Revivals of the Bible

Ernest Baker

“And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying: If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” I Samuel vii. 3.

BOTH the religious and the national life of Israel were at a low ebb. For years an old and feeble priest had been at the head of affairs. His sons ministered in the priest’s office. They were covetous and immoral, and used their position for their own vile ends. The offerings of the Lord were consequently abhorred. Their father, Eli, had not the courage to deal with them as a parent should, or to purify the service of the Lord’s house, as the position of high priest required him to do. The service of God was neglected and in disrepute. At this time the Philistines came against the people, and inflicted upon them a severe defeat. In their extremity the Israelites sent for the ark of God. They did not inquire into the moral reasons why the Lord’s help was not forthcoming. They turned superstitiously to a symbol instead of to the living God. Their religion was one of externals only, and was altogether independent of questions of character. With the ark in their midst they fought another battle with the Philistines, but were defeated more disastrously than ever. The ark itself was taken, the priests were slain, and Shiloh, their national centre and the meeting place of their faith, was laid waste. For 20 years they were under the heel of the Philistines, and had no place where they gathered to worship God. Though the ark was returned by their oppressors, it was consigned to a private house. It was no longer a rallying point for their faith. Then the people began to lament after the Lord. They became conscious of His absence. There was a power and a blessing, once enjoyed, but now missed. The presence of the living God was their need.

How this yearning found expression we do not know, but we have, in our text, the answer that Samuel gave to their longing. The instructions were obeyed. With all their heart they sought and served the Lord. A national assembly was convened, and ceremonies, expressive of their contrition and of their whole-hearted surrender to God, were observed. They confessed their sins, and individual cases were judged by Samuel, and his judgements were accepted. Then the Philistines gathered against them again. Samuel prayed for deliverance; and, before a blow was struck by them either in self-defence or for liberty, the power of the Lord was made manifest. In a thunderstorm He appeared and discomfited their foes. They saw that He was once more amongst them; and, acting under the inspiration of this, they pursued their enemies and were delivered out of their hands. National deliverance followed a general revival of religious faith and practice. The points we will notice in this story are: The Cause, The Conditions, and The Consequences of Revival.

I. THE CAUSE OF REVIVAL.

In our study of the revival under Moses in Egypt, we noticed that God is the great first, moving cause in such an event. That fact remains concerning all real religious awakenings. In this story we deal, however, with the secondary cause.

The human cause was Samuel. He was the instrument that God used. When quite a boy the Lord had spoken to him and given him His first message. This was one of warning and rebuke to Eli for the careless way in which he dealt with his family and supervised the Lord’s work. After that “the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.” That is the record of 20 years before the revival. But the work that produced the great awakening began then. Our text must not be regarded as an isolated utterance of the great prophet at the end of the twenty years, but as an epitome of the message which, during that period, he was continually giving. The burden of his preaching was that the reason for their defeat and oppression was moral. The nation would not revive until religion revived. If there was a widespread reformation in their lives the Lord would give them deliverance. For twenty years Samuel preached this. It took all that time for it to sink into their minds. But it bore its fruit at last. The revival seemed sudden when it came, but it was the result of years of patient labour. This is a lesson we need to learn.

A revival is sadly needed in this land. The religious life is low. Morality is conspicuous by its absence in much of our business life. Men have little conscience in the matter of debt. Gambling is indulged in to an alarming extent. Social evils grow. Not only are divorces on the increase, but the number of wives and families abandoned by their husbands is very great. An awakening that will touch the consciences of men is needed if religion is to be an aggressive force, and if our social, commercial and civic life is to be saved from ruin. With these facts before us, and encouraged by the Welsh Revival, we have begun to pray and work for revival. After a short time many have become discouraged. We see no great movement, and we think we have expected too much. We begin to explain that the Revival in Wales is largely a matter of temperament, that the people are emotional, and naturally religious. We say it is impossible to have such a revival here. Our circumstances are so different, our populations are so mixed, we have such a mass of anti-Christian element. Judaism, Mahommedanism, Hindooism, Confucianism—all number their adherents by the thousand. The emigrants from Continental Europe have a lower moral standard than the British and the Dutch, and a greater mixture of superstition with their religion. All these combine against the atmosphere that would issue in a revival. But our God is equal to all this. The special difficulties are a challenge to His power and to our faith. The greater the difficulty and the need, the greater the reason for a revival. But we must have patience. We must be prepared to work long, and to do what, in the political world, Lord Rosebery calls spade work. God’s best things can only be given to those who show appreciation of their value by persistent desire and effort to obtain them. The spasmodic prayers that represent flitting desires, though they are good, He does not answer. The prayers which reveal the settled longing of the heart are the prayers He heeds. And it takes time to reveal that such desires are possessed by us.

Some may be inclined to say: “If we only had a man like Samuel amongst us we should soon have a revival. But we lack an outstanding leader.” Wales has given us the answer to this. The work there is the work of no one man. God has used many men, and many of humble origin. There is a story told concerning the football team of Harvard University which is also appropriate to this. For several seasons the Harvard team was beaten by those from the Yale and Pennsylvania Universities. Three young men gave themselves to the task of finding the cause, and also a remedy. The tide of defeat was stayed, and then it turned to victory. One day, after beating Yale by 28 to nil, a friend enquired about the new plan, and received a reply to the effect that every member of the old team was a star. Each was the best in his own particular line, and each played his own particular part, but the playing was that of individuals. “Now,” he said, “we have only one star, but we have a team. We all work together.” Is there not in that a hint for us? A number of us working together can equal a Samuel. With faith in and consecration to God, and with a conviction of the need of and desire for revival, the blessing can come through us.

II. THE CONDITIONS OF REVIVAL.

1. Earnestness.—” If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts,” said Samuel. That is, if you are in earnest, then put away, the strange gods. Nothing that is required to bring revival can be done unless, first of all, there be whole-heartedness. “If you mean business,” Samuel seems to say, “I can give you the programme, but it turns upon this, ‘If with all your hearts.’” But this earnestness that must precede everything else must continue throughout and permeate the remaining conditions. After putting away comes: "Prepare your hearts unto the Lord,” or “set” or “make firm your hearts.” Also "serve Him only.’’ The whole thing must be done with the entire being.

John Collett Ryland, in the eighteenth century, at the age of 20, wrote these words: “If there is ever a God in heaven or earth, I vow and protest, in His strength, or that God permitting me, I’ll find Him out; and I’ll know whether He loves or hates me; or I’ll die and perish, soul and body, in the pursuit and search.” Ryland not only found God, but became one of His ministers. Within six years of writing this he was called to be the pastor of a Baptist church. Such earnestness cannot fail of finding God. “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

2. Repentance.—Though the people had forgotten God they had not altogether discarded religion. In the place of the true they had put the false. The false gods and the practices connected therewith must now be put on one side. Whilst the mind was occupied with other gods, the true God could not be seen. The heart must be wholly turned to Him to see Him; and in order to do this that which filled the vision must be put on one side. In this country we have not to face the substitution of a false religion for the true, so much as we have to face the substitution of the things of this life for the eternal. “The pure in heart shall see God." The reverse is true : “The impure shall not see Him.” Lust blinds the eyes to God. Men cannot see Him, or be sure of Him, when they are lustful. It is easy and natural to be sceptical when impure.

Money is as blinding to the true vision as lust. If men are wholly occupied with the pursuit of wealth, and are determined upon getting money, they cannot see God. It is not a question so much of whether the methods of getting it are justifiable or unscrupulous, as it is the absorption in the pursuit of it. A man who has no time for anything else but business, though he run his business honestly, will find that God is outside his vision. His whole horizon is filled with that which absorbs him. Men must turn from the whole-hearted pursuit of money if they would get right with God.

Ambition is equally blinding. “How can ye believe,” Christ said, “which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” If the praise of our fellows be the dominant motive of our life we cannot find God. If we are prevented from taking our stand for Him, simply because it would mean the contempt of those whose good will we value, we shall find it impossible to be refreshed and helped by His presence. The inspiring, comforting, purifying effect of His presence is worth every sacrifice; and anything that is first, and places Him in a secondary position, must be put on one side.

This repentance includes confession. The children of Israel gathered at Mizpah and said:

“We have sinned against the Lord.” The facts of one’s life must be faced. The sins must be acknowledged. The responsibility for them must be taken. The blame must not be put upon circumstances. True confession is accepting the guilt. “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

III. THE CONSEQUENCES OF REVIVAL.

1. Unity — The Book of Judges concludes with the sentence: “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” There was no recognized head. Eli, as high priest, never rallied or united the people. Not till Samuel came was the old unity restored. Now “all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.” “Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel.” “And Samuel said: Gather all Israel to Mizpah.”

Revival always means unity. In Wales the churches have never been so one as at the present time. Though the distinctive rite of the Baptists has been more in evidence than ever, 40,000 out of the 8o,ooo converts having been publicly baptised, the harmony of the churches has not been disturbed. In spite of the fierce controversy over the Education Act, Church of England clergymen have joined with the ministers of the Free Churches in the meetings for prayer and the care of the converts. The points of agreement are seen to be more; and whilst individual convictions are not lessened, they do not divide the workers.

In South Africa revival would mean not only greater unity amongst the churches, but amongst our various races. The great mission of Gipsy Smith brought together in the centres he visited men who had been separated for years, and, that kind of thing would be multiplied throughout the land if revival should sweep over it like a great wave.

2. Conflict — The children of Israel could not bestir themselves without their gathering appearing to be a challenge to the Philistines. Sooner or later the two powers must be pitted one against the other. Revival does not mean ease. It is a preparation for work. It will either arouse the organized forces of evil into open hostility, or it will compel the Christian forces to attack them more seriously.

3. Deliverance — “And He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines!” When the religious life of a country is low the wicked prosper, and at the expense of the majority of the people. Drinking corporations flourish, monopolies and trusts come to great estate, wealth is amassed without any consideration for those who are pushed on one side. Dividends have to be paid, and corporations are heartless. Revival means a great awakening of the public conscience, and with that awakening deliverance from greed and selfishness and corruption will follow.