The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1901-04-05
II 10 hotastimSs hhid that during fs,l
slyals vt religion great ultitudeaS OF

ShiAuren ana young pc oplo arc brOuHht
Into tho church, and thoys do not know
what they arc about. It has be On my
observation that tho earlier people
come into tho kingdo don Of God the moro
useful they are. Robert Hall, tho
prince OF pre- aohers, was converted at
.12 years Of age. 1t Is likely ho know
what he wes about. Matthew Henry,
the CONNIE ii Il, toss. oss ..s!.n did moro than
any man OF his century for increasing
tho interest in the study OF tho Scrip.
lures, was converted ut II years Of
age; Isabella Graham, immortal In tho
Christian church, was converted at ten
years Of age; DR.. Watts, whose hymns
will be sung all down tho ages, was.
converted at nine years Of age. Jona-
than Edwards, perhaps the mightiest
intellect that tho American pulpit
ever produced, was converted at seven
years OF age, and that father end
mother take an awful responsibility
when they tell their child ut seven
years Of age: 'You arc too young to
be u Christian" !" or "You are too young
to connect yourself with tho church"
That 10 mistake as long as eternity. II.
II during q revival two pergons pre-.
sent themselves as candidates. for tho
church and the one is ten years Of age
and the other is 40 years of age, Will
have more confidence In tho profession
OF religion Of the one ten years Of age
than tho one 40 years Of age. Why?
The one who Processes at 40 years of
age has 40 years Of impulse In the
wrong direction to correct, and the
child has only ten years in the wrong
direction to correct -Four timeB ten
are 20. Four times the religious pros
pect for tho lad that comes into tho
kingdom Of God and into the church at
ten years OF ago than the man at 40.
am very apt to look upon revivals
MS connected with certain mon who
fostcred them. People who in this
day do not like reviyals nevertheless
have not words to express their admi-
ration for the revivalists Of the past,
for they were revivalists-Jo onathan
edwards, John Wesley, George Whit
field, Fletcher, Griffin, Davies, Os-
borne, Knapp, Nettloton, Moody and
many others whose nafnes como to
my mind. The strength Of their In
tcllect and tho holiness Of their lives
mako mo think they would not have
had anything to do with thet which
was ophemeral. Oh, it ia easy 70
talk against revivalsl
A man said to Mr.. Dawson: IT
| like your sermons very much, but
tho after meetings I despise. When
tho prayer meeting begins, always
go up into the gallery and look down,
and I am disgusted." '"Wel," said
Mr.. Dawson, "tho reason is you go
on tho top Of your neighbor's house
and look down his chimney to exam
Inc his fire, and Of course you get
only smoke in your eyes. Why don't
you como in tho door and sit down
and warm?''
Oh, I am afraid to say anything
against revivals Of religion or against
anything that looks liko them, be-
cause think it may be sin against
tho Holy Ghost, and you know tho
Elble says that q sin against tho Holy
Ghost shall never be forgiven, neither
in this world nor tho world to come.
Now, II you are painter and speak
against your pictures, do not speak
against you? If you are an arohi-
tect, and speak against building
you put up, do I not speak against
you? II revival be the work of the
Holy Ghost, and speak against that
revival, do I not speak against tho
Holy Ghost? And whose spealeth
against the Holy Ghost, says tho
Biblo, he shall never be forgiven,
neither in this world nor in the world
to come. think sometimes people
have made fatal mistake in this di-
rection.
Now I come to the real, genuine
caGse Of objection to reYivals. That
is the coldness Of the objector. It 10
the secret and hidden but unmistak-
! able cause in every case, a low state
Of religion in the heart. Widc awake,
oonsecrated, useful Christians nro
never afraid Of REVEALS. 1t Is the
spiritually dead who are afraid of
having their sepulcher molested. Tho
chief agents of the devil during n
great awakening are always uncon-
yerted professors Of religion. AS soon
as Christ's work begins they begin
to gossip against it and take a pail
OF water and try to put out this
spark Of religious influence, and they
try to put out another spark. Do
they succeed3 AS we'll when Chicago
was on fire might somo one. havo
gonc out with garden water pot
trying to extinguish It.. The difficulty
Is that when revival begins In q
church 1t begins at so many points
that while you have doused one anx-
ious soul with n pail OF cold water
there are 500 other anxious souls on
fire. Oh, how much better It would
be to lay hold Of tho chariot OF
Christ's Gospel and help pull It on
rather than to fling ourselves in front
OF the wheels, trying TO block their
progress. We will not stop the
chariot, but we ourselves will be
ground to powder.
But think, after all, the vreateat
obstacle to reviyals throuahout
Christendom is an unconverted minis.
try. We must believe that the vaat
majority Of those who ofaciato at
sacred altars are regenerated, but I
suppose there may hoat into the
ministry of all the denominations Of
Christians men whose boarts have
never been changed by grace. They
are all antagonistic to rcvivals. How
did they get into tho ministry? Per-
haps some Of them chose 1t as a re-
spectacle profession. Perhaps somo
Of them were sincere, but were mig
taken. AS Thomas Chalmers said. he
Md been many years preaching tho
Gospel before his heart had been
changed, and as many ministers Of
the Gospel declare they ware Y,reaob.