The explosion of spiritual life we call the Welsh Revival in 1904, in which 100,000 people came to Christ in 9 months in a very small area and then went round the world, can be explained in many ways. Most foundationally, it was the gracious, sovereignty of God. But, it was also a people who had been praying and were ready to cooperate with Him.
When Evan Roberts came preaching the 4 Tenants that became the message of that revival, each was critical and each was obeyed. These were:
We tend to focus on the first three of these to the exclusion of the one point that caused the greatest exponential growth: “Confess Christ publicly.”
What Roberts was saying, and what every Welshman understood, was that, if we will obey the Spirit, we will be led to WITNESS TO EVERYONE, PUBLICLY, ALL THE TIME.
OUR GREATEST EMBARRASSMENT
Every true believer is concerned that he or she does not share their faith more. We feel embarrassed when we think of the good news we alone have, our lack of passion for people away from Christ, and the abundance of fear we have when it comes to witnessing to others about Him.
And we should. Life is brief and nothing is more important. And the gospel works! Shared simply, in the power of the Holy Spirit, it brings life-changing good news to people desperate to hear.
Is there a simple remedy for this? Once again, the Bible shows us—in real time—a very clear (but disturbing) answer.
Then Peter, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, said to them ...""by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead ... by this name this man stands here before you in good health. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."" (Act 4:8-12)
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT and began to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)
It seems that the automatic fruit of being filled or controlled by the Spirit of God is a boldness to proclaim the gospel. No fear and no reservations.
It would follow that the reason we are NOT witnessing is that we are NOT filled with God.
I could expound upon this, but read that last sentence and then take time to deal with this reality in your own life. Let it sink in: “If I am not sharing Christ, it is because I am not filled with the Holy Spirit.” Period.
I wish this blog was longer with a more elaborate explanation for our failure. But nothing could be clearer. We should be excited that the answer is so simple. And we should instantly, daily, hourly seek the continual filling of the Holy Spirit and the “confessing of Christ publicly” that it brings.
