“Another sign of the return of our Lord is to be the world-wide preaching of the Gospel. Now, in this connection, let me give a word of correction of a common error on this point.
“The Bible nowhere gives a hint that the world is to be converted before the return of the Lord for His Church. As a matter of fact, the world—the times—are to grow worse and worse; more polished, more cultured, cleverer, better educated, yet grosser in soul, falser in worship. The bulk of the Church shall have the form of godliness, but deny the power.
“Men shall be ‘lovers of their own selves’—who can deny that selfishness is not a crowning sin of this age?—‘covetous’—look at the heaping up of riches, at the cost of the peace, the honour, the very blood of others,—‘incontinent’—the increase in our divorce court cases is alarming, disgusting,—‘lovers of pleasure’—the whole nation has run mad on pleasures.
“I need not enlarge further on this side of the subject, save to repeat that the Word of God is most plain and emphatic on this point, that the return of our Lord is to be marked by a fearful declension from vital godliness. But, with all this, there is to be a world-wide proclamation of the truth of salvation in Jesus. Not necessarily that every individual soul shall hear it, but that all nations, etc., shall have it preached to them.
“Now, in this connection, let me mention a fact that has deeply impressed me. It is this, that the greatest reawakening in the hearts of individual Christians in all the churches—England, America, the Colonies—as testified to by all concerned, agrees, in time, with the awakening of the Church of Christ to the special need of intercession for foreign missions—namely, from 1873-75.
“I must close for this afternoon, lest I weary you. We will, God willing, come together again here on Tuesday at the same hour, and I pray you all to be much in prayer for blessing on the attempt to open up these wondrous truths, and pray also that the right kind of people may be gathered in. Will you all work for this, as well as pray for it? Invite people to the meetings.
“Do either of you know any editors of a daily paper? If so, write to such, draw attention to these expositions, urge your editors to come. Oh, if only we could capture the daily press! What an extended pulpit, what a far-reaching voice would our subject immediately possess!
“I don’t quite know how far I ought to go on this line, but even as I speak, it comes to me to ask you if any one here present is acquainted with the evidently-gifted, open-minded editor of ‘The Courier.’ We have all, of course, been struck by his own utterances from the ‘Prophet’s Chamber’ column. Oh that he could be captured for Christ; then his paper would doubtless be a clarion for his Lord!”
Tom Hammond turned hot and cold. He trusted that no one had recognized him. He would be glad to get away unrecognized. Yet he was not offended by the speaker’s personal allusion to him. He felt that the major’s soul rang true.
“Before I close,” the major went on, “suffer me to read an extract from the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine,’ of the year seventeen hundred and fifty-nine: