My Need For Revival Series

Every Christian and every church will need revival. Most every single Christian I know has times in their lives when they need revival. Revival is part of the pattern the Holy Spirit uses to reconnect you to the gospel.1

Revival and spiritual awakening is when a group of people rediscover the power of the gospel. Nearly every single person can look at church and conclude the church was built for more impact than any church is seeing today. Even nonreligious people can look over a church and say, “I’m not that impressed. Your behavior doesn’t match your beliefs.” And they go on ignoring the church. So, every Christian and every church will need revival.

I want you to personally experience a spiritual awakening, and I want our church family to experience a spiritual awakening. Most importantly, God Himself wants you to experience Him in all His fulness.

A revival is a time when sleepy Christians wake up…2

… when nominal Christians convert to Christ…

… and when non-Christians come to faith in Christ.

This is accompanied by an increase in the conviction of sin, an increase in the consciousness of God’s mercy, and our unworthiness.

I invite you to find Ezra 9 with me.

A revival is when the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, brings assurance of salvation, and makes the sense of Jesus Christ intensely real. We want revival for so many reasons but one reason is this: revival always makes an impact on a society. There have always been social reforms in the wake of revivals — whether it is the repeal of child labor laws, the abolition of slavery, or even a decrease in crime — revival always leaves its mark on a people. No one can force a major revival to happen by pushing the right buttons. Yet, allow me to give you 3 marks that help distinguish a real awakening from the phony emotional stuff that passes for an awakening.

3 Marks of True Revival

Jonathan Edwards was the great pastor in Northampton, MS, and experienced several revivals in his time there. Many of you know him as the wig-wearing 18th-century pastor who preached that famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of Angry God.” He’s so much bigger than this one sermon. In fact, nearly 300 years ago, during the First Great Awakening, he penned a book where he outlines 3 true marks of a revival. They are helpful for us to quickly review.

1. A Deeper Awareness of God’s Presence

Usually, a time of renewal is preceded by a crisis, and during the crisis, God’s people really seek His presence.3 The people of God had a thirst for the living God.4 There’s a hunger for God’s presence. Revival or awakening never happens unless the Spirit of God shows Himself strong. When you study the awakenings in the past, I don’t know of one that wasn’t preceded by an extraordinary time of prayer. The Holy Spirit uses “extraordinary prayer” — united, persistent, and kingdom-centered prayer.

1. A Deeper Awareness of God’s Presence

2. An Increased Sensitivity to Sin

Whenever you see an awakening taking place, you see people crying out to God in confession of sin.5 Again, I want you to personally experience a revival. Sometimes this can be gradual, where God’s people really listen to the preaching of the Word. And at other times, there’s a sudden change as if an invisible thunderbolt from heaven comes down. Either way, you begin to notice a deepening burden on the minds of people whether they are old or young, rich or poor, man or woman. There’s a pervasive shame throughout as they search for inner peace. There’s a deep anguish of the heart and it may reveal itself as a silent, downcast appearance of the face but at other times, you witness people sobbing because of their increased sensitivity to sin.

A true revival will see someone’s conscience awakened. A true revival will see a lot of people in despair and sadness.

“Pastor, why would you want a revival, a time when people are in despair and sadness?” Because to reach the mountain top, you have to visit the valley. Because the surgeon cuts you in order to heal you.

1. A Deeper Awareness of God’s Presence

2. An Increased Sensitivity to Sin

3. A Renewed Discovery of God’s Grace

The strange thing about an awakened congregation is you’ll have a mixture of sadness and joy in the same room. There’s sadness because we realize the true weight of our sins, but there’s real gladness because we begin to appreciate the significance of the gospel. A lot of people right now are living life like this: “I live a good life; therefore Jesus accepts me.” But when revival comes, there’s a new embrace that Jesus saves sinners by grace. There’s a new grasp of the wonder of God’s grace.