Revival Theology — Richard Owen Roberts

I think I've done it right. Am I right in supposing there are some here this afternoon who were not here this morning? Would you indicate that? Thank you. I appreciate that. Now, I had a reason for asking that.

I thought it was so, but I want to take just a very small amount of time to say to those who have come in for the afternoon session but weren't here this morning what it's in my heart to accomplish during this daytime session.

The Urgent Need for Revival

The conviction that I have is that there are far too few people who care anything about revival, which is most amazing to me, because, as I said last evening, a revival is a time when heaven draws closer to earth than at any other time in human history.

And I really have great difficulty understanding any believer who does not long for heaven, who does not long for that which comes closest to heaven, revival. But even knowing how disturbing it is that many do not long for revival, and knowing how unwise it is not to long for it, I am nonetheless aware that even some who attend meetings like this have only sporadic interest in revival.

For many years I have led a prayer meeting for revival in Wheaton, Illinois. I don't know exactly how long, but approaching 25 years. Now, it's a men's prayer meeting, and it's an early morning meeting, 6 a .m.

If all the men who came to the prayer meeting at one time retained the burden and kept coming, the place where we meet would not be anywhere near large enough. But in truth, it's larger than we need, because there doesn't seem to be adequate staying power.

People get stirred up, and they say, Now I see the urgency of revival, I'm going to pray for it until God sends it. But they go tired, or they get occupied with something else, and their interest strays, and they abandon their prayer for revival.

That hurts me, it greatly distresses my heart, and I wonder if they ever really understood what we are praying for. Because if they understood, I say to myself, how could they abandon it? How could they cease to long for it?

So my intent today has been to try, I trust through the word of truth and the blessing of the Holy Spirit, to increase your longing for revival. So this morning I took the time to demonstrate in a very brief fashion that the major issue of revival, which is always beyond the presence of God, our response to that presence in repentance, has to be thought of in terms of sin, in terms of dead works, and in terms of departures from truth, or the promotion of error.

I want to speak more of the last of those three this afternoon. But then, using the book of Hebrews as an illustration, I took just a little while to speak in terms of what the general flow of the book of Hebrews is, and how it appears in two great portions, the wonderful doctrinal portions that elevate Christ above all else, and then the warning passages that keep insisting how dangerous it is to begin in the Christian life and then to depart from it.

And as I said to you in summary fashion, what Hebrews makes claim is that when one leaves their life of self, their life of sin, their life of religion, in the case of Hebrews it's an epistle written to Jews, and what it meant was that they left the religious life of Judaism and embraced the Lord Jesus Christ and the new covenant.

And for them to have left Judaism, which as I said this morning was only a shadow or a type of the real that was to come, to have left that for Christ and then to leave Christ and go back to Judaism was the same as to leave everything for nothing.

And again emphasizing that the nature of revival is that it's the nearness of God, heaven coming, as I've said, close to earth. To abandon prayer for revival is similar to the problem detailed in Hebrews.

It's to be content with the less when the greater is before us as a possibility. And then following that presentation I began using a series of words which are then utilized throughout history to describe revival, and the purpose in all of it was to quicken your heart and to deepen your longing so that by the grace of God you might reach a position that is similar to my own.

I know that individual Christians can survive without revival, but I don't want to, for I long for the nearness of God. And I long for it not alone for myself or for the little ones of whom I spoke this morning, but for the glory of God.

For nothing could bring God greater glory than to have all the inhabitants of the earth bow before the Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledge that he is Lord. To the glory of God the Father. I don't need to tell you, do I, that at the present time we are seeing very few genuine conversions.

Now granted in some of the major or mass evangelistic crusades they are seeing lots of decisions, but the statistics prove that of those that make decisions in these mass evangelistic endeavors, somewhere between 92 and 98 percent fall completely away within two years.

In other words, taking again the book of Hebrews, they violate all that Hebrews stand for. They're led to believe that their decision for Christ saved them, but that's a lie. Christ saves, not our decisions.

And there is no one whom Christ is saving who abandons Christ. And anyone who makes a good beginning, but there is no appropriate conclusion, is not saved. Now I'm going to come more to that because I know it's a ticklish area.

Someone sort of was asking me after the morning session, what do you really believe about the security of the believer? That's an appropriate question. I'm not going to take it up now, but it is my hope to be able to do so this afternoon.

Not to create division among us. We've got plenty of that. What we need is agreement on the great truth of scripture. But let me take just a little while longer this afternoon to return to the words that I was setting in front of you, as I said, with the hope that they would lift your spirit and inspire you and create a deep longing within you.

Revival as Fullness, Glory, and Judgment

I distinguish between the use of the term revival and awakening. I said a little bit about fire as a term that has been used in connection with revival. I talked just a little bit about the word fullness and indicated how marvelous it is when people are filled with the fresh graces of the Lord Jesus Christ in revival.

And then as we concluded the morning session, I introduced the word glory, and asked you to think and to realize that a revival is a time when the glory of God is manifested in the land. Now here is another term that I would set in front of you.

A dear man somewhere this week, I don't know whether it was here last night or at Kingston yesterday morning, we sang a hymn that this man wrote. He gave as the final message of his life, a message entitled, Revival is like Judgment Day.

The man who wrote the hymn and whose final sermon bore that title was Dr. J. Edwin Orr, a sweet and a godly man whom I had the pleasure of being associated with for many years. But get a hold of that expression.

Revival is like Judgment Day. Now when I speak to you about revival as fullness or revival as glory, that's upbeat. But when I say to you revival is like Judgment Day, that stirs a bit of concern, and maybe even a borderline case of fright.

What are we in for when revival comes? Now, dear friends, even this is truly upbeat when you understand it. All of us, no matter how sincere we are in our walk with God, and no matter how faithful we have been in seeking to keep our confession of sin up to date, do find on occasion that there are hidden sins that are suddenly brought into the light.

I well remember as a child, a day when I was kept home from school because of sickness, and I sat by a window. Now, my mother is still alive at ninety-nine, and by God's grace doing well. But my mother was an absolutely immaculate housekeeper.

I'm not sure there ever was another mother in the world who was more serious about housekeeping than my mother. I mean, she pursued dirt and dust as if they were holy enemies. But on the day I speak of, when I was kept home from school and I sat by a window, the rays of sunshine came through that window.

And to my horror, I saw the filth in the air. It disturbed me greatly. I thought to myself, not in my mother's house, where could all this dirt have come from? I wonder what happened this morning to introduce this dirt.

But it was only later in life when I realized there was no dirt introduced that day. But what was already there it was simply that the way the sun shone revealed what was there, which I had never realized was present before.

Now, the nature of a revival is that it turns the light of God upon us in such a fashion that we see things that we didn't know were there, and things that are utterly horrifying to behold. Have you had the experience, do you know what I'm speaking of, when you think your confession is as up-to-date as it could possibly be, when you're sure that you have turned from every possible sin, and suddenly you become aware of something you didn't know was there?

For years, personally, I have preached against pride. Many passages of scripture describe pride as the great sin, the unforgivable sin, which it is. How can God forgive the proud? The proud won't bow before God.

They won't break. Therefore, they can't be forgiven. And I had personally not only preached against pride, but sought with great care to be sure that pride was eliminated from my life. Then one day, in the normal course of affairs, I was opening the mail, and there was a rather large packet.

I looked at the return address, and it was from one of the large denominations. I thought, now I wonder what they would be sending me. It was obviously personal. It wasn't just some packet of form material.

So I wondered about it for a moment, and I proceeded to open it. And when I pulled the contents out of the envelope, I recognized immediately that it was a grouping of material that had been gathered together by this denomination on the subject of the Solemn Assembly.

Oh, I said, I'm grateful to see that this denomination is taking seriously this matter of the Solemn Assembly. I wonder what they have to say. So I began to leaf through the material, and suddenly, as if the Lord struck me in the head with a club, I realized what I was really doing.

I was looking through the material to see if they acknowledged that what they knew about the Solemn Assembly they learned from me. Now, it's a fact that what they knew they learned from me. That's a fact, because the leaders of this particular denomination were in a meeting where I laid out biblically the Solemn Assembly, and they said, that's it, that's what we need, that's the first time we ever understood corporate repentance.

So there was nothing wrong in the facts part of it, that they had learned it from me. But that was not important. You see, what I was doing was searching to see if they gave recognition to me. And immediately I was overwhelmed with sorrow in the realization that the pride I thought I had dealt with was anything but dead.

I stuffed the material back in the envelope, and I got down on my face before God, and I said, I'm sorry, I'm grieved to discover that pride is very much alive, and I repent of it. Well, I mentioned this morning that in the course of God's events, we sold our house last week and had to move.

But in preparations for the move, I was sorting material in my office, and I pulled out this large packet. And I thought, oh no, not this. I'm not even going to be tempted to look inside this. I still don't know what's in that packet.

And I'm not going to know until, by the grace of God, pride is more thoroughly dealt with than it's been thus far. You know what I'm talking about. Revival is like judgment day, because the light of God's truth shines upon us at such an angle that we see things in our lives that are grievously wrong, that we never knew were there before.

And the nature of revival is that the church is brought to levels of repentance it has never before reached. Now many of you know the statement out of scripture, judgment must begin at the house of God.

And can we not say concerning our own lives, surely judgment must begin right here. Now it is a fearful thing to be by God. It is a very, very disturbing thing to reach that point where, as far as you know, your confession, as I've said already, is altogether up to date, and then suddenly be made aware of some lingering sin you didn't even know was there.

It provokes great shame, it provokes great sorrow, it is deeply troubling, and yet it is urgently necessary. And so although we fear the judgment of God in revival, we anticipate it. We long for it. Is there anyone here who would care to say, I'm as good as I ever wish to be?

Oh no, is not part of the Christian heart a longing for more complete sanctification than anything we've yet known? I love that song that the old gypsy evangelist made popular, Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

All his wonderful passion and purity. Oh thou spirit divine, all my nature refined, till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. The longing of the Christian heart for holiness. And how can one fail to long for revival, knowing that revival is like judgment day, and it will move us to levels of holiness that we have never yet reached.

And I know I spent a brief period of my life as a pastor. I know how I long not only for holiness in my own life, but in the lives of my people, and in the life of my church. You share that with me, brother.

But deep longing, never yet satisfied that true holiness will come. Now have you ever said, O Father in heaven, will you quickly send revival, so that we will know the judgment day of revival, and holiness will speedily move forward in our lives?

Revival as Outpouring, Power, and Gospel Progress

But then there are other terms. As I said this morning, so that I don't miss any of these great concepts, I've brought along a list here, and I have to keep consulting it. There was a time when I never needed notes, but since I've grown old, I have that diffugalty that accompanies age of forgetfulness.

But dear friends, let's just think of a few more of these wonderful terms. These are terms that are both biblical, but they are terms that have been used throughout the centuries by the church in describing revival.

Here's a precious term, outpouring, and outpouring. I used the term fullness this morning in Joel chapter 2, verses 28 and following. It will come about after this, that I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions, even on the male servants will I pour out my Spirit in those days.

And then there's a perfectly wonderful passage in Isaiah 64. Some of you are familiar with it. Right now when we look heavenward, do you not sense that it's as if heavy layers of black clouds cover the earth?

But in Isaiah 64, the prayer is raised, rend the heavens and come down. And can't you in your imagination view not the little hands of an old man, but the mighty hands of the Almighty God, reaching down and rending the heavens, parting those dark clouds, and then outpouring his Spirit upon the land?

And outpouring. Oh, how we need an outpouring of the Spirit. Oh, it's not that we're not grateful for former occasions when blessings have come to us. Many of us in our ministry have known days of great rejoicing, days of plentiful outpourings of the Spirit.

I so often remember my experiences when I was in my twenties, and the powerful stirrings of the Holy Spirit that occurred, and the profound conversions that took place. It seemed as if I scarcely knew anything in those days, and yet I preached with all my heart, and I saw congregations burst into tears.

I can right now bring to the forefront of my mind the remembrance of occasions when entire congregations were bathed in white as they were wiping the tears and blowing their noses because the Spirit of God came down in powerful conviction.

I can review in my mind marvelous conversions that took place in those splendid days. But no matter what's happened in the past, we don't live there. We live in the here and the now. And as thankful as we are for every outpouring in the past, we desperately need an outpouring today.

I don't know of any denomination, I don't know of any local church where the need of revival is not very, very great. We sometimes even use the term Pentecost to describe revival, and appropriately so.

But one of my favorite terms in connection with revival is the term power. Power. Who in their right mind would say that the church today is experiencing the power of God? Why, every thoughtful observer must know that indeed today God has held his power in check.

He is reserving his great power. No matter what good things may be happening in your congregation, you most certainly must be wise enough to know that it is nothing in comparison with what God can do.

Now I have seen some very touching circumstances in recent times. I have been in some meetings where very precious results have occurred. I won't bore you with the details of these sweet experiences of grace, but I will tell you that the finest thing that I have seen in my entire lifetime is nothing in comparison with what God can do.

God's reserves of power are absolutely matchless. And so when I think of revival, I think of God and his mighty arm. I think of God rolling up his sleeves. I think of God manifesting his strength, his mighty power.

I use these words as I've been saying to you, merely to seek to stir up a longing that is deeper and more permanent than anything you've yet known. But here's a term you may not have thought of. For many years in the American Church, revival was described as the progress of the gospel.

Isn't that unusual? The progress, or the success, of the gospel. Just think about that expression, the progress of the gospel. Well now, I've just alluded to this, but let me be more specific. While we are seeing some wonderful blessings today, from place to place, not always, not everywhere, but sometimes, the blessings that I see are as nothing in comparison with the blessings I used to see.

I am a Congregationalist. I mention that not to promote my denomination, but for a few of you at least, to give you a little understanding about me. Much of my early ministry was in churches that you would call liberal.

Churches that had never had the gospel preached. Congregational churches. And I would go as a stranger into a church, and I would begin to preach the gospel, and tears would begin to flow, and converts would come on the right hand and on the left.

There were days when almost the book of Acts was being duplicated. The Lord was adding to the church daily, such as were being saved. Now I could go to those same kinds of churches today, and they would look at me and wonder, where did this ridiculous oddity come from?

What kind of a throwback is this? This is ridiculous that anybody who has any education could believe in such old-fashioned, outdated things. Nobody could describe what is happening today as the wonderful progress of the gospel.

The sad truth is, for every convert we make of the usual sort, the church takes two steps backward. For most of our converts are our converts. I'm sure some of you recall the story about D. L. Moody. Someone observed a drunken bum stumbling down the street, and they confronted this bum, and he said, I'm one of Mr. Moody's converts.

And so this person then went and confronted Moody. I just saw one of your converts stumbling down the street drunk, and Moody said, you're right, it had to be my convert. It wasn't the Lord's convert, you can be sure of that.

Well, many of our converts today are no different than before we met them. Some while back I was speaking at a gathering of Pentecostal pastors in the state of Arizona, and one of them burst into tears soon after I started speaking.

And the longer I spoke, the more he wept. And as soon as I finished, he rushed up to me. He said, it was as if you had a flaming torch, and you applied it to my life. And my entire life went up in smoke.

I said, what are you talking about? He said, about a year and a half to two years ago, I read a biography of D .L. Moody, and I read that Moody had vowed to win at least one person to Christ every day.

And I said to myself, well, if Moody could win one, I can certainly win two. So he said, every day for the last year and a half, I have led at least two people to Christ. But while you were speaking, he said, I realized that of all those hundreds of people that I had led to decisions, I was not in fellowship with one single person.

And it dawned on me they were my converts, not Christ's converts, because if they'd been Christ's converts, I would be in fellowship with them. I have pastors tell me we baptized 27 people on Sunday night, three weeks ago, and we haven't seen a single one of them since we baptized.

The wonderful progress of the gospel? No! The tragic decline of the gospel is the way we would describe today. But I use the expression this morning, salvation running as a mighty river. Can you get the picture of a season of revival when salvation rushes like a raging river and covers the land, so that millions and millions and millions and millions are swept into the kingdom of God in true salvation?

The wonderful progress of the gospel. Now, no matter how successful you are in your ministry, and no matter how well your church is doing, can you not see a contrast between what is happening in the here and now and what ought to happen when salvation is like an unleashed flood?

And doesn't that quicken your heart to long for a precious season of the wonderful progress of the gospel? And what would be the sense of being quickened to think in that direction and pray for nine months and then abandoning the prayer?

Revival as Rain and Social Transformation

But let me suggest another term. Very often in scripture... No, I'm going to go back again. I've just glanced at my notes, and I want to read several references from Acts. Just in thinking of the progress of the gospel, just lay hold of these references.

2 .47. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day, those who were being saved. Acts 4 .4. But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of men came to about five thousand. Acts 8 .14.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John. Acts 11 .1. Now, the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had received the word of God.

Acts 17 .11. Now, these who were in Berea were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures to see whether these things were true.

Dear friends, when you read the book of Acts, do you not see the remarkable progress of the gospel? And then, as I said before, you contrast that with today. And as one brother said as we were on our way to lunch, he felt like crying out this morning, Lord, do it again!

Do it again, Lord! And is that not the spirit that ought to grip every Christian heart? Do it again, Lord. We are not satisfied with what's happening in our day. We want to see once more the wonderful progress of the gospel.

In another word, similar to fullness and similar to outpouring that is frequently used concerning revival, is the word rain. R-A-I-N. Now, I suppose here in Seattle today, or in the Seattle region, nobody's pleading for rain.

But although you have plenty of moisture at the moment, we don't have plenty in the church. The church is dry. And it's not been dry for mere seven days, not even seven weeks or seven months, not even seven years would cover the period of drought.

It's growing drier and drier everywhere. You tell me one place where the rain of God is plentiful on the churches. Well, I know we hear some boastful reports, but don't investigate, because if you do, you'll find out what's said isn't true.

I spoke last night of Pensacola. Well, I know something's happening in Pensacola, and they boasted that the crime rate in Pensacola was way down. But that's not what the chief of police says. The chief of police has reported that there has been a national decline in major crimes.

But that the decline in major crimes in Pensacola has been considerably less than the national decline. I don't want a revival that doesn't affect the crime rate. I don't see any point in it. Every true revival that I know about has had an amazing impact upon crime.

Some of you have read the brilliant stories of the revival in Wales, of which I spoke this morning, spoke of its weakness as experience-centered, but perhaps you have already heard these well-documented tales about what happened in Wales.

Day after day after day, week after week, judges entered their chambers and they laid a pair of white gloves on the podium, signifying there was not one single signal crime to be tried. Not one crime.

The policemen in many parts of Wales had only one official duty. That was to care for the vast crowds of people that were trying to get into the churches, and to see that the churches didn't collapse by taking in thousands more than they were built to hold.

And because they had no duties in terms of regulation of crime, they organized themselves in gospel quartets and went around singing. I believe in revivals that have dramatic impact upon crime. Now, not everybody will shout amen when I tell you that one of the other impacts in Wales was that the football matches, which drew thousands and thousands of people, couldn't be held.

There's one case of a huge football match, ordinarily huge, where three players showed up and four spectators, and they had been flooding 20 ,000 or so at these matches. And then some of you heard the stories, they seem almost unbelievable, but they are like gospel truth.

The stories of what happened in the pits, the mining pits, where as a result of the revival, the ponies and the mules went on strike. They quit working. The direct result of the revival. These mules and ponies had been driven by kicks and curses.

And when the miner descended into the pit and came up to his pony and said, Dear, you and I are here to serve the Lord today. Let's do our best, but let's pray and sing a hymn before we start. The poor animals were bewildered.

They didn't know what to do. They had to be retrained to respond to humankind. That's the kind of revival I'm praying for. A plentiful rain from heaven that takes this dry and parched nation, and takes our withering and dying churches, and causes them to blossom like the desert rose that has been watered.

And if you think things are bad here in America, and they surely are, you should go with me on one of my periodic trips to the Principality of Wales. Let me tell you what it's like there. There are seats in the churches for every inhabitant in the land.

And not so many years ago, every seat was occupied. But now, if you go into a typical village, we'll say population 8 ,000, you'll find 15 church buildings with seating capacity for the 8 ,000 plus the farming region about.

And of the 15 churches, you'll discover 11 of them have the roofs caved in, the windows broken out, or they've been turned into bingo halls, or club rooms, or automobile garages. And of the 15 churches, four remain open.

One is the Anglican church, the Church of Wales. There are five elderly women past 80 years of age, who attend service there once a month. One is the Presbyterian church that lost all track of the gospel 40 years ago.

One is the Evangelical church that two weeks ago had 28 members, the largest church in town. But last week, a little band of mean-spirited Pentecostals split that church and carried five of the feeble members off.

And the last church is Baptist, and it's controlled by the Masonic law. I'm giving you a realistic picture. Dear friends, cannot your heart feel the burden for the reign of God's Spirit upon the principality, even as you long for revival here?

Do you know that in the history of the world, there are but two nations that have been described as the land of revivals? America and the Principality of Wales. And both, both are withering and dying.

Oh, for the rain from heaven, how big a part of your prayer life is the pleading for rain. How heavy upon your heart is the longing for the showers of blessing and the plentiful reign of God. Another term that we referred to this morning, but in a little different connection.

Revival and Reformation

When we're talking about revival, we're talking about reformation. Now, I want you to understand it's possible to have reformation without revival, and it's possible to have revival without reformation.

But what we desperately need is a revival-reformation. We need the two together. I've been describing revival as God drawing near. A reformation is a time when grievous error is corrected. I just said almost in passing this morning that we have erred terribly in terms of the great doctrines of Scripture, and I illustrated by speaking of the difference between decisional regeneration and regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

We need a reformation. How long did the Protestant Reformation of 1517 last? Who's going to answer that question? Dear friends, it's still burning bright. It's still very much a part of our lives. We need a revival that doesn't burn itself out in a few weeks, but a revival that touches our children and our grandchildren and our great and our great-great-grandchildren.

We need a revival-reformation that turns our society back to God and restores the great doctrines of Scripture to the forefront of the life of the nation. Reformation. Have you been seeking a reformation?

Do you understand the consequence of the reforms that are mandatory? Now, our home is in the city of Wheaton, Illinois. That's about 30 miles from the heart of downtown Chicago. I don't go to Chicago except when I have to.

It is a dangerous place to go. There are areas of Chicago that no one in their right mind would enter if they're white, and there are other vast areas where you would be utterly foolish to go out after dark.

In fact, in some of the hotels and motels in the area, there are signs warning people, don't go out at night alone. If you must go somewhere, secure someone to go with you, preferably a police officer.

We need reformation. There are people that can't come to church at night because they cannot leave their homes. Now, maybe all is innocent bliss here in this area, but believe me, in large parts of America, crime is frightening and the evil is rampant.

And oh, how we need reformation. Well, I'm nearly done. I think I have one or two more words I want to mention. Let me just look at my list. Refreshing. In Acts 3 .19, repent therefore and return that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Now I want to speak with utter candor to you. I feel like a tired old man. I'm not going to quit. By God's grace, as long as I have an ounce of strength left, I'm going to invest it in the work of the kingdom.

But I could sure use a refreshing. My, my, my, my, how excited I get just at the prospect of a season of refreshing. Does that touch you? Do you feel the need? Have you been praying fervently? Oh God, send us a time of refreshing.

Revival as Divine Visitation

Another word that I love in connection with revival is the word visitation. A revival is a visitation. Now I know that we don't all understand the like these matters. I know some of you are not very literate biblically.

You've never been very sincere in your study of the Bible. Some of you are still making a colossal mistake. You are using the Bible to fortify yourself. The purpose of the Bible is to bring us into contact with God.

The Bible is like God's autobiography. It is God's unfolding of his own heart. And everyone who has used the Bible aright has come to understand that God hates sin and withdraws wherever sin prevails.

We need a visitation. We need God to rend the heavens and come down. Pastor, would you be angry if God visited this place? Wouldn't that be lovely? And what are the visitations of God apt to look like?

Well, we all believe, I hope, in the God of infinite variety. He can do anything he pleases. But I want to tell you one of the most delicious, one of the most lovely visitations of God that I have ever experienced.

Have you ever been in a situation when, as the word of God was being preached, a silence descended on the congregation? Now, in normal settings like today, you're listening, you're courteous to me, you're attentive to the things of God, but you don't hesitate to wiggle, to shift your position, to get comfortable.

Here's a sister that's just rolled her shoulders a little. I say that not to embarrass her, to say that's normal for all of us. When in a normal meeting, when we're seated, why, we do what's necessary to increase our endurance, so we can go on listening attentively.

And sometimes there are sneezes, and coughing, and nose blowing, and eye wiping, and all kinds of things that are normally going on. I'm asking, were you ever in a meeting where a holy hush fell, where it became so perfectly silent that even a pin drop would sound like thunder?

I've seen some occasions when after I finished preaching and sat down, nobody moved. Whoever was presiding didn't dare stand up and close the meeting. I was in a situation a while ago where this holy silence just overwhelmed.