Don Hawley

January 7, 2002

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By "Renewal" I refer to the most powerful move of the Holy Spirit since Pentecost. It began in this country in 1994, and quickly swept around the world. As could have been expected, it was attacked and derided by many more traditional Christian groups.

To those who embraced the movement, it proved to be a most blessed and exhilarating experience. The question I would like to address today, and it is one many are asking, is "Where has the Renewal gone? And why?"

Weddings have played a major role in the biblical account. In fact, the Bible begins and ends with a wedding—that of Adam and Eve in the Garden, and the soon-to-be-realized marriage of the Lamb.

The wedding I particularly want to consider today is the one recorded in John 2:1-12. Although it is a well-known story, you may want to review those few verses just now.  I think they may hold the key to the questions asked above.

John Chapter One closes with Jesus calling the first of his disciples. Then the very "next day" they all accompanied Christ’s mother, Mary, to the wedding at Cana in Galilee.

A wedding has many facets that could be noted. Who was the bride? The groom? Who officiated at the ceremony? How was the bride attired? How many guests attended? Where will the new couple live? Marriage celebrations in that part of the world often last 3 or 4 days, so there would be plenty to talk about. I think it is significant that the Word concentrates on only one aspect of the occasion—the wine.

The Bible refers to the Cana wedding as a "celebration, " a happy event. Weeping is appropriate at a funeral, but at a wedding the only tears should be tears of joy.

The Christian Church began with a divine empowerment we refer to as "Pentecost." This was the most glorious thing that had ever happened to God’s people. The last words of our Lord before departing earth had to do with this wonderful event.

I can just hear the excitement in Christ’s voice as he tells of the wonders just ahead. How disappointed he must have been at the disciple’s response.

His closest companions showed virtually no interest in our Lord’s marvelous Kingdom of Grace. Instead they were interested only in "our kingdom," the nation of Israel.

Today this same grievous error is repeating itself in Christian ranks. The Kingdom of Glory is about to be ushered in, but many Christians are more concerned about secular Israel than they are about spiritual Israel. There is more interest in Jerusalem than in New Jerusalem.

The Bible says the disciples "kept asking him" over and over about the nation of Israel, but Jesus would not be sidetracked. He came right back to what was most important.

The believers obediently waited in an upper room, when . . .

Observers were "beside themselves with wonder, " and asked, "How can this be?"

Peter met their derision with inspired firmness.

Some would have us believe that Pentecost was a decorous little affair, with people sitting placidly in small groups as disciples spoke to them in their native language. Such thinking does violence to the Word of God. The Scripture clearly indicates that the event was not decorous. Instead, the disciples were acting strangely. So strangely that many said they must be drunk.

And how do people act when they’ve been drinking? For one thing, they’re apt to be very happy, often taken with laughter. Even the shy may become friendly with everyone in sight, experiencing a feeling of camaraderie. Their bodily motions are affected. They may want to sing. Or dance. And they may be loud.

Although the Bible has some dire warnings about excessive drinking, it does not teach total abstinence. In fact, Paul tells Timothy

Interestingly enough, modern science has just discovered that a modest use of alcohol can be beneficial to one’s health.  It long has been a mystery how Frenchmen can indulge in such a rich diet and still have a low incidence of heart trouble. Now it’s been determined that they’re protected because they usually have a glass of wine with their meal.

Not all danger to the United States comes from abroad. We are digging our graves with our teeth, and now more than two-thirds of all Americans are overweight. It isn’t that food is bad; it was meant by God to be a blessing. It becomes detrimental only when eaten in excess.

Now consider the following verse.

I think this text properly could be worded, "Don’t be drunk with ordinary wine, instead be intoxicated with the wine of the Holy Spirit." Wine is sometimes used as a symbol of the Spirit.

As Peter stated, the disciples at Pentecost hadn’t been drinking wine. They were intoxicated all right, but it was as a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Just as the Lamb is also the Lion of the tribe of Judah, so the Spirit of God is not always the tame, quiet entity many Christians make him out to be.

There was a major problem at the wedding in Cana. I don’t know how many guests attended the party, but Scripture tells us that there were six vessels holding between 120 and 180 gallons of wine! And the wine, frankly, was there to help make the celebration a joyful affair. But the supply of wine ended before the party did.

This unforeseen problem was an embarrassment to the host, and a blow to the enjoyment of the occasion.

At Pentecost the wine of the Holy Spirit was poured out in copious quantity, enough for all who wanted to be filled with the Spirit. Sadly, although the Christian Church began as a Spirit-filled Body, through the centuries the supply of Wine ran out. It wasn’t that God withheld the Wine, but merely that the invited guests lost interest in the party.

Instead of being a happy and holy host sharing the joyful Good News of the Gospel, the Church of God became a valley of dry bones. They could still rattle the doctrines, but there was no life in the message.

As we entered the last of the last days, God determined to work with power once again. But he couldn’t do what he wanted to do by clacking together dry bones. In Ezekiel’s vision, the dry bones were brought to life by a Divine Wind that breathed life into what had long been dead. That Wind was the Holy Spirit.

So in our day, God initiated Pentecost II. I’m not a believer in denominationalism; the old wineskins are not up to containing the power of the wine that God is releasing. Even so, in recent years nothing has ever taken the Gospel of Christ to the nations like the spread of Pentecostal groups.

I think it highly significant that today wherever the Holy Spirit is working in the world with great power, the growth of the Body is through small house churches. God seems to be calling his people back to the original pattern.

Wind, water, and wine are all used as symbols of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The key to divine power for our day is just what it was in the early church, the Spirit of God. So once again God filled earthen pots (people) with Water, and then changed that Water into Wine.

That’s what Renewal was all about. Before his people could take a living message to the world, they had to be alive themselves. When the prodigal son returned, the first thing the Father did was throw a big party. Renewal was party time. And just as at Cana the later wine was best of all, so the power of Pentecost II will eclipse that of Pentecost I. We are living in the most exciting days of earth’s history—although many professed Christians are not aware of that fact.

As the Renewal Wine was poured out in abundance, God’s people engaged in a happiness they had never known. Denominational walls came tumbling down, and brothers and sisters in Christ became family. There was joy and laughter. Some experienced bodily manifestations. As is usually the case with a new move of the Spirit, a new music was introduced. It was music that could be danced to, and people danced in the Spirit. Good parties have a tendency to be a bit loud, and this one was.

Were there excesses, and manifestations of the flesh? Of course, that was to be expected, but it didn’t diminish the true celebration. Those who stood on the sideline denouncing all as the "laughing revival" simply missed out. The elder bother spirit is still much with us.

But back to our original question, is the Renewal over? No, in fact in many places of the world it is just underway. Wherever deadness or dry bones have held sway, the Father will revive his people with the joy of the new Wine.

But here in the United States, and other parts of the West, the Renewal definitely has changed its form. The wedding party at Cana didn’t go on forever. Its purpose was to prepare the disciples for their coming ministry. We should never forget that Christ performed his first miracle at a wedding feast. Nor should we forget that when the party ended, he and his followers went out to turn the world upside down with signs and wonders.

Funerals have to do with endings, weddings with beginnings.

I’m not suggesting that God’s people should return to their long-faced former selves. The true fruit of the Spirit is still "joy." However, the intense happiness of Renewal properly could turn into a steady sense of peace. We will not party our way into the Kingdom.

I’ve been interested to note that for many the more heady music of Renewal largely has given way to more praise oriented songs.

Now that we have drunk of the new Wine, it is time to leave the party and begin the ministry of Spirit-filled people. It is time to move on, as did Christ and his disciples. It is time for us to be about the Father’s business of publicly opposing the Pharisees, healing the sick, casting out demons, and even raising the dead.

September 11 was one of the most significant dates in human history. I’m amazed how many voices, people of all persuasions, have proclaimed exactly the same thing, "The world has been changed forever." That thinking is prophetic. What happened at the Twin Towers was a powerful sign that we have entered the last of the last days. And there is no turning back.

As terrible as the New York City attack was, the prophetic words of the Savior are applicable.

For the past few years I’ve been predicting that soon both the Gates of Hell and the Gates of Heaven will be wide open for the first time in history. They will remain open until the fate of humankind is determined for eternity.

Although God sometimes smiles at our childish fits of anger, he cannot tolerate our indifference. And indifference is rampant today, even in the church.

Both the world and the church are full of moral fence sitters. God is about the shake the fence, as it has never been shaken before. This climate of indecision cannot be allowed to continue, as when Christ returns he immediately divides the entire human race into two camps for eternity. The determination of who goes where will have been decided right here on earth, and that is the major concern of my book THE FINAL TEST—For the Final Generation.

The appalling disaster in New York City was just a warning jar as the Gates of Hell begin to swing wide. The best minds in the world are concentrating on holding back the motion of the gates. They will not succeed.

Before long, Christians will be clinging to the promise of Christ given during his discourse on the time of the end.

I have difficulty understanding the cry going through the church today, asking all to pray earnestly that these prophecies not come to pass. Is it because we do not feel we are spiritually ready? Then we need to get ready and stay ready. Do we really want to live on here indefinitely? Is this old world really that great?

Christ said, "These things must come." Vs. 6. I say let them come. In Christ we will be more than victors. I’ve seen enough of this old world, and I want out of here now.

While we cannot, and should not, ignore what the forces of darkness are up to; let our main focus be on what God is doing today through his Spirit. Let us be certain we have taken our place in the Army of the Lord, and are ready to play any part we may be assigned. Victory is at our fingertips! I like the way the Bible ends.

donhawley1@attbi.com

www.spiritandtruth.com

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