What is a Christian Revival?

What is revival? We often imagine revival coming to our country. I used to belong to a group of people called Intercessors for Britain who pray for this country for one hour every week. This was inspired by the Bible verse, 'If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.' 2Chronicles 7:14. The controversial question about this verse is whether it could actually be applied to the population of Britain. Who are God's people who are called by his name? The entire population of the UK if you think of it as a Christian country. But the idea of a Christian country is a Roman Catholic concept. In the Bible the church is always presented as a persecuted minority. It was in the 4th century that Pope Gregory the Great and Augustine began to talk about Christianising a whole country. That was the kiss of death for Christianity. The church was stronger and healthier when it was a persecuted minority. We now have millions of people who believe they are Christians because they live in a Christian country and were brought up as Christians. The people of Britain are not God's people who are called by God's name. In the original Bible story the verse refers to the nation of Israel. If God has punished Israel by shutting up the heavens so there is no rain,  sending locusts to devour their crops or sent a plague, the people can come to God in repentance and prayer and he will heal their land. The people of Britain are not the people of God and neither is the country under God's judgement.

If we are going to apply that verse to anyone, we should apply it to the church. Not the dead churches, where people believe they are Christians because they live in a Christian country, but the born again church. We must apply that verse to ourselves. The born again Christians in this country are the people of God who are called by his name. We should not pray for the people out there to find God. We should pray that prayer for ourselves. In the Scottish Islands of the Hebrides, in the 1950s, a prayer meeting had continued for several days. Someone read Psalm 15, 'Oh Lord, who may visit your dwelling place? Who may stand on your holy hill? He who walks righteousness and speaks the truth from his heart. He does not slander from his tongue and does no evil to his neighbour.' Then the reader of the psalm added, 'Brethren, is my heart pure? Are my hands clean?' At that moment the atmosphere on the island changed. Two old ladies in a cottage several miles away, who were also praying in the small hours of the morning, felt it change. One of the greatest revivals ever broke out. Half the population of some villages became Christians and many became church ministers. People would queue for hours outside a Christian's house in the small hours of the morning because they had had dreams about Hell and needed to know how to have eternal life.

Leonard Ravenhill said, 'You don't have to advertise a fire.' A fire is fairly obvious. If a church is on fire, people will be able to see it, they will be drawn into it. We make an enormous amount of effort to do street evangelism and make friends with people and draw them into the church. None of this produces lasting results. Most churches start in revival and then become a fossil of something that was alive a long time ago. The church must come to life.

It's important that we realise that it's not us who have to make ourselves holy. Scott Liston is a church pastor in Leeds who used to fast for long periods several times a year. Him and his congregation used to live on vegtables for the whole month of January as they fasted to get God's blessing on the church. He doesn't do this anymore. 'I was miserable,' he admitted. 'When we work, God rests. When we rest, God works.' We must let God work in us. We must come into the presence of God, within the veil. When Moses came down the mountain his face was shining. He put a veil over his face because people couldn't bear to look at it. We can come within the veil to gaze upon the face of God and to be transformed into his glory. 2Corinthians 3:12-18. We need to pray in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of God. Jude v.20,21. We must walk in the light of God, not holding on to anything that we know to be wrong in our lives, so that we may be purified by his blood. 1John 1:7-10. We must love one another. There must be no grudges between us and other Christians. 1John 2:7-11. Such things grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Ephesians 4:30-32. Being filled with the Spirit is something we do together as we give thanks to God and worship him in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in church. Ephesians 5:18-21. We need to study the Bible. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, which is sharper than a two edged sword and divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12. We have been born again of imperishable seed, which is the word of God. It has purified our souls and given us a sincere love for the brethren. Like newborn babies, we must desire the milk of God's word, so that we can grow. 1Peter 1:22-2:3.

I'm not asking you to discipline yourself. I was taught as a young Christian, 'You must discipline yourself to have a daily time with God. Don't wait until you feel like it. You'll never feel like it.' Many Christians say that they can't discipline themselves to pray and read the Bible every day. That's like a man saying that he can't discipline himself to make love to his wife. You should want to do it. You shouldn't see it as something you're not inclined to do that you must force yourself to do. That is why most Christians struggle to have a regular time with God. The most important thing is to find a method of Bible study and prayer that you enjoy and that works for you. If you enjoy a simple Bible study like the UCB Radio daily readings book then use it but if you really dislike that you must find something else. In the pressures of life, anything you don't really enjoy doing will be forgotten. I began working through the Greg Fritz Study Notes, which are available online for free, and made them the subject of my daily time with God. He is a teacher in an American Bible college and his study notes are a summary of everything that is taught on the Bible college diploma. This is useful for someone who wants a Bible study plan that is intellectually challenging. On Saturday morning I used to look at the Operation Mobilization magazine, which had a timetable on it showing the location of their two ships and ask, 'Where are the ships today?' I could go to their website and look up lots of information about those two countries that the ships were in. I forgot to do it one Saturday because I was listening to a Christian programme on the radio and what a gap it left in my week. You should feel like it. You shouldn't have to discipline yourself. If you really haven't got time (the usual explanation from most Christians) try listening to Christian programmes on the radio while you're doing the housework.

When I was a conservation volunteer I remember somebody trying to set fire to a big pile of wet leaves and wood. After many unsuccessful attempts, the man formed a small, brightly burning core of newspaper and slowly added a little bit of wet wood and leaves at a time, so that the fire gradually became larger. God spoke to me very powerfully and said that the same thing would happen to the church. It would become very small but the few people who remained would be a brightly burning core which was on fire and then the church would slowly begin to grow again. In the 30 years since I was a conservation volunteer I have seen this happening. In Europe and America the churches are getting smaller in number but they are becoming more alive. In the end, when there are only a few Christians left, the church will become a brightly burning fire. Then it will begin to grow again.