It is midsummer, and no rain has fallen for weeks. The bottled clouds refuse to yield one drop of moisture, and all nature is sore athirst. Down in the meadows the springs are dried up, and the grass is brown and shrivelled. Here and there the corn fields are red as they were in April, for the green blade has been burned up. Along the wayside the hedgerows are covered with a dense coat of dust. The leaves are drooping, the flowers are dying, the...
“AND how shall they preach except they be sent?” (Paul). The preacher is the ambassador of Eternity in the court of Time. In the court but not of it. His authority is eternity, his headquarters the realm of the eternal verities. His only concern is to permeate the court of time with the atmosphere of the eternal. He receives power and inspiration for his tremendous task from beyond the confines of the temporal. Is it meet to congratulate a...
The men God uses in revival know that sin will quench the Holy Spirit, and their passion for God is equalled only by their fear of offending Him. These are not men who take God lightly. Men used in revival have a great opinion of God and are touch-sensitive to sin, long before the revival comes. Not only are the leaders in revival men with a deep experience of God and a passion for holiness, but, as we should expect, they are men who are...
The very figure which Christ uses illustrates this idea; ‘as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.’ Now how does a branch bear fruit? Not by incessant effort for sunshine and air; not by vain struggles for those vivifying influences which give beauty to the blossom, and verdure to the leaf;—it simply abides in the vine, in silent and undisturbed union; and the fruit and...
When God stepped down from heaven in 1949 the things of earth took second place. “An awareness of God was felt everywhere. You felt His presence and His power on meadow and moorland. You met Him in the homes of people. Indeed God was everywhere, you could not escape Him.” Conviction was so intense that people could not sleep, normal activities were halted and lost men and women cried out to God, terrified to face Him in their sins. Strong...
The praying people of the Bible are intercessors. Abraham pleaded for Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses made intercession for apostate Israel. Samuel prayed all night for Saul and continually for the nation. David entreated God for his people. Daniel prayed for the deliverance of the Lord’s people from Babylon. Christ prayed for His disciples, and made special intercession for Peter. Paul was an example of his own exhortation “that supplications,...