The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-03-28

against TeVlValS OF religion or against
anything that looks like them, because
! think it may be sin against the
Holy Ghost. and you know the bible
says that sin against the Holy Ghost
shall never be forgiven, neither in this
world nor the world to come Now,
II you are a painter, and / speak
against your pictures, do not speak
against you? II you are an architect
and | speak against building you
put up, do not speak against you?
II revival be the work of the Holy
Ghost and speak against that revival,
do 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 some-
times people have made fatal mistake
In this direction.
Many Of you know the history Of
Aaron Burr. He was one Of the most
brilliant men Of his day. l suppose
this country never produced a stronger
intellect. He was capable of doing
anything good and great for his coun-
try or for the church of his God had he
been rightly disposed, but his name is
United States government, which he
tried to overthrow, and with libertin-
ism and immortality. Do you know
where Aaron Burr started on the down.
ward road? 1t was when he was in
college and he became anxious about
his soul and was about to put himself
under the influences of a revival, and
a minister of religion said: Don't go
there Aaron; don't go there. That's
place of wildfire and great excite
ment. No religion about that. Don't
go there" He tarried away. His seri-
Gus impressions departed. He started
on the downward road And who Is
responsible for his ruin for this world
and his everlasting ruin in the world
to come? Was it the minister who
warned him against that revival?
When I speak of excitement in reviv-
ais do not mean temporary derange-
ment of the nerves, do not mean the
absurd things Of which we have read
as transpiring sometimes in the church
Of Christ, but mean an intelligent, in
tense. all absorbing agitation of body,
mind and soul in the work of spiritual
escape and spiritual rescue
Goodness of the Director.
Now come to the real, genuine.
cause of objection to revivals. That
is the GOODNESS of the objector. 1t is
the secret and hidden but unmistaka-
Bile cause in every case, a low state
of religion in the heart Wide awake,
consecrated, useful Christians are
never afraid Of REVEALS 1t is the spir-
itually dead who are afraid of having
their sepulcher molested. The chief
agents of the devil during a great
awakening are always unconversed
professors of religion. AS soon as
Christ's work begins they begin to Cos
sip against it and take pail of water
and try to put out this spark of re-
ligious influence, and they try to put
out another spark. Do they succeed :?
AS we'll when Chicago was on fire
might some one have gone out with a
garden water pot trying to extinguish
1T. The difficulty is that when re-
viyal begins in a church it begins at
SO many points that while you have
doused one anxious soul with a pail
of cold water there are 500 other anx-
ious souls on fire. oh, how much bet
ter it would be to lay hold of the
chariot Of Christ's gospel and help
pull 1t on rather than to fling our
selves in front of the wheels, trying
to block their progress. We will NOT
stop the chariot, but We ourselves will
be ground to powder.
An Unconverted Ministry.
But think, after all, the greatest
obstacle to revivals throughout Christ
endom is an unconverted ministry
We must believe that the vast major
ity of those who ot1iciate at sacred al
tars are regenerated, but I SUPPOSE
there may float into the ministry Of
all the denominations of Christians
men whose hearts have never been
changed by grace. They are all an
tagonistic to revivals. How did they
get into the ministry? Perhaps some
OF them chose it as means of liveli-
hood. Perhaps some of them were sim
cere, but were mistaken. AS Thomas
Chalmers said, he had been many
years preaching the gospel before his
heart had been changed, and as many
ministers of the gospel declare they
We're preaching and had been ordained
to sacred orders years and years before
their hearts were regenerated. Ora
cious God, what a solemn thought for
those of us who minister at the altar!
With the present ministry in the pres
ent temperature of piety, this land will
never be enveloped in revivals. While
the pews on one side the altar cry for
mercy, the pulpits on the other side
the altar must cry for mercy. Minis
tiers quarreling. Ministers trying to
pull each other down. Ministers strug-
Cling for ecclesiastical place. Minis
tiers lethargic with whole congrega-
tons dying on their hands. What a
spectacle!
Aroused pulpits will make aroused
pews. Pulpits afiame will make pews
afiame. Every believes in a re-
vlval in trade, everybody likes a reviv-
al in literature, everybody likes re-
vlval in art, yet great multitude can
not understand revival in matters of
religion. Depend upon it, where you
find man antagonistic to REVEALS,
whether he be in pulpit or new he