The Need of a Revival
The Lord has laid it on my heart to bring you a message on the subject, "The Need of a Revival." I am using that word "revival" to mean a spiritual awakening, or a refreshing from the presence of the Lord. I do not know why the Lord has laid this message on my heart, but He has—I can't get away from it, so I want us to look into "The Need of a Revival."
I want to show you,
1. The Condition of the Present-Day Church, as it furnishes a background for the
need of a spiritual awakening as we have never faced before.
2. What Is a Revival?
3. The Results of a Revival.
In Hab. 3:2 we find these words, "0 LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: 0 LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy" What a plea from the heart of this old prophet! The prophet Habakkuk, moved with the spirit of fear, was conscious of something unusual in the air around him. He felt that he was on the eve of some great manifestation of God, and he was afraid. He tells us in that sixteenth verse of the third chapter, "When I heard, my belly trembled...in myself.." The prophet began to see his own corruptness and vileness and depravity, and he was afraid. He felt that God was drawing near, and he did not wish to fight against God. My friend, I wish more people were afraid to fight against God.
A revival is the Lord God of Heaven becoming real to His people. He does this by first turning the searchlight of His presence upon the individual's heart until he begins to see his own rottenness and begins to tremble before the Sovereignty of God. Then the prophet cried out, "0 Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy." He did not want to fight God. How many of you are fighting God, in rebellion against Him! Let me tell you, friends, you had better not be found fighting God.
Then in Psa. 85:6 we find these words, as the old prophet gave vent to the cry of his soul, "Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?" You don't like a drought when you begin to see things burn up in the fields, do you? Neither do I like to see a dearth, or drought, in the church when everything becomes stagnant and stale—and there is no moving of the Spirit of God upon the hearts of individuals.
A revival is Jehovah God walking in the midst of His people showing them mercy. In II Chron. 7:14 Jehovah God speaks to His people, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." Here we have the call of God to His people to return to Him in repentance, forsaking their sins, that He may heal them, that is, save their souls and bless them in mercy. Do you not feel the need of a revival, my friend? All this week there has been such a burden upon my heart, a crying out unto the throne of God's grace, "Lord, give me this people as a trophy of Thy grace."
Let's first look at the background for the need of a revival. When we examine the present-day church, we find that she has lost the reality of Christ. Now, my friend, I am not critical; I am diagnosing the case. Will you sit there and listen? Will you get everything quiet? Don't jump up and say, "Oh, he's criticizing." My fnend, I am not. When a doctor comes in, sits down by the bedside and diagnoses that case, he's not critical—he is not criticizing that individual. He wants to help. So you listen.
The church has lost the reality of Christ today. In Rev. 3:20 we have the picture of Christ standing at the door of the church knocking for entrance, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." The church is represented here as being unaware of Christ's absence. They are going about their worship. They have all the outward form, they have all the shadows, but the substance, Christ, is absent, and the tragical situation is, the church is not conscious that He is absent. The reason I call your attention to this great fact is because folks are not talking about Christ when they come to worship. They – no, let me make it personal – You! – you are talking about the happenings of the week; you are talking about business. You are talking about your fishing trips; you are talking about a program. Or, you are talking about your pleasure trips, your parties, your social clubs. Worship has become just a habit and a form.
The missing note in present-day testimony is the Person and work of Christ. Yes, we have substituted social life and form for the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are very few today in comparison who are enjoying the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, a revival is the Lord Jesus living again in the midst of His people. Will you pray for me as I continue this message? Pray that God will open our eyes to see our need of a revival.
We are living in perilous times because the church today has lost the authority of God's Word. No longer does the average church member mold his life by the Word of God. I have never witnessed such a rebellion against the Word of God as we have today within and without the church and the ministry. Young people are revolting against the authority of the Word in shaping their lives. The wicked self-will of the average person is manifested in utter rebellion against the authority of God's Word. In Christ's day (I want you to get this) the religious world made much of the Word, but they crucified Christ; in our present day they try to make much of Christ, but they reject the Word of God.
The average church member today is governed, not by the Word of God, but by his own opinion. He has substituted a program for the Bible. Man today worships his own opinion. When you preach the Word of God to him in the power of the Holy Spirit, immediately he will say, "Oh, this is my opinion" – "Ah, I don't believe that." He will not have God's Word. Many of you who claim to believe God's Word, when it comes down to brass tacks, you will not have the Word of God to rule over you and shape your lives! Why? Because you are enmity against God: you are not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Rom. 8:7). How we do need men today who will go up and down this country under the power of God's Holy Spirit preaching the Word of God, like John the Baptist and others, until it will echo and re-echo in the hearts of men and they are broken at the feet of Christ crying for mercy!
We have also lost our compassion for the lost, and as a result our tears are dried up. The old-time prayer meetings where men threw their lives in the breach for the souls of men are all but a thing of the past. All through the New Testament it is said that Christ was moved with compassion as He looked upon the multitudes. The Apostle Paul said, "I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Rom. 9:3).
Where do we find such compassion today? The average church is just a business institution; church membership has been substituted for salvation, and the average person thinks only of getting members into his church, and not of the salvation of the lost. This is a sign that we have lost the prayer chamber and know nothing of the power of prayer, but have substituted banquets, oyster fries, and suppers instead. May God pour out the spirit of prayer and supplication upon us today. May hearts be moved far and near under the power of God's Holy Spirit for the souls of men. That's the prayer of my own heart—may I come to know a compassion for the lost that I have never known. Oh, the need of a spiritual awakening, a refreshing from the presence of God in our midst! Our cry is, "Revive thy work in the midst of the years...in wrath remember mercy."
We do not see lost souls going down to the vortex of Hell without God and without mercy. Seventy-five percent of our present-day ministry, according to statistics, believe that Hell is a myth. Therefore, to them sin is a virtue and God is such loving God until He would send no one to Hell, if there were a Hell. No such doctrine is taught in God's Word! May God help us in this hour! Wake up, friends. Men are going down to Hell.
One night an old man, a hunter, was walking down a section of railroad track, where there had been a great flood. He came upon a bridge across the old creek that had been washed away in the flood. He looked at his watch—only a few minutes until that fast express train would be coming around the curve, rolling across that broken trestle! He began running up the railroad track with lantern in hand. Minutes went by. Faster and faster he ran. Then all at once he heard the crackling of the steel rails on the ties. Somewhere around that curve the express was coming at breakneck speed. On he ran, and as the light of the train flashed in his face he began to wave that lantern frantically. He saw the engineer was not slowing down, and just before the engine passed, he leaped off the rails and flung that lantern into the lap of that engineer, crying, "My God, stop that train!" The engineer knew then there was danger ahead and brought the engine to a stop just as he started over that broken trestle. Oh, my friends, that my voice could go across the ether waves as a warning and fall into your hearts warning you of the danger ahead! There is a Hell. There is a sin-avenging God. Wake up, sinners! Wake up, Christians! May the mercy of God rest upon us.
Then we have lost Holy Spirit conviction of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; therefore, sinners are dry-eyed and unmoved. There is an utter absence of old-time, Bible, Holy Spirit conviction in our midst. There is the absence of the breaking up of the human heart, the plowing and subsoiling and making ready the heart of man for the planting of the seed of truth, which brings forth eternal life. We have substituted the wisdom of men, training, developing, and cultivating the old human nature. This has led to counting decisions for Christ as salvation, which has resulted in folks trying to quit their sins, and reform their lives. This is only religion without life, profession without possession, church membership without Christ. Such stuff cannot even be called religion. Lord, help us in this hour!
Having lost Holy Spirit conviction, the missing note in present-day preaching is repentance. Modern-day preaching, as a whole, does not produce repentance, bringing a sinner down in the dust and opening his heart until he sees himself as he is. In the absence of repentance, we have only a decision for Christ, which is a mental assent, and not a heart acceptance. All of this is Satan's method of trying to make the world religious without Christ.
Then we have lost the reality of blood redemption in Christ and substituted religious movies and all other forms of recreation for religious life, and Christ is not known experimentally among our people. He is not real; He is not a living reality to the vast majority of our church members. Our people do not know Him experimentally as their Lord and their Saviour. What a need for a revival, for God to move in our midst! Acts 3:19, says, "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."
This is a very dark background, but, my friend, the darker the cloud, the brighter the rainbow. It is in such hours as this that the grace of God stands out the brightest. Oh, that we could see and feel the need of a refreshing from the presence of the Lord and for Christ to walk anew in the midst of His people! Our one cry is, "Lord, rend the heavens and come down; Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years. Oh, Lord, send us a revival that Thy people may rejoice in thee!"
I know, as I have sat here and poured out my heart to you folks in radio land, many will say, "He doesn't know what he is talking about." Someone said one day, "That preacher doesn't know what he is talking about. Christ is real to the people. Why, we are in the midst of the greatest worldwide revivals we have ever known; more people are being saved today than ever in the history of the world."
My friend, will you listen while I analyze that statement—we are experiencing a great revival of religion on practically every continent and among every class of people, but it is not a revival from the presence of the Lord. What we are witnessing today is not a heart-felt revival. It is Satan trying to make the world religious without Christ. Christ is not becoming real to our people. I know, more people are making so-called decisions for Christ today and joining the church than in the history of Christendom, but it is a false revival! Let me repeat – it is a movement of satanic spirit trying to make the world religious without Christ.
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