Wichita eagle., 1888-02-15
THE GREAT REVIVAL,
. Wilson Still Preaching to Full House:

The afternoon meeting at the NJ. E.
church yesterday was occupied with song
service and talk by the evangelist to
church members. Mr.. Wilson urged the
members of the church to seek holiness
and not lose this heritage of the church.
He thought it very strange but neverthe-
| less true that some Methodist ministers
even opposed this primitive doctrine of the
Methodist church. He believed that great
| things are soon to come to the church
| through the power of sanctifcation and
| holiness.
! He thought it was very important
! what man believed, and though ministers
should not teach doctrine in regard to
| personal experience unless they have tested
these doctrines. He claimed that the
scriptures not only plainly teach second
| experience. but that thousands of people
are daily bearing testimony to the truth and
power of Holiness. Mr. Wilson said
| people who did not believe in this
doctrine were continually misrepresenting
the people who do believe it. Time and
again he had been represented as saying a
sactifed christian could not sin. He did
not claim that they did not have the power
to sin, but that while they were sactified
the desire to sin was removed Not the
power to sin is taken away but the desire
Il believe that just as Martin Luther
was lead ON to the work of the Reformation
so was John Wesley set apart to preach
holiness. The Methodist church have
taken in this child of holiness and they
will take care of it,"
Mr.. Wilson asked all who had read the
Methodist confession of faith to hold up
their hands, which created some amuse-
ment, but a good brother brought down
the house by stating that was the first
he had ever heard Of such book.
Rev. Akin stated in the afternoon meet
| ing that ne had paid considerable attention
| to theory in his preaching, but that his
| experience in the last three weeks had
knocked a good deal of the theory out Of
| him. He thought he was better prepared
now than ever before in his ministerial life
to preach the gospel to his fellow men
| Owing to cold weather the house was not
| so crowded during the evening service,
and all were comfortably seated Mr.
| Wilson gave notice that he would not
| preach but just wanted to talk to the peo-
pie about salvation. He said he
would willingly sing or preach
or talk or anything for the
salvation of souls. The christian
people could meet here and enjov these
meetings, but that was not what they
We're here for. There were too many souls
not saved. The speaker thought if there
was so much JOY in the service of the
Lord under the conditions of this life, we
might expect more joy in the life to come.
Mr.. Wilson does not make an open hell
before the unbelievers but presents the
| beauties of the Christian religion in such
| force that he who is outside feels that he
is losing about everything worth living for
in this world.
The evangelist took the position that
love is the strongest thing in the universe;
there is no power like it, and the
man who loves God with all
his mind, soul and strength
| is a power in the world
Mr. Wilson said his mother had died when
he was quite young and left him some
property, but the great wealth she had be
slowed upon him was her blessing and her
request for him to meet her in heaven.
His account of Johns vision and of the
TRANSPORTATION on the mount, was mas
ter piece of word painting, and the au-
dience seemed spell-bound as if heaven was
just over their heads, and they momentari-
ly expected the veil to be put aside, and
all the glories of the spirit land revealed to
their astonished eyes. He thought our
idea of the future, of spirit life had much
to do in forming our characters. There
was nothing so valuable to us here as
character. We might gain wealth and
honors here and must leave them all, but
character would remain forever.