The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1894-12-06


away. His serious Impressions departed
he Irted on the downward road. And
| who is RESPONSIBLE for his ruin? Was Il the
| vivcl?
Now come 10 tho real. genuine cause o
objection TO revlvais. That IL the coldnes,
OF the o,iector. II IL the secret and hidden
but unnistakahle cause IN every case-a low
state OF telsyion in the heart. Wide awake.
consecrJfed. useful Christians arc never
afraid oirevivals. II is the spiritually dead
who are afraid Of having their sepulcher
inolested The chief agents Of the devil dur
ing n great awakening are always uncon.
verted professors Of religion. As soon as
Christ's work begins they begin 10 gossip
against II. and take pail OF water and try 20
put out this spark OF religious influence,
and they 'ry TO put out another spark. DO
| they succeed? As we'll when Chicago was on
fire might some ono have gone out with a
| garden water pot trying TO extinguish IL.
| The difficulty IL that when revival be-
| gins in church II begins nj so many points
that while you have doused one anxious soul
with n pail OF cold water there are 500 other
| anxious souls on fire. Oh, how much bet
ter II would be TO lay hold OF tho chariot OF
Cnrists gospel and help pull Il on rather
than to ding ourselves in front OF the wheels,
| trying 20 block their progressl We will not
| stop the chariot, but we ourselves will be
ground TO powder.
Did you ever hear that there was n con-
vention once held among the icebergs in tho
| arctic? II seems that the summer was COM
ing on, and the sun was getting hotter and
hotter. and there was danger that tho whole
icefleld would break no and flow away, so
the tallest and tho coolest and the broadest
OF all the tcebergs, the very king OF the arc
ties, stood at the head OF tho convention,
and with gavel OF ice smote on n table OF
nn sf.txt 60 D..tt
sun kept growing Ia intensity OF heat, and
the south wind blew stronger and stronger
and soon all the iceileld began 10 grind up,
Iceberg against iceberg. and TO flow away
The first resolution passed bv the convention
was, "Resolved that we abolish tho sun"
But the sun would not be abolished. Tho
heat OF the sun grew greater and greater
until after awhile the very king OF tho ice
bergs began to perspire under the glow, and
the smaller icebergs foil over. and the cry
was "Too much excitement Order.
order" Then the whole body, the whole
field, OF Ice began to flow out and thou
sand voices began 10 ask: "where are We
going to now2 Where are we floating to?
We viii all break to pisces" BY this time
the icebergs had reached the gulf stream.
and they were melted into tho bosom OF the
Atlantic Ocean. Tho warm sun Is the
eternal Spirit. The icebergs are frigid
Christians. The warm gulf stream Il great
revival. The ocean into which everything
melted IL tho great, wldo heart OF the
pardoning and sympathizng God
But think, after all. the greatest obstacle
to revivals throughout Christendom to-day
is an unconver,od ministry. We must be-
lieve that tho vast ma jorlty OF those who
oflciate at sacred altars are regencrated.
but suppose there may float into the minis.
try of all the denominations OF Christians
men whose hearts have nevcr been changed
Dy tho of God nf that- ra oil
antagonistic to reyivals.
How did they get into the ministry? Per-
haps some Of them chose II rs n respectable
profession. Perhaps some chose Ii as a
means OF livelihood. Perhaps some OF them
were sincere, but were mistaken. IA 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 thor hearts wero regener-
ated. Gracious God, what solemn thought
Tor 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 revivals. While tho 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 ecclesiastical place. Ministers
lethargio with whole congregations dying
on their hand. wha, spectacle
Aroused pulpiis w. me-.
puipits aiame wlis make pols uname.
Everybody believes In u revival OF trade
everybody likes revival In literature, every
body likes revival in art, yet great multi
tude cannot understand a revival IN matters
OF religion. Depend upon IL. where you
find man antagonistic to revivals, whether
he be In pulpit or pow, ho needs to be regen-
Grated 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 with
out reviyals Christianity will be practically
extinct. 1t Is matter of astounding arith-
metic. In each OF our modern generations
there nre at least 1900, 900 children. Now
add 80, 600, 900 to the worlds population, and
then have only i00,0 or 2oO, 900 converted
every year, and how long before the world
will be saved? Never-absolutely never
During our war the President OF tho
United States made proclamation for 20 900
troops. Some Of you remember the bic stir.
But the King of the universe to-day asks for
500 900, 900 more troops than are enlisted,
and we want 1t done softly, imperceptibly,
gently, no excitement, one by one!
You are a dry goods merchant oA n largo
scnle, and am n merchant on small scalc.
and | come 10 YOU and want to buy 1000
yards Of cloth. Do you say "Thank you /;
ri sell you 1000 yards OF cloth, but III sell
you twenty yards to-day, aud twenty to-
morrow, and twenty tho next day. and II il
takes no six months I'll sell you tho whole
1000 yards you will want rs long as that TO
examine the goods, and I'll want as long rs
that to examine the credit, and, besides that.
1000 yards OF cloth are too much 10 sell all
at once" No, you do not say that. You
take mo into the counting 70 )m, and In ten
minutes the whole transaction is consum-
mated. The fact Is, we cannot afford to be
fools in anything but religion
That very merchant who on Saturday after
noon sold me- the 1000 yards of cloth at one
stroke the next Sabbath In church will stroke
his beard and wonder whether Il would not
be better for 1909 souls TO come Struggling
along for ten years, Instead of boiling In az
one service
We talk good doal about the good times
that are coming and about the worlds re-
demptlon. How long beforethey will come?
There is a man who says 500 years. Here is
a man who says 200 years. Hero Is soma
one more confident who snys in fifty years
What, fifty years? DO you propose TO let
two ypnQratiOns mass off the staua bafOre