Revival In the Bible

“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear

 him; and he will shew them his covenant. 

(Psalms 25:14).”

“If one generation begins to decline, the next

 that follows usually grows worse, and so on, til 

God pours out His Spirit again upon them 

(Samuel Willard, one of the early vice 

presidents of Harvard College)

I.   Introduction

a.  Revival concerns God’s relationship with man

b.  The time-frame of the origin of all  Creation is based upon God’s relationship  with man

c. Man (Christians) state that the beginning  was God (Gen. 1:1)

d. God states that the beginning was man (Mt. 19:4; Mr. 10:6)

e. In the beginning

             i.  man’s relationship with God flourished

                 ii.  God walked with man on a personal      level (Gen. 3:8)

               iii.   Man broke the fellowship between         God and man through disobedience       (Rom. 5:19)

 1.  Man no longer had the intimate        relationship with God

f.  God longed for the restoration of this  fellowship with man

             i.  In the wilderness, God wanted to talk to everyone personally but man feared God (Ex. 20:18-21)

g.  Despite their reluctance in the wilderness,  God made His presence known to all of  Israel at the dedication of Solomon’s  Temple (1 Kings 8:1-11; 2 Chron. 5:13 &  14)

II.  Roots of Revival

a.  In the OT and the Gospels, God was           Emmanuel (God with us)

b.  The book of Acts is God furthering His        intimate relationship with man

               i.  He is no longer “God WITH us” but  He is “God IN us”

             ii.   In 1702, Cotton Mather was the first  one to use the word “revival” in a             religious sense.

                   1.  He defined it as “A general religious        awakening within a community”

                         a.  This is exactly what occurs in the             book of Acts

III.  Revival in the NT

 a.  The first revival in the book of Acts is            recorded in Acts 2-4

               i.  It took place in Jerusalem

              ii.  However, revival did not just “happen”

                  1.  Revival broke out for several                  reasons:

                       a.  Obedience to Christ

                            i.  He told them to tarry in

                                Jerusalem (Lu. 24:49)

b.  Prayer (Acts 1:12-14)

                                i.  They FERVENTLY prayed (James 5:16)

                              ii.  They prayed for roughly ten days straight for the Promise of the Father[1]

c.  Complete surrender on the         parts of the individuals in the     upper room (Acts 2:4-11)

                                i.  Speaking in other tongues is when God controls the tongue and not man

                                    1.  This displays a man’s             surrendered state before       God

d.  Their zeal to for souls (Acts        2:41; 4:4)

                     iii.  Results of Revival in Jerusalem

      1.  Personal change occurred                 (Acts 2:1-6, 15-18, 42 & 43)

      2.  People noticed a change (Acts           2:12 & 13)

      3.  Holy Ghost dealt with hearts             and souls (Acts 2:37 & 41)

      4.  Day of Pentecost, three                     thousand saved (Acts 2:41

      5.  Acts 4 states five thousand men         saved (Acts 4:4).

     a.  It is possible that sixteen to          twenty thousand souls were        added that day if one                  estimates each man had one        wife and two kids each.[2]

     6.  The authorities noticed that              God was moving (Acts 4:1-22)

     7.  The authorities could not deny         that the move was of God (Acts         4:21 & 22)

    8.    Their spiritual vision became           soul oriented (Acts 2:14-41;               3:1-9; 3:9-26 & 4:3)

    9.    Their spiritual vision became            heaven honed (Acts 4:23-31;            Acts 5:41 & 42)

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[1] The number of days is based upon the resurrection of Christ, His ascension, and the number of days between the Passover and the Feast of Pentecost.

[2] Note: This is merely a quick estimation on the author’s part.