我们这几天都在讨论复兴这题目，谈到有很多宗教人士基于各种理由并不认同复兴。现在我们再来看看那些认为不需要复兴的人所提出的另一个论据；简单来说，就是复兴的果子并不能持久。

我们必须承认一点，并不是所有在复兴时显现信心的人，都可以在复兴之火熄灭后，仍能继续跟随基督。但是我们也不能因此就否定所有复兴的果子都不能持久。有批评者说，很多人在1859年的美国大复兴中归向基督，但十年后，只有很少数的人仍然留在教会。

我们当如何回应这个论点？我认为，复兴的果子应该是重质不重量的。以我的家乡威尔斯为例，我相信若没有1904年震动全国的大复兴，今天可能一个基督徒也没有。在复兴降临时，有时只有一个家庭成员归主，便足以影响整个家庭。

我视自己为复兴的产儿，我外祖父在1904年威尔斯大复兴时期归信基督，他影响了我母亲，还有我父亲，他们对我将生命献给耶稣基督有很大的影响。现在很多基督教家庭，若不是因有远亲或祖先在复兴时归向基督，他们现在可能仍然在教会门外。复兴出现的时间可能很短暂，但它的结果却能影响以后的世世代代。

We look now at yet another argument advanced by those who see revival as unnecessary. Put in its simplest form it goes like this: fruits of revival do not last.

Admittedly not all who make a profession of faith during a time of revival continue to follow Christ after the fire has subsided. It would be foolish to deny that some of the fruits of revival do not last. Critics claim that out of the many converts won to Christ in the United States during the 1859 revival, only a small proportion could be found in the Church ten years later.

How do we answer this argument? The fruits of revival, I submit, ought to be looked at qualitatively and not just quantitatively. Take, for example, my native Wales. I believe that if it had not been for the revival that stirred the Principality in 1904, the Christian presence there today would be almost non-existent. During revival sometimes only one member of a family is converted, but that one person often influences a whole family.

I regard myself as a product of revival. My grandfather was converted to Christ in the Welsh revival of 1904. He influenced my mother who, together with my father, greatly influenced me to give my life to Jesus Christ. How many families who are now in the Christian Church might be outside had it not been for the fact that some distant relative or ancestor was won to Christ during a time of revival. The duration of a revival may be comparatively short and brief but its results spill over into succeeding generations.