Revivals and Conversion
By L. A. S.
A GREAT revival has been in progress at Princeton, Ill. The number of conversions is stated to be 2,325. It is spoken of by many as being “the greatest general awakening that has ever taken place in the State of Illinois.” A writer in the Northwestern Christian Advocate enumerates the reasons for the great success of the effort. He states that there was (1) “a heartfelt conviction of the need of a revival;” (2) “a sincerely united church,” ten pastors and churches working together; (3) “the best business and professional men of the community backed the enterprise with money, attendance, and personal influence;” (4) the leading newspaper of the country advertised and commended the meeting, and reported the addresses; (5) there was good music, furnished by an orchestra of twenty-five instruments, and a choir of two hundred and fifty voices; (6) the revival was conducted by Evangelist W. A. Sunday, formerly prominent as a professional baseball player. On this point the writer in the Advocate says: “Evangelist W. A. Sunday’s unique and forceful personality was, of course, paramount. A natural actor, he makes use of his dramatic abilities to awaken curiosity, to draw in the non-churchgoing crowd, and to enforce fundamental truths that have been heard so often as to have lost their novelty. . . . Mr. Sunday’s slang, wit, and pyrotechnics come chiefly in the first ten days of the meeting.” After that he settles down to sober earnestness, and speaks with an intensity and directness which forces conviction upon his hearers; (7) “personal work,” which included “the passing hand-shake, communication by letter and even by telephone;” (8) “the high-school pupils were given special consideration,” the school work being shortened to give them opportunity to attend the meetings. These are all the causes enumerated, and it will be noted that no mention is made of any deep conviction of sin in the hearts of the people on account of their violations of the holy law of God. No mention is made of any such experience as that of the apostle Paul at his conversion, described in the seventh and eighth chapters of Romans. It was evidently not a revival effort of the character of that on the day of Pentecost, as described in Acts 2, when Peter charged his hearers with being guilty of dreadful sin, in having put to death the Son of God. We do not refer to this revival, however, for the purpose of disparaging it in any way, or denying the good it is claimed to have accomplished. It is stated as among the good results that have followed the meeting, that “the saloons are doomed;” “a recent theater failed to draw a paying house;” the high-school authorities have been petitioned by the graduating class to give up dancing at the June banquet; and “every form of social evil has been rebuked.” No one will deny that these represent a most commendable transformation in the life of the town. What we would call attention to, and emphasize, is that the law of God, as the standard of righteousness and the foundation of the divine government, is the foundation upon which every true work of reformation from sin to righteousness must be based. That law is fundamental in Christianity, and in every step of the process of conversion it is to be reckoned with. The sinner who comes to Christ must first awaken to the fact that this law condemns him to death. And when he is released from this condemnation, so that he is no more “under the law,” he finds in it the standard of righteousness, the rule of conduct by which he will be judged in the Judgment day. After he accepts Christ, he finds that the purpose of it is “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled” in him, as he walks “not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:4. Every reform work which is not based on the claims of God’s law falls short of the mark which Christian conversion should attain. There is such a thing as success which is apparent rather than real. A really successful work, one which will be lasting, must have the right foundation. A house may be built upon the sand, and stand for a time, and serve a useful purpose while it lasts; but when the storm beats upon it, it falls, because it has no secure foundation. Likewise people may be converted, and for a time change their course of life, but the deciding question is that of whether they have been converted to God or have been swayed by some influence from another source. It is no uncommon thing for individuals to be “converted” to some man, or to experience “conversion” of a psychological sort, which fails to hold them after the peculiar conditions and influences of the revival have passed away. An understanding of faith as being implicit trust in the Word of God, of sin as being the transgression of the law, of salvation as being salvation from sin, of Christ as being a perfect Saviour for all, and of God’s law as being the eternal foundation of the divine government, must be the essential things fixed in the mind by true conversion. Conversion which is upon this basis will be lasting. There is a reason why so little mention is made of the law in modern revival work. The law condemns the course that is being pursued by the churches. It demands a reformation on their part, in a most essential feature of the worship of God. It calls attention to the “Sabbath of the Lord,” the seventh day, and no man can urge upon others the claims of this law while face to face with the fact that he himself holds to tradition by which the law has been made void. The great reform message proclaimed by Seventh-day Adventists exalts the law of God, and this is its justification for the points of contrast which it presents with modern revival efforts.