LECTURE IX. RESULTS OF REVIVALS. REVELATION V. 13. Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever. This is the new song that was heard by John in vision, as a response from the whole creation, to the sublime anthem which had just before trembled on the harps and lips of the general assembly and church of the first born. The heavenly host, including the angels and the redeemed, shout forth their praises in this noble song:-" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." All nature instantly becomes vocal, and sends back her amen to this loud, and thrilling, and extatic acclamation. "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever." In the series of discourses of which the present is to form the conclusion, I have endeavored to present before you what seems to me the scriptural view of most of the leading topics connected with revivals of religion. I have attempted to show the nature of a genuine revival, and the characteristics by which it is distinguished; to defend revi vals against the cavils of those who oppose them; to note the circumstances which are unfavorable to their progress; to consider the agency of God on the one hand, and the instrumentality of the church on the other, in carrying them forward; to exhibit an outline of the treatment that is due both to the awakened sinner and the hopeful convert; and last of all, to guard you against the evils to which revivals, through the weakness and corruption of human nature, are liable to be perverted. It only remains to direct your attention, in the present discourse, to the RESULTS of revivals; partly in their gradual and partial development, and partly as they will be seen, when the cause shall have gained its complete triumph. And in taking up this subject in this connection, we pass from a theme the least grateful to one that is most grateful to the Christian's heart: we turn our back upon a region of misgivings, and difficulties, and discouragements, and enter a field of hope, and light, and glory. But you will ask, perhaps, in what manner the glorious hymn of praise which I have selected as a text, can be considered as pointing to the results of revivals of religion? I answer, it is a hymn in which the church on earth may very properly unite in celebrating the triumphs of God's grace as they have been manifested in the blessed effects of revivals already. It is the tendency of revivals to prepare multitudes for taking up this noble song even here, and continuing to repeat it with increasing melody and rapture for ever. And moreover it is the song in which the ransomed in glory are to celebrate through eternity the praises of redemption; and of course the triumph of the cause of revivals, in which the purposes of God's redeeming mercy will have gone so wonderfully into effect. Whether, therefore, we consider this as a song of triumph from the church on earth, or as the everlasting song of the redeemed in heaven, it will, in either case, justify the train of thought into which I purpose to lead you in respect to the results of revivals. These results I will endeavor to present before you as they are developed, I. In the present world: The grand result to which revivals are here tending is the complete moral renovation of the world. This result is to be accomplished, 1. By their direct influence, in elevating the intellectual, spiritual, and social condition of men. There is a sluggish tendency in the human mind which it often requires a severe shock effectually to counteract. Most men choose almost any other labor than the labor of thought; and hence no doubt many an individual in whom there is the germ of a noble mind, never actually rises above a very moderate intellectual stature. Now it is the tendency of a revival of religion to bring the faculties into vigorous exercise. Let the Spirit of God be poured out upon a community, and you will find that the public mind there is in a wakeful state; that men seem to have lost their aversion to thinking, and have shaken off their accustomed sluggishness, and are earnest in making inquiries, and cannot rest till those inquiries are answered. There is an intellectual excitement at such a time pervading the whole community; for while convinced sinners are set upon a course of deep and earnest thought in respect to their salvation, the minds of Christians are laid under contribution by the demand that is made upon them for counsel and aid; and even those who are not specially awakened by the Holy Spirit, are usually to a greater or less extent, brought into the posture of reflection or inquiry. And the subject which occupies the mind in this case, let it be remembered, is of the noblest kind. The intellect no doubt may be vigorously employed upon subjects of an unimportant character, and the exercise which it thus receives, may serve to develope and quicken its powers; but in a revival of religion, the subject also is fitted not only to develope and quicken, but to elevate; for it brings the mind in contact with higher orders of being and higher states of existence. Yes, in such a scene, men are not only trained to deep reflection, but to reflection upon matters of infinite moment; and the intellect and the heart get warm together; and while the deep and strong sensibilities of the soul are roused by means of the light that blazes in the understanding, the feelings in turn send back into the mind an influence that is fitted to render its perceptions more distinct and vivid. I appeal to the subjects of revivals every where for evidence of the fact, that the mind is never more active than during a season of the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit But revivals of religion are favorable to intellectual culture, not only as they bring the mind at the time into vigorous exercise, but as they originate in the subjects of them moral feelings and habits which are peculiarly favorable to the acquisition of useful knowledge. Every true subject of a revival has been brought to realize that his intellectual powers and all the means he enjoys for their improvement, are a talent from the great Master, for which he will be responsible; and this impression will of course be favorable to the highest degree of diligence. And then again, that calm state of the affections which is thereby induced, is peculiarly favorable to a habit of intellectual abstraction, and to all high mental efforts and hence I should expect with great confidence that of two individuals, one of whom had been a sharer in the blessed effects of a revival, and the other was a stranger to the power of religion-other things being equal-the former would be far more successful in acquiring any branch of useful knowledge than the latter; besides the fact that in the one case there would be a security, and in the other none, that the acquisitions which were made would be consecrated to the cause of truth, virtue and happiness. And what would be true of a single subject of a revival, would be true of its subjects generally they have experienced an influence which is fitted more than any thing else to bring out their intellectual energies, and give them a right direction. Moreover, as it is the tendency of a revival to impress those who share in it with their obligations to cultivate their own powers as God gives them opportunity, it is adapted also to awaken in them an active desire for the general promotion of useful knowledge. For though they know that knowledge is capable of being perverted to the worst purposes, and renders a bad man a much more formidable enemy to the cause of virtue and happiness than he could be without it; yet they also know that knowledge in itself is an important auxiliary to that cause; and that it were as unreasonable to object to it because it is occasionally perverted to bad ends, as it would be to call in question the utility of the sun because in his march through the heavens he sometimes lights the path of the robber or the assassin. Hence we find that in our own country at least, many of the most active promoters of useful knowledge at the present day are to be found among those who have been practically taught the great lesson of human responsibility in a revival of religion; and it is reasonable to conclude that in the progress of revivals not only religious knowledge, but every other species of knowledge that is fitted to adorn and bless society will be regularly advanced. But if revivals serve to elevate the intellectual condition of men, they operate still more benignly as well as powerfully upon their spiritual condition. All who are the sub |