amos54
Mar 6, 2006
I have recently heard many conflicting definitions for this... what is revival?
I have recently heard many conflicting definitions for this... what is revival?
God coming down.As far as the effects and Charateristics of revival..or in other words as far as what God does when He DOES come down? There are some different camps about that.Well we all agree that it leads to the conversion of sinners and reawaking of believers to live the Word...we just seem to disagree on Gods means in doing that. Some cite unusual physical manifestations as being included in Gods means of conversion and repentance, others disagree. Some who agree that God uses unusual manifestations disagree on the types of manifestations He may use. Some say that for the manifestation to be of God is must be included in Scripture, others say that as long as it does not specifically violate a Scripture it is permissibe as long as Scriptural fruit comes from it. Here's a senario.A man who was previously hostile to God, goes to a revival and is knocked to the floor at one point by an invisible force, the man then shakes for an hour, and gets up says he repented of his sin and got saved. This is how each camp reacts since there is no Scripture saying thou shalt or shlat not shake.One person says "The Bible does not command shaking so this shaking cannot be of God." Simple as that. The issue of invesigating if the persons life is truly changed if not an issue for this person. The next says: "Well since the Bible is pretty much silent on this subject i belive i will be also, who am I to say God doesnt shake people? If his life is demonstratably changed for Jesus and we know the devil woldnt do that, I say if the mans life shows the fruits of salvation then it's of God. Let God do what He wants. We will know it is Him by the fruit."I am of the second camp, there are many here of the first camp. I encourage you to study revivals in the Bible, and in church history to see what often happens in times of Revival..when God comes down.
God coming down.How is this differenf from "when 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, there I am"
I have recently heard many conflicting definitions for this... what is revival?A word often gets its definition by the way it is used. Our local newspaper had a recent revival - new writers, new look, etc. Re - vive = wake up... come back to life... Now, some people get revived in the morning by a glass of orange joice.... A lot of people find that cofee does the job. Now, I know that's not what you're looking for. So I suggest you listen to some the sermons here - like Ravenhill, Edwin Orr, .. The Revival Hymn... That's a good start for you. Diane
Interesting you ask this right nowlisten to the sermon on the front page of the website belowIn this sermon"You can miss a move of God" he talks about several different examples of what happens during revivals. Like I said some people may have negative things to say of this guy (like any other revivalist) but listen for yourselfhttp://www.heartlandfamily.com/
WHAT IS REVIVAL? By Charles Finney It presupposes that the church is sunk down in a backslidden state, and a revival consists in the return of the Church from her backslidings and the conversion of sinners.1. The foundations of sin need to be broken up. A revival always includes conviction of sin on the part of the church. Backslidden professors cannot wake up and begin right away in the service of God without deep searchings of heart. The fountains of sin need to be broken up. In a true revival, Christians are always brought under such conviction; they see their sins in such a light that often they find it impossible to maintain a hope of their acceptance with God. It does not always go to that extent, but there are always, in a genuine revival, deep convictions of sin, and often cases of abandoning all hope. 2. Revival is a new beginning of obedience with God. Just as in the case of a converted sinner, the first step is a deep repentance, a breaking down of heart, a getting down into the dust before God, with humility, and a forsaking of sin. 3. Backslidden Christians will be brought to repentance. A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God. Just as in the case of a converted sinner, the first step is a deep repentance, a breaking down of heart, a getting down into the dust before God, with deep humility, and a forsaking of sin. 3. Christians will have their faith renewed. While they are in their Backslidden state they are blind to the state of sinners. Their hearts are hard as marble. The truths of the Bible appear like a dream. They admit it to be all true; their conscience and their judgment assent to it; but their faith does not see it standing out in bold relief, in all the burning realities of eternity. But when they enter into a revival, they no longer see "men as trees, walking," but they see things in that strong light which will renew the love of God in their hearts. This will lead them to labor zealously to bring others to Him. They will feel grieved that others do not love God, when they love Him so much. And they will set themselves feelingly to persuade their neighbors to give Him their hearts. So their love to men will be renewed. They will be filled with a tender and burning love for souls. They will have a longing desire for the salvation of the whole world. They will be in an agony for individuals whom they want to have saved--their friends, relations, enemies. They will not only be urging them to give their hearts to God, but they will carry them to God in the arms of faith, and with strong crying and tears beseech God to have mercy on them, and save their souls from endless burnings. 4. A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin over Christians. It brings them to such vantage ground that they get a fresh impulse towards heaven; they have a new foretaste of heaven, and new desires after union with God; thus the charm of the world is broken, and the power of sin overcome. 5. When the Churches are thus awakened and reformed, the reformation and salvation of sinners will follow. Their hearts will be broken down and changed. Very often the most abandoned profligates are among the subjects. Harlots, and drunkards, and infidels, and all sorts of abandoned characters, are awakened and converted. The worst of human beings are softened and reclaimed, and made to appear as lovely specimens of the beauty of holiness. 6. When a revival can be expected? A revival may be expected when Christians have a spirit of prayer for a revival. That is, when they pray as if their hearts were set upon it. When Christians have the spirit of prayer for a revival. When they go about groaning out their hearts desire. When they have real travail of soul.
How about some of these definitions? * * * * *What is revival? Bill McLeod, a pastor of a church that sparked revival in Canada, speaks of it in these terms: "[Revival] means different things to different people. To some it's just a time of religious excitement to be frowned on. To others it's a series of evangelistic meetings...Actually, revival has to do with Christians, Christian people who are perhaps truly saved, walking with God to some extent but more or less dead. In a time of revival when God pours His Spirit on His people, they come alive. They begin witnessing, living holy lives, excited about God in a good way, in a good sense." Ian Goligher, a Presbyterian minister in British Columbia, offers this as a definition: ‘It is to put new life into a dead or dying thing. It is to bring that which was once strong and healthy back to its original order and power.’ Another such definition of revival expands it a bit further, defining its characteristics within the boundaries of Holy Scripture:"What is a revival? Strictly speaking, it is the restoration of life that has been lost, and in this sense it applies only to the Church of God. But used in the more common acceptation, it is the turning of multitudes to God. As conversion is the turning of a soul to God, so a revival is a repetition of this same spiritual process in the case of thousands. It is conversion upon a large scale. It is what occurred under the apostles at Pentecost, when three thousand were converted under one sermon. It is what took place at Corinth, at Thessalonica, and Ephesus, when, under the preaching of the apostles, multitudes believed and turned to the Lord. This is what we mean by a revival. In so far as it corresponds with these Scripture scenes, in so far it is right, and we defend it; in so far as it departs from Scripture precedent, or is inconsistent with Scripture rule, we do not defend it." (Horatius Bonar, Modern Hostility to Revivals)\tThe testimony of Jesus is the spirit of all prophecy (Revelation 19:10), meaning that the life and teachings of Jesus are the standard to which all prophecy must conform and subordinate. We can carry that same principle over to revivals as well. In recent times we hear about ‘revivals’ that are marked by uncontrollable laughter, barking like dogs, and roaring like lions. Can you see Jesus of the Gospels doing such things? If you cannot, then to that measure we do not see Jesus is the measure in which this ‘revival’ is falling short of the glory of God. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh’ (Luke 6:21). True revivals, which the Holy Spirit came with convicting power, always had brokenness, contrition and godly sorrow over sin. The blessing follows the turning from sin; rejoicing comes after weeping.
I think that Ken Connolly's statement from his video, 'Heal Our Land,' wraps it up with as few words describing the most important parts of what revival is:'What is a revival? Revival is the soveriegn, sudden, selective, sensational operation of the Spirit of God. It descends amid prayer, produces purity, and reaches the perishing.'More description on the words:soveriegn-men cannot pump it up or pull it down, there is a certain mystery about it, 'the wind bloweth where it listeth.' we can pray, but God is not bound to come in revival power just because we meet, but He doesn't come when no one is praying.sudden-conviction becomes unbearable; 'can you imagine a dignified, well-dressed woman in the middle of the city, in the middle of the block, in the middle of the street, in the middle of the day suddenly fall on her knees and cry from the agony of her heart, "Oh God, have mercy upon me." And when astonished people stand to watch what is happening, she turns to them in appeals, "Can any of you lead me to Christ?" It is that suddenly that revival comes to the soul.' -K. Connolly, Heal Our Landselective-revival hits cultural, geographical, and, 99.9% of the time, evangelical/protestant areas (site the cases if I'm wrong, I've heard of one in the Roman church in Dublin). spreads much like a forest fire, sparks bouncing into adjacent areas and spreading.sensational-prostration, this being people driven to the ground under conviction, sometimes people falling unconcious. noises such as an oncoming train or wind(rushing, mighty wind). Andrew Murray claimed this sound came to him when he was touched by God in revival.I rely heavily on the men and women who were in the revivals of the past. They all seem to say the same things: prostration and purity. Ken Connolly, though he does not claim to have been in a revival, sums up well, what I have heard about or from the likes of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Leonard Ravenhill, J Edwin Orr, and Duncan Campbell.
The barking and so forth was addressed by J Edwin Orr, who researched the subject and found that there was never a claim by anyone that barking happened during a revival. One author heard the claim only as a rumor. A Catholic author then cited author #1, and said that barking was 'all to common' among those claiming to be in revival. The third author that Orr mentioned wrote of barking and cited the first two authors.The end of Orr's study concluded that the rumors of barking were more or less an urban legend. Kind of humorous, some denomination claimed they didn't hear barking in their own revivals, but claimed the revivals of the other denominations did. If anyone wants the citations, let me know and I will post them.
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