Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-12-22

NOW / come 70 fHS Ihsj, EEAAtt4' tiuST VI
objection TO r~evivals. That IL the GOODNESS
Of THE obiector. II IL the secra, and hidden
but unmistakahlA cause In every ease-a 10"
state 0. religion In the heart Wide awake.
consecrated. useful Christians are never
afraid OF revivals. Il is the spiritually dead
who ara afraid 0: having their s"pu!cher
| rnoicsted. The chic: agents .. the devil dur
| Ing q great Awakening arr always uncon-
| rertai professors OF religion. A. soon rs
| Christ's work begins they beyin 70 gossip
| against Il. and take 4 pail u Ta;erhrf try 10
put out this spark ~ r-i'-toEs in1uenc~,
AMI they Try 70 put out another spard- DO
they succeed? As well whnn Chicago was on
| fra might sone one have gone out with a
| garden water pot trying 70 "xtinclisn Il.
The difficulty Il that wh"n a revival f-
gins In a church IL t"gtn- N 80 MANY points
that white YOU have iousel one aH1ou> soul
| with a pail Of cold Eater there are 500 Other
anxious sou.s on IRE. On, how muca bet
ter II would be 20 lay hoit o. tae chariot. Of
Cnrist's gospe! AMI help pail II on rather
than 10 fling our-eives in front 0 'he wheels.
| trying 20 ulock their progress We Viii not
| stop the chariot, but We ourselves Will De
ground 10 powder.
DID YOU cycr hear that there was \ con-
ventiOn once held among the iceberSs in the
| arctic II seems that tho summer Wa com
Ing on, and the sIn was getting. hotter AMI
| hotter. aud there was danger that the whole
lCSi!tIt NOui0 DIchA ub AL 4 = d"AysoO
the tallest and the col .rst AMI the oroades.
Of nl the icetergs. N. very King 81 the arc.
tics. stood a, the 1c.l 0t tha Convention.
and with a gave . To- sno'e IN a table Of
Ice. calling the cOnyenttOnto order. But tho
sun kept growing III intensity o. bent. and
the south wind blew stronger An stronger.
and soon All rhe ~i"ni"li beg IN 70 grind up,
iceberg against fr.tr.r,. and 10 flow away.
The first resolution passed byine convention
was. Dissolved, tina, W. abolish the sun
But the sun would not /" abolished. The
heat OF the sun grew greater aud greater
until after awnl!e tn very King o. the Ice
bergs began 70 perspire under the glow, and
the smaller tcebergs fell over. aud the cry
was Too much excitenent' Order,
order !" Then the whole body, the whole
field, Of Ice began TO flow out. and a thou
sand voices began 10 ask where are We
going TO now? Wnere are we floating to-
We will all break to pieces BY this time
;hr icefergs had reached the gulf stream,
and they were melted into the bosom OF the
Atlantic Ocean. The warm sun IS the
eternal Spirit. The iceb"rgs are frigid
Christians. The warm Gulf stream Is a great
revival. The ocean into which everything
melted is the great. wide heart OF the
pardoning and SYM ath'ztng God.
But / think. after all, the greatest obstacle
to revivals throughout Christendom to-day
is an unconvertei ministry. We must be-
lieve TINT the vast majority Of those who
ofhciate at sacred affairs are reRenerated,
but I suppose there may aoat into the minis
try Of all the denominations OF Christians
men whose hearts have never been changed
by the grace OF God OF course they are all
antagonlstic to ~revivals.
How did they getintot the ministry? Per
haps some ofthem chose 1t AS a respectable
profession. Perhaps some chose It as o
means OF livelihood. rernaps somo OF them
were sincere, but wero mistaken. As Thomas
Chalmers cold, he had been mahy years
preaching the gospel before his hehrt had
been changed. and, as min ministers OF tho
gospel declare, they were preaching and
had been ordained to sacred orders years
and years before their hearts were reRener-
ated. Gracious God, what n solemn thought
for those OF us who minister at the altar
With the present ministry! In the present
temperature OF piety the world will never be
enveloped with REVEALS. While the pews on
one side the altar cry for mercy the pulpits
on the other side the altar must cry for
mercy. Ministers quarreling. Ministers
trying to pull each other down Ministers
struggling for eclestnsttcal place. Ministers
lethnrgic with whole congregations dying
on their hand. What q spectacle!
Aroused pulpits will make aroused pewa
Pulpits anune will make pews ahame.
Everybody helieves In n revival Of trade,
everybody likes n revival In literature. every.
t''A bthFoo IA tAAp Z = IA ~ ~ 1Atkte
tude cannot understand n revival IN matters
OF religion. Depend upon it. whore you
find a man antagonistic TO revivals, whether
he be In pulpit or pew. he needs to be regen.
Grated by the grace OF Got.
1could prove to q demonstration that
without %revtvals this world will never be
converted, and that In 100 or 200 years with
out revivals Christianity will be practically
extinct. 1t is n matter OF astounding arith,
metic. In each OF our modern generations
there are at least 50. 000. 900 children. Now
add 80, 900. 900 to the worlds population, anc
then have only l00. 600 or 200, 900 converted
every year, and how long before the world
will be saved? Never-nbsolutely never.
During our war the President OF the
United States made proclamation for $4,000
troops. Some Of you remember the big stir.
But the King Of the universe to-day asks for
800 900 900 more troops than are enlisted.
and We want II done softly, imperceptibly.
gently, no excitement. one by one,
You arc q dry goods merchant on a large
scale, and l nm a merchant, on q small scale,
and come TO YOU and want to buy 100e
wards. of cloth. Do you say THANK you
I'll sell you 1000 yards Of cloth, but I'll sell
you twenty yards TODAY, and twenty to-
morrow. and twenty tho next day, and IL 1t
takos me six months I'll sell YOU the whole
1000 yards you will want "a long as that to
examine the goods. and I'll want as long az
that to examine the credit, and, besides that.
IVVO Sttas o. ClOln are 100 NuCn 10 sell all
IT once2" No. you do not say that. You
TAX" me into III" counting 70 on, and In ter
minutes the whole transaction is consum.
mated. The fact is. We cannot AFFORD TO be
fools in anything hut rniigicni
That very merchant Saturday after.
noon sold me- the 1000 yaris OF cloth at one
stroke the next sabbath IN church will stroke
his beard ant Ter whether IL would not
he better for 1000 souls 10 come struggling
along for ten years. instead OF boiling In a,
one service.
We talk "A good deal about the gooi time.
THAT are coming ana ahou: N. worlds r-
!emption. How long H"toCsthey viii rone
There IL q man who says 500 years. Here il
n man who says 900 years. Her, is some
can mora confident VINO says IN hty years
Wat. Atty years 10 YOU propose 10 le
Two generations pass OF The stag. tefor.
the world Il cOuvartair
Su9rosA ~ s~~e ex'r, prolo1cotian ~
human lie nj the next itty years YOU -heuj
walk arouai tho world, Y ulxouli ID, ID
All THAT walk AMI on person that ,oI r,s.og-
nt7-. Nhvf All deaf or - chau-at ina.
YOU would no. know Them. In other wori-.
II YOU Ip-t90a" IN rria-aptiaQ - tht-
"orlt 'or 3tv Years. YOU Admit that ~
majority otth" two Who'll" generations snail
- o|iha -ta." unh.-s-"i Az unsayef.
t". yol -" enursa o. J--ns Christ cannot