Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1901-03-29
REVEALS A BENEFIT.
Or. Tclmage Draws Lessons From Famous
Religious Awakeniugs.
The Most Useful Christians Arc Those Con.
verted In Early Lifc..Bringing the
Multitude Into Safety
Copyright 1901. !

Ut Ialmage Is most pertinent at this
time, when. widespread effort for re-
Luke v, g., They inclosed great multi.
tude OF fishes, and their net brake"
Simon, and his comrades had expert
enced the night before what fishermen
call poor luck" Christ steps on board
the fishing smack and tells the sailors
to pull away from the beach and, di-
reefs them again to sink the net. Sure
fishes, and the sailors begin to haul in.
So large school of fishes was taken
that the hardy men begin to look red
in the face as they pull, and hardly
have they begun to rejoice. at their sue
ceas when snap goes thread Of the
net; and snap goes another thread, so
there is danger not only of losing the
fish. but of losing the net
= Without much care as to how much
the boat tits or how much water is
splashed on deck the fishermen rush
about gathering up the broken meshes
dancing on the waves, and they hail it;
"Ship ahoy! Bear down this way!" The
ship comes, and both boats, both fishing
smacks, are filled with The foundering
treasures.
"Ah," says some one, chow much better
it would have been if they had staid on
shore and fshed with hook and line
and taken one at a time instead of hav.
ing this great excitement and the boat
almost upset and the net broken and
having to call for help and getting sopping
wet with the seal"
The church is the boat, the gospel is
the net, society is the sea, and a great
revival is whole school brought in at
one sweep of the net. l have admiration
and line to fish. I admire the way he
unwinds the reel and adjusts the bait and
drops the hook in quiet place on a
still afternoon and here catches one and
, there one, but l like also big boat and
swift oars and stout sails and a stiff
breeze and great multitude OF souls
brought-so great a multitude that you
have to get help to draw it ashore, strain
ing the net to the utmost until it breaks
here and there, letting few escape, but
bringing the great multitude into eternal
safety
In other words, I believe in revivals.
The great work of saving men began
with 5000 people joining the church in
one day, and it will close with forty or
hundred million people saved in twenty
four hours when nations shall be born in
a day. But there are objections to re-
vivas. People are opposed to them be.
cause the net might get broken, and II
by the pressure of souls it does not get
broken, then they take their own pen;
a great multitude of fishes, and the net
brake"
1t is sometimes opposed to revivals OF
religion that those who come into the
church at such times do not hold out.
AS long as there is gale OF blessing they
have their sails up, but as soon as strong
winds stop blowing then they, drop INTO
the case? In all our churches the vast
majority of the useful people are those
who are brought in under great awaken
ings. and they hold out. Who are the
prominent men in the United States in
churches, in prayer meetings, IN Sabbath,
schools? For the most part they are
the product of great awakenlngs.
| have noticed that those who are
brought into the kingdom of God through
revivals have more persistence and more
determination in the Christian life than
those who come in under low state OF
religion. People born in an icehouse may
i've but they will ne never reS get over the
A cannon ball depends upon the i'm.
pulse with which it starts fol, how far 1t
Shall 90 and how swiftly, and the great
er the revival force with which a soul
is started he more far-reaching and FAR
resounding will be the execution;
But it is sometimes objected 70 re-
vivals that there is so much excitement
that people mistake hysteria for religion
We admit that in every revival OF re-
lgion there is either SUPPOSE or
demonstrated excitement. Indeed, If a
man can 90 out of state OF condenns
ton into a state of acceptance with Uod
or see Others go without any agitation OF
soul he is in an unhealthy, morbid state
and is as repulsive and absurd as man
who should boast he saw child snatched
ont from under a horses hoofs and felt
no agitation, or saw a man rescued from
the fourth story of house on tre and
felt no acceleration of the pulses In
into life and peace and heaven forever
is such a tremendous thing thai II man
tells mo he can look on it without any
agitation | doubt his Christianity.
The fact is that sometimes excitement
is the most important possible thing In
case of resusctation from browning or
freezing. the one idea is to excite ANNA
lion before conversion we are dead. 1t
is the business of the church to revive,
arouse. awaken, resuscitate, startle into
life. oud;,o
to what it makes us do. II 1T makes us 40
that which is bad, 1t is pad excltement,
eternal welfare, if it makes us pray, II IL
make rs attend upon Christian service, II
it make us cry unto God for mercy, then 1t
is good excitement.
It is sometimes said that during re-
vivals Of religion great multitudes OF emu,
dren and young people, are pTougn' nv
the church, and they DO not XIV, nw o hn%
yat,on that the earlier people come INTO
the kingdom of God the more useful tney
are. Robert Hall the prince OF preacnerfs,
was converted at twelve years % aSec -
is likely he knew what ne was aDoI..
- did .l1ore 5han any man of his century for
increasing the interest In the study OF the
Scriptures. was converted at eleven years
of age; Isabella Graham, immortal IN the
Christian church, was converted at ten
years of age; DR.. Watts, whose hymns
will be sung all down the ages, was con-
verified at nine years of age; Jonathan
Edwards perhaps the mightiest intellect
that the American pulpit ever proouceoi
was converted at seven years OF age, ana
that father and mother take an awful re-
sponsibility when they tell their child at
seven wears of age, "You are too young to
he a Christian or. "You are too young
to connect yourself with the church"
That is a mistake as long as eternity.
If during a revival two. persons pre-
sent themselves as candidates Tor. the
church, and the one is ten years OF age
and the other is forty years OF age L
will have more confidence In the profes-
sion of religion of the one ten years OF age
than the one forty years OF age. why:
The one who processes at forty years OF
age has forty years of impulse IN the
wrong direction to correct; the child has
only ten wears in the wrong direction to
correct -Four times ten are forty: f9ur
hines the religious prospect 1or tns id9
hat comes into the kingdom OF GOD ana
Into the church at ten years OF age IMAM
the man at forty.
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