The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-04-03

every minister would give the history
of his sermons. Years ago at an out
door meeting in the State of New
York | preached to many thousands.
F! There had been much prayer on the
grounds fora great outpourlng OF tie
Holy Ghost AZ that service, and the
awakening power exceeded anything,
| ever witnessed since | began to
preach, with perhaps the exception OF
/ two or three occasions. Ciergymel
and Christian workers by the score
and hundreds expressed themselves as
having been blessed during the ser
vice. That afternoon l took the tram
for an outdoor meeting IN the state OF
! Ohio, where i was to preach on the
night Of the next day AS the sermon
had proved so useful the day before,
and the tile,ae was fresh in my mind.
! | resolved to reproduce it and did re-
produce it as far as | could, but the re
suit was nothing at all Never had I
seemed to have anything to DO with p
Gatter failure. What was the differ
ence between the two services: Some
| viii say, You We're tired with a long
Journey. No, I was not tired at all.
Some will say: Tie temporal circum-
stances in the first case We're more IA
vorable than in the last No, they
were more favorable III the last The
difference was in the power of the
Holy Ghost, Nightly present at the
first service. Not seemingly present
at all at the second. call upon the
ministers Of America to give the his
tory of sermons, for | believe 1t Will
illustrate as nothing else can the truth
of that Scripture, Not by might, nor
by power, but by my Spirit, saith the
Lord"
On the Sabbath of the dedication of
one OF our churches in Brooklyn at
the morning service 32S souls stood up
to profess Christ. They were the con-
verts in the Brooklyn Academy Of
Music. where we had been worship
ing. The reception of so many mem
bers. and many of them baptized by
immersion, had made it an arduous
service, which continued from half
past 10 in the morning until half past
3 in the afternoon. From that service
| we went home exhausted, because
there is nothing so exhasuting as deep
emotion. 4 messenger was sent out
to obtain preacher for that night, but
the seal ch was unsuccessful, as all the
ministers were engaged for some other
place. With no preparation at all for
the evening service, except the look
ing in Cruden's Concordance for a
text. and feeling almost too weary to
stand ZIP. began the service, saying
| audibly while the opening song was
being sung, although because Of the
singing no one but God heard 1t: 20
Lord, thou knowest my insutiiciency
| for this service. Come down in gra-
| cious power upon this people The
place was shaken with the divine pres
ence. As far as we could find out,
| over 400 persons were converted that
night. Hear it, all young men enter
! ing the ministry; hear it all Christian
workers. 1t was the Holy Ghost.
In the Second Reformed Church OF
Somerville, n. j., in my boyhood
DAYS, Mr.. Osborne, the evangelist,
came to hold a special service. | see
him now as he stood in the pulpit.
Before he announced his text, and be-
fore he had uttered word of his SER
mon, strong men wept aloud, and 1t
| was like the day of judgment. 1t was
the Holy Ghost.
In 1857 the electric telegraph bore
strange messages. One of them read,
My dear parents will rejoice to hear
that have found peace with God. "
Another read: Dear Mother-The
work continues, and I, too, have been
converted" Another read, ''At last
faith and peace" In Vermont a reli-
gious meeting was singing the hymn,
SWaiting and Watching For Me.
The song rolled out on the night air,
and man halted and said, Il wonder
if there will be any one waiting and
| watching for me-" 1t started him
heavenward. What was it? The Holy
Ghost. In that 1857 Jaynes hall,
Philadelphia, and Fulton street prayer
meeting, New York, telegraphed each
other the number of souls saved and
the rising of the devotional tides.
MONDAY prayer meeting We're held III
all the cities. Ships came into harbor,
captain and all the sailors saved on
that voyage. Police and fire depart
ments met in their rooms for divine
worship. At Albany the Legislature
of the state Of New York assembled in
the rooms of the court OF appeals for
religious services Congressional un-
ION prayer meeting was opened at
Washington. From whence came the
power? From the Holy Ghost. That
lower shook New York That power
shook America. That power shook
the Atlantic ocean. That power shook
the earth. That power would take
this entire audience into the peace of
the gospel quicker than you could lift
your eyes heavenward Come, Holy
Ghost, Come, Holy Ghost He has
Gomez He is here I feel him in my
heart. There are thousands who feel
him in their hearts, convicting some,
saving some. sanctifying some.
The difference in evangelical useful
ness is not so much difference IN
brain. in scholarship or elocutionary
gifts as in Holy Ghost power. You
will not have much surprise at the eE-
traordinary career Of Charles G. Fin
ney as soul winner if you know that
soon after his conversion he had this
experience Of the Paraclete. He says:
las turned and was about to take
a seat by the fire I received baptism
of the Holy Ghost Without any ,ex-
pectation of it. without ever having
the thought in my mind that there
was any such thing for me, without
any recollection that I had ever heard
the thing mentioned by any person N
the world, the Holy Ghost descended
upon me in a manner that seemed to
go through me body and soul. Indeed
it seemed to come in waves and waves
of liquid love, for could not express
If in any other way It seemed like