Celebrate Pentecost with New Commitment Based on an Old Revival

The slow work of sanctification is a lifelong process. Therefore, most of us get out of bed every morning confident that our “three score and ten” leaves us plenty of tomorrows. Does that sound like a valid license for procrastination to you?

With Pentecost Sunday approaching us on the church calendar, I’m thinking about its swift route to sanctification alongside other historical revivals. The 1904 Welsh Revival famously swept through the country, resulting in changed lives and a national commitment to holiness. It’s said that the police were left with nothing to do, and the colliers’ horses, accustomed to profanity and violent treatment in the coal mines, stood confused by new and gentle handling.

Suddenly, the citizens of Wales were being good AND doing good. Jesus is always more concerned with right motives than right actions, but a right representation of our Savior requires both. Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly.  Our doing flows from our being. That’s the gospel’s take on sanctification!

Do we need Acts 2 “tongues of fire” to land on our heads today to shake us in our commitment to Christ?

If we learn anything from the Acts 2 account of Pentecost, it’s this: When the Spirit shows up, things happen.

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Four Admonitions for Spiritual Revival

Evan Roberts was a key figure in the Welsh Revival. Far from a polished preacher, he worked in the coal mines from the age of twelve, but in the wake of the Spirit’s movement, he exhorted the crowds of the revived with four admonitions:

1. Confess any known sin

This resonates with the overwhelming response to Peter’s Acts 2 Pentecost sermon:

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…”

Rather than excusing our sinfulness as minor in comparison to the prevailing culture, what would happen if we mourned over our sin? Jen Wilkin has wisely written, “You’ll never forsake a sin you haven’t come to hate.”

2. Remove anything doubtful in your life

It’s the word doubtful that has stopped me in my tracks. Rounding the corner into my sixties with the diagnosis of a debilitating neurological disease hanging over me, do I want to gamble with the currency of years? If I choose selfishness today (a small and private sin, for sure), how long do I really have to clean up the mess?

And while we’re on the topic of uncertainty, how many years can any of us actually bank on?
What story do you want to be able to tell when all is said and done?

3. Obey the Holy Spirit instantly

Being a cautious woman who will fly under the radar, given the choice, this sounds risky and potentially embarrassing. So let’s begin with a small thing like obeying an irresistible prompting to deliver Valentine’s Day cookies to a recent widow who lives down the road. When I transported three rowdy grandchildren and their frosted works of art to my friend’s house, I had no idea that Valentine’s Day was super-significant in her family.

A blast of chaos and concern was just the medicine she needed in that moment, but I couldn’t have known that. The idea that “comes to mind” just might be the Spirit’s prompting, but you won’t know the truth (or the blessing) unless you follow through on it.

4. Confess Christ openly before the world

Even with the help of the internet, few of us will ever have the platform Peter had on the day of Pentecost. He addressed “devout men from every nation under heaven… Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians…” (Acts 2:5, 9).

When this melting pot of a crowd realized that they were hearing Peter’s Galilean words in their own native language, they were “amazed and astonished.” Wouldn’t it be fun to feel “amazed and astonished” at something that was clearly a work of the Spirit of God?

In whatever sphere of influence God has placed you, make sure he’s your main message. I need to do this better with my almost-eight grandchildren, in my church family, and here on this country hill.

If we learn anything from the Acts 2 account of Pentecost, it’s this: When the Spirit shows up, things happen.

In whatever sphere of influence God has placed you, make sure he’s your main message.

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A Singing Revival

In addition to their heightened availability to the Spirit and their resolve to stop trifling with sin, the revived became a singing people. One of the many hymns of the Welsh Revival was “O For a Thousand Tongues,” so I’ll share a link to it here to get us started on the celebration.

As you celebrate, however you celebrate, keep these questions in mind:

Where is God the Holy Spirit already at work in your church, in your family, or in your community?

How can you cooperate with him in putting the power of God on display in a fractured world that needs restoration, understanding, and a reversal of the curse of Babel?

Holding You in the Light,

P.S. If you’re looking for a fun resource to explain Pentecost to your kids, check out my review of Esau McCaulley’s book.

Will your celebration of Pentecost put the power of God on display in a fractured world that needs restoration, understanding, and a reversal of the curse of Babel?

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Photo by Sharath on Unsplash