The next event common to the history of all great revivals is the appearance of a leader. The person sums up in himself or herself the longings of the time and interprets to the generation their inmost needs. When this person speaks, the hearers recognize his or her authority.
In this sense, the leader is recognized not as the creator but as the interpreter of the movement. The burden of the times, which others only faintly feel, becomes an intolerable load. the leader feels God's hand upon him or her and proceeds --possessed by the Holy Spirit-- to be God's agent in leading men and women into new life.
Though the agent and the interpreter, the leader is not a machine. The leader brings into the movement his or her own individuality, and within certain limits defines its characteristics. When we survey the leaders in the world's revivals, we see how wide the selection is, how varied the characters of God's chosen servants. For example, Isaiah and Paul were separated by more than centuries. The same wide difference may be seen in the movements themselves because the characteristics of the movements are marked by their leaders. These characteristics were essential for the success of the movement, because each age has different needs the leader can meet.
Here the differences end. All of these great leaders share an unshakable faith in God, an overwhelming sense of a call to service, a mysterious equipment of spiritual power, and a determination to do the work of God at the expense of life itself.
