The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1904-05-19
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED,
"NEED OF A REVIVAL"
The Rev. DR.. Philip S. Mcxam Says That
We Require Fresh Conviction of the
Reality of Salvation-Too Much All
sorption in the Pursuit Of Riches.

Realty OF SalVat1On-Ioo MUCH Ao-
sorption in the Pursuit of Riches.
BROOKLYN. y. Yin Plymouth Church
the Rev. Philip S. Moxom, OF Springfield,
Mass, preached Sunday morning. DR..
Moxom's subject was The Need Of Re
yival." He took his text from Habakkuk
iii:2: 90 Jehovah. revive Thy work in the
midst OF the years; in the midst of the
wears make it known: in wrath remember
mercy" DR.. MoSom said:
In times past, when the church was in a
low state of religious vitality, the more
spiritual OF the members, distressed by the
absence of vigorous life and burdened by
the condition OF the multitude who were
looked upon as lost, sought revival Of
religion. They sought by prayer, earnest
experience of divine grace: they sought by
communion with others of like mind and
by mutual eXhortation to increase their
zeal in the service of God: they sought by
means Of pungent and powerful preaching
to arouse sluggish Christians and awaken
careless sinners.
The ''protracted meeting,' as it was
called, was simply continuous series OF
meetings for preaching and prayer and ex-
hortation and confession. The preacher
wrought upon the consciences OF men by
setting forth Gods claims on them and
their neglect of duty. He wrought upon
the fears of men by denunclatlons CT the
imminent danger and certain and terrible
punishment of impenitent sinners. He
wrought upon the hearts of men by vivid
presentations of the love of God and por-
trayals of the vast self-sacrihce of the Son
of God in making atonement for the sins
of mankind on the cross. Often, if not al
ways, much was made of the physical suf-
ferings of Christ. Much was made also OF
the material pains of perdition.
An important accompaniment. OF the
preachers work was the work of private
visitation and appeal, and the testimony
Of religious experience. Men tod, with
doubts and fears, their repentance, their
self-surrender and their joy and peace in
the conscious experience of pardon. They
talked of Gods dealings with them with
familiarity that would be shocking, were
it not on the whole, so reverent.
The result of these combined efforts of
ten was the awakening of q community;
the meeting house was thronged with hear
ers, many became alarmed on account of
their sins, backsliders were filled with
compunction aud reclaimed to their neg
lected fealty, the Indifferent were aroused
and convicted and brought to state Of
QGtp COuLIlttOu. 1uSlS nClS AuluSlOuo
conversions, and the testimony of the con-
verts increased the religious fervor of be.
levers and produced conviction Of sin and
desire of salvation in other unbelievers.
Considerable numbers were added to the
church, and for time the whole commu-
nifty was raised to a higher level of relig-
ious life, and in many instances to higher
morality.
Usually, after a time, the revival was
followed by gradual relapse into formal
ity of religious service, celdness of relig-
ious temper, and Indifference to the high
er claims of the church. Fever was fol-
years, a new demand arose for "a season
OF refreshing from the Lord" This inter-
mittency of religious life was character.
istic feature of Protestant church life for
many generations-a period covering quite
zee years. This period, extending from
the seventeenth to the nineteenth centur-
les, was marked by great crises of religious
awakening. Notable among them were
those signaiiZed by the names of Edwards,
Wesley, White6eld, Summarized and,
later, Finnev and Moody.
That "revivals of religion" in what may
now be called the historic sense, did great
can it be denied that they also did much
harm. On the whole, the good was in ex-
cess of the harm. "Revivals" were i'm ac-
cord with the religious ideas prevalent at
the time, and were natural product of
those ideas. During their hectic existence
many individual men and women were
transformed from lives of wickedness or
vanity to lives of virtue and unselfsh serv
ice to their fellow men. Reverence for
God was deepened and faith in God was
stimulated and nourished.
Tho o.,;1e ,oo,looS - Ii ,;c4,
theology that held supreme place in the
picity OF the gospel of Christ. These evils
were very great, and the effect of them
still remains, though in diminishing de-
gree. Among them may be noted a false,
or at least, mistaken and inadequate, mo-
tive for Christian propaganda, mischiev-
Gus separation between religion and NOR
ahty, an unnatural and feverish piety that,
on the one hand, became a morbid senti-
mentalism, or, on the other. degenerated
into Journalism not less real because often
it was not ritualistic.
Wrong ideas of God and Christ and sin
and salvation and Righteousness and the
hereafter were rooted so deep that they
could be destroyed only by criticism so
drastic that it has seemed to tear>up fun
damental trutl, of the spiritual life. A
kind of orthodoxy was established that
perpetuated, If it did not create, opposition
between nature and providence, science
and faith. the business of life and the in
terests of the immortal soul. 1t produced
an artifciahty of life which stimulated self
deception and hypocrisy, and gave great
opportunity and scope to the bigot. Much
of the irreligion of to-day, or what is rath-
er undiscriminately called irreligion, is
simply reaction. though often unconscious,
from the unreahty of yesterday.
at the present time an attempt is being
made to restore the revival methods of
last century. Organizations have been
formed the more efficiently to prosecute
this attempt. In the nature of the case,
the attempt will fail 1t will fail because
it is not in accord with prevailing ideas of
religion-of Gcd and man and their mutual
relations and of human development and
destiny. The principle of evolution has
overthrown, not the truths, but the struct-
ural principles and the elaborate theory of
the old theology. The new biology has
made necessary new theology, and a new
theology is already diffused in the atmos-
phere of the common thought.
But l psak Of this attempt now not to
cTiticise it; would rather welcome it if it
contained any promise of real good. I
speak of it particularly because it indicates
and emDhaSizeS a 1roUinp fae)ino that o1l