In this sermon, the speaker recounts his experience at a prayer meeting where he was given a short amount of time to speak. Despite the absence of a preacher, the prayer meeting was thriving with 167 attendees and nine people giving their testimonies. The speaker highlights a powerful moment when a young married woman burst into tears, expressing her joy in God. The speaker then draws parallels between the dormant volcano he saw and the spiritual lives of some Christians who settle for a mere "wisps of steam" instead of experiencing true revival. He emphasizes the need for Christians to seek a deeper relationship with God and experience the fullness of His glory. The speaker also references various biblical passages, including Habakkuk chapter 3 and the different Pentecosts in the New Testament, to support his message on the importance of revival and the work of God in saving souls.

Somebody told me a while ago that I was now a wealthy person because I had silver in my hair, gold in my teeth, gas in my stomach, and stainless steel in my hip. The trouble is I can't cash in on any of it. Many thanks to those of you who prayed for us during this time. I was supposed to be operating on September 24th, and both my wife and I got pneumonia, so I couldn't have the operation until January 9th. The doctor gave me these ski poles, but he said no skis for three months, and the snow would be gone then. However, in another two weeks I should be off the skis, on to a cane, and then maybe a month with a cane, and then hopefully hands-free. When Whitfield preached, he said he was all over the place. It was a very dramatic dynamic in his presentation. But John Wesley was not. John Wesley, he just stood there like a statue, and they said nothing moved but his mouth when he preached. And that's how I have to preach now. Nothing moves but my mouth or I might happen to fall over. But again, many thanks for praying for us. And really, it was an enjoyable time being in the hospital and meeting other people and dropping off some gospel bombs and then doing some counseling. People came up to see me in the hospital needing counseling. We had some praying times, some crying times. Our family doctor in Saskatoon where we had the operation is a Christian, and he told the surgeon, Dr. Begg, who was not a Christian, he said, Begg, this is one operation you aren't going to have any problems with at all. Thousands of people are praying for McLeod. And I don't know what Dr. Begg said, but thankfully we had a chance to share Christ to them afterwards, and he has a very open heart. I wish I could have spent more time, but the phone was always ringing in his office, and we just didn't have the time we'd like to have had. If you think of him, pray for him, Dr. Begg. I want to read from Psalm 85. It's a short psalm, and we'll read all of it. So that's verse 1, Psalm 85. Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land. Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people. Thou hast covered all their sin. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath. Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace unto his people and to his saints, but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good, and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him, and shall set us in the way of his steps. I've been asked to speak tonight on the subject of a theology of revival, a biblical theology of revival. Let's just pray. Again, Father, we look up to thee because you're the only source of light and truth, rich in mercy. And, Father, we implore thee to be merciful to us tonight. Speak to us, Father, indeed, as we read that you do. Speak peace to our hearts. Revive us again. Fill each heart with thy love. May each soul be rekindled with fire from above. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Someone said that revival was a reformation of the church for action. A reformation of the church for action. Someone else said that revival was a God-ordained agitation among men to break them loose from their sin. Someone has likened revival to heaven kissing earth. And I can see that in Psalm 85. It says, Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. But it says in the same psalm that righteousness looked down from heaven. And peace is something that comes to the hearts of men. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Jehovah said, Cano, the Lord our righteousness, and he will speak peace to his people and to his saints, but let them not turn again to folly. And it was our folly, our sin, that caused us to lose our peace. Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee, ye who rejoice in a thing of naught? So Amos said in chapter 6 of his book. Sometimes we rejoice in a thing of nothing. And James spoke about that in chapter 4 of his book. Now he said, You rejoice in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. What do we rejoice in? All you have to do to answer the question is to listen to the conversation that goes on when Christians get together. How seldom we talk about the Lord. We talk about the weather, our children, the political situation, the economic scene, terrorism, a thousand other things, but how seldom do we talk about the Lord. And sometimes we brag, we boast about our education, or perhaps our job, the money we have in the bank, the car we drive, the home we live in, and the marvelous way our children are forging ahead. Now you rejoice in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. Wilt thou not revive us again that our people may rejoice in thee? Let Israel rejoice in the Lord that made him. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their king. And Paul in Philippians 3, he said, We, that is we Christians, are the circumcision, that is we are the true circumcision, because the Bible says in the Old Testament that all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart, circumcised in the flesh but not in the heart. But we Christians and Colossians too, we have been circumcised with the circumcision of Christ, and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. And so he says, We are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. That's the kind of people we Christians are supposed to be. And again, we rejoice in Jesus Christ. Wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee? It's a good exercise sometimes to think to yourself, Well now, let's supposing I lost everything, like Job did. All my family, health gone, money gone, everything gone. Could I rejoice in my God then? When the 70 returned with joy in Luke chapter 10 and said, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through your name, what did he say? He said, In this, rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. That's something that never changes. You may not always be victorious in your conflicts with Satan, but your name is written in the book of God, and we're to rejoice in that. And to be able to rejoice just in the Lord, whether health is good or poor, whether your family are making out well or not, that I can still just rejoice in the Lord. And that's one thing that revival does for us. We find the Lord so precious. I remember the Ebenezer Church, 14 months after the revival, I was home on a Wednesday night. I was still pastor of the church, but on the road most of the time. It was a Wednesday night. I was supposed to speak at the prayer meeting. I counted there was 167 people in the prayer meeting that night. Nine people gave their testimony. A teenage boy found Christ as his Savior in the prayer meeting that night. I only got five minutes at the end. I said, you know, you people are sure doing well without a preacher around. But a lady, a young married woman sitting down in the center section, she suddenly burst into tears, and when she was composed enough to speak, she said, I am just sitting here enjoying my God. Enjoying my God. I say, happy is the people that is in such a case. Happy is the people whose God is the Lord. O God, wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee, in thee alone. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, you remember Habakkuk chapter 3, the vine fails, no meat in the field, flocks are cut off from the fold, no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. That's how we ought to be as Christian believers, and anything less than that is less than God wants for us, less than God planned for us. O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make known. In wrath remember mercy. And what are the next two words? God came. God came. And it says, His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise. And that's what happens when true revival comes. God's glory, God's praise, and His people are entirely satisfied with nothing more than Jesus Christ. When we talk about revival, that's what we should be thinking of. Now, David said in Psalm 74, God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. So we know then, on the authority of the Bible, that God's work is to save souls. I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. But is that all? Now listen to this. In Isaiah 57, Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with Him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. So now we've learned something more. God's work is not just to save sinners. God's work is to revive saints. And we should expect that just as God is saving sinners. So God will be reviving saints. In Joel chapter 2, we have the remarkable prophecy about the outpouring of God's Spirit on all flesh. And Peter quoted from that prophecy in Acts chapter 2. Please notice what he said. He didn't say, This is like that. He said, This is that. In other words, what happened in the day of Pentecost was a complete fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. That God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. On servants and handmaidens. On young men and old men. On all flesh. And whosoever would call on the name of the Lord would be saved. And the Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. Now we'll come back to that in a few moments. I want to think for a moment or two. We might call them perhaps revivals, although they don't have the characteristics of New Testament revivals really. But under Hezekiah, under Josiah, under Ezra and Nehemiah, was great stirrings. And there's one sense in which they were true revivals. Because it says, The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. And then it says, He raised up the spirit of His people. Then Haggai 1.14, it says that God stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of His people. And they came and they worked. Because God stood them up. And revival is a divine stirring. It's something God does. Dr. J. Edwin Orr says that as far as New Testament revivals are concerned, the clearest expression of them we find in Acts chapter 3. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he was thinking especially of the phrase times of refreshing. And that's what revival is. It's a time of spiritual renewal, refreshing revival. Sometimes wide and powerful. Sometimes not so wide. But always for those whose hearts are touched. It's a beautiful experience when God speaks and stirs up my spirit to love Him more and to love others more. Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favor her, year of the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favor the dust thereof. First of all, let me remind you that there is a New Testament spiritual Zion mentioned, for example, in Hebrews chapter 12. You are come, he says to Christians, you are come to Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, to Jesus, and to the blood sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. People, when is God's time to bless and revival? According to the verse we read or quoted from Psalm 102, it's when God's people take pleasure in the stones and the dust of Zion. Which is to say, anything, however small and insignificant, that's part of God's work. Because of extreme importance to the Christian. And when God sees that we're seeking now first the kingdom of God in all its aspects, then God responds, and revival comes. Because we must remember that while there is God's side of revival, there's man's side too. For example, in Proverbs 1, God said, you turn at my reproof. And he promises that if you turn when he reproves you, two things will happen. I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you. The word of God will come alive in a new way. And the spirit will fill your heart to overflow. If you turn when God reproves you, that's the human side of revival. And Psalm 102 is talking then about the human side of revival. The time to favor her, yea, the set time has come for thy servants. Take pleasure in the stones and favor the dust thereof. Who cares for stones and dust? But he's speaking in a figurative way of the kingdom of God. Whoso shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he should be called least in the kingdom of heaven. If it's related to the kingdom of God, dear friend of mine, it's important. And should never be neglected or overlooked or counted insignificant because it's part of his work. In Luke 11.13 we have a great promise. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Now notice something. Remember, the Spirit of God is the agent in conversion. We're born again by the Spirit through the Word. But the Spirit of God is also the agent of revival. We sing, O Holy Ghost, revival comes from thee. Send the revival. Start the work in me. So we recognize as Christians that the Holy Spirit is the agent of salvation and the agent in revival. And think of it. He lives in you. He lives in me. There's an old saying that a seeking sinner and a seeking Savior cannot possibly belong apart. And it's also true that a seeking saint and a seeking sanctifier, Jesus, cannot belong apart either. How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? In Acts chapter 5, the apostles were threatened by the Sanhedrin council. They were told not to preach, not to teach any longer in the name of Jesus. And Peter said, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, you judge. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God raised up with his right hand to be a prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God has given to them that obey him. God gives his Spirit not only to those who ask, but to those who obey. And sometimes we ask, but we don't obey. And so the blessing doesn't come because the blessing cannot come. Not that way. How much more shall your heavenly Father then give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? The Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Your iniquities, Jeremiah said, have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you, from me, good things, withheld by God. In Hosea 5 verse 6 it says, They, that's Israel, they shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him. He has withdrawn himself from them. I wonder why. Why would God withdraw from people that were earnestly seeking him? Well, the same chapter, Hosea 5, a little further down, gives us the clue. God said, I will go, listen carefully, I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my offense. And the marginal reading says, until they be guilty. And some of us aren't guilty. How often when people begin talking about their problems, they'll say, well, I didn't really mean it. It was just a little thing. What they're really saying is, I don't know why God is angry with me, because I really didn't do much that was very wrong. God says to people like that, I'll go, I'll return to my place. You won't find me. You can seek from me all you want. You won't find me. You'll not experience revival until you acknowledge your offense and then seek my face. Jeremiah 3.13 says, Only acknowledge your iniquity that you have transgressed against the Lord your God. And people, one thing we have to stop doing, stop blaming your wife or your husband, your children or your parents for your own sins. This is what stands in the way of Christians finding God. Don't blame the job you have. Don't blame your parents. Years ago here in Winnipeg, I was in one of the hospitals in a semi-private room and there was a young man in the same room with me. Oh, it must be 25 or 30 years ago now. And he kept telling me, he said, there's nothing wrong with my kidneys at all. My problem is my job. I hate it. If I only had a new job. I just hate it. He must have told me this a dozen times. Sunday rolled around and this will date the story, the old-fashioned revival hour, Charles Fuller. I used to listen to that all the time. He had a radio and I didn't. I asked if he'd mind turning on the old-fashioned revival. So he did. And you know, the first half hour, Rudy Atwood at the piano, the quartet. It was really nice. He really enjoyed it, see. Now, this broadcast was from Long Beach, California in the Municipal Auditorium. And we're lying on a hospital bed in Winnipeg. And in the middle of the sermon, Charles Fuller stopped and said, young man, you think you need a new job? You don't need a new job. You need a new heart. And you know, the fellow almost fell out of his bed. You know what he said? He's preaching to me. He's preaching to me. I said, yes, you better listen. It was so unusual. I wrote Charles Fuller some years later to tell him about it. I thought he'd enjoy knowing how God had used him that day. Well, the fellow didn't become a Christian. I wish I could say he did. But God really spoke to him powerfully. No, I don't need a new job. I don't need a new mate. I need a new heart. I need God to change me. And revival is nothing unless it's that. It's not some big excitement. It's individual people getting right with God. And then, getting right with each other. It's as simple as that. Oh, God, wilt thou not revive us again? That thy people may rejoice in thee? Do you know that Canada is the most strike-ridden country in the world, worse than Italy now? There's hardly a day you can pick up the newspapers without reading about a strike somewhere. I was talking to a specialist one time. I kept talking to him about the Lord and so he called in the nurse and he said, we don't want to be disturbed for a while. Bring in some tea. Bring in some cookies. And so she did. So we sat there. We talked about the Lord. And then he told me, he said, you know, I travel a great deal. As a doctor, he said, he mentioned various countries he'd spent two or three years in. He said, now I'm in Canada. He said, you know, Mr. McLeod, Canada is the most amazing country in the world. I've never seen a country like it. He said, the wealth, the mountains, the lake country, it's just incredible, he said. Opportunities for making money, incredible. And he said this, but frankly speaking, Mr. McLeod, I've never in my life been in a country where the people complain like they do in Canada. Nobody's satisfied. Everybody wants more. And he said, you know what's happening to me? And I said, no. He said, I'm starting to want more. Is it a national trait? A national characteristic? That we Canadians are... And we complain. In most third world countries, they don't have workman's compensation. They don't have unemployment insurance. They don't have anything for widows or orphans. They don't have anything for anybody. And here, we complain. The Bible says that all things be done without murmurings, that's murmurings against God, and disputings, that's disputing with men. I hear this all the time though. Dissatisfied with our Latin life. Years ago, I visited the DeLodge Hospital here in Winnipeg, and there was a lot of men just home from overseas. Some had no legs left. Some had no arms left. Some had neither arms nor legs. Some had half their face shot away. Terrible. I had all of these appendages. I can't afford to be dissatisfied. How about you? You said, I don't have a job. So you don't have a job. Back in the 1930s, I was going to say that most people didn't have a job. Did people stop trusting in God because of that? No. Did you know that in Canada, during the dirty 30s, the Depression era, there were 37 Bible schools started in Canada? We've never seen that since. I didn't plan on saying this. The Lord just put it into my heart a few moments ago. But I know it has something to do with revival. Now, this is not original. I read it somewhere. That many Christians, and many Christian workers, are extinct volcanoes. My wife and I were in Chile, a place called Likhan. The gospel mission of South America, they had a Bible camp there and we ministered there for a week, a beautiful mountain lake, mountains all around. And among other things, they pointed out a volcano which was extinct and it was perhaps 12 or 15 miles away from the lake. It was a cone-shaped, of course, and the top was all covered with snow and there was little wisps of steam coming out of the top day and night. But they told us that some 15 or 20 years before, the volcano had erupted at night. There was 40 feet of snow on the cone. All that snow melted suddenly as the lava hit it and went down the mountain and, of course, water finds its own course the lowest spots and it finally became a roaring torrent about 300 yards wide. It took off every tree, it moved every boulder right down to the gravel. We saw where it came. Many people died. And then the lava followed the water at a much slower rate. And we saw the lava flow. 150 yards wide, 12 to 14 feet deep. But the volcano was now extinct at one time. Energy. Power. Now, 40 feet of snow on the peak and a little wisp of steam rising out. And isn't that a picture of many Christians' lives? And maybe of some here tonight. Snow, a little wisp of steam, and we're quite satisfied sometimes with that. But God isn't. Did you know that in the New Testament there are four Pentecosts, not just one? There was a Jewish Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. We know all about that. That was for Jews. Then there was a Gentile Pentecost in Acts chapter 10 in the house of Cornelius. Then, in Acts chapter 8, there was a Samaritan Pentecost. It was quite different from the other two. And it had to be, and I don't have time to go into that tonight. It had to be different. They received the Spirit, not as in the Gentile and the Jewish Pentecost, where it came just from God. Here, Jewish converts laid hands on the Samaritans and they received the Holy Spirit. And then in Acts chapter 4, there was a Church Pentecost. They were being persecuted and they called a prayer meeting and they called on God. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. And it says, And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. A Church Pentecost. A Church revival. Four Pentecosts in the New Testament. But there's a fifth Pentecost that's found many places in the New Testament. That's when individuals were filled with the Spirit of God. Peter was filled several times. Paul was filled more than once. Other people were filled. Acts 13.52 says, And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. I think a lot of us as Christians, we think, well, that's just in times of revival. That's really not normal New Testament Christianity. Actually, it is. Listen to this. Romans 14.17.18 says, The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. Now remember, the Old Testament kingdom was. It says in Hebrews, the Old Testament kingdom stood only in meats and drinks and different washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation. But the New Testament kingdom is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men. That's normal New Testament Christianity whether you have it or not. Whether you experience this or not. It's normal New Testament Christianity. Righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost. He that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God. And what? And approved of men. The world can't argue too much with a Christian who's living a godly life. He's honest and kind and loving. He's rejoicing in his God. The world can't find much wrong with that. Sometimes religious leaders do. As we know from church and from Bible history. Approved of men. Then Romans 15, 13 says this. It's a prayer. Paul said, Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. That's normal New Testament Christianity, you people. That's why revival is needed. Because so few seem to walk in this experience. And so few churches could really say that they're walking with God. We read in Acts about the churches that they walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. And what was the result? They were multiplied. They were multiplied. I was reading one of Dr. Orr's books today. And of course his books are on revival. Talking about areas. Here was an area. The churches had been declining. They'd had 150. They were now reduced to 27. A revival came. And in three years they had 780 churches. In three years, revival came. Days of heaven on earth. Heaven kissing earth. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. A God-ordained agitation among men designed to enable men to break off their sins. A church reformation for action. There are those among evangelical Christians who do not believe that revival is really possible today. There are others who believe it's possible but there's nothing we really can do about this. It's strictly something God does when he feels like it. You know, Stoddard was a great grandfather to Jonathan Edwards and he was pastor of a church in the United States in the early days. And in 25 or 30 years he had 7 major revivals in his church. And other pastors could not understand this because they preached from the same book. They believed the same things. And there was a lot of jealousy. And pastors just couldn't, they couldn't accept it. Why was God favoring Stoddard's church and not theirs? And Stoddard's answer was simple. There are certain things we Christians have to do to put ourselves in such a condition that God can promote his spirit. He said we've learned what those things are and we do them. So every 5, 6 or 7 years revival would come to that congregation. People, there is a human element and you may be the key in your church. But even if you're not, if you're a Christian and you sense you need, I hope you're not waiting for God to do something. He did it on the cross. He did it on the day of Pentecost. And now he's waiting for you and for me to meet the conditions. If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Oh God, wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee? Do you know what the power of the church of God was in the first three centuries? It was their joy. It's as simple as that. I was reading an article recently that had quotations from non-Christians back in those times. And the thing that attracted sinners by the thousands to Christ was the joy of the Christians. You could torture them. You could threaten them. You could kill them. But their joy never abated until they died. And you remember perhaps that in some cases so many people would be converted watching Christians die because the Christians when they were dying even with the flames leaping up around they were either singing hymns or preaching. So you know what they did? You know what a bit is like that they put in the horse's mouth? They made wooden bits and they made the Christians wear these wooden bits stuck in their mouth and tied in the back of their heads so they couldn't sing. I thought to myself, what a testimony to the reality of God and the lives of those people that they had to make wooden bits to shut them up. Are you an extinct volcano? Cold? And satisfied with a little whisper of steam rising out now and then? Are you satisfied with that? Oh, dear people, God is so much more for us. But sin and self, the factory that manufactures the sin must be dealt with. I trust you will. God bless you.