The most gifted evangelist can convert no-one. Regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said,

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Jn. 3:6-8

There is a vast difference between revival and revivalism. Revivalism is a work of man, gifted personalities gathering crowds, stirring up emotions, persuading men and women to record decisions and leaving little in the way of transformed lives and God-fearing communities behind. Revival is when God comes down. Here are ten distinguishing features of true revival.

1. True Revival is a Work of the Holy Spirit⤒🔗

A genuine revival is produced only when the Spirit comes down in power. Robe had been minister of Kilsyth for thirty years and saw little to encourage him. McCulloch, his neighbouring minister in Cambuslang, was regarded generally as being a boring preacher. Then in 1742 the Spirit began to move and everything changed. Robe experienced great power and men and women hung on every word from McCulloch’s lips. On the valley of dead bones (Ezek. 37) the Spirit began to blow and a mighty army arose for God.

2. The Spirit Stirs to Prayer←⤒🔗

Normally revival is preceded by special prayer. Sometimes just one or two individuals initially are given a burden of prayer. Then others are affected and more prayer meetings are set up. People say we have to pray down a revival. It is certainly our duty to pray but we cannot even pray as we should without God’s help. Special earnest and persistent prayer is itself a result of revival. It is the prayer which comes down from above that will ascend with great earnestness and efficacy. A lunchtime prayer-meeting held in a church on Fulton Street, New York in 1857 grew and grew till there was no room in the church for the crowds who came. It then spread to other churches and to other cities. The result was the 1858-59 Revival which spread from America to Ireland to Scotland to Wales to England and to many other places. Hundreds of thousands were saved.

3. Conviction of Sin←⤒🔗

Revival normally starts with professing Christians. There must be life there to be revived. The 1907 Revival in Korea is a clear example of God moving men with deep conviction of sin, followed by genuine repentance. When the Spirit came down one after another came forward and confessed their sin and cried for forgiveness and mercy. They confessed hatred of one another, lust, stealing etc. Some fell to the floor and beat the ground with their fists pleading for mercy. Following the revival in Belfast in the nineteen-twenties under the preaching of W P Nicholson a special warehouse had to be opened in the shipyards to receive the stolen goods which were now returned.

4. Preaching with Power←⤒🔗

The Spirit uses the Word. The letter kills but the Spirit gives life. Paul declares to the Thessalonians, ‘For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance’ (1 Thess. 1:5). Vast multitudes gathered to hear Whitefield in the open-air and were moved like corn before the wind. As Roderick Macleod preached at Fairy Bridge in the Island of Skye half the island gathered to hear him. He challenged them as he preached on the verse, ‘Thy Maker is thy husband’ and pleaded, ‘Will you go home without Christ?’ They remained for hours in the open-air crying to the Lord for mercy.

5. Many Converted←⤒🔗

At the Kirk of Shotts in 1630 it is reckoned that some 500 were converted through one sermon. Rev John Livingstone, one of the youngest ministers present, was asked to preach on the Monday of a communion. Great crowds had gathered for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Many had remained all night praying in the fields. Livingstone felt himself totally inadequate and, at one point, set off walking to escape preaching. Convicted of his duty he returned. As the sermon drew to a close, some rain began to fall and the people started to cover themselves, but he asked the multitude gathered if they were ready for the day when God would rain down fire and brimstone. He felt constrained to preach with great power for another hour and many were born again.

6. The Whole Community Stirred←⤒🔗

When God comes in revival it is not just the church which is affected but the fear of God comes down upon the whole community. In the Island of Skye where the Sabbath in the early years of the nineteenth century was a day for sport and pleasure, the effect of the revival was such that the Sabbath became a day of rest and worship even for the unconverted. Roderick Macleod noted that when a shepherd went up the hills to bring a few sheep down many sheep are stirred and run about. After a while they settle back down. It is like that in revival; many are awakened, but not all are converted. Those who were stirred and yet remained unconverted can be hardened by the experience.

7. Some of the Greatest Sinners are Saved←⤒🔗

God’s grace is irresistible and this is clearly demonstrated in revival. Immoral women and great drunkards are converted and their lives totally transformed. Some who came to mock remained to pray. When John Berridge was preaching in the open air on one occasion a man had hidden under the table on which he stood, intending in the middle of the sermon, when the preacher was in full flow, to tip over the table. However he was so convicted by the Spirit that he remained where he was till the end of the sermon and, when Berridge had concluded, he crawled out confessing his sin and craving pardon.

8. Not Under the Command of Any Man←⤒🔗

William Chalmers Burns was used mightily by God in bringing revival to Kilsyth, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen and other places around Scotland. For a time, wherever he preached, God was powerfully blessing the Word. By 1843 the revival appeared over as people gave themselves to church disputes and the needed stand against patronage and the state’s attempts to rule the church. Burns left for two years’ ministry in Canada. When he returned to Scotland the crowds still gathered to hear him but the power to save was largely gone.

9. God can use Ordinary Men←⤒🔗

Revival first came to Lewis in the 1820s. Preparation for the work was done by the Gaelic schoolmasters who taught the people to read using the Scriptures in their own language. In 1824 Rev Alexander Macleod, a native of Stoer, was inducted to the parish of Uig. He was reputed to be a very ordinary preacher but God’s Spirit came down upon him and his preaching shook the whole island. The transformation which took place then is still felt today. He left Uig to minister in Lochalsh and then Rogart but the power was gone and he returned to be a very ordinary preacher once more. The glory must go to God for His work. The words of Knox with regard to the revival which we call the Reformation are thrilling: ‘God gave his Holy Spirit to simple men in great abundance’. Surely this is what we need today!

10. The Spirit Works Through Preaching←⤒🔗

We live in a day when many gimmicks are used to get people into the church and keep them there. It is interesting to look at the notice boards or websites of busy churches. Activities such as dancing, slimming clubs, keep fit, yoga and bingo predominate. Church services aim to entertain and make people feel good. The music, the lighting, the seating and the smiling worship-leader are user-friendly. The story-telling, relaxed, casually-dressed, joking preacher gives his short homily to affirm and encourage. In contrast, Paul states to the Corinthians:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.1 Cor. 2:1-4

Earlier he had said, ‘It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe’ (1 Cor. 1:21). At the Reformation the printing and publishing of the Scriptures in the language of the people was critical. Then it was the simple preaching of that Word which turned the world upside-down.