Earlier text: The Instructor Temperance AnnualThe service acceptable in the sight of heaven is willing service. God is not dependent upon us. The gold and the silver are his. The cattle upon a thousand hills are the creatures of his hand. He gives to man all that he possesses—life and health and every temporal blessing. He places within his reach the great gift of eternal life, made possible by the sacrifice of his only begotten Son. In return for these innumerable and immeasurable blessings God asks of man a willing service,—a service so weak and feeble and imperfect that compared with God’s beneficence to man, it is of infinitesimal value. Selfishly rendered, this service is abhorrent to the great God, but rendered willingly and lovingly, it becomes a sweet sacrifice. Anciently, in the building of the sanctuary in the wilderness, Moses was commanded to receive of the people gifts for its construction. The command was: “Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord; whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord.” Overflowing gratitude possessed the hearts of Israel. The record is that they brought gifts of gold and silver and precious stones, and all manner of material, for the construction of the sanctuary and its instruments. The people responded most liberally. Those who had charge of the work reported to Moses: “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.” Ex. 36: 5, 6. This same spirit possessed the people of God in the early days of the Christian church. “And as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet.” This spirit of sacrifice and of willing service has been the true spirit of the gospel in every age. That spirit should possess the children of God today. If the Israel of God were as liberal in his service today as in the days of Moses and in the first century of the church, there would be no lack of means with which to carry forward this work. Our tithe funds would be greatly increased: the offerings for missions would be doubled and trebled. As the spirit of consecration rests upon our people, this kind of giving will be seen. Let us pray God for the spirit of consecration, which must precede the spirit of power with which this message will close its work. Constantinople the Coveted Prize
By F. M. W.
FOR CENTURIES CONSTANTINOPLE, AROUND which the war vultures of Europe are now gathered, has been a coveted prize among the contending nations of Europe and Asia. Its history has been a record of sieges since its erection by Constantine the Great, in 330 A. D., on the site of the ancient Byzantium. The Huns, the Slavs, the Persians, the Arabs, the Turks, and others have repeatedly sought to gain possession of this strategic port. FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO YEARS AGO, in April, 1453, there was begun the memorable siege by which the city passed from the hands of the Christian forces to the control of the Ottoman Turks, under the leadership of Mohammed II. The Turkish army consisted of 70,000 men, with 320 vessels. The forces of the Christians did not exceed 9,000. It required fifty-three days for the capture of the stronghold, which was accomplished May 29. The emperor Constantine died in unsuccessful resistance. After this date, from an object of siege the city became a center of invasion on the part of the Moslem forces. Turkish influence was widely extended, and all Europe trembled before the victorious onslaughts of the Ottoman arms. Turkey reached the height of its power under Solyman, who ruled from 1520–66. “The first check to Ottoman aggression was received beneath the walls of Vienna in 1529.” Following this date the decline of the empire was rapid. Achmet III (1703–30), who was contemporary with Peter the Great, was probably the first Turkish ruler to feel the pressure of Russian ambition. Since that period Constantinople has been the one geographical position above all others coveted by the northern colossus. The following quotation from the New York Times of February 26 enumerates in order the attempts on the part of Russia to possess herself of this important seaport:— FOR TWO CENTURIES RUSSIA HAS SOUGHT to reach the eastern Mediterranean through Turkey, and is now fighting her tenth war in the effort. After each defeat she has turned her attention elsewhere. The Russo-Japanese War developed from an attempt of Russia to secure the coveted port on the coast of Asia. The delicate condition of Anglo-Russian diplomacy during the latter half of the last century was due to Russia’s desire to obtain a foothold on the Persian Gulf. This condition was finally dissipated, however, by the Anglo-Russian treaty of 1907, which paved the way to the present Triple Entente. Balked in8 the Far East, and then in the middle East, Russia’s attention reverted to the Near East and Turkey. Here is a brief record of Russian attempts for the last two hundred years to reach the sea via Turkey, and of England’s opposition:— In 1709 Russia attempted to reach Turkey via the Black Sea, and was defeated. In 1739 Russia, aided by Austria, tried to reach Turkey through the Balkans; but at the close of the war the Turks had invaded Russian territory. The war of 1768–74 was in retaliation for that of 1739. Russia invaded northeastern Turkey and swept the Turkish ships from the Black Sea. All that saved Constantinople then was the plague which broke out in the Russian army. In 1788 Russia attacked Turkey along the Danube, and her troops had reached the southern confines of Bulgaria, as it was prior to the late Balkan War, when Turkey sued for peace. The war of 1806–07 was brought about by the intrigues of Napoleon’s agents at the court of the sultan, who desired to divert Russia’s attention from the march of the French on Moscow. England came to the support of Russia this time. Admiral Duckworth sailed through the Dardanelles, and threatened to bombard Constantinople unless Turkey joined England and Russia against Napoleon. The Turk was still making evasive answers when peace was concluded. In 1810 a Russian army advanced as far as Bazardjik, but could not proceed on account of disease and the lack of provisions. A similar invasion was repeated in 1828–29, with great preparations on Russia’s part and with the proclaimed objective of Constantinople. This was the famous war in which Greece gained her independence, and by which Russia freed part of what is now Roumania from Turkish rule, but it was cut short by the plague. Then came the Crimean War of 1853–54, in which Russia’s avowed objective was again Constantinople, and which drew England, France, and even the kingdom of Sardinia to the defense of the Turks. In this war the allies carried hostilities into Russian territory north of the Black Sea, and, in the end, even Austria rose and forced Russia to evacuate the part of Roumania she had freed from Turkey thirty years before. In the war of 1877–78 Russia, thinking to allay any apprehensions in western Europe, declared herself to be the champion of Christendom; but her objective was, as ever, the same—Constantinople. As a result of the Crimean War, Russia had been prohibited by the allies from maintaining a fleet on the Black Sea, and so now she entered Turkey through Roumania, and was actually saved from disaster by the Roumanian troops at Plevna. The new Servian state also aided Russia, and her victory seemed assured, when again England intervened by sending a fleet through the Dardanelles to the defense of Constantinople. Disease, lack of provisions, and the threatening British fleet brought the campaign to a close, and again, and perhaps for the last time, saved the ancient capital of Turkey from the Russians. Constantinople is the twelfth largest city in the world, possessing approximately 1,300,000 inhabitants, a cosmopolitan mixture of all nationalities and religious beliefs. The city is situated on the Golden Horn, at the junction of the Sea of Marmora and the Bosporus. Its capture, by the Allied forces would undoubtedly have a great influence in the shaping of the political fortunes of Europe and of the whole world. That the Turk would be expelled forever from Europe is admitted by all. Into whose hands the rich prize would pass is more of a problem, and time only will settle the question. We live in the days of thrilling and momentous events. Before our very eyes, the words of the prophetic seer, penned more than twenty-five hundred years ago, are being fulfilled. The rapidly fulfilling signs demonstrate that our hope has not been in vain. Let us prove faithful to our trust, faithful in sounding abroad the message of the coming of the Lord. We may not hope to save the nations of earth, but among all the nations of men, Christian, Mohammedan, and heathen, will be found those who will welcome the good news of life and liberty and peace and rest in the gospel message of the Lord Jesus. Actual Deliverance in the Promises
By W. A. S.
AMONG other testimonies to the Lord’s delivering providences borne by Mr. A. E. Glover in his story of the flight from the province of Shan-si during the Chinese Boxer uprising of some years ago, is the following narrative: Having escaped many times from those who were seeking their lives and who were yet unable to strike the blow, the fugitives spent a night on top of a high hill, where they hoped to hide from pursuers. Next day they were burning up under the tropical sun, having had no water for such a time that their tongues were indeed failing for thirst. All the waves and billows of trouble seemed to have rolled over them at last, and Mrs. Glover sank fainting and lay prostrate and helpless on the ground. Mr. Glover says:— As I watched her panting and gasping for breath, with no power to alleviate her suffering beyond supporting her head, it seemed as if I heard the serpent’s hiss: “Yea, hath God said? Where are his promised mercies and loving-kindness now? Has he not forgotten to be gracious?” The cruel taunt was winged to the heart of my beloved, too; and in an agony of soul she cried out from the deep darkness: “Oh, God has forsaken us! It can only be that we are not in his will, or he would surely never have suffered us to come to this.” Her distress physically was such that I felt sure she was dying; but it was as nothing to the trouble of her soul. Now indeed it seemed as if the enemy’s triumph was assured. The cup of sorrow was overfull; and, conscious that this was the “scourging” of the Lord, I was dumb under his rebuke. My heart was utterly broken before him. But “when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” The moment of our deliverance was at hand. . . . Scarcely had the words of anguish passed my precious one’s lips when God put into Miss Gates’s mouth the most wonderful song of praise I have ever heard. Kneeling by the side of her prostrate sister and holding her hand, she poured forth passage after passage, promise after promise, from the Word, exalting his name, declaring his faithfulness, and proving his unchanging and unchangeable love, sworn to us in the everlasting covenant and sealed to us in the blood of his own beloved Son. Never shall I forget the music of that heavenly utterance. It was as if heaven were open above us, and the strains of the harps of God were being borne to us from glory. My beloved Flora drank it in—O, how eagerly!—with the avidity of a soul athirst for God, the living God. Together we drank “out of the wells of salvation”—with what joy I cannot express—deep drafts of the pure river of water of life, flowing freely to us now from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The time had come at last for him to reveal himself to us. Our eyes were opened, and we knew him; and the word of his promise was fulfilled to the letter, “A Man shall be . . . as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Instantly the darkness was past, and the true light was shining again. With stammering tongues the little party repeated to the very finish the six stanzas of the hymn,— “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.”
Having found a bit of shelter in the shade, the party still tarried to escape the blazing sun, while the children were moaning for water, with tongues so swollen that they could not articulate the word. Just then came another blow. Miss Gates swooned away and fell unconscious to the ground. Mr. Glover continues:— It was a new and critical emergency, in the presence of which all the old helplessness came over me. As my dear wife and I were pleading with God for her recovery, I heard a word behind me as distinctly as if it were spoken in my ear: “Up, get thee down and tarry not.” I said to my wife, “Come, darling, we must gather up what strength remains to us and go down to the water. It is not the will of God that we should remain here any longer.” Then, taking Miss Gates by the arm, I bent over her and said: “Dear sister, we must be going without delay. In the name of the Lord Jesus, get up.” In a moment consciousness was restored, and she rose up with strength renewed from on high. With such a confirmation that the thing was of God, and in the assurance that the Lord our God, he it was who was going before us, we left our hiding place and once more adventured ourselves into the open. There below us, away in the not far distance, was the thin streak of silver glancing in the sunlight; the “still waters” to which our Shepherd-Lord9 was leading us at last. What that sight now was to our longing eyes I can never tell—the joy of pointing it out to the darling children, and of seeing the faintest smile dawn over the sad, suffering little features! In a few moments they were actually wading into midstream, putting their lips to the surface and drinking to the full. The “Pentecostal” and Other Movements
By R. C. Porter
Under the above heading the editor of the Overcomer, January, 1910, gives the following illustration of counterfeit religious exercises:— In confirmation of our statement that evil spirits can and do find entry to the bodies or minds of true children of God, and that the door has been peculiarly opened to them through the medium of “tongues,” we give the following extract from an article in a German paper. The writer says:— “It still remains a burning question as to whether the speaking in tongues that we know today is Scriptural or not. In my opinion we have sinned in that we have neglected the simple command of the Lord, to ‘try the spirits whether they are of God.’ . . . The Lord led me, in Baak and other places, into contact with the ‘spirits’ which are manifested in the so-called ‘tongue movement.’ . . . And now that I have come into contact with the spirits, I must say a word of warning against this demoniacal power which has gained an influence over so many of the children of God. To this end I will give a short account of my experience among them:— “This year we had our tent in A——. Our brother —— [the leader in A——] had been present at the tongues conference in England and Amsterdam, and later in Muelheim and Ruhr. He himself did not speak with tongues, but he was in favor of the movement. Many of the members of the gemeinschaft (community) in which this brother is a minister, received the gift of tongues by that laying on of hands of brethren who took part in the conference at Muelheim. Different things that he observed made him doubtful, and eventually skeptical, in the matter. He resolved to investigate, that is, to ‘try the spirits,’ and came to the conclusion that it was with demons that they had to reckon. During this trying of the spirits, which as far as I can judge was Scriptural, among much else, the following occurred: One spirit announced through a child of God, in tongues, ‘Cursed be Jesus Christ.’ Another brother who spoke in tongues, and whose spirit was tried, said, ‘Worship me.’ The spirit in this man demanded direct worship, which the Holy Spirit does not do. (John 16: 13-15.) “In the early part of September I came into personal contact with one of the spirits. . . . A sister who had received the gift of tongues by the laying on of hands at the conference at Muelheim, when it had been proved that the spirit by which she spoke was a demon, wished to be set free. For several hours we prayed with and for her. The spirit, which had previously spoken of Golgotha and the blood, of glory and of revival, now began to abuse us in tongues in the most fearful manner. When we commanded him to depart in the name of Jesus, he told us simply we need take no further trouble, he did not intend to go, we had better depart. Then the spirit began threatening the sister in tongues. “He was furious with her that she had betrayed him, and he threatened to destroy her. The more we prayed, the more he raged, and cursed, and swore, and threatened us. I am not at all an emotional man, but I had the impression that the room was full of demons. The spirit flung the sister about the room, tore and bit her body in a fearful way. . . . We ourselves heard the spirit cursing and swearing in tongues. The words used were so awful that I cannot write them down. I understood a good deal without the sister’s interpretation, for at times the spirit spoke in Latin, Italian, and sometimes French. Unfortunately I could understand only fragments without interpretation, as the spirit spoke very rapidly. It is awful to think that these demons, raging, swearing, and threatening to murder us, up to this time had spoken to the children of God, of Golgotha and revivals, and other spiritual matters, and had been believed. What is to become of the people of God if they believe such demons?” “These speakers with tongues act in the same way as Spiritualists and their mediums.” The following extracts are from an article under the above heading, which appeared in the Overcomer of June, 1910. The questions are outlined by Mr. Evan Roberts, the leader of the remarkable revival movement in Wales, in order that Christian workers might be set praying and seeking light so that they might know the workings of God and the counterfeiting workings of the enemy. The following are some of the questions and answers:— Do you know it possible for a Christian to be deceived, even when true and faithful? Yes. The believer can be deceived through lack of knowledge. Ignorance opens the way for evil spirits to work. They can counterfeit the workings of God to the soul, so that he believes that the “light” which comes to him is from God. As he accepts any false light from deceiving spirits, he is deceived. Do you know it possible for a soul to surrender itself to evil spirits, believing it to be surrendering to the Holy Spirit? Yes. The believer, having believed the lie, now yields himself up to the “light” he thinks has come from God. The evil spirit thus gains possession upon the ground of the lie. The more wholehearted the devotion, the deeper the surrender, and hence the deeper the deception. This is how I was deceived. I was whole-hearted for God, obedient to the light God had given; knew the Lord as my Saviour and sanctifier, but evil spirits deceived me. They came to me with what looked like some new truth from God which had the apparent support of Scripture, and was something I thought would make me more useful in God’s service. I longed to have God’s highest and best, and the deceiving spirits worked upon that. I believed their lies, and was deceived. I believed that the experience they gave me was from God; sometimes I had misgivings which brought unrest, but the deceiving spirits were careful to tell me that “unbelief” came from Satan, and, fearing to disobey God, I continued in my bondage. They would not allow me to question the experience I had received, and this was one subtle way they kept me deceived. Do you know of any doctrines of demons? Enumerate the ones you know of. Yes. “Doctrines of demons” may be under the guise of holiness and sanctification, and so subtle are these demons in their deceptive teaching, that it is only the man of deep experience who can detect them; for they will float a ton of truth to launch one lie, and carefully keep the lie covered until they gain possession. The times are perilous. The last days have been reached. Deceptions abound. The Bible says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. 8: 20. False manifestations are evidence of true manifestations. There is to be a genuine outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter days, more powerful than Pentecost in apostolic times. Joel 2: 1, 23-32. The last days of this prophecy include the last day of human history. It began to be fulfilled moderately in apostolic days. It will reach its climax in the very last days. Joel 2: 23. Satan runs ahead, doing great things with the counterfeit; but the Lord follows in due time, doing great things through the genuine outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Joel 2: 20, 21. Commenting on the gospel commission, and its accompanying power, H. L. Hastings says:— Better “all authority,” as in the American Revised Version. The word is not dunamis, power, but exousia, authority, including ability, place, rulership, right to exercise power. The word dunamis is used in Acts 1: 8. “All power is given unto me.” Did you ever think how much power there is on earth? There is the power of the wind. Do you know of anybody who can control that? There is the power of the waves. Do you know of anybody who can master them? There are the powers of nature—the heaving of the tides, the swelling of the seeds in the earth, the mighty upspringing that clothes the field with grass. There is the power of the clouds. There is the power of heat, in which the strongest iron that ever was forged will melt. There is the power that pours down floods from on high. . . . Think of the millions of glowing orbs that flame through the skies. Think of this world rolling in its mighty orbit. Think of the sun sweeping on in its eternal pathway. Think of the power that moves these things. Some people do not understand how the sun could be made to stand still. Well, if you will tell me what keeps it going, I will tell you how it was made to stand still. All power in the universe; . . . all power over men; all power over devils; all power over everything—“all power”! You have no power over10 winds, but he spoke to the winds, and they obeyed him. You have no power over the waves, but he said, “Peace, be still,” and there was a great calm. You have no power over “all manner of diseases,” but he spoke to the sick, and healed them. You have no power over evil spirits, but he cast out devils with his word. You have no power over the dead, but he called them from the silence of the tomb, and bade them live. Such is the power of the Word of God that it speaks to hearts today with transforming power, and they are changed from a state of hopeless, helpless despair into the character and hope represented in the life of Christ. Its miracles of divine grace are abundant. We have not passed the age of miracles. Every man who ever tested the call of Christ to a transformed life as revealed in the Word by the touch of faith, is a witness to its efficacy and power. And the word of his power ever has been, now is, and ever will be a miracle-working power.
R. C. PORTER. Promoting a Revival
By G. B. Thompson
An evangelist was once asked for suggestions as to the best methods of promoting a revival. He said, “Go home, get into your closet and stay there until you are revived.” This blunt instruction contains the secret of how to have a revival, either personally or as a church. If all the members of the church do this, the church will be revived. Are you cold and lifeless, praying a little from a sense of duty, rather than from a longing of the soul for closer communion with God; praying short, formal prayers; feeling you hardly have time to pray when there is so much to do? To your closet, O man, and the God who seeth in secret will reward you openly. Matt. 6:6. Victory obtained in the closet will be seen in the life. Is there a need in the church? Is the prayer meeting waning? Is the missionary meeting dead? Is a spiritual paralysis creeping over you? Are some backsliding and losing their first love? Is the withering hand of covetousness getting a grip on some who once were faithful in rendering to the Lord that which belongs to him? Are worshipers of mammon rather than of God found in the church? Are some of the youth drifting with the world's tide of pleasure and sin, and being ensnared with the wiles of the wicked one, and do you find yourself unable to hold them spiritually? If so, pray. You can do nothing until you have fervently and earnestly prayed. Confess your own coldness and unfaithfulness and lack of zeal, and supplicate the throne of God for deliverance for yourself and your brethren. Do not let go of the arm of God too soon. Pray through to victory. Like Elijah, continue until the cloud appears, and the reviving shower falls, and the spiritual drought is ended. Following Pentecost, we are told, “when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” Acts 4:31. Prayer first, then the shaking! Nothing will remove the spiritual stupor, and bring life among the dry bones, like supplicating the throne of God. But prayer will do it. Back of every revival it will be found that somebody has gone to praying. Before Pentecost they “all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.” Acts 1:14. Continued prayer, then Pentecost—this is God's order. The mighty work of foreign missions, which is bringing the light of the gospel to the benighted millions of the earth, was born in a haystack. When Samuel J. Mills and his four companions prayed during a thunderstorm that August evening, in the shelter of a haystack, the greatest movement since Pentecost was launched. Something took place in heaven. God heard prayer. Prayer, then missions! The Missionary Review, after a careful study of modern missions, says: “From the day of Pentecost, there has been not one great spiritual awakening in any land which has not begun in a union of prayer, though only among two or three; no such outward, upward movement has continued after such prayer meetings have declined; and it is in exact proportion to the maintenance of such joint and believing supplication and intercession that the word of the Lord in any land or locality has had free course and been glorified.” The strength of our mission work is not in the number of laborers in the field, or the amount of gold and silver in the treasury, but in the earnest prayers which are ascending to God from earnest hearts that fear nothing but sin. “Mr. Moody tells of one of the most memorable hours in his life when unexpectedly he had crossed the ocean and was in England without any intent of holding a religious service. One Saturday at noon he had gone into the meeting in Exeter Hall, on the Strand. At the close a minister greeted him, and asked him to come and preach for him the next morning. Mr. Moody said: ‘I went to the morning service and found a large church filled with people; and when the time came, I began to speak, but it seemed the hardest task of my life. There was no response from the audience. They seemed as if carved out of stone or ice. I was having a struggle all the time, and wished myself in some other place, but I had promised to speak also at night.
“‘At night it was the same thing,—house filled, people outwardly respectful, but no interest or response. When about halfway through my sermon, there came a change. It seemed as if the windows of heaven had opened, and a bit of breath blew down. The atmosphere of the building seemed to change; people's faces changed. It impressed me so that when I finished speaking, I gave the invitation for those who wanted to be Christians to rise, and to my immense surprise the people got up in groups. I turned to the minister and said, “What does this mean?” He said, “I do not know, I am sure.” “Well,” I said, “they misunderstood me, and I will explain what I meant.” So I announced an aftermeeting in the room below, explaining who were invited,—only those who wanted to be Christians,—and then dismissed the service.’” “They went to the lower room, and the people came crowding, filling all available space,—seats, aisles, and standing room. Mr. Moody talked again a few minutes, and then asked those who would be Christians to rise. This time he knew he had made his meaning clear. They arose again in groups and by scores. Mr. Moody said: ‘I turned and said to the minister, “What does this mean?” He said, “I am sure I do not know.” Then the minister said to Mr. Moody: ‘What’ll I do with these people? I do not know what to do with them. This is something new.’ He replied: ‘Well, I'd announce a meeting for tomorrow night and Tuesday night, and see what comes of it. I am going across to Dublin;’ and he went, but he had hardly stepped off the boat when a cablegram was handed him from the minister, saying: ‘Come back at once. The church is packed.’
“‘So he went back, and stayed ten days. The result of those ten days was that four hundred souls were added to that church, and that every church near by felt the impulse of this great revival.
“‘What was the explanation of that marvelous Sunday and the days following? There was some secret hidden beneath the surface. Mr. Moody discovered it. A member of the church, a woman, had been taken sick some time before; then she grew worse; then the physician told her that she would not recover, but that she would likely be shut in her room for years. She began to think of the deep meaning of this affliction. She thought of her life, and said, “How little I have done for God! Practically nothing, and now what can I do shut in here?” Then she said: “I can pray; I can pray for my church; I can pray for the manifestation of God’s Holy Spirit.” Then after every service she asked those who returned home if there was any special word concerning the work in the church. One Sunday noon her sister came in from service and asked,11 ‘Who do you think preached today?’—
“‘I do not know. Who?’—‘Why, a stranger from America, a man called Moody, I think.’
“‘The sick woman's face turned a bit whiter, her eyes looked scared, her lip trembled, and she said: “I know what that means. There is something coming to the old church. Do not bring me any dinner. I must spend this afternoon in prayer.” And so she did. That night in the service the startling change came. Afterwards she told Mr. Moody himself how, nearly two years before, there came into her hands a copy of a paper that told of Mr. Moody and his work. She was led to pray that God would send that man into their church in London, and every day of her life for two years this had been her prayer; and now, by a seeming strange coincidence, God had answered, and abundantly answered, in the salvation of hundreds of souls.’” O the blessing of interceding with God for lost souls! It is said that in a little town in Scotland the Christian people spent the whole night in prayer, and the following day a revival began, and five hundred persons were converted. More than a century ago a number of students in a great university rose early each morning, and during the winter interceded with God for a revival, and it is said that every student in the university surrendered to Christ. “Dr. J. G. K. McClure tells about an invalid woman residing in Springfield, Ill., who had been bedridden for seventeen years, and was almost helpless. For many years she had been praying to God in a general way to save souls. One day she asked for pen and paper. She wrote down the names of fifty-seven acquaintances. She prayed for each of these by name three times a day. She wrote them letters telling them of her interest in them. She also wrote to Christian friends, in whom she knew these persons had confidence, and urged them to speak to these persons about their soul’s welfare, and to do their best to persuade them to repent and believe. She had unquestioning faith in God. In her humble, earnest dependence upon him, she thus interceded for the unsaved. In time every one of those fifty-seven persons avowed faith in Jesus Christ as his Saviour.” In every church there should be found those who, like this woman, are praying for a revival among their neighbors and friends.