What is God's purpose for bringing revival?
Among the reasons for revival are, bringing His people into a deeper spiritual walk, revealing His righteous right arm, and preparing His people for suffering.
1 Peter 2:9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
1. Reestablish God's glory.
In times of true revival, God gets the glory for a work that is of unmistakable divine origin.
2. Reestablish the honor of His church and empower it for witnessing.
Invariably great revival movements bring a new desire and aptitude for witnessing. For example, the result of the Moravian revival in 1727 was the taking of the gospel to many other places. In the revival that came to Korea in 1907, more than 80,000 people became followers of Jesus.
3. To get the attention of non-believers.
Unbelievers cannot gainsay a true revival!
4. To prepare the church for suffering.
In studying the history of revival, we find that revival often occurs prior to times of suffering. Accordingly, we find the "Great Awakening" took place shortly before the revolutionary war; the "Laymen's Prayer Revival" of 1857 began prior to the civil war; the revival in Wales in 1904, and the subsequent revivals that occurred in India and China came prior to WW1; the revival that swept Korea between 1907 and 1910 came prior to the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910.
"If we aren’t careful, we will miss the primary purpose, given in bold relief at Pentecost. He has come to dwell in you so you can speak the gospel! So that your tongue will be loosed and empowered to tell people about Jesus. ... Every national revival in history is marked—not by mere fuzzy, wonderful feelings for the participants, but by the extraordinary boldness of believers to “gossip” the good news and the extended hand of God to save millions quickly. In fact, it can be clearly proven that every major mission movement in history has found its impetus in seasons of revival." —Bill Elliff—One Cry Website
Another person said, to (1) restore the believer to his peak performance; (2) to replace the works of the flesh with the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:19-21; and Gal 5:22,23); (3) to bring true unity into a Church; to save our homes and our community from the judgment of God (Hab 3:2).—Craig Ledbetter
"Revival is Gods method to counteract spiritual decline and to create spiritual momentum in order that His redemptive purposes might be accomplished on earth." Arthur Wallis, Purpose of Revival
"There was once a reservoir in the hills that supplied a village community with water. It was fed by a mountain stream, and the overflow of the reservoir continued down the streambed to the valley below. There was nothing remarkable about this stream--it seldom overflowed its banks or gave the villagers any trouble. One day, however, some large cracks appeared in one of the walls of the reservoir. The wall collapsed and the waters burst down the hillside, destroying all the houses and bridges that lay in its path. The streambed could no longer contain the volume of water, and the overflow inundated the countryside. What had before been ignored or taken for granted now became an object of awe, wonder, and fear. This is a fitting picture of revival. Often in the period just preceding this kind of breakthrough, the stream of divine power and blessing has seemed unusually low. The people of God and the work of God have been in great affliction and reproach, despised or ignored by those around them. In response, however, to the prayers of a burdened remnant, God has been quietly heaping the flood. Suddenly, when the majority has no expectation of it, God opens the windows of heaven and pours out his blessing in such abundance that the channels of organized religion cannot contain it. The flood of life and blessing then becomes an object of awe and wonder. Works of darkness and strongholds of Satan that have long resisted the normal influences of the Spirit are swept away. Stubborn wills that have long withstood the overtures of the gospel and the pleadings and prayers of loved ones now bend and break before the irresistible flow of the Spirit, to be engulfed themselves and borne along in the stream of blessing. Thus does God see fit to use revival to create spiritual momentum, to accomplish in days what could never otherwise be achieved in years of normal Christian activity." Arthur Wallis, Purpose of Revival
Further Thoughts