The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1885-03-11
A Revival: An Imperious
Necessity.
By Rev GEORGE E. REED, NosTRANp
AVE. NJ. q. CHURCH, BROOKLYN.

enron. XIV: 1918.
We have all the appliances of church
work, but we need such a manifest
presence of God as characterized the
Pentecostal Church. The text gives an
account OF the ancient revival of religion
under good king Asa. Other revivals are
portrayed by the sacred writer's. From
these we learn:
l. That revivals of religion are by no
means new things, nor are they things of
modern invention. On the contrary, we
find that the history OF God, in all the
ages, is really history OF revivals They
began in the earliest times and have con-
tinued ever since, and the periods of
revival have been epochs of the greatest
power and usefulness in the history of
the Church: as for instance, the great
revivals under Moses in the desert I'M
der the Judges at later period in the
history OF the Hebrew nation under the
kings Hezekiah and Josiah, and in the
later days of the prophets The coming
OF the Son of God was preceded by the
great national revival witnessed in the
day of John the Baptist The history of
the Christian Church from the days of
Pentecost down has been a repetition of
the wonderful outpourings of the Spirit
OF God, which characterized the previous
days. AS conirmatory of this statement,
witness the great Protestant revival un-
der Martin Luther; the imposing spiri-
tual movement begun under the Wesleys
in England and the great awakenings
under Edwards, Finney, Moody and
others of these later times.
z. We learn, in the second place, from
these facts that the progress of religion
Is not In uniform, steady line there are
periods of decadence and other apparent
Iretrogrades, followed by mighty up
heavals. Why this is we may only sur
mise-we only know that such are the
facts OF history, account for them as we
may.
8. In the third place, we find that re-
vivals of religion ordinarily commence in
humble and obscure ways, and are ordi-
narily helped on by the humblest instru-
ments-of which truth you will find many
illustra tions.
4. We learn that they are ordinarily
accompanied by great deal of what peo-
pie are pleased to term excitement. Asa
and his men went through the nation
with shoutings, and with trumpets and
with comets; they made wonderful and
prodlglous stir; they sought for a revival
even as they had covenanted, with all
their hearts; they were in dead earnest
and OF course, were successful. If there
is anything foolish and absurd in the cur
rent church life OF the day. it is the notion
that religious work must be carried on in
such way as to render it entirely devoi1
OF all excitement. Half of the churches
OF the land are paralyzed in their useful
ness by the incubus OF the dead weight of
Journalism, which lies so heavily upon
them. Even in the Methodist churches
the amen corner" has become almost
entirely thing of the past the old
fashioned responses which formerly at
tested the power and the fire of religion
VIII. ch Chalmers defined as Christianity
IN earnest" are no longer heard, or if
heard occasionally from the lips of some
enthusiastic brethren, are heard with an
amazement beyond the power of words to
express.
Religion Is not a thing to be shut up
and confined to mans own heart-it is
not thing too sacred to be freely talked
about. God is over all blessed for ever
more; dealing with His children as mem
bers of one common family, with common
ills to be redressed, with common mala-
dies to be healed, common wants to be
supplied and common comforts to be
granted
5. In the next place we learn that true
revivals OF religion are marked by mar
vellous transformations of character and
reformations in the life. One of the blessed
results of revival in church is that if
it be genuine, it makes the church " first
pure and then peaceable :" old duarrels
are healed discord and chickering's pass
away jealousies and distrust take flight,
and a feeling Of fellowship pervades the
church akin to that which characterized
the apostolic Church in the time of its
first and Pentecostal baptism.
6 Again, we learn that a genuine revi-
val means not only the reviving of the
church itself, but also large ingatherings
OF men and women from the outside
world. A revival church is always
growing church men love to congregate
within It's walls preaching becomes sim
pie, pungent and powerful for the over
throwing of strongholds of sin in the
human soul the word preach" seems
in fact, to have Vtalizing energy not
seen at other times unlearned and even
illiterate men seem to speak with an unc-
ton and power that are evidently born of
God, or as with new tongues, as the