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Andrew Murray
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 A Ministry dedicated to preserving the truth and accuracy of the infallible Word of God. |
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| The Revivals Page 16 | |
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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 Report Of Special Correspondent In Belfast Witness Reliable information from experienced Christian business men, well known in the metropolis, shows that the influence of the Welsh revival has been by no means overstated. Evidently the principality is stirred from end to end. Specially notable, perhaps, is the work at Barry, where the revival "has so far been carried on almost exclusively in connection with the Welsh churches, but its effect has been far reaching. There is not a place of worship in the town -- church and nonconformist alike -- where the influence of the movement has not been felt. Special services have been held daily at different chapels at Barry, Barry Dock, and Cadoxton, during the past week, and morning, noon, and night the congregations have been very large. At the morning and afternoon meetings every day may be seen scores of instances of men who come home from work in the morning, attend the services during the day and return to work again at night after but little rest. There has also been a considerable falling off in the attendance at the Technical School on the part of the young people, many of the boys and girls preferring to be present and take part in the revival services. Already there have been over 300 public testimonies of conversion, and each gathering adds to this number. People walking up and down the streets resort almost unconsciously to hymn-singing. Men and women who have lived openly lives of sin and indifference have come to the meetings -- some, per-haps, from motives of curiosity, others to scoff and jeer -- but have remained to pray, and, bathed in tears of sorrow and repentance, they have publicly declared their intention to forsake sin. Last Sabbath, Gipsy Smith joined hands with Mr. Evan Roberts, at Mardy. Both spoke in the afternoon with pathos and power; yet the characteristic of the day was the perfect freedom of the meetings, the "harmony in confusion." Mr. Roberts said, "Don't talk about de-nominations these days" (bringing down his hand on the pulpit stand). "Away with all that. Give us Christ; that is what we want," and there were responsive "Amens" from all parts of the chapel. Prayer followed prayer, the subdued character of the meeting being exceedingly impressive. While a young supplicant was praying for the descent of the Spirit, and earnestly appealing for his friends to "seek Christ," a lady evangelist sang in an undertone, "I Need Thee Every Hour." A young lady's prayers for "her brother who was in darkness" elicited a chorus of "Amens" Then a young man under the gallery, in evident distress, prayed, "Oh, God, I think you will forgive my sins. 0, God, give me help to realize. 0, God, give me faith. I have not been in the right spirit, and am weak." He then broke down, and the missioners hurried to him and prayed, while the congregation broke forth into "Diolch Iddo" Another young man prayed in somewhat similar terms. "The last words of my father were --" and his choking voice failed, and his sobs were drowned by the rendering of a stirring hymn. "The doors of the public-houses are closed to-day," said one worshiper in prayer; "close them next week also." The evening meeting was no less remarkable. Madame Kate Morgan-Llewelyn and Gipsy Smith took a prominent part and Mr. Roberts was several times too overcome to take part. One young fellow, among other petitions, offered one for the local cycling club. Hymns and prayers followed, including what has now become a general favorite, "Tell Mother I'll Be There," and this led Gipsy Smith to speak of his traveling to South Wales to see the lane in which his gypsy mother died in a gypsy tent. "We had no Bible then," he remarked. "But she found Him!" he added with a tone of triumph. Mr. Roberts then essayed to speak. "I thought," he remarked, and his voice was almost choked with sobs, "when Gipsy Smith was talking about his mother having died in a tent -- I thought of my Saviour, who had no place whereon to lay His head, and--" he could proceed no further, and, overcome by emotion, he sobbed aloud. So affecting was the scene that the congregation was profoundly moved. A Quickening Among All Classes The great Welsh revival, which has attracted the attention of the Christian world, burst as a sudden flame of spiritual zeal, arousing the thousands to concern over their salvation in addition to wonderfully moving professed Christians to seek the life more abundant. It seems to be a coincidence that, while Dr. Torrey is holding his great meetings with marked success in Great Britain, a special leader of the Welsh people should be raised up. Evan Roberts, who has been largely instrumental in bringing about this revival, is a young man of only twenty-seven, and is de-scribed as not especially impressive in either appearance or speech, but as a man so completely consumed by his love for God and his anxiety to see men reconciled to their Father through Christ, that he fires with similar feeling multitudes with whom he is brought into contact. The Welsh revival has known no class boundaries. Miners in the collieries have been converted by scores, old difficulties in labor circles are being healed, outdoor sports have been abandoned for the sake of attending the meetings, prayer-meetings have been held even in bar-rooms, while proprietors of saloons have witnessed a great falling off in patronage. The Bishop of Llandaff came out in the press, bidding the movement God-speed. The Salvation Army has been working among the lower classes, but the Warden of St. Michael's College declares that those are to be pitied for their ignorance who do not think that "respectable people" do not need to be reached by this remarkable movement. Sectarian lines appear for the time to have been obliterated by this flood of power from on high that has lifted men above paltry bickerings in their concern over the great question of coming into right relation with God. As in such cases usually, the revival did not begin without much private prayer and preparation. Evan Roberts himself was so profoundly moved by the realization of God's love for men that his friends thought his reason in danger, and his landlady asked him to find an-other room. But when he began his work among the miners, he having once been a miner, it was soon evident that he was one of those who have been counted fools for Christ's sake, and that his seeming eccen-tricities were not the results of a disordered mind, but rather the manifestation of a soul so filled with Spirit-given power that it had to find a means of expending itself. The results promise to be both deep and lasting, and will be hailed by the devout everywhere as evidence that such seasons of awakening and quickening are not past, but may be brought about wherever there are men and women absolutely given up to such a purpose. -- Union Gospel News Report Of Rev. F. B. Meyer, A Memorable Day in Wales Leaving Paddington at 5:30 a.m., we reached Neath, in South Wales, about noon, and took a carriage for the mountain village of Llansamlet, about three and a half miles distant. There were no romantic views along the road -- just collieries and straggling mining villages, where life bore the most monotonous and depressing aspect. Little wonder that men who live under such conditions crave strong excitements to lift them above their surroundings. No money is spent on advertising the revival meetings, and there are no posters on the hoardings. No need to print Evan Roberts in large type in order to secure a crowd. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in mighty power that attracts. Still the lack of direction is rather disconcerting to a stranger; though, in our case, the difficulty was lessened by meeting groups of people hastening to the chapel, and we had the great pleasure of conveying thither the mother of the young miner-student whom God has so greatly honored. |
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