The Evangelist –– Part Twenty | The Cost of Carrying Revival
Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 04/12/2026
THE EVANGELIST –– PART TWENTY
The Cost of Carrying Revival.
Foundation Scripture:
As for you, be calm and cool and steady, accept and suffer unflinchingly every hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fully perform all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:5 AMPC
1. The Cost of Carrying Revival.
a. Revival is glorious, but it is not light.
b. Those who imagine revival as constant celebration misunderstand its weight.
c. To carry revival is to carry responsibility, pressure, and spiritual intensity that few truly comprehend.
d. Luke 12:48b KJV –– For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required…
e. God entrusts revival only to those willing to bear its cost.
2. Revival Is Not an Event; It Is a Burden.
a. Meetings end and crowds disperse, but revival remains on the carrier.
b. Luke 12:50 AMPC –– I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and how greatly and sorely I am urged on (impelled, constrained) until it is accomplished!
c. The evangelist carries a constant sense of urgency.
d. Souls are always at stake.
e. There is no true off switch.
f. This burden is not depression, it is assignment.
3. Physical Cost Is Inevitable.
a. The body pays a price: long travel; late nights; intense services; minimal rest.
b. 2 Corinthians 11:23–28 KJV –– …in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure… in journeyings often… In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often… the care of all the churches.
c. 1 Thessalonians 2:9 KJV –– …for labouring night and day… we preached unto you the gospel of God.
d. Revival demands stamina.
e. The evangelist learns to steward strength without indulging comfort.
f. The body becomes an instrument, not an idol.
4. Emotional Weight Is Real.
a. Evangelists rejoice publicly but often weep privately.
b. 2 Corinthians 11:29 AMPC –– Who is weak, and I do not feel [his] weakness? Who is made to stumble and fall and have his faith hurt, and I am not on fire [with sorrow or indignation]?
c. They carry:
- The pain of broken people
- The disappointment of betrayal
- The sorrow of lost opportunities
- The grief of rejection
d. 2 Corinthians 12:15 KJV –– And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
e. This emotional weight deepens compassion but requires continual renewal in God’s presence.
5. Financial Pressure Often Accompanies Revival.
a. Revival is expensive.
b. Acts 20:33-34 KJV –– I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. 34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
c. Evangelists face:
- Faith-based provision
- Unpredictable income
- Large logistical costs
- Sacrificial giving
d. God provides, but rarely through ease.
e. 1 Thessalonians 2:9
f. Faith must be exercised continually.
6. Family Sacrifice Is Often Hidden.
a. Families share the cost.
b. Luke 14:26 KJV –– If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
c. This does not mean neglect, but it does mean tension (pressure or strain).
d. Time is divided and absence is frequent; therefore, understanding must be deep.
e. God gives grace to families who carry the call together.
7. Misunderstanding Comes with the Territory.
a. Those who benefit from revival may not understand its cost.
b. 2 Corinthians 4:8–10 KJV –– We are troubled on every side… perplexed… persecuted… cast down… Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus…
c. 2 Corinthians 6:8-9
d. Criticism, accusation, and abandonment often follow seasons of breakthrough.
e. The evangelist learns not to expect gratitude, but to remain faithful.
8. Isolation Is Part of the Assignment.
a. Leadership narrows companionship.
b. 2 Timothy 4:10-11 KJV –– For Demas hath forsaken me… Only Luke is with me.
c. The higher the responsibility, the fewer who can walk alongside.
d. God fills the gaps with His presence.
e. Isolation sharpens dependence.
9. Why God Allows the Weight.
a. The weight keeps the evangelist grounded.
b. 2 Corinthians 12:7 KJV –– And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me…
c. Burden:
- Prevents pride
- Deepens prayer
- Refines motive
- Anchors humility
d. God protects His servants by keeping them dependent.
e. His grace is sufficient to sustain them through it all.
10. Joy Is Sustained Supernaturally.
a. Natural strength is not enough.
b. Nehemiah 8:10 KJV –– …the joy of the Lord is your strength.
c. Joy is not circumstantial; it is spiritual.
d. It flows from obedience, not ease.
e. The evangelist who loses joy will not endure.
11. The Harvest Makes the Cost Worth It.
a. Every soul outweighs every sacrifice.
b. Psalms 126:6 KJV –– He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
c. Revival costs time and strength and comfort.
d. But nothing compares to eternity changed.
12. Faithful, Not Fainthearted.
a. Revival is not for the fainthearted.
b. It is for the faithful.
c. Those who carry revival must embrace both glory and grind, knowing that God never wastes sacrifice.
d. Because the evangelist who carries revival is not measured by how easy his journey was, but by how many lives were changed because he did not quit.