REVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

By: Ken Dillingham

Unity… the Catalyst of Power

If you will think back to chemistry class, a catalyst is something that promotes a reaction in chemicals. So it is, unity, causes or
promotes the power of the Holy Ghost in our lives and churches.

I suppose any person you meet in Pentecost would attest that they would like to see a revival in greater magnitude than they have
ever experienced. Actually, the first responsibility the church has is to be a collective body united in the propagation of the
gospel.

God has promised that if two or three come together in His name that He would be there in the midst of them. He also promised that if just as few as that would agree concerning any thing it would be done. Nothing fancy, just getting together with one another in an attitude of unity and seeing wonderful accomplishments.

With this in mind, it is interesting to note and probably fittingly so, that the start of the New Testament revival as it
were, began with only 120. And possibly even more noteworthy are the words that describe the general attitude of this group. The
second chapter of Acts (our hallmark) and the start of the New Testament church begin with these simple words. “And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. No flowery theological dissertation to describe and
analyze, step-by-step, what they were doing in the upper room. All we are told and all we need to know is simply that they were in
unity waiting for “The Promise”.

This miraculous experience called the Baptism of the Holy Ghost was essential, as explained, in Acts 1:8 to the promotion of the
gospel to the “uttermost parts of the earth”. It was not through the disciple’s programs, however organized they may be, nor was it
through “enticing words of man’s wisdom” (as Paul stated) but in power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost. I say this because the first step of revival is to realize it is only in God’s power and through His anointing that true revival ever comes.

In Deuteronomy 32 (the song of Moses) upon writing the Book of the Law, verse 30 asks …how could one send a thousand and two send ten-thousand to flight except the Lord empower them. Notice that it doesn’t say that one sends 1,000 and two sends 2,000, which would be mathematically correct. But rather one sends 1,000 and two send 10,000. This is how math is performed when you are in God’s economy. I’ve come to the conclusion, that this simply shows that just two men working in unity; with God in the midst of them can perform at least five times what they could do single-handedly.

Conflict on the other hand, can block our avenue to God. If His power is the necessary element in revival, then a clogged channel
can hinder revival just as greatly. So much so, that Jesus taught if you bring your gift to offer it to God at the altar, and you
remember that your brother has ought against you, go and be reconciled before you even try to make an offering to God.
Accepting all we have discussed thus far, it is not strange that the first church problem recorded in the book of Acts is the
division of the Grecians, claiming that their widows were being neglected compared to the Hebrew widows. (Acts 6) The devil had
sent persecution in the form of imprisonment (Acts 4) to Peter and John because of the miracle at the Beautiful Gate. However, after they were released, to the devil’s dismay, the church’s response was more unity. Note verse 24, “they lifted up their voice to God in one accord.” Therefore, Satan, knowing full well that the only way to stop the power of the early church was through discord and variance, sent an internal disgruntlement among the people.

Unity is, in a way, like a campfire. Have you ever noticed that a log can be taken out of the fire and burn very well for a while,
but eventually the flames turn to mere smoldering embers while the other logs are still burning in the camp fire. You see, the logs
help each other to stay hot. If the fire is going out in one of the logs, another log will help to re-ignite the fires. There are
those who might say that they can worship just as well at home as they can at church. (Let me say I am in no way trying to disannual the necessity of the personal walk. One’s personal relationship with God must be kept in all fervency.) A person may very well be able to carry on a strong personal walk all by himself for a while. But eventually, they will become as a log that has been separated from the campfire. We must assemble in unity so that when we notice an area begin to lose its fervency in our lives and the flames begin to dwindle, we can draw from others around us to keep the flames burning brightly.

In Exodus 17, Israel would have been defeated by the Amalekites had Aaron and Hur not stayed Moses’ hands. It didn’t have anything to do with the strength of the soldiers on either side, per se, nor the kind of swords they used or even the number of men on either side. What mattered as far as the outcome of the battle was concerned, was that as long as Moses hands were raised, the
Israelites prevailed and when he lowered them, the Amalekites prevailed.

What was occurring on the battlefield was dependent on the unified efforts of just three men standing above the battle on top of Mt. Horeb (Sinai).

1 Corinthians 1:29 tells us that God has chosen to do certain things so that no flesh should glory in His presence. Paul, as has
been stated before, told the Corinthians that it was not by enticing or luring words of his own wisdom that he brought the gospel to them. (However knowing his education, he probably could have matched wits with any of them.) But he chose, rather, to come
in demonstration of the one who empowers the revival… the Holy Ghost. He knew that it doesn’t matter so much the strength or
powers the soldier possesses in the flesh, but what matters is if there is a unified effort going on above the battlefield. Paul
knew as long as he was planting and Apollos was Watering (in unity) God would give the increase.

Lastly, let’s look at what David said about unity. In Psalm 133, David said, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity. For it is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aaron’s beard,
that went down to the skirts of his garments.” The anointing oil that covered Aaron, that is what David likened unity to. Unity is
surely the catalyst that promotes the anointing power of God. To see the type of revival we desire will certainly take a total
enveloping of the annointing. The oil ran down from Aaron’s head, past his beard and covered him fully until it reached all the way to the sole of his feet. That is the magnitude of anointing we need and that is the kind of anointing we need and that is the
kind of annointing we can have by God’s economy through the catalyst of unity.

(The above material appeared in the September 1992 issue of Ohio Apostolic News.)

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