What Should A Revival Service Look Like?
When you think of a revival service, what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s visions of loud preachers and people falling to their faces in the aisles. Maybe you hear crying and see white knuckles gripping the pews. Perhaps you picture a large tent filled with hundreds of people and services that drag long into the night. Whatever you may associate with revival, revival itself is simply a return to God’s Word and the normal Christian life it prescribes. A revival service may come in a variety of styles, but what is essential to revival? What should be a part of every revival service?
In Nehemiah 8-9, we see a great example of what a revival service should look like! It had been a long time since God’s people had heard God’s Word. With the wall project completed, the children of Israel gathered in the street for a revival service. A revival service, whether it is in a Baptists church today or a dilapidated city centuries ago, includes preaching, worship, repentance, rejoicing, and a renewed commitment to doing right.
The central element of the revival service in Nehemiah 8 was preaching. “And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.” (Nehemiah 8:2-3) From these verses we see that both the preacher and the congregation has a part in preaching. The part of the preacher is to bring the Bible to the pulpit and to read it to the people. The congregation’s part is to give reverence to the reading of God’s Word by being attentive and listening. Nehemiah 8:8 gives us more details, “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” The goal of the preacher is to expound on or explain God’s word, to discern the meaning of the text, and to help the listeners understand what it means for their lives. The congregation then is to seek to understand what is being expounded from God’s Word. The point of preaching is for people to hear, receive, and act on God’s Word. Romans 10 also makes clear the part that both the preacher and the congregation have in preaching. In verse 14, God says, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” So, the part of the congregation is to hear and to believe God’s Word. They can only do their part if the preacher is doing his part—bringing, reading, and expounding the Word of God. Without preachers, there are no converts or renewed Christians. Without preaching, there is no revival!
Not only was preaching part of the Nehemiah 8 revival service, but worship was also an important part of revival. Nehemiah 8:6 says, “And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.” After a long dry spell, without hearing the Word of God, the children of Israel were once again confronted with Who God is and what He expects from His people. Worship happens when we return to the realization of just Who God is and who we are in comparison. Such a realization drives us to our knees before our holy and loving God.
We see this element of worship in Nehemiah 9 as well. As the revival service continued on, the Levites led the congregation in worshipping God. “Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherabiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God. Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorioius name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.” The remainder of chapter 9 is dedicated to worshipping God for all that He is and all that He has done. When we reencounter Who God is, we find endless reasons to worship Him. We must worship Him because He alone is Jehovah who has created the heavens (v. 6). If the hosts of heaven worship, who are we—mere mortals—to deny Him worship? (v. 6) We must worship Him because He chose Abraham and made a covenant with him to fulfill His redemptive plan (v. 7). Those of us who are not Jewish are direct beneficiaries of this covenant! We must worship Him because He has kept His covenant in His righteousness (v. 8). As His children, we can always know what to expect from our faithful, covenant-keeping God. We must worship Him because He is our Guide through the wilderness (literally in the children of Israel’s case). (v. 12) We must worship Him because He is ready to pardon, gracious, merciful, slow to anger, longsuffering, patient, kind, and faithful to us (v. 13-31). If you want to know how longsuffering and patient God is with us, just look at Israel’s history recorded in Nehemiah 9! That is the same God who gives you and me new mercies every morning. Part of being revived (brought back to the Christian life) is returning to a realization of Who God is, and this inspires our worship!
Soon we will consider three more elements of revival from Nehemiah 8-9 in Part Two.