Iain H. Murray was born in 1931 in Lancashire, England. He began full time Christian ministry in 1955 at the age of 24 and the next year in 1956 he was asked to join Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones at Westminster chapel. He was there for three years.
It was during those years that he founded an institution called ‘The banner of truth trust’. Through the Banner of truth he was able to publish tons of biographies of guys like Jonathan Edwards, John Murray, Charles Spurgeon, Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones, John Wesley, George Whitefield + tons more.
As well as this, the banner reproduced books written by men who had long been almost forgotten. The works of Thomas Brooks, John Owen, Thomas Watson, Richard Baxter were among those the Banner of Truth published. These books have assisted in the renewed interest in Puritan writings during the second half of the 20th century till now. I’ve also found many of them to be invaluable.
Murray’s passion is church history, and more importantly, the history of revival.
His books, ‘Revival and Revivalism’, ‘The Puritan hope: Revival and the interpretation of Prophecy’, ‘Pentecost today’, and tons more outline his thinking on the theology of revival.
A couple of key things I’ve learnt from Iain Murray concerning revival are these:
1. What a revival is..
A revival according to Murray, is a powerful activity of the Spirit of God in large numbers of people at the same time. The effect of His activity is to animate, refresh and encourage Christians; Convert sinners; and promote Godliness and the guilt of sin among a whole society that may not convert but leads to a change in living.
Revival most oftentimes leads out of a cold-hearted, faithless era. Revival is not often predicted. It isn’t something that people naturally expect. It is an act of God where he bears his saving arm for all to see, when all least expect to see it.
2. What revivalism is…
Revival causes Christ’s church to be refreshed in amazing ways. Churches during revival have found it difficult to get people to leave. They have had to have weekday meetings to provide for all the need people feel to hear God’s word. There is increased prayer. There are strong emotions felt.
In an effort to produce revival, churches have in the past tried to replicate the different aspects of what church looks like during a revival. They have introduced lengthy prayer times, weekday services and outdoor services in order to replicate revival. Churches plan ‘revivals’ and say ‘next week we will have a revival at such and such a tent…’ This kind of thinking has lead to churches thinking that they are in control of the factors leading to revival, not God. It has lead to a decreased appreciation for God’s sovereignty and a belief that revival has something to do with the works of men.
3. If you believe that Christ is sovereign over revival then you should expect it!
Revival doesn’t happen because something special is going on in the church. In fact most revivals happen despite the bad practise of the church. Murray points out that in revival the mode of operations in terms of faithful biblical preaching and God saving sinners through the spirit doesn’t change. It’s just more widespread. There aren’t special revival sermons that will bring on revival or special prayers that will make people turn. It’s only God!
In fact… Jonathan Edward’s famous sermon, ‘Sinners in the hands of an Angry God’ was preached twice by edwards. The first time in his home church of Northampton there was little or no effect on the congregation. The same sermon preached a month later in Enfield, Connecticut saw hundreds saved and was one of the highlights of the Great Awakening.
So… Humans have no control over revival, which should not surprise us or deter us. The only one who brings revival is Christ. He is the one who can turn the hearts of men. AND he is the same Christ today as he was at Pentecost, at Enfield Connecticut, in the reformation, in inland china in the 1800s. The Christ who has brought revivals in the past is the Christ we worship.
If we were looking to human hands to bring about revival, we would be on shaky ground. We would be working, toiling, organising, strategising. But we don’t bring revivals, Christ does. And so if we have the same Christ, we should expect him to come! Our only tool is prayer as we plead with him to reveal himself.
In the meantime, we wait patiently, preaching faithfully, praying eagerly, trusting wholeheartedly.
Iain Murray has helped me see this better; To trust God’s sovereignty more; To see his plans more clearly; To love orthodoxy; To pray for revival.
To get your hands on some resources of Murray’s check out
The Berean Beacon also has tons of resources by Murray and others
Sermon Audio has a bunch of his sermons. I recommend the lectures at Mt. Olive on the history of Revival (1740-1860).
April 24, 2009 at 10:41 am |
Banner of Truth Trust rocks, best Christian publisher around.
June 6, 2009 at 10:13 pm |
I often wonder what part we should pray in regards to revival. If we are to expect it, how far do we go in our expectation? Do we pray for revival? If so, do we preach on revival? Do we have meetings of revival? Who decides how far we go with it? In the OT, we see language all over the place that makes it clear who starts anything off – God. But then we know there are times when men “call upon the name of the Lord”. Obviously we know they are moved by God to pray and seek him. I guess my point is that, maybe some people are moved to preach revival or hold revival meetings as a part of the greater revival that God is doing.
I think the question is with praying for revival or whatever is: Is God moving me to do this, or am I doing it out of my own efforts? It’s the story of our lives.
June 6, 2009 at 10:14 pm |
what part we should “play”, I mean.
:T