Join John and Brandi Belt as they share about how you can live in personal revival by embracing the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
The Transcription
We need all the prayer and help in the techie side that we can Yeah, yeah. You know, I know when when the COVID started shutting everything down, it was so fun, because I watched an older gentleman who has been in ministry. I mean, he’s probably in his 80s now. And it was so fun because he was, he was trying to do like a communion online. And I just happened to stumble across it. And it was it was so sweet, because he would be talking and there’d be no volume. And then the volume would come in. And he’d be like, Hey, we’re trying again. And I think it took them like six or seven tries, but they got it figured out. I thought, oh, Lord, help him. Now. I’m realizing that it doesn’t matter your age, if you are not super techie, or just not super techie, whatever, you either have it or you don’t, right, is that that is how it works. But we are excited because we really feel like God wants to talk about revival, and what that looks like what that means, and also just how the Holy Spirit, you know, connects in with that, and Jesus, the reviver and things like that. So we are looking forward to spending a little time with you tonight connecting on that. Before we get started, drop a comment, let us know first that you can hear us. But let us know you know where you’re watching from what you have going on what you believe God’s doing in this season. And in this hour. Let us know if you have any questions. And mainly let us know if you have any prayer requests or if there’s any specific way we can really be cheering you on. So John, would you open us in prayer for a minute?
Absolutely. Father, we just thank you so much for Your goodness and Your Grace. And we thank you for your Holy Spirit, Lord, that You would just teach us tonight in the name of Jesus, that the spirit of revelation would just flow. Father, we just thank you for your goodness like for your people. Thank You for Your blessing in the name of Jesus.
Amen. Amen. Give me one more second to chest. Because again, we’re trying to be diligent and good with this. But you know, we want to talk about and start by defining revival. And kind of, a lot of times when people hear the word revival, they also hear awakening or reformation. And so we just kind of want to define some of those terms. Because really, it’s good to understand all of that. And then to understand personal revival, commonplace a personal relationship with God. So revival is when believers people that already have a relationship with Jesus, whether it was recent or long time ago, or when they were young, those people being revived or re awakened by the Holy Spirit, where God is awakening them on, reawakening them, really. And then you have awakening which has to do with people in the world, people that have never met Jesus that don’t know him yet. And that has to do with God opening their eyes and then receiving salvation and entering relationship with him. And then you have reformation. And reformation has to do with institutions. And the reason that often gets lumped kind of together is because you will see in scripture where we are commanded to make disciples of nations. And so nations are comprised of people and institutions. And so people need that place of personal awakening your relationship with God, but then institutions get awakened and change and conformed into the image of Christ. And really the kingdom of God coming on there.
In the key to revival is the Holy Spirit. Yeah, when the Spirit comes, He brings revival revival doesn’t come any other way. And so if, if we don’t have a paradigm that receives the Holy Spirit, and understands the Holy Spirit pursues more of the Holy Spirit, revival is really impossible. And so we have to have a heart that is after God and says, Lord, we can receive your spirit. And so God wants you to experience the Spirit on a personal level, he also wants us to experience it. on a corporate level, I’ve had such amazing both of us have had such amazing experiences in the presence of God, I can remember the first conference that we ever did together, in the glory of God was just so strong. It was just way the presence and after the conference, this was a conference that we hosted. And after it was over, we were in the car and coming back to our house, and we were just so saturated, we are so intoxicated. With the Holy Spirit. We’re just filled with joy and the peace of the Holy Spirit. It was just overflowing and so that’s the corporate presence of revival. I call it revival presence. It was such a glory. There’s an anointing, and is present when it’s all of us together. That is not President when it’s just ourselves.
But you don’t get to a place of corporate revival without first personal revival. And tonight, we really want to focus on personal revival, because so often we get caught up in that corporate side of it. But the reality is, the only way corporate revival comes again is when people are living in a place of personal revival and renewal, right. And so again, like John mentioned, and we’ve kind of hit on but but revival is really when you are reawaken to God, and maybe you’ve had a salvation experience, but you have never been awakened to begin with. And so it’s that awakening for the first time where he becomes a real to you and alive to you, instead of like an information that you that, you know, and how important it is for us to realize that we’re in habitations of the spirit, that word temples of the Holy Spirit says, No, you’re not that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and God’s Spirit dwells in you. So we need to realize that God was there in the habitation, what does it mean to come in and dwell inside of you. That’s what it means a habitation, not a visitation. He wants to have habitation within us, and then corporately as well. But when we all have our own lives, and personal intimacy with the Lord, and His glory is in us, we understand that being filled with the Spirit, being filled with His glory. And we practice that every day, that when we come together corporately, that we have a greater manifestation of the presence definitely. And so on a personal level. It’s so important, like John’s mentioned that we embrace the Holy Spirit, you know, you’ll see when, in the book of Acts, and Acts two when the Holy Spirit is poured out. And you see change and transformation happen to the disciples. But actually, if you will jump with me today to x 19. When you get into x 19, starting in verse one, and actually am I jumped out a little bit, but Paul is going to the Ephesians. And actually, when he gets to verse two, he asks the Ephesians, have you received the Holy Spirit? Or did you receive the Holy Spirit when you were when you believed? And they said, No, we haven’t even heard of this Holy Spirit. And then Paul says to them into what then were you baptized into John’s baptism, they reply, and he gets into the importance of, of the need for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But you know, some people watching this today maybe have been in a scenario where you’ve never even heard of the Holy Spirit, where you’ve never been in a place to receive him, or experience Him on your own. And the reality is, we can talk about revival we can teach about revival, you can get information, you can even get revelation on it. But the reality is, until you realize that it’s the Holy Spirit working in you, to bring revival about for you personally, nothing really, that you do externally can make that happen.
In the book of Ezekiel, chapter 37, you see that it’s the valley of dry bones in the dry bones, and is ECOSYS can these bones live? And then the Lord said, prophesied of these bones. And so what we see in the theme of that chapter is basically the Holy Spirit coming into the dry bones, in reviving those bones and making them alive until it rises up into a mighty army. And then you see in the book of Acts, and chapter two, actually, in chapter one, where do you see Jesus say, wait in Jerusalem until you receive the promise of the Father? Yeah. So they wait. And they received the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter two with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and then they go out, and Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost, and he’s anointed like he’s never been anointed before. And all these people hear his words, and then 2000 are added to the church that day. That’s the kind of power that we want. That’s the kind of demonstration we want is the Holy Spirit to come in power and break through, and so that people can come to know Him, and that we experienced him in that powerful way. Now, you read that verse, right? And Acts where it was the baptism of John that people had been baptized into. And then they hadn’t received the Holy Spirit at that point. And so they come and they receive the Holy Spirit, because Paul says, you haven’t been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Yet. You’ve only been baptized into John’s baptism, what’s his baptism number? It’s, so they come and they receive the Holy Spirit. And so I can identify with that. Because back when I was 15 years old, I was baptized at a Baptist church out in the country. And it was transformational. I mean, it was experiential. When I went under the water, I came up a new person, I knew I was a new person. But after that point, I didn’t know how to walk and follow the Lord. So it was like three to four years later that I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, and then I have the power to live the Christ live life.
Right. Yeah. And so one thing that John is bringing up as the importance of the holy pneus of the Holy Spirit, you know, that’s one of those things that I think, you know, he’s talking about the experience of the Holy Spirit and that but but really, there’s a holy Is to the Holy Spirit that we have somewhat gotten away from. And so when you get to Matthew three, I believe it’s verse 11. And John the Baptist is talking to his disciples, and He says, There’s one coming after me who’s mightier than I, whose sandals strap, I’m not worthy to lose, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and the fire that we get the same way we have somewhat lost the Holy Spirit, depending on your background, and the stream of Christianity you’ve experienced, we have often lost the fire and that fire that brings about holiness and repentance and that fire that burns away the distractions of the world. And a reignites you with a passion to seek Christ, and it’s in that place, it’s out of that place of really being alive and awaken to the Holy Spirit that you can then go and do those things that God’s called you to do. But again, it starts back in that place of personal revival. That’s right.
And we need to remember that the first name of the Holy Spirit is holy. I think we forget that sometimes. And we receive the the gifts of the Spirit, the anointing of the spirit, and all this kind of stuff when we throw holiness out the window. But we got to remember that the Holy Spirit is holy, and he makes us holy. As we receive him, it’s from the inside out, that were transformed. This is not something that we can do by changing externals things on the outside. But when we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive the power to live a holy life to be Christ like, and that’s what God wants. And that’s part of revival too, is that we have this purification that sanctification, this being set apart to God that we’re saints, we’re not sinners, we’re saints, we’re not sinners, you know, God has called us to be saints. And the Holy Spirit enables us to be to be saints, so follow him and actually be holy as He is only because we had the Holy Spirit inside of us.
And it’s not about perfection and yield trying to perfect, you know, this idealistic view of holiness. You know, there are many, again, different streams. And some people maybe when you hear in holiness, you instantly think, well, I’m, if you’re a woman, you’re not allowed to cut your hair, or you’re not allowed to wear pants or you have to wear a suit to church or it’s all externals that maybe come to mind. And the reality is, is depending on again, what you believe in where you are, the externals are really secondary, what matters is what’s going on in your heart. And I’m not saying that to say those hex turtles are important. I just mean, God’s not opposed to you never wearing pants, if you’re a woman, I mean, I don’t think he really is concerned about it. I’m bringing it up. Because I think, you know, a lot of times when we say, well, you know, holiness in the form that it’s often been shown in the American church. And a lot of people when you say the holiness cube thing, pulling is Pentecostal, and all kinds of people said, We got to throw it all out. Well, the reality is, you don’t necessarily have to throw everything out with every movement, because, again, we’re different streams, we’re different people, people have different interpretations. But what we are saying is that God’s not looking for those externals. He’s looking at your heart, and he’s saying, is this person seeking Me with all that there? Is this person pursuing me is this person really letting me conform them and transform them? You know, we recently had a situation where a member of our family was really excited to, to really accept Christ on a more personal level and receipt and asked to be baptized. And it hasn’t been very long. But I have talked to that person, and really sat them down. So you know, I am so excited for you, because it wasn’t just a situation where you did it because you thought you needed to, you’d have actually been getting changed almost before our eyes since that’s happened. And this, this young man that it happened to, he’s so excited. And he even says, yeah, it’s different. I can tell that I’m different, I feel different, different things are affecting him that maybe we didn’t before and all that. But again, I want to just get back to that place of it’s God’s not looking for your perfection, when we talk about holiness. And when we talk about repentance, it gets such a bad rap. Because, again, people think of God is this judge appear to beat you up. And that’s not at all the case. You know, many years ago, when I was in youth group, someone gave an interesting analogy that’s always stuck with me. And they said, you know, when God puts your rules and structure in place, it’s because it helps you have fun in the midst of the life he’s given you. And he knows you enough, and he loves you enough to know that if you get outside of those boundaries, it’s not going to be fun. Now as a teenager, you know, that’s fun was a big part of what they were talking about. But if you think about it, you know, think of the analogy of a basketball game. How fun would it be in a basketball game if there was no out of bounds? If there were no lines? If there was no boundaries? The game wouldn’t make any sense. And it’s kind of the same way with with the world we live in. You know, we talked about holiness, when we talked about righteousness and repentance. It’s not God trying to beat you up saying, you know, these people need to be changed and I’m just so mad at them and so disappointed on the What is cheering for you, He loves you. He’s such a good father. And he’s saying, wait a minute, I know the best thing for you is when you are in the confines of these boundaries and these guidelines and what I’ve written in this book, which is the Bible. So anyway, when we talk about that stuff, really make sure that you’re understanding it from the right heart and perspective, because if you’re coming from place of God than judge, then you can’t really live in a place of personal revival, because you’re always waiting. And concern that you’re going to mess up and God’s waiting to kind of beat you up, if you will try.
It’s the goodness of God that brings us to repentance. It’s not the fact that he’s really mean, he’s really good. And his goodness brings us to repentance, it’s attractive, it draws us to Him. Jesus didn’t wait until people received him to work a miracle. Right, he went ahead and work the miracle. And then some came back to him and some didn’t. But he didn’t try to control them, you’ve been trying to manipulate and all that kind of stuff. So God is good. I mean, wants you to know that, definitely. But one of the things we want to make sure we do today is pray that you would receive a fresh infilling, or maybe for the first time received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you know, because again, we’re talking about revival. And we’re talking about the importance of the Holy Spirit and just really allowing him to work in and through your life. And we get so caught up a lot of times in, particularly the charismatic movement, but really lots of Christianity, where it’s all about the Go element. And the reality is the Holy Spirit gets you to a place of revival so you can go, but if we go before we have cultivated anything to give, we kind of waste kind of the gifts that God’s given us a lot of ways only because we can’t do anything with them, if he’s not the one really empowering and equipping us in it. So we want to make sure tonight that we pray for you, that you would again, receive that Baptist in the Holy Spirit, a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. And we do believe in the gift of tongues. And so if you would like that gift, we’re going to pray for that as well.
That’s right. So far, we thank you, for your people, Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your Holy Spirit, Lord, we just welcome you. And we say yes to your Holy Spirit, Jesus who said, He’s the helper that we need, yeah, I’m going to send the Holy Spirit and He will help you. And we just thank You, Father, that you’re so good that you say your Holy Spirit, and that Jesus, you’re the baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and you want to baptize your people in the Holy Spirit. So if you have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I just want to walk you through a prayer and say, Holy Spirit. Just repeat after me, Holy Spirit. Come and fill me. I receive your power. I receive your love. I received Your goodness and Your grace and your love for me. I just ask you to fill me with Your presence. I just thank you for that. There’s no fear in your people of the Holy Spirit. Yeah, I just thank You in the Name of Jesus, for your anointing to come right now. rests on your people, who just thank you for the freshness of your spirit, the renewing of the Holy Spirit, the reviving of the Holy Spirit, in their lives in the name of Jesus, Father, we just thank You Father, just as Paul said, I pray with my understanding. And I pray with my spirit i i pray with words I understand and I pray in tongues. Father, we just released that gift right now the name of Jesus, of praying in the spirit of praying in tongues, in the name of Jesus, that hotline to God, Father, we just released that right now in the name of Jesus upon your people. Thank you for your glory. Lord, we just thank you for that personal element of revival right now coming for this stir of the wells of their hearts. In the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you for the fire of your spirit. Yeah. Thank you.
Amen. So we want really quick, we’re gonna take just a minute and see if there are any questions. So one thing that’s a good question Is your question has to do with is, is there really a difference between revival and awakening? And can someone kind of speak on it? So have you ever had John?
Well, there’s a difference in that you have the church that needs revived because they were alive once but then they die, where they came into a place where they’re in slumber would be the word, and they’ve been awakened. by the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit comes, comes into the dry bones again, and awakens to the church. And then you have the awakening that happens in the world, where someone that is never going to be Christ is totally an awakening where they’re made alive to God. And so the Those two things can happen at different times. And they can happen simultaneously. But the church needs to be revived, right? Well before the world can be awakened.
And we want to just really quickly say the reality is it’s good to have an understanding of what the terms mean and things like that. But we’re really just after an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that touches people lives, whether they know him before or not, we all need a fresh outpouring and a fresh touch on a daily basis. And so that’s really our heart. That’s really what we’re after.