Revival for the Spiritually Dead

"Go and say to this people:

'Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'

Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy,

and blind their eyes, lest they see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed."

Isa. 6: 9-10

As a pastor, I have served churches in many parts of the United States.  I have also served as a witness for Christ in a 10 week summer mission trip to southeast Asia.  Lord willing, I hope to be a witness for Christ in many other parts of the world in the next 20 years.  In every place I have gone, I have seen people come to know Jesus and others who have been completely hardened to the gospel.

Why is there such a range of response to the gospel?

In the passage above, Isaiah has just seen the Lord, and he has fallen before Him.  The Lord took a burning coal, touched his lips, and made him a vessel ready to bring the Word of the Lord.  In other words, Isaiah just experienced repentance and faith from seeing his true condition before the Holy God and calling out for mercy.  Such a cry the Lord always answers.

After this conversion, Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord asking, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"  Notice the plural "us", which demonstrates the multiple personhood of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  In response to this question, Isaiah says, "Here am I!  Send me."  The above passage is the message the Lord gives Isaiah.

So, why do some believe the message of the gospel and others reject it?  

The human condition apart from God's grace is that of deaf, blind, and hard-hearted to spiritual truth.  As Paul says, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins."  Dead people cannot respond to outside stimuli.  The meaning of "being dead" is that they can not respond.  Once dead, the only way someone can respond again is to be made alive again.  

I know this biblical teaching goes against what so many of us wish to believe.  Yet it is true.  We are dead to our true spiritual situation unless the Lord opens our eyes, unstops our ears, and changes our hearts.  When He does, we turn or repent and we find healing.  

Being spiritually dead does not mean that we do not have a measure of a free will.  

We can love our families and friends.  We can be honest.  We can be generous.  We can have good self-control.  We can even give up drinking or anything else we call a vice.  In other words, we are not robots.  Being created in the image of God gives us great gifts and abilities.

What does it mean to be spiritually dead?

Being spiritual dead means we do not have the gift of faith.  It is now dead; and as a result, we can neither honestly repent before God nor can we place trusting faith in the living God. Such faith is foreign to our fallen human nature.  It is something that makes no sense.  At least it makes no sense unless God's grace changes something within our heart that allows us to freely choose to repent and believe the gospel.

The greatest need for people everyone is God-given revival.

Revival, or "spiritual awakening" is not something that we can bring about by our efforts.  It is not changing someone's morality.  It is not helping them to have a better, more positive outlook.

Revival is God's work in bringing redemption to individuals.  As individuals are transformed, they work to bring God's righteous love and grace to their lives, their surroundings, and the world.

Revival is God's work, God's way.