The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1901-04-05
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Into the churoh, and they do. not know
what they are 81 bout. It has boon my
obscryat Ion that the earlier people
como into the kingd ON Of God tho nj ore
useful they are. Robert Hall, the
prince of preachers, was converted at
10 years OF age. IT sis likely ho know;
what he { q ;.vthaW henry,
tho commentator, who did more than
any man OF his century for increasing
tho interest In the study OF the Scrip
lures, was converted ut II years of
age isabella Graham, immortal in tho
Christian church, was converted ut ten
years Of age; DR.. Watts, whose hymns
will be sung oil down tho ages, was
converted at nine years Of age. Jona-
than Edwerds. perhaps the mightieat
intellect that tho American pulpit
ever produced, was converted at seven
years OF age. aud that father and
mother take an awful responsibility
when they tell their child at seven
years OF age: .'You are too young to
be a Christian" or ''''Y on are too young
to connect yourself with the church."
That is n mistake as long as eternity.
If during n revival two persons pro-
sent themselves as candidates for tho
church and the one Is ton years Of age
Rnd the other is 40 years Of agc, will
have more confidence In tho profession
Of religion of the one ten years Of age
than the one 40 years Of ago. Why7
The ono who Processes at 40 years Of
nge 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 tho religious pros
pect for tho lad that comes into tho
kingdom Of God and into the church at
ten years of age than the man at 40. 3
am very apt to look upon revlvals
as connected with certain men who
fostered them. People who in this
day do not like reyivals nevertheless
have not words to express their admi-
ration for the revivalists of the past,
for they were revivalists-Jonatha
Edwards, John Wesley, George Witt
field, Fletcher, Griffin, Davies, Os-
borne, Knapp, Nettleton, Moody and
many others whose nafnes como to
my mind. The strength of their in
tellect and tho holiness Of their lives
mako mo think they would not have
had ything to do with that which
was ophemeral. Oh, It Is easy to
talk against revivalsi
A man said to Mr.. Dawson: "I
like your sermons very much. but
tho after meetings despise. When
tho prayer meeting beglns / always
go up into the gallery and look down,
and am disgusted." "Wcll," snid
Mr.. Dawson, "the reason Ia you go
~, @ho 80, "a ,,o,,x, :, ~ -.S f>,,se ho,,cc
and look down his chimney to exam
inc his fro, and of course you get
only smoke in your eyes. Why don't
you como in the door and sit down
and warm?" g'
Oh, 4 am afraid to soy anything
against reyivals Of religion or against
anything that looks lilo them, be-
cause I think It may be sin against
tho Holy Ghost, and you know tho
Eible says that sin against the Holy
Ghost shall never be forgiven, neither
in this world nor tho world to come.
Now, II you are q painter and I spcak
against your pictures, do not speak
against you? If you are an archi-
tect, and speak against building
you put up, do I not speak against
you? II a revival be the work Of the
Holy Gnost, and speak against that
revival, do I not speak against the
Holy Ghost2 And whose speaketh
against the Holy Ghost. says the
Biblo, he shall never bc forgiven,
neither in this world nor in the world
to come. I think sometimes people
have made fatal mistake in this di-
rection. III
Now I come to the real, genuine
cause of objection to reYivals. That
Is the coldness Of tho objector. It is
the secret end hidden but unmistak-
ablo cause In every case, a low state
OF religion In the heart. Wide awake.
oonsccrated, useful Christians aro
never afraid Of reyiyals. It is the
spiritually dead who ara afraid Of
having their sepulcher molested. Tho
chief agents Of tho devil during
great awakening are always uncon-
verted 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 succeed? AS we'll when Chicago
was on fire might somo ono havo
gono out with o garden water pot
trying to extinguish 1t. The difficulty
Is that when q revival begins In q
church It begins at so many points
that while you have doused one anx-
ious soul With pail Of cold water
there are 500 other anxious souls on
fire. Oh, how much better It would
be to lay hold Of the 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 atop the
chariot, but we ourselves will be
ground to powder.
But I think, after all, the greatest
obstacle to revivals throughout
Christendom is IN unconverted minis-
try. We must believe that the vast
majority Of those who of1oiate at
sacred affairs are regenerated, but /
suppose there may float into the
ministry Of all tho denominations Of
Christians men whose hearts have
never been changed by grace. They
arc all antagonistic to REVEALS. How
did they got into tho ministry? Per-
haps some of them chose It as q re.
spectacle profession. Perhaps some
OF them were sincere, but wcro rnis-
taken. As Thomas Chalmers said, he
had been many years preaching the
Gospel before his heart had been
changed, and aa many minister's Of
the Gospel declare they were preaoh-
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