THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
708
tu rn d whisky into carpets for me, and porter into a new su it of clothes.” One who knows th is man well told me th a t his whole appearance has changed since he became a Christian, and th a t he prays w ith great power. A Glorious Reaping-time The churches in and around Belfast are sharing in th is glorious reaping time. One m inister told me th a t there are conversions in his church every Sunday n igh t; his Bible class is now so large th a t it has had to be divided into two, and th ere have been fully 300 conversions in two weeks. The Rev. John Ross, m inister of Ravenhill P resbyterian Church— in which I attended several of Mr. Nichol son’s meetings du ring my recent visit— speaks of the district being “swept with a m ighty and wonderful tide of bless ing and Revival. Ravenhill Church,” he adds in an article which he has sent to me, “ has been in existence for al most twenty-five years, and during this tim e very many evidences of the Lord’s presence and power in th e m idst have not been lacking, hundreds having been won to Christ, bu t these days far su r pass anything th a t has ever been ex-, perienced in its history. Into the church th ere are packed each evening between 2,500 and 3,000 pople, every possible foot of room being utilized. And in th e streets, too, crowds of peo ple can be frequently seen marching to th e tunes of choruses or standing at corners to hold testimony meetings.” Mr. Ross proceeds to say th a t “ amongst the young people, too, th e work is go-, ing apace. In spite of the lack of room, and o u r d e s i r e to reach adults especially, they are deeply interested in the work. One lit tle chap, recently converted, and not yet twelve years old, held a crowd of men round him in one of our leading thoroughfares for over an hour, whilst he preached to them from various parts of th e Bible. And in th e store of a business man nine boys, all under th ir teen years of age, were found gathered for prayer. Our h earts are filled w ith praise to God for th e coming of His serv an t into our midst. F o r years we have been praying for times of Re vival; we have been asking God to send along a messenger to wake up th e com munity, and now th e messenger has come in the person of Mr. Nicholson.”
Christ. Getting into conversation, th e m inister and th e inspector spoke about th e wonderful things th a t are happen ing, and then as th e la tte r was about to step from th e car he rem arked th a t "stream s of salvation are today flow ing all through Belfast.” A fter he had gone, a passenger in th e tram left his seat and sat down beside th e m inister, rem arking, “W hat th a t gentleman said ju st now is perfectly tru e ; bu t I ‘am not in the stream . Will you pray for me?” Tears filled his eyes as he spoke, and before the m inister had recovered from his surprise the man under con viction had left th e car. E arn est Seekers of Salvation Another night a little girl came w ith a sim ilar request, and w ith a like re sult, for Shankill Road mission has ever been a birthplace of souls, and th e w orkers th ere are fam iliar w ith the holy a rt of pointing young and old to Christ. I heard, too, of men and women seeking and finding th e Lord in th e open-air, and of hoys who preach w ith power and conviction a t the street corners. In fact, open-air meetings are quite a featu re of the city’s relig ious life today, and it is quite a usual thing for th e crowds leaving Mr. Nich olson’s meetings a t night to form into a procession and to stop a t corners on the way home and tell out the good news of a free and a full salvation. At Bangor, in which Mr. Nicholson has his tem porary home, and where he himself came to Christ as a young man, th ere is also a new zeal in th e Lord’s service. Some tim e ago Mr. Nicholson held a mission in this town, and th e fru its of th a t work abide. Small par ties of converts go out regularly to villages round about and preach the Gospel ' in schools and halls as well as in th e open-air. One man who had been ra th e r a notorious character was amongst the converts, and one of his earliest acts afte r finding the Lord was to go out w ith a Bible in his hand and preach to his unsaved acquaint ances. Now many of his own family and friends have followed his example. I am told th a t one of his favorite des criptions of him self is “ a m iracle of grace.” “You ta lk about the m iracles in the Bible,” he frequently says. “You tell me you don’t believe in them. You can’t believe th a t Christ tu rn ed w ater into wine. Well, I can, because He has
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker