The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-06-08
{ SERMON FOB SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED,
."NEEO OF A REVIVAL"
The Rev. DR.. Philip s. Mexam Says That
We Require o Fresh Conviction of the
Reality Of Salvation-Too Much Abb
gorption in the Pursuit of Riches.

the Rev. Philip S. Moxom, of Springfield,
Mass, preached Sunday morning. DR..
Moxom's subject was The Need of a Re
vival." He took his text from Habakkuk
iii:2: 20 Jehovah, revive Thy work in the
midst Of the years; in the midst of the
years make it known; IN wrath remember
mercy" DR.. Moxom said:
In times past, when the church was in a
how 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 a revival OF
religion. They sought by prayer, earnest
and long continued, to deepen their own
experience of divine grace; they sought by
communion with others of like min and
by mutual exiloctation 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 a 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 denunciations CT the
imminent danger and certain and terrible
punishment of lmpenitent sinners. He
wrought upon the hearts of men by vivid
presentations of the love of God and por-
trayals Of the vast self-sacriice of the Son
CT God in making atonement for the sins
of mankind on the cross. Often, If not al
ways, much was made of the physical SUI.
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 told, with
astonishing frankness, their sins, their
doubts and fears, their repentance, their
Belf-surrender and their Joy and peace in
the conscious experience of pardon. They
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 a community;
the meeting house was thronged with hear
ers, many became alarmed on account OF
their sins, backsliders were filed with
conjunction and reclaimed to their neg
lected fealty, the indifferent were aroused
and convicted and brought to a state of
deep contrition. There were numerous
conversions, and the testimony of the con-
verts increased the religious fervor of be.
lievers and produced conviction of sin and
OeSlTe Ol SaINdtIOu III OtuSI uuueleFe!s.
Considerable numbers were added to the
church, and for a time the whole commu-
nifty was raised to a higher level OF relig-
ious life, and in many instances to a higher
morality.
: Usually, after a time, the revival was
followed by a gradual relapse into formal
ity of religious service, GOODNESS of relig-
ious temper, and indifference to the high
er claims Of the church. Fever was fol-
lowed by chill, until, after months or
years, a new demand arose for "a season
of refreshing from the Lord" This inter-
mittency Of religious life was a character
istic feature Of Protestant church life for
many generations-a period covering quite
200 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 signalized by the names of Edwards,
Wesley, Whitefeid, Summerheid and,
later, Enney and Moody.
That "revivals of religion" in what may
now be called the historic sense, did great
good cannot successfully be disputed; nor
can it be denied that they also did much
harm. On the whole the good was in ex-
cess of the harm. "Revivals" were in ac-
the time, and were a 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.
: The evils were incident to the mistaken
theology that held supreme place in the
churches and largely supplanted the sim
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-
Gus separation between religion and NOR
atty, an unnatural and feverish piety that,
on the one hand, became q morbid senti-
mentalism, or, on the other, degenerated
into a 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 a criticism so
drastic that it has seemed to tear up fun
damental truth 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 artifciality 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 unfortunately called irreligion, is
amply. reaction, though often unconscious,
from the unreality of yesterday.
At the present time an attempt is being
made to restore the revival methods CT
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 God and man and their mutual
relations and Of human development and
destiny. The principle of evolution has
overthrow, not the truths, but the struct-
ural principles and the elaborate theory of
the old theology. The new biology has
made necessary a new theology, and a new
theology is already difused' in the atmos-
phere of the common thought.
But | psak Of this attempt now not to
criticise it; I would rather welcome it if it
contained any promise of real good. |
speak of it particularly because it indicates
and emphasizes a growing feeling that all
is not right with the church and society to-
day, and the deepening surmise, if it is
not yet generally a conviction, that we are
in greet need of a true revival Of religion.
NO one can justly crltlclSe the present
life of our country without recognizing and
confessing that it presents to the view
very many features which awaken feelings
of gratitude and hope. Charity was never
30 abundant and WISE. the morals of the
average business man were never better.
Laws were never more humane and Just.
Politics were never less corrupt. The ben
eicent enterprises OF the Christian church
in all the world were never so intelligent
and sympathetic and efficient. Whatever
statements we must make, because of GER
tain obvious and perpleXing sacts, these
propositions are, in the main, true.
On the other hand there is an absorbing
devotion to the pursuit Of riches. The