My Task in the Revival

Just as God works through revival, Satan also works very powerfully. Seductive spirits can easily come in to destroy the work of God, leading to spiritual ruin and division in a church.

Revivals release enormous powers that, figuratively speaking, must be channeled and directed into turbines. Then this power will be of enormous help, building fellowship and unity in the church, and we will be knit together by every bond that God supplies. It can often take some years before the extent of God’s blessings in such revivals is evident.

Without a clear understanding of the church’s task and what Christ wants for His church, a revival can easily develop in unhealthy and extreme ways. So it is especially important for people to have a compass and a clear route to follow in these times. In revival, a person’s soul-life often experiences intense highs, and he can be swept up to unimagined heights, believing he has a task of great significance as if he were an elder brother. The truth probably is that he is a newborn and in need of help.

Thus, my ministry in that time became to work with the conscious aim of leading individuals and the church as a whole deeper into sanctification. This was also Sigurd Bratlie’s continual exhortation to me, when he said: “Kåre, you mustn’t spend too much time working at your secular job, but rather work in the church and speak the Word of God: otherwise, everything will fall to pieces.”

Baptism in the Spirit does not bring someone to maturity—but it does bring about a new birth. We can all imagine our­selves in the delivery ward of a large hospital. There is a lot of activity and life, midwives running here and there, and no one has full control over the situation. In these circumstances it is very helpful to have co-workers who understand what is hap­pening and who can give the right kind of help.

After the birth has occurred, the newborn child needs to be nourished. “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” 1 Pet. 2:2-3. Whether or not there is revival, all “folly” must be pointed out and the need addressed through God’s Word. Then people will grow and enter into the task of caring for others. Sigurd Bratlie rejoiced tremen­dously that young people were filled with the Holy Spirit in the revival. At the end of his life, he constantly exhorted them to be fishers of men who had good things on their heart that they could share with others, so that those who were bound in their sins and need could come to faith in the gospel. “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” Matt. 4:18-20.

Revivals are not given in order for us to bask in the sun­shine of our own strength. The power must be translated into working for people if it is to be a blessing to individual souls. If someone tries to grasp for power or a position through the gifts he receives from God in a revival, he is on a dangerous path and will become puffed up without reason, because of his carnal mind. If we do not enter into a work where we our­selves come into need and can be broken, revival will be self­destructive for us, because we are not allowing ourselves to be saved.

Paul exhorted the Galatians along the same lines when he wrote, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Gal. 5:25. You can be greatly deceived if you think that all the powers in the soul that get stirred up when you live in the Spirit are divine. You have to be obedient to the faith and walk in the Spirit if you want to grow. Then you will receive a task for your life and come to sanctification and wisdom.

Solomon writes the following about wisdom: “I traverse the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.” Prov. 8:20-21. Those who are ex­treme in a human way often end up going from one ditch to the other. You can’t make very much progress or develop that way.