From February 8 until the end of the month, a spiritual revival that began with a prayer meeting took place at Asbury University, located in the small town of Wilmore in the suburbs of Kentucky in the southern USA, and attracted the attention of many Christians around the world.
There were also quite a number of pastors in China, especially those in the young adult ministry, who took great interest in and discussed the Asbury Revival.
Sister Xiaomi, a post-90s pastoral worker engaged in prayer ministry, shared her thoughts at a prayer meeting she hosted in early March. She watched the live video of the revival scene at that time carefully and found that the scene was very quiet and orderly. People entered in a very orderly manner and then left quietly after worshiping. Without passionate sermons or a professional worship team, people shed tears and began to repent once they sat there.
"This is very different from regular gatherings, which contain sermons teaching us what to do and how to love and preach the gospel. I think that if there is no repentance, sermons won't make much sense. If people repent from the heart, they will change and be willing to serve. But it’s hard to teach repentance," she said.
When Pastor Xinyang from a church in eastern China, shared with the congregation on this topic, he also emphasized that revival began with a person's true repentance. In comparison to the revival on the outside that we envied, what was more important was our attitude toward God.
When another pastor talked about the Asbury revival, he mentioned what Pastor Jonathan Edwards, who had experienced and led the Great Awakening in American history, thought true revival was. In his book The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741), Edwards wrote that, to tell between true and untrue revivals, one could look at the marks posed in 1 John: the real Jesus was exalted, the kingdom of Satan was undermined, the Bible was desired more, healthy teachings were advocated, and there was greater love for God and neighbors.
Edwards reminded us that true revival ultimately led people to a deeper and more correct understanding of God. In other words, revival meant returning to the Word of God, experiencing the leading of the Holy Spirit, and living out the testimony of the disciples.
Pastor Elijah, who has been working in the church for decades, began to pay attention to the phenomenon of revival many years ago. He denied the kind of worldly prosperity some prosperity theology pursued.
"Solomon brought material prosperity, but the spirituality of the Israelites did not flourish. For the revival, are we only going after a church full of miracles and turning it into a business to earn money? Do we really love God?"
Moreover, he cautioned that a one-sided emphasis on repentance was also unhealthy: "The revival that Ezra brought was to read the Word of God and call the people to confession and repentance. Churches hold spiritual meetings because they fall easily and because they have sinned. Moses did not bow his head to confess his sins all day long. Samuel and Elijah led others to confess their sins, but they themselves did not confess every day. John rebuked others, and those who repented after listening to John’s preaching did so because they had sinned. I don’t believe Simeon and Anna would resist John when they heard him preach, and I don’t believe they would confess their sins all the time, because they were not in a bad state. They were healthy spiritually. Read the Bible, pray, worship, and live a normal Christian life, and you will not fall into heresies by deception."
He continued, "Not only do you need to lead others to confess their sins, but you also need to teach them the Word of God so that they can check themselves against God's words and understand what they have done wrong... The revival brought about by Ezra was the reading of the Bible because, at that time, they did not obey God’s words. The people of Israel then confessed their sins and repented. Ezra also said, ‘Delight yourself in God, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ We must delight ourselves in Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God, and in reading the Bible, praying, and worshiping, but not just in all the hustle and bustle.”
He summarized that our revival should be built on prayer, worship, reading the Bible, obeying the Word of God, and longing for the Holy Spirit.
"True revival must be built on repentance, prayer, worship, reading the Bible, and obeying the Holy Spirit. A lasting revival would only take place when we pray, worship, read the Bible, obey the Word of God, live a life of inner life, deny ourselves, and carry the cross over a long period of time. Only such a revival would be rooted and not disappear in a flash. But if our hearts are full of unbelief and we want to cut corners and are unwilling to build a normal Christian life for the long term, not wanting to pray, read the Bible, or obey the Holy Spirit, it would be wrong to think that you would get a revival just by attending a conference."
- Translated by Joyce Leung
2月8日到月底，一场从位于美国南部肯塔基州郊区的威玛(Wilmore)小城镇的阿斯伯里大学因祈祷会发生的属灵复兴引起了全球不少基督徒的关注。
在中国国内也有不少牧者尤其是中青年牧者同工对阿斯伯里大复兴保持关注和讨论。
一位从事祈祷事工的90后同工小米姊妹在她3月初主持的一场祷告会上分享了她的思考。她专门看了当时复兴现场的直播视频，发现现场很安静，很有秩序。现场没有激情澎湃的讲道，没有雇佣专业的敬拜团队，但一坐在那里，人就流泪，就开始悔改。她说到：“这跟我们平时的聚会很不同，今天教会的讲道更多是教导，告诉我们要怎么做，要去爱，要去传福音……但我的感受是如果没有悔改，讲再多道理都没有太大意义。一个人如果发自内心地悔改，自然会有见证，会乐于服事。但悔改是很难教导的。”
一位华东教会的牧者新阳牧师也在与会众就此话题交流分享时强调复兴是从一个人的真实的悔改开始的，比起我们羡慕外面的复兴，更重要的是我们个人在上帝面前的态度。
另外一位牧者弟兄也在谈论阿斯伯里大复兴时谈及曾经经历和引领历史上美国大复兴的爱德华滋牧师（Jonathan Edwards）对于真正的复兴的看法。他在所著的《辨别上帝意志的标准》（The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God，1741年写到，分辨真假的复兴可以我们透过看《约翰一书》提出的那些记号：真耶稣受尊崇、撒旦国受到亏损、更爱慕圣经、健康的学说得到提倡和更爱上帝和邻舍。
爱德华兹提醒说真正的复兴最终是要引导人们对上帝有更深且正确的认识，换句话来说，就是回到上帝的话语，经历圣灵的带领，活出门徒的见证。
另外以为牧会几十年的以利亚牧师在多年前就开始关注和探讨过复兴的现象。他否定一些成功神学所谈论的那种追求的世俗繁华。
“所罗门带来物质的繁荣昌盛，以色列人民的灵性却没有被建造。我们要的复兴，只是教会充满神迹，或者说我们作生意发财吗？我们有没有爱主呢？”
他也提醒说只是片面强调悔改也是不健全的，“以斯拉带来的复兴是读神的话，叫百姓认罪悔改。开培灵会的教会是因为常常软弱，开认罪会的教会是因为有罪。摩西不是一天到晚乱歪着头认罪，撒母耳、以利亚是带领别人认罪，而不是自己天天认罪。约翰是责备别人，那些听约翰讲道就悔改的人，是因为他们有罪。我不相信，西面和亚拿听见约翰传道会抵挡他，我也不相信他们会跟着一天到晚认罪，因为他们不在败坏的光景里，他们的灵命是正常的。好好读经、祷告、敬拜，过着正常的基督徒生活，你就不会被各样的异端迷惑。”
他继续说道：“不光是带领别人认罪，也要教导神的话，让他对照神的话知道错在哪里....以斯拉带动的复兴是读经，因为那时候他们缺乏遵守神的话。以色列百姓就认罪悔改。以斯拉也说：‘你们要以神为乐，靠耶和华而得的喜乐是我们的力量。’我们要以基督为乐，以圣灵为乐，以神的话为乐，以读经、祷告、敬拜为乐；而不要以凑热闹为了乐。’ ”
他总结说我们的复兴要建立在祷告、赞美、读神的话，遵行神的话，和长期渴慕圣灵上。“真正的复兴，是要建立在悔改、祷告、敬拜、读经和顺服圣灵里。如果我们长期祷告、赞美、读经、遵行神的话，过内在生活，舍己背十字架，这样才会有长久的复兴，才是有根基的，不会昙花一现。我们的心如果充满了不信，想抄近路，走捷径，图方便，不愿意长期建立正常的基督徒生活，不愿意祷告、读经、顺服圣灵，想参加个特会就得复兴，这都是错的。”
国内多位牧者关注阿斯伯里大复兴 思考何为真正的复兴
From February 8 until the end of the month, a spiritual revival that began with a prayer meeting took place at Asbury University, located in the small town of Wilmore in the suburbs of Kentucky in the southern USA, and attracted the attention of many Christians around the world.
There were also quite a number of pastors in China, especially those in the young adult ministry, who took great interest in and discussed the Asbury Revival.
Sister Xiaomi, a post-90s pastoral worker engaged in prayer ministry, shared her thoughts at a prayer meeting she hosted in early March. She watched the live video of the revival scene at that time carefully and found that the scene was very quiet and orderly. People entered in a very orderly manner and then left quietly after worshiping. Without passionate sermons or a professional worship team, people shed tears and began to repent once they sat there.
"This is very different from regular gatherings, which contain sermons teaching us what to do and how to love and preach the gospel. I think that if there is no repentance, sermons won't make much sense. If people repent from the heart, they will change and be willing to serve. But it’s hard to teach repentance," she said.
When Pastor Xinyang from a church in eastern China, shared with the congregation on this topic, he also emphasized that revival began with a person's true repentance. In comparison to the revival on the outside that we envied, what was more important was our attitude toward God.
When another pastor talked about the Asbury revival, he mentioned what Pastor Jonathan Edwards, who had experienced and led the Great Awakening in American history, thought true revival was. In his book The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741), Edwards wrote that, to tell between true and untrue revivals, one could look at the marks posed in 1 John: the real Jesus was exalted, the kingdom of Satan was undermined, the Bible was desired more, healthy teachings were advocated, and there was greater love for God and neighbors.
Edwards reminded us that true revival ultimately led people to a deeper and more correct understanding of God. In other words, revival meant returning to the Word of God, experiencing the leading of the Holy Spirit, and living out the testimony of the disciples.
Pastor Elijah, who has been working in the church for decades, began to pay attention to the phenomenon of revival many years ago. He denied the kind of worldly prosperity some prosperity theology pursued.
"Solomon brought material prosperity, but the spirituality of the Israelites did not flourish. For the revival, are we only going after a church full of miracles and turning it into a business to earn money? Do we really love God?"
Moreover, he cautioned that a one-sided emphasis on repentance was also unhealthy: "The revival that Ezra brought was to read the Word of God and call the people to confession and repentance. Churches hold spiritual meetings because they fall easily and because they have sinned. Moses did not bow his head to confess his sins all day long. Samuel and Elijah led others to confess their sins, but they themselves did not confess every day. John rebuked others, and those who repented after listening to John’s preaching did so because they had sinned. I don’t believe Simeon and Anna would resist John when they heard him preach, and I don’t believe they would confess their sins all the time, because they were not in a bad state. They were healthy spiritually. Read the Bible, pray, worship, and live a normal Christian life, and you will not fall into heresies by deception."
He continued, "Not only do you need to lead others to confess their sins, but you also need to teach them the Word of God so that they can check themselves against God's words and understand what they have done wrong... The revival brought about by Ezra was the reading of the Bible because, at that time, they did not obey God’s words. The people of Israel then confessed their sins and repented. Ezra also said, ‘Delight yourself in God, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ We must delight ourselves in Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God, and in reading the Bible, praying, and worshiping, but not just in all the hustle and bustle.”
He summarized that our revival should be built on prayer, worship, reading the Bible, obeying the Word of God, and longing for the Holy Spirit.
"True revival must be built on repentance, prayer, worship, reading the Bible, and obeying the Holy Spirit. A lasting revival would only take place when we pray, worship, read the Bible, obey the Word of God, live a life of inner life, deny ourselves, and carry the cross over a long period of time. Only such a revival would be rooted and not disappear in a flash. But if our hearts are full of unbelief and we want to cut corners and are unwilling to build a normal Christian life for the long term, not wanting to pray, read the Bible, or obey the Holy Spirit, it would be wrong to think that you would get a revival just by attending a conference."
- Translated by Joyce Leung
Chinese Pastors Explore What True Revival Is Through Asbury Revival
