River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-12-03


draw large crowds
and quicken
kind of interest, but such a quickening
may be according to the evangelist,
not according to the word of God.
Now, what we need is an increase of
spiritual life along the line of biblical
teaching
Why Such Revival?
1. To Lift Out of the Dust.
''My soul cleaveth unto the dust
Quicken thou me according to thy
word" Dust is the symbol of earth
mess as opposed to heavenly-minded-
ness. David's soul had an attraction
for dust. Dropping or dead things
hold dust. 1t will stick so easily to
living objects, and the cure for this
dust magnetism is a larger infusion
of life. The sick eagle wallows in the
dust. 1t has not strength of wing to
rise and shake it off, but the eagle
full Of life scars above the dust and
gazes into the sun. Christians who
worldliness need an infusion of strong
healthy life that they may mount up
on wings as eagles
g. To Sustain Us Under Life's
Burdens. Il am afflicted very
much; quicken me, o Lord, according
to thy word" Dust mars and hinders
life, but it is not heavy There are
Christians not covered with dust liv-
ing consecrated lives, who have on
them heavy burdens o. responsibility,
calamity or sorrow. Such as these
need quickening that they may have
strength to bear their burdens. David
was afflicted very much, and this word
afflicted" has wider range than
bodily disease. But he does not pray
for lessening of the burden. What
he wants is more life to carry what
he has and to assume larger burdens.
Burden-bearing develops a strong,
healthy man, while it brushes the
weak and sickly. We need more life
under these burdens that they may de-
velop rather than crush us.
3. To Break All Bonds That
Enslave Us. plead my cause.
Deliver me. Quicken thou me accord
ing to thy word" This reveals to us
a condition of bondage. Deliver me;
set me Free" and this freedom comes
through a REVIVAL quickening &C
cording to Gods word. Some of us
are bound by habit; the habit of doing
nothing good. 1t is difficult to tell
which is worse-the habit of doing
what is wrong or the habit of neglect
ing what is right. Oh, for the quick
ening that will deliver us from these
do-nothing bonds! Others are bound
by the fear of men. When the apos-
ties were filed with the Spirit they
spoke the word of God with boldness;
they feared neither the face nor the
sword of their enemies.
How to Get 1t.
Pray for it. Every text is prayer:
word" 1t is a personal prayer. 1t is
well to pray for the pastor, for the
church, for all Christendom, for the
world. But we must not fail to pray
for ourselves. Quicken Me-" If you
are quickened somebody else will be,
and if the fire begins in your soul the
flames will catch the combustible ma
terial about you You need to strike
the match that can burn up city.
The fact is, all quickening must be
individual. The Lord does not quick
en- the crowd. The tongue of flame
at PentecOst sat not upon the crowd,
but upon each of them" A revival
that comes in answer to prayer is
God-given, and the only kind worth
having A revival gotten up is soon
put down. A revival produced by
series of mechanics, whether of song
or invitation or eccentricity, will not
last. 1t can be destroyed by an OPP
posite course of mechanics. 1t is sim
ply battle of force, with which God
has little to do. The revival we call
the Reformation was born in prayer
Luther's habit was to pray three
hours a day. The knees of Melanch-
thon were found after his death to
have been made callous by kneeling.
Pentecost was preceded by ten days
of supplication and prayer. Peter and
John were in the spirit of prayer on
their way into the temple, when the
other great revival in which many
were converted was commenced.
After Christ had cast out the devil
from the demoniac he said: Such
as this cometh forth only by prayer"