Revival - Counterfeit or True?

1 Corinthians 11:19 (KJV)

For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

2 Corinthians 11:14

Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

2 Thessalonians 2:9

The work of Satan (is to) display all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders.

Counterfeit means the substitution of the false for the true with the intent to deceive.

Jonathan Edwards  Treatise on the Religious Affections 

The more excellent anything is, the more will be the counterfeits of it. It is by the mixture of counterfeit religion with true, not discerned and distinguished, that the devil has had his greatest advantage against the cause and kingdom of Christ...

Rowland Hill, regarding the Beddgelert Revival in Welsh Calvinistic Methodism by William Williams, 1884

I like the fire, but I don't like the smoke! 

Jessie Penn Lewis War On The Saints  (Recommended Reading though from a Pentecostal perspective)

http://articles.ochristian.com/book1665.shtml

In every land where revival has since broken forth, within a very brief period of time the counterfeit stream has mingled with the true. Imaginations as to how God works in Revival power, and in "Pentecostal" measure, is specially a fruitful ground for evil spirits. The arch-deceiver is well aware that any "teaching" of deceiving spirits accompanied by supernatural signs, may be received by the believer if his mind is lulled into passivity so that he does not question, or intelligently reason, what the teachings are, or what they involve in their ultimate issue. 

Since evil spirits can counterfeit God as Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, or a "Divine Presence", the believer needs also to know very clearly the principles upon which God works, so as to detect between the Divine and the Satanic workings. There is a "discernment" which is a spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:10c), enabling the believer to discern "spirits," but this also requires knowledge of (true) doctrine (1 John 4:1), so as to discern between doctrine which is of God, and doctrines, or teachings, of (other) teaching spirits.

J.I. Packer  Steps to the Renewal of the Christian People 

In times of revival, the sense of God’s presence imparts new authority to his truth. The message of Scripture which previously was making only a superficial impact, if that, now searches its hearers and readers to the depth of their being. 

No upsurge of religious interest or excitement merits the name of renewal if there is no deep sense of sin at its heart. God’s coming [near], and the consequent impact of his Word, makes Christians much more sensitive to sin than they previously were: consciences become tender and a profound humbling takes place.

Jonathan Edwards 

        Distinguishing Marks

If we see persons made sensible of the dreadful nature of sin, and of the displeasure of God against it, and of their own miserable condition as they are in themselves by reason of sin, and earnestly concerned for their eternal salvation, and sensible of their need of God’s pity and help, and engaged to seek it in the use of the means that God has appointed, we may certainly conclude that it is from the Spirit of God.

        True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils, 1752

A sense of the beauty of Christ is the beginning of true saving faith in the life of a true convert. This is quite different from any vague feeling that Christ loves him or died for him. These sort of fuzzy feelings can cause a sort of love and joy, because the person feels a gratitude for escaping the punishment of their sin. In actual fact, these feelings are based on self-love, and not on a love for Christ at all.

It is a sad thing that so many people are deluded by this false faith. On the other hand, a glimpse of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ causes in the heart a supreme genuine love for God. This is because the divine light shows the excellent loveliness of God's nature. A love based on this is far, far above anything coming from self-love, which demons can have as well as men.

The true love of God which comes from this sight of His beauty causes a spiritual and holy joy in the soul; a joy in God, and exulting in Him. There is no rejoicing in ourselves, but rather in God alone.

The sight of the beauty of divine things will cause true desires after the things of God. These desires are different from the longings of demons, which happen because the demons know their doom awaits them, and they wish it could somehow be otherwise. The desires that come from this sight of Christ's beauty are natural free desires, like a baby desiring milk. Because these desires are so different from their counterfeits, they help to distinguish genuine experiences of God's grace from the false.

        Treatise on the Religious Affections (see below)

Persons who thus make their own experiences their rule of judgment, instead of bowing to the wisdom of God, and yielding to His word as an infallible rule, are guilty of casting a great (distortion) upon the understanding of the Most High.

        Letter to James Robe of Kilsyth, 1743

It would have been better for us, if all ministers here had taken care diligently to distinguish such joys and raised affections, as were attended with deep humiliation, brokenness of heart, poverty of spirit, mourning for sin, solemnity of spirit, a trembling reverence towards God, tenderness of spirit, self-jealousy and fear, and great engagedness of heart, after holiness of life, and a readiness to esteem others better than themselves.

W.B Sprague, Lectures on Revivals of Religion, 1832 

https://books.google.com/books?id=FbMOAAAAIAAJ&source

Letter of Archibald Alexander, witness of the "Great Revival" of 1789-1790

When the Son of man sows good seed in his field, will not the enemy be busy in sowing tares?

In (genuine) revival there is great solemnity and silence. The convictions of sin are deep and humbling: the justice of God in the condemnation of the sinner is felt and acknowledged; every other refuge but Christ is abandoned; the heart at first is made to feel its own impenetrable hardness; but when least expected, it dissolves under a grateful sense of God’s goodness, and Christ’s love; light breaks in upon the soul either by a gradual dawning, or by a sudden flash; Christ is revealed through the gospel, and a firm and often a joyful confidence  of  salvation  through  him  is  produced: a  benevolent, forgiving, meek, humble and contrite spirit predominates, the love of God is shed abroad and, with some, joy unspeakable and full of glory fills the soul. A spirit of devotion is enkindled. The Word of God becomes exceedingly precious. Prayer is the exercise in which the soul seems to be in its proper element, because by it, God is approached, and his presence felt, and beauty seen: and the newborn soul lives by breathing after the knowledge of God, after communion with God, and after conformity to his will. Now also springs up in the soul an inextinguishable desire to promote the glory of God, and to bring all men to the knowledge of the truth, and by that means to the possession of eternal life. The sincere language of the heart is, ‘Lord what wouldst thou have me to do?’

The church is not always benefited by what are termed revivals; but sometimes the effects of such commotions are followed by a (spiritual) desolation which resembles the track of the tornado.

C.H. Spurgeon  

"Growth In Grace"

I have seen a certain kind of revival in England, and I can always tell where such “revivals” have been by the scarred state of the places after them. These so-called “revivals” have been wrought by excitable meetings, held by sundry preachers, who have invented strange doctrines, but have said nothing about the grace of God. They have for a time stirred up the people to a kind of religious furor, and they have left behind them a very desert. Before them it was like a garden of the Lord, but behind them barrenness and desolation. The church has been divided; there has been a reaction, and the people have sunk into the most lamentable condition. If we would have true zeal, it must be by the preaching of the good old doctrine, proclaiming Jesus Christ and him crucified; for anything else comes of the devil, and to hell it shall tend; its issue shall be destruction, and not salvation.

But if we keep to the truth of God, there will be “revival” enough. We want nothing but the good old-fashioned gospel to stir the world again. Though men have tried new schemes, God will not own them. All these heresies must be swept away, and the true gospel — distinguishing grace of God in all the sovereignty of election — must yet again be preached; and when it is preached in all its fullness, then shall the church be zealous, and then shall Zion arise, and shake herself from the dust, and put on her beautiful garments.

“The Prayer of Jabez”

https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/the-prayer-of-jabez/#flipbook/

The dreariest deserts in Christendom are those places that were fertilized by the patent manures of certain revivalists. 

J.C. Ryle  Holiness

While we are thankful for the increase of public religion — we must never forget that, unless it is accompanied by private religion, it is of no real solid value, and may even produce most mischievous effects. Incessant running after sensational preachers, incessant attendance at hot crowded meetings protracted to late hours, incessant craving after fresh excitement and highly spiced pulpit novelties — all this kind of thing is calculated to produce a very unhealthy style of Christianity and, in many cases I am afraid, the end is utter ruin of soul. For, unhappily, those who make public religion everything, are often led away by mere temporary emotions, after some grand display of ecclesiastical oratory, into professing far more than they really feel. After this, they can only be kept up to the mark, which they imagine they have reached, by a constant succession of religious excitements. By and by, as with opium-eaters and dram-drinkers, there comes a time when their dose loses its power, and a feeling of exhaustion and discontent begins to creep over their minds. Too often, I fear, the conclusion of the whole matter is a relapse into utter deadness and unbelief, and a complete return to the world!

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones "What is (genuine) Revival?"

http://articles.ochristian.com/article1651.shtml 

A.W. Tozer The Divine Conquest, Chapter 9 – “Why the World Cannot Receive”

For myself, I fear any kind of religious stir among Christians that does not lead to repentance and result in a sharp separation of the believer from the world. I am suspicious of any organized revival effort that is forced to play down the hard terms of the Kingdom. No matter how attractive the movement may appear, if it is not founded in righteousness and nurtured in humility it is not of God. If it exploits the flesh it is a religious fraud and should not have the support of any God-fearing Christian. Only that is of God which honors the Spirit and prospers at the expense of the human ego. “That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:31, 2 Corinthians 10:17)

John Nevin The Anxious Bench

https://books.google.com/books?id=33IWAAAAYAAJ

The Cane Ridge Revival

https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/revival-at-cane-ridge/