I recently gave a talk on revival, and I want to share some thoughts from it. It’s difficult to find the right word for what we mean when we talk about revival. “Renewal” is almost too soft a word, and “revival” has too many dated connotations nowadays. But the older definition of revival is helpful. It refers to a time when the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit—not signs and wonders, but the conviction of sin, conversion, assurance of salvation and a sense of the reality of Jesus Christ on the heart—are intensified, so that you see growth in the quality of the faith in the people in your church, and a great growth in numbers and conversions as well.
Sound Doctrine
Paul wrote the letters we refer to as 1st and 2nd Timothy to his young colleague Timothy, who had been tasked with organizing house churches into functioning congregations. Paul hoped to be there to assist Timothy in person, but just in case he was delayed he wrote: Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the churchof the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:14-15)