 Good morning, everyone. Welcome to BC201, the course on Christian History and Missions. Today, we're going to discuss on revival in our day. It's more of discussion. All that we studied in the past classes, today, we can discuss on our understanding how important is revival and what are the criteria, what are certain things that we need to keep in mind for us to expect a revival in our time. So even before we could go ahead with that last class, I requested you all to have a study on the evangelist. Have a study on the evangelist. How was there a ministry and function in their ministry? Would anyone would like to share on them? I'll just share the screen. So if you would like to share on any of the evangelist, please unmute your mic and you can share. On the list of evangelists, it can be anyone. So if you would like to unmute and share, how did they function? How was the ministry? What was the impact of the ministry among the people? You can unmute and share just in few words. Anyone from the class? We all know of them. We all know about their ministry, how effective it was. Just share about any of the evangelists on the list. Linda, Namita, Isaac, anyone? You can just unmute and share about these evangelists that you know of and what was the ministry and what was the impact of the ministry that you know of? Lupega, we all know of Catherine Cullman, isn't it? Anyone can share about Catherine Cullman? Jeffina, would you like to share about any of these evangelists? I actually chose Benny Hindbuster. Okay, please go ahead. That's okay. Yes, so Benny Hindbuster is known for his Miracle Crusades actually. And there is a program called This Is Your Day. It is one of the world's most watched Christian program. It is seen almost in 200 countries every day. So he was born in December 3, 1952 in the port city of Jaffa in Israel. And in 1968, after the Six Day War, he moved with his family to Canada. In February 1972, his life took an entirely new meaning because that's when he surrendered his heart and life to Jesus as his high school friends prayed with him. So soon after that he was called to minister the gospel. In April 1974, he received a vision of people falling into a roaring in front. He heard these words, like if you do not preach every soul that falls will be your responsibility. So these are the words that he heard from God and that actually inspired him, that actually motivated him to preach the gospel. In December 7, 1974, after his 22nd birthday, he first stood behind a pulpit to preach the gospel. From that moment he started speaking fearlessly about the great things that he did. Over 45 years, he was a statesman, he was an author. And above all, he's a telecaster that show that he did. And he's also a bridge builder and he's known as an evangelist. And he has preached mostly through the television to billions of people. And one thing that really inspired me is that the words that he heard, it also inspired me. Like if you do not preach the gospel, every soul that falls will be your responsibility. This is something that he heard from God. But when I read this about him, it also inspired me. Many souls are lost, many people around us are lost. And it is my responsibility sometimes that I should actually go and preach. Sometimes we are so caught up into the disease schedule that we forget that we should actually go and evangelise to the many people are in front of us and we are losing souls and those things inspired me. Yes, yes. Thank you, Jeffrey, for sharing. Anyone from the class like John, Georgia, Paul, success. You can pick on any of the topic that you know of. You can just share a few words, what you know about the person and the ministry that they did. And what was the impact through the ministry to the people? I will speak about Catherine Kuhlman briefly. Catherine Kuhlman started ministering in the early 1900s. She was born in 1907. So few things which we have heard about Catherine Kuhlman is she is so much into the power of the Holy Spirit and there are even some videos available in YouTube talking about how impact fully she operates in the power of the Holy Spirit. One of the things which I personally have noticed is the way she speaks is very different than modern day preachings. It is very powerful. It is a little bit dramatic as well and it is interesting to see. But what we see through her ministry is she has been more into the healing, deliverance, miracles. When she starts ministering the Holy Spirit just takes over and you see a lot of miracles happening through maybe the administration of the Word of God at that moment. And you would just see that many people are getting healed because of the presence of God. So she gave a lot of importance to the presence of the Holy Spirit and also the intimacy of the Holy Spirit. And that also impacted Pastor Benikin when he started ministering. So during Catherine Kuhlman's ministry a lot of people used to come and they used to get healed especially people leaving out of wheelchairs, walking for time in their lives. And one thing I have heard about Catherine Kuhlman is she carried a lot of presence of God with her. So whenever she walked down the streets people used to repent of their sins. People used to get converted of their sins and the power of the Holy Spirit was so much over her. And this is the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, thank you John for sharing with Catherine. Anyone else, Zellie would you like to share, Lynden, Leah? Raise the Lord Pastor. Raise the Lord, Lynden. Doctor, has anyone chosen the DGST? No, don't worry you don't have to worry about it anyone chose. You just share on any of the person, any of the evangelists that is listed there. Just feel free we have few more minutes we may take two more person that's it. Go ahead Lynden. Okay, so I'm not a native of Kerala but I'm settled in Chennai for a very long time. So I've known Brother DGST from a very long time and at least I've heard from several God's people sharing his testimony. So Brother DGST hails from a very poor background and he was a wonderful servant of God. We had a zealful Christ and he did no travel across the globe, no sharing the gospel. And we did build a prayer tower and his ministry's name was Jesus' cause. And it still is, the ministry still continues and it's taken over by his son rather than Dr. Paul Dinaurin. But to talk about DGST Dinaurin in particular, there was a point in time because of poverty because of various pressures or situations. There was a time when he decided to give away his life to commit suicide. And at that particular point in time, one of his uncles shared with him a Bible or God's word and at that particular point in time he got saved. And he was comforted by the word and when he was working for, I guess it was Indian Overseas Bank or Indian Bank I think. But he was working in a bank in a decent job or decent position but at the same time was also serving God, ministering, evangelizing. But in one of the interviews which he had with another servant of God, he did mention that for approximately seven years or so he was into village ministries and evangelizing in market areas and open areas. And until the time he received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that's when he says ministry really flourished. So, I mean he also shares an encounter which he had with Jesus when he was praying, when he was broken and he was praying in this room where there was a light which came out of nowhere and then only happened to see the presence of God. He was able to talk to God and where he did ask God for all the gift of the spirits. And I think he was blessed with all the spirits and why he talks, why he addresses the community to the people. All these messages we can clearly see the compassion that he had for the people. And the grace of God was fully founded or surrounded him. And yeah, he was a wonderful minister of God. He had several trials and tribulations during his life span that includes the toll he had on his body. For every meeting he becomes well-dressed, he comes hell and healthy. But after the end of the meeting or once the message gets over and once he starts praying for all the people who come to the pulpit or the podium, by the time he leaves the stage literally there will be two people carrying him to his car. And yeah, he travels several places across Tamil Nadu, across India and across overseas as well. And yeah, he had several, he had a huge toll on his body at one particular point because at least until early or mid 70s he was still working in the bank and he was also ministering, serving God's word. And only after which he decided to commit himself for Kuntan ministry. But during that course of time he also had this family were traveling in a car and they met with an accident. His daughter died on the spot and it also had a terrible blow on his family, on his spiritual life. But there were God's servants around him to comfort him by God's word and eventually he continued with his ministry. And throughout his lifespan he bore witness to the God who called him and he was truthful for his calling. And I don't think there's any who would really comment or would even sarcastically comment about whether he just denigrated or his ministry at least until his lifespan. He lived a life full of witness and he was full of grace and compassion and he was very kind-hearted and he guided a lot of, or rather inspired a lot of then existing and the upcoming evangelists and ministers of God and it was indeed a blessing for Chennai where he hails from at least for a major part of his life in Chennai. And there's a lot of churches, a lot of ministers of God who are inspired of them. And yeah, that's about it. I mean, I just said whatever comes to my mind, I didn't prepare myself for it. Thank you. Don't worry. Thank you. Thank you, London, for sharing on Dr. D. Jistanakaran briefly. Is there anyone who would like to share? If not, we can move on to the classes. Is there anyone here in the class who would like to share? Brother Isaac, Lubika, Abu Bakar, is there anyone you would like to share on the evangelist or the list of evangelists? Yes. Yes, Brother, go ahead please. I'm not too prepared but I want to share a little bit about Billy Graham. Yes. Franklin Billy Graham, born November 7, 1918 and died February 21, 2018, was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known, excuse me, internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelist Christian figure and according to a biographer was among the most influential Christian leader of the 20th century. Graham held large indoor and outdoor rallies with summons that were broadcast on radio and television with some still being re-broadcast into the 21st century. In his six decades on television, Graham hosted annual crusades, evangelistic campaigns that ran from 1947 until his retirement in 2005. He also hosted the radio show, Hour of Decision, from 1950 to 1954. He repeated he was against racial segregation and insisted on racial integration for his survivors and crusades, starting in 1953. He later invited Martin Luther King Jr. to preach jointly at a revival in New York City in 1957. In addition to his religious aims, he helped shape the worldwide view of huge number of people who came from different backgrounds, leading them to find a relationship between the Bible and contemporary secular viewpoints. According to his website, Graham preached to live audiences of 210 million people in more than 185 countries and territories through various meetings, including BMS World Mission and Global Mission. Graham was particularly close to Dwight D. Ensignore, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. He was also lifelong friends with Robert Schruppfer, another televangelist and founding pastor of Crystal Cathedral, who Graham talked into starting his own television ministry. Graham's evangelism was appreciated as he encouraged those mainline protestants who were converted to his evangelical message to remain within or return to their mainline Christian churches rather. Despite his early suspicious and apprehension common against contemporary evangelical protestants toward Catholicism, Graham eventually developed army cable ties with many American Catholic church figures and later encouraged unity between Catholics and protestants. Graham operated a variety of media and published an outlet. According to his laugh, more than 2 million people have responded to his invitation at Billy Graham Crusade to accept Jesus Christ as their passionate savior. Graham estimated lifetime audiences, including radio and television broadcast, toppled 2 billion by 2008. As a result of his Crusade, Billy Graham preached the gospel to more people in person than anyone in the history of Christianity. Graham was on record to have written more books in the middle of the 60s. He had become the great laminator by them and the presence conferred status. Graham writes that by the middle 1960 he had become the great by then his presence conferred status on precedent, acceptability on wars, shame on racial prejudices, desirability or decency, dishonor or insincency and prestige on the civil events. Billy Graham was married to Ruth Bell. He had five children and he passed away as stated above in, he passed away on February 21, 2018. That's all I can get Mark. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that Isaac. Thank you so much. So we will move on to our class. We're going to look into revival in our day. So let's take turns. Let's take turn to discuss on what is actually expected from us to expect a revival. What is needed from our side to expect a revival? So the first we're going to look into the time for later rain has stated in Acts chapter 2 verse 17 and 18. It says, and it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. So that your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. And on all my men servants and all my maid servants, I pour out my spirit in those days they shall prophesy. So we see that how God has chosen certain time to pour out a spirit on everyone. So we see that this this quotation is this scripture is also being used in the book of Joel. And Peter also explains that what these curious onlookers are looking for. When the Holy Spirit is poured upon all the people. You see in the Old Testament you see Holy Spirit was given for certain people for certain time and he went back. But in the New Testament it is not like that. The Holy Spirit has been poured upon people and all flesh. So this was a very glorious emphasis which took place on the day of Pentecost. So they had been no provision or no promise of abiding in the Old Testament, abiding of the Holy Spirit in a person in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament it is a new covenant where Jesus said, when I go I send you a comforter who will abide with you forever. So here we have the comforter, the Holy Spirit who abides within us forever. He is not a visitor anymore but he is abiding with us forever. So whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So we see that Peter also used this passage from the book of Joel for an evangelistic purpose. Because he wanted to explain the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which was meant by God is now offering salvation to each of us who believe on Jesus. So whoever calls on the name of the Lord, whether they are Jew or Gentile, they receive the Spirit of the Lord. And also in the book of James chapter 5 verse 7 to 8, James chapter 5 verse 7 to 8, we read it. Therefore be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmers wait for the previous fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. So you also be patient. So be established, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. So let me see here. James is trying to address the issue of the ultimate judgment before us which is a remark about the ungodly rich and the destitute. So now he calls all the believers to be patiently endured until the coming of the Lord. So we see that he also illustrates, he illustrates between a farmer and the field. So he says a farmer does not give up on his crops, does not come to harvest immediately. So what he does? He keeps working on it. He keeps working on his field to find why this crop is not healing or why this crop is not growing. He tries to work on it. And you see eventually even we as believers must work hard and exercise the patience of endurance. So even when the harvest day seems very far or harvest is not seen at hand, but when we don't give up and when we work hard, eventually we will see the crop healing the fruit just like how the farmer works hard to see the crop grow and bear fruit the same manner. You and I should carry this endurance, carry this heart of patience so that we don't give up in the process. So when we think about it and wait and wait with endurance in our life and we see just like the farmer, we will bear fruit. So in this passage we see James bringing a comparison illustrating between a farmer and the harvest. So he says the farmer waits with a reasonable hope and expectation of a reward. So can we also wait with a hope and the expectation of a reward and by not giving up and doing what is good that they are doing. James says the farmer waits for a long time with endurance. Can we also do that in our work in expecting a revival and expecting a change, expecting a transformation in our ministry, in our workplace or within us as well. Sometimes even when we look at us we need to be patient and be growing with the Lord and see Lord move and work in us as we spend time studying His Word. And moving in a spirit. Just like how the farmer, he works, he waits working all the while and he waits depending on things out of his own path with his own eye keeping his eyesight on heaven. He's saying Lord, I've sown a seed. I'm doing all that is needed for the seed to give birth and grow. Now it's only the Lord who can make this seed grow and become a tree. Got it? Look at the faith of a farmer. He's taken a small seed and in his mind is having a tree in the picture. In his mind he expects the fruits to come out of the single seed and with so much of hope is sowing that seed into the ground and putting the fertilizer and watering it and expecting the seed to grow become a big tree and bear fruit. If a farmer can put that hope on a single seed, how much you and I can put hope on the word of God which bears much better fruit in us. If a farmer can picture a tree with fruit, how much you and I can imagine and hope for like every promise that God has given about us and about our ministry, how much you and I can trust the word of God and wait with endurance, with patience, with the heart of expectant saying Lord I know your word is a miracle seed which can grow and bear much fruit. So here we see he waits encouraged by the value of the harvest. He's also encouraged to work hard and see the harvest. He's not going to give up. He's aware how it works in each season and as he waits the time goes and it becomes more important when there's less time. He wants to see the tree grow. He wants to see the seed grow bear much fruit. A similar man our God is asking you and I to wait upon him on every promise our God has given us with an expected heart. So the need for revival is for us especially for us in this season. You see we have a very modern technology around us. We have various tools and methodologies available for us which is making us easy to minister, which is making us easy to be equipped in the word. But what is needed for the revival? For us to do that work just like how the farmer works hard, toys hard in the field. We need to throw hard in the word. Let's meditate the word Joshua chapter one verse eight says let the word be in your heart and in your mind. And then we meditate on it to see the success of it. So we need to meditate. How do we meditate put on the word into your heart? Because the word carries power when the word is shown in our heart. And meditate on it when we pray when we pray over it. You see the spirit of the Lord who is within us. He will teach us. He will pour us and he will also help us to pray for the need of revival. When we read in the book of Romans chapter eight later part from 26 onwards. I guess when we read you see how the spirit of the Lord grows within us. And he prays certain prayer that would be acceptable by the Lord himself. So he teaches us how to pray. So we need to neglect this passion for God and this word for his spirit. You see how the spirit of the Lord can move things in and through us. We see him move from strength to strength, glory to glory. And be the kind of people that God intends us to be. We also see as we move in this realm, we see every meeting, every church, every prayer meeting. However you are conducting, you see how people have been attracted to the word that you're sharing. Why? Because you're sharing on the name of Jesus. Just like how John shared in the class, like Catherine Cullman carried the presence of God within her. Even when she walked on the road, people were convicted of their sin. Now, maybe when she's walking, she's not preaching and walking. But the very presence of her is convicting the people of their sin, the presence of God. So we, you and I, should yearn more for the presence of God. We should yearn more that Lord we will be the carrier of your presence. This is not something that only happened during Catherine Cullman's time, but this happened in our early church days. We see Peter and Paul carry the presence of God. When they walked on the street, the very shadow of Paul brought healing to people, brought deliverance. They've just passed over his handkerchief and the sick were healed. So what happened? The presence of God was so strong in them. How did they get this presence of God within them? Because the amount of time they spent in the Word, the amount of time they spent with the Lord in prayer. And now the Spirit of the Lord is no more or visitor is abiding in us. You see, there's an increased presence of God. The scripture also says wherever Jesus went, there was a huge crowd following Jesus. Now there were no advertisement, there was no Facebook, there was no Instagram, there was no Google Ads. There was nothing, no advertisement, but the presence of God Jesus is fully God. So this attracted the people wherever Jesus went, there was a huge crowd following Him. And wherever the presence of God is, there's manifestation of His glory. That is healing, deliverance, science, wonders, medities. It was falling with the presence of God. So you and I, when we pray, when we meditate on the Word of God and when we carry the presence of God, it is automatically, we can go with an expected heart. Like just as how the pharma expects it to, which ours, our church will grow, our ministry will grow, it will impact the area, it will impact the city, it will impact the nation and the nation. Just like how we studied in the previous chapter, like few people, two or three people or there were maximum five people gathered in a room, earnestly prayed with one accord for revival and you see the revival broke. And this revival was like a fire that caught the world. So this didn't happen later, it can also happen in our time, in our time, through us, in us. So can we pray, can we have that fire within us so that we can pray saying, Lord, I want to truly impact the world. Lord, as your Word says, I want to be that salt and the light that brings the transformation to the city, to the state, to the country and to the nations where we are. So when we have this fire, you see the fire spread. So there may be certain hindrance that can stop. But then we need to intently watch what is that hindrance that is stopping us from moving into a realm of revival. We need to intentionally see to it that we remove it, uproot it from us, from ourselves, from our ministry, from our church out. So what are those? What are those simple things that may hinder our revival? One of them could be ignorance. If we do not know what God has in store for each of us, for our ministry, for our church, then we are ignorant of what God is doing. So we need to fast and pray. Lord, reveal your plan to me so that I may not be ignorant of what is expected from me so that I can move in that path. Second is misunderstanding. Sometimes we have our own stupid picture of what revival mean, what revival outbreak mean. And we try to look for those things. But by doing that, we are putting God into a box. Who are we to put God into a box? In the book of Acts itself, the spirit of the Lord moved in different ways. That's how he does. Even when we started the early revivalist, each revival was so very different. The spirit of the Lord works different. We cannot put God into a box. Just expect, may ask God, God, you move in your own way. So how God desires little more in us, in our church, in our ministry, in his own way. And as we expect for revival, we also need to be attention about the sin and wordliness. Is there anything that is creeping into us in our ministry, in our church? So that we don't live a compromised life, because this is very important. Revival does not interest in this area, sin and wordliness. If we remove sin and wordliness from us, you see how the Lord can move in and through us. And we also need to look into for complaints. Sometimes we are very complacent about our spiritual things. We are satisfied with the content where we are. But this has not been expected from us. God is asking us to carry out the spirit of revival by being hunger for more of him. Because God responds to those who are hunger and thirsty for more of him. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5 verse 6, he says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. So they shall be filled, one of the bad attitudes. And also there is another bad attitude, it says, blessed are the poor in spirit. But theirs is the kingdom of God. Poor in spirit, thirst and yearning for more of God's spirit. You see God gives the kingdom of God to that person. So we need to, we should not be complacent but then yearning for more of God's lethargy. It's simply a spiritual laziness. So we should not, you know, we should not be, we should not be spiritually lazy in our life. That we need to make every effort to pray. The minute we feel that way is when we need to put an effort to read the word, to pray, to seek more of God in this season. Because this may hinder the revival or it may hinder the plan of God that God wants to do in our life. Resistance to change. We know that personal revival will require that we must be willing to put aside our well thought plan. Programs or strategies rely entirely on the Holy Spirit to guide us. But revival can be disruptive because revival is something very different. We allow the Lord to move in that place. So let's not stick to one particular plan but allow the Lord to move. So that resistance to change is very open in us. Allowing the Lord to work. Lord, you do as you will. Because the Lord understands better each of us, our people, a city, our nation. And accordingly, Lord will move. So this is something that we need to do. And also we need to be focused on the credit. We should not be taking the credit for ourselves. We need to be open minded. Give complete credit to God. Give the glory to God. We cannot take the glory of God for us. So give the glory to God. What belongs to God? Give it to God. So we need to earnestly pray for revival. And some of the characteristics of genuine revival or visitation are something that cannot be manufactured. Something that we cannot manufacture. We need to exalt Jesus in our ministry and not any individual. And we also see that there is a proclamation of a sound doctrine. So we need to be prepared with the word and share the word in the right way. Because we see in Acts chapter 2 verse 42 we see that and they continued steadfastly in the apostles, doctrine and fellowship in breaking of bread and in bread. So we see that the gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed clearly. Of the cross of the work that Jesus did and the cross of his resurrection and of his seated at the right hand of God. And with the message of gospel they called for the call of repentance so that we can live a life that is pleasing God that may glorify God in our life. And what is the other thing that we can focus during the time of revival? Or how we can know if there is a revival happening what are the certain things that we need to genuinely see for these are the things that is of God. These are the things that is moving God. That is along with Jesus name being exalted and along with that you know the proclamation of sound doctrine we need to see that is unity in the spirit. There is unity in the spirit because at the heart of those being used there must be a strong sense of brotherly love. Not just in word but indeed and in truth. So we must be flowing together with the competition without any competition. Without any competition or without any kind of pride in ourselves but giving glory to God and allowing the Lord the spirit of the Lord to the more and have this unity in the fellowship of the Spirit. And with that we also see that people are brought together in intimacy, in wholeness and in Christlikeness. The revival should bring everyone into love of God into the Christlikeness. And the outcome of the revival should be the lasting throat that would transform the lives of each other. So we see the people, there are some people who visited certain revivals and out of that revival the ministries were birthed. We see Nikki Gumbel who attended a revival and he birthed. In one of many churches touched by Toronto Revival was Foley Trinity Church in Brompton London which was led by Nikki Gumbel who was also known as the best leaders of Alpha. Now this Alpha Ministry course that he founded has become an evangelistic tool which is reaching throughout the world. We also see Heidi Baker Ministry. What happened at Toronto? Ronald and Heidi Baker had been a missionary over a decade and in 1995 they moved to Mozambique as a missionary and a responsibility of over 300 children who had called her Mama Ida. And you see how their life was transformed, how the Lord moved supernatural providence and there is a fruit in this ministry. People are raised, dead were raised back to life, lives were transformed, people encountering Jesus. The blind is able to see, the deaf is able to hear, the presence of God is bringing the healing, deliverance and there is science, wonders and miracles that is happening among the people. So what we can have, can we have the visitation of God? Yes, even in our time we can have the visitation of God. We need to get ourselves prepared for that. So with that we stop this class because it's time up. We'll end this class with a prayer and we can continue from where we stopped in the next class. Dear God, we thank you that you are working and moving in us. We pray that you will prepare a heart and mind so that we can discipline ourselves and look up to you for a revival Lord. We look up to you for the revival to be birthed in and through us, in our church, in our city or Father. Lord we pray that you will move in and through us Lord. Thank you Father for doing this. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Thank you so much class for joining in. God bless. See you all in the next class. Thank you.