Over the last few weeks, our nation has been shaken by the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, UT. This wicked act of violence has left many devastated and outraged. Countless people are mourning his death, lifting up his young family in prayer as they grieve, and wondering what this means for the future of our country.
Charlie was known not only for his conservative political convictions that were reaching many young people around the world, but also for his unashamed faith in the Bible and in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some have even suggested that his testimony, and even now his death, might serve as a ‘seedbed’ for revival in our land.
The purpose of this article, however, is not to talk mainly about Charlie, though I am deeply saddened by his death. Nor about his killer, though I hope for justice and that he would come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Nor is it even to address his political influence or positions, though I would share some of the same convictions. Rather my purpose is to raise an important question that many people are now asking: what is true revival? How can we discern whether it is genuinely taking place? Are there signs that demonstrate a real movement of God among His people? As Christians, we often pray for revival; longing to see God stir hearts, renew His church, and awaken the lost to the beauty of Christ. But how can we tell when revival is truly the work of God, and not merely a passing wave of emotion?
If the Lord might see fit to bring revival in our country, I praise God for that! But what will it look like? In order to answer this question, we need to go back a few centuries to the time of the First Great Awakening in our country. Few names are more closely linked with the subject of revival than Jonathan Edwards. As pastor in Northampton, Massachusetts, Edwards witnessed the extraordinary spiritual awakening of the 1730s and 1740s. He saw firsthand both the beauty and the dangers that accompany seasons of unusual religious fervor. His writings, especially The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741) and Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion (1742), remain essential guides for discerning the difference between genuine revival and mere enthusiasm.
Edwards was careful to warn that outward intensity is no sure proof of God’s work. Loud emotions, tears, trembling, falling to the ground, or even passionate religious speech do not by themselves demonstrate authentic revival. These phenomena may accompany the Spirit’s work, but they may also spring from mere human excitement or imitation. In Edwards’s words, “The devil can counterfeit the operations and graces of the Spirit of God.” Thus, he cautioned believers not to judge by external display alone.
So what then are the signs of genuine revival? Instead of judging by outward appearance, Edwards pointed us to biblical fruit. Edwards gave several biblical tests:
1. The exaltation of Christ – True revival magnifies Jesus as the divine Son of God and only Savior. The Spirit’s central work is to glorify Christ.
“He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14)
“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)
“Every tongue will confess Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)
2. The opposition to Sin – Where God is truly at work, there will be a growing hatred of sin and a desire for holiness. The Spirit awakens consciences and calls people to repentance.
“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:37-38)
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” (Romans 6:11-12)
“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9)
3. A Deep Love for Scripture – Genuine revival draws people to the Word of God. Instead of neglecting the Bible, those touched by the Spirit hunger to hear and obey it. In revival, the Spirit stirs people to hunger for God’s Word.
God’s Word is perfect, sure, right, pure, true, and more desirable than gold (see Psalm 19:7-10)
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2)
4. The Spirit of Truth – The Spirit leads people toward doctrinal soundness and guards them from error. Revival will not diminish the truth of the gospel but confirm and clarify it.
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” (1 John 4:1-3)
“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8)
5. Love for God and Neighbor – Above all, true revival produces practical love—humility, gentleness, forgiveness, and self-sacrificing service. As Edwards wrote, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections.”
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)
Edwards’s enduring counsel is timeless because every age faces the temptation to confuse spiritual excitement with spiritual life. Genuine revival is not measured by emotion or initial fervency, but by lasting fruit: a deepened love for Christ, a holy hatred of sin, a hunger for Scripture, commitment to truth, and a life of love for God and for others. These marks, rooted in Scripture, remain the standard for discerning God’s work.
In our day when the church continues to long for renewal, Edwards reminds us to seek not merely the emotional spark of revival, but the transforming power of the Spirit that glorifies Christ and conforms His people to His likeness. Church, let’s pray that the Lord would send revival, first in our own hearts, but then in our church, in our city, our country, and around the world for the sake of His name.
