The Penn's Grove record., 1894-12-07
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE's SUN.
DAY SERMON.
subject: "The objections to Reiig
ious R~evivaIs.o


Simon and his comrades had experienced
the night before what fishermen call "poor
luck" Christ steps on board the fishing
smack and tells the sailors topuil away from
the beach and directs them again to sink the
net. Sure enough, very soon the net Ia full
Of fishes. and the sailors begin to haul in.
So large a school Of fish was taken that the
hardy men begin to look red 10 the face as
they pull, and hardly have they begun TO re-
joioe at their suecs when snap goes a
thread OF the net, ami snap goes another
thread, so there Is danger not only Of losing
the fish, but o! losing the net.
Without mnch care as to how much the
hoat Tits or how much water Is splaste1 on
deck. the fishermen rush about gathering
up the broken meshes OF the net. Out
yonder there is a ship dancing on the
wave, and they hail 1t, "ship ahoy, bear
down this way" The ship comes, and
both boats, both fishing smacks, are filled
with the foundering treasures.
"Ah,' SAYS some one, show much better
1t would have been II they had staid on
shore, and flshed with a hook and line. and
taken one at a time, instead of having this
great excitement, and the boat almost upset,
and the net broken. and having to call for
help and getting sopptng wet with the
sea !" The church is the boat, the gospel Is
The net, society Is the sea, and a great re-
vivsl is a whole school brought in at one
sweep OF the net. / have admiration for
that man who goes out with a hook AMI line
10 fish. Iadmire the way ne unwinds the
reel and adjusts the bait and drops the
hook in a qniet place on q still after
noon, and here catches one and there
one, but I like also a big boat. and
a large crew, and net a mile long, and swift
oars, and stout sails, and a stiff breeze, and
a great multitu lie OF souls brought-so great
a multitude that you have to get help ia
draw II ashore-straininy the net to the ut.
most until It breaks here and there, letting a
few escape, but bringing the great multitude
INTO eternal safety.
In other words, I believe In r~evivals. The
great work ofsaving men began with 5000
will cicse with 40, 000, 900 or 100. 900, 900 peo-
Pile saved ia "a hours, when nations shall he
born In a day. But there are objections to
revivals. People are opposed to them be-
cause the net might get Sroken. and II by
the pressure OF souls 1t doest ut get broken,
then they take their own p~enkniyes and slit
the net. "They inclosed a great multitude
Of fishes, and the net brake"
1t Is sometimes opposed TO r~evivals OF re
lieion that those who come into the church
at such times do not hold out as long as
there is a gale Of blessing they rave their
sails mp. but as soon as strong winds stop
blowing then they drop into a dead calm.
But what are the facts In the case2 In all
our churches the vast majority of the useful
people are those who are brought in under
great awakenings, and they hold out. Who
are the prominent men in the United States
In churches. In prayer meetings, in Sabbath
scnools2 For the mcst part they are the pro-
duct OF great awakenings.
l have noticed that those who are brought
Into the kingdom of God through revivals
have more persistence and more determina-
tion in the Christian life than those who
come in under a low state of religion. Peo-
pie born in an ioehouse may live, but they
will never get over the cold they caught in
the %icehousel A cannon ball depends npon
the impulse with which it starts for how far
1t shall go and how swiftly, and the greater
the revival force with which q soul is started
the more farreaching and far resounding will
be the execution.
But 1t is sometimes objected to r~eyivals
that pre- Is so much excitement that people
mia2hysteria for religion.
We must admit that in every revival OF re-
figion there is either q suppressed or a
demonstrated excitement. Indeed II O man
can go out OF a state of condemnation into
a state OF acceptance with God, or see others
go, without any agitation of soul, he Is in an
unhealthy, morbid state, and is as repulsive
and absurd as a man who should boast he
saw a child snatched out from under a
horses hoofs and felt no agitation, or saw a
man rescued from the fourth story OF a
house or fire and felt no acceleration of the
pulses.
Salvation from sin aud death and hell into
life and peace and heaven forever is such a
tremendous thing that if q man tells me he
can look on 1t without any agitation 1 DOUBT
his Christianity. The fact Ia that sometimes
excitement is the most important possible
thing. In case of res uscitation from drown
Ing or freezing, the one idea Is to excite ami
nation. Before conversion We are dead. 1t
is the business of the church to revive,
arouse, awaken, resuscitate, startle into lie.
Excitement is bad or good according to what
II makes us do. II 1t makes us d othat which
Is bad, 1t is bad excitement, but II 1t make US
agitated about our eternal welfare, II il
make US pray, II 1t make US attend upon
Christian service, II II make US cry unto Col
Tor mercy, then it Is a good excitement.
1t is sometimes said that during ~revivals
Of religion great m%ultitudes OF children and
young people are brought into the church,
and they 80 not know what they are about.
1t has been my observation that the earlier
people come into the kingdom OF God the
more useful they are.
Robert Hall, the prince OF Baptist preach.
ers, was converted at twelve years of age. II
Is supposed he knew what he was about.
Matthew Henry, the commentator, who did
more than any man of his century for in
creasing the interest in the study Of the
Scriptures, was converted at eleven years oil
age Isabella Graham, immortal in the
Christian church, was converted at ten
years OF age DR.. Watts, whose hymns will
be sung all down the ages, was converted at
nine years of age; Jonathan Edwards, per-
haps the mightiest intellect that the Ameri-
can pulpit ever produced, was converted at
seven years OF age, and that father and
mother take an awful responsibility when
tell their child at seven years 3f age,
.You are too young to be q Christian, or
"You are too young to connect yourself with
the church." That Is a mistake as long as
eternity.
If during a revival two persons present
themselves as candidates for the church, and
the one Is ten years OF age, and the other 10
forty years Of age, I will have more conf
dence In the profession of religion Of the one
ten years OF age than the M forty years o.
age. Why? The one who Processes at forty
years OF & has forty years of impulse in
the wrong direction to correct, the child has
only ten years in the wrong direction TO
correct. -Four times ten are forty. Four
the religious prospect for the lad that
comes into the kingdom of God, and into
the church at ten years Of age than the man
at forty.
! am very apt to look upon ~revivals as con
nected with certain men who foster them.
People who In this day do not like REVEALS,
nevertheless, have not words to express their
admiration for the revivaiists of the past, for
they were reyivalists-Jonathan Edwards,
John Wesley, George White1eld, Griffin,
Davies, oshorn, Knapp, Nettleton and many
others whose names come to my mind The
strength OF their intellect and the holiness OF
their lives make me think they would not
have anything to do with that which was
ephemeral. Oh, II is easy to talk against re
vIvals.
Do you know where Aaron Burr started
on the downward road2 II was when he
was in college, and he became anxioui
about his soul and was about to put himself
under the influence of a revival, and Q min
lister of religion saidi ,'Don't go there,
Aaron don't go there that's q place oil
wildlre and great excitement no religion
about that don't go there" He tarried
way. His serious Impressions departed.
He started IN the downward road. And
who Is RESPONSIBLE for his ruin? Was 1t the
. mister who warned him against that re-
rivsl2
Now I come to the real, genuine cause oil
to REVEALS. That is the coldness
THE objector. 1t Is the secret and hidden
Int unmistakable cause in every case--a low
ssste OF religion In the heirt. Wide awake.
sonseerated, useful Christians are never
sfra.d Of REVEALS. 1T Is the spiritually dead
who are afraid OF having their sepulcher
nolested. The chief agents Qf the deYr dur