St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-04-27
years Of age; DR.. Watts. whose hymns
,,-llI \. eunu MI down the noes was

at nine years of age. Jona-
than Edwards, perhaps the mightiest
intellect that the American pulpit
ever produced, was converted at seven
years of age, and that father and
mother take an awful responsibility
when they tell their child at seven
years of age: "You are too young to
be Christian" or "You are too young
to connect yourself with the church"
That is mistake as long as eternity.
If during a revival two persons pre-
sent themselves as candidates for the
church and the one is ten years of age
and the other is 40 years of age. / will
have more confidence in the profession
of religion of the one ten years of age
than the 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 times ten
are 40. Four times the religious pros
pect for the lad that comes into the
kingdom of God and into the church at
ten years of age than the man at 40.
am very apt to look upon revivals
as connected with certain men who
fostered them. People who in this
day do not like revivals nevertheless
have not words to express their admi-
ration for the revivalists OF the past,
for they were NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Edwards. John Wesley, George Whit
field, Fletcher, Griffin, Davies, Os-
borne, Knapp. Nettleton. Moody and
many others whose names come to
my mind. The strength of their in
tellect and the holiness OF their lives
make me think they would not have
had anything to do with that which
was ephemeral. Oh, it is easy to
talk against revivals!
A man said to Mr.. Dawson: II
like your sermons very much. but
the after meetings I despise. When
the prayer meeting begins I always
60 up into the gallery and look down,
and I am disgusted." "Well," said
Mr.. Dawson, "the reason is you go
on the 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 come in the door and sit down
and warm?" SD
Oh, I am afraid to say anything
against revivals of religion or against
anything that looks like them. be-
cause think it may be sin against
the Holy Ghost, and you know the
Rible says that sin against the Holy
Ghost shall never be forgiven, neither
in this world nor the world to come.
Now. if you are painter and l speak
against your pictures, do not speak
against you? II you are an archi
tect, and / speak against a building
you put up, do I not speak against
you? If a revival be the work of the
Holy Ghost, and speak against that
revival, do 1 not speak against the
Holy Ghost? And whose speaketh
against the Holy Ghost, says the
Bible, he shall never be forgiven,
neither in this world nor in the world
to come. I think sometimes people
have made q fatal mistake in this di-
rection.
Now I come to the real, genuine
cause Of objection to revivals. That
is the coldness of the objector. 1t is
the secret and hidden but unmistak.
able cause in every case, low state
of religion in the heart. Wide awake
consecrated, useful Christians arc
never afraid of revivals. 1t is the
spiritually dead who are afraid oi
having their sepulcher molested. Tht
chief agents of the devil during 8
great awakening are always uncon
verted professors of religion. AS soor
as Christ's work begins they begir
to gossip against it and take pal
of water and try to put out thi.
spark Of religious influence. and the,
try to put out another spark. DE-
they succeed? As we'll when Chicago
was on fire might some one hav,
gone out with garden water POI
| trying to extinguish it. The difficult!
il that when a revival begins in {
church it begins at so many point.
that while you have doused one anx
ious soul with pail of cold watl
there are 500 other anxious souls OF
fire. Oh, how much better it woult
be to lay hold of the chariot o
Christ's Gospel and help pull it o'
rather than to fling ourselves in from
of the wheels, trying to b.ock thei
progress. We will not stop tn
chariot, but we ourselves will b.
ground to powder.
But I think, after all, the pveates
obstacle to revivals thronghou
Christendom is an unconverted minis
try. We must believe that the vas
majority Of those who officiate a
sacred affairs are regenerated, but
suppose there mag float into tn
ministry Of all the denominations o
| Christians men whose hearts hav
never been changed by grace. The,
are all antagonistic to revivals. Ho,
did they get into the ministry? PEI
haps some of them chose it as re
spectacle profession. Perhaps som
Of them were sincere, but were mis-
taken. AS Thomas Chalmers said, b
had been many years preaching tn
Gospel before his heart had bee
changed. and as many ministers o
the Gospel declare they were preach
ing and had been ordained to sacre
orders years and years before thei
hearts were regenerated. Graciou
God, what solemn thought for thos
of us who minister at the altar
With the present ministry in tn
present temperature of piety. thi
land will never be enveloped with n
vivals. While the pews on one sid
the altar cry for mercy, the pulpit
ON the other side of the altar mus
cry for mercy. Ministers quarrelinl
Ministers trying to pull each othe
down. Ministers struggling for eccl'
siastical place. Ministers, lethargi
with whole congregations dying o
their hands. What . spectacle!
i Aroused pulpits will make arouse
pews. Pulpits aflame will make pew
afiame. Everybody believes in a r
vival in trade, everybody likes . r
vival in literature, everybody likes
!, revival in art. yet great multitud
cannot understand q revival in ma
|, ters of religion. Depend upon
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