BELFAST REVIVAL MEETING LED BY 13-YEAR-OLD BOY
Ulster, 1859-60. A clergyman came to see if it was really true that the Holy Spirit was working through children
The meeting was held in a loft on the outskirts of Belfast. A clergyman arrived to find the steps crowded with children, and he helped some of them up. A mother who saw him exclaimed: "Oh no, here's a minister! He'll stop the wee ones." But he assured her that he had come to learn. She told him the meeting had been going on every evening for two months, from 7.30pm till ten. The oldest of the leaders was 13.
The minister counted 48 children squatting on the floor, eager and reverent. When one of the candles fell on to a boy's head and singed his hair, there was no stir, not even a titter; he quietly picked it up and put it back.
At the far end of the loft were benches occupied by 70-80 adults, but it was the children who led. The leader was a boy of thirteen, who prayed with power and conviction: "Show us our mountain of sin, so we can feel You are our Saviour from them. Though we are slaves to Satan, yet You, Jesus, can set us free for ever! Loose the bonds of sin, O Jesus, our Deliverer! O Lord, teach us truth and purity. Search all our thoughts, examine our hearts, show us all the things that are hateful in Your sight! We pray You to burn out all our inmost sins and wicked thoughts, against You and against each other. Burn them out, O pure Jesus, but save us in the burning."
A boy of twelve then tried to teach from Matthew's gospel, but got stuck on the long words, so exhorted instead: "Won't you come to Jesus and be baptised in the Spirit? Oh, come away from the devil and come for Jesus! Prepare the way of the Lord! How many of you are in hell? You know you don't feel free from the devil. Jesus wants to come for you."
And so it continued, the boys speaking one by one in orderly fashion. One needed practical help - his parents could not afford to pay the next week's rent. The children all got out their pocket money and the sum was met.
Then the clergyman got a shock because the girls began to pray. This offended his traditions but he let the Spirit move. A girl of 17 prayed fervently for the conversion of her family and for forgiveness for all her ingratitude to God. Another, much younger, declared: "I do love Jesus, and I'm not afraid to say what a Saviour I've found!"
Then a small girl of about ten arose, frail in body and clothed in rags. Trembling with the Lords anointing, she raised her hand and proclaimed Jesus crucified for our sins. The power fell instantly. A teenage boy slumped to the floor. Many began to weep. Two or three 12-year olds lay prostrate on the floor. Cries filled the air: "Mercy! Jesus, can You save me? Help, I'm finished!" Others felt the touch of God's mercy and sang loud praises, tears streaming down their beaming faces.
Finally, well past ten o'clock, the gathering ended with a favourite hymn, "Ye sleeping souls arise", and a very inspired clergyman returned to his hotel praising the Lord.
This article has been extracted from Revival Fires, available online from the Jesus People Shop.
Source: Revival in Belfast, The Meeting of the Wee Ones, Anon, pub: Dublin 1860.
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