A Call for Spiritual Revival
By I. S. Chaffee
Bro. Smith: I would say that my trust is in the Lord, and I am trying to live in obedience to his requirements; but the longer I live in this world, the more I see the need of having the Spirit of my blessed Saviour. I need a great deal of the grace of God to live and exhibit the spirit of Christ, and keep myself unspotted from the world. My heart says, Praise the Lord for his goodness towards unworthy me, when I realize what I have been and what I have done, and how much he has done for me. The nearer I live to God, the more I enjoy, and the more I want to be moulded into the image of Christ. O I want to get into that place where I shall abide in God, and have his word abide in me, and then I may ask what I will and it shall be done. My heart is made to cry out when I see the coldness of the professors of Christ here in this place. My prayer is that the Spirit of God may operate upon their hearts, that they may see themselves in the light of God's truth, and repent of their stupidity and coldness, and once more feel that they have a charge to keep and a God to glorify. God says, Son, give me thy heart. O how many have given their hearts to God and run well for a season, but grown weary in well-doing, and taken back the gift that they had laid upon the altar. My prayer is that pure and undefiled religion may be once more revived in this place, and that there may be a people here whose God is the Lord. I would exhort those who have hung their harps upon the willows, to take them down, and tone them once more to Zion's songs. I want to say to the watchmen who stand upon the walls, Cry aloud and spare not: lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. Truly we are living in perilous times, but the service of the Lord is still delightful. I love to be where I can praise God as David did of old, and have my heart filled to overflowing with his love. And while there is such a fullness in Jesus, and it is free for all, why do not all enjoy it? O I fear that too many151among us love too well to follow the fashions and customs of the world, to mingle with the world, and therefore they do not keep themselves unspotted from the world, and Christ cannot dwell in the hearts of such. Again, instead of going to meeting, they had rather stay at home and read newspapers, stories and novels, or visit the neighbors, on the Sabbath. O, Christian friends, if you want to enjoy the fullness that there is in Jesus, you must keep yourselves unspotted from the world, lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset you, and run patiently the whole of the Christian race. Remember the great commandment, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, might, mind and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself. If we have not the Spirit of Christ we are none of his. Yours searching after truth, and in hope of full redemption through the blood of Christ.
I. S. Chaffee.
Ordino, Wis.