Yes, that was the prophecy of Prophet Joel! God promised that
before the End Times, when God will judge the people, He will pour out His
Spirit on all people. Joel 2:28-29. Young and old, sons and daughters,
menservants and maidservants, will all receive God’s outpouring of Spirit and as
a result prophecy, dream dreams and see visions, the promise assured.
On His resurrection, before being taken away to heavens,
Jesus Christ asked His disciples not to go from Jerusalem, but to wait to be
baptized with the Holy Spirit, when they will receive power to be His witnesses
all over the world. Acts 1: 4, 8. These prophecies were fulfilled fifty days
after the resurrection of Christ and 10 days after His ascension, when 120
disciples had gathered in the Upper room in Jerusalem, united in prayer.
At that time heavens opened and a violent wind came and
filled the house and it is said that what appeared as tongues of fire separated
and came to rest on each of them and they spoke in different languages, as the
Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-3. This was the first mighty Holy Spirit
outpouring and is called Pentecost.
The Israel in Old Testament time celebrated Pentecost 50 days
after Passover, as a thanksgiving festival for the harvested crops. In the New
Testament Pentecost, God prepared His people for the harvest of souls, to be
gathered into His Kingdom, inaugurated by Jesus Christ.
In the last blog we saw that the Holy Spirit was active
through the centuries and is presently also is active in various parts of the
world bringing in revival in His wake. In this blog I wish to deal in detail two
of the 20th century awakenings, which spread to the whole world as
the Pentecostal movement, bringing revival to nearer home.
It all started with Welsh Revival in 1904. A young Pastor
Evan Roberts, a coal miner, had spent 13 years praying for the Holy
Spirit to control him and his life. His constant prayer to the Lord was ‘Bend
me.’ In 2004 he was repeatedly awakened at 1 AM and he prayed and spent his
time with the Lord till 5 AM. God used him to ignite the spark of Welsh revival.
1,00,000 people were converted in the Welsh revival and the chapel
was filled to capacity. It spread like wild fire, touching the coal miners.
Profane swearing, so common among coal miners stopped; it is said that the
donkeys of the coal miners, which were so used to their swearing were confused
over the commands, which suddenly came devoid of swearing! Moral recovery of people
spread.
All day prayers were held; evening prayers went on till 4 in
the morning. The coal miners attended the service till 4 am and then went home,
got ready and went for their daily work as usual. Young people responded
eagerly. It was a time of confession, humiliation before God and prayer,
through out England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. When Evan the Pastor said, ‘Let
us pray,’ everyone in the congregation started to pray simultaneously and
loudly.
Pastor Evan proclaimed just four points as the message he
received from God for the people. 1. You must confess any known sin and put any
wrong done to man right again. 2. You must put away any doubtful habit. 3. You
must obey the Spirit promptly and 4. You must confess and express your faith publicly.
Social impact of the revival was tremendous. Drinking came by
half and many taverns declared bankruptcy as they lost customers to revival!
Crime came down by half and the policemen who had no work joined the crowds and
attended the church! Judges had not many cases to decide and were almost
without work!
The Welsh revival stayed till 1906 and gradually wore off,
but the effect on the people stayed for generations to come and influenced the
world over.
The next important revival in the Twentieth century was that
of Azusa
Street Revival, which started in 1906 at Los Angeles. The Lord used a
black Pastor William Seymour here mightily. Seymour was the son of a
slave, had fought in the civil war in the Union army and was blind on one eye,
but he was simple and humble, the meekest of men.
After years of sojourn elsewhere, he led a small group of
African American Christian people, basically a Black church, in all night
prayers in California. One by one this group got baptized in the Spirit in a
few days.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the infilling of God, operating
in a person, with manifestations in tongues. Speaking in Tongues is nothing but
our own spirits joining with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, to talk with
God in spiritual language. Other signs like miracles follow.
In one year the people attending the services rose to 13,000
people. Suddenly the unimaginable happened; the black and white worshipers merged and became one! Blood of Jesus washed away the color line! Miracles of
healing followed. They moved to a building at 312 Azusa Street, which was used
as a stable to store hey and house life-stock!
It was a holiness movement. People cleansed their lives. There
were seven hours of prayers and the Pastor preached from Acts 2:2-4. For three
years three times of the day the services went on continuously; it was the move
of the Spirit of God. People heard the heavenly choir singing during these
services; their own church had no choir or music and no instrument!
From all over the world people came to attend these services
and carried the fire back to their own churches and revivals broke everywhere.
It is said that 600 million people were touched world-wide by this revival, as many
Pentecostal denominations and charismatic movements of today trace their roots
to Azusa Street Revival.
In this revival, as in others, people were led into a deeper
relationship with Jesus Christ; people began to study the Word of God with
sincerity; they became convicted of their own sinfulness and wept with passion
seeking forgiveness. On receiving such forgiveness from Christ, they
surrendered their lives to Him. The Holy Spirit baptized them and signs and
miracles followed. It is a Spirit led movement, impossible for man to start or
to quench.
The end days are near, as the prophecies in the Bible are
getting fulfilled one by one. Revival in Kansas City is one of these sparks,
where people are still receiving the infilling of the Spirit, 20 years after it
all started. Second coming of Jesus and the judgment are closer to us than
ever.
Are we ready to face Jesus Christ, who will judge our eternal
fate? To be or not to be, is the question. To accept Christ is to be with Him
and share eternal life with Him; not to be would be to eternally be cut off
from the life source of all, Jesus Christ, and languish in eternal darkness.
Which one will it be for you? The decision is always yours. God
help you to decide well.
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