As was to be expected, the first to feel the fire of revival were the
Welsh-speaking colonies in America and elsewhere. In far-off India, the
fire swept through the Welsh mission fields. All of Britain, as well as
the Continent, began to be invaded for Christ by scores of evangelists,
pastors, Bible teachers, and even laymen who had either been converted
or had "caught the fire" in Wales during the revival. I, myself, have
labored with some of these blessed men of God and know that even to
this day the work still stands. One preacher, for example, whose life
was revolutionized, took the revival fire to a Scandinavian country,
where today there are at least 100 churches flourishing as a direct
outcome of his ministry. Rev. and Mrs. Rees Howells are examples of
evangelists who took the fire of God to the mission field. They saw God
work in an amazing way in South Africa and returned later to found the
Bible College of South Wales in Swansea from which missionaries would
go to the ends of the earth.
If it be asked why the fire of God fell on Wales, the answer is simple: fire falls where it's likely to catch and spread. As one has said, "Wales
provided the necessary tinder." Here were thousands of believers
unknown to each other, in small towns and villages and great cities,
crying to God day after day for the fire of God to fall. This wasn't
merely a "little talk with Jesus," but daily agonizing intercession.
They had also placed the wood upon the altar and fully surrendered to
the claims of their Redeemer. They had a holy jealousy for the name of
their God and wept sorely because of the fact that Satan was being
glorified all around them. They constantly reminded God of what He had
done in the past - in 1859. "Oh, Lord, Thou are the same," they cried,
"and Thou canst do it again - even in this industrious, luxurious age."
It's always difficult to define that which is vital. It's easier to
define a corpse than to define a baby. "There's a relative finality
about a corpse, but there's an immeasurable potentiality about a baby."
It's not easy to define the true spiritual condition of the Lord's
people in every part of the world. There are many encouraging signs;
yet no leader would disagree with me when I say that we're not living
the robust, radiant, powerful life of dynamic Christianity.
The clarion call comes to us from Isaiah's prophesy: "Awake, awake; put
on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem,
the holy city:…shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O
Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter
of Zion." The Church is like a great giant sleeping. She is like Jonah
asleep in the storm. She is like the disciples asleep in Gethsemene.
