Widespread Revival

The episode contains portions from the following programs:

"When the Church Comes Back to Life"

"The Break Came" 

"A Revived Church on the Move"

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Sammy Tippit: We have no hope. That’s always when the church begins to cry to God for revival, when we become hopeless and then we say, "Our only hope is in Jesus."

Dannah Gresh: That was world renowned evangelist Sammy Tippit with our one hope for revival! 

Welcome to Revive Our Hearts Weekend. I’m your host, Dannah Gresh.

Last weekend, we talked about personal revival—one of my favorite topics! We considered the work God does in our individual lives as He revives our hearts. Today I want to talk about broad, culture-changing revival. It’s the kind of revival that sweeps across churches, spiritual communities, and entire nations. And this idea—well, it’s a little less familiar to most of us. Maybe you wonder if God still moves in this way. Could be if you’re honest, you’re even a little skeptical about this topic. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth sees a lack of understanding surrounding revival, and she has a heart to help women develop spiritual appetites for the supernatural, life-giving work of God. Let’s listen as she explains what this kind of widespread revival is all about.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Now most of us in this room, most of us in this era, have never seen much less experienced a true revival. So we have very little concept of what revival really is. I find that many people today—maybe most—have a lot of misconceptions about what revival is. I’m also discovering that with a lot of younger women, and men for that matter, there’s a disconnect when it comes to the whole concept of revival.

As one was sharing with me recently, somebody who really loves the Lord, but said, “This concept—I don’t understand it. It doesn’t seem to intersect with reality.” And for so many who have never tasted of true revival, there’s very little concept of it and therefore not a huge hunger for it. That is the heart of this ministry, Revive Our Hearts. We’re believing God, not only to revive our hearts individually, but to move in a supernatural way collectively on the hearts of His people throughout this country and around the world to quicken and awaken and renew and revive our hearts so that the fame of Jesus’ name can spread throughout this world.

Now I have a heart for revival. This ministry does and there is no way to capture in twenty-five minutes the essence of revival. But I think I can at least whet your appetite and get you interested in knowing more. We’ll have some links available, some resources, things you can read, videos you can watch, messages you can listen to that will help you grow in your burden for revival.

The term revival itself is used in a lot of different ways. I was at the hairdresser the other day and I saw this sign, and I got them to let me have it. It says, “Revive your color in just minutes . . . ask your stylist how.” That’s one use of the word revive.

A friend said to me recently, “Before I knew you, I thought of revival as old-time tent meetings and emotionalism.” That’s another concept that many people have of revival.

Let me give you a few descriptive words or terms to try to capture a bit of what true spiritual revival is all about. Brian Edwards in his wonderful book on revival says, “Revival is a people saturated with God.” People saturated with God. You squeeze them and what comes out is God. “An outpouring of the Spirit.” Perhaps you’ve heard that term. “A divine visitation.”

Richard Owen Roberts is a writer, an author, a preacher and historian on revival. I remember years ago hearing him define revival as "an extraordinary moving of God’s Spirit in the hearts of His people that produces extraordinary results."

Revival is something supernatural. It’s not in the realm of the ordinary. A lot of good things go on in our churches in the ordinary course of things. But a season of revival is a season where God is doing an extraordinary work in the hearts of His people that produces extraordinary results that can’t be explained apart from God. They’re not the result of human effort.

We can pack a stadium today for a conference. That doesn’t mean we’ve had revival. That’s something that human promotion and marketing can do.

But when God comes and grips the hearts of the people in that stadium or in that little church, wherever it is, and they are filled with God, saturated with God, there are extraordinary results, some of which we’ll talk about in a few moments. We can call that revival.

One author has said simply, “Revival is God.” It’s God at work. God pouring out His Spirit, and God doing what only God can do among His people. The very word revive means "to bring back to life." It assumes that there has been a decline in the spiritual life of the people of God.

I received a letter not too long ago from a group of women who were expressing concern about the spiritual condition of many of the believers in their city, which is right in the buckle of the Bible belt. Here’s how they described it. They said,

There’s a church on just about every corner. Most everyone attends church and would say they are saved, but continue to live like the world. People have a false sense of security that they are following God because the go to church. They believe a "social" gospel, rather than the "true" gospel of giving up your life, dying to self, taking up your cross and following Jesus wholeheartedly.

It’s rare to find a preacher who teaches repentance for forgiveness of sin or reminds people of God’s warnings and judgments for sin. People are used to "feel good" messages that make them secure in their sin instead of teaching that they cannot love God and the world. There’s no fear of God. Most are spiritually asleep—unaware of their true spiritual condition. We need a great awakening!

Here’s an email I received from a new believer who lives in another country who does not know any other Christians in her country who flew to the United States to attend a Revive Our Hearts conference. Here’s what she said. Now this is really honest. This may pinch a bit but we need to hear it. She said,

I realize this is from the perspective of one of those "annoying newborns" (you know, all enthusiasm and no knowledge). But one of the things I was so looking forward to was actually meeting other believers. As I interacted with some and observed, I was so discouraged and disappointed to see that the gospel or even the privilege of prayer is actually kind of boring to them. Not everyone, but many.

Perhaps it is because of the spiritual smorgasbord that America enjoys—churches, conventions, blogs, retreats, 24-hour radio, countless resources, books, relative freedom, etc. Maybe when one constantly feeds at the smorgasbord, the food becomes tasteless. I don’t know, but if that’s what spiritual maturity looks like [says this new believer], I don’t want it. I doubt that their faith is very contagious. Who’s really going to be attracted to such a boring God?

Now I said, “Ouch!” to myself as I read that. But I think it’s true. It’s certainly true in many cases. We need revival. Would you agree? We need God to bring back to life, to quicken our hearts, to restore us to first love, fresh life, a move of God’s Spirit that will make Christ real in us and through us to others.

Dannah: That’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, explaining the true meaning of revival and showing us our need for it here in our country and in our spiritual communities. The end of that email really lingers with me. Who’s going to be attracted to such a boring God? Ouch! We need to sit with that, I think. We don’t worship a boring God, but sometimes we act like it, don’t we? This is spiritual apathy, and it’s not a new phenomenon. The Sons of Korah saw it in their day, and they wrote Psalm 85 in response. Let’s read part of that passage together:

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
   and put away your indignation toward us!
Will you be angry with us forever?
   Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
   that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
   and grant us your salvation.

Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
   for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
   but let them not turn back to folly.
Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
   that glory may dwell in our land.

This is the right response to spiritual apathy—saying, “Lord, revive us again!” We need the Lord to revive our hearts. We can’t do it ourselves. That’s what this ministry is all about! And we see here that this means acknowledging our need for salvation, fearing God, and listening to the Lord’s voice. When we do these things, we read that glory will dwell in our land. 

It’s true! It can happen! In fact, we’re about to hear about a time when God's glory came down and dwelt in Wales so richly you could literally hear it across the country.

In 1904, a revival began with a teenage girl and spread throughout all of Wales. It started when a man, Joseph Jenkins, challenged his youth group to think deeply about who Jesus was and why that mattered for them. Nancy and some historian friends, Mark Beardon (who recently went to be with the Lord), and Kevin Adams, tell the story. Let’s listen.

Mark Beardon: They were a good youth group. They weren't dynamic necessarily, but they were good, moral kids. Joseph Jenkins asked them, "What does Jesus mean to you?" There was a long, awkward silence and one young boy spoke up and he said, "Jesus is the Light of the World."

And Joseph Jenkins said, "No, that's not what I mean. What does Jesus mean to you?" And there was another awkward silence.

And a little young lady named Florie Evans, who had just been saved a few weeks" (She had come to visit Jenkins in the week prior because she was so troubled about her soul.) She was about fourteen years old or so. Jenkins asked her what I think was a very wise question: "How are you on the Lordship of Christ?"

She replied, "I'm not doing well because I'm afraid if I yield to Him, He'll ask some hard thing of me."

You know, what a wonderful thing, to deal with that issue at fourteen as opposed to thirty, forty or fifty.

Nancy: On that night Florie settled the issue and fully surrendered her life to Jesus Christ as Lord.

Kevin Adams: And she stands up and she says these words: "I don't know what I can say this morning, but I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart. He died for me." It's not just what she said. It's how she said it. It sort of sparked something in the meeting.

Mark: This is part of the wonderfulness of revival. You know, many of us could stand and just as sincerely say that statement, but you see God had on His heart an extraordinary work.

The late, great Jay Edwin Orr (historian on the Welsh revival): There was a hush of God in that little meeting. The result was a sudden deepening of the spiritual life of the young people. So Joseph Jenkins formed them into teams and took them around with him preaching in that part of Wales. And Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis wrote, "In the life of faith in London, a cloud no bigger than a man's hand had arisen in the west - The Hope of Revival."

Kevin: People felt an influence in that meeting. People began to be overcome as they began to realize they weren't right with God. A depth of repentance came upon the meeting, but not just repentance, but a joy in knowing the forgiveness of sin.

Mark: And it brought such a conviction in the room that it began a movement among the young people and a deepening in their lives. Joseph Jenkins took this momentum, these stirrings of God, and he began to organize his young people into groups as he went out to preach. They would come and pray for his preaching, and they would sing for him.

Kevin: And in the next few weeks, this confession by a young girl became the fuse which was lit for the Welsh Revival. One person who attacked the revival later on said, "Oh, the revival, it's just all fizz."

And the other person responded by saying, "Yes, it's just fizz, but it's fizz that leads to dynamite that explodes."

Well, the fizz, the beginning, the lighting, in February 1904 led to a dynamic explosion throughout that year.

Dannah: Well, that was just the start. Revival isn’t quiet. It isn’t subtle. It’s explosive. And in Wales, it led to singing.

Kevin: It was all blended together with a sound track of Welsh hymnology. If you've heard the Welsh sing, when they get excited about God, there is really nothing quite like it.

Song: "Here Is Love" (in Welsh)

Kevin: All of these things were happening and being expressed in great hymns, many which were written in the eighteenth century by the Methodists.

But now, these great hymns which were part of the DNA, if you like, of the Welsh nation, were being set alight by the Holy Spirit.

People began to realize what the hymns meant. They had sung them for years, but now they realized. One of the great hymns, of course was, "Here is love vast as the ocean; loving kindness as a flood."

Song: "Here Is Love" (in Welsh)

Kevin: You know, this was sung and it seemed to sum up, if you like, the outpouring of God's love that fell upon the people at that time.

Song: "Here Is Love" 

Here is love vast as the ocean,
Loving kindness as a flood.
When the Prince of Life, our ransom
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout heaven's eternal days.¹

Mark: Virden Higham, he said in the south of Wales There are long valleys, finger-like valleys, that run down north and south. They say it was said during the revival that, as you climbed the mountain out of a valley, you could hear the singing from the church below.

And as you reached the top of the mountain, and the singing faded away. As you topped the mountain and began to come down, you would hear the singing from the next valley. And it was said that you could cross the whole of Wales, across it, and never lose the sound of the Church singing.

You know, there's a sense in which revival is the Church singing, not just singing, but the Church with a song. When we get so tired that we can't fight any more, that we're tired of programs, we're tired of being explainable, we're tired of religion that hunkers down and tries to survive in a culture that will never change apart from revival, when we come to that point where we cry out, that's when God gives us our song back.

Song: 

One day, God's going to send revival again, and the Church will have her song back.

Dannah: The church will have her song back. What a beautiful day that will be! Is it possible? Is there really hope for that kind of sweeping revival today? Sammy Tippit sure believes there is. Sammy is a friend of Nancy’s who serves as an international revivalist and evangelist. God has given him a vision for spiritual transformation in America that extends to the nations. He shared this vision with us several years ago, but I think it’s even more relevant for us today. You’ll see what I mean as you listen. Here’s Sammy.

Sammy Tippit: I am convinced that if we can see what’s on God’s heart, there is no limit to what God can do. But we have to get the heart of God on our heart. That’s why we pray for revival. What do we pray for? “God, make me like Jesus. Let me feel what Jesus feels.”

Listen, revival is not the end. The end is Jesus. It’s becoming like Him. It’s His kingdom. It’s all about Him. It’s His glory. It’s not about Sammy Tippit. It’s not about Life Action Ministries. It’s not about the Romanian church. It’s not about the Pakistani church. It’s about the glory of Jesus Christ around the world. And when you begin to pray that way, there’s something that God honors.

Listen, powerful praying is when you pray what’s on God’s heart. Most of our praying is what’s on our hearts. But you pray what’s on His heart, and He will do extraordinary things. But in order for that to happen, you’ve got to see the world.

I’m reminded in the Scriptures of the blind man that Jesus touched. Jesus came and Jesus touched the blind man. And remember, he saw. But when he saw, he saw people as inanimate objects. He saw them as trees. Then Jesus touched him a second time. When he touched them the second time, he saw people as they really were. I’m convinced that what the church today needs is a fresh touch from God that enables us to see the world as it is.

Facebook has been just a good teaching tool for me. I’m talking about teaching me of what’s happening in the church today. I have a lot of Christian friends all over. I am amazed at how angry Christians are because we’re not getting our political way. I’m saying, “Oh, God, we’ve lost sight that Jesus. . . .” Listen, God’s glory always comes in the midst of darkness. The darker it gets, the more apt people are to seek God.

Dr. Roy Fish, who passed away, was a great professor of evangelism. We were at a conference together and someone asked him, “Dr. Fish, you see any hope for revival in America today?”

And he said, “There is one hope that I see.”

Everyone was wondering “What is this? What is the hope that you see?”

He says, “We have no hope. That’s always when the church begins to cry to God for revival, when we become hopeless and then we say, 'Our only hope is in Jesus.'" When we come to the place where it’s not Republicans or Democrats or Independents or our what we think, but it’s “Jesus, You are our only hope.” When we come to that place, that’s when we will see revival. We can reach the world right here in America.

Some of the hungriest people are the ethnic communities that have immigrated here. I can tell you that absolutely. This is what must happen in America. We’re afraid of this whole new wave of immigrants. The church had backed off and lived in fear when what we ought to do is in love and kindness and grace reach out and share the good news of Jesus Christ with them.

They come to this country believing that it’s a Christian country. In their minds, this is a Christian country. They come here, and they see what they see on TV and in movies and all this, and they’re confused. They need to see the reality of people who know Jesus.

I can tell you something. There will be something that will happen to you as you begin to reach out to those. God will expand your circle. You will cross a mountain. You will go across that mountain to where the gospel has not been. But we’ve got to have God’s heart.

Revival Evangelism. Which comes first? I don’t know. Are they together? But I do know this. The greatest harvest comes during times of revival. We have the potential to reach the whole world right here in North America.

Dannah: Amen. That’s revivalist and evangelist Sammy Tippit. You know, what he just said is very exciting to me. The American church is increasingly far from God. Maybe you can sense darkness spreading. But this doesn’t mean we’re out of hope. This is our hope, because the darkness forces us to turn to the light. Like Sammy said, God’s glory shows up in the dark. We are in a wonderful position to experience revival. And you know what? The God of revivals past—He’s God still today. He hasn’t changed. And He is able to move in miraculous ways. Let’s pray for that. Lord, revive our hearts!

Today’s episode really showcased the heartbeat of this ministry. We want every woman to experience freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ—and this happens when God revives her heart. 

Has God used Revive Our Hearts in your life or in your spiritual community? If so, would you consider giving this summer? Your financial support allows us to continue sharing life-giving resources, all pointing to the God who revives. 

This month, when you make a donation of any amount, we’d love to send you a copy of Colin Smith's book, Fly through the Bible. It’ll give you a super helpful big-picture look at Scripture. With that, we’ll also send you an art print featuring Nancy’s poem, "The Word." Visit ReviveOurHearts.com to donate, or call us at 1-800-569-5959, and be sure to ask for these gifts when you do.

Join us next week as we talk about repentance. It’s not always an easy topic, but it’s good because it points us straight to Jesus. 

Thanks for listening today. I’m Dannah Gresh. We’ll see you next time, for Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

¹"Here Is Love," John Lowry, Arranged by Jeffery Howard from the album Huw Priday.

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.