Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.
There are times of God's special presence in power. These are known as times of revival, times when new life comes to the church. Today, an encouraging look back to times when God indeed came to church and words of hope that He'll do so again.
From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, what is the connection between times of revival and the renewed commitment of a church to pray? Dave, I think that usually prayer precedes revival, but I also want to emphasize that it is not just simply platitudes that we should pray. God gives His people a burden to pray, and I believe that much of our praying oftentimes is simply words without that burden. We even have to seek God that we might have a burden for our churches, for our families, and for our country. Well, as we think about the new year, we think of resources that we are going to use and to benefit from so that we can consistently walk with God.
Well, we have a resource, it's a scientific resource, but very readable, intended to be a devotional, that will introduce you to some aspect of God's creation every day of the year. Now, for a gift of any amount we're making it available for you, let me give you some contact info. Go to rtwoffer.com.
That's rtwoffer.com, or pick up the phone and call us right now at 1-888-218-9337. The title of the devotional is Without Excuse, based on the book of Romans where it says that even those who don't have specific revelation from God because of his creation are without excuse. Now let us listen carefully. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you so much for what you have done in the past. In your sovereign will and purpose we pray, do it again. And enliven our hearts and give us faith to believe that you can and even that you will.
In Jesus' name, amen. When God comes to church, many wonderful things happen. Oh, I know that God is always in church, but there are times when God does something very special on a wide scale and many people are affected. And when that happens, we sometimes call it a spiritual awakening or we call it revival. It happened in the church in Thessalonica, which we were studying and to see their impact of a small church upon a whole community and on their part of the world.
But it's also happened in America. God has done some unusual things in these United States. Today's message is a little unusual because I'm not going to be giving an exposition of scripture, though at the end we will turn to First Thessalonians five if you want to turn there now. And we'll be talking about what to do while we are waiting for an awakening. But today I'm going to tell you the story of America's great awakenings so that number one, faith might be quickened in our hearts and we might say, my goodness, if God did it, then why can't he do it now? And that we might pray more effectively toward that end.
Usually God sends rain to water the earth, but there are times when God sends a downpour, when there's a cloud burst and there are cloud bursts in history of the mercies of God. In order to tell you what happened in Chicago, and you're going to be I hope pleasantly surprised if you've not known this, I'm going to begin back further and tell you that there were these three great awakenings in American history and I'm going to give you a thumbnail sketch of all three. First of all, we have the great awakening of 1740 to 43.
That's known as the first great awakening. Northampton, Massachusetts, Solomon Stoddard is preaching to his congregation and tells them that God sometimes does unusual things and builds their faith. He dies, his grandson, Jonathan Edwards, who was an associate pastor takes over and he becomes the great revivalist. Jonathan Edwards is known for his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
It's a very scriptural sermon, but not well thought of today. Someone said that when Edwards preached, he was so vivid and solemn that the impression that was made upon them was so strong that this listener said he thought that when Mr. Edwards would close his discourse right, then the judge would descend and the final separation take place. They expected God to come right there when the sermon was finished, but Edwards became friends with a man by the name of George Whitfield, an Englishman who preached all over the eastern part of the United States to large crowds. Now we're talking 1700s, no PA systems, and he was able to preach to large crowds in the Boston common and Benjamin Franklin would attend and even try to see how far Whitfield's voice could really carry right there in the Boston common in New York, in Massachusetts, in other places.
Huge crowds would come. Repentance was everywhere. The conviction of sin was so strong that it is said that when boats came from England before the soldiers even got to the shore of the United States and hearing what God had done, they were convicted already of their sin. Multitudes were converted. As a result of this great awakening, it is believed that perhaps 50,000 people were converted, taverns were closed, families were reconciled, and the whole culture of Northampton and other places were transformed. Unusual, unusual work of God. Well, that's the first great awakening and needless to say, I'm not doing it justice, but we must hurry. The second great awakening we're going to put from 1790 to 1860 and it is two different aspects.
First of all, in the west. I don't know if there's anybody listening from Kentucky, but I've always wondered where Cane Ridge is in Kentucky. That's where camping ministry began. That's where they would hold camp meetings and come to hear preachers and 10 to 15,000 covered wagons came for meetings and circuit riders went throughout Kentucky and throughout the west and a historian says that God confounded infidelity and brought untold numbers to the faith.
What a story. And then you get to Timothy Dwight who is the grandson of Jonathan Edwards. He gives a lecture at Yale University because he's president on why the Bible is the word of God.
75 out of the 225 students at Yale are converted and they go home in spring break and they don't go to Daytona. Praise God. They go home to their churches and tell about the wonderful things that God is doing and the marvelous conversions they're experiencing and revivals begin to break out and that's where you have the beginning of the modern missionary movement. The great revivalists during this period of time was Charles Finney who preached in the east.
Rochester, New York would stop everything over their noon hours in order to pray. Finney was the great revivalist. His theology at points we don't agree with, but he was mightily used of God. By the way, he founded Oberlin College. One day I was at Oberlin visiting. It's a very theologically liberal school today.
It is embarrassed by its heritage of Finney and there's a Finney Chapel in Oberlin that is along the street. It was locked. I couldn't go into it so I just knelt outside the chapel along the street. I didn't care that other people were walking by. They could think whatever they wanted to.
Now if somebody actually called the cops that would be something else. But I said to myself, somebody walking past this chapel needs to give thanks to God for the ministry of Finney who is now being evil spoken against in this school. So I knelt to thank God for Finney.
I even went and visited his grave which is also in the area. It is estimated that during this period of time God was working mightily through so many different people and in so many different ways that perhaps a million people came to the faith. But now we get to the third great awakening and that's our focus today. 1857 to 1859, just two years in which God worked mightily.
Well, it began in New York City and I want to read you the story of how it began and then we're going to talk about Chicago here because this is going to get gooder and gooder as we go along. All right, it is summertime 1857, a man by the name of Jeremiah Calvin Lanfears walking the streets of New York and saying what can I do here in the business district? He gives out a tract inviting people to pray and we have Xeroxed copies of it. On it is written how often shall I pray as often as the language of prayers in my heart as often as I see my need of help as often as I feel the power of temptation as often as I am made aware of my spiritual declension or feel the agitation of a worldly spirit. In prayer we leave the business of time for that of eternity and fellowship with men for fellowship with God. He invited men to pray.
September 23rd 1857 the door is open at the meeting hall. He prays alone for a half hour but a half an hour later at 12 30 about six others show up and they have a prayer meeting. Now there were other prayer meetings that began before that time and continued as a result of that but a little later on October 1857 the stock market crashed. People felt a great need to seek God. Within six months a total of 10,000 men were gathering daily for prayer in many places throughout New York City. The churches were packed so the prayer meetings were moved to the theaters.
With some sarcasm the New York Herald of March 6th said Satan is busy all the morning on Wall Street among the brokers and in the afternoon and evening the churches are filled the crowded with saints who gambled in the morning. Now you say well what happened? Well the media began to pick up the story and so you have the story of Philadelphia. Anybody from Philadelphia?
Have you ever heard of Jane's Hall? I don't know if it's still there but on February the 1st at a prayer meeting there there is this report 3,000 souls at once on one weekday after another at its busiest hour bow before God in prayer for the revival of his work. That's Philadelphia. What about Boston?
It says to see a thousand men leaving their counting rooms and shops at the noonday hour and flock with one purpose to the place where prayer is made to see the tone and tearful interest pervading these assemblies is a new thing in this city. All right what about the city of Chicago? A newsman said here in Chicago and this is the Chicago Daily Press. Now I need to tell you that 15 years ago I walked across the street to the Historical Society and spent a couple of afternoons looking at old microfilms of the newspapers here in the city of Chicago and what they had to say about the revival and I wrote a little book on the topic and I'm going to be reading from it but I can't give you the title of the book because it is out of print and I don't want anyone saying I need a copy.
I have only about five or six left. I hope that someday I'll enlarge it and have it reprinted but across the street in the Historical Society here's a quote and then I'll give you some others. It says writing from a news point this is the Chicago Daily Press eight newspapers in those days two of them in German by the way. It says writing from a news point the prominent topic of thought and conversation in Chicago in our streets in our places of business and in our homes is the subject of the religious awakening now in progress in this community and it is all absorbing.
It is upon the lips of Christians and of unbelievers there are no scoffers few who sneer publicly and openly at what is transpiring without excitement without noise and cannot be called fanaticism. The remarkable thing about this revival is it had no great leader, no Finney, no Edwards, no Whitfield. It was known as the businessman's revival because it was led oftentimes by a pastor. The prayer time was led by a pastor but generally speaking anyone could lead it so it had no great names attached to it and therefore there was very little criticism of it. Now let's look at the newspapers this is what I discovered across the street at the Historical Society. This is the Chicago Tribune of March 25th 1858 the noon prayer meeting at Metropolitan Hall. I have to pause here I wanted to go to Metropolitan Hall to see where these prayer meetings were held day after day after day at noon where people could not get in and I discovered it no longer exists today it's across the street from the Thompson Center and there's a different building there now but some of us five or six of us actually went there anyway we said we want to be approximately where the Metropolitan Hall once was. Now listen it was the largest and most interesting that has yet been held the body of the house the gallery were filled considerably before 12 noon and at the time for beginning the exercises the platform the stairways the aisles the entry were all occupied by persons standing up during the whole hour the stairs leading down to the streets were filled with persons arriving or retiring unable to gain entrance for a noon prayer meeting that took place every single workday.
In fact I'm sorry I didn't get the quote but when I was reading it over in the Historical Society I discovered that one newspaper said that if women wouldn't wear skirts with hoops I hope that that's the right word I didn't check on this before more people could get into Metropolitan Hall to pray. John Wentworth the mayor of Chicago at the time stood near the rear of the hall and listened with great attention to all and later said the effect of the present religious movement are to be felt in every phase of society that is in Chicago newspapers. Someone else says it was the perfect union of all evangelical churches the Chicago Daily Journal of March 20th 1858 reported that the revival was universal and not limited to a single city or even state but is spread like fire in every direction such an outpouring of religion has not been seen since before the days of Edwards. That happened here in the city of Chicago and what took place is in May of the year 1859 the prayer meetings disbanded but they went into the churches the estimate was that 1,800 people were meeting for prayer at noon and 5,000 in various churches were meeting for prayer in the evening.
Now let's do the math let's remember our chronology in 1856 D.L. Moody came to the city of Chicago that's two years before the awakening. One of his biographers said that it was this awakening that thrust D.L. Moody into his revival ministry. D.L. Moody of course began he rented pews in the Plymouth church and they kicked him out because they said that these boys that you're bringing in are so rowdy so he had to begin his own church but he says to his mother during this great awakening there is a great revival of religion in this city I go to meeting every night. Remember D.L.
Moody's English and needed a little bit of help it is said that he was able to pronounce the word Mesopotamia in one syllable all right. There is a great revival of religion in the city I go to meeting every night oh how I enjoy it it seems if God himself is present oh mother pray for us pray that this will go on until every knee is bowed and so it is that D.L. Moody received his thrust into ministry through this great awakening this prayer revival that took place here in the city of Chicago. Now I need to comment that D.L. Moody was asked to no longer come to the Plymouth church he began a Sunday school in a beer hall and D.L.
Moody then began a church called the Illinois street church this is the fourth location of the Moody church since 1864 when it was founded. And you know years ago I studied the great awakening that took place here in this city and I was indeed amazed and pleased at all that God did and all the lessons that we have to learn from the past. We here at Running to Win urge people to pray we urge people to worship and we're making available a very special resource that I think is going to help you worship especially as you begin the new year it's a devotional book but it's a scientific devotional book that really enhances God's creation. For example if you are reading on January 23rd you'd read about the cheetah there's a full-size picture of the cheetah and you'd learn why it is that it is able to travel that fast how God built it for speed fascinating.
In the book of Job we find that God often referred to animals to help Job to understand the uniqueness of his creation. Now today is the last day you can order it and still get it for Christmas so I have to give you that contact info hope that you have something to write with. Here's what you can do go to rtwoffer.com that's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337.
Now because this is a matter of some urgency right now go to rtwoffer.com. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question you may have about the Bible or the Christian life. Today's question Dr. Lutzer comes to us from Patrick and he lives in North Carolina. He says I'm 83 years old and made a profession of faith in 1951. I believe I went through a period of reformation but I'm not sure I was regenerated. My behavior has changed but I have been looking for the assurance of salvation for over 50 years.
I've heard you say saving faith is the deep settled conviction that what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us is all that we need to stand in the presence of a holy God. I believe that but I'm not sure that I've ever appropriated that for myself. Many years ago a preacher told me I was going by my feelings. Maybe so but I can't stop looking within. The Bible says the spirit bears witness with our spirit.
I want that witness. I know I'm a sinner and I'm lost unless I've been genuinely converted. I have some faith but I'm not sure it's saving faith. I need a real work of God in my heart. Can you help me? Well Patrick I'm so glad that you wrote and I wish that we could have a cup of tea together and then we'd be able to dialogue regarding your spiritual journey and I might be able to find out a little bit more as to why you continue to doubt. But here's what I'd like to suggest to you.
It is possible to be genuinely saved and still have doubts. Visualize an airplane. Two people are sitting next to each other. The one has never flown before. In fact this happened to me. Young woman had never flown before. She was so scared. She said is it going to be as bad as a roller coaster?
She asked me and I said I sure hope not. Now I've flown many times so she was filled with doubts. I was confident.
We both arrived at the same time. In the very same way there are Christians who have doubts but they have believed in Jesus and they are saved. I trust that that is true of you. And in order for you to find that faith, remember the Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, I encourage you to continue to cleave to the promises of God. The promises that I'm sure you know so well about salvation and the assurance of faith. And what you need to do is to recognize that as you submit to God and as you claim those promises, I pray that light will break into your soul. The ministry and the witness of the spirit will be there and you'll have the assurance that you belong to God.
Final footnote to this. I've discovered that those who have grown up with a great deal of emotional pain sometimes struggle more with assurance of salvation and that's understandable. They've gone through such a topsy-turvy experience in their childhood perhaps and that begins to work its way out and they find it difficult to fully trust and to fully believe. But keep believing, keep trusting the promises are there for you and I hope someday, Patrick, I'll see you in heaven. Thank you Dr. Lutzer and thank you Patrick for your honest question. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer or call us at 1-888-218-9337.
That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Next time, more on the history of revival in America and in particular, Chicago, which is the home of Running to Win. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
