I’ll bet that title caught your attention, didn’t it? Perhaps you immediately thought that the “prophecies” came in advance and spoke to the beginning of the awakening. No. In fact, they concern its end.

Let me say from the start that I believe what has been happening at Asbury (and now at numerous other universities) is a true God-sent outpouring of the Spirit. I couldn’t care less what you call it: Revival? Awakening? Renewal? What’s important is whether or not God is truly in it, and I believe he is. Now, I say that having not visited Asbury. My perspective is largely informed by what I’ve read online and heard from trustworthy friends who’ve been present for it. But I see nothing in what they say or what I’ve read that would lead me to conclude that this is a man-made or contrived religious event.

That being said, I’m not suggesting that there aren’t fleshly displays, emotional extravagance, and perhaps even unbiblical doctrines being promoted. Name a true revival in the history of the church where these phenomena were not present. Anytime the Spirit of God moves, Satan keeps pace (or so said J. I. Packer). There will always be messes and mistakes and manipulation anytime broken, finite sinners like you and me are involved. I’m not excusing them. I’m not justifying them. I’m simply acknowledging that they exist at every revival, awakening, or occasion of spiritual renewal.

“Ok., Sam. Get to your point. What are your prophecies?”

Before I go any further, a word of clarification. What I’m going to share aren’t prophecies in the biblical sense of the term. They are observations that come from recurring realities in church history and common sense. So, yes, I used the word “prophecies” to grab your attention! It worked, didn’t it? And yes, I do believe in the contemporary validity of the spiritual gift of prophecy.

The first “prophecy” is this: the awakening at Asbury will end. In fact, every revival or awakening in church history has ended. That is the one common factor in all revivals. They come to an end. Even the most glorious and biblical and beautiful of revivals cannot continue forever. God never intended them to. After all, people eventually have to go back to work, back to school, back to mowing the grass and changing diapers and shopping for groceries and all the many activities that make up life on the earth. It simply isn’t possible, nor desirable, that people spend every waking hour in corporate worship and prayer. Of course, I wish people would spend more time than they do in praise and intercession and mutual encouragement and praying for the sick to be healed. But life goes on, and its responsibilities and obligations don’t disappear when revival comes.

So, although it may seem obvious, it still needs to be said: the Asbury awakening will eventually come to an end. The students will return to class. The professors will continue to teach. The visitors from around the country will go home. And that’s ok. More than ok, it is inevitable.

And that leads to my second “prophecy” concerning the events at Asbury. When the awakening ends, the many caustic, cynical, cessationist critics (although, be it noted that not all cessationists are caustic, cynical, and critical!) will point to its termination as sure-fire proof that the events at Asbury were anything but revival. “Look,” they will say, “if this was a real outpouring of the Spirit, it would continue unabated. It ended because it was fueled by the flesh and out-of-control emotional excesses.”

Well, no. The fact is, there isn’t anything that happens at Asbury or at other God-sent awakenings that won’t elicit the ire of so-called “discernment” bloggers. They live in perpetual fear of emotion, even when one’s feelings or affections are ignited by a revelation of divine and biblical truth. They denounce as demonic or as contrived or as psychologically induced virtually everything that happens among charismatics. After all, so they tell us, God wouldn’t bless with his presence and power people who pray in tongues and pray for the sick and passionately worship with hands raised or humbly repent on bended knee.

I suspect you were looking for something more sensational in my two “prophecies”. Sorry to disappoint you. But listen carefully.

Don’t let the eventual termination of the events at Asbury and at other college campuses lead you to conclude that it wasn’t of God. Let me say it again: every revival in the history of the church has come to an end. It is the one feature they all share in common.

Instead, pray for all those involved in this awakening. Pray that they will stay focused on the supremacy and centrality of Jesus and the life-giving power of the gospel. Pray that they will walk and talk in the aftermath like people who have truly encountered the Holy Spirit in life-changing ways. Pray that the fruit of this event will exert its influence throughout the earth. If at all possible, travel to Asbury and experience the power of God’s manifest presence for yourself. If you can’t, watch it online and read the encouraging stories of lives that are being transformed for the glory of Christ.

And pray that God will be pleased to visit his people again, perhaps even in your church or college.

Sam Storms
Enjoying God Ministries
www.samstorms.org