Revival - Part 1: What is Revival?

“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence”. (Isaiah 64:1)

“Will thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6
These verses contain the very essence of revival, God does wonderful things, and as he draws near to his people they rejoice in his presence. However, there is no neat definition of revival that enables us to state simply what it is or what it is not, and the best that can be done is to describe it as it has appeared down through the centuries.
However, it is first of all necessary to clear up some misunderstandings about revival that have given it something of a bad name in some quarters. Revival is not something that can be organised by a church on a particular date. However successful such meetings may be they have little impact on the outside world. In revival whole towns, cities and countries are affected.
Revival is not a successful campaign involving mass advertising, huge choirs and a famous evangelist. When George Whitefield preached in 1739 at Kennington Common, during the Great Evangelical Revival, over 30,000 people gathered without the use of such means.
Revival is to be distinguished from so called "phenomena" that have sometimes been associated with it. These have included fainting, excitement, visions, and reported miracles. These things have caused divisions and bitter debate among Christians both at the time of revival and later. John Wesley believed that they were the marks of a work of the Holy Spirit. Charles Wesley disapproved of such matters and discouraged them in his meetings. Jonathan Edwards apologised for them. A feature of revivals is their great variety, some being completely free from phenomena, others being famous because of them. Whatever these strange things may be they are not essential to revival.
Finally, revival is not a short cut to a successful church or an excuse to opt out of the means that God expects us to use day by day to take the message of the Gospel to the lost. Revival is unusual and special, a glorious work of God alone that is additional to the ordinary means that he uses to refresh his people and gather the church.