So many believers long for revival and talk about how much we need it in this modern day. The problem is that, a lot of times, we don’t include all of the parts that are necessary for revival. Let’s look at one particular verse in the Old Testament that my friend Gary Wilkerson pointed out to me recently; it really lays out three of the important elements we need to spark revival.
“Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:28-29, ESV).
This verse might seem a little strange at first, but bear with me. You've got the wheat, the hammer and the fire. Most of us probably like the sound of the wheat; that’s a good image generally. It implies that we’re going to eat bread, and everybody likes a good loaf of fresh-baked bread. We want to have a fulfilling spiritual life like wheat rather than straw. The fire is a little more edgy, but we all should want to have a fiery passion for God’s commands, right? The hammer of God’s Word is harder to find appealing. It represents a call to repentance, a firm order to turn from the ways of the world, a blow that breaks sin and reforms. We might want that for other people, but it’s not easy to want that hammer for ourselves.
A lot of times, believers focus on one of these three aspects of God’s call, but none of them work well alone. They’re meant to flow together. When we speak God’s Word, it’s feeding our souls. That feeding brings a fire for the things of God. At that point, the reforming, transforming hammer is natural rather than judgmental. Without the wheat and the fire, the hammer just destroys. For a believer full of scripture and ignited by the Spirit, the hammer is a normal part of spiritual growth.
Only then will we be able to call for repentance in a way that is heartfelt rather than judgmental because we’re also inviting people to come inside and be fed and illuminated with godly passion.
John Bailey is the Vice President of World Challenge Inc. and the Founding Pastor of The Springs Church in Jacksonville, Florida. John has been serving the Lord in pastoral ministry for 35 years, ministering the gospel in over 50 nations, particularly as a pastor and evangelist in Cork, Ireland.