In 1874 Pastor CH Spurgeon of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, preached upon this text in a sermon entitled “A Revival Promise” (Metropolitan Pulpit No. 1151). He commenced his sermon by referring to the yearning for revival that existed in many Christian hearts:

“IN the Christian Church at this moment there is a very general desire for a revival of religion. You may go where you may among Christian people and you will find that they are mourning over the present state of things and saying, one to the other, ‘When will a greater blessing come? How can we obtain it? When shall we make some impression upon the masses of the ungodly?When shall our houses of prayer be filled with attentive hearers? When will the Lord’s kingdom come and His right arm be made bare in the eyes of all the people?’ “

The challenging aspect of these remarks for me are, that we would consider Spurgeon’s great Church to be already in revival as he was proclaiming these words. Throughout the sermon he makes references to the blessing of God which was poured upon upon his London ministry:

“That which would be a revival anywhere else has been our ordinary condition—for which we are thankful. By the space of these 20 years, almost without rise or fall, God has continued to increase our numbers with souls saved by the preaching of His Truth…My Brothers and Sisters, where, in this day, do we see results attending the Gospel which should satisfy us? Hundreds maybe added to the Church in a year, as has been our common blessing, but what are hundreds? If 400 were brought into our fellowship last year, what is that out of four million? What are these saved ones among so many? The headway made by the Church is next to nothing! It hardly keeps pace with the growth of the population. We need more of the Spirit of God – and if we had it – I have no doubt, whatever, the converts would at once be counted by thousands and tens of thousands! And there is no reason whatever why the Church of God, which is now in a pitiful minority, should not become in many a district a triumphant majority—and the influences of the Divine Grace of God be felt far and near!”

In reading this sermon there is a deep sense that despite the thousands who attended his ministry, the Lord’s servant had a hunger and thirst for greater blessings, for a deeper sense of God’s presence. He was dissatisfied in the best possible sense despite the success that he had enjoyed.

How would he react if he were to see the decline to which the nation he prayed over, has slumped to in this 21st Century. The depravity and the shameless flaunting of all kinds of evil would be more than his Victorian sensitivity could ever bear. Furthermore, how greater would his shock not be if he could have foreseen our lack of ambition for God’s glory and the visitation of the Holy Spirit in revival blessing. If Spurgeon preaching to thousands, seeing 400 new members annually felt a need for revival how much greater is our need today?

John Newton penned this poem entitled “Prayer for Revival” based on Psalm 80:3 – “Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.”

Prayer for a Revival. Ps.80:3.

1 Saviour, visit thy plantation,
Grant us, Lord, a gracious rain!
All will come to desolation,
Unless thou return again:
Keep no longer at a distance,
Shine upon us from on high;
Lest, for want of thine assistance,
Every plant should droop and die.

2 Surely, once thy garden flourished,
Every part looked bright and green;
Then thy word our spirits nourished,
Happy seasons we have seen!
But a drought has since succeeded,
And a sad decline we see;
Lord, thy help is greatly needed;
Help can only come from thee.

3 Where are those we counted leaders,
Filled with zeal, and love, and truth?
Old professors, tall as cedars,
Bright examples to our youth!
Some, in whom we once delighted,
We shall meet no more below;
Some, alas! we fear are blighted,
Scarce a single leaf they show.

4 Younger plants - the sight how pleasant,
Covered thick with blossoms stood;
But they cause us grief at present,
Frosts have nipped them in the bud!
Dearest Saviour, hasten hither,
Thou canst make them bloom again;
Oh, permit them not to wither,
Let not all our hopes be vain!

5 Let our mutual love be fervent,
Make us prevalent in prayers;
Let each one esteemed thy servant
Shun the world's bewitching snares;
Break the tempter's fatal power,
Turn the stony heart to flesh;
And begin, from this good hour,
To revive thy work afresh.

J. Newton

There is a promise to be claimed with this kind of earnest prayer and expectation:

For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty,
and floods upon the dry ground:
I will pour my spirit upon thy seed,
and my blessing upon thine offspring:
And they shall spring up as among the grass,
as willow by the water courses.

A CONDITIONAL PROMISE

This promise is predicated upon the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. Revival is not a work that we can plan or organise. It is work of the Holy Ghost alone, in such abundance that He is described as being poured out.

There are a number of places in the Scriptures where God describes this outpouring of the Holy Ghost

Joel wrote about the Holy Spirit in these terms, something which was fulfilled at Pentecost:

And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh;
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions:
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids
in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Joel 2:28-29

“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy”
Acts 2:16-18

While water upon the dry ground is the picture of the Holy Spirit in revival here in Isaiah, the more common image of the pouring out of His power is that of oil. When the High Priests, Kings and Prophets were anointed it was with oil. This represented the work of the Spirit that they needed for their holy work. The Psalm 133 is especially relevant:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion:for there the LORD commanded the blessing,
even life for evermore.

Psalm 133

As the oil flowed from Aaron’s head to every part of his garments, down to fringes, the Holy Spirit flows from Christ to all those who are part of His body. The outpouring of the Spirit is designed by Christ, it comes from Him and it reaches all the Church. There is no Christian and no Church which cannot experience revival.

It is important to remember the terminologies with respect to the Holy Spirit’s movements:

All Christians are regenerated by the Spirit; subsequently we receive the indwelling of the Spirit; as He indwells He sanctifies improving our walk with God; He also infills us so that we are under His control; at set times, however, He revives His people, when He is poured out in power. This is what we long for today.

A COVENANT PROMISE

It is apparent that God is making a promise to His people through Isaiah that He will pour water on Him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground.

The outpouring of the Spirit is God’s established method of growing His Church; as long as there is a Church in the world this promise holds true.

He has set times to move:

Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

Psalm 102:13

He has ordained it so that His people must seek, what Christ called the enduement of the Holy Ghost:

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 24:49

That which God promises, He will accomplish. He has bound Himself to revive His Church.

Furthermore, for our encouragement, the spirit and truth of Scriptures point to widespread conversions of many peoples and nations to Christ as the Spirit of God is poured out in the period before the Lord’s return:

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
Habakkuk 2:14

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’s:
and he is the governor among the nations.
Psalm 22:27-28

O praise the LORD, all ye nations:
praise him, all ye people.

Psalm 117:1

I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Romans 11:11-15

A CONVERTING PROMISE

The promise in Isaiah points to a transformation of the dry ground and arid landscape. The brown earth where vegetation had been burnt green would be replaced by green fertility.

The promise is extended first of all to our children and our children’s children; “I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring”.

The enemy is principally interested in our children But thankfully the Lord has a greater and a grander purpose for them.

The imposition of Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) as a statutory requirement upon our state secondary schools in Northern Ireland is a very great abomination as the enemy is endeavouring to corrupt young minds with depraved thinking. We are grateful this type of education is not statutory in primary schools and remains under the remit of the Boards of Governors; although there are evil forces who wish to change even this. We are also grateful for the number of Christians in education in Northern Ireland who have not and who will not teach this evil to the children and also for the parents who will withdraw their children should it be imposed. There is a consultation out currently and our brother Callum Webster from the Christian Institute will guide us in October as to the completing of it.

Yes, we do need to pray for our children, for parents and for teachers BUT thank God we can claim this promise that the outpouring of the Spirit, even in this corrupt age, will be poured put on our seed and our offspring.

As there is an abundance of grass, reeds, trees beside rivers and lakes so this blessing of the Spirit will visit our children transforming them into fruitful and productive Christians.

What is it that we need today for the youth and the children, the men and women of tomorrow? What is that our nation needs in all of its darkness and corruption? What is it that our Church needs in ats prayerless and powerless condition.

Revival is the need of hour! It is promised today. Let us hold the promise and pray forit, that the power will fall:

For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willow by the water courses.

I conclude with another quote from Spurgeon as he ministered from this profound text. He took great encouragement from the mere fact that God’s people were burdened for revival:

“ I am delighted to hear the inquiry! My soul magnifies the Lord as I discern tokens of growing anxiety about the cause and kingdom of Jesus, and the perishing sons of men; this is an omen of better times. ‘As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children’ Searchings of heart, anguish, groans which cannot be uttered, and abounding intercession are the heralds of blessing! They are the sound in the tops of the mulberry trees which calls believers to bestir themselves in hope of victory! May the movement among the saints continue and deepen till it brings forth a movement among sinners far and wide!”