Revival- by Martin Lloyd-Jones

	A revival is not the church deciding to do something and doing 
it. It is something that is done to the church.

The Urgent Need      (Mark 9:28-29)
People tend to sit in crowds and just watch other people play. We just
come to the church to get some personal help, and we ignore the state 
of the church itself. We are more active than we've ever been and less 
effective. 
The problem is not apathy, but a lack of awareness of the spiritual 
altogether. People think religion just belongs in church. Society has 
gone beyond immoral; we're amoral, or non-moral.
We make excuses for our failure and study the problem and come up with
all kinds of man-made solutions, but they don't work. All our methods 
affect is the already churched. "This kind cometh not out, but by 
prayer and fasting." You will never be able to deal with this kind 
unless you have applied to God for the power which he alone can give 
you. We must become aware of our need, our impotence, of our 
helplessness. Our methods will not solve the problem. Only God can. 
We need a power that can enter into the souls of men and break them 
and smash them and humble them and then make them anew. 
The value of fasting is that it enables you to give your undivided 
attention to a subject. You will never deal with this kind of problem 
until you have been praying, concentrating in prayer, waiting upon 
God, until he has filled you with the power. There is no hope until 
individual members of the Church are praying for revival. When God 
manifests His power, things begin to come easily, without all the 
human stress and strain.

Hindrances     (Gen. 26:17-18)
We do not realize that our primary need is life itself. It is not a 
problem of methods, organization, adjustments, improvements, or 
keeping up to date. It is a matter of needing God. In these desperate
times, it is not time to experiment. It is time to return to what works. 
God is still the same. Man is, too. So the problem is not a new one. 
The first problem is that our minds have been clouded, our source has 
been obscured. Certain truths have been omitted, and we don't believe 
rightly. If we want the blessing of the Holy Spirit, we must make sure
that our position conforms to his truth. 
A. The truth concerning the sovereign, transcendent, living God who 
acts, and who intervenes, and who erupts into the history of man and 
the church. 
B. The authority of the Bible. We don't need to search for God, He 
has revealed himself in His Word.
C. Man is in sin and under the wrath of God. 
D. The person of Jesus Christ. He is central. He is crucial. He is the
very center of  the life of the church. 
E. The work of atonement Jesus did. 
F. The person and work of the Holy Spirit. We are quenching  the 
Spirit and don't even know it. 
G. Justification by faith, not by works. 
H. The doctrine of regeneration. We are given a new nature. 

Other problems:
A. Doctrine without relationship.
B. Excessive emphasis on certain aspects of truth. (Imbalance)
C. Defective doctrine of the church - moving away from the church for 
special meetings (neutral ground).
D. Too much entertainment in the church  (Too much singing, not enough
preaching.)
E. Substituting evangelism for revival. Revival starts with something 
being done in and to the church. True evangelism comes out of a revived 
church.
F. Pride - of knowledge, of understanding.
G. Censoriousness - fault-finding and criticism.
H. Contentiousness.
I. Also, pettiness, smallness, jealousy, envy, self-importance, 
triviality, busyness.
Every period of revival than a great and a profound seriousness.

Dead Orthodoxy
A. Contentment -- self-satisfied. Maintaining and defending our 
position is our main business when we are like this. No real positive 
desire after God, only an interest in safety. Fond of general messages,
we don't allow it to get too personal.
B. Dislike of enthusiasm - this quenches the Spirit. Too concerned 
with order, we allow no room for the Spirit to move. We do not need 
emotionalism, but we do need emotion. And we need freedom of the 
Spirit. We need, not to control our religion, but to have our religion
control us.
C. Failure to apply the truth - We do nothing about the truth we 
encounter.  We allow only a surface conviction. We feel bad about sin,
 and we feel that is enough - nothing changes. We learn new truths, 
but again, we do nothing about it - nothing changes.
	1. We don't meditate on the truth we know and get it into our 
           spirits.
	2. Our lives are so cluttered with things and busy-ness, that 
           we become superficial and dry.
	3. We take little or no time for self-examination. If we do 
           not examine ourselves we will never truly pray. But neither 
           should we become so introspective that we become 
           self-consumed, or morbid and depressed.
D. Failure to realize the glorious possibilities of the Christian life. 
(See Eph. 3:16-19 and Phil. 3:9-10)
Revival is God making Himself manifest in a living way. The test of a 
Christian is not his busyness and activity, but his knowledge of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. "That I may know Him.."
E. Exclusion of real Christian experience - To willing to take 
everything by faith, and never manifesting anything. Experiences do 
matter. We are called to know him, not simply to believe.
F. Lack of true concern for the glory of God. It is not enough to just
be irritated by the blasphemy and sin of man. We must truly be grieved
that God's name is slandered, that God is not glorified, that God's 
heart is broken, and that people are going to hell. 
The vital thing to the real Christian is prayer, because he knows that
only God can change things and deal with this world. Those who really 
feel the burden are those who are driven to their knees and into the 
presence of God. And true prayer is only possible when we have a God 
consciousness, realizing the presence of the holy God.  We too often 
spend our lives in busy activism, instead of pausing to realize the 
possibilities and presence of God.
The inevitable preliminary to revival has always been a thirst for God.

Expecting Revival     (Joshua 4:21-24)
We must see that the problem is one that no human power is adequate 
to deal with. Until we come to that end, there is no hope. We are so 
morbidly concerned about ourselves and our own problems that we go to 
the Bible as a book that is going to help us with our problems. How 
often do we go to it just to see what it is saying to us? The Bible 
is a record of the activity of God, the manifestations of God.
The preaching of the Word must be of supreme importance. 
Revival is a period of unusual blessing and activity in the life of 
the church. It happens first amongst the church, and then reaches out.
Revival means awakening, stimulating the life, bringing it to the 
surface again.  A revival is not the church deciding to do something 
and doing it. It is something that is done to the church.
1. The essence of revival is that the Holy Spirit comes down on a 
   number of people, or a church, or an area, or nation.
2. People begin to have a keen awareness of spiritual things. 
   Spiritual things become realities.
    A. The glory and holiness of God. 
    B.  This leads to a deep sense of guilt.
    C. This, in turn, leads to a turning over of things to God.
3. The things of God begin to absorb peoples lives. It's the one thing
   they want to talk about.
4. A great concern for those who are outside or the church.
5. Prayer is always a great feature of every revival.
6. Thousands are converted.
7. A divine disorder - crowded and prolonged meetings, the Holy Spirit 
   is in control and man is not - schedules are blown apart. When the 
   Holy Spirit organizes things, time, the body and the needs of the 
   flesh are all forgotten. 
A revival means days of heaven upon the earth.

Characteristics of revival
1. People of all classes are affected.
2. It comes, lasts for a while, then passes.
3. The results of revival are abiding. People are added to the church.
4. Great zeal for God and holiness becomes manifest in the church 
   members and converts.
5. The numbers of those called to the ministry are increased enormously.
6. The moral tone and level of the church and the world outside is 
   visibly affected and raised.

Variations:
1. Differences in how it starts. (May start in different types of 
   meetings.)
2. Various types of man that God uses in revival.

A revival is a miracle. It is a miraculous phenomena. It is something 
that can only be explained as a direct action and intervention of God. 
It is, by definition, a mighty act of God, a sovereign move. There are
no methods in revival. Man cannot produce it or explain it. Nor can 
they control it. It is God and God alone. We can follow all the rules 
and all the patterns and still not achieve revival. It is in God's 
sovereign power alone to bring revival. 
We must simply give ourselves to prayer, beseeching Him to send 
revival.

The Purpose of Revival
1. That men might know that God is mighty. The purpose is that God 
   might be glorified. The primary thing is the glory of God.
2. That we might fear the Lord. That the church might fear Him and 
   honor Him.
    A. An unusual consciousness of God's presence and power are 
       evident.
    B. The church will then manifest his power.
    C. The one thing that matters is that we are rightly related to 
       God and always reliant on His power.
	Our faith stands not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of 
        God. Preaching must be in demonstration of the Spirit and power. 
        A man has to realize, after he has prepared his sermons, that 
        however perfectly he may have done so, that it is all waste 
        and useless unless the power of the Spirit comes upon it and 
        upon him. He must pray for that.
    D. The fear of man is taken away from us. We don't need to be 
       forming ministries and groups for fear that we will lose people
       without them. God must be our motivation. We've always had to 
       fight the flesh and the devil. That is nothing new. 
	Our supreme need, our only need, is to know God, and the power
        of his might. We need know nothing else.
3.  To deliver us from our enemies - without and within.

When does God send revival?
1. After a great period of trial and discouragement.
2. At the climatic point - when you are right up against the Red Sea, 
   hopeless and helpless. When people are in utter desperation and 
   final despair. 

The Effects of Revival    (Acts 2:12-13)
Some are amazed, some doubt, others mock. There is usually some  
unusual phenomena, but that is not the key, just the side effects. 
(Tongues, prophecy, slain in the spirit, jerking, etc.) The phenomena 
should not be sought, just revival. Seek the manifestation of God's 
glory and power. 

How Revival Comes    (Ex. 33:4-17)
There are generally steps and stages that lead to revival. It doesn't 
just happen out of nowhere. 
First, there must be a realization of how bad the situation is. We 
must realize God is not with us. There must be an awakening to the 
need.
Second, there must be repentance. 
Then, there must be a sincere and fervent seeking of God. We must 
desire to know Him, more than His blessings. There must be prayer.
Someone must get a burden and decide to do something. One must 
separate himself - consecrate - come out of the sinful influence. You
need not the sponsorship of men, but of the Holy Spirit. 
Our primary concern must be the holiness of God.  Then, we must begin 
to live holy unto the Lord. (Most people will just stand and watch,
 but we must get involved with the move of God.)
In revival, something begins to happen in the life of the church. 
Then God will give a sense of assurance to those in prayer that He is 
working.  
Holiness and intercession are the principal things.
We must develop an intense desire for more of God. Never get 
complacent and satisfied.

Moses' prayer:
1. For personal assurance.  (...That I may know thee...) He wanted a 
  deeper knowledge of God. We want a divine manifestation, something 
  tangible that lets us know God is with us.
2. For power.  (...If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up 
  hence...) We must realize our weakness and seek His strength. It is 
  only His strength that can get the job done. 
3. For authentication of the church and her mission.  (...Wherein 
  shall it be known that thy people have found grace in they sight...)
  This is a prayer that the church will become what she is supposed 
  to be. 







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