Signs of Revival

(Message by Pastor Joseph, Founder and Charirman, NLF on February 7, 2010 at NLF Vashi. Here’s hoping I haven’t missed much. Happy reading!)
 Here I am meeting you again …batting at 78 not out. Glory to God! We can all start to have a joyful life by knowing our identity. You see, there are going to be some questions for you to answer, while you are here on planet earth. Consider these 4 questions:

1. Who am I?
2. Where have I come from?
3. What am I doing here?
4. Where am I going?

If you really want to know the answers to these questions, look here (in the Bible) – you will find the answers in God’s word. The word of God says, ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation’ (2 Cor. 5:17); ‘and as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God’ (John 1:12). You must know– this is my identity in Christ! A son or daughter of God - that’s who I am!

We did not come here by accident; we were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13). And everyone who believes that Jesus is Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1). We have come from God.

What are you doing here? (or what have you done?) Now that’s a question that we must answer Him someday. We are here, not to just get by in life, or perfecting ourselves in the art of survival-having roti, kapda and makaan (bread, clothes and shelter)! These are the minor issues; the word of God says, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you’ (Matt. 6:33). We are here for a purpose. Look at the gospel of John, chapter 17. You are here to know the eternal life; to know His word; to be cleansed by the word and sent to proclaim His name.

Finally, where are you going? Whether you like it or not, you have to leave this world someday. Yes, we are all on the waiting-list. Well, are you thinking-‘Pehle Aap!’ (First you!). Ah…There is no necessity that the older one must go first! I know I’m here, anointed by Him, appointed by Him, assigned by Him. I’m here for a purpose. And when my assignment is complete, angels will carry me to be with the Lord. Yes. Absent from the body and to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Do you have that hope, that assurance too?

In the past two years (i.e., 2008, 2009), in Mumbai, more than 75,000 people have been added to the New Life Fellowship. A significant number of those are from the migrant community; first UP, then Bihar and Madhya Pradesh; and then the locals from our own Maharashtra. Imagine such a large number longing for Jesus Christ. Imagine such a change sweeping across the city! Now, tell me, what are you doing amidst this REVIVAL?

You can know what you should do from Isaiah 6th chapter. Now Isaiah was a pitiable man because he was blinded by king Uzziah. He was a prophet of God, dwelling among people of unclean lips and among people living an unclean life. But glory be to God; for when Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the vision of the Lord. And Isaiah heard the voice of God: Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?

And Isaiah answered God’s call: Here am I! Send me. You see, God is not going to push you to do something that you don’t want to do! You have a choice. You can either live for Him or live for your self. And this is the message from God, Isaiah was given to tell the people: keep on hearing but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive, make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes…lest they be healed”

You see, Jesus did not come to make a religion! When I look in the Bible, I see wonderful truths. In Ephesians 1, we see that we are pre-destined, chosen, redeemed, forgiven, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise; and that all things are under our feet. And that we live by revelation and understanding. Yes, we can know the hope of His calling, know the riches of the glory of His inheritance…But when I was young, what I saw around me was quite different; men in robes and seminary degrees – and the thinking was that, more the degrees, more the understanding! And the trained one goes to his denominational group and preaches the word! And there they were, standing flamboyantly in the sacred pulpit and you could see them die by degrees! And here I was thinking, how and why, what I read in the Bible does not work in the church? And does not work in life?

And when I started ministering, you could say, I had a ‘moving’ ministry; when I moved in, people moved out. I cried out to God-“Lord, give me direction”. I began fasting and praying and telling God that I’ll not go forward unless He ministered to me first. And I did have a revelation; yes, I saw a vision of Jesus…

This is the gospel. The Lord of heaven came down, went to the cross, finished the work of salvation, and we are called as sons and daughters of God. Now, there is hope of eternal life with Him. If you are in death, you are a ‘sinner’; if you are in life, you are a ‘saint’. There is no in-between state-it’s either sinner or saint; neither is there vacillating between one and the other – one day ‘saint’ and next day ‘sinner’. If you are willing, God is going to take care of all other ‘minor’ issues of kaana and peena (food and drink).

There is also the second part – the radical part. Do you know that everyone born-again is a minister of God? Ephesians 4:11, 12 talks of the various ministries in the church. There is the prophetic ministry – for the guiding; and evangelists – for the gathering ministry; and Pastors (or shepherds) – for the guarding ministry; and then the teachers – for the grounding ministry. We are all equipped to edify one another-everyone will someday be like Him. There are about a hundred of you here in this church; and every one of you is a minister for Christ. Our ministry must be (i) saturated by prayer (ii) supplemented by a vision and plan and (iii) succeeded by implementation of the plan

Any revival does not happen just like that! You must know what is happening around you. For example, from 2007 to 2009, what are the changes that you see here in Vashi, Navi Mumbai? Do you have any idea about the number of people living here, their economic background, their linguistic or cultural orientation, their job profiles, and their age-groups? God is saying to us – ‘Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations…’ Now, is it not worth knowing what to ask from God?

We have in the New Life Fellowship, networking leaders whom I meet. One of them, just two years back, had about a few thousand people in the church and now it has become 30000; another leader found increase in numbers up to 17000 and the increase is from people who were non-Christians. There are in this city young people who are hungry for God. They are fed up of what religion offers. They want a relationship with God. And we have a few others helping us – notably Gary Kirsten, the coach of Indian cricket team, when we recently organized a cricket tournament, the man of the match was selected for sponsorship in cricket coaching; yes there were many slum children in the cricket tournament, many of them from Muslim background. But what a joy, to see them coming and help them find life in Jesus Christ. See, you cannot change anybody’s heart, for it is the work of the Holy Spirit; but preaching the good news is your responsibility! And that’s exactly what I do!

Even today, when we stop at traffic signals, we give hand-outs of written gospel in various languages to others nearby. I personally have experienced the power of sharing the gospel this way, when a booklet of John’s gospel was given to me some 50 years back. I do not know who it was who gave it, but I am pretty much sure he would never have imagined what a person I would be, today, with that life-changing gospel!

We are not here by accident. So forget about all your worries. Let me go through, with you, the seven signs of revival. I can tell you, in all my 50 years of ministry, I have never seen such an increase at any time. We had a prophecy about the revival happening in Mumbai, and a warning of not to take it lightly. So, we organized meetings and paid evangelists who will gather the people. For the revival does not wait for long! It has its seasons!

Let us turn to Acts 4 and read from v23 onwards to find the signs of revival:

1. UNITY

It all started with the miraculous healing of a lame man, over 40 years old. There were people who then perceived the power of the gospel. The people found the disciples, radical in their thinking; bold in their preaching. But what the disciples found was opposition from the ‘religious leaders’. The leaders suddenly found themselves wanting in comparison with the disciples; they were afraid, they may lose their ‘jobs’. The leaders tried to dissuade them by arguing and threatening that they no more call on the name of Jesus. And that’s when the disciples decided to come out of the religion-Judaism. Verse 23 says, ‘…they went to their own companions…’; that is the unity of the Spirit. They all were of one mind!

2. PRAYER

Acts 4: 24, 25 tells us the next sequence in the sign of revival. It says that they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them…”
Prayer is described as the human dependence on divine intervention. It is a tool too for knowing God’s will and meeting God’s will. That is why we pray, Our father,…Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It is interesting to note the disciples referred to one of the psalms of David in their prayer. “Why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things?...” (from Psalm 2): It is interesting because, the other part of the same Psalm says, “Ask of Me and I will give you the nations…”; and this is what I believe, that the disciples knew this and prayed a prayer of faith, knowing that God has given them the nations.

3. WORD OF GOD

Look here; the disciples faced severe threats of punishment. Their lives were in peril. But they did not pray, ‘Lord, grant us protection’; for verse 29 says, that the disciples prayed this way: “…Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word”. All they wanted was to speak the word of God; for the disciples were convinced that it is the power to transform people from death to eternity. Therefore take time to read and study the word of God; meditate and memorise the written ‘logos’ word; that it may become ‘rhema’ the living word in you. It is the key to success in times of revival, of change. That is what we see in Psalm 1 and Joshua 1.

4. NAME OF JESUS

Verse 30: “…that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus”. It is the name of Jesus for times of revival. “…for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Study the noble name (James 2:7) of Jesus, which is invoked upon you in baptism after you are born-again.

5. HOLY SPIRIT

Verse 31: “…and the place …was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit”. I do not know about you, but I have experienced some shaking places myself. And this is my desire too, that every meeting of ours-every assembling together, in any place, will be a ‘shaking’ experience. Whatever God gives is through Holy Spirit; whatever God does is by Holy Spirit.

6. GENEROSITY

Verse 32: “… they had all things in common”. Generosity and giving is an expression of love. It sometimes may look too good to be true; how people could give up everything they owned and share it with others freely. But the answer is found in 2 Cor. 8:5, “…but they first gave themselves to the Lord”. Acts 4:34 continues: “Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds…” There may have been borrowers and there may have been lenders; and borrowers are slaves to lenders. But, whoever the Son sets free is free indeed! You see, generosity focuses on the issues that are important and not possessions. And God is responsible to pay the bill for what He says we should do! There is no place for fear! Or global meltdown or financial crisis or whatever name they call it! We can put our trust in the infallible word of God.
7. WITNESS

There is power in witness. Verse 33: “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all”

‘Living He loved me; dying He saved me
Buried He carried, my sins far away
Rising He justified me freed me forever
One day He is coming back, O glorious day!'

These are the days! This is the season! There is no room for discouragement; no place for depression. Give no heed to any distraction! For a seed sown will become a forest. Do you know how many multitudes of angels rejoice over every repentant sinner?


I remember the time I started ministering to less than 100 people. There were years in which there was not even a single baptism. Now there are more than 1000 NLF churches all over India, and abroad. God has a plan for you – a plan to prosper, to give you a future and a hope. Thank God for the name of Jesus. May God grant you the grace to be a witness. Amen!

Responsibility of God's people - to PRAY!

(Message on 16 Aug 2009 by Pastor Philip Joseph at NLF, Vashi. Developed from what I recall on Monday... may not match word to word, but must convey the spirit of the message. Happy reading!)

Yesterday, August 15 was the Independence day. I was praying for our nation and for God's word... and God impressed upon my heart this verse. Let us turn to the familiar verse in II Chronicles 7:13,14 "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

We have a special privilege as God's people; a thing that others can't do; a value-addition - an unique gifting that ONLY WE, can accomplish in our country, India - TO PRAY and SEEK GOD'S FACE on behalf of our nation. "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain..." - Look around at the situation in Maharashtra and other states that are expecting monsoon... The government is on the verge of declaring this year as a drought year! There is insufficient rain... Farmers have sown their seeds; they wait for the rain - for a crop and harvest! When rain fails, their hearts sink, their hopes fade and some farmers even go to the extent of taking their own lives! We can hear about these things, see them on news channels and yet be indifferent to their plight! We can just talk to God of - Me, myself and my family - Bless, bless and bless! Let the government do whatever it can to alleviate the pain of farmers! Let the scientists do whatever they can for cloud-seeding and artificial rain! But, WE can stand up as God's chosen people, take responsibility and claim God's promise according to this verse and PRAY for the rains! Yes, it's a land filled with idols and worthy of God's judgement - but we - who are called by His name, are here, and we entreat our God to have mercy, to forgive our sin and to heal the land! Jesus said "...(God) sends the rain on the just and the unjust" (Mat. 5:45). Still, about a month is left before the monsoon season ends! God, who is in heaven, (if only we would PRAY) will hear our prayers!

The verse 13 also talks of 'pestilence' - meaning an epidemic disease; now in Mumbai and elsewhere in India, there is a lot of attention to 'swine flu'; a sort of plague, that kills. You can see many moving around in fear - wearing a mask. But WE are called to exercise FAITH! God has promised in Exodus 15:26 "...I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you" (Jehovah Rophe). That He will make a difference between God's people - called by His name, and others. (Ex. 11). I'm not saying 'Don't wear a mask!' - well, if the Government says so and if the doctors advise it, go ahead... but what I'm saying is that we have a protection that is better than all masks! In Psalm 91, we read "No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling" (Ps. 91: 10) and "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways" (v11). The Lord who heals - that who He is! 'If there is a pestilence in the land, and if my people - who are called by My name... pray and seek My face... I will heal the land' - That's God's promise. We know how He turned away the plague of the Egyptians overnight... The same God will hear us too!

Turn with me to Jer. 29:7. "And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace". Here Jeremiah the prophet writes to the people of Israel who are in a foreign land - Babylon, where they are held captive. Yet, he instructs God's people to '...pray to the Lord' for the city and 'seek the peace of the city'. We too can think of praying to God for peace in this city - Mumbai; for communal harmony, for inter-state harmony. We thank God for India - one of the developing countries not facing recession; while quite a few developed nations face it! We can seek the welfare of those around us and pray for them - seek the welfare of our country and pray for it!

In I Timothy 2:1,2, Paul exhorts a young Timothy, "first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." In the earlier chapter (ch. 1), Paul talks of how Timothy's conduct should be and how he conducts himself! But in starting ch. 2, Paul clearly instructs that "...first of all...supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made...for all men... and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life..." We thank God for freedom to proclaim the good news (giving of thanks)! We have the state elections coming up soon! We can get involved and PRAY to God for the election results before it happens!! That God would reinstate a secular government (intercession)! Else, we would be a mere 'spectator' once the results are out. God is not looking for 'spectators', but for 'participators' - people who get involved by praying for those in authority; praying for all men and leaders! We can pray that God would endow our leaders with wisdom and vision! (supplication).

In 3 John 1:2, apostle John says "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health, just as your soul prospers". It is God's desire that WE prosper in all things and be in good health. Not just spiritually, but also in material things... just as our soul prospers! Here John is writing (to Gaius)... that he is praying for Gaius to prosper... We too can learn to pray for the prosperity of God's people; pray for the prosperity of the nation. For in the progress and prosperity of the nation, we too will have prosperity. We can pray to God for people who have lost their jobs - that God will provide them jobs and meet all their needs; that God's people called by His name, will prosper in all things and be in good health...

Finally, WE can pray for revival. Throughout history we see that every revival is preceded by prayer of God's people. In Matt 9:37-38, Jesus said "...The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest". We are called to be concerned and prayerful regarding revival... How about Vashi or Navi Mumbai? If we want to see the harvest, we can start praying for this place. When we see our neighbours and colleagues, we can be concerned of them too... apart from exchanging simple pleasantries. We can pray that God use us at every oppurtunity to be his laborer. God is looking for laborers, saying "Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?" Like Isaiah, we say, "Here I am Lord, Send me". The responsibility of sharing the gospel is given to Us - human beings; and not to any angels. Even a just man like Cornelius, an angel appeared and only instructed that he call for Peter, who in turn shared the Gospel to Cornelius.

Even in a city like Mumbai, in one part of the city, we see people coming to the Lord daily in dozens (in the western suburbs); a new house group being formed every day. Young people taking up the responsibility of leading the house-group. How can it NOT happen here? If we do not stand up and be counted, what is the use of many people coming into God's fold here? Who will lead and guide them? He's the same God, answering the prayers of his people... If we pray, we can see a revival here!

Finally, let me sum up -
WE can pray for the rains and God will give the rains and the harvest;
WE can pray for the pestilence and God will heal the land;
WE can pray for the peace of the city
WE can pray for leaders and those who are in authority
WE can pray for prosperity and good health
WE can pray for revival in this nation.
God bless you.