Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1913-11-01

tkzEk 1FFa.2Et COO! In the pres
ent case it meant
three things: ID They were without
the ordinances of religion They
were without teaching priest, and
without law" (2) They were without
the inner experiences of religion. In
those times there was no peace to
him that went out. nor to him that
came in" CD They were without
the outward blessings Of religion
And nation was destroyed of nation,
anti city of city; for God did vex them
with all adversely"
Is not this the picture of a church
or an individual protesting Christian
ity who is without God? The gospel
may be preached in that church, the
ordinances administered, and the
prayer meeting regularly announced,
but the whole round of exercises,
while possessing the form of godli-
ness, is without the power. There is
no real power in the lives of Chris
tians existing in this way, no realiZa-
ton of their standing in Christ, and
no joy or gladness in their testimony
and service. They come into church
and go out of it again, as 1t is said
of these Israelites, without peace"
Theirs is a state of moral and spirit
ua1 Adversely"
Now how did the revival come?
There are ten steps of progress indi-
Gated to the finish:
(1) "The spirit of God came upon
Azariah, the son of Oded,'' verse 1.
The source of every true revival is
divine 1t can not be worked up or
preached up. but it may be prayed up.
Ask and We shall receive 1t be-
gan in this instance in a single indi-
vidual, a prophet, like an ordinary
minister or evangelist of our own day.
The spirit of God fell on him, anoint-
ing him for service.
Cd He went out and said, hear ye
me, the Lord is with you, while We
be with him; and Ii ye seek him. he
will be found of you" verse 2. What
a simple thing to say, how almost
childish, and yet what results 1t pro-
ducedi All, it makes a great deal
of difference in a message whether 1t
comes from anointed lips or not. Now
what are we told here? Only this
self-evident truth, that we can not
be revived unless the Lord is with
us. But we are told something else
also, viz, that the Lord is with us
while we are with him And what is
it for US to be with him? Only to be
living in obedience to him, that is all
CD when Asa (the king) heard
, these words d. he took courage,
verse s. The first thing the minister
or pastor wants in the work of a re-
vival is courage. He must believe
that God is with him and that some
thing is possible, ray, likely, to be &C
cump1ished. The steps of the revival
now follow in regular order.
(4) He put away the abominable
idols out of all the land"
(5) He renewed the altar of the
Lord, same verse.
(6) He gathered all the people to-
gether; for they fell to him out of
Israel in abundance when they saw
that the Lord his God was with him"
The revival is now on The crowds
are coming The church has re-
nounced her worldliness; entertain
ments and euchre parties have given
place to the prayer meeting The
altar of the Lord has been substi-
tuted for 1.-THE abominable idols" and
1t has proved "a drawing card The
news are filling up The world is
cold and the people are gathering
around the fire OF the Lord
Cd They offered unto the Lord the
same time, of the spoil which they
had brought" verse IL. Here is a
fureher evidence of the revival. When
the spirit of God stirs UP a people
the Golfers of the treasury begin to
show it The people offer willingly
when the spirit of God prompts them
TO do it, and he SO prompts them
through the ministration OF his word.
go They entered into covenant
to seek the Lord =. With all their
heart and with all their soud, verse
IL
tsS ~And an Judah rejofced.' verse
Is
Ge3 And ne (the Lord was found
of them. and the Lord gave them rest
round about" same verse Thus the
revival came The preaching of the
word was with power. The command
ments of God were obeyed The as
surance of personal salvation was a
living strength Peace with God was
accompanied by the peace of God
The public is never so happy as
fc 1-s,f-, -