first a declension: "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 con-
version of sinners ... " Revival brings fresh impulses to
the saints in a new beginning before God. The charm of
the world is broken and the power of sin is overcome by
the power of the cross. Believers enjoy a new foretaste of
heaven and have new desires for union with God. The
worst of human beings are softened and transformed into
the beauty of holiness.
to others it means the restoration of backsliders. But these
are the by-products of revival, not revival itself. William
Sprague said that revival occurs when religion rises from
depression to life and strength and Christians are more
faithful in their obligations. G.J. Morgan called it "reviv-
ing humanity ... to the sense of God ... to reanimate the
life of the believer, not the regenerate." Arthur Wallis de-
fined revival as "God revealing Himself to man in awful
power and holiness." Finney spoke of it also as a new be-
ginning before God, a breaking down of heart, a getting
down into the dust before God with deep humility and a
forsaking of sin. Jonathan Edwards described it as "the
goings of God."
of the Lord." Our spiritual deadness must be reanimated,
our declension reversed as we pray with Isaiah, "O, that
you would rend the heavens and come down ... " (64:1-3).
Second Chronicles 28�29 indicates what must be attended
to if revival is to come to the house of God:
sary worship (Heb. 10:25), unreliability of service (1 Cor.
4:2) and unholiness of heart and life (1 Thess. 4:7, 1 Peter
4:17). "But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks
to the Father in our defense � Jesus Christ the Righteous
One" (1 John 2:1).
salom, who did not see the face of his father for three years
it been since you walked and
talked with the Lord? He
alone "makes His face to shine
upon you" (Num. 6:24-26).
law, but under grace." Legal-
ism and censoriousness are
dealt a death-blow. "We back
up the hearse," as Bud Rob-
inson used to say, "load up
carnality and cart it away!"
guish between the voice of
God and the voice of Satan.
The loud feverishness of Sa-
tan's demands gives way to
the "still, small voice." Sa-
tan's driving gives way to
God's leading--the vague
generalities of Satan yield
to the specifics of the known
our lower instincts becomes
the stilling of the heart: "Be still and know that I am God"
(Psalm 46:10, Mark 4:39).
abound in instances of God breaking supernaturally into
the ordinary affairs of men. Central to multiple conver-
sions and the manifestation of spiritual power was the
person and work of the Holy Spirit. By 200 AD, Tertul-
lian could write, "We have filled all quarters of the world."