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F irst—Mr. Nicoll tells us th a t “The next revival will be marked by bread th and richness and power. It will no t be narrow . It will above all things be loyal to the tru th , and to Him, who is th e tru th indeed. It will recognize th e com plexity of human lije. It will seek to bring every province into captivity to th é obedience of Christ, no t to waste and destroy it.” .Th at is to say—p a st revivals w ere w anting in “ bread th and richness and pow er;” were “ n arrow ,” dis loyal to th e tru th , and did no t “ recognize the complexity of human life” and “ seek to b ring every province into cap tiv ity to the obedience of Christ, etc.” I en ter my p ro test against such reflections upon th e intelligence, wisdom, and fidelity of those to whom, under God, th e church is in debted for the w ealth and glory of h er p resen t attainm ents. We know every tru e believer in our Christ and H is salva tion will do his utmost to save these precious souls. Only th e blood can do it. “ Self-reliance?” The Word of God tells Us th a t in the “ flesh dwelleth no good th ing ,” and “ cursed is he ■«ho m aketh flesh his arm .” Young people cannot lean upon th is ro tten reed. Of course the dear deans cannot be concerned about souls, they are concerned about salaries. Christian p aren ts guard your daugh ters/ Consider carefully th e school to which you send them . P ray for your daughters, plead w ith them , and set a p attern before them. Above all, tell them of Christ th e ir Saviour. Pastors and Christian laymen, let us be more earnest for the salvation of th e young people in our communities be fore they d rift past redemption point. — L. W. MUNHALL. “ ‘Would not a day of prayer and fasting be appropriate under th e present conditions in India, and especially w ithin th e Church?” commented th e Committee in th e ir report. ‘Why should no t we, as an Assembly, set an example to our people and set ap a rt a tim e for confession and fasting and p ray er?’ Some thought th a t fasting was no t in h a r mony w ith the sp irit of P resbyterianism , bu t th e m ajority welcomed the idea w ith acclamation. I t was astonishing how decision afte r decision and problem afte r problem seemed to make us glad th a t we had reached th is conclu sion. “The arrangem ents fo r the day of prayer and fasting were th a t te a and to ast would be served a t 6:30 a. m. for any who wished it, and then light refreshm ents a t 3 p. m.; b u t from 7 till 3 th ere was to be a continuous prayer meet ing, over which eight members had been asked to preside for about an hour each. ‘You can read from Scripture, an nounce a hymn, suggest topics for prayer, give th e word of exhortation th a t’s burning in your bones. Only one in struction the Committee has: we wish to meet w ith God— not to hear the voice of man too much. Make your rem arks brief. Do whatever you feel th e Spirit desires you, and the meeting to do.’ ■L.Ki “Then we began to pray, and as we prayed th e Spirit descended. I know now something of th e meaning of th a t verse of Scripture which talk s of Christ praying ‘w ith strong crying and te ars.’ One of th e Indian pastors began to pray for his congregation and broke down utterly. I t was no t an experience one wishes to ta lk about much; one felt th a t one was standing on holy ground. AN INCIDENT RELATED BY A VETERAN PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY IN INDIA
A CALL TO REPENTANCE In view of th e present disturbed conditions, both politi cal, moral and sp iritu al, everywhere, and especially in Europe, the following “Call to Repentance” sent us by Rev. O. R. Palmer, who has ju st retu rn ed from a trip to Europe in th e in terests of th e American Christian Relief Mission, is significant and suggestive. Mr. P alm er makes the follow ing comment: “ I am much impressed w ith a prediction of Martin Luther, th a t Satan would seek to tak e the. Gospel out of Germany and deluge the land w ith blood, and th a t with it would come such a tim e of trouble th a t people would say, ‘This once was Germany!’ “The children of God, gathered in August, 1923, in B lankenburg out of all p arts of Germany, belong* ing to different churches and Christian assemblies, bu t one in th e ir love and faith in the Crucified and risen Christ, have received in these days of th e Blanken burg Conference a new and deep impression of the greatness of th e ir inheritance which is given to us in the blessed Gospel, bu t also realized th e g reat re sponsibility which th is en tru sted treasu re imposes upon us especially in this critical p resen t time. We see the to rn condition, th e helplessness, th e misery of our people, comparable only to the days when Je re miah sa t on th e ru in s of Jerusalem and made th is con fession: ‘The crown is fallen from our heads! Woe unto us th a t we have so sinned.’ . , We believe th a t th e overwhelming m isery into which we have come as a nation will tu rn out, n o t . only for a punishm ent b h t also for a means of chasten ing and of healing to call our people to repen t and be come converted and to g ra n t us a gracious revival of the sp iritual Jife. How can we expect such a revival if repentance does not have its sta rtin g place in the assembly of believers? We ask, therefore, all those who have received w ith us the same precious fáith to follow th e exhortation of th e Apostle P eter: ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the m ighty hand of God’ and to bow themselves w ith us before the Lord. The members of the body of Christ, too,»need forgiveness. Their ligh t did not shine b righ t enough, th e ir priestly intercession for th e nation was not earn est enough, their standing together against th e powers of destruc- . tion was not sufficiently united, th eir testimony to the Son of God was w anting in decisiveness, and they had no t enough love for th e ir neighbors. ' Let us ask God to cleanse us from all sin through the precious blood Of Christ to fill us w ith th e power of the Holy Spirit, th a t He may graciously use us as instrum ents in His grace among our poor people. We expect no help from man in our deep misery, but when Germany is saved out of its inmost m isery, its falling away from God, then God will allow His • face to shine again upon it and will assign us new tasks of blessing tow ard th e world. Come let us re tu rn unto the Lord, for He has to rn and He will heal us; He has sm itten and He will bind us up. (Hos. 6:1) (Signed) The Committee of th e B lankenburg Conference.” THE MODERN REVIVAL vs. THE OLD TIME REVIVAL In a recent issue of an influential church paper th ere ap peared an excerpt from an address by W. Robertson Nicoll, on the subject, “The Next Revival.” - P erm it me to offer a few criticisms of it and make a few suggestions.
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