July 18, 2010
The renewal of the Moravian Church can stir our hearts to pray, "Renew our days as of old." No matter whether one is sympathetic toward the idea of revivals or not, if he wants to study the question thoroughly, he cannot afford to overlook the history and teachings of the Moravians. Theirs has been from the beginning a great Revival Church, and its service to the general cause of Christianity, and to foreign missions in particular, is deserving of wide recognition. The story of the Moravians spiritual development and its influence, is one of the most inspiring in the annals of Christianity.
The first great experience which gave the Moravians such spiritual power was a personal experience of salvation. The second great experience which gave them such spiritual power and leadership was the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Dr. J. Kenneth Pfohl, a Moravian pastor, wrote in The Moravian in 1927: The great Moravian Pentecost was not a shower of blessing out of a cloudless sky. It did come suddenly, as suddenly as the blessing of its great predecessor in Jerusalem, when the Christian Church was born. Yet, for long there had been signs of abundance of rain, though many recognized them not. In short, the blessing of August 13, 1727, was diligently and earnestly prepared for. There are no annals of Church history which evidence greater desire for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and more patient and persistent effort in that direction than those of our own Church between the years 1725 and 1727. Two distinct lines of preparation and spiritual effort for the blessing are evident. One was prayer; the other was individual work with individuals. We are told that "men and Women met for prayer and praise at one another's homes. Then the Spirit came in great power. Then the entire company experienced the blessing at once and the same time.
In another article in The Moravian, Dr. E. S. Hagen declared: The great revival in 1727 in Herrnhut was the normal and logical result of prayer and the preaching of the Word of the Cross. Lecky in his History of Morals says of John Wesley's conversion May 24, 1738, in the prayer meeting of Moravian Brethren in Aldersgate Street: "What happened in that little room was of more importance to England than all the victories of Pitt by land or sea." A renewal of our days as of old involves a return to fervent prayer and to the earnest and effectual preaching of the remission of sins through the vicarious sacrifice and the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Revival time is coming. We cherish a high expectancy of it. Sooner than we dream of, to God's people, who give themselves to earnest, persevering prayer, and the Scriptural testimony concerning the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the windows of Heaven will be opened.
The day of revivals is not past. The Holy Spirit still waits to fill believers with power from on high.
