Jonah 3:1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
3:2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3:3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
3:4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
3:6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
3:7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
3:9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
3:10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Today we will discuss the nature of revival. What is revival? Is it something that happens simply because we decide to hold special church services on evenings during the week, or is it more than that? Today we will examine these questions, and we will examine them by looking at the testimony of the Bible and the testimony of history.
During the War Between the States, many souls were saved on both sides during revivals held in the army camps. So as we begin this morning, as we speak about real revival, I would like to begin with a quotation from the Rev. W.W. Bennett of Virginia. After the conclusion of that terrible war, he wrote as follows:
Throughout the South, almost every crossroad witnessed the separation of comrades in arms, who had long shared the perils and privations of a terrible struggle. ... Endeared to each other by their ardent love for a common cause, their words of parting, few and brief, were words of warm fraternal affection. ...
Were the fruits of revival in that army enduring? To this question, thousands can this day, more than twelve years after the banners of the South were furled, give an emphatic affirmative response. In all the churches in the South, there are earnest, devout, and active Christians, who date their spiritual birth from some revival in Virginia, in the West, or in the far South.
And before them vividly rises the rude camp church, the gathering throngs from the various commands, the hearty singing, the simple and earnest prayers, the tender appeals of the loved Chaplain, urging all who stand on the perilous edge of battle to fly for refuge to the Friend of sinners, the responsive approach to the place of prayer, the sobs, the groans, the tears of men who could look steadily into the cannon’s mouth, the bright faces, the shouts and hand-shaking, and embraces of new-born souls –
... these are the bright spots to which memory returns and delights to dwell upon in that dark period that drenched the land in blood and put a load of grief upon every household.
Strange as it may seem to many readers, the call to preach the gospel of Christ came to the hearts of the men of war on the tented field; and no sooner were their carnal weapons laid aside than they buckled on the Divine armor, and, seizing the sword of the Spirit, entered the battle against the powers of darkness.
In this we find one of the strongest proofs of the genuineness of the great revival in the Southern armies. Truly, though many of its participants have passed now the flood of death, its fruits are still enduring.
Rev. W.W. Bennett
Richmond, Virginia
May, 1877
Thus we see one means by which we may know if true revival has come. When true revival comes, the fruits will endure.
Now I am sure that you have all heard about this great movement which has been taking place over the last few years. It has gone by a number of names. In some circles you will hear it referred to as the Toronto Blessing. Some call it the Pensacola Outpouring.
As a result of the large followings which have gathered and contributed money to these causes, the leaders of these movements have become wealthy in filthy lucre. The “worship” services feature errant doctrine and esoteric experience, instead of Biblical teaching and preaching and God centered prayer.
The attendees often are “slain in the spirit” by the ministers, and many other highly questionable practices occur. Still, thousands attend these services each and every day. Is this real revival?
Well, has the fruit endured? The answer is it has not. In Toronto and in Pensacola, there is no difference in the crime rates because of these so-called revivals; there is no want for business in the local saloons. Prostitution and gambling have not decreased.
Nothing has changed as a result of this kind of revival, and as the fruits cannot be seen, no revival can be said to have occurred.
Hank Hanegraff wrote that “while leaders of the counterfeit revival enslave devotees through hypnotic schemes, leaders of genuine revival enlighten disciples through Holy Scripture. ... While the Counterfeit Revival is fixated on sensational manifestations like being “slain in the spirit,” genuine revival is focused on salvation and sanctification in the Spirit.”
Lying in the floor laughing for hours is not the true fruit of revival; rather salvation and sanctification of sinners are the true fruits of true revival. That’s the kind of revival that W.W. Bennett spoke about in 1877. He could see the fruit of that revival which had occurred twelve years earlier.
He saw the swords beaten into pruning hooks, as he saw so many of the soldiers in the cause of the Confederacy also become as well soldiers in the cause of Christ Jesus. He saw repentance, he saw men turn from their sin in tears because God had used even that awful specter of war to call men to Himself.
He saw the seeds sown during the war in the rude and crude camp churches, and he saw the fruits enduring yet twelve years from that time. Moreover, we see the fruit of God’s planting in that time still being reaped today, though the harvest grows thinner it seems.
You live in the Bible Belt today because of the irresistible inward call of the Holy Ghost to those who sowed that seed now so long ago.
Real revival bears real Spiritual fruit, and real revival comes only from God. It comes from God alone. It begins when God Himself places that undeniable burden upon the hearts of His people to pray for revival. Prayer involves us in the work that God is doing.
Prayer is not simply telling God what we want to happen so that He can be our errand boy and go and fetch it for us. That’s what the Counterfeit Revivalists teach, that you can have whatever you want in this life if you will just have enough faith in and of yourself and ask Him for it.
You can cause God to serve you. But that is not the way things really are. God is God!!! He is sovereign. Does Ephesians 1:11 tell us that God worketh according to our desires and wishes, according to what we think we want or need?
No, Ephesians 1:11 says that God worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. Moreover, Hebrews 6:17 talks about the immutable, that is, the unchangeable counsel of God. In Malachi 3:6 God Himself declares, “I am the Lord, I change not ...”
Now I am very glad that God is deciding what is best rather than leaving it up to me. I’m sure I’d make quite a mess of things, but God will not do that. Romans 8:28 says “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” What a great promise!
Prayer involves us in the work that God is already doing, and God delights in those prayers, they are like a sweet savor to Him, we are told. We are His instruments to accomplish work in this world to glorify Him. When God burdens the hearts of His people to pray earnestly for revival, then will revival come. That is the first step, and God is the cause, not men. We are His instruments to accomplish His sovereign will.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon said:
(Spurgeon Quotes) All true religion is the work of God ... It is a sin of the greatest magnitude to suppose that there is aught in the heart which can be acceptable unto God, save that which God himself has first created there. ...
We want a revival of old-fashioned doctrine. I know not a single doctrine which is not at this hour studiously undermined by those who ought to be its defenders. There is not a truth that is precious to the soul which is not now denied by those whose profession it is to proclaim it. To me it is clear that we need a revival of old-fashioned gospel preaching ...Urgently do we need a revival of personal godliness. This is, indeed, the secret of church prosperity. When individuals fall from their steadfastness, the church is tossed to and fro; when personal faith is steadfast, the church abides true to her Lord. We deeply want a revival of domestic religion. The Christian family was the bulwark of godliness in the days of the puritans, but in these evil times hundreds of families of so-called Christians have no family worship, no restraint upon growing sons, and no wholesome instruction or discipline. How can we hope to see the kingdom of our Lord advance when His own disciples do not teach His gospel to their own children?
So we see that Rev. Spurgeon has identified four facets of revival that were needed in his day and so as well in our own time. He said we need revival of old-fashioned doctrine, gospel preaching, personal godliness, and domestic religion.
In looking at these four areas where revival is needed, the first one should be very obvious to us. We need a revival of old-fashioned doctrine. Too many in the church today want to leave the plain doctrines and teachings of the Scripture and embrace false teachings.
Many will accept the Biblical teachings only when the Bible says what they think it ought to say, but we must accept the Holy, inerrant, and infallible Word of God as the final authority in all matters about which it speaks. No substitute will do. Our logic may be used to understand what the Scripture says, but it should never replace Scripture. Our experience is important to our Christian witness, but it, too, is only a deceiver when it opposes the teachings of the Scripture.
Our church traditions may be very dear to us, but should that tradition oppose Scripture, the traditions must be abandoned, and the Scripture must be embraced. Though heaven and earth may pass away, the Word of God shall not pass away. It is immutable. It is sure. It is authoritative.
Also, we must understand first the nature of true gospel preaching. What is true gospel preaching? True gospel preaching extends the outward call of the gospel without distinction. However, we must realize that God Himself must produce that irresistible inward call of the gospel in the heart of the unregenerate sinner. We have the privilege of serving God to extend the outward call, but only God can use that outward call as an instrument to call sinners to Himself in salvation.
Our Lord knows already and has always known who are His elect. He chose them from before the foundation of the world. In John 17:2, Jesus claims that God has given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him.
Now some seem to have a picture of Jesus standing there just hoping that someone will decide for themselves by means of their own free will, to follow Him. They act as though He has no idea what an individual may decide, and is taking no initiative to regenerate souls.
But that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible does not say that the Father gives all people everywhere to Jesus and they can come to Him if they want to and they can walk away if they want to. No, in John 6:37, Jesus says, “All the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”
Once again, with reference to preaching in revival, I quote Charles Spurgeon:
"I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, ’You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for Myself.’ My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will.”--Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Well, what about the second area about which Spurgeon spoke, that of personal godliness?
The way that you conduct yourself influences others. If God sanctifies you such that your personal godliness is evident to others, God will also use that example that you set to bring His people to Him in faith.
Perhaps I can cite an example again from the years of the War Between the States. Rev. Dr. Rondel Rumburg relates a story about General Thomas J. Jackson, better known as Stonewall Jackson and the way that God used him to influence others of His people. Rumburg writes:
The very life of this man pointed others to Christ. Upon leaving a council of war one night, Gen. A.P. Hill laughingly said to Gen. Ewell, “Well I suppose Jackson wants time to pray over our strategy.” As Providence would have it, Gen. Ewell left his sword in Jackson’s tent and had to return for it. He found Jackson on his knees in prayer, and he could do nothing but stand silently for awhile.
He was deeply moved by what he heard and saw, saying later that “If that is religion, I must have it.” Some time later, Gen. Ewell made a profession of faith in Christ, saying that he had owed much to the influence of the example of Gen. Jackson. Although Ewell first thought Jackson to be crazy, he later, by the grace of God, came to understand and esteem Jackson highly as a brother in Christ.
My friends, people may think you are crazy for blessing your food at a restaurant, or for protesting against the murder of unborn children, or for reading your Bible, or for advocating prayer in the schools, or for spending your Sundays at church, or for any other thing that God calls you to do. But you never know what seed you have planted in the life of someone else. You may never see the harvest, but know that God can call His own to Him by means of such example.
Next, we come to what Spurgeon called domestic religion. The Bible says that we must train up our children in the way that they should go so that when they are old they will not depart from it. Well how do we do that. We must provide spiritual nourishment for them at home. In a world full of video games, movie channels, e-mail, and sitcoms; the study of the Holy Scripture at home can be completely omitted. What does God call you to do in this area today?
Do we, as adults, study the Bible enough ourselves? Do we spend more time each day watching television or praying and studying the very Word of God? How can we expect to see revival when Jerry Seinfeld, and those like him, command more of our time than Jesus Christ?
In our Scripture text for today, we see that Jonah was like us in many ways. God called him. He told Jonah to “get to Nineveh” but Nineveh was the capital city of those hated Assyrians, and Jonah did not want to go. He did not understand that God’s calling is without repentance. Now you may think that you will be able to resist the sovereign will of almighty God, but you, like Jonah, will not do it. God knew all along what was going on with Jonah.
Now we should take a lesson from Jonah. When the Lord told Jonah to “get to Nineveh,” he should know that he’s going to be going to Nineveh! When God told Jonah to “get to Nineveh,” He meant to get to Nineveh!
Jonah lacked faith, but see how God used Jonah to preach to those in Nineveh, and revival came to Nineveh because God used Jonah. Real fruit followed the revival in that city and many came to repentance, avoiding the fate that would have awaited them otherwise, and Jonah, ultimately too, received a blessing. God’s gift of faith was increased to Jonah.
A pastor friend of mine who is familiar with the Hopewell church commented that we just did not understand about revival. He said we were not planning to have a revival this week, but that we were already in revival, that this week we had just planned some special services to be a part of the revival that has already been taking place. But while it felt good to me to hear that remark, it also underscored the fact to me that we must be ever vigilant in order to continue to be the beacon in this community that God alone has caused us to be.
Remember the aspects then of revival that we have discussed and continue to apply them in your lives as active participants in this ministry of God in this church.
Remember to begin with prayer, as a means to involve us continually in the work of the Lord. Remember to remain committed to that old-fashioned doctrine, because it is the truth, no matter what others may say or think about it.
Preach the true gospel as it is given in the Scripture; not adhering to what you or others think the Scriptures ought to have said, but rather adhering to what they do say.
Remember to set a Godly example before the lost world in which we live. Also, remember to practice your Christianity at home as well as in public and at church. Study the Word, for how else will you be able to teach others, especially those in your own household?
Finally, hear God’s call and obey His voice always claiming that great promise of Romans 8:28.
If you’re here in need of a church home this morning. If the Lord calls you perhaps to unite with us formally and publically, won’t you meet with me or with any of our elders at the close of the service? We rejoice with each new soul that enters the fold of Christ.
