Revival - The Necessity for our day!

Oswald J. SmithThe Greatest need of the world and the Church to-day is a mighty manifestation of the Spirit of God. Before the days of the Finney revivals there were only 200,000 church members in the United States. When Finney ended his ministry, over three million had joined the churches. The greatest days of the Church have been the days of revival. Nothing can take its place. The best that man can do does not meet the need. Only as God comes upon the scene in revival power are the problems solved.-Oswald J. Smith

Who wants to go in and WAKE THEM UP!?Use US Lord! Use ME!Stewarton RevivalThis revival began in 1625, and continued for some years. Closely following was the revival at Kirk of Shotts in June, 1630. Here a large number of godly persons gathered for several days of prayer, and conference. At least one whole night was spent in prayer, and when John Livingstone preached, about five hundred persons were converted.

Johathan Edwards' RevivalEdwards 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.""There were remarkable tokens of God's presence in almost every house. It was time of joy in families on account of salvation being brought unto them; parents rejoicing over their children as new born, and husbands over their wives, and wives over their husbands. The goings of God were seen in His sanctuary, God's day was a delight, and His tabernacles were amiable."

Brainerd's RevivalAfter some years of difficult and almost fruitless work among the North American Indians, David Brainerd saw a powerful revival commence in July, 1945. 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."This revival among the Indians continued for some years, and produced lasting results.

Quaker RevivalIn the middle of the seventeenth century there were thousands of men and women who were adrift from the Church of England. they were seeking for the truth, and were like sheep without a shepard. In addition to Presbyterians, Independants, and Baptists, we read of Sabbatarians, Seekers, Traskites, Millenaries, Familists, Etheringtonians, Fifth Monarychy men, Muggletonians and many others.George Fox was born in 1624. He was brought up in a Puritan home, and could say, "When I came to eleven years of age, I knew pureness and righteousness. The Lord taught me to be faithful inwardly to God, and outwardly to man." But in spite of his good life Fox was not at peace; he went through years of spiritual darkness and conflict until one day he seemed to hear a voice say to him, "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition." He said, "My heart did leap for joy. My desires after the Lord grew stronger. Though I read the Scriputres that spake of Christ and of God, yet I knew Him not but by revelation, as He who hath the key did open, and as the Father of Life drew me to His Son by His Spirit." In this way God prepared Fox to be His messenger to seeking souls all over the land.William Penn wrote of Fox, "He had an extraordinary gift in opening the Scriptures. But above all he excelled in prayer. The most living, reverent frame I ever beheld, was his in prayer." His personality radiated the holiness, and majesty, and love of God. Sinners were afraid and often trembled in his presence.Fox said that the Lord told him, "If but one man or woman were raised up by His power to stand and live in the same spirit the apostles and prophets were in, he or she should shake all the country for ten miles around."There were between fifty and sixty thousand Quakers in England at the end of the first forty years of the Quaker revival. They were more numerous than the Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Independants, and Baptists combined. In proportion to the population they were even more numerous in America, where they had founded two colonies, and where they included more than half the inhabitants in serveral other important districts.

Are we willing to wait upon God, to have no self-interest, to be nothing, hid away in the cleft of the Rock? Are we willing to fast and pray through the night? Are we willing to say no to anything that would offend him who died for us? Shall we not start with refusing to watch television and keep our souls undefiled? Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, him who has clean hands. Have we resisted temptation unto the shedding of blood? Will we allow Jesus to set us free at last from that which hinder our relation to him?I can't add anything to this :-( are we willing? God help us to answer this call.Finney's RevivalsThe secret of Finney's power was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and a life of prayer. He wrote, "In regard to my own experience, I will say that unless I had the spirit of prayer I could do nothing. If even for a day or an hour I lost the spirit of grace and supplication, I found myself unable to preach with power and efficiency, or to win souls by personal conversation. In this respect my experienc was what it has always been.""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 Christiansl and they seemed to bear about with them the burden of immortal souls."Those who have studied the statistics involved, state that only thiry percent of the converts of the best evangelists stand, but they further state that eighty-five percent of those converted in Finney's revivals proved by their subsequent lives that they were soundly converted.

Revival in Kilsyth and Aberdeen"They broke forth simultaneously in weeping and wailing, tears and groans. Some were screaming out in agony; others- among these, strong men- fell to the ground as if they had been dead." Burns continued preaching powerfully for some days, and the awakening spread. All day long, in the vestry, the session house, and the manse the anxious were being prayed with and instructed.In August Burns returned to Dundee, and at the close of a prayer meeting told the story of the revival in Kilsyth. As he spoke the power of God descended on the people, and all were bathed in tears. From that evening, meetings were held every day for weeks. The whole town was moved, and dozens of prayer meetings sprang into existence. Burns spent many a day and many a night on his face before God. It was from long seasons of prayer, meditations, and humbling before God that he went forth to preach.

1859 Revival in IrelandIn 1857 the Sunday School teachers began to hold a weekly prayer meeting, and as a result they soon noticed a marked increase of attnetion and seriousness among the children.After some months, four of the young men who were connected with this prayer meeting began a secret prayer and fellowship meeting to pray for revival. Rev. W. Gison records, "For a few months they had to walk by faith. They wrestled on. They prevailed." The first conversion in answer to their prayers ocurred in December, 1857. From that time on, "Humble, grateful, loving, joyous converts multiplied. The prayer meetings began to be thronged." This work of grace continued and converting sinners. "The process was a purely spiritual one, the Spirit of God acting through the medium of the truth upon the spirit of man."

The '59 Revival in England and ScotlandMr. H. Johnson gives the following description of how one of these local revivals commenced, "A minister was depressed by the low spiritual state of his congregation. His 'cause' was like a stagnant pool. The news of the revival going on in other parts of the country had reached him. One day he suddenly decided to abandon the preparation of his sermon, and to devote himself to prayer. He pleaded earnestly and passionately for five hours.""The next day was Sunday. On entering the pulpit the conviction seized him that something remarkable was about to happen. The people were unusually attentive. Their faces betokened solemnity and awe. When the service came to an end several persons were broken down under the Spirit's influnce. That service proved to be the beginning of a genuine and permanent revival."

D.L. MoodyIn 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."

The Faith MissionAfter a day of prayer and fasting he tells of one meeting. "The Chief (Mr. Govan) was speaking, while I sat behind praying, when suddenly "the Holy Ghost fell," and His power laid hold of the whole congregation. It was a holy and awful time, and scores of men and women were confessing sin and hindrance. Glory be to Him, our Lord was there to heal as well!"

Hudson TaylorJames Hudson Taylor was born on May 21st, 1832. Before his birth he had been dedicated to God, and at the early age of give he was expressing desire to be a missionary to China. This ideal took more and more possession of him as the years passed by. After he left school and commenced to work, he experienced a period of spiritual darkness and uncertainity, but at the age of seventeen he definetely accepted the Lord Jesus as Saviour.A short time later he is on his knees surrendering his whole being and future to God. He wrote, "Never shall I forget the feeling that came over me. Words can never describe it. I felt I was in the presence of God. And from that time the conviction never left me that I was called to China."

C.H. SpurgeonIn his Autobiography Spurgeon reveals the secret of his amazing ministry. "When I came to New Park Street Chapel, it was but a mere handful of people to whom I first preached; yet I can never forget how earnestly they prayed. Sometimes they seemed to plead as though they could really see the Angel of the covenant present with them, and as if they must have a blessing from Him. More than once, we were all so awe-struck with the solemnity of the meeting, that we sat silent for some moments while the Lord's power appeared to overshadow us; and all I could do was to pronounce the Benediction, and say 'Dear friends, we have had the Spirit of God here very manifestly tonight; let us go home and take care not to lost His gracious influnces.'"

George Muller"In order that it might be quite plain that God was helping His servant, he determined to abstain from any appeals to man for financial assistance. God honoured his faith, and so blessed and prospered his dependent servant, that, from a small beginning in a hired house, he went on and expanded the work until he had built five large Orphan Houses, with accommodation for 2,050 children.God enabled him to continue in this service for sixty-two years, until at the age of ninety-two years, the Lord called him Home. Up to that time, 9,725 children had entered the Homes, and $988,829 pounds had been recieved for the Orphans, as the result of prayer to God alone."

Billy BrayFrom his conversation Billy Bray "was filled with a holy rapture of soul which nothing could restrain. His words, his tones, his looks, had a magnetic power. He could no more help speaking of Christ and His salvation than the sun can help shining, or the trees in the spring can help budding and blossoming into beauty and life."This little Cornish miner was on fire for God, and for the rest of his life he preached the Gospel faithfully, inspired the Christians, visited the sick, and with his own hands built churches. The story of his life has been a blessing to thousands; it is a revelation of how God can take up the "weak things" and use them for His glory.

Sam JonesAfter being saved from the depths of sin Sam Jones said of the Lord Jesus, "There is music in His name, a charm in His presence, and life in His touch." In 1872 he entered the ministry and soon he was recognized as a man who possessed "the eloquence of earnestness and action, the fire of glow and passion, the surprises of thought, the wit, humour, ridicule, irony, sarcasm, invective, pathos, sympathy, love, humanity, and faith" which made him the most sensational preacher in the American pulpit.But he was also endued with power from on high. Wherever he went the churches were stirred and sinners were converted by hundreds and thousands. In one meeting he said, "Thank God, He is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God! I believe there is a truth in God, and virtue in the blood of Christ, and power in the Holy Ghost. If these divine agencies will work with us, there will be a work done in this city that will outlive the stars."

Revival in UgandaThis revival was led by Pilkington in 1893. Hundreds were converted and a blessed influnce extended far and wide. Pilkington wrote, "A hundred thousand souls brought into close contact with the Gospel; two hundred buildings raised by native Christians in which to worship God; two hundred native evangelists and teachers entirely supported by the native Church; the power of God shown by changed lives; and all this in the centre of the thickest spiritual darkness in the world."The secret of this movement was that the leaders realized their absolute powerlessness to meet the need of the people and yielded themselves to the Holy Spirit.

Pandita Ramabai's RevivalIn the year 1901 Pandita Ramabai's work at Mukti was enjoying much blessing. Twelve hundred converts were baptized in two months, but some of the workers continued to cry to God for greater blessing.News of hte Welsh Revival, 1904, stirred Ramabai, and she started daily prayer meetings for revival in India. In June, 1905, five hudred and fifty were meeting twice daily to pray for revival.The answer came suddenly. One of the girls recieved the Holy Spirit, and was so transformed that soon all the girls on that compound were on their knees, weeping, and confessing their sins.Helen Dyer writes, "The next evening, while Ramabai was expounding John 8 in her usual quiet way, the Holy Spirit descended with power, and all the girls began to pray aloud so that she had to cease talking. Little children, middle-sized girls, and young women, wept bitterly, and confessed their sins. Some few saw visions and experienced the power of God, and thigns too deep to be described. Two little girls had the spirit of prayer poured on them in such torrents that they continued to pray for hours. They were transformed with heavenly light shining on their faces.""Such repentance, such heart-searching, such agony over sin, and tears, as they cried for pardon and cleansing and the baptism of the Holy Ghost! Then a baptism like fire within came upon them. They seemed to have their eyes opened to see the 'body of sin' in themselves. Then came a strong realization of Christ's work upon the Cross; then peace, followed by intense joy. It often took a soul hours to pass through all these experiences. The Lord used the Word greatly.""The work went on, and a spirit of prayer and supplication for a revival in India was poured out like a flood." The spirit of prayer possessed the people. "Waves of prayer go over the meetings like the rolling thunder; hundreds pray audibly together."This revival continued for over a year, and it was a great blessing to Christians all over India.