Webster’s Dictionary defines history as “events of the past.”
We study history to discover the successes or failures of people in order to learn from them and learn how events affect the future.
So we study events of the past in order to learn from them.
We learn how their successes and failures can help us and how their events may affect our future.
A Christian should study church history in order to gain an understanding of who you are, where you came from and what events took place to make you who and what you are today. Studying the successes and failures of people and events will help you become more of the person God wants you to be.
As you study church history you will realize the basic difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
- The OT is the history of the relationship between God and the nation of Israel.
- The NT is the history of how Jesus enabled each person to have an intimate relationship with God.
The Pentecostal Revival and Charismatic Movement are two of the greatest revivals of all time. They were revivals that saw hundreds of millions of people come to an intimacy with Jesus. They caused church, social, political, educational and family changes worldwide.
The Pentecostal Revival, beginning in 1901, reintroduced the personality and gifts of the Holy Spirit to people. The Charismatic Movement, beginning in 1955, reintroduced the personality and gifts of the Holy Spirit to the church.
Why should we study these two revivals? The Pentecostal Revival and Charismatic Movement are two revivals that have had an impact still affecting Christians today.
How have the Pentecostal Revival and Charismatic Movement affected me?
- They introduced the person and gifts of the Holy Spirit to me.
- They showed me that I can have an intimate relationship with Jesus.
- They helped me discover God’s purpose for me.
Through history there have been innumerable revivals, but their impact has a different effect on us today. Why? Because, those revivals took place with different generations, different cultures and different times. We can study revivals from the past, appreciate the results and learn from them.
All revivals have the same message, but not the same methods.
The message is John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe on Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.”
As a result of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Revivals, ministries, churches, teachers and pastors were raised by the Holy Spirit that are still in operation and are having an effect on you. In a hundred years, if Jesus tarries, there will be other revivals that people will study in depth and these two revivals will be a footnote in history.
Backstage Past 