The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-01-29
EFFECT OF REVEALS.
Rev. ]. L. Stoddard Sees In the
Many a Certain Signif-
eanee.

Rev. J. L. Stoddard at st. Johns Free
Church yesterday morning preached the
first of a course. of three sermons he is going
to deliver on Conversion" Yesterday he
talked of the art of conversion. He said in
part as follows:-ssIt would seem as if no
one could look without emotion upon the
movements now in operation in Brooklyn,
and III a smaller way in our own city. /
refer to the ~revivals which are going on in
so many churches in these cities. [ do not
mean to say that we find ourselves able to
approve altogether of these movements, but
that we can hardly fail to regard them with
emotion and perhaps sympathy. We may
be displeased at the methods employed. We
may deplore the use of common and irrever-
ent speech. We may question whether a
religious experience, largely founded upon
physical excitement, can ever be a permanent
one. We may lament that large parts of
what we consider necessary Christian truth
should be omitted from this sort of teaching.
Still, no one ought to be able to look upon an
earnest revival without profound emotion
mingling with his pain. No one, it would
seem, could examine the work of the Saliva
ton Army, even, without feeling that amid
all that is crude and raw and temporary and
even unchristian. there is much that is
vital and true.
CONVERTED TO GoD.
'sFor in these revival movements what does
the careful beholder see? Beneath all that is
external, all that attacks the ear and eye,
all the superficial flutter and hustle of a
crowd swayed by sensuous music and borne
onward by a torrent of sensuou oratory, we
women coming to God. Think what that
means. Picture what it is for a human soul
tocome for the first time face to face with
God. Were there but one lost soul in all
the world and should that soul meet its God
and enter into covenant with him, the spec
tacle would be impressive.
H'These r~evivals about us happen to coincide
this year with our Lenton season. Some of
them, l notice, are to be continued through
the season, especially those of this city. 1t
may be only a coincidence, but [ think it is
more, and it is certainly a lesson to us
churchmen to observe our Lenten season as
we never lave before. Heretofore, perhaps,
we have walked to church in Lent with a
comfortable feeling that we were better, or,
at all events, knew what was better than
our neighbors. We can't do that this year.
In churches around US services are to be
held from Ash Wednesday to Easter, and 1
trust that we of this parish will give our
whole attention to being as good as our
neighbors.
BE I EARNEST.
t"They sometimes tell us we are not in earn
est. Let them see this year that we are as
much in earnest as they are. And cannot
we do much more than thisl Do you men
and women not feel that you must make an
effort this Lent to bring some one to God?
Let each soul in this. church bring some
other soul to church or to Sunday school or
Bible class this Lent. Dear friends, in view
of what our n~eighbors are saying, I think
we are bound to do this. Our methods are
different from theirs, but our final aims are
the same. [ have no pathetic
stories to tell you here; 1 nave
no far-away sentimental melodies to
melt you to tears; / have no lurid pictures of
He'll. If you need any OF all of these; if they
can do you any good, in Gods name go
where they can be found and may they
bring you Him whom your soul needeth.
God forbid that I should withdraw you from
any method which happily may make you
His forever. But l appeal to your sober con-
seriousness, calm and rational, sitting here
before God today. I beg for your CONVEX
sion; ! pray, that hearing the call of God,
peace with Film and choose His glory and
your own forever"