The Pulpit.

Otago Witness, Issue 1230, 17 July 1875, Page 4

The P ulpit.

MOODY AND SANKEY AT THE AGRICULTURAL HALL.

On Tuesday evening the usual evening service of the American Revivalists -was held at the Agricultural Hall. The doors were opened at 6.30 p.m., and the hall wa3 crowded. As the service did not commence until 8 o'clock, the tedium of ■waiting was relieved by singing of hymns, the choir leading. The first hymn sung ■was the now well-known "Hold the Fort ;" the other hymns sung were the 16th, 25th, 46th, and 45th. A large number of persons were unable to get in, and an overflow meeting was held. At 8 o'clock Mr Moody entered the hall, but Mr Sankey did not make his appearance until a few minutes after the commencement of the service. Previous to his arrival some one else presided at the small American organ used to accompany the singing. Mr Moody, on mounting the platform, took hi 3 place behind his desk, and said : It is quite time to open the meeting, but we will sing while they are coming in. Let us rise and sing the 25th hymn : Safe in the arms of Jeaus, Safe on His gentle breast, There by His love o'eish ided, Sweetly my soul shall rest. Hark ! 'tis the voice of angels Borne in a son;' to me, Over the fields of glory, Over the jasper sea Safe in the arms of Jesiu, Safe from corroding care, Safe from the world's temptation*, Sin canuot harm me there. Free from the blight of sonow, Free from my uoubts aud fears ; Only a few more trials, Only a few more tear* ! Jesus, my heart's dear refuge, Jesus has died for me ; Firm on the Book of Ages Ever my trust s.hall lie. Here let me wait with patience, Wait till the niifht is o'er ; Walt till I see the morninir Break on the golden shore. Mr Moody : Now, if all the friends will be kind enough to get seats, and keep perfectly quiet, with no talking or moving around, everyone in the hall will hear. Let us open the meeting by just a ■word of prayer. Our heavenly Father, we all look up to 1 hee for a blessing on all who are gathered in this hall. Pray teach us just what to say, and may the Spirit carry the word home. Help, we pray, our brother to sing, and may the words be carried home by the same Spirit, and may all those outside also receive a blessing. May they not find the gates of Heaven shut against them, but may they be "wise, and press into the kingdom of Heaven this night. "We look right up to Thee, 0 Lord, for a blowing. Bless the words read, the singing, and the words spoken, and may the Son of God receive honour and glory from thia meeting. Amen. Mr Moody : Let us rise and sing the 66th hymn. Mr Sankey said : Rise and sing.

Lord, I hear of showers of hles^mj, Thou art scattering full and freo— Showers the thirsty land refreshing ; Let some dropping* fall on me— Eian me. Pass me not, O tracloua Father, Sinful though my heart may be: Thou might'st lea c me, but the rather Let Thy mercy fall on me- Even we. Pass me not, 0 tender Saviour ! Let me love and elini,' tv Thee ; Z am longing for Thy favour. Whilst Thou'rt calling, oh c 41 me — Evau me. Pom me not, O mighty Spirit ! Thou canst make the blind to we : Witnesser of Jesus' merit, Spenk the word of power to me— Even me, Love of God, so puns and changeless, Blood of Christ so pure and free, Grace of God, so >trontr and boundless, Magnify them all in roe- Even mo. Pus m» not, Thy lot one bringing, Bind my heart, 0 Lord, tv Theo ; While the itreabiu of life nro springing. Blessing other*, oh, hleat nia-Evtu m«. Mr. Moody : We will read a part of the 3rd chapter of John. He then read the first 10 verses of the 3rd chapter of John. At the conclusion he said — Let ub unite in prayer. The Rev. Francis Tucker : O Lord Jesus Christ, our Divine Redeemer, we bless Thee that we are allowed tv honour Thee even as we honour the Father, for what Thou hast done for us has drawn the best affections of our hearts towards Thee. And we rejoice it ia not idolatry •when we bow before Thee in lawful worship. Divine Redeemer, art Thou not bone of our Done aud flesh of our flesh ? and dost Thou not look down on this assembly gathered here, bending Thy eye 3 with pity more tender than any human heart can feel ? Dear Lord Jesus, we beseech Thee to let the light of Thy countenance come down on us all — this vast mass of beating hearts and living souls of sinners — we pray that their hearts may beat for I hee, and these souls live to Thee. These aged men who are close on the borders of eternity now give them the hopethn nigh j>race by giving them faith in Thee. These men of business in the very burden and heat of the day help them to use the world and not abuse it, because the things of tho world are passing away. These husbands and wives here, may they be fellow heirs of eternal life, and fellow-workers in Thy kingdom. These yoiing men and maidens, may their hearts melt under Thy love. Our children, take them to Thyself before evil habits and evil companions corrupt them, to be Thy own friends and servants rejoicingly safe. And now bless our dear brother Moody. All our hearts rise up to Thee in thankfulness, and our hearts in prayer that this ni«ht may be a night leng to be remembered. ("Amen.") Lord bless Chicago, Lord bless the Christian people there, and all the multitude of Sunday school scholars who have sat at our brother's feet as at the feet of a father. The fire, which has burnt hU

sanctuary, 0 Lord, was permitted by Thee, providential and overruled by Thy wisdom, so as tv bring him amongst us. May his ministry here kindle a divine tire in the heartß of multitudes — melting down all selfishness and sin — so that ours shall be the gladness and thine shall be the glory evermore. Amen.

Mr. Moody : I am going to a9k Brother Sankey to sing hymn 41. He will sing it alone.

Mr. Sankey then read the 41st hymn throughout and sang it as a solo. It is as folluws : — To tlie ball of the feast caind the sinful aud fair, She hoard in the city that Jcsu< was thurt! ; r>iheedi«£ the splendour that blazed on the board, She silently knelt at the feet of the Lord. The frown and the mummr went ronn J through them all

That one so unhallowed dwuld tread in thvt hall ; Ami some said the pure would be vhjec'j. more meet, A.« ilie wealth of her neifuine she shower'd on huieet. She heard but the Saviour ; she spoke but with sijjljs— She dared not look up to the he<i\en oi His eyed ; Aud the hot tears L'Uihed forth at each h«a>e of her

breast, As her li]* to His FamUls went throbhinjjly pressed. In the 9ky, after tempest, as shiueth the bow, In the glumre of the sunbeam as mclteth the snow. He looked on that lo^t one : her " sins were forjfh en," And Mary went forth in the beauty of heaven.

Mr. Moody then said : I would like to ask a favour of the audience : that is, t > be very careful of the coughing, for this slight fog (which was very perceptible at the further ends of the hall) makes the throat tickle. I feel my own throat rather tickling now while I am talking. I am told in the back parts of the hall, when some one coughs, you lose a few words, and then the whole sense of the sentence is gone. If you are obliged to cough, hold your handkerchief up to your mouth and make as little noise as possible. I want now to call your attention to a verso of Scripture, to the 3rd chapter and the 3rd verse of John's Gospel, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he canuot see the kingdom of Go<l."' I feel very anxious that you should get the text. There's life in the text. There may not be much in the sermon, but there is surely life in the text. " Except a man be born aagin ho cannot enter the kingdom of God ;" how much less an inheritor in it 1 for, alas ! he shall not .vet even a glimpse of the kingdom of God unless he " be born again." Now I believe we have one of the most solemn subjects before U3 tonight as any other which will ever come before us in the world. I don't believe any part of the Scripture is so important as that brought out in the 3rd chapter of John. It is the "AB 0" of God's alphabet. If a man is unsound on regeneration, he is unsound on everything. If a mau does., not get the foundation right, he has not half built the house ; and if the foundation is not right, what is the use of building the house 1 Now, it is said plainly, " Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," and alttiough this is true and plain, I don't believe there is any truth in the whole Bible that the Church and the world are so mixed up on, and there is not a subject in which people are in such great darkness as this great truth, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." There is, I know, a good deal more fog about this 3rd Chapter of John than there is in London to-night, or in this hall, and there are a great many like him who saw "men as trees walking." There are a great many Christians who do not know about the new birth. It was only this afternoon I saw a person in the inquiry room. I asked her, " Are you a Christian ?" "Of course [ am," she said. " And how long have you been one 1" " Why, ail my life. I was bora one." I said, "I am glad to be able to cougratulate you on being born a Christian." She hesitated a little then, and tried to make out that because sho wai born here in England she was a Christian. There are a great many people about who have got the idea that because they have been born in a Christian country they are "born" regeneiated. But this text is plain, and I am sure that if any man only reads carefully and prayerfully this 3rd Chapter of John his eyes will be opened. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit remained of the Spirit ; and so when a man is born of God he is born from above, and has God's nature ; but when he is only born of his parents, he gets their nature, which can be traced back to the Garden of Eden. But when a man is born of the Spirit, he is born of the Holy Ghost, and he then gets two natures and two lives — God's nature and his own nature, the life of the flesh and the life of the Spirit. Before Igoon I want to say what this new birth, what this being born again, is, and what it is not. Many think they have been born again because they go to church regularly. A great many say, " Oh, yes ! I'm a Christian. Igo to church every Sabbath" ; but I say no person goes to church so regularly as Satan himself. He is the first one who gets there and the last one out of the church, and there is not a church or chapel where he is not a regular attendant. The idea that he is only to be found in the dark lanes and alleys, the slums and public-houses, is wrong. He is certainly in pnblic-houses, and I confess he is doing his work very well there. But he is wherever the Word is preached, ready to catch the seed as it falls on your hearts. He is here to-night, and he is wide awake. He will not go to sleep if some of you do. He will be- near you to catch any one who may fall into his snares. May God in His mercy grant that you may be saved from Satan to-night. (Amen.) Many others Bay, "I am a Christian because I am baptised." Baptism is one thing and the new birth is another. Baptism is very well in its place, but you can't baptise

men into Heaven. If men could be saved by baptism, I would get water and baptise every one I came against. Baptism would be the easiest and quickest way. You would not catch me here preaching if it c.iuld be done by baptism. I ain't here to cry down baptism, which is all right in its place. lam talking now about the new birth. A great many are being deceived upon this point; baptism does not make Christians. That is not being born of the Spirit, and born again. Do not let Satan deceive you on this point, for it is a very important truth. I want everyone here to-night to understand the difference of baptism from regeneration, being born of the Spirit, or bora again. Another class of men say, " I became" a Christian when I joined the Church." That ain't b*ing born again. What is that tf» do with the Church 1 There are a ar^at many who ha\ c no hope of eternal life who are members of the Church. Even one of Christ's chosen twelve was a traitor and a hypocrite. The new birth is not any particular persuasion, but tv be born ayaiu is being born of God. You must ask yourself that question. Let me stop a minute while you ask yourselves, "Have I been born again?" >t is the most solemn question that will ever come before you. "Have I been born of the Spirit'/" It is not making some new resolution — that is not the new birth I never met any one in my life who has not made some good resolutions, who. tries to do good the best way he can ; but what has that to do with the new birth ? It is to him that believeth that is born of the Spirit. " Verily, verily I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Not only that - I believe that this new birth is instantaneous. A great many people of God do not know the date of their conversion. They may not be able to tell the clay or the hour, but* there must be the exact moment of time when they passed from death to life, the time when their names are written in the Book of Life. They might not be conscious of the day, hour, or month, but I beg of you to be sure of it. Don't make a mistake. " Verily, verily I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." When I was born of my parents, I received their nature. I cannot serve God in the flesh because He is a Spirit, and " they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." To worship God a man must be born of God and of the Spirit, and then the yoke is easy and the burden light. A man may as well try to fly to the moon as worship God before he has been " born again." It is utterly impossible for any man to come to God before he is born again of the Spirit, for the natural man is at enmity to God. He is at war with God. He can t make it better. But God can, and God makes no patchwork of it — God never mends, He creates anew. But you say to me, "You tell us this— but how am I to be saved; am I to be born again?" You must do it God's way. Ye can't educate men into the kingdom as some people are trying to do, for that is the wrong way, and "he that entereth not by the door but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Isn't it a good deal better to get to Heaven in God'B own way and be born again. In America we have a law which Bays no man can be President of the United States that is not born on American soil. That is reasonable enough, and I never heard anyone complain of that law. There are many Germans, Englishmen, Scotchmen, Irishmen, and people of other nationalities in America, but I never heard any one of them complain of that law, for they see that it is only reasonable that Americans should say by whom they will be governed. And I come to this country ; but I have no right to object to the Queen governing this country, for has not England a right to Bay who shall rule it ? Have I any right to say who shall rule in this country, or who shall be the Queen ? Certainly not. Then, has not God got a right to say who shall come into his kingdom, and how they shall get there '? Christ says you must be born from above — born of the Spirit. The new birth gives you another and spiritual nature, without which you canuot see God. Let an unregonerate man be put on the crystal pavement of the Holy City, and he will not care to stop there five minutes, it is no heaven to him. Put a drunkard in heaven, what would he say ? " I don't like it, there is no whisky here ; this is hell to me. " How would a man who can't spend a single Sabbath with God's people here feel in the kingdom which is the everlasting Sabbath 1 Put him under the very shadow of the Tree of Life, and he will not be happy. He will be miserable and wretched, and be altogether out of place. A man must have a heavenly nature before he went to God. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people, and if men are not prepared for it, Heaven has no attractions for them.

(To be continued.)