Welsh Journals

February 26, i8g2. THE WELSH WEEKLY. PRESENT DAY REVIVALS. A PAPER READ AT THE CARDIFF MINISTERIAL UNION. By the BEY. J. MOBGAN JONES. I have not a word to say against revivals, provided tbey are genuine. During the last 150 years they have been a powerful factor in the religious life of Wales; and to the great outpourings of the Spirit of God at different intervals may be ascribed the present condition of the Principality. They filled the country With chapels, the chapels with people, and the people with the fear of the Lord. Were I brought face to face with one of these genuine revivals, a real mani¬ festation of the Spirit of God, I would not dare to criticize it, whatever form or shape it might take ; it Would behove me rather, like Elijah of old, to wrap my head in my mantle and worship. But every true coin has its counterfeit, and we read in the book of Exodus, after the performance of a real miracle by Moses, tha the magicians did the same by their enchantments. So, when I consider the revivals of to-day, termed missions in modern parlance, they seem to me to be imitations and counterfeits rather than the good old article of which I read in the history of the church, and which I heard the old people speak of with tears in their eyes, and gladness in their hearts, and which in my younger days I saw with my own eyes. Some- tow they do not appear as belonging to the same tribe; they cannot be ranked in the same category. Not that I would demand or desire an exact reproduction in all things. God, we are told, is too great to repeat Himself, and in all His works in nature and in grace we find infinite variety. But this variety is in conjunction with uni¬ formity ; the variations are within the limits of iden¬ tical laws. As with a family of children, while each child is different from all the others, so that we can easily distinguish him from them, they all possess similarity of features and a certain likeness which pro¬ claim their relationship and their common parentage. Now, when I compare modern missions with the old revivals, not only do I find many points of difference tut I cannot find points of similarity; there is not sufficient likeness to warrant me to infer that they are all related. They belong to different tribes. One seems to me human, the other Divine ; one the product °f the spirit of man, the others the product of the Spirit of God. Now, I do not condemn modern missions altogether. I would not say they effect no good. Some of the men engaged in them are, beyond doubt, devoted and holy; ^ey have been blessed with the gift of speech, and they can speak for the great Master with ability and skill, and in many cases great good has been done. ■But, taking these missions altogether, they seem to me to be a departure from the safe old lines; they are innovations fraught with considerable danger ; and if We compare the evil consequences with the good effected, it is a serious question whether the evil does not overweigh the good. L In modern missions the divine power is too much hidden by the human instrumentality. When We read the history of the church, what appears con¬ stantly is the power of God; men are nothing, God is everything. It is true that the Holy Spirit first descended on the day of Pentecost after the sermon °f Peter ; but the honour was not confined to Peter, the Spirit accompanied the preaching or all the apostles; and even the preaching of a common evangelist like Philip. To come down to modern tunes, if we consider the great eighteenth century revival in England, from which sprang the Wesleyan body with all its ramifications, although we find John Wesley a prominent figure, the privilege of bringing sinners in large numbers to Christ was not confined to him ; it was given almost in equal degree to several others, especially Charles Wesley and George Whitefield. In Wales again, at the same time, Daniel ■Rowlands is a prominent figure in the revival, but Howel Harris is quite as prominent, and several others nearly as prominent as either. The revival of 1859 in Wales is closely connected with David Morgan, a very obscure man ; but it was commenced by Humphrey Jones, a Wesleyan minister, and many others were almost as effective in the salvation of Bouls. In the old revivals, the agency of God was not hidden by man. They were manifestly the produc¬ tions of the Holy Spirit. And as the Spirit of God, like the wind, bloweth where it listeth, and as the spiritual laws that govern its manifestations are unknown unto us, it was impossible to foretell the time they would take place. The date of their occurrence could not be advertised. Like everything divine, they came suddenly, unexpectedly, with irresis¬ tible force, gladdening the heart of the people of God- The one certain thing about them was this, that they would occur when the church was earnestly engaged in its ordinary work. One revival broke out in Llangeitho, when Daniel Rowlands was reading the Litany. Another when the beautiful hymns of William's Pantycelyn first appeared. Some revivals commenced during the delivery of a powerful sermon, and others in an earnest prayer meeting ; but they all were special blessings given to the churoh when engaged in its ordinary work. But in modern missions it is quite different. These are a departure from the ordinary labours of the church, and an adoption of extraordinary modes. The revivalist is a professional man, like a lawyer or a barrister. He seems to have the keys of heaven in his pocket, and to be able to call down the holy fire at will. Mission-conducting, or revival-pro¬ ducing, is a craft known only to a few. And inas¬ much as it is a human craft, you can foretell the date of such a revival, you can advertise it to take place in a certain building, and at a certain day and hour. The method of production also we know, the succession of prayer-meetings, the singing of hymns, and the impassioned appeals. And the day of de¬ parture is also publicly advertised. I have said that the human agencies are too prominent; allow me to say further, that in some cases—I will not say in all cases, that would be a glaring error—but in some cases, these agencies are very inferior men, being unversed in the Bible, ignorant of the great doctrines of our Chris¬ tian religion, and without that culture which a deep experience of the truth gives even to a man of little knowledge. la their discourses we find them bold where they ought to be timid, remind¬ ing us of the words of the poet, " Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Instead of truth we get witti¬ cisms ; instead of solemn declaration, coarse vulgarity ; and instead of words of soberness, buffoonery. Thus the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is made vulgar and common. I do no object to plainness of speech, or directness of appeal, but I do object to the clothing of our glorious Gospel in the filthy rags of vulgarity and buffoonery. II. Modern missions give undue prominence to the sensational. We find but little of what is sensational in the New Testament. Jesus Christ is not only the model man but the model preacher. In His sermons we have no overpowering description of the horrors of hell, no bright colouring of the bliss of heaven, and no thrilling narratives of pathetic death-bed scenes, but through all His addresses there runs divine calm and soberness. He appeals chiefly not to the imagination and to the emotional, but to the will and the conscience. The idea that underlies His teaching is not salvation, nor deliverance from torture, nor admission to happiness, but the kingdom of God. Admission into this king¬ dom is to be sought, not under excitement, but by a deliberate and voluntary act. He knew all the mysteries of the spiritual world, and He spoke as man never did, but he refrained from revealing too much, because such a revelation would be overpowering, and inconsistent with the free act of a free agent. But in present - day missions the sensational is everything. Some time ago we had here in Cardiff a Church of England Mission. The clergy had assembled in large numbers ; they paraded the town at night dressed bravely in white surplices, carrying aloft lighted torches, and they marched on singing and chanting. I could not but think of a circus troupe, in their war-paint, trying to create a sensation. And in the meetings every effort is made to produce excitement. Hymns are sung over and over; passionate short appeals are made, personal pressure is exercised. l!he very air seems to be charged with electricity. Now, all this appeal to our emotions and sensibilities to the ex¬ clusion of the other parts of our nature seems to me pernicious, and inconsistent with that freewill action with which every sinner must seek Christ. And in the end, by reaction, every impression made will bring about a corresponding hardness. III. The undue importance attached to missions tends to disparage the ordinary work of the minister, and the church. By advertising these missions, having preparation prayer meetings in connection with them, and expecting everything from them, the ordinary work of the church must be made to appear of little value. We are told that the conductors of missions are the reapers. Then our work as ordinary ministers of the gospel is merely preparatory. Ours is not the honour of being instruments of con¬ version ; ours is not the privilege of winning souls for Christ. We shall lead them only to a given point, and then the professional revivalist comes and helps them over the gulf which separates those who believe, from those who don't. I, for one, decline to accept this position. All true ministers of God are reapers, and privileged to bring souls to the feet of the Saviour. Otherwise, we would have no proof of our apostleship, no seals to our ministry, and our crown hereafter would be without jewels. It is our bounden duty in every sermon, and in every service, to try to win souls. Every sermon should be preached as if it were the last; and, in many cases, it is the last to some in the audience. When we consider the value of immortal souls, how uncertain life is, and how many are called daily to their- last account, shall we wait for professional reapers ? God forbid. We must constantly endeavour, through every lawful means to bring new subjects to Jesus. Now, I say, that the undue importance attached to missions hinders all this; it throws discredit on our ordinary work. And the constant hearers of the Gospel will take it for granted, that they are not expected to join the Church of God except at mission services. I know a case in point. An old man in North Wales, who had been a constant hearer, was taken ill. The minister of the chapel went to see him, and pressed him to give his soul to Christ and join the church. The old man was affected, and said: "I hink I will do what you tell me; when is Richard Owen coming here ? " He believed that it would be irregular to join the church except in a service conducted by Richard Owen. The extreme importance attached to missions must be derogatory to the ordinary work of the church ; and whatever tends to do that must, in the end, be pernicious. IV. Many evil effects follow missions. The undue excitement of the emotions brings about, as its natural consequence, extreme hardness of heart. Many people join the church in them who are not real converts, who have not experienced genuine repent¬ ance and sorrow for their sins, but who have been carried along somehow with the stream. When the Israelites left Egypt we are told that many mixed people accompanied them. These mixed people were the source of all the troubles in the wilderness. They commenced every rebellion against God, they began every murmur, and it was they who commenced the cry, " Let us return to Egypt." And in missions many mixed people join the church. And they are the source of infinite trouble. They are impatient of instruction and discipline ; they believe that all religion consists of shouting " Glory, Hallelujah " ; and they treat with contempt the every-day ministry of the Word. Now, in conclusion, I do not say tha„ misoions are not an instrument of war for the armoury o* the church ; but I do say that they ought to be sparingly used, soberly and decently carried on, and that they ought to be conducted by well-chosen men who are in¬ capable of extravagancies. It is possible that my sentiments are unacceptable to many of my brethren ; but let me remind you of the Welsh proverb, that every man has the right of his opinion, and every opinion the right of utterance.