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Howell Harris and Revival
The Eighteenth-Century Awakening and the Nature of True Revival
Originally preached Dec. 26, 1973
Sermon Description
In this address delivered at the 1973 Puritan and Westminster Conference in London, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones commemorates the bicentenary of the death of Howell Harris — the great Welsh evangelist and one of the chief instruments of the eighteenth-century evangelical awakening. Dr. Lloyd-Jones traces the remarkable story of a simple schoolmaster who, through a sovereign work of God, was arrested by conviction of sin, brought to the assurance of forgiveness, and then transformed into a tireless evangelist whose labours shook Wales and reached into England. The address recovers a neglected figure from the annals of church history and sets his story before a generation equally in need of the Spirit's work.
Yet Dr. Lloyd-Jones is not content merely to recount the facts. He draws from the life and diaries of Harris a series of searching applications for the contemporary church: the sovereignty of God in revival, the distinction between conversion and the baptism of the Spirit, the necessity of fresh experiences of divine power, the primacy of evangelistic concern as the true test of any claim to spiritual fullness, and the sobering question of whether the church's greatest sin today is that of quenching the Spirit. The address closes with a direct challenge — is not our greatest need an outpouring of the Spirit of God, individually and upon the churches?
Sermon Breakdown
- Dr. Lloyd-Jones introduces Howell Harris as a neglected yet heroic figure in church history whose bicentenary of death (1773–1973) demands attention from the evangelical church.
- He recounts the condition of Wales at the beginning of the eighteenth century — spiritually dead, morally deplorable, and virtually identical to the condition of the church in our own day.
- The conversion of Harris is traced from his first conviction of sin on Palm Sunday 1735, through weeks of agony, to the assurance of forgiveness at the communion table on Whitsunday — a process begun not by human design but by the sovereign initiative of God.
- Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies the crucial experience of June 18, 1735, as the turning point: a baptism of fire in which Harris received the spirit of adoption, the love of God shed abroad in his heart, and an irresistible compassion for the lost that launched his evangelistic ministry.
- He demonstrates from Harris's own diaries that this experience was not a single event but was repeated, longed for, and pointed back to throughout his life — and that Harris reprimanded those who merely lived on the memory of a past experience.
- The sovereignty of God is underscored as the only explanation for the revival: God simultaneously raised up Harris and Rowland in Wales, Whitefield in England, and Edwards in America — unknown to one another, in obscure places, among ordinary people.
- Dr. Lloyd-Jones addresses Harris's method of preaching — a form of prophesying in which the words were given to him by immediate inspiration, without premeditation, and attended by what Harris called "the authority" and "the gale of the Spirit."
- The doctrinal development of Harris is examined: for eighteen months after his great experience he remained a confused Arminian, yet was mightily used — a fact Dr. Lloyd-Jones cites as an ultimate proof of Calvinism and the sovereignty of God in using imperfect instruments.
- Harris's irenic spirit is noted — his refusal to allow secondary differences to obstruct the primary work of the gospel — alongside his decision to remain within the Church of England for evangelistic rather than ecclesiastical reasons.
- The address concludes with a series of probing questions: Does our doctrine of the Holy Spirit leave room for revival? Do we recognise that an Arminian may, in God's sovereignty, be filled with the Spirit? Is not our greatest sin the quenching of the Spirit — and our greatest need an outpouring of that same Spirit upon the church today?
Sermon Q&A
Questions and Answers
Who was Howell Harris, and why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones consider him significant for the church today?
Howell Harris (1714–1773) was a Welsh schoolmaster who became one of the principal instruments of the eighteenth-century evangelical awakening. Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that Harris has been tragically neglected by English historians and even by the Welsh denomination that bears the legacy of his labours. His significance for the contemporary church lies not merely in his historical role but in what his life demonstrates about the nature of revival, the sovereignty of God, and the work of the Holy Spirit — realities Dr. Lloyd-Jones insists the modern church desperately needs to recover.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the crucial experience in Howell Harris's life, and why does he consider it so important?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies the experience of June 18, 1735, as the decisive event. Harris had already been converted on Whitsunday, May 25, and knew his sins were forgiven. But three weeks later, while reading Scripture and praying in the tower of Llangasty church, he received what Dr. Lloyd-Jones calls a baptism of fire — a flooding of the heart with the love of God, the cry of "Abba, Father," and an overwhelming desire to depart and be with Christ. Dr. Lloyd-Jones regards this as the key to understanding Harris because it was this experience, distinct from and subsequent to his conversion, that gave him the compassion for the lost and the spiritual power that made him a flaming evangelist.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones use the story of Howell Harris to address the doctrine of the Holy Spirit?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones uses Harris's story to challenge the view that every believer receives the fullness of the Spirit at regeneration and needs only to "surrender to what he already has." He argues that revival is not a matter of human surrender but of a sovereign outpouring of the Spirit — a repetition of Pentecost — and that Harris's experience demonstrates a clear distinction between the forgiveness of sins received at conversion and the baptism of power received subsequently. He further contends that the true test of such a baptism is not inward-looking spiritual experience but an outward evangelistic concern and compassion for the lost.
What lessons does Dr. Lloyd-Jones draw from Harris's doctrinal development?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones notes that for approximately eighteen months after his great experience, Harris remained a confused and even militant Arminian who opposed the doctrines of election and predestination — yet was mightily used by God to convert sinners. Dr. Lloyd-Jones regards this as a demonstration of the sovereignty of God and, indeed, as an ultimate proof of Calvinism: that God uses imperfect instruments despite their theological confusion. He warns against a subtle form of Arminianism that insists correct doctrine must precede the Spirit's blessing, noting that Harris came to Reformed convictions slowly, taught by inward experience and the ministry of Daniel Rowland, rather than by books or arguments.
What is the central challenge Dr. Lloyd-Jones issues to the church at the close of this address?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones closes with a series of searching questions directed at evangelical believers. He asks whether the church's doctrine of the Holy Spirit leaves any room for an outpouring of the Spirit — or whether it teaches that believers have already received everything they can have. He asks whether evangelical people recognise that their greatest sin may be the quenching of the Spirit, and whether they dismiss that apostolic exhortation as relevant only to the early church. His final and most urgent question is whether the church's greatest need today is not simply more exhortation to surrender, but earnest prayer that God would shed forth His Spirit again — upon individuals and upon the churches — as He did in the days of Howell Harris and the eighteenth-century awakening.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust's collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.