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The Revivals
From: Classic Books for Today #156
By S. B. Shaw (1905)
(Used by Permission)
"Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?" Psalm 85:6
Sweetly led by Miss Annie Davies, the huge congregation rose and sang with overwhelming power and pathos a hymn of full surrender, which brought everybody to the very gate of heaven. Then a young woman from LLanelly, with charming simplicity and choking voice, told how for long God's face had been hidden from her, and she felt she was cut adrift, till it pleased God to chasten her on a bed of suffering, and there she had a vision of Christ in His kingly robes; she "saw the King in His beauty," and that had set all right. She had beenmuch persecuted for her religion, but her faith in Jesus was exultant. The effect of this inspiring testimony was tremendous. Let no one sneer at the part that woman is taking in this revival. God is greatly honoring her, and she is confessing Him by singing, praying, and testifying. A woman's voice is often heard when the woman herself can not be seen.
It is quite exceptional for there to be any obtruding of personality. What she does is generally done modestly, under the pressure of intense feeling and with a simplicity that reaches all hearts. Later on in the meeting a young man sprang to his feet and said under great excitement, "I have given myself to Christ. I have 11 pounds in the bank; I will give that too" And here again Evan Roberts' common-sense was as evident as his grace. "Amen. Give it to Him by all means, but keep the money until you are given an unmistakable indication what God would have you do with it."
Joyous surrender was the key-note of this service, and towards the close the young evangelist said, "There will soon be a great demand for funds, for missionaries will be plentiful. Hundreds have declined the call to proceed to the mission fields because they loved parents and friends more than they loved the Lord." Those who attended the first meetings of the revival in November and are able to compare Evan Roberts now with what he was then are greatly impressed with his growing power. One well qualified to judge says: "There is a wondrous change in him already. He has immensely improved. His voice has gained in sweetness and resonance, while he is never at a loss for a bright clear thought and plain, simple language in which to express 1t.
With so much liberty in these meetings it is astonishing that there is not more license. But here, too, the evangelist is learning by experience, and on two occasions this week he has stopped a few who ought to have been stopped long ago. "Stop! Stop! Some meetings have been spoiled so that other meetings may be saved. In this way I have learnt wisdom and so must you. You may quench the Spirit by wanting to show yourselves"
In the same meeting at which this occurred a man said in Welsh: "Lord, we thank Thee for that extra turn of the screw we had just now" The next day at Llansamlet the curiosity to see the young evangelist was so keen that the first hour of the meeting -- was perceptibly chilled by it. He said, "One might think you have come here from the North Pole, but if you had passed Calvary you would be warmer than you are. This won't do. You are placing man before God. There are three spirits in this meeting -- the Spirit of God, the spirit of man, and the evil spirit."
This brought Rev. Penar Griffiths up. He and his church have been abundantly blessed in this revival. "These meetings are too cheap," he declared. "Some of you say you have lost a day's work, have you lost a tear? Others of you say you have closed your shops, but have you opened your hearts?"
The thaw soon came, and then there followed a truly heart-searching incident. The evangelist invited those who had done their best for Christ to stand up. Many ministers and prominent church workers from far and near were present, and the chapel was thronged with eager Christians. For a minute or so, all looked within, but no one dared to rise. At last a woman, whose eyes were red with weeping, stood and said, "I have tried to do my best for Him," and so said another. All through the audience it was evident the thought was prayerfully working. "Have I done my best?" and soon there came the confessions, voluntarily given, that have been so frank and stimulating in this revival.
Said one minister, "I have felt since I remained seated that I have done my best for Jesus, but it has not been so clear and pure as it might have been" Then a very old man told how humbled he was, and how for two days prior to that meeting he had fasted prayerfully. Then a young working man rose and said how after yesterday's meeting he had been reconciled to a neighbor with whom he had been at variance for sixteen years. "He is here now," and pointed to the one concerned, who humbly acquiesced. Following these confessions, there came uplifting song and mighty prayer, and a meeting that was icy to begin with was as consuming fire at the end.
The ethical results of this revival continue to be great and convincing. Everybody feels it is more than a coincidence that at the Quarter Sessions of the County of Glamorgan on Tuesday the judge was able to announce that the calendar was the lightest for twenty years, and that of the eleven cases, only one was of a serious character.
Many people are devoting their energies to the establishment of rescue homes for the unfortunate victims of men's cruel lust, some of whom now are longing for deliverance and shelter.
The delegates of the Miners' Western District decided at Swan-sea to hold no more meetings in public-houses. At the meeting of the Rhondda (No.1) District of the Miners' Federation the chairman alluded to the revival, and hoped theywould seek the guidance of the Spirit in commercial affairs, and so secure a more satisfactory settlement of their unfortunate disputes.
At Ystradgynlais, before a meeting of 1,500 people -- three ministers who had publicly quarreled about local politics and the administration of the Education Act, be-came publicly reconciled, and ended their animosities by cordially uniting in the soul-saving work of the revival. Similar results are of daily occurrence in commerce, in society, and in the church.
Cardiff is receiving a very gracious baptism, and our own churches are sharing blessedly in the results. There has been a distinct outpouring during the past week. At Roathroad, Broadway and Splott-road there are constant con-versions, and private advices from other Methodist centers show that our people are receiving and communicating the sacred fire.
The event of the week has been the publishing of the full and authentic account of Evan Robert's experience as dictated by him on December 28 to Rev. T. Francis, Church Missionary minister, Gorseinon, by whom it has been translated into English.
All Methodists will see in it a wonderful similarity to the narratives of God's dealings with the early Methodist preachers. The more important extracts will be deeply interesting to the readers of the Methodist Times.
Evan Roberts' Story
"For thirteen years I had prayed for the Spirit, and this is the way I was led to pray. William Davies, the deacon, said one night in the society: `Remember to be faithful. What if the Spirit descended andyou absent? Remember Thomas! What a loss he had.' I said then to myself, `I will have the Spirit.' And through all weather and in spite of all difficulties I went to the meetings. Many times on seeing other boys with the boats on the tide I was tempted to turn back and join them.
But no. Then I said to myself, 'Re-member your resolve to be faithful,' and on I went. Prayer-meeting Monday evening at the chapel, prayer-meeting Tuesday evening at Pisgah (Sunday School branch); church meeting, Wednesday; Band of Hope, Thursday; class, Friday evening -- to these I went faithfully through the years. For ten or eleven years I have prayed for a revival. I could sit up all night to read or talk about revivals. It was the Spirit that moved me to think about this.
"One Friday night last spring, when praying by my bedside before retiring, I was taken up to a great expanse -- without time and space. It was communion with God. Be-fore this a far-off God I had. I was frightened that night, but never since. So great was my shivering that I rocked the bed, and my brother, being awakened, took hold of me, thinking I was ill.
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