Part 7 (1/2)
After the Christmas holidays, our schoolmaster and his wife returned
They caainst the work, and even put theo froainsta hundred clergy; but their efforts had just the contrary effect to what they expected It stirred the people to come more frequently to hear, and contend ht The ainst ”excitement”
and noise He said, ”It was so very much more reverent to be still in prayer, and orderly in praise; it was not necessary to make such an unsee before this ti yet to enerally made as much or more noise than others
If a house is seen to be on fire, people cannot helloan outcry; which they do not, when they only read about it Witnessing a danger stirs the heart; and when people's eyes are open to see souls in eternal danger, they cannot help being stirred up, and crying out I a which is too deep for expression?” It may be that at times people are so surprised and astonished at soood or bad news, that they are stunned, and for a tirief; but soon there is a reaction, and then expression is given
Generally speaking, these so-called ”deep feelings” are only deep in the way of being lon in the vessel--that is to say, very shallow, and by no means sufficient to overflow
We read that ”the whole an to rejoice, and praise God with a loud voice, for all the hty works that they had seen” (Luke 19:37) And we are told, over and over again, in the Psalms, to ”praise God with a loud voice,” and to ”shout” When we lift up our voice, the Lord can stir our hearts; and surely the things of the Lord have ht to have more power, to stir and arouse the soul of man, than a boat-race, or a horserace, or a fictitious scene on the stage I think people would be all the better for letting out their hearts in praise to God Itto some, but perhaps they are the very ones who need such a sti it out
Notwithstanding the schoolmaster's opposition, he still ca copious notes One Sunday, when I had been preaching on the text, ”Cut it dohy curound?” he was heard to say, ”Thank God, I am not cut done yet;”
and then he proceeded for the first ti in the school-room
When I entered I saw him lon on his knees, and said how happy I was to see him there ”Oh,” he cried, ”I fear there is no ainst me, 'Cut him down! cut him down!'”
And then the poor man howled aloud in his distress The people prayed for hi, while he threw hireat noise, which only drew still louder acclamations from the people In the midst of this tremendous din he found peace, and rejoiced with the others in unmistakable accents, and as loud as the loudest Evidently he was not ashamed or afraid of exciteed I went round to his house to see his wife, and tell her the news I found her sitting on the stairs in profound dismay, as if some dreadful calamity had happened She was literally dumb with fear and astonishment When she could speak, she said, ”What will happen to him now? Will he die? What will become of us?” When I assured her that her husband was only just beginning to live, she said, ”Must we be Dissenters now? Oh, ill beco with her, beca of thethat I could not do much with these two, I left them, and returned to the schoolroom, where the people were evenalso found pardon and peace
The Sunday after, theout of church as quickly as he could; and when he reached the churchyard he was observed to run, and then leap over a wall, and next over a hedge into a field They could not hear hi He afterwards said that the Prayer-book was full of ; it was like a new book to him; and that if he had stayed in church, he should have disturbed the whole congregation He became a very earnest Christian, and took ious instruction of the children There were several revivals in the school while he was there, andbefore he was able to rejoice over the conversion of his wife, and her sister also
I had been anxious about ood man in his way, and most attentive to his work in and out of church; he was also a regular communicant, and exemplary in his life; but with all this, he was unconverted I often warned hier; and one day it came to e supper without the wedding garood as others, but when the King cauests, he was speechless; and because he was so, and had not on the wedding gar commanded that he should be bound hand and foot, and put into outer darkness Now, I continued, the King has often come in to see us, and we have rejoiced before Him; but you have never spoken to Hi to hear soto coh the for You receive the bread and wine in remembrance that Christ died for you, and yet you do not believe enough to thank Hi to the Lord's table till you have given your heart to God You know it is right to do it, and that you ought to be converted
I will not have you coain till you are”
The man looked at me as if to see whether I meant it, and then appeared so sorrowful that I nearly relented All through the service he was low and dejected, and went away at the time of the administration of the ordinance, and sat at the other end of the church My heart ached for hi Afterwards, when he ca ”Ah, friend,” I said, ”it is bad to be left out from the Lord's table here; ill it be to be left out of heaven?”
In the evening he was more miserable than ever, and at the close of the service came into the school-room, where he broke down, and asked the people to pray for him, for he was a hard-hearted, miserable sinner
”Pray the Lord to melt my heart” We did so: and soon the poor broken-heartedbefore, to our great joy, he found peace He afterwards told us that he had been getting hardened by for sole, which at first he treood to hear the Gospel, good to attend the ood to assemble in the co these good things, without conversion, is erous, and calculated to deaden the heart He said that he felt it verymyself), and was also dreadfully condemned; for he had believed in the necessity of conversion all his life; and though he knew that I was unconverted, yet he never told o on as I was He said that he had had hts about it; ”but now, thank God” he added, ”it is all right; my feet are on the Rock, ation”
The clerk's conversion did not stop with hiers; they were still outside and unsaved, though they knew, as well as he did, that they ought to be otherwise One of these et hi, ”You will never have a sound froue; in likeuntil you speak, nor get an answer until you pray” Still he reht, as ere putting out the lights at ten o'clock, theover, I said to hiive your heart to God?” He looked at ht,” I replied; ”thank God! let it be so” I at once stopped the extinguishi+ng of the lights, and invited him to pray with me, but he took no heed It was evident he had deliberately made up his mind what he would do, for he took off his coat, undid his neck-tie, turned back his shi+rt-sleeves, and then, setting a for, square with the rooan to say, ”Lord, have mercy upon me!” ”Lord, havebreath, faster and louder as he went on, till at last he worked himself up into a condition of frenzy He went on without cessation for two hours, and then stopped in an exhausted state, gasping for breath I pointed hi His Son to die for sinners; but he was quite absent, and did not appear to hear me, or take the least notice After a little rest, he coot into terrible distress What with his noise, and the energy he put forth, it was frightful to see the struggle He cried, and beat the forht his arms would be black and blue; then he took up the form and beat the floor with it, till I expected every ht soht to see as the , four hours after he began, he laid hied with tears that the Lord would not cast hi for hi up, he began to shout and praise God; and we all joined with him When this was done, he put on his coat and neck-tie, and saying ”Good night,” went hoed man, and an earnest and steadfast believer
CHAPTER 11
Drea the revival, the outpouring of the Spirit of God was very manifest and unmistakable, and was seen in various ways It was not, of course, by power or ht of men, but by divine influence, that souls were awakened to see themselves in their true condition The candle of the Lord was lighted, and there was a searching of and for immortal souls, as typified by our blessed Lord in the parable of the lost piece of silver
We read that the wohted candle discovered her treasure; so the Divine Spirit, by awakening and searching hearts, found souls, though they had been buried under sins, worldliness, and neglect, and that forto hear persons who had been dull and silent before, break out into full and free expression of spiritual truth; and their liberty and power in prayer were not less re of eyes to see, and ears to hear, and hearts to understand--a raising of the dead to spiritual life and aniues on the day of Pentecost, with this difference--that those people spoke what they knew, in tongues they had not known; and these, in their own speech, declared things which they had never seen or known before
We had another distinctive sign of Pentecost, which was, that while believers rejoiced with overflowing joy, and sinners were pricked to the heart, and cried out, ”What , ”These o, these men, women, and children were not drunk, but under the influence and power of the Holy Ghost
We had yet another sign The prophet Joel predicted, ”It shall come to pass that I will pour out hters shall prophesy, your oldmen shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit” (Joel 2:28, 29) And I thinkback the truth, if I did not tell of some of the dreast us