How To Recognise Revival

This extract is from the first section of Chapter 1 of my book God's Heart Cry for Revival. In this passage I discuss what Revival is and what it isn't according to those who lived through revivals in the past. 

What Is and Isn't Revival

In the following extract from a tape set called Revival in the Scottish Hebrides, Duncan Campbell explains perfectly what revival is and what it is not. God used Duncan Campbell to lead and maintain this incredible outpouring of the Holy Spirit much like Evan Roberts during the revival in Wales.

Duncan explains, “When I think of revival, I am not thinking of high pressured evangelism. I’m not thinking of crusades or special efforts organised by man. That is not in my mind at all. Revival is something altogether different from evangelism at its highest level. Thank God for all that has been accomplished through evangelism. I represent a vision in Scotland that does much in the field of evangelism. We have at least 100 workers in our mission. But when I think of their efforts, I am not thinking of revival. I know in this country (U.S.) you very often think of having a revival meeting. Now that is something I just can’t understand. It would be better for you to think of your efforts as evangelistic meetings or evangelistic efforts, but that is not revival. Revival is a moving of God in a community and suddenly the community becoming God conscious, before a word is said by any man representing any special effort. It is a gracious awareness of God.” 1

I underlined the last sentence above because Duncan Campbell sums up what a revival is perfectly. I have read many accounts written about various revivals throughout the centuries and they have all expressed similar views to Duncan.

This is Revival

A revival is God’s manifest presence descending upon mankind producing a mass conviction of sin, without the aid of a preacher. This is not to say that God does not use preachers during a revival, for He certainly does, but true revivals are not usually initiated by preaching, repentant prayer usually initiates true revivals. Revivals are a sovereign move of God in response to the heart cry of His saint’s. Some have called the kind of soul winning that takes place during a revival as presence evangelism. A revival could be considered like the miraculous catch of fish that the disciples caught when Jesus told them to drop the net on the right side of the boat. They were out fishing all night and caught nothing (many evangelistic and Church efforts around the world) but their miraculous catch came when they gave up doing it their way and they believed in and were obedient to God.

Community Wide Revival

Charles Finney defined a revival as, “... renewed conviction of sin and repentance, followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God. It is giving up one’s will to God in deep humility.” 2 When an entire Church experiences this renewed conviction, the Church is in a revival. But this is but the first stage of revival, we then as a Church have to secure the presence of God within our Church and our own homes, then, when we continue to travail and continue to move God with prayer, we can see a wondrous moving of God within our community. If we are faithful we have the possibility, in these days, to see the full outpouring of His Holy Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28-29), but we have to pray as Daniel did when he saw that the 70 years were up (see Daniel 9 onwards).

In Christ

Robert Cartledge

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1 Duncan Campbell Revival in the Scottish Hebrides (Tape set, transcription in the back of this book)

2 Charles Finney, How to Experience Revival (Whitaker House, 580 Pittsburgh St. Springdale, PA 15144) page 7