Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1895-03-28

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M \ N HE OftD GftoSl
LIN II ~ which means,
RONW IIsNs soul, or spirit, ha
4IFVM, y been degraded IL
WIN = common parlance
WQEZIAD We talk of ghost:
SkG as baleful ant
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and everywhere present; and ninety
one times in the New Testament calico
the Holy Ghost The only time 1 ever
heard this text preached from was IN
the opening days of my ministry, When
a glorious old Scotch minister came UP
to help my village church. On the DAY
OF my ordination and installation, ne
said: eff you get into the corner OF
Saturday night without enough sermons
for Sunday, send for me. and 1 Will
come and preach for you" The fact
ought to be known that the first three
years of a pastors life are appallingly
arduous. No other profession makes
the. twentieth part of the demand on
young man. If q secular speaker pre-
pares one or two speeches for POLITICAL
campaign. it is considered arduous. III
lecturer prepares one lecture Tor a
year. he is thought to have done well.
But young pastor has two sermons 10
deliver every Sabbath, before the same
audience, besides ali his other work;
and the most of ministers never recover
from the awful nervous strain or the
first three years. Be sympathetic with
all young ministers, and withhold your
criticisms.
A Farewell Sermon.
My aged Scotch friend responded to
my first call. and came and preached
from the text l now announce. l re-
member nothing but the text. 1t was
the last sermon he ever preached. On
the following Saturday, he was called
to his heavenly reward. But l remem-
Der just how he appeared as, leaning
over the pulpit. he looked into the face
of the audience. and with earnestness.
and pathos. and electric force, asked
them, in the words of my text, Have
we received the Holy Ghost?" The Of
flee of this present discourse is to open
door. to unveil a Parsonage, to intro
duce Force, not sufficiently recog-
nized. He is as great as God. He Is
God. The second verse of the first
chapter of the Bible introduces him.
Genesis l. 2, 1.-THE Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters" That is,
as an albatross or eagle spreads her
wings over her young, and warns them
into life, and teaches them to fly; so the
Eternal Spirit spread his great, broad,
radiant wings over this earth in its cal
low and unfledged state, and warmed
1T into life. and f1uttered over it, and
set 1t winging it's way through immens-
fty. 1t is the tip-top of all beautiful,
and sublime suggestivenesss. Can you
not almost see the outSpread wings
over the nest of young worlds? The
Spirit of God moved upon the face OF
the waters"
Another appearance of the Holy
Ghost was at Jerusalem, during great
feast. Strangers speaking seventeen
different languages were present from
many parts of the world. But in one
house they heard what seemed like the
coming of cyclone or hurricane. 1tmade
the trees bend and the houses quake.
The cry was, What is that?" And then
a forked flame of fire tipped each fore
head; and what with the blast of wind
and the dropping fire, panic took
place, until Peter explained it was
neither cyclone nor confiagration. but
the brilliance, and amounting, and bap-
tismal power of the Holy Ghost. That
scene was partially repeated in forest
when Rev John Easton was preaching.
There was the sound of a rushing,
mighty wind. and the people looked to
the sky to see if there were any signs
of a storm. but it was a clear sky; yet
the sound of the wind was so great
that horses, frightened, broke loose
from their fasteningS, and the whole
assembly felt that the sound was super
natural and Pentecostal. Oh, what an
Infinite, and almighty, and glorious Per-
sonage is the Holy Ghost. He brooded
this planet into life. and now that
through sin it has become a dead world,
he will brood it the second time into
life. Perilous attempt would be COM
parison between the three Persons OF
the Godhead. They are equal, but there
is some consideration which attaches
itself to the Third Person of the Trinity,
the Holy Ghost, that does not attach
itself to either God the Father or God
the Son. We may grieve God the
Father and grieve God the Son, and be
forgiven, but we are directly told that
there is a sin against the Holy Ghost
which shall never be forgiven, either
in this world or the world to come. And
1t is wonderful that while on the streets
you hear the name of God and Jesus
Christ used in profanity. you never
M.ar the words, Holy Ghost. This hour
I speak of the Holy Ghost as Biblical
interpreter. as human reconstruction,
as a solace for the broken-hearted, as
a preachers reinforcement
Holy Ghost and the Bible.
The Bible is a mass of contradictions,
an affirmation of impossibilities, unless
the Holy Ghost helps us to understand
1t. The Bible says of itself. that the
Scripture is not for private inter-
probation" but holy men of God spake
a. they were moved by the Holy Ghost"
that is, not private Interpretation but
Holy Ghost Interpretation. Pile on your
study table all the commentaries of the
Bible-Matthew Henry, and Scott, and
Adam Clarke, and Albert Barnes, and
Bush, and Alexander; and all the arch
aeologies, and all the Bible dictionaries,
and all the maps of Palestine, and all
the International Series of Sunday
School Lessons: and If that is all, you
Aill not understand the deeper and
grander meanings of the Bible so we'll
as that Christian mountaineer, who,
Sunday morning. after having shaken
down the fodder for the cattle, comes
into his cabin. takes up his well-worn
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