“There are evils in all our churches which can never be removed but by such a work of grace. There are thousands of the young of both sexes to whom we have no access, and who can never be reached but by the Spirit of God descending on them with almighty power, a power that goes forth only when the church is greatly impressed with a sense of existing evils, and when it comes with fervent entreaty to a throne of grace to ask the interposition of the Almighty arm. In ordinary times, the world, especially in cities, presents such scenes as these. None pursue a solitary, scarcely any one an independent, course of evil. One form of sin is interwoven with another; one countenances another; one leads on another; and all stand opposed with solid front to the Gospel of Christ. The world is arrayed in hostility against God; and not even on the flanks of the immense army can an impression be made; scarce a straggler can be found who can be brought under the influence of the Gospel. Meantime the church slumbers; the mass of professing Christians feel no concern; and if here and there an active Christian is seen, his efforts are solitary and unaided; he is without counsel or concert with others, and he makes no impression on the combined evil around him. In such scenes we are not to wonder that sin triumphs, and that the world moves on undisturbed to death.”
Albert Barnes – the Theory and Desirableness of Revivals; chapter 2, page 58
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