What is revival? Revival is a restitution or a restoration to spiritual vigor. Revival is a reawakening of spiritual fervor. It is to revitalize the spiritual ardor of oneself, of a group of believers so as to reestablish the ability to win new members to Christ.
As Spurgeon said,
“Revival is to live again, to receive again a life which has almost expired, to rekindle into a flame the vital spark which was nearly extinguished” (https://archive.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/wir1866.php).
What a thought to know that someone who is spiritually alive needs reviving! The flame of life within their soul is dimming, like a candle, whose wax is slowly wanning. There are some Christians who are like this, they are barely alive. They have fallen, down into the mirey pits of sin, like falling into quicksand, slowly descending further into its depths. They have grown cold and indifferent. They have become like the world.
Did you know that you can only revive something that once was alive? If it has never been alive, it cannot be revived, it only be brought to life. So, what is it with this passage of Scripture that we are looking at? It is speaking to those who have become lukewarm Christians. They are no longer on fire for the Lord. They have become casual Christians, only showing a spiritual side when it benefits their worldly desires.
• Verses one through three points toward the mercy of God “Thou Hast.”
• Verses four through five tells us to remember, “Turn Us” of “Our Salvation.”
• Verses six is about restoration, “Revive Us Again.”
Psalm 85:6; 1 Chronicles 29:11.
Church Hymnal, page 370, Revive us again.
We praise the Thee, O God!
For the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died,
And is now gone above.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.
The psalmist was requesting that God resuscitate his people or bring them back to life. God is equipped and is very capable in restoring the two, the churches and the people. He can shower us with his affections, taking and bringing us back to where we should be, adoring and worshiping him. If we need restoration, if we need renewal, if we need revival in our congregation, in our family, or even in our individual spiritual life, we ought to seek out and request that God give us a new equipping of his love, grace, and mercy. How do we do this? This occurs through the continual usage of CPR – Christ Providing Rejuvenation, and by obtaining a regularly scheduled spiritual exam – which is much like a physical.
Psalm 139:23-24.
Church Hymnal, page 141, Search me.
Search me, O God, and know my heart today.
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me.
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.
We are to examine ourselves:
• Psalm 26:2, Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
• Psalm 51:2, Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
• Psalm 51:12, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
• 1 Corinthians 11:28, But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
• 2 Corinthians 13:5, Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
• Acts 3:19, Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
While a genuine restoration or revival has a place only with God's children, it carries with it a gift for the other sheep who are not yet in the fold. If you drop a stone into a lake the ring extends consistently, until the farthest corner of the lake feels the impact. When we allow the Lord to restore a believer, very soon his family, his companions, and his neighbors get a portion of that benefit; for when a Christian is resuscitated and revived, he prays more intensely for sinners. Yearning and a cherishing petition for sinners is one of the signs of a recovery in the reestablished heart.
Since salvation is requested for sinners, the gift comes from him who hears the supplications (prayers); and hence the kingdom increases by a revival. Before long, the revived Christian talks about Jesus and the Gospel; a great seed is planted, and the good seed is never lost, for he has said, “So shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). The good seed is that which is planted in the soil, and in the hearts. God readies the soil, with the goal that the seed rises for harvest. Subsequently by the witness of the believers, another entryway of mercy opens up to men.
For a congregation to be continually requiring restoration and revival, it is the sign of many sins, for assuming that it was sound before the Lord it would stay in the condition into which a recovery would inspire its individuals. A church congregation should be a camp of fighters, not a clinic for invalids. In any case, there is incredibly much contrast between what should be and what is, and therefore a considerable number of the children of God are in such a tragic state of existence that the exceptionally fittest petition is for them to be revived.
Whenever Christians are resuscitated, they live more reliably. They make their homes all the more blessed and more joyful, and this drives those that do not know Christ to enquire after their joyfulness. Heathens by God's elegance long to resemble such bright blissful holy people. Their mouths water to dine with them upon their secret sustenance. Furthermore, there is another gift, for it drives men to look for the Savior. Assuming that a wicked man ventures into a church service where every one of the holy people are resuscitated, he does not fall asleep under the message.
The preacher will not allow him to do that, for this sinner sees that the man in the pulpit feels what he is preaching about and needs to be heard. This is an unmistakable increase, for the man tunes in with profound inclination. Moreover, the Holy Spirit's power, which the preacher has received in reply to prayer happens upon the listener's heart and he is persuaded of his wrongdoing, of God’s righteousness, and of the judgment to come.
Christians who are on the watch around this non-believer rush to tell him of the Savior and his redeeming blood, so that although the revival is for the people of God, its consequence no man can restrict. Brothers and Sisters, let us look for a revival now and throughout the year so that the new year might open with plentiful beatitude. We should promise ourselves to create a supplication association (prayer group), a consecrated band of prayer warriors, and may God do unto us as per our faith.
Revival is the product of ALL Christian’s praying and seeking the Holy Spirit’s presence. The product of a revival is the rejoicing for the one that was slipping away and now that has been brought back to life.
