TORREY-ALEXANDER CONTINUATION MISSION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12482, 13 October 1902, Page 5

TORREY-ALEXANDER CONTINUATION MISSION.

At I'irs'c Church yesterday morning a large number gathered to hear the Rev. James Lyall, whose address was <a trumpetblast to Christians. He spoke of the raising of Lazarus, ' and especially directed attention to the stones that kept the dead world in its grave and that needed to be rolled away. The stone of unbelief was one of the biggest: not the unbelief of the world, but the unbelief that sings psalms and hymns and gets 110 answer to prayer. Considering the amount of organisation, it work, the money spent, and the religious activity of th<? present day. the results were not commensurate. The Church needed a new baptism of faith. Faith was the old book as God's perfect revelation; faith in the power of Christ, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Another stone mentioned was the stone of indifference. The present age was an electric age—the business world was intense, the world of pleasure was intense (the other night the people in Melbourne sat up all night to ensure a scat in the Melba concert), the world of athletics was intense. Young men j were wild after sport. There was intensity J everywhere but in the Church of God.

Naneen made a big mistake in trying to discover the North Pole. The evangelist said he knew a good many Christians who had been living there for a long time. He told of a Scotch elder who asked another elder if they were having unity in his church. "Oh, yes," the elder responded, "we are a' frozen thegither." A revived' church meant a resurrected Lazarus. As soon as the stone was rolled away Christ began to work. lie spoke 'the word that raised the dead. This was resurrection, not resuscitation. No gospel of human improvement or ethical oulture or evolution could touch the problem of the dead Lazarus.: Salvation was the passage from death to life. The Garrison Hall was packed in the afternoon with women, when an address was delivered on the Queen of Sbeba and her testimony regarding Solomon. The preacher spoke of Solomon as a type ,o£ Christ, of the Queen of Sheba as a. type of a seeker, and brought out in the narrative the steps to salvation. A large number remained to the after meeting, and inquirers were dealt with. Mr Stephens sang a solo. The Garrison Hall was crowded to the doors last night for the last Sunday evening Bervioe to ba conducted by the Rev. James Lyall in connection with the present mission. The platform was filled with 'a strong choir under the oonductorship of Mr J. H. Stephens. Mr Lyall was supported by the Revs. W. A. Sinclair, J. U. Spence, and others. The service opened with singing and prayer, after which a quartet, comprising Miss Cooper, Mrs Logie, and Messrs Seane, and Don, was rendered in pleasing style—" Remember me, 0 Mighty One.' The Rev. W. A. Sinclair announced that next Wednesday would be a thankoffering da}', wncn the whole of the collections would be given to the missiorier. The Council of the Churches 'had made no other financial arrangements with Mr Lyall, and he would take just what the people gave him. Mr Lyall preached from Genesis xix, 15, on lessons from the life of Lot, and gavo a solemn and soul-stirring address. He assumed in the earlier part of his discourse that Abraham made a mistake in taking Lot with him, and that some Christians present had taken Lot with them, and the result was that their lives were withered and powerless. He pointed out the inconsistency of professing Christians who indulged in dancing. " You may dance till you have found Jesus Christ," said Mr Lyall, "but, for God's sake, stop dancing after you have found Him." Referring to the habit of smoking. Mr Lyall said: "I don't say you can't be a good Christian'and smoke, but I am sure you would be a better Christian if you The speaker pointed out the peril of making money at all hazards, and warned his hearers of the doom impending for all who used their influence to lead others astray. Mr Lyall has not much belief in the purity of politics, for he declared that when the devil wanted a man to baokslide lie made him a politician. He concluded by dramatically picturing tho haste and urgency of Lot's flight from Sodom, and appealed to the unconverted to flee from the wrath to come. In response a large number of young men and women stood up, and were afterwards spoken to in the inquiry rooms.

There will be no Bible-reading this afternoon. and Mr Lyall's subject for to-night will be " Eternal Punishment as the Bible Teaches It." The Bible-readings will be recommenced to-morrow (Tuesday).