[b]Revival In Perilous Times[/b]
There are some aspects of revival that can only be explained in terms of divine sovereignty. Students of Church history would have little difficulty in multiplying instances that confirm this opinion. Three things stand out.
The circumstances in which revival is born. It is at the blackest moments that the lamp of revival bursts into radiance. The shadiest portions of history have often proved the dark backcloth to the revelation of Gods glory.
Economic depression, social decadence, religious indifference, ecclesiastical defection and even national disaster have all been the immediate predecessor of Gods manifestation of His power to save.
Let us take heart! The perilous times in which we live are in themselves an invitation to God to assert Himself and display His sovereign grace!
The seemingly inadequate instruments that God uses for revival. Very often the trained ministry is by-passed, and untaught, even rustic, men and women become the channels of blessing. This is not to despise learning or culture, but to show that there are greater forces than intellectual energy.
It is not technique that prompts the outpouring of Gods grace. It is faith! It is love! It is prevailing prayer!
That "the wind bloweth where it listeth" (John 3:8) is never more evident than in revival. At such times God may take some humble servant out of obscurity and use him to diffuse blessings abroad. But what matter so long as revival comes!
The tremendous results from apparently insufficient causes. Someone labors in prayer, unknown unseen and becomes a pivot upon which the revival situation turns. The hand of some weak, inoffensive, yet trustful, saint is used to lever the floodgates and blessings gush through!
With little organization, often outside organized bodies ready-geared to service, the revival spreads like a contagion. No one can find an adequate cause, so all give glory to God.
For all that, it is the purpose of God that His people shall long for revival, pray for revival, seek for revival, work for revival; and we should not slack in our endeavors because God is sovereign but rather exert ourselves to do His will that we may be in the current of power when revival flows!
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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
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