Signs of True Revival
- by Jonathan Edwards
I intend to show how we may definitely conclude that God is at work. I
want to show the signs which Scripture says are clear evidence that God
is at work. We will then be able to use these signs to judge any work
without fear of being misled.
I propose to look only at those signs given in 1 John 4. That is
because this chapter deals with this question plainly and more
completely than any other part of the Bible. So let us look at the
signs in the order they are given in the chapter.
1. When esteem for the true Jesus is raised
If a person’s esteem of the true Jesus is raised, it is a sure sign
that the Spirit of God is at work. By “the true Jesus,” I mean this:
that Jesus was born of a virgin and crucified outside the gates of
Jerusalem; that He is the Son of God and the Savior of men as the
gospel declares.
This sign is given by the apostle in 1 John 4:2-3: “This is how you can
recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does
not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” This implies acknowledging more
than that there was such a person as Jesus who appeared in Palestine
and did those things that the Bible says. It implies acknowledging that
He was the Christ, the Son of God, chosen to be Lord and Savior.
This word “acknowledge” is important. In the New Testament it means
much more than merely “admitting.” It implies knowing something and
being willing to declare it in praise and love. For example, Matthew
10:32 says, “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also
acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” People may praise their
own false Christ while having no respect at all for the true,
historical Jesus. Indeed, they are led away from Him. But no spirit can
give testimony to the true Jesus, or lead men to Him, except the Spirit
of God.
Why is this the case? It is because the devil has a bitter and
unchanging hatred for the real Jesus, especially as Savior. He
passionately hates the story and the doctrine of redemption. Satan
would never work in men to produce honorable thoughts of Jesus, nor
cause them to value His commands. The Spirit that turns men’s hearts to
Christ is not the spirit of the serpent that has such an unchanging
hatred toward Him.
When we look at anything that is happening in the religious world, and
need to pass judgment, the first question we must ask is “Are these
people coming to love, honor, and esteem the real Lord Jesus more than
ever?” If people are being convinced of their need of Christ and led to
Him; if their belief that Christ appeared in history is strengthened;
if they are more convinced than ever that He is the Son of God sent to
save sinners; if they acknowledge that He is the only Savior and they
need Him desperately; if they appreciate Him more than they did, and
love Him too, then we may be quite sure that it is the Holy Spirit who
is at work!
2. When Satan’s kingdom is attacked
The Spirit of God must be at work if the interests of Satan’s kingdom
are opposed. This is a sure sign. Satan’s kingdom encourages sin and
encourages men to cherish worldly lusts. The Holy Spirit does not.
This sign is given in 1 John 4:4-5: “You, dear children, are from God
and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than
the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore
speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.”
The apostle is here comparing those who are influenced by two opposite
kinds of spirits. One spirit is true, and the other is false.
John shows the difference like this: one spirit is from God and so
overcomes the spirit of the world. The other spirit speaks about and
relishes the things of the world. Here, the spirit of the devil is
called “the one who is in the world.” This is the difference between
Christ and the devil. Christ says, “My kingdom is not of this world”
(John 18:36), but Satan is called “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4).
We know what the apostle means by “the world” or “the things that are
of the world” from his own words in 1 John 2:15-16: “Do not love the
world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of
sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and
does--comes not from the Father but from the world.” Clearly, he means
everything to do with sin and includes all men’s corruptions and
lusts--everything they look to for satisfaction.
So, from what the apostle says here, we may safely conclude that if a people:
have their love of ordinary, worldly pleasure, profits, and honors lowered;
are weaned from eagerly chasing such things;
have a deep concern about eternity and the eternal happiness that comes through the gospel;
earnestly begin to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness; and
are convicted of the ugliness and guilt of sin, as well as the misery to which it leads, then the Spirit of God must be at work.
We cannot believe that Satan would convict men of sin and awaken the
conscience. The conscience is God’s representative in the soul. It can
do Satan no good to make its light shine brighter. It is always in his
interest to keep the conscience quiet and asleep. When conscience is
awake, everything that Satan wants to accomplish is hindered.
When he is out to lead men further into sin, would the devil first open
their eyes to see its ugliness? Would he make them afraid of sin? Would
he make them mourn over past sins? Would he show them that they need to
be delivered from sin’s guilt? Would he make them more careful about
everything they do, to ensure there is no sin in it? Would the devil
lead them to avoid future sins and make them more careful to avoid his
own temptations? If a man thinks the devil acts like this, I wonder
what he uses for brains!
But some may argue that the devil may even awaken a man’s conscience in
order to deceive him--that is, to make him think he has been saved
while he is still in his sin. To argue like this is futile. It is to
argue that Christ was making a mistake when He told the Pharisees that
Satan would not cast out Satan (Matt. 12:25-26). Remember, the
Pharisees believed that the spirit at work in Christ’s ministry was the
devil.
A man with an awakened conscience is the hardest man in the world to
fool! The more awake a sinner’s conscience is, the harder it is to
quiet it down until it is really delivered from sin. The more a
conscience is aware of the greatness of man’s guilt, the less likely he
is to be satisfied with his own righteousness. Once a man is thoroughly
frightened by a sight of his own danger, he will not believe himself
truly safe without good grounds. Awakening a conscience in this way is
not likely to confirm a man in his sin. On the contrary, it is likely
to lead to sin and Satan being driven out.
So, whenever we see people made aware of:
the ugliness of sin;
God’s anger against sin;
their own natural lostness because of sin;
their own need of eternal salvation;
their need of God’s mercy and help; and
their need to do what God has commanded in seeking salvation, we may certainly conclude that it is the Spirit of God at work!
Yes, even if their bodies are affected and they cry out or scream or
faint. Yes, even if they go into fits or are affected in other dramatic
ways. Those things do not count at all.
3. When people come to love the Scriptures more
When men are persuaded to love the holy Scriptures more, and to trust
their truth and divine origin more, it is certainly the Spirit of God
at work. This is the sign the apostle gives us in 1 John 4:6: “We are
from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from
God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth
and the spirit of falsehood.”
When he says, “We are from God,” he means, “We are the apostles God has
sent to teach the world His doctrines and commands.” This argument
extends to all those God has appointed to deliver to His church its
rules of faith and practice. That is to say, it covers all those
apostles and prophets that God has inspired to write the Scriptures.
The devil would never try to produce such a respect for God’s
Scriptures. A spirit of delusion will not persuade men to listen to God
for direction. The devil does not say, as Abraham did, “They have Moses
and the prophets; let them listen to them” (Luke 16:29). Nor will he
say the words that came from heaven about Christ, “Listen to him”
(9:35).
Would the spirit of error, wanting to deceive men, turn them to God’s
infallible Scriptures? Would he lead them to get to know those
Scriptures well? Would the prince of darkness lead men to the light of
the Sun in order to promote his kingdom of darkness? The devil has
always shown how much he hates the Bible. He has always done all he can
to put out its light and lead men away from it. He knows that this is
the light that will overthrow his dark kingdom.
He has had much experience of the power of Scripture to defeat his
purposes and thwart his designs. It is a constant plague to him. It is
the main weapon that Michael uses in his war with Satan (Jude 9). It is
the sword of the Spirit that pierces him and conquers him (Eph. 6:17).
It is the sharp sword that we read about that comes from the mouth of
the One on the horse with which He smites His enemies (Rev. 19:15).
Every text of the Bible is a torment to the old serpent. He has felt
its stinging smart thousands of times. He is therefore at war with the
Bible and hates every word in it. We may be quite sure he will never
try to persuade men to love it or value it.
It has often happened in history that many sects of enthusiasts have
undervalued the written Word of God. They set up some other authority
that is over the Scripture. That still happens today. But when men come
to value the Scriptures more, not less, then the Spirit of God is
certainly at work.
4. When men are led away from falsehood into truth
We may learn another way to judge between spirits from the names given
to the two opposite spirits in 1 John 4:6. One is called “the Spirit of
truth” and the other “the spirit of falsehood.” These words point to a
vital difference between the Spirit of God and other spirits that may
imitate His work.
If we see a spirit at work that is leading men into the truth and
convincing them of things that are true, we may be sure it is the Holy
Spirit. For example, if people become more aware that there is a God,
or that God is a great God who hates sin, or that their own lives are
short and may end at any moment, or that there is another life and they
have immortal souls, we may be sure it is the Holy Spirit at work. When
men realize that they will have to give an account of themselves to God
and that they are very sinful in nature and practice; when they
understand that they are helpless in themselves; when, in short, they
are brought to sound doctrine, then we may be sure that the Holy Spirit
is at work in them.
It is the Holy Spirit who brings men into the light, not the spirit of
darkness. Christ tells us that Satan is a liar and the father of lies.
His kingdom is a kingdom of darkness. Satan’s kingdom is upheld only by
darkness and error. Scripture speaks of the reign and dominion of
darkness (Luke 22:53; Col. 1:13). The demons are called the rulers of
the darkness of this world. It is only God who brings us to the light
of truth and removes our darkness.
5. When there is an increase in love to God and man
When people begin to love God and man with a genuine love, we may be
sure that the Holy Spirit is at work. This is what the apostle says in
1 John 4:7: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from
God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” John is
still speaking of two different sorts of people who are led by two
opposite spirits and pointing out the contrast between them. Love is
one way we may know which person has the true spirit.
This is especially clear from 1 John 4:12-13: “No one has ever seen
God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made
complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he
has given us of his Spirit.” Here the apostle speaks of love and the
Holy Spirit almost as if they are the same thing! If God’s love dwells
in us, then the Holy Spirit dwells in us. The same point is made in 1
John 3:22-23 and 4:16.
Love is the last sign the apostle gives us of the true Spirit’s work,
and it seems to be the most important. He pays more attention to this
than to all the rest. He tells us that love for God and love for our
fellow men are both important. He writes of love for our fellow men in
1 John 4:7, 11, and 12, and of love for God in 1 John 4:17-19. Then in
1 John 4:20-21, he speaks of both together because he wants us to
understand that love for men springs from love to God.
So if people have great thoughts of God and His glory, the Holy Spirit
must be at work. If they understand (to some degree) the greatness of
Jesus Christ so that they delight in Him, the Holy Spirit must be at
work. Jesus becomes very precious to them and their hearts are
overwhelmed by the wonderful and free love of God, who gave His only
Son to die for them. Surely this must be the Spirit of God at work!
“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son
into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that
we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins. . . . And so we know and rely on the love God
has for us. . . . We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:9-10,
16, 19).
If a spirit makes us love God for these reasons, it must be the Spirit
of God. If we delight to think about the attributes of God that the
gospel and Christ reveal and we yearn to be made like Him, living in
ways that please and honor Him, that must be the Spirit of God. When a
spirit calms quarrels between men, promotes peace and goodwill, and
desires the salvation of souls, this must be the Spirit of God. When
men delight in the company of others who are obviously God’s children,
and have all the love I have described, we have the highest possible
evidence that it is the Holy Spirit who is at work.
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