Introduction
Throughout history, we have witnessed many church revivals. When we look back at church history, we see that our Christian faith originated with the coming of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, who brought the good news to the world. He was crucified, died on the cross, was buried, rose again on the third day, ascended to the Father, and sent the Promise of the Father—the baptism of the Holy Spirit—to His disciples.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples gathered in Jerusalem, who were praying and waiting for the promise of the Lord Jesus, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1 and chapter 2. Following this event, the followers of the Lord Jesus grew in number, multiplied, and spread throughout the world.
The Book of Acts details how the Lord God Almighty worked through His servants to spread the good news about the Lord Jesus and establish the Christian church. One key figure in this effort was the Apostle Paul, who played an instrumental role in spreading the message of Christ to the Gentiles.
Spiritual Blindness
The story of Apostle Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus is found in Acts chapter 9. To understand how the miraculous conversion of Saul, also called Paul, occurred, we will comment on Acts 9:3-9.
3 And in the going, it came to pass, he drew near to Damascus, and suddenly shined around him a light out of heaven;
“And in the going ...” This is a specific place and time for the Lord God Almighty to perform the miracle in guiding His worker.
“And suddenly shined around him ...” The blessed man had experienced the miracle from the Father Himself; the light from the Lord God Almighty shone upon the worker; this light was also significant in pointing out the work this person would do. This light is the light from the Father, the God of Three in One; this light includes the beloved Son of God and the Holy Spirit as well; the magnificent light from the Father has appeared to this human.
4 and having fallen on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?
“And having fallen on the ground.” Take notice of the power which is so mighty: when the Lord God Almighty has shined His light upon this human, the heart has made the person have no power and energy to stand up but fall down to the ground. In front of the power coming from the Lord God Almighty, humans who come from the ground cannot stand up but must be at the same level as the ground.
“He heard a voice saying to him ...” This question is not condemning the person but reminding the person to think about what he is doing; now, the mind of this man starts to think about what he has done, and the reason of the heart will also come out with this question.
5 Then he said, Who are You, Lord? Now, I am Jesus whom you persecute,
The beloved Son of God, Jesus Christ, has pronounced Himself to the person that He chose to be His servant. By letting this person know who He is, it also declares what duty this servant will be.
6 but rise up, and enter into the city, and it will be told you what it behooves you to do.
“But rise up, and enter into the city.” The beloved Son of God had given straight directions and commandments where the servant should go.
“And it will be told you ...” The duty of this servant will be announced at the right time of a meeting.
7 And the men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing indeed the voice, but seeing no one.
“And the men traveling with him stood speechless.” The miracle to be noticed happened in front of more humans, and these humans could not even speak out; the voice to express fear or amazement couldn't come out of their throats because of the miracle they had experienced.
“Hearing indeed the voice, but seeing no one.” When humans hear a voice but see no one speak, that makes the heart shudder; when human hearts are in shock, it also makes the mind stop thinking.
8 Then, Saul arose from the ground, and his eyes having been opened, he saw nothing; then, leading him by hand, they brought him to Damascus.
“Then, Saul arose from the ground.” The person the Lord chose to do the work got up from the ground at this time.
“And his eyes having been opened ...” The eyes had been closed by the power of the Lord God Almighty; this blindness was not a punishment, but the leading for work would accompany this hardship. When a person has experienced the hardship of physical suffering, they will rely on the Lord God Almighty more than on their own knowledge.
“Then, leading him by hand ...” When the eyes could not see, he would be led by someone else to the place where the Lord God Almighty had appointed him to be.
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did he eat nor drink.
This hardship made the man to be humble; this hardship did not damage the body. The Lord God Almighty has a way to tame the man to be humble.
As we read this story, we may wonder why some people in a church or prayer group genuinely feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, while others do not feel it at all or only partially. For instance, in this biblical account, Paul saw a blinding light and heard a voice, but the men with him only heard the voice.
In a gathering, believers might pray in the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues, prophesy, and pray for healing; yet, some individuals may not feel the presence of the Holy Spirit at all.
In John chapter 9, the Lord Jesus heals a man born blind and teaches about spiritual blindness, which is true blindness for the soul. The entire narrative is profound and worthy of reflection. The events of this healing can be divided into five sections: the Lord Jesus heals the blind man; the neighbors question him about his healing; the Pharisees inquire about the healing from both him and his parents; the formerly blind man worships the Lord Jesus; and finally, the Lord Jesus teaches about spiritual blindness.
We will focus on the last verses of this chapter, John 9:35-41, where the Lord Jesus elaborates on the concept of spiritual blindness.
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out and, having found him, said, Do you believe in the Son of Man?
Let all readers give attention: the beloved Son of God Himself has asked this poor man and all the people at the same time, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Do not answer out, but meditate on the word “believe”: believe not just by the feeling or by the thought but believe deep down in your heart that the beloved Son of God in this place has called Himself “the Son of Man” because He has taken the human form and has used His life as a human (meaning Son of God in human form).
For “the Son of Man,” see also Comments John 5:25.
36 He answered and said, And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?
Let all believers take notice of this man’s faith, blind of the eyes, but not blind at heart. Give attention to what it says here: he is already willing to believe in the beloved Son of God; his heart has already opened to receive the beloved Son of God.
37 Jesus said to him, Also you have seen Him, and He is speaking with you.
The beloved Son of God has spoken directly to this poor man, unlike when He spoke with others; all believers can see the mercy of the Lord Jesus in this verse. The beloved Son of God has told this man, you did not only see Him, but you are talking with Him as well, so the Lord Jesus wants to comfort his poor heart with this word.
38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him.
Let all believers pay attention to how this poor man has believed, and now he is worshiping the beloved Son of God; he has confirmed his faith not only by saying, “I believe,” but he also has worshiped the beloved Son of God.
The beloved Son of God will never stop the sincere heart from worshiping Him, so if you worship Him with a true heart, the beloved Son of God will receive that worship with gladness and joy, as we all can notice with this verse.
39 And Jesus said, For judgment came I into this world, that those that do not see may see, and those seeing may become blind.
The beloved Son of God has told all humans in detail in this verse itself: because He has already been born as a human and knows what humans are going through, His judgment is fair. Because He, as a human, also knows the suffering humans are going through, the humans will not be able to argue with Him saying, “you are God and are in heaven, and you don’t know how it is to go through suffering”; instead, the beloved Son of God Himself can tell all humans you are humans, but I know more than you what suffering means. Your eyes are open, but you did not see what joy the Father has prepared for you; all you can think of are many good things, but you didn’t have it, and you think that it is the suffering you receive, blind at heart you are, that’s all, look around but use your heart to see not the eyes themselves, that is what the verse has told all readers here.
“That those that do not see may see, and those seeing may become blind.” As the verse before has told, the blind man has seen the Lord with his heart, but the rest of the people have seen the Lord with their eyes, but their hearts did not recognize Him; their physical eyes became blind as their hearts, opposite with the blind man, blind at eyes but seeing with his heart.
40 Out from among the Pharisees, those who were with Him heard these, and said to Him, Even though we are not blind.
With the Pharisee’s words themselves, that is a confession; they have eyes and ears, have seen the beloved Son of God and heard His teaching, but they are blind, both physically and spiritually.
41 Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you say, We see, your sin remains.
The verses before are referring to the blind man; the physical eye is blind, but he has seen the beloved Son of God with his heart; the Pharisees’ eyes themselves are not blind but did not accept the beloved Son of God and did not ask for forgiveness, and they never confess their sins, so that is the difference between the true physically blind and spiritually blind. The physically blind man has received forgiveness because he has already recognized and worshiped the beloved Son of God with his heart, and the blind man will be with the Lord in the end.
“But now that you say, We see …” If you are physically blind, you won’t see the work of God, and you will not be accountable for the sin when you disrespect the work of God on earth because your eyes did not see. But those who have complete eyesight have seen the miracle works of God each day, yet if they do not thank Him for His mercy and do not appreciate the love of God for this earth, they become blind at heart, and their sin will remain blocked inside their soul.
The Holy Spirit’s role on earth is to testify to the whole world about the deity of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the salvation work accomplished by the Lord Jesus on the cross, and His resurrection. To attain eternal life, we must have genuine faith in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, be baptized in water in the name of the Holy Trinity, and seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit along with His gifts.
Many of us attend church regularly, read the Bible daily, and learn about the miracles recorded in Scripture. However, we often struggle to believe that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that the Holy Spirit continues to work in miraculous ways today. Without the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our lives, we risk becoming spiritually blind, and the Lord will not impose Himself upon us. Consequently, we will miss out on experiencing true and lasting revival in our lives and our communities. Revival cannot take place without the movement of the Holy Spirit.
We frequently hear churches praying for revival, yet true revival cannot take place without the movement of the Holy Spirit and without believers earnestly seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit and believing in the gifts He offers. One notable modern-day Holy Spirit revival example is the Pentecostal movement, which traces its roots back to the Azusa Street revival that began in 1906 in Los Angeles, California, and continued until approximately 1915. The believers involved in this revival, were believers who dedicated themselves to fervently praying and seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit day and night.
Revival cannot be achieved through science or by those who rely solely on their intellect to interpret the Bible; it requires the movement of the Holy Spirit. Faith and the work of the Holy Spirit cannot be understood through scientific reasoning or by scholars who believe that the Bible was written through research rather than by full control and dictation of the Holy Spirit.
Many of the servants of the Lord who played key roles in revival movements throughout church history were ordinary people without formal degrees in religious studies, languages, or science.
Conclusions
In conclusion, for true lasting church revival, we need to have faith in the work of the Holy Spirit on earth, in the name of the Lord Jesus. We should always remain open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and always be prepared to receive Him. In John 3:8, we read: “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but be aware not from where it comes, and where it goes; in this manner is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Therefore, as the verse has told all believers, you do not know where the Holy Spirit is, not by eyes nor by ears, but only by the heart being touched by Him. Unlike anything else on this earth, all have shape and sound, but the Holy Spirit does not have shape and sound for humans to perceive, but by the feeling when He touches you.
Meditation Tasks:
- Meditate on the events of Holy Spirit baptism found in Acts chapter 2. Additionally, read our article titled “Holy Spirit Baptism for a Christian.”