HOLY
SPIRIT'S FIRE:
KEY
TO REVIVAL
~
A Desperate Call to God for Help ~
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
"Oh
that Thou would Rend the heavens, that Thou would Come Down, that the
mountains would flow down at Thy presence. As when the melting FIRE
burns, the fire causes the waters to BOIL,
to make Thy NAME known
to Thine adversaries that the nations may tremble at Thy presence."
(Isaiah 64: 1)
In his
powerful appeal to Almighty God for help in bringing Israel back to a
place of repentance and righteousness, Prophet Isaiah used words like
“the melting FIRE burns” and “the FIRE
causes the water to boil”.
Isaiah
was zealous for His Lord and wanted the godless nations to give glory
to the Almighty. A Revival of Righteousness among the Hebrews would
also have a godly, moralizing effect on the pagan nations!
He
would have known of ELIJAH the great prophet who brought
Israel back to the worship of the Jehovah. He had challenged the
prophets of Baal and the prophets of the Grove to a showdown on Mount
Carmel. The great Prophet stated: “The God who answers
by fire; Let Him be God.” Israel would then KNOW the
true and Living God!
Elijah
prayed: “Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know
that Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart
back again. Then the FIRE of the Lord fell, and
consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the
dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
“And
when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said,
The LORD He is the God; the LORD He is the God.” (1
Kings 18:37-39)
DON’T
PUT OUT THE SPIRIT’S FIRE!
The
Holy Bible states: “Our God is a
consuming fire.” (Heb.12: 29) Wherever He is, there
is always Fire! What happened on Mount Carmel was expected. God
always backed up His prophets who spoke the truth in His Name. And He
often used FIRE to demonstrate His power and bring
about His will on earth!
ST.
PAUL admonished the Church: “Quench not the Spirit.” (1
Thess. 5: 19). He was saying, “Don’t put out the Spirit’s
FIRE” or “Don’t extinguish the Spirit’s
FLAME.”
He knew the tendency of human carnality and pride, in
wanting to do everything ourselves, to be self-sufficient! Fire can
burn itself out if not stoked and fed with oxygen. We must guard
the fire in our spirits, by staying full of the Holy Ghost!
HOWELL
HARRIS, (1714-1773) preached in large open air meeting across Wales.
In two years He walked 2500 miles between crusades. In twenty years
he had reached Wales. He stated: “A fire was kindled in my
soul and I was clothed in power…I could have spoken to the king
were he within my reach…such power and such authority did I feel in
my soul…”
It was
said, the words flowed scorching hot from the preacher’s heart. He
would go on thus, pouring out old things and new for 2, 3, and even 4
hours. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, hearts were broken and it
was not uncommon for people to come under such conviction that they
would cry aloud to God for mercy while he preached. Twenty thousand
people attended his funeral.
WILLAM
BOOTH and his wife Catherine founded the Salvation Army in
1865. They chose as their slogan, ‘Blood and Fire’,
referring to Jesus Christ’s BLOOD shed for the remission of
sins and the Fire referring to the FIRE of the Holy Spirit.”
He stated: “The tendency of fire is to go out; watch the fire
on the altar of your heart. Anyone who has tended a fireplace knows
that it needs to be stirred up occasionally.”
In
1892, William Booth wrote the well-known hymn, ‘SEND THE FIRE’.
It is filled with Gospel Truth, Biblical Doctrine and Great
Commission Admonition. You can sense the presence of God by reading
the words and the Holy Spirit fire burns when it is sung!
SEND THE FIRE
Thou Christ of
burning, cleansing flame,
Send the fire, send the fire, send
the fire!
Thy blood-bought gift today we claim,
Send the
fire, send the fire, send the fire!
Look down and see this
waiting host,
Give us the promised Holy Ghost;
We want
another Pentecost,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
God of Elijah,
hear our cry:
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
To
make us fit to live or die,
Send the fire, send the fire, send
the fire!
To burn up every trace of sin,
To bring the light
and glory in,
The revolution now begin,
Send the fire, send
the fire, send the fire!
’Tis
fire we want, for fire we plead,
Send the fire, send the fire,
send the fire!
The fire will meet our every need,
Send the
fire, send the fire, send the fire!
For strength to ever do the
right,
For grace to conquer in the fight,
For pow’r to
walk the world in white,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the
fire!
To make our weak
hearts strong and brave,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the
fire!
To live a dying world to save,
Send the fire, send the
fire, send the fire!
Oh, see us on Thy altar lay
Our lives,
our all, this very day;
To crown the off’ring now we
pray,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
|
The
one thing we must NOT do, is rely on our own wisdom and strength!
We must never think that we can do the work of God ourselves,
without relying totally on the Holy Spirit! The great Apostle
realized that the Blessed Holy Spirit can be easily grieved (Eph.4:
30, 31) and marginalized. That is a major error on the part of the
Church today!
GOD MOVED IN NEWFOUNDLAND!
In 1968, our Crusades with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland shook the Central district, as thousands attended nightly for about a month. During
a live interview over Newfoundland’s Radio Network,
the interviewer became convicted by HOLY SPIRIT and asked if I would
take the remaining ten minutes to answer the question: “What
is the greatest mistake the Church has made in 2,000 years?”
I
answered: “The greatest mistake the Church has committed in its
nearly 2,000 year history is two-fold: Number one: They have taken
the leadership of the Church out of the hands of the HOLY SPIRIT
and placed it in the hands of mere mortals, and Number two: They have
rejected the Word of God, the Holy Bible, which He (the
Holy Spirit) has anointed.”
After
I finished, I invited all the listeners to pray the Sinner’s
Prayer with me. As we were walking together toward the main
entrance, the Manager and an Associate came walking quickly toward
me. I wondered if they were going to ‘ball me out’, for making
their head commentator and interviewer break down on the air.
But,
NO! They said: “All the lines are jammed. Seventy thousand
people have been listening. Our Television Station is across the
street. Please, do the same thing over there. They are waiting for
you now!”
The
two most important things the Church needs today is the Power of
God and the Fire of God! Jesus Christ, the Head of the
Church promised: “But ye shall receive POWER after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto
Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
And
JOHN THE BAPTIST stated: “I indeed baptize you with water; but
one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not
worthy to unloose: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with
FIRE.” (Luke 3:16).
He was
speaking about JESUS, the Baptiser in the Holy Ghost and fire! He
would accomplish two great things: Shed His holy Blood on the
Cross for the sins of the world, and Baptize His Church with the Holy
Spirit and Fire!
When
the Jews heard him utter those words, they knew that something
special was about to happen in the spiritual life of their nation.
When God chose Israel through which He would send the Messiah,
He called ABRAHAM to be the Father of the nation. The Lord promised
him a son even though Sarah was barren. After about twenty – five
years the miracle happened and Isaac was born.
GOD
CALLS ABRAHAM BY FIRE!
The
Holy Record states: “And it came to pass, that, when the sun
went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a BURNING
LAMP that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord
made a covenant with Abram, saying: Unto thy seed have I given this
land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river
Euphrates.” (Gen.15: 17, 18)
The
HOLY SPIRIT was present in the FIRE that awesome night as the
Almighty revealed to Abram His supernatural power. Later, God changed
Abram’s name to Abraham and confirmed the everlasting covenant He
was making with the Nation of Israel! He had confirmed the COVENANT
with Blood, symbolized by circumcision of all males and
through the Holy Spirit by the presence of the coals of FIRE.
The
Bible says: “As it is written, I have made thee a Father of many
nations, before Him whom he believed, even God, who quickens the
dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were.
“Who
against hope believed in hope, that he might become the Father of
many nations, according to that which was spoken: So shall thy seed
be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now
dead, when he was about a HUNDRED years old, neither
yet the DEADNESS of Sarah’s womb:
“He
staggered not at the PROMISE of God through unbelief; but was
strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that
what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore, it
was imputed unto him for righteousness.” (Rom.4:17-22)
GOD
CALLS MOSES BY FIRE!
After
the Hebrews had been in Egypt for four hundred years, God brought
them into a land flowing with milk and honey as He had promised
Abraham. He called His chosen leader by FIRE. Through the
providence of God, Moses had survived the Egyptian genocide against
Hebrew male babies, and was even adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter.
When
Moses was "come to years", he killed an
Egyptian who was abusing a Hebrew slave. Fearing retribution from
Pharaoh, he fled to the land of Midian where he became a shepherd.
After forty years in the desert, Moses was ready to lead the
children of Israel to the Promised Land. God would fulfill His
promise to Abraham!
The
Bible says: “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his
father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the
backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to
Horeb and the Angel of the Lord appeared unto Him in a
FLAME of FIRE out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and,
behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
“And
Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the
bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside
to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said
MOSES, MOSES. And he said: Here I am. And He said, Draw not
nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where
thou standest is holy ground.
“Moreover
He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, and the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was
afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen
the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their
cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
“And
I am COME DOWN to deliver them out of the hands of the
Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good and a
large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Ex.3:1-8). The
Angel of the Lord was none other than God the Son, in a Theophany
- God the Son appearing as the ‘Angel of the
Covenant’!
God said
that He had SEEN the affliction of His people, He had HEARD
their cries for help and He KNEW their sorrows. He was going
to DELIVER His people from Egyptian bondage and He was
commissioning Moses, the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, to
LIBERATE them and lead them into the Promised Land flowing with milk
and honey!
The
Lord had prepared His man! MOSES had spent forty years tending
sheep. He was prepared to lead a rebellious nation of slaves for
another forty years through the wilderness. After hearing the VOICE
of GOD and seeing the burning BUSH of FIRE, his life was changed and
he became the Great Lawgiver under God, giving Israel and the world
the 'Ten Commandments', from which came the
British Common Law used by all civilized, democratic
nations.
Unfortunately,
out of agitation with the Hebrews he made a colossal mistake by
striking the ROCK twice instead of only speaking to it. God was angry
with Moses and barred him from entering the Promised Land. The
Rock was a type of Christ! (Nu. 20: 10-12; 1Cor.10: 4). His DEATH
was final. He does not need to be struck again!
After
ten powerful plagues against the ten gods of Egypt, Moses led the
Children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery "with a high hand",
the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of FIRE by night. The Holy
Spirit was leading them and protecting them!
"And
the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead
them the way; by night in a pillar of FIRE, to give them
light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the
cloud by day, nor the pillar of FIRE by night, from before the
people." (Ex.13: 21, 22)
GOD
CALLS SOLOMON BY FIRE!
Although
Elijah is called 'The Fire Prophet', God always came
down in FIRE when sacrifices were made in His name. Going back to
Cain and Abel's sacrifices at the Gate of the Garden of Eden, we
read: "The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but
unto Cain and his offering, He had not respect". (Gen.4:
3-5)
Why
did the Lord accept Abel's offering but not Cain's offering? When
Adam and Eve sinned, God immediately instituted the sacrificial
system. He killed an innocent animal which would be their substitute.
The blood would atone for their sins and the skin would clothe
them.
How did
Cain know that God was not pleased with his sacrifice of "the
fruit of the ground"? The HOLY FIRE that
burned up Abel's sacrifice did NOT consume Cain's bloodless
sacrifice! Whenever God was pleased with a sacrifice the FIRE
always fell!
When
SOLOMON dedicated the temple, he rehearsed before Israel the history
of God's dealings with his father David and with His people. Solomon
prayed an awesome and powerful prayer unto Almighty God (2 Chron.6:
14-42)
Then
the FIRE fell, as was expected. Here is the Holy Record
on this momentous event: "Now when Solomon had made an end of
praying, the FIRE came down from Heaven and consumed the burnt
offering and the sacrifices; and the GLORY of the Lord filled the
house. And the priests could not enter into the House of the Lord,
because the glory of the
Lord had filled the Lord's house.
"And
when the children of Israel saw how the FIRE came down , and
the GLORY of the Lord upon the house, they bowed
themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and
worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good: for His
mercy endureth forever." (2 Chron.7: 1-3)
Almighty
God said: "If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I
command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilences
among My people; 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 FORGIVE their sin, and will heal their land."
(2 Chron.7: 13, 14)
GOD
CALLS ISAIAH BY FIRE!
Isaiah
was about eighteen years old when King Uzziah died. He went into the
temple to seek God, not knowing what would happen to his nation. It
was then that the Holy Spirit showed up. The Bible records:
"In
the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it
stood the seraphims; each one had six wings; with twain he covered
his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did
fly."
What an
experience this man had, as he actually saw God the Son, in all in
His glory. He saw The LORD sitting upon a throne. He saw the
seraphims which covered their faces and feet in God's presence and
heard them cry, Holy is the Lord!
"And
one cried unto another, and said, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord
of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the
door moved at the voice of Him that cried, and the house was filled
with smoke.
“Then
said I, Woe is me! For I am UNDONE; because I am a man
of unclean lips, and I live in the midst of a people of unclean lips:
for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
God's
holiness made Isaiah cry out: "I am a sinner. I am undone.
I live among a sinful and unclean people, because my eyes have looked
upon the thrice holy God!" In the presence of Almighty
God, the prophet felt his nothingness and his weakness and his
sinfulness. He cried out for mercy! Oh, how we must reverence
Almighty God!
"Then
flew one of the seraphims unto me, having A LIVE COAL in his
hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he
laid it on my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips;
and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy SIN PURGED. Also I
heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and Who will
go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me." (Is.6: 1-8)
The
Holy Spirit was in the FIRE that touched the prophet's lips! When the
LIVE COAL from the holy altar touched the young man's lips, he
received the assurance that his sins were gone. And immediately, he
heard the Voice of the Lord calling him into service for Him!
The Book
of Isaiah is called 'The Gospel of the Old Testament'
and every major doctrine of Christ is found in that book! They
include the virgin birth of Christ (7:14); Names of Deity given to
Christ (9:6); the Spirits of God resting upon Him (11:1,2); Satan's
defeat by Christ (14: 12-17); Day of resurrection and judgment (26:
19-21); and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (28: 11,12).
THE
PROMISE OF THE FATHER!
"Then
said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent
Me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed
on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost."
(John 20: 21,22)
"But
when the COMFORTER is come, Whom I will send unto you from the
Father, even the Spirit of Truth which proceeds from the
Father He shall testify of Me. Nevertheless I tell you the Truth; It
is expedient that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will
not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you
.
"But
when HE IS COME, He will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness and of judgment: Of sin because they believe not on Me;
Of righteousness, because I go unto My Father, and ye see Me no more;
Of judgment because the prince of the world (Satan)
is judged.
Howbeit
when He, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, is come, He will guide you into
all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall
hear that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come.
“He
shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine and, and show it unto
you. All that the Father hath are Mine, therefore said I, that He
shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." (John 14:
26; 15: 26; 16: 7-11, 13-15)
HOLY
SPIRIT FIRE FALLS!
The Holy
BIBLE records the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of
Pentecost, ten days after the ascension of our Lord and fifty
days after Christ's resurrection from the dead. St. Luke writes:
"To
whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many
infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the
things pertaining to the Kingdom of God: And, being assembled
together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father, which,
saith He, ye have heard of Me.
"For
John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be BAPTIZED with the
Holy Ghost not many days hence. But ye shall receive power, after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses
unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and
unto the uttermost parts of the earth…" (Acts 1: 3-5, 8)
More
than five hundred men saw Christ at one time in Galilee after
His resurrection from the dead (1 Cor.15: 6) and I'm sure that all
500 would have heard His command to tarry in Jerusalem and WAIT for
the Promise of the Father, the Blessed Holy Spirit, to
empower them for His service!
The
QUESTION is, "WHY did they not all wait for the
Blessed Holy Spirit's arrival with His great power? And is this a
pattern that we see in the Christian Community of Believers today,
with many not waiting in His presence until they are filled with the
Holy Spirit? Is it laziness, a lack of desire for God or plain and
simple ignorance on the part of Pastors who have come out of Bible
College or Seminary like so many sausages out of Schneider's Meat
Packing Plant?”
Where
were the 380 who had been commanded to WAIT for the 'Promise
of the Father'? Apparently, they were too busy or afraid
or felt they were good enough and didn't need this 'noisy,
shouting, tongues-talking religion'. Think of what they missed:
The blessed Holy Spirit coming into them with His love, mercy, grace,
and power!
The
Bible states: "And when they were come in, they went up into
an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and
Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Mathew, James the son of
Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes and Judas the brother of James.
"These
all continued with one accord in PRAYER and SUPPLICATION,
with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His
brethren...the number of names were about an hundred and twenty."
(Acts 1: 3-15)
TONGUES
LIKE AS OF FIRE!
"And
when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one
accord, in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from
Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven TONGUES
like as of FIRE, and it sat upon each of them.
“And
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. But Peter,
standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them,
Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known
unto you, and hearken to my words:
"For
these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour
of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
and it shall come to pass in the Last Days, saith God, I will
pour out of MY SPIRIT upon all flesh:
"And
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall
see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on My servants
and on My handmaidens I will POUR out in those days of MY SPIRIT; and
they shall prophesy. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall
CALL on the name of the Lord shall be SAVED." (Acts 2: 1-4,
14-21)
Jesus
kept His Promise: "And behold, I send the promise of My
Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be
endued with power from on High." (Luke 24: 49); "And
I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that
He may abide with you forever:
"Even
the SPIRIT OF TRUTH; Whom the world cannot receive, because it
seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I
will come to you.
"But
the COMFORTER, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will
send in My Name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all bring
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John
14: 16-18)
The
Church was born on the Day of Pentecost as God poured out His Holy
Spirit upon about one hundred and twenty hungry souls! Again, He
moved by FIRE! "
"And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they weee all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
"And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of FIRE, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4)
And what was the outcome? After St. Peter preached His
Pentecostal message, multitudes cried: "Men
and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter answered:
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost.
“For
the PROMISE is unto you, and to your children, and to all that
are afar off, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call."
(Acts 2: 38, 39)
FERVENT
IN SPIRIT!
ST.
PAUL wrote: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be
not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect will of God." (Rom.1: 1,2)
Included
in his list of duties to the leadership of the Church, he adds:
"...Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." (Rom. 12:
11)
How
does one remain FERVENT in the spirit? The answer is in total
consecration to Jesus Christ, obeying His Holy Word and being
filled with His HOLY SPIRIT! It is in complete dedication to
His Body the Church, and the extension of His Kingdom!
The
BIBLE says: "That we should be to the praise of His glory, who
first trusted in Christ. In Whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard
the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in Whom after ye
believed ye were SEALED with that Holy Spirit of Promise,
which is the EARNEST of our inheritance until the redemption
of the purchased possession unto the prise of His glory."
(Eph.1: 13, 14)
"And
grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye were SEALED unto
the Day of Redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger, and
clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
And be KIND one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you"
(Eph.4: 30,31)
These
verses prove that when a believer is born again by the Word of God
and Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1: 23) and receives the Mighty Baptism of
the Holy Spirit, he is SEALED until the day of his redemption.
THE
HOLY SPIRIT SEALS US!
We are
secure in Jesus when we give ourselves totally in repentance and
faith to Him and receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The words
'SEALED until the Redemption of the Purchased Possession...' means
that He will keep us safe and secure until our life on earth is over
and we are in our eternal abode! We have been purchased by the
precious BLOOD of Christ (1 Cor.6: 20) and are SEALED until we see
Him face to face in Glory!
The
Holy Spirit is the Guarantor of our salvation; of course this means
that we must continue believing in and trusting Jesus Christ as our
Lord and Saviour! There is great JOY in the Holy Spirit and the Bible
says:
"Wherefore
He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are
evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of
God is. And be not DRUNK with wine, wherein is excess, but be FILLED
with the SPIRIT." (Eph.5: 14-18)
History
proves that only by obeying this holy precept is a revival of
righteousness possible. Down through the ages we have seen this
pattern repeated: Repentance of sin, receiving God's forgiveness,
the infilling of the Holy Spirit, intercessory prayer, the Spirit of
love and compassion exhibited, and souls won for Christ!
In his book ‘When the
Spirit Came’ (1928), Moravian
Evangelist Rev. JOHN GREENFIELD wrote: “Of the Apostolic Church in
Jerusalem a certain writer has said: ‘Before
thirty years had elapsed from the death of Christ, His followers had
spread from Palestine throughout Syria; throughout almost all the
districts of Asia Minor; through Greece
and the Islands of the Aegean sea,
the coast of Africa, and even into Italy and Rome’
“And at the close of the First Century JUSTIN MARTYR
could truly testify: ‘There
is not a nation either Greek or Barbarian or of any other name, even
those who wander in tribes or live in tents, among whom prayers and
thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Creator of the
Universe in the name of the Crucified Jesus.”
John
Greenfield writes: “Sprung from
the labours and martyr-death of the great Bohemian Reformer, JOHN
HUS, ‘the Brethren’
had passed through centuries of persecution. Many
had sealed their testimony with their blood.
“Imprisonment, torture and banishment had caused them
to forsake the homes of their fathers and flee for refuge to Germany
where a young Christian Nobleman, Count
Zinzendorf, offered them an asylum
on his estates in Saxony.
They named their new home Herrnhut, the Lord’s Watch. And
from this place after their Baptism with the Holy Spirit, they became
the world’s evangelists and
missionaries.”
THE
GREAT MORAVIAN REVIVAL!
The Moravian Church received a powerful Baptism in
the Holy Spirit in Herrnhut, Germany on August
13, 1727. The congregation of about
300 persecuted Christians from various denominations, who had been
given sanctuary by Count Zinzendorf,
stopped criticizing one another and began in earnest prayer and were
all filled with the blessed Holy Spirit.
During the first 30
years after their spiritual Pentecost, they carried the Gospel of
Salvation through the blood of the Lamb not only to nearly every
country in Europe but also to many pagan nations in America, North
and South, Asia and Africa, the West Indies and Greenland.
Greenfield writes: “Fifty
years before the beginning of modern Foreign Missions by WILLIAM
CAREY, the Moravian Church had led the way into pagan countries both
by precept and example.
“Their English Missionary magazine, ‘Periodical
Accounts’ inspired
Dr. Carey
and in a meeting of his Baptist brethren he threw a copy of the paper
on the table with these memorable and historic words: ‘See
what the Moravians have done! Cannot we follow their example and in
obedience to our Heavenly Master go out into the world, and preach
the Gospel to the heathen?”
On August 27, 1727 an around-the-clock prayer chain was
started that lasted for 100 years!
The well-known German historian of
‘Protestant Missions’
Dr. Warneck testifies:
“This small Church in twenty
years called into being more Missions than the whole Evangelical
church has done in two centuries.”
IT IS JESUS, JESUS ONLY!
“Matthew Henry’s comment on this passage was
fulfilled in their case: ‘When God
intends great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is to set
them a praying.’
He also sent them a human
leader and deliverer in the person of the young German nobleman,
COUNT ZINZENDORF, who so kindly offered this persecuted Church a
place of refuge on his own estates.
“This godly youth and pre-eminent genius had been
divinely prepared for his great work of spiritual leadership.
Converted in early childhood he composed and signed at
four years of age
the following covenant: “Dear
Saviour, do Thou be mine and I will be Thine.”
He had chosen as his life-motto the now famous confession: “I
have one passion: It is Jesus, Jesus only.”
So effective and fruitful
was this leadership that nearly two centuries later Professor BINNIE
of Scotland declared: “It would not
be going too far to affirm that Count Zinzendorf did more than any
other man to redeem the Eighteenth Century from the reproach of
barrenness, in relation to evangelical teaching and work.”
JOHN WESLEY,
who founded the Methodist Church, was converted to Christ through the
powerful testimony and ministry of the Moravians! Dear friends, let
us follow their example and begin PRAYING earnestly, fervently and
effectually!
THE
BLUE PRINT FOR REVIVAL!
●
GEORGE FOX (1624-1691) stated: “The Lord had
said unto me: If but one man or woman were raised up by His power to
stand in the same spirit that the apostles and prophets were in, that
man or woman would shake all the country for miles around.”
●
WILLIAM BOOTH said: “Go
for the lost and go for the worst!”
●
JOHN WESLEY prayed:
“Give me 100 men who love nothing but God and fear nothing but sin,
and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such
alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the Kingdom of Heaven
on earthHeaven on earth.!”
●
GEORGE WHITEFIELD prayed:
“O’ Lord, give me souls or take mine!”
●
JOHN KNOX prayed: “O’
God, give me Scotland or I die!”
●
MARTIN LUTHER stated: “I
live as though us Jesus Christ died yesterday, arose today, and is
coming again tomorrow!”
●
Seven times in John’s
Gospel - chapters 14,15 & 16 -
Jesus invites us to pray, declaring that God will answer us when we
approach the ‘Throne of
Mercy’ in His Name!
My hope is that multitude of
Christians will realize that God invites us to pray because He
delights in answering our prayers!
●
D.L. MOODY heard the British preacher Henry
Varley say, “The world has yet to see what God will do with
and for and in and by the man who is fully consecrated to him."
Moody determined in his heart that he would
be that man and God used him in a wonderful way for many years in the
USA and Great Britain.
●
WILLIAM SEYMOUR – the son of former slaves – who was
used mightily in the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California
(1906-1909) stated: “Before I met
Parham the hunger to have more of God was in my heart that I prayed
for 5 hours a day for 2 ½ years. I got to Los Angeles, and there the
hunger was not less but more.
“I prayed to God, ‘What
can I do?’ The
Spirit said: ‘Pray more.' I
said: 'But Lord, I am praying 5
hours a day now.' I increased my
hours of prayer to seven, and prayed on for a year and a half more. I
prayed to God to give me what Parham preached, the real
Holy Ghost and
Fire with tongues with love and
power of God like the Apostles!”
JONATHON EDWARDS
(1703–1758), who is considered America’s greatest theologian is
known for his sermon, ‘Sinners
in the hands of an angry God’,
was a mighty man of prayer. He
usually sought God in agonizing prayer for 18
hours before delivering His powerful
sermons!
Before preaching his renowned sermon on July 8, 1741
in Enfield, Connecticut, Jonathon
Edwards agonized for three days and nights in intensive intercessory
prayer. The results were staggering!
Many who heard his message trembled and cried out for mercy. Others
fell under the Holy Spirit’s power. Five
hundred people were converted that day.
Edwards was a Dedicated
Vessel for the Lord.
He said:
“If it were revealed to me
that in any stage of history there could be but one man who were in
all to fulfil the will of God, I would strive with all my might to be
that man."
JONATHON EDWARDS cried out to God: “Give
me New England or I die.” The
revival that followed was the outcome of his agonized prayers!
Undoubtedly, the godly example of his prayer-filled son-in-law David
Brainerd, who persevered through
much adversity in reaching the American Indians for our Saviour -
also impacted Edwards greatly!
ROBERT MURRAY McCHEYNE
said: "Men return again and
again to the few who have mastered the spiritual secret, whose life
is hid with Christ in God. These are of the Old Time Religion, hung
to the Nails of the Cross."
RICHARD BAXTER declared:
"I preach like a dying man to
dying men. Every time I preach, I preach as though it were the last
time I would preach."
ABRAHAM
LINCOLN said: "I want my preacher to preach like he's fighting
bees when he's preaching."
CALVIN
COOLIDGE stated: “America was born in a revival of religion.
Back of that revival were John Wesley, George Whitefield and Francis
Asbury.”
FRANKLIN
D. ROOSEVELT said, “No greater thing could
come to our land today than a revival of the spirit of religion. .
. . I
doubt if there is any problem, social, political or economic, that
would not melt away before the fire of such a spiritual awakening.”
LEONARD RAVENHILL challenged: "The
greatest tragedy is a SICK church in a dying
world." He charged: "If Jesus would have
preached like many preach today, they never would have crucified
Him."
GENERAL
WILLAM BOOTH spoke prophetically when he said: "The thing
that I fear for the next century is that there will be: 1). Religion
without the Holy Ghost; 2). Christianity without Christ; 3).
Salvation without Regeneration; 4). Forgiveness without Repentance;
5). Politics without God; 6). Heaven without Hell."
DR.
OSWALD J. SMITH (1948), in 'The Fire of God' stated
that he had studied the lives and ministries of great men of God
like Luther, Knox, Wesley, Whitefield, Finney, Moody and
Booth. What was their key to reach nations for God? He
discovered they all majored in: Sin and Salvation, Heaven and Hell
and Judgment!
Not long before the tragedy of Katrina, Oral Roberts shared a vision God had
given him. He saw a dark cloud hanging over the USA and God told him
that judgment would fall on America because His preachers were not
preaching the Gospel. They were preaching everything but the Gospel.
And they were not preaching about the soon return of Jesus Christ.
ORAL
ROBERTS said: "I began to weep and ask God to forgive me
because I could not remember the last time I had preached an entire
message on the 'Second Coming of Christ." Then he called
on preachers, saying: "Get the fire of God in your belly
and preach the Gospel and tell people that Jesus is Coming Soon."
BILLY
GRAHAM prayed this prayer many years ago: "Lord, do it
Again! Do what you did when the Apostles were called. Do what you did
following Pentecost. Do what you did for Saul of Tarsus, Augustine,
Luther, Whitefield, John Wesley and William Booth! Lord, do it again
and help us to win this world for Jesus Christ!"
CHRIST'
LAST MESSAGE: REPENT OR ELSE!
Jesus
Christ's last words to His followers before He ascended to the throne
are referred to as 'The Great Commission'. These were His
words: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he
that believeth not shall be damned.
"And
these SIGNS shall follow them that believe: In My name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues: They shall
take up serpents (St. Paul in Malta); and if the drink
any deadly thing (Pentecostal pastors in Soviet prisons)
it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick and they
shall recover." (Mark 16: 15-18)
The
LAST WORDS spoken by our Crucified, Risen and Glorified Lord
to the Church were given to St. John on the Isle of Patmos. They were
powerful and demanding and to five of the seven churches, He said:
"REPENT OR ELSE!" That is very disturbing!
In our
desperate need for a genuine Revival in the Church, we must go to
Jesus Christ’s messages to seven churches in the Book of
Revelation. I believe we can find the key to REVIVAL in these verses!
To the
Church at LAODICEA, Jesus said: “I know thy works,
that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou were cold or hot. So
then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I will spew
thee out of My mouth.” (Rev.3: 15, 16).
JESUS
WARNS: “Because thou say, I am rich and increased with goods and
have need of nothing; and knows not that thou art wretched and
miserable and poor and blind and naked:
"I
counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou may be
rich; and white raiment, that thou may be clothed and that the shame
of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve,
that thou may see.
“As
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and
repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My
voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him
and he with Me.” (Rev. 3: 17-20)
Although
five out of the seven Churches Jesus critiqued needed to repent,
Laodicea was the worst. The Church at EPHESUS, had been
a model Church sixty years earlier when Paul had preached there. Now
they were charged by our Lord of having “left their first
love” (Rev.2:4).
The
Church at PERGAMOS was allowing the seriously perverted
teachings of Balaam as well as the Nicolaitans to gain
inroads into the congregation. Jesus warned them: “Repent or I
will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them (false
teachers) with the sword of My mouth.” (Rev.2:
16)
To the
Church at THYATIRA, He said: “Notwithstanding I
have somewhat against thee, because thou suffers that woman Jezebel
which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to
commit fornication and to eat things offered unto idols. And I gave
her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.”
(Rev.2: 20-22)
To the
Church in SARDIUS our Lord said: “I know thy
works; that thou hast a name that thou lives and are dead. Be
watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to
die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
"Remember
therefore how thou has received and heard, and hold fast and repent.
If therefore thou shall not watch, I will come on thee as a thief,
and thou shall not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
(Rev.3:1-3)
To the
Church at SMYRNA our Lord Jesus had no words of rebuke.
He said: “These things saith the First and the Last, which was
dead and is alive… Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee
a Crown of Life.” (Rev.2: 8-10).
To the
Church at PHILADELPHI our Lord Jesus Christ said:
“These things saith He that is Holy, He that is True, He that
hath the key of David, He that opens and no man shuts; And shuts and
no man opens. Behold I come quickly; hold fast that which thou hast,
that no man takes thy crown.” (Rev.3: 7, 11, 12)
The Head
of the Church was not pleased with five out of the seven churches.
They were admonished to repent. The sad state is that they had
put Jesus out of His Church and He was trying desperately to get back
in, and that is where we find ourselves in many churches in this End
Time! If ever we needed a Revival of Righteousness, Intercession and
Soul winning, it is now!
HEREIN
LIES THE KEY TO REVIVAL!
Going back to our text, Isaiah cries out for
God to "… Rend the heavens…and Come Down that the
mountains would flow down at Thy presence. As when the melting FIRE
burns, the fire causes the waters to BOIL, to make Thy NAME known to
Thine adversaries that the nations may tremble at Thy presence."
(Isaiah 64: 1)
This
is about taking hold of the horns of the altar and holding on until
He answers. It is about repenting, asking, believing and by faith
receiving His promised REVIVAL! And then, going out and
possessing our inheritance as children of God!
It
is Earth crying out to Heaven. It is a heart wrenching prayer to the
Eternal God from a Prophet whose people have gone astray. It is an
Emergency Call for Divine Help and intervention in the affairs of
sinful men. It is an SOS directed to the ears of the Almighty
God and Saviour of the world. It is the beginning of a Revival of
Righteousness!
When
conditions become so desperate that human nature, which is sinful at
best, revolts against the deplorable, despicable perversion and
violence in society, decent human beings feel compelled to call upon
the Lord for help.
Prophet
Isaiah was undoubtedly looking back to the times God had come
down to this earth in judgment upon sinful
flesh, sending a flood that wiped out the entire
population except Noah and his family, destroying Sodom
and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone, delivering Moses
and the Children of Israel by parting the Red Sea and allowing the
waters to return destroying the ‘Might of Egypt’.
He
cried out: "When Thou did terrible things which we looked
not for, THOU CAME DOWN, the mountains flowed down. For since
the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the
ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He hath
prepared for him that waits for Him." (Is. 64: 3, 4)
GOD’S
PROMISES: BEYOND UNDERSTANDING!
St.
Paul refers to the great things which God has promised for those “who
WAIT for Him.” These promises are so great that “eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God
hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all
things, yea the deep things of God.” (1 Cor. 2:9, 10)
The
great ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’ reveals the
blindness of the Jewish leaders who condemned their Messiah and the
pagan Romans who crucified Him: “But we speak the wisdom of God in
a Mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the
world unto our glory: Which none of the PRINCES of this
world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the
Lord of Glory.” (1 Cor.2: 7, 8)
These
great promises are in effect today and will carry right on into
eternity! Many unknowing Ministers take this to mean that all these
things will begin happening only after we are in Glory. The truth is
found in verse 10, where it states: “But God hath revealed them
unto us by His Spirit.”
VANCE
HAVNER, one of America’s most powerful Baptist preachers, stated
that the great things God promised, is not referring only to Paradise
but also for the church now, if by faith we press in to receive them
for His glory! I believe that UNBELIEF has robbed the Church
of our effectiveness to turn back the powers of darkness that has
invaded our ranks and is making us ineffective Messengers of God’s
Kingdom!
Isaiah
prayed in repentance with humility: "Thou meets him that
rejoices and works righteousness, those that remember Thee in Thy
ways: behold, Thou art wroth; for we have SINNED; in those is
continuance, and we shall be saved. But we are all as an UNCLEAN
thing, and all our righteousnesses are as FILTHY RAGS; and we all do
fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind have taken us away.
THE
KEY TO UNLOCK REVIVAL FIRES!
"And
there is none that calls on Thy name that stirs up himself to take
hold of Thee, for Thou hast hid Thy face from us, and hast consumed
us, because of iniquities. But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we
are the clay and Thou our POTTER and we all are the work of
Thy hand." (Isa.64: 4-8)
Here
is the key to unlock the REVIVAL Fires of God in our land! It is
also the key verse that informs us why we do not have a revival. It
reveals the prognoses of our spiritual sickness and also the
prescription for the kind of medicine that will cure our serious
illness.
First,
it reveals that God had hidden his face from us because we have
sinned grievously. The previous verse states that our righteousnesses
are like filthy rags. The terribly bewildering fact is that there
isn’t anyone getting stirred up enough to “take a hold of
Him!”
There
is no-one laying hold on the promises of God, like Job of old,
when he cried out: “Though He slay me yet will I trust Him…”
(Job 13:15). Or, like St. Peter when during the height of the
raging storm, cried out: “Lord if it be Thou, bid me come to
Thee on the water.” (Matt.14: 28)
NO-ONE
is calling upon His name in desperation. No-one is crying out for
mercy, forgiveness and healing. No-one has confronted the Almighty
and taken a hold of Him, like Jacob of old, saying, “I
will not let Thee go except Thou bless me.”
There
is no-one like John Knox crying out: “O God, give me Scotland
or I die,” or Jonathon Edwards interceding in prayer for
three days and night before preaching his powerful sermon, ‘Sinners
in the Hands of the Living God’ which brought 500 souls to
Christ on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut.
WHAT
DO YOU WANT FROM ME?
Where
are God’s holy Ministers today crying out for Revival on their
knees crying out: “Help me or I die; I need some answers; We
need a genuine, Holy Ghost, Heaven sent revival from the hand of God;
What do you want me to do? Here am I, send me!”
The
Bible says: "Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his
spirit was STIRRED in him when he saw the city wholly given to
idolatry." (Acts 17:16); "And he reasoned in the synagogue
every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas
and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was PRESSED in the
spirit, and testified to the Jews that JESUS was Christ." (Acts
18: 5)
St.
Paul wrote to Timothy: "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance
that thou STIR up the gift of God, which is in thee by
the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of
fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2
Tim.1: 6.7)
Apparently,
Timothy was fearful and apprehensive realizing the great
responsibility he had in advancing the Gospel message, in a time when
Rome was pouring on the persecution. The possibility that Paul, his
great mentor, could soon be martyred was very real and then, what
might happen to him. He was a young preacher and was expected to do
the work of a seasoned soldier of the cross, but St. Paul knew that
the gift of God which lay dormant in Timothy could be stirred up!
KING
DAVID had sinned grievously and then he calls upon God in earnestness
and desperation. He is afraid that he is near the point of no return;
that he may be close the end of God’s mercy. He cries out in
desperation:
“Have
MERCY upon me, O God, according to Thy loving kindness. WASH
me thoroughly from iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I
acknowledge my transgression: and my sin is ever before me. PURGE
me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow.
“Hide
Thy face from my sins, and BLOT out all my iniquities, Create
in me a clean heart O God; and RENEW a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from
me. RESTORE unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me
with Thy free spirit.” (Psa.51: 1-12)
FREDRIK FRANSEN: THE FIRE
PROPHET
Fredrik
Fransen was an itinerant Gospel preacher in Norway around the turn of
the 19th Century. At that time it was almost impossible for a
Minister to conduct Gospel meetings outside the Lutheran State
Church. Fredrik Fransen had been invited to stay at the home of an
elderly man while evangelizing the city of Ålesund, which
lies near the Ocean.
His
work came to an abrupt end when an agitated crowd turned ugly and
threatening. The preacher was told in no uncertain terms that he was
not wanted in that city and a very large gathering of town’s people
literally chased him out of Ålesund.
He
stopped on the edge of town and faced the mob with these words,
"As you have driven me out of your city, one day all of you will
flee from this city on this very road."
About a year or
so later a fire started when a cow kicked a torch in the Ålesund
Preserving Company’s factory at 2:00 AM on January 23, 1904.
A gale from the sea propelled the fire forward and almost the entire
City burned to the ground. The fire leaped over the house belonging
to the man who had given the preacher lodging. It is still
preserved as a ‘heritage site’ until today.
As
the fire swept across the city devouring almost everything in its
path, the owner of the house fell to his knees and prayed. His
relatives said: "Hurry, you old religious nut. Get out and
run for your life." He answered: "I didn't
start the fire and I'm not leaving." They said: “We
are all carrying what we can to the top of the mountain. We will take
your furniture, you old fool. You will die." He
answered: "You are free to take what you want. I didn't
start he fire and I'm staying."
The
fire raced up the mountainside to the look-out (A restaurant is there
now) and burned every one's furniture. True to the Preacher's words,
thousands of people literally ran for their lives out of Ålesund
down the very road they had chased Fredrik Fransen.
At
the 100th anniversary of the fire January 23, 2004, I was preaching
in that city and was invited to the Museum at Midnight to hear the
history and enjoy some musical renditions performed by the
Philharmonic Orchestra. At midnight several hundred brave souls made
a two to three hour walk about the city to hear the Curator /
Historian relate some facts about the fire 100 years earlier.
Pastor
Haaken Nilsen introduced me to the Curator and informed him that
I could speak Norwegian and that I knew the history of Fredrik
Fransen. The Museum’s Curator said that the House
had been recently struck from the tour, and he would be pleased if I
would relate to the crowd the story of Fredrik Fransen and the reason
the dire did not engulf that house, because many had not heard it.
I
stood on a chair at about 2:00 AM and shared with several hundred
die-hard History buffs the great historical event of the Ålesund
Fire and why it happened, and that God not only loves us but also
Judges mankind because of our sins. Everyone there were very
attentive and I prayed for their City and all their loved ones!
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
God still answers by FIRE! He has not changed His Word or methodology to please some airy-fairy, arrogant, proud, puny, so-called intellectual academics who parade themselves as knowing more than the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.
