MRS HAMPSON'S MEETING.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 31 October 1882, Page 3

MRS HAMPSON'S MEETING.

/] The, second of the evening meetings . in 1 connection with ,Mrs Hampson'a evangelistic Jabpurs in Wanganui took place; last night in the Princess Theatre, which was, again •crow.ded in every part by an . evidently greatly interested and ivery J attentive '. audience... /Mr Gilbert .Carson,.' chairman ;. of :the ' committee, presided, and,on:'the platform "were a■considerable^number of stewards and workers in : the : movement.' As on the previous' night, 1 the 'singing', of the 'h'yinns: (all/ taken' from Messrs Moody, arid pankey's collection) was '"'lei 'by a very i good and numerous -choir „under the 'ihanage'ment' of Mr Ppter' : Bell,Mr Johpj Stevenson accompanying upon the organ."-' .proceedings '-- commenced, -with \ the" .hymns" 1 Jesus' of Nazareth passethby^" and. (' Lord, I hear of showers of hless■ings,!' after which prayer was offered by i the chairman.^ 'Another hymn, ,;'•'• Wh'dsofrver will'may -cOrh'ei I .'. was'theri sungj tnecrowded au'dierice" joining most' heartily' in all the 'singiriff, a' tolerably plentiful supply of hymn books having beenjprovided by the committee. ....Mrs Hampson.then read .portions: of 'Scrip'turq. tfiken from Deuteronomy xxx, versej 10;' .the first .'en apter of St., John's Gospel;, .arid,, the;; 10th ,,, 'chapter of" the-; Epistle . to: the, Romans,and j expounded , the -passages, andharmonised, their, meaning. The chief'lesson.! drawn was i the necessity of heartening with the heart' as well as the .understanding, on the ; principle •' that faith' Cometh 1 by- hearing, and hearing by;the''word ; bf God. Better, remarked Mrs jHSinp'sbri',' were' it' "to 'cast their' Bibles into' the flames than to harden the heart and take no heed-t,o their lessons.' ' The ' Christ o£ the New'Testamentilarid'the'W'ord of tne Old, were one andHhe same .thing, arid the heart was, the place where the seeds of , that Word ■would, i germinate. . Another hymn, ," Come, for the feast js spread," was then sung., •■:,., -,! , . . Mrs Hampson then offered an earnest prayer, that all tendency to levity and folly on the part of the audience might betaken away, arid that the- truths of religion -might abide like a mighty panorarra before their eyes. She'also implcired God's help to her' in' delivering her message, so that the WJord should be carried with Hfe'-giving energy to the hearts of the listeners, and .particularly of strong men, who' perhaps had been, careless about such matters. '„ The text was then given out as "Ye; must be ■ born .again," and "The Son of Man must, be- lifted up," ' words taken' respectively-'- from the 7th and 14th verses of the 3rd chapter of St. John's Gospel. Mrs Hampson commenced her address by saying how cheering was that little word " must "to those who could count themselves saved, for there was no appeal from that word in the imperative mood.- -The Lord Jesus; who -was the mouthpiece and living' embodiment or God in all His invisible and wondrous greatness, gave them no alternative when He told them they must be. born again. That word " must " should therefore never cease echoing in their hearts. It was not a bad man to whom Jesus was speaking when He uttereS those words. Wicodemus was an honest, earnest, and upright enquirer, but when Jesus and he met it was as the, representative characters' of the law and the-G6spel, the one an old' dispensation •passing away in dim shadow, and the other born into the brightness of light. Nico'd.emus was told that he must be born again of water and. spirit, by which a man was brought to .learn the A, B, and C of God's love. .Unless man had this new life in God then , ear.thly . existence was not worth having. It was necessary to be born again because everyone .was otherwise irrevocably lost. /Therefore she would ask chuich members and' nori; members, alike whether i they had this hew, birth, and .were cleansed . and perfected by the word and the spirit, without which they could not inherit .Heaven. The Kingdom of God into which jwe must be born again, was one of principles, and was within us. Without,possessing it, even -'righteousness, .honesty; and honour could not claim'the, tree of life. In support of this view, the speaker instanced the oases of Adam and' Eye; Job, and Isaiah, as instances where; the eye of', God penetrated so ■ called i and , discovered uncleahess. This Kingdom of God was , made 'up of. righteousness and , peace, and man .could not have one without the. other, i All the powers of scepticism had failed to shake the saying that there was no peace for the.wicked. Mrs Hampson then uttered an impassioned and eloquent appeal to her audience to commune : and reflect in , secret as to • .whether they really possessed the peace of God and the new birth — a peace whioh could stand disease and the approach of death. She urged.- them not to be content with having religion but no Christ, but to acquire that true spiritual life which was born at the foot of the cross. It was true that they could not understand, that, life — any more than the sceptic* could explain the physical: life which thrilled tbrpugh his veins. The wind blowethwhere it listeth, and they saw its effect^ without knowing what it was or whither' it went. So it was with the new birth, as to which it was not for the creature to ask the Creator the reason why. It was enough to know that just as healing came to, the Israelites by gazing on the brazen serpent, so righteouness came by faith, a mighty, life - giving power which was in the word of God. The faith which Jesus demanded and God exacted was to do what he directed without asking any questions. Faith came of belief in Jesus, who must have been lifted up, for that was God's way of giving ' salvation to man, and was the highest form of philanthropy ever known. ■ Could God have attained his end by easier means would he have not done so; but (and here Mrs Hampson illustrated hermeaningby a thrilling and and powerfully told anecdote of a mother rescuing. a child at the cost of her own life) it was necessary that the universe should, -be taken from- the clutches of the eagle of sin by the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. The soul had now simply to look upon Jesus lifted up in order to live, for the eye of faith brought life to these who exercised it. God had given good grounds to man for this faith, and the sceptics' doubts would one day be resolved into terrible certainties. The Son o£ Man had done what He told Wicodemus he must do — He had been lifted up and paid the debt — and had flung wide open the portals of death by His resurrection. God asked «ma to believe, sq as to gain an eternity

of-'bliss, and this He offered to all for thi asking and for merely stretching out thi 'hand of faith. Millions had done it and riot one had ever gone to Jesus with iouK receiving the new birth, for whoso ever believed with the heart had everlasting life. The two classes of th< world were not now sinners and nonsinners, but believers and non-believers, She therefore entreated her hearers not tc cry peace when there was no peace, but tc remember they were held responsible foi the death of Christ, and if they rejected the gifts of faith it was .for certain death at the last. Every ma'ri'-'who would not die twice would necessarily have 'to be ,born ; twice; Ibut God never forced/ hja salvation upon them, thougb>.-he entreated and reasoned ancl urged thenvat once itodecWe,, and. save'their immortal souls; Mrs' Hampson concluded, an address of singular eloquence arid power, and abounding with forcible illustration and vivid imagery, by a solemn reminder of the uncertainty of life, and an earnest prayer on behalf of the audience that ' God would speak. to their hearts, arid bring them that night to realise that ; they must be born again. ' \ The hymn, "There is life fora' look at the crucified one," was then sung, during which such of the audience retiredlas did, not desire to atterid the enquiry meeting,' which was subsequently, held in the side roolri of the theatre. A' considerable number of persons of both sexes remained for these "after proceedings.' '