Do you *really* want to be filled with the Spirit?

“You, entertaining a certain conception of the Spirit, ask for the Spirit and suppose that His influences will all correspond with a conception that you have formed. You expect Him, for instance, to be to you a spirit of consolation, and compass you about with the ambrosial airs of paradise. You understand that He is to lift you into a supermundane ethereal sphere where poetic visions of the islands of the blessed shall come flashing upon you upon the right hand and upon the left.

But the Spirit is Truth and He must come in His true character or not at all. You have solicited His ministrations and they are not withheld. But how surprised you are when He takes you by the hand and you prepare for a rapturous ascent into the Empyrean to find that He has taken you by the hand for the purpose of conducting you down into some deep, dark dungeon-like chambers of imagery. In vain you shudder and draw back. You only discover thereby what an iron grasp He has. He bids you look upon those hideous images and observe how they body forth the great features of your past life.

One abominable statue is named selfishness and its lofty pedestal is completely carved with inscriptions of dates. You look at these dates – your Guide constrains you to – and you are appalled to find that what you regarded as the most beautiful and most consecrated hours of your past life are there; even there. There is a repulsive image called covetousness, and you say boldly, Sure I am that no date of mine is there inscribed. Alas, there are many, and some that you thought golden connecting you with heaven – anger, wrath, malice, see how the odious monsters seem to wink at you from their seats as at a well-known comrade; how the picture of your past life is made ugly on their pedestals. You have looked unbelief in the face, and frowning tell him that you know him not. Whatever your faults you have never been an unbeliever. The Spirit constrains you to observe that unbelief claims, and justly claims, the whole of your past life.

A profound humiliation and a piercing sorrow possess your heart. At least you say, standing opposite the image of falsehood, I am no liar, I hate all falsehood with a perfect hatred. The Spirit of God points you to the fatal evidence. You examine the dates and you see that some of them refer even to your seasons of prayer. At length, altogether humbled, dispirited and conscience-stricken you acknowledge that here in these damp subterranean galleries, and in the midst of these abominable images is your true home. You remember with shame the ideas with which you have greeted the Spirit, and you fall at His feet confessing all your folly. There does He raise you and lead you into the open air beneath the blessed canopy of heaven, and you find a chariot in which you may unforbidden take your place beside the Spirit and visit the places of joy that are above the earth.”

– George Bowen, Missionary to India

Our Greatest Danger

Our greatest danger, I feel today, is to quench the Spirit. This is no age to advocate restraint; the church today does not need to be restrained, but to be aroused, to be awakened, to be filled with a spirit of glory, for she is failing in the modern world.

Dr.  Martin Lloyd-Jones, Joy Unspeakable

(Incidentally, I think there are some churches in which restraint is needed. But they are not the evangelical churches this quote so perfectly captures.)

try to Our greatest danger, I feel today, is to quenc

O Breath of life

Sing this prayer at your church:

O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,
Revive Thy church with life and power;
O Breath of life, come, cleanse, renew us,
And fit Thy church to meet this hour.

O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,
Till humbly we confess our need;
Then in Thy tenderness remake us,
Revive, restore, for this we plead.

O Breath of love, come breathe within us,
Renewing thought and will and heart;
Come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us,
Revive Thy church in every part.

O Heart of Christ, once broken for us,
’Tis there we find our strength and rest;
Our broken, contrite hearts now solace,
And let Thy waiting church be blest.

Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating
While harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive, us Lord, the world is waiting,
Equip Thy church to spread the light.

Bessie Head, ca. 1914. Listen to 600 uni students belting it out last week.

Praying And The Relationship It Builds With God

Definition of prayer: Prayer is the act of communicating with God.

Praying is crucial in our day to day relationship with God. Prayer is our way to express our feelings to God, to tell him of our needs and desires.

God knows what is going on in our lives, what we want and our day to day needs, but, He wants us to tell him, to build a strong relationship with him that will last forever.

Through prayer we can enter into the presence of God and seek him out. 2 Chronicles 7:1 shows the power of prayer: “¹ When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.” Solomon built a relationship with God by praying to him, by talking to him.

When we talk to God, we are saying that we want Him involved in our life, that we accept His help.  We cannot have an on-and-off relationship with God like with distant relatives you see every year, or even grandparents you see every weekend. We cannot wait for church or youth for our weekly meet with the Lord, we should not come into his presence spontaneously, but every single day, when we’re feeling down, when we’re struggling with issues, we need to seek God out, pray to him, ask him for advice, confide in Him.

“There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2 NIV) The Lord God is one that you can trust, one that you can fully confide, displaying all your fears and doubts. God will not judge you for it, but love you for it.

People who have an on-and-off relationship with God will not last long, but will fall away, through temptation and other means. Therefore plant yourself firmly in Gods word, seek Him out daily, enter into his presence and pray, know His will as your own.

Develop a relationship with God that is deep and meaningful. “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8 NIV). We should pray that we can further our relationship with God and to bring other people to Him.

Peace out my brothers (Women are included in the brothers)

Welcome Jake

A new contributor has joined us here at PFR – Jake B! He’s one on-fire kiddo, and I’m heaps excited to read his stuff.
Bring it on!

Pray for workers

An article in SIM’s ‘Mission Together’ magazine (issue 125):

THE TUAREG are one of many Muslim people groups found in the north of Burkina Faso.

At the Heart of Revival

“At the heart of revival is Christ made known to repenting sinners.”

- Stanley Voke, Personal Revival (Waynesboro, Ga.: OM Literature, nd), 78.

from Of First Importance.

Prayer and busyness

I often find myself thinking I’m too busy to pray.

I’m surely not as busy as Martin Luther was, though:

His job as professor of Bible at the University of Wittenberg was full-time work of its own. He wrote theological treatises by the score: biblical, homiletical, liturgical, educational, devotional, and political, some of which have shaped Protestant church life for centuries. All the while he was translating the whole of Scriptures into German, a language that he helped to shape by that very translation. He carried on a voluminous correspondence, for he was constantly asked for advice and counsel. Travel, meetings, conferences, and colloquies were the order of the day. All the while he was preaching regularly to a congregation that he must have regarded as a showcase of the Reformation. (from John Piper)

So what a rebuke this statement is!

“If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” (Martin Luther)

Ouch.

My attitude, I think, reflects:
a) an over-estimation of my own ability to do stuff, and
b) an under-estimation of God’s ability to do stuff

7 requests, 7 minutes a day, 7 days a week

I’ve been very encouraged and challenged by the example of Pastor Drew from First Presbyterian Church of Coral Springs. He left this comment on the Contribute page:

I have been meeting on Tuesday Mornings at 6am and 6pm with anyone from Church who will come for [prayer for] reformation and revival…
We have been seeing a consistent 4 to 6 every Tuesday (since September). I just added the 6 pm time and really I am the only one so far for that meeting. As far as answers, I have been encourage that the we had about 4 new converts join our church last month. Small beginnings, but praise God!

This is his call to prayer:

Extraordinary prayer (a term I got from Jonathan Edwards) is when we come together as a body and are united in one purpose and are persistent in praying for that purpose, and in this case, that one purpose is revival.

… Revival, defined like above cannot be manipulated. We cannot make revival happen; it must be a sovereign work of God. All we can do is pray for it, while faithfully living holy and obedient lives; thus, my call to ‘prayer’.

I’m calling you to commit to 7 minutes a day, 7 days a week to pray for 7 requests as it relates to revival.

Pray for the following things:

1. For God to be merciful to His Church and pour out His Holy Spirit in a powerful way.
2. For God to guide and direct the Deacons & Elders as they seek to serve and shepherd the flock and for the Pastors as they seek to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Eph 4:12).
3. For yourself and other Christians to be deeply convicted of all sin and to repent.
4. For yourself and other Christians to have a zeal for God and the things of God and to live holy lives according to the Scriptures.
5. For yourself and other Christians to grow in love for one another, and for those who are lost.
6. For yourself and other Christians to have a passion for proclaiming the gospel and leading others to Jesus.
7. For God to be glorified in His Church and through the saving of many souls, and that our community will be transformed by the Gospel.

May God be merciful to us and bring the revival we so desperately need in our day

In Christ,

Pastor Drew

Iain Murray – a champ

Iain H. Murray was born in 1931 in Lancashire, England. He began full time Christian ministry in 1955 at the age of 24 and the next year in 1956 he was asked to join Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones at Westminster chapel. He was there for three years.

It was during those years that he founded an institution called ‘The banner of truth trust’. Through the Banner of truth he was able to publish tons of biographies of guys like Jonathan Edwards, John Murray, Charles Spurgeon, Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones, John Wesley, George Whitefield + tons more.

As well as this, the banner reproduced books written by men who had long been almost forgotten. The works of Thomas Brooks, John Owen, Thomas Watson, Richard Baxter were among those the Banner of Truth published. These books have assisted in the renewed interest in Puritan writings during the second half of the 20th century till now. I’ve also found many of them to be invaluable.

Murray’s passion is church history, and more importantly, the history of revival.

His books, ‘Revival and Revivalism’, ‘The Puritan hope: Revival and the interpretation of Prophecy’, ‘Pentecost today’, and tons more outline his thinking on the theology of revival.

A couple of key things I’ve learnt from Iain Murray concerning revival are these:

1. What a revival is..

A revival according to Murray, is a powerful activity of the Spirit of God in large numbers of people at the same time. The effect of His activity is to animate, refresh and encourage Christians; Convert sinners; and promote Godliness and the guilt of sin among a whole society that may not convert but leads to a change in living.

Revival most oftentimes leads out of a cold-hearted, faithless era. Revival is not often predicted. It isn’t something that people naturally expect. It is an act of God where he bears his saving arm for all to see, when all least expect to see it.

2. What revivalism is…

Revival causes Christ’s church to be refreshed in amazing ways. Churches during revival have found it difficult to get people to leave. They have had to have weekday meetings to provide for all the need people feel to hear God’s word. There is increased prayer. There are strong emotions felt.

In an effort to produce revival, churches have in the past tried to replicate the different aspects of what church looks like during a revival. They have introduced lengthy prayer times, weekday services and outdoor services in order to replicate revival. Churches plan ‘revivals’ and say ‘next week we will have a revival at such and such a tent…’ This kind of thinking has lead to churches thinking that they are in control of the factors leading to revival, not God. It has lead to a decreased appreciation for God’s sovereignty and a belief that revival has something to do with the works of men.

3. If you believe that Christ is sovereign over revival then you should expect it!

Revival doesn’t happen because something special is going on in the church. In fact most revivals happen despite the bad practise of the church. Murray points out that in revival the mode of operations in terms of faithful biblical preaching and God saving sinners through the spirit doesn’t change. It’s just more widespread. There aren’t special revival sermons that will bring on revival or special prayers that will make people turn. It’s only God!

In fact… Jonathan Edward’s famous sermon, ‘Sinners in the hands of an Angry God’ was preached twice by edwards. The first time in his home church of Northampton there was little or no effect on the congregation. The same sermon preached a month later in Enfield, Connecticut saw hundreds saved and was one of the highlights of the Great Awakening.

So… Humans have no control over revival, which should not surprise us or deter us. The only one who brings revival is Christ. He is the one who can turn the hearts of men. AND he is the same Christ today as he was at Pentecost, at Enfield Connecticut, in the reformation, in inland china in the 1800s. The Christ who has brought revivals in the past is the Christ we worship.

If we were looking to human hands to bring about revival, we would be on shaky ground. We would be working, toiling, organising, strategising. But we don’t bring revivals, Christ does. And so if we have the same Christ, we should expect him to come! Our only tool is prayer as we plead with him to reveal himself.

In the meantime, we wait patiently, preaching faithfully, praying eagerly, trusting wholeheartedly.

Iain Murray has helped me see this better; To trust God’s sovereignty more; To see his plans more clearly; To love orthodoxy; To pray for revival.

To get your hands on some resources of Murray’s check out

His page at monergism.com

The Berean Beacon also has tons of resources by Murray and others

Sermon Audio has a bunch of his sermons. I recommend the lectures at Mt. Olive on the history of Revival (1740-1860).