Vance Havner defined revival as “A work of God’s Spirit among His own people … what we call revival is simply New Testament Christianity, the saints getting back to normal.”

 What Real Revival is Not

– It is not for the exaltation of man.

– It is not self-generated.

– It is not learned behavior.

– It is not zealous legalism.

– It is not pure emotionalism.

– It is not something that comes just because it is scheduled on a calendar.

– It is not something that is confined to a church building or dependent on some minister’s presence.

– Real revival does not result in new revelation but new realization of what God has already revealed in His Word.

What Real Revival Is

Revival is a work of God’s Holy Spirit, illumining, lovingly rebuking, burning away the dross of transgression, and bringing back the first-love glory to Christian lives that have been tarnished by sin. As God shines His face upon His children, sin retreats and they are changed further from glory to glory. The fruit of “real revival” is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (“Love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” Galatians 5:22-23).

– Real revival comes from God and by His fruit in the believer reflects His holy nature.

– Real revival, while experiential in nature, conforms to God’s Word as zeal is channeled to God’s glory.

– It is a work of God’s Spirit that often begins in the heart of one humbled, praying soul.

– Self-sufficiency is abandoned in the light of the Spirit’s revelation of spiritual need.

– The complacent are jolted by God’s Spirit into realization of personal and corporate spiritual need.

– A hunger for God and His Word grows in intensity as the experience of worship deepens.

– Love for brothers and sisters in the faith grows stronger.

– Christian obedience is unhindered by old besetting sins in the lives of individuals.