The history of Christianity is a history of revivals by which the work
of redemption has been advanced among men; there is all reason to
suppose that it will be so to the end. Men dream of the Gospel
advancing with even, steady pace to its triumph, without the
vicissitudes of decline and revival but the thought finds ground
neither in the Bible nor in church history. The great revivals in the
past have been epochs in which the Christian world has risen to clearer
apprehensions of Divine truth and a higher elevation of Christian life.
They have constituted the Divine process by which the Gospel has burst
through the errors and sins of men and has found a more complete
development in the consciousness and life of the churches of Christ.
No careful student of church history will undervalue revivals of
religion. By it no means follows that a pastor is to seek success only,
or chiefly, in these special manifestations of spiritual power. For a
revival ordinarily supposes a previous declension, which it was the
design of the ministry to prevent; for they are given "for the
perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph.
iv. 12). Fidelity and wisdom in the pastor may keep the spiritual
forces in a church so inspired and organized that its life will not
decline, but develop and strengthen, and its condition consequently be
one of continual growth and progress. Such is the fact in Mr.
Spurgeon's church. As one mingles in its assemblies and observes its
manifold and thoroughly organized activities, the preaching and
devotion, the spirit and life, resemble what is seen in a powerful
revival of religion. The Holy Spirit is continually present, and there
is no cessation in the work of conversion. Toward this ideal a true
pastor will be always working; and where it is attained a revival will
mean, not a recovery from declension, but an acceleration in spiritual
advancement and a mightier display of the Spirit's power in the
conversion of men.
But in the ordinary manifestations of Christian life religious
declension is often a marked and painful fact, and the pastor should
seek the best methods for promoting a revival.
Here it is of primary moment to remember that a genuine revival is the
result of the presence of the Holy Spirit: without Him there may be
excitement, but there can be no spiritual movement. It is "not by
might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zech. iv. 6). A
deep sense of this is essential, and all thought and feeling should be
turned to the invocation of His presence; but the Spirit works through
human agencies and according to the laws of the human mind. The use of
appropriate means, therefore, is also essential.
Here I suggest: 1. Christian life in the people will seldom rise above
the spiritual level of the pastor; it is, therefore, of primary moment
that the minister's own soul be "in the Spirit"--humble, fervent, and
believing. Noise and zeal and declamation and management can be no
substitute for the Holy Spirit in the soul. 2. As a revival of life in
the church is ordinarily the condition of an awakening among the
unconverted, the preaching at first should be specially adapted to
search the experience and life of Christians, and lead to increase in
personal holiness and personal activity. The church is "the light of
the world" (Matt. v. 14), and the power of the Gospel on the world
depends on the clearness with which this light shines. 3. Seek to
promote faithful personal conversation on the part of Christians with
their unconverted kindred and friends. It is sometimes useful to
organize committees to visit religiously from house to house in the
congregation. It is obvious, however, that great care should be taken
both as to the _personnel_ of such committees and as to the method of
their work. 4. Meetings should be multiplied as the interest manifested
will justify. Continuous meetings concentrate attention on the subject
of religion, fix impressions which otherwise might be evanescent, and
lead to religious decision. The block may seem unaffected by a single
blow, but a succession of blows on the same point cleaves it. 5. The
mode of conducting special meetings must be determined by the existing
indications of the Spirit and providence of God. If gifts abound in the
church, it is often better not to have additional preaching, but to
continue social meetings, taking care to give variety, in their tone
and form. If preaching is necessary, the question whether an evangelist
is to be sought, or help obtained from neighboring pastors, or the
pastor himself should preach, must be determined by the circumstances.
All these methods have proved useful. If assistance is sought, care
should be used to secure a man of right spirit and practical wisdom.
The question may arise: Ought a series of meetings to be commenced when
there is no special religious interest apparent? I reply: It seems to
me that certainly equal reasons exist for the appointment of continuous
meetings to awaken interest in the subject of religion, as for the
appointment of such meetings to awaken interest in temperance,
politics, or science. The same mental law is invoked in all such
cases--viz., that _continuous_ attention to a subject causes the mind
to become interested and absorbed in it and rouses the will to act
respecting it. Now, as the Holy Spirit works in the soul, not contrary
to the constitution God has given to the mind, but in accordance with
it, the interest thus awakened by continuous attention to the religion
of Christ would seem to furnish the natural conditions for the Spirit's
work. And as the Gospel of Christ is the most important subject to
which the attention of men can be called, there would seem to be the
highest reason for the application of this mental law by appointing
continuous meetings in order to fix men's attention upon it.
In protracted meetings, however, there are sometimes serious evils,
which a pastor should carefully avoid. Of these I mention: 1. A mere
man-made excitement, in which the effort is rather to inflame the
religious feelings than to enlighten and strengthen religious
conviction. Such an appeal to the emotional, apart from the rational,
nature results ordinarily in a disastrous reaction in the direction of
indifferentism and skepticism. Many a field has been burnt over by
these _pseudo_-revivals, and they constitute the most difficult fields
for Christian labor, because religion has thereby been put under
contempt. 2. A protracted meeting entered on for secondary ends, as to
pay off a church debt or to strengthen the position of an unpopular
pastor. Where a revival is sought without dominant regard to the glory
of God and the salvation of souls, the effort is a failure. 3. A
tendency to dependence upon protracted meetings to the disparagement of
the ordinary means of grace. Great care is needed to guard against
this, as it is destructive to the tone and effectiveness of
church-life. The pastor, in prayer and sermon, should be careful to
keep prominent before the people, not the revival as the great hope of
Christian life and progress, but the right us of the usual, constant
means of grace. Some ministers habitually speak as if the work of God
in conversion and sanctification were restricted to seasons of
revivals, and the effect is pernicious. To avoid this false reliance on
special services, it is well not to appoint them at any stated
intervals, or to push them in any way into special prominence. 4. In
the reaction which occurs after the extreme nervous tension of a
protracted meeting, guard against relapse in the converts. In the life
of a plant the period of greatest peril is when it is transferred from
the hot-bed to the ground, for, missing the warmth and protection of
the bed, and exposed to the cold and storms of the open field, it will
inevitably droop and wither and die, unless carefully tended. The most
difficult and arduous work of a pastor is after a revival in the care
and instruction of converts, when the unusual stimulus to Christian
activity is withdrawn; and it is just here that the evils exist which
are commonly charged on revivals and evangelists, but which in reality
result from remissness in the pastor and church. The converts should be
introduced at once into the Sunday-school or Bible class, and should be
made personally acquainted, as far as possible, with the members of the
church. Where the number of converts is large, the pastor might
privately request some judicious experienced members to give them
special attention, quietly handing to each a list of those thus
specially commended to his or her friendly notice and care. A place and
a work for each of the converts should also be sought; this is very
important to their comfort and development.
+SECTION IX.+