Revival is Like Judgment Day - Part 1 — J. Edwin Orr

This message, titled, Revival is Like Judgment Day, was presented by Dr. J. Edwin Orr on April 21st, 1987. But I'd be glad if you'd remember me in your prayers. The Lord will give me strength for the occasion and bless the message that, shall I say, comes hot off the griddle.

The 1858 Revival and Moody's Spiritual Formation

I just finished jotting these notes down before and after supper. Now I take it that you understand that D. L. Moody was a product of a great spiritual awakening. I was talking to Sidney Ahlstrom, the great Lutheran historian, and I told him I was re-researching the story of the 1858 revival.

He said, who started that? Moody? I said, no sir. He said, you surprise me. I said, not Moody. I said, Moody didn't start the 1858 revival. The 1858 revival started Moody. There's all the difference in the world.

Moody's Trial at Cambridge University

You know that about 1884, Moody went to Cambridge University for a special meeting. Moody was scared of students. He couldn't spell. He spelt Philadelphia with an F. You don't see this in his books because they're all edited.

They thought that publishing Moody as he wrote or spoke was not glorifying to the Lord. Now these candidates, we have a different attitude. But when the Cambridge students heard that an illiterate American was coming, they determined to show him his place.

First night, when the Rector of St. Mary's led in prayer, the students punctuated with, Hear, hear. That's not proper in church or right in Parliament. When Sankey sang, they sang a parody along with him.

Moody preached on Daniel in the Den of Lions. Maybe he felt that way. But you know that the Hebrew word Daniel has three syllables, Daniel. The English word at least two, Daniel. But Moody pronounced it with one, Danel.

Oh, come on now, you've heard of Danel Boone and Danel Webster, haven't you? That was the American way. And every time he mispronounced the name Daniel, that brought the husk down, they'd tramp their feet, they'd clap their hands, they cheered.

And Moody had to wait for silence. They were having a good time at his expense. He told Sankey that night, Sankey, I've got no hankering for this crowd. But he was no coward either. A thousand came to the first meeting to rag him.

Only a hundred to the second meeting. I think it was a Wednesday morning that Mr. Gerald Lander of Trinity College sent in his visiting card to wish to see Mr. Moody. Moody said, bring him in. When Moody saw this young man, he recognized him as one of the ringleaders.

So he said, what can I do for you, sir? He said, Mr. Moody, I was one of those who thought that you were singularly unequipped to speak to gentlemen. But sir, he said, as I observed you on the platform, you were the only gentleman in the meeting.

Sir, he said, I wish to apologize. Moody held out his hand, he said, I'll forgive you if you come to the rest of the meetings. Gerald Lander was in the front seat. Moody waited until Friday to give an invitation.

First man forward was Gerald Lander, who became Bishop of Hong Kong. Out of that meeting came the Cambridge Seven. Seven university students who became famous missionaries. They also helped Moody while they were in training in his great campaigns.

One of them was W. W. Castles, who became Bishop of Sichuan. Now I want to stress this point. You heard of the Shantung Revival. Miss Olive was there. But that revival was felt in every province of China.

Revival as Judgment Day

And when it reached Sichuan, W. W. Castles summed it up in five words. Surprise? Five words. He said, it is like Judgment Day. Now Miss Olive is right here, and she won't mind my referring to her. She remembers what she saw in China when she was a young missionary.

It wasn't pooping and hollering. It was like Judgment Day, with weeping and confessing. A lot of people think that revival is a tremendous time of excitement and a great roll call of converts and so forth.

It begins like Judgment Day, with the Holy Spirit exposing all the sins of the Church. Now this is something we don't realize. That stage of revival, after the prayer, is conviction of sin. Judgment precedes blessing.

Confession in the Welsh Revival

Now I've told you stories of the Welsh Revival. A hundred thousand people outside the churches converted and joined the churches in five months. Five years later, someone wrote a book to debunk the movement and complained that after five years only 75 still stood.

Campbell Morgan on Costly Confession

He said many were lost to mission halls and to the Pentecostals. Some of them couldn't stand the dryness that some people wanted to go back to. Now have you ever heard of Campbell Morgan? Great Bible teacher.

Conviction and Prostration in Riga

I met him personally. What did he say about the Welsh Revival? He said it was marked by confession. Some very costly confessions. I was preaching in Riga, which is now capital of Soviet Latvia, in 1935.

I was speaking in Aganskal, a Baptist church. The pastor was my interpreter. While I was speaking, a woman suddenly cried out in the middle of the audience and collapsed. Her husband and several deacons and the pastor helped carry her out.

I couldn't continue the meeting. I didn't know any Yiddish. The pastor came back. He said, I don't understand. She's one of the pillars of the church. She's our superintendent of Sunday school. Next day he went to visit her.

I was thinking, well what did I say? I mean, why did that happen like that? I had never to that moment, up to that time, seen prostration. By the way, people have asked me if prostration is the same as being slain in the spirit today.