REVIVAL SERVICES

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 147, 23 June 1924, Page 8

REVIVAL SERVICES

GIPSY PAT SMITH'S ADDRESSES.

The Town Hall was crowded yesterday afternoon, when Captain Gipsy Smith delivered a special address to men and boys on social questions of the day.

In the evening the Town Hall was .crowded to excess, and hundreds were unable to Rain admission.

"My subject to-night," said Captain Gypsy Pat Smith,- is "Two up and Three to Play." . It is a golfing illustration of how, when a player appears to have the game in his hands, by merely holding hie lead, he. may lose it by holding his opponent too lightly.' In the last three holes the decision may easily be reversed. I chose a golfing illustration because in Scotland everybody plays golf. Here it is a little more expensive, clubs and all equipment cost more. But in 1 Scotland the player just takes Iris ball and plays like everybody else) There is, of course, the story of the man who played for 24 years in Edinburgh, and then stopped because he had lost his ball. We make stories like that in Scotland.

"On the Clydeside barrowe I bought 'Cruden's Concordance' for l^d, and began looking up 'Great Things' of the Bible, and found there were five outstanding great things mentioned there, but was surprised to find they were divided, two on one side and three on the other. They were : A 'great salvation' provided, a 'great supper' made ready,a 'great day' approaching, a 'great gulf' fixed, and a 'great cry' arising;' The first two are wins, the latter three possible losses, to follow the golf parallei.

"First, 'great' salvation has been provided. How shall we escape if we neglect so 'great' a salvation? It is a great salvation because it cost so much. No king Was ever ransomed at.the price of our ealvation. True, it is a gift to us, but it cost God a great deal for His Son to die on' Calvary, though some men sneer at salvation and conversion, and say it is too cheap. Salvation, may be cheap to you, but it was not cheap to God.

"But you say,. where does your golf term 'Two up and. three to play' come in? Right here. You and I often make a common mistake when we speak of the devil, and we malign Satan when we should not. We misjudge Satan. He will let you be a church member, he will let you be a Sunday School teacher, he will even let you be a preacher; ha will let you be kind, good, philanthropic, and moral, anything Tinder God's blue eky,' witii one exception; the moment that you begin to turn (whether you be good or bad) to accept God's.plan of salvation, and the moment you consider accepting Jesus as your personal Saviour, Satan will move all earth and hell to keep you from accepting Christ; then he is two up on you, and if you place that terrible decision in his hands, consciously or unconsciously, he will play three things on you which you cannot escape."

The speaker said he believed hell would not so much be literal fire and brimstone as the remorse that would eat men's hearts when they thought of God's mercy and of God's love, and of how He tried to save them. He urged those present to accept God's provision of mercy in time. "May He give us grace," said the evangelist, in conclusion, "to accept Him now."

ATTENDANCE 45,000.

It was announced in th« service last night that the total attendance of the campaign so far had aggregated about 45,000 persons, and that to cope with the crowds next Sunday, three services had been arranged in the Town Hall— one for men only and one for women only, and that a double service would be arranged for Sunday night if necessary. As the Town Hall is not available for Monday or Tuesday of this week, to-night and to-morrov/iiights services will be held in Taranaki Street Methodist Church, and on Wedriesdav and Thursday will be in the Town Hall*. The subject to-night is entitled "My First Sermon." Captain Smith expressed great pleasure last night at the success the campaign has obtained, and said no doubt it was due in a large measure to the co-operation of the local Press