Revival Series

Clovis Chappell, the great Southern preacher and author, said in one of his messages, "What

announcement could the average pastor make to his people next Sunday that would create less

enthusiasm, less approval, less holy expectancy, then that he would soon to begin a revival?" Rather

than this being a beginning of anything creative, it would in most cases meet with a yawn. The word

revival use to be an exciting word to Christians, but in modern times it has lost its charm. Chappell

points out that we are not opposed to revival in other areas of life. The revival of nature appeals to

us, and we anticipate spring. New life is restored to the vegetation of earth. The bare limbs of trees

are clothed in glorious green. The naked earth puts on the garments of grass and colorful flowers.

We rejoice and feel good about such a revival.

We love a revival of the body. If it has been sick, we rejoice when it is restored to health, and

we walk in joy with our new strength. It gives us a new zest for living to be rid of the body as a

wearisome burden, and have it restored as willing companion of the spirit. Such a revival is

cherished. What if it could be announced that the economy was heading for revival? Everyone

would eagerly listen to such an announcement and receive it with enthusiastic gratitude. Chappell

says, "But when we begin to speak of a revival in religion our interest wanes, our minds wander, we

slip into a comatose state and wonder how soon the tiresome ordeal will be over." Even if this is an

exaggeration, the question is, why is it close to the truth?

The answer seems to lie primarily in the fact that too many so-called revivals in the past have

been man-made counterfeits. Many have gotten up a 3 ring circus and manipulated masses about by

the use of emotional techniques, and then left them to settle down into a state of coldness and

depression, making them worse off than before. This negative experience has made Christians fear

revival. Counterfeit healings have made people skeptical of believing in the real thing. S. P. Long

in his book Prophetic Pearls wrote of conditions many years ago. "The religious vaudevilles which

have been carried on in some of the cities in this country during the past few years by the

get-rich-quick actors who do not fit in the pulpit, or on the stage, has so disgusted the cool-headed,

thinking Christians, that we have been led almost to shun the word, 'revival.'"

Many of us can identify with this negative attitude to revival, but let us recognize that no abuse

of truth should be allowed to rob us of the use of it.

We dare not throw out the baby with the bath water. Let us not cease to quote the Scripture because

the devil himself quoted it to the Lord in temptation. Everything good can be used poorly, and even

for evil, but it is folly to forsake all good because it can be abused. Revival is not only a good word

used in Scripture, it is also a good and positive experience. When rightly understood, we will long

for it in the religious realm as we do in all other areas of life.

The prefix re means back, and it refers to going back to some original or former state. To

re-pay is to pay back, and to re-strain is to hold back, to re-ply is to talk back, and on and on we

could go. So the way to get ahead is to go back to the best you ever were. This means we were at

some point in the past more dedicated, and now we have become cold and lost the fire we once had.

Revival is not going back to the same old thing, but to that which is better, and to the best we have

ever been. The Renaissance was a return to the classical spirit and a restoration of the noblest

achievements of the ancient world. The Reformation was a return to the Bible and a restoration of

New Testament Christianity. A revolution is an overthrow of the present system in order to return to

a former system thought to be more excellent. Revival is getting back to the best.

There are numerous synonyms of revival. You have renew, refresh, renovate, resuscitate,

reanimate, reinvigorate, and even to repair, for that is to restore something to its original and better

state. It does not matter that a person or church is dead, for Christianity is about the resurrection of

the dead, and the good news is that revival can bring the dead back to life and restore people and

churches to what they were at their best.