Supernatural or Superficial Church — Leonard Ravenhill

The Church Under Judgment

I say are very incisive. I know that they're disturbing and I intend that they should be. And you'll know what I'm meaning when I say this that I can't think of anything more stupid than Noah standing on his ark on the deck the day that the world was to be flooded with a bunch of pretty girls with short skirts and a bunch of fellas that look like men.

I'm not just sure clapping their hands and singing something good is going to happen to you today doesn't make much sense. Does it. And yet a famous program does this. Every week says to a world that's one heartbeat from judgment.

Something good is going to happen to you now. I know if you turned it around and said something bad is going to happen to you you wouldn't get any support. But I didn't know we were here to get support anyhow.

I'm saying that to say this that the pressure is on and the church of Jesus will have to have more than it has now to combat what's coming in these last final hours before Jesus comes. We're facing what the Bible calls again the battle of principalities and powers.

I hope you'll come tonight. I hope you'll bring your teenagers and hear what this young we're going to sing about two hymns. Have Danny sing something and then oh no not Danny that would never do. You're gonna have Billy Bill sing something.

And we're going to give this young man the platform about 10 minutes to eight and tell him he can go for an hour and a quarter an hour and a half. I've not heard him speak. If you close your eyes you'll be sure it's Billy Graham.

He talks exactly with the same accent. I have read his life in a small book that's published and it's a very very disturbing very challenging book. This young man was in Steve Nolford's church in New York.

Stephen has resigned there as you know perhaps. And they begged him to stay on. When he came back from Israel the other day they asked him to stop in there. He also made I think ten a number of tapes to be put over their TV their TV ministry through New York which reaches approximately at least it has a potential of reaching 10 million people.

Well so much. So just to excite you try and get you at least a night to shake off dull sloth and maybe tearfully leave. I'm not so sure he's on now but that was a man used to be on Saturday night with his yes I thought might you want my might want to leave Lawrence Welk for one night and sacrificial as it is.

And I'm coming here this this amazing young man because he certainly has. He hasn't had a theological encounter with God. He isn't just a smart kid that's come up knows a few proof text. He's been to hell and back and he can say with David he brought me out of a horrible pit.

The Bible’s Inspiration and Knowing God

Many volumes have been written attempting to prove the inspiration of the Bible. Somebody one day faced one of the greatest men in evangelism the world has had. He was. He was comparatively ignorant. He wasn't even a good theologian.

He did not have good English but he became famous as DL Moody. Somebody asked him one day can he prove that the Bible is true. How can you prove the inspiration of the Bible. And just as quick as that he said because it inspires me.

And I think that's as good an answer as any. It's possible to believe the Bible is inspired without feeling any inspiration. There are two ways to know the Bible. One is by education. That is you go to Bible school and then they'll doctrinate you and tell you that Romans is chapter 1 to 8 9 to 11 12 to 16.

But again I remind you that it there's all the difference between knowing the Word of God and knowing the God of the Word. We're suffering from a ministry that knows the Word of God and does not in general practice know the God of the Word.

And that's my conviction. I said it to thousands of ministers in the past two years. We have more knowledge of the Word of God than we have of the God of the Word. Let me read just a short scripture to you axed 3 from verse 1.

Peter and John went up to the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour a certain man from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called beautiful to ask an arms of them who entered the temple.

Seeing Peter and John go into the temple he asked arms. And Peter fastening his eyes upon him said look on us. Great when you can say that isn't it look on us. We've got what you need. A little bit later in the chapter when they wanted to put a crown on his head and worship him he said don't look on us as though by our power or holiness we have made this man to what.

But in the moment of his need he said look on us. And he gave heed to them expecting to receive something of them. And this is the text. No evangelist ever preaches on silver and gold. I have none but such as I have give I unto thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. Leaping he stood up he walked and entered with them into the temple leaping and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God. A man doesn't need a degree the BSC degree in engineering to know when a train has left the track. A little boy can tell you say there's the train.

It's rolled over off the track and by the same token. The man doesn't need a theological degree to know that the Church of Jesus has left the track. We are no longer the church that Jesus died for. The disparity between the church that was and the church that is is as wide as the Grand Canyon the Gulf of the Grand Canyon.

The Early Church Surrounded by Opposition

I try to make everything or turn everything into something that preaches or teaches me something. And two years ago we stood on the southern lip of the Grand Canyon as I'm sure many of you have done. And I remember seeing that plaque there and it gave a detail of the Grand Canyon.

Maybe I don't know how many thousands of years it was old. And then I remember the brief distinct features of the canyon. It said the river in the distance. That yellow river I think was seven miles away.

It's 350 feet wide it's 35 feet deep. It flows at a certain speed. It looked just like a little piece of ribbon. But it's a very formidable challenging river. Then if you're in the base of the canyon you look up the walls are a mile high maybe the deepest hole in the earth.

It gave some other dimensions about it. And as I looked at that river and I saw that Canyon I said to myself what chance with a little child have say a two-year-old child. If it were lost in that Canyon what chance would it have of getting out.

It couldn't go forward. There's a river but it could never get across. It couldn't climb scale these mountains. It's blocked in every way. What chance did it have. Well I applied it this way. This is the church the early church a group of unlettered uneducated unknown men not men of prestige.

And Jesus has filled them with the Holy Spirit. And they are walled into high heaven on this side with the greatest military machine in the world the Roman Empire. On this side the greatest intellectual machine the power of the Greeks in front of them a flowing river of the Jewish monopoly of God as they thought all the Old Testament prophets said everything and yet at this point they had nothing.

How the how is that infant church going to get out of this situation. But it didn't get out. I say if the Bible doesn't inspire us well then that's the reason we're so flat either as laymen or preachers.

The Book of Acts and the Holy Spirit

And every time I open the book the Acts of the Apostles I think of an Englishman a stuffy Englishman a very brilliant Englishman could read the Bible in various languages. He'd read it in this sleepy Elizabethan English that can get pretty monotonous sometimes true enough.

And he turned around in his swivel chair one morning rather bored and he thought. No I won't read it in this I read it in the Greek. And so he reached for his Greek New Testament. He opened it began to read the Acts of the Apostles.

And suddenly the thing exploded. It became alive to him. And he summarized this as he turned page after page he quarreled. First of all with the title of the book the Acts of the Apostles. No that's not a right title.

This is some of the Acts of some of the Apostles. It's not a complete record of the church. As he went through the book he discovered that it is the book of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is mentioned 52 times in this book.

And because the Holy Spirit is as our brother said the spirit of prayer prayer is mentioned 40 times in this book. And suddenly began to see the whole thing is vibrating with the miraculous as I've said so often almost facetiously.

But I never get weary of saying it doesn't do you good. It'll do me good to repeat it. The church began in the upper room with a bunch of men agonizing. She's ending in the supper room with a bunch of women organizing.

The mark in the early church was that of the supernatural. And when the church is not supernatural I don't care how high your steeple is. How brilliant your preacher is. How many buses you have or anything else.

If your church or mine does not have the imprint of the supernatural then all it has is superficial. This man read the word and began to see the miraculous here and the miraculous there and signs and wonders.

It's a bit disturbing when you think of it that there though there was the high priest there was the temple. There's all the outlet. They had the law. They had the prophets. They had a monopoly on God they thought.

And God died past the whole bunch of them. He didn't say care for us. Would you mind going in the upper room and tiring till he had be endued with powerful from on high didn't go to any of the other priests are dignitaries.

He bypassed the whole bunch of them. They were fundamental but they were bogged down with tradition. And so he takes a bunch of unlearned and ignorant men. J .B. Phillips summarizes in a very beautiful way.

And I don't think anybody has ever surpassed this summarizes the early church. He says. This is the Church of Jesus Christ before it became fat and short of breath by prosperity. This is the Church of Jesus before it became muscle-bound by over organization.

This is the Church of Jesus Christ where they didn't gather a group of intellectuals to study psychosomatic medicine. They just healed the sick. This is a group of people not meeting together to sign on the dotted line.

I believe in your doctrine in your church. Can I come in. They didn't sign articles of faith. They acted in faith. They didn't say prayers. They prayed in the Holy Ghost. One of the greatest privileges I've had I think is to pray with some of the most wonderful men of our generation.

Not just spend hours nights whole nights in prayer days in prayer weeks in prep. And it's quite something to hear a man anointed with prayer who can pray 45 50 60 minutes 90 minutes. There's nothing stale about it.

And he isn't doing it. He isn't praying sideways. He's he's locked up there with God. He's he's all unburdening his burden heart and spirit. And he prays a language which isn't known normally to men now that he doesn't pray in tongues.

I'm not thinking of that. He prays with something near not quite like the passion that Jesus prayed with in Gethsemane. This to me is very challenging. Peter and John went up to the temple. At why did they go.

Nobody in the temple believed what they believed. And they didn't believe what the folk in the temple believed. But they went to the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour they got into trouble.

But you know a little later they were back in the temple. They still insisted. They went in the temple even though they threw them out. And as they went to the temple here is the man crouched at the gate of the temple.

The World’s Corruption and the Need for Revival

Now in my judgment he's a type of a crippled world in which we live. You know ever since Adam committed that first sin we've been living in an emergency state. Look the world had hardly got born before.

You have impressed upon you which will mention again tomorrow night the fact that the earth was filled with what. Corruption and violence. What's it filled with now. Corruption and violence. I don't care what nation you go to.

Russia holds it down. A statesman. If there are any a politician let's let's use that modified word. Came back to Washington. Not too long ago he'd been to Russia and he said I never saw a drunk man on the street.

I never saw a drug addict. If they have any they suppress them. They keep them out. But everywhere somebody has said not until films went into Japan did they ever have any family trouble. They have little tight families.

I've been in Japan they're very obedient to their parents. But now they've got family problems and student problems. Violence is everywhere in the world corruption. Everything's corrupt from Watergate down to the gutter.

When you think of a film such as Deep Throat which is the filthiest thing ever produced even in New York City. And then they haven't too much conscience I think. But they threw it out. It's the filthiest thing.

It's all sex orally you know what that means. And yet they're fighting like fury. And they're gonna produce more films like that. And if you think that God's gonna watch much longer while America breaks or England breaks his laws a thousand times a day blasphemes his son.

We have more divorce than any nation in the world. We've more drug addicts with more drunks with more perverts. We've more homosexuals. We've more illegitimate children. What more do you want. You want to break some more records.

God's patience runs out as I said to a couple of thousand preachers at the sudden Baptist Convention. If I gave you a piece of paper and a pencil and said write on it. Who or what you think is the is the chief threat to America.

You might not come within a million miles of it. You might start with a devil finish with a Democrat and in between have divorce and drink and dope. And I don't know what else. The greatest threat to America this morning in my judgment.

So help me is God. You think he can't. What why why is he tied up to America. Or if I were in England I'd say what. Why is God tied up to England. God was married to Israel. He divorced Israel. He's gonna remarry Israel.

But for 2 ,000 years God hasn't bothered about Israel. He didn't interfere. When Germany decided to liquidate 6 million Jews did he five times in the history of the world the Jews have had major attacks on them have almost been annihilated as low as less than a million at one time.

They're back to about 18 million now. God has let them be kicked around and ostracized and murdered and heaven knows what. And he's just let them suffer. We have attacked so many countries with the gospel.

There are two areas where the gospel has never penetrated. One is the Jews. There's never been a revival amongst Jews. Japan. I spoke at the curries our conference there to hundreds of missionaries and afterwards a missionary came to me and he said brother Ravenel we've been here a hundred and three years and only half of 1 of this country is Christian.

Whether you say Catholics or Protestants or Jehovah's Witnesses bunch them all together. Half of 1 of this nation is Christian. I said to the next day gentlemen the way you're going and it's easy for me to say it.

I said that to them. I said it's easy for me to say it. I'll be on a plane tomorrow tomorrow night I'll be back in America. But it's easier for me to say. But the way you're going with a message you've got it'll take another hundred years to get the other half of that 1

Our present evangelism is like striking a match and sitting on an iceberg trying to melt it be pretty crazy. Wouldn't it. Despite the fact we've had mass crusades. And I respect Billy Graham these are the fellows.

But America is worse off this morning than it was 25 years ago. More crime more vileness more wickedness more corruption. Not because of what they've done but in spite of what they've done. But why don't we get a bunch of folk that really care not preachers trying to polish up a little of their evangelistic armor and find a new gimmick.

Cause this is what most goes on at many of these conferences. Did you ever try this. You should try that you can get more money more people. Now evangelist revival is the work of the spirit in the church.

Evangelism is the work of the church in the world. The promise that Jesus gave in Acts 1 was that they should receive power the Holy Ghost coming upon them not tongues. Mark you though there are gifts.

That wasn't the promise. He should receive power. And then somebody says oh yes you should come to our church. We have miracles of all kind. You know. That proves we're Pentecostal. It doesn't prove anything.

Power, Witness, and Suffering

Can you tell me a miracle they did after Pentecost. They didn't do before Pentecost. They came running to Jesus before Pentecost. And they said you know even devils are subject to us. He says going to all the world.

Tarry go tarry. Contradictory. Why. Because they didn't have what it took. Even if they could do the miraculous. Oh well they weren't good witnesses. You should receive power the Holy Ghost. And you should be witnesses as soon as you get filled with the Spirit.

Run to everybody's door knock and say you know God's fill me with it. That isn't what he said. They were good witnesses before ever they were say before ever they were filled with the Holy Ghost. I'll show you people who can fight you theologically about any second work of grace or anything beyond being born of the Spirit.

They're awful good witnesses. But they don't believe in the person of the Holy Spirit. Or they claim to be well saved. The word there you should be witnesses is not the word witness in the sense of something verbal.

The word actually is he shall be martyrs unto me. Martyrs sufferers. Those who can bear something. You don't have what it takes. Peter only had to have a girl's finger and she said well you belong to this man anyhow.

Your speech he says you're a liar. I don't. I never even saw them. I don't know him. The man who ran away from a girl's finger soon puts his finger up at the leading theological men and the fellows there that had all the distinction bishops.

And he says you crucified the Lord of Glory. Something happened in a man like that that ran away from a girl and charges the whole bunch. You should be martyrs. Martyrs is obviously is identified with suffering.

You're gonna suffer for me. You should receive power the Holy Ghost coming upon you did. They need that power. Sure they did. How do you think fishermen would have written these epistles if they hadn't received power.

They needed power intellectually. They needed power physically. They were going to suffer for his namesake. They needed moral power. The early church didn't get into trouble for speaking in tongues. They laughed at them.

For that they say see that bunch of guys came down there. They've been up in that room. I guess they've been drinking. That's all. Nobody's seen them for ten days anyhow. They're all drunk. I wish I could get the church drunk for she never does anything when she's sober.

Anyhow. What did Paul say. Paul says be not drunk with wine. Be filled with the Spirit. Why. Where's the comparison. All they compare all right. The first day of the war not the first one Second World War.

I happen to be preaching in Glasgow Scotland. As we came home from the meeting the pastor of this large church said I've got a call for a gas mask. Everybody must carry a gas mask. Are you coming for yours.

I said no. I'm not coming for mine. He said I'm gonna get mine. I said all right. He said hey stand by this by this lamp post when I come out of that lit room now remember there were no lights in the street.

No lights in the homes no lights on automobiles. You had to put a disc over your headlight and just you could have a thing as big as a quarter shining just one little beam. The streetcars had no lights.

Everything was draped in blackness. The Germans are gonna blast us to eternity that night. So he said when I come out of that room that's lit I won't be able to see where I'm going. He came out. I stood by that street post and as I did as he went in a streetcar came up and a Scotsman got off.

He was drunk. He wobbled across like this you know. And then he caught his foot on something. And he must have known instinctively the lamp post was there. He put his arms around the lamp post and me as well.

And brother had he drunk something. And it wasn't coffee. No did he smell. And then he felt me. Then he said who are you. Are you a Scotsman. I said no. I'm an Englishman. An Englishman. Can you sing.

I said no. I can't sing. No he says listen to me. And he sang Maxwell to embrace a bonnie. Where early falls of the Jew. He meant the dew. But anyhow he said the Jew. And then when he'd sung that he backed off and he said roll his sleeves.

Can you fate. I said no. I can't fight. He said who's your father. I told him what my father was. He put his hand in his pocket and he brought out a whole stack of silver and offered it to me. Now when a Scotsman offers you money you know he's drunk.

He offered me all the money had in his pocket. Now what does Paul say. He says be not filled with wine. Where is it. But be filled with the spirit. Why. Because the man who is intoxicated with God is like the man who's naturally intoxicated.

I could have passed that man at nine o 'clock in the morning and I could have said good morning morning gone on his way. But you see he was. He was energized with something else. And he was loquacious.

He wanted to talk. He wanted my history wanted me to talk with him. And so Paul says be not filled with wine. But like the man who is filled with wine. If you've got something to talk about the spirit will quicken you.

And remember he doesn't boot you along. As somebody read this morning you've got to stir yourself up stir up the gift of God which is in you. And the man that's filled with the spirit wants to witness.

The man that wants to fill with the spirit wants to sing. The man that's filled with the spirit wants to fight. Not the other man but the devil. The man that's filled with the spirit is generous. Be not filled with wine where is in excess.

But be filled with a spirit. Isn't this exactly what happened in the case of these men. The whole act of the Apostles demonstrates it now. Peter and John went up to the temple at the hour of prayer. Here's a man crouching at the gate.

The Crippled World and the Church’s Witness

What does it say. Every word is valuable. They carried him. How often daily carried him from home to the temple. Temple back home. Every day twice a day 365 times a year. What's. Twice. 365. 730 for 10 years 7 ,300 times.

For 30 years 21 ,900 times. Are you sure they carried him all that time. I think so because it said he was over 40 years of age. Anyhow. And professional beggars get a place to stay. And they stay. I could go to back to India and find men sitting in that spot.

I saw them years ago. I could go to London and see a man sitting exact. He won't let that spot. No and nor the beggar will take it. That's his spot. As long as he lives there. This man was over 40 years maybe for 30 years.

He begged at the gate of the temple. They carried him. He was carried every day. Yeah he was carried but he was never cured. People threw him a dollar a gold piece carried but not cured help but not healed.

And he saw Peter and John come. Oh boy he said I'll get something here. These are the two men had that big revival yesterday had 5 ,000 converts. They'd get a big love offering. I'm sure. And so he wanted a slice out of it.

It is how the high priest had gone in before a most like ostentatiously tossed him a gold piece to let everybody see his arms. And the assistant pastor doesn't get as much. So he tossed him a silver piece.

And he looked on Peter and John. He said I need help. I need arms. ALMS. You know ALMS. But phonetically it's like this arms. So the little girl was listening to a teacher. Read this that he asked ALMS.

And she said teacher why did he ask for arms when he needed legs. Well I think he's like us. We often ask God for what we don't need. And we don't ask him for what we do need. Peter said look on us. Good when you can say that isn't it.

Look on us. We too not look on me. You see I said so very often when we do God's work in God's way we'll get God's power and God. We don't do it that way. The Acts of the Apostles is the is the basic book on church government and everything else.

Spiritual Qualifications for Church Leadership

Why did they choose deacons. They chose them because they were full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. Do you choose deacons that way. Or do you choose them because oh he's a politician and he owns two Texaco stations and a hot dog stand.

Boy he'd be good on the deacon board. You know he could always pull his purse out and give you a bit. Why do you choose deacons. Do you bring them up and say brother do you have any gifts of the Spirit.

How do you qualify as a deacon. What about the preacher. Well I'm quite sure of this that no man should be a pastor of a church. Well they say who's gonna be the pastor. An archangel. No two men. Why.

Because Jesus sent the seventy out two by two. And you find Peter and John and Paul and Silas and Paul and Barnabas. Not one man many times before he died. Of course I heard dr. Campbell Morgan in London.

But he wouldn't pastor a church by himself. A B Simpson was in that fashionable big church. I preached many times in it on 8th Avenue New York. But he wouldn't pastor it by himself. Why you need two pastors.

You need one as an evangelist to pull them in and another to feed them. Do God's work God's way. What does the preacher to do. Bury the dead run after. No no no no no. Preacher shouldn't visit the sick visit the hospital.

That's not his job. Why. Because the New Testament says so. That's why you want to argue with it argue with God. Don't argue with me. What does it say. In the sixth chapter the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said it's it's not reasonable.

It's not sensible that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. We will give ourselves continually to prayer and the Word of God. I have very seldom found a good pastor who is a good preacher.

And very seldom found a good preacher who is a good pastor. One of the greatest preachers after Spurgeon. Indeed. I think about maybe the same time as Spurgeon Spurgeon ruled as the king in the south of England.

And this other man ruled Alexander McLaren. I used to have his 32 volumes. Maybe some of you have 33 with his index volume. McLaren went to that big church. They said we'll buy you a horse and carriage and give you a lovely home.

And here's this fight. A monstrous church. I've been in that church. We had meetings in that church. When McLaren listened to all they offered to him. He said to me said all right. I'll I'll take the church on one condition.

What's that. Do you want my head or my feet. Here were all the gray-haired deacons around the table. You didn't graduate as a deacon unless you had a beard and nearly bald and were getting old in those days.

And they were all sitting around the table listening. McLaren said you can have my head or my feet one or the other. Not both. Which do you want. They scratched their heads and they pondered. And finally they said well we'd rather have your head all right.

You appoint women to visit the women who are sick. You appoint men to visit the men who are sick. You appoint others to visit the hospitals. You let people bury the dead. I will give myself continually to prayer.

Prayer as the Source of Spiritual Power

Forgive me for saying this. And if you don't I'll still say it. I think there's an awful dearth of good pulpit preaching not only in America but England these days. Scotland still does a good bit. I think more.

There's a great dearth of pulpit praying. Spurgeon went to a great conference. One day they had a program. Mr. so-and-so will lead the meeting. Mr. so-and-so will pray. Mr. so-and-so will sing. Mr. so-and-so will give the announcements.

Mr. so-and-so will appeal for money. Mr. so-and-so will do read the scripture. Mr. so-and-so something else. And right at the end it said. And Charles Haddon Spurgeon will preach. They gave him a copy and the little he was a fat man.

You know little fat man sat there and he said sir come here. He said would you mind just if I just cross my name out here as as the preacher and let me go after the first hymn. Because if I can only preach a prayer I'd much rather pray the power of God down than preach.

If you haven't done it do this. I don't get any commission. I'm sure I should. But there's a series of books being reprinted in America for you preachers. And if you're not a preacher they're worth buying anyhow.

And now I think they're called preaching through the Bible. The series used to be called the people's Bible. It's a series of sermons. They're not complete through the Bible but they are complete in one sense.

They're from Genesis to as a man said from generations to revelations. There for revolutions he said. But they're from Genesis to Revelation. And they were preached by dr. J .H. Parker in London. And if you don't read a sermon you don't read a sermon in the hall set read all the prayers that were taken verbatim.

They'd no tape recorders. Somebody took his prayers down. And brother when you've read those there's more in his prayers. And you get him most sermons these days. Many people said lady said the other day I'm going to London.

Who would I go here preach. I said I don't know. If you've been gone five years ago I'd have said go here my friend dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones in Westminster. And everybody that went even preachers. When I've seen them I say well what do you think of dr. Martin Lloyd.

Oh he's a fabulous preacher. But do you not impress me most. I don't say no. I don't know because I do I say what. It's pulpit prayer. They sang a hymn. He prayed thank you for this day and the privilege of being in my house.

And so forth. Amen. And then they have a hymn. Then he reads the scripture and he says let us pray. And you know I timed him. He prayed 15 minutes. He prayed 20 minutes. Not preached. He prayed. Somebody said one day to my good friend dr. Paul Reese how long does it take you to prepare a sermon without batting an eye.

He said 15 hours. Five hours a day for three days two sermons a week to prepare. Then you've got five hours of solid study each day for your sermon and your night sermon. But what about your prayer. I heard you Sunday morning you you prayed such a marvelous prayer.

I didn't care whether you preached at all. Do you prepare your praying. And he said yes I do. How long does it take you. Well he said it takes me about two hours to prepare an eight or a ten minute prayer.

Hmm. Why shouldn't a man prepare. Why can't God tell that man the needs of the church before he goes. And instead of the usual thing I get so bored. Usually when I go somebody says brother Smith will you pray.

And he says Lord thank you again. It's Sunday. Bless us today. And bless the choir and the message. And thank you. Amen. No wonder the kids settled out here. Oh boy old John's gonna get it over. Read the prayers of Parker.

He gets wings. He gets into the heavenly places. I'm sure that's what they did here in the early church. This is how they prayed here. Peter and John went at the hour of prayer. I'd like to have heard Peter and John praying in the Holy Ghost.

Revival and the Holy Spirit’s Freedom

That's why they could step right out or even into the arena. Because they did not merely pray but they lived in the attitude of prayer. And immediately they were challenged with this man who'd been there years and professional religion and orthodoxy and theology could do nothing for him.

And Peter says look on us. You see he'd been in the upper room and he'd been drained of all the old Peter in the upper room. They weren't arguing for ten days. Thomas there's no blessing coming because you're still doubting Peter.

You know you're the backslider and that's for you. Oh no. They were not accusing each other. They were there with a common need. They were there for ten days getting drained of everything that they had.