这一段日子，我们一直在讨论人们对复兴的评价，有人认为复兴是无关重要的，其果效也不能持久。可是，我并不太赞同。虽然耶稣基督的教会有时会处于可怜又可悲的景况下，但假若没有从复兴回荡的余波，情况可能会更糟糕。我认为世俗社会的情况也一样，在英国，无论是道德上或灵性上的情况都很不好，我相信要是没有历史上那些伟大复兴的持续影响，今天的情形可能会更加恶劣。

这并不是说现代基督徒的祷告和敬虔生活对世界没有影响，事实上它们有着相当明显的贡献。我们是现今世代里神的子民，为的是要成为「盐和光」，以阻止邪恶的兴旺，也就是说，到现在我们仍然可以感受到过去复兴的影响在我们这一代身上工作，它的影响甚至在政府和国会中仍可看到。

多年前，我参加了一个小组去访问国会，并把一本特别制作的圣经赠送给当时的首相威尔逊（Harold Wilson）。借着这次访问，我们有机会与几位基督徒国会议员谈话，在众多事情中，他们告诉我们说在国家的法律和条例里，有很多可以追溯到当年国家所出现的属灵醒觉。这是一个相当发人深省的信息，真值得我们反思，倘若没有过去的属灵醒觉，真不能想像我们今天的社会会变成怎样。

Although the Church of Jesus Christ is sometimes in a sad and sorry state, things might well be worse were it not for the fact that the influence of previous revivals still reverberates in our midst. The same, I think, can be said of the secular world. Here in the British Isles our society is in a bad way, morally and spiritually, but I believe things would be much worse were it not for the continuing influence of the great revivals of history.

This must not be taken to mean that the prayer life and godly living of present-day Christians make no contribution to our world, for clearly they do. We the people of God in this present generation provide "the salt and light" that makes it more difficult for evil to prosper. That said, however, the impact of past revivals can still be felt at work in our generation - even in our Houses of Parliament.

Several years ago I was part of a small group who visited the Houses of Parliament to present a specially produced Bible to the prime minister of the day - Harold Wilson. While there, we had the opportunity to talk to several Christian MPs who, among other things, informed us that the origins of many of the laws and statutes by which our land is run can be traced back to the times when our nation was in the midst of spiritual awakenings. I know it is a sobering thought with which to begin the day, but we might well ponder what kind of society we would find ourselves in at this moment were it not for the great spiritual awakenings of the past.