upside down. The power that shook demands only time and opportunity to change and regenerate the world. Tell us not that it is effete. This is the mere assumption of the adversary. If it ever was true, it must remain true for ever. No great truth ever became a lie, any more than a lie can become a truth. If it were effete, it would not be producing even now such fruits unto righteousness,' and exerting such moral power in the world. If it were effete, it must have perished before the many-winged wounds aimed, espe cially of late, at its heart. No! if it have 'left bearing,' it is only like Leah and Rachel, for a season, and previous to bringing forth its last great birth-that of a renewed and glorified earth." ("The Fatherhood of God," pp. 90, 91.)

The Gospel would never have "left bearing," if the people of God had not left working and expecting, believing and praying for the conversion of souls by the hundred and the thousand. If the Church had multiplied her converts in all ages in equal ratio as she did in the apostolic age, few ages would have elapsed before the whole earth would have been renewed in righteousness. But the saint-making power abated; and crowds of Christians became little better, though still better, than crowds of heathen. Was this loss of efficiency owing to the unfruitfulness of men, and, therefore, capable of being recovered by a return to the original means of importunate prayer and strong faith? Or was it owing to a design of the Head of the Church, and therefore irrecoverable?

"On a question so vital to the interests of mankind, no mind ought to float on the prevailing current without adopting a deliberate conviction. Was the conversion of the thousands in Jerusalem, of crowds in Ephesus, in Samaria, Antioch, Corinth, Rome, and elsewhere, a proof, once for all, of what God could do towards the saving of this lost world, which he designed never to repeat, and which his children would be presumptuous in expecting to see again? Were those multitudes, so speedily gathered out of the world, to represent in future ages, only small companies of true believers, to whom accessions were to be very gradual, and who were never to gain the overwhelming majority? If so, then the Christian dispensation was deliberately planned above to begin in sunrise; but, instead of 'shining more and more to the perfect day,' speedily to pale into twilight, and then darken to a long, long night in which stars would thinly spangle a wide-spread gloom." (Arthur's "Tongue of Fire," pp. 280, 281.)

We have adopted the deliberate conviction, that the converting power has abated through the unfaithfulness of men, and is recoverable by a return to the original means of importunate prayer and strong faith. The other supposition, that it was the design of God that it should lose its power to convert men by scores, hundreds, and thousands, is so contrary to every view given us in the Bible of his purposes of mercy concerning our world, of the design of Christ's mediation, of the gift and work of the Holy Spirit, and of the great commission given to the Church to "disciple all nations," that we recoil with horror from a supposition so monstrous.

Moreover, where the people of God are filled with love to Christ; where ministers are powerful in preaching, and members are mighty

in prayer; where all are strong in faith, united in effort, zealous in working, conversions are continually taking place. Where conversions are not sudden, numerous, and frequent, it is a fact which cannot, which ought not to be concealed, that ministers do not preach for conversions, or members do not pray for them as they ought. In such churches conversions are not expected to take place after the early fashion; they would be taken by surprise and completely confounded were they to witness conversions, under the ordinary means of grace, as they were seen in the primitive Church. "And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matt. xiii. 58). "And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief" (Mark vi. 5, 6).

If conversions are to be seen by us in the same way, and to the same extent, that they were in the early days of the Gospel, we must humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God; we must confess our unfaithfulness to him and to the souls of men; we must bemoan our pride, our worldliness, our love of ease, our want of compassion to the souls of the perishing millions of our race, whom we have coolly permitted to go "down to the pit," without making any vigorous effort to save them from death. The earnest and importunate cry of our hearts must be, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.” For until our guilt is forgiven, until we are prospering in our own souls, until the light of God's face gives us confidence and joy, we shall be powerless for the conversion of souls. "In his favour is life." blessing maketh rich," his countenance gives success. begin here. Our sin must be pardoned, our pollution must be cleansed, we must "be endued with power from on high" before we "shall be strong, and do exploits" in the conversion of souls.

"His

All must

Ministers, renewed in the spirit of their minds, must preach for the conversion of their hearers. Preachers must be more discriminating, more direct, more searching, more alarming, more compassionate, and more faithful in the delivery of the Gospel message. They must more clearly state the sinner's danger; more frequently preach a full, free, and present salvation; more earnestly insist on the sinner's immediate surrender unto God; and more affectionately urge their hearers to rely at once on the blood of Christ for pardon, on the grace of the Holy Spirit for regeneration, and on the mercy of God the Father for adoption. Preaching is needed that is eminently calculated, under God's blessing, to save souls from death. Oh! that all preachers could say with truth, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, Be ye reconciled to God."

More prayer of the right kind is needed, if we are to have conversions sudden, numerous, constant. The whole Church must rise up, "one and all," and give God no rest until he sends down "showers of blessing;" yea, even "the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ." In the closet and at the family altar; as we walk the streets or are engaged in business; in the prayer-meeting and in public worship, we must beseech the Lord to send the power, and

to reveal the glory, so absolutely needed to convince and to convert the children of men. We must "stir up ourselves to take hold of God, to take hold of his covenant, to take hold of his strength." We must plead the promises, we must ask in Jesus' name; we must wait before God, in faith and prayer, until the Spirit comes upon us and the people in all his convincing power, in all his converting energy; then shall we see conversions as sudden, as numerous, and as constant as they had them in the early Church.

We must live for the conversion of souls. We must breathe in the atmosphere of purity, walk erect in the dignity of holiness, speak the truth in love, and live in the spirit of devotion, thus making manifest the savour of Christ's knowledge by us in every place. "Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him." Were all Christians to walk in wisdom and truth, in purity and benevolence, in peace and joy, "toward them that are without -"without Christ, and without God in the world" -the attention of many sinners would be attracted, and they would soon be drawn to Christ. If we would convert men by scores and by hundreds, we must be Christians indeed, "in whom is no guile." We must be just and true, meek and lowly, pure and merciful, honest and good in all our intercourse with men. We must be real Christians in the parlour and in the kitchen; in the factory and in the field; in the workshop and in the market; behind and before the counter; in the office and on 'Change; as well as in the class-room, the prayer-meeting, or the public services of the sanctuary. We must be Christians in heart, in look, in word, and in deed, wherever we are, if we would secure the conversion of men in great numbers.

Moreover, we must "attempt great things, and expect great things," in the conversion of souls. "Try and trust" have done wonders in spiritual things as well as in temporal matters. The primitive Christians attempted and expected the conversion of men in great numbers; and God gave them the desire of their hearts. They planted in faith and watered in hope; and "God gave the increase." Not only the apostles, evangelists, and deacons, but all Christians were at work in the primitive Church, for the salvation of souls. Not only men, but "women laboured in the Gospel," were "fellow. helpers to the truth." The early Christians were "burning and shining lights." They were living, speaking, active, working Christians. They had received a commission to disciple all nations, and were intent on fulfilling their ministry. At times they had divisions and declensions among them; many also, who heard the Word, contradicted and blasphemed; and the number of conversions varied greatly in different places; but notwithstanding all these drawbacks, conversions, in the main, went onward with accumulated power, and why was this? Because they all expected, and all laboured for, the conversion of their fellow-creatures where they dwelt or wherever they roamed. They had faith in God; faith in the atoning blood of Christ; faith in the Holy Spirit's converting power; faith in Christ's promised presence; faith in the Word of God as the proper instrument for converting souls; faith in themselves, as "the called and chosen " of Christ, "to open men's eyes, and to turn them from dark

ness to light, and from the power of Satan to God:" hence they expected sudden, numerous, constant, and lasting conversions, they laboured in season and out of season to secure them, and God honoured them with abundant success. And why should not we expect sudden, numerous, and constant conversions through our efforts? Why should not we expect conversions in our Sabbathschools, in our prayer-meetings, and in our sanctuaries weekly? Why should we not have in our large chapels twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty conversions every Lord's-day? Ah! here lies our fatal error. We do not cherish large expectations; therefore, we do not pray, do not believe, do not labour for sudden, numerous, constant conversions; consequently we have them not. We want more HOPE. Fear produces hesitancy :

despair cuts the sinews of effort; and hinders, yea prevents, conversions to God on a grand scale. Before we can succeed in converting men to God, as did the early Church, we must be enlarged in our desires and expectations-desires for the conversion of souls worthy of those who are entrusted with their salvation; and expectations worthy of that Saviour who has commissioned us to disciple all

nations.

"Hope is the genius of religion. Hope becomes the Church. In the midst of darkening skies and clashing opinions and partial disaster, let the Church clothe herself with hope as with an invulnerable garment. Indulge hope. Expect for yourselves a measure of light and holiness and joy which you have not known. Expect for your family that they shall all be born of God, and be enrolled among the living in Jerusalem. Expect that the Church shall become one in faith, in heart, in action; a purified and spiritual body, filled with all the fulness of God. Expect that the dark forms of evil which abound in the world shall cower away before the risen glories of the 'Sun of Righteousness,' that a second time the Creator and Redeemer shall say, Let there be light, and there shall be light. Oh, there is renovation in hope. We become the things we hope to be. To abound in hope is to abound in service, in suffering, and in joy. It not only sustains where we are-it inspires us with additional and celestial joy. It bears the martyr to the stake, the hero to victory, the Christian to heaven. Have hope, great hope. 'Sanctify Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'" (Dr. A. Reed.)

of men.

Unless we obtain the converting power in something like the same measure that it was possessed by the early Christians, when is Christ to be satisfied, the Holy Spirit honoured, and the Father glorified, through the earth being "full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea"? "The one practical end of Christianity lies in glorifying God upon the earth and in saving the souls The one standing evidence of Christianity is her power to convert sinners into saints. The converting power is the Church's great attraction in the eyes of the world. The converting power is the principal lever of Christianity in raising the standard of morals in the nations. And, moreover, the converting power is also the only means whereby Christianity raises up agents for her own propagation." All these points are admirably enforced in the Rev. W. Arthur's "Tongue of Fire," pp. 289 and 297. Certain it is, there

A A

fore, that if the converting power is not possessed in large measure by the Church, it will be long, very long, ere the world is converted to God. We talk of the world's conversion, we believe in the world's conversion, we preach and pray for the world's conversion, we give for the world's conversion; but, after all, we are doing little to effect the world's conversion while we are not securing by our labours sudden, numerous, and constant conversions to God. Unless through our agency the Lord is adding daily unto the Church such as are saved, we are personally doing little to purpose to secure our great end. Allowing that the world will, at some future time, some distant day, be converted, whether we secure numerous conversions or not, yet what is to become of the hundreds, thousands, and millions of the present generation who are unsaved? "If we are to look only for gradual conversions, we must deliberately make up our minds to see millions upon millions of our countrymen die impenitent, who, if sudden conversions are multiplied, may yet be brought to God before they end their days." Now, can we make up our minds to this! We cannot, we dare not. Can you Parents, look at your unconverted children; and children, look at your unconverted parents. Brothers, look at your unconverted sisters; and sisters, look at your unconverted brothers. Husbands and wives, look at your ungodly partners. Masters and mistresses, look at your wicked servants; and servants, behold your wicked employers. Teachers, look at your unconverted scholars. Ministers, officers, and members of churches, look upon the ungodly that sit in your sanctuaries, and gaze upon your perishing fellow-creatures who attend no place of worship; and can you coolly consign the vast majority of them to hell, merely to maintain the unscriptural dogma-the awful falsehood-that conversions must be gradual, "that the best progress of the work of God is a progress which leaves the great majority of those now alive hopelessly in their sins?" You must not do this.

Then believe with all your hearts that the Gospel is still as much "the power of God unto salvation" as it was when Peter first preached it on the day of Pentecost. Believe that God is as willing, that Christ is as able, that the Holy Spirit is as ready to save, by scores, and hundreds, and thousands in a day now as they were then. Abandon the dreadful habit of thought that Jesus will not and cannot save men by you. Hope for sudden and numerous conversions. Believe for sudden and numerous conversions. Labour for sudden and numerous conversions. Pray for sudden and numerous conversions. Watch for sudden and numerous conversions. Then shall you see husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, employers and employed, hearers, scholars, neighbours, acquaintances, and friends, suddenly and numerously converted to God. Eternal Spirit, come, and, for Christ's sake, endue us with power sufficient to save souls from perdition by scores, and hundreds, and thousands! Amen and amen.

FEELING.-A Quaker once hearing a person tell how much he had felt for another who was in distress and needed assistance, drily asked him, 4. Friend, hast thou felt in thy pocket for him?"