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VOL. IV. R <**^1
A Letter to the Mi/
r^i i j
rresoyieriar
Dearly Beloved and Honored:
It is in our hearts to write to you on a subject
in which we all have a common interest. It
is in our hearts to tell you of a development 6f
concern in our body for an outpouring of God's
saving grace upon the people of our bounds and
of the world, and to raise a question with the
Church at large as to what it?its courts, its
officers and members?should do in view of the
facts.
1. AS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OP THIS CONCERN IN
OUR STUDENT BODY.
During the last session a prayer circle, composed
of certain members of the Junior Class of
that session, began to pray more and more for a
revival of true religion in our midst. If this
special concern started last session, however, it
received effective and decided impulse in a
prayer meeting held about the end of October of
the present session when a member of the
present Middle Class powerfully impressed his
fellow-students by calling attention to the small
number of conversions reported at the end of
the last ecclesiastical year, calling upon his fellows
to cry to God for the showing of his saving
power, and urging them to cultivate the evangelistic
note in their preaching.
You are aware of the conditions to which this
student called attention. You are aware that,
although our Church grows, it has of late been
growing very slowly; that the net gain in the
membership during the year ending March 31,
1911, was only 5,254; that the total intake on
profession of faith was only 13,437; that in
many hundreds of our churches there was not
one addition on profession of faith; that, in a
great number of our churches there was only
one such addition to each church; and that, in 1
few of our churches, have there been large addi- i
tions on examination or profession of faith.
T71 il- x? < ?i ' ' "
rrom me iime or inis siuaeni s taiK, tne matter
has been of increasing concern to a growing
number of students. Their concern has been
quickened further during the last three months (
in various ways?particularly, by addresses de- 1
livered before the Society of Missionary Enquiry
by Dr. Wm. McC. "White, of Raleigh, N.
C., and Dr. Neal Anderson, of Winston-Salem,
N. C. i
As a result of this development our men are
asking more and more such questions as the following:
Why is our beloved Zion growing so
slowly ? They recognize that it may be said that <
many of our churches which have not grown in 1
numbers have been without pastors, but know i
that a living church often grows when there is i
no pastor. They point, too, to the fact that some i
of the churches with pastors have either not i
grown at all or grown very little; and that few i
of the churches have been privileged to make <
large ingatherings. They ask: Why is this? i
^ :M ji ' . I fl ..... . c' i
Th^
), NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA, APRIL
listers, Officers
i Church in the Un
lias the Lord a controversy with ust If so, what
is the ground of that controversy ? They have no
charges to make against our brethren, they gratefllllv
ronnf?ni7n f V>n V* i r?V? rtknMnniAw ^ A !
. vvugui</c tuc uigii uiiaiauici auu auuilitK)
of our ministers, and their zealous and devoted
attention to the duties of their office. They think
with pleasure of our splendid body of ruling
elders and deacons. They rejoice in the relative
excellence of our people at large. But they find
themselves askinsr. Why does the Lord hide his
face? They find themselves wondering whether
he refuses to bless because his people have displeased
him. They ask, Have his people failed
to give themselves fully to him? Have they failed
of proper endeavor to keep his commandments?
While professing to give themselves to
him, have they failed doing so? While professing
to endeavor, with his aid, to keep his commandments,
are they walking in the light of
their own eyes, and leaning unto their own nn.
derstandings? Are they heady and wayward in
the way in which they attempt to work for
Christ? After all, are we filled with his Spirit?
Are we abiding in him? They are not affirming
that such things are true, but they are questioning
themselves about themselves and about the
rest of the Church.
"Within the past fortnight they have been
talking to the members of the faculty severally,
and have appeared before the faculty by committee,
at one of its sessions, and have secured
after conference the appointment of the joint
committee whose names are subscribed below
to write to the Church and tell it of this concern.
M$ny of them are praying with great earnestness
for the enlargement of Zion, are working
for it as they have light and opportunity, have
definitely resolved" that they will stress the evangelistic
note in their preaching, and have come
fn 1 on r* fViof PV?h??aV? xl *? "A
/ir >vug inai iuc vnuiuii juiu wnii meuj 111 waning
on the God of salvation for his gracious
working.
This bit of history of our student body sufficiently
explains why we come before the Church
on this subject and why we wish:
I
2. TO RAISE THE QUESTION WITH THE CHURCH
?WITH ITS COURTS, ITS OFFICERS AND ITS MEMBERS
WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT THIS PAUCITY OF
ACCESSIONS ON PROFESSION OF FAITH?
It is clear to us from the word of God that
we cannot regenerate sinners; that salvation is
of God; that God alone is competent to work it;
iv.ni- n,?l J ? - -11 A? >
bUDi, Liiuugu x am jjiaui auu Apunos WHier, Vjfoa
must give the increase; that no man cometh unto
Christ except the Father who hath sent Christ
draw him; that God acteth according to his own
sovereign will in saving man; and that we cannot
turn the lever of faith, or the lever of prayer,
or the lever of obedience, and bring God to
save whom we please, and as we please. But
SMATV
YESTE/P/VP/PESB YTEP/AP
al Presbyter/an <r~
-hern Presbyter/am
- 10, 1912. NO. 15.
d Members of the
ited States.
both Scripture and the common history of God's
dealings with his people make it clear that in
God's saving of sinners, he is pleased to regard
conditions brought about through his saints.
Both the Scriptures and eommon history show
tiiof .......ii? ? .i
mum uuu uouanjr saves uuuiis suusequenuy, II
at all, to the effective witnessing oi his truth by
his people. Both show that he has regard to the
prayers of his people, and to their self-sacrificing
obedience. Recall the book of Acts. Recall the
histories of the martyrs. Recall the Lord Jesus
Christ's promise to be present with his disciples
in their effort to make disciples of all nations?
to be present with all power. We cannot efficiently
cause the salvation of sinners about us.
Efficiency for this is not in us. We cannot compel
God to save them. Nevertheless, the Head of
the Church expects his disciples to do somewhat
toward their salvation. He expects us to give a
good witness to the truth. He expects us to
teach the truth by word and life, and to look up
to him for the exercise of his saving power.
Fathers and brethren of our church courts,
we implicate no dereliction on your part in the
past, oume 01 us are cieariy members of these
courts ourselves. The rest of us hope, ere long,
to become members of these divinely enjoined institutions.
We simply ask, Are you striving to
obey Christ fully in your parliamentary capacity,
striving to do Christ's work in Christ's way?
Are you taking with all due seriousness the responsibilities
laid on you to direct according to
Christ's will, the laoors of our visible Zion in
gathering in and building all those for whom
Christ died?
All you officers of the Church, are you, in your
official relations, carrying out to the best of your
abilities the will of the Lord Christ ?
All members of the church, are you giving to
God sacrificial obedience? Are you exercising a
living faith in llim? Aware of your own im
potence, are you praying to him unceasingly for
the salvation of the world? Have you so give)
yourselves to him as to be able effectively to witness
to the saving power of the Gospel? It is
said of a certain place that our Lord "did not
many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
God forbid that this should be true of
our Church 1
Brethren, we have been greatly concerned that
we seem to be so little used in bringing men to
salvation. We have been examining ourselves,
and mourning over our sins. Is it presumptuous
in us to tell you of it, and to ask that you unite
with US in this self-exflminfltinn nnrl in tho on.
deavor of a more thorough-going obedience to
God's commands, a fuller appropriation of his
Word, a more living faith, more earnest prayer
in the endeavor to use more steadily all the power
he gives us in the effort to win men to Christ and
to build up his body, and in waiting upon the
(Continued on page 11).