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| The Revivals Page 1 | |
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Return to Revivals Main Index >> The Revivals "Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?" Psalm 85:6 The Great Revival in Wales Prefatory Note Never before have we known such faith and prayer among those who live in close communion with God, and now all can see that the spirit of faith and desire and expectancy is deepening and spreading, and in many places glorious revivals are already in progress. Speaking of this desire and of the burden of prayer resting upon her, one sister writes: "I have been in an agony of soul for weeks. It seems at times as if it would almost take my life"; and this is the language of our own and many other hearts. Several National Convocations of Prayer have been held in different parts of our own land, and at every one God has granted to His own, very much of the spirit of prayer and intercession. Many have spent whole nights weeping and crying to God to revive His work, knowing in their own inmost souls the groanings of the Spirit that could not be uttered. Nor has the spirit of prayer been confined to any one class, place or denomination. That God is leading out His saints, and by His own right hand of power preparing the way for a general outpouring of His Spirit in this as in other lands, is blessedly manifest. To aid in this work, we have gathered together these various reports of the gracious and glorious revival now going on in Wales, believing that everywhere these reports go, God can use them to stir up other hearts to increased faith and prayer, and so hasten the coming of the glorious day for which we watch and pray. God help us all to lay hold upon God, and to "give Him no rest" "till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth!" Yours for the faith once delivered to the saints, — S. B. Shaw, Chicago, IL, April, 1905. The Revival in Wales Wales is in the throes and ecstacies of the most remarkable religious revival it has ever known. It is nothing less than a "moral revolution." The last great movement of the kind which swept over the land was in the years 1859-60, a period that was memorably fruitfulfor the cause of Christ throughout the kingdom generally, notably in the north of Ireland. There are many still living in Wales who speak of those "good old times" with pardonable pride and thank-fulness. They are the "fathers and mothers in Israel" today. I have heard some of these testifying in recent meetings in the Rhondda Valley. With one consent they declare that even that remarkable "sea-son of refreshing from the presence of the Lord" -- which witnessed thousands brought to decision for Christ -- pales before the glory of this modern Pentecost. Already, in five or six weeks, the fire has spread to six or seven counties, and bids fair to find its way --as did Daniel Rowlands, of Llangeitho, that great evangelist of the eighteenth century -- "into every parish in Wales, from Cardiff to Holyhead, and from Presteign to St. David's." What has largely contributed to the rapidity of the movement is the widespread publicity given to it in the press -- both secular and religious. Every day for weeks past the South Wales Daily News and the Western Mail, the two leading dailies in South Wales, have devoted three or four columns to reports of it. The evening papers, too, are full of it. Formerly, as some one has observed, they devoted whole columns to sport, and a paltry paragraph or two to anything concerning the Kingdom of Christ. Now it is the other way about. What everybody is talking about, and anxious to hear about, in South Wales, is "the revival," and the proprietors of the press are not at all slack in catering for the public taste. The converts already number many thousands. Mr. Evan Roberts calculates that in the mining valleys of South Wales alone -- that southeastern corner of the principality which is well marked on any railway map -- there have been at least 10,000 conversions. And if we add to this the harvest gleaned in various other places north and south, the number can not be far short of 20,000. For, be it understood there are many districts in the principality where a mighty work is going on, and where meetings are held almost day and night, of which no reports have been forthcoming in the press. The counties of Carmarthen and Cardigan, e.g., as also many places in North Wales, are all astir and sharing in the general blessing. The movement has penetrated into some of the remotest corners of the principality, and many a distant lonely valley is echoing the glad music of salvation. Figures, of course, are not everything; but for Wales these figures are astonishing, when it is borne in mind that they represent net additions to the membership of the churches which already numbered upon their books about one half of the entire population of the country, and that the margin left for aggression, there-fore, was nothing like as large as would be the case, say, in England. Moreover, the churches, them-selves have experienced a great quickening and many, both ministers and people, have testified to anew joy and power, and to receiving a baptism of the Holy Spirit. The question is frequently asked, "How and where did the revival originate?" "Recent as it is, its human and historical origin seems to baffle discovery. But, truth to tell, there is not much anxiety on that score. Everybody seems to be so interested in its progress as not to be troubled about its origin." But it has been definitely ascertained that for some time previously there was a yearning in the heart of many devout and godly people for such an awakening and amongst the faithful an expectation of it. For, religious as Wales was considered to be -- with its love of the Bible, the sanctuary, sacred song, and the Sabbath-school -- there were ominous "signs of the times" which made the faithful watchers on Zion's hilltops tremble, and drove them to their knees in earnest prayer. Prayer soon became prophecy. Only three months ago one of the saintliest of Welch preachers publicly pro-claimed from the pulpit his absolute conviction "that a mighty out-pouring of the Spirit was at hand, and that marvelous times would follow." Well -- the marvelous has happened, and happened in unexpected fashion. For weeks past meetings have been going on in various parts of the country, and, in numerous instances, have been protracted into the small hours of the morning. The extraordinary thing about these meetings is their unconventional character. There is no organization, no program, no precentor, no pre-siding elder! Everything is left to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Preaching, in the usual acceptation of the word, has, for the time being, been entirely discarded, and is superseded by singing, prayer, and general testimony. |
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