5 Effects of True Revival

Posted at Reformation Scotland:

Today, many people pray and long for revival – a special outpouring of God’s blessing when His people are spiritually renewed and many others are converted. They view the advancing tide against the truth and Word of God with alarm and are concerned for the honour of God. This must not be a counsel of despair, as though we can do nothing without it and neither must we despise the day of small things. It’s possible to have a false romanticism about these things. Yet if the glory of God is truly paramount in such desires it is commendable. Revival is a time when God is truly seen as God – in His glorious majesty. This is what we desperately need. Secularism has pushed God to the edges and sometimes even Christians can be comfortable with that. Perhaps part of the difficulty is that revival is a distant memory. What would it look like and what effects would it have?

Some may ask: “do we need revival today?” The following brief clip may help to provide some answers to that question. It is the conclusion of the second video in the forthcoming Scotland’s Forgotten History series. The second video focuses on Scotland’s Forgotten Revival. This was a period which was arguably Scotland’s greatest revival. It went further, deeper and lasted longer than any other.



How Should We Pray for Revival?

Psalm 85:6-7 is a cry for God to revive His people again and have mercy on them. This is the Church praying for some relief from the distress in which they were at this time. David Dickson has some helpful comments on this Psalm that draw out the nature of true revival. The following is an updated extract. He notes that the cry assumes that God’s purpose and pleasure must be that His people should have joy in their God. On this basis and on the grounds of His covenant, they request new tokens of mercy.

It is like a death to be deprived of the evidence and sense of God’s favour. Likewise, it is life to be clear that we are in favour with God. Those who have had experience of the sense of God’s favour cannot endure to be without it and seek to have it restored.

We can expect a change for the better because plagues and wrath upon God’s people are only temporary. After they have smarted for their sins for a while, they may yet expect to be restored to joy and comfort again. Our joy should not be in the gift, but in the giver – we are to rejoice again in God Himself.

Read more here.