LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Chap.. ______ Copyright No. Shelf... UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. REV. BEVERLY CARRADINE, D. D. REVIVAL SERMONS. BY //■ i REV. B. CARRADINE, D. D., k * Author of "A Journey to Palestine," " Sanctification," "The Lottery Exposed," " Church Entertainments," " The Bottle," " Secret Societies," " The Second Blessing in Symbol," " The Better Way," " The Old Man," "Pastoral Sketches," and " The Sanctified Life." W. B. PAIvMORB, 1414 Locust St., St. Louis, Mo. 1898. 87 \ Copyrighted 1897, by KEV. B. CAKEADINE, D. IX ONE COPY RECEIVED 3W *898. CONTENTS, CHAPTER I. Page Revivals i CHAPTER II. How to Obtain A Revival 27 CHAPTER III. Sin and Salvation 51 CHAPTER IV. Sonship 74 CHAPTER V. Christ Lost and Found . 101 CHAPTER VI. The Uttermost Saviour 128 CHAPTER VII. The Uncontainable Blessing 160 CHAPTER VIII. Entire Sanctification 196 CHAPTER IX. The Full Joy 225 CHAPTER X. Kindness 254 CHAPTER XI. Complete In Christ. 284 CHAPTER XII. The Certainty of Victory 312 REVIVAL SERMONS. REVIVALS. "Wilt thou not revive us again. " — Psalm 85 :6. DAVID is asking in this verse for a revival. He distinctly specifies the character: "Wilt thou not revive us." He wanted a Divine work as opposed to a mere human effort and result. Some- thing not worked up, but sent down. Several reflections may be drawn from this Scrip- ture. 1. ALL OF US SHOULD BELIEVE IN REVIVALS. Most of us have been brought to God and into the church through the instrumentality of the revival. Even where this is not the case we have been refreshed, renewed and in various ways benefitted by genuine revivals of religion. Some historians say that English society was saved by the Wesleyan Revival of last century. The Methodist Church certainly ought to believe in them. She was born in one, cradled and rocked in 1 2 REVIVAL SERMONS. others, and made strong by ten thousand more. Like the animal Daniel saw in his vision she has advanced North, South, East and West just as she has pushed along this special line of spiritual effort and Divine blessing. Nothing can stand before her when putting on the garments of salvation and with revival power in her heart and revival song and sermon on her lips, she turns upon the powers of darkness. Sinners and sinful institutions alike go down before her. Here is her glory and power. Other churches feel that they have other things of which to boast in the shape of rituals, rank, w r ealth, splendor of showy form and massiveness of Cathedral buildings. These things are their glory, but the glory of Methodism has ever been the revival. If she forfeits that, she has lost her peculiarly distin- guishing feature as w T ell as true work and noblest heri- tage, and becomes poor indeed. Giving up this she will cease to be blessed in herself and a blessing to others. There are few more painful sights than the spectacle of a Methodist congregation patterning in va- rious ways after some cold, worldly, ritualistic church. It argues the forgetfulness of her origin and training, the ignoring of the secret of her past success, and the laying down of her mighty weapon of glory and victory. All churches ought to believe in revivals, if they be- lieve in the Bible. There they are mentioned again and again as the result of the people turning to God REVIVALS. 6 with repentance, faith and prayer. There were revi- vals in the time of Moses, David, Jehosaphat, Elijah, John the Baptist and the Disciples of Christ. All of them were remarkable in their wide reaching results and were accredited by the presence and power of God. As for the Saviour, His course all through the entire country was marked by revivals. Women lifted up their voices under his preaching, saying, " Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breast that gave thee suck." Unclean spirits cried out under his presence and sermons; defrauders rectified the wrongs of the past; unholy Magdalenes became pure; multitudes hung on his words; many shouted aloud his praises, and many others forsook all and followed him. What was all this but a sweeping revival. Let only a few of these scenes take place in a pastorate and instantly a letter would go forward to the church paper declaring that God had visited his people and a time of refreshing had come. The spiritual movement of the church reminds one of the flight of a bird. Close scrutiny reveals that the bird does not fly in a straight line where every point is equally distant from the earth ; but rises by a rapid movement of the wings to a higher altitude and then slides down a plane of atmosphere. Then it flutters again, rises again, and slides down again as before. The rapid beat of the wings overcomes the law of 4 REVIVAL SERMONS. gravitation. Then as the movement is discontinued the earth asserts its power and brings the bird down. The study of any church will reveal this to be its similar course. It rises into higher experience and holier living through increased observance of the means of grace, which is a flutter of spiritual wings. In the force gathered, it not only rises, but rushes forward with accelerated and easily recognized mo- mentum. Then comes after awhile a downward incli- nation and movement to the world. After this is held another protracted meeting, there follows a revival rise, a rush forward, and another letting down. Many suppose this is a normal and proper state. But w r hat is right in the bird is not the best flight pos- sible to the church. An annual flutter of the church's wings in the shape of a revival is a great deal better than no flutter at all. But what the church wants is a continuous flutter. The bird is not going to heaven, but the church is; so let the wings of Zion be con- stantly in motion. The day is coming when the life and progress of the church shall be marked, not by an undulating course, but by a straight line that does not bend anywhere to the world. Better still, the end of the line that once dropped earthward, will be raised heavenward, and there shall be an increas- ing force and accumulating life and glory all the while. REVIVALS. O In the last days, John says, there shall be seen an angel flying through the midst of the heavens having the everlasting gospel to preach. That angel is the church, for no one but men and women can preach the gospel. Moreover the church will be so full of love that it will look like an angel; and so full of desire to reach all men that railroads and steamers will be too slow, and so it will invent swifter modes of travel and appear fairly flying. The revival should remain in the church. The idea of saving men in July and August and not in the other ten months is simply fearful. A great many sinners die in January. The idea of the church ever letting down its holy life and work of saving souls ! There is a bird called the Paradise Bird, that is never known to alight. Shall God's Church be out-stripped by a bird. The Apostolic Church after the Baptism of the Holy Ghost added daily to their number such as should be saved. It was not an annual, monthly or weekly work with them, but every day! So when the church shall see that the blessing of Pentecost is a distinct work of the Holy Ghost qualifying us for such a life and work, and when it shall be sought as a separate blessing, then shall we enter upon an unbroken revival in the church. Conversions will take place at every service, sanctifications will occur while the preacher presents 6 REVIVAL SERMONS. the doctrine, great rejoicings will fall upon the assembly, and we will enter upon toils and triumphs that some would confine to history and the Bible, but which, thank God, can be seen in these present days. 2. THE SIGNS OF THE ABSENCE OF A REVIVAL. These are many and unmistakeable. They are always the same. In John the Baptist's time, in Luther's time, in Wesley's days, as we look we behold churches grown cold, preaching mechanical and pro- fessional, the Bible neglected, the Sabbath desecrated, sin defiant, sinners not sought after, and the houses of worship half empty. Nor are these all the tokens of spiritual coldness and deadness. Stiffness between the people is a sign. Do we not all know, and have we not all seen how social frigidities and class petrifications melt away under the breath and touch of the Holy Ghost ! The Appenines sink out of sight between France and Spain and the Atlantic dries up between Europe and America when Christ descends and fills all hearts. Lack of spontaneous singing is a sign. A revived congregation cannot keep silent, they must sing and will sing. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of song and the inspirer of praises ; so when He is present He makes Himself known in that way through the lips of the people. So set it down as a fact that the absence of REVIVALS. f spontaneous and general singing declares the presence of spiritual death. The dead sing not. The tongue of a corpse is silent and motionless. Dressiness is a sign. We are not here advocating a fanatical undress system, but speak of that richness and gaudiness against which the Scripture clearly speaks. A rule is that just as people recede from God do the}' emphasize dress, and the measure or grade of spiritual condition is clearly revealed externally. Nor is this all, but the farther down we go amid the ranks of the ungodly, the more we are impressed with the increasing stress laid upon dress. It is well known that sparkling ornaments, striking colors, and general gaudiness mark those that are farthest from heaven. While on the street the flashy style shows the abandoned woman, and the showy dress of the sport and gambler is equally significant. Church entertainments is another sign. When God's people have to be coaxed by food and amuse- ments to give to His cause, then are they spiritually in a bad way. The church entertainment is a mistake all around. It is a social mistake, for it nearly always produces misunderstandings and ruptures. It is an ecclesiastical mistake, for it brings the church into contempt before the world. It is a financial mistake, for such proceedings dry up the fountain of liberality, and prevent the spontaneous and sacrificing giving that 8 REVIVAL SERMONS. God desires and demands. It is a religious mistake, for it will produce deadness in any church that under- takes them. When a genuine revival comes how these things disappear. Christ in spirit overturns the tables and banishes the merchandise again as He once did in Jerusalem. Absence of conversions is a final sign of spiritual weakness and death. God says when Zion travails then sons and daughters are born unto God. Travail we know is an agony. It requires this upon the part of the church to bring about the salvation of sinners. In true revivals this is always seen. When a church is without it there may be accessions but no con- versions. Look around and see if this travail or agony of soul is upon the congregations you know. Look at the faces in pulpit, pew and choir. Listen to the people talking on their way home from church. Who is in concern. Look in closets for forms bowed and eyes weeping over men falling into hell. What Nehemiah is there who surveys at night a desolate Jerusalem with tears? What Moses is saying, " Save these people, Lord, or blot my name out of the book"? What Fletcher stains his walls with the breath of prayer, and what Knox falls upon his face with sobs saying, "Give me these souls or I die"? REVIVALS. 9 Cannot anyone see why the altars are not lined with weeping penitents? Why should they be there? What is being done to bring them? What is there in our words and lives and appearance to make men smite their breasts and say, what must we do to be saved? Are not all these signs of lost or absent power? Something is lacking or something is gone. Samson can shake himself, but he cannot overwhelm the Philistines. Oh, for God's people to humble them- selves, fall on their faces and weep before God! How soon the sound of a going in the trees of life would be heard, and salvation sweep the land like a cyclone. Alas, there are no lack of signs of spiritual coldness. There are too many if anything. Some one was once looking at a row of small houses on a cold winter day. Every one had snow on the roof but one. It needed no Solomon to give the reason. The snow-roofed houses had no fires burning inside. The exceptional dwelling did, and so the w T arm atmosphere within had affected even the shingles, 'and the icy mantle had slipped off. So there is no trouble to-day to tell what churches are spiritually tireless. Frost in the pulpit, snow in the choir, and icicles in the pew, tell the sad story that the holy fire burns low or has gone out. It is vain to call the congealed condition of things ''decency and order" and dignity. God knows better and the world knows 10 REVIVAL SERMONS. better. All can see that the Holy Ghost fire has been quenched. The snow is on the roof. Or to change the figure the sun is down, winter has come, a polar night has settled, the old ship of Zion is caught among the floes, icebergs are grinding all around, and the best hope is for a Relief Expedition in the shape of a revival in order that some may be saved. 3. THE TRUE REVIVAL IS THE SOLUTION OF EVERY CHURCH PROBLEM. There are problems in the church. No thoughtful person will deny that they are numerous and of grave character. The souls of many of God's children are burdened with them; the tongues, pens, brains and hearts of scores of the most gifted in Zion are busy in suggesting, devising and executing in order to bring about a happier state of affairs. But the problems seem to defy solution. One is the social problem. How are we to bring people of different classes together in Christian fellow- ship? The rich and poor have but one Maker, how are we to get them to believe this and act according to their faith? How are w T e going to make diverse classes feel they are brethren and melt them with a common love and fire them with a single purpose. Can Christianity accomplish this? If not, then must the Gospel be counted another one of the great failures of REVIVALS. 11 mighty efforts projected on this line. If the religion of Jesus can do it, and has not yet, then is there some grace or blessing in the Divine system not yet generally known by the followers of Christ. Then there is the feud problem. We have people in the church in every stage of coolness toward each other from the Temperate through the Frigid Zone up to the North Pole itself where the ice never melts, where everything is frozen solidly through the entire year, and Inaccessibility sways the icicle scepter over the snowy region. How can the people who dwell in these different zones be brought together in kindness and love, and this reproach upon the cause of Christ be taken away? They have been visited, talked to and prayed w T ith. Every new minister tries his hand on them. He sails to the Northern regions where they live, walks over ice fields that are ten, twenty and thirty years old, and searches in vain for the parties w 7 ho are responsible for this dazzlingly white, shiver- ingly smooth and cuttingly severe state of things. They of course are never to be found, and finally he is rescued himself, nearly frozen to death, by his pulpit successor. There is the financial problem. This I find to be general. Preachers, stewards and deacons every- where are wrestling with it. The church may be small or large, in village or metropolis, it matters not; 12 REVIVAL SERMONS. the came anxious question is before them all : How can we meet one thousand with five hundred, and five thousand with three thousand, and ten thousand with seven thousand? Money seems always to be tight and hard to come at according to the Monetary Boards of Zion. Each new member is taught in a single meeting to carry on his * brow the mournful interrogation " How? ", and on the second meeting to say with the drooping mouth u We cannot." A friend of the writer once labored in a church that was groaning under a fifteen hundred dollar financial problem ; and yet there sat before him nine men whose aggregated wealth was over ten millions of dollars. In an official meeting to consider the debt, they were all bowed down in spirit with the question, " How can we raise fifteen hundred dollars? " There is the missionary problem. How are we going to w T in the world for Christ? There is and can be no more important question. And yet at the rate we are going how far off does the solution appear to the thoughtful man. Over one hundred millions of heathen children are born every year. How many converts does the church make? What if the heathen children are born faster than the people become Christians ! There is the problem oi great evils in the land.. I mean the presence of wrong institutions, of demoraliz- REVIVALS. 13 ing and corrupting agencies in our midst, the gambling den, saloon, club, and house of shame and death. There is the empty bench problem. Few churches but have them. Some have more than others. Some have more benches unoccupied than occupied. I have seen twenty filled and forty unfilled. I have seen two filled and sixty without a soul in them. What is the matter? What shall we do with these empty benches? How shall we fill them with men, women and children? There is the salvation problem. The church was sent out by Christ to be a Saving Institution; not to amuse, entertain, with mongrel features of restaurant and theatre and lyceum. It is to save souls and bring the world to Christ. This is its one business, and the when and how has long ago been told to her by the Saviour Himself. Is it not strange that the church should be sending here and there for men to help us do, or teach us how to do what every Christian con- gregation in the land ought to know and ought to be doing continually? And yet the problem is before us to-day, and never has the question gone up more fre- quently, How shall we get men converted to God and fully saved? I repeat that there are problems in the church; and I repeat that there is a blessed way of solving them. God has a grace and blessing that if sought and obtained will immediately give the triumphant answer 14 REVIVAL SERMONS. to every one of these questions. The pity is that men will not go to God in this matter, and in the way He lays down ; and so time is lost and failure is protracted and perpetuated by the substitution of human wisdom and methods for a Divine plan that has never been known to fail. Look and see how wise and even good people are trying to meet the troubles I have mentioned. The social problem is handled by parlor receptions at the pastor's home or at the church. Looked at from a distance it seems to be a success, but after all is over the various sets and circles retire to their respective zones. It is also afterward remembered that the cordiality and friendliness seen was exchanged between parties already friendly. There were long lines of human icicles that bordered the walls, and great lumps of chilly material that formulated in groups or froze in icebergs of various size. True, some noble spirit who did much to bring about the " Recep- tion" and whose own heart was warm will say it was a glorious occasion; but in after days he will recall that he did all the running. He ran to the congested groups, the groups did not run to him. In fact he ran so much and was so melted himself that he thought everybody else was running and everybody else melted. The feud problem is undertaken and managed with like success. The offending parties are told their duty, REVIVALS, 15 of which they were perfectly aware before. The guilty one is sought after but cannot be found. Both are innocent. Everybody is right. What is wanted is the Searcher of hearts ! God coming down in mighty power upon the soul. Then would each one cry out : " I have sinned," and each one say, " I am the chief of sinners." The Christian work problem is likewise undertaken. Each preacher thinks he has the secret. The pet scheme is to form new bands or start some fresh societies. Whenever a preacher fails to obtain a re- vival, he organizes a society of some kind. If his ministry is not spiritual or remarkable in winning souls to God, he will either form a Chautauqua Circle in his church or create a Chautauqua Institute in the neighborhood. Especially does the organizing mania possess him. It looks like life, real life had entered into the inactive body, especially during the election of the President, Secretary and Treasurer. But the movement was not born of real life, it was simply an electric shock that moved the limbs and raised the eyelids for a second, and all was still again. It was a rocking chair and not a steam-car movement. The delusion with some is that organization produces life, when nature and grace both alike teach that life pro- duces organization. The financial problem is grappled with. And this is the way it is handled. Laymen are sought after 16 REVIVAL SERMONS. who understand finance. Merchants, lawyers and bankers are coveted for the church and when secured are promptly put on the official board. Preachers who know how to lift a collection are sought after far and wide, for pastors. Especially the minister who knows how to get money out of outsiders is felt to be beyond price. The brother who has a new and good method for raising church funds is like an angel from the skies. The man who invented the weekly envelope system is worthy of being canonized. And yet in spite of all these bankers, lawyers, preachers and invent- ive geniuses with cards and envelopes, the problem remains unsolved. The bankers themselves give it up. The missionary problem is grasped. Two or three new secretaries are thrown into the field, and the gaze of the people directed in horizontal lines that end in man instead of the vertical that lifts the eye to God. Little savings banks are distributed among the people. Surely this device will succeed, especially if we write the words China or Brazil on the little clay or iron toy. Suddenly some one suggests that the women and children be organized into missionary bands and so- cieties. All the men are enthused with the idea. The bankers and merchants think it is the very thing. Certainly ! let the women and children help the strug- gling, suffering men, REVIVALS. 17 Another cry is made and this time we are told that the hens of the barnyard ought to be a mighty factor in settling the missionary question. At once " mis- sionary hens " abound. The women and children are forgotten for a few moments while the church turns a distracted gaze at the motherly old hens clucking over the land. If ever hens had a burden upon them, and a great moral obligation to lay eggs rapidly, it was when the church to which we belong, representing hundreds of millions of dollars, fell on its knees so to speak before those aforesaid hens and turning its agonized eyes upon them, said, " Lay us eggs for the missionary cause or we are undone." The empty bench problem is taken in hand. This is variously worked at through the medium of stately edifices, carpeted aisles, cushioned seats, paid choirs, and talented, drawing preachers. The salvation problem is undertaken. How shall souls be saved? At first it was thought to be difficult, but there were some who assured the church that the whole matter was very easy, that it consisted simply in raising the right hand. Numbers were thus saved. Truly it appeared easy and was all very delightful and astonishing; but when it was noticed that there was no change in the face at the time and none in the life afterward, some doubted this plan. Still there were other methods. One consisted in standing on the 18 REVIVAL SERMONS. feet until the heads were counted. Another was going into a room to be talked and prayed with. Many went into the room to see what was going on, and some who were conversed with had been Christians for forty years. Yet they were all counted as new converts by the manipulator of the meeting. If these methods fail, then the next effort is to get them to join the church. By and by the preacher and people become accustomed to and contented with this arrangement. Listen to the reports made at Conference where the number of accessions and amount of money collected is emphasized and rung out, and scarcely anything said about conversions. Evidently, none of these things spoken of are able to meet the difficulties that exist in the church. Constant failure through the centuries ought to con- vince the most skeptical. Something else is needed: And that something is the subject of this discourse. The Revival as taught in the Gospel and epistles, and as seen in the second chapter of Acts, is the true solution of every problem in the church. We want the abiding presence of Christ, the descending sweep of the Holy Ghust, the overwhelming power of the Triune God. Let such a revival come and every question will be answered and every problem immediately solved. REVIVALS. 19 There will be no trouble to bring the people together. There will scarcely be any necessity for introductions, and no need to beg people to visit other people. They will come together with a rush, drawn by the tre- mendous attractive power of Jesus Christ, suddenly implanted or set up in each. The individual family and church feuds w T ill end as suddenly as they began. Faster than the deer casts his antlers, the snake his skin, or the warm roof slips off the snow, will all these bickerings and animosities disappear. They will feel as did a certain man when suddenly filled with all the fulness of God — " for an enemy in order to forgive him and love him." If you have quarrels in your churches, aim at once for a revival. Nothing else will destroy them. I once saw five different family feuds settled in as many minutes w T hen the Holy Ghost had fallen in power on a morning service. There w T ill be no trouble in raising money. When the disciples had a genuine revival the Gospel says they sold all they had and no one was allowed to suffer. The various denominations have drifted so far from that apostolic spirit that they seem unable to appreciate that beautiful act. Men call the sacrifices of love of that day socialism and fanaticism. But is it not wonderful how the Holy Ghost fell on those so- called socialists and fanatics. Chrysostom says that 20 REVIVAL SERMONS. the church at Antioch supported fifteen thousand dependent persons ! While some congregations to-day groan if they have eight or ten needy individuals on their list. I remember once a board of stewards who for years grumblingly allowed four dollars a month to a poor widow. The cause of this difference seen here was that the churches in Jerusalem and Antioch had a revival, the very thing we need all over the land to-day. When that revival comes the financial problem will be solved, and not till then. The missionary money question will be settled w r hen the Pentecost Revival comes. Before it arrives what begging and arguing, what demonstrating and what running around is required to secure some contemptible amount. Who is not familiar with the humiliating and painful spectacle of one man standing in the altar facing a crowd, while the oft-repeated and un-replied-to call u Who will give five dollars," falls upon the ear with the regularity and monotonousness of the voice of an auctioneer. Let the true revival come and such a scene as this will take place. A quiet statement by the preacher that so much money is needed for the Lord, a simple pointing to the altar table near by, a calm invitation to come — and then lines of people will move down upon the table and streams of money will be heard pouring on its surface. I have repeatedly seen this REVIVALS. 21 take place. At one time there had been a revival. Money was called for on church questions, and it rained, rattled and poured on the table until it rolled off on the ground. The sum needed was given and one thousand dollars over. In another place and in the midst of a revival blaze, the missionary call was made, and the immediate and rushing response was gold, silver, bales of cotton, and a note from a gifted woman, saying, " I give myself." Brethren, let us eat up all the missionary hens in the land, give the little earthen jugs and savings banks to the children for toys, and have a grand, glorious, overwhelming revival. If it comes, as certain as God lives and reigns the missionary problem will be solved. The revival will also settle the matter of Christian work. A preacher will not have to point out work to the people and beg them to do it. Neither will they have to come to the preacher to find out what to do. They will suddenly discover and make work for them- selves. When the Holy Ghost fills a man — mind you I say fills him — that man has a fire in his bones and cannot keep quiet. Can you sit still with a fire burn- ing your body? Neither can you rest with fire burning in your soul. When the holy fire came upon Isaiah he cried out, " Here am I, Lord; send me," and sprung to his life work. When the Baptism of Fire fell on the disciples, from that time to the day of their 22 REVIVAL SERMONS. death they fairly flew to do the bidding of God. This is the blessing we need, one that will be like fire in the bones, such a burning as will lift people out of their late morning beds, and out of their easy rocking chairs, and drive them out from their pleasant parlors and libraries into the roads of the country and the streets of the city to save souls and bless mankind. A genuine revival will kindle that fire. We need no more organizations, no more church machinery; we have enough to-day to bewilder a church of twice our size. What we want is fire! Lord God of Heaven, send it down everywhere on the church as it once fell on Mt. Carmel, and afterwards on the day of Pentecost. The Revival will solve the empty bench problem. The apostolic revival . means that Christ has come in unclouded glory and in fulness of salvation. When Christ comes, the people come. He said long ago, " If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me." The church seems not to have realized the blessed truth. If w T e want the people to come, we must first get Christ to come, and when He is lifted up and felt to be there — the audience will be there. A revival means a good time and good things for the church. Let the world see that we have something better than they possess, and it is in human nature to come at once and see. The people cannot be kept away when we are happy in the love of God. Let us REVIVALS. 23 show that we are glad, blessed, overflowing with the grace and glory of the Redeemer, and a great hunger and thirst, a mighty desire will come upon the people to obtain what we enjoy. There will be no need to ask them to come and fill the empty benches of the church; they will come without being asked, and there will be no empty benches to fill. You will not be able to keep the crowd away. A man might as well try to sweep the waves of an incoming tide fraek into the sea with a broom, as to keep people from coming to a church or building where a real revival is going on. The Sanhedrim might as well have tried to beat back the north wind with the palms of the hands, as to pre- vent the inhabitants of Jerusalem from rushing toward the Upper Room when the Holy Ghost fell and a gen- uine revival swept down out of heaven into the souls and lives of the people of God. Who cares to visit a church to see a few lines of peo- ple all stiff and frozen sitting all upright in their pews with no more warmth and response than is beheld in a set of statues. I can see stiff lines of people in the street cars or in fashion plates, but when I go to church let me look on something different. And when there is something different there, when hearts are warm and souls are glad, and faces shine with the light of salva- tion, the world will rush to church as they did at Pen- tecost. 24 REVIVAL SERMONS. The revival will solve the salvation problem. It requires a certain atmosphere of prayer, a certain spirit- ual warmth or heat in the church before conversions can take place. Let that condition prevail and the salvation of souls will be frequent, beautiful and clear as I have ,°een grains of pop-corn suddenly expanded burst forth into forms of snowy whiteness through the heated air of the oven. No need to ask such peo- ple if they are * saved ; they will announce the fact themselves in tones and with words that will thrill every heart. There will not only be individual cases, but penitents will come through the gate of mercy in rejoicing bands; the Spirit will mow down lines at a time. The altar will be swept from end to end, filled again, and emptied again by the mighty pardoning and cleansing power of God. The faces of the converts will be epistles upon which will be seen the unmistaka- ble handwriting of God. Their cries of rapture and shouts of joy will pierce the hearts of the backslider and sinner, other and deeper convictions will take place, and salvation will roll on with the majestic ac- cumulating force and irresistible power of an ocean tide. What the church wants to-day is not a shower of blessing, not even a down pour; — but a torrent, leap- ing and dashing down the hills of heaven upon us ; a resistless tide of salvation that shall wash away all REVIVALS. 25 forms of sin from the streets of Zion and leave her clean and beautiful ; a perfect Noah Deluge of grace and glory that will overtop the mountains of sin, bury worldliness out of sight, while the redeemed, shut in the ark of Christ Jesus, sail triumphantly over the dead forms of iniquity far beneath them. What the church wants is a revival, deep, broad, profound, far-reaching, heart-searching, life-changing, permanent and Pentecostal. Such a revival would settle at once every difficulty, and solve every problem. We are simply wasting time and energy in trying to do anything else until we secure that. We are making no progress. We are trotting hard all day in the shade of one tree. We are climbing up ten feet one day and slipping back nine feet and twelve inches the next day. Sometimes we slip still lower. We are beating the air. It would pay the church to turn its attention from every enterprise in its walls and borders and go to seeking a revival. It would pay the church to shut up stores and offices, leave boats and plantations, give up money-making and money-saving, let the mission- ary work alone for a year, let everything alone, forget almost to eat and sleep, — and falling on its knees and face pray God importunately, continuously, persis- tently and inconsolably for a revival, and do this if needs be for a year. 26 REVIVAL SERMONS. O, how it would pay ! How the world would stand in awe. How Christ would come as John saw Him on Patmos. How God would bend the heavens. The Holy Ghost would rush upon us with the sweep of a storm and speak to us through living tongues of fire, while sinners would cry out for mercy, saints rejoice in the fulness of salvation, money be poured out like water before the Lord, every work and enterprise of the church bear the smiles and blessings of heaven upon it, and Christ's kingdom become the reigning, triumphant, overshadowing kingdom of the world. Son of God, blessed Jesus, send us the revival of Pentecost ! May all the people say Amen. II. HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord ; make his paths straight.' ' —Matt. 3:3. THE Lord Jesus has not only come to the world, but is willing to enter the individual heart. This coming is what is needed above all things. It is what the nations need. It is the desirable thing for the community and the family. Above all it is everything to the soul. When Christ comes it is at once recognized. There is no need to enter into an argument to prove that the Spirit of the Lord has fallen upon a congregation and fills the church. The instant this takes place it is known. I recall once in a revival meeting that on the fifth day the Holy Ghost fell on the audience, and the house was filled with glory. A gentleman leaped to his feet with the thrilling cry — " Jesus has come!" He only spoke what every one felt and knew. In like manner when Christ enters the soul, the fact cannot be concealed. As the Scripture said of Him that when He entered a certain house He could not be hid, so is it still; to enter the heart with His blessed grace and glory so illumines the face, softens the heart, 27 28 REVIVAL SERMONS. sweetens the spirit and fires the life, that all can see that Jesus has come. In a great revival conducted by Dr. Finney, in a New England town, an unconverted man felt the pres- ence of God one mile beyond the corporation lines. In First Church, St. Louis, during the gracious six weeks' meeting I held, a number of persons said that they felt the Divine presence not only when they entered the building, but even before crossing the portal. He that drew a line around Mt. Sinai, and made it to come to pass that whoever crossed it was shot through with a dart, still draws the marvellous circle and manu- factures the same flaming arrows that penetrate the most callous with a sense of the Divine presence. The coming of Christ means salvation we all know. But it also means blessedness. One cannot secure Christ without being blessed; whether nation, com- munity, family or individual it is all the same; the presence of Jesus and blessedness go together. The interesting thought is how to secure that coming and presence. That is the important inquiry of this sermon. 1. THE FIRST STEP IS THAT CHRIST MUST BE INVITED. It is true that He has a right to come, and His com- ing brings a blessing, but such is His nature and such is our nature, that He will not come until He is asked HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 29 to come. It is curious to see how we wait for invita- tions before going to certain places, and yet look for the Lord to force Himself upon us. I notice that even the kings of earth expect and tarry for invitations to visit cities and nations. So does the King of heaven; He never comes to dwell with us until we ask Him. 2. THE SECOND STEP IS THAT CHRIST MUST BE DESIRED. We all find it a very difficult and oftentimes an im- possible thing to go where we are not wanted. The fact that we are longed for and expected makes for us a sunlight of happiness and generates an atmosphere in which the soul is perfectly free and at its best. There are places where some of you are so desired that you feel actually drawn as by a magnet to the indi- vidual or circle. It is well for us to remember that we are made in the image of God, and that He has transplanted or repro- duced in us certain sensibilities and motions of the Divine breast. It is evident that the Saviour is much freer in some churches and in the lives of some people than in others. He is not able to do mighty works in certain hearts and localities, being tied up by unbelief. So He is powerless to reveal His most delightful features, or even to show Himself at all to some per- sons or places because He is not wanted. Christ does not propose to come where He is not yearned for. In 30 REVIVAL SERMONS. fact He cannot do so. The reason can be found in our free agency, and also in the sensitiveness of the Divine love. But only let us sigh for His presence and yearn for His companionship and lo, He will suddenly and gladly appear in our midst. He is the desire of the nations already in being what we need for salvation, happiness and usefulness, but He must also be desired with ardent longings of the heart if we would possess this " Chief among ten thousand and the one alto- gether lovely.'' We read in history that when earthly potentates determined to visit a town or province that the people prepared the roads for his coming. Sometimes a spe- cial highway was constructed; and always work was put forth on the thoroughfare along which Royalty was expected. Even in the reception of our friends we see a preparation of this sort in the sweeping of the yard and front steps, the removal of every unsightly thing and the putting in place still other things that would serve to grace the occasion and please the eye of the visitor. So we must prepare the way for the Lord. If there is no preparation, He will not come. This fact explains why some men are to-day unconverted and others unsanctified. They have not done the things that the Lord desires and demands. HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 31 It is also well to state that some preparation is no preparation. I recall certain protracted meetings that were projected on a grand scale in regard to dimension of hall, number of chairs, thickness of sawdust, and lines of electric lights. There was also a broad gallery for the best singers in the city, and a deep platform for prominent workers and preachers. Everything was furnished but the one essential thing, the falling fire of the Holy Ghost. Every preparation had been made save the indispensable one of humbling the heart and prostrating body and soul in the dust before the Lord. This was never done, and so the gigantic mate- rial preparation came to naught. What does God care for chairs, sawdust, electric lights, drilled musicians and general ecclesiastical display ! If He gave the victory under such circumstances men would suppose that the great platform and big workers did it. Some preparation is no preparation. All of us are getting to see this. I saw once in one of our largest cities the walls placarded with flaming posters telling the public that all the ministers of the city had united in a certain meeting; that all the choirs of these churches had joined together; and that a most suc- cessful national evangelist would lead the battle ! This famous meeting dragged its way along for a month and ended as it began, in wind. In still another city forty churches combined to get up (?) a revival. The forty 32 REVIVAL SERMONS. pastors sat on a great platform with leading laymen, and the greatest orators among them vied with each other night after night to see who could over-shoot or out-blaze the other. As a test of forensic excellence it was a success, but as a Holy Ghost revival it was from start to finish an utter failure. It lasted about forty days, and afterwards the people were ahungered. The papers announced at the beginning that these forty clergymen were going to have a revival, and columns were devoted to the first few services, but something was so evidently lacking, that the press finally quit reporting the wretched travesty of a revival, and the human spurt ended its feeble and short life without a mourner and without an obituary. Some preparation is no preparation. What are car- pets and chandeliers and carved pews and trained singers to God! Does He care for these things? Can He who hung out sun, moon and stars for lights, and painted the Western sky, and carpeted the earth, and put melody in wind, wave, and throats of myriads of birds be bribed into coming to us by our tawdry eccle- siastical finery and platform yelling? He dwelt once for centuries in a tent, and filled the log meetinghouses of our forefathers with His excellent glory. Evidently He wants another kind of preparation. Some preparation is no preparation. Saul got ready for Him in his way. Alas for the King of Israel that HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 38 it was his way and not the Divine way. He even be- came so impatient to have the Lord to come, that he offered the sacrifice with his own hands ; but the skies were locked, and there was no response. He after- wards said about it with a bitter wail, " He answereth me no more; neither by prophets nor by dreams." God was both silent and invisible. He will only come in His way. Some preparation is no preparation. The prophets of Baal slew their sacrifices and placed it on the altar and cried from morning until noon. They even cut themselves with lancets until their blood gushed, but there was no answer from the skies. The great vault above was as empty, still, and echoless as if there was no God. Men are finding out that some preparation is no preparation. The sooner all discover it the better. The church that waits unavailingly on God for days and nights without answering fire from heaven, may reasonably feel alarm. And the man who declares he is seeking God and cannot find Him; who says he has done all he can and Christ does not come into his heart and life, may know once for all, that he has overlooked some heavenly condition, neglected some essential duty; in a word, he has not prepared the way of the Lord. 34 REVIVAL SERMONS. We are told in Isaiah 40 : 4 what this preparation is. It is repeated in Luke 3 : 5. " Every valley shall be filled." This was what was done in constructing a highway for earthly kings ; the valleys were exalted or filled up. The spiritual meaning is that if we desire the Saviour to come into our lives the great vacancies and hollows of life standing for neglected prayer, omitted Bible reading and other forsaken duties must be attended to. There are many such ignored and des- pised obligations. Like valleys they yawn before us, and how deep they are. They must be filled. " Every mountain and hill shall be brought low." This was necessary to make a road worthy for a king to travel upon in the olden times. It is what is done to-day to give us the iron thoroughfares of com- merce; the valley is filled up and the hill is cut down. It is what we are to do to get Christ to enter our churches and hearts with glorious power Pride is a mountain; unbelief is a mountain. There are many high things that have to come down before the Saviour will ever sweep into our souls. " The crooked shall be made straight." I visited the Appian Way when I was in Rome and observed that it ran as straight as an arrow. If earthly monarchs desire straight highways upon w r hich to travel, how much more does a holy God. Christ will not come HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 35 to the soul upon any other than a straight way ; He will not travel upon a crooked route. Before He saved Saul of Tarsus He made him move on a street called " Straight. " And on that same street we all have to live if we would know Jesus. We must do the straight thing, get straight with everybody, and determine to live the straight life. The instant a man does this the Spirit rushes into him. The moment a church gets right with God the Lord enters. Men ask God to straighten them, when this is our duty and work. The command is to us, to " prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." I have never failed to notice, that if a man will straighten his outward life, God will straighten the in- ward nature. This is not a salvation by works, but that rectification of conduct and life without which God will not look upon us, much less fill us with His glorious presence. Now, let us look at this straightening, which is the the preparation Christ demands as the condition of His coming unto and into us. First, of course, is repentance. This is not only in the order, but in the very neces- sity of things. We must grieve with a godly sorrow for what we have done or left undone toward God. Just as the hand is not extended nor smile given by the parent if the child shows no compunction; so are 36 REVIVAL SERMONS. the heavens like impenetrable brass and "God is silent to the impenitent soul. Let the heart swell with grief, let the lips say, " I am sorry," and ere the tears can fall from the eyes, the angels are rejoicing in heaven over the scene. They know w T hat it means ; that the skies are opening, the Spirit descending and salvation rushing to that soul. In Ezra we read that the Jews trembled before God at the remembrance of their transgressions. The rain fell upon them as they stood in the street, but they endured every discomfort that they might find peace with God. Of course the Divine blessing came. When I saw the Jews in their Wailing Place in Jeru- salem, I had a vision of the luxury and blessedness of tears. Oh, that the people everywhere w T ould begin to w r eep before God. Oh, for melted hearts and w^et eyes in every pew of the church as w r ell as around the altar. These very tears would be as telescopes to the penitent soul to see into the heavens, and as a mighty influence to bring the Lord dow r n into our hearts. A w T eeping or grieving child draw r s the parent instantly to its side, and so, thank God, it is the same in the spirit- ual life. Another preparation is the forsaking of every known sin. It is utterly vain to expect Christ to take possession of us while there is committed sin in the life. The HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 37 face of the Lord was turned from His people at Ai be- cause of a single transgression. Until the golden wedge and Babylonish garment buried under the tent was dug up and burned, the Divine countenance re- mained averted, and Israel blundered about in dark- ness, confusion and galling defeat. If I regard iniquity in my heart, says David, the Lord will not hear me. Think of a clerk asking forgiveness of a merchant with stolen money in his pocket. And what if the mer- chant knows it. How can one ask and the other ex- tend pardon. The thing is morally impossible. The Bible distinctly states that it is our iniquities that sepa- rate us from God. If this be so, then the giving up of these iniquities must be the condition of restored Divine nearness and favor. As I have heard people repeatedly affirming the impossibility of living without sin, I have wondered at the ignorance shown in such speeches of the Word of God. So far is it from being impossible for a child of God to live a blameless life, the Bible distinctly states that the unconverted man himself must cease sinning before God will pardon him. In Isaiah 55 :7, we read, " Let the wicked for- sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abun- dantly pardon." A third preparation is restitution. 38 REVIVAL SERMONS. This indeed is included in the previous thought, but deserves a distinct notice. It is wonderful how care- less some people are here. They give up the ball room and theatre at the demand of the gospel, and yet slur over or forget certain wrongs of the past that should be rectified. The Saviour Himself distinctly tells us when we come to His altar with our gift and remember such a wrong, to hunt up the aggrieved brother and make all right with him first, and then come to the altar. Zaccheus had the matter right when he ex- claimed, " If I have taken anything from any man— I restore him four fold." Recently a ministerial brother told me of a man whom he had met in the West, and who had become deeply convicted in his meeting, went repeatedly to the altar, but could not obtain the grace of pardon and salvation. Various were the charitable explanations upon the part of the audience, among which of course figured " intellectual difficulties." But one day while w r alking with the evangelist, he made the confession that some years before while driving his cattle over the plain, a stray cow got in his drove, and he sold her along with the rest. "Now," he said, " when I come to that altar I see that cow dashing before my eyes, and she fairly fills the landscape." The preacher replied, "You must return her value to the owner." "This," the man said, " I have determined to do." HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 39 And he did so, and as lie did, the joy of forgiveness swept into his soul. The animal was only worth twenty dollars, but it was everything to Him who has identified Himself with every wronged individual on earth, and who is preparing a world for the pure and true and good. A fourth is seen in Reconciliation. The importance of this is seen in the words of the Saviour, "If you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses. " Surely no reasoning, or argument is needed here to show the necessity of this transaction. Christ will not come into an unforgiving soul. But how gladly will He show mercy to the merciful. One of the greatest revivals I ever witnessed began with five or six public reconciliations one morning in church. A woman impelled by the Spirit of God arose and openly begged pardon of another lady in the audience. In twenty seconds they were in each others arms. A grown daughter flew into the arms of her mother from whom she had been estranged. Two other persons stood up and asked the pastor to forgive them for having talked about him. With tears run- ning down his face he extended his hands to them telling them he had not a doubt but he deserved criticism. Two gentlemen met each other in the aisle, locked hands, and while one confessed the other 40 REVIVAL SERMONS. forgave, and in a moment they were embracing with happy smiles and shouts. So it went on, and heaven came down, and the glory of the Transfiguration Mount seemed to fall on the whole assembly. I have beheld many wondrous scenes of grace, but for tender- ness of Spirit, melting hearts, flaming love and pure heavenliness, I have scarcely ever seen anything that surpassed the history of that morning. The revival broke out that very hour, and swept on for two years afterward. It is only another way of saying that Jesus came down and took posession of the church. Fifth there are certain duties and obligations to God. There are such Divine debts and duties. Religion is not to be confined simply to human relations. There are two tables of the Law, and the first had reference entirely to what is due the Lord. We owe things to men, but w T e also owe things to God. We pay the butcher, baker and doctor; we need also to be right with God on the financial as well as on other lines. It is amazing to see how men keep their accounts straight with their fellow men, and yet are careless in their contributions and obligations to the church, which is the abode of their God. If we look at the dwellings that by thousands line the streets of our great cities you will find that the vast majority have the rental account paid up to date, but over against that is the sorrowful and amazing fact that HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 41 with the exception of one or two endowed buildings, there is not a church in all the land but has or has had a debt upon it. Deficits in the Missionary Treasury, deficits in the preacher's and sexton's salary, and debts unsettled for coal, gas, and past services. Meantime the church wonders why everything feels so spiritually barren and dead. They are serving a God who calls Himself a jealous God, and yet wonder why He does not bless them and make them overrun with spiritual life and gladness, when He sees every debt but His own paid, while reproach gathers thereby on His servants, His house and His cause. In a certain large Southern city a protracted meeting had been going on for over a month without any drops of mercy from the skies or ''sound of going in the trees " of salvation. The best of preachers were hold- ing forth, and the most eloquent of prayers, and and finest of singing echoed along the arched walls and stuccoed ceiling; still the fire did not fall, and Jesus would not manifest Himself. One morning a gentle- man belonging to the church requested other male members to meet him in the lecture room. On assembling he said : "You all know, brethren, that we have been trying to secure a revival here for weeks, and we seem no nearer to it to-day than we did a month ago. The question is what is the matter? That something is 42 REVIVAL SERMONS. the matter all can see. Has it occurred to you that the trouble is that we have been carrying a church debt of fifteen thousand dollars for over ten years? And has it also occurred to you that we as a congrega- tion are amply able to pay it? It is my firm belief that God will never come down and fill and bless our church until we settle this obligation. I, for one, will give one thousand dollars, what will you do? In less than fifteen minutes the debt which had been for years a thorn in their sides, a reproach to their church, and a grief to God, was paid. The same evening in the next service the heavenly fire fell, and the power of God came down. The revival that fol- lowed saw hundreds of souls swept into the kingdom. 4. THE FOURTH STEP OR CONDITION OF CHRIST'S COM- ING TO US IS THAT HE MUST BE BESOUGHT TO COME. See the order; invited, desired, prepared for, and besought. Even after having been invited, and pre- pared for, He must be entreated to come. It is not enough to ask and desire His coming. He must be importuned. The simple invitation is not sufficient. Here is the explanation of the failure of many. Numbers have said to me, "I have asked Christ to come in; why does He not do so. I have done all I can." How carelessly they spoke about the matter. HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 43 No wonder Christ did not come. If the Syrophenican woman had stopped with her first request, she never would have received that gracious look and heard the thrilling words "great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt. 1 ' She swept past the realm of careless invitation, got to begging and conquered. The careless invitation is not regarded anywhere. Suppose you try it on some one, or let some one try it on you. Let some person with an absent minded look and heedless manner say, "Come down and see us sometime. " Do you go? Have you not had thou- sands of such invitations, and to which you paid no attention afterwards. But suppose the invitation is after this style, "You must come down and see us. Wife often speaks of j r ou. The children constantly ask after you. The whole family told me to-day to be certain to bring you. Now when will you come. Do not put it off until to-morrow. Say you will come to- day, that you will go with me now. I cannot let you off. Won't you come? " Of course you go. How can you help it. And then it was so pleasant to be thus constrained by people who loved you and whom you loved. Do you know that God can be constrained, and that He loves us to press our suit upon Him. Jacob never uttered more delightful words to the Almighty than when in that midnight wrestle he said, "I will not let 44 REVIVAL SERMONS. thee go except thou bless me." Just afterwards the Word says, "And He," that is, God, "blessed him there." And right "there" in such a spirit and deter- mination and importuning and waiting we will all be blessed. I have had people to tell me that their idea is to tell God what they want at once, and then let the whole matter alone. These persons have not read the Bible understanding^ ; and certainly they do not know yet the secret of victory in prayer. Abraham secured the angels by running after them. The disciples obtained the risen Christ by pressing Him to sup with them at Emmaus. The woman from Canaan got her entire request by hanging on to Christ in spite of three dis- tinct rebuffs. The Capernaum nobleman invited the Saviour to come down and heal his son. The reply would have discouraged many whom you and I know ; but the nobleman turning his tear-filled eyes upon Jesus simply said: "Come down, Lord, ere my son die." He begged, and Jesus went. Have you invited Christ to come? That is not enough. Do you desire Him? The land is full of people who desire, but do not get Him. This also is not sufficient. Have you prepared the way for Him? Yes, you say but still He does not come. Then the explanation is that you have neglected the beseeching and importuning. You do not understand why that HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 45 should be done. Never mind about understanding it, only do it, and you will soon have reason to praise God for having done so, forever and ever! This I have found that he who prays most, knows most of God, and posesses most of the Spirit of God. Men who like Luther, Wesley, Brainard and others prayed three hours a day, not only obtained the mind of Christ, but also the deepest secrets of heaven. I have also found that importunate and persistent prayer will cause Christ to enter any life, and descend upon any church or community. The question is who can bring this about. I answer: Any town, city or nation can bring the Lord down upon the people. Nineveh clothed itself in sack- cloth and turned to God with lamentation and prayer; and the Almighty rolled away its iniquity and smiled in pardon and peace upon the troubled inhabitants. Again and again the Jews as a people and nation would humble themselves before God in time of defeat and affliction, and the Lord would descend with mighty power, scattering their enemies and filling them with songs of praise and shouts of victory. It can be done to-day. If the people of any country would assemble in their churches and call on God with repen- tance, turning from sin and looking to Christ; heaven would answer in grace and glory; and no matter to what that nation had drifted or sunk, it would be lifted 46 REVIVAL SERMONS. up from that very hour in honor, prosperity, happiness and blessedness above other nations. But some will say we could never get an entire nation thus to wait on God, so the suggestion is vain. If this be so then I reply : A congregation of believers can do it. This was what w r as done at Pentecost. One hundred and twenty souls, praying for ten days brought the power of God down upon Jerusalem. The same thing can be done to-day and is being done. This is what I aim for in every one of my meetings, to get the church to praying. After a few days the result is unmistakeable in the general conviction on the town, and the clear cases of free and full salvation at the altar. Many times I have seen whole communities stirred and swept as a wind moves a wheat field, and the power come down from heaven in answer to the tears and cries of God's people sent up day after day in the special hours set apart for prayer. It is in the power of the church to-day to put the world on its knees and face. Let the churches everywhere be filled with men and women pleading for the salvation of sinners, and the God of heaven and earth would answer as He only can by direct influence on mind, conscience and heart, and the ranks of the unsaved would be swept with cyclones of conviction and repentance, and the slain of the Lord would be everywhere. HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 47 But some one says suppose we cannot get an entire congregation to thus unite? Then two believers can do it. What says the Bible, "When two on earth are agreed as touching anything, it shall be done." Dr. Finney of evangelistic fame remembered this and never rested until he had one other person agonizing in prayer with himself for an out-pouring of the Holy Spirit upon his meeting. At one place he had a par- ticularly long struggle. One night after midnight while on the floor praying for God to come, he heard the sounds of a voice in interceding prayer in the room about him. Going to his door and listening, he dis- covered that it was the voice of a godly woman in the house, and heard her sighs and sobs and petitions that God would send down the grace and power of salvation on the town. Dr. Finney with a happy smile closed his door and returned triumphant to his room saying, "We have the scriptural number of two, and shall have the victory." It came the next day in great power. This blessed fact saves us from despair when we find we cannot get one hundred and twenty or even a less number of the church together to pray down a revival. Two can do it. Christ says so. If any two agree on having a revival, and keep praying, it shall be done, says the Son of God. But suppose that two such people cannot be found? 48 REVIVAL SERMONS. Then one believer can do it. What does the Saviour say here? "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." How the Bible and life itself have proved the truth of those words. Elijah locked and unlocked the heavens with a prayer. Elisha prayed the dead bock to life. Joshua prayed the sun and moon into sta- tionary positions for hours, and on another occasion prayed departed victory back to the ranks of the dis- couraged children of Israel. Knox kept praying to God, "Give me Scotland or I die," and God gave him the land he prayed for. Fletcher would never go into the pulpit unless he realized the Divine presence and felt the assurance of victory. So he stained the walls of his study with the breath of his ardent supplications. One Sabbath day the hour of preaching had arrived, and he was not in the pulpit. The audience waited for awhile and then some one was dispatched to his study to see w r hat detained him. The messenger returned saying that Mr. Fletcher was evidently engaged in his room with some individual, for he heard him say to him, "I will not go unless you go with me." By and by Mr. Fletcher appeared with his face shining. The One he had been talking to, had come with him. All could HOW TO OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 49 see that. Who wonders that a steady revival flamed and glowed in his church. A woman in Kentucky prayed fifteen years for a revival that would upheave the town in which she lived. It looked to some that the prayer would never be answered. Doubtless many smiled over that oft- repeated supplication, "Revive thy work, Oh God in this place." But she held on in faith. God heard the prayer, and by a most remarkable chain of circum- stances prepared the messenger, and at last sent him to answer the prayer of that faithful heart. She saw the town moved as it never had been before, and hun- dreds converted, reclaimed and sanctified. The speaker before you conducted that wonderful meeting. An elderly lady in one of our largest Western cities craved to see a genuine scriptural revival. The church which she belonged to would not pray for it. Neither could she find another person like-minded with herself about the matter. She determined to pray alone. She remembered the promise: "Ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done." Obtain- ing a key to one of the rooms in the basement of the church she began her regular morning visits of an hour, to be spent in lonely but not the less faithful and fervent prayer. She had been going some days when a gentleman acquaintance saw her and asked her where she had been. She replied, "To meeting. " 50 REVIVAL SERMONS. "Did you have a good one," he innocently asked. "Yes," she said, "We had a splendid time." "Who was there," the man asked. "The Lord and myself," was the surprising answer. In a few days a more general attention was excited by the lonely visitor, and as the fact came out that she was there praying God to send a revival upon the church and community, others smitten in conscience melted in heart and drawn in spirit, joined her. The room was soon filled, the power came down, and a great revival swept through the church. Is it not enough to make your hearts leap and souls begin to burn to think that any one of you now listen- ing to me can pray God's precious, beautiful and all powerful salvation down upon worldly communities, lifeless churches, and the sorrowful, heartbroken and lost nations of the earth. Think of it ! immortal souls can be saved through us. Hell and Satan can be defeated, and heaven peo- pled through our prayers. Let us be up and at it! To your knees oh people of God. Down on your faces with sobs, tears and cries. Who will pray. Who will keep on praying and looking and expecting while God answers ! for a spirit of prayer such as Moses and Paul had. O to pray all night like Jesus did. Lord, increase our faith. O Christ, hear our prayer. O Son of God, answer by the Baptism of Fire. III. SIN AND SALVATION. "There is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." — Rom. 3 : 22, 23, 24. 0NE of the world's hobbies is the erection of class barriers and social distinctions. We hear of blue blood as opposed to and superior to the red fluid that flows through the veins of the multitude. We hear of the classes over against the masses ; and of "upper tendom " and the "five hundred." One w T ould suppose from certain extreme views that there must have been a plurality of races, and instead of one Adam there were four or five. There are times when these differences' so studiously preserved and contended for will disappear. One is the Judgment Day. Titles, ranks, dignities, caste and all go down together in that hour when the mountains crash even with the plain and the skies are all aflame. No one will think of contending for these arbitrary and evanescent creations of men when nature is groan- ing in death throes, and the race is required to possess but one thing and that character. 51 52 REVIVAL SERMONS. Another time is a period of common peril. All of us have seen the great leveling power of a general danger. Men look and act like brothers on the street who have not spoken before, and the woman of wealth holds anxious converse over the garden gate with her poor neighbor as though both had been rocked in the same cradle, and warmed at the same fireside, and no social gulf had ever rolled between. A third time is seen when the gospel comes down in pow T er upon the community. Under its light and wondrous influence, all classes and ranks feel their marvellous likeness in moral weakness and spiritual need. As the gospel teachings take hold upon the congregation how wonderfully alike all become. So with these hints to begin with w r e advance the thought that in spite of all our boasted dissimilarities in the social and intellectual life, yet in certain all important things, there is no difference among us. 1. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE IN OUR BEING BORN WITH A BAD HEART. We have been born in different kinds of houses, from a palace to a hovel; and some are princes and some beggars ; some see the light w r ith a gold spoon in their mouths, some w r ith a silver, some with an iron, and some with no spoon at all. Yet all are born with this bad heart. SIN AND SALVATION. 53 Of course there are those who protest here, and argue and deny; but I must believe God rather than man. The Book says we are " born in sin and con- ceived in iniquity,*' that "the whole head is sick,*' "the whole heart faint, 7 * that the heart is like " a cage of unclean birds," etc., etc. In confirmation of this thought, we ask where does the wickedness of the world come from. Not from the air or water. Christ says, " Out of the heart.'* Fur" thermore we observe that people do not have to get old to become wicked. The ghastly crimes of this century have been committed by young men. The vast ma- jority of the convicts in the penitentiaries are young men. In disturbances at religious meetings it is the rarest thing to find elderly people guilty of misdoing, but nearly always the misconduct springs from those in their teens. The heart is evidently born bad. In rebuttal of this, men say to me, that they know some people who have never been converted, and are not religious, and yet are kind, nice, and lovely altogether. The answer I give to this is that there are several ways to account for these lovely, respectable and well behaved sinners. One is the absence of favoring cir- cumstance. They have not yet had the peculiar con- ditions surrounding them that will sap their fancied strength in a moment and show them how ignorant 54 REVIVAL SERMONS. they have been of themselves. Another reason is the fear of conscience. There are people to-day who would gladly sin, but they are not willing to endure the mental agony that they know is certain to come as the result. So they behave themselves. A third reason is fear of public opinion. And a fourth , the dread of civil punishment. In a word there is restraint upon them. See how it works. Did you ever look on a city prison or penitentiary and notice how well behaved and orderly the convicts were? What is the matter with them? The answer is Fear! If they do not behave they will be loaded with chains and dumped into the dark cell with bread and water. So look at the people on the street. How well behaved these unconverted people are. What makes them so nice and law abiding. The fact is they must do right or be punished. I have looked at a large venomous reptile in a glass box. How mild and well mannered he was. But we all knew if he was out, what stings would be given by his fangs, or what cracking of bones there would be under his twisting folds. The box made him orderly. So have we all seen the cobra-gleam in the eye of men and women who would sting and crush if they could, but the glass box of public opinion or civil punishment kept them orderly and harmless. SIN AND SALVATION. 55 But that is not the case with me says some one. Then there are three explanations to be given, one is that you are sanctified and the heart is pure. Or as a regenerated man you are living in prayer and keeping down the dark nature in you; or third, if you are an unconverted man the declaring circumstance of your life has not yet come. Something of the deep inborn depravity of the heart > and its terrible possibilities is seen in the lives Gf Hazael, Robespierre, and Tamerlane. The first of these three was much shocked when Elisha wdth pro- phetic vision told him how he was going to desolate the land and murder the people even to the women and children. But he lived to see the day when he did all the dreadful things the prophet said he would. As for Robespierre we read that in his early manhood he resigned a certain municipal position because he was required to pronounce sentence of death on the guilty. In ten or fifteen years from that time he was an incarnate devil and the guillotine in Paris was con- stantly falling on the necks of people at his command. As for Tamerlane we are told in history that he was like other youths in the beginning of his life, at one time weeping over a dead bird, but the inborn devil arose in his heart and through his power over a million people were slain. 56 REVIVAL SERMONS. In the early part of their lives there was seen no greater sign of wickedness than is seen in most children and youths. The peculiar ferocity and devilishness that made millions to mourn had not yet appeared. There was no call for it. It slumbered on. But the favoring circumstance at last came, and the full in- ward blackness and badness sprang forth to the horror and mourning of multitudes. A horrible thought is that when this latent evil comes forth in any of its myriad expressions it appears full grown! Did any of you ever notice that when a certain provocation came to you and you fell into some kind of wrong doing, that the sin was full grown. That when you got angry, it was no case of evolution, but you were mad all over at once. The passion or fury did not develop but leaped out of the heart, and from eye to lip, full fledged, completely armed or entirely grown as the case may be. You had no infant on your hands requiring care, but a giant altogether managing you. And yet only the day before you had made the remark how gentle and kind you felt toward every- body. You were patting yourself on the head so to tspeak and smoothing yourself down when suddenly the arranged hair stood on end like bristles, and instead of being a cooing dove you recognized in you SIN AND SALVATION. 57 the growl and claws of a catamount. The arousing and declaring circumstance had come. S. S. Prentiss was once delivering a political speech from the top of a cage belonging to a menagerie. The audience stood before him, encircled with the rest of the cages containing the wild beasts. At a certain point in his speech Mr. Prentiss discovered an auger hole in the top of the cage on which he stood. At the moment he was saying that " If the opposition should do what they propose doing, it is enough to make all the beasts of the field to howl in fury " — he suddenly ran his walking cane through the hole and sharply prodded a lion. The great brute leaped to his feet and roared, and it seemed to be the signal for a general outburst from the whole menagerie, for in five seconds every animal was on his feet and the air fairly trembled with the combined throat thunder. I have recalled this scene more than once, and thought this is the way w 7 ith the dark nature of w T hich we are speaking. It lies as quietly within as did the slumbering tigers in their cages. When lo, the un- expected circumstance like the walking stick stirs up the resting or dozing sin, and the man to his amaze- ment finds he has a roaring menagarie of evil inside. Some of you had better not congratulate yourselves too soon. The only reason you are quiet, and have thus far gotten along so well, is that the walking stick 58 REVIVAL SERMONS. which is to reach you in the most sensitive place has not yet been thrust at you. The devil knows where the auger hole is, and he is looking for the walking stick. Look out ! my boasting, well satisfied brother. In the providence of God you will yet find out that you have a slumbering lion within you. How I pity you the day the walking stick reaches him, and he roars and shakes the human cage. Some years ago one of the petty kings of New Zealand visited England. It was said by one who wrote up the visit and described the barbarian chief that he was of a very kind and gentle nature unless some one crossed and provoked him; then he became beside himself. On one occasion he caught a man who had worried him, in his hands, swung him high above his head, shook him in the air and brought him down with a crash on the floor. How many people you and I know who are like the New Zealand chief. Let them have their way in all things and they are just lovely, but just provoke or cross them and then come experi- ences of an earthquake or cyclone order. 2. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE IN ALL HAVING SINNED. The text puts this beyond all question, " for all have sinned. " The explanation of course of this general sinning is to be found in the universal inheritance of a bad heart to begin with. SIN AND SALVATION. 59 What is sin? The accepted definition is that it is the voluntary transgression of a known Divine law. Suppose we take the ten commandments that in a federal way cover every kind of wickedness. Who has kept them inviolate? They forbid idolatry, pro- fanity, irreverence, Sabbath desecration, dishonor to parents, killing, stealing, adultery, coveting and false witnessing. If any person before me has not broken one of these laws I would be glad to have him stand up. Suppose we wait a minute to see if such a person is here, one who has never broken one of the Ten Commandments . I remember once hearing a preacher request any one in his audience w T ho had never stolen or taken any- thing that belonged to another to arise. One gentleman arose, when the preacher in a significant tone asked him if he had been a soldier in the late war, when suddenly the man sat down, while a general smile went around. An evangelist once asked all in his congregation who had never told a lie to arise. Two individuals stood up when the preacher requested the audience to kneel in prayer for the two biggest liars he had yet seen in his life. All smiling aside, where is the person who has not broken the letter itself of one of the Ten Command- ments. In a word all have sinned. 60 REVIVAL SERMONS. But some will say I do not remember to have offended against the letter of the law. Very good, then take the spirit of the law and see who escapes. The Saviour long ago showed the spiritual side of the Commandments, and said that to be angry was murder, and that to look upon a woman improperly was adultery. Idolatry is the elevation of some creature into God's place, and coveting is theft unfledged. As we learn these facts from Scripture who is able to lift up his head and say I have not sinned. Nor is this all, for Christ says if we offend in one of these Commandments we have broken all. Truly if a man is willing to sin against God in one respect, he certainly will in another. Moreover the result is one of general woe. Suppose for instance, as one has said, you were suspended over an abyss by a chain of ten links, and one should be broken! Would you not go down just as certainly and swiftly as if three or five or all the links had been sundered? Somehow there is a conviction abroad that if a man can willingly violate one commandment of heaven, he will not require much urging to break another. In illustration I remember years ago to have read of a gentleman sitting in a hotel one Sabbath morning. Near him two other gentlemen were playing cards. He endured the painful spectacle a while and then suddenly called out to the hotel waiter to run quickly SIN AND SALVATION. 61 to his room and bring him certain valuable articles he had left on his table. One of the card-players had the curiosity to ask him why he made such a request. The gentleman with great emphasis replied that when he saw persons around deliberately breaking one of God's laws in Sabbath desecration he did not know when it might please them to break another law, say for instance as to stealing, and so he thought it wisest to secure his property. Certainly men do not see themselves. They do not stop to think. Alas for it, that every one who will speak the truth is compelled to say that in the sorrow- ful past he has sinned. I do not mean to say that we cannot be washed and sanctified and by the indwelling grace and presence of Christ be kept from sinning. That, thank God, is true also. We only mean to say that in the past, all, save Jesus Christ, have at some time or in some way, sinned against God. 3. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE IN ALL HAVING COME SHORT OF GOD'S GLORY. There can be no question of this, for the statement of the text is plain ; all have come short of the glory of God. There is a great difference in regard to the posses- sion of man's glory. Gladstone and Bismarck, Grant 62 REVIVAL SERMONS. and Lee obtained it, while you and I have failed. If some men came to our city, the streets would be crowded with welcoming thousands, houses would be illuminated, rockets ascend and cannon thunder. But many of us might come and go and the community would be none the wiser. Some have succeeded in obtaining the glory of men, but when it comes to the glory of God all alike have failed. What is the glory of God? Many have been the answers. Some say it is eternal life. Others say heaven. Still others affirm that it is the perfect, flaw- less character, such as is drawn in the law and require- ments of the Bible. A fourth answer is that it is the honor w T hich God gives as a reward on earth and in heaven, based on individual merit and faithfulness alone. A fifth explanation is that it is the holiness of God Himself. Evidently it is difficult to tell what it means. The heart knows better here than the head. The soul feels at this place what the lip cannot express. But let the term glory of God stand for all we have mentioned, eternal life, heaven, Divine honor, flawlessness of life, God's resplendent holiness — concerning this galaxy of shining blessings we are all bound to say, that standing in our own strength and wdsdom, unhelped by Divine grace w T e all come short of the glory of God. Any SIN AND SALVATION. 63 one of them is the glory of God, and who of us without Christ could have measured up to or obtained them. The expression "come short'' is powerful. I see an arrow shot at a target, but falling this side of the mark. It came short. I see a man endeavoring to leap a chasm. He misses the other bank and goes crashing down into the canyon. He came short. So has the human race in itself tried to reach heaven, attain character, and be clothed with the honor and rewards of God. It was a great leap they thought they made in their moral philosophies and life sacrifices, but they came short. History said so, God said so, and they felt it. But one person says I did not fail as much as another did; and one age and country did not sink as low as another. True, but all came short of God's glory, and so the catastrophe is wonderfully similar. Let us see how this is the case. Here is a call in military ranks for men who measure exactly six feet. Some applicants are only five feet six, others five feet eight, still others five, ten and eleven, and some are within half an inch of the standard. Yet all are rejected, and the man who is five feet eleven inches and a half finds himself in the rejected company of those who fell short six inches. They all came short. Suppose some of us had to jump a chasm six feet wide in order to save our lives. One leaps only four 64 REVIVAL SERMONS. feet, another five, a third five feet six inches. All go crashing down the precipice together. It took a six foot leap to make the safe landing, and no one covered the distance. So we say to the entire human race, fall into line. Kings and peasants, princes and beggars, generals, statesmen, citizens, soldiers, preachers and laymen all get into line. Now then let every one, whether he be clothed in silk or rags, strike his breast with his hand and cry out, " We have all come short of the glory of God." Are we all in the dust ? Well, that is just where God wants us ; and where we must all get before Christ can save us. 4. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE IN THERE BEING PARDON FOR US ALL. The text says there is no difference — " being justi- fied freely." Of course this does not mean that every one in the world does secure pardon, but can if he will. ' It is so free that it is for all; just as much for the tramp on the road as for the king on his throne; just as truly for the poor man as for the millionaire. It is for the young .and the aged, the illiterate and the philosopher. It comes just as swiftly to one as the other, and just as freely and abundantly. It never stops to examine SIN AND SALVATION. 65 the house in which you live whether it be a palace or a hovel. It asks no questions about the kind of clothes you wear whether silk or jeans; nor on what alley, street or avenue you reside, nor what may be the amount of your income. There is no difference, all are justified freely who will accept pardon. Is it not wonderful that men should doubt this blessed Bible truth. The trouble is they make God such an one as themselves. Affected by material cir- cumstances they would make the Almighty partial, and a respecter of persons. Listen to the Word, "God would have all men believe and come to the knowledge of the truth ; ' ' il God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Now look at His gifts of air and sunshine. They are as much for one person as another, and are sym- bolic of the like freedom and fullness of His grace and salvation. I have noticed that the telephone wires in our cities go to large and fine looking houses ; none to hovels. But the lines of Divine grace and love are sent to any and all houses, and to the humblest as quickly as to the lordly residence. I have noticed that certain lovely tints and colors are peculiar to the mansions of the rich ; but God has a crimson stain that came from Calvary, which He places on the lowliest abode on the obscurest street ; and when He applies it to a palace it 66 REVIVAL SERMONS. is the same scarlet color; He has nothing better in heaven. I started housekeeping in a very humble way. Rather than go in debt, our first center table was a dry goods box, and our two arm chairs we made our- selves out of barrels, cushioned with straw and covered with red calico. I live to-day in a three story house with pleasant and comfortable furniture made at the factories. But the Lord came as quickly to bless my soul when I lived in one room as He does now when I keep house in ten. I have seen altars filled with all kinds of people seeking forgiveness of sin. There were the blonde curls of childhood, the grizzled locks of middle life, and the gray hairs of old age. The faded coat or dress was by the side of rustling silk or shining broadcloth. The poor tradesman was next to the scholar or profes- sional man. I noticed at the same time that the silk and broadcloth secured more ghostly counsel and atten- tion from their fellow creatures than did the obscure and less favored in face, person and purse. But I also noticed that heaven was rigidly impartial. That God came as quickly in response to prayer and faith to the unrefined as to the accomplished, and to the poor as to the wealthy. In a word, there is no difference; we can all be justified no matter who we are, what we have done or left undone. The debt has been paid. SIN AND SALVATION. 67 the door of heaven is open and the cry to the whole world is come, and take of the water of life freely. 5. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE WITH US IN REGARD TO THE FULL BENEFITS OF THE GREAT REDEMPTION. The text says, "The redemption that is in Christ Jesus. " What is this redemption ? He who regards it as simply the pardon of sin has failed to take in the meaning of the word. He who makes it to be escape from hell and the gaining of heaven has not grasped the fullness of the salvation of Christ. The word redemption has in it the idea of a complete recovery. It means repurchasing or ransoming, and overflows with the thought of rescue. The illustrations of the meaning of the word are even more striking. A field that for years has been lying out untouched by hoe or plow, covered with weeds and brambles, and then afterwards fenced in and made to smile with a beautiful and profitable harvest is a field redeemed. A preacher was once approached by a boy carrying a cage filled with birds. He desired to sell them. The preacher's heart felt strangely moved in behalf of the little captives and bought them all. After paying the money down in the lad's hands, the new master of the birds opened the cage door and let them all fly out. With wet eyes but warm heart he saw them flutter 68 REVIVAL SERMONS. away through the air, and he said as they flew off into the sky they were all chirping and singing and they seemed to say, u Redeemed — Redeemed." A still more remarkable illustration of the word has been seen in connection with certain occurrences in the days of Slavery. Now and then a Slave owner be- ing pressed by debt or some kind of obligation, would be under the necessity of parting with one or more of his servants. In certain towns and cities there was what was called a Slave-block, and the man or woman to be sold was placed upon it and auctioneered off to the highest bidder. It was a scene never to be forgot- ten when the husband and father thus stood, and heard the bids made upon him. The circle of rough-looking Slave buyers about the Block, felt the muscles of the Slave, asked his age and reguarded him as merely a piece of goods or chattels. The wife and children of the man thus being sold, stood or crouched a few yards away and witnessed the sale with voiceless lips, but streaming eyes. In a few minutes he is to be "knocked down" to the highest bidder, and will be carried away to end his days on some far distant plantation of cot- ton or cane in Mississippi or Louisiana. They will never meet again on earth. It all comes to him as stealing a hurried glance at his loved ones, he hears the words of the auctioneer ; how pitiless they sounded ; u One thousand dollars is offered" — " Twelve hun- SIN AND SALVATION. 69 dred dollars.'' "How much more am I offered" "Are all bids in." "Twelve hundred dollars." — " Going — going — gone !" Yes, truly, it is — gone. And the man now amid the loud wails of his family goes off with his new master, to return no more. But suppose that just as some coarse, dark-featured man has bidden the twelve hundred dollars, and as the trembling Slave takes in the cruel visage before him and a horror of despair begins to fall upon him, that a benevolent-faced gentleman in the crowd, not only wealthy but a benefactor of his race, trying to do good at every opportunity, suddenly bids twelve hundred and fifty, and still higher as his competitor raises the amount. Suppose this kindly heart, who has done the like thing often before, should bid beyond the reach of every other man, and for the sum of eighteen hun- dred dollars has the Slave turned over to him. It is not to retain him as a slave, however, but to set him at liberty from that hour. He tells with shining face, the joy-intoxicated man "you are free. I have re- deemed you." Suppose in addition to this act, the wealthy gentleman purchases the family of the man and then sets them all free together; now then you have some idea of the deep, sweet meaning of the word Redemption. So were we on the Slave-block of sin. The world and the devil were bidding for our souls. You know 70 REVIVAL SERMONS. well what bondage to them means ; what separations tears, labors and death. Right in the midst of this bidding came one wearing a crown of thorns and saying, iC I will bid for him." To the question what will you give, He answered : " I will give the gold of my blood, and the silver of my tears. I give myself for him." And thank God, we were struck down to Christ. There was no one who could outbid Jesus. There was no price in all the universe equal to what He paid down at Calvary. And so we became the Lord's property, and in becoming His were set free ; Free from sin , the world and the devil; in a word Redeemed. Paul says in Titus 2:14: " He gave Himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity." Here now we have it. To be redeemed from all iniquity is to be made holy. Christ's salvation was never in- tended to stop with pardon, but to sweep on farther, and to go down deeper, giving us a pure heart and set- tling us in a holy life. The Bible shows us what " the redemption in Christ Jesus" is by a reference to certain characters in its pages. I mention only one, and that one Peter. As a rough fisherman without God, he must have been a most unattractive individual. When he was converted and in his impulsive way following Christ there was a marvellous change. Still, however, he was fearful and hot-headed. But after the baptism of SIN AND SALVATION. 71 the Holy Ghost, with his heart purified and soul and tongue on fire boldly preaching, patiently suffering and humbly yet triumphantly dying for the Saviour, it is like looking on another man, and in itself tells louder than words what is " the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." It was a redemption from haste of speech, religious narrowness, dread of man and fear of death. It w T as the power to face a frowning world, with a joy un- speakable and full of glory, and to live daily as he w T rote in one of his epistles, " Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. " Look at the Demoniac filled w^ith ten thousand devils tearing and cutting himself and wandering with fearful cries up and down the banks of Lake Galilee in order to see what the bondage of the devil is. Then to know 7 Christ's redemption, see the same man with the un- clean spirits all gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and afterwards sent back to his home and community as an evangelist to tell what great things the Lord had done for him. Life is full of illustrations and commentaries upon the word Redemption. A few months ago I saw a man who under the demon of intemperance had been sent twenty-seven times to Inebriate Asylums. All had failed. Then he came to Jesus, and Christ with 72 REVIVAL SERMONS. His blessed releasing power, saved and sanctified him, and the man is to-day one of the most useful Christian workers in the land. I have seen backsliders who had drifted far from God, and had been in coldness, darkness and hardness for years , suddenly arrested, broken, melted, reclaimed, refilled and refired, and from that time became the gentlest, humblest, purest and most zealous among the servants of God. This also is the redemption of Jesus. Some of you know what this redemption has done for you. Justification secured your pardon; regenera- tion made you a new creature in Christ Jesus, but there was something left in your heart that gave you much trouble. There was a dark nature or principle within that brought you days of defeat and gloom. You had love, but it was not perfect. You had peace, but it did not abide. At last you were told that Christ had a work of grace that would meet every spiritual need, and richly satisfy every longing of the soul. You sought the blessing for hours or days. And it came. O, how thankful you are that it came. Since that mo- ment you know what heart repose and life victory mean. You feel every instant that the blood clean- seth, and a tender quiet joy bubbles like a pure spring up in the heart. You feel kept by the power of God. In a word ; you are justified freely, sanctified wholly SIN AND SAIyVATION. 73 and preserved blameless. This is a part of what is meant by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Why do not the people come to Him and find out what He is, and has, and can do for them. The Bible says there is " riches of grace " in Christ; yet many of His people would never impress you that they were rich, but rather poverty-stricken and bankrupt. Why should there be sadness and defeat in our hearts and lives when He whom we serve has all mercy, all love and all power ? There is no end to the redemption that is in Him; and this redemption is for any and all. There is no difference. All are welcome. The humblest and weakest person here can drink as deep of the fountain of salvation as did Paul. You can live as near the Lord as did John. You can be the best of earth and rise as high in heaven as the loftiest archangel ! Who will accept what God has for them? Who will help him- self? May God grant that the last one of you will arise and enter upon the privileges and boundless pos- sibilities of grace and blessedness provided by the Sa- viour for every child ot man. IV. SONSHIP. "Beloved, now are we the Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." — 1 John, 3: 2, 3. THERE are three great truths taught by this passage of Scripture. The first is evident at a mere glance; the second is just as truly taught but not as quickly seen; while the third is buried still more deeply, and yet is the most important of the three. To the question of surprise why this should be so, the reply is that the God of Grace and Nature is the same God, and He who hides certain ores under the surface of the earth, and buries gold, silver and gems farther down, acts consistently in the spiritual kingdom, when He secretes precious truths under the meaning of the word, and still more sacred mysteries still deeper. I call attention to the three great lessons of the text : and first — 1. THE FACT OF SONSHIP. This prominent thought of the text is suggestive of other truths which illumine and glorify the first 74 SCLNSHIP. 75 great fact. I present them as they arise in my mind. First : If we are Sons of God then there must have been a spiritual birth. There is no way of obtaining entrance into the king- dom of God except by birth. You cannot grow into it, nor reform into it, nor improve into it, but you must be born into it. Just as there is but one way of getting into this material world of ours, viz. by birth, so there is but one way of finding entrance into the kingdom of grace. We must be born into it. A physical birth for the physical world, a spiritual birth for the spiritual world. The Saviour's words are explicit here, "Ye must be born again. " "Except ye be born of the Spirit, ye cannot see the kingdom of God." Just as distinctly John in his gospel affirms that this birth is "not of blood," £.