By: Benjamin G. Campbell
When Christians hear or say the word “revival,” it is sometimes demanding a definition of terms. Revival is a much different word than revivalism. However, many evangelicals in America today believe that those two words are synonymous; they are not interchangeable. What constitutes revival? What does it mean to “have revival”? What is the cause of revival in the church?
In order to define revival and apply it to the church of Jesus Christ, we must go back to where revivals began.
Edwards and New England
In the late 1700s, New England was experiencing a revival of sorts, though with a lot of exuberant outbursts and hysterical actions. Men like E.S. Gaustad, Isaac Backus, and Jonathan Edwards all were against the rise of this semi-pelagian awakening in the New England area. As McLoughlin writes, “Backus joined his parish church but found no comfort from the preaching of its minister and no reinforcement from a congregation that included so many unconverted persons.”[1] Even Richard Baxter wrote about many ministers in his day of whom he claimed were unconverted.
As one might see, there is quite a dissension between parties in this season of American evangelicalism. On the one hand, you have one party that has been convinced of an emotionally-driven theology, and on the other there are those fighting to retrieve the sincere love for the Bible and the ordinary means of grace like the Puritans.
Thus, in seeking Puritan spirituality, Jonathan Edwards published one of his most famous works (if not his most famous work), Religious Affections. In it, Edwards notes that while affections do take effect on your body, “Great effects on the body certainly are no sure evidences that affections are spiritual.”[2] In other words, Edwards’ point was to propose that just because one gains emotional outbursts of energy or goes hysterical in a church setting does not mean that the actions were Spirit-filled and biblically warranted.
Ultimately, the attempt to return to Puritan spirituality was successful, and many churches in New England saw a return to a Word-centered approach to church and ministry which featured elements like the ordinary means of grace and expositional preaching. The major change regarding revival, however, came to light in the Second Great Awakening.
Finney and 2nd Great Awakening
Charles G. Finney was the main character of the Second Great Awakening in the early 1800s. Finney was schooled in the Presbyterian thought by a pastor named George Gale – that is, until Finney came to reject his Presbyterianism and Calvinism altogether. In leaving his reformed roots, Finney believed there were “times of great advance – to which [he] reserved the name of ‘revivals’,” and these times “were not explainable in terms of ‘means’, for means were always to be faithfully employed.”[3]
Furthermore, Finney believed that Christians were the ultimate reason as to why there was no revival in America. He believed there was no better time than the present to beg folks to come to Jesus. In proposing that there was nothing needed in order for man to respond to the gospel, Finney embraced the Pelagian understanding of salvation – man and God working together for man’s salvation.[4] This, of course, is problematic because these thoughts brought about much success for Finney in these gatherings of which he called “revivals.”
Revivals for Finney were more about imploring folks to make a “decision” to trust Christ.[5] Revivals for Finney were about decisions and how many folks would come lay their sins on the anxious bench, a tactic he implemented where people could walk an aisle and trust Christ then and there without hesitation.
Biblical Revival
So, this begs the question: What is biblical revival, and what does it look like? Maybe I am what is considered “old school,” or a bit “old-fashioned,” but I believe that revival should be synonymous with the word recovery or retrieval. Revival comes when individuals recover and retrieve the ordinary means of grace that God has ordained and intended for us to walk in as believers. Kevin DeYoung says this well:
“True revival is marked by a rediscovery of the word of God, a restored sense of the fear of God, a return to God through confession and repentance, a renewed spiritual commitment as God’s people, and, finally, a reformation of true piety.”[6]
Revival comes when believing Christians understand that their need for God is much greater than their need for anything else. Revival does not come about simply by planning a week-long event with one or many preachers and services. Those events might produce some spiritual fruit, but it is not consistent with how the Bible shows us revival.
In the Scriptures, revival is a much more individual and personal issue. Like those in Josiah’s day, a man saw how far away from the commandments of God Israel had gotten and said,
“Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us” (2 Kings 22:13).
It was Ezra, the scribe, that returned the people of Israel back to the Word of God after Nehemiah and his men rebuilt the temple in record time (Neh. 8). Jesus tells the evil one in the desert that man does not live by bread alone but “by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
When looking through the entirety of Holy Scripture, one will see that true revival comes when the people of God return to the Word of God, to fear Almighty God, to obey the commandments of God, and live for the glory of God.
Application for the Modern Church
Ultimately, God alone through the power of His Spirit is the One who sends revival. It has nothing to do with our feeble attempts at trying to force something to take place. The only way to revive a soul, family, local church, group of churches, state, denomination, or even a country, is to pray earnestly for the Spirit to convict us of our sin and convince us of the truth. Writing on C.H. Spurgeon’s theology of revival, Geoff Chang computes that Spurgeon’s understanding of Revival was in line with Holy Scripture’s authority over all of life. Chang writes,
“No matter how many sermons he preached, books he wrote, or institutions he founded, Spurgeon knew that he could never presume on the grace of God. All was in vain unless the Lord acted to save. The Christian’s hope for any spiritual awakening must be in God’s sovereign grace alone.”[7]
The way the church can seek revival is by seeking the face of God. We cannot simply expect God to move because we hold special services or events and “ask the Holy Spirit to meet with us.” If we are gathered as the church, the Spirit is already there! The way we bring revival is by asking the Spirit to change our own hearts and make us more like Jesus (Rom. 8:29).
Conclusion
For revival to come and make haste in our nation and our churches, we need to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers (Matt. 9:38). Whether we believe it or not, the God of the Bible is the Harvester of souls, and not only does He save souls, but He has also created them. Therefore, He knows them by name. He knows the hair count on their head. He knows their fears and weaknesses. And it is imperative for us, as believers in Jesus Christ, to trust the Lord of the harvest to do His work in His timing, not ours.
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42,47).
[1] William G. McLoughlin. Revivals, Awakening, and Reform (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), 66.
[2] Jonathan Edwards. Religious Affections: A Treatise by Jonathan Edwards (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2020), 56.
[3] Iain Murray. Revival & Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1994), 248.
[4] Ibid., 248-249.
[5] While I appreciate Finney’s urgency for salvation, the Scriptures are clear that one cannot come to Christ unless he is drawn by the Father through the means of the gospel. We at Everyday Theology would reject Finney’s theology of urgent evangelism and revival.
[6] Kevin DeYoung, “What Is True Revival?” Clearly Reformed, accessed June 1, 2023, https://clearlyreformed.org/what-is-true-revival/#:~:text=True%20revival%20is%20marked%20by%20a%20rediscovery%20of%20the%20word,a%20reformation%20of%20true%20piety.
[7] Geoff Chang, “What Can We Learn from Charles Spurgeon and the New York Revival of 1858?” 9Marks, accessed May 24, 2023, https://www.9marks.org/article/what-can-we-learn-from-charles-spurgeon-and-the-new-york-revival-of-1858/.
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