The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-02-26

it becomes easy and natural for souls
to be born. Men cannot be frozen
into the kingdom. They must be
pourished into 1t by the contagion
and influence of genial warmth. The
prosperity of the church is dependent
! on what? The consecrated ability of
its leader? No. The fidelity OF its
officers? Never. 1t must have con-
secrat.d fidelity from it's officers and
leader. But this will never measure
it's prosperity. What then? The
general average of Goodness of Its
membership. How high does that
watermark go? The church will never
90 beyond that line.
Let all the mem ers of the Church,
and it's officers and leader, during the
week, especially on Saturday night,
get on the mount in prayer with God.
and on the Sabbat hday what would we
behold? The whole atmosphere OF
Gods house would be aglow with the
holy light that led the children of
Israel through the wilderness; that
abode in the Tabernacle; and shone
in the Shekinah. The church would
throb with a flood of sacred music {;
The prayers would be communings
with the Invisible; the reading Of the
Bible would have a living tone in 1t
so that it would become a new book !;
the sermon would have All inner pas
sion in it that would play strangely
among the heartstrings; the church
would glow with an unearthly light.
the holy influences of Unseen Presen
ces would be felt, and when the people
went away they would say, Chow full
of awe is that place. that is none
other than the house of God. and that
is the gate of Heaven!" A church
like that becomes soul saving church.
In the sixteenth century there was
mighty revival of religion. 1t was
called the German reformation. 1t
was under the leadership of Martin
Luther.
In the seventeenth century there
was mighty revival of religion. 1t
was called the Puritan revival. The
great doctrine that was Numbered from
the pulpit; riveted upon public at
tention. and hammered into the CON
science of men was the great doctrine
of Gods sovereignty. And it is 6
doctrine we ought to be hearing more
about now.
In the eighteenth century there wat
an other great tidal wave of religion.
The two Wesleys and George Whitfield
we're at the head of it. We think w
have appalling conditions to face nov
il moral pauperism and religious
death and stagnation: but they are
not nearly so appalling as those the
Wesleys and George Whitfield faced
Religion seemed to be almost an un.
known quantity. A prominent man
said he went to hear every minister
of note in London and there was mi
one whose sermon betrayed whether
he was follower of Confucius. OF
of Mahomet. or of Christ. John Yves
ley himself preached thirteen years
before he was ever converted.
In the beginning of the nineteenth
century there was another mighty re
llgious movement. 1t was led by
Charles G. Finney. Mans free moral
agency was the special theme pro
claimed. In the latter part of the
same century there was another great
revival of religion. It was undo,
the leadership of the greatly beloved
D. L. Moody. Gods redeeming love
was the burden of his message. Nov
not one of those revivals was pattern.
ed Oh any preceding revival. The
great body of Gods revelation wat
more or less declared. but each revi
val bad special message and method
for its o~n age. Each revival ha6
its keynote which was distinctively
its own.
We are in the dawn of the twentieth
century. Is there to be a great awak
ening? What is to be the keynote Of
today's revival? Individual seeking
and winning individual. The world
is never going to be brought to thu
foot of Calvary's cross by ministers,
by bibles. by tracts. by the publica
tion of religious books and distribu
tion of religious literature, by mis-
sionaries and missionary societies: II
this world is to be brought to the feel
OF the Savior it must be by the grea,
body of Christ's followers going out
and seeking Individually those whom
they Can win-individual seeking in
dividual.
Business men should seek their IN
converted business associates. Christ
ian working men should seek WORKING
men who are out of Christ.
Fathers and mothers should seel
} to bring their own children to Christ
May God stir us all up to realiza
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