Every Eye # 2
1. Is not the eye frequently the inlet of the greatest possible display, alarm, terror, and distress? Imagine the men of the old world as they saw the door of the Ark close, and then by and by saw the huge raindrops descend, and watched the rising waters until every ray of hope was quenched.
Imagine the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah as they saw the words of Lot fulfilled, and the fire descend from above on the doomed cities.
Imagine the company of Korah as the ground began to heave beneath their feet and the vast chasm open its mouth to receive them.
Imagine the conscience-stricken Ahab as he saw the prophet Elijah standing in the field of Naboth - the very sight of the faithful servant of Jehovah awakening him to all the judgments which his sin was bringing upon him.
Imagine a man coming home from Australia with the earnings of a life's labor, and seeing the vessel with it all sinking in the depths.
Or imagine the parent watching by the deathbed of the child in whom all his hopes were centered, who had been the idol of his home and the one object for whom he lived.
Now think what will the sight of Christ be to the unsaved man. In that sight will be every possible element of grief and distress.
Every idol of his heart will be dashed to pieces in a moment. Whether it be home or wife, or child, a high position or a store of wealth, the fruit of a life's work or the usual enjoyment of some gift of Divine Providence - whatever it may be, it becomes a thing of the past. The stream is dried up; time is no more, and time's possessions have passed out of his hand.
From that sight will arise the shame of discovery. However cleverly the plot has been laid or the deed of evil hidden from the eyes of men, there will be no more possibility of concealment. The eyes which are as a flame of fire see through every disguise. The impenitent sinner must stand naked and confounded, with his sin open and known to all.
Then, too, conscience will speak out, and can no longer be silenced. As the sight of Elijah brought the sin of Ahab to his remembrance, what will it be when men see Him against whom they have sinned, and who knows them altogether? Ah! the reproach, the remorse, the sting of conscience on that day! Too often conscience slumbers now - it is drugged by the devil's opiates. It sleeps on, silenced by false hopes, by low views of sin, by promises of future amendment, or by the idea of mercy in God, even where that mercy has been despised and rejected!
But then it will sleep no more. The sight of a coming Judge will effectually and forever dispel all its delusions. In no uncertain tone will the voice be heard: "You are the man! What have you done?" Moreover, that sight will be to the sinner, the token of the coming day of wrath.
We have a glimpse given of the scene that we may look for. "The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks: Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?~ (Revelation 6:14-17).
Yes, every eye shall see Him! For through rock and mountain and cave, that eye shall still behold him. No hiding-place will be deep enough or dark enough to cover him from sight.
Think of it, friend, you who are yet in your sins. Think of it, friend, who are yet back from Him by the shadows of earth. Would it not be well to seek a hiding place now? Would it not be well, even this very day, to flee from the anticipation of His wrath - to the arms of His mercy? Would it not be well now to fix your eye on Him, in deep self-abasement and humble trust? Hidden in Him, covered with His all-sufficient merit, and arrayed in His snow while robe of righteousness - what then shall you fear? What then will the presence of His glory be to you, but the most blissful sight that every you have seen!
2. The brighter side of this subject, must not be forgotten.
If the eye is the inlet of fear and dismay - it is no less the inlet of joy, too deep for words to express.
Imagine the joy of Abraham and Sarah in the sight of the child so long promised and so long waited for!
Remember the old patriarch Jacob and the gladness he must have experienced when again he saw his long-lost son, and saw him as ruler of the land of Egypt?
Think of the delight of the shepherds as they beheld the infant Jesus, in whom they had learned to recognize the Saviour of the world; or of the Eastern Magi, as with exceeding great joy they again beheld the ship which brings her husband home to her after a long voyage.
~George Everard~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Every Eye! # 1
Every Eye! # 1
"Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him!" (Revelation 1:7).
There is many a "behold" in Holy Scripture, but in this passage, we reach the climax of them all.
"Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him" (Psalm 33:18).
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1).
"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
"Behold the Man" (John 19:5).
"Behold your King" (John 19:14).
Every one of these views of God's love and of the Saviour's grace, are full of deepest meaning and instruction to us.
But in grandeur and solemn awe, none can for a moment reach the "behold" of the Revelation. It sounds the keynote of the whole Apocalypse. It gathers within itself the great prophecy of Daniel spoken centuries before, and the bold utterance of Christ as He stood before the Jewish Council. Look at the words of the prophet Daniel 7:13, "I saw in the night visions, and behold One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him, and there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom," etc.
Consider the words of Christ when standing before His bloodthirsty judges (Matthew 26:64), "Hereafter shall you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of Heaven!"
Then take the words of John as given in Revelation, "Behold, He comes with clouds, and every eye shall see Him!"
In each of these passages two points are very prominent.
It is everywhere distinctly affirmed that He comes in the clouds of Heaven. When He ascended to the Father, we are told that a cloud received Him, and hid Him from the sight of His disciples. And as He ascended, so the angels declared that He must come again. So shall it be. In a cloud He departs - and in a cloud He shall return to the earth. And is there not here a plain evidence of His Divine power and authority? Is it not this one of the symbols of Jehovah's majesty and glory? We read in Psalm 18 something of the greatness which appertains to God, and here is one part of that description: "He made darkness His secret place. His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies". Look again at Psalm 104:3, "Who makes the clouds His chariot - who walks upon the wings of the wind."
To none but Jehovah's fellow, to none but the coequal Son of the Most High, would it have been granted thus to come back to our earth, mighty and glorious, seated on the very chariot of Jehovah Himself!
No less impressive is the second point. The Lord Jesus is to be the one object on which every eye is to be fixed. "Every eye shall see Him!"
These words have never been true of any who yet has lived. Kings and conquerors have had their days of triumph, and perchance hundreds of thousands have looked upon them as they celebrated the victories they had achieved. We read of notable scene in olden times, when a monarch gathered together an army of some three million, and placed his throne where he could gain a sight of them all, and where a large proportion of them might be able to see him.
But far higher, grander, vaster, is the prospect set before us of Christ at His appearing. In that concourse, none are absent. All ages, countries, races, and divisions of mankind are present there. None can escape that vision. None are lost or hidden amidst the assembled myriads. How it can be, no thought can possibly fathom. That it shall be, no room is left for doubt.
He who once trod the shore of Galilee's lake.
He who once was the Friend of the fishermen,
He who was meek and lowly of heart,
He who endured so patiently the scorn and the shame of His bitter Cross - it is He who shall then be manifested as the Glorious King and Judge of human kind, and upon whom every eye of sinner and of saint shall then be turned!
By that look, there will arise an extremity of woe and of gladness, the possibility of which has never yet been realized. There are the two sides. It may be well to consider both.
~George Everard~
(continued with # 2)
"Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him!" (Revelation 1:7).
There is many a "behold" in Holy Scripture, but in this passage, we reach the climax of them all.
"Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him" (Psalm 33:18).
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1).
"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
"Behold the Man" (John 19:5).
"Behold your King" (John 19:14).
Every one of these views of God's love and of the Saviour's grace, are full of deepest meaning and instruction to us.
But in grandeur and solemn awe, none can for a moment reach the "behold" of the Revelation. It sounds the keynote of the whole Apocalypse. It gathers within itself the great prophecy of Daniel spoken centuries before, and the bold utterance of Christ as He stood before the Jewish Council. Look at the words of the prophet Daniel 7:13, "I saw in the night visions, and behold One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him, and there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom," etc.
Consider the words of Christ when standing before His bloodthirsty judges (Matthew 26:64), "Hereafter shall you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of Heaven!"
Then take the words of John as given in Revelation, "Behold, He comes with clouds, and every eye shall see Him!"
In each of these passages two points are very prominent.
It is everywhere distinctly affirmed that He comes in the clouds of Heaven. When He ascended to the Father, we are told that a cloud received Him, and hid Him from the sight of His disciples. And as He ascended, so the angels declared that He must come again. So shall it be. In a cloud He departs - and in a cloud He shall return to the earth. And is there not here a plain evidence of His Divine power and authority? Is it not this one of the symbols of Jehovah's majesty and glory? We read in Psalm 18 something of the greatness which appertains to God, and here is one part of that description: "He made darkness His secret place. His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies". Look again at Psalm 104:3, "Who makes the clouds His chariot - who walks upon the wings of the wind."
To none but Jehovah's fellow, to none but the coequal Son of the Most High, would it have been granted thus to come back to our earth, mighty and glorious, seated on the very chariot of Jehovah Himself!
No less impressive is the second point. The Lord Jesus is to be the one object on which every eye is to be fixed. "Every eye shall see Him!"
These words have never been true of any who yet has lived. Kings and conquerors have had their days of triumph, and perchance hundreds of thousands have looked upon them as they celebrated the victories they had achieved. We read of notable scene in olden times, when a monarch gathered together an army of some three million, and placed his throne where he could gain a sight of them all, and where a large proportion of them might be able to see him.
But far higher, grander, vaster, is the prospect set before us of Christ at His appearing. In that concourse, none are absent. All ages, countries, races, and divisions of mankind are present there. None can escape that vision. None are lost or hidden amidst the assembled myriads. How it can be, no thought can possibly fathom. That it shall be, no room is left for doubt.
He who once trod the shore of Galilee's lake.
He who once was the Friend of the fishermen,
He who was meek and lowly of heart,
He who endured so patiently the scorn and the shame of His bitter Cross - it is He who shall then be manifested as the Glorious King and Judge of human kind, and upon whom every eye of sinner and of saint shall then be turned!
By that look, there will arise an extremity of woe and of gladness, the possibility of which has never yet been realized. There are the two sides. It may be well to consider both.
~George Everard~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, December 8, 2018
More Than Conquerors # 5
More Than Conquerors # 5
You see, we've got the idea that you've got to be anointed of the Holy Spirit to be a missionary or a preacher. Well, that's great! You must have that. Let me tell you about three things here. Look. This man says we are more than conquerors. You know, when those three Hebrew children went into the burning, fiery furnace, they were conquerors. But when the form of the fourth, like unto the Son of God, came and they walked out, they were MORE THAN CONQUERORS.
When Daniel went into the lion's den, he was a conqueror. But when they pulled him out and made them change the laws of the Medes and the Persians, he was more than a conqueror.
When Jesus went to the Cross, He could have just went quick, and destroyed every man that was living. He could have cursed these people like He cursed the fig tree. But He kept His mouth shut. When He went to the grave with the sin of the world He was a conqueror. When He rose from the dead He was more than a conqueror. That's why this marvelous 8th chapter is so majestic. The Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead. Has He raised you from the dead? And touched death? And trespasses? And sin? Has He raised you from the death of formality and self-righteousness? If He has, you're indwelt by God the Father! You're indwelt by God the Son! You're indwelt by the Holy Spirit!
You know what America needs more than it needs some revivalist? It needs some Holy Spirit filled mothers and fathers. I owe my spiritual life after God to the saintly mother who influenced my life. I never heard my mother gossip. I never heard her criticize anybody. I never saw her get angry. All I got when I came home from school was mother in one chair and grandmother in the other singing, "Take Time to Be Holy," usually off-key. But they were singing "Take Time to Be Holy." If it wasn't that, it was "Trust and Obey." Man, I was born in a home where the father was godly and the mother was a saint.
People say to me sometimes, "You know, I often ask the Lord to make me humble." I'll tell you how to make yourself humble. Go home and sit down before your little kids. Just sit down and say, "Do you think that I am like Jesus?"
I'm a debtor to America. Do you know why? Because outside of the New Testament, the greatest thing I ever read was the life of David Brainerd. I read that when he was about 18 years of age, he met God. I read that he died at the age of 28. The ripe old age of 28! I read that he used to kneel in the snow when it was up to his chin, when he had to make a hole in it. And pray! He said, "I'd pray from sunrise to sunset. I couldn't touch the snow with the tips of my fingers. The heat of my body melted the snow." He had tuberculosis and when he sneezed he sprayed the snow with his blood.
Friend, listen. You have only one life. Twill soon be passed. Only what's done for God will last. When you are dying how glad you shall be, if the lamp of your life has been burned out for Him. So now, die to self-seeking. Die to public opinion. Die to ambition. God doesn't use men that are alive. He uses men that are dead. He doesn't use sober men. He uses drunk men. He doesn't use somebody. He uses nobody.
"In all these things..." Where's your point of defeat tonight? Is it prayerlessness? Is it lack of love? Is it self-pity? Self-seeking? Self-glory? Self-promoting? What is it? You may be the one key holding up revival. Maybe just you, nobody else. I don't know. I want to tell you, God can put an end to all these things and you can leave this house tonight free, if you obey God. You can be more than conquerors by the indwelling God, by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. But you'll have to confess it. I can't confess for you. I can't do it. You have to do it. God can't do it for you. You have to do it.
Your repentance, your humility, your sincere seeking God for that cancer within the breast, whatever it is, will bring the compassion and love of God, the cleansing in the Blood, and the indwelling Holy Spirit.
~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. It may be reproduced only in its entirety as "freeware" without charge - and cannot be sold with charge. (c) 1995 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas.
You see, we've got the idea that you've got to be anointed of the Holy Spirit to be a missionary or a preacher. Well, that's great! You must have that. Let me tell you about three things here. Look. This man says we are more than conquerors. You know, when those three Hebrew children went into the burning, fiery furnace, they were conquerors. But when the form of the fourth, like unto the Son of God, came and they walked out, they were MORE THAN CONQUERORS.
When Daniel went into the lion's den, he was a conqueror. But when they pulled him out and made them change the laws of the Medes and the Persians, he was more than a conqueror.
When Jesus went to the Cross, He could have just went quick, and destroyed every man that was living. He could have cursed these people like He cursed the fig tree. But He kept His mouth shut. When He went to the grave with the sin of the world He was a conqueror. When He rose from the dead He was more than a conqueror. That's why this marvelous 8th chapter is so majestic. The Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead. Has He raised you from the dead? And touched death? And trespasses? And sin? Has He raised you from the death of formality and self-righteousness? If He has, you're indwelt by God the Father! You're indwelt by God the Son! You're indwelt by the Holy Spirit!
You know what America needs more than it needs some revivalist? It needs some Holy Spirit filled mothers and fathers. I owe my spiritual life after God to the saintly mother who influenced my life. I never heard my mother gossip. I never heard her criticize anybody. I never saw her get angry. All I got when I came home from school was mother in one chair and grandmother in the other singing, "Take Time to Be Holy," usually off-key. But they were singing "Take Time to Be Holy." If it wasn't that, it was "Trust and Obey." Man, I was born in a home where the father was godly and the mother was a saint.
People say to me sometimes, "You know, I often ask the Lord to make me humble." I'll tell you how to make yourself humble. Go home and sit down before your little kids. Just sit down and say, "Do you think that I am like Jesus?"
I'm a debtor to America. Do you know why? Because outside of the New Testament, the greatest thing I ever read was the life of David Brainerd. I read that when he was about 18 years of age, he met God. I read that he died at the age of 28. The ripe old age of 28! I read that he used to kneel in the snow when it was up to his chin, when he had to make a hole in it. And pray! He said, "I'd pray from sunrise to sunset. I couldn't touch the snow with the tips of my fingers. The heat of my body melted the snow." He had tuberculosis and when he sneezed he sprayed the snow with his blood.
Friend, listen. You have only one life. Twill soon be passed. Only what's done for God will last. When you are dying how glad you shall be, if the lamp of your life has been burned out for Him. So now, die to self-seeking. Die to public opinion. Die to ambition. God doesn't use men that are alive. He uses men that are dead. He doesn't use sober men. He uses drunk men. He doesn't use somebody. He uses nobody.
"In all these things..." Where's your point of defeat tonight? Is it prayerlessness? Is it lack of love? Is it self-pity? Self-seeking? Self-glory? Self-promoting? What is it? You may be the one key holding up revival. Maybe just you, nobody else. I don't know. I want to tell you, God can put an end to all these things and you can leave this house tonight free, if you obey God. You can be more than conquerors by the indwelling God, by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. But you'll have to confess it. I can't confess for you. I can't do it. You have to do it. God can't do it for you. You have to do it.
Your repentance, your humility, your sincere seeking God for that cancer within the breast, whatever it is, will bring the compassion and love of God, the cleansing in the Blood, and the indwelling Holy Spirit.
~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. It may be reproduced only in its entirety as "freeware" without charge - and cannot be sold with charge. (c) 1995 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas.
More Than Conquerors # 4
More Than Conquerors # 4
They he says in Romans 9:33, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." Here is your strength. Notice in this verse again, verse 34: "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died." Can Christ's death be contested? satan knows better than that. Then says, he "is risen again...at the right hand..." Can the sovereignty of Jesus Christ be contested? And at the end of the verse it says, he "maketh intercession for us." Is there any way that the prayers of Jesus Christ can be sabotaged?
You see, if I'm a believer, this is what this verse says: I have the protection of the death of Jesus. If He is risen, I not only have protection, I have propitiation. He is the One that satisfies. Not only that, if He justifies me, I've not only protection and propitiation, I have prayer that's offered by Him. Then the old accusing devil comes and says, "Now, just look at this and look at that." You know what Tozer used to say to me? "Len, I talk back to the devil." Do you ever talk back to him? Tell him where to go and how to get there? Or do you just constantly get whipped by him?
We suffer accusations, as long as you live, till you get to the pearly gates, satan will accuse you. That's his job. He's the accuser of the brethren. Even if you've done nothing wrong, he'll try to make you feel bad. He's a liar from the beginning.
In Washington - in the Smithsonian museum, I guess, there's a bit of an apron with a dirty brown mark on it. And the Rockefellers have a bit of money and yet the Rockefellers can't can't buy that apron. It looks like a chocolate stain and the apron isn't worth much. But when they were carrying the great emancipator Lincoln out of that theater, as they passed a little girl, his blood fell on that apron and immediately somebody said, "that is sacred for America, get hold of it." There's nothing in the world can buy that thing which is stamped with blood! And I want to tell you tonight in the face of the world, the flesh, and the devil and all hell that if the blood of Jesus Christ is on you tonight you're worth more than all the wealth in Fort Knox or anywhere else in the world. You're precious to Him...Why?... Because His blood is upon you, that's why!
What are you going to do with this text? What is this text? "In all these things," verse 37, "we are more than conquerors." That's beyond the bounds of logic. How can you be MORE than a conqueror?
You can do three things with this text. You can say, "It's a statement by an ignorant, irresponsible person. The kind who overload you with confidence." You can say, "It's an unbalanced statement by a super-optimist." Or you can say, "Here's a man talking about out of experience." In all things," he says, "we are more than conquerors."
You know, there isn't a man on God's earth who knows how the next phase of revival will come. It's coming. Don't make any mistake about it. But God's going to do it His way. God has wonderful ways of working.
One pastor said, "My people come to church and pay their tithes. Routine. There's no passion. No vision. They're worldly. They enjoy bowling a lot more than groaning. They like fishing for fish much more than fishing for men. More of them are traveling than travailing." He said to his wife and another man in the church, "Can we agree together that God will send us revival?" And they did! They prayed.
Oh my! Sometimes it's very painful. In fact, I don't know when God works any blessing without painfulness. If He could have done it with pain, He'd have done it for His Son. But His Son had to go through the horrors of Gethsemane and the Cross.
So this preacher and his wife, and the other man and his wife - she was the organist, I think - prayed. And God began to move. He moved them nearly all out of the church. From about 450 people, they went down to about 45. And they thought: "Now, Lord, Lord, put the brakes on here. It's going to stop here, isn't it?" The Lord said, "No, not yet." And they went down until they were a very select company: the preacher, his wife, the oldest deacon, and the organist. Four of them. Instead of shutting the shop, he said, "Keep on praying." Great! God was moving! They never asked Him to move that way. But after all, you ask God to move and He does it! The preacher said, "Four weeks, I preached to four people." It didn't take long to take the offering. For once the church was united. Then, he said, "God began to turn the tide and they started coming back. People got saved." Now he had hundreds of people.
You see, the Holy Spirit is so wonderful. As I said last night, He's a Spirit of truth and He convicts us of error. He's a Spirit of life and He convicts of death. He's a Spirit of power and He convicts of weakness. He's a Spirit of joy and He convicts of sorrow. And He's a Spirit of LOVE! I'm going to tell you this, I believe tonight, if the Church of Jesus Christ, every true believer, in America had the baptism of love, the Church would be "back in business."
Love works many, many miracles that theory, philosophy, and theology don't work. The Word of God says that the first thing the Holy Spirit does in you life when He comes in is hang His shingle out. That's what He does. You know what it says on this shingle? "The fruit of the Spirit is power..." No, No. What is it? Oh, you know what it is. The first thing...LOVE.
~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"
They he says in Romans 9:33, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." Here is your strength. Notice in this verse again, verse 34: "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died." Can Christ's death be contested? satan knows better than that. Then says, he "is risen again...at the right hand..." Can the sovereignty of Jesus Christ be contested? And at the end of the verse it says, he "maketh intercession for us." Is there any way that the prayers of Jesus Christ can be sabotaged?
You see, if I'm a believer, this is what this verse says: I have the protection of the death of Jesus. If He is risen, I not only have protection, I have propitiation. He is the One that satisfies. Not only that, if He justifies me, I've not only protection and propitiation, I have prayer that's offered by Him. Then the old accusing devil comes and says, "Now, just look at this and look at that." You know what Tozer used to say to me? "Len, I talk back to the devil." Do you ever talk back to him? Tell him where to go and how to get there? Or do you just constantly get whipped by him?
We suffer accusations, as long as you live, till you get to the pearly gates, satan will accuse you. That's his job. He's the accuser of the brethren. Even if you've done nothing wrong, he'll try to make you feel bad. He's a liar from the beginning.
In Washington - in the Smithsonian museum, I guess, there's a bit of an apron with a dirty brown mark on it. And the Rockefellers have a bit of money and yet the Rockefellers can't can't buy that apron. It looks like a chocolate stain and the apron isn't worth much. But when they were carrying the great emancipator Lincoln out of that theater, as they passed a little girl, his blood fell on that apron and immediately somebody said, "that is sacred for America, get hold of it." There's nothing in the world can buy that thing which is stamped with blood! And I want to tell you tonight in the face of the world, the flesh, and the devil and all hell that if the blood of Jesus Christ is on you tonight you're worth more than all the wealth in Fort Knox or anywhere else in the world. You're precious to Him...Why?... Because His blood is upon you, that's why!
What are you going to do with this text? What is this text? "In all these things," verse 37, "we are more than conquerors." That's beyond the bounds of logic. How can you be MORE than a conqueror?
You can do three things with this text. You can say, "It's a statement by an ignorant, irresponsible person. The kind who overload you with confidence." You can say, "It's an unbalanced statement by a super-optimist." Or you can say, "Here's a man talking about out of experience." In all things," he says, "we are more than conquerors."
You know, there isn't a man on God's earth who knows how the next phase of revival will come. It's coming. Don't make any mistake about it. But God's going to do it His way. God has wonderful ways of working.
One pastor said, "My people come to church and pay their tithes. Routine. There's no passion. No vision. They're worldly. They enjoy bowling a lot more than groaning. They like fishing for fish much more than fishing for men. More of them are traveling than travailing." He said to his wife and another man in the church, "Can we agree together that God will send us revival?" And they did! They prayed.
Oh my! Sometimes it's very painful. In fact, I don't know when God works any blessing without painfulness. If He could have done it with pain, He'd have done it for His Son. But His Son had to go through the horrors of Gethsemane and the Cross.
So this preacher and his wife, and the other man and his wife - she was the organist, I think - prayed. And God began to move. He moved them nearly all out of the church. From about 450 people, they went down to about 45. And they thought: "Now, Lord, Lord, put the brakes on here. It's going to stop here, isn't it?" The Lord said, "No, not yet." And they went down until they were a very select company: the preacher, his wife, the oldest deacon, and the organist. Four of them. Instead of shutting the shop, he said, "Keep on praying." Great! God was moving! They never asked Him to move that way. But after all, you ask God to move and He does it! The preacher said, "Four weeks, I preached to four people." It didn't take long to take the offering. For once the church was united. Then, he said, "God began to turn the tide and they started coming back. People got saved." Now he had hundreds of people.
You see, the Holy Spirit is so wonderful. As I said last night, He's a Spirit of truth and He convicts us of error. He's a Spirit of life and He convicts of death. He's a Spirit of power and He convicts of weakness. He's a Spirit of joy and He convicts of sorrow. And He's a Spirit of LOVE! I'm going to tell you this, I believe tonight, if the Church of Jesus Christ, every true believer, in America had the baptism of love, the Church would be "back in business."
Love works many, many miracles that theory, philosophy, and theology don't work. The Word of God says that the first thing the Holy Spirit does in you life when He comes in is hang His shingle out. That's what He does. You know what it says on this shingle? "The fruit of the Spirit is power..." No, No. What is it? Oh, you know what it is. The first thing...LOVE.
~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"
Saturday, December 1, 2018
More Than Conquerors # 3
More Than Conquerors # 3
All right. Let's come down a bit further in the chapter. Look at verse 22. "We know that the whole creation groaneth and travileth in pain together..." Do you think it is doing that tonight? Men have dreamed of Utopia, from Augustine's City of God. Moore had his Utopia. Francis Bacon had his Utopia. And I'm going to tell you how many more. Hitler said you could dominate the world by a pure race. The Marxists say the only way to clean the world up is to get rid of the fluff and bourgeois folk we have heard around here and rule by revolution. The creation groaneth.
The whole creation groaneth! I've asked you more than once. Did it cost you a tear when you heard that fifty million people were signed off in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia? Fifty million people went into captivity! Did it cost you a tear? Millions of people behind the Iron Curtain. Has it cost you a tear? - or are you still rehearsing your choir number for Sunday? Yes, I believe every earthquake we have, is a sign of the whole groaning creation. Creation groans.
Will you notice what Paul says a little further down? In the next verse, verse 23: that we, not only creation, but we ourselves also have the first fruits of the Spirit. If you have the first fruits of the Spirit, here's the proof that you have it. That you groan within yourself. Do you? After the Holy Spirit comes in - and He knows the mind of God, and nobody does but the Spirit - the Spirit whispers the secret of God to you. Some nights you're like the woman who wants to get delivered of something. It isn't time, and you groan within yourself.
I'll tell you the secret of getting revival in the church. Find half a dozen people who know how to groan. You won't have the same church in a year.
You can't learn groaning except by the Holy Spirit. It's the school of the Holy Spirit.
If you think that's unusual, then look at verse 26 in which he says, "Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with GROANINGS that cannot be uttered." And verse 27, "the Spirit...because maketh intercession...according to the will of God."
Now, I've heard people say that to pray "with groanings," means praying in tongues. It's nothing of the kind. Because if it was, God would say so. It's beyond that.
The greatest language of prayer has no vocabulary.
The greatest prayers in the Bible have no words.
Do you remember Hannah? How she prayed? Even the man of God, the priest, thought she was drunk. She groaned. She travailed. She was barren.
I suggest to you that with all the pretty little conferences we have going on now about the Holy Spirit and all the rest, we're a barren people before God. We have no revival in the land. But I'll tell you this, when the Holy Spirit comes and begins to burden people, it's a pretty, pretty rough thing to learn the true language of intercession. But the Spirit helpeth our infirmity.
Let's come to this verse right here for a minute or two. "In all these things..." He mentions them. Sort them out when you go home, will you? Tribulation, distress, famine, peril, nakedness, sword, perils of the deep, and so forth and so on. Sort them out. You'll find that some are the things that attack the body. Some attack the mind. Some attack the spirit. And he says, "in all these things..." There is no area in your life where, as a Christian, you are expected to be defeated.
You say, "I can't be perfect." Can't you? Are you sure? Jesus said in one Sermon on the Mount, "Be ye therefore perfect." He said of Job to the devil, "Hast thou considered my servant Job? He's perfect and upright." He set a path for Abraham before the Holy Spirit was given as we know. He said, "Walk before Me and be thou perfect." You can't have Adamic perfection in your body. You can't have mental perfection. You can't have perfection, but you CAN have perfect obedience!
We sing the song, "Perfect Submission. All is at rest." The only way you can have rest is by perfect submission - to know there's no rebellion in your spirit in any area at all.
"In all these things we are more than conquerors. "You know, very often we get so discouraged. We get so earthbound. We lose sight of the majesty of God. We forget this: that God has branded you as a child of God. He lives in you. His Spirit lives in you. Christ lives in you. And we let little rubbish around us upset us?
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 4)
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).
All right. Let's come down a bit further in the chapter. Look at verse 22. "We know that the whole creation groaneth and travileth in pain together..." Do you think it is doing that tonight? Men have dreamed of Utopia, from Augustine's City of God. Moore had his Utopia. Francis Bacon had his Utopia. And I'm going to tell you how many more. Hitler said you could dominate the world by a pure race. The Marxists say the only way to clean the world up is to get rid of the fluff and bourgeois folk we have heard around here and rule by revolution. The creation groaneth.
The whole creation groaneth! I've asked you more than once. Did it cost you a tear when you heard that fifty million people were signed off in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia? Fifty million people went into captivity! Did it cost you a tear? Millions of people behind the Iron Curtain. Has it cost you a tear? - or are you still rehearsing your choir number for Sunday? Yes, I believe every earthquake we have, is a sign of the whole groaning creation. Creation groans.
Will you notice what Paul says a little further down? In the next verse, verse 23: that we, not only creation, but we ourselves also have the first fruits of the Spirit. If you have the first fruits of the Spirit, here's the proof that you have it. That you groan within yourself. Do you? After the Holy Spirit comes in - and He knows the mind of God, and nobody does but the Spirit - the Spirit whispers the secret of God to you. Some nights you're like the woman who wants to get delivered of something. It isn't time, and you groan within yourself.
I'll tell you the secret of getting revival in the church. Find half a dozen people who know how to groan. You won't have the same church in a year.
You can't learn groaning except by the Holy Spirit. It's the school of the Holy Spirit.
If you think that's unusual, then look at verse 26 in which he says, "Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with GROANINGS that cannot be uttered." And verse 27, "the Spirit...because maketh intercession...according to the will of God."
Now, I've heard people say that to pray "with groanings," means praying in tongues. It's nothing of the kind. Because if it was, God would say so. It's beyond that.
The greatest language of prayer has no vocabulary.
The greatest prayers in the Bible have no words.
Do you remember Hannah? How she prayed? Even the man of God, the priest, thought she was drunk. She groaned. She travailed. She was barren.
I suggest to you that with all the pretty little conferences we have going on now about the Holy Spirit and all the rest, we're a barren people before God. We have no revival in the land. But I'll tell you this, when the Holy Spirit comes and begins to burden people, it's a pretty, pretty rough thing to learn the true language of intercession. But the Spirit helpeth our infirmity.
Let's come to this verse right here for a minute or two. "In all these things..." He mentions them. Sort them out when you go home, will you? Tribulation, distress, famine, peril, nakedness, sword, perils of the deep, and so forth and so on. Sort them out. You'll find that some are the things that attack the body. Some attack the mind. Some attack the spirit. And he says, "in all these things..." There is no area in your life where, as a Christian, you are expected to be defeated.
You say, "I can't be perfect." Can't you? Are you sure? Jesus said in one Sermon on the Mount, "Be ye therefore perfect." He said of Job to the devil, "Hast thou considered my servant Job? He's perfect and upright." He set a path for Abraham before the Holy Spirit was given as we know. He said, "Walk before Me and be thou perfect." You can't have Adamic perfection in your body. You can't have mental perfection. You can't have perfection, but you CAN have perfect obedience!
We sing the song, "Perfect Submission. All is at rest." The only way you can have rest is by perfect submission - to know there's no rebellion in your spirit in any area at all.
"In all these things we are more than conquerors. "You know, very often we get so discouraged. We get so earthbound. We lose sight of the majesty of God. We forget this: that God has branded you as a child of God. He lives in you. His Spirit lives in you. Christ lives in you. And we let little rubbish around us upset us?
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 4)
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).
More Than Conquerors # 2
More Than Conquerors # 2
I'm persuaded tonight that neither height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate me from the love of God. "For I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor THINGS present nor THINGS to come..." If that isn't defiance I don't know what is.
One day, this man was going down the Damascus Road. Look! You know what? A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.
He was going down the Damascus Road, breathing out threatenings. He carried documents that said he could put any Christian he liked to death. (It's exactly what the blundering, blind, bankrupt world that you and I live in did), but he did not reckon with Jesus Christ Himself. And Jesus sits on His throne and met him in the road. Paul said, "Who art thou, Lord?" On that road, he said, "he revealed Himself to me." He said, "In the wilderness. In the school of silence." (It's still open if you want to go. It'll cost you nothing.) "On the Damascus Road God revealed Himself to me. There in the wilderness, He revealed Himself to me."
Then he soared up into heaven. I don't know all he saw except it was just so marvelous. The Lord said "Don't ever say a word about it. As long as you live, you can't tell anything you saw." And he never did! Sometimes I wonder if God rolled out the plans of the ages from the incarnation to the consummation. I wonder if he saw the day in which you and I live. I wonder if he saw the depravity that was going to strangle the world silent before Jesus comes?
There where he and God were alone, and God stripped him, what happened? I tell you, he became spiritually pregnant. He birthed these churches to whom he was writing here. He birthed these epistles in the Holy Spirit.
God put something in him that, when later he is put in the waters, thirty-six hours in the Mediterranean; the waves couldn't wash it out. They lashed him one hundred ninety-five times; they couldn't whip it out. The devils chased him; they couldn't scare it out of him. They wouldn't give him any food; they couldn't starve it out of him.
Brothers and sisters, you and I had better get an experience like that before long because the roof is going to come in before we go much further. God hasn't raised you up to be bottle-fed babys from here to eternity. He's coming to gather His jewels out of your life. He's invested a lot in you. He didn't save you that you might escape eternal fire. That's fringe benefit. He saved you that you might be conformed to the image of His Son, however costly that may be.
A lot of people say today when they talk about victorious life, "Well, you know what Paul said..." in the end of Romans chapter 7: "Oh wretched man that I am!" Well, I didn't need the Lord to tell me that. I know that well enough. But you see, we tack onto that another statement. We say - listen now to what the Scripture says: "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." But read the next verse: "Ye are NOT in the flesh." Now, what do you do with it? This flesh...Yes. But a fleshy nature, a lusting, sinful, greedy, lustful nature...No.
You see, Paul here uses one of the most amazing things in all his career. He says, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Now what will you do? Is that the end of the story? In the original there are no chapters. There's no 7th chapter and 8th chapter. The 7th goes right on into the 8th chapter. Now what do you do? Do you stop at the end of Romans 7 and say Paul is saying all through his life, "O wretched man that I am! I've another war raging in my members?" What does he say? He says, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Well, tell me tonight, can Buddha do it? Can Confucius do it? Can transcendental meditation do it? No sir. A thousand times over. There is One who is able to do it.
You know, there were over 120 different types of crosses. There was a traditional cross. There was a cross like the letter "T" on which a man's head was allowed to drop back. There was a cross like the letter "X" where a man's body was stretched up. His arms went up into each section of the "X" and there he was crucified. There was another cross. It was a straight tree like this, with a spike. They pushed the man's body on it and turned it any old way they liked - like a propeller - and left him to hang and the birds to eat him.
Now Paul had been talking about the Law in chapter 7. He says the Law is holy. He says the Law is spiritual. But, you see, the Law could bring condemnation. It could point out sin, but it couldn't cast out sin. Can the Law break you free? No. Who shall deliver me from this wretched man? He says there's no end to this! But then he says, "Yes, there is - Thanks be unto God through Jesus Christ my Lord...!" Romans 6:6 says that "Knowing this, that our old man is (not was, but is) crucified with Him."
The trouble in the church of God today is that we preach half a salvation. We tell people how to get rid of the lousy sin, yet we don't tell them how to get rid of the principle inside that has dominion over them. This is exactly what Paul is talking about in this epistle. This is why I say it's the song of the soul set free. Come over to verse 9. "You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit." Are you in the Spirit? Or in the flesh? Have you got secrets? What's biting you on the inside? An unforgiving spirit? Laziness? Jealousy? Anger? Secret lusts? What is it?
He says, "ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be..." Now listen! "...the Spirit of God dwelleth in you!" Look at the next verse (verse 10): "If Christ be in you." Look at the 11th verse: "The Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus...dwell in you." My! Oh my! How in God's name can you be indwelt by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and be defeated? Don't argue with me about it. Scratch it out in your Bible if you don't believe it. If you're a Christian, you're an indwelt person. God dwells in you. The Father dwells in you. That's what it says. I didn't write that. The Holy Spirit wrote it. I want you to know; if you're really born of God, God dwells in you. And the Son dwells in you. "He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son..." It doesn't matter if they baptized you three times a day, it won't make you a Christian. Who is a Christian? He that hath the Son. He that is born of God, and He that hath the Spirit of God indwelling in him.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 3)
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 1995 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas."
I'm persuaded tonight that neither height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate me from the love of God. "For I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor THINGS present nor THINGS to come..." If that isn't defiance I don't know what is.
One day, this man was going down the Damascus Road. Look! You know what? A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.
He was going down the Damascus Road, breathing out threatenings. He carried documents that said he could put any Christian he liked to death. (It's exactly what the blundering, blind, bankrupt world that you and I live in did), but he did not reckon with Jesus Christ Himself. And Jesus sits on His throne and met him in the road. Paul said, "Who art thou, Lord?" On that road, he said, "he revealed Himself to me." He said, "In the wilderness. In the school of silence." (It's still open if you want to go. It'll cost you nothing.) "On the Damascus Road God revealed Himself to me. There in the wilderness, He revealed Himself to me."
Then he soared up into heaven. I don't know all he saw except it was just so marvelous. The Lord said "Don't ever say a word about it. As long as you live, you can't tell anything you saw." And he never did! Sometimes I wonder if God rolled out the plans of the ages from the incarnation to the consummation. I wonder if he saw the day in which you and I live. I wonder if he saw the depravity that was going to strangle the world silent before Jesus comes?
There where he and God were alone, and God stripped him, what happened? I tell you, he became spiritually pregnant. He birthed these churches to whom he was writing here. He birthed these epistles in the Holy Spirit.
God put something in him that, when later he is put in the waters, thirty-six hours in the Mediterranean; the waves couldn't wash it out. They lashed him one hundred ninety-five times; they couldn't whip it out. The devils chased him; they couldn't scare it out of him. They wouldn't give him any food; they couldn't starve it out of him.
Brothers and sisters, you and I had better get an experience like that before long because the roof is going to come in before we go much further. God hasn't raised you up to be bottle-fed babys from here to eternity. He's coming to gather His jewels out of your life. He's invested a lot in you. He didn't save you that you might escape eternal fire. That's fringe benefit. He saved you that you might be conformed to the image of His Son, however costly that may be.
A lot of people say today when they talk about victorious life, "Well, you know what Paul said..." in the end of Romans chapter 7: "Oh wretched man that I am!" Well, I didn't need the Lord to tell me that. I know that well enough. But you see, we tack onto that another statement. We say - listen now to what the Scripture says: "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." But read the next verse: "Ye are NOT in the flesh." Now, what do you do with it? This flesh...Yes. But a fleshy nature, a lusting, sinful, greedy, lustful nature...No.
You see, Paul here uses one of the most amazing things in all his career. He says, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Now what will you do? Is that the end of the story? In the original there are no chapters. There's no 7th chapter and 8th chapter. The 7th goes right on into the 8th chapter. Now what do you do? Do you stop at the end of Romans 7 and say Paul is saying all through his life, "O wretched man that I am! I've another war raging in my members?" What does he say? He says, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Well, tell me tonight, can Buddha do it? Can Confucius do it? Can transcendental meditation do it? No sir. A thousand times over. There is One who is able to do it.
You know, there were over 120 different types of crosses. There was a traditional cross. There was a cross like the letter "T" on which a man's head was allowed to drop back. There was a cross like the letter "X" where a man's body was stretched up. His arms went up into each section of the "X" and there he was crucified. There was another cross. It was a straight tree like this, with a spike. They pushed the man's body on it and turned it any old way they liked - like a propeller - and left him to hang and the birds to eat him.
Now Paul had been talking about the Law in chapter 7. He says the Law is holy. He says the Law is spiritual. But, you see, the Law could bring condemnation. It could point out sin, but it couldn't cast out sin. Can the Law break you free? No. Who shall deliver me from this wretched man? He says there's no end to this! But then he says, "Yes, there is - Thanks be unto God through Jesus Christ my Lord...!" Romans 6:6 says that "Knowing this, that our old man is (not was, but is) crucified with Him."
The trouble in the church of God today is that we preach half a salvation. We tell people how to get rid of the lousy sin, yet we don't tell them how to get rid of the principle inside that has dominion over them. This is exactly what Paul is talking about in this epistle. This is why I say it's the song of the soul set free. Come over to verse 9. "You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit." Are you in the Spirit? Or in the flesh? Have you got secrets? What's biting you on the inside? An unforgiving spirit? Laziness? Jealousy? Anger? Secret lusts? What is it?
He says, "ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be..." Now listen! "...the Spirit of God dwelleth in you!" Look at the next verse (verse 10): "If Christ be in you." Look at the 11th verse: "The Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus...dwell in you." My! Oh my! How in God's name can you be indwelt by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and be defeated? Don't argue with me about it. Scratch it out in your Bible if you don't believe it. If you're a Christian, you're an indwelt person. God dwells in you. The Father dwells in you. That's what it says. I didn't write that. The Holy Spirit wrote it. I want you to know; if you're really born of God, God dwells in you. And the Son dwells in you. "He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son..." It doesn't matter if they baptized you three times a day, it won't make you a Christian. Who is a Christian? He that hath the Son. He that is born of God, and He that hath the Spirit of God indwelling in him.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 3)
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 1995 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas."
More Than Conquerors # 1
More Than Conquerors # 1
Romans, Chapter 8 verse 37: "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."
This 8th chapter, as many of you know, begins a new section in this wonderful epistle to the Romans.
The 7th chapter is a chapter of gloom, the 8th chapter is a chapter of glory. The 7th chapter is a chapter of condemnation, the 8th chapter is a chapter of emancipation. The 7th chapter is a funeral march, the 8th chapter is a wedding march. It's the song of a "soul set free," to use the phrase of a lovely hymn. Romans 7 is a chapter on the tomb. Romans 8 is a chapter on triumph. (If you want to use the phrase of John Milton,) The 7th chapter is the chapter of paradise lost. It's a chapter of depravity. The 8th chapter is a chapter of deliverance and delight.
Now this is a magnificent chapter. If you want to make a special bonding here, chapter 7 is a chapter of misery and condemnation. The 8th chapter is a liberated soul. You can explain this by this fact: chapter 7 is a chapter on a self-centered person. The 8th chapter is a chapter about the Christ-centered person. In the 7th chapter you read that first person over and over and over until you get weary of reading "I, I, I, I..." "I want to do this, but I can't...", and "I find I'm in bondage..." and so forth and so on. If you count you'll discover 41 times you find that "I", and no mention of the Holy Spirit. In the 8th chapter there is no mention of the "I" except in two verses where he says " reckon" and "I am persuaded" (where there is no alternative.) But the difference in the 8th chapter is that there is all the mention in the world about the Holy Spirit. Nineteen times the Holy Spirit is mentioned.
"There is therefore now no condemnation..." So, the chapter begins away in the heights - there is no condemnation. And it ends - "there is no separation." "What shall separate us from the love of God?" But it does not say there is no tribulation. In fact, it marks tribulation out for us very, very carefully. A wretched, sin-bound man in the 7th chapter and no Holy Spirit. A liberated man in the 8th chapter, and over and over again he pays tribute to the Holy Spirit of God.
This is an amazing Word of God. Here is a man talking about emancipation. He's talking about an individual having under his feet the world, the flesh, and the devil. We'll get to it a bit later, but he says "In all these things..." and he doesn't leave you to fill in the blanks. He fills them in himself.
I love to read the apostle Paul! You know why, he'd go out and snub the devil! The devil never pushed the apostle around. He pushed the devil around! I'm going to make a guess that when Paul died they had a half-day's holiday in hell. They were so glad about it. satan never had the victory over the apostle Paul. He tried. No man ever had such a massive theology as Paul. No man ever saw further, deeper into the pit of human depravity.
I think one of the most alert writers today - that is no scholarly, or sensational stuff, but a deep writer - is that wonderful man of the Labri Fellowship, Switzerland. That gracious man, Shaeffer, said in his book "Death in the City," God has given up on the cities in America. He's written "Finished!" on them. That's why they're dead in their rebellion. That's why we've got whole cities that are bankrupt. The whole world has been asking, "Why is the greatest city in the greatest country in the world, New York, why is it bankrupt?" The millionaires of different cities are saying we are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But you see, our biggest problem is we are morally bankrupt! We are spiritually bankrupt!
I remember again that gracious man says, "For 40 years we've watched America going down the drain." He's like Jeremiah. He saw the nation after nation with fits of depression and and darkness and devils. Then coming around and trying to say they were the chosen people of God. Then slumbering down in the mire again. He reminds us that eight centuries ago, every town and city in China had a thriving New Testament church. Eight hundred years ago. Where is she tonight?
Nobody, I say, saw the depth of depravity Paul saw. He saw that because men had rejected the message of the Son of God, God gave them up to uncleanness. If you want to read a very vivid, dramatic, stirring, disturbing account of that, read J. B. Phillips translation of the first chapter of Romans.
Paul doesn't say how terrible the malady is. He's not concerned about the malady. He's concerned about the remedy! He said in Hebrews 7:25, "He is able to save to the uttermost" and the "guttermost." Therefore, at the end of this amazing chapter he said, "We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
The only reason there is an America tonight is, not because we signed the Declaration of Independence, but because 34 years before that time there was a revival that struck this country.
I quote Dr. Tozer, he said to me, "as soon as man got alienated from God, he got interested in 'things'." Now I was reading through these chapters, and I noticed how many times Paul says that, "They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit."
And then that very famous, popular verse: Romans 8:28. "All things work together for good." Not some things. ALL THINGS. Losses as well as gain; invisible things as well as visible; those that are bitter as well as those that are sweet. All things work together for good. Mr. Chadwick used to tell us the only way to read that verse is backwards. "To them that love God, to them who are the called, according to His purpose, all things work together for good." It you read it the right way, the forward way, it doesn't make too much impression. But if you read it from the back, so then that love God, all things work together for good. To them that are called according to His purpose. Now verse 31, "What shall we say to these THINGS? If God be for us, who can be against us?"
He says in verse 37, "Nay in all these THINGS..." You can almost hear his contempt there, can't you? "Things. So what?" And then he finishes the verse there in 38. I believe he throws his shoulders back and laughs in the face of the devil and says you haven't an invention in hell that can separate me. That's what he says, doesn't he? Because he says here, at the end of verse 38, "I am persuaded." Are you persuaded tonight? Paul was a persuaded man. He was persuaded that God was able to keep that which he'd committed unto Him.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 2)
Romans, Chapter 8 verse 37: "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."
This 8th chapter, as many of you know, begins a new section in this wonderful epistle to the Romans.
The 7th chapter is a chapter of gloom, the 8th chapter is a chapter of glory. The 7th chapter is a chapter of condemnation, the 8th chapter is a chapter of emancipation. The 7th chapter is a funeral march, the 8th chapter is a wedding march. It's the song of a "soul set free," to use the phrase of a lovely hymn. Romans 7 is a chapter on the tomb. Romans 8 is a chapter on triumph. (If you want to use the phrase of John Milton,) The 7th chapter is the chapter of paradise lost. It's a chapter of depravity. The 8th chapter is a chapter of deliverance and delight.
Now this is a magnificent chapter. If you want to make a special bonding here, chapter 7 is a chapter of misery and condemnation. The 8th chapter is a liberated soul. You can explain this by this fact: chapter 7 is a chapter on a self-centered person. The 8th chapter is a chapter about the Christ-centered person. In the 7th chapter you read that first person over and over and over until you get weary of reading "I, I, I, I..." "I want to do this, but I can't...", and "I find I'm in bondage..." and so forth and so on. If you count you'll discover 41 times you find that "I", and no mention of the Holy Spirit. In the 8th chapter there is no mention of the "I" except in two verses where he says " reckon" and "I am persuaded" (where there is no alternative.) But the difference in the 8th chapter is that there is all the mention in the world about the Holy Spirit. Nineteen times the Holy Spirit is mentioned.
"There is therefore now no condemnation..." So, the chapter begins away in the heights - there is no condemnation. And it ends - "there is no separation." "What shall separate us from the love of God?" But it does not say there is no tribulation. In fact, it marks tribulation out for us very, very carefully. A wretched, sin-bound man in the 7th chapter and no Holy Spirit. A liberated man in the 8th chapter, and over and over again he pays tribute to the Holy Spirit of God.
This is an amazing Word of God. Here is a man talking about emancipation. He's talking about an individual having under his feet the world, the flesh, and the devil. We'll get to it a bit later, but he says "In all these things..." and he doesn't leave you to fill in the blanks. He fills them in himself.
I love to read the apostle Paul! You know why, he'd go out and snub the devil! The devil never pushed the apostle around. He pushed the devil around! I'm going to make a guess that when Paul died they had a half-day's holiday in hell. They were so glad about it. satan never had the victory over the apostle Paul. He tried. No man ever had such a massive theology as Paul. No man ever saw further, deeper into the pit of human depravity.
I think one of the most alert writers today - that is no scholarly, or sensational stuff, but a deep writer - is that wonderful man of the Labri Fellowship, Switzerland. That gracious man, Shaeffer, said in his book "Death in the City," God has given up on the cities in America. He's written "Finished!" on them. That's why they're dead in their rebellion. That's why we've got whole cities that are bankrupt. The whole world has been asking, "Why is the greatest city in the greatest country in the world, New York, why is it bankrupt?" The millionaires of different cities are saying we are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But you see, our biggest problem is we are morally bankrupt! We are spiritually bankrupt!
I remember again that gracious man says, "For 40 years we've watched America going down the drain." He's like Jeremiah. He saw the nation after nation with fits of depression and and darkness and devils. Then coming around and trying to say they were the chosen people of God. Then slumbering down in the mire again. He reminds us that eight centuries ago, every town and city in China had a thriving New Testament church. Eight hundred years ago. Where is she tonight?
Nobody, I say, saw the depth of depravity Paul saw. He saw that because men had rejected the message of the Son of God, God gave them up to uncleanness. If you want to read a very vivid, dramatic, stirring, disturbing account of that, read J. B. Phillips translation of the first chapter of Romans.
Paul doesn't say how terrible the malady is. He's not concerned about the malady. He's concerned about the remedy! He said in Hebrews 7:25, "He is able to save to the uttermost" and the "guttermost." Therefore, at the end of this amazing chapter he said, "We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
The only reason there is an America tonight is, not because we signed the Declaration of Independence, but because 34 years before that time there was a revival that struck this country.
I quote Dr. Tozer, he said to me, "as soon as man got alienated from God, he got interested in 'things'." Now I was reading through these chapters, and I noticed how many times Paul says that, "They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit."
And then that very famous, popular verse: Romans 8:28. "All things work together for good." Not some things. ALL THINGS. Losses as well as gain; invisible things as well as visible; those that are bitter as well as those that are sweet. All things work together for good. Mr. Chadwick used to tell us the only way to read that verse is backwards. "To them that love God, to them who are the called, according to His purpose, all things work together for good." It you read it the right way, the forward way, it doesn't make too much impression. But if you read it from the back, so then that love God, all things work together for good. To them that are called according to His purpose. Now verse 31, "What shall we say to these THINGS? If God be for us, who can be against us?"
He says in verse 37, "Nay in all these THINGS..." You can almost hear his contempt there, can't you? "Things. So what?" And then he finishes the verse there in 38. I believe he throws his shoulders back and laughs in the face of the devil and says you haven't an invention in hell that can separate me. That's what he says, doesn't he? Because he says here, at the end of verse 38, "I am persuaded." Are you persuaded tonight? Paul was a persuaded man. He was persuaded that God was able to keep that which he'd committed unto Him.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(continued with # 2)
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