The words to which I should like to call your attention this morning are to be found in the chapter that we read at the beginning, which is the fourth chapter in the book of Joshua, reading again verses twenty-one to twenty-four. Verses twenty-one to twenty-four in the fourth chapter of the book of Joshua. And he speak unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us. until we were gone over, that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever. Now I call your attention to these verses in order that through them, and by means of them, we may continue our consideration of this great and urgent question of the need of revival in the Christian Church. We have hitherto been spending our time in considering the hindrances and the obstacles to revival, for obviously that is the point at which we must of necessity start. But that is not sufficient. Though we start there and realize that there are certain conditions and certain rules that must be observed always, I say it isn't enough that we stop at that point. We must go beyond that point, because if we don't, we shall end in discouragement. Having examined ourselves, having seen the situation as it is, we see that the problem is surely and certainly one with which no human power is adequate to deal. It is because so many fail to see that, that they still are bustling and busying with their various activities and organizations. There is no hope until we come to the end of that. The situation is such that man is impotent to deal with it. And that is why I say we should rejoice in the fact that we can go on together this morning to look at this whole subject positively and a little more directly. Now I would remind you again that there is no more important subject for the Christian Church at this present hour than this very question of the need of revival. I say there is nothing which is more important than this. It is second to none. And the greatest need of the hour is that the thoughts And the minds and the prayers of Christian people everywhere throughout the world should be channeled and directed into this matter of the urgent need of revival. I'm going to quote some words by a famous expositor in the last century called Albert Barnes, because they seem to me to put this thing so perfectly. He wrote like this. He said, That day which shall convince the great body of professing Christians of the reality and desirableness of revivals will constitute a new era in the history of religion and will precede manifestations of power like that of Pentecost. I'm certain that's absolutely right. The greatest problem confronting us in the church today is that the vast majority of professing Christians are not convinced of the reality and the desirableness of revivals. As I have been frequently pointing out, this is a subject that has scarcely been mentioned. Men and women have been so busy in other directions, they don't even think of it. Stillness, do they pray, urgently find. And yet, as Albert Barnes says, it surely is the most important and the most vital thing of all. And therefore, anything that's going to help us to do that, is something which is of the greatest value. And one of the best aids that I know of in this respect is to consider the story of the great revivals of the past. I know of no method which is so sure directly to focus our attention upon this than just to be reading and considering what has happened in past centuries. And therefore, very fortunately for us, This particular year, 1959, is a very great help to us in that respect. Here is a year which makes us think of 1859, a hundred years ago. And therefore we are reminded of what happened in that wonderful year in the history of God's people here on earth. And therefore it's a very good thing that centenary meetings should be held and books and pamphlets and articles should be published. Because all this, I say, will probably lead us all to consider this matter once more, and to look at it, and to ask our questions. Well, now, let's be clear about this. We're not interested in all this merely from the historical standpoint. Our interest must never be merely an antiquarian interest. There is no point in reading revivals just for the sake of reading the history and the No, no, our motive and our interest must be to read and to study and to consider what has happened in the past in order that we may discover the great principles that underlie this matter. In other words, that we may discover what it is that we should be seeking and praying for in our own day and generation. It should be a utilitarian rather than an antiquarian interest and motive that should govern us. What I am suggesting this morning is this, that we should make use of these books and pamphlets and articles and these meetings which are being held to celebrate what happened a hundred years ago in exactly the same way as God intended the children of Israel to use these twelve stones that he commanded them to take out of the middle of the river of Jordan and set up at Gilgal. Now you remember this interesting incident, and I'm calling your attention to it because it does seem to me to be speaking very directly to us at this present hour. Here God did something unusual, something strange, marvelous, miraculous, as I shall be indicating. He delivered the children of Israel, first of all, from their enemies the Egyptians. He divided the Red Sea and they went through on dry land. And here they are now, they've been in the wilderness forty years, and there, the other side of the river of Jordan, lies the promised land of Canaan. The place they were looking for and longing for, the land of blessing, the land flowing with milk and honey. What a contrast to the wilderness. Well, here they are, but the question is, how can they go through? And they went through. because God divided the waters of Jordan, and they went through again on dry ground. And God, you remember, gave this commandment to Joshua, and Joshua in turn gave it to the people. Take out, he says, twelve stones from the very spot where the priests stood as they held the ark. Take out twelve stones, and then set them up there in Gilgal. And why? Well, the reason is given here in our text, that in ages to come when your children shall ask their fathers saying, what mean these stones? Well, then you'll tell them, you'll give them the answer. You'll say these stones are here to commemorate the most amazing thing, the most amazing thing in many respects that ever happened in the history of your fathers, and you'll tell them the whole story. You'll tell them what God did at the Red Sea. You'll tell them what He did again at the crossing of the Jordan. And the reason for all this is, of course, that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, and that you yourselves might fear the Lord your God forever. Now, though, it seems to me that all that is happening this year is comparable to these twelve stones that are there at Gilgal. And our position is this, and my whole business as I preach on this subject is in a sense just to do this, is to create in you just this question. What mean these stones? What is all this that you're talking about? What are these books and pamphlets? What are these meetings? What is this thing? We know nothing about this. As the children were going to ask, what mean these stones? So I trust that the main outcome of this year will be to lead men and women to ask, what is this? And what is it relevant to us? Now then, let's face this together. The thing that strikes us, of course, at once is that it is most extraordinary that this kind of thing should be necessary. Wouldn't you have thought that with an event like this in their history, that there'd be no need to remind any generation of the children of Israel of this. Why, it's such a remarkable thing. The two incidents, Red Sea and Jordan, are such outstanding events. You'd have thought that there'd never be any need to remind people in some visible, external, objective way of such things as this. And yet, you know, God gave the commandment. And God gave the commandment because He knows human nature so well. What does he know about us? Well, what he knows about us is this, that it is simply amazing and astonishing to notice how easily we can forget. Even a memorable event like this, I say, would soon be forgotten, would drop right out of the minds and the consciousness of subsequent generations of the children of Israel. So put up the stones, says God, so that they'll be reminded, they'll be arrested, they'll say, what are these stones about? What does this mean? and then the answer will be given to them. Now this is one of the first things that we all have to realize about ourselves. This tendency to forget. Yes, to forget even the greatest and the most wonderful things. It's true in every realm. I suppose that one of the most devastating effects of sin in the last analysis is the way in which it thus puts a paralysis upon the mind and even upon the memory. This isn't confined, I say, to religion. It is true in every realm. How soon are great men forgotten, men who dominated the scene in their day and generation. For subsequent generations they mean nothing at all. And if they suddenly see a monument, they say, well, who was he? What did he do? did such astounding things in their times and their contemporaries thought that they'd never be forgotten. As time passes and other generations come, they're soon forgotten. A generation arose that knew not Joseph. There is nothing that is so transient as reputation in that sense. But it's not only true of great men, it's true of great events. Some of the most astounding events in history. are soon forgotten. And a generation arises that forgets all about the sacrifices of its forefathers, who may have fought even unto death for some great principle or for some great liberty. Generations arise that know nothing about it and are really not interested in it at all. They take all the fruits and all the benefits. They never trouble even to ask, how is it that these things have ever come to us? Now that's human nature, isn't it? That's human nature in every respect and in every realm. What is the cause of this? And particularly, what is the cause of this in the realm of religion? Why does it become possible that generations will arise that will even forget a thing like this, and God has to give his commandment about these stones? Well, I suggest some brief answers to you. Perhaps the main cause is our absorption with ourselves. and with our own particular age and generation, and particularly our absorption with our own activities, we are so self-centered, so busy doing what we are doing. We seem to be unaware of the fact that people lived in this world before we ever came here, and past ages and centuries. It's this morbid self-centeredness and self-concentration, what we are doing, People's lives are bound entirely by their own circle and their own little activities, and how infrequently do they look out upon it. Curtains of various descriptions are not new. There have always been iron and bamboo and various other curtains. It is amazing to notice how small life can be, and we live this circumscribed little existence with our little activities. And we never look out beyond, and we're aware of nothing else. And of course, then added to that, there is a feeling, which is particularly characteristic of today, that the past cannot possibly help us. Because of all our advances, and all our wonderful knowledge, and our techniques, and our astounding abilities, we are the masters. What has the past got to say to us? There's a great deal of that. And it's been true, of course, of every generation before us. And it'll be true of the generations that follow us. They'll look back at us, and if they do at all, they'll just dismiss us. We were mere tyros in these matters. But I believe that in the last analysis the explanation is this. It is, I say, this subjectivism of ours. And this subjectivism vitiates even our reading and our studying of the Bible. Now, what do I mean by that? I mean something like this. We are all so morbidly concerned about ourselves and our own problems that we tend even to go to the Bible as a book which is going to help us with our problems. It controls our reading of the Bible. We want some help. We want this and that. And we go to the Bible, I say, as if it were some sort of dispensary to deal with the so-called mumps and measles of ourselves, as Charles Lamb described them. The approach to the Bible is so subjective, instead of being objective. How often do we go to the Bible in this kind of way, saying to ourselves, well now, I'm going to read the Bible because I want to see what God has done. I'm going to read my Bible in order that I can look at God acting in history and intervening. What is the Bible? Well, the Bible is not just a book that answers my little questions and gives me this and that that I may want to need. The Bible is the record of the activity of God, the manifestation of God, God's mighty acts and deeds. I'm going to look on, I'm going to stand back, I'm going to see what God the Lord hath done, that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty. The acts of God. But you know, I'm afraid we don't read the Bible like that any longer, do we? We want just a little word to help us. We want a nice little thought to start the day. We want just something before we offer up our brief and hurried prayer, before we rush off. Beautiful thoughts. Don't misunderstand me. I'm going to say a thing that can be grievously misunderstood. I verily believe that the main trouble of most evangelical people today is that they read their Bibles too devotionally, which means I say subjectively. And this mighty panorama of the acts of the living God is something that we seem to be unaware of. And the result is, you see, that we need to be reminded of what God has done. It's all here for us, but we pass by, we don't notice. So we've got to put up some stone, some memorial, something to arrest attention. Now, this is a principle which you find in many places in the Bible. Look at this communion service which is going to follow this service. What's that? Well, it's exactly the same principle. We are so dull and so stupid as the result of sin that we'd even forget the death of the Son of God for us and His agony and His shame. and all that he endured on the cross in his eternal love for us, we'd even forget that. So the Lord himself ordained and commanded that we should meet together and break bread and drink wine. It's the same principle. Do this as oft as he do it in remembrance of me. It's the setting up of the stones in Gilgal once more. We are such, I say, and we suffer so much from this fell spiritual lethargy. That we need objective memorials. We need tangible reminders. We want something outside ourselves. We constantly need something that will lead us to ask, what means this? What means this table? What means these stones? God condescends to our weakness, our lethargy and our stupidity by providing us with external memorials of His own mighty acts and deeds. And so it is, I say, that I, for one, thank God for 1959, simply because it happens to be a hundred years away from 1859. Here is something that's pulled us up and makes us ask, what mean these stones? What are you talking about? What are these celebrations? What is this series of sermons that you're preaching on revival? What's making you do this? What are you talking about? and you're telling us about things that have happened. What is this? What means this? Oh, you notice that I'm holding on to this point and I'm doing so for this reason. This is the eighth time I've preached on this question of revival, and if I haven't, the other two succeeded in rousing you to ask this question. If there hasn't arisen this new interest and curiosity, I've preached in vain. I mean by that that it's not enough just to listen to all this and to be aware of something. Has this curiosity been aroused? Are we really becoming concerned as to what it all is? What does all this record? And I want to try to show you this morning and on subsequent Sundays, God willing, that the really complete answer is given in these verses here at the end of this fourth chapter of the book of Joshua. It's all here. God, you see, has given his own explanation, and I've got nothing to do but to hold his explanation before you. What means all this? Let me tell you. First and foremost, it means that we are reminded of facts. What mean these stones? Subsequent generations are going to ask that question. They'll be going along casually, perhaps out on a walk, on a journey. Suddenly they see these twelve stones, and they say, well now, what's all this about? What's the meaning of this? Oh, you'll give the reply. Your descendants, says Joshua, will give the reply. Oh, these stones are here as a memorial to something that once happened. History. Facts. Not theories, not ideas. Facts. What means the bread and wine? Oh, a fact. That he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. Our whole position depends upon facts. I wish that I could stop and deal with this only this morning, because, you know, we're living in an age when there's a most subtle theological teaching which would have us believe that if we dispense with the facts and hold on to the teaching, it's a lie. What mean these stones? Facts. Crossing the Red Sea, crossing Jordan in this miraculous manner. Facts. Acts of God. And it's exactly the same with what we are celebrating this year. It is a simple actual fact of history that something amazing and wonderful happened a hundred years ago. Something literally took place in 1857 to 1859, which was so much fact that it even began to be reported in the newspapers. And they very rarely report anything unless it's political. The only sermons they're interested in are sermons that introduce politics in some shape or form. They're not interested in spiritual matters, but they were actually reporting what happened in 1859. It became front-page news, a phenomenon, facts, acts, something that belongs solidly to the realm of history. But, as our explanation here tells us, This is not something utterly unique, which only happened once. Did you notice? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land, for the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you until ye were passed over, as in the same way as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us until we were gone over. And I want to take up that point. What happened in 1859 is only one in a great series. It's but one example, but one illustration of something that has been happening periodically in the history of the Christian Church right through the running centuries. It's one example of what we call revivals, revivals of religion. And it's only one example. There have been many others. Let me just give you a few illustrations in passing. You know, long before even the Protestant Reformation, there was quite a religious revival in this country, associated with the name of John Wycliffe and the Lollards. That was a revival, as definitely as what happened in 1859. Well then, of course, the great You had the same thing on the continent of Europe, that great man John Hasserhus. There in Moravia, what is now called Czechoslovakia, there was a real revival associated with his name. God used him as an instrument and a channel, an amazing movement of the Spirit of God. You had it amongst the Waldensians in northern Italy. It was a real revival. It happened with that great man called John Taller. who was actually a priest and a preacher in the Roman Catholic Church, the Spirit of God came upon him and it led to a revival in his area. Same thing exactly. Then, of course, the Protestant Reformation. Let us never forget that this was a revival as well as a reformation. We mustn't think of that as being merely a theological movement. It was that, but in addition There was a revival. The Spirit of God was shed abroad and people were listening to preaching. It became everything. And the reading of the Bible, that's a religious awakening. And that's what we mean by revival. You get it in the 17th century. You got it, of course, in an amazing manner 200 years ago in the great evangelical awakening associated with the names of Whitefield and the Westleys and many, many others. And then I say, You had it in the early part of the 19th century, the close of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th, and then this notable, remarkable event which took place 1857-59 in America, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Sweden, and in other parts of the world. Now then, this is but one illustration. This is one in a series of things that has been happening throughout the long history of the Christian Church. And you will find as you read the stories of every one of them that they share certain things in common. They've got the same general characteristics. He did it at Jordan, says Joshua, to tell these people exactly as he did it before in the Red Sea. Certain general characteristics are common to all these experiences in spite of time, in spite of country, in spite of civilization, in spite of everything else. Now then, what is this? What is this thing that happened a hundred years ago that falls into this series? What is revival? We can define it, if you like, by saying that it is a period of unusual blessing and activity in the life of the Christian Church. Unusual blessing and activity. Now, primarily, of course, and by definition, A revival is something that happens first in the church, and amongst Christian people, amongst believers. That I say is true by definition. You see, it is re-vival. You revive something, and when you say that you mean this, that that something, that person had got life, but the life was beginning to wane and to droop and to flag. And they've become almost moribund, and some people have said, well, that's dead, that's finished, because they couldn't see much sign of life and of activity. Revival. Awakening, stimulating the life, bringing it onto the surface again. Revival. Well now, therefore by definition, it is something that happens primarily in the Church of God, and amongst believing people. And it is only secondarily something that affects those that are outside also. Now this is the most important point, because this definition helps us to differentiate once and for all between a revival and an evangelistic campaign. I know of nothing that has done so much harm than to confuse these two things. There is nothing which is indeed quite so idiotic as to see people announcing that they're going to hold a revival. They mean an evangelistic campaign. Alas, this confusion was rarely introduced by Finney, and it has persisted ever since. But it is a gross misunderstanding. It is a confusion of terms. Let me show you the difference. An evangelistic campaign Is the church deciding to do something with respect to those who are outside? A revival is not the church deciding to do something and doing it, but is something that is done to the church. Something that happens to the church. An evangelistic campaign is therefore mainly in terms of those who are outside. A revival is mainly with respect to those who are inside. The two things are essentially different. You can have a great evangelistic campaign, but it may leave your church exactly where it was, if it isn't indeed worse. I add that for this reason, that I'm being told so constantly that the churches are suffering from what is called a post-evangelistic campaign exhaustion. That as a result of campaigns, prayer meetings are not so well attended. I'm speaking not only of churches, but of various other organizations which indulge in such activities. Ah, they say, the term following the campaign, fewer people came to the prayer meeting than usual, fewer people came to the regular meetings. What's the matter? Oh, they say, it's the post-campaign exhaustion. Evangelistic campaigns have reference mainly to those who are outside. But the whole essence of a revival is that it's something that happens to the church, to the people inside. And they are affected and moved, and tremendous things happen to them. Very well, then what is it that happens? The best way, I suppose, of answering that question is to say that it is, in a sense, a repetition of the day of Pentecost. It is something happening to the church. that inevitably and almost instinctively makes one look back and think again of what happened on the day of Pentecost as it is recorded in the second chapter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles. What is it? What mean these stones? What happened a hundred years ago in these various countries? Let me give you some of the general characteristics. The essence of a revival is that the Holy Spirit comes down upon a number of people together. upon a whole church, upon a number of churches, a district, or perhaps a whole country. That's what is meant by revival. It is, if you like, a visitation of the Holy Spirit. Or another term that has often been used is this, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And the terms are interesting. Because, you see, what the people are conscious of is just that, as if something had suddenly come down upon them. The Spirit of God has descended into their midst. God has come down and is amongst them, a baptism, an outpouring, a visitation. And what is the effect of that? Well, immediately they become aware of his presence and of his power in a manner that they've never known before. I'm talking about Christian people, I'm talking about church members gathered together as they've done so many times before. Suddenly they're aware of this presence, they're aware of the majesty and the awe of God. The Holy Spirit literally seems to be presiding over the meeting and taking charge of it and manifesting his power and guiding them and leading them and directing. That's the essence of revival. And what does that lead to? Well, here are the general characteristics that you'll find in every revival that you can ever read about. The immediate effect is this, that the people present begin to have an awareness of spiritual things such as they'd never had before. Now I'm talking about believers, about Christian people, members of the Christian Church. When they suddenly become conscious of this presence and this power, the first effect, I say, is that spiritual things become realities to them. They have an awareness of them and clear views of them, such as they've never had before. They've heard these things all before. They may have heard them a thousand times, and indeed many thousand times, but what they testify is this. They say, you know, the whole thing suddenly became clear to me in a way I'd never seen it before. I was suddenly illuminated. Things that I was so familiar with stood out in letters of gold, as it were. I understood, I saw it all in a way that I'd never done in the whole of my life. That's what they say. The Holy Spirit, you see, enlightens the mind and the understanding. They begin not only to see these things clearly, but to feel their power. What are these things that they see, and of which they feel the power? First and foremost, the glory and the holiness of God. Have you ever read your Bibles and noticed these people? who suddenly realizing the presence of God, like Job put their hands upon their mouths, or like an Isaiah say, Woe is unto me for I am a man of unclean lips. What's the matter with them? Oh, they've just had a realization of the holiness and the majesty and the glory of God. That always happens in a revival. Doesn't always happen in evangelistic campaigns, does it? There can be a lot of laughing and joking, and an obvious organization in evangelistic campaigns, never in a revival. This awe, this reverence, this holy fear, the consciousness of God in his majesty, his glory, his holiness, his utter purity. And that in turn, of course, leads inevitably to a deep and a terrible sense of sin and an awful feeling of guilt. It leads men and women to feel that they are vile and unclean and utterly unworthy. And above all, it leads them to realize their utter helplessness face to face with such a God. Oh, like the publican depicted by our Lord in the parable They're so conscious of all this that they can't lift up their faces. They're far back near the door somewhere. They're beating their breasts and they're saying, God have mercy. Be propitiated towards me, a sinner. The holiness of God, their own utter sinfulness and vileness and wretchedness, their own unworthiness. They realize they've never done anything at all, they thought, before they'd done a great deal. They see it's nothing. Like Paul, they begin to talk about it as dung and filthy rags. It's useless. their utter helplessness and hopelessness, and they prostrate themselves and cast themselves upon the love and mercy and compassion of God. It always happens in revival. Read the accounts for yourselves. I don't care which you read of. You'll always find it. It's invariable. This is the convicting work of the Spirit who takes charge of the situation. And they may be held in that state and position for some time. Sometimes they've been held in that state for not only hours, but days and weeks and months, and they become almost desperate. Then they're given a clear view of the love of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, and especially of His death upon the cross. At last they see it. They'd always believed it theoretically and they'd stayed to a communion service, but they'd never felt anything. It had never really become real to them. They'd believed it, yes, they were honestly trusting to it, but they never felt its power. They'd never known what it was to be melted by it, to be broken by it. They'd never known what it was to weep with a sense of unworthiness and then of love and of joy as they realized that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Suddenly it all becomes real to them, and they are given to know that the Son of God has loved them and has given himself for them. It becomes an individual and a personal matter. He died for me. Even my sins are forgiven. And peace comes into their hearts. Joy enters into them. And they are lost in love and in a sense of praise to God the Father. God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And this now becomes to them the one thing that absorbs If they meet a man, they talk about it. At once, everybody's talking about it. It's the main topic of conversation. It's the thing that absorbs all their interest. They desire to be together now and to talk about these things. And so they get together, and they hold meetings. They meet every night, and they begin to talk about these things. And then they begin to praise God. And they sing hymns to His glory. And then they begin to pray. And there they are, hour after hour, night after night, longing to end work, that they may get together with people who've experienced this movement. of the Spirit of God. And that, of course, in turn, leads them to have a great concern about others who are outside and who don't know these things. I'm giving you a synopsis of what you'll read in the books. They begin to get a concern for the members of their own family. Husband, wife, father, mother, children, brothers, sisters. They don't know this, they're outside. And they'll tell them about it, they feel they must. There's a constraint that is driving them. Friends, everybody. And so they talk about it to people, and then they begin to pray for them. Prayer is always a great feature of every revival. Great prayer meetings, intercession, hour after hour, they'll name them by name, and they'll plead, and they won't let God go, as it were. They're intent upon this with a strange urgency. And then, after a while, these others who are outside hearing of all this and seeing the change in those whom they've known so long, they begin to join the meetings and say, what is this? And they come in, and they go through the same experience, and thus it goes, and thousands upon thousands are converted. Indeed, the whole neighborhood seems to be full of the Holy Spirit. He seems to be everywhere. People are not only converted in meetings, some are converted as they're walking to the meetings before they even got there. Some are converted at their work, in a coal mine on top of a mountain. Some are awakened in the middle of the night, they went to bed feeling as usual. They're awakened with an awful sense of sin, and they have to get out and pray and plead with God to have mercy. Nobody's spoken to them at that moment. It's the Spirit of God that's acting. He's dominating the whole area. He's filling the lives of all the people. That is what happens in revival, and thus you get this curious, strange mixture, as it were, of great conviction of sin and great joy, great sense of the terror of the Lord, great thanksgiving and praise. There is what somebody once called a divine disorder always in a revival, some groaning and agonizing in the conviction, others praising God for the great salvation. And all this leads to crowded and prolonged meetings. Time seems to be forgotten. People seem to have entered into eternity. A meeting may start at 6.30 in the evening. It may not end until daybreak the next morning. And nobody was aware of the passing of the hours. They didn't have to provide coffee once or twice halfway through. No, no, people have forgotten the body. Ah, you may laugh, my friends, but you see, that is what is happening when man organizes these things. Not when the Holy Ghost organizes them. Time, the body and the needs of the flesh, they're all forgotten. What is a revival? Well, a revival really means days of heaven upon earth. Let me close this morning by just giving you one of the greatest definitions ever written of what is true of a town When there is such a revival or a visitation of the Spirit of God, I am going to read some words by the great and saintly Jonathan Edwards about the city of the little town of Northampton in Massachusetts in 1735. This work, he says, soon made a glorious alteration in the town, so that in the spring and summer following, It seemed, that's to say, the town seemed to be full of the presence of God. It never was so full of love, nor so full of joy, and yet so full of distress as it was then. There were remarkable tokens of God's presence in almost every house. It was a time of joy in families on account of salvation being brought to them. Parents rejoicing over their children as newborn, and husbands over their wives, and wives over their husbands. The doings of God were then seen in His sanctuary. God's day was a delight, and His tabernacles were amiable. Our public assemblies were then beautiful. The congregation was alive in God's service, every one earnestly intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister as they came from his mouth. The assembly in general were, from time to time, in tears while the word was preached, some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbors. Well, there I have given you a rough outline of what happens in revival. What mean these stones? Well, that's exactly what happened a hundred years ago in America, Ulster, Wales, Scotland, Sweden and parts of England and other lands. God did that. This visitation of the Spirit of God. Do you know about these things, my friends? Are you interested? Are you concerned? Are you moved? Don't you begin to see that if only this happened, this is what would solve our problems? This is God visiting his people. Days of heaven upon earth, the presidency of the Holy Spirit in the church, life abundant, given to God's people without measure. God willing, we'll continue our study of this. But oh, I trust that already we've seen and felt something that creates within us not only the desire to ask the question, what is this, but further, oh, that we might know it, oh, that it might happen to us, and feel that to such an extent that we begin to plead with God to have pity and to have mercy, and to visit us in that way. with his great salvation. Amen. We do hope that you've been helped by the preaching of Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. The MLJ Trust retains exclusive copyright ownership to all audio files of Dr. Lloyd-Jones sermons, including all derivatives, such as translations, modifications, or edited versions of the files. 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