First, allow me to explain what I mean by the word ‘revival’. I use the term to describe the activity of the Holy Spirit within a period of time in which he regenerates sinners and enlivens believers to a greater degree than he usually does. Instead of a few being converted, many are converted; instead of believers being spiritually dry and ineffective, their devotion to Christ and love to each other is greatly increased. This period can vary in length as far as its initial intensity is concerned; there are, however, generally long-term influences on the communities concerned because even those who are not converted are affected. Strangely, Christians can oppose revival if it comes through parts of the church with which they differ; such can miss out on its blessings.
Today, Inverness is a city, spread over several square miles. Obviously that was not always the case. I can remember when Inverness was approximately half its current size. In the past the population was very much lower than today. In the seventeenth century Inverness was made up of two or three streets; at the close of the eighteenth century it had grown to just over 9,000 inhabitants. It was a government outpost and a trading centre to which people from the surrounding area came on business and for work. This is important for our topic for Inverness was affected by spiritual movements in the surrounding countryside.
I intend first of all to give a short history of revivals in Inverness and its surrounding area. Secondly, I will outline the life of Robert Bruce whose preaching was owned by God in Inverness in the seventeenth century. Then I will concentrate on the revival in Inverness that accompanied the ministry of Robert Bruce. Finally I will suggest some lessons that may help us as we pray for revival in our community today.
Survey of spiritual blessing in Inverness
The coming of Christianity to Inverness is associated with the labours of Columba in bringing the gospel to the Picts, in particular to King Brude, his headquarters being near Craig Dunain. The Picts that Columba visited were nature-worshippers.
Columba came from Ireland to Iona in AD 563 when he was 42 years of age. Iona became a kind of training-school for preachers of the Celtic church (the Celtic church based in Ireland, Wales and the West of Scotland sent evangelists to modern-day France, Germany and Switzerland, as well as the rest of Britain).
The Free Church Professor of the nineteenth century, William Garden Blaikie, in his book, The Preachers of Scotland, lists four emphases of the Celtic church:
(a) its preaching was thoroughly biblical; they loved the Word of God. It is said that Columba in his life wrote 300 copies of the Gospels and Psalms.
(b) its members lived out their beliefs - they lived simple lives, caring for others.
(c) it laid stress on the praise of God, not simply in worship, but also in evangelising the heathen. There was an incident in Columba’s life when confronted with hostile Druids, he sang Psalm 44 to them ‘which silenced them and caused great respect in other onlookers’.
(d) it engaged in holy, courageous enterprise - the monks thought nothing of travelling over land and sea to spread the gospel.
Although Columba convinced the Pictish king of the superiority of Christianity, there is no proof that he became a Christian. Nevertheless a church was established that existed for a short time as a witness to the gospel.
The Celtic Church came under the control of the Roman Catholic Church and Scotland became part of the Pope’s spiritual kingdom. For virtually the next 1,000 years, there is no record of much real Christianity.
Inverness continued to be the most important town of the Highlands, even after it ceased to have a royal inhabitant when Scotland became a united nation with a central capital. While travel between Inverness and the Lowlands was difficult by road, it was not by sea. It had trade not only with the rest of the country but also with Europe. This was important during the Reformation, for it was the centres of trade that normally were first affected by the ideas of the Reformers, in particular Luther and Calvin.
Dr. Gustavus Aird, in his Moderator’s Address to the Free Church Assembly held in Inverness in 1888, when his subject was The Progress of Evangelical Religion in the Highlands, said he was confident that Tyndale’s New Testament entered the Highlands through the ports of Thurso, Wick, Cromarty and Inverness. Yet while the Reformation had strong support in Easter Ross, it does not seem to have been so in Inverness. Nothing of any significance is recorded until the arrival of Robert Bruce in 1605. He ministered in two periods between 1605 and 1624. I will be saying more about him later.
The period from 1688-1800 was a spiritually prosperous period in the Eastern Highlands. Most of the revivals were associated with the sacramental seasons. There was a revival in Easter Ross in 1724 and a revival began in Nigg in 1730; nine years later, a spiritual movement of such magnitude developed out of that church that affected the surrounding countryside and the blessing lasted for nearly 100 years.
In the 1740s there were revivals in Rosskeen and Rosemarkie (as well as elsewhere). There was a revival in Croy from 1766-1771 under the ministry of James Calder. I mention these revivals because they must have had an influence on Inverness.
John Mackay in his book The Church in the Highlands says that the Haldane preachers had much success in Inverness during the late 1790s. In 1797 one of the Haldane preachers, Rafe by name, conducted services in Inverness at which 4,000 would assemble to hear him. Yet Rafe discovered that Christianity was ceasing to be a living force in Inverness. Although all these people flocked to hear him, yet he found evidence of widespread Sabbath-breaking and pleasure-seeking, especially by the young.
Yet God was at work. Two years later James Haldane reported that several young people had been converted in Inverness. In the same year a Mr Ballantine preached at the Methodist church and reported that many young people were earnestly seeking the Lord.
During the first half of the nineteenth century, the name associated with evangelism in the Highlands is John MacDonald, the Apostle of the North. It seems, however, that not all approved of his preaching methods and, in particular, he was accused of mesmerising his hearers. Inverness, now a larger town of about 12,000 inhabitants, seems to have sided with his critics. Nevertheless there were those in the town working for spiritual recovery.
In 1820, Robert Findlater, a friend of MacDonald’s, was called as minister of the Chapel of Ease. During the preceding years, he had seen extensive revival in his parish in Perthshire and he longed to see similar movements in Inverness. He was soon aware that nominal religion was prevalent among many regular churchgoers, and even among genuine Christians there was a strong tendency for party spirits to show itself. His response was to preach upon the necessity of immediate acceptance of Christ by sinners. In addition, Findlater realised that many young people did not know biblical doctrine and were therefore not able to understand sermons; to deal with this, he encouraged the development of Sunday schools in which such could be taught and catechised about the doctrines of the faith before becoming regular attenders in the church. Findlater also used Christian literature as a means of communicating biblical truth to suitable individuals.
But in 1832 a cholera outbreak struck terror into the hearts of the inhabitants, and one of those it carried away was Robert Findlater. Nevertheless the outbreak was used by God to bring revival to the town. I quote from the book, Revival in the Highlands:
‘About the year 1832, when the cholera outbreak had struck terror to the heart of the citizens, Dr MacDonald assisted at a communion in the East Church. On the Monday he preached from these words, ‘Having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.’ It was a masterly and complete defence of the revival. ‘The preacher was unusually calm until the end of his discourse, then he was on fire, summing up and relating in quick succession the movement he had witnessed and the part he had taken in it, and manifesting the effect of the revival on Easter Ross. He appealed to his audience, and urged them no longer ‘to resist the Holy Ghost as their fathers did,’ but to yield themselves up to him who is the quickening and sanctifying breath, and whose power is the life of the church. The effects of that one sermon were great and far-reaching.’ The capital of the Highlands was won. He won their head and heart by the one superb effort. Souls were won to Christ, while many who had been opposed to revivals were completely won over. The East Church became the centre of a special work.’
In 1859 there was a worldwide revival and it affected Inverness. A Rev. Fraser reported that many men and women and little children were enquiring after salvation. And that for fifteen months there had been several groups of young men meeting for prayer.
The next period of spiritual blessing is associated with the visit of the American evangelist D L Moody. He is normally associated with introducing new methods of evangelism into the Highlands, in particular altar calls. Even if we disagree with this aspect of his evangelism, we cannot ignore the fact that many people were converted under his preaching. In 1874, Moody did a preaching tour of the Highlands visiting Tain, Strathpeffer, Nairn and Elgin as well as Inverness. There were large crowds at each service; at one meeting in Inverness about 5,000 were present. Churches of the area increased in numbers as a result.
It needs to be pointed out, however, that several of these towns were preparing for blessing long before Moody appeared. In Elgin, for example, prior to Moody’s arrival, they had five months of prayer; it should not be surprising then that during one five-week period, an average of 20 people a night were converted - 700 people during the period. In Inverness, a spirit of expectancy and earnest prayer preceded Moody’s arrival. I think it is important to remember that Moody had no intention of coming to Scotland when he came to Britain. But God had caused the people to pray for a revival and Moody was the instrument used.
The next recorded time of blessing in Inverness that I am aware of took place in 1898 in Queen Street Free Church (now an undertaker’s premises) under the preaching of a student minister, Alexander Fraser, who was supplying there during the summer. Several hundred people were affected by his preaching, some so eager to know about salvation that they went to his lodgings at night to discuss it further. Most of the converts were young men and women. ‘The fruits of that work of grace were very real and striking. In changed lives, in beautiful characters and in active Christian service, the converts are bringing forth fruit unto God.’
The final period I wish to refer to is the spring of 1905, the year after the Welsh Revival of 1904. A minister gave a lecture in Inverness on that Revival to an audience of 1,400 in March. This obviously created interest and when an evangelist by the name of W F Stewart came to Inverness in April, the ground was ready for the seed of the gospel. Over a period of five weeks over 600 were converted and this brought new life to several of the local churches.
That is a brief summary of some periods of blessing enjoyed in Inverness and obviously a lot more could be noted.
Revival Associated with Robert Bruce
Who was he?
Who was he? Robert Bruce was born in 1554 at Airth Castle in Stirlingshire, the second son of a prominent family. His father was descended from King Robert the Bruce, his mother was a great granddaughter of James I of Scotland, and one of her sisters was a maid of honour to Mary, Queen of Scots. His family was not only of high rank, but on several occasions performed notable acts of public service for king and country.
Like several other families, his family was divided with regard to the religious fervour of the times - some were strongly Roman Catholic while others supported the Reformation. One of his brothers, John, strongly supported Robert in his conflicts. Another brother, also called Robert, was a Roman Catholic priest.
His parents arranged for him to have the best education available, including studying abroad. He attended St. Andrews University, studying at a college that adhered to the Roman Catholic faith, his studies beginning in 1568 when he was fourteen. Yet this did not prevent him listening to John Knox during his final year in St. Andrews, 1572. Bruce then studied civil law at a French university, followed by a period at the Belgian College of Louvain, another staunch Roman Catholic stronghold. It was a very disciplined institution, however, where every hour had to be accounted for. This practice no doubt helped create the useful ability for devotional exercises that were a feature of his later Christian life. He returned to Scotland, to practise law in the Court of Session.
His conversion
Although Bruce was so involved with study, another influence had been affecting him. A battle had been taking place within him that was finally resolved on the night of 31st August 1581, when he finally pled to God for mercy. A consequence of this was his decision to study theology, to prepare for the ministry. This choice was not easy to fulfil as his parents, particularly his mother, were much opposed to this. In the end, he had to give up the right to the estate of Kinnaird before he could proceed with his training. Already he was discovering the cost of following Christ.
During this period, James VI was attempting to impose Episcopacy on the Scottish church. Andrew Melville, one of Bruce’s lecturers in theology at St. Andrews, and who had been the leader of the Scottish church since the death of Knox, concluded that one useful response to royal interference was for Robert Bruce to become the minister of St. Giles. There are probably two reasons for this. First, Bruce, due to his birth, carried authority from his high rank in society. Secondly, and more important, Bruce, in his period of theological study, had displayed great gifts in preaching.
His preaching
Bruce at this stage was not yet ordained, although several years had passed since he began studying theology. He was reluctant to accept ordination, not just because of his humble estimate of his own abilities, but also because he suffered from trying doubts about the existence of God. However, faced with the call from St Giles, he ‘advised with my God, and thought it meet to obey’. Bruce was to serve there for 12 years.
What were some of the features of his preaching?
(a) It was a ministry bathed in prayer. In public services, on entering the pulpit, Bruce had a time of silent prayer. Then in his vocal prayers, he was ‘brief but every sentence was like a strong bolt shot up to heaven,’ often doing so in tears.
(b) His preaching was calm and easy to understand. He did not believe in long services, the normal length being one and a half hours! A common phrase of his was, ‘I shall be short, by God’s grace’ and ‘By God’s grace, I shall be clear’. It was the case that he rarely preached but to a weeping congregation.
(c) He was a man of courage. His congregation included the king and lords of the realm. Often the king would interrupt the preacher if he disagreed with the sermon. In one instance, James interrupted Bruce three times. Twice Bruce ignored the interruptions, but when it happened a third time, Bruce said to the king, ‘It is said to have been an expression of the wisest of kings, “When the lion roars, all the beasts of the field are quiet.” The Lion of the tribe of Judah is now roaring in the voice of his gospel, and it becomes all the petty kings of the earth to be silent.’ Yet the king respected Bruce and made him a counsellor of the state.
(d) He gave great prominence to the Lord’s Supper. Bruce indeed is remembered chiefly today for the book known as ‘Sermons on the Sacrament’. The Reformers realised the importance of the Lord’s Supper - in several congregations it was held monthly. Before the sacrament was shared, the minister addressed the communicants. During the partaking of the bread and wine, portions of scripture were read to help the participants think of Christ as well as stressing the centrality of the Word of God.
This, then, was the type of man whom God was to use in Inverness.
Exile and banishment
Because of his opposition to Episcopacy, Bruce and the king disagreed. The king assumed that all who opposed him in anything were likely to prove treasonable, a suspicion for which, in Bruce’s case, he had no grounds. Ultimately Bruce was exiled, first to France, but as some influential friends won the right for him to return to Scotland, he was then exiled to Inverness in August 1605. This was the first of two exiles to Inverness - this one lasted eight years until 1613 and the second from 1622-25.
His closing years and death
Bruce, after his return from Inverness the second time, settled in his estate (which his father had returned to him) near Larbert. It became the location of gatherings for prayer, preaching and celebrations of the Lord’s Supper. Great experiences of God’s presence and blessing occurred and Bruce, now an old man, became the spiritual guide to men who were to be greatly used by God.
Bruce died on 27th July 1631 in his 77th year. On the day of his death, he arose as normal and enjoyed his breakfast. Suddenly, he said to his daughter, ‘Hold, daughter, hold; my Master calleth’. He asked for the family Bible but because of failing eyesight was unable to read it. He asked his family to turn to Romans 8 which he recited. When he came to the final two verses, he asked that his fingers be placed on them, and then said, ‘God be with you, my children. I have breakfasted with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus this night. I die believing in these words.’
About 5,000 attended his funeral in Larbert. On his tombstone, engraved in Latin, are the words ‘Christ in life and in death is gain’. Those of you who have read McCheyne’s Diary will know that he was an assistant in Larbert. In that book, Andrew Bonar refers to McCheyne’s sense of experiencing blessing due to Bruce’s prayers offered over 200 years before.
Assessment of others
Before I say something of his period in Inverness, I will give some estimations other well-known preachers had of him.
Alexander Henderson, the leader of the Scottish church during the Second Reformation, regarded Bruce as his father-in-Christ, for it was during one of Bruce’s sermons that Henderson was converted in 1615.
John Livingstone, used in a later revival, said of Bruce, ‘No man in his time spoke with such evidence and power of the Spirit; no man had so many seals of conversion: yea, many of his hearers thought no man since the apostles spoke with such power’. Livingstone learned to pray from Bruce’s example. As a young man, he often went to Bruce’s house for fellowship. On one occasion, when he arrived, Bruce said to him and a friend, ‘You must go and leave me for some time. I thought yesternight when I lay down that I had a good measure of the Lord’s presence: and now I have wrestled (in prayer) this hour or two, and have not yet got access’.
Andrew Melville described Bruce as ‘that confessor, almost martyr of the Lord Jesus’.
Bruce in Inverness (1605-1625)
Inverness at this time comprised two streets, nestled under the shadow of the castle (not the present building). A bridge did cross the Ness. Needless to say, Inverness was not an attractive place. There was no doctor - a problem for Bruce whose health had been affected by his hardships. During his first stay, there was little fruit, although for four years he preached every Sabbath morning and Wednesday, as well as conducting public prayers each alternate evening. The town council made life difficult for him; the local minister opposed him and on one occasion, a man shot at him, missing him by inches. Bruce was concerned about living in Inverness and was no doubt very grateful when he was allowed to return to his estate in the Lowlands in 1613.
In 1621, his wife died and Bruce had to go to Edinburgh to settle some financial affairs. He was still banished from the city, and although he had no intention of staying more than a few hours, he was arrested. He suffered an imprisonment of five months in the castle, before being brought to trial. Although the judges were inclined to be lenient and confine him to his estate, the King decreed that Bruce be once more banished to Inverness. Remember he was now 67 years old, weak in strength, and a widower. He travelled via Aberdeenshire where he had contact by letter with David Dickson who had been banished to Turriff.
On the day of his departure, as he was about to mount his horse, he stopped and seemed to have his mind elsewhere. He continued in this state for about 15 minutes. When asked what had happened, Bruce replied, ‘I was receiving my commission from my Master to go to Inverness, and he gave it to me himself, before I set my foot in the stirrup, and thither I go to sow a seed in Inverness that shall not be rooted out for many ages.’
What happened when he came back to Inverness?
To begin with, he faced antagonism and for a while could not even find lodging. Satan was determined to keep this chosen vessel out of Inverness. But within a short time, things changed. Remember that Bruce was only in Inverness for 3 years during his second banishment. Soon thousands were coming to listen to him. A great sense of spiritual hunger came over the people of the north and they gathered in their thousands to hear him. They came from Ross-shire and Sutherland every Lord’s Day to listen to his sermons. There probably was a language problem, for Bruce did not know Gaelic and the inhabitants of the Highlands would not have much English, yet thousands were converted and became followers of Christ, not just in Inverness but throughout the Eastern Highlands.
I should say at this stage that there is a difference of opinion regarding the spiritual results of Bruce’s first banishment. Some take the view that the first was the more successful. However, having read various writers on these events, I think they took facts from his second visit and placed them in his first visit. Therefore, I have followed the opinion of Bruce’s biographer, D C MacNicol, who believes the first was not particularly spiritually prosperous.
What were some of the results of Bruce’s short stay?
(a) I have just mentioned that the Lord used this revival to bring groups of believers into existence throughout the north. These groups of believers met together for praise, instruction and prayer. The Highlands, as a whole, were spiritually dead before Bruce came in 1623. Such religion as there was, apart from a few exceptions, was a mixture of Roman Catholicism and pagan superstition. But in mighty power, the Spirit came and in a relatively short time transformed the religious state of the area.
(b) Individuals were converted who became useful evangelists and preachers, such as Alexander Munro, son of a laird in Kiltearn who was greatly used in the Reay country of the far north of Scotland.
(c) There were gatherings for praise which developed the interesting practice of putting the Scripture into rhyme, it being thereby easier learned, and became a means of spreading the gospel.
(d) The converts were enthusiastically evangelistic and spread the gospel to their fellows - to use a modern description, they witnessed. But they did it from burning hearts.
(e) Further they had stickability. This can be seen in two ways. First, twenty-five years later, during the Covenanting struggles when the Catholic Marquis of Montrose recruited much of his army from the Highlands, he found little support in the Inverness area. A Jesuit writing to the General of his Society, after commenting on the warm weather, wrote, ‘But if the region is warm, so also is the temper of the inhabitants, who are ardent Calvinists, having become obstinately imbued with these sentiments by a preacher who was sent here for banishment by King James the Sixth.’ Secondly, the memory of Bruce was treasured for many years. A visitor to Inverness 80 years after Bruce left, recorded that the memory of Bruce was still sweet in Inverness. Yet these converts were not dependent on their spiritual father. When he left Inverness, they continued to develop.
I would suggest that Bruce, because of the effects of his second banishment, is the most significant visitor Inverness has ever had. Today over 330 years later we still enjoy spiritual benefits that were first brought here through Bruce.
What can we learn from these past Invernesians to help us?
(1) We can learn from those of 1905 to be both encouraged and challenged to pray by revivals elsewhere. What led them to pray was the Welsh Revival of 1904 and they experienced a share of it the following year. There are revivals happening today in many parts of the world. We should be encouraged to read about such and challenged to pray for similar experiences.
(2) We can learn from the Invernesians of 1859 and 1874 to continue in prayer. They prayed in harmony for months beforehand. There are opportunities to do that in Inverness at present. Also they were united in prayer. While they retained their denominational distinctives, they did not let them become barriers to united public prayer meetings. This aspect of prayer seems to be an essential feature of revival. It is very difficult to discover a revival that occurred as a result of Christians refusing to pray together because of their denominational views.
(3) We can learn from the Invernesians of the 1830s that to despise revival can lead to God using trouble to bring us to our senses. Then it was a cholera outbreak. Perhaps God is speaking to us in unemployment, in Sabbath breaking, in our streets not being safe. Does our local press lead us to pray as it describes to us such departures from God’s way?
(4) We can learn from almost all revivals the importance of praise. No means of praise nor manner of expressing it was common to all the revivals but expressions of praise was. Whether it was Columba chanting, or the soft Gaelic psalm-singing of Dr MacDonald’s time, or the rousing hymns associated with later revivals it does not seem to have mattered.
(5) We can learn from Columba, and probably from Robert Bruce, that the gospel is the power to overthrow the occult. What we are seeing in Inverness just now is nothing new. But it was defeated before and will be so again.
(6) We can learn from Robert Bruce that the Lord may have his man somewhere whom he will use in revival. When Bruce came to Inverness, he was an old man, not strong in health and who, because of his health, was not really wanting to be banished north. But the Lord in his providence arranged it. We should be praying that God would at present be working in those whom he will use. Maybe they need to see that age is not a barrier, bad health is not a barrier. Perhaps the individuals have other weaknesses. It is possible that they are in Inverness already and that it is for revival God has taken them here. We should be praying for them.
(7) We should also learn from these previous occasions, particularly that of Robert Bruce, that to be part of the work of God is to come in contact with the supernatural. Revivals are not normal times - it is not even God working normally. Are we praying that we will be ready for supernatural experiences and events that perhaps will be difficult to explain but we will know are real? For God to come in power is awesome.
(8) Lastly, we should remember that Robert Bruce’s prophecy indicates the possibility of Inverness ceasing to have God’s blessing. We are glad for the people God converts now and again in the churches of the town. But there has not been a revival for many decades. Is it to be said of us that we will see the end of what God has for Inverness as far as spiritual blessings are concerned? If not, we need to pray.
Today, Inverness is a city, spread over several square miles. Obviously that was not always the case. I can remember when Inverness was approximately half its current size. In the past the population was very much lower than today. In the seventeenth century Inverness was made up of two or three streets; at the close of the eighteenth century it had grown to just over 9,000 inhabitants. It was a government outpost and a trading centre to which people from the surrounding area came on business and for work. This is important for our topic for Inverness was affected by spiritual movements in the surrounding countryside.
I intend first of all to give a short history of revivals in Inverness and its surrounding area. Secondly, I will outline the life of Robert Bruce whose preaching was owned by God in Inverness in the seventeenth century. Then I will concentrate on the revival in Inverness that accompanied the ministry of Robert Bruce. Finally I will suggest some lessons that may help us as we pray for revival in our community today.
Survey of spiritual blessing in Inverness
The coming of Christianity to Inverness is associated with the labours of Columba in bringing the gospel to the Picts, in particular to King Brude, his headquarters being near Craig Dunain. The Picts that Columba visited were nature-worshippers.
Columba came from Ireland to Iona in AD 563 when he was 42 years of age. Iona became a kind of training-school for preachers of the Celtic church (the Celtic church based in Ireland, Wales and the West of Scotland sent evangelists to modern-day France, Germany and Switzerland, as well as the rest of Britain).
The Free Church Professor of the nineteenth century, William Garden Blaikie, in his book, The Preachers of Scotland, lists four emphases of the Celtic church:
(a) its preaching was thoroughly biblical; they loved the Word of God. It is said that Columba in his life wrote 300 copies of the Gospels and Psalms.
(b) its members lived out their beliefs - they lived simple lives, caring for others.
(c) it laid stress on the praise of God, not simply in worship, but also in evangelising the heathen. There was an incident in Columba’s life when confronted with hostile Druids, he sang Psalm 44 to them ‘which silenced them and caused great respect in other onlookers’.
(d) it engaged in holy, courageous enterprise - the monks thought nothing of travelling over land and sea to spread the gospel.
Although Columba convinced the Pictish king of the superiority of Christianity, there is no proof that he became a Christian. Nevertheless a church was established that existed for a short time as a witness to the gospel.
The Celtic Church came under the control of the Roman Catholic Church and Scotland became part of the Pope’s spiritual kingdom. For virtually the next 1,000 years, there is no record of much real Christianity.
Inverness continued to be the most important town of the Highlands, even after it ceased to have a royal inhabitant when Scotland became a united nation with a central capital. While travel between Inverness and the Lowlands was difficult by road, it was not by sea. It had trade not only with the rest of the country but also with Europe. This was important during the Reformation, for it was the centres of trade that normally were first affected by the ideas of the Reformers, in particular Luther and Calvin.
Dr. Gustavus Aird, in his Moderator’s Address to the Free Church Assembly held in Inverness in 1888, when his subject was The Progress of Evangelical Religion in the Highlands, said he was confident that Tyndale’s New Testament entered the Highlands through the ports of Thurso, Wick, Cromarty and Inverness. Yet while the Reformation had strong support in Easter Ross, it does not seem to have been so in Inverness. Nothing of any significance is recorded until the arrival of Robert Bruce in 1605. He ministered in two periods between 1605 and 1624. I will be saying more about him later.
The period from 1688-1800 was a spiritually prosperous period in the Eastern Highlands. Most of the revivals were associated with the sacramental seasons. There was a revival in Easter Ross in 1724 and a revival began in Nigg in 1730; nine years later, a spiritual movement of such magnitude developed out of that church that affected the surrounding countryside and the blessing lasted for nearly 100 years.
In the 1740s there were revivals in Rosskeen and Rosemarkie (as well as elsewhere). There was a revival in Croy from 1766-1771 under the ministry of James Calder. I mention these revivals because they must have had an influence on Inverness.
John Mackay in his book The Church in the Highlands says that the Haldane preachers had much success in Inverness during the late 1790s. In 1797 one of the Haldane preachers, Rafe by name, conducted services in Inverness at which 4,000 would assemble to hear him. Yet Rafe discovered that Christianity was ceasing to be a living force in Inverness. Although all these people flocked to hear him, yet he found evidence of widespread Sabbath-breaking and pleasure-seeking, especially by the young.
Yet God was at work. Two years later James Haldane reported that several young people had been converted in Inverness. In the same year a Mr Ballantine preached at the Methodist church and reported that many young people were earnestly seeking the Lord.
During the first half of the nineteenth century, the name associated with evangelism in the Highlands is John MacDonald, the Apostle of the North. It seems, however, that not all approved of his preaching methods and, in particular, he was accused of mesmerising his hearers. Inverness, now a larger town of about 12,000 inhabitants, seems to have sided with his critics. Nevertheless there were those in the town working for spiritual recovery.
In 1820, Robert Findlater, a friend of MacDonald’s, was called as minister of the Chapel of Ease. During the preceding years, he had seen extensive revival in his parish in Perthshire and he longed to see similar movements in Inverness. He was soon aware that nominal religion was prevalent among many regular churchgoers, and even among genuine Christians there was a strong tendency for party spirits to show itself. His response was to preach upon the necessity of immediate acceptance of Christ by sinners. In addition, Findlater realised that many young people did not know biblical doctrine and were therefore not able to understand sermons; to deal with this, he encouraged the development of Sunday schools in which such could be taught and catechised about the doctrines of the faith before becoming regular attenders in the church. Findlater also used Christian literature as a means of communicating biblical truth to suitable individuals.
But in 1832 a cholera outbreak struck terror into the hearts of the inhabitants, and one of those it carried away was Robert Findlater. Nevertheless the outbreak was used by God to bring revival to the town. I quote from the book, Revival in the Highlands:
‘About the year 1832, when the cholera outbreak had struck terror to the heart of the citizens, Dr MacDonald assisted at a communion in the East Church. On the Monday he preached from these words, ‘Having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.’ It was a masterly and complete defence of the revival. ‘The preacher was unusually calm until the end of his discourse, then he was on fire, summing up and relating in quick succession the movement he had witnessed and the part he had taken in it, and manifesting the effect of the revival on Easter Ross. He appealed to his audience, and urged them no longer ‘to resist the Holy Ghost as their fathers did,’ but to yield themselves up to him who is the quickening and sanctifying breath, and whose power is the life of the church. The effects of that one sermon were great and far-reaching.’ The capital of the Highlands was won. He won their head and heart by the one superb effort. Souls were won to Christ, while many who had been opposed to revivals were completely won over. The East Church became the centre of a special work.’
In 1859 there was a worldwide revival and it affected Inverness. A Rev. Fraser reported that many men and women and little children were enquiring after salvation. And that for fifteen months there had been several groups of young men meeting for prayer.
The next period of spiritual blessing is associated with the visit of the American evangelist D L Moody. He is normally associated with introducing new methods of evangelism into the Highlands, in particular altar calls. Even if we disagree with this aspect of his evangelism, we cannot ignore the fact that many people were converted under his preaching. In 1874, Moody did a preaching tour of the Highlands visiting Tain, Strathpeffer, Nairn and Elgin as well as Inverness. There were large crowds at each service; at one meeting in Inverness about 5,000 were present. Churches of the area increased in numbers as a result.
It needs to be pointed out, however, that several of these towns were preparing for blessing long before Moody appeared. In Elgin, for example, prior to Moody’s arrival, they had five months of prayer; it should not be surprising then that during one five-week period, an average of 20 people a night were converted - 700 people during the period. In Inverness, a spirit of expectancy and earnest prayer preceded Moody’s arrival. I think it is important to remember that Moody had no intention of coming to Scotland when he came to Britain. But God had caused the people to pray for a revival and Moody was the instrument used.
The next recorded time of blessing in Inverness that I am aware of took place in 1898 in Queen Street Free Church (now an undertaker’s premises) under the preaching of a student minister, Alexander Fraser, who was supplying there during the summer. Several hundred people were affected by his preaching, some so eager to know about salvation that they went to his lodgings at night to discuss it further. Most of the converts were young men and women. ‘The fruits of that work of grace were very real and striking. In changed lives, in beautiful characters and in active Christian service, the converts are bringing forth fruit unto God.’
The final period I wish to refer to is the spring of 1905, the year after the Welsh Revival of 1904. A minister gave a lecture in Inverness on that Revival to an audience of 1,400 in March. This obviously created interest and when an evangelist by the name of W F Stewart came to Inverness in April, the ground was ready for the seed of the gospel. Over a period of five weeks over 600 were converted and this brought new life to several of the local churches.
That is a brief summary of some periods of blessing enjoyed in Inverness and obviously a lot more could be noted.
Revival Associated with Robert Bruce
Who was he?
Who was he? Robert Bruce was born in 1554 at Airth Castle in Stirlingshire, the second son of a prominent family. His father was descended from King Robert the Bruce, his mother was a great granddaughter of James I of Scotland, and one of her sisters was a maid of honour to Mary, Queen of Scots. His family was not only of high rank, but on several occasions performed notable acts of public service for king and country.
Like several other families, his family was divided with regard to the religious fervour of the times - some were strongly Roman Catholic while others supported the Reformation. One of his brothers, John, strongly supported Robert in his conflicts. Another brother, also called Robert, was a Roman Catholic priest.
His parents arranged for him to have the best education available, including studying abroad. He attended St. Andrews University, studying at a college that adhered to the Roman Catholic faith, his studies beginning in 1568 when he was fourteen. Yet this did not prevent him listening to John Knox during his final year in St. Andrews, 1572. Bruce then studied civil law at a French university, followed by a period at the Belgian College of Louvain, another staunch Roman Catholic stronghold. It was a very disciplined institution, however, where every hour had to be accounted for. This practice no doubt helped create the useful ability for devotional exercises that were a feature of his later Christian life. He returned to Scotland, to practise law in the Court of Session.
His conversion
Although Bruce was so involved with study, another influence had been affecting him. A battle had been taking place within him that was finally resolved on the night of 31st August 1581, when he finally pled to God for mercy. A consequence of this was his decision to study theology, to prepare for the ministry. This choice was not easy to fulfil as his parents, particularly his mother, were much opposed to this. In the end, he had to give up the right to the estate of Kinnaird before he could proceed with his training. Already he was discovering the cost of following Christ.
During this period, James VI was attempting to impose Episcopacy on the Scottish church. Andrew Melville, one of Bruce’s lecturers in theology at St. Andrews, and who had been the leader of the Scottish church since the death of Knox, concluded that one useful response to royal interference was for Robert Bruce to become the minister of St. Giles. There are probably two reasons for this. First, Bruce, due to his birth, carried authority from his high rank in society. Secondly, and more important, Bruce, in his period of theological study, had displayed great gifts in preaching.
His preaching
Bruce at this stage was not yet ordained, although several years had passed since he began studying theology. He was reluctant to accept ordination, not just because of his humble estimate of his own abilities, but also because he suffered from trying doubts about the existence of God. However, faced with the call from St Giles, he ‘advised with my God, and thought it meet to obey’. Bruce was to serve there for 12 years.
What were some of the features of his preaching?
(a) It was a ministry bathed in prayer. In public services, on entering the pulpit, Bruce had a time of silent prayer. Then in his vocal prayers, he was ‘brief but every sentence was like a strong bolt shot up to heaven,’ often doing so in tears.
(b) His preaching was calm and easy to understand. He did not believe in long services, the normal length being one and a half hours! A common phrase of his was, ‘I shall be short, by God’s grace’ and ‘By God’s grace, I shall be clear’. It was the case that he rarely preached but to a weeping congregation.
(c) He was a man of courage. His congregation included the king and lords of the realm. Often the king would interrupt the preacher if he disagreed with the sermon. In one instance, James interrupted Bruce three times. Twice Bruce ignored the interruptions, but when it happened a third time, Bruce said to the king, ‘It is said to have been an expression of the wisest of kings, “When the lion roars, all the beasts of the field are quiet.” The Lion of the tribe of Judah is now roaring in the voice of his gospel, and it becomes all the petty kings of the earth to be silent.’ Yet the king respected Bruce and made him a counsellor of the state.
(d) He gave great prominence to the Lord’s Supper. Bruce indeed is remembered chiefly today for the book known as ‘Sermons on the Sacrament’. The Reformers realised the importance of the Lord’s Supper - in several congregations it was held monthly. Before the sacrament was shared, the minister addressed the communicants. During the partaking of the bread and wine, portions of scripture were read to help the participants think of Christ as well as stressing the centrality of the Word of God.
This, then, was the type of man whom God was to use in Inverness.
Exile and banishment
Because of his opposition to Episcopacy, Bruce and the king disagreed. The king assumed that all who opposed him in anything were likely to prove treasonable, a suspicion for which, in Bruce’s case, he had no grounds. Ultimately Bruce was exiled, first to France, but as some influential friends won the right for him to return to Scotland, he was then exiled to Inverness in August 1605. This was the first of two exiles to Inverness - this one lasted eight years until 1613 and the second from 1622-25.
His closing years and death
Bruce, after his return from Inverness the second time, settled in his estate (which his father had returned to him) near Larbert. It became the location of gatherings for prayer, preaching and celebrations of the Lord’s Supper. Great experiences of God’s presence and blessing occurred and Bruce, now an old man, became the spiritual guide to men who were to be greatly used by God.
Bruce died on 27th July 1631 in his 77th year. On the day of his death, he arose as normal and enjoyed his breakfast. Suddenly, he said to his daughter, ‘Hold, daughter, hold; my Master calleth’. He asked for the family Bible but because of failing eyesight was unable to read it. He asked his family to turn to Romans 8 which he recited. When he came to the final two verses, he asked that his fingers be placed on them, and then said, ‘God be with you, my children. I have breakfasted with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus this night. I die believing in these words.’
About 5,000 attended his funeral in Larbert. On his tombstone, engraved in Latin, are the words ‘Christ in life and in death is gain’. Those of you who have read McCheyne’s Diary will know that he was an assistant in Larbert. In that book, Andrew Bonar refers to McCheyne’s sense of experiencing blessing due to Bruce’s prayers offered over 200 years before.
Assessment of others
Before I say something of his period in Inverness, I will give some estimations other well-known preachers had of him.
Alexander Henderson, the leader of the Scottish church during the Second Reformation, regarded Bruce as his father-in-Christ, for it was during one of Bruce’s sermons that Henderson was converted in 1615.
John Livingstone, used in a later revival, said of Bruce, ‘No man in his time spoke with such evidence and power of the Spirit; no man had so many seals of conversion: yea, many of his hearers thought no man since the apostles spoke with such power’. Livingstone learned to pray from Bruce’s example. As a young man, he often went to Bruce’s house for fellowship. On one occasion, when he arrived, Bruce said to him and a friend, ‘You must go and leave me for some time. I thought yesternight when I lay down that I had a good measure of the Lord’s presence: and now I have wrestled (in prayer) this hour or two, and have not yet got access’.
Andrew Melville described Bruce as ‘that confessor, almost martyr of the Lord Jesus’.
Bruce in Inverness (1605-1625)
Inverness at this time comprised two streets, nestled under the shadow of the castle (not the present building). A bridge did cross the Ness. Needless to say, Inverness was not an attractive place. There was no doctor - a problem for Bruce whose health had been affected by his hardships. During his first stay, there was little fruit, although for four years he preached every Sabbath morning and Wednesday, as well as conducting public prayers each alternate evening. The town council made life difficult for him; the local minister opposed him and on one occasion, a man shot at him, missing him by inches. Bruce was concerned about living in Inverness and was no doubt very grateful when he was allowed to return to his estate in the Lowlands in 1613.
In 1621, his wife died and Bruce had to go to Edinburgh to settle some financial affairs. He was still banished from the city, and although he had no intention of staying more than a few hours, he was arrested. He suffered an imprisonment of five months in the castle, before being brought to trial. Although the judges were inclined to be lenient and confine him to his estate, the King decreed that Bruce be once more banished to Inverness. Remember he was now 67 years old, weak in strength, and a widower. He travelled via Aberdeenshire where he had contact by letter with David Dickson who had been banished to Turriff.
On the day of his departure, as he was about to mount his horse, he stopped and seemed to have his mind elsewhere. He continued in this state for about 15 minutes. When asked what had happened, Bruce replied, ‘I was receiving my commission from my Master to go to Inverness, and he gave it to me himself, before I set my foot in the stirrup, and thither I go to sow a seed in Inverness that shall not be rooted out for many ages.’
What happened when he came back to Inverness?
To begin with, he faced antagonism and for a while could not even find lodging. Satan was determined to keep this chosen vessel out of Inverness. But within a short time, things changed. Remember that Bruce was only in Inverness for 3 years during his second banishment. Soon thousands were coming to listen to him. A great sense of spiritual hunger came over the people of the north and they gathered in their thousands to hear him. They came from Ross-shire and Sutherland every Lord’s Day to listen to his sermons. There probably was a language problem, for Bruce did not know Gaelic and the inhabitants of the Highlands would not have much English, yet thousands were converted and became followers of Christ, not just in Inverness but throughout the Eastern Highlands.
I should say at this stage that there is a difference of opinion regarding the spiritual results of Bruce’s first banishment. Some take the view that the first was the more successful. However, having read various writers on these events, I think they took facts from his second visit and placed them in his first visit. Therefore, I have followed the opinion of Bruce’s biographer, D C MacNicol, who believes the first was not particularly spiritually prosperous.
What were some of the results of Bruce’s short stay?
(a) I have just mentioned that the Lord used this revival to bring groups of believers into existence throughout the north. These groups of believers met together for praise, instruction and prayer. The Highlands, as a whole, were spiritually dead before Bruce came in 1623. Such religion as there was, apart from a few exceptions, was a mixture of Roman Catholicism and pagan superstition. But in mighty power, the Spirit came and in a relatively short time transformed the religious state of the area.
(b) Individuals were converted who became useful evangelists and preachers, such as Alexander Munro, son of a laird in Kiltearn who was greatly used in the Reay country of the far north of Scotland.
(c) There were gatherings for praise which developed the interesting practice of putting the Scripture into rhyme, it being thereby easier learned, and became a means of spreading the gospel.
(d) The converts were enthusiastically evangelistic and spread the gospel to their fellows - to use a modern description, they witnessed. But they did it from burning hearts.
(e) Further they had stickability. This can be seen in two ways. First, twenty-five years later, during the Covenanting struggles when the Catholic Marquis of Montrose recruited much of his army from the Highlands, he found little support in the Inverness area. A Jesuit writing to the General of his Society, after commenting on the warm weather, wrote, ‘But if the region is warm, so also is the temper of the inhabitants, who are ardent Calvinists, having become obstinately imbued with these sentiments by a preacher who was sent here for banishment by King James the Sixth.’ Secondly, the memory of Bruce was treasured for many years. A visitor to Inverness 80 years after Bruce left, recorded that the memory of Bruce was still sweet in Inverness. Yet these converts were not dependent on their spiritual father. When he left Inverness, they continued to develop.
I would suggest that Bruce, because of the effects of his second banishment, is the most significant visitor Inverness has ever had. Today over 330 years later we still enjoy spiritual benefits that were first brought here through Bruce.
What can we learn from these past Invernesians to help us?
(1) We can learn from those of 1905 to be both encouraged and challenged to pray by revivals elsewhere. What led them to pray was the Welsh Revival of 1904 and they experienced a share of it the following year. There are revivals happening today in many parts of the world. We should be encouraged to read about such and challenged to pray for similar experiences.
(2) We can learn from the Invernesians of 1859 and 1874 to continue in prayer. They prayed in harmony for months beforehand. There are opportunities to do that in Inverness at present. Also they were united in prayer. While they retained their denominational distinctives, they did not let them become barriers to united public prayer meetings. This aspect of prayer seems to be an essential feature of revival. It is very difficult to discover a revival that occurred as a result of Christians refusing to pray together because of their denominational views.
(3) We can learn from the Invernesians of the 1830s that to despise revival can lead to God using trouble to bring us to our senses. Then it was a cholera outbreak. Perhaps God is speaking to us in unemployment, in Sabbath breaking, in our streets not being safe. Does our local press lead us to pray as it describes to us such departures from God’s way?
(4) We can learn from almost all revivals the importance of praise. No means of praise nor manner of expressing it was common to all the revivals but expressions of praise was. Whether it was Columba chanting, or the soft Gaelic psalm-singing of Dr MacDonald’s time, or the rousing hymns associated with later revivals it does not seem to have mattered.
(5) We can learn from Columba, and probably from Robert Bruce, that the gospel is the power to overthrow the occult. What we are seeing in Inverness just now is nothing new. But it was defeated before and will be so again.
(6) We can learn from Robert Bruce that the Lord may have his man somewhere whom he will use in revival. When Bruce came to Inverness, he was an old man, not strong in health and who, because of his health, was not really wanting to be banished north. But the Lord in his providence arranged it. We should be praying that God would at present be working in those whom he will use. Maybe they need to see that age is not a barrier, bad health is not a barrier. Perhaps the individuals have other weaknesses. It is possible that they are in Inverness already and that it is for revival God has taken them here. We should be praying for them.
(7) We should also learn from these previous occasions, particularly that of Robert Bruce, that to be part of the work of God is to come in contact with the supernatural. Revivals are not normal times - it is not even God working normally. Are we praying that we will be ready for supernatural experiences and events that perhaps will be difficult to explain but we will know are real? For God to come in power is awesome.
(8) Lastly, we should remember that Robert Bruce’s prophecy indicates the possibility of Inverness ceasing to have God’s blessing. We are glad for the people God converts now and again in the churches of the town. But there has not been a revival for many decades. Is it to be said of us that we will see the end of what God has for Inverness as far as spiritual blessings are concerned? If not, we need to pray.
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