Holding Onto a Volcano — E.A. Johnston

I have an evangelist friend, Al Weddinghill, who when he was a young preacher, he was Leonard Ravenhill's aide and traveling companion. And I asked him one day to describe to me Leonard Ravenhill. And Al Weddinghill said, Ravenhill was a frail old man at the time, and he needed help getting out of the car.

Holding Onto Ravenhill's Volcano

And I can sum him up with this statement, as I was holding onto Ravenhill's arm and walking with him, it was like holding onto a volcano. And I thought about that for a while, and I chewed on that for a while, until I got a hunger in my heart, and I longed to have God do that for me.

Seeking God's Manifest Presence in Preaching

I prayed for the Lord to make me a volcano, where his presence was so evident in my life, that when I preached, you wouldn't just see little E .A. Johnston standing there talking, but you'd feel the tremble of the earth, hear the rumble of the rocks, you'd see the smoke start to billow up, you'd see the flashes of fire, and you'd feel the scorching heat of a broken law and a holy God, as Sinai was altogether on a smoke.

And I've kept praying over and over through the years for God to use me. And I can say that there have been a couple of times in my ministry through the years where God answered that prayer, as I stood in a pulpit, and I looked out upon my audience, and I saw looks of concern, as we felt the presence of the awful solemnity of a holy God in our midst.

Preaching the Full Counsel of God

And it made knees tremble and loose the chains of darkness, as the hot lava poured down the center aisle of that church, for God had shown up. You have to be willing to preach the full counsel of God, where you bring into view the glorious gospel, with all its melting invitations and promises of eternal peace and joy.

But alongside that, friends, you have to bring into view as well the broken law in the wrath of God, as revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. You must be honest with the souls of men and inform them of God's demand of repentance and their utter necessity of regeneration.

The Cross, Self-Denial, and Holy Spirit Authority

You must press on men and women the demands of the gospel, with all its rights and claims upon followers of a crucified Christ, that Jesus must be the Lord of your daily living, as you take up your cross and bear it, for the Christian life is lived via the cross.

Self must be dethroned in another enthroned there, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in addition to these things, the preacher must be anointed with the Holy Spirit to speak with authority, thus saith the Lord.

Opposition to Faithful Gospel Preaching

And if you preach what others will not, you will face opposition, thus it was with Christ himself and his apostles, where every last one of them faced persecution for preaching a crucified Christ. And every preacher of God, who longed to be a volcano for God, faced persecution as well, whether it was Luther or Knox or Wesleyan Whitefield.

Whitefield's Wound and the Cost of Warning Sinners

George Whitefield was preaching in Ireland when an angry mob stoned him, almost killing him. He had to be dragged to safety by some friends, and he was almost unconscious for two days. Years later, while Whitefield was preaching in Boston, he was introduced to a minister from Ireland.

Whitefield removed his beaver cap, and leaning over, he pointed to a large scar on his forehead with the remark, This, sir, is the wound I received from preaching Christ in your country. I've been faithful to preach the full counsel of God and to warn men ever since God called me to preach.

I've witnessed the power of God in some meetings, and I've got my scars to show for it, that's for sure, because if you're going to storm Satan's household and spoil his goods, you better preach a gospel that has power to save.

Awakening Sinners Through the Narrow Way

If you ever visit the Bay of Naples, and you go take a good look at Mount Vesuvius, you will notice those broken peaks and scarred slopes from that hot lava flow. And if you want to preach an easy-to-believe gospel that's easy on you and easy on your hearers, you may be able to grow your church by widening the way of salvation in ways Jesus never did, but you won't have any lava flows where awakened sinners are crying out, What must I do to be saved?