The Spirit, Revival, and Change in Society
From time to time the church has experienced great outpourings of the Holy Spirit. Lives are dramatically changed. Society itself is vitally affected. American colonial theologian Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the greatest author ever on revivals, observed: Sometimes the light comes in suddenly, sometimes more gradually, filling their souls with love, admiration, joy and self-abasement: drawing forth their hearts after the excellent, lovely Redeemer, and longings to lie in the dust before him; and that others might behold, embrace and be delivered by him. They had longings to live to his glory but were sensible that they can do nothing of themselves, appearing vile in their own eyes. . . . And all the appearances of a real change of heart have followed.
When the Spirit Convicts
Saloon owners in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania were furious. Their business had dropped 40 -- in some cases 70 -- percent.
Cab drivers also were unhappy. Fares to the red light district were down -- way down. In fact, two whorehouses had shut down and their "workers" left town for lack of trade.
Grocers could have been unhappy, too. Their stores were bare of shoppers. Everyone seemed more keen on attending meetings than on buying food. Strangely, however, money was still flowing in. Patron after patron appeared, dollars in hand, apologizing for unpaid debts (some of them legally uncollectable) or shamefacedly admitting to thefts for which they now made restitution.
What was going on? Since Billy Sunday had come into town, preaching revival, these peculiar manifestations of honesty and reductions in vice were taking place. And not only in Wilkes-Barre. When Billy appeared in South Bend, Indiana, the Tribune recorded similar phenomena. It was the same in Decatur, Illinois and New Castle, Pennsylvania -- everywhere that Billy preached.
Indeed, the phenomena were not peculiar to Billy Sunday's ministry. They have been seen over and over.
Consider Wales in 1905. Welsh miners, usually a tough and troublesome lot, weren't their usual selves. Cardiff's jail sat empty. On New Year's Week in Swansea not a single person was arrested for drunkenness. Everywhere shopkeepers were astounded--people were returning stolen goods. The courts were able to clear their dockets. Police had nothing to do. What had happened? Evan Roberts had led a revival which flowed like wind from community to community.
In Zaire (then called the Belgian Congo), an early result of a 1956 revival was, again, that people became conscious of old debts and thefts and made them good. Weeping could be heard in the dark hours of the night as souls under conviction sorrowed for their sins. Men came to other men and fell on their knees, asking to be forgiven for wrongs they had said and done.
When a Canadian revival in 1972 overflowed into Ohio, one store manager in Mansfield was perplexed. "Something is going on in this town," he said to a woman who brought in money to pay for an article for which she'd not been charged. "You're the sixteenth person to come in and do the same thing." A businessman drove 500 miles in one day to right false claims and repay customers he had overcharged. The revival saw youth escape drugs and spouses repair broken homes.
Improvements in morals seem inevitable when the Spirit of God comes. Historians noted a great moral improvement after the Second Great Awakening in America. Obvious sins such as drunkenness, frivolities, and blasphemy declined. But revival went further. Americans woke to the need for religious education. Several colleges and seminaries were established. Among them was Oberlin.
Political history itself has hinged on revival. When Wesley began seriously to preach in 1739, England was in a bad way. Social disruption fostered by the industrial revolution threatened an upheaval not unlike the later bloody French Revolution. Famed historian Lecky, no friend of the Methodists, wrote that the new religious movement helped prevent a bloodbath in England.
On Alor in Indonesia, the gospel overcame centuries of enmity when the people of the Big Mountain and the people of the Little Mountain agreed to erect a church on a site where they had previously fought battles. Murderous enmity yielded to love.
Is Revival for Real?
Just as happened repeatedly in the book of Acts, whenever the Holy Spirit comes in power there are scoffers and opponents. Jonathan Edwards was concerned to discern what is a genuine work of the Spirit and what is not. In his The Distinguishing Marks of the Work of the Spirit of God he gives guidelines. He details how a spiritual revival cannot be dismissed as spurious if the work is:
- Very unusual or strange. Don't limit God where he has not limited himself.
- There are strong bodily manifestations, including tears, trembling groans, etc. It doesn't prove anything either way. We are human and momentous events will inevitably express themselves in bodily response.
- There is a great deal of noise and commotion about religion. Why be surprised when the most important things of all, that have been neglected, are rediscovered and that they should cause some considerable stir.
- Great impressions made upon the imaginations of people. Why not? We are dealing with things invisible and we have to work with our imaginations as well as our hearts and minds.
- Great imprudences and irregularities in conduct. We are dealing with weak human beings. There always are excesses. Look at the church at Corinth.
- Errors in judgment and delusions of Satan. Yes, any time there is a great work of God, Satan will do his best to oppose.
- Some fall away. Yes, but because there are counterfeits, that does not mean there is not the true.
- Jesus Christ as God come in the flesh is exalted.
- Sinful and worldly lusts are replaced by godly desires and aspirations.
- An increased regard for the Holy Scriptures.
- The Holy Spirit works to lead and guide people into truth.
- The Spirit of love increases--love to others and love of God--a love accompanied by humility.
Christian History Matters--It Sent this Judge to Jail
Downing's own spiritual life was turned around by discovering Christian history some years ago. He started ordering our historical video dramas on lives of John Wycliffe and William Tyndale, and reading Christian History magazine and Glimpses. The judge was arrested, so to speak, by the courage of the great historical figures of the faith to confront the desperate needs of their world and, by God's grace, to make a difference. Bob Downing knew there was more he could be doing. He started visiting prisons. As a judge he was required to apply the law and sentence offenders to time behind bars. As a Christian he went behind those same bars to show the way of grace and forgiveness so offenders could find a new life and not return to prison. He also ministered to the offenders' families along with other kinds of outreach. In addition to his ministry of compassion, he is also a teacher. Presently he is conceptualizing educational seminars for fellow judges and lawyers to demonstrate to them the Christian roots of our judicial concepts and system, in danger now of being obfuscated and lost. Here is one judge who knows that Christian history matters.
After Effects
- After the Welsh revival commenced, mules in the mines no longer knew whether to pull or stop, turn left or right. Used to kicks, floggings, and curses, they did not immediately comprehend prayers and pats.
- After the 1801 Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky, churches expelled members who persisted in sin. Among the sins for which a person could be thrown out were alcoholism, sexual immorality, abuse of slaves and swearing. Since the church was often the center of frontier community life, the threat of expulsion carried considerable clout.
- The German Pietist August Hermann Francke urged converts to demonstrate faith through acts of love. Noting that unemployment often fostered crime, he encouraged the wealthy to establish institutions and programs for the jobless and homeless.
- William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, collected 390,000 signatures in his effort to obtain legislation to end the forced prostitution of 13-16 year old girls in London.
A Leaping Flame
The connections in Christian history are often fascinating. The Moravians experienced an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the community in Herrnhut, Germany in August 1727. It led to the launch of one of the most significant worldwide missionary efforts ever. Their first missionaries went to the West Indies to minister to slaves, willing to become slaves themselves, if necessary, to reach those in dismal servitude. It was the Moravians who so influenced John Wesley and led to his life-changing "heart strangely warmed" Aldersgate experience, from which the Methodist movement exploded. Methodism became the spiritual parent of William Booth and the Salvation Army, bringing Christian compassion to the most desperate and hopeless. The Wesleyan revival was also the spiritual forerunner of the modern Pentecostal and Charismatic renewals. And the beat goes on.
Where the YMCA got its C
In 1844 George Williams, appalled at the degradation of working men in cities and moved by the teachings of the revivalist Charles Finney, pulled twelve men together for prayer. Soon they and like-minded individuals formed an organization which gathered rootless young men by the thousands, men who in many cases were sinking into vice and crime, and rechanneled their energies into innocent sports and devotional exercises. No statistics can ever be compiled to show what the Young Men's Christian Association meant for improved families and reduced crime rates. By the time of William's death, the YMCA had over 150,000 members in Britain and 500,000 in America. For over 100 years the Y had a strong evangelistic influence on young men around the world with such leaders within its ranks as missionary statesman John R. Mott and evangelist Dwight L. Moody.
Originally published June 11, 2010.
