Revive Us Again

September/October 2021 | VOLUME 31 | NUMBER 5

Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? (Ps. 85:6)

Throughout the history of the Church, individuals and groups of believers have longed and prayed for the moving of God, and God in His grace and His timing has responded. Today we tend to use the word “revival” in various ways. One use is to refer to special evangelistic meetings in which we desire to see God work in power to convert the lost. However, a study of both Scripture and history teaches us that, although often accompanied by an influx of new believers, the essence of revival is the special moving of God, bringing about spiritual renewal of His people. It is this core element that must animate our prayer for revival today.

This edition of FrontLine is not intended to give anything approaching a comprehensive theology of revival. Instead, it is designed to whet our appetites by showing us windows into revival from Scripture, history, and personal experience. It is our hope and prayer that these articles will be a blessed challenge to our hearts and to our heads. First, we are blessed by two articles adapted from sermons preached by Mark Minnick. In the first he unfolds for us Christ’s message to the church at Laodicea, pointing out the need for and the essence of revival in a New Testament local church. In the companion article, he shows the need in our day for a spiritual renewal and calls us to pray that God would grant it to us. We are also blessed by a powerful personal application of these truths by Karen Jones. Of the conditions for revival, one of the most important is that we give up bitterness and genuinely forgive others. In powerful and insightful terms, Karen relates her testimony as to how God taught her this fundamental truth and how He has blessed her as a result.

Then we shift gears a little and focus on some theological questions regarding revival. One of these questions is whether the revival in Old Testament Israel can serve in any way as a model for the New Testament Church. In this regard, my article looks at Psalm 85. I argue that when the psalm says, “Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land” (v. 10), it is talking about spiritual renewal as well as restored national blessing. Although the Land Promise is unique to the Nation of Israel, the spiritual revival that that was intimately connected with Israel’s enjoyment of the land is applicable to the believers’ lives and ministry today. Therefore, we can and should pray with the Old Testament saint that God would revive us and that His glory would be seen in us.

Next, we travel to the Gospels, the axle around which the whole Bible revolves. There Nathan Mestler shows that the Beatitudes encompass spiritual attitudes that apply not only to the Jewish audience whom Christ was addressing but also to believers today, who share in the blessings of the promised New Covenant. The truths and the promises found in the Beatitudes are powerful motivation for revival in any age. Finally, Jason Armstrong gives an important historical and theological perspective on revival, pointing out the debt that Bible believers today owe to the First Great Awakening of the 1730s. We might take for granted the biblical teaching that at the point when someone trusts Christ, he or she is born again and can know it. However, this was a truth that was not widely accepted in the English-speaking world before that great revival, and it was something that those believers and preachers of spiritual revival had to contend for.

Revival, like all spiritual work, depends upon the grace and power of God. We cannot manufacture it; God must send it by His Spirit. However, this should not deter us but should motivate us to pray for His powerful intervention in our lives and ministries. While we cannot dictate the times or the details of this moving of God among His children, we must continue to lay the wood upon the altar and remain there ourselves in dedication and trust to the Lord. Then we must pray earnestly that God would send spiritual fire from heaven and glorify His Name among us once again. May the Lord make it so for Jesus’ sake.

—David Shumate

David Shumate is the General Director of MGM International.

Features

Christ’s Call for Revival in the Local Church
Mark Minnick

To understand what revival means to a local church, where in your Bible would you look?

The Vital Necessity of the Spirit’s Effectual Working
Mark Minnick

Salvation is not a human activity; it is the Holy Spirit’s.

Revival and the Prodigal Daughter
Karen Rowe Jones

When we wander, we lose our relationship with God and His joy.

Psalm 85: Revive Us Again
David R. Shumate

Was Psalm 85 truly a cry for spiritual revival in Israel, and does it provide a model for believers today?

A Portrait of Spirit-Enabled Living
Nathan Mestler

Matthew 5–7 is a Holy Spirit-inspired encapsulation of what Christ taught about the great enterprise that God was bringing about!

The Great Awakening and the New Birth
Jason Armstrong

Our current understanding of the Bible’s teaching on repentance, faith, and conversion owes much to the eighteenth-century revival known as the First Great Awakening.

Departments

Mail Bag & News from All Over

On the Home Front

Regional Report

God Is My Refuge and Strength
Compiled by Claudia Barba

At a Glance — Common Grace: What Is It and Why Is It Important?
Layton Talbert

With the Word to the World — Let’s Stop and Refocus
Jim Tillotson

Ministering after Trauma
Daniel Minton

How Can We Work the Works of God?
Jerry Sivnksty

FrontLine • September/October 2021

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