Revival kindlings

Front matter

1;^

LIRRARY OF CONGRESS.

Sh,elf.H.S.il.^

Preface

He who has promised that "as thy days so thy strength shall be," has permitted the writer, who for some time has been unable to do heavier work, to prepare this book of ** revival kindlings." /

Its object is to help meet the need mentioned by Rev. B. E. Paddock, an evangelistic pastor, who writes as follows : —

** Such a volume, filled with facts unvarnished, clothed in appropriate language, so that the strong points are brought out, will be of inestimable value. I have greatly felt the need of such a work all through the years of my ministry. Have felt it more of late than ever before. After doing my best to forcibly present a Bible truth and make a point, I want an incident to clinch it. Such a work, well written, well arranged, and full, would be instrumental, when combined with other agencies, in bringing thousands to Christ."

The writer confidently believes that this volume will help to meet this need. He has used much of the matter in his own work, and thus tested its kindling power. The book is designed to be an arsenal, from

PREFACE. V

which the Christian soldier can draw needed illustrative supplies ; a well, from which the patient toiler in the Master's vineyard can drink and be refreshed ; and a guide, pointing away from superficial and spurious revivals to those which are true. It is also hoped that its " kindlings " may so ignite that it will prove a fire by whose heat unconverted readers may be melted and shivering professors so warmed that, with hearts burning within them, they will sing no more of ** These cold hearts of ours."

Its multiplicity of pointed salvation incidents is designed to make it a book of great value for workers to read themselves and scatter among those whose salvation they seek, as well as a book from which to draw material for public use. It is also well calculated to supplement the other books which the writer has issued.

In "Christ Crowned Within," gospel truth is presented from an experimental standpoint ; in " Out of Egypt into Canaan," from an illustrative ; in " Revival Tornadoes," from a biographical ; and in " Revival Kindlings," chiefly from an anecdotal.

God has condescended to use each of our other books in leading precious souls to Christ, and in the cleansing of His children and in their enduement with " power from on high." If a like or greater blessing attends this one, all the glory shall be His. Much of the matter in it has appeared from time to time in The vi prePacM.

Revivalist^ and has been thought worthy to be arranged and put in this more permanent form. Some has been selected from other books, but much of it appears in book form for the first time. All the articles not otherwise indicated are by the author of the book. We sincerely thank all who have aided us in gathering material for these pages ; and also earnestly desire the prayers of all who read them, that the book may be used of God to accomplish the end for which it is written, and thus help to hasten the day —

" When not one rebel heart remains But over all the Saviour reigns."

May He who only is able to make " weak things " "confound the mighty," and the "things that are not " " bring to naught the things that are,*' breathe, by His Spirit, upon these "kindlings," and fan them into a flame for His glory.

M. W. KNAPP.

Albion^ Mich,

Table Of Contents

PAGE

I. Kindlings 9

II. Revival Fire^ 16

Section I. Kindlings

" Revive us again, fill each heart with Thy love ; May each soul be enkindled with fire from above ! "

" Kindlings," according to Webster, " are the material used for causing flame or kindling a fire."

That they may fittingly be mentioned as illustrative of facts and incidents such as are embodied in this book will be seen by a glance at a few of the points of resemblance.

The human heart is the furnace ; spiritual truth the fuel ; prayer the match ; the Holy Spirit the fire from it ; illustrative facts, anecdotes, and incidents, the kindlings ; the Christian worker the fire builder. Jesus, with the Father, is the proprietor and director.

The souls of men in their sinful state are in a sad condition. They were designed to be temples infinitely grander than Solomon's, in which God Himself should dwell. Men by sin let Satan in, who put out the fire, extinguished the light, and made it the abode of those who, like himself, prefer darkness and spiritual desolation.

A divine law demands that all such despoiled structures shall be destroyed at once ; but Love pleaded that man might be an exception to that statute, and an

10 ttEVIVAL KINDIINQS.

opportunity given where he might through the divine favor, be restored to even more than his former state.

The Son of God has made this possible, provided agencies to do it ; and Himself gives them all, when used as He directs, divine energy. He has declared that " He came to kindle a fire on earth," and asks, ** What will I if it be already kindled ? " His "word is like a fire," and His mission is to kindle a flame of holy love that shall belt this globe, burn up the dross of sin, and fit every soul temple for His own indwelling.

To do this work He has not chosen many agencies that are ** great and mighty " in the sight of men, but those which are "weak" and often "foolish" in man's perverted sight. In many instances a simple word or tear or metaphor or illustrative incident has done more to kindle a fire in a cold heart than a whole ton of the cold coal of logical argument would have done. These prove spiritual kindlings the counterpart of those in the material world. Notice the correspondences, and learn thereby to wisely use such "kindlings."

Material kindlings are a great help in building a fire.

Fuel will not burn readily by the striking of a match, without kindlings of some kind. The furnace may be full of fuel, but will be fireless unless kindlings are procured.

Every enlightened mind contains truth enough to save it. Every cold church holds truth enough to make it glow with holy fire if only that truth were ablaze.

The great mission of revivals is to set this truth on fire. To aid in doing this, illustrative "kindlings " are of great value.

KINDLINGS. 11

Jesus gathered such both from the history of the past and the events of the present, and then used them with a wisdom which should command both the admiration and the example of all who preach and teach His gospel.

Kindlings^ though needful^ cannot be substituted for the more substantial ftiel.

A fire made of kindlings only will both flash up and go out quickly. No more can ** revival kindlings" be substituted instead of the great body of Bible truth, which it is their mission simply to illustrate and enforce.

Kindlings have to be prepared and possessed before they can be used.

There might be an abundance of material for kindlings at hand, and yet all of it be valueless for kindling purposes, because not prepared or possessed. So with spiritual kindlings for use in revival work. The world is full of material for them, but much of it is not in shape for use ; and often even that which is prepared is not in possession of the gospel worker, and hence to him is valueless.

Kindlings not only should be prepared and possessed^ but also of easy access.

Many an itinerant, taking his " Brush College " course, has felt the discomfort caused by waiting while his host, whose hospitalities he shares after the evening revival service is over, is hunting up kindlings and preparing them for building a fire. How much needless shivering would have been saved if only the kindlings had been prepared beforehand !

Such an host is a picture of the preacher who *' beats the air " or " shouts at the stars " in his sermons and personal instructions because he has neglected to prepare and have easy of access a supply of fitting illustrations.

How often congregations have shivered spiritually under sermons that have "gone out" just because the minister had neglected to secure needed '* kindlings," or was too " dignified " to condescend to use them !

Kindlings must be placed in the furnace and brought in contact with the fuel.

In a similar way, '' revival kindlings " of fitting illustrative truth must be brought in contact with the minds of those whom it is hoped to enkindle.

The furnace must be properly prepared.

The ashes should be removed, the pipes and chimney cleaned, and the dampers opened.

Some people are like an old furnace with rusted damper shut, pipes and chimney completely filled with soot. Pride, prejudice, unbelief, an unforgiving spirit, worldliness, and kindred evils, are the soot which hinders, and if not removed will smother revival fires. On this account the first two weeks of a revival frequently must be spent in cleaning spiritual pipes and chimneys. On such occasion the leader of the revival must be a spiritual "chimney-sweep" or see every effort to build revival fire fail.

Blind professors sometimes insist that the minister shall light his "kindlings" and make the revival fire burn, with the church in the deplorable condition mentioned, without urging its overhauling and cleaning.

If wise he will inflexibly resist such insistence ; otherwise his time and labor will be in vain, his revival end in smoke, and the blind men mentioned will say, " — is not much of a revivalist," and perhaps it will be true.

KINDLINGS. 13

Kindlings to accomplish their mission must be lighted.

The furnace, pipes, chimney, fuel, and kindlings — all may be properly prepared and ready for a rousing fire ; yet if not lighted, frowning Frost, instead of genial Warmth, will reign.

All now hinges on striking and applying the match. What the match's fire is to the kindlings, the Holy Spirit is to revival facts and incidents. They can be lighted from no other source. Mental, moral, or mere rhetorical fire cannot ignite them. They are to help kindle flames which will glow forever, and their source must be divine. Hence a revival or a church that ignores the agency of the Holy Ghost can at the best be but a spiritual icehouse. It may have many in it, but they will be in a freezing condition. They may listen to artistic music and archangel eloquence which may amuse for a moment. They may dance, play progressive euchre, engage in churchly frolics, festivals, theatricals, and kindred " entertainments " to try and thus "amuse themselves" and forget the spiritual chills which blight their brightest hopes ; yet sooner or later, unless fire from above shall fall amid the resistless blasts of a merciless spiritual winter, they will have perished, and over them the unseen angel will be compelled to write this sad and truthful epitaph : " Frozen to Death."

The right use of kindlings requires wisdom.

It requires wisdom that will insist on the overhauling of soot-filled pipes, the sweeping of chimneys, open dampers, and which, when all is ready, shall apply the match.

Success with spiritual kindlings needs the higher wisdom from above, — wisdom that will use them discriminately ; wisdom that knows how, Elijah-like, when all is ready, at just the right time, to strike the match of prevailing prayer, which will bring the fire of the Holy Spirit from above to set ablaze the kindlings which have been prepared.

A little girl tried to buiM her first fire by laying a match on the top of a stick of wood. It of course went out and she was disappointed. Workers who dispense with spiritual kindlings altogether, or who use them at hap-hazard, at wrong times and places and to wrong persons, are as unwise as was this little girl, and must meet a similar mortification.

The Christian worker who cannot strike this match is as out of place as a revival leader as a baby would be to lead in a battle. Such should seek at once some Pentecostal "upper chamber" and ** tarry there " until this secret wisdom, which the Father delights to give even to spiritual babes, is possessed. Then, and not till then, other conditions being met, shall come the qualification to lead on to revival victory.

FIRE IN THE WORD.

"And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel" (Exod. 24: 17).

** And the light of Israel shall be for a firey and his Holy One for 2^ flame : and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day" (Isa. 10: 17).

" Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy : his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devourmgfire'' (Isa. 30: 27).

*' I will make my words in thy vdovx^xfire (Jer. 5 : 14).

" Is not my word like as 2ifire " (Jer. 23 : 29) }

"He is like a refiner'syfr^" (Mai, 3 : 2).

" He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire'' (Matt. 3: 11).

" I am come to send j^r^ on the earth ; and what will I, if it be already kindled " (Luke 12 : 49) }

"Who maketh his ... . ministers a flame of fire'' (Heb. 1 : 7).

" And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as oifire^ and it sat upon each of them " (Acts 2:3).

CJ53

SECTION 11.

REVIVAL FIRE.

Fire, as well as " kindlings, " has its counterpart in the spiritual world.

Revival fire is gospel truth ablaze with the power and presence of the Holy Ghost. It glows in the hearts of all who welcome it.

A freezing family in a fireless dwelling, with the mercury forty degrees below zero, is a no more pitiable spectacle than a soul or a church which is destitute of revival fire.

Notice the following instructive likenesses between it and the fire of the material world : —

A fire will not burn withoiU fuel.

No more can fire divine be kindled in a heart that is destitute of the fuel of God's truth.

The truth must first be placed within before the fire can be built there. This work may be done in the home, in the Sunday school, from the pulpit, by personal instruction, and by the printed page.

A few sticks or coals are enough to begin the fire with, but they must be there. Many of the heathen are entirely destitute of these, and the truth has to be translated into their language before it can be set on fire.

To simply pray for the conversion of those who have no knowledge of the gospel, without doing anything to

REVIVAL FIRE. 17

put them in possession of proper instruction, is as foolish as to try and build a fire in a fuelless stove.

A fire will not burn unless it is kindled.

No more will revival fires burn unless man does his part to build them. Whenever there has been a Saul suddenly blazing up with revival fire, there has also been some Stephen who has helped to kindle the flame. Revivals do not come independent of human effort. They must come from above, and are of divine origin, but their coming is conditioned on human action.

A man would be thought crazy if he should pray for God to keep his family from freezing, and then refuse to light afire, on the plea that God Himself would do it "in His own good time." Yet he would act just as wisely as one who prays for a revival in his own heart or community, and then does nothing to promote it.

A fire^ when kindled, exerts a twofold action.

Fire in one instance will warm, and in another, burn : in one, comfort ; and another, pain, — the effect depending upon the attitude of the subject toward it. So with fire from above. Falling upon Ananias, persistent in perfidy, it burns him to death : but in the heart furnace of an Isaiah, a Peter, or a Paul, it glows a perpetual glory. It troubles the sinner but comforts the saint. Spiritual fire rejected is hell ; received, it is heaven.

Fire is destructive.

Spiritual fire is a foe to sin, and seeks to destroy it : hence the ingenious and persistent efforts of Satan and his servants to put it out ; hence the wisdom from above, which is needed to bring their efforts to naught.

Fire is aggressive.

It swiftly spreads. So does fire frorn above. Within fifty years from the first Pentecostal conflagration it nearly belted the globe. Within the last century it has spread with a rapidity that has made the 'Agates of hell" to shake ; and within the next twenty-five years it will burn in every corner of this globe, making it glow with a beauty borrowed from celestial realms.

Fire shines.

So does its spiritual namesake ; and shining, it makes wonderful revelations of divine truth. It reveals views of God and sin and self, that startle by their awfulness. The prayer, "Lord, let the fire fall!" should be prefaced with, ** Lord, help me to bear the revelations that it will bring."

It melts.

Hard metal under its influence becomes soft and pliable. Under the influence of fire from on high the will bends, the heart melts, the feelings flow, and, as a dear minister expressed it, "all stiffness disappears."

Fire is a great purifier.

In the furnace it separates the base from the precious metal, and prepares the pure gold for the impress of the governmental seal. Likewise, in God's alembic, this fire divine separates from our natures the dross of sin, and fits the purified soul for the impress of the government divine, so that by complete submission to His will it is moulded to "awake in His likeness."

// conde7ises.

This thought is not poetical, but wonderfully practical and true. As the juices of the cane and of the maple must be submitted to the fire's purifying, condensing power before they are of value, so must the soul to fire from above. Pride, envy, self-will, and kindred

REVIVAL FIRE. 19

gaseous vapors must be expelled, and the condensing process continued until one shall feel, " I am nothing, but Christ is all in all." "I feel awfully small," said a brother who had just passed through this process. It was the smallness that precedes greatness. When we are little in our sight, we become great in God's sight. There is danger in being too big. It was the death of Goliath, and came near being the defeat of Gideon's army. Fire condenses. When it gets burning among a people, how amazingly the old prayers and exhortations and experiences contract!

// a/so expands.

It condenses sap, but expands metal. So with fire from above : it condenses the redundant and expands the precious. Beneath its heat^ peace, joy, benevolence, and all the precious metals of spiritual mineralogy are wonderfully expanded. Under its influence one man witnessed, ** I don't dare stay to another meeting, for I am as full now as I can stand." It was the expansive power of fire divine that "filled" him.

Fire inspires growth.

Warmth and light are its children, and under their genial influence there is the seed, the plant, the flower, and the fruitage. Without it, everything freezes to death. So in the spiritual world. With it, all the seeds implanted by the Spirit in the soul germinate, and develop into flowers and trees which glorify their Maker here, and then are fitted for transplanting to brighter realms above. Without it, all are soon nipped by frosts of worldliness and frozen to death in the ice of formality, or are destroyed by the terrific blizzards that continually rage in the perpetual winter of sin.

To look for spiritual growth without fire from above is just as absurd as to expect to raise oranges in the Arctic Zone.

Fire is the main-spring of the tornado s might.

Its heat creates the mighty aerial currents which have formed ** cyclones" that have swept over earth with tremendous momentum. So of spiritual fire are born " revival tornadoes " such as have shaken earth and made the very gates of hell tremble. Behold their history in the days of the early Church, of Luther, of Wesley, and at the present time ! They are God's purifiers of the moral atmosphere, sent to banish the souldestroying malaria that arises from the swamp of sin on earth and the pit of hell below. May they multiply until the sweet and holy atmosphere of heaven pervades this entire planet.

Fire is aii explosive of dynamite.

Under every form of evil the messengers of the Almighty are placing the dynamite bomb-shells of eternal truth. As they pray, the Spirit descends, the fire flashes from above, and there are and shall be explosions, shaking the very dungeons of doom, and making demons turn pale with hopeless rage.

Fire is the centre of the eatthquakcs power.

It speaks the word, and from its presence legions of pent-up gasses rush against earth's crust with a fury that makes mountains reel and cities totter to the dust.

Revival fire creates spiritual earthquakes of similar might, — earthquakes which shall continue to convulse and startle the moral and the spiritual world until Greed and Lust and War and False Ambition, with all their

SEVIVAL FIRE. 21

kindred, have been destroyed, and the temples they have reared and the shrines where they have worshipped be deserted or thrown down.

Fire is the source of the refreshing shower.

The heat which it sheds forth so affects the atmosphere as to create the shining dew, the rnorning mist, and the refreshing shower. In a similar way the same spiritual heat, of which is born the cyclone and the earthquake, also creates the dew of silent, sweet devotion, the morning clouds of praise which ascend from hearts, and also the *' showers of blessings " which daily water all the trees and flowers of " righteousness " which flourish in the garden of the Lord.

The results of fire are wonderfully diverse.

It is the final source of both the lightning's gleam and of the rainbow's tint. In a like manner, fire from above may be the origin of judgments sudden and awful, that appall by their vividness ; and also of graces sweet and winning, that entrance with more than earthly loveliness.

Fire is a source of motion.

It generates steam, without which many of our most important machines would be useless.

It is said that the first time that a northern pitman ever saw a locomotive, he said, — " How is it to go } There are no horses, and it is tons of weight. It will never move."

Soon it was going at full speed, when the same man, filled with wonder, declared, " It will never stop."

Seeing another train, he decided to discover the secret of its motion. He finally found it out, and said to his companion, — '* Why, Jim, it's the fire that's inside her!"

A perfect engine upon a perfect track, well manned, and supplied with coal and water and all else needful, would still be perfectly powerless for the end designed, without fire. Sermons are sometimes just like such an engine. So are songs and prayers and testimonies and exhortations. The parties producing them would laugh at an engineer that would get down and push on his engine to make it go, instead of " firing up." Yet they are doing a similar thing. Some are preachers, some superintendents, some class-leaders, some stewards, some trustees, some parents, and each has a splendid engine well equipped, and a train loaded with a precious freight of immortal souls which he wishes to get safe to heaven. There is fretting and worrying, and blaming and desponding, and pushing the train, but it doesn't move. Get on board, let the fire fall, and like a thing of life you and your precious freight will ascend the up-grade to the skies.

// warms our homes.

So with fire from high : it melts the hearts of parents and children, and they flow together. All ** coldness " towards each other disappears when it is received by each. A home without it is like a dwelling beautiful and nicely furnished, yet fireless. Who would live in such a house t Yet it were not half so foolish to do that as to have a home without fire from above. No wonder that multitudes have said, *' I'll have it or die." No wonder that to all such the kingly Christ replies, "Ask, and ye shall receive."

*• Oh that it now from heaven might fall, And all our sins consume 1 Come, Holy Ghost, for Thee we call! Spirit of burning, come 1 "

Section III. Revivals

4 Revival

Is like a thunder cloud, in that lightning leaps from it and sometimes hits to kill.

Like the sunshine, in that it sheds light and banishes darkness.

Like a hammer, in that it breaks chains and frees their victims.

Like the weather, in that it is outrageously grumbled about and cannot please all.

Like the moon ; no matter how much the dogs of opposition bark at it, it moves right on.

Like a war, in that there are always two sides, and the lines are closely drawn.

Like the earth, in that it is created and upheld by an unseen power.

Like the Day of Judgment, in that both judgments and rewards attend it.

Like a charge in a battle, in that the true and the brave press to the front, while the untrue and the cowardly fly to the rear.

Like a forest fire, in that when it gets under headway it spreads rapidly and destroys all dead material.

Like all other great blessings, in that all glory for the good it brings should be given to God alone.

A Revival Spirii

In a church makes it like a magnet, in that it draws* people to itself.

Like an oasis in the desert, in that it affords to the perishing, spiritual shade, food, and drink.

Like a strong ship, in that it is able to triutnph over both wind and waves.

Like an impregnable fortress, which defends its inmates and is a terror to their enemies.

Vivifying, enlightening, and purifying, it is like the sun when it goeth forth in its might ; and like heaven, in that its subjects are both useful and happy, and God Himself dwells with them.

A Church

Which is destitute of a revival spirit is like a storm-cloud in the time of a drought, which brings no rain.

Like a lamp with a wet wick, which sputters for a moment and then goes out.

Like a stove with soot-filled pipes and wet wood, that gives no heat.

Like an empty table to a man who is starving.

Like a dried up fountain to a man that is dying of thirst.

Like a lighthouse whose light is put out.

Like a home where there is no love.

Like a Polar winter.

Like a ghastly corpse.

He who commanded "Come forth" to Lazarus, is able to resurrect even such a church as this.

Absolute Necessity of Revivals. *' I could prove to a demonstration that without revivals the world will never be converted, and that in a hundred or two hundred years, without revivals, Christianity will be practically extinct. It is a matter of astounding arithmetic. In each of our modern generations there are at least thirty-two million children. Now add thirty-two millions to. the world's population, and then have only one or two hundred thousand converted every year, and how long before the world will be saved } Never — absolutely never ! " — Talmage.

Moiives for Revival Effort

1. God commands it.

2. He always abundantly blesses all who rightly engage in it.

3. The great majority of converted people were saved through revival efforts.

4. Sinners by the million are sinking down to an eternal hell.

5. Sin is an insult to God.

6. Revivals make joy in heaven.

7. Formalists, hypocrites, saloonists, and the devil, all hate them.

8. Spiritual people in all denominations bid them God speed.

9. To refuse to aid in them is to become cold, dead, and perhaps lost forever.

10. To work in them is to win soul gems that will be of infinite value when banks have all broken, and all but God's saints have gone into eternal bankruptcy.

*' Long and loud the Master calleth, Rich reward He offers thee.

Who will answer, gladly saying, * Here am I ; send me, send me. ' **

There must be a Revival.

It is possible for a person to live and be happy without a home, and in poverty and hunger ; but if destitute of a revival spirit he is a spiritual invalid, weak, sick, and miserable, if not already dead.

It is possible for a church to thrive without a building, without a choir, without a preacher, but without a revival it is like a house in the winter without any fire.