The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-04-05

~ AS-F
course of Dr.. Talmage is most pertinent
at this time when a widespread effort for
religious awakening is being made; text,
Luke V, 6, "They inclosed a great multi
tude of fishes, and their net brake"
Simon and his comrades had experience
ed the night before what fishermen call
"poor luck" Christ steps on board the
fishing smack M tells the sailors to pull
away from the beach and directs them
again to sink the net. Sure enough, very
BOON the net is full of fishes, and the
sailors begin to haul in. So large q 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 success when SNAP goes a 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, gather
ing up the broken meshes of the net.
Out yonder there is a ship dancing on the
wave, and they hail it: "Ship ahoy! Bear
down this wayil' The ship comes, and
both boats, both fishing smacks, are filed
with the ~floundering treasures.
"Ah," says some one, ''how much bet
z II Jun AdNG DCCA IL liz AIN SA1Ad
on shore and fshed with n nook and line
and taken one ut a time instead of hav-
ing this great excitement and the boat
almost upset and the net broken and hav-
ing to call for help and getting sopping
wet with the sea"
The church is the boat. the gospel is the
net, society is the sea, and n great re-
viyal is a whole school brought in ut one
sweep of the net. l have admiration for
that man who goes out with a hook and
line to fish. | admire the way he I'M
winds the reel and adjusts the bait and
drops the hook in n quiet place on a still
afternoon and here catches one and there
one, but / like also n big boat and n large
crew and a net Il mile long and swift
oars and stout sails and q stiff breeze
and n great multitude Of souls brought
so great Il multitude that you nave to get
help to draw it ashore. straining the net
to the utmost until it breaks here and
there, letting a few escape. but bringing
the great multitude into eternal safety.
Belief In Revivals.
In other words, / 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 n
hundred million people saved in p hours
when nations shall be born in 4 day.
But there are objections to revivals.
People are opposed to them because the
net might get broken, and if by the pres
sure of souls it does not get broken. then
they take their own penknives and slit
the net. They inclosed n great multi
tude of fishes, and the net brake"
1t is sometimes opposed to r~evivals of
religion that those who come into the
church at such times do not hold out. As
long as there is a gale of blessing they
have their sails up. But as soon as
strong winds stop blowing then they
drop into q dead calm. But what are the
facts in the case? In all our churches
the vast majority of the useful people are
those who are brought in under great
awakenings, 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 awaken
ings.
/ have noticed that those who are
brought into the kingdom of God through
reviyals have more persistence and more
determination in the Christian life than
those who come in under a low state of
religion. People born in an icehouse may
live, but they will never get over the
cold they caught in the icehouse. A can
non bali depends upon the impulse with
which it starts for how far it shall go
and how swiftly. and the greater the re-
yival force with which a soul is stated
the more farreaching and far resound-
ing viii be the execution.
But it is sometimes objected to re-
vivals that there is so much excitement
that people mistake hysteria for religion.
We admit that in every revival of reli-
gion there is either a suppressed or q
demonstrated excitement. Indeed, if a
man can 60 out of q state of cOndemna-
ton into a state of acceptance with God
or see others go without any agitation OF
soul he is in an unhealthy. morbid state
and is as repulsive and absurd us q man
who should boast he saw n child snatched
out from under a horses hoOfs and felt
no agitation or saw a man rescued from
the fourth story of a house on fire and
felt no acceleration of the pulses.
Salvation from sin and death and hell
into life and peace and heaven forever is
such a tremendous thing that If a man
tells me he can look on it without any
agitation l doubt his Christianity. The
fact is that sometimes excitement is the
most important possible thing In case
Of resuscitation from drowning or freez-
ing the one idea is 10 excite animation.
Before conversion we are dead. Ii is the
business of the church to revive, arouse,
awaken, resuscitate, Startle into life. Ex-
element is bad or good according to
what it makes us do. II it make US do
that which is bad, it is bad excitement,
but lie 1t make US agitated about our eter-
nal welfare, IL it make us pray, if it
make us attend upon Christian service,
if 1t make US cry unto God for mercy,
then it is q good excitement.
Gathering In the Young.
Ii Is sometimes said that during re-
vivals of religion great multitudes of
children and young people are brought
into the church. and they do not know
what they are about. 1t has been my
observation that the earlier people come
into the Kingdom of God the more nsefui
they are. Robert Hall. the prince of
preachers, was converted II II Years OF