Great Revivals and Evangelists By JOHN H. HUNTER V. WILLIAM C. BURN S (Continued) Copyright, 1915, by John H. Hunter
had been a deepening of interest during those months, and some indications of the workings of the Holy Spirit, though noth ing extraordinary had taken place. Mr. Burns left on the 16th of July expecting to return on the 24th; but he did not return until the 8th of August. The pulpit was supplied, meanwhile, by a minister from the parish of Kilsyth, a Mr. Lyon. Nat urally enough he told the' people in St. Peter’s what was detaining Mr. Burns and, as always, godly men and women were filled with longing for a similar blessing. God always blesses the recital of His mighty workings in some other commun ity, or even in other years, to quicken desire for a similar experience. Mr. Burns returned on- a Wednesday. The regular mid-week meeting was on Thursday,' and he went to the meeting without any thought' of anything special occurring. Indeed, so real was the man’s humility and so real his spiritual minded ness that he attributed the work of grace at Kilsyth not to anything in himself, but to the burden of prayer that God had given His people there. At the close of the prayer meeting he spoke briefly of the scenes he had just left and invited all present who felt the need of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to convert them to remain for further prayer. About 100 Stayed and he addressed them again. As he was closing this “after-meeting” there was a noticeable breaking down and melt ing of hearts and many burst into tears. He announced another meeting for the next evening, and to this so many came that they crowded the vestry, where the meet ing was held, and which he had supposed would be quite large enough to accommo date all who would care to be present. At
HIS article will relate how the Holy Spirit wrought through Mr. Burns in St. Peter’s, Dundee, while Rob ert' Murray McCheyne,
the saintly pastor of that church, was visit ing Europe and the'Holy Land as a mem ber of the Commission appointed by the Church of Scotland to inquire into the state of the Jews. Mr. Burns,:who was then 24 years old, ■served the church from the first or second Sunday in April, 1839, to November 27, of the same year, a period of but eight months. The congregation of St. Peter’s was well accustomed to hearing the Gospel preached to them in the power of the Holy Spirit, and also to have the importance of an immediate acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior urged upon them. There was nothing new or startling to them in the preaching of Mr. Burns, nothing to sweep them away as with a torrent. If novelty were lacking, the spiritual prepar ation resulting from their pastor’s faithful ministry in the pulpit, arid in the home also (for Mr. McCheyne was a faithful pastor as well as an eloquent preacher), more than counterbalance«! it. And another thing also should be remembered as enter ing into the visitation at St. Peter’s, namely, that Mr. Burns was there in direct answer to Mr. McCheyne’s prayers, the latter writing him as follows: “You are. given in answer to prayer, and these gifts are, I believe, always, without exception, blessed.” Mr. Burns' had been laboring in St. Peter’s nearly four months when he went to Kilsyth to assist his father at the com munion service, as already related. There
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