And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

Ezekiel 34:26

There are few subjects more important to the Church than revival. This is because, ever since Pentecost, revival has been the means whereby God has built and enlarged His Church. The history of the New Testament age has been dominated by local, national and international movements of God’s Spirit. Revival is also an Old Testament phenomenon. The history of Israel is characterised by seasons of rededication and renewal when God came down among His people. In these dark and godless days there are few subjects that we should be burdened for more, than revival.

I heard of a Christian leader who told a young man quite recently that the age of revival is over because we are now in the apostasy of the last days. Our Saviour said that no man can know the hour of Christ’s return; it is surely presumptuous to assume that these times are upon us and that there is no point in praying for revival. To remove the hope of revival is to remove the pattern that God has used for the advancement of His Church throughout all ages. To remove the hope of revival is to remove the incentive for broadcasting the Gospel among the nations and it is to consign our own dark land to the darkness snd blackness of eternal judgement and it is to relegate the Church to being a rejected and despised irrelevance. Is this really the future that God has for His bride? Is this the best He can offer the Church for which His Son died?

I believe it is important that we understand that God does revive His Church and that He promises revival in the future, greater revivals than we have ever witnessed in the past. It is vital that we pray for revival believing as we do that God will revive His Church again.

Therefore these studies will look at the final chapters of Ezekiel where the great mystical prophet saw visions representing outpourings of God’s Spirit throughout all ages.

This first study will consider the showers of blessings from Exekiel 34.

Ezekiel ministered to God’s people in Babylon. These promises anticipated the return to the promised land. While Israel would return and reestablish themselves the promises were not complete in them. They extend to the New Testament and God’s programme for the enlargement of His Church. They are more applicable therefore to the New Testament than the Old and certainly extend to the Gentiles.

THE PROMISE FOR REVIVAL

And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

Ezekiel 34:26

The imagery is pastoral. The Church is described using the metaphor of the flock. In Ezekiel’s day the flock had been attacked by Babylon but had also suffered as a result of false shepherds who had nit offered protection. But God made a covenant of peace and as a consequence a return was envisaged. This covenant promised that God would be the shepherd who would not neglect His sheep:

Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

Ezekiel 34:22-24

Christ today is the one great shepherd who cares for and nourishes His Church. Through His Son God has an eternal covenant which promises periods of revival within His Church. He will not leave His people to suffer in this world. He promises the Holy Spirit and revival is principally a work of the Spirit:

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Luke 22:49

The Holy Ghost indwells all Christians personally. He also infills those who pray for such and are surrendered to Him. Revival is the outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the community of believers and is part of God’s covenant promises to His Church. Therefore as we pray for the endument of the Spirit we claim what God has pledged Himself so to do.

THE FOCUS OF REVIVAL

And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing

Ezekiel 34:26

The focus of revival is the sheep and the church. The hill is indicative of Jerusalem and the restoration of the holy temple. In this New Testament age the temple is the Church, consisting of lively stones, a temple which continues to grow and is the habitation of the Holy Spirit.

These showers are focused therefore upon the people of God. Revival is a work that must take place within the Church.

Revival energises something which is alive, yet the life is decaying. God will never allow His Church to perish, He will revive.

The Church in our nation has been in constant decline throughout the 20th Century. On the one hand there has been apostasy, a departure from the truth, and on the other hand worldliness and apathy have set in among God’s people. It feels as if the embers are in the grate, the fire and light have almost gone out. Lack of prayer and enthusiasm among Christians is symptomatic of a languishing Church.

It is the Church which must be revived. The future of the Gospel in our nation demands that such an event must take place. The embers must must be fanned into a mighty fire once again.

THE TIMING OF REVIVAL

and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

Ezekiel 34:26

God has a season for revival, just as there is a time for rainfall. The showers will fall in God’s time, according to His calendar. We must pray for revival but we cannot work it up by human effort. This work is a gift of His grace.

The history of the Christian Church is punctuated by periods of revival, but these periods were always preceded by times of spiritual darkness. The period before the Protestant Reformation was known as The Dark Ages on account of the ignorance of God’s Word that abounded. The Reformation was characterised by a revival of Scripture translation and publishing which was accompanied by powerful preaching. God worked in several hearts simultaneously and independently throughout Europe. In Germany, Switzerland, France, Holland, Norway, England and Scotland men were raised up and a thirst for truth was generated in needy hearts. Revival will always be a work of the Holy Spirit, which will emphasise the authority of Scripture.

Prior to the Evangelical Awakening in Britain the Protestant Church had become infected by formality with rational thinking creeping into the pulpit. The old fire of the Gospel had departed from both the Church of England and the Church of Scotland. Thomas Halyburton of St Andrews recognised the trend as he lay dying in 1712:

O sirs! I dread mightily that a rational sort of religion is coming in among us; I mean by it a religion that consists in bare attendance on outward duties and ordinances without the power of godliness..

God, however, raised up great preachers such as George Whitefield and John Wesley and others, who stirred a nation and did a work that continues to bless Britain to the present. It was a work that would spread to the North American colonies through what they called The Great Awakening where both Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were prominent leaders.

The darkness of our generation isn’t a hindrance to God. When the showers fall no-one will prevent the deluge.

THE FRUITFULNESS FOLLOWING REVIVAL

And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase…

Ezekiel 34:27

Rain promises fruitfulness. The showers will bring life and nourishment. When God sends the showers upon the Church this will have an impact upon society. Souls will be saved, the Church will grow and society will experience many practical benefits that arise when people fear God.

Revivals are associated by mass conversions. But these are the results of what God has done in the hearts of His people. The fire fell at Pentecost and then the disciples preached with such stunning effects in Jerusalem. When God works in our hearts the tide of sin will be stemmed, lawmakers will be forced to respond to what is happening in the soul of the nation, crime will reduce, the streets will be safer, the Lord’s Day will be honoured. What we long to see changed, though, will only take place when God changes us!

THE ASSURANCE IN REVIVAL

Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 34:30

A key ingredient of revival is a profound and awesome sense of the presence of God. A sense of the divine, which prompts self examination on the part of the Church and which causes painful conviction in sinner’s hearts is a feature of this work of the Holy Ghost. For this reason the work of grace wrought during revivals tends to be deep, yielding lasting fruit.

The Presbyterian Magazine

July 1859

A Visit to Connor

“We arrived in Kells on Saturday evening. On that evening we found that a prayer meeting is held, consisting exclusively of those who engage in prayer in their turn…On the Sabbath morning nothing was observable in the house of God but the largeness of the congregation, the attention of the worshippers , and the liveliness of the singing. In the interval between the first and second services, consisting of 25 minutes, 4 different rooms about the church were occupied with little companies engaged in singing and prayer. The afternoon attendance was equal to the forenoon…during the afternoon and evening of the Sabbath, meetings for prayer were held in many private houses, in schoolrooms, and one in a large floor of a factory…In the large assembly at 6 o’clock, in the mill, composed of 4 or 500 persons…the hearts of people were touched…On Monday afternoon we went to Ahoghill, and, on going out of the town a little, met some people, with their Bibles, coming into a prayer meeting, at 6 o’clock. At 7 we attended a meeting in Mr Buick’s church…at 9 the church suddenly filled with people from the other congregation, where they had been engaged in religious exercises from 6 to 9…On Tuesday we were at a congregational prayer meeting in Connor. We commenced at 7:30…The anxious were invited to come into the session room…About 30 came weeping…we returned home at 11.”

A History of the 1859 Revival, Volume 1, edited by Dr Stanley Barnes