The Real Reasons for Revival

Last night (Monday, June 1) I really enjoyed the monthly prayer meeting at Eureka. The attendance was up from the usual number. But that was not the reason for the enjoyment and delight---the Spirit of God was with us and we pleaded with God to glorify Himself through us. The theme for the prayer meeting was "Revival." I came across a sermon by D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, "The Real Reasons for Revival" and read highlights from it. The three reasons we are to pray for revival are:

1. The glory of God
2. The honor of the Church
3. Those who are outside the Church may be converted

The following is an excerpt from the sermon by Jones.

"Now, we cannot go into all these points in detail, but this is the thing that matters is it not? The Church, after all, is the Church of God. 'She is His new creation, by water and word.' We are a people for God's own peculiar possession. And why has he called us out of darkness into his own marvellous light? Surely it is that we may show forth his praises, his excellencies, his virtues. And, therefore, we should be concerned about this matter primarily because of the name, and the glory, the honour of God himself. Whether we like it or not, it is a fact that the world judges God himself, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole of the Christian faith, by what it sees in us. We are his representatives, we are the people who take his name upon us, we are the people who talk about him, and the man outside the Church regards the Church as the representative of God. And, therefore, I argue that we must emulate the example of Moses, as we find it here. Our first concern should be about the glory of God."