MRS EAMPSON'S MISSION.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 6 November 1882, Page 3

MRS EAMPSON'S MISSION.

. The mission was continued on Saturday last' ;by a raid- day meeting, from half-past : 12 1' till half-past 1 o'clock, which 1 'was, as on foimer similar occaBionsi ''very well; attended. Mr G. Carson. Veil airman" of the committee, presided at this' as at all other meetings during the mission. The subject of the meeting being "Praise," the prayers and hymns were upon that subject, and Mrs Hampson delivered a brief address from the' words (taken from the 103 rd Psalm)' " Bless the Lord Omy soul, and all that is within me praise His holy ' namel"' "Praise notes (or expressions of thankfulness from individuals who had profited by the mission), and requests for prayer were numerous, and in aid of the latter solemn petitions were put up by several present. In concluding this meeting Mrs 'Hampson offered up a special prayer for a blessing on the pastors in their church work on the following day. .". At Saturday evening's meeting the theatre was filled again, the Eeys. W. J. Williams and J. Treadwell being present. In opening her address Mrs Hampson said that she was not going to talk, of her personal experience that night, though • many thought that she ought to do so, but what the Lord did fop her 32 years ago, when she was little more than 11 year 3 old, would take a vocabulary of bliss. So she would' give them: {Christian experience from a passage of scripture to be found in St. Peter's first Epistle, beginning at the 3rd verse of the Ist ohapter. Thiß would give them the key note to the present meeting, whioh was one of praise, and called in order to give those who had been saved during the past week an opportunity of testifying to the work done for. them and to praise God for it. During the past week .many of them had been born again to a living hope which, otherwise the whole universe could not produce — a hope which was -unknoyra to the unsaved, to the worldly man, the skeptic or the formalist. Not a single beam of light would gild the death-bed unless produced by Christ. They should rejoice in that hope which was based on something beyond, that was built upon the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Those who had that hope had a precious inheritance, which ."they would take possession of as soon as : they crossed the grave, an inheritance - which -would not corrode, decay, or pass away. That inheritance had been reserved byGod for them, and they had been kept by Him for it, provided they held fast, to Him in faith. In all this, as Peter, said, they were to rejoice greatly even though for a season they were in heaviness and sorrow* But let all, and new converts especially, remember that the passing through temptation was for a season only, and on their way to eternal hope. Peter added that the trouble must come, if needs be, for though they did not know the reason for affliction, yet God knew it, and whilst with one hand he mixed the cup, with the other he supported them whilst they drank it. God tested their faith like gold in the crucible, for the trial of their faith was precious in hia sight, and in such a crucible the widows mite would come out heavier than the golden pieces of men. Let their object be to became heavy metal in the day of God's appenring when they would be weighed in the balance. Mre Hampsop, tb.ep, on the

I ground of the keynote of praise which, she had struck, urged the saved to stand up and- declare what God had done for them. A considerable number of per sons.of both sexes, young and old (including several children) stood up in the audience, some of them declaring their belief in Christ and acceptance of salvation. Some shed tears, and ail exhibited much emotion. Others repented with fervour quotations from Scripture and verses of hymns. Several solemnly declared that they would serve God more zealously than ever they had done. Finally, Mrs Hampson asked all of the congregation who had received the Gospel blessing to stand on their feet, an invitation which was responded to, by more than half the audience. A hymn bavinar been sung, the meeting concluded by Mrs Harnpsoa making an anxious appeal to enquirers and unsaved to join those who that night had had the happiness to testify for Christ. The enquiring room subsequently was thronged. Yesterday (Sunday) morning a well attended meeting was held from 8 till 9 o'clock, that hour being selected in order to give persons time to return home and make their necessary arragements before attending their own churches. Mrs Hampson delivered a very impressive address to a large audience. In the afternoon at 3 o'clock a children's meeting was held, and was one of the very greatest successes of the whole mission. The scholars of all the Sunday schools attended, in company wit;h th<>ir teachers, the Bible classes, and a goodly sprinting of the parents of the children and other members of the " various ' congregations. It was estimated that the Theatre, which was densely packed in every available inch, contained some 1500 people. The scene was a remarkably grand one, the multitude of little upturned faces, to whom a sight and hearing of Mrs Hampson was evidently a long expected treat in "the majority of cases, being strangely interesting. The. children were marshalled into the building, and arranged in classes, each • with its teacher, in an orderly and quiet fashion, and throughout the, service the behaviour of the children was beyond all praise, J their attention being thoroughly received and held by Mrs Hampson iv her address, and the ' manner in which the body of childish voices sang out the hymns being striking in the extreme. The hymns were specially selected for. the . . youthful , capacitier of the audience,' and most, if not all, of the strains appeared very familiar to the little singers. A hymn having been sung, prayer was offered by Mr Hose, and a. part of the 2nd chapter of St. Luke's Gospel was read by Mr Carson. A short address was delivered by the :Eev. W. J. Williams, who took as his appropriate theme the words of the Baptist, " "What came ye out for to see ?" Mr Calders then offered prayer. Mrs Hampson, in the course of an address specially intended for and adapted to children, urged the boys and girls to give themselves to Jesus, to endeavour to see him with their hearts, to realise that he was ever near them, and to regulate their conduct accordingly Addressing herself to parents and leachors, she urged them not merely to put no hindrance in the way of the children coming to Christ, but to encourage them to do so, and above all to remember that the little ones would act far more by the example than the precept of their elders. She ulso urged them not at first to expect too much from the young converts made during the past week, but to remember that old heads could not be put on young shoulders. They should not therefore be too severe .with their youthful transgressions. She concluded by asking all the children present who heard the voice of Jesus whispering to their hearts to stand up. Nearly every child present obeyed tbe invitation. Mrs Hampson then offered prayer, the revorent attitude of the children, their bowed heads and closed eyes, jDeing very remarkable. A final hj'mn : was sung, Mr Williams pronounced the Benediction, and the .assemblage dispersed quietly and without inconvenience. At yesterday evening's' meeting there was assembled by far tho largest adult audience ever gathered together during tho mission, at a moderate estimate some 1200. persons being present. The passage of Scripture selected by Mrs Hampson was from the 2nd chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and a prayer was offered by Mr Tucker. Mrs Hampson selected as her text the Bth verse of the 108 rd Psalm : " When thou saidst, Seek yo my face, my heart said unto thee, Tby face, Lord, will 1 seek." She began her address by remarking that, as many present had probably not heard the voice of the Go«pel during tho past week, she would try to gather up all the ends of the mission and give its whole aim and purpose again. David the said, had committed great crimes ; there was not ft man in that congregation who would like to he accused cf what God had written down against him. Yet he was able to sing of his salvation and how he had attained the attitude of being the friend of God. The answer was to be found in tbe text. If the spirit of her hearers would act out in the presence of God the truth that text laid before them, they might go home saved that very night. The ground work of all preaching and of the moving power which touched men's hearts, was God speaking to man, even from the time our first parents violated His law. The difference between man's law and God's law, was that the former was an abstract -law, the penalty of which grieved only those who broke it; but tho heart of God was grieved when anyone broke their Father's commands. That night they had God's life-giving voice sounding in their ears ; that voice which could wake from sleep and rouse from death. Had they had heard it, and how many had responded ? How many would at the last say to Christ — You never called me? God had spoken in thunder by the voice of Moses, and had said "The soul that sianeth, it shall die." The devil had made universe noisy, and filled it with the machinery of business, so as to keep men's powers fully on the stretch, without a breath of Heaven's cool atmosphere reaching their souls. So tho wives and mothers present knew was the case in domestic affairs, where often for the turmoil they could not hear the voice of God. And could they even hear him in the evening, when business was done, and all shonld have been quiet ? Let tha gin palaces, which beckoned the nnwary feet, answer tbe question— Such places were part of the devil's machinery, drawing men away, so that they either declined or delayed heariug the voice of Heaven. Sickness and poverty, even the death of those near and dear to them had been sent to make the voice of God heard, and to give men a listening time. They might, perhaps, drown God's voice in life, but nil must hear it in the liour of death. From the open grave it would bo beard, but when it was too late for salvation, and only to set the seal on their eternal ruin. The message that night which . she had to deliver had been simply condensed by Christ ii.'o tLe wards, " Coma unto me." Got v«r/ed to look at them, axd them to look atHim,buttheyinsisted on separating from Him and keeping at a distance. But if they resolved instantly to seek IJis face, they might nil bo saved thtt very night- God had been ) ' said to be, everywhere, but it fead been

well added that he was not in the thoughts of a wicked man. God asked them, were their hearts looking into His face, or was it that they drew right to Hiin,honouring him with their lips while their hearts were far from Him. It was not unreasonable that God expected to have their hearts — just as a husband would bo insulted and outraged if he did not possess the whole heart of His wife. God was not content with lip devotion or hollow superficial worship. Man dared not remain at a distance from God, or look back at the mountain of sin behind them. Christ in the Gospel had crushed that down by putting away sin in the sacrifice of himself for the just and the unjust, in order to bring them back to God. There was no reason! therefore, why they should stay away from God, for there was a place in his arms and his heart, and in his hearing for 1 them all. He urged them, therefore, to fix their eye upon God and Christ, and turn their back on perishing things. David's heart responded to God's invitation by saying, " Thy face, Lord, will I seek," and that answer touched every individual present. Man might live in a crowd, but alone he must die, and therefore God demanded of every man a personal answer, for Jesus died for each one individually. The will of each man must be laid down before Christ, and never till that was done would the work of conversion be done. God then would draw them to himself " with the cords of a man," seeking their hearts and affections, their trust, confidence, and|life. Nothing less would suffice him for time and eternity. The marriage of husband and wife, who interchanged their "I wills," was a figure of the true union with Jesus, whose name the believers took, whose home they shared, in whose footsteps they trod, and whose eternal power would ultimately belong to them. They had but to give response to God's demands, and the bargain of salvation was concluded at once. David's answer was explicit, and so must that of dinners be, i. who must not seek other things instead of God's face. ; She did not undervalue religious ordinances, churches, pastoral work, temperance organisations, and bo on, buttherejwas away to hell out of all these things — there was a way from the very Bible back to eternal darkness. But there wss no way to hell from the arms of Jesus, which was the only safe place. Other matters were only half-' way houses — resting spots for the saved and not for the unsaved. The converting power was in God, and they must go straight across to Him. Let them do that, andjthey take place in [the church militant, having begun iv the right way. They would then enjoy God's love, and would take others with themselves finally to His Heaven. The heart, and not the lips, had the will, and with tho heart must they answer God's invitation and seek his face. Anything short of that was hollow mockery, and would land them in terror, doubt, and darkness. She urged her "hearers not to let God wait for the answer to his invitation, but to remember that on that day they sought him with their whole heart, thenhe would bo found. Unless they had asurelease of their life until the following morning, men could not safely delay their salvation till then. Let them boast not, for they knew not what a day might bring forth. Mrs Hampson concluded one of the most powerful addresses she has i delivered in Wanganui by an eloquent and stirring appeal to those present not to refuse the cross offered to thera, as they would one day have to come before the judgment Beat. The Lord knew those who trusted Him and were His, and whoesoever were on His side had everlasting life. God asked them that night to come and reason with Him, and if they did that they would be wise unto salvation. After, prayer by Sirs Hampson, a hymn was sung, during which a great part^of the audience retired from the theatric. Very many, however, remained in the (n<iuiring room.