By: Shafer Parker, FBB Content Director

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. - Acts 4:31

The verse above is the culmination of a two-day event that began in Acts 3 with Peter and John healing the lame man at the temple gate. There is more to the story, of course. The man’s miraculous healing drew a crowd (Acts 3:11), which Peter seized upon as an opportunity to preach the gospel (Acts 3:12), which got him and John arrested and thrown in jail over night (Acts 4:3), which led to a trial before the same high priest who had had Jesus crucified (Acts 4:6), which led to the demand that they not “speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18), which led to the gathered church praying for revival (Acts 4:24-30), and getting it (Acts 4:31).

A couple of things stand out about the first-century church’s reaction when they were told to shut up about Jesus. First, they refused to shut up, and second, they were convinced that if they continued to proclaim the gospel, God would continue to stand with them. They saw the moment as further proof that God knew what he was doing when he inspired Psalm 2. Note how they read the first verse of that Psalm (Acts 3:25). The intent to shut down the gospel did not surprise them. Such had always been the way of the world. But neither did it stop them. They understood that the same prophecy also explained that attempts to prevent the fulfilment of God’s Great Commission would always be “in vain.” That is, they were convinced that so long as they were determined to bring the world into submission to Christ, they would have all the Heavenly help they needed.

The only concern among those first-century disciples was the fear that they might not be bold enough. Thus the prayer that God would grant them public signs of His support, along with renewed courage—in short, a prayer for revival—the kind of prayer that God loves to answer.

It seems to me that this story should speak to the moment in which 21st-century Canadian Christians find themselves. For more than two years governmental authorities have made it clear that in their eyes, in times of national crisis, public worship of the living God is at best a third or fourth-level priority, coming in behind maintaining public health facilities, providing essentials such as food and transportation, and keeping the liquor stores open. Paradoxically, in shutting down the churches, modern governments used milder language than their Sanhedrin predecessors, but when a handful of churches pushed back against blatantly prejudiced restrictions, the Alberta government’s animus toward Christ was fully exposed. Offending churches were shut down and fenced to deny further access, and their pastors were publicly, even brutally, arrested and imprisoned—in Canada.

Questions arise. Would you say, for instance, that taken as a whole, the church’s response to a 21st-century shut-down resembled the first-century church’s response? More to the point, did you see any signs over the past two years that Canada’s churches were confident that actions against them would ultimately prove useless (“in vain”)? And even more to the point, did you see signs that the churches in Canada were determined to keep on declaring the Crown Rights of King Jesus (Rev. 1:5) until “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord (Yahweh) and of his Christ,” (Rev. 11:15)? I thought not.

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That can only mean one thing. Canadian churches and Canadian Christians, me included, need revival. With the need more obvious than ever, Faith Beyond Belief is committing its resources to helping churches refocus and learn what it means to wait on God for revival. Why? Because nothing other than revival will do the job that needs doing. In his book Pentecost – Today? The Biblical Basis for Understanding Revival, Iain Murray identifies “six things revival will bring.” He writes, “revival restores faith in the Word of God (always a priority at FBB), revival restores definiteness to the meaning of “Christian” (note the modern confusion on this crucial question), advances the gospel with amazing swiftness (when God moves it’s never too late), has a moral impact upon communities (does anyone doubt the need for that?), changes understanding of the Christian ministry (pastors become prophets, not people pleasers), and changes the public worship of the churches” (God grant that it be so).

Just a couple more thoughts and I’m done. First, the kind of revival I’m thinking of is something only God can do. Read through the list of revival results in the previous paragraph and it should be obvious that none of these things can be done by human strength alone. Second, we can’t make revival happen, but we can search the Scriptures to learn what constitutes a Heaven-sent revival. Once we understand what revival is, we will be able to pray for what God is prepared to send.

This then, is the trajectory of the work FBB hopes to encourage among God’s churches in the days to come. We will not stop offering courses such as the Identity Project, which is now more needed than ever. And we will not stop offering new material—we’re working this summer to produce a version of the Identity Project for elementary age children, and Engage for older youth and young adults is still on track. But over everything else, we want to help the churches make desire for revival, and the prayer for revival, their priority. Will you stand with us? Will you give to make our work possible? These are crucial days. The governments of Canada have given us a brief reprieve, but it was grudgingly granted and came with muttered warnings that the bad old days could return at any moment. Will you help to seize the opportunity before us, to pray and seek God for revival while an open door remains?

P.S. Here’s one more thing to think about. Canada has a more diverse body of first- and second-generation immigrants within its borders than possibly any other country in the world. And experience shows that many of these newcomers maintain close ties with family and friends in their home countries. It occurs to me that a genuine revival that began in Canada, the kind that “advances the gospel with amazing swiftness,” could touch other parts of the world more swiftly than if it began anywhere else. We owe it to the world to pray and prepare for revival.

Parker, S. (2022, April 11). The Gospel Blimp? or a faith worth sharing? Faith Beyond Belief. Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://www.faithbeyondbelief.ca/blog/the-gospel-blimp-or-a-faith-worth-sharing
Parker, S. (2022, May 17). Worldview evangelism. Faith Beyond Belief. Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://www.faithbeyondbelief.ca/blog/worldview-evangelism
Faith Beyond Belief. (2021, December 9). J. Warner Wallace's Person of Interest. Faith Beyond Belief. Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://www.faithbeyondbelief.ca/podcast/j-warner-wallaces-person-of-interest