Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-16
ON REGENERATION
The Theme of Mr.. Moody's Discourse
Last Night.
an IMMENSE AUDIENCE LISTENS TO IT
Many Responses to the RevivaIist's
Earnest and Persuasive Appeal.
THE OVERFLOW MEETING

THE OVERFLOW MEETING
Rain. nor cold, nor biting winds can
diminish the interest in the work Of IVAN
gelists Moody and Sankey at Convention
Hall. and last evening thousands gathered
In the hall to hear them preach and sing.
while hundreds were. as on the preceding
evenings Of the meetings, turned away, I'M
able to get within the building. So. when
Mr.. Moody opened the services last even
ing by inviting the audience to join in sing
ing the 366th hymn, a throng as great as any
OF the preceding evening faced him and
swelled the great volume Of sound. as it
grandly swept through the immense hall.
Then Mr.. Sankey sang with touching power
Throw Out the Life Line" AS the last
note died away. Mr.. Moody invited Rev.
DR.. Corey to lead in prayer, and ell
bowed their heads as the minister eloquent
ly besought God to bless the workers and
their Godlike purpose. Following the
prayer, Mr.. Sankey seated himself DIT the
organ and sang Christ Returneth.'
1T may be at morn, when the day is
awaking,
When sunlight thro' darkness and shadow
is breaking,
That Jesus will come in the fullness of
glory,
To receive from the world His own"
To each of the four verses the choir sing
ing:
"Oh. Lord Jesus, how long, how long,
Ere we shout the glad song,
Christ returneth, Hallelujah!
Hallelujah, amen. Hallelujah, amen"
Another prayer delivered by the Rev. Mr..
Baldwin of the Methodist University. fol-
Moody arose and read the third chapter CT
st. John, wherein the Lord told Of the ne
cessity OF man being born again. Another
hymn was sung. and then Mr.. Moody step
ped to the front Of the little platform ard
spoke to the great throng about him.
"One thing I want to say" said Mr..
Moody. "One minister said we would have
collections. but we are not after mon ey. we
are after you. / want to say, though, that
We cannot get this beautiful, great hall.
one Of the finest ever spoke in SO easy to
make yourself heard. for nothing, AMI any
of our friends who desire to help us can do
so by sending their contributions to Mr..
George Truesdell, Washington Loan and
Trust building
Then Mr.. Moody thanked the great audi
ence for the quiet hearing that had in
variably given him. telling the people that
his audiences in Washington were among
the most quiet and orderly ones he had ever
spoken to. 1t was a double pleasure and
qualification, he explained. to address such
audiences. and he wanted them to know
that he appreciated them. You KNOW"
ne said, there are some audiences that
throw all you say right back at you.
Speaking to such people is like throwing
out any impression. But l am clad to say
that my Washington audiences have been
receiving ones"
Necessity of Regeneration.
Speaking in his peculiarly simple and
effective way Mr.. Moody impressed upon
the vast audience which faced him the
necessity Of regeneration. the Importance
nfh nf1 brr
If he was a Christian. He replied: Well,
If 1 amt. then / don't know who is l en-
terrain all the ministers, and my daughter
plays the organ at the mission Now that
man thought that was all ne had to 60 to
be a Christian. He was like a Canadian
lady who once said to me: Mr.. Moody,
why do you ask If I'm a Christian? Don't
you know that my uncle in England is a
bishop"
Now. you laugh" gravely remarked Mr..
Moody to the audience; but what makes
you say you are Christians? You say be-
cause you say your prayers, maybe; but
saying prayers don't make you a Chris
tian any more than painting the picture of
a horse makes a horse. l prayed, too, he
fore l was converted. Used to say every
night the little prayer my moth n taught
me-'Now l lay me down TO sleep IL
forgot it l would jump out of bed even
with it 20 degrees below zero. and then,
when l jumped in again would swear at
my brother for kicking me.
claimed Mr.. Moody, as the people enjoyed
his allusion to praying and swearing. But
do you ever stop to think that you amt
good as you think? l tell you, we are
all Of us mighty poor lot. l hear folks
speak Of naturally good people But those
kind of people are mighty scarce. Sup
pose fellow should come to Washington
and say he could photograph the human
heart. How many people in the city do you
suppose would dare to have theirs taken?
Mighty few. tell you. Why? Because
We don't like to see ourselves shown Up
In true colors. But when We primp up,
look very fine. and get good picture why
then, We order about fourteen dozen. The
truth of the matter is, try to white
wash our bodies, but leave our hearts as
black as ever.
Make the Heart Pure.
What We want to do" explained Mr..
Moody. rs to make the heart pure. Don't
do as the man did who imagined he could
purify the water in the we'll By painting
the pump white. Purify the heart, lily
friends, that is all that needs to he done
l have had mothers say 10 me, Mr.. Moody,
1 can't understand it. Ny son doesn't like
spiritual things. 1 would say, OF course
he doesn't. He has a carnal heart, and
the carnal heart likes carnal things In
India they tell this fable: Once crane
standing by the side of a river saw a beau
tiful white swan flying toward him. 1t
alighted beside him, and he asked 1t where
Ii had come from. From heaven, he was
told. What was heaven? and where was
it? the crane inquired. beautiful land far
above, he learned. Did they have snails
there? the crane then asked. No. he was
informed; they had no such horrible things
there. Then, said the crane, he didn't want
to go to heaven"
The audience laughed heartily over the
fable, while Mr. Moody paused and solemn
ly said: You laugh, but do you know that
in that fable there is a mighty moral? Here
it is: See that young man, once so fun of
promise. a mothers Joy, a fathers pride.
See him as he reels along. What cares he
for the mothers breaking heart. the fathers
love? Nothing, nothing. Whisky, whisky,
is all ! want he cries. in his snail-like de-
sire. That's the moral of the fable. Now
l hear people talking and talking about
culture, but tell you have heard so much
talk about 1T that I'm sick and tired of it,
Suppose l should take an acre lot and
plough it this way and that way, day in
and day out. pretty soon some one would