What Is the True Meaning of Revival According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?

Based on Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' sermon from Exodus 33:12-17, here are questions and answers about revival:

What is revival according to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?

Answer: According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, revival is "something extra," "something additional," and "something which is quite unusual, exceptional." He emphasizes that "revival, by definition, is something quite out of the ordinary, special, unusual, exceptional." Revival is not simply the church being blessed by God and conscious of His presence and enabled to do His work - it goes beyond all that. It's "something which is, in a sense, almost startling in its amazing character."

Why do many Christians fail to pray for revival?

Answer: Many Christians fail to pray for revival because they don't understand what revival truly is. Lloyd-Jones explains: "There are many today...who have completely failed to see this point. They argue like this: Surely there is nothing necessary except that we should be orthodox, that God should bless us, that we should be aware of his presence amongst us, and that we should carry on with our regular ministry..." They believe things are going well enough and don't see the need for something extraordinary, so "they don't think about revival, and they don't feel it's necessary, and they don't pray for it."

What three things did Moses pray for that exemplify proper prayer for revival?

Answer: Moses prayed for three things that exemplify proper prayer for revival: 1. Personal assurance - "a deeper knowledge of God," not just knowing about God but having "a direct knowledge of God" 2. Power - recognizing both the magnitude of the problem and his own weakness, Moses said, "If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence" 3. Special authentication of the church and her mission - "Wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us, so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?"

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the current state of the church in his time?

Answer: Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes the church in his time as being in "the day of small things" with a declining situation. He points to statistics showing "decline in membership...attendance at Sunday schools...attendance in church services" across all denominations "at an alarming rate." He notes the "increase in vice and sin and godliness and profanity" and observes that "only some 10% of the people in this country claim to be religious, and only half those ever think of attending a place of worship." He laments that "all our efforts are not touching the main situation" and "the main position is worse than ever."

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones say the church has lost that it needs to regain?

Answer: Dr. Lloyd-Jones says the church has lost its uniqueness: "What has gone, of course, is the uniqueness of the church. The church seems to be so much like other agencies and other bodies. The church is just like another institution." He explains that the church has become indistinguishable from other organizations: "We are nice people, we are respectable people, we are well dressed people, yes, we are religious people, but there are many other agencies of which you can say, oh, that, and yet they're not Christian." The church needs to regain this divine uniqueness through a supernatural manifestation of God's power.

What biblical example does Dr. Lloyd-Jones give of the kind of authentication needed in revival?

Answer: Dr. Lloyd-Jones points to Pentecost in Acts 2 as the primary example of the kind of authentication needed in revival. He also mentions Acts 4, where after the disciples prayed, "the building shook" and "with great power they gave witness to the resurrection." He references Acts 10 when "the Holy Ghost fell upon" Cornelius's household. He quotes Hebrews 2:4 about "God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost" and 1 Peter 1:12 about preaching "with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." These examples show divine authentication that cannot be explained in human terms.

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones distinguish between what humans can do and what only God can do in revival?

Answer: Dr. Lloyd-Jones acknowledges that humans "can preach...can expound this word...can conduct services, men can get converts, men can get additions to the church." Churches "can organize great campaigns" and "get many adherents." But what humans can never produce is "the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, the descent of power, the attestation, this uniqueness, this special manifestation of the presence and of the power of God." Revival requires "something that cannot be explained in human terms," something "so striking and so signal that it will arrest the attention of the whole world," making it "perfectly plain and clear that it's not of men, but that it is of God."

Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones believe the prayer for revival is so urgent in his time?

Answer: Dr. Lloyd-Jones believes the prayer for revival is urgent because the church has lost its distinctiveness and effectiveness. The world is not impressed by the church's efforts, as "Buddhism is doing exactly the same thing" and "the cults are thriving." He argues that "the world in general is not influenced nor affected" by the church's regular activities. What's needed is "some supernatural manifestation which will make it perfectly plain and clear that it's not of men, but that it is of God" - something so "amazing, so astounding, so divine" that "the whole world shall be compelled to look on and say, 'What is this?'" Only this kind of divine intervention can authenticate God's people and message in a way that will truly impact society.