During the great spiritual revivals in Wales between 1859 and 1905, the preaching during those momentous times was extraordinary. There was something very special and indefinable about those men who declared God's word to the gatherings of thousands of people. There was a clothing-on of the power of God that was both seen and felt, not just in church and chapel, but out in the streets, down in the coal mines, and throughout the whole principality.
They spoke about a strange phenomena that overtook the preacher as he delivered his message from heaven. It was as though he got caught up in the Spirit of God, and his words poured forth as a torrent of water, even as a scorching flame at times, and nobody could escape the sense of holiness and the presence of God in the house. It rendered strong men and women to tears, crying out for God to be merciful to them and forgive their sin. To others, it caused songs of worship and praise to flow unembarrassedly and spontaneously, breaking out even in the middle of the meeting.
The preacher,
deeply moved, seemed to flow with words directly from the throne of God
himself.
They would say that he had the 'hwyl' (pronounced 'hhoowul'). Here is the real meaning of this old Welsh word. It described the moment that the preacher opened his sails to the wind, and the wind filled those sails and carried him across the waves, driving his message into the hearts of every soul in the building, whether they were notorious sinners, sad backsliders, or those who imagined themselves as good.
Whoever they may have been, they soon came to feel
their desperate need of Christ. The wind of the Spirit carried the words of the
preacher into the very heart and conscience of every soul gathered there.
People were struck
down by convicting power as though sharp arrows had penetrated their guilty
souls and brought them to their knees. Others would melt under the weight of
the closeness of a divine presence they had never felt or experienced
before.
It seemed that as the preacher opened himself to God, his spirit, like a sail, would catch the wind of the Holy Spirit. He was taken up into the glory of God and his tongue became the pen of God, writing the awesome words of the Creator over the packed pews filled with desperate or inquisitive hearts.
Like a ship in full sail, driven by an invisible force, the word powered through every wave of rebellion, every high and mighty look, every height and depth of sin that imprisoned the souls of men and women, and even children, in its vice-like grip.
What followed was
not about eloquence or clever sermons, but power from on high taking possession
of the preacher's heart and mind. This was the moving and sovereign work of God
through his servants: men who knew God in a way that is rare to find in our
twenty-first century plastic veneer of 'knowing God'.
Nowadays, the
platforms and pulpits are filled with entertainers and music groups, comedian
preachers and those who hold a religious office but know nothing of the
'Immortal and Invisible One' who can melt the hardest heart. That is why the
church is worldly, unsanctified, powerless, and unable to turn a chair over,
let alone turn the world upside down. It has lost its way and lost the divine
presence that brings a man to his knees, and lifts the fallen to highest
heaven.
These days we
simply 'do church', get everyone excited, sing some ditties, listen to a
sermon; but when did God last visit? There is not enough time and space in
the programme for him to speak and have his way. The preachers and congregation
must hurry home to watch their football, wash the car, or go on a shopping
spree.
Unless a generation
of renewed or new preachers and pastors arise from the spiritual cemetery of
this lost age, there is no hope for the church or the community in which it
resides to ever see revival or restoration.
Such preachers are
those who know what it means to wait on God, to abide in his word, and to walk
with him as the habit of their lives. We need preachers and evangelists who
take time to stand in the counsel of God, to hear his voice, and then walk out
into the pulpit, with God, to deliver a life-transforming word from the throne
room.
Away with all the cheap jokes and laughter, the dry sermons that could not wet a teabag, the intellectual essays and messages borrowed from the internet.
We are in the
business of life and death every time we stand to preach. We are engaged in
eternal matters where precious souls will either find salvation, or continue on
their way to hell because the preacher has no passion, no conviction, and
possibly even no true belief in what the Bible actually says.
I hear many preachers say that God said this, and God said that: but when did they really ever hear from God? They may have dreamed many a dream, they may think themselves prophets and apostles.
However, if there is no power, if there is no
evidence, if there is no conviction of sin and repentance on the part of his
hearers, then he has nothing. He is but a clanging gong and crashing cymbal - a
lot of puff and noise, but no holiness of heart and no anointing from on high.
In these most
serious and fearful times, when people everywhere are looking for an answer to the distress
and desperation of a world in upheaval, only truth will prevail; and such truth
will be measured by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and the evidence of a
risen Saviour accompanying the preacher onto the platform.
We need men again
who have the 'Hwyl'.
In my next paper I
shall seek to share my heart and thoughts on how to prepare for a move of God.
God is willing to show himself mighty in the behalf of him whose heart is perfect
towards him. He can turn our wilderness into springing streams of blessing, our
desert into a fertile and fruitful harvest.
It is not so much
about us waiting for him to move, as it is about him waiting for us to obey.
May God help us.
