KEY SCRIPTURE Joel 2:28-29 And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
RELEVANCE Praise God for revivals. What changes they produce!
It's Easter, a term mentioned only once in the Bible. (Acts 12:4). It was mainly celebrated under its correct name, Pascha or Passover. (Strong's concordance G3957). However, courtesy of the Roman Catholic Church at their Council of Nicea (325 AD), church officials changed the original date from the God-given 14th of Nisan (Jewish Calendar) to what we have now—a moving Easter. And to keep the peace, we neither question nor explore.
Today, I'm not writing about Easter Sunday, but certainly about the resurrection of Christ and what it can do to the world in a revival.
We know the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, yet the changes wrought by a revival—when the Lord pours out His Spirit upon a community—are beyond belief if not recorded.
Christ's death and resurrection were the world's most critical events, but many of us won't see the true power nor find ourselves involved in a genuine revival in our lifetimes. Because of that, I want to remind you of the transformation of Wales UK brought about by the Welsh Revival. The stories of writers and eyewitnesses make our hearts yearn to have been there.
The following are Excerpts from Wikipedia, and www.welshrevival.com
WHAT A REVIVAL CAN DO! The Welsh Revival (1904–1905) was the largest Christian revival in Wales during the 20th century. While by no means the best-known of revivals, it was one of the most dramatic in terms of its effect on the population, and it had repercussions that reached far beyond the Welsh border, triggering a series of revivals in other countries. The Awakening swept the rest of Britain, Scandinavia, parts of Europe, North America, the mission fields of India and the Orient, Africa and Latin America."
Historian Edwin Orr noted, "Drunkenness was immediately cut in half, and many taverns went bankrupt. Crime was so diminished that judges were presented with white gloves signifying that there were no cases of murder, assault, rape or robbery or the like to consider. The police became "unemployed" in many districts. Stoppages occurred in coal mines, not due to unpleasantness between management and workers, but because so many foul-mouthed miners became converted and stopped using foul language that the horses which hauled the coal trucks in the mines could no longer understand what was being said to them, and transportation ground to a halt" (Orr 1975c:192-193).
"The men worked with a renewed vigor that set production figures soaring. When work was done they would hurry home for a quick meal and a bath and then be off to the chapel until the early hours of the morning, singing hymns as they went!" (Evans, 160) Evan Roberts (Excerpt)
Within a month he felt compelled to share this message of the reality of God and the possibility of complete forgiveness of sins with his home youth group at Moriah Loughor.
Summing up the message in 4 parts, Evan pressed it home to the astonished church:
1. Confess all known sin
2. Deal with and get rid of anything 'doubtful' in your life
3. Be ready to obey the Holy Spirit instantly
4. Confess Christ publicly
By the end of the first week, over 60 responded. By the end of the second week, Evan had already started on a whirlwind tour of the South Wales valleys with his team of 5 girl singers and within a year or so, 100,000 converts were said to be added to the Welsh Church.
The People of the 1904-1905 Revival.
EVAN ROBERTS The best known of the revivalists associated with the awakening. Having been a coal miner and later a blacksmith at 26 years old, he felt a definite call to full-time Christian ministry. During the initial period of his training, an overwhelming experience of the SPIRIT OF God eventually led him back to his home church at Loughor, where he began to share this experience with the youth. The outcome of these messages was full churches and meetings continuing into the early hours of the morning. Soon there was talk of conversions and renewed faith with converts expressing their newfound joy in spontaneous prayer and hymn singing. For the next 18 months, he travelled throughout Wales with his revival message. Due to the novel way that he usually led meetings accompanied by his team of young women soloists the news media saw him as a celebrity and reported his every move and word to a fascinated readership.
ANNIE DAVIES The best known of the soloists in the Evan Roberts team. She joined the team early on in the revival and remained with Evan all through the missions that he undertook. She took an active part in the services and as well as singing would often pray and pass on a message as she felt lead. Her ability as a singer and sensitivity to the atmosphere of the revival services very often moved congregations to tears. She is most well known for her rendering of the Love – song of the Welsh revival "Here is love vast as the ocean".
DAN ROBERTS The brother of Evan. He quickly became involved in the revival after his eyes were healed in response to the words of his brother. He too travelled around Wales holding revival meetings and hundreds were added to the churches as a result.
FLORRIE EVANS The teenager from New Quay who publicly confessed that she loved the Lord Jesus Christ with all her heart. This she did in the morning youth meeting at her church. Her simple words were the spark that lit revival fire in her church and in the west Wales area, a fire that would soon become national in its scope. These words spoken on Sunday February 14 1904 were to be the first drops of an international downpour. She later came into contact with Evan Roberts who was deeply Impressed with the godliness that he saw in her and the rest of the NewQuay youth. During the revival she often travelled as part of Joseph Jenkins team holding meetings throughout North Wales.
SETH JOSHUA An evangelist with the Forward Movement of the Calvinistic Methodist Church. He had been praying for revival for some time and had asked that God would rise up a person not from the university or college but from the working classes. In Evan Roberts he saw the eventual answer to this prayer. During 1904 Seth had been holding missions all over Wales, including one at Newcastle Emlyn where he first came in contact with Evan Roberts. It was a prayer prayed by Seth at Blaenannerch that so touched Evan and the words" Bend me oh Lord" soon became Evans own prayer and motto.
SYDNEY EVANS Evan's close friend and fellow student at Newcastle Emlyn. He too came to experience a deeper Christian walk while at the college and witnessed the spiritual struggles of Evan. He was powerfully used during the revival and similar to other revivalists travelled all over Wales conducting meetings. He, too was accompanied by a team of other youth who took part in the services. After the revival, he went into full-time Christian service, eventually becoming the principal of a Theological College in India. He also married Evans's sister Mary.
Summary The Lord God oversees large revivals, such as in Wales, Norway, California, etc. But we control our personal revivals. Christ came that we would experience beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of the heaviness of heart and mind, that He might be glorified.
God doesn't stop us from opening our hearts to the Holy Spirit and seeking spiritual resurgence. We can have our personal revival by turning up the flame of our zeal and passion for the Lord. We can pour out our hearts in prayer, praise and thanksgiving and increase the Lord's blessing and control over our lives. Nothing is stopping us.
PRAYER Dear Lord, make me an instrument of your Holy Spirit, bursting with joy, praise and thanksgiving in your presence.
Photo by Christian Dubovan
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