I want to talk to you about the acclaimed Asbury University revival to clear up some misconceptions. If you are confused about what constitutes revival, you are not alone. Millions of people are hungry for God, but allow the desperate state of their hunger to define what revival means to them. God shatters that myth and in Psalm 85:6 defines what revival means to Him.

Psalm 85:6
Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

Reading on in Psalm 85, verse 8, the Psalmist expresses the reason for the people’s desperate cry for revival. They had turned their backs on God and were busy defining their faith their own way, and God called this “folly”. How can we expect to connect with God and build and bond with Him if we walk contrary to His covenant?

Psalm 85:8
I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not TURN AGAIN to FOLLY.

When God warns, “let them not turn again to folly” He is pointing to the pre-existing condition of the hearts that were turned away from Him. The hearts of the people were filled with fear, anguish, and great turmoil at seeing the chaos of the world in which they lived. They heard the Lord speak, “If you return to me, I will be your peace.”

So, we find God defining revival by the need to return again to the way He had already established for their faith to function. Now let’s see how God connects revival to the need for truth and how this changes their heart.

Psalm 86:11
Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

Keep in mind that the book of Psalms was written to those who were under the first covenant law that God gave them through Moses. The people had to be taught how to function in Moses’ covenant to unite their hearts to God in obedience.

Truth for us today is not aligned to Moses, but rather to Jesus and His new covenant; the new knowledge God gave us to come into harmony with Him and to live according to the Spirit. The counterfeit gospel is a gospel of neglect, wherein the tokens of Jesus’ covenant have been carelessly disregarded and Christians were indifferent to God’s expressed will that we reciprocate to Him the completed work of Christ. This very process is initiated only one way – through God’s covenant plan.

The need for truth has been a bitter pill for many to swallow because that means their faith has to be responsible for something. Sadly, failure to provide the people the stewardship, knowledge, tokens, and priesthood resulted in believers finding themselves miles and miles outside of God’s will as sheep without a shepherd. But we hear the Lord speak the same comfort to the church today as He did in Psalm 85:8, “If you return to me, I will be your peace.”

Jeremiah Johnson expressed concern about the checklist that people have formulated to decide whether or not revival is or isn’t happening. He said that God can move however He desires. He then cites revival history to point out the different things that happened at each “move of the Holy Spirit.”

What Johnson overlooked is that God is a God of covenant and that is the ONE thing He will NEVER change (Deuteronomy. 7:9). God will never decide that people no longer have to observe the covenant plan He initiated and sustains through Jesus Christ.

Johnson, like so many ministers who are caught on the wrong side of God’s covenant, cannot differentiate between the covenant way of God set in His unchanging foundation of truth and the many and diverse ways in which God manifests Himself daily to His saints when they are walking with Him in righteousness. His gifts are as boundless as His love.

Stephan Strang, in his response to what’s going on at Asbury said, “it’s important to take a look at history to determine how Christians should respond.” But Joseph said “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis. 40:8).

We see this played out in the book of Revelation where our Lord and Master Jesus Christ brought correction through Apostle John. It was Apostle John who interpreted correctly what was going on in the 7 churches of Asia as Jesus broke it down for him: some leaders had turned away from Him and began to teach the doctrine of Jezebel, some taught the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and some began to teach the doctrine of Balaam (Revelation. 2:14,15,20).

Jesus’ response to the false doctrine present in the church then has not changed today, for He said, “which thing I hate” (Revelation. 2:15). But these Christian leaders who were under the spell of the false teachings that were circulating back then felt that doctrine didn’t matter to God, that they could teach their own brand of Christianity and God would continue to be with them and bless them and accept their faith because they were doing their best to serve Him their own way. They often called for prayer and repentance just like religious leaders do today to regain the spark they lost through their rebellion against God.

What Jesus said about the religious leaders of His time applies today, “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men… Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” (Mark 7:7,9)

The leaders in the 7 churches of Asia can be likened to the leaders of the church today, each following their own heart, each desiring God to accept their rebellion as His new work. They replaced truth with sincerity and passion. It is this heart of unbelief that God is using His apostolic stewardship to correct today.

I want to include in my teaching a few important points from Apostle Eric. Many of you have already benefited from his posts and teaching on the subject on social media. In our discussion about Asbury, Apostle Eric brought out that it’s important to take a look at the actual history of these revivals (Asbury, Azusa Street, the Jesus movement of the late 1960’s) to determine where man’s view of Jesus has taken the church. Apostle Eric said that, “the church does not bear the face of Christ so we see war, famine, and pestilence in the world today. God will not heal the nations, nor give clemency until the church accepts the terms of His new covenant.”

We can look at the history of the children of Israel to see how God defines revival as a return to His covenant knowledge and tools. With each departure from His expressed will, God responded and sent His sanctified stewards to interpret what was going on.

We’re going to get into Jeremiah 11:1-10. Reading those scriptures, we cannot get away from how God set the tone for revival. He is clear about why the children of Israel were suffering His absence and were now in a desperate, hungry state. They had ignored the “words” of His covenant through Moses.

And God was just as clear about His expectations and the conditions He set for a relationship to exist, and that they should return to the words of the covenant to follow through in their commitment to do them.

As you read these scriptures, highlight the words “this covenant” because God repeats this 4 times. The reason why I’m having you highlight it is because Christian leaders today want revival without covenant and you need to see that this is not God’s plan for you.

You also need to see that the covenant God made with the children of Israel was NOT a new thing He was doing. It might have been new to those who had strayed from God, but it was not new to God.

Revival, as we saw God express it in Psalm 85:6, “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” the word “again” is pivotal to understand that God is not doing something new, but rather bringing them back to the covenant terms He had already established for their relationship to flourish.

They had forsaken the terms of the first covenant and for that reason God had forsaken them. The question that is so often asked is, how did we forsake you? On this note, Apostle Eric shared, “In their blindness they wandered from God’s covenant and when they ask how did we forsake the Lord, it is because their religious zeal bore many traditions. They were zealous in their lie and their lie was their virtue. When your lie is your virtue, your theology is your god.”

Apostle Eric went on to say, “Look at the division that came out of the Azusa Street and the divisions that came out of the charismatic movement. What was birthed of these so-called revivals bore the diversity of conflict, as each followed their own way. The pastoral stepping stones became the stumbling blocks to grace.”

Having said that, I want to head into the scriptures in the book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 11:1-10
¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying,

² Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

³ And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,

⁴ Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:

⁵ That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.

⁶ Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them.

⁷ For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.

⁸ Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart [knowledge that is unsanctified; packaged with unclean hands]: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do: but they did them not.

⁹ And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

Alright, so now we see clearly the condition of the church today parallels that of Israel, in that God is causing the people to know and to understand the cost of departing from the words of THIS covenant today – the covenant He made with us through Jesus.

Just as now we see people weeping in repentance in acknowledgment of their separation from God, we’re going to read about that same response in Nehemiah chapter 8. You will notice though that God’s emphasis is not in the weeping of the people, but the teaching that they were to be given. They wept when they understood their willful neglect and their repentance meant that they accepted the terms of God’s covenant.

Nehemiah 8:8-9
⁸ So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. [They heard words with their ears, but the anointing had to be present to open their hearts.]

⁹ And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

If your idea of revival is that God would spark something new instead of bringing your faith back to what He had already established in THIS new covenant of Jesus Christ, you would be wrong. How can you expect God to transform a people into the likeness of Christ without teaching them how to be actively involved and participate with the new covenant: the knowledge and the tools, the stewardship and priesthood that bears Jesus’ name? If you do not bear the name of Jesus in His covenant, how will He create His image in your heart?

It’s so exciting to see God open up revival in this way. Apostle Eric further discussed how in each revival assembly we see the grace of God as the fiery furnace to melt down the walls of false justifications. “God is gathering the nations for the purging. He puts caldrons in all places. He will purge His floor with fire (Matthew.3:12). ‘Yea I will gather and blow upon you in the fire; ye shall be melted to try them that dwell upon the earth’ (Revelation. 3:10; Ezekiel.22:21), he says.”

By God’s net believers are cast into the caldron of purging of all the religious dregs of theological froth to be saved by fire (1 Corinthians. 3:15). The Lord prophesied through Ezekiel about His caldron and the product that He was going to bring out of the midst of it.

Ezekiel 11:7
Therefore thus saith the LORD God; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.

With the Asbury crowd numbering at 20,000 and the overflow line of people waiting to get inside stretching nearly a half mile long, these are like pieces of raw iron which haven’t gone through God’s caldron for smelting yet. They’re the raw earth that has to be melted down as they repent of the dross. Those of the covenant are the manufacturers, taking the raw material, melting it down and pouring it into the mold of truth.

In the absence of God’s sanctified apostolic stewards, the pouring into the mold of truth never takes place. Ministers are as thieves and whoremongers stealing faith from the hearts of the people and that’s the spirit of antichrist.

Touching on the subject of past failed revivals and those who continue to sift through those ashes, Apostle Eric said, “Stephan Strang honored and exalted the failed Laughter Movement, the failed Prophetic Movement, and the failed political prophets who misjudged God’s will with Trump. And now the leaders of these failed movements want to lay hold of something new to remake themselves to save face and bring something positive out for the people to look at, and regain recognition after their failed attempts to revitalize the church and revitalize America.”

What’s happening at Asbury is being called a “genuine” move of God, the “real deal”, “authentic”, a “sincere move of the Holy Spirit” because the hunger of the people for God does not appear to be manipulated by any high-profile minister or glitzy stage performance. People are said to be genuinely desperate for God. Prayer followed by repentance is cited as key to God’s presence.

The question that should be asked is, why has God been absent from their faith? Why was their hunger for God not satisfied and filled daily as God promised to do for all those who keep covenant with Him?

The words “genuine” and “sincere” should be applied to our obedience to God, not tears of regret. Obedient children of God daily keep the terms of the covenant and observe Jesus in the spiritual tokens that join us to Him, and these things are NOT to be repented of (2 Corinthians. 7:10). There isn’t a day that goes by without the power of God manifesting in very unique ways. So again, the question that should be asked is, why is God absent from your faith?

Every time a person turns to false doctrine to figure out God’s will for them and to pick up clues about how to live the Christian life, how to hear God’s voice, how to walk with God, how to allow God to just show up, the result is the same: 90% of the time, the invitations to the altar are packed with promises and gifts to God that He did not ask for. God calls these pursuits “folly” and “idolatry of the heart”. In truth, this is how believers turned their backs on God’s covenant terms and their hunger developed from His absence.

In this part of our discussion, Apostle Eric noted that, “the absence of God is manifested in the flagellations of the conscience, which is proof of their contrariness to God. They call revival the release of guilt from the conscience as they confess their sins, but this is a false peace that fades with conflict. You have to put on Christ to have His peace that abides forever. You have to put on the vestments of His truth.”

That’s another tipping point. One thing we definitely pick up from the Asbury commentators and religious panelists is that there is no steward present to teach the people the doctrine of Christ. And this is not something that anyone should be boasting about. That is not even biblical. Revival stems from stewardship teaching truth, not in the absence of it.

Jesus’ covenant is in word and in deed = faith put to action = the sanctified activity of your faith in the instruction of the new covenant priesthood. This instruction and function are both needful in order for you to be rooted in Christ and His virtues to be established in your heart.

Prayer does not make one innocent of false doctrine, nor can it effect the power of God that is present in the tokens of Christ that join us to Him. Prayer is not a substitute for truth.

The prayer of repentance that we see taking place in Asbury and other locations is not a prayer of submission to God, but a prayer of denial. They are crying out to God because of the weakness of the flesh and saying, “Why are you so far from helping us?”

Apostle Eric also talked about this. He said, “This cry is evidence that a person is using the law to approach God. Prayers of repentance capture the essence of the broken heart that is crying out to God, ‘My flesh is weak and my conscience is defiled, redeem us O Lord, and turn to us again.’ Their charity is joined to the law and speaks out about the frailty of the flesh. This is what it means to rejoice in iniquity, which is what Apostle Paul said not to do (1 Corinthians. 13:6).

We can see how this is in direct opposition to God’s will. God in His mercy provided a covenant for us in Jesus and set the terms for our approach unto Him and gave us gifts for our faith to be active. Our charity is joined to Christ and speaks nothing of frailty.

The reason why they don’t see it is because they’re right in the middle of that conflict of the conscience. God’s peace and gifts are daily manifested to those who attend His new priesthood’s spiritual altar (not the altar of tears).”

This teaching is vital for the church because it allows us to see revival from God’s point of view and that changes everything. There are millions of people who smell the sweet fragrance of the temple, but they are not attending the altar of Christ. The altar of the new covenant is not a place of repentance, but a place of building, a place of truth, a place of reciprocation to God on His level – not on the level of the flesh.

I want to turn our attention to revivalists to shine a light on what they’re pursuing. Revivalists are pursuers of their own evidence. Each leader places the record in the manifestation and not the person… Jesus Christ.

What manifestations am I talking about? When a person sees what’s going on in these meetings and says, “God is real, His presence is tangible”, they emphasize a manifestation (something they are lacking) and then they call it God’s presence and from that point on they try to develop it into a calling and refer to it as a “ministry”.

1. Healing ministry… is an emphasis on healing.
2. Deliverance ministry… is an emphasis on deliverance.
3. Worship ministry… is an emphasis on leading people into worship.
4. Evangelistic ministry… is an emphasis on saving people.
5. Bus ministry… is an emphasis on organization.
6. Music ministry… is an emphasis on leading people in singing.
7. Altar ministry… is an emphasis on leading people to prayer and repentance.
8. Personal ministry… is an emphasis on speaking into people’s lives.

God is exposing all these defiled bricks and the psychology of man that’s used to glue them together into a defiled gospel. And as I said earlier, God’s fiery furnace melts down the walls of these false justifications. As long as a person can see a need emphasized, they believe that God is involved.

God is exposing the very gospel that was born of all these false revivals – the false Great Commission. Believers under this influence grew up on a gospel without covenant, which is a gospel without knowledge – a gospel without Jesus.

Let’s be clear: Ministry means service to God. The ministry emphasis listed above are not services to God. Service to God is put into the priesthood of Jesus Christ and the instruction about how to function in your priesthood is placed in Jesus’ apostles.

Jesus’ apostles teach the fullness of Christ: “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). It is in Jesus’ record only. God emphasizes the calling and the covenant of Jesus Christ.

True revival separates the lie from the truth. And on this point, I want to again quote from my discussion with Apostle Eric as he brings home the simplicity of faith. He said, “Truth has to do with the person, Jesus Christ. The lie has to do with the record of man. So then, the fleshly priesthood (the false exchange with God, the false reciprocation) follows the same lie and the weakness of the flesh and the defiled conscience for the last hundred years. In truth, all that people have to do is put on Christ every day to walk in harmony with God and receive of His gifts daily. That’s the simplicity of your faith.”

Lastly, Christians seek out the path of revival meetings because they want to prove that what they’re experiencing is the voice of God to the world. But the apostles never did that. They taught the people how to serve God according to the record of Christ – that which is contained in Him – not what is contained in the law, which is sin.

Christian leaders mislabel sin as a moral issue and led people to repent, but to God sin is a kingdom issue, which He settled in Christ. God’s plan is for you to transition into His kingdom and to serve Him there so your faith can take form.

All these assemblies are as God’s iron furnaces. In the end, only those who allow God to burn off all these impurities, religious zeal, and philosophical idols, and submit themselves under the hand of the anointing to be poured out into the likeness of Christ will be saved.

Further teaching from Apostle Eric’s post on Facebook about the Asbury University revival, he says:

The Regret for Asbury is that the results which they delight in presently will be poured into an interpretation which they will label to be of God.

Theologians will use this as a scale for regeneration and create doctrines that will reflect this.

Satan will engage this to set stumbling blocks to God’s grace and abominate truth even denying apostles.

Notice that those present on the stage will begin to direct the “Spirit” (passions) to begin to abominate the Lord with carnal talents and natural things, i.e. music, communion, and baptisms.

The word abominate here means to dip into an empty box and present gifts of corruption.

Using God’s compassion as their compass in place of apostolic truth is the mistake made repeatedly for centuries. Pastors, theologians, institutions of religion selecting text and manifestations for their record of faith, replacing the Record of Christ in His covenant. Believers in Jesus’ covenant-priesthood is where His gifts take the form of His Glory in the heart.

Wilderness believers are excited when awakened to this reality. But soon when the cups dry up, they will stand outside His door.