By Tom Shanklin

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.” Isaiah 60:1-5, KJV.

It’s time for revival fires!

We are living in a time of darkness…gross darkness, but the Lord has made a promise to us. “The Lord shall arise upon thee and His glory shall be seen upon thee.”

When we look at the world around us, with gross immorality, godless philosophy in the political system, the denigration of the family, racial hatred, terrorist threats, and people living under a great delusion that they can live in sin without consequence, we could lose hope. We could think, “What is God doing? Why is the devil winning?”

But the current situation is not taking God by surprise. He has been predicting this all along. Whether it be from the Old Testament prophets, Jesus Himself, the writings of Paul, or the book of Revelation, we see consistent warnings about the evils of the end days. As Paul wrote, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13, KJV.

So we should not be surprised…and we should not lose heart. God has a plan in the midst of the darkness, and that plan involves you. “The Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.” Revival Fires! Awakening! That is the plan of God for this very hour!

Before I traveled to China in 2000, I saw a vision, in the eyes my heart, of that nation burning with fire. For those of you that are old enough, you might remember a similar picture on the television program, Bonanza. The map of the old west was burning with fire. Well, God showed me China burning with fire—the fire of the Holy Spirit.

It is now estimated that the body of Christ in China is increasing by over 10 percent per year. That means every 6.6 years, the size of the Church in China doubles. If the current rate of growth continues, there will be 250 million Christians in China by 2030.

As much as the Bible predicts that there will be great turmoil in the earth, it also gives us hope for a great revival (or awakening) in these last days. The evil is not God’s will. It is a result of Satan working in the hearts of people. But just as there is a working of Satan, there is an even greater working of God…and before it’s all done, the God of the universe will prevail.

So, what is revival? It is a divine invasion into the affairs of men. It is the awesome power of God impinging upon society in a dramatic way to bring change. The great evangelist, Charles Finney, defined revival is nothing more than a fresh obedience to God. But that obedience comes as a result of God’s hand mightily at work in the hearts of man. As the Scripture says, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power…” Psalms 110:3, KJV. Revival begins in the Church and then spreads.

Susan and I came to the Lord as the result of a move of God in the ‘70s called the Jesus movement. Many were swept into the Kingdom through that movement. Some other great moves of God that have impacted our world are the Reformation of the 1500s, The 1st Great Awakening of the 1700s, and the Second Great Awakening of the 1800s, the early 20th Century Awakening, the Healing Revival, the Charismatic movement and more. Mighty positive changes came into the world as a result of these revivals, including freedom from religious bondage, the abolition of slavery, a recognition of women’s and children’s rights, organizations for social compassion (such as the Salvation Army) and much more. In some cities where revival occurred, the bars were shut down and the jails were no longer necessary as the Spirit of God swept through the population and brought change to hearts.

I was reading about the great awakening in the beginning of the 20th century. We often think about the Azuza Street Revival and the Welsh Revival that happened during that time period, but I was interested to read that these were not the only places where there were outpourings of the Spirit during that time. God was moving all over the world, seemingly in unpredictable ways and disassociated places. It was, we could say, a sovereign move of God. We are in great need for such a move today!

It’s somewhat of an enigma, but there is also a human side to these moves of God. Somehow God and man seem to intersect in His plan to bring forth His manifested presence. Some of the things that you will often see in the revivals of history are:

• Earnest and heartfelt prayer and intercession for God’s mercy.
• A tremendous conviction of personal and societal sins.
• True repentance and recognizable conversions.
• A deep revelation of Jesus Christ, His shed blood and redemptive work. 
• Powerful manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

Some of these manifestations involve healing, but not all. Many times people would fall to the ground under the power of the Spirit of God and tremble, as they cried out for mercy from a holy God. In some cases, a divine radiation zone was in evidence around a city which was experiencing revival. People coming into the town by horse and buggy, or even by ship, would fall under conviction and begin to repent of their sins. Oh yes, that’s what we need. We need revival!

I believe that we live in a time that ordinary ministry just won’t cut it. Not that we should quit preaching, teaching, witnessing, praying and studying the Bible, while we sit and wait for revival. No, the Bible says we are to be instant in season and out of season. But we need something more than what we have seen. We need heavy and powerful manifestations of the Holy Spirit to bring this sin-sick world back to God.

Some have prophesied that in these days we will see a revival to end all revivals, that it will be greater in manifestation of power and of scope than any revival the world has ever seen. My heart bears witness with that. God will raise up a standard. Yes, there will be great darkness, but also great light. I am expecting it! I am praying for it! I am preparing for it! The Bible says, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,” Acts 3:19, NKJV.

Let’s pray! Let’s repent! Let’s step into His presence! Let’s get in one accord…and get in position to receive a fire that will spread and change the landscape of the earth. This is our privilege. This is our power from God. This is our position in the midst of a dark world. “The Lord shall arise upon thee and His glory shall be seen upon thee.” Let us shine for the glory of Jesus! Amen.