The Golden age. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1906-1915, May 10, 1906, Page 7, Image 7
Closing Incidents of Philadelphia Campaign
HE great revival campaign in Phila
delphia, conducted by Dr. Torrey and
Mr. Alexander, closed yesterday with
two of the most successful meetings
held since the commencement of the cru
sade three months ago. At the two
services, for men only and women oniy,
over 150 persons stood up to accept
Christ. The total number of converts
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recorded during the three months equals fully 5,000
men, women and children. They have come from
all ranks and professions, a number of them being
leaders in the business and political life of the
city.
The revival has proved a triumphant success.
Nothing like the present religious awakening has
been witnessed since the work of Moody and
Sankey in the seventies.
The crowds which tried to gain entrance to the
meetings during the closing days of the campaign
were such as have rarely been seen in Philadelphia.
On the last night that both men and women were
admitted, it is estimated that not less than 10,000
people flocked to hear the evangelists. When the
big doors of the Armory were swung open a rush
was made by the crowd which filled the street, and
in a few moments the big building was packed with
6,000 people. Still the crowds continued to stream
toward the building, many making pitiful but vain
appeals to the policemen for admittance. At the
Broad street entrance to the building hundreds of
people stood for nearly two hours waiting for the
first meeting to end that they might be admitted
when a part of the audience went home. They oc
cupied their time by singing gospel hymns and lis
tening to stirring revival testimonies.
The “Revival Bands.’’
The revival fire is being spread—and will con
tinue to be spread after Dr. Torrey and Mr. Alex
ander have left Philadelphia—by “Revival Bands”
such as helped to spread the flame in the revival in
Wales and India. The revival bands are composed
of groups of about half a dozen converts and oth
ers w T ho take the Sunday morning service in city
churches, and tell the story of their conversion,
and how they are leading others to Christ by per
sonal wmrk.
Two days ago in a suburb of Philadelphia, an
interesting event occurred in connection with the
revival, when Rev. John Howard Deming, chair
man of the committee on personal work, was mar
ried to Miss Edith Knowlton, secretary of the same
committee. It w y as essentially a mission wedding,
for the ceremony was performed by Dr. Torrey,
while Mr. Alexander acted as one of the ushers;
the wedding march was played by Robert Harkness,
and “The Pilot Song” was sung by Charles Butler,
the soloist. It was my privilege to act as best man,
while other members of the mission party, who at
tended were Mr. Rupert Lowe, Mr. Edgar Ward,
Miss Mary Holyoak and Miss Blanche Torrey. The
bridegroom has just resigned his charge as pastor
of Haddon Heights church, and Mr. and Mrs. Dem
ing will sail in October for Hanyang, Central China,
to engage in missionary work.
During the past week Dr. Torrey has been de
livering a series of addresses in the afternoons on
“The Real Christ.” For several days he pictured
our Lord as a man of prayer. The evangelist plead
earnestly with his hearers to spend more time
in prayer, and told how prayer was the secret of
the success of the late Lord Cairns, a former Lord
Chancellor of England. Dr. Torrey said:
“Unless prayer occupies a very prominent place
in your life you are not Christ-like. One of the
most prominent characteristics of the life of Christ
as recorded in the four Gospels, was his prayerful
ness, the frequency with which he prayed, and the
amount of time he spent in prayer.
What do You do With Your Minutes?
“There are 1,440 minutes in every day. How
By GEORGE T. B. DAVIS.
The Golden Age for May 10, 1906.
many of those 1,440 minutes to you spend in
prayer? Do you spend a tenth of them—two hours
and twenty-four minutes? Do you spend a twentieth
of them—one hour and twelve minutes? Are you
Christ-like? Is prayer one of the great outstand
ing features of your life?
“Let me read you another passage that tells us
when our Lord prayed: Mark 1: 35: ‘And in the
morning, rising up a great while before day, he
went out, and departed into a solitary place, and
there prayed.’ Jesus Christ rose early in the morn
ing, a great while before day, to pray. Why? I
suppose, partly for the reason that he might have
undisturbed solitude for communion with God, be
fore everybody else was up, or likely to be up for
a long time to come. But there was another reason,
as we are shown by the context, and that was to
prepare for the w T ork of the coming day and of
the coming days.
“Every day ought to be prepared for by prayer.
We ought to talk to God before we talk to any
body else. I believe that one of the keys to victo
rious days is to begin every day with prayer. A
day that is begun by communion with God is begun
right, and is pretty sure to go right. But if you
don’t begin right everything will go wrong all day
long. ’ ’
Impressions of the Torrey-Alexander
Meetings.
“The power and the glory and the majesty” of
the cause of Christ is never more fully impressed
on any human mind than when one sits in the
midst of a vast concourse of people and feels the
waves of spiritual emotion which flow, seemingly,
direct from the souls of the individual to swell
the great current of spiritual life.
This impression was never stronger than during
the first meetings of the great revival movement
that is now being held in Atlanta, by the world
renowned leaders, Dr. R. A. Torrey and Mr. Chas.
M. Alexander. In these consecrated men themselves
we see ese “power” of human influence, touched
by redeeming grace, the “glory” of spiritual pur
pose and the “majesty” of the great cause they
represent. Yet not by force of persuasion, nor
force of fear or invective is this wonderful com
bat begun—but a force more powerful than any
or all of these—the force of purest truth, logic
and reason. Dr. Torrey is a calm talker—no ex
citement, no undue emotional display is made, and
yet his words fall directly on the heart of the
hearer, and by the mere force of their own power
the impression is made, and made deeply. “I do
not want to make it easy for you,” said Dr. Torrey;
“I want to make it real and strong and true.”
It is this intention that sounds the key-note of the
present great series of meetings— not to “make it
easy,” but to bring home the truth—the Bible, and
the force of the plan of salvation as outlined by
the Great Teacher.
It has been long since Atlanta, or, indeed, the
South, has had the opportunity which is now pre
sented, for carefully considering spiritual matters,
but it is already clear that the people appreciate
this chance, and are eager to avail themselves of
it.
Although the campaign has just begun, the indi
cations are that it will be as frutful as any which
these consecrated men have yet held, and as is
well known, their field of operation has covered a
large part of the civilized world.
The service conducted by Mr. Charles Alexander,
of Tennessee, is a wonderfully attractive and help
ful feature of these meetings, and Mr. Alexander
is pre-eminent in his ability to handle and to sway
large audiences, such as assemble daily in the Peach
tree Auditorium. Many of the songs in the books
furnished for these meetings were written by Mr.
Alexander, and the author’s personality imparts
a touch and tone to each song which cannot be un
derstood by every one who has not been there to
see and feel the magic thrill.
Mr. Charles Butler, of Georgia, is the soloist of
the meetings, and his voice is one of great sweet
ness, truth and feeling. He has won the heart of
Atlanta.
First Meetings of the Series.
Two meetings were held on the past Sunday, one
a song service and special meeting for women, be
ginning at 3:30 in the afternoon and the other an
evening service for the general public. This order
of service will be adhered to during the stay of
the evangelists in Atlanta, and as Dr. Torrey said
in his Sunday sermon: “We must make the pre
eminent business of this month the saving of souls.
I believe that God is going to shake Atlanta so
hard that the shake will be heard all over the
world. ’ ’
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If one may judge from the vast audiences, and
from the rapt and careful attention which each in
dividual gave to the service, then Dr. Torrey’s be
lief seems to have been well founded.
His first message was on the subject-of a “Real
Revival—What it Means and What it Costs,” and
although, as the title indicates, it was rather a
preparation for the real work, than an actual be
ginning, it certainly laid the foundation for the
more specific things which followed.
The auditorium, which seats about four thousand
persons, will not only be the gathering place of
the hosts of God, but the birth-place, we trust, of
hundreds who are now unsaved, and although it is
too early to predict results at this date, yet the in
dications are that the success in the saving of souls
which has everywhere followed similar services, will
not be lacking in Atlanta.
A feature of these meetings which is already
noted with interest and approval, is the hearty co
operation which the ministers of the various de
nominations are giving the movement. As Dtr.
Torrey said in that stirring Sunday evening ad
dress, “The extent of this revival in Atlanta, and
of the good work which it will accomplish, will de
pend on the ministers and the members who will
get right with God,” and ample evidence is already
seen of the co-operation which will be given the
prime movers in this great work.
As we go to press early in the week, we cannot
give our readers a full report of these opening ser
vices, but a brief mention must be made of Dr.
Torrey’s powerful address of Monday evening, the
second general meeting. His text was taken from
Genesis, 3: 9,
“Where Art Thou?”
and he spoke both eloquently and searchingly on
the significance of this question as put to each in
dividual soul. Many a pertinent story was told to
illustrate the force of this question as applied to
each one of us, either by the spoken voice of God
on the Day of Reckoning, or by our own spirit
taught consciences, which represent the voice of the
Lord. So strongly was the question put, and in so
many varied phases, that each heart was stirred
and the awakening must come to all who listen
faithfully and sincerely.
One of the most touching incidents of the work
thus far, was the
Story of His Conversion.
as told by Mr. Charles Butler, of Macon, the singer
whose name has already been mentioned. This oc
curred at the afternoon service, and so great was
the emotional strain created by this story, elo
quently, though simply told by a young man well
known to many in the vast audience, that Dr. Tor
rey was, himself, compelled to step forward and
divert the thoughts of the hearers by calling at
tention to the work to be done, and by an urgent ap
peal for co-operation and assistance in doing it.
Mr. Geo. T. B. Davis, who has been giving the
reports of the meetings heretofore, will continue
to report the services for this paper. Before the
close of the meeting, The Golden Age will issue a
special edition as a souvenir.
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