In 1800 many churches in Kentucky were blessed with a soul-stirring revival. When pastor and historian Lemuel Burkitt heard of it, he traveled from North Carolina to experience and record what the Lord was doing. On this day in 1801, he wrote:
“The first appearance that was discovered was, great numbers of people attended the ministry of the Word, and the congregations kept increasing… The audience was more solemn and serious than usual… The Word preached was attended with such a divine power that at some meetings two or three hundred would be in floods of tears, and many crying out loudly, What shall we do to be saved?… Old Christians were so revived they were all on fire to see their neighbors… so much engaged… The work increasing, many were converted, and they began to join the churches. Some churches, which had not received a member by baptism for a year or two, would now frequently receive… sometimes twelve, fourteen, eighteen, twenty, and twenty-four at several times in one day… Some of the churches in the revival received 200 members each.
The Lord was pleased to make use of weak and simple means to effect great purposes, that it might be manifest that the work was His and not man’s… Giving the people an invitation to come up and be prayed for was also blessed… And when the ordinance of baptism was administered, nothing had a more solemn effect… To see fifteen or twenty persons suitably attired, to go in the water, in a row, hand in hand and the minister at the head, march down into the water regularly, like soldiers of Jesus, singing as they went would make a solemn effect on the numerous assembly. Numbers would be in floods of tears, and so greatly affected [they] could hardly stand… Sometimes they had the pleasure to see the father and the son, the mother and her daughter, the wife and the husband, go into the water together hand in hand.
Evening meetings were greatly blessed. Some years past it was customary to hold night meetings, but for some time they were disused… Sometimes and in some places nearly 200 would meet, and some people would come ten miles to a night meeting…
Union meetings have also been attended with a blessing. A Union meeting consists of several churches, being convenient to the other and of the same faith and practice, who meet at stated times to confer in love about matters relating to peace, brother union and general fellowship. The time the meeting holds is usually three days… At times three or four thousand people would meet, and sometimes fifteen or sixteen ministers attend. Great numbers were solemnly affected and at times, we have reason to believe, many got converted.”
Can God work miracles like these in our day? Certainly He can. The question is: are we willing the pay the price to be moved ourselves, see souls saved like this and to see our own church strengthened?