Revival

Introduction

“Lord, send a revival to our city, state, and country.” How many times have we heard this prayed throughout our lives? The prayer is simple, yet because “revival” is defined differently by different Christian groups, one group of people could be talking about a week-long event scheduled once a year and another may focus on a method or formula, where if the church does certain things, revival will come. As we can see, the prayer is simple, but depending on the definition, two people could be asking God to do two very different things.

Another issue that comes up relating to revival is when Christians see another part of the world, part of their country, or church in their city experiencing a dramatic sense of spiritual fervor, and naturally wonder, “Why is God not doing that here?” Or “Should I go try and be part of what God is doing there?” Or “Is there something wrong with me because I’m not experiencing that right now in my life?”

In Psalm 85:6 we read a question: “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”

The psalmist is posing a question to God, “will you not revive us again?” The psalmist was asking God to revive the people of God, which at this point in history, is the nation of Israel. This same question has been posed by Christians in our generation, “God, will you not revive us again?” Followers of Jesus, asking God to bring revival to the people of God, now known as the Church. Based on this psalm, asking God to revive His people is something the people of God should ask God to do. Therefore, if revival is something we should pray for, it is important to define what biblical revival is and how to recognize revival when it happens. In this resource we will briefly examine revivals in the Old and New Testaments, the biblical definition of revival, and the impacts of revival among the people of God.

Sovereignty of God and Human Responsibility

Some Christian groups believe revival is totally dependent on believers’ actions and attitudes. They feel that if we as a church would repent, live holy, pray more, among other things then revival would come to the church. Yet, other Christian groups believe that revival is solely in the hands of a sovereign God and there is no human responsibility. The truth is that the tension which exists between the sovereignty of God and human responsibility is something we, as finite human beings, cannot fully comprehend, but we can recognize the truths of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility and the mystery of how these truths work together.

When it comes to revival, God sovereignly blows the wind of His Spirit where He chooses. When God chooses to bring revival, He uses ordinary means of grace such as prayer, the scriptures, and preaching, which involves us as a people of God praying, preaching, serving, making disciples, and more. Our actions are the embers God uses when He sovereignly chooses to bring revival. As the people of God, we must trust in His sovereignty to do as He wills and continue to walk in obedience, even if He never chooses to send revival to our church or geographic location. We serve a loving and faithful God, and we must trust in His sovereignty. And if we never see revival, we must not think or feel there is something wrong. Generations of churches have never experienced what some would refer to as revival, and yet many of those churches have remained faithful to God, gospel-centered, and have served the Lord in their community.

Revival in the Scriptures

While the word “revival” is not a word used in scripture, the concept of revival is present in scripture many times. As noted, people define revival in different ways, but as we know that the Bible is God’s inspired words to us, we should look to moments of revival throughout scripture and allow scripture to define what revival is and how it impacts the people of God and the society in which they live.

Summary of Revivals in the Old Testament

Let’s look at three events in the Old Testament and consider how the move of God started and how it impacted the people involved. These movements of God occurred during (1) the reign of Josiah¹, (2) the rebuilding of the walls in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah², and (3) Jonah and the Assyrians.

When revival came to the people of Israel during the reign of Josiah, we see a need for revival. Josiah’s reign came after the reign of a king who did what was evil before the Lord. The nation of Israel was serving other gods and living in disobedience to the covenant the Lord initiated. During Josiah’s reign, we see the Word of God play a prominent role. The book of Law was read to king Josiah, opening his eyes to the sins of the people. The book of the Law was read before the people resulting in an awareness of their sin before a holy God. Their awareness of sin led king Josiah to repentance and physical displays of brokenness before the Lord, like the tearing of clothes. We also read of a commitment to obey God’s Word, turn from sin and idolatry, and live differently. There was also a commitment to worship the Lord as outlined in the book of the Law, leading to the covenant renewal ceremony and a return to the Passover feast.

When revival came to Israel during the era of Ezra and Nehemiah, we see a similar pattern. We first see a need for revival when Ezra and Nehemiah were rebuilding the temple and the walls of the city after it was decimated by Babylonians many years earlier as discipline from God. The people of Israel were coming back from exile in waves, so the need for revival was clear. Ezra read the words of God to the people, and they understood the truths of God. The people then became aware of their sin, their need to turn away from their sin and return to the Lord, and to obey the book of the Law. We also see a commitment to worship the Lord through a covenant renewal ceremony and a return to the feast of Booths.

When revival came to Nineveh in the book of Jonah, we see a similar pattern. Their need for revival is obvious. The Assyrians were Gentiles who worshipped other gods and did not know the Lord, but the Lord had a message for them through the prophet Jonah. In this case they did not read from the book of the Law, but they heard the words of the Lord through Jonah. This led the Assyrians to become aware of their sinfulness and repent from their sin through mourning and fasting. We do not see covenant renewal ceremonies or a return to worship through the feasts outlined in the Law because they were not part of the covenant people of God, but we do see a commitment to change. The Assyrians were a very violent group of people, who would decimate the people they invaded. But as we see, a result of the revival brought about by Jonah, was a turning away from evil and violence and a commitment to change.

Summary of Revivals in the New Testament

In the New Testament, we see a shift from the people of God as a nation to the people of God as the Church, comprised of Jews and Gentiles³.  Another major shift we see in the New Testament, is the role of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the people of God⁴. In the Old Testament, we see the Holy Spirit filling certain people for a specific purpose and then departing when the purpose was completed⁵. In the New Testament, because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit now indwells all believers and points them to Jesus, helps them understand the scriptures, convicts them of sin, and helps them grow in Christ⁶. The Spirit’s indwelling presence empowers believers to live out the gospel by His grace and for His glory.

As a result of believers being indwelt by the Spirit permanently, there is a sense in which we are always filled with the Spirit, lacking nothing. We do not get the Holy Spirit in doses. Yet there are times in our lives when we experience the Holy Spirit in our discipleship journey, and it seems like we have more of the Spirit. In those seasons, we are yielding more of our lives to the Lordship of Christ and there is substantial growth in Christ. We are experiencing personal revival as we trust His love and power in us more.

When we look at the Day of Pentecost⁷, the people of Israel were dispersed throughout the known world because of the exile they experienced. Many had to travel to Jerusalem to experience the feast of Pentecost. Because Israel was dispersed, many of the Israelites spoke different languages. When the Spirit was poured out on the followers of Jesus, all the people heard the amazing works of God in their own language. This was an amazing miracle, but it was not the greatest miracle that happened that day. We see the Holy Spirit poured out on the followers of Jesus and Peter standing up to declare that the prophecy of the Spirit being poured out on all flesh from Joel 2 is being fulfilled that day. Peter then proceeds to preach the gospel using the Old Testament to make the case that Jesus, whom Israel killed, is the Lord and Messiah. Peter commands them to repent and they too would receive the gift of the Spirit. Three thousand came to follow Jesus that day. We see some of the same patterns from the Old Testament. The Word of God is preached, the people become aware of their sinfulness in recognition of a holy God, and there is repentance from sin and commitment to obedience, or to follow Jesus.

We see something similar happen to a group of Gentiles in Acts 10. Peter is sent to the home of Cornelius in an extraordinary manner. When Peter arrives, he begins preaching the gospel. As he is preaching the Holy Spirit is poured out on them. Peter takes this as a sign that the gospel is for the Gentile as well as the Jew. We see the importance of the preaching of God’s Word again, and can infer that Cornelius and all who were with him, became aware of their sinfulness in light of a holy God, repented from sin, and committed to follow Jesus.

When we look at Acts 19 and Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, we see a move of God happen and Paul stays in the region for two years. We read “all the residents of Asia heard the Word of the Lord” and “the Word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” Again, we see the prominence and preaching of God’s Word. We also read that the gospel had such an impact, the people began to follow Jesus and abandon their idols, impacting the economy of the silversmiths who made the idols. As you can see, when it comes to extraordinary moves of God, there are common traits which will help us define revival and understand its impact among the people of God and the surrounding culture.

What is Revival?

Looking at the moves of God we have briefly examined in the Old and New Testaments, we can develop a working definition of revival. Revival is a sovereign move of God, which is extraordinary, in which God brings sinners to repentance, and brings renewal in the spiritual life of His people. As we have quickly journeyed through selected moves of God in the Old and New Testaments, we discover marks of revival:

• Awareness of God and what He requires through the Word.
• Awareness of our sinfulness in light of a holy God.
• Awareness of the need of repentance from sin and to return to and follow God.
• Awareness of the need to be transformed and live differently in light of who God is, what He has done, and what He requires in His Word.
• As a result of this transformation, we see reforms impacting the Church on various levels, depending on how widespread the move of God is. We can also see local, national, and global impacts among the Church and on society.

These marks may happen every Sunday in church, so what makes revival different? Ray Ortlund says, “Revival is the normal ministry of the gospel just going into warp speed.” Revival is the normal operation of the gospel, but it is accelerated, so if it takes 20 years to reach 100 people with the gospel, when revival comes you may reach 100 people with the gospel in two days. What may take years of discipleship for us to grow in Christ, may occur in a matter of a month when revival comes.

Because revival is the normal ministry of the gospel happening in a more widespread and accelerated way, as the people of God, we must not confuse revival with:

• Emotionalism – The pursuit of revival experiences for the emotions they bring. When revival comes, we will experience certain emotions, but revival is not founded on emotional experience, as we can see through the biblical examples above.
• Revivalism – The belief that if we use the right methods we could “cause” or bring about revival.
• Individualism – When revival comes it is a corporate event which happens amongst the people of God who are in community with each other.
• Heaven on earth utopia – Revival is not a cure all for the world’s problems. God is the author of revival, and He defines the purposes He wants to accomplish when revival comes.

As the people of God, we must operate in the normal means of gospel ministry through prayer, gathering together as a church, worshipping the Lord through singing and the preaching of God’s Word, fellowshipping together as a community, sharing the gospel with those who don’t know Jesus, making disciples at home and across the world, and serving those around us in humble and sacrificial ways. When God sovereignly chooses to send His Spirit in an extraordinary way, as Ray Ortlund puts it, we enter into warp speed, and we will begin to see the marks of revival all around us.

Conclusion

It is good to long for the revival of a passion for God’s Word, for prayer, for worship, and for repentance among God’s people, and in the world. At the same time, we do not need to be spiritually jealous of those we see experiencing it in a more dramatic way or try to manufacture it to validate something in our own walk with God in an unhealthy way. We also need to be encouraged that God is always reviving the hearts and minds of His people through spiritual lives and ministry that can seem at times very ordinary to us. We must trust Him to use our faithfulness in the ways that He deems best for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Footnotes: ¹ 1 Kings 22-23, ² Ezra 6-8; Nehemiah 8, ³ Acts 15; Ephesians 2:1-13, ⁴ 1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 5:18, ⁵ Exodus 31:2, 35:31; Numbers 11:17, 25; Judges 6:34, 13:25, 14:6, 19, 15:14, ⁶ John 16:13-25, ⁷ Acts 2