What a Revival Is

                           By Charles Finney

            It is the renewal of the first love of Christians, resulting in the awakening and conversion of sinners to God.  In the popular sense, a revival of religion in a community is the arousing, quickening, and reclaiming of the more or less backslidden church and the more or less general awakening of all classes, and insuring attention to the claims of God.  It presupposes that the church is sunk down in a backslidden state, and a revival consists in the return of a church from her backslidings, and in the conversion of sinners.

            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.

            Backslidden Christians will be brought to repentance.  A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.  Just as in the case of a converted sinner the first step is a deep repentance, a breaking down of heart, a getting down into the dust before God, with deep humility, and forsaking of sin.

            Christians will have their faith renewed.  While they are in their backslidden state they are blind to the state of sinners.  Their hearts are as hard as marble. The truths of the Bible only appear like a dream.  They admit it all to be true; their conscience and their judgment assent to it; but their faith does not see it standing out in bold relief, in all the burning realities of eternity.  But when they enter into a revival they no longer see men as trees walking, but they see things in that strong light which will renew the love of God in their hearts.  This will lead them to labor zealously to bring others to him.

            A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin over Christians.  It brings them to such vantage ground that they get a fresh impulse towards heaven.  They have a new foretaste of heaven, and new desires after union with God; and the charm of the world is broken, and the power of sin overcome.

            When the churches are thus awakened and reformed, the reformation and salvation of sinners will follow, going through the same stages of conviction, repentance, and reformation.  Their hearts will be broken down and changed…

                        Repentance means not only a heart broken

               FOR sin but FROM sin.