And in the wonder of his grace God forgives and wipes the slate clean. It takes faith in Christ's mighty achievement to believe that. If you have no such concept of grace you are going to be lining up and sniffling to a big group of strangers about your sins. It is an occasion when the Word of God is preached with such divine application by the Holy Spirit that people hold their breath to hear and respond, are convicted of their sins and find a refuge in Christ. Great assurance is given to Christians and the fear of God falls upon even those who do not become believers.
Public sin is restrained in a community.
Multitudes of people become serious about the Lord Jesus Christ. Their lives are permanently changed. A new appetite for preached truth is given. Revivalism is when people are manipulated by communicators and music, altar calls, public confession of sin all replace the sermon. I was thinking how such an event as these at Wheaton and Holland could never happen at the university in Aberystwyth.