Inverness (1905)



In the spring of 1905, Mr W. F. Stewart promised some friends in Inverness to conduct a mission in the town. Mr Stewart did not fix a date, not knowing what work the Lord might have for him where he had made previous engagements. A small but representative committee was appointed to make arrangements, and special meetings for prayer were organised. From the first, a warm and hopeful spirit prevailed. Reports of the blessing attending the Albatross Mission in Caithness, and of the stirring scenes of the Welsh revival, helped to increase the spirit of expectation. The attendance at the prayer meetings steadily increased. The Rev. Alexander Frazer's account of the work in Wales, given to an audience of 1400 in the Music Hall, on the 12th of March, still further deepened and extended the interest in the coming mission. It was not till the first week of April that Mr Stewart felt himself free to leave the work in Thurso, where the Lord has so manifestly blessed himself and his helpers.

From the commencement of the Mission there were many evident tokens of the Spirit's presence and power, and a most gracious revival of religion was experienced. Most of the ministers of all denominations in the town co-operated in the work. For five weeks congregations of from 1000 to 2000 persons gathered every night to hear the gospel proclaimed in speech and song. The great majority of those attending were young men and women, who, in various ways, gave certain evidence of their heartfelt interest in the work, and in the Lord. Over six hundred of them signed such a covenant as this:— "I, the undersigned, have received the LORD JESUS CHRIST to be my Saviour, and I promise with God's help, to live as His loving child and faithful servant all my life."

By public verbal testimony, by public prayer, by attendance at prayer meetings, by study of the Word of God, and by an open profession of their faith in Christ, as well as by changed lives, they have proved the genuineness of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and lives.

The large number of young converts connected with the several congregations made a special meeting to help and stimulate and guide their young life, a matter of necessity if they were to be kept from lapsing or from extravagance. The pulse of the new and fresh life flowing through the community was felt by every congregation. In some churches the number of persons seeking admission to the Lord's table by profession was greater than on any previous occasion. Every agency experienced a revival. The Spirit of God breathed His quickening life into the community, and the course and current of many a life has been changed, and characters are now being formed and moulded for Christ and after His pattern.

‘Revivals in the Highlands and Islands’ by Alexander Macrea – Republished in 1998 by Tentmaker Publications.


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