America's Greatest Need # 3
3. America Needs a Higher, Nobler and a More Sincere Faith in God
"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34).
What we are as a nation we owe to our underlying faith in God: the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock on their knees; Washington at Valley Forge praying for guidance and strength in the crisis of battle; Lincoln calling the country to national repentance in the midst of civil conflict. These are memorable portraits of our basic faith in God as a nation. If we have any success as a nation, we must attribute the glory, the honor and the praise to a benevolent God who has guided, with omnipotent hand, the course and destiny of our fair land. In most of our wars, many of our greatest generals were professed Christians, and their decisions and strategy were mingled with sincere prayer and dependence upon Almighty God.
Could any fair individual say the prayers offered by devoted mothers and by the churches all over America had nothing to do in bringing about victory for our armed forces? Suffice it to say, the enemy forces, which refused to honor God by seeking His wisdom through prayer, went down into bitter defeat and their systems vanished into oblivion as all civilizations have which left God out of their program. Abraham Lincoln struck a keynote when he said, "The important thing is not that we have God on our side, but that we make sure we are on His side."
Faith in God often becomes the balance of power when two matched forces are joined in combat; or, more often, the victory often goes to inferior forces when God's power and blessing are upon their efforts. As Moses said, "How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord shut them up?" (Deut. 32:30).
When as a lad David dared to face the giant Goliath, he trusted not in swords and staves but in the Lord. He faced the towering giant undaunted, unafraid and said: "Thou comest to me with a sword and spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel" (1 Samuel 17:45-46).
At forty years of age, I had never been inside a church for any reason whatsoever; but out there on a raft in the middle of the Pacific I met God. I heard Bill Cherry pray, and a rain cloud that had passed us turned around and came back over us and drenched us with water when we were about to die of thirst. It was there I saw God and learned to say, "I believe." These words are from a hardened military man who found God the hard way. Afterwards, he traveled throughout the land telling the marvelous story of how he met God. Many of us will never have the unique experience of meeting God under those unusual circumstances, but we can know Him nevertheless.
I would rather the citizens of our beloved America should know Christ personally than for America to have the greatest military might in the world. I would rather have it said that we are a people who love God and worship Him than for America to have the security of the atomic bomb. I would rather that Americas should be reverent and humble in their attitude toward Jesus, the Son of God, than to have the rest of the world acclaim us as the mightiest of the nations. I want to close in the spirit of that touching little poem:
"I Met The Master"
I had walked life's way with an easy tread,
Had followed where comforts and pleasure led;
And then one day in a quiet place,
I met the Master, face to face.
With station and rank and wealth for a goal;
Much thought for the body, but none for the soul;
I had thought to win in life's mad race,
When I met the Master, face to face.
I met Him and knew Him and blushed to see
Those eyes full of sorrow were turned on me;
And I faltered and fell at His feet that day,
While all my castles melted away -
Melted and vanished, and in their place
I saw nought else but the Master's face;
And I cried aloud, "Oh, make me meet
To follow the steps of the wounded feet.
And now my thoughts are for the souls of men;
I've lost my life, to find it again,
E'er since that day in a quiet place
I met the Master, face to face.
(Author Unknown)
~B. R. Lakin~
(The End)
Saturday, February 23, 2019
America's Greatest Need # 2
America's Greatest Need # 2
B. We should be grateful for our natural, industrial and scientific resources with which we have been blessed. Because of our giving God His rightful place at the outset of our national life, God smiled - and gold poured from the rocky crags of the Gold West. God smiled - and wide acres of grains sprang from the soil of the Middle West. God smiled - and the picturesque hills of the East yielded black gold in ample abundance to warm our hearths and turn the wheels of industry.
God smiled - and the automobile, the airplane and a thousand and one industrial miracles took place before our eyes. God smiled - and has seen to it that Old Glory has never dipped her colors to any atheistic, God-hating, man- enslaving country. God smiled - and our scientists brought into being the atomic and nuclear bombs, which are destined to be those paradoxical instruments of destruction to save men from destruction.
Today, we stand in a precarious position in regard to our national life. We as a nation must do nothing to invoke the frown of Almighty God. Our course must be such as to keep Heaven's smile upon our beloved country.
We stand at the crossroads. To the left lie the bogs of extreme liberalism, socialism and the inevitable drift into communism. To the right lie the timeworn swamps of untra-conservatism, which leads to monopolies of certain groups at the expense of other groups. We must keep in the middle of the road and prayerfully seek the guidance of God that makes a country great, not the genius of statesmen, not merely the form of government not the energy of its people, but the level of the national morals and the depth of national faith in God.
Not serried tanks with flags unfurled,
Not armored ships that gird the world,
Not hoarded wealth nor busy mills,
Not cattle on a thousand hills,
Nor sages wise, nor schools nor laws,
Not boasted deeds in Freedom's cause -
All these may be, and yet the state
In the eye of God be far from great,
That Land is great which knows the Lord,
Whose songs are guided by His Word;
Where justice rules, 'twixt man and man,
Where love controls in art and plan;
Where breathing in His native air,
Each soul finds joy in praise and prayer -
Thus may our country, good and great,
Be God's delight - man's best estate.
C. Henry Van Dyke once wrote after a trip abroad, so it's home again, home again, America for me! My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be. In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars. Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars. Thank God for a part in guiding the American home in spiritual things! For years, every morning a radio poll showed I spoke to 800,000 people over the Nation's Family Prayer Period. People from all walks of life gathered before their radios at the beginning of the new day to look into God's face and listen to His Word. We need a revival of interest in spiritual matters today.
2. We Need a Greater Consciousness of Our Responsibility
Our greatest sin as a nation is the sin of complacency. Smugness is the forerunner of indifference, and indifference is the predecessor of national deterioration. As the old saying goes, "A chain is no stronger than its weakest link." It can be truthfully stated that America is no stronger than her weakest citizen. This truth puts a tremendous responsibility upon every one of us. The forces of anti-Americanism and anti-Christianity are at work in our beloved land. Most of their work is sinister and under cover; but like leaven, they seek to eventually leaven the whole lump of our way of life and supplant regimented, centralized totalitarianism for old-fashioned, red-blooded, stalwart Americanism. This leaven of atheism is found in high places as well as low. No nation ever survived a moral collapse. When Rome was in the zenith of her power and glory, sin started to eat like a canker at the heart of her national morals. Her politicians became weak, flabby and spineless. She became morally weak and spiritually depraved. One night while the Roman politicians were engaged in a shameful, drunken orgy in the resort town of Pompeii, the fires of God's judgment were raging not far distant in the bowels of famous Mt. Vesuvius, the volcanic mountain. As the night wore on, the sin and debauchery became more pronounced in Pompeii. There came a weird,sickly rumbling from the adjacent mountain. For years Vesuvius had been quiet and asleep, but the hour of God's judgment had arrived. As the revelers continued their sinful indulgence, Vesuvius quivered with a mighty quake, and the top of the volcano was blown completely away as a surging river of flaming, molten rock poured down the mountain in a death-dealing torrent. There was no hope of escape. The door of God's mercy was closed for these Roman renegades. As the lava swiftly overwhelmed the city, 25,000 people were buried beneath the flood of molten rock. This was the beginning of Rome's end as a nation. It all began when sin and lust supplanted the love for God and when gratification of the lower appetites took the place of noble character.
~B. R. Lakin~
(continued with # 3)
B. We should be grateful for our natural, industrial and scientific resources with which we have been blessed. Because of our giving God His rightful place at the outset of our national life, God smiled - and gold poured from the rocky crags of the Gold West. God smiled - and wide acres of grains sprang from the soil of the Middle West. God smiled - and the picturesque hills of the East yielded black gold in ample abundance to warm our hearths and turn the wheels of industry.
God smiled - and the automobile, the airplane and a thousand and one industrial miracles took place before our eyes. God smiled - and has seen to it that Old Glory has never dipped her colors to any atheistic, God-hating, man- enslaving country. God smiled - and our scientists brought into being the atomic and nuclear bombs, which are destined to be those paradoxical instruments of destruction to save men from destruction.
Today, we stand in a precarious position in regard to our national life. We as a nation must do nothing to invoke the frown of Almighty God. Our course must be such as to keep Heaven's smile upon our beloved country.
We stand at the crossroads. To the left lie the bogs of extreme liberalism, socialism and the inevitable drift into communism. To the right lie the timeworn swamps of untra-conservatism, which leads to monopolies of certain groups at the expense of other groups. We must keep in the middle of the road and prayerfully seek the guidance of God that makes a country great, not the genius of statesmen, not merely the form of government not the energy of its people, but the level of the national morals and the depth of national faith in God.
Not serried tanks with flags unfurled,
Not armored ships that gird the world,
Not hoarded wealth nor busy mills,
Not cattle on a thousand hills,
Nor sages wise, nor schools nor laws,
Not boasted deeds in Freedom's cause -
All these may be, and yet the state
In the eye of God be far from great,
That Land is great which knows the Lord,
Whose songs are guided by His Word;
Where justice rules, 'twixt man and man,
Where love controls in art and plan;
Where breathing in His native air,
Each soul finds joy in praise and prayer -
Thus may our country, good and great,
Be God's delight - man's best estate.
C. Henry Van Dyke once wrote after a trip abroad, so it's home again, home again, America for me! My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be. In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars. Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars. Thank God for a part in guiding the American home in spiritual things! For years, every morning a radio poll showed I spoke to 800,000 people over the Nation's Family Prayer Period. People from all walks of life gathered before their radios at the beginning of the new day to look into God's face and listen to His Word. We need a revival of interest in spiritual matters today.
2. We Need a Greater Consciousness of Our Responsibility
Our greatest sin as a nation is the sin of complacency. Smugness is the forerunner of indifference, and indifference is the predecessor of national deterioration. As the old saying goes, "A chain is no stronger than its weakest link." It can be truthfully stated that America is no stronger than her weakest citizen. This truth puts a tremendous responsibility upon every one of us. The forces of anti-Americanism and anti-Christianity are at work in our beloved land. Most of their work is sinister and under cover; but like leaven, they seek to eventually leaven the whole lump of our way of life and supplant regimented, centralized totalitarianism for old-fashioned, red-blooded, stalwart Americanism. This leaven of atheism is found in high places as well as low. No nation ever survived a moral collapse. When Rome was in the zenith of her power and glory, sin started to eat like a canker at the heart of her national morals. Her politicians became weak, flabby and spineless. She became morally weak and spiritually depraved. One night while the Roman politicians were engaged in a shameful, drunken orgy in the resort town of Pompeii, the fires of God's judgment were raging not far distant in the bowels of famous Mt. Vesuvius, the volcanic mountain. As the night wore on, the sin and debauchery became more pronounced in Pompeii. There came a weird,sickly rumbling from the adjacent mountain. For years Vesuvius had been quiet and asleep, but the hour of God's judgment had arrived. As the revelers continued their sinful indulgence, Vesuvius quivered with a mighty quake, and the top of the volcano was blown completely away as a surging river of flaming, molten rock poured down the mountain in a death-dealing torrent. There was no hope of escape. The door of God's mercy was closed for these Roman renegades. As the lava swiftly overwhelmed the city, 25,000 people were buried beneath the flood of molten rock. This was the beginning of Rome's end as a nation. It all began when sin and lust supplanted the love for God and when gratification of the lower appetites took the place of noble character.
~B. R. Lakin~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, February 16, 2019
America's Greatest Need # 1
America's Greatest Need # 1
"The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory" (Jeremiah 4:2).
The following sermon by Dr. B. R. Lakin entitled "America's Greatest Need" was read into the Congressional Record by the Honorable Congressman William Jennings Bryon of South Carolina on October 3, 1968.
In these days of national strife and international confusion, when the seeds of hatred are being cultivated in the hotbeds of communism and radicalism, let us throw our shoulders, double up our fists, rough with the calluses of honest toil, and stand up for true, fundamental, godly Americanism. The Bible teaches patriotism, and patriotism was the light that burned in the hearts of the faithful in the midnight gloom of the dark ages.
It was the torch that lit the fires of the Reformation. It was the rock which Western civilization survives the onslaught of the Red Scourge, it will be Christian patriotism that will fuel the lamps of truth and provide morale for the fight for freedom. America has many privileges, but it also has great responsibilities. Our freedom was ordained at a great price. Our first responsibility is to God, but we are duty bound to our beloved country.
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." (Romans 13:1).
Sir Walter Scott struck a note of true Christian patriotism when he wrote - Breathes there a man, with soul so dead, who never himself hath said:
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on a foreign strand?
If such there breathe, go mark him well;
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim -
Despite those titles, power and pelf,
The wretch, concerted all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonor'd and unsung.
With manmade creeds forgotten, we find common ground in the sublime truth of the "Old Book" and in the spirit of those brave men who crossed the seas in search of a free land in which they could worship their God according to the dictates of their hearts.
We enjoy the benefits of a land founded in faith, baptized in blood and dedicated to the freedom of worship. I would like, by the help of the Spirit, to revive within our hearts some of the great ideals that have made America the "Hub", the very center upon which the world revolves. I would like to stir up our souls with a renewed national zeal and a closer walk with God, without whom no nation can succeed.
1. We Need A Sense of Gratitude
One day in every year we celebrate Thanksgiving, but one day out of 365 is not enough. Americans should thank God every day that we live. Every day we should thank God for the sacrifice of blood, sweat, privation, even death, on the part of multiplied thousands of our heroic dead. Had it not been for their standing between us and the iron hand of fascism and Nazism, we might not be commemorating their sacrifice. Instead, we might be goose-stepping at the heels of storm troopers and taking our orders from them instead of the Bible being read in our homes. Mein Kampf might now be our textbook. Instead of blending our free voices in the singing of "My Country, Tis of Thee," we might be "Heiling" and saluting the swastika. Let us bow our heads in humility and our hearts in reverence and gratitude to a merciful God who has brought us national deliverance.
A. We should be grateful for the righteous birth of our native land. Other nations were born in the blood of plundering conquest, but not America. Our nation was conceived in the noble hearts of courageous, righteous men. She was born in the throes of holy prayer at Plymouth Rock, cradled by the strong hand of salwart faith, nourished at the bosom of living, vital, sincere religion, fed on the wholesome food of the highest ideals and developed to her towering stature under the smiling approval of Almighty God. America stands today a fortress of freedom, loved by all free men, respected by the liberty-loving peoples of the earth, feared by the enemies of God and human liberty. With the shadows of communism deepening upon every continent, America holds high the torch of faith, light and hope for the downtrodden peoples of the world.
~B. R. Lakin~
(continued with # 2)
"The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory" (Jeremiah 4:2).
The following sermon by Dr. B. R. Lakin entitled "America's Greatest Need" was read into the Congressional Record by the Honorable Congressman William Jennings Bryon of South Carolina on October 3, 1968.
In these days of national strife and international confusion, when the seeds of hatred are being cultivated in the hotbeds of communism and radicalism, let us throw our shoulders, double up our fists, rough with the calluses of honest toil, and stand up for true, fundamental, godly Americanism. The Bible teaches patriotism, and patriotism was the light that burned in the hearts of the faithful in the midnight gloom of the dark ages.
It was the torch that lit the fires of the Reformation. It was the rock which Western civilization survives the onslaught of the Red Scourge, it will be Christian patriotism that will fuel the lamps of truth and provide morale for the fight for freedom. America has many privileges, but it also has great responsibilities. Our freedom was ordained at a great price. Our first responsibility is to God, but we are duty bound to our beloved country.
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." (Romans 13:1).
Sir Walter Scott struck a note of true Christian patriotism when he wrote - Breathes there a man, with soul so dead, who never himself hath said:
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on a foreign strand?
If such there breathe, go mark him well;
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim -
Despite those titles, power and pelf,
The wretch, concerted all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonor'd and unsung.
With manmade creeds forgotten, we find common ground in the sublime truth of the "Old Book" and in the spirit of those brave men who crossed the seas in search of a free land in which they could worship their God according to the dictates of their hearts.
We enjoy the benefits of a land founded in faith, baptized in blood and dedicated to the freedom of worship. I would like, by the help of the Spirit, to revive within our hearts some of the great ideals that have made America the "Hub", the very center upon which the world revolves. I would like to stir up our souls with a renewed national zeal and a closer walk with God, without whom no nation can succeed.
1. We Need A Sense of Gratitude
One day in every year we celebrate Thanksgiving, but one day out of 365 is not enough. Americans should thank God every day that we live. Every day we should thank God for the sacrifice of blood, sweat, privation, even death, on the part of multiplied thousands of our heroic dead. Had it not been for their standing between us and the iron hand of fascism and Nazism, we might not be commemorating their sacrifice. Instead, we might be goose-stepping at the heels of storm troopers and taking our orders from them instead of the Bible being read in our homes. Mein Kampf might now be our textbook. Instead of blending our free voices in the singing of "My Country, Tis of Thee," we might be "Heiling" and saluting the swastika. Let us bow our heads in humility and our hearts in reverence and gratitude to a merciful God who has brought us national deliverance.
A. We should be grateful for the righteous birth of our native land. Other nations were born in the blood of plundering conquest, but not America. Our nation was conceived in the noble hearts of courageous, righteous men. She was born in the throes of holy prayer at Plymouth Rock, cradled by the strong hand of salwart faith, nourished at the bosom of living, vital, sincere religion, fed on the wholesome food of the highest ideals and developed to her towering stature under the smiling approval of Almighty God. America stands today a fortress of freedom, loved by all free men, respected by the liberty-loving peoples of the earth, feared by the enemies of God and human liberty. With the shadows of communism deepening upon every continent, America holds high the torch of faith, light and hope for the downtrodden peoples of the world.
~B. R. Lakin~
(continued with # 2)
Breaking Through to the Heavenlies # 6
Breaking Through to the Heavenlies # 6
We are privileged to form a part of eternity, even on earth. I am sure that every single thing that God gives us, every gift, every word, every promise, every deliverance, every little bit of light on the Scripture, every sign along life's road, is part of eternity. As the enemy built up spiritual oppression through the hurt and through the wrong, so God in our lives, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, wants to build up. Let's not let go of what God gives us. Let's seek to participate of the Kingdom and of the Power and of the Glory of God.
I remember many, many years ago, one of the first times I'd seen the Spirit of God sweep into a place. They started singing, "It's a glorious church without spot or wrinkle," maybe some of the older people know it. They sang and it was just as if the words were clothed with meaning. Clothed with a feeling and clothed with a security and a partaking of something eternal. "It's a glorious church." Why? Because God had come.
There is not much glory around, is there? Certainly God wants to lead us on into this. There is a whole pathway of prayer. A whole pathway of life. We learn to pray it until we can pray it in reality. If we reach the end of our lives and we are able at the end to pray this prayer with meaning, believe me, we will have gone a long, long way in God. When it all means something here in the heart, we'll have gone a long, long way in God.
There will have been many earthly things left behind. There will be many battles gained; many things that won't even be able to touch us anymore. There will be much awareness, and much closeness, much revelation, and much light, and much glory from the heavenly Kingdom flooding our souls.
When God brings you into tremendous situations suddenly you realize they can only go so far, they cannot reach beyond, they cannot touch me, I'm behind that line. Things may come and fill my whole horizon, but within they can't touch a single thing. The Kingdom of God within is untouchable. What is it Peter says? "That we have an inheritance that fadeth not away, undefiled, reserved in heaven for us.
God leads on from faith to faith, but He leads us on in many other realms too. He leads us on from light to light...glory to glory...victory to victory...life to life, on and on for ever. All His world is just an exploding world. Have you seen pictures of a little bud when it's filmed and speeded up and it just bursts into flower? That's how our life is in God. God wants everything to open up more and more. For Thing is the Kingdom...it doesn't belong to the devil, doesn't belong to mankind.
If I reach through, and I've finally been able to shrug it all off, The good and the bad, that which is mine which belongs to this earth, that which belongs to the devil, then I come to this: "For Thine is the Kingdom." Not up there only, but here. "Lord, do all that's lacking - I have done my part and...
"Thine is the Kingdom, Thine is the power, Thine is the glory forever. Amen."
"Paul Ravenhill~
(The End)
copyright/reproduction limitations: this file is the sole property of Paul Ravenhill. It may be reproduced only it's entirety without editing or changing as "freeware" without charge. (c) Paul Ravenhill.
We are privileged to form a part of eternity, even on earth. I am sure that every single thing that God gives us, every gift, every word, every promise, every deliverance, every little bit of light on the Scripture, every sign along life's road, is part of eternity. As the enemy built up spiritual oppression through the hurt and through the wrong, so God in our lives, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, wants to build up. Let's not let go of what God gives us. Let's seek to participate of the Kingdom and of the Power and of the Glory of God.
I remember many, many years ago, one of the first times I'd seen the Spirit of God sweep into a place. They started singing, "It's a glorious church without spot or wrinkle," maybe some of the older people know it. They sang and it was just as if the words were clothed with meaning. Clothed with a feeling and clothed with a security and a partaking of something eternal. "It's a glorious church." Why? Because God had come.
There is not much glory around, is there? Certainly God wants to lead us on into this. There is a whole pathway of prayer. A whole pathway of life. We learn to pray it until we can pray it in reality. If we reach the end of our lives and we are able at the end to pray this prayer with meaning, believe me, we will have gone a long, long way in God. When it all means something here in the heart, we'll have gone a long, long way in God.
There will have been many earthly things left behind. There will be many battles gained; many things that won't even be able to touch us anymore. There will be much awareness, and much closeness, much revelation, and much light, and much glory from the heavenly Kingdom flooding our souls.
When God brings you into tremendous situations suddenly you realize they can only go so far, they cannot reach beyond, they cannot touch me, I'm behind that line. Things may come and fill my whole horizon, but within they can't touch a single thing. The Kingdom of God within is untouchable. What is it Peter says? "That we have an inheritance that fadeth not away, undefiled, reserved in heaven for us.
God leads on from faith to faith, but He leads us on in many other realms too. He leads us on from light to light...glory to glory...victory to victory...life to life, on and on for ever. All His world is just an exploding world. Have you seen pictures of a little bud when it's filmed and speeded up and it just bursts into flower? That's how our life is in God. God wants everything to open up more and more. For Thing is the Kingdom...it doesn't belong to the devil, doesn't belong to mankind.
If I reach through, and I've finally been able to shrug it all off, The good and the bad, that which is mine which belongs to this earth, that which belongs to the devil, then I come to this: "For Thine is the Kingdom." Not up there only, but here. "Lord, do all that's lacking - I have done my part and...
"Thine is the Kingdom, Thine is the power, Thine is the glory forever. Amen."
"Paul Ravenhill~
(The End)
copyright/reproduction limitations: this file is the sole property of Paul Ravenhill. It may be reproduced only it's entirety without editing or changing as "freeware" without charge. (c) Paul Ravenhill.
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Breaking Through To The Heavenlies # 5
Breaking Through To The Heavenlies # 5
I remember many years ago now, the Lord talking to me about certain areas of my life: "When it's all in order, then I will do."
There is an old legend from Italy that tells about an old lady taking care of a sick person. After many days the fever finally turned and the person was starting to get better. So she was going to give this person to eat. There was an open fireplace and there she had the big black pot preparing the food over the fire. She put everything there, all ready, then sat down while she waited and fell asleep. The time went by and she woke up with a shock. Her first thought was that everything was going to be burnt and ruined. But according to the legend, there in the glow of the fire stood Jesus. And the moral of the tale says that, "He finished all that she failed in." I am sure the legend is not true, but I am sure there is a truth there.
God will finish all that I cannot do. In other words, I can reach so far and I have to reach that far. My obedience must be fulfilled, but when I reach as far as I can reach then He will take it from there. He'll never leave us - His presence will be there. He'll never forsake us - His abundance and provision will always be there.
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
It's a big thing to have the heart changed to such an extent. That the only thing that flows from me to other people is positive. That I do not have hurt that I close up inside. That I don't have a debt with people in my feelings or in any other realm. That toward them I give as God gives.
"And lead us not into temptation...deliver us from evil."
Somebody said, "There are two parts to this: Keep me from the moment of temptation, because I am going to fall, but farther TRANSFORM me so that evil will not touch me." Remember Jesus just before He died said, "The enemy will come, but will find nothing in Me." It is a great thing to get to a place where the enemy can't tempt me. You know, I'm not tempted to take something I don't like. A little while ago I seem to have developed an allergy to chocolate and today you couldn't tempt me with chocolate. I don't want it. I know what will happen if I take chocolate. It's no temptation to me to see a box of chocolates. I do not want it!
Our trouble is that so many times we give a mental assent to certain things. With that we think that they are done and they are not. I think many times of the mystics, some of the old saints who for years and years sought God, went through anguish and suffering to come into faith. Our tendency in the twentieth century is to read about those lives and think, "Oh, poor so and so, he sought for years and years to come into a real peace with God. He could not just trust in God, and believe in the love of God."
Think of Martin Luther fighting there until he finally came to believe that he was justified by faith. Or John Wesley striving and disciplining himself and doing every conceivable thing until at last he reached through to salvation. BUT when they did reach through, Wesley changed a nation, and Luther changed the course of history. If it takes 15 years, better fifteen years of darkness preparing me to see the Light than a 15 minute experience which can't even keep my nose above the water when the enemy comes to condemn me or to tempt me or to confuse me. We cannot see the Light until we have seen the darkness. We cannot see the positive until we have seen the negative. We cannot see the fullness of God until we have seen our need of that fullness. We cannot - it's impossible. We need some frame of reference.
Have you ever seen a photo, maybe a beautiful picture of a water fall? You looked at it and said, "Well, how big is that waterfall?" There are some ferns up close.. "is it no bigger than those ferns? Is it a lot bigger?" There is no reference. Sometimes in technical books they will put a ruler there beside the photo. We need a perspective.
One of the mystics, Pascal, used to talk about the disproportion of mankind. The disproportion in man's thinking. The disproportion of everything human. We got it out of proportion. Only God can put it back into proportion. Only God can show us where it's at.
It ends up saying, "For Thine is the Kingdom." - The authority, the rule. "Thine is the power." -The ability to transmit that authority and that rule. "Thine is the Glory." Not just for time, but forever.
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 6)
I remember many years ago now, the Lord talking to me about certain areas of my life: "When it's all in order, then I will do."
There is an old legend from Italy that tells about an old lady taking care of a sick person. After many days the fever finally turned and the person was starting to get better. So she was going to give this person to eat. There was an open fireplace and there she had the big black pot preparing the food over the fire. She put everything there, all ready, then sat down while she waited and fell asleep. The time went by and she woke up with a shock. Her first thought was that everything was going to be burnt and ruined. But according to the legend, there in the glow of the fire stood Jesus. And the moral of the tale says that, "He finished all that she failed in." I am sure the legend is not true, but I am sure there is a truth there.
God will finish all that I cannot do. In other words, I can reach so far and I have to reach that far. My obedience must be fulfilled, but when I reach as far as I can reach then He will take it from there. He'll never leave us - His presence will be there. He'll never forsake us - His abundance and provision will always be there.
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
It's a big thing to have the heart changed to such an extent. That the only thing that flows from me to other people is positive. That I do not have hurt that I close up inside. That I don't have a debt with people in my feelings or in any other realm. That toward them I give as God gives.
"And lead us not into temptation...deliver us from evil."
Somebody said, "There are two parts to this: Keep me from the moment of temptation, because I am going to fall, but farther TRANSFORM me so that evil will not touch me." Remember Jesus just before He died said, "The enemy will come, but will find nothing in Me." It is a great thing to get to a place where the enemy can't tempt me. You know, I'm not tempted to take something I don't like. A little while ago I seem to have developed an allergy to chocolate and today you couldn't tempt me with chocolate. I don't want it. I know what will happen if I take chocolate. It's no temptation to me to see a box of chocolates. I do not want it!
Our trouble is that so many times we give a mental assent to certain things. With that we think that they are done and they are not. I think many times of the mystics, some of the old saints who for years and years sought God, went through anguish and suffering to come into faith. Our tendency in the twentieth century is to read about those lives and think, "Oh, poor so and so, he sought for years and years to come into a real peace with God. He could not just trust in God, and believe in the love of God."
Think of Martin Luther fighting there until he finally came to believe that he was justified by faith. Or John Wesley striving and disciplining himself and doing every conceivable thing until at last he reached through to salvation. BUT when they did reach through, Wesley changed a nation, and Luther changed the course of history. If it takes 15 years, better fifteen years of darkness preparing me to see the Light than a 15 minute experience which can't even keep my nose above the water when the enemy comes to condemn me or to tempt me or to confuse me. We cannot see the Light until we have seen the darkness. We cannot see the positive until we have seen the negative. We cannot see the fullness of God until we have seen our need of that fullness. We cannot - it's impossible. We need some frame of reference.
Have you ever seen a photo, maybe a beautiful picture of a water fall? You looked at it and said, "Well, how big is that waterfall?" There are some ferns up close.. "is it no bigger than those ferns? Is it a lot bigger?" There is no reference. Sometimes in technical books they will put a ruler there beside the photo. We need a perspective.
One of the mystics, Pascal, used to talk about the disproportion of mankind. The disproportion in man's thinking. The disproportion of everything human. We got it out of proportion. Only God can put it back into proportion. Only God can show us where it's at.
It ends up saying, "For Thine is the Kingdom." - The authority, the rule. "Thine is the power." -The ability to transmit that authority and that rule. "Thine is the Glory." Not just for time, but forever.
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 6)
Breaking Through to the Heavenlies # 4
Breaking Through to the Heavenliness # 4
God is always out beyond the end of what I know, or what I can bear, or what I think my consecration involves. One thing is to talk about and trust God. Another thing is when you have to face the darkness and see that the nature of darkness is not as you had in mind, it works in a different way, it comes in from behind, it invades different areas, Then I have to insist on this: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This is the dimension. Not just Thy will be done on earth. God doesn't let us off that easy. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Do you realize what He's saying?
If I were an angel in heaven and God wanted to do something through me, to what extent would He do it? Could I go back to God and say, "Lord, I would have liked to have done it more fully but circumstances would not permit?" His will as in heaven." There is no coloration through human personality. There is no limitation through the pressure of circumstances. There is no frustration; there is no delay. This is the measure that God wants us to reach, not only in our seeing but in our believing. "Lord, Your will be done in this earth a it is in heaven."
Dad mentioned the importance of singing at the beginning of the meeting, but you know, many times, (I don't know if it happens to anyone here) you think, "Well, when I get to heaven, I'm going to praise the Lord." "I am going to sing, it won't matter who sees me; nothing will matter." "I am going to give Him perfect praise when I get to heaven."
Then the Lord comes and says, "Child, why not now?" Well, is there anything hindering? Is there? "No, nothing...apart from my feelings...and my human personality...and the folks around me...and that I don't want to make a fool of myself..." Right?
God says, "You can present on earth your prayers, your praises, your worship, you service, in the same essential reality that you are going to present them in heaven." I"m sure we will have glorified voices, all the rusty overtones will be taken away, great!! But will the heart be any different? Will death suddenly transform us and endue us with all perfection? I think there is a growth all through eternity, but the desire, the giving, can be just as much ours here as there. Lord, I want to follow You all the way. Can I do any more than that even in heaven? I can't!
God wants us to be wise enough to understand that through faith we take limited abilities and we make them unlimited. Because faith takes hold of God. Just as we go to heaven with our prayers. Taking the earthly into the heavenly,So in all our life there must be that contact, there must be that reality, there must be that flow... otherwise all is death, death, death. It can be a cold death, or it can be wild, shouting, singing, stomping death. It's all the same. The only thing that God is interested in is reality!
Nothing more glorious than to get to the end of life, or get to the end of a day, or even to the end of a meeting and say, "God, I've done what You wanted me to do. Lord, I believed I opened my being that You might flow through me."
There is something within us all that is withdrawn and unbelieving. Unbelief is not just the absence of belief. Unbelief is the presence of something destructive. The Bible talks about an evil heart of unbelief. It talks about not having obtained the grace. "Beware...lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest a root of bitterness springing up..." Beware, if there is not this, then there will be that. If you don't reach the grace you will reach the bitterness. This grace is dimension of victory. This is the release of our personality. This is coming into God.
We don't realize our purpose or find the realization of our life by seeking after it. That is incidental. We find it in God, in our Father which is in heaven. We find it in learning to pray this prayer again. Hallowing His name, pleading for His Kingdom to come.
"Give us this day our daily bread." It refers to that which we eat for our physical well being, but it's far beyond that. It's what we eat for our spiritual well-being - Spiritual bread. Give us this day our spiritual portion.
"Give us this day our daily bread." There must be this expectation. "God, You have promised and I am going to wait with a waiting that is filled with faith." A faith which although it doesn't have a voice is saying, "God, God, God." Right through the day. As though my heart was there in His presence saying, "Lord, I want it, I want it. I need it, I need it." It's a maintaining. Not an audible voice, but an inner cry before God. "Give us this day." "Lord, do not let this day finish without me finding on earth what You have released in heaven for me. Lord, let the communication be open again."
"Forgive us our debt as we forgive our debtors." There are certain things which are conditional. A verse that has been very important through the years is 2 Corinthians 10:6. It says, "When your obedience is fulfilled, God will avenge all disobedience." Before that it talks about the weapons of our warfare being "not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strong holds." The weapons are mighty...but the strongholds are pulled down when our obedience is fulfilled.
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 5)
God is always out beyond the end of what I know, or what I can bear, or what I think my consecration involves. One thing is to talk about and trust God. Another thing is when you have to face the darkness and see that the nature of darkness is not as you had in mind, it works in a different way, it comes in from behind, it invades different areas, Then I have to insist on this: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This is the dimension. Not just Thy will be done on earth. God doesn't let us off that easy. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Do you realize what He's saying?
If I were an angel in heaven and God wanted to do something through me, to what extent would He do it? Could I go back to God and say, "Lord, I would have liked to have done it more fully but circumstances would not permit?" His will as in heaven." There is no coloration through human personality. There is no limitation through the pressure of circumstances. There is no frustration; there is no delay. This is the measure that God wants us to reach, not only in our seeing but in our believing. "Lord, Your will be done in this earth a it is in heaven."
Dad mentioned the importance of singing at the beginning of the meeting, but you know, many times, (I don't know if it happens to anyone here) you think, "Well, when I get to heaven, I'm going to praise the Lord." "I am going to sing, it won't matter who sees me; nothing will matter." "I am going to give Him perfect praise when I get to heaven."
Then the Lord comes and says, "Child, why not now?" Well, is there anything hindering? Is there? "No, nothing...apart from my feelings...and my human personality...and the folks around me...and that I don't want to make a fool of myself..." Right?
God says, "You can present on earth your prayers, your praises, your worship, you service, in the same essential reality that you are going to present them in heaven." I"m sure we will have glorified voices, all the rusty overtones will be taken away, great!! But will the heart be any different? Will death suddenly transform us and endue us with all perfection? I think there is a growth all through eternity, but the desire, the giving, can be just as much ours here as there. Lord, I want to follow You all the way. Can I do any more than that even in heaven? I can't!
God wants us to be wise enough to understand that through faith we take limited abilities and we make them unlimited. Because faith takes hold of God. Just as we go to heaven with our prayers. Taking the earthly into the heavenly,So in all our life there must be that contact, there must be that reality, there must be that flow... otherwise all is death, death, death. It can be a cold death, or it can be wild, shouting, singing, stomping death. It's all the same. The only thing that God is interested in is reality!
Nothing more glorious than to get to the end of life, or get to the end of a day, or even to the end of a meeting and say, "God, I've done what You wanted me to do. Lord, I believed I opened my being that You might flow through me."
There is something within us all that is withdrawn and unbelieving. Unbelief is not just the absence of belief. Unbelief is the presence of something destructive. The Bible talks about an evil heart of unbelief. It talks about not having obtained the grace. "Beware...lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest a root of bitterness springing up..." Beware, if there is not this, then there will be that. If you don't reach the grace you will reach the bitterness. This grace is dimension of victory. This is the release of our personality. This is coming into God.
We don't realize our purpose or find the realization of our life by seeking after it. That is incidental. We find it in God, in our Father which is in heaven. We find it in learning to pray this prayer again. Hallowing His name, pleading for His Kingdom to come.
"Give us this day our daily bread." It refers to that which we eat for our physical well being, but it's far beyond that. It's what we eat for our spiritual well-being - Spiritual bread. Give us this day our spiritual portion.
"Give us this day our daily bread." There must be this expectation. "God, You have promised and I am going to wait with a waiting that is filled with faith." A faith which although it doesn't have a voice is saying, "God, God, God." Right through the day. As though my heart was there in His presence saying, "Lord, I want it, I want it. I need it, I need it." It's a maintaining. Not an audible voice, but an inner cry before God. "Give us this day." "Lord, do not let this day finish without me finding on earth what You have released in heaven for me. Lord, let the communication be open again."
"Forgive us our debt as we forgive our debtors." There are certain things which are conditional. A verse that has been very important through the years is 2 Corinthians 10:6. It says, "When your obedience is fulfilled, God will avenge all disobedience." Before that it talks about the weapons of our warfare being "not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strong holds." The weapons are mighty...but the strongholds are pulled down when our obedience is fulfilled.
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 5)
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Go Back America # 2
Go Back America # 2
We Christians have nothing to be ashamed of when we face the industrialists, the military leaders, the statesmen, the politicians, the educators, who so glibly arrogate to themselves the plaudits of the world for making America great. They came into the picture later, much later. They built on a foundation already laid in the dedicated, patriotic, self-denying sacrifices of the pioneers who brought CHRIST with them to that rocky Atlantic seaboard.
All honor to them! By the side of the statues, the busts, the portraits of the Hancocks, the Madisons, and the Adamses, we place those of the Jonathan Edwardses, the Roger Williamses, and the David Brainerds.
All praise to the Whigs, the Federalists, the Democrats, and the Republicans. But do not forget the Puritans, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, and the Methodists. They also served, and served well, and the record is written for all to see. Probably more than any others they kept the Ship of State on an even keel.
What is the picture today? Today America is in the greatest danger of its history, not only from the outside, but from the inside. Patriotism has cheapened. Moral standards have degenerated. The almighty dollar is worshiped. Christianity, the Bible, GOD, and His CHRIST have been legalized out of our schools. The fear of GOD is ridiculed, painted over, explained away by a pseudo-psycho-religious Pollyanna philosophy that out-Coues Coue. GOD is being claimed as the cosmic Errand Boy. The Bible is presented as a book of auto-suggestion texts, affirmation of which will surely bring health, wealth, happiness. Even in evangelical circles people are being told that "getting right with God" and "paying your tithe" will make anyone rich. Yet how many we know, tithe-givers for many years, who have never even come close to being wealthy!
America is in danger - serious danger. Standards in the business world, in politics, in education, in science, in arts and (GOD save the mark!) in religion are not GOD's standards. The test of success today would seem to be a good position, a fine home, money in the bank, the best restaurants, sirloin steaks, and expensive suits. The Cadillac is supplanting the Cross as the sign of rightness with GOD, the symbol of having GOD as your "silent Partner." Paul is not in tune with the times in his cry that he "may know...the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death."
Weakly we profess our love for the Lord JESUS CHRIST, our concern for the souls of men. As someone has said with stinging aptness, "We are suffering in comfort." And yet, in spite of these things, do not sell America short. America is still possessed of an unbounded zest for living, an enthusiasm, a responsiveness to challenge, an eagerness for adventure, a heroic abandon. Put the old time appeal back into Christianity! Make it not afire insurance policy to guarantee safety from hell, but a battle to the death against Apollyon and the forces of the pit! Then see what happens!
The same boys who, glib talking and zoot-suited, seemed without a serious care or thought in the world, three times in less than two generations - in Flanders Field, at Iwo Jima, Tarawa, Bataan, the Battle of the Bulge, Heartbreak Ridge - offered their lives "to make the world safe for democracy," and to purchase the four freedoms. These boys loved not their lives to the death to guarantee a place in the sun for what? For tine Korea, situated half way around the world from Broadway!
Do not sell America short. Our seminaries, Bible schools, Christian universities and colleges see more students enrolling with every passing year, multitudes of them training for the work of the Lord. And there would be even more were there more room, more endowments, more opportunities for those who hearts burn within them with the desire to go all out for the Lord, but who are limited by economic needs or family responsibilities.
God will not abandon us. What we need is not fear, but fervor; not the counsel of cowardice, but the consecration of courage; not attitudes or actions of weakness, but advance and attack of war - all-out war - for CHRIST and His Kingdom.
My fellow Christians. America is worth praying for, paying for, preaching for, living for, dying for. What our men and boys have done in the carnage of Bloody battle to protect mundane, temporary things, it is ours to do in even nobler-sacrificial devotion for the Prince of Peace,for the souls of those for whose eternal welfare He paid so heavy a price.
II Chronicles 7:14 is still in the Bible: "If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will head their land."
There is no room or reason for despair, but a calling rather for a new devotion, a higher dedication to bring America back to the pierced feet of the CHRIST.
~Hyman Appleman~
(The End)
We Christians have nothing to be ashamed of when we face the industrialists, the military leaders, the statesmen, the politicians, the educators, who so glibly arrogate to themselves the plaudits of the world for making America great. They came into the picture later, much later. They built on a foundation already laid in the dedicated, patriotic, self-denying sacrifices of the pioneers who brought CHRIST with them to that rocky Atlantic seaboard.
All honor to them! By the side of the statues, the busts, the portraits of the Hancocks, the Madisons, and the Adamses, we place those of the Jonathan Edwardses, the Roger Williamses, and the David Brainerds.
All praise to the Whigs, the Federalists, the Democrats, and the Republicans. But do not forget the Puritans, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, and the Methodists. They also served, and served well, and the record is written for all to see. Probably more than any others they kept the Ship of State on an even keel.
What is the picture today? Today America is in the greatest danger of its history, not only from the outside, but from the inside. Patriotism has cheapened. Moral standards have degenerated. The almighty dollar is worshiped. Christianity, the Bible, GOD, and His CHRIST have been legalized out of our schools. The fear of GOD is ridiculed, painted over, explained away by a pseudo-psycho-religious Pollyanna philosophy that out-Coues Coue. GOD is being claimed as the cosmic Errand Boy. The Bible is presented as a book of auto-suggestion texts, affirmation of which will surely bring health, wealth, happiness. Even in evangelical circles people are being told that "getting right with God" and "paying your tithe" will make anyone rich. Yet how many we know, tithe-givers for many years, who have never even come close to being wealthy!
America is in danger - serious danger. Standards in the business world, in politics, in education, in science, in arts and (GOD save the mark!) in religion are not GOD's standards. The test of success today would seem to be a good position, a fine home, money in the bank, the best restaurants, sirloin steaks, and expensive suits. The Cadillac is supplanting the Cross as the sign of rightness with GOD, the symbol of having GOD as your "silent Partner." Paul is not in tune with the times in his cry that he "may know...the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death."
Weakly we profess our love for the Lord JESUS CHRIST, our concern for the souls of men. As someone has said with stinging aptness, "We are suffering in comfort." And yet, in spite of these things, do not sell America short. America is still possessed of an unbounded zest for living, an enthusiasm, a responsiveness to challenge, an eagerness for adventure, a heroic abandon. Put the old time appeal back into Christianity! Make it not afire insurance policy to guarantee safety from hell, but a battle to the death against Apollyon and the forces of the pit! Then see what happens!
The same boys who, glib talking and zoot-suited, seemed without a serious care or thought in the world, three times in less than two generations - in Flanders Field, at Iwo Jima, Tarawa, Bataan, the Battle of the Bulge, Heartbreak Ridge - offered their lives "to make the world safe for democracy," and to purchase the four freedoms. These boys loved not their lives to the death to guarantee a place in the sun for what? For tine Korea, situated half way around the world from Broadway!
Do not sell America short. Our seminaries, Bible schools, Christian universities and colleges see more students enrolling with every passing year, multitudes of them training for the work of the Lord. And there would be even more were there more room, more endowments, more opportunities for those who hearts burn within them with the desire to go all out for the Lord, but who are limited by economic needs or family responsibilities.
God will not abandon us. What we need is not fear, but fervor; not the counsel of cowardice, but the consecration of courage; not attitudes or actions of weakness, but advance and attack of war - all-out war - for CHRIST and His Kingdom.
My fellow Christians. America is worth praying for, paying for, preaching for, living for, dying for. What our men and boys have done in the carnage of Bloody battle to protect mundane, temporary things, it is ours to do in even nobler-sacrificial devotion for the Prince of Peace,for the souls of those for whose eternal welfare He paid so heavy a price.
II Chronicles 7:14 is still in the Bible: "If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will head their land."
There is no room or reason for despair, but a calling rather for a new devotion, a higher dedication to bring America back to the pierced feet of the CHRIST.
~Hyman Appleman~
(The End)
Breaking Through To The Heavenlies # 3
Breaking Through To The Heavenlies # 3
"Hallowed be Thy name." Thy name be set apart and not reduced to my world of miniatures. We need to pray that. We need to pray, "God be Your name hallowed in my life, set apart from every earthly influence, and power, and concept and feeling. Be Your name put up there so that I start to find a God who is above it all, a God who is over it all. A God who is finally the Lord of lords and King of kings. It starts with His faithfulness, it starts out with His reality within, but it goes on and on with His fullness and omnipotence. God over and above and beyond it all.
"Thy Kingdom come."
Over against the kingdom of the enemy, "Thy Kingdom come." After we'd been in Argentina for a number of years, different areas of the country, different meetings, seen a measure of God's blessing, God's moving, God's anointing, we went over to another country. A bunch of people had come over from Argentina to help. The same kind of meetings, the same people in a different place. We'd sing the same songs. We'd preach and we'd pray with the same intensity, the same faith. Yet every prayer, every song, would seem to hit the wall and bounce down on to the floor. I remember once in a meeting we were singing and it just came to me - it wasn't a vision, it wasn't a voice, but just as clear as if it had been - that
Every sickness, every sin,
Every sorrow, every wrong,
Every hurt, every pain,
All the suffering of that nation multiplied by the thousands and millions of people,
Multiplied by its generations,
Multiplied by each individual decision in wrong
And each temptation,
Every single crooked thing,
Every hurt against God
had somehow, in the invisible world, taken on substance and become material. And in the spiritual world, as though things had turned into bricks, the enemy had built a fortress.
Have you seen those pictures of castles in Europe? Walls that go on and on, tremendously high, tremendously broad, towers, turrets, courtyards, moats, that whole tremendous dimension of an impregnable fortress. Well, it's somewhat like that. It seemed in that meeting as though in my mind's eye I could see the devil up on top of this tremendous fortress. And he was saying, "As surely as I exist you shall not enter in." As the Bible says about Israel, we were like a little flock of goats in front of the forces of the enemy. A tiny insignificant group of people. Yet, at the same time, there was a sense of another Voice coming and saying, "in My name you shall go against this and you shall go in." Two realities.
And so the prayer is: "Thy Kingdom come." Because the other kingdom does exist. The other kingdom is real and so powerful. It's not an abstract kingdom.
I remember a lady that thought she could help on the mission field in a bunch of natural, physical things. I talked with her. I mentioned the sense of darkness, the enormous oppression, the spiritual opposition. She said, "Well, yes, but it can't touch you unless you believe it." Well, it can. It can!
It doesn't matter whether I believe it or I don't believe it. It exists. It's real. God wants to get us to see this. We know it mentally yet many times we act as though it weren't true. Many times you see Christians that are like a yo-yo. They seem to be at the end of a string of feeling that go up and down, up and down - Now they are condemned, now they aren't, now they are. Only a contact with God, with the eternal dimension of God, will get us free from this. "Thy Kingdom come" - it starts with us - it starts with this comment:
"Thy will be done." His will, not ours, be done on earth. The apostle says, "He who labors must be the first partaker of the fruits." As I pray, "Thy will be done on earth," It starts with this earth that I am - the earth I am made out of. It's a prayer that I pray first of all for myself, "God, Your will be done on this earth which I am." "God, in Your way. God, in Your time. God, at whatever price You ordain."
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 4)
"Hallowed be Thy name." Thy name be set apart and not reduced to my world of miniatures. We need to pray that. We need to pray, "God be Your name hallowed in my life, set apart from every earthly influence, and power, and concept and feeling. Be Your name put up there so that I start to find a God who is above it all, a God who is over it all. A God who is finally the Lord of lords and King of kings. It starts with His faithfulness, it starts out with His reality within, but it goes on and on with His fullness and omnipotence. God over and above and beyond it all.
"Thy Kingdom come."
Over against the kingdom of the enemy, "Thy Kingdom come." After we'd been in Argentina for a number of years, different areas of the country, different meetings, seen a measure of God's blessing, God's moving, God's anointing, we went over to another country. A bunch of people had come over from Argentina to help. The same kind of meetings, the same people in a different place. We'd sing the same songs. We'd preach and we'd pray with the same intensity, the same faith. Yet every prayer, every song, would seem to hit the wall and bounce down on to the floor. I remember once in a meeting we were singing and it just came to me - it wasn't a vision, it wasn't a voice, but just as clear as if it had been - that
Every sickness, every sin,
Every sorrow, every wrong,
Every hurt, every pain,
All the suffering of that nation multiplied by the thousands and millions of people,
Multiplied by its generations,
Multiplied by each individual decision in wrong
And each temptation,
Every single crooked thing,
Every hurt against God
had somehow, in the invisible world, taken on substance and become material. And in the spiritual world, as though things had turned into bricks, the enemy had built a fortress.
Have you seen those pictures of castles in Europe? Walls that go on and on, tremendously high, tremendously broad, towers, turrets, courtyards, moats, that whole tremendous dimension of an impregnable fortress. Well, it's somewhat like that. It seemed in that meeting as though in my mind's eye I could see the devil up on top of this tremendous fortress. And he was saying, "As surely as I exist you shall not enter in." As the Bible says about Israel, we were like a little flock of goats in front of the forces of the enemy. A tiny insignificant group of people. Yet, at the same time, there was a sense of another Voice coming and saying, "in My name you shall go against this and you shall go in." Two realities.
And so the prayer is: "Thy Kingdom come." Because the other kingdom does exist. The other kingdom is real and so powerful. It's not an abstract kingdom.
I remember a lady that thought she could help on the mission field in a bunch of natural, physical things. I talked with her. I mentioned the sense of darkness, the enormous oppression, the spiritual opposition. She said, "Well, yes, but it can't touch you unless you believe it." Well, it can. It can!
It doesn't matter whether I believe it or I don't believe it. It exists. It's real. God wants to get us to see this. We know it mentally yet many times we act as though it weren't true. Many times you see Christians that are like a yo-yo. They seem to be at the end of a string of feeling that go up and down, up and down - Now they are condemned, now they aren't, now they are. Only a contact with God, with the eternal dimension of God, will get us free from this. "Thy Kingdom come" - it starts with us - it starts with this comment:
"Thy will be done." His will, not ours, be done on earth. The apostle says, "He who labors must be the first partaker of the fruits." As I pray, "Thy will be done on earth," It starts with this earth that I am - the earth I am made out of. It's a prayer that I pray first of all for myself, "God, Your will be done on this earth which I am." "God, in Your way. God, in Your time. God, at whatever price You ordain."
~Paul Ravenhill~
(continued with # 4)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)