to

pass from a consideration of methods to a consideration of that which underlies all methods. Rather than multiply machinery, we must intensify the spirit which is in those engaged in Christian work. Dr. Behrends concluded his brief and eloquent remarks by urging Christian workers to reach the young by being young in spirit.

Rev. Reuben Thomas, of Brookline, spoke of the time in every young man's life when he is in a skeptical frame of mind. He had had such a time in his own life; and, looking over his experience, he felt that the ministers must know the young men's doubts, and sympathize with them. Else they will not listen. He indorsed the idea expressed by Dr. Behrends, that those who wished to reach the young must themselves be young in spirit. Religion makes a man young. A humorous allusion to Mr. Moody's continued brightness was pleasantly received; and then Mr. Thomas said that a whole batch of young men had come into his church on the last communion Sunday. He thought that they were very bright and fresh looking & Stephen, every one of them. Mr. Thomas concluded by exhorting all to youthfulness of spirit in dealing with the young.

66 HOW CAN THE CHURCHES OF NEW ENGLAND BE REVIVED?"

Rev. R. R. Meredith said: the question is, How can the churches of New England be revived? It is not so much a question as to how sinners are to be revived; but how the churches are to be awakened. The framer of the question probably thought that, the churches being revived, the salvation of sinners would follow as a matter of course. The churches of New England are wonderfully alive; but the one thing that they need to-day is an earnest, deep revival of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all united in this belief, and equally so in the desire for the coming of that revival. In answer to the question, the speaker said that there is only one way to revive a church, and that is to revive its individual members. When you get all the members of a church awakened, then your church is revived; for if every man cleans the snow from his own sidewalk, the whole sidewalk is clean. In order to get a revival, we must not try to get it up, but to bring it down-bring it down from God. We must, therefore, pray for it, wrestling with the angel of the Lord till we get the blessing. The prayer must be earnest; it must be specific in regard to this matter. All we get from God, we get by definite prayer. Our prayer must also be contrite; we must humble ourselves before God, confessing our shortcomings. It must also be humble, our wills being deferred to the will of God. God sends rain in his own way; and if we want a revival, we must take it just as God sends it. Then, in all and through all, our prayer must be believing prayer.

A revival of true religion is not only of Divine origin; but it is

of Divine origin through human co-operation. It is wonderful that God should make us co-workers with him in saving souls; but the fact lays upon us a great responsibility. "Go work in my vineyard," is the command of the Lord to every convert. The necessary things are a sense of personal responsibility, an earnest spirit of consecration, an incessant activity in the work. How are we to get these things? The only way in which a revival of religion in the churches is to be obtained is, by those present giving their hearts entirely to God. The speaker concluded by urging the delegates not to leave Boston until they are on fire for God. Then they will take away a spark which will create a revival in the churches of New England. Rev. W. B. Wright said that there are three laws which must be conformed to before the churches can be revived. Each of these was presented in connection with a glance at the history of the apostles after the Savior's death. These laws, as Mr. Wright presented them briefly, toward the close of his remarks, are confession of sin, earnest prayer to God, and thorough activity in work.

Rev. G. F. Pentecost thought that a great responsibility rests upon the ministers. The pastorate in New England and elsewhere has become too much a commercial engagement; and ministers have come to have more regard for their churches than for their Master, The authority given to the minister to preach is derived directly from the Lord Jesus Christ; and if that fact is forgotten, the ministry will become a failure. Men's sins must be rebuked; but if the minister stops to question whether his pastorate will be made insecure by plain preaching, he loses sight of his mission. It is not necessary that the minister should continually scourge his people; but he should preach always as in the sight of the Master. Paul's devotion to his work was eloquently spoken of. There must be a revival in preaching; ministers preaching less as theological professors, and more as bearers of a message from God. The speaker urged that ministers be more familiar with the Bible, indulging more in practical Scripture exposition than in merely forensic effort.

Rev. Mr. Newell, of Newburyport, said that we know that Jesus came into the world to save sinners; and the mission of Christians is to save souls. If we keep that fact in mind, we will be alive. There are souls all around us perishing under the shadow of the churches. When these churches are awake to the need of these souls, there will be a revival.

MR. MOODY AND THE QUESTION DRAWER.

Mr. Moody then announced the first question which had been sent to him as relating to the matter of praying for the Spirit: Does not the continued seeking after the Holy Spirit blunt the sense of what we have? If a man is full, he can hold no more. Praying for

power differs from praying for the indwelling of the Spirit. There is little danger that Christians will become so full of the Spirit that they need no power.

Q. Why don't you teach baptism? Ans. That is none of your business. Some men would have this work broken up in six weeks or six days, if they had their way. (Applause.) Suppose I should teach baptism by sprinkling, away would go Mr. Pentecost. (Mr. Pentecost: "No, I wouldn't.") If I taught baptism by immersion, away would go Dr. Webb. Let us see what we can meet on. Let ministers indoctrinate these converts as they please. Evangelists are just to proclaim the gospel; they just want to keep out those controverted questions. When June comes it will be four years that Mr. Sankey and I have been together in meetings; and we have yet to hear the first word of discord. I can have my views of baptism, and if I had a church I could teach the people what I believe; but in these meetings, it would be unfair to do it. Q. How can the churches of New England be revived? A. If I were in a town of four or five churches, I would see the ministers and see if they would agree. If two of them agreed, I would say. "Why can't we work together?" Then we would meet and pray. Suppose there were no more than twelve persons come together for prayer, if they hold on faithfully there will be a revival. If you can get three churches to join, all the better. Our work is always in proportion to the number of churches interested in the movement. If the whole church is not aroused, it is no sign that we should not be quickened and aroused personally. If there is one man aroused, there will be anxious souls around that man. We have to act in this world as if there were not another man or woman in it. If we are cold ourselves, we are apt to think every one else is cold. What we want is to get our own hearts on fire, and there will be a revival. I hope every delegate will go back with his heart burdened for the town or village in which he lives. There may be obstacles; but the Spirit of God can bring unity where there is faith. Let all our expectations be from God, and then we will not be disappointed. May God revive every church in New England. Let that be our

prayer.

Q. Would you hurry people into the church as soon as they are converted? A. No, I wouldn't. I used to think that, as soon as a man is converted, he should join the church; but I have grown more conservative. Mr. Moody here told of his experience when, a number of years ago, he was anxious to join Mount Vernon Church. The story is well known. He thought that people should know what they are about. Some people get into the church very easy, and it's hard to get them out; sometimes they break it up.

Q. What is the best way to conduct evangelistic meetings? A. I would have them short, not more than an hour in length, with

plenty of singing. Then I'd have a second meeting for prayer and an inquiry meeting.

Q. Isn't it better to get all the inquirers together? A. I like to get the inquirers off alone, and talk with them from the Word of God, pray with them, try to remove their doubts and calm their fears. Then send them home, to think quietly over the matter in their minds. The duty of Christians to work among those around them at religious meetings was urged, and Mr. Moody said that Christians should always have their Bibles with them, and be ready to point sinners to the Savior.

Q. What would you do with infidels in the inquiry-room? A. I like to have them come, and would pray with them. There is no good in arguing with them.

A.

Q. What would you do with inquirers who are not anxious. If they are in the inquiry-room that is a sign that they are anx

ious.

Q. Would you tell them that they are saved? A. No. That I leave to God.

Q. Would you give them books or tracts? A. I would give them the Scriptures.

Q. Would you tell them to go home and pray? A. No; they might die on the way home. I would hold them to the little word, "Now."

Q. Would you have an inquiry meeting after every meeting? A. Well, if I preached the Gospel, I think I would pull on the net and see if I had got anything.

Q. Would you encourage little children to come to the church? A. Certainly. The smaller the better; so early that they cannot tell when they began.

Q. How can we get more life into our prayer meetings? A. Get more into yourselves first. It is a good thing to get prayer meetings out of the ruts, sometimes. We must have variety-new nymns, etc., once in a while. Get people close together. I have seen many a meeting lost by the people being scattered. Let the place of meeting be well ventilated, and warmed and cheerful. Let the prayers be short.

Q. Would you have new speakers every night in evangelistic meetings? A. I would not; it wouldn't succeed. We tried it in Chicago; and there was only one man converted. I wondered how it was that man was converted. Let each man preach two or three weeks.

Q. How would you get a church to work? A. Go to work yourself. A working Christian is a rejoicing one. Mr. Moody told of a man with a broken leg, who received a bunch of grapes. He told his wife he couldn't eat them, but would send them to a sick

neighbor. The sick neighbor sent them to another, and he pack to the first; and so they were all blessed.

Q. Would you have children sign the pledge or the Covenant? A. No. I thought I would once, but have got over that. The children would be apt to lean on the Covenant, and make no effort for themselves.

Q. Do you think it best to advertise religious services? A. Certainly. We should learn from the world. Advertising is wise in business, and does more good than harm to religion.

Mr. Moody said that a great many questions had been received in regard to the matter of fairs, theatricals and so forth in the church. Q. Can the young people be drawn thereby? A. You can draw them; but you can't draw them to the cross. He had heard of wives going to the theatre, in order to have the husband go to church on Sunday. That is not a good policy. It is a letting down of the standard. He thought that ministers make a mistake in preaching tirades against worldly amusements. It is much better to preach the people so full of the Holy Spirit that they will not want anything else. Raising money by fairs to pay off a church debt is a miserable way of doing things.

Q. Is there any danger of preaching too much to the careless, and too little to the unconverted? A. I would go for the careless every time, and then I would attend to the unconverted. There is not much encouragement in going over a cold church to reach the world.

Q. How can we get more life in our prayer meetings? A. Get more into yourself, get the people close together, and have variety; make the meeting a sociable affair. Have good ventilation, and all the exercises brief.

Q. How would you cure a chronic fault-finding church member? A. Get him into the prayer meeting, and pray with him till that devil is cast out. Fault-finding is a nuisance in the church. A man full of the Spirit is not full of fault-finding.

Q. May not a minister be too personal in his preaching? A. Well, I don't know. Personal preaching is very effective. It is well to wake a man up, if he is asleep. Mr. Moody saw a man asleep while Dr. Taylor was preaching on Wednesday night; he asked Dr. Gordon to wake him up. He thought it a religious duty to wake people up. (Laughter.) A hunch from the elbow may save a soul. Mr. Moody said he went to church to sleep once himself; but he was roused. There cannot be too much personal preaching.

Q. Would you encourage young converts to become communicants? A. If they feel sure they are converted, I would.

Q. How can gambling in our churches be cured? A. Have no festivals. There is no gambling at prayer meetings.