Eternity Conscious
In this blog I feel led to place the thoughts and concepts of one of the greatest authorities on revival in history, a man of God whose thoughts on revival blow my mind and change my heart. I dedicate this blog to Leonard Ravenhill, and am using excerpts from his book, Why Revival Tarries.
“Oh that believers would become eternity-conscious! If we could live every moment of every day under the eye of God, if we did every act in the light of the judgement seat, if we sold every article in the light of the judgement seat, if we prayed every prayer in the light of the judgement seat, if we tithed all our possessions in the light of the judgement seat, if we preachers prepared every sermon with one eye on damned humanity and the other on the judgement seat – then we would have a Holy Ghost revival that would shake this earth and that, in no time at all, would liberate millions of precious souls.
“It has been well said that there are only three classes of people in the world today: those who are afraid, those who do not know enough to be afraid and those who know their Bibles. Sodom, which had no Bible, no preachers, no tracts, no prayer meetings, no churches, perished. How then will America and England be spared from the wrath of the Almighty, think you? We have millions of Bibles, scores of thousands of churches, endless preachers – and yet what sin!
“Men build our churches but do not enter them, print our Bibles but do not read them, talk about God but do not believe Him, speak of Christ but do not trust Him for salvation, sing our hymns and then forget them. How are we going to come out of all this?
“Almost every Bible conference majors on today’s Church being like the Ephesian Church. We are told that, despite our sin and carnality, we are seated with Him. Alas, what a lie! We are Ephesians all right; but as the Ephesian Church in Revelation, we have “left our first love!” We appease sin – but do not oppose it. To such a cold, carnal, critical, care-cowed Church, this lax, loose, lustful, licentious age will never capitulate. Let us stop looking for scapegoats. The fault in declining morality is not radio or television. The whole blame for the present international degeneration and corruption lies at the door of the Church! It is no longer a thorn in the side of the world. Yet, it has not been in times of popularity but of adversity that the true Church has always triumphed. It is passing strange that we are so “simple” as to believe that the Church is presenting to men the New Testament standard of Jesus by such a substandard of Christian living.
“Why does revival tarry? The answer is simple enough
- 1)Because evangelism is so highly commercialised.
- 2)Because of cheapening the Gospel
- 3)Because of carelessness. At the altar, too little time is spent with those souls who come to do eternal business.
- 4)Because of fear. We are tight lipped about the spurious religions of the day, as if there were more than one name whereby men must be saved.
- 5)Because we lack urgency in prayer. A title, undeniably true of the Church today, would be “We wrestle not.” The only power God yields to is that of prayer.
- 6)Because we steal glory that belongs to God. Away with all the fleshly backslapping and platform flattery!
“How does God get much out of it all! Then why doesn’t God fulfill His blessed and yet awful promise and spew us out of His mouth? We have failed. We are filthy. We love men’s praise. We “seek our own.” O God, lift us out of this rut and this rot! Bless us with breakings! Judgement must begin with us preachers!”
I must say, those words by Leonard Ravenhill are hard hitting and terrible on the flesh. But the humble and Spirit Filled among us will receive them like a breath of fresh air. I find it surprising that Christians can be so easily offended when a man of God speaks with such Holy boldness. It is like they are offended that God would even try to correct, reprove or chastise His people. But isn’t it better that God corrects us here, and we repent and change our lives, than we get to heaven and God rebukes us there and says to us, “Away from me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.”
Please watch our newest favourite video by Paul Washer, just below, this video absolutely blows me away.
God Bless
Rob Cartledge
