The Revival of the Church and Culture:

Welch Revival of 1904

 

There had been a great worldwide awakening at the turn of the twentieth century. There were some highs and lows in America during 1600, 1700, and 1800. The one that began in the early 1900s was global. I believe that it was from the Welsh revival. I want to quote from a book that gives an account of it.

 

Campus Aflame, by J. Edwin Orr, Regal Books Division, G/L Publications, Copyright 1971

 

The Awakenings of the 1900s—page 101

 

The twentieth century dawned without mass premonition of disaster. Either of war or revolution, and among ardent Christian people there was a hope that at long last the Kingdom of God was at hand. Spontaneously and simultaneously, the new century was greeted by prayer meetings, entreating another visitation of the Spirit.

 

The fifteen years following 1899 proved to be years of great spiritual awakening around the world. The greatest such movement, without a doubt, was the Welsh Revival of 1904 onward. Its leading figure was a 26 year old student, Evan Roberts, who had enjoyed a remarkable experience with God before enrolling at Newcastle Emlyn College.

 

With the permission of his college principal, Roberts left his studies and proceeded to his home and church in the Loughor, not far from Swansea. Only seventeen people waited to hear his first message. But he gave them four points—to confess any known sin to God and put right any wrong done to man; to put away any doubtful habit; to obey the Spirit promptly; and to confess faith in Christ openly. The response was instantaneous.

1. to confess any known sin to God and put right any wrong done to man;

 

2. to put away any doubtful habit;

 

3. to obey the Spirit promptly;

 

4. to confess faith in Christ openly.

 

Within three months, a hundred thousand converts had been added to the churches of Wales.

Five years later, a book debunking the Revival was published, and the main point made by the scholarly author was that of the 100,000 added to the Churches, only 80,000 stood after five years.

The influence of the Revival upon life in Wales was beyond calculation. Crime was so greatly diminished that the magistrates in certain counties were presented with white gloves, signifying not a case to try. Drunkenness was cut in half, and a wave of Bankruptcies swept the taverns of the principally. Profanity was curbed, until it was said that the pit-ponies in the mines could not understand their orders.—J. Edwin Orr

Tears are coming to my eyes just reading the forgoing statement. “Oh my God do it again, today. The world needs you my Lord.”

I wasn’t there in the centuries before now, but I don’t think that it was as bad then as it is today. The churches today are big businesses, large building and staffs. Most Christians are doing what our culture demands, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24: 37 – 39).

Words by J. Edwin Orr

 

(1) Search me, O God, and know my heart today; Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray: See if there be some wicked way in me: Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

(2) I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin: Fulfill Thy Word, and make me pure within; Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame: Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

(3) Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine: Fill my heart with Thy great love divine; Take all my will, my passion, self and pride; I now surrender: Lord, in me abide.

(4) O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee: Send a revival start the work in me: Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need: For blessing now, O Lord, I humbly plead.—“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31)

 

Acts 1: 14 These all continued with—ONE ACCORD in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.—

Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with—ONE ACCORD—in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,

and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

 

One Accord in prayer and in one place means having one mind and attitude, in total agreement on one subject. The church united needs to pray for a Holy Spirit lead revival in our towns, cities, counties, States and federal government. It must begin with the church the body of Christ, first. We must let down our denominational wall and unit in one accord in prayer. You say, “There is nothing wrong with me or my church. Turn to Revelation two and three and read what the Lord is saying to His church, for today, too.

 

Revelation 2: 4 – 5

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”

Revelation 2: 14 – 16

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. “Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

“Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”

Revelation 3: 1 – 3

“I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things, which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.”

Revelation 3: 14 – 22

“These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: ‘I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

“Anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”—And—“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.—1 John 1: 5 – 10”

 

A Church in Prayer that Knew how to Pray: Acts 4: 23 - 31

 

Acts 4: 23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

 

(1) (The church presented with a spiritual problem.)

 

24. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with ONE ACCORD

and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

 

(2) (They prayed: Our Father who art in heaven, hollowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. They Worship in Spirit and Truth.)

 

25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: “Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things?

26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.

 

 

27 "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together

28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

 

(4) (They acknowledge that God has all authority to control all history and events.)

 

29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,

30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."

 

(5) (This was their prayer request—it revolved around this statement, “grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.)

 

31. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

 

(6) (Their prayer was answered, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

 

Remember that the work of witnessing must be in the power of the Holy Spirit, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has

come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1: 8).

 

 

By Andrew Murray, ‘If two agree;’ or, The Power of United Prayer.

 

Matthew 18: 19 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

 

One of the first lessons of our Lord in His school of prayer was: Not to be seen of men. Enter thy inner chamber; be alone with the Father. When He has thus taught us that the meaning of prayer is personal individual contact with God, He comes with a second lesson: You have need not only of secret solitary, but also of public united prayer. And He gives us very special promise for the united prayer of two or three who agree in what they ask. (in one accord according to Acts 1:14-15, 2:1-2, 4:23-41) As a tree has its root hidden in the ground and its stem growing up into the sunlight, so prayer needs equally for its full development the hidden secrecy in which the soul meets God alone, and public fellowship with those who find in the name of Jesus their common meeting-place

The reason why this must be so plain. The bond that unites a man to his fellow-men is no less real and close than that which unites him to God: he is one with them. Grace renews not alone one to God but to man too. We not only learn to say “My Father,” but “Our Father.” Nothing would be more unnatural than that the children of a family should always meet their father separately, but never in the united expression of their desires or their love. Believers are not only members of one family, but even of one body. Just as each member of the body depends on the other, and the full actions of the spirit dwelling in the body depends on the union and co-operation of all, so Christians cannot reach the full blessing God is ready to bestow through His Spirit, but as they seek and receive it in fellowship with each other. It is in the union and fellowship of believers that the Holy Spirit can manifest His power. It was to the hundred and twenty continuing in one place together, and praying with one accord, that the Holy Spirit came from the throne of the glorified Lord Jesus.

The marks of true united prayer are given us in these words of our Lord. The first is agreement “in one accord” as to the thing asked. There must not only be generally the consent to agree with anything another may ask: there must be some special thing, matter of distinct united desire; the agreement must be, as all prayer, in spirit and in truth. In such agreement it will become very clear to us what exactly we are asking, whether we are ready to believe that we have received what we ask.—Andrew Murray

 

Apostle Paul describes to Timothy about the culture of our day, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Just take note of three of these things in this passage. One is “disobedient to parents.” I’m not blind. I see so much of this in children. Why? I could go to jail for spanking my child. Let us think about the laws that are supposed to protect our children. My father’s father abandons his family when my father was 12 years old. He had his mother and five sisters to support. Grandfather left his family in debt of $500. My father went to work as a grown man. The $500. debt was paid off. There was no such thing as State Welfare. There was no more schooling for father. In fact his father took him out of the first grade to work their small farm. My father was illiterate. He did learn how to read a newspaper and did some simple writing.

My father went on to fight in the First World War, and after became a wealth farmer. Then the 29 depression hit. My father lost everything. I was born in 1931 and a brother in 1934. He kept working to keep his family together. There was no State welfare. We always had a roof over our heads and food on the table. We were not homeless or lived out of soup kitchens.

Let us think about our child labor laws. My father today could not go to work to support a family at the age of 12. He worked in lumber mills. That would have been against the law, today. My father’s labor did not break him down physically or mentally. He was a real man. I am very proud of my father.

Why are the children today disobedient to parents? Remember the laws of the Land are on the side of the children. Parents cannot or will not discipline their children. So the child grows up and has no respect for authority, our government, laws, police, teachers and employers.

 

The second one being, “For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts.” This speaks to “Prostitution.” It is a big business and plenty of money in it. I have heard it spoken of as being the oldest industry in the world. Can you imagine how prostitution degrades and cheapens the level of womankind and the family.

I have a daughter that is an adult, married and with two children. Just imagine with me for a moment that that girl of mine was walking the streets, bear legged, the form of her butt showing and the nipples on her breast just covered. I would literally die. First I would cry like a baby. Then I would catch her away, put cloths on her and talk Dutch uncle to her.

Pornography comes close behind prostitution. I have heard that it is a billion dollar business. God created something very beautiful in the body of a woman. It is so abused by both men and women. The sanctity and intimacy of marriage is where man and woman share their bodies with each other. It is not for public use or to make money from.

Notice the attack of Satan upon the family, children to parents and man and wife. My wife is in a nursing home, so I go out to eat quite a lot. I see so many single parent families. I know many families where there are stepparents involved. The list goes on and on.

 

The third one is “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” College, College, College, you’ve got to go to college. Our children have got to get an education. You will never get a good paying job unless you go to college. Bachelors’ degrees will not suffice any longer. You must get a Masters or go for the Doctorate.

I had a Bible College education. The Lord led me into becoming a printing plant manager. I worked at this position for 21 years until the company closed the plant. The plant was making a profit. The company felt that with the coming of age of the computer that our printing will not have to be done any longer.

I had upwards to 10 to 12 people working for me. I wore many hats. Then I was out of a job and looking for another. I found that there were many changes in industry over these last twenty years. All managerial jobs had become specialized. Like the Personnel Manager position, which I was one, had to have a degree in sociology and psychology. I had to laugh. I had a degree in Bible. The Bible is no good for today’s business.

I now want to turn to the Christian Bible education. The statement says “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” I graduated from a Bible College in the fifties. I became a pastor of a church. I held a Bachelor of Arts in Bible and a Bachelor of Theology degrees. I would not have these degrees just a few years before, but still I could have been a pastor of a church.

Today, it is a must that pastors have a Seminary education, or a doctorate, which would be required of a Mega-church. Back to “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” I was shocked what I found when I attended a Seminary for one class in Theology about two years ago. Just one of the text books for the class was called “Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.” It has 1,204 pages. That is a good size dictionary. There are ten pages of “Contributors.” Ph. D. and Masters goes on and on for the 10 full pages. I have been researching this. These highly educated of this dictionary are only a small hand full of people in our country with degrees. And our country has gone pagan?

I just received a note from a friend on E-mail. “Recently it was my privilege to hear a sermon from a dear missionary who has faithfully served for over 50 years. He made a comment that struck me both as disturbing, and sadly truthful. He said: ‘In the church today we have more Biblical knowledge and resources than at any other time in history and it is my experience that we also have less Bible living than I have ever seen in my lifetime.’”

Look at what happened from the Walsh revivals. “The influence of the Revival upon life in Wales was beyond calculation. Crime was so greatly diminished that the magistrates in certain counties were presented with white gloves, signifying not a case to try. Drunkenness was cut in half, and a wave of Bankruptcies swept the taverns of the principally. Profanity was curbed, until it was said that the pit-ponies in the mines could not understand their orders.” – J. Edwin Orr

Oh my God! These doctors and the rest of us should get down off our pedestals and get on our faces before Almighty God, beg for forgiveness and turn from our wicked ways. Then do the work of God in the fullness of the Spirit of God by saving souls for the Kingdom of God. Then maybe we will see a revival in our day, too, that would change our society’s culture.

 

 

All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.

 

All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow;

Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me Jesus, take me now.

 

All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;

Let me feel the Holy Spirit—Truly know that Thou art mine.

 

All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.

 

I surrender all, so I may carry my cross and be a fisher of men.

 

 

Father, Holy Spirit divine, fall afresh on me.

Yes, Holy Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me;

Melt me! Mould me! Fill me! Use me!

Oh, Holy Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.

In Jesus Name, I pray. Amen.