SUNDAY READING.

Shannon News, 12 August 1924, Page 1

SUNDAY READING.

Till: KIND OF REVIVAL THAT IS NEEDED. Let us p;ray for a revival. Oh, how w e need one I I will not spend time in showing that a revival is needed, or that one is desirable. I will take it for granted that although very few seem to care, there are a few (perhaps very few, perhaps more than we ■ think) that do feel the need, and the desire for a real revival. To all such I would say, “Let us pray.” Do not let us discuss prayer, or what it can do,~or the promises made to prayer but “Let us pray.” More than the first effects wall be that we shall feel that we cannot pray, that we are not fit to pray for others, but are constrained to pray for ourselves. It may be that God will appear to be "such a long way off,” and as we endeavour to. draw. near to Him, what we first realise,, is not God’s presence, but our own sinfulness; we get a clearer view of our own depravity, the evil of our nature becomes so apparent that we are horrified, and loathe ourselves in God’s sight. The past of our lives passes in review before us, and, oh, how different it looks to what we thought it was!, Our best endeavours are tainted and marred, and how far short they fall of what We feel they ought to be. We see clearly that instead of adopting the standard of God’s Word we have followed the traditions of men. Instead of being transformed by the renewing of our minds, we have ■ . Conformed to This World. Instead of obeying the impulses of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we have ex- j cused ourselves for not going “all the way” for God, because we did not see others doing as God was pi-ompting us to do. We are startled and shocked, as we discover leanings of evil in our hearts. Things that we have done, - maybe for years, ana seen no harm in them, now bring grief to us as we see them in the light God gives. Possibly Satan suggests we have lost our religion, and we are inclined to believe him. But it is not so. "A. dead child nqyer cries.” Let up be assured that our experience is the real, the true beginning of glorious revival. How graciously God works ,and this is the first work of the Holy Spirit— ; to convict of sin, and to give us such a realisation of its sinfulness that we long for a full salvation. To those wl|o reach this point it is not necessary to say, “Let us pray.” We cannot help praying.' 4 And as we pray we see the Holiness that God requires. We hear His voice saying, “Thou shal't love the Lord thy God with all, thine heart.” But, oh how impossible it seems to us! We never saw so much evil in our hearts before, and the realisation' of it is so awful as to almost drive us to despair. But, blessed be God, the same Spirit that revealed the sin, reveals the remedy. By a revelation that is truly glorious we are given to se.e Jesus as our. perfect Saviour. This experience may be entered into in a moment, or, Like the Dawning of the Day may be more gradual, but however it comes, its effect upon the heart, and in the life, is most blessed. We love God with all 1 our heart;, and are filled with His Spirit. All our powers are linked up and pressed into the service of God, under the sweet constraint of love. How inexpressibly sweet and precious Jesus is «to us, and how marvellous the grace and mercy of God appear' to be, and how we long to let everyone know about it/! Is not this the revival that we need, a revival of Scriptural Holiness?; God’s people should be fully saved, entirely sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost. How can we serve the Lord with a “divided" heart? How can we fight the Lord’s battles if we ar e in league with His enemies ? How can we bring forth fruit unto perfection if we also grow the w r eeds of sin? What progress can we make in the'Divine life, if our experience •is a continual struggle against'the evil within us? How can we run the heavenly_ race while we are engaged in a perpetual tug-of-war, the flesh lusting against the' spirit, and the spirit against The flesh? But God has graciously provided for the slaves' of sin to be entirely set free, that we should be forgiven for the guilty past of our lives, and also be renewed in. the spirit of our minds, after the' image of God, in righteousness and ttrue holiness. Let us pray for this. Let us kneel before Calvary, and read anew its message of limitless love, surrendering ourselves in joyous abandon. “But drops of grief can ne’er repay The debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away; ’Tis all that I can do.”