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302 THE
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PRESENT DAY EVANGELISM.
By Rev. Junius M. Batte.
Thp P v?nc?li?itir? snirit vvhlnh soomg
to pervade our whole country, is not of
man, but for man, of GOD. The work
itself is confined to a small number comparatively,
as God has in all ages accomplished
his ends by a chosen few.
Strange to state, but the great movements
of past centuries have not been
accomplished by any specially organized
effort on the part of man. Beginning at
Jerusalem the disciples went out by
two's into the fields which were white
unto the harvest, to reap where ever an
immortal soul could be found, ''making
disciples of all nations."
Although these disciples had their
great Master to instruct and give orders.
there was no .fixed plan of campaign.
They were simply sent out with instructions
"to go," and as ye go, preach;
"saying the Kingdom of Heaven is at
hand:" See also Matt. 10:5-42. In all
of Paul's missionary labors, he did not
always know where he was to go, but
was absolutely under the guiding hand
of the HOLY SPIRIT. The work of the
seventy was to be in a similar manner.
More absolute trust must be in that
same Spirit, for us to accomplish God's
great demands. He "worketh when
and where he pleaseth." Is there not'
some danger of man's carefully laid
plans in our day, being in opposition to
the infinite plan of the Spirit of God?
Luther stood out upon the world's arena
and defied the powers of Rome. God
himself was powerfully working through
His human agent. In all of Luther's great
work we can see the Divine mind directing
his movements, so thoroughly apart
from any fixed plan of man's invention.
Calvin was driven from France to Geneva,
(not of his own volition), where
he could preach the gospel of liberty
and give to a perishing world those doctrines
from the old Book of Books; and
was the mighty instrument in the hand
of God, in founding the model of a modern
Republic, which is doing more in
shaping the destiny of the nations of
the earth than any other agency.
Wesley preached in England until
feeling himself cramped, (ecclesiastically)
coming to Georgia, proclaimed
the old gospel with little thought of the
mighty influence of his labors. He returned
to England a discouraged man.
The great revival in the fifties that
swent this countrv. and the rerent tidal
wave of deep spirituality in Wales,
seemed more to have been poured out
from above than from the hand of man.
In all the past history of the world,
the well formed plans of man have
been changed or thwarted by the Omnipotent
will of God. "Man proposes God
disposes!" "He worketh according to
the pleasure of his will, among the Inhabitants
of earth, and among the armies
of heaven."
?
: PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOI
The modern phrase which has been
generally adopted in the remarkable missionary
movements, "We can if we will,
?we can and we will" savors too much
of the will of man. While I do not wish
to rob man of his great prerogative, of
aggressive action, yet how much more
like scripture it sounds, to say, we can
if we will By God's Help, we can and we
will. We are earthly creatures, yet next
to God in power and in thought, yet is
there not some danger of us ignorantly,
or unconsciously trying to usurp that
which belongs to his domain?
The spirit of evangelism is among us
even to the isles of the sea, and with
imoortunat* n ra r onH aoil.r ? -*
r.M/vif uuu uauj picctumgb
may we not expect the kingdoms of this
world to be translated into the kingdom
of . his Son.
While many of us are expecting "the
wonderful awakening" so long hoped for,
yet it may be possible that we as his
ministers and workers, are detaining the
glorious work of grace, by framing our
pulpit deliverances to entertain, more
than to instruct. Or can it be in our
daily walk and conversation we are creating
unholy impressions. The didactic
is often forgotten in our preaching, by
which means that reverence for the sacred
desk, which should characterize it
as the mightiest factor in our land, is
turned into a kind of theatrical admiration
for holy things, rather than creating
a reverential spirit for the things of
God.
Another breach that seems to be
growing wider in our present day evangelism,
is the positive laying aside of
the great doctrines of "Hell and the
Judgment." So eminent a preacher as
Rev. John Balcombe Shaw, D. D., in a
recent article in the Homiletic Review,
writes, "Years ago much of the revival
preaching was on Hell and the Judgment;
now one practically never hears
these themes presented in an evangelistic
service." Surely Dr. Shaw does not
mean for us to cease preaching altogether
these great and awful teachings
of our Saviour. We admit the above
statement as being very general throughout
our land, while many congregations
of today do not wish to hear the word
hell mentioned in their pulpits. But may
it not be true that there is so much
hell mentioned in their homes and
hearts, that it sounds too.alarming to
their already accustomed ears. The neg
lect or any truth will rebound In terrific
fury.
Present day evangelism seems to demand
more of the personal effort than
ever before, in this world of increasing
activities. The masses, consequently the
millions, will never be reached any other
way. The Bible and experience prove
It. Why is it that the converts to the
fold of Christ in heathen lands is from
ten to flften per cent, higher than that
of his ministers in so called Christian
America? or even Great Britain?
It is the individual contact or the
heart to heart idea which the missionaries
practice more than ourselves. Let
JTH. March 9, 1910.
us leap from the consciousness of self,
and we will see that our Saviour?the God
Man?used more of the above mentioned
lor the winning of men than public discourse.
More individual Bible study is
necessary to catch the Master's idea.
One has said, "the Mohammedan is better
acquainted with his Koran, than the
average Christian is with his Bible."
This may or may not be true. We do
know however, that a Christian can not
work intelligently for the coming of
Christ's kingdom, without a knowledge
and love lor the Bible. The individual
scattering the seed of eternal truth, in
personal contact with his fellowmen,
will soon see it budding forth into spiritual
life?in great harvesting of immortal
souls, through the public proclamation
of the word.
There is as true an evangelistic spirit
abroad in our generation as ever before
in the world's history. The methods in
some particulars are different, but eternal
truths enunciated now, are as powerful
tn tho ?1 *
?iiiiinig ui souis as In past
centuries.
We are compelled to adopt methods
suitable to the material agencies that
exist among us, yet the methods and
agencies, must be made subservient to
God's will. There is no other religion
in all the world as thoroughly suited to
modern times as our own evangelical
faith.
Man has never had a need which it
has not met although the inventions of
man are a thousand fold more numerous
than in the days of our ancestors,
yet our present day evangelism is more
than commensurate to them all.
We read of showers of blessings being
poured out on all lands by Him who sits
upon the circle of the heavens, and rules
by day. and bv niniit -
_ no me taugnt
these outpourings of grace come by
prayer, and supplication, which indeed is
true. Why not a special season of prayer
be inaugurated, that we may have
the Master's Spirit to fall upon us in
great awakenings. "Thy will be done in
Earth as it is in Heaven."
Selma, Ala.
OKLAHOMA'S ONLY COLLEGE FOR
GIRLS.
A Startling Fact! There is not a college
of high grade in the new state of
Oklahoma for girls and young women.
Co-education seems to have been the
craze. The various churches out here,
DO vtroll ? ~ A*
cii as me state of Oklahoma, have
caught the contagion. Boys and girls,
of various ages, are admitted Into the
schools, and in many cases are turned '
loose to go at large after recitations are
over. No jurisdiction is claimed by
many of the institutions and hence no
responsibility assumed, consequently
some are necessarily sent home and
their educational career abruptly and
sadly ended.
For some time the General Assembly
has sustained a school at Durant, Oklahoma,
known as the "Durant College."
It was exceptionally well regulated and
splendid work was done. With the con%