The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1868-11-18

past, she felt assured that they woulc
soon have better times. He fondly hopeC
that she was not mistaken, and that the
time to favor Zion would soon arrive
the set time. ''But who is to set the
time ?" said he. "Not God; for his
time is now. God is always ready tC
pour out his Spirit upon his people,
You must set the time; God is waiting
until you come up to the performance Of
your duty, He can do nothing until
you begin in earnest to call upon his
name, and to seek the salvation of your
fellow men. ">ooHe said that ''sinners
were waiting to be converted; and that
God and the holy angels were waiting
until the members of the church did their
duty" ,
could not help saying to myself
This is worse and worse. Don't the
preacher know that when the Bible speaks
of the set time to favor Zion, it means
the time which God has set or appointed
to bestow the richest blessings of his
grace upon his people?" 1 was some
what bewildered by what we had heard.
After while the pastor of the church
called upon persons to come forward to
be prayed for. None came. He then
invited Christians to pray for him, and
presented himself as the first mourner at
the altar. Some one in the congrega-
tiOn was called upon to pray, and then the
whole aspect of the meeting was changed.
Several prayers were offered up in the
course of the evening, and many hymns
sung. In each and every one of the
prayers, language was made use of very
different from that to which We had lis
tened while the preachers were deliver
ing their exhortations.
The persons who led in prayer, humbly
confessed to God that they could do moth
ing, and acknowledged that all their help
must come from him. They thanked
their Maker that they We're that evening
striving to know and do his will. They
prayed and entreated him to begin re
vival in their hearts, and in the hearts of
his ministers. They represented them
selves as waiting upon God, and upon
him alone, and acknowledged that they
were unable to move or do any thing, un-
til he should condescend in his mercy to
breathe upon them, and send them for
ward with new life and zeal in his SER
vice. They prayed with much fervor and
Importantly. 1t was pleasant to listen
both to the singing and the praying
The soul of any Calvinist-no, will not
say that-the heart of any pious man
would have been cheered and strength
ened by Witnessing such an exhibition of
Christian sentiment and feeling. We
had pleasant time of it. The devo-
tional exercises were animated and re-
freshing.
Yet still when the meeting broke up
and the congregation was dismissed, l
could not solve the mystery-cOuld not
tell why people should preach up one set
of doctrines, and pray up another; why
men should be Calvinists on their knees,
and Arminians when they were on their
feet. Is it thoughtlessness, wilfull blind
ness, or the force of habit, that produces
such an inconsistency? Does any man
believe that the hands of God are tied,
and that he cannot do as he pleases?
1t cannot certainly be the right way to
bring about a revival of religion, to be-
gin by calling in question the power, the
sovereignty, and the independence OF
God,-his absolute control over all his
creatures and all their actions. What a
dreadful thing it would be, if God could
not commence a work of grace in a
church, the members of which had be-
come cold and lukewarm in his service,
until some poor mortal awoke from his
spiritual slumber, and began to rouse his
brethren from their dangerous and sloth-
full supineness and tranquility, when there
was so much need for strenuous exertion
But there is consolation in remembering
that when men are on their knees in
prayer, they are generally humble and
as orthodox as it could be desired that
they should be. The hope has sprung
up in our breast that Christians will pray
the world right after awhile, and that the
most rabid advocates of human agency
will be willing at no distant day, to ascrib(
all the power and the glory to God. Tc
Him be all the praise forever. We should
never forget that the Apostle Paul said
Work out your own salvation with feal
and trembling, for it is God that worketl
in you both to will and to do of has good
pleasure. "
God Loved Me.