The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-10-21

On that plan there might have been
in the whole world at the end of year
200 Christians. 1t is possible, but very
doubtful.
AS a fact the Lord said. "Tarry, till
the Holy Ghost come upon you
The result was wonderful revival.
The fearful were made strong-the
ignorant We're made eloquent-and the
feeble were made mighty-because the
fire of the Holy Spirit was upon them.
And moreover, sinners were convicted
of their sins. the most hardened and
bigoted Jews,-the guilty crowd who
had cried out, Away with him, cruelty
him. were smitten by the Spirit of
God. 1900 in one day, 5000 in few
days Immediately there was large
church and it was filled with spiritual
power and glorious victories followed
all along. On any other plan there
would have been failure and no
church in existence, so far as human
judgment can discern. And we need to
frequently return to the same place and
plan and again tarry in prayer at the
feet of the Lord Jesus Christ until we
are again baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Nothing else can make 1T possible for
the church to save the world.
9duf, anu the OtHeT dpOStlcS, went OOb
into the heather world and preached
with that power of the Holy Ghost and
thousands were converted, and the Ro-
man Empire and the Roman Emperor
were turned to Christ. Twelve hundred
years later came the Reformation. 1t
was a great revival, and Europe could
never have been reformed without a
revival
nd
came the Methodist church. What
would the Methodist church ever have
amounted to, what would the Baptist
church or the Presbyterian or the Con-
gregational or the Disciple church have
accomplished without revivals? And
1.-THE Lenten season of the Catholic and
Episcopal churches is neither more or
less than a series of religious services
for revival.
Our missionaries in all lands have
found they were greatly dependent up
on true revival work of the Holy
Spirit to gain footing and push their
| work forward. tThey find they beat
in vain against the cold, stone wall OF
heather apathy and prejudice until the
power of God falls upon the people in
answer to the prayer of faith.
All the great preachers, like Luther,
Wesley. Whitefeld. Bunyan. Edwards,
Finney, Sturgeon. Moody, all prayed
for power to fall upon the whole com
munity, they prayed in faith. and the
power came.
revival is a new outpouring of
divine life from heaven. 1t is not the
work of man, it is the gift of God. And
America needs a revival of pure reli-
gion. 1t is twenty-five years since there
were powerful and widespread re-
viy5tis.
Ana this city needs one. This is so
obvious that l hardly need to state the
proposition Drunkenness, licentious-
ness, gambling, profanity, worldliness
and ungodliness, all crimes and vices,
iniquities, transgressions Tnd. sins.
Every church in the city n1eds it,
And now the important Question is
this: How can we SO encourage our
own faith that we can at once begin
to offer the prayer OF faithZ
l think we need to follow along in
about this line of thought.
Faith is treating the truth as true. ;"
This is President Fairchild's definition
of faith and it is the best 1 have ever
seen. Faith is treating the truth as
true Faith is an act of the will
power, and great faith is great viii
power. That is, the vital, essential part
of faith is not thoughts nor emotions
but the act or state of the will Be-
cause it is of the viii ne are response
BILE for having faith, are required of
God to have it, and are utterly guilty
and without excuse If we have it not.
If faith were of the intellect or sensi-
bility we would not be responsible since
these are not voluntary functions. But
because it is of the will of man there
is no possible apology lor US if our faith
is not complete and all-conquering.
Faith is the doing of something. 1t
is treating the truth as true. That is,
faith is beginning at once to treat the
Lord as if he meant just what he says.
He who treats the Lord as true has
faith, and he who does not treat the
Lord as true has not faith, whatever
else he may have or pretend TO have.
To have true revival we must be-
gin at once to treat the Lord as true
to his word. As soon as we do that a
revival has, begun, and as long as We
continue to do that the revival will con-
tinue and win steadily increase in
depth and grasp and will reach out in
every direction
The way to increase faith is to look
at the reasons of faith. We must look
at these reasons long and earnestly.
Faith grows in natural way by look
ing at the reasons why we should have
confidence in the character and in the
word of God.
First, we must consider that He is
able to give US all needed power. He
holds that power in His hands. No
matter how hard the hearts, how dark
the times, how great the wickedness,
he has abundance OF power and can re-
vive US as he has revived many
churches in the past. The power of
God is one thing in which there is
never any lack.
Second, that God is waiting to bless.
His heart is in it infinitely more than
we can imagine. There is never any
delay on his part.
Third, we have the name of Christ as
our all-sufficient plea. That name pre-
walls with God with almighty power.
We need no other argument than this
that we plead for the sake and in the
name of Son of God.
And then we should consider that
bx- tho holm of Cod ua cau have filth