival. And I believe a church full of unbelief won't see God in revival either.

Jesus at Nazareth and the Consequences of Unbelief

And that's the aspect I want to focus on today, friends. We see this truth in Mark's gospel in chapter 6. Jesus comes to Nazareth with His disciples, and on the Sabbath day He began to teach in the local synagogue.

On the one hand, His hearers were astonished by His message, exclaiming, What wisdom is this which is given unto Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands? Yet on the other hand, the people were filled with unbelief.

They said, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Jose, and of Judah, and Simon, and are not His sisters here with us? And they were offended at Him. Now it is important, friends, to see how their unbelief impacts these doubting Nazarenes.

Because their privileges were misused, and they stumbled on the rock of offense, they hurt themselves by not seeing what Christ wished to do among them, but could not because of their unbelief. We see this in verses 4 through 6.

But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could do there no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them.

And he marveled because of their unbelief. Notice, friends, that Jesus still left a blessing behind by healing a few sick folk. But I believe he wanted to do so much more for his neighbors, whom he grew up with and whom he loved and knew well.

I believe his fellow townsmen never saw the depth of his unfathomless riches bestowed upon them because they hindered his blessings by harboring unbelief. Unbelief will keep you from seeing God move in your life as he would.

Unbelief will kill your deepest longings and stifle your dreams as much as a stillbirth never sees the light of day. We don't see the power of God in our meetings today because we don't expect to see him.

We go to church to see man, to hear man, to worship and applaud men. And we leave our sanctuaries the same way we came in, unchanged. But when Jesus was here in his earthly ministry, as he passed through towns and villages, those rare individuals who encountered him and had faith in him experienced change.

They were full of unbelief, were passed by by him, and missed the greatest blessing of their life. The main hindrance, friends, to seeing God move in revival today is not so much due to the fact of our rock music and flashing lights and watered-down preaching, but it lies in the very center of our unbelief.

Unbelief as a Corporate and Personal Hindrance

We hinder God from blessing us because of our own unbelief. And that's true personally as well as corporately. For a church is merely a composite of individuals who either believe God is still the wonder-working God of the Bible and you can carry with you an expectation of seeing his wonder-working power, or you do not because of your unbelief.

It is our great unbelief that blocks the power of God in our families and in our churches. Tackling unbelief is our greatest hurdle today, for it in itself is a hindrance to seeing revival in our day.

Let me ask you, friend, is there the specter of unbelief in your life, in your prayer life? Does the mist of doubt hover over your Bible? If there is, you're missing out on God's very best for you. In Mark's Gospel we see unbelief in chapter 6, but flip over three chapters to chapter 9, friends, and look at verses 23 through 24.

Faith That Overcomes Unbelief

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.

Perhaps you, friend, through your tears and unbearable and trying circumstance can look heavenward to the risen Lord of glory and cry out, Lord, I believe. Join me in this prayer, friend. Lord Jesus, take every scab of unbelief in my life to your cross and nail it there.

I believe all things are possible with God, and I believe all things are possible to him who believes. Increase my faith, Lord. I want to see you move in my life and the life of my family. I want to see the power of God at my church.

I want to see the young people's lives transformed by your holy presence. I want to see you send a mighty spiritual awakening to my country. I believe, Lord, I believe.