In Psalm 85, the psalmist laments, Will thou
not revive us again, That thy people may
rejoice in thee?
Show us thy mercy, O Lord, And grant
us thy salvation.
I am often asked the question, What is
revival?
First you must say, Revival is not evangelism.
Churches will put out a sign out front
of their church, Advertising revival.
But this means a visiting evangelist is conducting
meetings.
A tent may be put up where there'll
be boisterous singing, Loud praying, and animated preaching,
All aimed at evangelism.
But this is not revival.
Vance Havner once said, Everybody is holding a
revival.
It's about time somebody let loose of one.
The church is responsible for evangelism, But revival
is a sovereign work of God, That man
cannot produce.
Stephen Oldford used to tell me, Only God
can command the revival wind.
But we must set ourselves to catch that
wind, When God blows.
And that's true, friends.
Man cannot bring revival, But man can promote
the work of revival, But he cannot produce
it.
We can preach revival, Pray for revival, But
only God can send us revival.
We get a sense of what revival is
from the words of Joseph Kemp, Who was
then pastor of Charlotte Baptist Chapel in Edinburgh,
Scotland.
When revival broke out in his church, Kemp
described it in these terms, Quite suddenly, One
upon one, And another, Came an overwhelming sense
Of the reality and awfulness of his presence
And of eternal things.
I believe that pretty much sums up what
revival is, friends.
A true revival is when God takes the
field And invades a church or community With
his manifest presence.
And there is an awful solemnity among the
people of God.
It was said of the Lewis revival in
the Scottish Hebrides That it seemed as though
God himself Had saturated the entire island.
Duncan Campbell said of this time, The awful
presence of God Brought a wave of conviction
of sin That caused even mature Christians To
feel their sinfulness.
Bringing groans of distress And prayers of repentance
From the unconverted, Strong men were bowed under
the weight of sin And cries for mercy
were mingled With shouts of joy From others
who had passed into life.
Seasons of revival are exciting times, friends, But
it's also a very solemn time as well.
When God comes in revival, The people of
God Are brought to the very verge of
eternity.
Secular things fall in importance As the things
of God are given priority.
Now that we've seen a little of what
revival is, The second question before us today
is, Why do we need revival?
Charles Fanny said, When there is a worldly
spirit in the church, There is need of
revival.
But I believe our problem today Is deeper
than just Worldliness in the church.
In 1740, When God moved through New England,
It was called the Great Awakening.
Revival has often been referred to As an
awakening.
At Gethsemane, Jesus faced the crisis point Of
his earthly ministry And his disciples slept right
through it.
Today, the church is in a crisis point,
And we are sleeping right through it.
We are so sound asleep, We can't even
sense Our great need of revival.
Usually, When we think we can get along
fine Without revival, That's when we need it
the most.
I was standing in line At my seminary
graduation years ago To get my Ph.D.,
And beside me in line Was a pastor
from East Tennessee.
We began talking, And I asked him if
he was Currently meeting with the local Pastors
in his community On a regular basis To
pray for revival.
He looked at me strangely And informed me,
We don't need revival Because we are on
the grow.
What this man meant Was that so long
as A church is getting new members, That's
all that matters.
But it is the Self-reliant church Who
needs revival the most.
When the church operates solely On money and
manpower, Then it's time to repent Of our
sin of forsaken God And denying our dependence
On Him.
Prayerlessness is the main sin In the church
today.
When revival comes And the church is revived,
Then it will operate On sanctified prayer And
Holy Ghost power.
When God's presence Pervades a congregation in revival,
He restores His own backsliding people To repentance,
faith, And obedience.
Revived people will be Soul-winning people On
fire for God.
Things can look bleak Right before revival appears.
The times in England Right before Wesley and
Whitefield Burst on the scene Were grim to
say the least.
It was the day of Unconverted ministry And
England was in the grip of vice And
alcoholism.
In London, every fifth house Was a gin
shop.
Things are pretty dark today In our sin
-soaked society.
But we must remember The words of Jonathan
Edwards Who wisely wrote, We see that God
is faithful And will never forget The promises
that He has made To His church.
And that He will not suffer The smoking
flax To be quenched Even when the floods
Seem to be overwhelming it.
But we'll revive the flame again Even in
the darkest times.
I believe our day, friends, Is darker than
the days Of Wesley and Whitefield.
Our nation sits on the very Verge of
destruction Unless God sends revival.
And it's pride in the church That keeps
the church from repentance To seek God in
revival Because we feel We don't need it.
But the prophet Isaiah Makes the following declaration
About God and about us In Isaiah 57
15 For thus saith The High and Lofty
One That inhabiteth eternity Whose name is holy
I dwell in the high And holy place
With Him also That is of a contrite
heart And humble spirit To revive the spirit
of the humble And to revive the heart
Of the contrite ones.
I believe God will Hear the desperate prayers
of His Contrite saints Who cry night and
day for revival Like the psalmist declares Bow
down, Dine here, O Lord Hear me, for
I am Poor and needy.
Revival is our only hope, friends And like
I've stated previously It's revival or ruin.