Snapshots Of Revival

In this final post on the subject of revival I offer two snapshots of revival that are found in Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., When God Comes To Church: A Biblical Model For Revival Today (Grand Rapids, Baker, 2000).

In response to the question, “What is revival?” this Old Testament scholar and pastor writes the following (page 5):

Revival is a season in the life of the church when God causes the normal ministry of the gospel to surge forward with extraordinary spiritual power.

Revival is seasonal, not perennial. God causes it; we do not. It is the normal ministry of the gospel, not something eccentric or even different from what the church is always charged to do. What sets revival apart is simply that our usual efforts greatly accelerate in their spiritual effects. God hits the fast-forward button. And this blessing spills out from the church to wash over the nations with an ingathering of many new converts to Christ.

Then, in response to the question, “What might revival look like when it comes, Ortlund explains (page 32):

When God rends the heavens and comes down on his people, a divine power achieves what human effort at its best fails to do. God’s people thirst for the ministry of the Word and receive it with tender meltings of soul. The grip of the enslaving sin is broken. Reconciliation between believers is sought and granted. Spiritual things, rather than material things, capture people’s hearts. A defensive, timid church is transformed into a confident army. Believers joyfully suffer for their Lord. They treasure usefulness to God over career advancement. Communion with God is avidly enjoyed. Churches and Christian organizations reform their policies and procedures. People who had always been indifferent to the gospel now inquire anxiously. And this type of spiritual movement draws in not just the isolated straggler here and there but large numbers of people. A wave of divine grace washes over the church and spills out onto the world. That is what happens when God comes down. And that is how we can pray for the church today.

Oh, God, do such a work within us!