Revival Efforts

At our camp-meetings there are far too few revival efforts made. There is too little seeking of the Lord. Revival services should be conducted from the beginning to the close of the meeting. The most determined efforts should be made to arouse the people. Let all see that you are in earnest because you have a wonderful message from heaven. Tell them that the Lord is coming in Judgment, and that neither kings nor rulers, wealth nor influence will avail to ward off the judgments soon to fall. At the close of every meeting decisions should be called for. Hold fast to those interested until they are confirmed in the faith.PH130 36.1

We must be more decidedly in earnest. We must talk the truth in private and in public, presenting every argument, urging every motive of infinite weight, to draw men to the Saviour uplifted on the cruel cross. God desires every man to attain unto eternal life. Mark how all through the word of God there is manifest the spirit of urgency, of imploring men and women to come to Christ, to deny appetites and passions that corrupt the soul. With all our power we must urge them to look unto Jesus and to accept His life of self-denial and sacrifice. We must show that we expect them to give joy to the heart of Christ by using every one of His gifts in honouring His name.PH130 36.2

Many who come to the meeting are weary and heavy laden with sin. They do not feel satisfied with their religious experience. Opportunity should be given that those who are troubled and want rest in spirit may find help. After a discourse those who wish to follow Christ should be invited to signify their desire. Invite all who are not satisfied that they are prepared for Christ's coming, and all who feel burdened and heavy ladened to come apart by themselves. Let those who are spiritual converse with these souls. Pray for them and with them. Let much time be spent in prayer and close searching of the word. Let all obtain the real facts of faith in their own souls through belief that the Holy Spirit will be imparted to them because they have a real hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Teach them how to surrender themselves to God, how to believe, how to claim the promises. Let the deep love of God be expressed, in words of encouragement, in words of intercession.PH130 37.1

Let there be far more wrestling with God for the salvation of souls. Work disinterestedly, determinedly, with a spirit to never let go. Compel souls to come in to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Let there be more praying, believing, and receiving, and more working together with God.PH130 37.2

There is the most distressing indifference and neglect in regard to the great salvation. The careless must be awakened, else they are lost. Since God has given His own Son to save the guilty sinner, He means through His agents to counterwork the human and Satanic agencies that are united to destroy the soul. The Lord has made every provision that the uplifted Saviour may be revealed to sinners. Although they are dead in trespasses and sins, their attention must be aroused by the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. Men must be convicted of the evil of sin. The eyes of the transgressor must be enlightened. Let all who have been drawn to Christ tell the story of His love. Let every one who has felt the converting power of Christ upon his own soul do what he can in the name of the Lord.PH130 37.3

The infinite value of the sacrifice required for our redemption reveals the fact that sin is a tremendous evil. God might have wiped out this foul blot from His creation by sweeping the sinner from the face of the earth. But He “So loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Why are not all who claim to love God, seeking to enlighten their neighbours and associates that they may no longer neglect this great salvation?PH130 38.1

Christ gave Himself to a shameful, agonising death showing His great travail of soul to save the perishing. O, Christ is able, Christ is willing, Christ is longing to save all who will come unto Him. Talk to souls in peril and get them to behold Jesus upon the cross, dying to make it possible for Him to pardon. Talk to the sinner with your own heart over-flowing with the tender, pitying love of Christ. Let there be deep earnestness, but not a harsh, loud note should be heard from the one who is trying to win the soul to look and live. First have your own soul consecrated to God. As you look upon your Intercessor in heaven, let your heart be broken, Then, softened and subdued, you can address repenting sinners as one who realises the power of redeeming love. Pray with these souls, by faith bringing them, to the foot of the cross; carry their minds up with your mind, and fix the eye of faith where you look, upon Jesus, the sin-bearer. Get them to look away from their poor, sinful selves to the Saviour, and the victory is won. They behold for themselves the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. They see the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Sun of Righteousness sheds its bright beams into the heart. The strong tide of redeeming love pours into the parched and thirsty soul, and the sinner is saved to Jesus Christ.PH130 38.2

Christ crucified,—talk it, pray it, sing it, and it will break and win hearts. This is the power and wisdom of God to gather souls for Christ. Formal, set phrases, the presentation of merely argumentative subjects, is productive of little good. The melting love of God in the hearts of the workers will be recognized by those for whom they labour. Souls are thirsting for the waters of life. Do not be empty cisterns. If you reveal the love of Christ to them, you may lead the hungering, thirsty ones to Jesus, and He will give them the bread of life and the waters of salvation.PH130 39.1