The Spread Of Revival

The Spread Of Revival

New York State had never seen anything like it.

ASAHEL NETTLETON was a leading figure in the American Second Great Awakening from the late 1790s to the early 1840s. In April 1820 he wrote the following letter from Union College in Schenectady, New York, describing the revivals occurring in the area:

This region, and especially the county of Saratoga, has heretofore been as destitute of revivals of religion as any part of this State. . . . About forty have made a profession of religion. These include some of the most respectable characters in the village. Directly south is the town of Malta. For a number of years there has been no Presbyterian church in that place. But the year past, there has been a very interesting revival among that people. . . . A church has been recently organized, which now consists of one hundred and five members. You can hardly imagine the interest which this revival excited in the surrounding region. Although the inhabitants are scattered over a large extent, yet, I verily believe, I have seen more than fourteen hundred people assembled at once to hear the gospel. On the east of Malta is the town of Stillwater. . . . On the 27th of February last (1820) one hundred and three publicly presented themselves a living sacrifice unto the Lord.

Describing the revival at Union College and in Schenectady he wrote:

More than one hundred have been brought to rejoice in hope. Besides these, we had more than two hundred in our meeting of inquiry, anxious for their souls. . . . The room was so crowded, that we were obliged to request all who had recently found relief to retire below, and spend there time in prayer for those above. This evening will never be forgotten. The scene is beyond description. Did you ever witness two hundred sinners, with one accord, in one place, weeping for their sins? . . . I felt as though I was standing on the verge of the eternal world; while the floor under my feet was shaken by the trembling of anxious souls in view of a judgment to come. The solemnity was still heightened, when every knee was bent at the throne of grace; and the intervening silence of the voice of prayer was interrupted only by the sighs and sobs of anxious souls. . . . I only add that some of the most stout, hard-hearted, Heaven-daring rebels, have been in the most awful distress. Within a circle whose diameter would be twenty-four miles, not less than eight hundred souls have been hopefully born into the kingdom of Christ since last September.

A student from Union College corroborated Nettleton’s account of these remarkable events.

It commenced then in Malta, about ten miles from this place, under the labours of a Mr. Nettleton, a missionary from Connecticut. . . . with such displays of the power of God’s Spirit in crushing the opposition seldom seen. The Deist and Universalist, the Drunkard, the Gambler, and the Swearer, were alike made the subjects of this heart-breaking work. Four months ago, Christ had no church there. It was a place of great spiritual dearth; and like the top of Gilboa, had never been wet by rain or dew. But the Lord has now converted that wilderness into a fruitful field.

Reflection

It’s inspiring to read of the revival of 1820. Why don’t revivals like this occur more frequently? What can we learn from them?

I will send showers, showers of blessings, which will come just when they are needed.

Ezekiel 34:26