Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-01-16

WAS EfL1 I'M EflEo Inv y
STRONG ARGUMENT SUSTAIN
ING THE NECESSITY OF REvIV-
AIS BY ALL CHURCHES.
cellent sermon at the morning service
at North Street M. E. church on yes
terday. His subject was "A Revival
of Religion"
Rev. Graham took his text from
Hab. 8: 2: "Ohi Lord, renew Thy
work" He reviewed the condition of
the church at the time the prayer was
offered, showing not only the evil that
had come upon the church at the time,
but the impending perils. The proph-
ct knew the true source of help and
sought relief as indicated by the pray
e..
"The text suggests the question to
u.s." said Rev. Graham, What do we
understand by the expression 'revival?'
To illustrate, take for instance the re-
vivals of nature, or revivals of bust
ness. A revival of religion or Chris
! tianity is as much natural demand as
the revivals of business or nature.
"Soma churches have though to
succeed in extending the work or build
ing up the church by normal methods,
ignoring revival services. A proof of
the failure of such a course is shown
in an example from a number of
churches that used regular forms of
worship, and a smaller number the
other method.
'In the year 1864 there were In the
New England States 1888 evangelical
churches which decided that they
would not hold revival services, but
would depend on the normal methods.
They had a membership of over 100-
900. Their church machinery was
complete Their forms of service were
regular, and yet with all that, in one
In the same section of country; during
the same year, as proof of what came
by special revival services, twenty
eight churches similarly situated to
those already mentioned, made special
efforts in revival meetings, and had a
net gain of 7S7 in their membership,
or gain of about twenty-eight to each
church. Had the other churches done
as well, they would have reported a
net gain of about $4,000 members.
"This is a proof of the necessity OF
revivals. First, there is the necessity
for the revival of the individual, and
one needs only to appear to his own
| experience and observation to feel the
Importance of this truth. History
teens with examples confirming this
thought. England, in the eighteenth
century, for example.
"The church cannot succeed without
it. Every church of every faith and
order that measures up to its POSSIBLE
tiles holds special revival services.
They do not all hold them as the
Methodists, but they hold them accord
ing to their own peculiar forms and
customs. Some have the revival meet
ing in the preparation for the COM
| munion services. Others have it in
their Lenten season, and again Others
in their annual sacrifices and offerings
ITo 4 fhof yiTvn1 G
should be held at any particular season
or should be limited to any month in
the year, but the church should stand
ready to move in special revival ser
vices whenever the necessity calls for
it and the opportunities are presented
DR.. Lyman Beecher once said: MY
brethren, we must have revivals. 1t
must rain faster or we perish with
drought. There is no such thing as
a growing, progressive church without
them; no such thing as prosperous
country without them. God has never
multiplied his people, never built up
His kingdom without them, and never
will
Divine favor has always been shown
in this way, and men of character, as
the Wesleys, Whitefeld, Martin Luth-
er, Melancthon, Zwingliusc and Others
who have been blessing in their day
and sphere.
How to secure revivals. First under
this general head, they are not secured
by clap-trap worldly machinery, but
the genuine revival is the work of the
Holy Ghost. The church must first
feel the necessity of a revival. This
necessity may be realized from special
love and gratitude to God for His mer-
cies and favors or by the degeneracy
of man. When people have gone down
into the pools of sin and destruction,
until they have lost not only the
image of God in grace, but the image
of morality and common decency in
the sight of men, then man is aroused
to his necessity of a revival-of some
thing better. The responsibility is al
ways, as God recognizes human agency
in this work, with man. God is al
Ar,T