>At this very time there were mighty movements of the Spirit of God in our city. Believers were walking in the paths of holiness with a look of glory on their faces. They knew the Lord in a deep, intimate way and were living dynamic Christian lives. Their passion for souls was awful to behold. Sometimes the preachers would break down weeping during their messages. I trembled under tremendous conviction of sin as the Christians silently wept on every side while the preacher gave forth God’s message. These were no “cut and dried” sermons! These were no cold, dead gospel meetings! They were alive with the presence of God. The people leaned forward breathlessly to catch every word from the speakers. The testimonies were tremendous in their warmth and reality. Again and again, I had to consciously resist being borne along to the front by the Spirit to declare myself on the Lord’s side! Many times, without an invitation, as many as eighty people waited behind to be dealt with because of their soul-anxiety.
…You see I rarely ever heard an “easy-believism” message preached by these old-fashioned gospel messengers. It was not mere “believe John 3:16 and you will be saved”. They preached that Christ is LORD and Saviour. They did not preach a false gospel. They preached that unless the guilt sinner laid down his arms of rebellion he would go straight to Hell. They made it clear that the Son of God saves sinners but rejects wilful rebels. You see, I knew all along that before God would save me I would have to submit to His terms and not my own.” James A Stewart, from I Must Tell-The Story of a boy preacher ages 14 to 23 years