'Lord, thou hast here thy ninety and nine,
Are they not enough for thee?'

But the Shepherd made answer 'This of mine
Has wandered away from me.

And although the road be rough and steep
go to the desert to find my sheep.'

But none of the ransomed ever knew

How deep were the waters crossed;

Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through,

Ere he found his sheep that was lost.

Out in the desert He heard its cry,

Sick, and helpless and ready to die.

'Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way

That mark out the mountain's track?'

'They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.'
'Lord, whence are thy hands so rent and torn?'
"They were pierced to-night by many a thorn.'

And all through the mountains thunder-riven,
And up from the rocky steep,

There rose a cry to the gate of Heaven,

6

Rejoice, I have found my sheep.'

And the angels echoed around the throne,

'Rejoice for the Lord brings back his own.""

There is a truth in these touching lines which we can ill spare, and makes us half wish that the theology in which it is embedded were true. The world has not outgrown the need of some such lessons in mercy to the fallen and in unconquerable self-sacrificing Love.

"Down in the human heart,

Crushed by the tempter:

Feelings lie buried that grace can restore.

Touched by a loving heart,

Wakened by kindness,

Chords that were broken will vibrate once more."

It is only justice to say also that a tone of hearty cheerfulness pervades the Hymns, which are songs of praise to the Saviour for his redeeming Love, and that this tone is but seldom marred by references to the horrible doom of the damned. And in so far as gratitude for a great deliverance tends to refine and purify the heart that is sensible of it, I am willing to admit to the full the moral blessings which may spring even from this theology, so long as it is heartily embraced. I will go further still and say that it is quite possible that wholly animal and debased souls who have never had a religious thought or felt a religious motive in their lives may be awakened to the calls of a higher life by these sensational appeals, and led by them one step higher up the steeps of human progress. I conceive it to be also possible

that some religious persons will be led to live more in harmony with the profession of their lips and exchange their drowsy and selfish indifference for a zealous activity in religious work. Surely that is a gain which will make men more consistent and earnest. Might we not say also that if, by this so-called Revival, one poor drunkard should be taught sobriety, one debased soul rescued from uncleanness, one despairing soul made bright with joy and hope, we would not put a straw in the way to hinder it; nor raise a voice which might take a grain from its weight and force? No! we must still confess that some of the Lord's ways with man are not as our ways, and that even the agencies which we may deem not only illegitimate but widely and deeply pernicious, are being turned by Him into benefits and blessings of everlasting good.

But with these frank and even generous admissions, our commendation must end. We have a duty to fulfil to God, to ourselves and to mankind at large in exposing what our reasons, consciences and hearts tell us is false, dishonouring to God and injurious to man. In spite of all the possible good which these men may be doing, the actual harm and mischief outweighs it a hundred-fold. For every one they may improve, there are a thousand whom they still further debase; for every grain of truth they may utter, there are bushels and bushels of mere chaff, and worse than chaff, of deadly tares, which do not feed but poison. For the temporary excitement of groundless fears, there is a terrible reaction of brutal recklessness, for which they provide no antidote. In the anodyne they offer to soothe the soul's alarm, there lurks a subtle opiate which deadens the conscience and paralyses moral power. With the love they may kindle towards Jesus, they instil the passion of idolatry, and extinguish the soul's natural love for the Heavenly Father. With the artificial fears and hopes which they engender, they build up a wall of selfishness, of self-will, self-righteousness, and self-love ten times thicker than that of the natural depravity which they condemn.

In a future discourse, I will endeavour to make good my words, and once more expose the falsehoods and fallacies upon which their creed is built. At present, it is enough to say that the question of the truth or falsehood of their teaching is of paramount importance; it must make an awful difference to the thousands who throng to hear them, whether—in these grand and solemn opportunities, which may possibly neve

recur again-what is spoken be in reality God's truth, or Man's falsehood. If their teaching be true, how can we, my friends, how can any of our fellow-citizens close our hearts to their appeal, or run the dire hazard of rejecting the Saviour? How can we, if we are lost and doomed, trifle away our precious moments in any earthly thought or occupation, lest the proffered door of escape which is still open, be closed upon us for ever? But if the message be false; if these earnest but mistaken revivalists base the whole of their appeals on a groundless assumption; if they begin with a lie and make their poor hearers tremble by a lie, and then try to lull their alarm by another lie, unconsciously blaspheming the Great God of all, and drowning conscience in the stupor of moral death; shall we hold our tongues and let the falsehoods go unrefuted, the blasphemy unrebuked, and our misguided and deluded brethren fall unrescued, unwarned, into the pit of superstition?

We are indeed but a few compared with the multitude, and "like a sparrow that sitteth alone upon the house-tops." Our voice is but feeble and can scarcely be heard above the roar of human tongues which shout the praises of Messrs. Moody and Sankey and carry their gospel far and wide over the whole land. We are they who stand in need of a revival, who want all the moral courage and endurance of the heroes of old; it is easy and popular to be "converted" and to sing in crowds about Jesus and His blood. It is hard and very unpopular to denounce prevailing beliefs, and to teach a higher Gospel still. We then take to ourselves one Hymn which by a strange irony has found its way into their Hymn Book.

"STANDING by a purpose true,
Heeding God's command,.
Honour them, the faithful few,

All hail to Daniel's band.

Dare to be a Daniel! Dare to stand alone!

Dare to have a purpose firm, Dare to make it known

Many mighty men are lost,

Daring not to stand,

Who for God had been a host

By joining Daniel's band.

Dare to be a Daniel! &c.

Many giants, great and tall,
Stalking through the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall
If met by Daniel's band.

Dare to be a Daniel! &c.

CARTER & WILLIAMS, Steam Printers, 14, Bishopsgate Avenue, Comomile-street, E.C.

Is the Revivalists' Gospel True, or is it False?

A SERMON,

PREACHED AT ST. GEORGE'S HALL, LANGHAM

PLACE, APRIL 25, 1875, BY THE

REV. CHARLES

VOYSEY.

PSALM CIII., 9. "He will not alway be chiding, neither keepeth he his anger for ever."

M

Y task this morning is anything but easy and pleasant; and at its outset I ask for a fair and candid weighing of my words, as in the face of God I desire to say nothing but the simple truth. I have undertaken to make some answer to the all-important question, Is the Gospel preached by Messrs. Moody and Sankey true, or is it false? The issues which depend on this alternative are enormous, whether we consider them in their bearing on our own individual destiny or as affecting the welfare of all mankind. On such a momentous theme, it is not merely foolish but heinous to halt between two opinions.

The documents from which I draw the particular statements of this Gospel are (1.) An elaborate account of the New Evangelists published by Ward, Lock and Tyler, and

Rev. C. Voysey's sermons are to be obtained at St. George's Hall, every Sunday morning, or from the Author (by post), Camden House, Dulwich, S.E. Price one penny, postage a halfpenny.

sold at every railway book-stall in the kingdom. (2.) The book of Hymns and Songs used in the revival services. (3.) Two pamphlets containing many sayings of Mr. Moody's, collated by the Rev. A. S. Herring, with the object of getting subscriptions for a Church which he is hoping to build. (4.) The various reports of his sermons which have appeared in the newspapers.

On every ground, I would not for the world misrepresent the doctrines I am about to attack; and I emphatically repeat my conviction that these men thoroughly believe what they say, and think they are doing God service,

I go further still, and say that they are far more consistent in making all this stir than the thousands of clergy who hold pretty nearly the same opinions and yet make comparatively but little effort to rescue their brethren from perdition.

Now, what is their great theme, the key-note of all their preaching and the essence of all their hymns? It is Jesus. In their own language, it is "The old old story, of Jesus and his love." And in order to get at the kernel of their Gospel, it will be necessary to raise a few questions.

1. Who is this Jesus?

2. In what was his love for man manifested?

3. What benefit did his work on earth procure?

4. How came man to be in need of that benefit which they call salvation?

5. Was it God, or was it the Devil, whose wrath was pacified by Christ's death?

6. What is the penalty for disbelieving "the old old story?"

I think when we have answered these questions in the exact sense, if not always in the exact words, of the Revivalists, we shall have before us a clear conception of what they teach.

1. Who is this Jesus?

Nothing less than Almighty God; infinite and eternal God. Only trustworthy as a Saviour because he is God; one of their hymns contains these two lines ;