River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-09-17

/
ance toward God and faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ" 1t was the sim
pie gospel of the grace of God. His
purpose was to bring men into right
relation with God through Christ, that
they might thus be brought into right
relations with each other. Some re-
ligiouS people in the synagogue
spoke evil of ''the way" they did not
believe in this simple gospel method.
They might have suggested course
of lectures in which the gospel was
not to be prominent. Taking the peo-
pie by guile was to them the wisest
method. Paul, however, insisted on
"the way" and persisted along that
line.
Bad Business.
In Ephesus was the great temple of
Diana, and there were some who
made their living by manufacturing
and selling images of this popular
goddess. The success of PauPs
preaching turned away many from
purchasing these wares. The result
was a commotion among the crafts
men. Demetrius, president of the AS
ISOLATION of Idol Makers, called a
meeting and protested that this cru
SADIE against their business should
stop, and he made appeal to The honor
! of Diana.
In our cities to-day there are many
lines of business which would be over
thrown by the success of the gospel.
| A temple of Diana in America is the
liquor traffic The goddess of this
country, you know, is liberty, and
those who make their money out of
this traffic plead for the honor of
their goddess. They claim that they
should have the liberty to destroy
their neighbors. The cry of the crafts
men and their sympathiZers is Great
is the goddess of liberty which allows
men to debauch their fellows An
other temple of Diana is the theater.
The stage as an institution is corrupt
and corrupting.
The cound dance is a sort of Jug
gernaut, crushing modesty and purity
beneath it's wheels and leaving hun
dreds of wretched victims in it's wake.
Gambling prevails in the policy shop,
at the faro table, at the racetrack
and around the table of the card party.
In Chicago we have an annex of hell
known as the "Red Light District"
permitted and fostered contrary to
law by executive and police sanction.
These temples of Diana stand by the
sufferance of many good people and by
the open advocacy of every Demetrius
who can make financial or social cap
ital out of them.
The Secret of Victory.
Now the important question is, how
can we prevail against these evils?
The answer is in Acts 1920, $50
nightly grew the Word of God and
prevailed" Where the Word of God
is preached in the power of the Spirit
it cannot fail to conquer. But under
what conditions will it prevail? We
have but to study the context in this
chapter in order that we may learn.
The little church at Ephesus had
not so much as heard of the Holy
Spirit. These men were saved, but
they were powerless because they had
not received the Holy Spirit. They
needed the tongue of fire. The first
thing, therefore, which Paul did at
Ephesus was to seek the enduement
Of power for this little band OF
Christians.
Combustion, Not Explosion.
This was the method pursued before
Pentecost The disciples met in the
upper room and continued to pray for
the fulfillment of the promise of the
Spirits coming. The church within
the church who believe in prayer are
the finder ready to receive the fire
of the Holy Spirit. A revival is not
an explosion but combustion. The
tongues of the little church were all
united. Every one was preacher OF
the good tidings. There are orders
in the church which ought not to be
ignored, but in the matter of soul
winning we need to forget the dis
tinction between clergy and laity
while we seek to bring men to saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ.
PauTs next step was to preach con-
tinuously for three months in the
synagogue. He spoke boldly, "rea-
soning and persuading as to the things
concerning the kingdom of God"
His third step was to hold pro-
tracted meeting every day for over
two years. ''He disputed daily in the
school of one Tyrannus." Who Tyran-
nus was 1 do not know; doubtless a
popular teacher of rhetoric with a
large hall in the center of Ephesus. In
this secular hall Paul preached every
day until "all that dwelt in Asia heard
the word of the Lord Jesus, both
Jews and Greeks"
A careful study Of all great re-
vivals will prove that they were begun
and carried on in this apostolic fashion.
Begin with Pentecost; first, little
company gathered around Christ, who
teaches them for two or three years,
then a larger company in the upper
room praying and then the great
crowd. of whom 5000 were converted
In one day. The revival under Wesley
and Whitefield was carried on after
this same fashion. First, little band
of students, the "Holy club" at Ok.
ford, in prayer, then a larger number
in the Foundry of London and then
the great throngs at Smithfield Back
of every great revival is prayer. We
must begin and advance on our knees