Gary Hall
I was raised as a Roman Catholic and intended to become a priest after I left school, but the Lord had other plans for me. In 1973, at the age of 17, I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour at the headquarters of the Liverpool City Mission. This immediately caused problems regarding my family. My mother and father were against what they called my "change of religion". The situation came to a climax when I arrive home one evening from a Christian friend's house only to be met by my father on the doorstep with the words, "You don't live here anymore". So at the age of 18 I would have been homeless but for the kindness of friends. One cannot rely on the goodness of others for too long, so I decided to move into a local boarding house. What I saw and experienced there cannot be written here. Eventually, after spending time living rough and in the Salvation Army hostel, I found my own apartment. I had fallen away from the Lord for two years at this time. My thoughts went back to my childhood desire to become a Roman Catholic priest. I made enquiries and found that the only real option for me was to become a monk in the Franciscan Order. The Saturday before I was due to leave for the monastery in Guildford, Surrey, I pleaded with the Lord, asking, "Lord, is it your will that I should become a monk like St. Francis?" That evening I attended a tent meeting in a local park. A preacher from Northern Ireland, Derrick Bingham, was teaching from the book of Nehemiah. During the service the preacher turned to my direction (there were about 500 people present) and said, God does not want you to become a monk like St. Francis of Assisi." Here was my answer from the Lord. From that moment I made a complete break from the Catholic Church and have come to see it as the biggest cult that this world knows. In 1979 I joined a church, The Mission, in the neighbourhood where I was living. From the moment I walked through the door of that small building I knew that I was home. The godly lifestyle and inspired teaching of Pastor Charles Bolton (promoted to glory 12 December 2003) and his wife brought me back to my first love for Christ. The church had no young people, but I never once felt that I was out of place. These people obviously loved the Lord. In my desire to reach others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ I began to give leaflets out in Liverpool City Centre. Many a Saturday afternoon was spent witnessing to those willing to stop and listen. On one Saturday in late Autumn 1979 I was approached by a girl with an Irish accent. She asked if I was a Christian and where the church I attended was located. The next morning the same girl was found at The Mission. To cut a short story shorter, six months later on March 29 1980, we were married by Pastor Bolton at The Mission. Margaret, my wife, also comes from a Catholic background, but was soundly converted to Christ and from the errors of Rome whilst visiting relatives in New York in the summer of 1979. (You may find her personal testimony one day on these pages.) In 1986 Pastor Bolton retired from the ministry at The Mission. The leadership of the church was handed over to me. To be very honest I did not fully understand what this would entail, but the Lord has been good and has led me each step of the way. Through the Lord's power we have been used to reach many hundreds of people, though our fellowship is actually small in number. In 1988 we changed the name of the church to Living Word. I am convinced that God is about to pour out His Spirit in revival one last time before the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ (see my article on Revival on this site). This revival will not come via the charismatic movement, it will not come from Toronto or Pensacola, it will not come from the ecumenical movement or the so-called Churches Together - these movements are bankrupt of the truth and the Spirit of God. This final revival will come as a result of the true believers in Christ Jesus getting right with Him. The revival will include a return to the Authorised King James Bible. My great desire is to see people coming to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord, to see backsliders returning, and to see the church of Christ revived. Though I have many failings I love the Lord Jesus Christ with all of my heart. I am willing to serve Him wherever and whenever He sees fit. The word of God is the delight of my life for I'm still amazed after all these years just how fresh and new The Holy Bible is each day!
View all articles by Gary HallIntroduction
We are in desperate need of a Heaven-sent revival in our churches, community and country. But the blessing of revival is conditional. Without obedience to God’s precepts and standards there is very little chance of experiencing a visitation of the Lord in our generation.
Here we will look at six conditions of revival. They are not steps to revival for they must equally exist at the same time.
Condition 1: Know that revival is urgently needed
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 3:14-22).
The Laodicean church failed to see their need of revival. They had become complacent, comfortable and Christless. They considered themselves to be abundantly blessed by God, but in reality they were spiritual paupers, spiritually blind, and weak in the eyes of God. The church of our day is no different for the same shallowness and self-satisfaction is evident everywhere. The “rebuke” ought to have led to repentance (:19), but Jesus’ words fell on deaf ears while He remained locked out of the church (:20). There is a desperate and urgent need for revival today.
Condition 2: Know that revival is possible
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22).
Revival is not worked-up by emotion or worked-out by committees, but prayed-down from Heaven. Surely the “all things” of the text includes everything that is in accordance with the perfect will of God! Therefore, since He does not delight in lukewarmness, revival is possible for those who pray and believe. Sometimes even receiving is difficult for us, but we must remind ourselves that God is more willing to give than we are to receive. “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
Condition 3: Know that God wills revival
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” (Hosea 14:4).
God desires to restore Christ’s church to the glory it once enjoyed in Him. Even now, at this late stage, He is willing to pour out His blessing upon all who turn to Him in repentance … “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips” (Hosea 14:2). Those who do so will live by God’s word in holiness and righteousness … “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein” (Hosea 14:9). If only we would listen to His voice? “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!” is the cry of God as He watches us stumbling from one powerless day to the next. (Psalm 81:13).
Condition 4: Know that we must desire revival
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:1-4).
Revival is personal in that it starts with each individual responding to the call of God. We may desire to experience the joy and excitement of revival, but do we desire the Lord of revival and to be governed by His Holy Spirit? The desire for revival must include the determination to be dedicated to God’s service all the days of our lives.
Condition 5: Know that revival does not come cheaply
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:23-24).
Are we willing to pay the highest cost of revival? How many want Heaven but are unwilling to lose their lives for Christ’s sake? How many desire revival yet not at the cost of the flesh? Commitment to the Lord entails daily taking up the cross and following Him wherever He leads. The cross speaks of sacrifice, separation, sanctification and service. The cost of following Jesus is extremely high, for He demands everything. Revival does not come on the cheap and at a price few are willing to pay. Obedience and holiness is something few want to consider.
Condition 6: Know that revival must be pursued
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Luke 11:9-10).
We may have prayed, believed and desired. We may have even laid down our lives for the cause of revival, yet nothing appears to have changed. All the conditions have been met, but it seems that God is unmoved. What next? Should we give up, throw in the towel, and return to the mundane and insipid form of religion that the majority are happy with? Should we press on regardless?
Persistent prayer is a sign of sincerity. God does not mind if we continue to hammer at His door and plead for revival … “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8). This kind of enduring faith is always hard to find.
This faithful and persistent prayer brings us full-circle. We recognise the urgent need of revival and continue to pray until we receive a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit. Revival must be pursued until we find it.
Conclusion
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Knowing the conditions will not produce revival. It needs faith and action on our part. How desperately do we desire a move of God in our generation? Do we desire it to fill our church or for God’s glory? What do we expect God to do amongst us? Are we willing to soften our hearts and allow Him to work? Until we do revival will remain on the pages of history.
“Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns” (Jeremiah 4:3).
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12).
