Revival promised in the power of the Spirit.
The history of the Church reminds us of the tides that rise and fall upon our shores—ebb and flow, ebb and flow. Sometimes the waters rise with an unusual strength, and flood all the land around, but soon they fall back into the old limits and quiet movements. No doubt the kingdom of Christ is steadily advancing, widening its reach, enlarging its influence. But as we can only see a little, one little bay of the great shore-line, as it were, we can only form our estimate of the tide in this our "arm of the sea;" we cannot measure the encroachments of the great tide of God. We may live at a time when the high tide of revival has spent its strength, and is receding lower and lower. So far as we can observe, it is not the living waters encroaching upon dreary sand, but dreary sand encroaching upon living waters. But let us wait awhile; the tide of God may turn again, and flow up higher than ever. There is a promise of blessing in our text which has been fulfilled, and will be fulfilled over and over again.
I. OUR DEPENDENCE, FOR REVIVINGS, ON THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT. The evils that gather about the Church of Christ are too subtle, and too mighty, to be mastered by anything less than the strength of God. The tendencies to decline and spiritual slumbering are too constantly working for anything less than Divine energy to counteract. The ends for which Christians associate in fellowship are too pure, too high, to be reached in any other way than by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. The Church is the Church of Christ; but what a desolate and helpless thing it would be if it were only the Church of a dead Christ, or the Church even of an absent Christ! We must have the assurance that he is still with us, not indeed in the body, but in the grace and power of his Spirit—a form of his presence so much better suited for permanent relations that he could say, "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." No helpless, trembling infant trying to walk needed mother's steadying as we need the all-supporting Spirit. No young lad ever took tools into his inexperienced hands, and needed the directions of the master, as we need the teachings of the Spirit. No man in the fulness of manhood ever entered on an untried office, and looked for some one to guide, as it becomes us to look for the help of the Spirit. And yet this dependence it is most easy for us to lose out of heart and out of life. The Church without the Spirit is figured in our text as an unwatered Eastern land. No dews have formed on the grass or the leaves; no rain-clouds have shaded the blazing sun, and poured down revivings; the rivers have sunk lower and lower, till now their beds are exposed to view, and the pebbles are bleached in the sunshine. The leaves are dropping off the trees, dried up and scorched; the grass is killed; the ground is cracking and gaping; there is no scent in the flowers, no song in the birds; the cattle lie panting by the walls and hedgerows, or stand thirsting by the river-bank. It is a "dry and thirsty land, where no water is." That is the emblem of the individual and the Church unwatered of the Spirit.
II. THE GOOD THINGS THAT FOLLOW ON DIVINE REVIVINGS. (Isaiah 44:4, Isaiah 44:5.)
1. The glory of a sustained godly life. Which depends on the constant renewal of heart motives, impulses, and resolves.
2. The glory of a holier and more earnest ministry. In this direction the firstfruits of a spiritual revival are usually gathered. The fruits of Divine outpourings were seen in Luther, and Whitefield, and Wesley, and Venn, and Simeon, and Arnold; and such a reviving would give us such men of "power with God and men to prevail," once again.
3. The glory of the widening and extending of the Redeemer's kingdom. Isaiah 44:5.) Who does not long for the promised time when every scoffer shall be stricken dumb; the doubts and questionings of every faint-hearted believer shall be silenced, because, in crowds, "as doves to their windows," as locusts over the plain, men shall come to Christ's people and say, "We will go with you, for verily the Lord is with you'?
III. THE GRACIOUS PROMISES WE MAY PLEAD IN PRAYING FOR A REVIVAL. There is something about God's promises that they almost overwhelm our power of faith by their largeness. He promises "floods," as though he would not have us think of limits.
1. The Spirit is the Lord's light. Then we must be willing to let him in, with his Divine illuminations, dispelling all the darkness, and making us light in the Lord.
2. The Spirit is the Lord's life. We must let him in with his Divine quickening, making every good seed in our souls thrive unto blossoming fruitage.
3. The Spirit is the Lord's power. He can make "a little one chase a thousand, and two put tea thousand to flight."
4. The Spirit is the Lord's love. And we must be willing to open our hearts, and let that love come in with its Divine cleansings and burnings, burning up sin and self, kindling a new glow of fervour, and making us revived souls and revived Churches.—R.T.