True Revival

Would we think of calling a doctor before we were sick? Do we urge people who are well and strong to hasten to the physician? Does the man who is swimming well beseech those on the shore to come and save him? Certainly, not!  But let sickness come, and at once we feel our need and a doctor is called. We know that we require a remedy. When we feel ourselves sinking below the surface, and realise that we are drowning, we will then soon call for help, and oh, the agony through which we pass as we find ourselves going down and know that unless someone saves us, we are lost and must perish!

So it is with a perishing soul. When a man is convicted of his lost condition he will cry out in anguish of heart: "What must I do to be saved?' He will need no urging, no coaxing; it is a matter of life and death to him, and he will do anything to be saved.'

.....'A revival always includes conviction of sin on the part of the church. Backslidden professors cannot wake up and begin right away in the service of God without deep searchings of heart. The fountains of sin need to be broken up. In a true revival, Christians are always brought under such conviction; they see their sins in such light that often they find it impossible to maintain a hope of their acceptance with God. It does not always go to that extent, but there are always, in a genuine revival, deep convictions of sin, and often cases of abandoning all hope'

Charles Finney

Quotes from 'The Revival we Need', p 45, 52