ORIGIN OF REVIVALS

To revive is to bring back to use or notice or return to a flourishing state. Church-wise, revival is restoring the church to itself to a vital and fervent relationship with God after a period of moral decline. As we delve into the study on the Origins of Revival, it behooves us to earnestly pray to God to revisit us with Christian Revival during our watch. This should be especially so because God is faithful and He answers prayers.

WHAT IS RELIGIOUS REVIVALISM

This is an evangelical movement that leads to the renewal of faith among Christians, bringing about powerful positive change. Christian revivalism is marked by increased spiritual interest of a church congregation, society, locality, or nation. Revival can also have a global effect. In the Bible, we have narratives of national religious decline and restoration in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

IMPACT OF REVIVAL

Revival impacts people in churches, cities, regions, and nations in many ways. The Kingdom of God comes to bear upon God’s people as it grows, resulting in:

1. Increased zeal for God and theological changes as greater illumination and insights of God’s Word come through. For example, the insight of the inclusion of the Gentiles into the Church without first becoming Jews or obeying their ceremonial rules (Acts 8, 10, 15).

2. Renewed devotion among Christians.

3. Concern for widows, orphans, and the economically challenged.

4. Deliverance for drug addicts and the homeless.

5. The establishment of Christian institutions that reflect and uphold Christian values.

6. A great move of the Holy Spirit.

TWELVE SIGNS OF REVIVAL

1. Emphasis on Jesus (Acts 2:37-38)
2. Repentance (1:37-38)
3. Passion for Prayer (2:42)
4. Hunger for the Word (2:42)
5. A burden for the lost (2:40)
6. Increase in salvation (2:41, 47)
7. Surge in calling to Ministry and missions (4:20)
8. The manifest presence of God (2:24, 27)

The true qualities or marks of a true revival are:

1. Rediscovery of the Word of God.
2. Restored sense of the fear of God.
3. A return to God through confessions and repentance.
4. A renewed spiritual commitment as God’s people.
5. A reformation of true piety (2 Kings 22:18-20).

“A broken heart and a contrite spirit God will not despise.”

REVIVAL VERSES

Isaiah 57:15; 41:10; 6:5, Ephesians 4:22-24; 5:14, Psalms 80:19; 119:107, 154, 25; 19:7; 22:27, 2 Chronicles 7:14 James 4:6, 8, 1 John 1:9, 1 Kings 18:21 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17, Acts 1:8, Habakkuk 3:2, Hosea 6:2, Jeremiah 30:17; 33:3; 6:16 Matthew 6:33; 3:16; 24:14, Romans 1:16.

GOD’S PURPOSE TO REVIVAL

To bring spiritual awakening to the culture at large audiences.

THE 3 PRINCIPLES OF REAL REVIVAL:

a) Christ-focused, Christ-centered, Christ-exalted, Christ-honoring, Christ-worshipping, Christ-proclaiming. Revival is returning to God with a fresh awareness of Jesus as Lord of our lives and putting Him back at the center of our lives.

b) The essence of revival is a return to the authority of God’s Word and an intense conviction of sin leading to repentance and an increased awareness of God’s presence.

c) The purpose of revival is to revive a backslidden Church. It is primarily for Christians and implies a need for a visitation from God.

BENEFITS OF REVIVAL

God draws near and comes down, sensitivity to sin is intensified, God’s Word is embraced, the Church becomes the Church, evangelistic zeal is intensified, Biblical justice is pursued, routine things occur rapidly, God is enjoyed.

“Many blessings may come to the unconverted in consequence of a revival among Christians, but the revival itself has to do with those who already possess spiritual life” – Charles H. Spurgeon.

HOW AND WHERE REVIVAL BEGINS

Revival begins where? It always begins with you and me. God breaks in, the Gospel finds a new audience, and Christians find new ways of presenting Jesus to the world. True revival may start in a corner but it thrives in a crowd.

Revival is brought by putting on the light—inviting God in. Revivals begin with few, sometimes only one. Revival is a prayer, a decision, a commitment. It is sparked by people. It is not a random move of God, as in David’s prayer in Psalm 51. Revival prayer, like in Psalm 139, is a prayer to be searched by God, cleansed, and directed. This is a case of personal revival in an individual’s heart and soul. When we consciously open up to the Holy Spirit by faith and He speaks to us over the condition of our hearts, we obey Him. Without this obedience, there can be no personal revival, and hence no revival at all.

HOW REVIVAL BEGINS

Revival begins with one then spreads out to the poplars. When revival breaks out, God breaks in and the Gospel finds a new audience. Christians also find new ways of presenting the Gospel to the world. Simply put, revival comes to a prepared people who are possessed of tender hearts and humble spirits. Orchestrating its widespread is God’s work. Revival always occurs inside the atmosphere of prayer. Every revival exhibits a change of thought in the world of beliefs, social and political issues, expansion, and change. True revival results in a change in society inspired by transformed individual belief in Christ. It results in transformed individuals who bring about a transformed society and world. Money should never be allowed to usurp Christianity nor materialism, classism nor tribalism, nor non-tolerance in marriages or immorality.

FIRST GREAT AWAKENING (1730s-1790s)

This began in Continental Europe and later moved on to the American colonies. The Wesley brothers and George Whitefield were prominent Protestant figures in the First Great Awakening. In central Europe, the message of the revivalists was:

1. Confess your sins and
2. Devote your lives to the Lord.

The First Great Awakening broke out in the period of 1730s to 1790s in Germany, Switzerland, England, and Scotland. The awakening revitalized Protestantism in Germany and Scandinavia by a movement known as Pietism. It resulted in a devotion to the Christian faith against the tide of the Enlightenment movement that pushed intellectual and scientific rationale in opposition to religion, leading to worldliness. Watch out against the devil, for he will often come with fake alternatives in an attempt to oppose and neutralize God’s move.

The revival that broke out in central Europe, in Germany known as Pietistic Revival, had leaders like Philip Spencer, a theologian and professor, and August Franke, a pastor in the same city as the University. Over and above justification by faith, which Luther had emphasized two centuries earlier at the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation, they gave special attention to sanctification. They not only believed in correct doctrine but also in experiencing a life filled with the Holy Spirit. They also stressed the importance of knowing that we have genuine faith that results in the new birth.

The balance between God’s free gift of imputed righteousness and the importance of experiential righteousness has been brought to us through the role of the Holy Spirit. In the pursuit of experiential righteousness, people become holy, consecrated, delivered, and have power over sin, rather than sin having power over them. This put focus on worship, the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, as well as accountability in small groups.

We shall now look at specific revivals.

THE MORAVIAN REVIVAL

A young man named Ludwig Von Zinzendorf, who went to University and attended Franke’s Church later led a great revival movement. He became the leader of the Herrnhut Community, or the Moravians. This revival broke out at midnight during the Lord’s Supper. The 24/7 prayer meetings that began at that time continued for 100 years – long before the prayer meetings hosted by Mike Bickle’s International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri. Apart from Pietists emphasis, this movement was known for missionary enterprise. They sent out more missionaries in twenty-five years than the Protestant world had sent in the preceding 200 years despite being a community of less than 300. They emphasized the power of prayer and being filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Moravians had a powerful impact on the next revival, namely The Great Evangelical Revival of England under John Wesley and George Whitefield. Wesley himself experienced his conversion at a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street. He and Whitefield were filled with the Holy Spirit at around 3 a.m. during an observance meeting of the Lord’s Supper on Fetters Lane. Wesley’s concern for experiential sanctification as a second definite work of grace was heavily influenced by the Moravians, as well as his class meetings or small groups. On theological matters, Wesley was an Arminian and Whitefield a Calvinist.

This awakening was marked by devotion of faith. It countered the European movement of Enlightenment, which was spreading through the American colonies. Because of this ‘Enlightenment’ movement, ministers began to alter Calvinist teachings about the prestige of scripture and churchgoers began to value worldly possessions over God. It is noteworthy that during this time, 5% of Wales Christians transformed the other 95% through revival. The First Awakening preachers told people to confess their sins and devote their lives to the Lord. Prominent among these revivals was Methodism in the Church of England. It had been begun by John and Charles Wesley who later traveled to America to evangelize the colonies. Methodism gained momentum when John and Charles Wesley came to the American colonies. The Wesleys had earlier started the first Methodist group within the Church of England. They introduced Methodist teachings to Rev. George Whitefield who traveled to the southern and later middle colonies of America to evangelize them through this method with great success.

Jonathan Edwards also gained great popularity in this First Awakening for his sermons about the Judgment of God. He preached that the only way to be saved is through individual repentance.