The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-25
GLORY OF THE HOLY GHOST.
TONGUES or FIRE THE SUBJECT OF
TALMSGE'S TALK.

Instances of Unexpected Visftntions
of the Unseen PoNer-Each Fore
head in "A Vast Multitude at Jeru-
salem Tipped by Forked Tongue
of Fire-A Visitation in the Form
of Mighty Rushing wind in
Forest While Rev. John Easton
Was Preaching.
New York. March sf.-When Or. Tai
mage ascended the platform of the Acad-
envy Of Music. this afternoon. he faced
an audience quite as large as any that
had assembled in the great building since
these services began.while several thou
sand others were outside unable to secure
seats or even standing room. He took for
his subject. Tongues of Fire" the text
selected being. Acts 10; .: Have We re-
ceived the Holy Ghost?"
The word ghost. which means a soul,
or spirit. has been degraded in common
parlance. We talk of ghosts as balefw
and frightful and in friv-
olous or superstitous way. But
my text speaks Of a Ghost who is ON
nipotent. and divine. and everywhere pres
ent; and ninety-one times in the New Tes-
lament called the Holy Ghost. The only
time ever heard this text preached from
was in the opening days of my ministry,
when a glorious old Scotch minister came
up 10 help me in my village church. On
Jhe day Of my ordination and installation,
he said: IF you get into the corner OF a
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 a young man. If a sec
ular speaker prepares one or two speech
es for a political campaign it is consid-
cred arduous. If a lecturer prepares one
lecture for a year. he is thought 10 have
done we'll But the young pastor has two
sermons to deliver every Sabbath, before
fhe same audience, beside all his other
work; and the most Of ministers never re-
cover from the awful nervous strain Of
the first three years. Be sympathetic with
all young ministers, and withhold your
criticisms.
My aged Scotch friend responded to my
first CALL and came and preached from
the text that l now announce. / remem-
Der nothing but the text. 1t was the last
sermon he ever preached On the fol-
lowing Saturday, he was called to his
heavenly reward. But 1 remember lust
how he appeared as, leaning over the pull
pit, he looked into the face of the audi
ence. and with earnestness, and pathos.
and electric force, asked them, In the
words OF my text, Have we received the
Holy Ghost?" The office Of this present
discourse is to open door, to unveil a
Parsonage, to introduce a Force. not suf-
fciently recognized. He is as great as
kIn ig .nd 4 A.
first chapter of the Bible introduces him:
Genesis To- 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 Eter-
nal Spirit spread his great, broad, radiant
wings over this earth in its callow and
unfiedged state, and warmed it into life,
and fiuttered over it, and set it winging
its way through immensely. II is the tip
top Of all beautiful, and sublime suggest
iveness. Can you not almost see the out
spread 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 a 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 a cyclone
VI II 7Ildue the trees DenQ, ana
the houses quake. The cry was, What
is that2" And then forked flame of fire
tipped each forehead; and what with the
blast of wind and the dropping fire a
panic took place, until Peter explained
that 1t was neither cyclone nor conha
grafton, but the brilliance, the annoint-
ing, and baptismal power of the Holy
Ghost. That scene was partially repeated
in a forest when Rev John Easton was
preaching. There was the sound of
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 as
sembly felt that the sound was super
natural and Pentecostal. Oh, what an in
finite, and almighty, and glorious Person
age is the Holy Ghost. He brooded this
planet into life, and now that through
sin il has become a dead world, he will
brood it the second time into life. Peril
BUS attempt would be comparison be-
tween the three Persons of the Godhead
They are equal but there is some consid-
Grafton which attaches itself to the Third
Person of the Trinity. the Holy Ghost,
that does not attach itself to either God
the Fainter or God the Son. We may Srieve
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 in the world to come. And
IL is wonderful that while on the street
you hear the name of God and Jesus
Christ used in profanity, you never hear
the words, Holy Ghost. This hour 1
speak of the Holy Ghost as Biblical in
terpreter, as a human reconstructor, as
a solace for the broken-hearted, as a
preachers reinforcement.
The Bible is a mass of contradictions
an affirmation of impossibilities, unless
the Holy Ghost helps us to understand it,
The Bible says of itself, that the Scrip
ture is not for private Interpretation
but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost; that is, not pri-
vate Interpretation, but Holy Ghost inter-
probation. 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 archaeologies. and all the BIZ
bic dictionaries, and all the maps of Pal
estine, and all the International Series of
Sunday School Lessons; and If that is all
you will 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 ca h.