The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-06-16
Tabernacle Sermons.
DISCOURSE OF REV. T. DEWITT
T.ALMAGE, on SUNDAY MORN.
ING, MAY 8.

DISCOURSE OF REV. T. DEWITT
TALMAGE, on SUNDAY MORN.
ING, MAY 8.
The Broken Net; or Objections to Re.
yiyalS.
They inclosed q great multitude OF fishes
and their nets bralic.-St. Luke, f.,h
Simon and his comrades had cXpericnceu
the night before what the fishermen can
poor luck" Christ steps on board the fsti-
i~ns-smack, and tells the sailors 10 pun away !,
sink the net. Sure enough, very soon inc hct
is full of fishes, and tho sailors begin 10 nnui
in. SO large Il school of fishes was taken lIaL
the hardy men begin to look rcd IN the ii'e rs
they pull, and hardly have they begun 10 re,
ioice ut their success when snap Hoesh thread
of their net, and snap goes another thread; so
there is danger not Only OF LOSING .nV i; ~ h ows
the boat tilts, or how much, water Is spiasncu
on deck, the fishermen rush about gathering
up the broker meshcs of the net. out Sondei
there is II ship dancing on the waves, ahu
they hail it; ship ahoy! Bear down thls
way" The ship comes, and both hshins-
smacks are filled with the founderlnS trs"S :
urcs. ".Ah" says one, now i!ucn pc..J ho, ~
and tiShcd with q hook and line, ana ulKeu
one up at q time, instead OF having thls greaI
excitement, and the boat almost upset, anu
the net broken, and having TO call loI hc'p'
and getting sopping wet with the sea-
Tho church is the boat, the gospel is tlehct,
society is the sea. anu il great IeNln"l ~ 60
whole school brought In at one SWoop oi ny
net. have admiration for That man VINO
pocs out with Il hook and line to flsl. l ho-
mirc tho way he unwindS the reel anu ADJUSTS
the haii. and drops tho hook In a qulet place
there one; but / like also q big hood. and n
large crew. and 4 net Il mile long, ana sWilt
oars, and stout sails, and Il still breeze, ana y
great multitude Of souls brouGht-so grehI u
multitude thut you have TO get help 10 draw
it ashore, strainins the net to the utmost ui'
til it breaks here and there, ictiing lew ta-
cape, but bringing the great mulutu9c my
eternal safety. In other words. oelleSG ~
reyivals. The great work OF saving men PC
gam with three thousand people joining Inc
church In one day, andi willclose win loItS
or Il hundred million people saved IN twei,y,
duy, But there arc objections 10 reSlN"iS:
peoplc are opposed to them because the net
might get broken, and If by the pressure Oh
souls IL does not get broken, tllcn lucy LIZ
their own pcnknivcs and slit the net. "InSE
incInscd 4 great multitude Of fishes, ana inc
net brake" ..;
oinn That those who come into the church at
slch times do not hold out: rs long rs Incre Is
Il Gale of blessing they have their sails up. ou.
as soon as strong winds stop lhsn
thew drop into a dead calm. But what are
thc facts in the case? In all our churches tho
vast majority Of the useful people are those
who are brought In under great hwakeIinss,
and they hold out. Who arc the prominent
men in the United ID s.lnSs,h IN acG GnHtS"es f J"
Inc most part they are the products OF great
awakcninGs. I have noticed nat thosc who
are brought into the kingdomo of Coz through
rcvivals have more persistence and more de.
termination in the Christian life than those
who come In under n low state OF rclSlon,
People born in an ice-house may live, but
they will never get over the cold they causht
i'm the lce-house! A c~lnnOn-ball depends up
ON the impulse with which it starts for now
far IL shall 20 or how swiftly, and the greater
the revival force with which the soul Is start
cd. the more far reaching and far-resoundinl
will be the execution.
But it is sometimes objected to revivals tina
there Is so much excitement that people ms
take hySteria for religion. We must auinl
thatin every revival OF rcllglon there Is eitme.
a suppressed or q demonstrated excitement
Indeed, If u man can go out of n state OIL con
domination into u state OF acceptance WIZ
God, or see others so, without any ;gitatiol
of soul, he is In an unhelltnS, inorp,u sG WT,
should boast he saw 4 child snatched out iron
uudcra horses hoofs, and felt no agitation, o
saw Il man rescued from the iourth STORY OF
house OH fire, and felt no acce;eration OF IN
pulse. salvation from SIN and death ana mel
into life and peace and Heaven forever is sue
a tremendous thing that If II man tells me b
can look on It with Tns AM any "a as kat sn;me Time
excitement is the most important posslol
thing. In case Of rcSuscltatlon from drown
ing or freezing, the one Idea is to excite am
nation. It's the business OF q churcn 10 re
rive. arouse, awaken, resuscitatc, Startic INT
life. Excitement Is bad or good, according 7
what it makes us do. II it makes US 40 Una
which is bad, 1t Is bad excitement; but II
makes us agitate about our eterna! Weiiaie,
il makes US pray, il 1t makes us attend uPol
Christian service, If 1t makes US cry unto 20
for mercy, then 1t is a good excitement. II
sometimes said that during revlvais o! rei
gion great multitudes of children and youn
people arc brought into the church, ana the.
DO not know what they are about. IT ma
been my observation that the earlier peopl
full they are. Robert Hall, the prince Of Bar
| list preachers, was converted mt twelve year
Of age. 1t is supposed he knew what he wa
about. Matthew Henry, the cominentato
for increasing the interest In the study or IN
Scriptures. was converted at eleven years {
age: Isabella Graham, Immortal In the Chris
tian church. was converted at zen years 6
age: DR.. Watts, whose hymns will be sung a.
down the ages, was converted at nine years c
age; Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the Nigh,
lest intellect that the American pulpit eve
produced, was converted AZ seven sears .
<; age, and that father and mother take an aW
FIJI responsibility when they tell thclr chi!
at seven years Of age, You arc too young I
:. be q Christian or, "you are too young.
;. conncc yourself with the church, THAT'S
mistake as long as eternity. If during n reyi
val two persons present themselves as candl
dates for the church. and the one Is tcn year
of age, and the other Is forty years OF age
will have more confidence in the profession c
religion Of the one ten years OF age thah Ia
one forty years OF age. Why?. The one WI
processes at forty years of age has lorty year
of impulse in the wrong direction 10 correcl
the child has only ten years in the wrong III
rcction to correct. -Four times ten are forty
-Four times the religious prospect for the la'
that comes into the Kingdom OF God and Int
the church at ten years OF age MAN tne mn
ut forty. lam very apt to look upOn revival
as connected with certain men VINO iosterc
them. People who in this day do not like re
vivals, nevertheless have not words 10 OK
the past, for they were revlvalists. Jonathan
Edwards, John Wesley, George Wh!tefclo
Fletcher, Griffin, Davies; Osborne, KNAPP
Nettlcton, and nany others whose name
tcllcct and the holiness Of their lives max
me think they would not have anything +
do with that which was e~phclncral. On! ~
easy to talk of rcvivals. A man said 10 MI
but the aftcr-mccting, 1 dcspisc. When tn
prayer-meeting begins l always 60 up int,
the gallery and look down, and ! am disgust
Cd" "Wcll," said Mr.. Dawson, the reason i
and look down his chimney to examine nj
fire. and, of course, you get only smoke II
your eycs9" Oh! l am afraid to say any
thing against r%cyiSals Of religion or ags1ns
ally GllllH tilto wi hAAN
think II may be & sin against the Holy Ghost
and YOU know the Bible sayS that q Sill
against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiv
en-, neither In this world nor the world u
come. Now, if YOU are a painter and speai
against your pictures, do | not speak againSS
you? Ii you are an architect and | SPEAK
against q building you put up, do l not speak
against you? If revival be the work OF thu
Holy Ghost and / speak against the revival
do / not speak against the Holy Ghost? Ant
who spcaketh against the Holy Ghost, say
the Bible, he shall never be forgiven, neither
In this world nor in the world to come:
think sometimes people have made n fata
mistake in thisd direction. Mango youknoW
the history OF Aaron Burr. He was one o
the most brilliant men Of his day. l suppose
this country never produced a stronger intel
lcct. He was capable of doing anything good
and great for his country, or for the church o
God, had he been rightly disposed: but hi:
name Is associated with treason against thu
overthrow, and with libertlnism and public
immortality. DO you know where Aaron Burr
started on the downward road? 1t was wher
he was in college, and he became anxious
about his soul, and was about to put himself
under the influences OF Il revival, and o. min
don't go there. That's q place of wildfrc and
great excitement; nc religion about that
Don't go there" He tarried away. His Sc
rious Impressions departed. He started on
for his ruin for this world, and his everlasting
ruin in the world to Gomez. Was 1t the min
lister who warned him against that revival l.?
When ! am speaking of excitement In revi.
walls, of course ! do not mean arrangement al
the nerves, or temporary insanity. ! do not
mean the absurd things of which we have
read as tranSpiring sometimes In the Church
Of Christ. But I mean an intelligent, intense
all-absorbing agitation Of body, mind and
soul in the work of spirltal escape and spirit