THE WELSH REVIVAL of 1904-05

[Angelina]

THE WELSH REVIVAL of 1904-05
by Oliver W. Price

During the spring of 1904 a young Welshman named Evan Roberts
was repeatedly awakened at 1:00 a.m. He met with God until
5:00am. The Welsh revival followed. Churches were packed for
prayer meetings. In a prayer meeting for young people, Pastor
Joseph Jenkins asked for testimonies. A young girl named Florrie
Evans, who had only been a believer a few days, rose and with a
trembling voice said simply, "I love Jesus with all my heart." The
other young people's hearts were melted. A powerful spiritual
awakening that brought 100,000 people to Christ was under way.

On November 7th, 1904 Moraih Chapel was filled to capacity for
a prayer meeting that lasted until 3:00 a.m. Soul winning spread
through the coalmines. Profane swearing stopped. Even the miners'
horses were puzzled when their masters stopped cursing. Orders
to the Bible Society "for Scriptures from Wales during November
and December, were over three times the amount for the
corresponding months of 1903..." The Times said this resulted
from the Welsh revival, adding that this demand showed no sign
of falling off.

"The mighty and unseen breath of the Spirit was doing in a month
more than centuries of legislation could accomplish" the pastor of
Saint John's-Wood Presbyterian Church declared on Sunday,
January 1st, 1905 according to the London Times.The Welsh revival
"had a great effect" in healing spiritual carelessness among Christians
and "the growing bitterness which has accentuated our unhappy
divisions", the Bishop of Bangor declared on January 2nd, 1905.
He called "congregations to meet together often for united prayer."

The Times added that "the religious revival in Wales continues...
with unabated zeal." Huge crowds were attending the meetings.
Bible verses covered the doors down in the coalmines. "At
Swansea the Poor Law guardians...dealt with revival cases in
which people...have taken their parents from the workhouse. The
Welsh revival movement has shown no sign of flagging...", The
Times pointed out on January 10th. Entire congregations were
on their knees in fervent prayer and "for the first time there was
not a single case of drunkenness at the Swansea Petty Sessions."

The Times observed that "The whole population had been suddenly
stirred by a common impulse. Religion had become the absorbing
interest of their lives. They had gathered at crowded services for
six and eight hours at a time. Political meetings and even football
matches were postponed...quarrels between trade-union workmen
and non-unionists had been made up... At Glyn-Neath a feud had
existed for the past 10 or 12 years between the two Independent
chapels, but during the past week united services have been held
in both chapels, and the ministers have shaken hands before the
congregations."

The Salvation Army set apart January 19th, 1905 for a day of
confession, humiliation, and prayer throughout England, Ireland,
Scotland, and Wales. All day prayer meetings were held in many
of the principal cities of the British Isles, according to the London
Times. The meeting was marked by "fervent prayer and any one
who felt called upon to pray." Fires of spiritual revival and moral
recovery were spreading.

The revival fires burning in Wales in 1904-05 spread through
England, Ireland and Scotland. Prayer meetings multiplied. As
many as 2,000 attended a prayer meeting in the city of Bradford.
In the City of Leeds, Samuel Chadwick reported that his church
was never empty all day...

 

[rockytopva]

Guaranteed Smith Wigglesworth was there.


Those who knew him in his earlier years couldn't have imagined that one day he would see thousands converted, have piles of discarded crutches and braces in his meetings, and have a foreign government take action against him. Wigglesworth was born in 1859 and converted at age 8 in a Wesleyan Methodist revival, and an Anglican bishop confirmed him 2 years later.

In his late teens in Bradford, England, while preparing to become a master plumber, Wigglesworth became attracted to the Salvation Army because they seemed to have more spiritual power than any other group. And through this association, he met Polly Featherstone. Subsequent to their marriage in 1882, they shared in ministry by opening Bowland Street Mission in Bradford.

Two stirring spiritual experiences changed him and his ministry forever:

(1) In 1893 while attending one of the famous "higher life" conferences at the resort town of Keswick, the equivalent of an American camp meeting, he testified to being sanctified or baptized in the Spirit, as taught by the Keswick preachers.

(2) A greater turning point in his life occurred in 1907. He heard that people were receiving the Holy Spirit at Sunderland and decided to go and see for himself. Convinced that he had already gotten the Pentecostal Baptism, he grew discouraged while attending the services. Though "slain in the Spirit" several times, his spiritual hunger became even more intense. Finally, after 4 days of seeking to speak in tongues, he decided to head home but first stopped by the vicarage to say good-bye. Mary Boddy, the vicar's wife, said, "Brother Wigglesworth, it is not the tongues you need but the Baptism. If you will allow God to baptize you, the other will be all right." Although protesting that he had previously been baptized, he asked her to lay hands on him and pray that he would receive. After she did so and unexpectedly left the room, "the fire fell," he recalled. "The joy was so great that when I came to utter it my tongue failed, and I began to worship God in other tongues as the Spirit gave me utterance."

The next Sunday he entered the pulpit and, prompted by the Spirit, preached from Isaiah 61:1-3: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings...."

The bold and fluent preaching that came forth startled his wife as she sat in the back of the mission. Speaking in a voice loud enough that everyone around her heard, Polly sputtered, “That's not my Smith, Lord; that's not my Smith!” Polly was filled with the Spirit soon after, and the Bowland Street Mission changed dramatically. They continued in ministry until Polly's death 6 years later in 1913. Unknown to Wigglesworth, that humble beginning had ignited a preaching ministry that would eventually take him around the world. After arriving home, he found that Polly doubted his new experience. She claimed she was as much Spirit baptized as him without speaking in tongues. "I have been preaching for 20 years," she asserted, "and you have sat beside me on the platform. But on Sunday you will preach yourself, and I'll see what there is in it."

The next Sunday he entered the pulpit and, prompted by the Spirit, preached from Isaiah 61:1-3: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings...." The bold and fluent preaching that came forth startled his wife as she sat in the back of the mission. Speaking in a voice loud enough that everyone around her heard, Polly sputtered, “That's not my Smith, Lord; that's not my Smith!”

Polly was filled with the Spirit soon after, and the Bowland Street Mission changed dramatically. They continued in ministry until Polly's death 6 years later in 1913. Unknown to Wigglesworth, that humble beginning had ignited a preaching ministry that would eventually take him around the world.