Angelic Choirs Singing During the Great Revivals of History
During great awakenings and historic revivals, Heavenly choirs have joined in with the people of God to worship the Lord. During the Hebrides Awakening of 1947, Rev. Duncan Campbell and others were crossing the moors to minister to a nearby village. Suddenly, the heavens were filled with the voices of angels singing. The group dropped to their knees in great reverence and worshiped God. A similar occurrence took place in the Azusa Street Awakening of 1907 in Los Angeles. The following are a few of the exciting historical accounts of the angelic choirs responding to the divine move of God on earth.
INDIA:
I sat enthralled as a humble Indian man addressed a large congregation in Adelaide, South Australia. Rev. Larno Longchar was describing an amazing revival sweeping the length and breadth of his home state of Nagaland. His local church alone now had 15,000 members. Four times in one year its building had to be extended to accommodate those who were being saved.
The 'outpouring' began in 1976 after the 'Baptist' churches in Nagaland had kept their pledge to pray for revival. Their twenty-four-hour-a-day prayer chain had continued unbroken for an entire year.
As a direct result of the revival, the state's smoking, drinking, cinema attendance, divorce and suicide rates all dramatically fell. A flabbergasted magistrate reported that in six months only one criminal case had appeared before his city's courts. Repentance was so widespread and genuine that precautions like locking houses became quite unnecessary. Former Hindus and head-hunters joined the ranks of fervent Christians confessing their sins and praying for hours at a time.
I could detect no boasting in Rev. Longchar's address. He spoke of himself surprisingly little. A major recurring theme was that there was nothing unique about his state's experience. He insisted that we could have the same type of revival.
The following is a slightly condensed transcript of part of the message I heard on March 8, 1981. (Used by permission) The incident described would have occurred no more than five years previous. Rev. Longchar told us:
'In one of the district capitals, near Burma, we had [a] revival meeting for four days. There were 35,000 people in a crusade.
'One of our friends was preaching. God used him in a very wonderful way that morning. About 10,000 people rushed to the pulpit to confess their sins - to acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ in their hearts. There was a deep confession of sin going on. We were helping the people - about five hundred of us - as counsellors. When we were praying, we heard a sound of angels singing - a huge group of people singing in the sky above. [It was a] very lovely song:"Jesus is coming soon:
Troublous times,
Jesus is coming soon.
Repent, repent, repent."[My comment: If you think this prophecy to be premature, I don't know what you will make of Revelation 22:20.]
'It was so lovely.
'For ten minutes the angels continued to sing. We didn't see them, but we heard the sound. Oh, it was so wonderful!
'One of my friends took his tape recorder and recorded this song.
'Our people love to sing that song - all over Nagaland today. They receive much blessing through singing it.' [Emphasis Larno's]
Rev. Longchar's description of the angelic singing as 'so lovely' should not be taken lightly. After visiting Nagaland, Pastor Des Short, of New Zealand, described the Naga people as 'exceptionally musical.' He claimed that, in marked contrast to western people, the majority of Naga people are born with perfect pitch. Even children at play sing in four-part harmony.
The 'outpouring' began in 1976 after the 'Baptist' churches in Nagaland had kept their pledge to pray for revival. Their twenty-four-hour-a-day prayer chain had continued unbroken for an entire year.
As a direct result of the revival, the state's smoking, drinking, cinema attendance, divorce and suicide rates all dramatically fell. A flabbergasted magistrate reported that in six months only one criminal case had appeared before his city's courts. Repentance was so widespread and genuine that precautions like locking houses became quite unnecessary. Former Hindus and head-hunters joined the ranks of fervent Christians confessing their sins and praying for hours at a time.
I could detect no boasting in Rev. Longchar's address. He spoke of himself surprisingly little. A major recurring theme was that there was nothing unique about his state's experience. He insisted that we could have the same type of revival.
The following is a slightly condensed transcript of part of the message I heard on March 8, 1981. (Used by permission) The incident described would have occurred no more than five years previous. Rev. Longchar told us:
'In one of the district capitals, near Burma, we had [a] revival meeting for four days. There were 35,000 people in a crusade.
'One of our friends was preaching. God used him in a very wonderful way that morning. About 10,000 people rushed to the pulpit to confess their sins - to acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ in their hearts. There was a deep confession of sin going on. We were helping the people - about five hundred of us - as counsellors. When we were praying, we heard a sound of angels singing - a huge group of people singing in the sky above. [It was a] very lovely song:"Jesus is coming soon:
Troublous times,
Jesus is coming soon.
Repent, repent, repent."[My comment: If you think this prophecy to be premature, I don't know what you will make of Revelation 22:20.]
'It was so lovely.
'For ten minutes the angels continued to sing. We didn't see them, but we heard the sound. Oh, it was so wonderful!
'One of my friends took his tape recorder and recorded this song.
'Our people love to sing that song - all over Nagaland today. They receive much blessing through singing it.' [Emphasis Larno's]
Rev. Longchar's description of the angelic singing as 'so lovely' should not be taken lightly. After visiting Nagaland, Pastor Des Short, of New Zealand, described the Naga people as 'exceptionally musical.' He claimed that, in marked contrast to western people, the majority of Naga people are born with perfect pitch. Even children at play sing in four-part harmony.
WALES:
Commencing at Beddgelert in 1817, a powerful move of God resulted in the salvation of multiplied thousands of Welsh people. From the midst of this move comes a report of people transfixed by what seemed to be massed heavenly choirs in the air singing songs of praise. (Orr, p100)
Decades later, (1851-2) in a small Montgomeryshire village, angelic singing signalled the commencement of a local Welsh revival. It was heard by a few disheartened Christians leaving their church after a seemingly fruitless week-long series of prayer meetings for revival. The 'indistinct' (Because it was in an angelic language?) but melodious sounds seemed to come from high above the church they had just left.
Next day, they discovered that many others in the district had heard the same beautiful music. Some had even gone outside to hear it and concluded it must be angelic. No other explanation was ever found.
Soon hundreds were flocking to the churches and experiencing the prayed-for outpouring of the Spirit. (Brown and Butterworth, p391 f)
Decades later, (1851-2) in a small Montgomeryshire village, angelic singing signalled the commencement of a local Welsh revival. It was heard by a few disheartened Christians leaving their church after a seemingly fruitless week-long series of prayer meetings for revival. The 'indistinct' (Because it was in an angelic language?) but melodious sounds seemed to come from high above the church they had just left.
Next day, they discovered that many others in the district had heard the same beautiful music. Some had even gone outside to hear it and concluded it must be angelic. No other explanation was ever found.
Soon hundreds were flocking to the churches and experiencing the prayed-for outpouring of the Spirit. (Brown and Butterworth, p391 f)
FRANCE:
A remarkable parallel occurred across the English Channel, nearly two centuries earlier.
A revival in 'the valleys of Dauphiny,' amongst Protestants in late Seventeenth Century France, was cited by John Wesley as proof that God acts in a supernatural way. (Wesley, vol. X, p56b) This Cevennol revival was preceded by widespread reports of 'strange sounds in the air: the sound of a trumpet and a harmony of voices.' And in Orthès it was said that in every house resided at least one person who had heard heavenly music. (Heath, p121, 126)
A revival in 'the valleys of Dauphiny,' amongst Protestants in late Seventeenth Century France, was cited by John Wesley as proof that God acts in a supernatural way. (Wesley, vol. X, p56b) This Cevennol revival was preceded by widespread reports of 'strange sounds in the air: the sound of a trumpet and a harmony of voices.' And in Orthès it was said that in every house resided at least one person who had heard heavenly music. (Heath, p121, 126)
