The Need for Revivals # 2
Revival Demands Sacrifice
When may a revival be expected? When wickedness of the wicked grieves and distresses the Church. When you are willing to make a sacrifice for the revival; when you are willing to sacrifice your feelings. You say, "Oh, well, Mr. Sunday hurt my feelings." Then don't spread them all over his tabernacle for men to walk on. I despise a touchy man or woman. Make a sacrifice of your feelings; make a sacrifice of your business, of your time, of your money; you are willing to give to help to advance God's cause, for God's cause has to have money the same as a railroad or a shipping company. When you give your influence and stand up and let people know you stand for Jesus Christ and it has your endorsement and time and money. Somebody has got to get on the firing line. Somebody had to go on the firing line and become bullet meat for $13 a month to overcome slavery. Somebody has to be willing to make a sacrifice. They must be willing to get out and hustle and do things for God.
When may a revival be expected? A revival may be expected when Christian people confess and ask forgiveness for their sins. When you are willing that God shall promote and use whatever means or instruments or individuals or methods He is pleased to use to promote them. Yes. The trouble is He cannot promote a revival if you are sitting on the judgment of the methods and means that God is employing to promote a revival. The God Almighty may use any method or means or individuals that he pleases in order to promote a revival. You are not running it! Let God have His way. You can tell whether you need a revival. You can tell if you will have one and why you have got one. If God should ask you sisters and preachers in an audible voice, "Are you willing that I should promote a revival by using any method or means or individual language that I choose to use to promote it? what would be your answer? Yes. Then don't growl if I use some things that you don't like. You have no business to. How can you promote a revival? Break up your fallow ground, the ground that produces nothing but weeds, briars, tin cans and brickbats. Fallow ground is ground that never had a glow in it. Detroit had a major, Pingree, when Detroit had thousands and thousands of acres of fallow ground. This was taken over by the municipal government and planted with potatoes with which they fed the poor of the city!
There are individuals who have never done anything for Jesus Christ, and I have no doubt there are preachers as well, who have never done anything for the God Almighty. There are acres and acres of fallow ground lying right here that have never been touched. Look over your past life, look over you present life and future and take up the individual sins and with pencil and paper write them down. A general confession will never do. You have committed your sins, one by one, and you will have to confess them one by one. This thing of saying, "God, I am a sinner," won't do. "God, I am a gossiper in my neighborhood. God, I have been in my icebox while I am here listening to Mr. Sunday." Confess your sins!
How can you promote a revival? You women, if you found that your husband was giving his love and attention to some other woman and if you saw that some other woman was encroaching on his mind and heart, and was usurping your place and was pushing you out of the place, wouldn't you grieve? Don't you think that God grieves when you push Him out of your life? You don't treat God square. You business men don't treat God fair. You let a thousand things come in and take the place that God Almighty had. No wonder you are careless. You blame God for things you have no right to blame Him for. He is not to blame for anything! You judge God. The spirit loves the Bible; the devil loves the flesh!
If you don't do your part, don't blame God. How many times have you blamed God when you are the liar yourself? You are accustomed to blame Him for the instances of unbelief that have come into your life. When should be promote a revival? When there is a neglect of prayer? When your prayers affect God? You never think of going out on the street without dressing. You would be arrested before you went a block. You never think of going without breakfast, do you? I bet there are multitudes that have come here without reading the Bible or praying for this meeting.
You can measure your desire for salvation by means of the amount of self-denial you are willing to practice for Jesus Christ. You have sinned before the Church, before the world, before God. Doesn't the Lord have a hard time? Own up, now. Persecution is a Godsend!
How many times have you found yourself exercising pride? Envy! Envy of those that have more talent than you. Envious because someone can afford a limousine and you have to ride in a puddle-jumper? Then there is your grumbling and faultfinding. Speaking about people behind their backs is slander. When you rip and tear and discuss your neighbors and turn the affair into a great big gossiping society, with your faultfinding, grumbling and growling.
"Oh, Lord, revive Thy work!"
I have only two minutes more and then I am through. Bad temper, abuse your wife, abuse your children, abuse your husband; turn your old gatling-gun tongue loose. A lady came to me and said, "Mr. Sunday, I know I have a bad temper, but I am over it in a minute." So is the shotgun, but it blows everything to pieces!
And, finally - Bad temper. You abuse your wife, you go cussing around if supper isn't ready on time; cussing because the coffee isn't hot; you dig your fork into a hunk of beef and put it on the plate and then you say, "Where did you get this, in the harness shop? Take it out and make a hinge for the door!" Then you go to your store, or office, and smile and everybody thinks you are an angel to sprout wings and fly to the imperial realm above. Bad temper! You growl at your children; you snap and snarl around the house until they have to go the neighbors to see a smile. They never get a kind word - no wonder so many of them go to the devil quick!
~Billy Sunday~
(The End)
Saturday, December 29, 2018
The Need for Revivals # 1
The Need for Revivals # 1
Somebody asks: "What is revival?" Revival is a purely philosophical, commonsense result of the wise use of divinely appointed means, just the same as water will put out a fire; the same as food will appease your hunger; just the same as water will slake your thirst; it is a philosophical commonsense use of divinely appointed means to accomplish that end. A revival is jut as much horse sense as that.
A revival is not material; it does not depend upon material means. It is a false idea that there is something peculiar in it, that it cannot be judged by ordinary rules, causes and effects. That is nonsense. Above your head there is an electric light; that is effect. What is the cause? Why, the dynamo. Religion can be judged on the same basis of cause and effect. If you do a thing, results always come. The results come to the farmer. He has his crops. That is the result. He has to plow and plant and take care of his farm before the crops come.
Religion needs a baptism of horse sense! That is just pure horse sense. I believe there is no doctrine more dangerous to the Church today than to convey the impression that a revival is something peculiar in itself and cannot be judged by the same rules of causes and effect as other things. If you preach that to the farmers - if you go to a farmer and say "God is a sovereign," that is true; if you say "God will give you crops only when it pleases Him and it is no use for you to plow your ground and plant your crops in the spring," that is all wrong, and if you preach that doctrine and expect the farmers to believe it, this country will starve to death in two years. The churches have been preaching some false doctrines and religion had died out.
Some people think that religion is a good deal like a storm. They sit around and fold their arms, and that is what is the matter. You sit in your pews so easy that you become mildewed. Such results will be sure to follow if you are persuaded that religion is something mysterious and has no natural connection between the means and the end. It has a natural connection of common sense and I believe that when divinely appointed means are used spiritual blessing will accrue to the individuals and the community in great numbers than temporal blessings. You can have spiritual blessings as regularly as the farmer can have corn, wheat, oats, or you can have potatoes and onions and cabbage in your garden. I believe that spiritual results will follow more surely than temporal blessings. I don't believe all this tommyrot of false doctrines. Until the church resorts to the use of divinely appointed means it won't get a blessing.
What A Revival Does
What is a revival? Now listen to me. A revival does two things. First, it returns the Church from her backsliding and second, it causes the conversion of men and women; and it always includes the conviction of sin on the part of the Church. What a spell the devil seems to cast over the Church today!
I suppose the people here are pretty fair representatives of the Church of God, and if everybody did what you do there would never be a revival. Suppose I did no more than you do, then no people would ever be converted through my efforts; I would fold my arms and rust out. A revival helps to bring the unsaved to Jesus Christ.
God Almighty never intended that the devil should triumph over the Church. He never intended that the saloons should walk roughshod over Christianity. And if you think that anybody is going to frighten me, you don't know me yet!
When is a revival needed? When the individuals are careless and unconcerned. If the Church were down on her face in prayer they would be more concerned with the fellow outside. The Church has degenerated into a third-rate amusement joint, with religion left out!
When is a revival needed? When carelessness and unconcern keep the people asleep. It is as much the duty of the Church to awaken and work and labor for the men and women of this city as it is the duty of the fire department to rush out when the call sounds. What would you think of the fire department if it slept while the town burned? You would condemn them, and I will condemn you if you sleep and let men and women go to hell. It is just as much your business to be awake. The Church of God is asleep today; it is turned into a dormitory; and has taken the devil's opiates.
When may a revival be expected? When the wickedness of the wicked grieves and distresses the Christian. Sometimes people don't seem to mind the sins of other people. Don't seem to mind while boys and girls walk the streets of their city and know more of evil than gray-haired men. You are asleep!
When is revival needed? When the Christians have lost the spirit of prayer.
When is a revival needed? When you feel the want of revival and feel the need of it. Men have had this feeling, ministers have had it until they thought they would die unless a revival would come to awaken their people, their students, their deacons and their Sunday-school workers, unless they would fall down on their faces and renounce the world and the works and deceits of the devil. When the Church of God draws its patrons from the theaters the theaters will close up, or else take the dirty, rotten movies off the stage.
When the Church of God stops voting for the saloon, the saloon will go to hell. When the members stop having poker in their homes, there won't be so many black-legged gamblers in the world. This is the truth. You can't sit around and fold your arms and let God run this business; you have been doing that too long here. When may a revival be expected? When Christians confess their sins one to another. Sometimes they confess in a general way, but they have no earnestness; they get up and do it in eloquent language, but that doesn't do it. It is when they break down and cry and pour out their hearts to God in grief, when the floodgates open, then I want to tell you the devil will have cold feet.
~Billy Sunday~
~continued with # 2)
Somebody asks: "What is revival?" Revival is a purely philosophical, commonsense result of the wise use of divinely appointed means, just the same as water will put out a fire; the same as food will appease your hunger; just the same as water will slake your thirst; it is a philosophical commonsense use of divinely appointed means to accomplish that end. A revival is jut as much horse sense as that.
A revival is not material; it does not depend upon material means. It is a false idea that there is something peculiar in it, that it cannot be judged by ordinary rules, causes and effects. That is nonsense. Above your head there is an electric light; that is effect. What is the cause? Why, the dynamo. Religion can be judged on the same basis of cause and effect. If you do a thing, results always come. The results come to the farmer. He has his crops. That is the result. He has to plow and plant and take care of his farm before the crops come.
Religion needs a baptism of horse sense! That is just pure horse sense. I believe there is no doctrine more dangerous to the Church today than to convey the impression that a revival is something peculiar in itself and cannot be judged by the same rules of causes and effect as other things. If you preach that to the farmers - if you go to a farmer and say "God is a sovereign," that is true; if you say "God will give you crops only when it pleases Him and it is no use for you to plow your ground and plant your crops in the spring," that is all wrong, and if you preach that doctrine and expect the farmers to believe it, this country will starve to death in two years. The churches have been preaching some false doctrines and religion had died out.
Some people think that religion is a good deal like a storm. They sit around and fold their arms, and that is what is the matter. You sit in your pews so easy that you become mildewed. Such results will be sure to follow if you are persuaded that religion is something mysterious and has no natural connection between the means and the end. It has a natural connection of common sense and I believe that when divinely appointed means are used spiritual blessing will accrue to the individuals and the community in great numbers than temporal blessings. You can have spiritual blessings as regularly as the farmer can have corn, wheat, oats, or you can have potatoes and onions and cabbage in your garden. I believe that spiritual results will follow more surely than temporal blessings. I don't believe all this tommyrot of false doctrines. Until the church resorts to the use of divinely appointed means it won't get a blessing.
What A Revival Does
What is a revival? Now listen to me. A revival does two things. First, it returns the Church from her backsliding and second, it causes the conversion of men and women; and it always includes the conviction of sin on the part of the Church. What a spell the devil seems to cast over the Church today!
I suppose the people here are pretty fair representatives of the Church of God, and if everybody did what you do there would never be a revival. Suppose I did no more than you do, then no people would ever be converted through my efforts; I would fold my arms and rust out. A revival helps to bring the unsaved to Jesus Christ.
God Almighty never intended that the devil should triumph over the Church. He never intended that the saloons should walk roughshod over Christianity. And if you think that anybody is going to frighten me, you don't know me yet!
When is a revival needed? When the individuals are careless and unconcerned. If the Church were down on her face in prayer they would be more concerned with the fellow outside. The Church has degenerated into a third-rate amusement joint, with religion left out!
When is a revival needed? When carelessness and unconcern keep the people asleep. It is as much the duty of the Church to awaken and work and labor for the men and women of this city as it is the duty of the fire department to rush out when the call sounds. What would you think of the fire department if it slept while the town burned? You would condemn them, and I will condemn you if you sleep and let men and women go to hell. It is just as much your business to be awake. The Church of God is asleep today; it is turned into a dormitory; and has taken the devil's opiates.
When may a revival be expected? When the wickedness of the wicked grieves and distresses the Christian. Sometimes people don't seem to mind the sins of other people. Don't seem to mind while boys and girls walk the streets of their city and know more of evil than gray-haired men. You are asleep!
When is revival needed? When the Christians have lost the spirit of prayer.
When is a revival needed? When you feel the want of revival and feel the need of it. Men have had this feeling, ministers have had it until they thought they would die unless a revival would come to awaken their people, their students, their deacons and their Sunday-school workers, unless they would fall down on their faces and renounce the world and the works and deceits of the devil. When the Church of God draws its patrons from the theaters the theaters will close up, or else take the dirty, rotten movies off the stage.
When the Church of God stops voting for the saloon, the saloon will go to hell. When the members stop having poker in their homes, there won't be so many black-legged gamblers in the world. This is the truth. You can't sit around and fold your arms and let God run this business; you have been doing that too long here. When may a revival be expected? When Christians confess their sins one to another. Sometimes they confess in a general way, but they have no earnestness; they get up and do it in eloquent language, but that doesn't do it. It is when they break down and cry and pour out their hearts to God in grief, when the floodgates open, then I want to tell you the devil will have cold feet.
~Billy Sunday~
~continued with # 2)
Saturday, December 22, 2018
To See - As I Have Seen # 3
To See - As I Have Seen # 3
Okay, how do we get there? Well, we get there by this commitment. There is no such thing as a response in measure. Somebody said that there's nothing worse than somebody who does the Lord's work, giving himself to God in a measure. Of course, we don't consciously do this; we unconsciously do this. It's called taking care of our health. it's called being practical. It's called our responsibility to our family. I've seen people that were going to go to the mission field but said, "Well, we're just going to stay here for a time and we're going to get married...and when our baby's born then we'll go down to the mission field. Forget it! That kind of people never make it! Cause the first baby's born and then the second baby and then the third baby and then they start to school and ... You know, if God calls me today, when does He expect me to respond?
If you hear God's voice, it's always today with Him. He never tells me what He is going to be asking or demanding of me next year or six months from now or even tomorrow. The only way is to say, "Yes, Lord. Lord, it doesn't matter what anybody says." There's a lot of seeking counsel which ends up asking people's advice when we already know what they're going to tell us.
Someone talked about life being like playing checkers and you say, "Well, I know I can win. So, I let my opponent, take this piece, and that piece, and another piece, and then I'm going to win." But, suddenly you realize you don't have enough pieces left! You know, that happens to us all the time spiritually speaking. God doesn't want children! He wants men!
A man is somebody who is not dreaming of the future. A man is somebody who can take the day and face the decisions and the demands and step into life.
"My flesh," David says, "longeth, longeth, longeth." If it's just a mental thing it won't go very far. It won't go very far at all. "My flesh longeth." It's something that goes beyond my mind. It's something that I can't contain. It's there, and I can't get away from it. My flesh longeth... God, I've got to see, as I've seen in Your promises, as I've felt in my spirit, as I've heard You quickened it through a message in the church, as I've heard it through the mouths of your servants.
As You've made it real to me. "My flesh longeth." Not my soul longeth, my my spirit longeth, but my flesh longeth. This earthly part of me wants to see the eternal God - see the eternal God doing His works.
God wants a people that have got a vision and say "God, as I've seen, so would I see" in this earth a manifestation. Jesus came to do the works of God. The early church did the works of God. It's not the book knowledge of God that's missing today. It's the works of God that are missing. This is what God wants to led us into; this is what God has got before each one of us. He has a purpose. He knew us all since before the foundation of the earth. There's a calling. And it's not just somebody else. Thee have still got to be great renunciations if there are going to be great careers in God.
"Lord, as I've seen." I think I've said before and I'll close with this. After Francis of Assisi died, his disciples mechanized the process and set up the structure of the Franciscan Order and there was one man that couldn't see and he wouldn't come under the discipline they were trying to put on him. And finally the one who was in charge said to this person, "Brother John, comedown from that mountain." You know what Brother John said? He said, "But I've heard another voice." Man can say what he likes. Circumstances can say what they like. The only thing God's interested in is people that have heard "another voice," and who hear and obey it to the exclusion of all else!
~Paul Ravenhill~
(The End)
[copyright (c) Paul Ravenhill, 1997. May be reproduced in its entirety without change or editing, and as freeware, with no charge.]
Okay, how do we get there? Well, we get there by this commitment. There is no such thing as a response in measure. Somebody said that there's nothing worse than somebody who does the Lord's work, giving himself to God in a measure. Of course, we don't consciously do this; we unconsciously do this. It's called taking care of our health. it's called being practical. It's called our responsibility to our family. I've seen people that were going to go to the mission field but said, "Well, we're just going to stay here for a time and we're going to get married...and when our baby's born then we'll go down to the mission field. Forget it! That kind of people never make it! Cause the first baby's born and then the second baby and then the third baby and then they start to school and ... You know, if God calls me today, when does He expect me to respond?
If you hear God's voice, it's always today with Him. He never tells me what He is going to be asking or demanding of me next year or six months from now or even tomorrow. The only way is to say, "Yes, Lord. Lord, it doesn't matter what anybody says." There's a lot of seeking counsel which ends up asking people's advice when we already know what they're going to tell us.
Someone talked about life being like playing checkers and you say, "Well, I know I can win. So, I let my opponent, take this piece, and that piece, and another piece, and then I'm going to win." But, suddenly you realize you don't have enough pieces left! You know, that happens to us all the time spiritually speaking. God doesn't want children! He wants men!
A man is somebody who is not dreaming of the future. A man is somebody who can take the day and face the decisions and the demands and step into life.
"My flesh," David says, "longeth, longeth, longeth." If it's just a mental thing it won't go very far. It won't go very far at all. "My flesh longeth." It's something that goes beyond my mind. It's something that I can't contain. It's there, and I can't get away from it. My flesh longeth... God, I've got to see, as I've seen in Your promises, as I've felt in my spirit, as I've heard You quickened it through a message in the church, as I've heard it through the mouths of your servants.
As You've made it real to me. "My flesh longeth." Not my soul longeth, my my spirit longeth, but my flesh longeth. This earthly part of me wants to see the eternal God - see the eternal God doing His works.
God wants a people that have got a vision and say "God, as I've seen, so would I see" in this earth a manifestation. Jesus came to do the works of God. The early church did the works of God. It's not the book knowledge of God that's missing today. It's the works of God that are missing. This is what God wants to led us into; this is what God has got before each one of us. He has a purpose. He knew us all since before the foundation of the earth. There's a calling. And it's not just somebody else. Thee have still got to be great renunciations if there are going to be great careers in God.
"Lord, as I've seen." I think I've said before and I'll close with this. After Francis of Assisi died, his disciples mechanized the process and set up the structure of the Franciscan Order and there was one man that couldn't see and he wouldn't come under the discipline they were trying to put on him. And finally the one who was in charge said to this person, "Brother John, comedown from that mountain." You know what Brother John said? He said, "But I've heard another voice." Man can say what he likes. Circumstances can say what they like. The only thing God's interested in is people that have heard "another voice," and who hear and obey it to the exclusion of all else!
~Paul Ravenhill~
(The End)
[copyright (c) Paul Ravenhill, 1997. May be reproduced in its entirety without change or editing, and as freeware, with no charge.]
To See - As I Have Seen # 2
To See - As I Have Seen # 2
We live in such a structured age. I remember when the great discipleship movement first started. Folks thought they had found the secret - "We'll get these folks that don't know anything and we'll teach them all we know and the church is going to go ahead like a house on fire." It does not work out that way - that's not the way God chooses to do it.
Every time I go out I notice this: people go to church, the person up front says, "This is true and this is true and this is true" and everyone goes, "Oh, isn't that right. Amen. Isn't that heavy." And then somewhere along the line he says something that isn't true and everybody says, "Oh, yes. Amen." You know there's no discernment.
And so, David starts out saying, "O God, Thou art my God. All that God is, Thou art to me. I will not look in any other direction." And he's in the desert while he is writing this. "Early will I seek Thee." It's first time wise, but also...with regard to the priorities of life. Before anything else comes .... GOD!
If we're going to live a meaningful Christian life, we have got to come into that. Is God my reality, or is this world my reality? That's why people go to the mission field and get wiped out. That's why culture shock and spiritual culture shock and all of those things wipe people out. That's why people in this country come to the church and in times of trial and temptation and difficulty, they wither and die. They've never come into this -
THE ETERNAL PRIORITY IS GOD.
David goes on to say, "My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. To see Thy power and Thy glory so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary." David had an experience with God. Someone said, "by the time we get to the end of life, each of us has our own Bible." There are words which the Lord has given me which He didn't give to him. There are passages which have become meaningful; there are verses which have been lifted up in my life as sign posts. Dad was telling yesterday - maybe I can repeat this - about his accident when he was in the burning hotel and jumped out of the window, smashed to the ground, broke many, many bones. The doctor came and he covered him up and said he was going to die. Dad pulled down the sheet and told him he wasn't going to die. And the pastor of the church came and was there with his face as white as a sheet, four o'clock in the morning at the end of the bed, Dad said, "You know, God gave me two crutches to walk out of this situation." He said, "God told me two things: 'I shall not die but live' and 'as for God His way is perfect." So, he had two things to take him out of that situation. Well, he hasn't forgotten them yet and I'm sure he never will. You know, there are things that God gives us - these are ours forever!
There are words that Jesus spoke to the disciples that we look back at and say, "isn't that beautiful." But if you have ever heard Him say, being in a place where you really, really need it, "I'll never leave you and never forsake you," that's something you go back to day after day... if grows until finally it takes dominion over all of life. He'll never leave me!
It doesn't matter where I am. It doesn't matter if I've got money or don't have money, if I have health or don't have health. It doesn't matter if the world is falling down. He has promised He'll never leave me. I walk with Him! And this is what it's all about. I walk with Him - my God!
David says, "I want to see Your power and I want to see Your glory," here in the desert just as I've seen it in the sanctuary. Probably one of the greatest curses on the church is that we've relegated all Christian experience to a building. Maybe I've said it before, but there are mission fields today that are worse than they were a generation ago. They're worse than they were two thousand years ago when Jesus came, because just as God works from life to life, faith to faith, glory to glory, so the enemy works. And every sin and every sickness and every pain and every sorrow and every twisted thing and every hurt and every degenerate thing is added to the weight of darkness, to the weight of oppression which covers the nation. And so, we talk about Christianity and we talk about those tribes and those countries which we've got to enter into and possess the world before the Lord comes and, if you excuse my saying, a lot of it is nonsense. When we get right down to the practical, - look at South America. Apart from a few countries, what is the gospel penetration in depth? Can anybody imagine what it is to talk to people that just look at you. Never smile. Never change. You know, all our theories come tumbling down in a hurry.
"In a dry and thirsty land." This is a land where everything, sooner or later, is overtaken and consumed by death. If we go into one of those mission fields, where that kind of a spiritual atmosphere is present, is reigning, we automatically come under the power of that unless there is a greater power of God within us. Now, is it easy to do the work of God or isn't it?
This world, from pole to pole, is a desert place. Even the so-called Christian countries, are desert places anymore. Go over to Europe where the reformation first started. Go to Germany, go to England or even come over to this country. We've kept the form, we've kept the tradition. You know what the last thing to die is? The form, the tradition. Maybe it's kind of like a fungus. It grows more as there's more death within. It doesn't die; it grows on death. And so we've got all the form; we've got all the tradition, but there's not very much essence. There's not very much life. There's not very much vision.
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 3)
We live in such a structured age. I remember when the great discipleship movement first started. Folks thought they had found the secret - "We'll get these folks that don't know anything and we'll teach them all we know and the church is going to go ahead like a house on fire." It does not work out that way - that's not the way God chooses to do it.
Every time I go out I notice this: people go to church, the person up front says, "This is true and this is true and this is true" and everyone goes, "Oh, isn't that right. Amen. Isn't that heavy." And then somewhere along the line he says something that isn't true and everybody says, "Oh, yes. Amen." You know there's no discernment.
And so, David starts out saying, "O God, Thou art my God. All that God is, Thou art to me. I will not look in any other direction." And he's in the desert while he is writing this. "Early will I seek Thee." It's first time wise, but also...with regard to the priorities of life. Before anything else comes .... GOD!
If we're going to live a meaningful Christian life, we have got to come into that. Is God my reality, or is this world my reality? That's why people go to the mission field and get wiped out. That's why culture shock and spiritual culture shock and all of those things wipe people out. That's why people in this country come to the church and in times of trial and temptation and difficulty, they wither and die. They've never come into this -
THE ETERNAL PRIORITY IS GOD.
David goes on to say, "My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. To see Thy power and Thy glory so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary." David had an experience with God. Someone said, "by the time we get to the end of life, each of us has our own Bible." There are words which the Lord has given me which He didn't give to him. There are passages which have become meaningful; there are verses which have been lifted up in my life as sign posts. Dad was telling yesterday - maybe I can repeat this - about his accident when he was in the burning hotel and jumped out of the window, smashed to the ground, broke many, many bones. The doctor came and he covered him up and said he was going to die. Dad pulled down the sheet and told him he wasn't going to die. And the pastor of the church came and was there with his face as white as a sheet, four o'clock in the morning at the end of the bed, Dad said, "You know, God gave me two crutches to walk out of this situation." He said, "God told me two things: 'I shall not die but live' and 'as for God His way is perfect." So, he had two things to take him out of that situation. Well, he hasn't forgotten them yet and I'm sure he never will. You know, there are things that God gives us - these are ours forever!
There are words that Jesus spoke to the disciples that we look back at and say, "isn't that beautiful." But if you have ever heard Him say, being in a place where you really, really need it, "I'll never leave you and never forsake you," that's something you go back to day after day... if grows until finally it takes dominion over all of life. He'll never leave me!
It doesn't matter where I am. It doesn't matter if I've got money or don't have money, if I have health or don't have health. It doesn't matter if the world is falling down. He has promised He'll never leave me. I walk with Him! And this is what it's all about. I walk with Him - my God!
David says, "I want to see Your power and I want to see Your glory," here in the desert just as I've seen it in the sanctuary. Probably one of the greatest curses on the church is that we've relegated all Christian experience to a building. Maybe I've said it before, but there are mission fields today that are worse than they were a generation ago. They're worse than they were two thousand years ago when Jesus came, because just as God works from life to life, faith to faith, glory to glory, so the enemy works. And every sin and every sickness and every pain and every sorrow and every twisted thing and every hurt and every degenerate thing is added to the weight of darkness, to the weight of oppression which covers the nation. And so, we talk about Christianity and we talk about those tribes and those countries which we've got to enter into and possess the world before the Lord comes and, if you excuse my saying, a lot of it is nonsense. When we get right down to the practical, - look at South America. Apart from a few countries, what is the gospel penetration in depth? Can anybody imagine what it is to talk to people that just look at you. Never smile. Never change. You know, all our theories come tumbling down in a hurry.
"In a dry and thirsty land." This is a land where everything, sooner or later, is overtaken and consumed by death. If we go into one of those mission fields, where that kind of a spiritual atmosphere is present, is reigning, we automatically come under the power of that unless there is a greater power of God within us. Now, is it easy to do the work of God or isn't it?
This world, from pole to pole, is a desert place. Even the so-called Christian countries, are desert places anymore. Go over to Europe where the reformation first started. Go to Germany, go to England or even come over to this country. We've kept the form, we've kept the tradition. You know what the last thing to die is? The form, the tradition. Maybe it's kind of like a fungus. It grows more as there's more death within. It doesn't die; it grows on death. And so we've got all the form; we've got all the tradition, but there's not very much essence. There's not very much life. There's not very much vision.
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, December 15, 2018
To See...As I Have Seen # 1
To See....As I Have Seen # 1
"Psalm 63:1, 2"
We live in a day of mediocrity where, we are satisfied just to reach our emotional high in a meeting. A total commitment to the things of God is exchanged for a mere "assent" to truth. When our desire for God does not include doing the will of God and carrying through on it. What does all this lead to? A lack of spiritual reality - of spiritual passion.
In Psalm 63 David cries out in the wilderness (not in the temple, not on the throne):
O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary."
Can we see his intensity - the depths of his cry and the strength of his longing? Can we see his dissatisfaction with the status quo and his determination to see until he finds? Here is the responsibility of every Christian - on the mission field, or the homeland, the young, the old - we are responsible to translate our spiritual vision to an earthly reality.
They've got a saying in South America which says, "To live without suffering is to die without glory." If there is no hurt, if there is no challenge, if there is no enlargement, there will not be any glory and there will be no fulfillment.
We live in a day when the church is seeking fulfillment. We heal everybody's hurts, real and imagined; past, present, and future. We try to get people to feel all right. We talk about a "good self image." We're convinced that it is a sad thing if somebody's got a poor self-image. God help us!! God pity us!! You know, it's not in what we think about ourselves! The Bible is talking about a vision of God! The Bible is talking about a world out beyond! The Bible is talking about something, done on earth as it is done in Heaven! Talking about a being put in harmony with God and then we will not wonder: "am I all right, or am I not all right; am I okay, are you okay?"
Frustration is the state of the world. Frustration is the state of the church. If we get to talk one on one with almost anybody, there is always this element, "what I would like to be or what I would have liked to have been, or what I would like to attain to." And we have all these people who are waiting when they are young, waiting and twiddling their fingers and their thumbs. And when they are older, looking back to what could have been but never was. And you've got to face it that in over ninety percent of the young people it never will be. And ninety to ninety-nine percent of the of the Christians never live to see their dream, but not because God doesn't want to do it.
Once again I remind you of what Tozer used to say, "When we come before the throne of God, we are not, not, not going to be able to say to God, "God, I would have liked on earth to have reached, to have possessed, to have known such a place, such a condition, such a level of faith or ministry..." or whatever it is. We will not be able to say that because God will turn around and say, "Child, I gave you everything you needed to fulfill everything you've seen." He is talking about spiritual vision. God does not demand of us anything He has not shown us!
We've got a lot of people going around trying to transmit something they've only heard about. It's not as easy as we think it is to learn the process. You've all heard the famous saying that it takes twenty years to make a preacher; because it takes that long to understand and see what God wants us to see.
Look at Job, look at all he had to go through, until there at the end, he said, "Lord, I had heard, but now, now mine eyes see." This is what God wants to bring us to. I'm talking about transferring the spiritual vision to the natural would around us. I'm talking about knowing that God has given us a revelation of His truth. Something that He wants us to possess. We're responsible to see. David starts out here saying, "O God, Thou art my God." You've got to start there.
I remember when I first went to the mission field. There was a man of God down there that had many, many experiences. The Lord had really used him down through the years. One day he came and was talking and he said, "You know, Paul, you have to come to the place where you can say, "This is my God. This is the God who speaks and the God who backs that which I do." This is not just the God of the Bible. This is not just the God of church history. This is not just the God of the doctrines of the saints. This is my God. And be able to say, "I know that my God is with me."
Maybe one thing that's lacking in the Twentieth Century is the knowledge that God has total authority. I cannot say, "My God", and then do my will. It's got to be "My God Thy kingdom come." And a lot of times, somehow subconsciously, it's "God, my kingdom come. God my ideas, plans, purposes, desires be fulfilled. Lord, bless me. Lord go with me."
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 2)
"Psalm 63:1, 2"
We live in a day of mediocrity where, we are satisfied just to reach our emotional high in a meeting. A total commitment to the things of God is exchanged for a mere "assent" to truth. When our desire for God does not include doing the will of God and carrying through on it. What does all this lead to? A lack of spiritual reality - of spiritual passion.
In Psalm 63 David cries out in the wilderness (not in the temple, not on the throne):
O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary."
Can we see his intensity - the depths of his cry and the strength of his longing? Can we see his dissatisfaction with the status quo and his determination to see until he finds? Here is the responsibility of every Christian - on the mission field, or the homeland, the young, the old - we are responsible to translate our spiritual vision to an earthly reality.
They've got a saying in South America which says, "To live without suffering is to die without glory." If there is no hurt, if there is no challenge, if there is no enlargement, there will not be any glory and there will be no fulfillment.
We live in a day when the church is seeking fulfillment. We heal everybody's hurts, real and imagined; past, present, and future. We try to get people to feel all right. We talk about a "good self image." We're convinced that it is a sad thing if somebody's got a poor self-image. God help us!! God pity us!! You know, it's not in what we think about ourselves! The Bible is talking about a vision of God! The Bible is talking about a world out beyond! The Bible is talking about something, done on earth as it is done in Heaven! Talking about a being put in harmony with God and then we will not wonder: "am I all right, or am I not all right; am I okay, are you okay?"
Frustration is the state of the world. Frustration is the state of the church. If we get to talk one on one with almost anybody, there is always this element, "what I would like to be or what I would have liked to have been, or what I would like to attain to." And we have all these people who are waiting when they are young, waiting and twiddling their fingers and their thumbs. And when they are older, looking back to what could have been but never was. And you've got to face it that in over ninety percent of the young people it never will be. And ninety to ninety-nine percent of the of the Christians never live to see their dream, but not because God doesn't want to do it.
Once again I remind you of what Tozer used to say, "When we come before the throne of God, we are not, not, not going to be able to say to God, "God, I would have liked on earth to have reached, to have possessed, to have known such a place, such a condition, such a level of faith or ministry..." or whatever it is. We will not be able to say that because God will turn around and say, "Child, I gave you everything you needed to fulfill everything you've seen." He is talking about spiritual vision. God does not demand of us anything He has not shown us!
We've got a lot of people going around trying to transmit something they've only heard about. It's not as easy as we think it is to learn the process. You've all heard the famous saying that it takes twenty years to make a preacher; because it takes that long to understand and see what God wants us to see.
Look at Job, look at all he had to go through, until there at the end, he said, "Lord, I had heard, but now, now mine eyes see." This is what God wants to bring us to. I'm talking about transferring the spiritual vision to the natural would around us. I'm talking about knowing that God has given us a revelation of His truth. Something that He wants us to possess. We're responsible to see. David starts out here saying, "O God, Thou art my God." You've got to start there.
I remember when I first went to the mission field. There was a man of God down there that had many, many experiences. The Lord had really used him down through the years. One day he came and was talking and he said, "You know, Paul, you have to come to the place where you can say, "This is my God. This is the God who speaks and the God who backs that which I do." This is not just the God of the Bible. This is not just the God of church history. This is not just the God of the doctrines of the saints. This is my God. And be able to say, "I know that my God is with me."
Maybe one thing that's lacking in the Twentieth Century is the knowledge that God has total authority. I cannot say, "My God", and then do my will. It's got to be "My God Thy kingdom come." And a lot of times, somehow subconsciously, it's "God, my kingdom come. God my ideas, plans, purposes, desires be fulfilled. Lord, bless me. Lord go with me."
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 2)
A Practical Question !
A Practical Question!
"Are you not also one of His disciples?" (John 18:25).
The rash zeal of Peter in cutting off the ear of Malchus was one cause of his terrible fall. Had he been distrustful of himself and watchful over his own spirit, he would have been more likely to keep out of danger. But his hasty action in the garden and his eagerness to show that his promise to Christ was not a mere empty boast, brought him into prominence, and so no doubt there came question upon question which only opened the way for his threefold denial.
"Are not you also one of His disciples? He denied it, and said: I am not."
Ah, Peter, how soon you have broken your plighted word, and denied your Lord, who yet loved you through it all. How shamefully have you dishonored Him who at that very hour was preparing to yield up His life for your salvation! But your faithful Shepherd would not cast you off. And in later days at least the old promise was better kept. You did then prove your fidelity even unto death. Restored by His grace, forgiven through His free mercy, strengthened by His Spirit, you did fight the good fight and win a crown bright with many a gem.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" It is a home-thrust - a cutting inquiry for every lad who reads these pages. Are you a learner at His feet? Have you come and enrolled yourself among such as follow Him? Is it your full purpose to follow Him "wherever He goes?" To be a disciple of the Lord Jesus, is to accept the word of One whose doctrine shall yet fill the world, and shall decide the eternal destiny of all mankind. Let me remind you of what your position implies.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you must be prepared to walk in the footsteps of your Master. The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord" (Matt. 10:24, 25).
You must be content to tread a humble path through life, if it be God's will. It was the path Christ chose. Be willing also, if the path of duty lies there, to tread the valley rather than the mountain top. Be willing to leave to others eagerly to seek the heights of man's praise and this world's distinction. Do your duty manfully, fill your niche well - and then God will send you that which is the very best. If He should send honor and high position and increasing prosperity - than never forget that it is His gift and use it to do His work the better. If He should appoint otherwise - then be well content to have it so. The humblest lot in fellowship with Christ, is far happier than the highest if you are a stranger to Him.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you must bear your cross cheerfully and bravely for His sake. Do not make a cross for yourself by your self-will or lack of judgment, or lack of integrity or consistency. But whatever cross He lays upon you, bear it after Him. It may come in the shape of hard words and misrepresentations. It may come in separation from those you love. But, whatever it is, let your eye be upon Him, and patiently endure it because it is His will, and the discipline He has appointed particularly for you. "Then Jesus said to His disciples: If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me!" (Matt. 16:24).
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you must copy His holy and sinless life. Every member of Christ suffered in His bitter agonies. So by His grace you must crucify the sins that pertain to each member. Flee from softness and self-indulgence to the flesh; flee from pride of intellect, and from vanity of good looks; beware lest your tongue utter words of folly and sin, or anything which He would disapprove.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you must cultivate unity of spirit with all who belong to Him. There ought to be no jealousy or envy, no coldness or distance, no ill judgings and unkind suspicions among His disciples. He would have them all one in heart and mind. He would have them bound together firmly and with the cord of holy charity, and ready to help each other to the utmost.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you shall share His glory and His kingdom. Nothing shall be too great or too good for one who has been thoroughly loyal to His cause.
Earthly monarchs and generals love to display their generous appreciation of deeds of distinguished valor, especially when performed in the presence of rebels or half-hearted adherents. But in this none shall equal our great Captain. Beyond all our hopes, beyond all that it is possible for us now to conceive, will be the bright reward of those who have truly served Him.
"No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever!" (Revelation 22:3-5).
~George Everard~
(The End)
"Are you not also one of His disciples?" (John 18:25).
The rash zeal of Peter in cutting off the ear of Malchus was one cause of his terrible fall. Had he been distrustful of himself and watchful over his own spirit, he would have been more likely to keep out of danger. But his hasty action in the garden and his eagerness to show that his promise to Christ was not a mere empty boast, brought him into prominence, and so no doubt there came question upon question which only opened the way for his threefold denial.
"Are not you also one of His disciples? He denied it, and said: I am not."
Ah, Peter, how soon you have broken your plighted word, and denied your Lord, who yet loved you through it all. How shamefully have you dishonored Him who at that very hour was preparing to yield up His life for your salvation! But your faithful Shepherd would not cast you off. And in later days at least the old promise was better kept. You did then prove your fidelity even unto death. Restored by His grace, forgiven through His free mercy, strengthened by His Spirit, you did fight the good fight and win a crown bright with many a gem.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" It is a home-thrust - a cutting inquiry for every lad who reads these pages. Are you a learner at His feet? Have you come and enrolled yourself among such as follow Him? Is it your full purpose to follow Him "wherever He goes?" To be a disciple of the Lord Jesus, is to accept the word of One whose doctrine shall yet fill the world, and shall decide the eternal destiny of all mankind. Let me remind you of what your position implies.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you must be prepared to walk in the footsteps of your Master. The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord" (Matt. 10:24, 25).
You must be content to tread a humble path through life, if it be God's will. It was the path Christ chose. Be willing also, if the path of duty lies there, to tread the valley rather than the mountain top. Be willing to leave to others eagerly to seek the heights of man's praise and this world's distinction. Do your duty manfully, fill your niche well - and then God will send you that which is the very best. If He should send honor and high position and increasing prosperity - than never forget that it is His gift and use it to do His work the better. If He should appoint otherwise - then be well content to have it so. The humblest lot in fellowship with Christ, is far happier than the highest if you are a stranger to Him.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you must bear your cross cheerfully and bravely for His sake. Do not make a cross for yourself by your self-will or lack of judgment, or lack of integrity or consistency. But whatever cross He lays upon you, bear it after Him. It may come in the shape of hard words and misrepresentations. It may come in separation from those you love. But, whatever it is, let your eye be upon Him, and patiently endure it because it is His will, and the discipline He has appointed particularly for you. "Then Jesus said to His disciples: If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me!" (Matt. 16:24).
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you must copy His holy and sinless life. Every member of Christ suffered in His bitter agonies. So by His grace you must crucify the sins that pertain to each member. Flee from softness and self-indulgence to the flesh; flee from pride of intellect, and from vanity of good looks; beware lest your tongue utter words of folly and sin, or anything which He would disapprove.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you must cultivate unity of spirit with all who belong to Him. There ought to be no jealousy or envy, no coldness or distance, no ill judgings and unkind suspicions among His disciples. He would have them all one in heart and mind. He would have them bound together firmly and with the cord of holy charity, and ready to help each other to the utmost.
"Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then you shall share His glory and His kingdom. Nothing shall be too great or too good for one who has been thoroughly loyal to His cause.
Earthly monarchs and generals love to display their generous appreciation of deeds of distinguished valor, especially when performed in the presence of rebels or half-hearted adherents. But in this none shall equal our great Captain. Beyond all our hopes, beyond all that it is possible for us now to conceive, will be the bright reward of those who have truly served Him.
"No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever!" (Revelation 22:3-5).
~George Everard~
(The End)
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Gracious God, Anoint Me With Fresh Oil!
Gracious God, Anoint Me With Fresh Oil!
"I shall be anointed with fresh oil" (Psalm 92:10).
The work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, is of the greatest importance. Until we experience it, we are dead in sin. Having once enjoyed it, we often need its renewal. The work of the Holy Spirit in the heart is variously represented in God's Word, and is compared to a variety of things. In one place, to the reviving and refreshing influences of the dew. In another, to the quickening and fructifying effects of the shower. Again, the Psalmist sings, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil."
Oil is a common emblem of the Holy Spirit, who is called "the anointing which you have received." This anointing represents His renewing, sanctifying, and saving operations, as received and enjoyed by all God's people. This anointing consecrates them as God's kings, and they become the Lord's anointed. It qualifies them as God's priests, and they become a royal priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ.
This anointing beautifies them as God's sons, causing their faces to shine, and filling them with joy and peace. This anointing perfumes them as God's favorites, and all their garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
Without the anointing, we cannot reign as kings, officiate as priests, approach God as sons, or rejoice before Him as favorites.
The EFFECTS of this anointing are many, and very precious:
This anointing gives us fresh views of Christ, and every sight of Him endears Him more and more to our hearts.
This anointing gives us a deeper experience of the truth, and we know more of its power, sweetness, and savor.
This anointing gives us more power in prayer, and we plead with Go and prevail.
This anointing gives us sweeter enjoyment of ordinances, for we wee more of Christ in them, and are mightily refreshed through them.
This anointing gives us stronger confidence in God, so that we conquer our doubts and fears, and can trust God in the dark - or in the light, on the mount - or in the valley.
This anointing gives a delightful savor to our conversation, so that we not only speak of Christ with freedom, and of our Christian experience with pleasure - but there is a savor and a power in what we say, which produces a good impression in those that hear.
This anointing preserves us from falling into temptation. Nothing will raise us above the world, give us power over flesh, or make us a match for satan - like being anointed with fresh oil.
We are regenerated but once - but we may receive the renewings of the Holy Spirit often, and unless we receive these renewings, we shall become dry, barren, lifeless, and cold! There will be no delight in prayer, little pleasure in ordinances, and the Bible itself will become unsavory.
We cannot go on long, or go on happily, without fresh oil. See then, what we all need, "fresh oil." We need daily to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. The earth may as well be expected to be fruitful without sun, rain, or dew - as for our souls to prosper without frequent communications of the Holy Spirit.
We should ardently desire the fresh anointings of the Spirit. He is as necessary to our souls as the vital air is to our bodies. Our natural lives could as easily be sustained without breath, as our spiritual life without the Holy Spirit. We should earnestly pray to "be filled with the Spirit," that we may "live in the Spirit," and 'walk in the Spirit."
Gracious God, anoint me with fresh oil!
We sometimes say, "beware of a religion without Christ." It is of quite as much importance to say, "beware of a religion without the Holy Spirit."
Reader, are you one of God's anointed ones? Have you received an unction from the Holy One? Does the Spirit of God dwell in you? Beware, O beware, of a religion without the Holy Spirit! If the Holy Spirit is in you, He will daily teach you your need of Christ, bring you to Christ, make Christ precious to you, and lead you to glory in Him, and in Him alone.
~James Smith~
(The End)
"I shall be anointed with fresh oil" (Psalm 92:10).
The work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, is of the greatest importance. Until we experience it, we are dead in sin. Having once enjoyed it, we often need its renewal. The work of the Holy Spirit in the heart is variously represented in God's Word, and is compared to a variety of things. In one place, to the reviving and refreshing influences of the dew. In another, to the quickening and fructifying effects of the shower. Again, the Psalmist sings, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil."
Oil is a common emblem of the Holy Spirit, who is called "the anointing which you have received." This anointing represents His renewing, sanctifying, and saving operations, as received and enjoyed by all God's people. This anointing consecrates them as God's kings, and they become the Lord's anointed. It qualifies them as God's priests, and they become a royal priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ.
This anointing beautifies them as God's sons, causing their faces to shine, and filling them with joy and peace. This anointing perfumes them as God's favorites, and all their garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
Without the anointing, we cannot reign as kings, officiate as priests, approach God as sons, or rejoice before Him as favorites.
The EFFECTS of this anointing are many, and very precious:
This anointing gives us fresh views of Christ, and every sight of Him endears Him more and more to our hearts.
This anointing gives us a deeper experience of the truth, and we know more of its power, sweetness, and savor.
This anointing gives us more power in prayer, and we plead with Go and prevail.
This anointing gives us sweeter enjoyment of ordinances, for we wee more of Christ in them, and are mightily refreshed through them.
This anointing gives us stronger confidence in God, so that we conquer our doubts and fears, and can trust God in the dark - or in the light, on the mount - or in the valley.
This anointing gives a delightful savor to our conversation, so that we not only speak of Christ with freedom, and of our Christian experience with pleasure - but there is a savor and a power in what we say, which produces a good impression in those that hear.
This anointing preserves us from falling into temptation. Nothing will raise us above the world, give us power over flesh, or make us a match for satan - like being anointed with fresh oil.
We are regenerated but once - but we may receive the renewings of the Holy Spirit often, and unless we receive these renewings, we shall become dry, barren, lifeless, and cold! There will be no delight in prayer, little pleasure in ordinances, and the Bible itself will become unsavory.
We cannot go on long, or go on happily, without fresh oil. See then, what we all need, "fresh oil." We need daily to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. The earth may as well be expected to be fruitful without sun, rain, or dew - as for our souls to prosper without frequent communications of the Holy Spirit.
We should ardently desire the fresh anointings of the Spirit. He is as necessary to our souls as the vital air is to our bodies. Our natural lives could as easily be sustained without breath, as our spiritual life without the Holy Spirit. We should earnestly pray to "be filled with the Spirit," that we may "live in the Spirit," and 'walk in the Spirit."
Gracious God, anoint me with fresh oil!
We sometimes say, "beware of a religion without Christ." It is of quite as much importance to say, "beware of a religion without the Holy Spirit."
Reader, are you one of God's anointed ones? Have you received an unction from the Holy One? Does the Spirit of God dwell in you? Beware, O beware, of a religion without the Holy Spirit! If the Holy Spirit is in you, He will daily teach you your need of Christ, bring you to Christ, make Christ precious to you, and lead you to glory in Him, and in Him alone.
~James Smith~
(The End)
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Not I, But Christ (and others)
Not I, But Christ (and others)
Not I, but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted,
Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard;
Not I, but Christ, in every look and action,
Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord!
Oh, to be lost in Thee!
Oh, that it might be no more "I",
But Christ that lives in me!
Not I, but Christ, to gently soothe in sorrow,
Not I, but Christ, to wipe the falling tears;
Not I, but Christ, to lift the weary burden,
Not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear.
Christ, only Christ! no idle words e'er falling,
Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound;
Christ, only Christ, no self important bearing,
Christ, only Christ, no trace of "I" be found.
Not I, but Christ, my every need supplying,
Not I, but Christ, my strength and health to be;
Not I, but Christ, for body, soul, and spirit,
Christ, only Christ, here and eternity.
Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision;
Glory excelling soon, full soon I'll see
Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling
Christ, only Christ, my all and all to be.
~Frances E. Bolton~
__________________________
Nothing Between My Soul and the Saviour
Nothing between my soul and the Saviour,
Naught of this world's delusive dreams;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Saviour,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor,
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.
Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;
Habits of life, though harmless they seem,
Must not my heart from Him e'er sever;
He is my all, there's nothing between.
Nothing between, like pride or station;
Self-life or friends shall not intervene;
Though it may cost me much tribulation,
I am resolved; there's nothing between.
Nothing between, e'en many hard trials,
Though the whole world against me convene;
Watching with prayer and much self-denial,
I'll triumph at last, with nothing between.
~Charles Albert Tindley~
_____________________________
What Will You Do With Jesus?
Jesus is standing in Pilate's hall,
Friendless, forsaken, betrayed by all;
Hearken! what meaneth the sudden call?
What will you do with Jesus?
What will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannot be;
Some day your heart will be asking,
"What will He do with me?"
Jesus is standing on trial still,
You can be false to Him if you will,
You can be faithful through good or ill:
What will you do with Jesus?
Will you evade him as Pilate tried?
Or will you choose Him, whate'er betide?
Vainly you struggle from Him to hide;
What will you do with Jesus?
Will you, like Peter, your Lord deny?
Or will you scorn from His foes to fly,
Daring for Jesus to live or die?
What will you do with Jesus?
"Jesus, I give Thee my heart today!
Jesus, I'll follow Thee all the way,
Gladly obeying Thee" will you say:
"This I will do with Jesus!"
~A. B. Simpson~
________________________
Fully Surrendered - Lord, I Would Be
Fully surrendered - Lord, I would be,
Fully surrendered, dear Lord, to Thee,
All on the altar laid, surrender fully made,
Thou hast my ransom paid, I yield to Thee.
Fully surrendered - life, time, and all,
All Thou hast given me held at Thy call.
Speak but the word to me, gladly I'll follow Thee,
Now and eternally obey my Lord.
Fully surrendered - silver and gold,
His, who hath given me riches untold,
All, all belong to Thee, for Thou didst purchase me,
Thine evermore to be, Jesus, my Lord.
Fully surrendered - Lord, I am Thine;
Fully surrendered, Saviour divine!
Live Thou Thy life in me; all fullness dwells in Thee;
Not I, but Christ in me, Christ all in all.
~Alfred C. Snead~
Not I, but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted,
Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard;
Not I, but Christ, in every look and action,
Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord!
Oh, to be lost in Thee!
Oh, that it might be no more "I",
But Christ that lives in me!
Not I, but Christ, to gently soothe in sorrow,
Not I, but Christ, to wipe the falling tears;
Not I, but Christ, to lift the weary burden,
Not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear.
Christ, only Christ! no idle words e'er falling,
Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound;
Christ, only Christ, no self important bearing,
Christ, only Christ, no trace of "I" be found.
Not I, but Christ, my every need supplying,
Not I, but Christ, my strength and health to be;
Not I, but Christ, for body, soul, and spirit,
Christ, only Christ, here and eternity.
Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision;
Glory excelling soon, full soon I'll see
Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling
Christ, only Christ, my all and all to be.
~Frances E. Bolton~
__________________________
Nothing Between My Soul and the Saviour
Nothing between my soul and the Saviour,
Naught of this world's delusive dreams;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Saviour,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor,
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.
Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;
Habits of life, though harmless they seem,
Must not my heart from Him e'er sever;
He is my all, there's nothing between.
Nothing between, like pride or station;
Self-life or friends shall not intervene;
Though it may cost me much tribulation,
I am resolved; there's nothing between.
Nothing between, e'en many hard trials,
Though the whole world against me convene;
Watching with prayer and much self-denial,
I'll triumph at last, with nothing between.
~Charles Albert Tindley~
_____________________________
What Will You Do With Jesus?
Jesus is standing in Pilate's hall,
Friendless, forsaken, betrayed by all;
Hearken! what meaneth the sudden call?
What will you do with Jesus?
What will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannot be;
Some day your heart will be asking,
"What will He do with me?"
Jesus is standing on trial still,
You can be false to Him if you will,
You can be faithful through good or ill:
What will you do with Jesus?
Will you evade him as Pilate tried?
Or will you choose Him, whate'er betide?
Vainly you struggle from Him to hide;
What will you do with Jesus?
Will you, like Peter, your Lord deny?
Or will you scorn from His foes to fly,
Daring for Jesus to live or die?
What will you do with Jesus?
"Jesus, I give Thee my heart today!
Jesus, I'll follow Thee all the way,
Gladly obeying Thee" will you say:
"This I will do with Jesus!"
~A. B. Simpson~
________________________
Fully Surrendered - Lord, I Would Be
Fully surrendered - Lord, I would be,
Fully surrendered, dear Lord, to Thee,
All on the altar laid, surrender fully made,
Thou hast my ransom paid, I yield to Thee.
Fully surrendered - life, time, and all,
All Thou hast given me held at Thy call.
Speak but the word to me, gladly I'll follow Thee,
Now and eternally obey my Lord.
Fully surrendered - silver and gold,
His, who hath given me riches untold,
All, all belong to Thee, for Thou didst purchase me,
Thine evermore to be, Jesus, my Lord.
Fully surrendered - Lord, I am Thine;
Fully surrendered, Saviour divine!
Live Thou Thy life in me; all fullness dwells in Thee;
Not I, but Christ in me, Christ all in all.
~Alfred C. Snead~
Saturday, November 24, 2018
They Seek to Banish Such a God From Their Thoughts (and others)
They Seek To Banish Such A God From Their Thoughts (and others)
"You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you! But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face." (Psalm 50:21).
The only God against whom the natural man is not at enmity - is one of his own imagination! The deity whom he professes to worship, is not the living God - for He is truth and faithfulness, holiness and justice, as well as being gracious and merciful.
It is a god of their own devising - and not the God of Holy Writ, whom the ungodly believe in!
"They say: How can God know? Does the Most High even know what is happening?" (Psalm 73:11). They would strip Deity of His omniscience if they could! The wicked wish that there might be no Witness to their sins, no Searcher of their hearts, no Judge of their deeds! They seek to banish such a God from their thoughts.
What a proof that "the carnal mind is enmity against God!"
Such is the portion awaiting the lost: eternal separation from the fountain of all goodness; everlasting punishment; torment of soul and body; endless existence in the lake of fire; forever locked up with demons and the vilest of the vile; every ray of hope excluded; and utterly crushed and overwhelmed by the wrath of a sin-avenging God!
"Consider this, you who forget God - or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue!" (Psalm 50:22).
~A. W. Pink~
_________________________
God's Most Hated Attribute!
"Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases!" (Psalm 115:3).
"The LORD does whatever pleases Him, throughout all haven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths!" (Psalm 135:6).
"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth." (Daniel 4:35).
On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, as the great stupendous - but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah!
Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne!
They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars.
They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties.
They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of Heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean.
But when God ascends His throne - then His creatures then gnash their teeth! And when we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter - then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us - for God on His throne, is not the God they love!
No doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of mankind, than the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God!
Opposition to divine sovereignty is essentially atheism - and were it not for sovereign grace, none of us would ever have followed the path to Heaven. I am daily more and more convinced that the difference between one man and another is, not the difference between his use of his will - but the difference of grace that has been bestowed upon him.
"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!" (Revelation 19:6).
"The great controversy between God and man has been, whether He or they shall be God; whether His reason or theirs, His will or theirs, shall be the guiding principle. If anything could frustrate God's will - then it would be superior to Him, God would not be omnipotent, and so would lose the perfection of the Deity, and consequently the Deity itself; for that which did wholly defeat God's will, would be more powerful than He. To be God and yet inferior to another, is a contradiction!" (Stephen Charnock).
~Charles Spurgeon~
"You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you! But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face." (Psalm 50:21).
The only God against whom the natural man is not at enmity - is one of his own imagination! The deity whom he professes to worship, is not the living God - for He is truth and faithfulness, holiness and justice, as well as being gracious and merciful.
It is a god of their own devising - and not the God of Holy Writ, whom the ungodly believe in!
"They say: How can God know? Does the Most High even know what is happening?" (Psalm 73:11). They would strip Deity of His omniscience if they could! The wicked wish that there might be no Witness to their sins, no Searcher of their hearts, no Judge of their deeds! They seek to banish such a God from their thoughts.
What a proof that "the carnal mind is enmity against God!"
Such is the portion awaiting the lost: eternal separation from the fountain of all goodness; everlasting punishment; torment of soul and body; endless existence in the lake of fire; forever locked up with demons and the vilest of the vile; every ray of hope excluded; and utterly crushed and overwhelmed by the wrath of a sin-avenging God!
"Consider this, you who forget God - or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue!" (Psalm 50:22).
~A. W. Pink~
_________________________
God's Most Hated Attribute!
"Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases!" (Psalm 115:3).
"The LORD does whatever pleases Him, throughout all haven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths!" (Psalm 135:6).
"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth." (Daniel 4:35).
On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, as the great stupendous - but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah!
Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne!
They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars.
They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties.
They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of Heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean.
But when God ascends His throne - then His creatures then gnash their teeth! And when we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter - then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us - for God on His throne, is not the God they love!
No doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of mankind, than the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God!
Opposition to divine sovereignty is essentially atheism - and were it not for sovereign grace, none of us would ever have followed the path to Heaven. I am daily more and more convinced that the difference between one man and another is, not the difference between his use of his will - but the difference of grace that has been bestowed upon him.
"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!" (Revelation 19:6).
"The great controversy between God and man has been, whether He or they shall be God; whether His reason or theirs, His will or theirs, shall be the guiding principle. If anything could frustrate God's will - then it would be superior to Him, God would not be omnipotent, and so would lose the perfection of the Deity, and consequently the Deity itself; for that which did wholly defeat God's will, would be more powerful than He. To be God and yet inferior to another, is a contradiction!" (Stephen Charnock).
~Charles Spurgeon~
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Christ Magnified In My Body # 6
Christ Magnified In My Body # 6
It's this same epistle where Paul says, "Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus." Well, actually that's literally translated A"let the love which dominated the life of Jesus, the disposition of Jesus, be yours." His was a disposition of love and concern. Wherever He went, He went about doing good. Well, if that mind is in me, I'm going to have some restless minutes or restless hours. I'm going to have to struggle with my own conscience. I'm going to have to struggle with the light I have. I'm going to have to struggle with the challenge that comes to me from a dozen different countries to get the message of Jesus Christ there while it is yet day.
"...that Christ may be magnified in my body." He was magnified through his brain, I'm sure. God couldn't have shared some of the things He shared with any other person, except with Paul. Magnified with His spirit, his hands: he wrote these epistles. He didn't type them. Every part of his being was coordinated to the service of God" - that Christ may be magnified."
Before long, well have some lovely flowers around here called dandelions. Nobody cuts them and puts them on the table in the house. You may have 20/20 vision, but you haven't seen the beauty of the dandelion. Not until you take a magnifying glass and see that it's maybe the most exquisite flower that God ever made. When you see it through a magnifying glass, that thing comes alive. That's what Paul says. When people look at my life, Jesus Christ is clearer, and nearer, and more wonderful. Is that true with us? Do you think your children would say that about you? "Oh, my Daddy and Mommy...I've never seen Jesus, but I know who Jesus is life. He's like my Daddy."
Old Jonathan Edwards gets ridiculed. He took a stack of notes. He read through them. He had a candle...a big frowning face and his gravel voice. Then he reads through his sermon, the greatest, most famous sermon outside the Bible: "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God." People will remember, because he thundered. They said when people fell off their seats, instead of showing mercy, he kind of thrust the thing into them deeper: the truth of God. People hung onto pillars that were supporting the gallery because they were afraid they'd fall into the abyss. He didn't spare them. Sure he groaned. Sure he prayed. But his daughter said, "People say my Daddy is a severe man. A man that poured out judgment. But in the home, he lives just like Jesus. And every day my Mommy comes out of the closet and her face shines like the face of Moses shone. Because she spends at least two hours in prayer with God every morning. Oh, when she comes through the house, there's something so different, so fragrant." Well, that's what God wants, isn't it?
Brother Dave was in my house the other day. Last Sunday he preached in maybe the largest church in Denver, Colorado. He said, "Len, as we sat there, I was ready to preach. Suddenly I was overcome with grief. I just walked forward and sat on the floor. I didn't go to the pulpit. I began to weep, God just gave me such a burden." It was a congregation of about 3000. He said to them, "There's a girl in here who's being sexually molested by a man. The man is going to go to jail." As he said it, a girl about 16 years old ran down the aisle. She cried, "Mr Wilkerson, I'm the girl who's being molested! My Daddy did it! He has to go to jail!" Dave said he just groaned. There must have been 15 or 16 other women who also came and said my father, or brother, or somebody is sexually assaulting me every week. His spirit just groaned. He stayed there 50 minutes weeping. I said, "Dave, bless you." The average preacher would have said, "I just had a kind of little upset in my spirit. I feel that there's somebody in trouble. I'd like a few of you to pray. Raise your hands. We're going to pray for this girl. She's in trouble, I know she is." Instead of that, Dave swept aside all of his theology and sermon. He obeyed the Holy Spirit and the whole church broke up in weeping and brokenness, seeking God. It happened without him ever have to open his mouth preaching.
I'm sure that's the kind of spirit the apostle had because the Spirit of Christ indwelt Him. It's the Spirit of God dwelling in him. The fruit of the Spirit. As I've said before, if Jesus had said one word differently, it would have killed ten million arguments since Pentecost. I he'd said "by their gifts ye shall know them," it would have killed a million arguments. But he didn't say that. He said, "by their fruits." And the number one fruit of the Spirit is LOVE. The Spirit of Christ is LOVE. God so LOVED the world. I go to the Greeks. I go to the intellectuals on Mars Hill. I go in prison. Wherever I go, I want Christ to be magnified.
I don't want somebody to say, "If that's Christianity, then I don't want it." I don't want somebody to say, "You know, the way you live, you blur the image of Christ." I want those people to look through my life and say, "I see Jesus Christ." Well, that's what Paul dared to say. He says, "Christ lives in me." He doesn't say, "I'm saved." He doesn't say, "I have the baptism." He says, "Christ lives in me."
It's much easier to say,"I'm saved." It's much easier to say, "I have the baptism." We"re accepted on"par" with the rest of the people in the church. But suppose you stand up and testify that "Christ lives in me!"
He wants sin to have no dominion over us. The Greeks used to say "Man, know thyself." The Lord says, "Control yourself - in the Spirit." Paul says, "I keep my body under. I control it. I control my passions. I control my appetite. He was never an excessive eater, I'm sure of that. I don't think he was an excessive sleeper. You know, it looks a bit chronic when you put it this way. We live 24 hours a day. Supposedly, we work 8 hours. We sleep 8 hours. We have 8 hours free. Put that into 60 years. You sleep 20 years. You work 20 years. You're free 20 years. It doesn't look too much when you take it in the day but when you put into terms of years, it's a very different thing.
Now here's the man who eats up the time. He says "redeeming the time," which from the Greek literally means "buying up the opportunity." This opportunity will not come tomorrow; it comes today. So I "buy it up. I eat it up." I don't waste time, money, or opportunity. It's not difficult. It's not a case of living inside a steel shell. It's a case of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Holy Spirit governing my life. He constrains me when I'm too slow and he restrains me when I'm too quick. It's a joy to be in submission to Him!
Paul says he's the bond slave of Jesus Christ, a happy slavery. It's a joy to serve a Master like that. "That Christ may be magnified by my body," he says, "whether by life or by death!" It doesn't matter which way.
Well, there's no other way to live, surely. Having the body under control by the power of the Spirit, presenting my body A LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY, ACCEPTABLE, all packed up in that first verse of Romans 12. This is really only the normal Christian life. There is only one kind of Christian life: THE LIFE OF HOLINESS.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(The End)
[Copyright/Reproduction Limitations: This file is the sole property of Leonard Ravenhill. It may not be altered or edited in any way. I may be reproduced only in its entirety as "freeware", without charge. Copyright (c) 1995 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas"]
It's this same epistle where Paul says, "Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus." Well, actually that's literally translated A"let the love which dominated the life of Jesus, the disposition of Jesus, be yours." His was a disposition of love and concern. Wherever He went, He went about doing good. Well, if that mind is in me, I'm going to have some restless minutes or restless hours. I'm going to have to struggle with my own conscience. I'm going to have to struggle with the light I have. I'm going to have to struggle with the challenge that comes to me from a dozen different countries to get the message of Jesus Christ there while it is yet day.
"...that Christ may be magnified in my body." He was magnified through his brain, I'm sure. God couldn't have shared some of the things He shared with any other person, except with Paul. Magnified with His spirit, his hands: he wrote these epistles. He didn't type them. Every part of his being was coordinated to the service of God" - that Christ may be magnified."
Before long, well have some lovely flowers around here called dandelions. Nobody cuts them and puts them on the table in the house. You may have 20/20 vision, but you haven't seen the beauty of the dandelion. Not until you take a magnifying glass and see that it's maybe the most exquisite flower that God ever made. When you see it through a magnifying glass, that thing comes alive. That's what Paul says. When people look at my life, Jesus Christ is clearer, and nearer, and more wonderful. Is that true with us? Do you think your children would say that about you? "Oh, my Daddy and Mommy...I've never seen Jesus, but I know who Jesus is life. He's like my Daddy."
Old Jonathan Edwards gets ridiculed. He took a stack of notes. He read through them. He had a candle...a big frowning face and his gravel voice. Then he reads through his sermon, the greatest, most famous sermon outside the Bible: "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God." People will remember, because he thundered. They said when people fell off their seats, instead of showing mercy, he kind of thrust the thing into them deeper: the truth of God. People hung onto pillars that were supporting the gallery because they were afraid they'd fall into the abyss. He didn't spare them. Sure he groaned. Sure he prayed. But his daughter said, "People say my Daddy is a severe man. A man that poured out judgment. But in the home, he lives just like Jesus. And every day my Mommy comes out of the closet and her face shines like the face of Moses shone. Because she spends at least two hours in prayer with God every morning. Oh, when she comes through the house, there's something so different, so fragrant." Well, that's what God wants, isn't it?
Brother Dave was in my house the other day. Last Sunday he preached in maybe the largest church in Denver, Colorado. He said, "Len, as we sat there, I was ready to preach. Suddenly I was overcome with grief. I just walked forward and sat on the floor. I didn't go to the pulpit. I began to weep, God just gave me such a burden." It was a congregation of about 3000. He said to them, "There's a girl in here who's being sexually molested by a man. The man is going to go to jail." As he said it, a girl about 16 years old ran down the aisle. She cried, "Mr Wilkerson, I'm the girl who's being molested! My Daddy did it! He has to go to jail!" Dave said he just groaned. There must have been 15 or 16 other women who also came and said my father, or brother, or somebody is sexually assaulting me every week. His spirit just groaned. He stayed there 50 minutes weeping. I said, "Dave, bless you." The average preacher would have said, "I just had a kind of little upset in my spirit. I feel that there's somebody in trouble. I'd like a few of you to pray. Raise your hands. We're going to pray for this girl. She's in trouble, I know she is." Instead of that, Dave swept aside all of his theology and sermon. He obeyed the Holy Spirit and the whole church broke up in weeping and brokenness, seeking God. It happened without him ever have to open his mouth preaching.
I'm sure that's the kind of spirit the apostle had because the Spirit of Christ indwelt Him. It's the Spirit of God dwelling in him. The fruit of the Spirit. As I've said before, if Jesus had said one word differently, it would have killed ten million arguments since Pentecost. I he'd said "by their gifts ye shall know them," it would have killed a million arguments. But he didn't say that. He said, "by their fruits." And the number one fruit of the Spirit is LOVE. The Spirit of Christ is LOVE. God so LOVED the world. I go to the Greeks. I go to the intellectuals on Mars Hill. I go in prison. Wherever I go, I want Christ to be magnified.
I don't want somebody to say, "If that's Christianity, then I don't want it." I don't want somebody to say, "You know, the way you live, you blur the image of Christ." I want those people to look through my life and say, "I see Jesus Christ." Well, that's what Paul dared to say. He says, "Christ lives in me." He doesn't say, "I'm saved." He doesn't say, "I have the baptism." He says, "Christ lives in me."
It's much easier to say,"I'm saved." It's much easier to say, "I have the baptism." We"re accepted on"par" with the rest of the people in the church. But suppose you stand up and testify that "Christ lives in me!"
He wants sin to have no dominion over us. The Greeks used to say "Man, know thyself." The Lord says, "Control yourself - in the Spirit." Paul says, "I keep my body under. I control it. I control my passions. I control my appetite. He was never an excessive eater, I'm sure of that. I don't think he was an excessive sleeper. You know, it looks a bit chronic when you put it this way. We live 24 hours a day. Supposedly, we work 8 hours. We sleep 8 hours. We have 8 hours free. Put that into 60 years. You sleep 20 years. You work 20 years. You're free 20 years. It doesn't look too much when you take it in the day but when you put into terms of years, it's a very different thing.
Now here's the man who eats up the time. He says "redeeming the time," which from the Greek literally means "buying up the opportunity." This opportunity will not come tomorrow; it comes today. So I "buy it up. I eat it up." I don't waste time, money, or opportunity. It's not difficult. It's not a case of living inside a steel shell. It's a case of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Holy Spirit governing my life. He constrains me when I'm too slow and he restrains me when I'm too quick. It's a joy to be in submission to Him!
Paul says he's the bond slave of Jesus Christ, a happy slavery. It's a joy to serve a Master like that. "That Christ may be magnified by my body," he says, "whether by life or by death!" It doesn't matter which way.
Well, there's no other way to live, surely. Having the body under control by the power of the Spirit, presenting my body A LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY, ACCEPTABLE, all packed up in that first verse of Romans 12. This is really only the normal Christian life. There is only one kind of Christian life: THE LIFE OF HOLINESS.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(The End)
[Copyright/Reproduction Limitations: This file is the sole property of Leonard Ravenhill. It may not be altered or edited in any way. I may be reproduced only in its entirety as "freeware", without charge. Copyright (c) 1995 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas"]
Christ Magnified In My Body # 5
Christ Magnified In My Body # 5
One of the great contemporaries of John Wesley was a very powerful speaker in France by the name of Voltaire. He ridiculed the scriptures. One day he said in his little house, "One hundred years from now, Bibles will only be in museums. People will be so advanced that they won't bother with a Bible." Well, he didn't miss it by much, did he? By about a thousand million copies! (One of the nice things that World War II did was to blow his little house off the face of the earth. But a few years before that happened, the Geneva Bible Society bought that house and distributed Bibles all through Europe out the very house from which he said that Bibles wouldn't be existing in a hundred years.)
Here it is: God's Word. It will last forever! "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." "Heaven and earth may pass away. My word shall not pass away." Here it is. It has all the power of God behind it!
So, the Holy Spirit of God who invaded the lives of those men in the upper room, according to Romans 8, is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, and is the same Spirit that abides in us and has raised us from the dead spiritually! We can think and move and have our being in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Lowery, an old Nazarene, wrote a marvelous book that's out of print. It's called "The Possibilities of Grace." I've never read it. I just peeped into it. I have an old, old copy. But I think of that so often. It stretches our the possibilities of grace. What does the Good Book say? "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But He has revealed it unto us." Not to the world! They stagger at it. Impossible.
How amazing that a human being, corrupted, defiled, doomed, and damned can be forgiven, cleansed, and indwelt by the Spirit of God and become a living vessel of God.
God is yet to produce the greatest men ever. I don't believe that God went off production with Wesley, Finny, and George Whitefield. All the great men who built the old spiritual empires like Hudson Taylor and others who went to China, Gilmore to Mongolia, Judson to Burma, Carey to India, and Henry Martin.
I wish some of you folk would wake up and use your brains while you're young enough to use them. There was a young lady singing on TV born in a little shack somewhere up in the Mississippi area. Somebody took her into a home and heard her play with the piano. They they discovered that she had a voice. I think she went to the conservatory in Milan and various other places. Now she can sing in about five different languages. Did somebody suddenly suspect that in that girl with all this talent and all this ability? No. They just gave her a chance in one direction, and she took off in another.
The Roman church is pretty smart. There's a great college in Ireland, called Maynooth. You can send a plowboy into that school that can hardly do his mathematics or anything. They'll turn him out in five years and he can recite the whole Mass in Latin. They have other convents where they take young ladies. They'd be average farmers daughters. They'll talk with them. Show them maps of the world. Tell them the need in the world: lack of education, lack of Christianity, and so forth. Those girls will say, "Oh, I think I'd like to go to South America...Brazil. Portuguese, all right. Argentina?...Spanish." Every time they sent a missionary out, the missionary knew the language before they got there. What did they do? They went into the school system and taught. Therefore, the churches didn't have to support them because they were earning their money. They didn't have to wait for them to stammer out a new language in a few years. Immediately when they got off the boat they could speak the language. Immediately they were put into operation to teach in the schools and to teach religion. In other words, when they went, they were already accomplished in languages, and because of that they could sign up in government jobs. There was no support needed from home.
Now, here very often, we have people to say, "Oh, yes, well take you on, but you have to go around to churches begging. Ask them to support you. Ask them to give you so much a month - so much a month - so much a month." I think God must be embarrassed by the Church these days. What beggars we are! Why can't you use your brains now? Learn a language. Get awakened. Get stirred in your spirit. Find our where God wants you. There are lots of hell-holes that need the light of the gospel. If you think you have the courage, why not pray about going to Russia. Get behind that Curtain.
I don't think there are 5 missionaries in the whole of Albania. They purged Albania sometime in the last century. I think they put Christians in barrels, sealed up the barrels, and pushed the barrels out to the tide as it was receding out to the ocean. And there they were, cooped up in those horrible things. The sun coming in and roasting them. They exterminated the Church to that degree there. So there's a challenge. There's nobody in Albania. Why not be the first to go?
What about getting behind the Iron Curtain? Czechoslovakia or some of the other countries? What about the 800 million people in China? This week they said there were 700 million people in India. It has about 400 languages or dialects. The world population is now the greatest it's ever been in history. There are more lost people tonight than there's ever been in history. Yet, I think there's more indifference. Sure, we give a little bit to support a missionary. We do this, we do that, we do the other. But that great dominion of satan is almost unchallenged in the day in which we live.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 6)
[Copyright/Reproduction Limitations: This file is the sole property of Leonard Ravenhill. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety as "freeware" without charge. Copyright (c) 1995 Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas]
One of the great contemporaries of John Wesley was a very powerful speaker in France by the name of Voltaire. He ridiculed the scriptures. One day he said in his little house, "One hundred years from now, Bibles will only be in museums. People will be so advanced that they won't bother with a Bible." Well, he didn't miss it by much, did he? By about a thousand million copies! (One of the nice things that World War II did was to blow his little house off the face of the earth. But a few years before that happened, the Geneva Bible Society bought that house and distributed Bibles all through Europe out the very house from which he said that Bibles wouldn't be existing in a hundred years.)
Here it is: God's Word. It will last forever! "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." "Heaven and earth may pass away. My word shall not pass away." Here it is. It has all the power of God behind it!
So, the Holy Spirit of God who invaded the lives of those men in the upper room, according to Romans 8, is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, and is the same Spirit that abides in us and has raised us from the dead spiritually! We can think and move and have our being in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Lowery, an old Nazarene, wrote a marvelous book that's out of print. It's called "The Possibilities of Grace." I've never read it. I just peeped into it. I have an old, old copy. But I think of that so often. It stretches our the possibilities of grace. What does the Good Book say? "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But He has revealed it unto us." Not to the world! They stagger at it. Impossible.
How amazing that a human being, corrupted, defiled, doomed, and damned can be forgiven, cleansed, and indwelt by the Spirit of God and become a living vessel of God.
God is yet to produce the greatest men ever. I don't believe that God went off production with Wesley, Finny, and George Whitefield. All the great men who built the old spiritual empires like Hudson Taylor and others who went to China, Gilmore to Mongolia, Judson to Burma, Carey to India, and Henry Martin.
I wish some of you folk would wake up and use your brains while you're young enough to use them. There was a young lady singing on TV born in a little shack somewhere up in the Mississippi area. Somebody took her into a home and heard her play with the piano. They they discovered that she had a voice. I think she went to the conservatory in Milan and various other places. Now she can sing in about five different languages. Did somebody suddenly suspect that in that girl with all this talent and all this ability? No. They just gave her a chance in one direction, and she took off in another.
The Roman church is pretty smart. There's a great college in Ireland, called Maynooth. You can send a plowboy into that school that can hardly do his mathematics or anything. They'll turn him out in five years and he can recite the whole Mass in Latin. They have other convents where they take young ladies. They'd be average farmers daughters. They'll talk with them. Show them maps of the world. Tell them the need in the world: lack of education, lack of Christianity, and so forth. Those girls will say, "Oh, I think I'd like to go to South America...Brazil. Portuguese, all right. Argentina?...Spanish." Every time they sent a missionary out, the missionary knew the language before they got there. What did they do? They went into the school system and taught. Therefore, the churches didn't have to support them because they were earning their money. They didn't have to wait for them to stammer out a new language in a few years. Immediately when they got off the boat they could speak the language. Immediately they were put into operation to teach in the schools and to teach religion. In other words, when they went, they were already accomplished in languages, and because of that they could sign up in government jobs. There was no support needed from home.
Now, here very often, we have people to say, "Oh, yes, well take you on, but you have to go around to churches begging. Ask them to support you. Ask them to give you so much a month - so much a month - so much a month." I think God must be embarrassed by the Church these days. What beggars we are! Why can't you use your brains now? Learn a language. Get awakened. Get stirred in your spirit. Find our where God wants you. There are lots of hell-holes that need the light of the gospel. If you think you have the courage, why not pray about going to Russia. Get behind that Curtain.
I don't think there are 5 missionaries in the whole of Albania. They purged Albania sometime in the last century. I think they put Christians in barrels, sealed up the barrels, and pushed the barrels out to the tide as it was receding out to the ocean. And there they were, cooped up in those horrible things. The sun coming in and roasting them. They exterminated the Church to that degree there. So there's a challenge. There's nobody in Albania. Why not be the first to go?
What about getting behind the Iron Curtain? Czechoslovakia or some of the other countries? What about the 800 million people in China? This week they said there were 700 million people in India. It has about 400 languages or dialects. The world population is now the greatest it's ever been in history. There are more lost people tonight than there's ever been in history. Yet, I think there's more indifference. Sure, we give a little bit to support a missionary. We do this, we do that, we do the other. But that great dominion of satan is almost unchallenged in the day in which we live.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 6)
[Copyright/Reproduction Limitations: This file is the sole property of Leonard Ravenhill. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety as "freeware" without charge. Copyright (c) 1995 Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas]
Christ Magnified In My Body # 4
Christ Magnified In My Body # 4
You can have a blast from hell and not be moved, if you're in the will of God. They'll hurt. How can you get victory if there's there no battle? He said, "We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. What are you conquering?
Charles Wesley has a hymn in which he says,
Should all the hosts of death, and powers of hell unknown,
Put their most dreadful forms of rage and malice on,
I shall be safe; for Christ displays
Superior power and boundless grace.
Paul touched the powers of the world to come. To us, that's theology. It's something we're grasping after, almost in blindness. We're so happy to get rid of a lot of rotten sins, and thank God for where we are. But look at the territory there is yet for us to reach!
God's problem with Israel was getting them to leave Egypt behind. He could have got them out of Egypt and into Canaan in 11 days. But they didn't even make it 40 years (most of them.) We've got people now who have been saved 20 or 30 years, and they're not a day older in their spiritual life. They're no more mature. They've no more spiritual strength. They've no more spiritual understanding. They've no more spiritual revelation. Why? Because so often they've "lived on meetings" instead of "living on Christ."
I don't care where you go, what school you go to, and I thank God for schools. Remember: What do you do when the school is pulled away from you? You see, so many people get happy and blessed when they're in an association or fellowship. But then go, and stick them up in the jungle, or somewhere and they go to pieces!
Can you imagine a man going to pieces here in Romans 8:9 who says, "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you?" And verse 10, "...if Christ is in you." And in verse 11, "...the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead."
The Holy Spirit of God is totally incapable of doing anything that is small. The world in which we live is beautiful, carpeted with flowers and everything. It was a ball of mud shut up in the womb of the universe. The Holy Spirit brooded over it. Out of chaos, He brought cosmos. Out of wildness, He brought this marvelous system of the worlds. He brooded over death and brought forth life.
He brooded over the virgin, a little girl that hardly anyone noticed, going up the street. I've often thought of the little virgin Mary going up the street pregnant. People were suspicious. "Did you know about her?" Do you know with whom she's keep company? Do you know how far along she is?" They didn't think that they were passing the Creator of the Universe in that little woman! So near to her, and yet they never recognized it. They never knew it. That's like a lot of people who go to church. They get within touching distance of Jesus and they never touch Him. They just go year after year, week after week, and never touch Him.
The Holy Spirit came and did that miracle in Mary. He brooded over her and brought forth the most amazing Creature that this world will ever know. Wesley says, "God was contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man." Here is the One that the heaven of heavens cannot contain, and He's shut up in a little womb of a woman. He made all the food in the world, and yet He has to sustain His life from His mother's breasts. He own the world. He made it. Yet He never owned a stick in it. He owns all things, and yet He never had a dime.
But after He brooded over the universe, after He brooded over the virgin, He brooded over a bunch of men in an upper room. They weren't all geniuses by a long way. A lot of them were cowards. Yet now they went streaming forth in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I've puzzled over this again today. We're supposed to have about 50 million people in America today filled with the Holy Spirit, manifesting gifts. Yet nobody knows we're here! There were only 120 in the upper room, and they turned a nation upside down! What's the difference between their baptism and ours? Tell me!
But then after the creation, after the miracle of the birth of Jesus, after the men in the upper room, then you have this wonderful Word of God, "Holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
I heard a local preacher saying not too long ago that the story of Jonah is a fish story. Well, sure it is! It isn't about a donkey, is it? But he meant that there's something a bit fishy about it. That's not true! Does he deny the word of Jesus? A man that denies scripture should renounce his job and go sell hamburgers! If he came in as a fundamental believer and becomes a literal, he should get out through the back door! I'd fire him if I had any power over that guy.
But here we have the Holy Spirit of God creating through all kinds of men. A man that climbs trees and gathers up sycamore fruit. A man with colossal intellect, like Paul, at the other end of the time. A shepherd like David. A wise man like Solomon. And yet the wonder of this Book is that it is so indestructible. Men have burned it, banned it, blamed it. I believe it's Tennyson who has a poem that says, "Men may come. Men may go. But I go on forever." Well, the Word of God is like that.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 5)
[Copyright/Reproduction Limitations: This file is the sole property of Leonard Ravenhill. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety as "freeware" without charge. Copyright (c) 1995 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas"]
You can have a blast from hell and not be moved, if you're in the will of God. They'll hurt. How can you get victory if there's there no battle? He said, "We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. What are you conquering?
Charles Wesley has a hymn in which he says,
Should all the hosts of death, and powers of hell unknown,
Put their most dreadful forms of rage and malice on,
I shall be safe; for Christ displays
Superior power and boundless grace.
Paul touched the powers of the world to come. To us, that's theology. It's something we're grasping after, almost in blindness. We're so happy to get rid of a lot of rotten sins, and thank God for where we are. But look at the territory there is yet for us to reach!
God's problem with Israel was getting them to leave Egypt behind. He could have got them out of Egypt and into Canaan in 11 days. But they didn't even make it 40 years (most of them.) We've got people now who have been saved 20 or 30 years, and they're not a day older in their spiritual life. They're no more mature. They've no more spiritual strength. They've no more spiritual understanding. They've no more spiritual revelation. Why? Because so often they've "lived on meetings" instead of "living on Christ."
I don't care where you go, what school you go to, and I thank God for schools. Remember: What do you do when the school is pulled away from you? You see, so many people get happy and blessed when they're in an association or fellowship. But then go, and stick them up in the jungle, or somewhere and they go to pieces!
Can you imagine a man going to pieces here in Romans 8:9 who says, "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you?" And verse 10, "...if Christ is in you." And in verse 11, "...the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead."
The Holy Spirit of God is totally incapable of doing anything that is small. The world in which we live is beautiful, carpeted with flowers and everything. It was a ball of mud shut up in the womb of the universe. The Holy Spirit brooded over it. Out of chaos, He brought cosmos. Out of wildness, He brought this marvelous system of the worlds. He brooded over death and brought forth life.
He brooded over the virgin, a little girl that hardly anyone noticed, going up the street. I've often thought of the little virgin Mary going up the street pregnant. People were suspicious. "Did you know about her?" Do you know with whom she's keep company? Do you know how far along she is?" They didn't think that they were passing the Creator of the Universe in that little woman! So near to her, and yet they never recognized it. They never knew it. That's like a lot of people who go to church. They get within touching distance of Jesus and they never touch Him. They just go year after year, week after week, and never touch Him.
The Holy Spirit came and did that miracle in Mary. He brooded over her and brought forth the most amazing Creature that this world will ever know. Wesley says, "God was contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man." Here is the One that the heaven of heavens cannot contain, and He's shut up in a little womb of a woman. He made all the food in the world, and yet He has to sustain His life from His mother's breasts. He own the world. He made it. Yet He never owned a stick in it. He owns all things, and yet He never had a dime.
But after He brooded over the universe, after He brooded over the virgin, He brooded over a bunch of men in an upper room. They weren't all geniuses by a long way. A lot of them were cowards. Yet now they went streaming forth in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I've puzzled over this again today. We're supposed to have about 50 million people in America today filled with the Holy Spirit, manifesting gifts. Yet nobody knows we're here! There were only 120 in the upper room, and they turned a nation upside down! What's the difference between their baptism and ours? Tell me!
But then after the creation, after the miracle of the birth of Jesus, after the men in the upper room, then you have this wonderful Word of God, "Holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
I heard a local preacher saying not too long ago that the story of Jonah is a fish story. Well, sure it is! It isn't about a donkey, is it? But he meant that there's something a bit fishy about it. That's not true! Does he deny the word of Jesus? A man that denies scripture should renounce his job and go sell hamburgers! If he came in as a fundamental believer and becomes a literal, he should get out through the back door! I'd fire him if I had any power over that guy.
But here we have the Holy Spirit of God creating through all kinds of men. A man that climbs trees and gathers up sycamore fruit. A man with colossal intellect, like Paul, at the other end of the time. A shepherd like David. A wise man like Solomon. And yet the wonder of this Book is that it is so indestructible. Men have burned it, banned it, blamed it. I believe it's Tennyson who has a poem that says, "Men may come. Men may go. But I go on forever." Well, the Word of God is like that.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 5)
[Copyright/Reproduction Limitations: This file is the sole property of Leonard Ravenhill. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety as "freeware" without charge. Copyright (c) 1995 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas"]
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