REVIVAL — What is it? Can it happen today?

Ponderings and insights from studying the Korean Revival of 1907

I.   A LOOK AT THE PAST

A.   Welsh Revival—between 1900-1910

This is often considered the period of the great awakening-in Asia, Americas, and Europe.

Rev. Seth Joshua and Evan John Roberts were leaders in the revival.

Evan Roberts said that there are four main points to revival:

1. The past must be made clear by confession of every known sin to God, and every wrong unto man must be put right;
2. Every doubtful thing in the believer’s life must be put away;
3. Prompt and implicit obedience must be yielded to the Spirit of God;
4. Public confession of Christ must be made.

During the brief period of the Welsh revival, 100,000 people were converted.  In 1910, 60,000 of those who were converted during the six months of revival were still members of the Welsh churches.  In other words, there was a dramatic growth in the churches.  Christians became connected to the body.

B.   Other Noted Revivals influenced by the Welsh Revival

1. 1905 – India Revival began – The pattern of the revival here was the same as the sweeping revival that had occurred in Wales.  Throughout India prayer meetings, evangelistic campaigns, revivals in boys’ and girls’ schools, indicated that the Spirit of God was at work in the land.  (The awakening of 1905 in India was of an indigenous nature; that is, many of the evangelists were Indian preachers.)
2. 1906 – the Azusa Street Revival began in the USA (Pastor Smale, a Baptist Pastor,Pastor William Seymour, black Holiness Pastor)  April 9, 1906 the Holy Spirit was first poured out at the Azusa Mission. San Francisco earthquake happened April 18^th, 1906—It had a very close connection with the Pentecostal outpouring…This shook the whole state, as well as the nation.  Men began to fear God…Their conscience needed to be knocked at.  This paved the way for the revival.
3. 1907 – Pyungyan Revival (The origin of the revival may be traced to a prayer meeting of Methodist missionaries at Wonsan in 1903.  This was under the leadership of a medical doctor, R. A. Hardie. This particular move of God was local at that time, but it was the word of it that spread and would ultimately influence what climaxed in January 1907 under the leadership of Missionaries William Blair and Graham Lee.)  1910 — 1945 Japanese occupation of Korea occurred and intense persecution of the church began.

The pattern of revival was the same as the sweeping revival that had occurred in Wales.

C.   1907 Pyungyang Revival

The Great revival of 1907 in Pyungyang is of great significance, for through this movement of Korean Protestantism experienced the powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit for the first time.  The Christians who had entered the church with various motives now came to know what true repentance was and what it meant in Christian life.  They also came to feel the excitement of their faith.  The Great Revival of 1907 not only made the Korean church exuberant but it also energized the already existent Christian traditions and brought about the exceptional growth of the Korean Church.

This revival had the most important influence on the Korean church.  Many local revivals throughout Korea had characterized the life of the church from the beginning but the Great Revival swept over the country and affected the entire Christian movement.

Pyungyan Revival was not restricted to adult Christians.  What began with 1500 men at the first meeting, quickly spread to women, children, and high school students.

The Holy Spirit movement in this period was even stronger among girls than boys.

In other words, the movement of this period was open to all classes of people in all age groups. The revival continued more broadly as people confessed and repented their sins.

Repentance of sins, however, was not the only phenomenon that was involved in their meetings.  If the Holy Spirit movement had involved the repentance of sins only, then it would not have had much significance or influence on people.  What was more significant was the dramatic change in the lives of those who were involved in the revival meetings.  They began to quit their bad habits, forgave each other, and made peace with one another.  Korean society in general looked at the tremendous change among the Christians with awe and began to expect something from them for the country, as the nation found no hope for independence or help for change with the Japanese oppressors.

Factors contributing to the revival:

1. People wanted to find hope from Christianity while Korea suffered the loss of independence and Japanese oppressive rule.
2. The old religions of Korea had failed the nation and thus Christianity was expected to bring new hope.
3. There was no great difficulty in the replacement of the old religions by Christianity.
   1. Like Confucianism, Christianity teaches righteousness and reveres learning.
   2. Like Buddhism, Christianity seeks purity and promises a future life.
   3. Like Shamanism, Christianity taught that God answers prayer and performed miracles.

Positive Results of the Korean Revival

1. It preserved the purity of Korean Christianity. Christianity had been introduced to Korea at the end of the nineteenth century.  Two decades later, large numbers of these believers felt that they had experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit and thus began to understand what Christianity meant in their daily living.  The revival brought them a great renewal in their thoughts, style of life, and behavior.
2. The Great Revival raised the ethical standards of Korean Christians to a notable degree. Christians proved themselves by the changes in their lives, which resulted from this in pouring of the Holy Spirit.
3. The Great Revival brought about an explosive growth to the Korean church.
   • The Presbyterian churches achieved 34% of growth, going from 54,987 members in 1906 to 73,844 (inn 1907)
   • Methodist churches achieved more rapid growth.  The Northern Methodist churches achieved a 118% growth, from 18,107 (1906) to 39,613 (1907)
4. It formed new unique traditions in the Korean church such as early morning prayer meetings, unison prayer in a loud voice, bible studies, generous offerings, and zeal for evangelism. The dedication of the Korean Christians for the work of Christ was so genuine that the missionaries envied it.
5. It strengthened the unification of the churches. This Holy Spirit movement was a product of a united spirit.  Individuals that were seeking the gift of the Holy Spirit went beyond denominational lines.
6. The Great Revival had a great influence on the Korean church.  It provided spiritual strength and wisdom for the Korean Christians.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Korean Christians could endure severe persecutions during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945).

Evan Roberts, while reflecting on the problems of The Welsh Revival of 1904, once wrote, “The mistake was to become occupied with the effects of the revival and not to watch and pray in protecting the cause of the revival.” The lasting success of the next move of God may very well depend upon our willingness to receive this WARNING! There are many today who are foolishly pursuing the effects of revival at the expense of neglecting the conditions of revival. No harvest is ever any greater than the seeds and soil in which it was planted. To neglect the seeds of revival is to ultimately plague the fruit of revival.

Frank Bartleman’s, an intercessor who participated in the Azusa Street revival of 1906 wrote, “Revival is a miraculous work of God, BUT true revival never comes apart from the preparation and the participation of a remnant of God’s people.”

Oh, how the Church needs to rediscover the unchanging principles of revival.  It is time for a new wave of young pioneers to rise up and cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s revival process.  It is time for us to break up our fallow ground and once again nurture the fruitful seeds of revival.

Bratleman’s writings are a prophetic reminder that there are distinct seasons of revival that require our preparation and cooperation.  Revivals don’t just mysteriously happen, they are born through a cooperative effort between the Church and the Holy Spirit. 1)  The Holy Spirit begins this process by filling us with a holy discontentment over our own impotence and spiritual barrenness.  2)  Next, in response to our hunger, He imparts a divine seed vision for revival deep within us.  3)  God then requires us to become broken and willing to cooperate with this vision in an ongoing process of faith, humility, repentance and prayer.

Truly, God is the only one who can open the womb of revival, yet no revival is ever born without much costly travail and cooperation by the Church. In the Kingdom of God there is no such thing as the luxury of a surrogate mother or a cesarean. We must become willing to be painfully stretched and disfigured, as we carry and nurture the growing sparks of revival within us. Sleepless nights, a change of appetite and unusual pains are all part of carrying a developing child.

Are you willing for your life to be radically changed and inconvenienced in your pursuit of revival?

God longs for a helpmeet, a co-laborer, a bride through which He can father a revival of His presence. In God’s love and wisdom He has sovereignly chosen to use frail human beings in this birthing process.

Therefore it is possible for us to hinder or even completely abort the work of revival within us. Let us BEWARE lest we quench or miscarry the work of the Holy Spirit through our own unbelief and neglect.

Like the young virgin Mary, it’s time for us to totally yield to the Father’s desire, saying ” Let it be done unto me according to your word.” Luke 1:38.

The opportunity of Revival stands before us today…..

I believe the opportunity for a lasting revival stands before us today. We need to recognize the time of our visitation. The Holy Spirit is imparting the vision for revival within many hearts.

This is no time to be experimenting with untested church growth theories, borrowed from books.

Clever human schemes will never substitute for a lack of true heart preparation and travailing prayer. By neglecting these, I fear many are needlessly squandering away their last opportunity for true revival.

“Opportunity once passed, said Frank Bartleman, is lost forever. There is a time when the tide is sweeping by our door. We may plunge in and be carried to glorious success and blessing and victory. To stand on the bank shivering from timidity, or paralyzed by stupor at such a time is to miss all, and most miserably and eternally fail. Oh, our responsibility!

The mighty tide of God’s grace and favor even now is sweeping by us, in its prayer directed course.” Opportunity is pounding at our door. The Father is searching for a people who will yield to His revival birthing process. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and from throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is LOYAL to Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

In early 1905 Frank Bartleman wrote, “I received from God the following keynote to revival: The depth of a revival will be determined exactly by the depth of the spirit of repentance…” He continues, “A body must be prepared, in repentance and humility for every outpouring of the Spirit.”

This is one of God’s great unchanging laws of true revival. It applies to all people and for all times. We cannot afford to ignore these clear warnings from our spiritual forefathers any longer. There will be no glorious, end-time harvest until God finds a people who will embrace and nurture the fruitful seeds of revival; FAITH, HUMILITY, REPENTANCE and PRAYER.

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