ON Friday Mr Moody and Mr Sankey went to Dumbarton, and on the same evening held a meeting in the Parish Church. The following is a brief report of it:
The meeting was held in the Parish Church last evening at half-past seven. The church, which is seated for 1,600, was crowded, the passages being in part filled. All the ministers of the town, with the exception of Mr Gray, the parish minister, who was absent from infirm health, and several stranger ministers, were present in the vestry to meet Mr Moody and Mr Sankey. After prayer for a blessing, they all accompanied the brethren to the church. Mr Hally, United Presbyterian minister, opened the service with the 100th Psalm and a brief prayer, after which Mr Moody besought the ministers and Christians present to be lifting up their hearts in prayer while he was speaking. He then preached with very great power from John iii.
Mr Sankey also sang with great impressiveness. At nine Mr Moody requested all the Christians interested in the Lord's work, and all the anxious, to retire to Mr Hally's church, close by. About 400 went. After several brief prayers and singing, the anxious were asked to retire into a hall behind the church to be spoken with. Between 10 and 50 did so. Messrs Moody and Sankey, with many others, remained for about two hours dealing with the anxious, and not a few went away rejoicing.
May 9, 1874.
J. TAIT.
Another Sabbath with Mr Moody
On Sabbath, Mr Moody addressed four separate meetings. At 9 A.M. he was in the Parish Church, which was filled with men. Mr Sankey was present, and, with a choir of ladies, conducted the singing. The meeting was opened by the audience singing the 10th Psalm, after which Rev. J. Tait, Free Church minister, engaged in prayer. At Mr Moody's request, the hymn, "I am so glad that Jesus loves me" was sung, the audience joining in the chorus. Mr Moody then read 1 Cor. xv. 1-23 and then his subject was the "Gospel," and the blessings which it brings to perishing sinners, working, as it does, a perfect freedom from the sinner's greatest and most terrible enemies -death, the grave, sin, and judgment. His appeal to the unsaved before him to believe the good news that he had come to tell them was a powerful one. His arguments were clenched from the Bible and his earnest pleading rendered doubly impressive by touching illustrations, must have found its way to many a hard heart. Men, old and young, as well as boys, manifested intense interest throughout, and the impression seemed very deep. The hymn "Prodigal child" was sung by Mr Sankey. Mr Moody then engaged in prayer and afterwards asked Mr Sankey to sing the hymn "Almost persuaded"
At 11.15 A.M. Mr Moody preached in the Free Church (Rev. J. Tait's). The Rev. J. Tait conducted the preliminary part of the services. Mr Moody took as the subject of his discourse, "Love,' divine and human. The former was distinguished by being unchangeable, unfailing, and everlasting; and a man could never comprehend it until he came to Calvary, and saw there what love to sinners prompted God to do for them. Mr Moody quoted passage after passage from the New Testament to show that God loved His children with an evelasting love that if he sometimes chastened them, still He did it in love. God's love to unsaved sinners was then proved from many passages which were quoted by the speaker with a readiness and ease that showed the most intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures. A tone of the utmost tenderness, befitting the subject, ran through the whole address, and drew tears from many an eye. "None could listen unmoved to language, every word of which plainly came direct from the heart of the speaker. Mr Moody's power as a preacher consists in this, if in anything, that he always makes his hearers feel that he is not theorising, but speaking to dying men what he has himself experienced.
At 5 P.M. the Free Church was again filled, this time almost to overflowing, notwithstanding the somewhat unusual hour. Mr Moody was accompanied to the pulpit by Rev. J. Tait and Rev. J. Hamilton of Renton. After Mr Tait had engaged in prayer, Mr Moody proceeded to give his lecture on "The Blood." This address is not unknown to many of our readers. We earnestly wish it were known as it should be by all of them. Our space forbids that we should present here even a brief analysis of it... At the close of his address, Mr Moody asked the choir to sing the hymn, "I'm sweeping through the gates."
According to public advertisement, Mr Moody was to address a fourth meeting in the Parish Church at 7.30 P.M. A large number went straight from the Free Church to this meeting, but all the sitting room was already occupied. The passages were soon filled, both on the floor and in the galleries. Those who could not be admitted went into the United Presbyterian
Church, in the immediate neighbourhood. Mr Moody, along with Rev. Messrs Tait and Hally, came in a quarter before the advertised time of meeting. Mr Hally engaged in prayer, and Mr Sankey sang the hymn, "I love to tell the story;" prayer was again offered up, and the hymn "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by" was sung by Mr Sankey by request. Mr Moody then addressed the meeting from Romans iii. 22, last clause - There is no difference. Man's utter helplessness and inability to keep God's law, and his need therefore of a substitute, were set forth with very great power and with the utmost plainness. The freeness and the fulness of the gospel offer of salvation were dwelt upon at length, and illustrated with touching incidents, many of which happened in Mr Moodys experience. An earnest appeal was given in burning words to all unconverted in the meeting not to put offer any longer as to their standing before God, for God's Spirit would not always strive with them. There was a very large after-meeting for inquirers in the United Presbyterian Church.
"Times of Blessing," May 14th, 1874.
The work here still goes steadily on. The waters are rising, rising, quietly but surely. We had a blessed meeting on Sabbath evening. Mr Brownlow North spoke with great power from "Wilt thou go with this man?" He visited a second meeting, which only those were to remain who were ready to pledge themselves to go with this Man, ie., those already believers, or who were prepared now to become such, by simple acceptance of Christ's proposal of everlasting espousal. We could barely believe our eyes when between three and four hundred returned to the church. It was a sweet and solemn season, and the words spoken by Mr North singularly encouraging and appropriate. About a third of the number were the young of both sexes, say from twelve up to twenty-four years of age.
"The Christian," July 23rd, 1874.
Now a business.