00 Introduction


Copyright © 2020 Michael A. Brown

‘He took the Bible and opened to the book of Acts.  He called attention to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and then proceeded through the book pointing out the great, outstanding revelations and phenomena in it.  Then he spoke these words: “This is Pentecost as God gave it through the heart of Jesus.  STRIVE FOR THIS.  CONTEND FOR THIS.  TEACH THE PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR THIS.  For this, and this alone, will meet the necessity of the human heart, and this alone will have the power to overcome the forces of darkness.”  As he was departing, he said: “PRAY.  PRAY.  PRAY.  Teach the people to pray.  Prayer and prayer alone, much prayer, persistent prayer, is the door of entrance into the heart of God.”’[1]

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Acts ch.2 brought about the birth of the early Christian community, and it was a fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel, that in the last days God would pour out his Spirit on all people:

‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’ (Acts 2:17-18, cf. Joel 2:28)

This very powerful move of God – which began with the sound of a rushing, mighty wind descending upon the 120 faithful praying followers of Jesus in the upper room – gave rise not only to the birth of the Church, but also led to the bold and free, but persecuted and yet irresistible expansion of the early Christian movement out from Jerusalem, into Judea and Samaria, and throughout the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, in a matter of around only thirty years.

This dynamic outward movement is the overarching theme of the book of Acts.  We read not only that many people were brought to Christ in repentance and faith, but also about how the early believers overcame and broke through the powers of darkness which bound the lives of non-believers, through prayer and faith, and through the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit in ministry.  It speaks of the transformation of people’s lives as they were brought into the kingdom of God’s Son, sowing the seeds of powerful change for good in wider society through the influence of this radical, active and courageous Christian community.

This pattern or model of historical events in the book of Acts presents us with a paradigm with which to view the many revivals and revival ministries which have taken place in the history of the gospel-believing Church, especially since the early 1700s.  The intention of God in this Church Age was never that the events of the day of Pentecost should be an isolated fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy.  No, God’s desire has always been that his Church should live and operate in a consistently revived and powerful condition, much as in the book of Acts.  And this is what we see at many junctures of church and mission history, when God poured out his Spirit yet again to revive and empower his people to go forward in his purpose of extending his kingdom on earth.  A revived, empowered and effective Church reflects the normal, biblical state of Christianity, but a Church which is in a backslidden, cold and powerless state can never fulfil the will and purpose of God for itself.

These blogs looks at various key aspects of revival.  Revival in the Church is much like a repetition of the day of Pentecost, in which the Church is awakened once again and its spiritual life is stimulated and empowered, leading into a period of unusual blessing and fruitful activity.  The Holy Spirit comes down upon a group of people, filling and empowering them, and they become consciously aware that the awesome presence of God himself is dwelling amongst them.  Their lives are transformed and God uses them to reach out powerfully to non-believers around them, and surrounding society begins to be affected by this presence and power of God.[2]  So these blogs looks at key aspects of revival in the book of Acts, illustrating them with descriptions and excerpts from various historical revivals and from the ministries of people whom God has used powerfully in times of revival.

The background to revival has often been that of a Church which has fallen into powerlessness, ineffectiveness and consequent discouragement, in which many believers are living compromised daily lives and are far from God.  Churches struggle with non-attendance, and believers often have unconfessed and undealt-with sin in their lives.  And while their hearts are cold and indifferent towards the things of God, surrounding society falls increasingly into the grip of vices and lifestyles which destroy people’s lives, families and relationships.

This general scenario moves God’s people to pray and seek his face, or at least those among them who are concerned enough to grieve in their hearts over the situation (cf. Amos 6:6).  That God is prepared to answer powerfully such concerned seeking of his face, has been repeatedly attested to by the many revivals that have happened in history, which have transformed not simply individuals or churches, but whole denominations, societies and even countries.

        When we read the accounts of the many different revivals that have happened historically in the Christian Church, we become almost immediately aware of the fact that there were often key figures involved in them.  Although in each revival there were always many people and groups of people who prayed behind the scenes for revival to come, and although there were also many people involved significantly in ministries that flowed out of a revival, yet there often seem to have been key people that God used more significantly than others.

            For example, it is the apostle Peter that we tend to associate in our minds with the outpouring on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, because it was he who boldly preached the message which resulted in 3,000 conversions that day: ‘Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd…’ (2:14).  Similarly, names such as the following will forever be associated with the particular outpourings / revivals that follow their name: Count Zinzendorf (the Moravian Revival, 1727); Jonathan Edwards (Northampton, Massachusetts, 1734 – 1742); David Brainerd (native Americans, 1745); John Hyde (Sialkot, 1904 – 1910); Evan Roberts (Welsh Revival, 1904 – 1906); Frank Bartleman and William Seymour (Azusa Street, 1906); Duncan Campbell (The Hebrides, 1949 – 1952), and so on.

Therefore, many of the historical accounts which have been written tend to emphasise and draw out the particular role that figures such as these played in the revival.  Such emphasis is reflected in the sections below which use excerpts from accounts of revival to illustrate the points being made from the book of Acts.

        Rather than focusing on just two or three revivals to illustrate these points, the excerpts I have used are taken from many different revivals or revival ministries that have happened in different countries and at different periods of history since the early 1700s.  This is to make plain the fact that there have been many revivals amongst God’s people, and that these have happened in and among many different nations, people groups and languages.  Revival is a biblical phenomenon, and therefore its occurrences are as wide as God’s purposes are in this world.  It is certainly not a white Western missionary phenomenon.  Each point from the book of Acts is illustrated with several examples from a variety of moves of God, so from revivals during the 1700s through to the 1900s; revivals from the pre- and post-Pentecostal era (which began at Azusa Street in 1906); revivals involving conservative evangelicals and those involving charismatic Pentecostals, and revivals from different continents of the world.  There is a lot of information and detail concerning these revivals available on the internet.

Reading about what God has done through revivals in the past feeds our faith for what he can do in the present time and in the future.  We pray for him to work, on the basis of what he has done before.  There is nothing too hard for the Lord!  What he has done before, he can do again, and there is no situation he cannot change!  A movement of the Holy Spirit, whether on a local or a wider level, is our greatest hope, and it is what is needed if we are to see powerful and effective change take place both in our churches and in the surrounding community.  So I hope and pray that reading these blogs will ignite a fire of desire in all our hearts, to seek God to work and move powerfully in our own day just as he has done before, that he may arise and scatter his enemies once again!

 


[1] John G. Lake (The Portland Vision, 1920), (c) Anointed for Revival, 1995, Brisbane, Australia, accessed 15.02.2020.

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