Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-12-07

ish the sun. :"

OF the iceDergs began 10 peIsplre uhuet
the glow, and the smaller icebergs fell
over, and the cry was: TOO much ex-
citement Order, order!" Then tho
whole body, the whole field, of ice be-
gan to flow out and thousand voices
began to ask: where are we going to
now? Where are we floating 70? We
will all break to pieces" BY this time
the icebergs had reached the gulf stream,
and they were melted into the bosom Of
the Atlantic ocean. The warm sup is
the eternal Spirit The icebergs are frig-
Id Christians The warm gulf stream is
q great revival. The ocean into which
everything melted is the great, wide
heart of the pardoning and sympathiz-
ing God.
A Word About the Ministry.
But / think, after all, the greatest
obstacle to revivals throughout Chris
tendon today is an unconverted minis
Try. We must believe that the vast ma
jority Of those who oficiate at sacred
affairs are regenerated, but I suppose
there may float into the ministry Of all
the denominations Of Christians men
whose hearts have never been changed
by the grace Of God. OF course they are
all antagonistic to reviyals.
How did they get into the ministry?
Perhaps some of them chose it as a re-
spectacle profession. Perhaps some
chose 1t as a means Of livelihood. Per-
haps some Of then L6ere sincere, but
were mistaken. AS Thomas Chalmers
said, he had been many years preaching
the gospel before his heart had been
changed, and, as many ministers of the
gospel declare, they were preaching and
had been ordained to sacred orders years
and years before their hearts were re-
generated. Gracious God, what a SOL
emn thought for those Of US who minis
ter at the altar With the present min
lstry in the present temperature Of piety
the world will never be enveloped with
revivals. While the pews on one side
the altar cry for mercy the pulpits on
the other side the altar must cry for
mercy. Minister quarreling. Ministers
trying to pail each other down. Minis
tiers struggling for ecclesiastical place.
Ministers lethargic with whole gle
cations dying on their hand What a
spectaclel
Aroused pulpits will make aroused
pews. Pulpits afame will make pews
afame. Every body believes in revival
In trade, everybody likes a revival in
literature, everybody likes a revival in
art, yet a great multitude cannot un-
derstand q revival in matters Of reli-
gion. Depend upon it, where You find a
man antagonistic to revivals, whether
he be in pulpit or pew, he needs TO be
regenerated by the grace Of God
could prove to demonstration that
without revivals this world will never
be converted, and that in 100 or 200
years without revivals Christianity will
be practically extinct. 1t is matter OF
astounding arithmetic. In each Of our
modern generations there are at least
80, 900, 900 children. Now add 32, OOO,-
900 to the worlds population, and then
have only 100, 900 or 200, 600 converted
every year, and how long before the world
will be savedl Never-absolutely never D!
We Cannot Anord to BE Fools.
During our war the president Of the
United States made proclamation for
rs, 700 troops. Some Of you remember
the big stir. BIT the King Of the uni
verse today asks for 500, 600, 600 more
troops than are enlisted, and we want
it done softly, imperceptibly, gently no
excitement, one by one!
You are a dry goods merchant on
large scale, and am merchant on
small scale, and l come to you and want
to buy 1, 900 yards Of cloth. Do you
say: THANK you; I'll sell you 1000
yards of cloth, but I'll sell you 20 yards
today, and 20 tomorrow, and 20 the next
day. and If 1t takes me six months III
sell you the whole 1000 yards; you
will want as long as that to examine
the goods, and I'll want as long as that
to examine the credit, and, besides that
1, 900 yards Of cloth are too much to sell
all at once?' No, you do not say that
You take me into the counting room,
and In ten minutes the whole transac-
ton Is consummated. The fact is, we
cannot afford to be fools in anything
but religionl
That very merchant who on Saturday
afternoon sold me the 1000 yards OF
cloth at one stroke the next Sabbath in
church will stroke his beard and won
der whether it would not be better for
1. 900 souls to come struggling along for
ten years, instead of bolting in at one
service.
We talk a good deal about the good
times that are coming and about the
worlds redemption. How long before
they will come? There is a man who
says 500 years. Here is man who says
200 years. Here is some one more conf
dent who says in so years. What, %
years? Do you propose to let two gener.
ations pass of the stage before the world
is convertedl
We Must Pray and Toll.
Suppose by some extra prolongation
of human life at the next 90 years You
should walk around the world, you
would not In all that walk find one per
son that you recognize Why? All dead
or so changed you would not know them.
In other words. II you postpone the re-
demption Of this world for 90 years,
YOU admit that the majority Of the two
whole generations shall 60 off the stage
unblessed and unsaved. ! tell you the
church Of Jesus Christ cannot consent
to It, We must pray and toll and have
the revival spirit and we must strug-
gle to have the whole world saved be-
fore the men and women now in middle
life pass of.
"Oh," you say, sit is too vast an en-
terprise to be conducted In so short a
time" Do you know how long 1t would
take TO save the whole world II eaca
man would bring anotherl 1t would
take ten years By calculation In COM
pound interest, each man bringing an
other. and that one another, and that
one another. in ten years the whole world
would be saved. II the world is not
saved In the next ten years. II Will pe