The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-04-10


Come nearer home and look at the man who
found his chief delight In low class Of club
rooms, hiccoughing around card table and
then stumbling down the front steps after
midnight and staggering homeward, and that
same man, one week afterward, with his
family on the way to prayer meeting.
What has done it? 1t must be something
tremendous. It must be God. It must be
the Holy Ghost.
Notice the Holy Ghost as tho solacer of
broken hearts. Christ calls Him the
Comforter. Nothing does the world 80 much
want rs comfort. The most people have
been abused. misrepresentsd., cheated. lied
about, swindled, bereft. What Is needed is
balsam for the wounds, lantern for dark
roads, rescue from maligning pursuers, q
lift from the marble slab oftombstones. Life
to most has been q semifailure. They have
not got what they wanted. They have not
reached that which they started for. Friends
betray. Change Of business stand loses old
custom and does not bring enough custom
to make up for the loss. Health becomes
precarious when one most needs strong
muscle and steady nerve and clear brain.
Out of this audience of thousands and thou
sands, If I should ask all those who
have been unhurt in tho struggle OF
life to stand up, or all standing to hold
up their right hands, not one would move.
Oh, how much we need the holy Ghost
as comforter! He reciteS the sweet
gospel promises to the hardly bestead He
assures OF mercy mingled with the seyerities.
He consoles with thoughts ofcoming release.
He tells OF a heaven where tear is never Wept
and burden is never carried and injustice Is
never suffered. Comfort for all the young
people who are maltreated at nome. or re-
ceive insufficient income, or are robbed oil
their schooling, or kept back from positions
they earned by the putting forward OF Others
less worthy. Comfort for all these men and
women midway in the path OF life, worn out
with what they have already gone through,
and with no Frightening future. Comfort
for these aged ones amid many inflrmities
an ! who feel themselves to be In the way in
the home or business which themselves es-
tablished with their own grit.
The Holy Ghost comfort, think, general
ly comes in the shape Of q sollloquy. You
find yourself saying to yourself: "Well, l
ought not to 60 on this. way about my
mothers death. She had suffered enough.
She had borne other peoples burdens long
enough. am glad that father and mother
are together in heaven, and they will be
waiting to greet us, and it will be only lit
tic while anyhow, and God makes mo mis-
takes" Or you soliloquize. saying: "It Is
hard to lose my property. I am sure l
worked hard enough for it. But God will
take care Of us, and, as; to the children. the
money might have spoiled them, and we
find that those who have to struggle for
themselves generally turn out best, and II
will all be we'll If this upsetting OF our world
ly resources leads us to lay up treasures In
heaven" Or you soliloquize, saying:
ut was hard to give up that
boy when the Lord took him. I ex-
Ial ~ IA, nd Nh hnu NuQ
miss him out Of the house, and there arc so
many things come across that make nethink
Of him, and he was such splendid fellow!
But then what an escape he has made from
the temptations and sorrows which come to
oil who grow up, and 1t Is grand thing to
have him safe from all possible harm, and
there are all those Bible promises for parents
who have lost children, and we shall feel o
drawing heavenward that we could not have
otherwise experienced" And after you have
said that you get that relief which comes
from an outburst OF tears. do not soy to
you, as some say, do.not cry. God pity. peo-
pie in trouble who have the parched eyebalt
and the dry eyelid and cannot shed Q tear.
That makes maniacs. To Gods people tears
are the dews Of the night dashed with sun
rise. am so glad you can weep. But you
think these things you say to yourself are
only soliloquies. No, no: they are the Com
forter. who Is the Holy Ghost.
Notice also the Holy Ghost as the preach
er's reinforcement. You and have known
preachers encyclopedia in knowledge. brill
liant as On iceberg when the sun smites it,
and with ChesterHeldian address and
rhetorical hand uplifted with diamond big
enough to dazzle an assembly and 30 sur
charged with vocabulary that when they left
this lifeit might be said OF each OF them as
De Quincy said Of another that in the act oil
dying he committed A. robbery, absconding
with q valuable polyglot dictionary: yet" no
awakening or converting or sanctitytng re-
suit, while some plain man, with humblest
phraseology, has seen audiences whelmed
with religious influence. 1t was the Holy
Ghost. What a useful thing it would be-
every minister would give the history OF his
sermons! Years ago at an outdoor meeting
in the State of New York I preached
to many thousands. There had been much
prayer ON the grounds for great outpouring
of the Holy Ghost at that service. and the
awakening power exceeded anything ever
witnessed since began to preach, with per-
haps the exception OF two or three occasions.
Clergymen and Christian workers by the
score and hundreds expressed themselves as
having been blessed during the service.
That afternoon took the train for an out
door, meeting in the State Of Ohio, where
was to preach on the night Of the next day.
AS the sermon had proved so useful the day
before aud the theme was fresh in my mind,
T resolved to reproduce it. and did reproduce
it as far as I could, but the result was nothing
at ALL Never had 1 seemed to have any
thing to do with fatter failure. What
was the difference between the two serv-
ices? Some will say, "You were tired with :.
long Journey" No, was not tired at all.
Some will say, "The temporal circumstances
in the first case were more favorable than In
the last" No, they were moro favorable IN
the last. The difference WIS in the power OF
the Holy Ghost nightly present at the first
service, not seemingly present at all at the
second. call upon the ministers OF Ameri-
ca to give the history OF sermons, for be-
lieye il will illustrate as nothing else can the
truth of that Scripture. "Not by might nor by
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord"
On the Sabbath Of the dedication OF one OF
our churches in Brooklyn. ut the morning
service, 1923 souls stood up to profess Christ
They were the converts in the Brooklyn
Academy of Music, where we had been wor-
Shipping. The reception OF so many mem
bers-and many of them baptized by immer.
sion-had made it m arduous service, which
continued from half past ten in the morning
until half past two in the afternoon. From
that service we went home exhausted, be.
cause there is nothing go exhausting as deep
emotion. A messenger was sent out to
obtain a preacher for that night, but the
search was unsuccessful, rs all the
ministers were engaged for some Other
place. With no preparation ut all fol
the evening service, except the looking In
Cruden's Concordance for a text and feeling
almost too weary to stand up, began the
service, saying audibly while the opening
song WAS being sung, although because OF
the singing no one but God heard it: "Oh
Lord, Thou knowest my insattteiency 10, 10,
upon this people," The place was shaken
with the divine presence As far as we could
find out. over 400 persons were converted
that night. Hear it, all young men entering
the ministry. hear it. oil Christian workers