Finney in the Mill

I know some of us have been praying for revival. I don't know of a time in my life where I've seen such a spiritual vacuum in the church and such a need for a heaven-sent revival. I want to share with you today friends in the memoirs of Charles Finney an incredible account of a Revival that took place in a mill.

When Charles Finney walked through it, the workers all fell under conviction of sin. In an ensuing revival gripped the mill to such degree the owner stopped the work at the mill to attend to the things of eternal worth. I'm going to read us that account shortly friends, but first I want to relate the following incident.

In the 1920s that same mill was still in operation and the evangelist Rolf Barnard toured that same mill. Barnard had heard the story about Finney and the revival there and Rolf Barnard got a name tag and permission to visit that mill. Barnard commented, I walked into the same room where Finney had his revival employees were busy working at their looms in much the same way they did in Finney's day.

Not much had changed except one big thing as I made my way through that mill nobody took any notice of me. I made no impression and no big stir occurred when I walked by the workers there. They paid me no never mind.

That's the great difference between our day and the time of great revival for the wind blows where it wills and we can't drum it up or produce it nor can we tell when it comes and where it goes. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. What Rolf Barnard was saying was that when Finney walked through that mill it was in the midst of the Second Great Awakening when God was working in the land and if we want to have Finney's results, then we must have the God of Revival.

Well, I want to take time now friends to relate that remarkable story from us from Finney's memoirs here now or his words. Another Circumstance occurred which I must not fail to notice. There was a cotton manufacturing on the Oransky Creek a little above Whitesboro a place now called New York Mills.

It was owned by Mr. Wolcott an unconverted man, but a gentleman of high standing and good morals. My brother-in-law Mr. George Andrews was at the time Superintendent of the factory. I was invited to go and preach at that place and went up one evening and preached in the village schoolhouse, which was of large size and was crowded to the utmost capacity.

The word I could see took powerful effect among the people especially among the young people who were at work in the factory. The next morning after breakfast, I went to the factory to look through it. As I went through the factory, I observed there was a good deal of agitation among those who were busy at their looms and their mules and other implements of work on passing through one of the apartments where a great number of young women were attending to their spinning or weaving.

I observed a couple of them eyeing me and speaking very earnestly each at each other and I could see that they were good deal agitated. Although they both laughed, I went slowly toward them. They saw me coming and were evidently much excited.

The thread of one of them broke and I observed that her hands trembled so that she could not mend it. I approached slowly looking on each side of the machinery as I passed, but I observed that this girl grew more and more agitated and could not proceed with her work. When I came within eight or ten feet of her, I looked solemnly at her.

She observed it and was quite overcome and sunk down and burst into tears. That impression caught almost like powder and in a few moments all in the room were in tears. This feeling spread through the factory.

Mr. Wolcott, the owner of the establishment, was present and seeing the state of things he said to the superintendent, stop the mill and let the people attend to religion for it is more important that our souls should be saved than that this factory run. The gate was immediately shut down and the factory stopped, but where should we assemble? The superintendent suggested that the mule room was large and the mules being run up we could assemble there. We did so.

In a more powerful meeting I scarcely ever saw, it went on with great power. The building was large and had a great many people in it from the garret to the cellar. The revival went through the mill with astonishing power and in the course of a few days nearly all in the mill were hopefully converted.