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Have We No Tears for Revival? |
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Written by Leonard Ravenhill
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Thursday, 17 July 2008 |
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." (Ps. 126:5). This is the
divine edict.
 This is more than preaching with zeal. This is more than
scholarly exposition. This is more than delivering sermons of
exegetical exactitude and homiletical perfection. Such a man, whether
preacher or pew dweller, is appalled at the shrinking authority of the
Church in the present drama of cruelty in the world. And he cringes
with sorrow that men turn a deaf ear to the Gospel and willingly risk
eternal hell in the process. Under this complex burden, his heart is
crushed to tears.
The true man of God is heartsick, grieved at the worldliness of the
Church, grieved at the blindness of the Church, grieved at the
corruption in the Church, grieved at the toleration of sin in the
Church, grieved at the prayerlessness in the Church. He is disturbed
that the corporate prayer of the Church no longer pulls down the
strongholds of the devil. He is embarrassed that the Church folks no
longer cry in their despair before a devil-ridden, sin-mad society,
"Why could we not cast him out?" (Matt. 17:19).
Many of us have no heart-sickness for the former glory of the Church
because we have never known what true revival is. We stagnate in the
status quo and sleep easy at night while our generation moves swiftly
to the eternal night of hell. Shame, shame on us! Jesus whipped some
money changers out of the temple; but before He whipped them, He wept
over them. He knew how near their judgment was The Apostle Paul sent a
tear-stained letter to the Philippian saints, writing: "I have told you
often and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the
cross of Christ" (Phil. 3:18). Notice that he does not say they are
enemies of Christ; they are, rather, the enemies of the cross of
Christ. They deny or diminish the redemptive values of the cross. There
are many like this today. The church of Rome does not stand as an enemy
of Christ; it traces heavily on His holy name. Yet it denies the cross
by saying that the Blessed Virgin is co-redemptive. If this is so, why
was she not also crucified? The Mormons use the name of Christ, yet
they are astray on the atonement. Have we tears for them? Shall we face
them without a blush when they accuse us of inertia at the Judgment
Seat saying that they were our neighbors and an offense to us, but not
a burden because they were lost?
The Salvationists can scarcely read their flaming evangelical history
without tears. Has the glory of the evangelical revival under Wesley
ever gripped the hearts of the Methodists of today? Have they read of
the fire-baptized men in Wesley's team? Men like John Nelson, Thomas
Walsh, and a host of others whose names are written in the Book of
Life; men persecuted and kicked in the streets when they held street
meetings? Yet as their blood flowed from their wounds, their tears
flowed from their eyes. Have the Holiness people set a guard at the
door of the beauty parlors lest any sister should enter to get her hair
curled, while a block away there is a string of prostitutes trying to
sell their sin-wracked bodies with none to tell them of eternal love?
Do the Pentecostals look back with shame as they remember when they
dwelt across the theological tracks, but with the glory of the Lord in
their midst? When they had a normal church life, which meant nights of
prayers, followed by signs and wonders, and diverse miracles, and
genuine gifts of the Holy Ghost? When they were not clock watchers, and
their meetings lasted for hours, saturated with holy power? Have we no
tears for these memories, or shame that our children know nothing of
such power? Other denominations had their Glory Days of revival. Think
of the mighty visitations to the Presbyterians in Korea. Remember the
earth-shaking revival in Shantung. Are those days gone forever? Have we
no tears for revival?
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