[ Selected ]
Every revival movement sees an awakening in the
individual and in the church environment…of a deep sense of
sin. In the intense spiritual light, the sin and
guilt of the awakened soul…stand out in terrifying
blackness. Not only are the cardinal sins laid
bare in all their hideousness, but the convicted see
themselves as in a mirror. They see themselves as
God sees them. Every fault: every meanness: every
deviation from the truth: every act of self-interest, of
betrayal, of hypocrisy, confronts them. Their sins
drag them to judgment. They cry out in their
despair. And awful terror seizes them.
Under the pressure of the Holy Spirit they often 'fall
to the ground' (a figurative expression, but possible, in
fact…not talking about 'slain in the spirit,' which I believe
to be…a 'counterfeit' ) with loud cries and
tears. The conviction of sin burns them 'like
fire.'
Yet this "terror of the Lord," remarkable
though it may seem, is not the terror of
punishment. It is inspired by a sense of having
rebelled against the divine love, of having failed to give
glory to God, of having crucified Christ afresh.
This is the sin, which, above all others, gives to the
awakened soul at such times,
its sharpest bitterness. Under the pressure
of this agony of conviction, men openly confess their
sins. They go through the long and terrible
catalog, hiding nothing. Their one intense longing
is to cast their sins for ever from them, and to be brought
into reconciliation and to be at peace with God.
"I simply cannot describe the scene," says one
who passed through such an experience. "It made one
think of the Judgment Day. God had come among
us. All knew it, and every heart was open before
Him. For myself, I had the most intense
realization of the holiness of God, and of my 'uncleaness' in
His sight."
In times of revival a like conviction falls
upon many in the church environment. A new
consciousness of sin is awakened collectively as well as in
the individual. Those who have wondered, realize
how far they have wandered and how untrue they have been to
their Lord…how little glory they have given
Him. There passes over them a wave of deep
conviction and of shame. They humble themselves in
the 'dust' and in deep humility confessing their false
witness, their worldly practices, their indifference to the
spiritual wants of those around them. Then there
follows a time of reformation, when the evil practices which
in a time of low ideals they have permitted, are dragged out
and condemned. Then turning with joyful heat to
spiritual things, they seek by united prayer, by intense zeal,
by sublime sacrifice, to bring into the Kingdom of Jesus
Christ those who remain without. Fresh life is
poured into their hearts.
