A GENUINE REVIVAL by W. W. Prescott

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 24, 1901

A GENUINE REVIVAL.

By W. W. Prescott

It seems fitting that our minds should be directed to the meaning of this call to prayer. It is not simply to stir the emotions for a few days; it is not simply that there may be a brief rousing up of the spiritual life; a call to a revival, a call to a united seeking of God at this time, has, or ought to have, a meaning to this people that the very same call might not have to any other people.

On what basis and for what purpose shall we ask for special gifts from heaven at this time?—Not simply to satisfy our own longings—although it is God’s purpose that our longings shall be satisfied; not simply to gratify our own feelings—although when we do seek for His blessing on the right basis, it will gratify the highest and best feelings of which we are capable; but there should be one very definite purpose when we ask God for great things; and that is that His purpose and His will, His desire concerning us and His work, may be met at this time; that is, if the fact that here is a separate people called out from the world has any meaning whatever, it means that God purposes to accomplish a special work now, and that He has raised up an instrumentality for that purpose.

Every other thought ought to be swallowed up in this one united aim, that the work for which this people was raised up may be carried forward to completion, and that there may be a union of heart and soul, a union of desire, and a union of effort.

Power is needed for work; blessing is needed that something may be done; the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of the soon coming of our Lord, must go quickly to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, with a convincing and converting power.

For this, and in view of this, this whole people need a great revival, a great quickening, a power that shall give promise that the work committed to us shall be done, and shall be done quickly.

Let us ask what is involved in the idea of a revival. That which rests merely upon a little emotion will quickly pass away; when the feelings merely are stirred, they are soon quieted; and that is especially so in this time; for if there ever was a time when every influence tended to lull to sleep every spiritual aspiration, it is this very time. It seems as though the very atmosphere was charged with that which deadens all spiritual life. There must be a change; there must be a mighty awakening, if we are to have a well-grounded hope that the work which God has to be done in this generation is to be accomplished.

Read the scripture in Isa. 57:15: “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth 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.”

To revive is to give new life, to make to live again. What causes a revival?—It is the indwelling presence of Him who is the life. That is the only thing that can cause a revival. There may be stirring, there may be outward activity, there may be the appearances of something done; but the only thing that can really cause a revival—that is, a living again, a new measure of life—is the giving of life. And so if we genuinely desire a revival, we must seek for a new measure of life, a new giving of life. He is the life; He is the fountain of life. When there is a new gift of life, there is a larger measure of His presence, and His presence is by the Spirit. The giving of His presence is the giving of the Spirit; that is, the giving of His life. When we ask for a revival, a real spiritual awakening, it is asking for the gift of the Spirit, the Spirit of life. It is seeking for the outpouring of that vivifying power, never to be separated from His own personal presence, and that must be within.

This experience of spiritual life is a real experience. There is something definite about it. It is a power that dwells in one. It is bringing one into fellowship with the eternal life and the eternal power. It is not making one in himself a source of power; but it is putting him in touch with all power. It is bringing him into the current of life-giving power, so that power may be revealed in him and through him—not his own power, but the power that is the gift of God by the gift of His own life. So, then, an effort for a revival is the definite experience

of opening the way, removing hindrances, letting the chambers of the soul be open to life and true blessing, and then submitting the will to God’s will, that He may be glorified in imparting a new measure of life, and that for service.

It seems to me that the ninth chapter of the book of Ezra sets before us a picture which has in it a very emphatic lesson for us at this time. Remember that at that time the people of God had been called up out of captivity for one definite purpose, and that was that they might go up and restore and rebuild Jerusalem, that the city of God, the sanctuary of God, the service of God, might be restored, and that God’s people might take their place again as His own people, separate from the heathen. God gave them favor for that purpose; His blessing was upon them for that purpose. There was something to be done, and they were called out for the doing of that thing. And all the favor that God gave them with the kings of the earth, and the blessing that He put upon them, the opening of the way, the removing of all hindrances, the holding in check of all opposing forces, was all with reference to one thing, and that was that that work which would glorify God in the restoration of His city and His people might be accomplished.

Now after they had received these favors and blessings for this work, see what happened to them: “Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands. Yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.”

God’s restoring hand had been upon the people, and they had been brought up, and He had given them favor with kings, had opened the way, had held in check opposing forces, for this one purpose, that He might again have a separate people, to accomplish His work in the restoration and the building of His city. But they went back to old habits, and mingled themselves with the people about them. When Ezra, who was a prophet of God for leading this whole people, heard that that thing had been done, he rent his clothes, and plucked out his beard, and sat down astonished,—astonished that such a thing could happen after the experience that God had given that people.

“Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, and said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

“And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth forever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.

“And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations?”

After God has called us out, and delivered us, and set us to work, shall we again turn aside, and mingle with the people and with the customs about us? That is what delays this work; and a revival is needed,—a revival of the presence of the Spirit and power of God with reference to the restoration of God’s work in the earth, the giving of His message, the sending out of the cry, “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him;” and that not simply in word of mouth, but in the very experience of all this people.

Now there ought to be, yea, there must be, a revival,—a revival of a definite spirit, and a revival of a definite experience,—among this people. That is the thing that is needed to-day. It is because that vivid sense of the nearness of the Lord’s coming has been largely lost, and because so many are saying in their hearts, “My Lord delayeth His coming,”—that is what takes off the keen edge from this message. May God revive this definite spirit in our midst. It is what we need,—that vivid sense of the nearness of that greatest of all events in the whole history of this world, the coming of Jesus in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. That time is near. We need a definite revival by the Spirit and power of God, that we may be quickened and aroused, and furnished with the sinews for this work anew, that this message may go forth in the spirit and power of Elias, to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.

W. W. PRESCOTT.

A GENUINE REVIVAL.*

A GENUINE REVIVAL.