Why Revival?

I have been reading through J. Edwin Orr's All Your Need:  10,000 Miles of Miracle Through Australia and New Zealand, a chronicle of Orr's travels as he was used by God to spark revival.  Everywhere he went he challenged Christians with what is hindering revival in their own lives.  Typically his words were met with silence, but finally someone would openly confess their sin and others would follow like a torrent.  People were broken for their sins as they prayed for one another, secret sins were confessed and forsaken, and broken friendships were restored.  There is a price to be paid for revival, and it is one only paid through humility and personal obedience to Jesus Christ.

The modern-day conception of "revival" is a commonly misunderstood topic, possibly because there is not a great amount of biblical doctrine on the matter.  When Christians see the sinfulness of the world and pine for revival, they are longing for the wrong thing.  Lost sinners need salvation through the Gospel, and Christians need revival.  It is true the effect of revivals are not restrained to Christians alone, but revival is something which can only happen among Christians because sinners are dead in trespasses and have never been spiritually alive.  Revival is needed among the sleepy, stagnant, apathetic, careless, and hypocritical Christians.  Notice I did not say "professing Christians."  Let us be honest and admit there have been seasons, and you or I might even be in such a season right now, where sin in our lives has put distance between us and God.  It has been a long while since we have been on speaking terms with God.  We might speak with Him, but we cannot say honestly He has been speaking with us.  And if He has been speaking, we either haven't been hearing Him or we have not be interested to do what He has said.  He has justly been silent, and we have kept going about our lives as if all is well.

I have never met a Christian who was not interested to some degree to see a revival in their days.  In fact, there are people who often say passionately, "What we need is revival!"  Christians want revival like fans of sports teams want their side to win the grand final.  It is a strange truth that the needs we perceive in others exactly reflect our own.  Desire to see a revival doesn't mean we are desperate to be revived ourselves.  I have never, ever heard someone say, "What I need is revival!"  It is easy to see others are stagnant in their walk or filled with worldly ambitions or desires, but I often cannot perceive my own need for the same.  If you are one of those who preaches the need for revival, it's important to examine your own heart and motives:  do you need revival?  Why revival?  What sort of benefits do you hope to receive from it?  Do you want revival because you desire to see others change, to see signs and wonders, to reduce the crime in your city, to improve attendance in your church, or for anything else than a closer walk with Jesus?  Everyone loves a good show, and those who have their hearts fixed on revival run the risk of longing for something less than God's glory.  And if you are not interested in revival, remember that it is the desperate need of those who fear God.  Like repentance, revival is not a one-time occurrence.  It is written in by lovers of God in Psalm 85:6, "Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?"

If you want revival in your life today for God's sake, by God's grace you can have it.  God's promises in His Word are true.  If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  James 5:16-17 says, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months."  Since God heard and answered Elijah's prayer concerning the weather, won't He hear and answer the prayer of His precious children though our faith be small?  The truth is, as much as we like the sound of living our lives for God, there is often a part of us that holds back.  We want revival, but at the same time we really don't.  We Christians can hesitate to pray for revival just like an unbeliever hesitates to follow Jesus.  We know it will cost us something - no, everything - and we aren't willing to pay the price.  Like the animals in the fable of the "Little Red Hen" who were unwilling to help plant the grain, harvest the grain, grind the grain into flour, or bake the bread but were very glad to eat the bread, so we can be with revival.  We want the benefits of having it all done for us by God instead of denying ourselves, taking up our cross daily, and following Jesus.

Consider this quote by Richard Baxter concerning the cost of reformation, which is the outflow of true spiritual revival:  "Reformation is to many of us, as the Messiah was the Jews.  Before he came, they looked and longed for him, and boasted of him, and rejoiced in hope of him; but when he came they could not abide him, but hated him, and would not believe that he was indeed the person, and therefore persecuted and put him to death, to the curse and confusion of the main body of their nation."  Even as Jesus must be your LORD to be your Messiah, revival must be fervently desired in you first.  It is hypocrisy to put upon other people something you will not have yourself.  Are there hindrances to revival in your own life?  Are you so cold you do not care?  How good it is to have our cold hearts warmed again by the love of Jesus Christ and for us to lay hold of the certain hope of newness of life through faith in Him!  Put aside all the fantasies of what good will come from revival in a city or nation and lay hold of the reality of fellowship with God for yourself today.  Our walk with Jesus does not depend on anyone else but ourselves, for as David wrote in Psalm 138:7:  "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me."