Revival Lecture

Revive- revitalize, recover lost energy, restore power.
You can only revive something that has been alive. So in Biblical Revival you have to presuppose Salvation. Revival can spread to the unsaved, but it must start with Christ’s Church. Revival takes preparation, we are to be obedient and seek the LORD, and then we wait expectantly on God. Revival is an act of mercy in the sovereignty of God.

“Sow to yourselves in righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, til He come and rain righteousness upon you.” ~Hosea 10:12

“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee.” ~Psalm 85:6
“Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” ~Psalm 80:3
“Turn us again, O God of Hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.”
~Psalm 80:7

“So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O LORD God of Hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” ~Psalm 80:18-19

“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;” ~Acts 3:19

Revival, in the historical sense, is not the same as evangelism. Revival changes the moral climate of the community.

• Revival cannot be organized.
• Revival cannot be subsidized.
• Revival cannot be advertised, Evangelism can and usually must be. Revival is like a fire, and there is nothing more attractive than a fire, it is self advertising.
• Revival cannot be computerized.
• Revival cannot be regularized. There are high and low spots even in revival. There are periods of joy, sorrow, and stillness.
• Revival cannot be rationalized. You can’t put your finger on where or why it began.
• Revival cannot be denominationalized.

It has to be brought on by agonizing prayer. Agonizing prayer comes through vision, a vision that recognizes that our sin offends a Holy and Righteous God.

“Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders [and] all the inhabitants of the land [into] the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,” ~Joel 1:13-14

“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye [even] to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he [is] gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” ~Joel 2:12-13

*Notes taken from sermon by Leonard Ravenhill, “Revival Series- Lecture I”