‘Those who accepted his message were baptized,
and about three thousand were added to their number that day.’ (Acts
2:41)
‘Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.’ (Acts 5:14)
The initial effect that Pentecost had on the
people nearby in Jerusalem was one of astonishment and bewilderment. That which was happening was visible, audible
and so out of the ordinary that a crowd quickly gathered around wondering what
on earth was going on! Many thousands of
Jews and Jewish converts from ‘every nation under heaven’ were staying in
Jerusalem at that time to celebrate the Feast of Weeks (2:5-11). They were amazed as they heard the 120
disciples speaking the wonders of God in their own languages, although some mocked
what was going on as they observed the evident physical effects that being filled
with the Holy Spirit was having on some of the 120 disciples (2:7,12-13). However, Peter’s powerful message and the conviction
that it caused, very quickly led to the conversion of a vast number of these
people: 3,000 in fact. That is a lot of
converts for just one single message, and it brought into being the early Christian
community on that day.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
caused immediate, quick and sustained numerical growth in this Christian community.
Together, the awareness of the immanent presence
of God amongst his people, the empowered and fearless preaching that this gave
rise to, the transformed lives and the many powerful miracles that happened as
God worked, caused many people to repent and believe, and to come into the
kingdom of God and join this new community.
What caused this huge growth was that God himself was present and working
very powerfully, and co-working with and through these surrendered Spirit-filled
believers.
Pentecost set Jerusalem ablaze with the fire of
God and it let loose a massive tidal wave of spiritual power that swept aside everything
before it! This
is what Leonard Ravenhill was referring to when he said, ‘You never have to
advertise a fire. Everyone comes running
when there’s a fire. Likewise, if your
church is on fire, you will not have to advertise it. The community will already know it.’[1]
There were no gimmicks at Pentecost,
there were no advertisements, and there were no human methods of trying to manipulate
people or get them to come to meetings. It
was God himself working.
This is what we see throughout the book of Acts
from the day of Pentecost onwards, both in its effects in and around Jerusalem
and through the ministries of the fire-filled and Spirit-empowered messengers
that God raised up. In the immediate
aftermath of the day of Pentecost, people were being converted daily
(2:47). Within a further two chapters,
as a result of the healing of the man crippled from birth and Peter’s message
which followed it, the number of converts among the men increased to about
5,000 (4:4). Even though many people did
not dare to join the Christian community, because they were gripped by the fear
of God after Ananias and Sapphira met their demise, yet more and more people
were being converted. Many healing miracles
and exorcisms were taking place as the power of God worked through the apostles
(5:12-16). The word of God was spreading
out and the number of believers increased rapidly (6:7).
Revival does not do away with the need for personal
witness and evangelism, rather it fills believers’ hearts with an inward compulsion
to reach out to non-believers around them.
It clothes them with the power of God, empowering their preaching and
ministry in such a way that their witness for the Lord is effective and
fruitful. People flock to meetings, their
lives are transformed and there are many conversions.
Philip’s ministry brought this revival to Samaria,
leading to a great spiritual breakthrough, with many people being converted,
healed and delivered (8:5-8). After the
persecution under Saul/Paul and then his dramatic conversion, the church enjoyed
a time of peace and expanded throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria, again with
many people being converted (9:31). The
healing of Aeneas caused everyone in Lydda and Sharon to turn to the Lord, and
likewise the raising from the dead of Tabitha caused many people in Joppa to
believe (9:32-35,42). When those who had
been scattered by Saul’s persecution preached in Antioch, many Greeks were converted
(11:21,24).
We see the same thing happening in the apostle Paul’s
ministry with his co-labourers. The revival
working of God through their ministry in Pisidian Antioch was so effective that
within the space of just two Sabbaths, almost the whole city gathered to hear
the word of God (13:42-44). Their ministry
in Iconium gained many converts, with many people being healed, and their
message evidently caused a stir in the entire city (14:1-4). In Lystra, crowds gathered to hear them, and these
people witnessed the healing of the crippled man, and many people were also converted
in Derbe (14:8-11,21).
On Paul’s second apostolic missionary journey, these
new church communities were strengthened in the faith and continued to grow daily
in numbers (16:5). Many Jews and Greeks
came to Christ in Berea as Paul and Silas reached out into mainland Greece, and
many people were converted in Paul’s eighteen-month stay in Corinth (17:12, 18:8-11). His two-year ministry in Ephesus shook the
spiritual powers in that place. Not only
were many people converted through his preaching and daily lectures, they were also
filled with the Holy Spirit, and many people were healed and delivered from
evil spirits. These empowered converts
travelled throughout the province preaching the gospel (19:1-12). The incident with the seven sons of Sceva only
served to bring about even more open confession and repentance: Christ was recognised
as Lord over all (19:13-20). Paul’s
ministry was so powerful and effective in this city that it eventually caused a
public uproar stirred up by those who opposed him (19:23-41). When he was eventually sent to Rome to stand
before Caesar, this fearless man of God continued to preach to everyone who
cared to come and hear him (28:30-31).
This kind of numerical growth in terms of
conversion always takes place in times of revival. And, as I said above, there is no need to
advertise or use human methods to try to get people to come to meetings or to
receive Christ. When God comes down in revival
power, he takes his place on the field of battle, as it were, and his presence
and power sweep away everything before him! When revival comes, people lose interest in
the carnal and worldly things of life, and they are consumed with the condition
of their own soul and the need to get right with God. The BIG topic of interest on everyone’s lips
is what is happening and what God is doing.
Believers are woken up out of their spiritual sleepiness, and non-believers
are shaken out of their apathy and unbelief.
People flock to church meetings as if they are being drawn by an
invisible magnet, and they stay there for many hours even well into the
night. People are converted in their
thousands, and these new converts go out and bring yet others in. Believers go out into their communities and
into the surrounding areas, spreading the gospel to great and fruitful effect. Revival is always the biggest and greatest
stimulus to the growth and empowering of the church and the conversion of
non-believers to Christ!
When
revival broke out in the Hebrides in 1949, people became intensely aware of the
presence of God among them. They were gripped
by eternal realities and for a while did little in terms of work. After Duncan Campbell had finished his first
evening meeting and had brought the meeting to an end at around 11:00 pm, when
they opened the church doors, they found a crowd of around 600 people standing
outside all waiting to come in. The Holy
Spirit was convicting people in their homes and they had become aware of an intense
need for God. Among these were around
100 young people who had been at a dance hall during that evening. Naturally, the things of God were the
furthest thing from their minds! However,
the Holy Spirit suddenly fell upon them and within a matter of minutes the music
and dancing had stopped, and they all left the hall and headed for the church
building where they could see the lights were still on. In the surrounding area, people who had gone
to bed at home got up again, got dressed and came to the church. These 600 people were all gripped by conviction
and a hunger and thirst for God. So everyone
came back into the building, and the meeting continued until 4:00 am with many
people repenting and finding peace with God.[2]
Evan
Roberts had prayed for revival for many years.
God had given him a vision that 100,000 people were going to be saved in
Wales. After he was baptized in the Holy
Spirit and fire, he returned to his home church in Loughor and began to
preach. During these meetings, the
heavens opened and God’s presence filled the air. Many people went under conviction of sin and put
their lives right with God. His meetings
were soon crowded out, and the revival began to spread into the Welsh valleys
and then throughout the rest of Wales. Churches
were filled to overflowing, and believers travelled from far afield to witness
what was happening. Within just a few
months, 100,000 people had come to faith in Christ. For a time, this Welsh Revival of 1904 became
the main topic of conversation throughout the Christian world. Wherever news of this revival spread and wherever
those who carried its fire went, there was passionate prayer for revival, and
revival began to break out in many different places. There was a marked increase in church
membership throughout the UK.[3]
Similarly,
after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Korean revival in 1907, there
was much conviction and confession of sin, and putting things right with one
another, especially amongst church leaders.
This revival then had an immediate impact on both the churches and their
surrounding communities:
‘The men returned to their homes as
carriers of revival… and a similar revival gripped the churches. As the churches were revived, they were
gripped by a burning passion to reach the lost in their community. Everywhere, revived churches began to see “drunkards,
gamblers, adulterers, murderers, thieves, self-righteous, Confucianists and
others” transformed into new creatures in Christ. The revival had an almost immediate impact in
the nation’s Christian colleges. Ninety
percent of the students at Union Christian College in Pyongyang professed
conversion in February 1907. Many also
sensed God’s call upon their life as evangelists. They also carried the revival
beyond the city into village churches throughout Korea. From 1905 to 1910, the Korean church recorded
79,221 additions in church membership.
That was more than the total number of Japanese church members after
fifty years of missionary effort. It was
also twice the number of Chinese Protestants after eighty years of missionary
labours. By 1912, there were about 300,000
Korean church members in a nation of twelve million people.’[4]
As
these historical examples illustrate, revival brings great numbers of conversions. And as I said above, it is
always the biggest and greatest stimulus to the growth and empowering of the church,
and to the conversion of non-believers to Christ. The spiritual power that is loosed in revival
and the awareness of God that this creates among people, does a deep, effective
and lasting work in people’s hearts, bringing conviction and a breaking of the
grip that Satan and sin have over their lives.
It brings far more conversions and growth in the church in a relatively
short time than purely human methods can bring in God’s work over much longer periods!
[1] Ravenhill, L. Used as an image
quote on “Something is Missing in the Church”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY-UsSpID0c,
accessed 02.03.2020.
[2] See https://www.freewebs.com/notjustnotes/Hebrides.pdf,
compiled from a transcription of a message given by Duncan Campbell in 1968, accessed
29.05.2020.
[3] From http://revival-library.org/index.php/catalogues-menu/1904,
accessed 29.05.2020.
[4] From http://phpreston.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/10_Greatest_Revivals.pdf.
