The Consequence if Revival does not happen

Think about it. There is nothing like a refreshing, cold glass of water when we are hot and thirsty. There is nothing like a steaming hot shower when we have just come in from the bitter cold. People rarely like lukewarm water. It is not cold, and it is not hot. Typically, drinking lukewarm water gives off a certain taste that we immediately want to spit out. Now place the “church” in one of these three categories:

1) hot
2) cold
3) lukewarm

Will we honestly identify the category we as a body of Christ are in? If so, I think it would be fair to say that overall, we give "half-hearted efforts (as) self-satisfied Christians…"¹ We are lukewarm. Why? It is because we have become comfortable and content with our material and our wealth. We tend to believe that we need more stuff: more money, more cars, bigger homes ~ more of everything, but the Lord. We are being deceived into a comfortable, lukewarm lifestyle, and we don’t even know it. This is the consequence of not pursuing revival. As the deceiver of the whole world,² Satan is active and present. He has made us think and believe we are a rich nation, but through the eyes of eternity, we are spiritually poor. And if we don’t pursue personal and corporate revival, we will always remain in the vomit-inducing state of being lukewarm. Throughout the Gospels and Revelation, Christ described this lukewarm spiritual state as: " wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked."³

The Apostle Paul warned us not to be ignorant of Satan’s schemes and strategies.⁴ Until we put forth energy and effort in our relationship with the Lord, nothing will change in our personal lives…absolutely nothing. Therefore, if we are not willing to obey or listen,⁵ how do we expect the Lord to work in our own lives on a daily basis? It won’t happen. Even though Christ has won for us the gift of eternal life, Satan will continue to rule over our earthly lives if we don’t change from this lukewarm lifestyle. God is willing to work with His body of believers that we might reject the ways of Satan, but we must first be willing to recognize our own spiritual apathy.

How much longer can the body of Christ maintain this lukewarm spiritual pace? If it were up to Satan, we would remain in this lukewarm state until kingdom come, and God is no longer glorified. We are riding the fence of spirituality, which has its consequences. According to the Gospel of Mark, we are to be " lamps on a stand."⁶ We are not to hide it or, worse yet, preserve it. As the “church” in America, we tend to conserve our spiritual energy; and as the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, Bill Bright, confirmed, we have become an impotent body of Christ in America. We have surrounded ourselves with the temptations of easy living; where the consequences are already in full effect. Unfortunately, we are not aware of this problem. So we must shed light on the situation. Christ must be evident in our lives. Therefore, until a life-transformation occurs, the consequence of being lukewarm will continue.

As a result of no revival in the past century, Bill Bright listed a few observations that have already occurred:⁷

1. Christians have left their first love.

¹ Radmacher, Earl. ed., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary, Revelation 3:17, p. 1740.
² Revelation 12:9 NASB
³ Walvoord, John F., ed. The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Revelation 3:17, p. 940.
⁴ 2 Corinthians 2:11 NASB
⁵ Bright, Bill. " The Impotent Church" in The Coming Revival, http://www.thegreawakenings.org/theimpotentchurch.htm, December 2005.
⁶ Mark 4:21 NASB
⁷ Bright, Bill. " The Impotent Church" in The Coming Revival, http://www.thegreawakenings.org/theimpotentchurch.htm, December 2005.