Revive us again!
When we speak of revival, we mean “an extraordinary work of God in which Christians repent of their sins as they become intensely aware of His presence in their midst, and they manifest a positive response to God in renewed obedience to the known will of God, resulting in both a deepening of their individual and corporate experience with God, and an increased concern to win others to Christ.” Throughout the history of the church, there have been such special times, and it’s helpful to consider some of the common features in these past outbreaks of the blessing and power of God amongst His people.
Pitiful conditions
Often revival comes when times are spiritually bleak. It is when things seem hopeless that we are moved to cry out to God in desperation.
J.C. Ryle, speaking of England prior to the Methodist Revival of 1727-50, said, “These times were the darkest age that England has passed through in the last three hundred years. Anything more deplorable than the condition of the country, as to religion, morality, and high principle, it is very difficult to conceive.”
The year 1790 ushered in a new era of revivals for the United States. Religion had sadly declined during the previous years, Unitarianism had gained much ground, and infidel philosophy was poisoning the minds of millions of people. At this time there were no American Missionary Societies, no Bible Societies, no Tract Societies, no Education Societies. At home there was religious indifference; abroad—the darkness of death over the heathen world. But in 1790, there were extensive revivals in Pennsylvania and Virginia. “At this time,” says Dr. Griffin, “began the unbroken series of American revivals.” In New England, during four or five years, about one hundred and fifty churches were blessed with revivals.
Prayer
Matthew Henry wrote, “When God intends a great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is to set them a-praying.”
When asked the secret of the Welsh Revival , Evan Roberts replied “My brother, there is no secret. Ask, and ye shall receive.”
Almost all revivals have begun when Christians have cried out to God in fervent, genuine prayer. We have not because we ask not!
Jonathan Edwards’ Revival. Edwards reveals the secret of this revival. He said, “The spirit of those that have been in distress for the souls of others, so far as I can discern, seems not to be different from that of the apostle who travailed for souls. On the evening of the day preceding the outbreak of the revival, some Christians met and spent the whole night in prayer. There was scarcely a person in the town [Northampton], old or young, left unconcerned about the great things of the eternal world. The work of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing manner and increased more and more; souls did, as it were, come by flocks to Jesus Christ. This work of God soon made a glorious alteration in the town, so that in the spring and summer following, the town seemed to be full of the presence of God. It was never so full of love, nor of joy, and yet so full of distress, as it was then.”
Brainerd’s Revival. After some years of difficult and almost fruitless work among the North American Indians, David Brainerd saw a powerful revival commence in July, 1745. It was in answer to agonizing prayer. Brainerd wrote, “July 26th. In the evening, God was pleased to help me in prayer, beyond what I have experienced for some time. My soul was especially drawn out for the enlargement of Christ’s kingdom and for the conversion of my poor people, and I relied on God for the accomplishment of that great work. My soul, my very soul, longed for the ingathering of the poor heathen, and I cried to God for them most willingly and heartily and yet because I could not but cry, I longed that the remaining part of my life might be filled up with more fervency and activity in things of God.”
Richard Baxter was a true revivalist. It is said that his study walls were stained with praying breath. Through him, God did a great work in Kidderminster. He tells of converts holding a Saturday evening prayer meeting for blessing and, on the following day, of such congregations that they had to build five new galleries in his chapel; that on Sundays there was no disorder in the streets, but that you would hear a hundred families singing psalms in their homes.
The Methodist Pentecost was born in the power of the Holy Spirit. Wesley recorded, “Jan. 1, 1739. Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutchins, and my brother Charles, were present at our love-feast in Fetter Lane, London, England, with about sixty of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, in so much that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of His Majesty, we broke out with one voice, ‘We praise Thee, O God. We acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.’” Of this love-feast Whitfield said, “It was a Pentecostal season indeed.” And he added, concerning those meetings, that, “sometimes whole nights were spent in prayer. Often we have been filled as with new wine, and often I have seen them overwhelmed with the divine presence, and cry out, ‘Will God, indeed, dwell with men upon earth? How dreadful is this place! This is no other than the house of God and the gate of heaven!’”
W. H. Fitchett said of Wesley, “He quickened the conscience, not merely of his own followers, but of the church which had cast him out, and of the whole nation to which he belonged.” And, “There was something of the unconscious loftiness of alpine peaks about him; a remoteness—as though caught from some purer air.” From whence did he draw the strength and inspiration for his work? Here is the secret: “I resolve to devote an hour morning and evening to private prayer, no pretense or excuse whatsoever.”
Charles G. Finney wrote, “I have said, more than once, that the spirit of prayer that prevailed in those revivals was a very marked feature of them. It was common for young converts to be greatly exercised in prayer, and, in some instances, so much so that they were constrained to pray whole nights, and until their bodily strength was quite exhausted, for the conversion of souls around them. There was a great pressure of the Holy Spirit upon the minds of Christians and they seemed to bear about with them the burden of immortal souls.”
American Revival 1857-58. Finney, writing of this revival, said, “This winter of 1857-58 will be remembered as the time when a great revival prevailed throughout all the Northern States. It swept over the land with such power that, for a time, it was estimated that not less than fifty thousand conversions occurred in a single week. This revival was carried on to large extent through the influence of ordinary saints, so much so, as almost to throw the ministers into the shade. There had been a daily prayer meeting observed in Boston for several years, and in the autumn previous to the great outburst, the daily prayer meeting had been established in Fulton Street, New York. Indeed, prayer meetings were established throughout the length and breadth of the Northern States. A divine influence seemed to pervade the whole land. It was estimated that during this revival, not less than 500,000 souls were converted in this country.
Preaching and power
During revivals, preachers seem to receive special empowerment from the Holy Spirit and preach with new power and earnestness. Every revival has been marked by renewed earnestness in preaching, especially the message of the old, old gospel.
1859 Revival in Ireland. This movement originated in the work of J. H. Moore in Connor, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. For years, he had preached the gospel faithfully, but with little outcome. News of revival in America stirred him to seek to promote a revival among his own people. He often preached on this subject and read accounts of great revivals of the past to his congregation. The idea of having a revival began to grip the people, and it became the subject of much prayer.
In the year 1871, a great hunger and thirst for spiritual power took possession of Moody. He said, “I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York, God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths; and yet hundreds were converted.”
Prostration and penitence
Sinners were so convicted of the holiness of God that they would agonize, often lying prostrate on the ground for hours on end.
There would be great sorrow for sin, for offending a righteous, holy God. Cries for mercy were common. Often people would seek to make restitution. For example, during W.P. Nicholson’s 1926 Revival in Northern Ireland, stolen property belonging to Harland & Wolf shipyard was returned by converted workers. So much material was returned that the management had to make a plea to the workers not to return any more goods as there was not sufficient storage space to hold it all.
“Revivals now cover our land, sweeping all before them, exciting the earnest cry from thousands, ‘What shall we do to be saved?’”
Passion and praise
A result of revival was a deep passion for souls: a longing for relatives, friends, and strangers to come to know Him whom to know is life eternal. This passion would cause believers to drop everything and undertake lengthy journeys to speak to relatives and friends they were burdened for.
The Welsh Revival was known for its singing. Christians would meet for hours on end, singing the great hymns of the faith. Even after people dispersed, they would be heard singing as they walked down the lanes and streets of their towns. D.L. Moody’s Revival also found great crowds singing Sankey’s hymn book together.
Principles
In the Old Testament, when revival visited the people of God under the ministry of godly kings and prophets like Samuel, Asa, Josiah, and Hezekiah, the revival resulted in a return to long-neglected scriptural principles. For Israel—a return to that pattern that had been delivered to Moses in the holy mount; in the history of the church—a renewed interest in New Testament principles, especially the significance of the remembrance meeting and a sweeping away of the unscriptural clergy-laity distinction. Newly energized believers were not content to be pew fillers but wanted to use spiritual gifts for God’s glory in the local church.
Such are the common factors of many of the revivals of the past. May we pursue these, and perhaps the Lord will add another chapter to the history book of revival.