The climax. [volume] (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1887-1897, 1894-12-05
MADISON COUNTY KENTUCKY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER

hLollE UlFccliDu 20 correct. the cnllu
has only 10 years in the wrong direc-
tiou to correct. Four times 10 are 40
-Four times the religious prospect for
the lad that comes into the Kingdom
OF God. and into the church at 10 years
of age than the man at 10.
! am very apt TO look upon revivals
as connected with certain men who
fosterei them. People who in this
day do not like REVEALS nevertheless
have not words to express their adj
miration for the revivalists OF the past.
for they were revivalists-Jonatha
Edwards John Wesley, George Whit
field. Fletcher Griffin, Davies. Osborn,
Knapp. Nettleton, and many others
whose names come to my mind. The
strength of their intellect and the
holiness Of their lives makes me think
they would not have anything to do
with that which was ephemeral. Oh.
it Is easy TO talk against revivals.
a man said TO Mr.. Dawson: Il ike
your sermons very much, but the after
meetings ] despise. When the prayer
meetings begin always go up into the
gallery and look down, and / am dis
gUsted" Well" said Mr. Dawson.
the reason is you 60 on the top OF
your neigh boris house and look down
his chimney to examine his fire. and OF
course YOU only get smoke in your
eyes. Why don't you come in the door
and sit down and warm
Oh, ] am afraid to say anything
against revivals of religion, or against
anything that looks like them. because
1 think it may be a sin against the
Holy Ghost, and you know the Bible
says that a sin against the Holy Ghost
shall never be forgiven, neither in thi,
world nor the world 10 come. Now, il
you are a painter, and I speak against
your pictures, do not speak against
you? Ii You are an architect. and
speak against a building You put up
do not speak against YOU? If a re
vivaI be the work of the Holy Ghost
and speak against that re-
viral. do not speak against
the Holy Ghost? And who
soever speaketh against the Holy
Ghost. SAYS the Bible. he shall never bt
forgiven. neither in this world. nor II
the world TO come. ! think sometimes
people have made a fatal mistake IL
this direction.
Many of You know the history o.
Aaron Burr. lie was one of tine mos
brilliant men of his day. 1 suppose
this country never produced a stronger
intellect He was cduable OF doinz
anything good and great for his coun
trr. or for the Church OF God. had "a,
been rightly disposed; but his name /.
associated with treason against tn,
United States government. which h,
tried TO overthrow, and with ibertin
lsIa and public immortality.
DO You know where Aaron Bur
started on the downward road? 1t wa
when ne was in college. ana he becam,
anxious about his soul and ne wa
about TO put himself under the influ
cnces of q revival. and a minister of re
lirion said: Don I go there. Aaron
don't 90 there; that's place of wild
fire and great excitement; no religion
about that; don't go there.
lie tarried away. His serious i'm
pre-sions departed. He started on tn,
downward road And who Is re
sp3nsihle for his ruin? Was it the min
lister who warned him against that re
vival2
When I am speaking Of excitement II
revivals. of course do not mean tenn
porarv arrangement of the nerves;
do not mean the absurd things O
which we have read as transpirins
sometimes in the Church of Christ bu
] mean an intelligent. intense. allah
sorbinr agitation Of body, mind an,
spiritual rescue.
Now I come TO the real, genuine
cause of objection TO revivals. That /
the col6ne~s OF the obiector It is tn
secret and hidden but unmistakabI
/ cause in every case-a low state of re
/ ligion In the heart. Wide-awake, con
secrated. useful Christians are neye
afraid of revivals. 1t is the spirituall
dead who are afraid of having thei
seuulcher molested. The chief agent
of the devil during a great awakening
are always unconvCrted professors O
religion. As soon as Christ's work bt
/ gins. they beTin to gossip against il
/ and take pail Of water and try TO pu
/ our this spark of religious influence
and they try 70 put out another spark
Do they succeed? As well when CHI
! cago was on fire might some one hav
/ gone out with a garden water pot try
ing to eXtinguish it.
The difficulty is that when a reviva
! begins in a church IL begins at so man
points. that while You have doused on
/ anxious soul with pail of cold waite
/ there are five hundred other anXiou
souls on fire. On, how much better
would be to lay hold of the chariot c
/ Christ's Gospel and help pull it o
rather than TO fling ourselves in from
of the wheels, trying to block thei
I progress. We viii not stop the chario-
/ but we ourselves viii be ground I
/ powder.
Did you ever hear that there was
/ convention once held among the ice
bergs in the Arctic? 1t seems that IA
summer was coming on and the 81
was getting hotter and hotter, an
/ there was danger that the whole ice
I field would break up and flow away
I so the taIlest and coolest and tn
broadest of all the icebergs, the yer
king Of the arctics, stood at the hea
of the convention, and, with gavel {