In this sermon transcript, the speaker recounts the story of a man named Evan who embarked on a journey to spread his faith without any resources or support. Despite the challenges, Evan boldly shared his beliefs with people he encountered, warning them of the impending judgment. Upon returning home, Evan miraculously predicted that his brother, who had been told he would lose his eyesight, would regain it because the Lord had a purpose for him. The speaker also describes Evan's deep spiritual experiences, where he would wake up in the early hours of the morning to commune intimately with God. This transcript highlights Evan's lifelong passion for revival and his dedication to sharing the word of God with others.

Thank you very much for the warm welcome tonight and say how pleased I am to be here. We've travelled a good distance today because we had to go to Kent the first thing this morning in Canterbury to look at the cathedral to see if it was still in good repair and order. That's not really true but we had to go to Canterbury and from Canterbury we've crossed country and we've come here and that's why really we had to have something to eat before we came in tonight so that's why we were just a few minutes late but I was listening to you singing that wonderful Welsh tune and hymn that you sang at the beginning and that stirred my heart and indeed may God himself stir our hearts tonight as we consider this very important subject. I want to begin with a verse of scripture so please turn with me to Psalm 85. Psalm 85 as most of you as Bible believing Christians will know is a psalm all about revival and my how wonderful this psalm really is it tells us about our land and it tells us about the blessing that we need as we've remembered in prayer tonight reformation and revival. For time's sake because I'm sure that you know this psalm I just want to read two verses first of all or three verses sorry verse 4 Turn us O God of our salvation and cause thine anger toward us to cease that's what we need today and then in verse 6 Wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee that's what we need to pray to the Lord today and then in verse 11 truth shall spring out of the earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven that's a description of true revival when truth springs out of the earth and righteousness rains down from heaven upon us let me begin by saying that the only reason I have a claim of speaking about the revival is that I was born in Wales I didn't stay there very long because 10 months old I was taken from Wales my father was a miner a Welsh coal miner he had contracted silicosis of the lungs and he didn't want his two boys to have to go down the mines and so we believe of course in the purposes of God he moved away but we often went back to Wales because my family or their family was there my grandfathers and grandmothers and I was evacuated there in the war as well as a school boy and I remember being there trying to sing Welsh I didn't understand it but I mimed the words and they thought I was a good singer but I must confess I did not sing the words my mother and father were children in the time of the Welsh revival and they were touched by the Welsh revival and the fire of that revival never left them especially my mother so that even though she died when she was 80 odd yet even then you could tell that God's hand had been upon her in some measure and in some while and so of course I heard a great deal about what had happened in those days and my uncles on my father's side were all preachers and they were preachers in the time of the Welsh revival and of course all my ministerial life I've had an interest in revival and I can't remember a time when I haven't been reading a book about revival because I believe that I need to stir up my heart to seek the Lord continually that he would rain down that righteousness upon us now the title tonight really is concerning the Welsh revival and we have to ask a question was it wrought of God or was it worked up by man now many people have answered that question on both sides of that argument and I have to say to you tonight that I conclude that it really was wrought of God let me if I can begin by asking you to try to imagine that every church here was filled to overflowing with people eager to meet God not just on Sundays but every evening of the week and services lasting into the early hours of the morning imagine people publicly making up with each other who had not spoken to each other for years and confessing their sins against each other others were anxious to pay outstanding debts or returning goods or books borrowed some years previously the workmen who were mainly miners in coal or in the tin mines singing hymns in the streets as they went to their work and meeting every morning early for prayer before the work day started and even using their break times for bible study and prayer imagine that the police, the judges and the courts in many areas were made redundant because there was no crime committed at all even in the streets or the houses no curse or swear word could ever be heard the public houses were abandoned and the playhouses turned into places of prayer now all this is hard to imagine in this day in which we live but it's even harder to conceive that over 100,000 people were gloriously converted during a two year period of the revival and there was a 20% increase in all of the churches in Wales and remember this that Wales has always been a place of religion and song so it was a religious atmosphere in those days and of course we say imagine that's exactly what happened 100 years ago in the little principality of Wales and it's really in November 100 years ago and so it's very relevant that we have this meeting tonight now I've already said that Wales has always been known as the land of revivals and songs and up to 100 years ago that was true Evans the Welsh historian reckons that from 1730 some locality or other has been the scene of revival in fact he estimates that there has been at least 20 movings of the spirit of God upon the nation some of the great religious men of Wales have been associated with revival the first that we remember with great affection was Daniel Rowlands he was actually called the crack clergyman that's what he was called in his day but one day they had the communion service and as he began the communion service he said the words from the prayer book by thine agony and by thy bloody sweat by thy cross and passion and precious death and burial by thy glorious resurrection and ascension by the coming of the Holy Ghost and the congregation were overwhelmed the spirit of God had come upon them and multitudes were swept into the kingdom we often sing don't we William Williams hymns which are so very very lovely in 1762 he issued his hymn book it was in Welsh of course but the title was quite a strange one it was called the songs of those who stand on the sea of glass imagine if you saw that as the title and you had to give it out as the title every time he said which hymn book you are singing when he gave this hymn book out and people got this hymn book revival broke out as they started to sing the songs of Zion Howell Harris was known as the great exhorter he would preach in the streets and anywhere he went even on the gravestone he would stand and preach to the crowds and the multitudes as they came out of church John Wesley went there and was greatly blessed George Whitfield even more so in 1791 Thomas Charles from Barlow who had much to do with the Welsh Bible he was a man who saw revival Christmas Evans the one eyed preacher from Wales and then in 1859 we remember the great revival that took place in Wales Humphrey Jones who was a Welshman who now lived in America saw some of the great blessing that was taking place in that great country and longed that his own people there in Wales should know something of that great blessing he crossed the ocean he got to Wales he printed hand bills and large bills and he put them all over the various towns prayer meetings for revival and people saw this as they had never seen before they came to the meetings they heard the preaching of the word were gloriously converted God came down Humphrey Jones was only able to preach or to take part in services for three months his health could not stand any more than just that and so after him there arose David Morgan and he was the great instrument that was used of God at that particular time the old Welsh divines described revival as God visiting his garden I love that phrase in the strictest sense it seems to me that revival is a visitation of God to his church in power and in majesty remember the words that Isaiah prayed Oh that thou wouldst rend the heavens that thou wouldst come down that the mountains might flow down at thy presence what a prayer to pray now some may counter this by declaring that we have the presence of God with us and of course that is true however I believe that we must distinguish between his presence and his power the gospel story of Christ in the boat on Lake Gennesaret with his disciples seems to me to illustrate this Christ was asleep in the back of the ship as they crossed to the other side when a storm erupted round about them which caused these hardened fishermen to fear for their lives and it is only when the disciples cry unto the Lord to intervene that he manifests his power still in the storm and bringing the boat to the shore his presence was there but what they needed was his power the Lord said to Gideon the Lord is with thee thou mighty man of valor and Gideon replies if the Lord be with us why then has all this befallen us where be all the miracles which our fathers told us of of course that really summarizes it doesn't it the Lord was with them in his covenanted promise that they needed his power in the midst of them and so you see revival is the manifestation of God's power the 1904 Welsh revival was a revival of power Paul to the Thessalonians our gospel came not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance remember those words to the Corinthians that he speaks of others describing his ministry Paul says his speech and preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power Christians we need the power in our churches in our lives and upon this land let me first of all speak to you about the origins of the Welsh revival it seems to me always difficult to trace the human source of a revival all true revivals originate in the sovereign purposes of God we can't work up a revival this revival must come down in the sovereign purposes of God however I think it's also helpful and interesting for us to try and trace its beginnings as far as the people of God are concerned the Baptists were sure that the revival came about because of the newly introduced Christian endeavour where young people were taught how to take part in the meetings the Welsh Presbyterians were convinced it started because of their forward movement reaching to all parts of Wales F.B. Meyer the great preacher of his day called the revival the spiritual child of Keswick which had recently taken hold in Wales Jesse Penn Lewis who played a part in the revival ascribed the revival to the worldwide chains of prayer in 1902 and 1903 at Keswick there were prayer circles that were formed all around the world and these prayer circles were formed so that they would pray daily individuals would pray daily for revival but you know there's no real traceable historical source of the Welsh revival but as Bryn Mawr Jones points out in his book Voices from the Welsh Revival the earliest signs were not from a church or a movement but in the secret experience of men whom the Lord had laid his hand upon in 1904 there was a pamphlet that was issued and it was just simply called A Call to Revival to the Churches in 1903 another pamphlet was issued to Christians in Wales and this pamphlet was called Back to Pentecost my study of revival convinces me that although the focal point seems to have been lacquer there were movements of the spirit right the way throughout Wales in 1901 a minister had a revelation of the glory of God and like Isaiah he said woe is me for I am a man undone he went to the quiet banks of a Welsh river and he spent hours in prayer pleading with God with many tears that he would come forth in power and work in the land in West Wales three women met together for prayer for several years pleading for revival amongst the women of their town in the Rhondda Valley where I was born some met for years pleading for God to send a worldwide revival and the Holy Spirit said to them three days before it came that they must get thee up for the sound of abundance of rain there is a sound of abundance of rain in 1903 in the district of Glamorganshire three men held a prayer meeting on a mountain top they were all 18 years of age and they held it every day for a month pleading with God to revive their church which was cold and formal and there was no convents at a church in Carmarthenshire a pastor was moved to start a young people's meeting after the morning service in January 1904 when he gathered the young people together he asked for testimonies and there were very few who would take up the opportunity to give any testimony at all finally, a young girl very nervous tears rolling down her cheeks grasping her hands in front of her with deep feelings said just these words Oh, I love Jesus Christ with all my heart the spirit fell and there was a manifestation so that it was reckoned that over a thousand were saved in that particular church in the Slendidnod convention which was in 1904 there was a real move of the spirit of God and in the closing morning service while heads were bowed they sang again the last verse of a well-known hymn that you know and they sang crown him Lord of all and they sang it 17 times they couldn't stop singing it John Pugh began in 1872 by going out into the streets outside his tin tabernacle in Tredegar his congregation met at the town clock on a Sunday night taking the gospel to the unchurched some criticised him for lowering the tone of the denomination others recognised that this was of God and called him another Harold Harris Pugh saw a dramatic movement as he planted churches in Tredegar, in Pontypridd and in Cardiff he speaks of 14 years of revival blessing before 1904 he was joined in Cardiff by Seth Joshua who'd spent years in preaching to crowds especially in Neath Joshua would go to an area and pitch his tent he would preach the gospel and many permanent halls were erected and churches formed for the converts of those missions but Seth Joshua knew what he was seeing was only mercy drops Wales needed the showers of blessing that God alone could give for four years he prayed that the Lord would take a lad from a rough background like his own the coal mine or the field as he took Elisha from the plough to revive his work in Wales his son tells us one day he played truant from school and he was in Sophina Gardens in Cardiff when he spotted his father walking in the park he quickly hid in the bushes and as his father passed he saw him crying and praying please God give me Wales God did not give him Wales but he used him in his mission meetings to set ablaze Evan Roberts who was the instrument for the 1904 revival there were many all over Wales who had a burden for revival and met together at this time for earnest prayer early in 1904 under Joseph Jenkins a Calvinistic Methodist preacher in Newquay West Wales a number of young people had entered into the revival experience in September he recorded these words the revival is breaking out here in greater power the spirit of prayer and testimony is falling in a marvelous manner the next day the revival goes on I cannot leave the building until twelve or even one o'clock in the morning I have closed the service several times and yet it would break out again quite beyond the power of human control on the 29th of September the young people from Newquay together with Joseph Jenkins and Seth Joshua and Evan Roberts who was 26 at this time attended a two day conference at Blaenau Nanach in the morning session God met with Roberts in a remarkable way Guyrent Fielder says on that day the revival streams which had begun to flow in several parts of Wales both north and south burst their banks and became a flood of blessings not only for the nation but out into many parts of the world let me now consider with you a little while concerning the instrument of revival history shows that it was Evan Roberts whom God raised up to be the human leader of the Welsh revival but this did not happen suddenly in a moment of time for years he had been obsessed with the need for revival when he was 12 years old his father Henry suffered a serious leg injury and Evan was forced to leave school and to work in the colliery pits to help his father maintain the pumps he always took his bible with him and when later he worked as a door boy at the entrance of the pit he would offer each entering minor a text for the day and later would ask them what truth did you find in the text the colliers learnt to respect young Evan as a good worker one who would not listen to their vulgar jokes nor use their kind of language or get excited about the popular sports and amusements of the day when he was 16 it was about that time one of the elders in his church the Maria Calvinistic Methodist church Lacher said a remark which left an indelible impression on him the elder exalted the people to be at the means of grace more regularly he reminded them that Thomas was absent from the upper room and had missed the vital moment when the Lord came and breathed his spirit into the others at once Evan Roberts vowed that he would never be absent from the meetings years later he told of the effect the elders remark had had on him and that through all weathers and in spite of difficulties he attended the meetings he says of that time I resolved that I would have the spirit for 10 or 11 years I prayed for revival I would sit up all night to read or talk about revival it was the spirit that moved me to think about revival Evan Roberts was a very industrious boy he learnt to play the violin the mandolin and the harmonium he spent hours memorizing key passages of the scripture pouring over commentaries and crudence concordance when he was 17 he was given the task to oversee the construction of a school room for the workman's children they also used this hall called Pisgah which is now a free Presbyterian church in Locha as a sanctuary and this hall was greatly used at the time of the revival Evan Roberts had no inclination to enter the ministry although many felt he had the talents for the pulpit he did everything to avoid the ministry including becoming an apprentice to a blacksmith to make enough money to go to America and then to come back and retire in Wales but the hand of God was upon him and finally he decided to prepare for the entrance examinations necessary in the spring of 1904 he had remarkable experiences of the presence of God he testified that he never felt God so near and that his presence filled him with some sense of divine awe throughout the spring and the summer his normal sleeping pattern changed about one o'clock in the morning when he had been sleeping for just a few hours he would awake to the most intimate communion with God and this would continue until about 5am he said it was indescribable he wrote these words I was troubled in my soul by thinking of the failure of Christianity such a failure I prayed and prayed but nothing seemed to give me any relief one night I was awakened out of my sleep and found myself with unspeakable joy and awe in the very presence of almighty God for the space of four hours I was privileged to speak with him as man speaks with his friend I saw things in a different light I knew God was going to work in the land in September 1904 he began his training and felt it necessary to only spend half an hour in this special communion but after one week he gave up his books to return to his special fellowship with God the head of the school, John Phillips was very concerned about his new student and consulted his father the reverend Evan Phillips who had been greatly used in the 1859 revival what should he do? saintly Evan Phillips simply advised leave him alone God is dealing with that young man from this time onward his studies took a secondary place and the only book he read was the Bible he attended every convention for the deepening of spiritual life that he could to friends he confided I have only to wait for the fire I have built the altar and laid the wood in order and prepared the offering I have only to wait for the fire he travelled to Blinenanach with students and with Seth Joshua the first service was 7am a prayer meeting when Mr Joshua prayed for bending of the next service Evan sat apart from his friends and people saw he was distressed MP Morgan the minister was annoyed when he heard a disturbance and saw this young man making an exhibition of himself others dismissed him as being a neurotic type but this was soul trouble he had reached a crisis point and was responding to Seth Joshua's words to bend us to bend us other people they were also weeping and trembling Thursday morning was as Graham Harris describes it the climatics meeting Evan Roberts records it in these words after many had prayed I felt some living energy of force entering my bosom it held my breath, my legs trembled terribly the divine energy increased as one after another prayed until I nearly burst when someone finished I prayed, my bosom boiled all through, had I not prayed I would have burst, what boiled in me the verse for God commendeth his love it was awful, on me for about two minutes, I cried bend me, bend me, bend me oh, oh, oh it was God commending his love that bent me what came to my mind was the bending before and in the day of judgment, the salvation of souls weighed heavily upon me, I felt on fire for going through the whole of Wales to tell people about the Saviour and had such a thing been possible, I was willing to pay God for that on that day when God met with Evan Roberts, the revival streams which had begun to flow in North and South Wales burst their banks and became a flood of blessing, not only to Wales but many parts of the world let me speak to you about the revival meetings October was taken up with mission meetings in various parts Newcastle, Emlyn a church leader said Evan Roberts was acting like a particle of radium or like a consuming fire which took away sleep, cleared the channels of tears and sped the wheels of prayer throughout the whole district many bands of people young people were visiting villages and rural areas, in their words to make the churches alive Evan Roberts, Sidney Evans, his close friend and some young ladies started to plan a mission, they were prepared to give time, money and talent for the work but Evan warned them we can do nothing without the Holy Spirit their first meetings were held in Blynynanych and also near Newquay and were very successful they thought nothing of walking 12 miles to Newcastle Emlyn after the meetings in a rainstorm which they hardly noticed their landladies were the worried ones because they stayed up half the night praising the Lord there were plenty of people to attack them as there is today some thought it improper and scandalous that young men and women going out into the village in the day returned together long after midnight Evan Roberts was attacked personally being called a lunatic at worst, and eccentric at the best he just laughed at all these things in the last day of October he had a burning desire to go back to his home Loughar, taking with him a mission team he spent much time in prayer and fasting and it was at a meeting in Capel Drimdod that he rose suddenly and explained Jesus is not glorified here as he should because men are showing themselves too much he then began to pray in such a manner that it seemed to burn into the hearts of the congregation Mrs Davis started to sing hymns in honour of the Lord Jesus and the Thai congregation spent two hours weeping and praising the revival had begun Evan Roberts was sure that God told him to return to his home Loughar and so he left his studies completely to obey the call of God he was alone with no money or promise of wages, no sponsors no organisation, no publicity experts, no supporting group, he travelled by train and as he changed trains at Carmarthen he started his witness to surprised people as they stood on the platform he spoke of his faith and warned them perhaps we shall not meet again until we meet at the judgement he arrived home to the surprise of his family especially his brother Dan who recently had been told by a medical expert that there was no hope for his rapidly failing eyesight Evan looked at him and said Dan you shall have your sight the Lord himself hath need of you the clinical specialist confirmed that his eyes were healed Evan Roberts immediately talked to the officers of Mariah Chapel for permission to hold meetings he repeated his story how God had compelled him to come home to gather helpers who would obey the spirit to win Wales the minister the reverend Thomas Francis was totally convinced when he said at midday on Wednesday November the 2nd they hurried towards me someone who at first sight looked like Evan Roberts it was him but not the same he had been reserved even aloof an independent boy now he was a new man supple and flexible in every muscle and sinew and was thrilling with new life abundant and his face was like a June sun Evan Roberts wrote lots of letters at that time and he signed them at the bottom onward fire divine one by one the churches around that area agreed to hear this young man Mariah, Libanus, Pisgah Bethel, Brinteg these were small meetings but he was gathered around him a consecrated band he demanded 4 things of them 1. confess all known sin 2. avoid all doubtful things 3. confess the Lord Jesus Christ publicly 4. pledge full obedience to the Holy Spirit it seemed the great awakening of Locha and district began in the first and second week of November 1904 there were amazing scenes which drew the world's press to report what was happening in this little part of Wales banner headlines were given to the revival in an unprecedented manner in all of the papers, especially the paper that covered Wales and the south of England let me just if I can go through that special week, Sunday morning everyone was present and they were urged to pray send the spirit now for Jesus Christ's sake it was a chain prayer that went around the congregation and its effect was wonderful the prayer was repeated with this addition send the spirit now more powerfully for Jesus Christ's sake Sunday evening Evan Roberts says this I led in prayer and then from seat to seat I felt the place being filled, before the prayer had gone half way round the room I heard some brother weeping and sobbing, others began to break and lie and cry for mercy Monday evening was the prayer meeting night at Moriah there wasn't many there, there was 16 adults and one child many of them was his own family the service continued until 12 I wasn't satisfied with it and decided we must get the blessing even if it were necessary to stay till day break God answered their prayer in a wonderful way and the evidence was obvious in the high street people met each other asking how they felt and many replied they felt odd people seemed overjoyed, overwhelmed with joy, in many other parts the same feeling was experienced by a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, crowds were in the streets, outside of the churches during the day in the evening and they couldn't get a place in the churches JT Job again a preacher of that day said this, I felt the Holy Spirit like a deluge of light causing my whole being to tremble E Carey Evans another one who was a preacher of that day, I was baptized with streams of life giving cleansing transforming power for about a half an hour that made me feel clean and healthy and joyous to the very depths of my being R.B Jones who was greatly used in the revival came out of modernism and liberalism because of the revival and he testified God was everywhere it may be helpful to examine the actual meetings because they were spontaneous, they weren't arranged, nobody arranged them but all the churches were open for people to meet with God women would take their children to school and then rush to the meetings and stay there until they had to get their boys and girls and sometimes even bring their boys and girls into the meetings as well there was no obvious leader of the services but people took part as they were directed by the Holy Spirit at the beginning I've already indicated to you Evan Roberts taught the people to pray this simple prayer send the spirit now for Jesus sake and then send the spirit now more powerfully for Jesus sake and then send the spirit still more powerfully now for Jesus sake there was little preaching but when there was preaching it was in passioned oratory and some of the messages are recorded even to this day but people testified in great numbers people prayed sometimes two at the same time one in Welsh and one in English but even the reporters of the national newspapers wrote that there was no state of confusion at the meetings often those praying would be young boys and girls who were praying like spiritual giants there was a great deal of heartfelt singing by individuals singing solos and even when a message was being given and congregational singing people just wanted to sing all the time imagine a vast number of people inside and outside of the chapels of Wales sing with great emotion here is love vast as the ocean loving kindness as the flood when the prince of life our ransom shed for us his precious blood who his love will not remember who can cease his song to sing his praise he can never be forgotten through heavens everlasting days the hymn that you know is a wonderful hymn of course great God who is a pardoning God or who was great who has grace so great so rich and free that hymn was sung in the streets with tears upon everybody's eyes my father told me of miners coming through the streets and singing this hymn with all that they had wonderful voices and their black faces with marks where the tears were trickling down who is a pardon or who has grace so rich another feature of the meetings involved Evan Roberts and his special helpers Evan Roberts claimed to have special guidance concerning individuals in the service in other words he would he would feel that someone in there in the middle was being spoken to by God and needed special help and he would go to that individual and it seems almost every time it was true God had led him to that individual to deal with their souls and others would be challenged to confess Christ there and then there was so many used of God through in the revival in Lacher, in Dallas, in Aberdare, in Ebervale, in Rhonda in Porth, in Pontypridd, in Cardiff in Penarth, in Swansea, in the South and many parts in the North as well one town in the North that I know was a town called Rosgranigrugog a big name and people just call it Ross a little village at the very beginning of the mountains of North Wales R.B. Jones was taking a mission in the Penuel Chapel the news that came out from Ross was this people were rejoicing and it was bursting off the walls into the streets the revival spread rapidly and every church was affected Methodist, Congregational, Salvation Army Church of England or Church of Wales and the Baptists were caught up in this great wave of revival it was a revival of praise and thanksgiving in which people learned to enjoy God in the meetings very often the word would be exclaimed Glory! Glory! Glory! because that's what it was another word which would be used was Bendageddy Bendageddy that's a Welsh word which means just praises, praises Bendageddy again services ran without an order but there was no confusion Sundays chapels were full at 6am in the morning and people would remain all day for the miners every other Monday was a day off, it was called Playing Monday that changed to Praying Monday hundreds and thousands were saved in North Wales they gave up drinking they gave up smoking brought their tobacco pouches and pipes to the big seat for those of you who don't understand that in the chapels of Wales the pulpit would be high here and just before him the deacons would have a seat which was a semicircular seat just like a half moon and that's where the deacons would sit and so they would be sitting keeping an eye on the parsley you see but now it was used for much more than that people would bring the things that had hindered them in the past and just lay them down in front there someone said the terror of the lord has fallen upon the whole town pubs were forced to close a famous football team Ross Rangers which was very famous in their day, the club had to close for a while, there were no spectators and half the team had been converted that's it fighting was a popular sport in Ross a well known fighter William Price was gloriously converted and then many others of the fighters were converted people went to witness it and as soon as they approached in the train they testified they felt it there were no special meetings for boys and girls children of 6 and 8 took part in the services talking about Jesus the only place that Evan Roberts went outside of Wales at that time was in Liverpool to the Welsh population in Liverpool and God blessed his ministry there but that's perhaps another story but that's what happened all over Wales the presence of God came down in two months 70,000 people were recorded as being converted F.B. Meyer says worldwide perhaps there was 250,000 people saved, a 20% increase in the church's actual membership of that day. MPs had to put off their election meetings because no one came to listen to them they were all in church a special theatrical group that came from London and would come every year and go through the valleys and you know have their theatre in the various parts and people would always support that sort of thing especially in Wales they had to write back to their people in England and say all the world's praying and nobody ever came to them churches were full every day there was very little crying if any at all in those days there were pit ponies and the pit ponies of course were down there to pull the carts along and saw the trams and they would they would be used to do that but now the pit ponies had to be retrained before the only way you could get them work was to swear and to curse at them, but now these people have been converted to come into the pub free drink and as they would offer it outside they saw one man who was always in every night carrying a bible under his arm and they said come in you can have as much drink forever, all free for nothing and he said no, no he said that's what in your hand was taking me to hell and what I've got in my hand is taking me to heaven they were those who were not saved at the time of revival and they tried to leave and get out of Wales as soon as they possibly could one man who lived in Ross ran to the mountains and thought he wouldn't feel it there but there in the bracken and the trees God met with him and brought him to a knowledge of himself, numerous stories could be told of churches gathering together to study a portion of scripture and suddenly the spirit coming upon them and they all fell praying and praising one church was met in such a manner and before long out of just a few people the church was full, the rooms were full outside in the graveyard there were all people praying beside the tombstones and so many was there and there was 138 people converted during one week in that church in Bangor University a student was hurrying along and he was humming Aberystwyth, the tune Aberystwyth and suddenly there were students affected by that and they had to meet together and pray and ask God for mercy and revival came to Bangor University people came from all over England, Australia, New Zealand Canada, USA Scandinavia, India, Korea China even heard about it and all of these places were touched by the hand of God just by coming and witnessing the main revival only lasted 2 years I suppose to interpret that you couldn't stand the intensity of that for longer than that period of time but the effects of the revival went on for many many many years my mum and dad used to say 30 or 40 years there are mission halls today in Wales that testify to the fact of God's great goodness at that time there was much fruit in that revival Lindsay Glegg a man of course of yesterday now but he in his 90th birthday was interviewed and spoke of the great blessing that God had been to him personally in saving him in the Welsh revival in fact that revival supplied many of the leaders for the next 50 years our time has gone but let me if I can give you a challenge from this particular message tonight let us understand revival begins with a sovereign God he it is and of his grace alone that he can give it he burdens people to pray he chooses the instrument he alone can empower revival is not worked up but it comes down we should all be ready for his blessing confess our sins flee from our sins surrender our lives entirely to his will pray with a burden and ask and ye shall receive prayer is certainly the basis a local minister said the entire population has been transformed into a praying multitude it was described as a torrent of prayer where is that sort of prayer especially in our land do you know somehow this was a young people's revival they were young people who were used ministers to a great extent were sidelined because they were not ready themselves in fact one minister came to his church because he heard there was a meeting on in his church and when he got there he couldn't get in because the place was packed and all he could do was to look through the window and see what was happening my friend God uses young people and we who are older must recognize that and pray that God will raise up young people in our churches and that God will raise up young people in our nation remember some of the great men of the past Luther was 30 leading the reformation Jonathan Edwards was 25 when revival came to him Whitfield was 25 and greatly used of God look at Spurgeon preaching when he was 16 you see God can use young men of this age can't he if he takes them in his hand and uses them but let me give a warning because I'm sure this is right I could easily speak to you about the excesses of the Welsh revival God came down but soon afterwards the devil tried to disrupt it and bring in false ideas of the revival there are always counterfeits of the devil and strange things did happen at the conclusion of the Welsh revival and the devil will always be active Evan Roberts acknowledged this speaks honestly of souls being swept off their feet by evil supernatural powers of deception oh we've got to be careful we don't want something worked up of man we want something that is sent down of God today my friend Wales is a barren land Evan Roberts was burnt out he had four nervous breakdowns after nine months he was taken out of the front line of the battle he continued to serve God in the other part of his life in writing and mostly in prayer as he called it a warrior for the world but in Wales modernism came in and liberalism higher criticism crept in the various places of worship the churches today are empty because of that but still there are hundreds of little mission halls who are faithful to God from that particular time and they testify to the enduring influence of the 1904 I close tonight with just a little quote from Evan Roberts himself before the spirit can flow through you he must work in you but we've got to remember it before the spirit can flow through me he must work it and may God be pleased to fulfill the prayer of Evan Roberts bend the church and save the world may God bless you all