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CROWDS PACK ‘BOSTON CHURCHES
ERHAPS the most striking feature of
the revival which is stirring Boston to
its depths, is the eager rush of the
people to hear the gospel by day or by
night, week-days or Sundays. Tremont
Temple, where Dr. Chapman and Mr.
Alexander conduct the central meetings
of the movement, can be packed with
about 3,000 people, but the building is
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utterly inadequate to accommodate the crowds which
gather nightly. So eager are the crowds to get
into the Temple, that they stand for hours outside
the building waiting for the doors to open. Yes
terday a meeting was announced to begin at 11
o’clock a. m., but the crowds began to gather out
side shortly after 8 o’clock.
A few days ago a mid-day meeting at the Temple
for men only was announced, and the remarkable
sight was witnessed of a big auditorium packed with
3,000 men. God’s Spirit was present in such power
that before the meeting concluded tears were rain
ing down the cheeks of scores of strong men. As
the big audience poured out into the street at 1
o’clock, they were met by another crowd waiting
to gain admission to the building for the afternoon
service at 3:00 o’clock. The throng filled Tremont
streets, and a photograph was secured showing one
of the main thoroughfares of a great city blocked
with a revival crowd.
The Largest Crowd of a Century.
Nor are the revival throngs confined to the cen
tral districts of Boston. Pastors testify that in the
outlying districts of the city and in the suburbs
such crowds attend the meetings as have never be
fore been seen. A Dorchester minister stated yes
terday that last Sunday his church enclosed more
people than it had held at any one time for the
last hundred years.
The press, business men and ministers unite in
testifying that the revival is one of the most re
markable that has been witnessed for generations.
At a recent gathering of ministers, Bishop Hamil
ton stated that “the city was under the spell of the
Holy .Spirit.” Dr. A. Z. Conrad, the chairman of
the committee, says that the movement is “sweep
ing through our city like a purifying wind.” Dr.
Francis E. Clark, President of the United Society
of Christian Endeavor, is now in Boston, and I
recently obtained from him a signed statement, giv
ing his candid opinion of the awakening. He writes
as follows:
President’s Office,
United Society of Christian Endeavor,
Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass.
ghost. Most of us are inclined to brand strange
things in this way. If a man is mighty in faith, he
is called a mystic. But Jesus cried, in the midst
of Peter’s fright: 44 1 t is I, be not afraid.” Then
Peter said, “If it be Thou, command me to walk on
the water to Thee.” I used to think Peter was here
simply giving expression to his impulsive nature to
get to Christ; but I think differently now. He
meant, “If it be Thou, if I am mistaken about the
ghost, prove it by enabling me to do something
which I could not do in my own strength.” So he
leaps over the gunwale of the boat and walks upon
the water. He makes fine headway until he sees
a huge wave coming. Then he takes his eyes off
Jesus and begins to debate with the waves, and im
mediately he sinks. How many of us are like him.
We can trust God to manage a sea, but get frighten
ed lest He can not manage a wave. lam quite sure
we have lost power by discussing difficulties rather
than magnifying the might and majesty and power
of Jesus. There is no wave so great that He can
not master it.
So then Peter cried unto the Lord. When he
looked again at Christ, he found present the out-
'Rebibal Throngs Till Tremont Street —Dr. Trancis T. Clark Compares Alvakening With That
Under Wesley and Whitfield —Tthical and Cibic Results of Rebibal.
Sy George T, S. Dabis.
"Let Us Pray. 99
The Golden Age for February 25, 1909.
“I rejoice more than words can express in the
great religious awakening that has come to Boston,
under the lead of Dr. Chapman, Mr. Alexander and
their eo-laborers. It is so sane, so sound, so strong,
so free from everything objectionable, so full of
Christ and the Christ-spirit, that I thank God that
I have lived to see this day in the city of Boston.
“As our fathets look back to the blessed days of
’SB, and their fathers to the great awakening under
Finney and Griffin, and their fathers to the glorious
days of Whitefield and the Wesleys, so I believe
we, of this generation, will look back in the future
years, with gratitude, to the days of the great Chap
man-Alexander meetings of 1909.
(Signed) “FRANCIS E. CLARK.”
Is Producing Notable Ethical and Civic Results.
At the report meeting yesterday a minister stated
that in his district there was a bar-keeper looking
for a job, Who said that their business had fallen
off 50 per cent, since the meetings began. A prom
inent writer says that the revival is doing more for
the city than could be accomplished by ten years
of ethical and social agitation.
There could be no better evidence of a genuine
awakening than the increased demand for God’s
Word. The manager of the Massachusetts Bible
Society informs me that as a result of the move
ment there has been a rush of business like that
at Christmas time, and that he has been compelled
to work overtime to cope with the demand for
Bibles, Gospels and Testaments.
It is not only the mere “crowd,” but also the
refined and cultured who are being deeply influenced
by the awakening. The editor of the Journal of
Education has suggested that next Saturday be ob
served as Education Day, when Dr. Chapman and
Mr. Alexander will conduct special services for the
students in the various educational institutions in
and around Boston, including the Institute of Tech
nology, Boston University, the New England Con
servatory of Music, and Wellesley College. A pas
tor in Cambridge, the seat of Harvard University,
says that the town is moved as never before in its
history, and that the great university is deeply
stirred by the awakening.
College Closed, for One Week.
Located in the heart of Boston, not far from the
Tremont Temple, is the Methodist Theological Sem
inary, which has an enrollment of 236 students, and
which is said to be the largest Theological college
in the world. It is the theological department of
Boston University. With the progress of the re
vival movement, the students became so fired with
a passion for soul-saving that they not only did
stretched hand of Jesus to lift him up. God help
us, if we have been beneath the wave, to realize the
outstretched hand of Jesus.
DIVINE SUBMISSION.
The last element of prayer that I mention is that
of Divine submission. This, from our standpoint, is
the hardest condition to comply with. We follow
Christ in the Baptismal waters. We travel with
Him through the ministry, sit with Him in the cold*
and in the heat, sit up with Him all night, wipe
His blessed feet with the hairs of our head. We
give Him alabaster boxes, yea, all we have. We go
with Him to Gethsemane, we kneel with Him, we
sob and pray with Him: “Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from Him. Yea, Lord, we would
take the cup from thy Son, our Savior and friend.”
Here many of us leave the garden and rush to the
cross. I fancy there are thousands who would
willingly today take His place on the cross and die;
but such aspirations will do us no good unless we
have gone with Him through the Gethsemane ex
perience. We left Gethsemane too quickly. We left
before He finished that marvelous prayer which con
quered the world. Back to Gethsemane, back to
Gethsemane! Let us listen again to that prayer,
personal work at the revival meetings, but also
went after the unsaved on the streets of the city
by day and by night. Finally the Dean closed, the
school for a week in order that the students might
throw themselves heart and soul into the move
ment.
As was the case in the Welsh revival, the news
papers are proving a powerful agency in spreading
the revival fire, and visitors are coming from various
parts of New England to witness the work of grace.
Yesterday afternoon testimonies were called for
from out-of-town visitors, and numerous striking
experiences were related. One woman arose and
said, “I live in New Hampshire, 168 miles from
Boston, and from reading the newspapers my soul
has been set on fire, and I felt that I must come
down here and participate in some of the blessings
that abounds in the meetings so that I might go
back and help others.” A woman from the State
of Maine said, “I live in Castine. I got to reading
the newspaper accounts of the meetings and simply
could not stand it. I had to come.” A man arose
and said, “I read the newspapers and came down
to attend the meetings. I don’t know when I will
get home.”
Comes 118 Miles to Participate in Awakening.
At the close of an evening service at Tremont
Temple, Dr. Chapman called for testimonies from
visiting ministers. A number were quickly given,
the ministers relating how their communities were
being stirred as the result of the work in Boston.
A man from New Hamshire created laughter by
stating that the unconverted were already aroused
in his community, and that he supposed the church
members would finally wake up. A minister from
Brattleboro, Vermont, told how he had come 118
miles to participate in the awakening, and that he
hoped to carry the fire back to his people. Just
before the meeting ended Dr. Chapman said that
when he was a young minister in a village church
he went to Albany to attend the great meetings
which were being conducted by I). L. Moody. He
said that when he returned home he himself began
a revival ami passed on to his people many of
Moody’s stories and incidents. Dr. Chapman said
that 110 people were brought to Christ as a result,
and he urged ministers to go and do likewise.
Boston resounds with Gospel hymns. Not only
are they heard night after night in the twenty-five
centres where the meetings are held, but they are
hummed and whistled throughout the city. Numer
ous testimonies are being given of people who have
been led to Christ through the revival songs, which
are being carried throughout New England by the
press.
“Nevertheless, not my will.” Oh, can’t we say it?
Is it too hard? No, nothing is too hard when we
are in the will of God. “Nevertheless, not my will,
but Thine be done.” Master, we do say it. It is
done. My will is surrendered. God shall dominate
my life.
Christian friends, here is the hardest place to
stand. Why it is hard, no one can say. Surely our
God will deal with us kindly when we give ourselves
unreservedly to Him. Oh, that we may do it; that
we may live the prayer life!
Wonderful Work. 99
Credit this dollar bill on my subscription. The
Golden Age is doing a wonderful work.
(Rev.) F. M. BLALOCK.
Ashburn, Ga.
"Three Dollars and Best Wishes. 99
Here is a money order for $3 to be placed to my
credit on The Golden Age. Accept my best wishes.
G. W. HUCKABAY.
Valdosta, Ga.
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