Practical Bible Training School - Theologue Yearbook (Johnson City, NY)

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He Lived For Otberf' 17 generation before- Moody and Sankeyf' To this day the names 'iDavis and Mills' are remembered by thousands upon thousands of the older generation. In looking over some of the newspaper clippings of the great Brooklyn campaigns held in the year 1907, we were thrilled by accounts with head-lines such as the following: 72,500 People Attend Davis- Mills Meetings, l'1,20O Men at Single Mass Meet- ing, Revival Meetings Fill Two Churchesf i'Evan- gelist Davis and F. A. Mills, His Singer, Arouse Great Enthusiasm, i'Lively Time at Revival in Brooklyn, Evangelist Davis of Binghamton and His Singers Stir Up Things, Davis and Mills Asked to Return Next Yearf' There is much that we might say concerning the work of Evangelist john A. Davis in these campaigns. He was held in very high esteem by pastors through- out the entire city of Brooklyn. The following ar- ticle concerning the coming campaign which Davis and Mills were to hold in the Washington Avenue Baptist Church appeared in the Sunday Bulletin dated March 3, 1907. The long expected coming of these powerful evangelists is about to be realized, for Davis and Mills begin special Gospel meetings next Sunday and continue with us two weeks. It is positively cer- tain that their coming will be of immense benefit. They are masters along the line of their specialty- the arousing of the conscience in allegiance to jesus Christ. Their work is thorough. Their appeals are tremendous. Their business is to make converts to jesus Christ, of members of the Church as well as the world, of which our Lord will not be ashamed, and they know their business. They are unique in the revival field, for they are first, midst and last, men of action. Other evangelists preach and sing. These men act, and infiuence the people to act with them. They are generals with a plan of campaign mapped out in advance, and you find yourself fol- lowing their lead. However sluggish you were yes- terday and indiierent, when they command, you arouse yourself and follow. This is because they command so sweetly and appealingly that you cannot help loving them. and before you know it you are loving the Christ they proclaim. The writer spent last Wednesday evening from 8 to 11 o'clock at one of their meetings and found it hard not to go again Thursday night. They held my attention from start to finish. How can they continue a meeting for two and a half hours and hold the crowds? As Philip said to Nathaniel, Come and seef, In that throng of people I saw nobody asleep, but I did see people laugh and weep, and less than a hundred went out before the close. The evangelist took less than thirty minutes for his sermon, and sermon it was, all right, preached with the picturesqueness and vividness of a Talmadge, and the power of a Moody. True, it lacked the homiletical form of a college trained, theo- logically dried sermonizer. It did not satisfy the intellect. It came near offending the intellectual demand. In fact it may be said, as I look back upon it, to have dethroned the intellect, and after the giant lay there cast down, Davis was cruel enough to stand upon him and reach out after your heart. He suc- ceeded in boring into the conscience, in grappling the heart, in stirring the phlegmatic propriety of spiritual indifference to the depths, in honoring jesus and making Him seem more indispensible to Christian work and living than before seemed to be necessary. These youngsters, for they are very young men as years go, though veterans in the spirit, possess a charm hard to define, and the best of it is, the charm lingers with you after the meeting is over, and next day, and you feel uneasy until you go again. We are told we heard the evangelist at his best in preaching and the conducting of the after meeting, which by the way is never conducted two evenings the same. Even so, I cannot conceive of his second-best being uninteresting and tiresome. I imagine someone ask- ing if less than thirty minutes were taken up with the sermon, how in the name of all that is good and great could the rest of the long evening be made not to drag? A detailed answer would take too long, so again I must answer, as above- come and see. The following account appeared in the 'lNew York Herald of May 7, 1907, giving an account of the closing night of the Brooklyn campaigns. A most re- markable demonstration of the deep hold Evangel- ists Davis and Mills have secured upon the religious element of this city during their four month's cam- paign was strikingly given in the closing service held in the largest available building, the Janes M. E. Church Sunday night. Tickets were issued, but not- withstanding, hundreds crowded before the doors singing the old familiar hymns learned during the campaign, while waiting for admittance. The crush at the front filled the great auditorium in a moment after the opening of the doors and overflow meet- ings were quickly arranged for in nearby churches. The sight inside was a most inspiring one, as 500 singers in the great union chorus crowded the plat- form and galleries, and when Mr. Mills waved his baton as the signal to begin, those who heard will never forget the enthusiastic melodious response, the deep spiritual fervor, as from song to song the hun- dreds swung in unison and with great accord. Shortly after the song service Evangelist Davis took charge. He was given an enthusiastic greet- ing, men and women from all the walks of life and social positionswprofessional, businessmen, mechan- ics, rising to their feet again and again to express their appreciation of the great work done. Mr. Davis in characteristic form and with unique power, after prayer led the great congregation into testimonies of benefits received. The pastors first telling how great blessings had come and saying they had never ex- 'But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Rom. 5:8.

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16 He Liz-'ed 17 or Ofh6I'.i 'j blessed again when another son, Charles j. Davis, was given to the proud parents by Him who giveth every good and perfect gift. The pleased parents had much to tell the world about their boys. Those were happy days for the Davis family, yes, and for the community too. A Christian Endeavor society was soon organized and functioned successfully. On one occasion, thirty men were welcomed into it. Glorious times were continually experienced. Its membership was one hundred. One hundred boys and girls constituted the junior Christian Endeavor society. These or- ganizations had joyful and important parts in the church activities. They stood loyally by the pastor. They had the honor of being the largest of like groups in Susquehanna County. The Hallstead Fire Company invited similar com- panies from Binghamton and other towns to join in a celebration and parade at Hallstead. They came in large numbers in fine uniforms and with brass bands. Both the Senior and junior Christian En- deavor societies were ready for them. When march- ers halted long enough to be served with lemonade by the hustling Seniors, the juniors invaded the ranks with dainty buttonhole bouquets, each attached with ribbon to a card with a Scripture passage written thereon. The boys and girls did quick Work to make sure each fireman had one pinned on his uniform. It meant much work for these societies to gather and prepare all the flowers and cards, but the deep im- pression made on the firemen was assurance that all V the work was amply rewarded by the joy and bless- ing given. The following quotation is from a booklet, en- titled History of the First Baptist Church of Hall- stead, Pennsylvaniaf' During Mr. Davis' pastorate he spent much time in evangelistic work in other fields. In September, 1899, he tendered his resig- nation, in order that he might devote all of his time to this special work to which he felt the Lord had called him. Women, children and strong men wept at the service when he announced his resignation, yet none would have asked him to remain against the leading of the Holy Spirit. November 26, 1899, both morning and evening, large audiences attended the farewell services for Pastor Davis. The morn- ing text was I Cor. 2:1-4 iAnd I brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power', the evening text was I Samuel 12:24 'Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you.' He moved to Binghamton to give full time to his evangelistic work in which he became re- nowned. Be it known that some of his best and most blessed work was at Hallstead. DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELISTW II Timothy 415. After five years of successful work as a pastor in Hallstead, Pa., Mr. Davis felt the call of God to do the work of an evangelist, so in his implicit obedience to the will of God, he resigned his pas- torate and embarked on a course of evangelism which for brilliancy ranks with that of the greatest evan- gelists of the present century. We believe that Mr. Davis was one of those of whom Paul was speaking in the fourth chapter in his letter to the Ephesians when he said, and He gave some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evan- gelists, and some, pastors and teachersf' Truly, Mr. Davis was a God-ordained evangelist doing a God- ordained work in many, many places where the Spirit of God led. God's seal of approval upon this humble ambas- sador's work can be traced into every field of service where he ever held a campaign. He has been in- strumental in leading many thousands of souls out into the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ. His aim was for a million souls for Christ in eter- nity! He came very close to his aim, how close, only eternity will reveal. It would be an impossibility to give an account of all the campaigns which Evangelist Davis held. It would be impossible even to list the places where he has been privileged, under God, to present the Glad Tidings to hungry hearts. We wish that more space might be available to reiterate some of the won- derful works, wrought by the Holy Spirit through the life of this unassuming, unpretentious servant. However, we shall try to touch on a few of the larger campaigns in order to give an idea of how the cam- paigns were conducted and the manner in which they were generally received. To many fields, Mr. Davis was recalled two, three, and even as many as seven different times. Asso- ciated with Mr. Davis, as singer, was Mr. Fred A. Mills, a man with a rich baritone voice and Spirit- given ability, both as a soloist and as an inspiring chorus leader. Davis and Mills were names known in the evangelistic field comparable with those of the 'Yield to the pruning knife or expect the axe

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18 He Lived For Ollferru pected to see the like and told of the good that had come to their churches. Laughter and tears followed along the enthusiastic wave as men, women and chil- dren continued rapidly telling, in varied form, of the joy that had come into their lives. It was the great- est religious demonstration ever held in this city and fittingly closed the campaign, which has been a chain of most remarkable incidents from the beginning. Davis' and Mills' remarkable meetings have left a deep impression on this city of churches. They hold a campaign in Baltimore May 12-19, 09075 in the centre of the city, a union of the churches, an out- growth of their great work there last December. From Brooklyn, Davis and Mills went to Balti- more, another one of the large cities of the East. It was a united campaign embracing fifteen churches, out in a section of the city near Goucher College, north of the Pennsylvania depot. This campaign was also very successful as indeed was every campaign carried on by them. At the close of these meetings a newspaper account reads as follows: Not since the days when Moody and Sankey so mightily stirred the city of Baltimore has so great an evangelistic cam- paign been held as that recently closed by those con- secrated men, Davis and Mills, who have been hold- ing a series of meetings in North East Baltimore, fifteen churches uniting, representing five different denominations as well as the mission interests of that part of the city. The greatest harmony and a choice sweetness pervaded the whole series, and nothing was said by those tactful, and yet fearless workers, that in the least jarred the fine spirit in the union effort. The resolutions passed, state that much of the harmony was due to the masterful way in which Evangelist john A. Davis looked after the details and held the grasp of every service. The re- markable work in large measure was due to the forc- ible Gospel sermons preached by Mr. Davis, exposi- tory and topical in their make-up, and his broad and liberal attitude which has been likened to that of Spurgeon. Marked evidence of his special ability and training for the special work of an evangelist, were seen in every service and people were turned away night after night while great crowds attended the meetings. F. A. Mills had charge of the great chorus choir, and his masterful ability as a singer and leader soon aroused a spirit of song which stirred the whole section of the city. Night after night people gath- ered in front of the building or congregated on street corners singing the hymns of the meetings, and it was often a familiar sound, to hear above the hum of the on going trolley cars the sweet strains of the familiar hymns sung by those homeward bound. The results of the meetings were great, many were quickened to strong religious interest and many started in the new way of living. Indeed the inter- est became so great and the influence extended over so wide a territory, that the greatness of the work cannot be computed. From Baltimore, Mr. Davis returned to Brooklyn at the request of the up-town churches. lt was on this return visit that he held a union service at the Hanson Place Baptist Church, and from which the choirs and audience marched to the South Oxford Street residence of Ira D. Sankey, the great singer, who was co-laborer with D. L. Moody. Under- neath the window of his room the great chorus gath- ered while hundreds listened to the old familiar hymns he had made famous, and which were carried to him through the opened windows. The choir sang, 'When the Mists Have Rolled Away,' 'There'll Be No Dark Valley,' 'While the Days Are Going By,' 'For You I Am Praying,' and Mr. Mills sang the solo. 'The Ninety and Nine.' It was a time never to be forgotten, as the singers heartily joined, while hundreds from the surrounding dwellings threw open windows to catch the inspiration of the moment, and some of the members of Mr. Sankey's family came with tear-dimmed eyes to look upon the scene. One metropolitan daily reported the incident as follows: One of the most remarkable services ever held in Brooklyn was that yesterday morning at 7:30 at the Hanson Place Baptist Church. It was the oc- casion of a union Easter morning service led by Davis and Mills, who have been holding evangelistic serv- ices in the city for several months. Fully a thousand people, representing many churches, filled the church, galleries and all, and the meeting could scarcely be closed by 9:30. The evangelistic choirs from the Janes Methodist, the Sumner Avenue Baptist, the Embury Memorial Methodist, and the Wasliington Avenue Baptist churches filled the large platform built for the occasion and nearly half the gallery on either side. Most of the songs sung were the familiar ones learned by the audience in the various campaigns in the borough. Mr. Davis gave a soul-stirring talk, and then followed a rapid-hre testimony meeting which has scarcely been equalled anywhere. Often a half dozen were on their feet at once waiting eager- ly their chance to speak. Near the close, Mr. Davis revealed to the audi- ence a plan that he had kept as a surprise, and to- gether a thousand people marched four abreast around to the residence of Ira D. Sankey, the singer now blind, who made song so famous in the Moody campaigns, and there under his window sang his favorite selections. The Rev. Dr. C. D. Case, the Rev. John R. Knox, and Davis and Mills headed the procession. One song that Mr. Sankey espe- cially requested them to sing was, There'll Be No Dark Valley. The people next proceeded to the residence of Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler. who also lives on South Oxford Street, a little below the home of Mr. Sankey, and sang for him. The doctor was on his porch and responded to the song with a short appeal. He said that nearly five years ago Ira D. Sankey sang the last time in public just where the Dip the pen of the tongue in the ink of the heart.