St. Tammany farmer., 1903-03-28
REVIVAL BLESSINGS.
Human Hands May Reach Up and
Unlock the Windows Of Heaven.
Use the Key of Full Preparation, and
the Blessing Will Pour Forth
Sermon by the "Highwny
and Byway" Preacher.
copyright, 1903, by A. N. Kellogg News
..4 r paper Col

| SulCdSO, T eD q, IoOos
Text:-Bring We all the tithes into. the
| storehouse, that there may be meat In
| Mine house, and prove Me now herewith,
| saith the Lord of hosts if l will not open
| you the windows of Heaven, and pour
you out blessing, that there shall not be
room enough to receive it."-Mal. 3:10.
Not many days ago my front door
| bell failed to respond to the touch of
| the button. Something was wrong,
and 1 set myself to the task of dis
covering what that something was and
of setting it right. wanted the door
| bell to ring. 1t had been ringing all
| right, and l knew it would ring again
| as soon as the difficulty which was in
terfering with its successful operation
| was removed. I examined the bat
| teries. No trouble there. I exam
ined all the connections and made sure
that they were closely and securely
adjusted. examined the bell itself. 1t
| seemed to be all right. went down
! and pressed the button. It still re-
! fused to ring. I went all over the
wires, the connections, the batteries
and the bell again, and tried again
to. see if it would respond to my
touch at the button. Still no ring. 1t
requires patience to fix an electric
bell, as you may have discovered, per-
haps. I knew that bell ought to ring.
I so much wanted to ring that con-
tinued my search until I had discov-
cred where the trouble lay. My faith
in electric bells was not shattered. I
did not condemn them wholesale, and
declare that I didn't believe they
would ring anyway. knew there was
a break in the electrical current some
where, and that as soon as I restored
that connection my bell would send
forth its musical peal once more. At
last I found that the delicate brass
| spring which set the tongue of the
bell to vibrating with the electrical
shocks from the battery had become
| coated with dust and tarnish and pre-
vented the electrical spark from pass
ing from one coil to the other. As
soon as had rubbed off the dirt and
tarnish, my bell responded to the
| pressure at the button and rang out
as clearly and strongly as before.
We touch the button of prayer, and
ask, yea, beseech God for the revival
blessing, and we apparently do not OBJ
tain any response to our prayers. Is
| it because there is no revival blessing?
Is it because God does not want to
give it? Nay, verify, we know that
such is not the case. The pressure
on the button of prayer has been
right, and in accordance with Gods
will. The blessing waits at the other
end ready to pour forth, but some
thing is wrong between the prayer and
the windows of Heaven. Something
prevents the unlocking of those win
dows behind which the fullness of
blessing rests, as the yellow grain
fills the crowded bin ready to pour
forth as soon as the slide to the chute
is opened. Prayer alone will not un-
lock the windows of Heaven. 1t is fol-
ly to keep pressing the button with
anguish of spirit and blind persist
ency. When my bell failed to ring
upon pressure of the button I did not
hang onto that button and just wait
for that bell to ring. I did not call
my neighbors and friends to help me
push on that button. I did not go
down into the basement and get the
hammer that I might put more force
and energy into my efforts on that
button. No! I knew the trouble was
not with my pressure on the button.
But I will tell you what I did do.
stuffed something around that button
that kept it pressed in and the cir
cult closed and then I set about find
not ring. said: "Now 1 have that
button fixed, and as soon as discover
the reason the bell does not ring and
get it fixed I shall know it by the
warning notes of the bell" And !
did, and everybody else in the house
knew when I got the bell fixed. It
nearly deafened us before could get
pressure from around the button.
This illustrates forcibly a secret of
the most vital Importance in obtain
ing from God the blessing we seek.
We need to keep the button of prayer
pressed in all the time. spray with
out ceasing." But we need to do
something more than just hang onto
the button. Prayer that does not fol-
low us from our closets and make us
keen and watchful to discover how
we can help God give us the blessing
we seek is not prayer at all. Prayer
that begins and ends in the private
devotions or in the public assembly of
the saints is prayer that never moves
God. Get your button pressed in, and
then set yourself to seeking the rea-
son why you do not hear the respon-
sive ring of Gods blessing. And when
you have discovered the reason the
blessing is withheld and have removed
the hindering dust and tarnish, the
windows of Heaven will respond to the
restored electrical current of neces-
sary preparation and will fly open and
the blessing pour forth.
Churches and individual Christians
ask God for things they know it is
His will to grant, and then wonder WY
God does not send the revival bless
ing or grant the salvation of friend
or loved one which has been sought.
They keep pressing on the button and
waiting for God to do all the rest.
There is some difficulty in the way,
there is some hindering dust and tar
nish which must be removed before
God can safely answer the prayer. If
the church or Christian is wise in the
Spirit, diligent search will be begun
to discover the difficulty which is hold
ing up the blessing, instead of a
yielding to discoura cement and unbe-
lief as to Gods willingness and desire
to grant the blessing asked for. Plug