Oh, For A Revival!
By S. B. Shaw
Is it not time to cry aloud and spare not, to lift up the voice like a trumpet and show the people of God their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins? (Isa. 58:1).
We are no pessimists. We do not for a moment lose sight of the fact that the foundation of God stands sure. We do not for a moment question that God has His thousands that have not bowed the knee to the world, the flesh, or the devil, nor been swept from their mooring by the present floodtide of false teaching and doctrine. These unite in declaring that the only remedy for the evils we deplore is an old-time revival – a revival brought about by the mighty working of the Spirit in awakening and quickening and saving power.
Oh, for a revival that will turn the professed people of God back from their idols of sin and worldliness to serve the true and living God – back from their "broken cisterns" to the "Fountain of living waters"; a revival in which the Word of God will be preached without compromise or apology in the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; a revival that will overthrow sin of every kind, popular as well as unpopular; a revival that will take every desire for worldly amusements and abolish every unscriptural scheme for raising money for the support of the Gospel.
Oh, for a revival that will sweep away the pride that prompts all worldly conformity and extravagance in dress and manner of life, and melt the millions of dollars worth of gold that is now used to adorn the body, into coin and dedicate it to God for carrying the Gospel to the world; a revival that will take the people out of their worldly clubs and societies and put them in the "secret place of the most High" where they will "abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psa. 91:1).
Oh, for a revival that will save God’s people from the covetousness and love of the world and all uncleanness of spirit, mind and body; a revival in which the professors of religion will have their eyes opened to see and feel their responsibility for souls and in which they will confess with broken hearts their former backslidings, their carelessness and indifference, and in thousands of cases their actual transgressions of the moral law; a revival that like a flood will "sweep away the refuge of lies" and "overflow the hiding place" (Isa. 28:17) of all them that would hide away from the light of God’s Spirit.
Oh, for a revival that will unearth and uncover every device of Satan for deceiving souls, whether found in the church or outside of it, for "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will shew them His covenant" (Psa. 25:14).
Oh, for a revival that will make both the church and the world to realize the shortness of time and the importance of eternity; a revival in which judgment light will shine not only on the unsaved but in which God’s people will see their duty and realize their opportunity as those that have lost sight of the things of time in the light of the coming Judgment.
Oh, for a revival that will make heaven and hell, Calvary and the resurrection, salvation from sin, cleansing through the blood, and the gift of the Holy Ghost – living realities by the revelation of the Spirit in harmony with the Word; a revival in which the sinfulness of sin will be so revealed that instead of excusing and pleading for it, souls will turn from it in utter loathing and cry out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24) and refuse to find comfort in any thought of imputed righteousness as a covering for sin but cry out for deliverance from every wrong affection and from every evil thought and desire and rest not until the old man is crucified with Christ and the very body of sin destroyed.
Oh, for a revival that will sweep away selfishness and narrowness and all sectarian spirit and bring those that now spend their time in criticism of each other down on their faces together before the Lord, crying out for the salvation of lost souls.
Oh, for a revival that will sweep away all the old dried up sermons and all the cold formal prayers and all the lifeless singing, and like a whirlwind will carry everyone that comes in its path heavenward; a revival that will fill the hearts of saints with holy love and so burden the hearts of God’s ministers that the Word of God will be like fire shut up in their bones (see Jeremiah 20:9).
Oh, for a revival that will help the people to honor God with their substance and so have their barns filled with plenty (see Proverbs 3:9-10); a revival that will open the windows of heaven by bringing all God’s tithes into His storehouse; a revival that will so fill the saints with love that they will rejoice in the opportunity to give their time and money and if needs be, their very lives for their brethren and for the salvation of a lost world.
Oh, for a revival in which the presence of God will be so revealed that multitudes will fall under the power of God and cry for mercy as they did on the day of Pentecost; a revival that has so much of heaven and so much of God’s glory in it that all the world will be compelled to see and feel its influence; a revival that will gloriously defeat the powers of darkness and hell and make earth and heaven ring with shouts of victory over a multitude of souls snatched from the eternal burnings and won for God and heaven – yea, a revival that will never need to be re-revived, but that will sweep on like a mighty wave of the sea that nothing can hinder, until time shall be no more!
For such a revival our hearts cry out to God! For such a revival we are ready to watch and toil and pray. For such a revival we believe the blessed Spirit is interceding in many hearts. Such a revival God is able and ready to give. But for this He must be enquired of by His people to do it for them (see Ezekiel 36:37). May God grant revival, not for our sakes, but for His own name’s sake and for His own honor and glory! Amen and amen.