A sermon from Acts 2:1-21 and John 7:37-39, preached on Pentecost Sunday, 28/5/23.
Introduction
Day of Pentecost
The day of Pentecost is a major Christian festival, along with Easter and Christmas. According to Wikipedia:
Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and other followers of Jesus as they celebrated the Jewish festival of Weeks[1].
Is this day just a memory? Something we look back on? Or does it still happen now, even here? Luke describes the crowd’s response: Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’ (Acts 2:12). That is a great question! What does Pentecost mean?
Acts 2:1-21 & John 7:37-39
We are looking at two bible passages, John 7 and Acts 2, and two festivals. The events of John 7 take place at the feast of Tabernacles. Here, Israel remembered the 40 years of wandering in the desert after leaving Egypt, giving thanks to God for sustaining them. And Jesus says: If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink, (John 7:37). In Acts 2, it is the feast of Pentecost, where they celebrated the first fruits of the wheat harvest. Then the Spirit comes with the first fruits of the church’s harvest.
Both are pilgrimage feasts. Devout Jews have travelled from all over the Roman Empire to celebrate and make offerings at the Temple. And Jesus is at both! One physically – Tabernacles (John 7), and the other through the Spirit in his people – Pentecost (Acts 2). At Tabernacles, he promises the Spirit:
Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this, he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
John 7:38-39
At Pentecost – he delivers: All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).
God Continues to send his Spirit
God continues to send his Holy Spirit. Through Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the Earth. Places like Antioch, Corinth, and Ephesus. God sends his Spirit in powerful revivals, such as those in the 2nd to 4th centuries when the church grew so large it overturned the Roman Empire. More recently, there were revivals in the 18th century through the Methodists. There were many in Wales and Scotland, such as the 1904 Welsh Revival and the 1949 Hebridean Revival.
Today we see revivals in places such as Iran and Nigeria. So, what about us? Is this pouring out of the Holy Spirit something we only commemorate – at a Pentecost service? Are revivals only in the past or in other countries? Or could they happen here with us?
This morning I will ask you: What does Pentecost mean for you? From these passages, I will give three things that affect you. Following that, I will indicate four obstacles or barriers to receiving revival.
The first result of Pentecost:
1. Because of Pentecost, you can know Jesus
Pentecost Means Jesus is Here
Holy Spirit
On the day of Pentecost, God DID something new. Something that had not happened before. Look at Acts 2:17, In the last days, God says, “I will pour out my Spirit”. “Pour” is something God did, and it happened first in this way at Pentecost. That immediately begs the question, “Wasn’t the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?”
Indeed, he was. He is mentioned over 80 times. He comes on people, for example, King Saul, The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 1 Sam 10:5. So, why is Pentecost different? A simple answer is that he now comes on all rather than a select few. But we can go further than that.
Look at John 7, in particular, Jesus’ invitation given at the feast of Tabernacles: If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink (John 7:37). At its simplest, it means “believe and trust in Jesus”. He then adds, whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. That is, receive new life, the life of Jesus that sets you free from sin. That is what happened when people met Jesus. As a result, their lives were changed.
Jesus
However, Jesus could only be in one place at one time. You couldn’t go to him and drink if he were in Jerusalem and you were Galilee! Jesus’ promise was limited by geography. A result of the incarnation and the Son of God becoming fully man.
John goes on to clarify the meaning of “rivers of living water”:
By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.[2]
John 7:39
The living water is the Holy Spirit, who could only be given once Jesus was glorified. Why? Because the Holy Spirit makes Jesus available to all and enables him to deliver his promise of drinking from him to everyone. To do this, he needed to be incarnate, die for sinners, rise from death and return to heaven[3]. As the hymn says: Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all Kings[4].
Pentecost
On the day of Pentecost, the Lord Jesus became available to all. The same Jesus who walked the earth. So, all people can know Jesus as saviour, fully God and fully man. That is the work of the Holy Spirit from Pentecost onwards. It could not happen in Old Testament times because the Son of God had not become incarnate as man. It could not happen in Jesus’ earthly ministry because of geographical limitations. But once Jesus had ascended to heaven, now at the Father’s side, his mission was complete, and he could be fully known to all.
No wonder Peter and the others were rejoicing. They had known Jesus for three years. Now he is with them permanently! Jesus had said to them, I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you, (John 14:18). This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost, and it means anyone can know him.
For non-Christians
If you are not a Christian, you can know Jesus the same way. He is not just a person in a book, someone you read about. Or someone you sing about on a Sunday. You can know him like Peter when he said to him, “Leave your nets and follow me”. He says to you, “Leave your old life, follow me” Go to him and drink – receive his Spirit.
You can know Jesus like a man who was paralysed, who was lowered through the roof of a house to be seen by him. Jesus said, “Pick up your mat and walk”. Are you burdened by life? By all the things you do wrong, that hurt others, and yourself, and weigh you down? Go to him and drink. You can walk away from your sins forever.
You can know him like a man called Zacchaeus who climbed a tree to see him. Jesus said to him, “I will come and eat with you today”. You don’t need to climb a tree to know Jesus. Turn to him now, ask him to come, and he will come to you today.
For Christians
If you are Christian, you can keep going to him and drinking. You will grow in your knowledge of him. Know him better. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the Christians a greater assurance of who Jesus is. Peter, John, and the others had all known Jesus. At Pentecost, they know him even more. Before, Peter had known Jesus face-to-face. Now he knows him heart-to-heart. A deep intimate knowledge of Jesus that comes from him indwelling through the Spirit. And that is available to us.
We can see this increasing depth of knowing Jesus in John 7:37. The expression translated: If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink, is literally:
If anyone is continually thirsty for me let them keep coming to me and drinking
It has a continuous, ongoing sense [5]. Not a one-off act. We keep going to him to have our thirst satisfied. The more we know him, the more we want to know him!
Are you thirsty for more of Jesus? Are you crying out the words of Psalm 42: As the deer pants for the water – so my soul longs for you the living God. When can I go and meet with him? What Pentecost means for you is that you can do that now. The Holy Spirit has made Jesus known – an intimate knowledge of God the Son. There is no limit to how much you can know him. No limit to how much he gives himself to you.
Pentecost is not just a past event remembered. You can receive the Spirit now, so you can know Jesus as fully as anyone can.
The second result of Pentecost:
2 Because of Pentecost, you have Power to Witness
Jesus’ Promise
Before he ascended, Jesus had promised his disciples they would receive power to witness:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
He was referring to the events of the day of Pentecost. But what is the nature of this power? What does the Holy Spirit do to them that makes them better witnesses?
Power is the Result of Knowing Jesus is with them
We have already seen that the work of the Spirit made Jesus present with them. They knew Jesus deeper than when he was with them in the flesh. The power to witness is the result of knowing Jesus is with them. Think of Peter and how he is now bold to stand up and speak:
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.’
Acts 2:14
Two months before, he had denied Jesus. Jesus had been arrested. Suddenly, Peter was on his own and lost all his boldness. Now at Pentecost, Jesus is with him, in his heart. Now he has the boldness of Christ.
This presence of Jesus gives them the power to witness. It means they can pass on the faith more effectively. Because they go to Jesus and drink, other people can also go to him and drink. That day three thousand did that and were saved. The witness of the believers grew the church. Assurance gives power.
People See Jesus in Us
The main reason people come to faith is that they see Jesus in us. Something in our lives makes them amazed and perplexed, and ask, what does this mean? (Acts 2.12). We can give an answer, knowing Jesus is with us. We are not on our own. Because you keep going to Jesus and drinking, others see the source of living water and go to Jesus and drink themselves.
That is how God grows his church – through Christians like you and me. This church will grow if you long for more of Jesus and let him fill us with his streams of living water. Do you long to see people become Christians? To see his church grow? Long for more of Jesus and go to him and drink.
This work of the Spirit on believers, making Jesus known and giving power, is the regular work of the Spirit. His normal, everyday work in our hearts. But there is more.
The third result of Pentecost:
3. Because of Pentecost, You can Expect Revival
Revival – exceptional work of the Spirit
Revival is the exceptional work of the Holy Spirit. Revival happens when the Lord Jesus is powerfully present in Christians – close in an intimate way. The result is that our boldness knows no bounds. Pentecost is a revival! Jesus was so powerfully present in Peter and the others that they took on a crowd at a major feast. And God saved more in one day than would normally be seen in five years.
The word “revival” is not in the Bible. Instead, this exceptional phenomenon is termed an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. For example, Acts 2:17 says, In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. I have quoted this verse as it appears in most modern English Bible versions. However, if the verse were translated literally, it would include the word “of”:
In the last days, God says, I will pour out of my Spirit on all people
Check out more literal versions like the New King James Version[6].
The expression “of my Spirit” indicates that outpourings of the Holy Spirit happen in different degrees[7]. In the regular work of the Holy Spirit, the effect on unbelievers is modest. This is what we normally see in Acts. For example, when Paul went to Philippi, he saw the conversion of Lydia and her household. In Ephesus, he saw about twelve people converted in one day. By our standards, that sounds large, but in the New Testament, that is normal. However, sometimes Jesus draws so close to believers that many people are converted, as on the day of Pentecost. That is a large outpouring. That is revival!
Note that revival is something God does to Christians. It is not something we do. Jesus draws so close to us that we spread the gospel more effectively than normal. The result is exceptional church growth. Revival is the work of God in the soul. Conversions and church growth are the consequences[8].
Revivals in History
Wales 1904/5
I can illustrate these scriptural views of revival by looking at outpourings of the Spirit in history. Let me start with the Welsh revival of 1904/5.
Let me introduce you to Evan Roberts, a great hero of mine. He was a miner but felt the call to preach. He was sent to a school in West Wales to prepare him for ministry training. While there, he attended a convention that was part of a mini-revival taking place in that part of Wales. The Holy Spirit fell on him, and he felt he should return to his home church in Loughor and urge people there to receive the Holy Spirit.
The first night, a Monday, sixteen, received the Spirit. Similar things happened on the following nights. By the end of the week, sixty had received[9]. The following week, there were queues outside the churches, the roads were blocked with people trying to attend, and the revival was in the newspapers. A year later, 100,000 had been converted and added to the churches[10].
Virtually all churches had an increase in membership. One example has a family connection, Ton Pentre Baptist church in the Rhondda Valley. The minister, EW Davies, was my wife’s great grandfather. He was one of the ministers who preached down in the mines, receiving many converts. His church increased from about 390 to 550 members[11].
Isle of Lewis 1949-1953
Another example. In 1949, the United Free Church minister, Duncan Campbell, was invited to the Isle of Lewis to conduct a mission. The first night he was at Barvas Parish Church. It was a fairly standard service, and the congregation was dismissed. However, many came back under conviction of sin and were led to Christ. Some more met elsewhere and needed help to ease their souls. This spontaneous conviction happened twice more that week, and over other villages in Lewis and Harris over the next four years. From the numbers reported, I estimate that about 20% of the two Islands were converted.
These revivals in Wales and Lewis were exceptional, like Pentecost. Exceptional in the speed and numbers saved. Exceptional in the experience of the Lord Jesus. These are things we can expect and pray for.
Long Revivals
Early Methodists 18th cent
Some works of the Holy Spirit are exceptional because they last a long time. These are revivals that spread over generations. One such example is the 18th-century Methodist revival in England associated with John and Charles Wesley, and another of my heroes, George Whitfield[12].
In the early 1700s, Christianity had become a laughing stock, and few people attended church, especially from the labouring classes. From 1735-45 the Holy Spirit started being poured out on a small number of people, including the Wesley brothers and Whitefield. They started preaching tours, setting up local class meetings to teach Christianity. By 1750 there were about 20,000 of these Methodists, as they came to be called.
The movement continued to grow. By 1800 there were 150,000, and by 1900, over a million and a half. This was the Methodist revival, and most other denominations grew as a result. By 1850, over half the population of England were in church. This was a long revival composed of repeated outpourings of the Spirit in different areas at different times[13].
Pentecostalism
Revivals have not ended. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Pentecostal movement started, inspired by outpourings in Los Angeles, Wales and other places. It consistently grew worldwide throughout the century and is still growing. It influenced the older denominations from the 1960s onwards in the charismatic renewal. Currently, a quarter of all Christians worldwide are either Pentecostal or Charismatic[14]. It is the largest revival the church has ever seen!
Where is our revival?
So why are we not being revived? Why do we not see outpourings of the Spirit? Why do we not see Pentecost? I think this passage suggests four possible reasons – four obstacles to receiving the Spirit.
4. Obstacles to Receiving Revival
(i) Looking Down on people
The crowd on the day of Pentecost initially rejected the outpouring of the Holy Spirit because they looked down on Peter and the others. They were Galileans!
‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
Acts 2:7-8
The crowd could not believe people like this could speak their languages. Why not? How did they know Peter had not learnt Parthian? Because he was a Galilean – a hillbilly! In other words, they thought the Apostles were a bit dim! These visitors to Jerusalem were cultured and did not rate the lowly Galileans.
There was similar opposition in the 1904 Welsh revival. Many converted miners did not know how to behave in church. They would stand on the pews, waving their handkerchiefs and shouting alleluia. This was the wrong sort of person for some in the established churches. It led many to reject the revival. Some of the rejected converts left churches and formed their own, part of the start of Pentecostalism.
In 2010, I heard on the grapevine of a radical group of Christians meeting in South Wales, where I lived. I asked a Pentecostal friend what he knew about them, and he told me, “They are dangerous, don’t go near them!” Undeterred, I found they had a meeting at the Dolphin Club on Barry Island. Yes, they were pretty wild – the Christian “rave” culture. Many had been rejected by mainline churches. I noticed that many were converted drug addicts, some covered in tattoos. If we are biased against the type of people God sends the Spirit to, there is a danger that we will miss revival[15].
(ii) Too Attached to Formal Christianity
By formal Christianity, I mean the mainline and historic Christian denominations. Those that have developed a set way of doing things. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that. But there is a danger that the “order of service”, the “right type of songs”, etc. becomes more important than the work of the Spirit. We can become so fixed in our ways that we stifle the life Jesus wants to give us.
In John 7, Jesus is at the feast of Tabernacles – a formal service giving thanks for how God had sustained Israel in the desert. But it had become a set of rituals, and people were not beings sustained with God’s life-giving spirit. The service did not satisfy their spiritual thirst – it had got in the way. So, Jesus cries out, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink”. He was breaking into their formalism.
The early Methodists faced the same situation with the Church of England, of which they were a part. The Wesleys and their friends were loyal Anglicans. They loved its prayer book. But the formality of the church’s services got in the way of experiencing The Lord Jesus. They would turn up to services crying out as in Psalm 42, As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs for you. They wondered when they were going to meet with God. So, although they did not abandon services in the Church of England, they also met separately where they could drink of Jesus, unhindered by church formality
Is the busyness of formal church getting in the way of us receiving the Spirit? Are we too content with church life to seek more of Jesus and another Pentecost?
(iii) Sectarianism
But I can turn the previous point completely around. Are we biased against formal Christianity? Are we so determined to oppose normal church life that we have a sectarian spirit? Perhaps even dropping out of formal Christianity because it lacks the Spirit?
Take note. God poured out his Spirit at a formal religious festival – the day of Pentecost! Indeed, the Apostles regularly attended the Temple – formal services. Jesus attended the feast of Tabernacles. If people had dropped out of formal religion in their day, they would have missed Jesus and his offer of the Spirit. Indeed, they would have missed the Holy Spirit and missed revival.
Most revivals occur within mainstream Christian denominations. There is a danger that if we are biased against them, we will miss Jesus. For example, in the Hebridean revival in 1949, both the Church of Scotland and the Free Churches had been praying for revival. The Spirit fell in the Church of Scotland parishes, and the Free Churches in Stornoway shunned it. They preached against it, claiming it was not a proper revival. They missed the Spirit. They missed Pentecost!
Is a sectarian attitude getting in our way of receiving the Spirit?
(iv) Fear of being Humbled
Anointing King Charles
I think the fear of being humbled may be the main reason revival is missed. We fear being embarrassed and made low by the Holy Spirit. This reason particularly struck me while I was watching the coronation of King Charles III.
At one point in the service, the King needed to be anointed, reflecting the belief that God sets Kings apart. For this to happen, Charles had to be stripped of all his royal robes. He just ended up with just his shirt and trousers. He looked small and ordinary. He was humbled, almost humiliated, in public. I thought to myself, there are many world leaders looking on, thinking, “You’re never doing that to me!”
And it is the same in church when we hear the Pentecost passage read out:
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 2:4
And there are Christians hearing this, thinking, “You’re never doing that to me”
Odd Things at Pentecost
Odd things happened on the day of Pentecost. There was the sound of wind from heaven. There was something that appeared like tongues of fire that divided and came on them. Odd indeed. But they never happened again. But the odd phenomenon of “tongues” was repeated. It occurs twice more in Acts, and Paul wrote much about it in Acts. Indeed, he was trying to correct difficult issues that tongues had caused.
The old explanation for tongues was that on the day of Pentecost, God was enabling the Apostles to be understood by a crowd that spoke different languages. It happened to help the gospel spread. But this explanation will not work. The people of the Roman Empire all had Greek as a common language. Jews, Galileans, Parthians, Medes etc., all spoke Greek! Tongues were not needed for communication.
The tongues at Pentecost were more like worship than an address to people. The crowd said, “We hear them declaring the wonders of God” v11. Indeed, Paul writing to the Corinthians makes it clear that tongues are addressed to God, not man (1 Cor 14:2).
Why Speaking in Tongues?
So why does this happen? Why praise God using words you don’t understand? Luke does not explain it in Acts. And Paul does not help much either. He spends much of his time downplaying the gift of tongues. It is better to prophesy. But then he confuses things when he makes it known that he speaks in tongues more than any of them! So, what is going on?
Perhaps it is a bit like the situation with the king. To be anointed, you need to be humbled. You need to lose a bit of dignity. Speaking in tongues is God’s “curved ball”, something we did not expect and that he is not going to explain. Something that is simultaneously humbling, perplexing, yet spiritually exhilarating.
Tongues make us stop and think, do I really want to receive the Spirit? Am I serious about going to Jesus and drinking? Am I willing to be humbled to be part of God’s revival? Do we need to become lower so God can take us higher? Do we need to be amazed and perplexed, like the crowd at Pentecost, so we ask, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12).
4. Overcoming Obstacles to Receiving the Spirit
Small picture
Just think of yourself before God. You don’t need to wait for revival to be personally revived. You can go to Jesus at any time and drink his living water. Early in the Welsh Revival, an English evangelist went to a revival meeting “Friends, I have journeyed into Wales with the hope that I may glean the secret of the Welsh Revival.” Instantly, Evan Roberts was on his feet and replied, “My brother, there is no secret! Ask and ye shall receive!![16].
Big Picture
Now think of the big picture. The result of Pentecost is cosmic in scale. It is not just a blessing for me in the here and now. This is how God saves people, how he grows his church, how he has grown it from 120 people to over two billion. When we receive the Spirit, we become part of that big picture.
When we go to Jesus and drink, we become part of the history of outpourings of the Spirit that covers all countries and many centuries. We join in the plan of God that is heading for a goal when all things come under Christ’s rule. A time when all can say “Jesus is Lord”.
Don’t look at the state of the church in this country at present. Look at the big picture. God wins – and he does it through outpourings of the Spirit. And he does it through you. God made you to be part of his cosmic plans. He invites you to come and drink – to believe and receive.
Notes and References
[1] The festival of Weeks is also called “Week of Weeks” because it occurs seven weeks after Passover, the fiftieth day. The name “Pentecost” is Greek for fifty.
[2] The word “given” is not in Greek. The original literally reads: for the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified. So, there is no point in dwelling on the meaning of the word “given” as John did not use it.
[3] The five stages of Jesus’ ministry: Incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension and pouring out the Holy Spirit, are reflected in the five major festivals of the Christian faith: Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Ascension Day and Pentecost. I dropped this from the sermon.
[4] The lines are from the song “Majesty” by Jack Hayford.
[5] The Greek tenses are brought out in a Greek/English interlinear, verse 37: https://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/joh7.pdf
For an explanation, see Precept Austin who says:
It is worth noting that in John 7:37, in Jesus’ invitation, John uses three verbs, each one in the present tense. One could amplify His invitation this way “If anyone is continually thirsting, let him keep coming to Me and keep drinking from Me.” Note that in Jn 7:38 the verb believe (which parallels the verb drink in Jn 7:37) is also in the present tense, conveying the sense of “keep on believing in Me,” something genuine believers are enabled to accomplish by the Spirit. May the Spirit Who ever seeks to glorify Jesus, continually make us thirsty for more of Him, and less of the world, so that we keep coming to Him, drinking from Him, believing in Him, that His Name might be glorified among the nations. Amen.
Most commentaries I consulted passed over the translation of this verse, concentrating instead on interpretational and translation difficulties in the surrounding verses. The ongoing/continuous sense of these verbs versus the completed sense is discussed by Ministry Journey Online.
[6] The word “of” in “of my Spirit” appears in Greek-English interlinear Bibles, e.g. https://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/act2.pdf see verse 17 where it is transliterated as “from”. Most of the Old Testament quotations in the New Testament use Greek translations of the Hebrew scriptures, called the Septuagint, which was current in the first century AD. “Of” is in some Septuagint versions, but not in the Hebrew texts. As well as the New King James Version, “of” appears in the Authorised Version and the New American Standard Version. These more conservative translations, translate the NT quotations of the OT exactly as written. Recent English versions modify these quotations, harmonising them with the Hebrew text used to translate the OT. My view is that the New Testament is the Greek original, not the English translations. Thus, “of” (apo), is there, and it needs to be interpreted!
[7] This interpretation of the expression “of my Spirit” is made by George Smeaton in his book The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, p.28. The point is picked up by Iain H Murray in his book Pentecost Today?, p.20. Murray discusses in Chapter 1 definitions of revival and makes the case for revival as different measures of outpourings of the Spirit.
FF Bruce, in his commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, describes Luke’s use of “of” (apo) as partitive. That is, it indicates partialness so that however much is given, there is still more.
- George Smeaton, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Banner of Truth, 1958 (1882).
- Iain H Murray, Pentecost Today?, Banner of Truth,1998.
- FF Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles, Tyndale Press, 1952.
[8] Duncan Campbell described revival as a “community saturated by God”, quoted in Brian Edwards, Revival!, Evangelical Press, 1990. Martyn Lloyd-Jones described revival as “many people baptised by the Spirit at the same time”, quoted in his book Revival, Marshall Pickering, 1986. These definitions emphasise that revival is something God does in the soul of a believer.
[9] It is unclear how many of these were conversions, baptisms in the Spirit, or assurance of salvation. In many ways, it does not matter. All the people were now sure they were Christians and on fire for the Lord Jesus.
[10] I applied one of my church growth models to the membership data for Wales in 1904/5; see Mathematical Modeling of Church Growth: A System Dynamics Approach. section 5.7. The data were compiled from published sources; see Explanatory Notes section 5.6. (These notes refer to the original 1999 paper rather than its revision, hence the mismatch in section numbers.)
[11] I wrote an article on the effect of the Welsh Revival on the churches in that part of the Rhondda Valley; see Revival is Real.
[12] There was also a Methodist revival in Wales from 1735 under Howell Harris, Daniel Rowlands and William Williams Pantycelyn.
[13] For the numbers involved, see The Rise and Fall of British Methodism.
[14] The percentage of Christians in the world who are Pentecostal or Charismatic is quoted from Pew Research. They give two figures: “about 27%” and “25.7%” according to research methodology.
[15] The name of the meeting, Sloshfest, gives some idea of the meeting’s unorthodoxy! I wrote of my experiences at the time in Revival with a Smile.
[16] Quoted from Arthur Wallis, In the Day of Thy Power, Christian Literature Crusade, 1956.
