Woe, Lo, and Go - Part 3 — Leonard Ravenhill

So this is what this prayer, listen, you talk about power, this to me is the evidence of a life filled with holiness. She's going down the street. She says I prayed and prayed and after six weeks I began to lead the people without even trying.

Compassion That Leads the Lost to God

Gangsters fell on their knees. She lives in the one outpost of hell on earth. She goes down the street and there's human filth there. She can't step because there's blood there. Girls at 15 are prostituting women.

60 years old are prostituted 58 years or 50 years after the 60. And yet she says the most diabolical men in the world. There's no altar call. There's no music. There's no preaching the word. She's so filled with God out of her flow rivers of living water that gangsters kneel and say listen pray for me.

Have mercy on me that to me is revival. That to me is being filled with all the fullness of God. But look at the cost. Would you believe after all the tremendous manifestations of God that she had? Casting out demons.

Not only the rottenest people in the world coming but the society people. Coming to say what's happening that all prostitutes isn't there anymore. We're not afraid as we used to be people don't break into our houses.

Why because of you. Do you know what? I? Think Jackie bless her dear heart. I think she's an embarrassment to the devil and. More than that. She's an embarrassment to me. Why is this just happen in the country far away?

Unbelief and the Loss of Spiritual Power

Why does it happen in America? What's choking it unbelief. Familiarity with the Holy Spirit. The only thing you know about the Holy Ghost is you speak in tongues, but where's your power? Where's your tears?

Where's your brokenness? Where's your travel? I? Believe God Almighty started something last Friday that if if you're obedient and I'll be obedient it when I'm here or not. The birth pains are on this assembly.

For this particular assembly and for the vineyard. I look for the whole vineyard to be reborn in two weeks. That's no difficulty to God. I'm tired of playing for small stakes and so many people came forward and so many people bought your book forget it.

It's time to see majesty of God but listen. This woman has seen. The meetings grow until when they had no buildings. The government came and gave her 14 huge buildings entirely free now. She's casting out demons.

People are being delivered from insanity and everything and would you believe it? She says with all this I lost the anointing. It all disappeared. John if you don't get reward for anything else you get a big reward in heaven for the way you handle this.

Only John Wimber would give her any comfort. Well. Well, when you're when you running away, what was happening to you Jack when you when you came here were you an orphan? Spiritual orphan. Yes, don't be embarrassed.

Jack came and what a blessing he's been you see the open door who else came. One of the only great to me Prophets in the world today. Paul Cain will be here tomorrow night. I believe and John opened the door to him.

He'd been to 27 of the ministers in America. They all slammed the door in his face and John took him in. Then I came along poor orphan and he took me in but you see this is a kind of person we need in the last days.

Come on, we've got 10 ,000 Pentecostal churches in America that should take the sign of the not Pentecostal. When did they last see a miracle when they last see some lunatic delivered? When did they last see some man with an unholy fever or a girl who's a prostitute and you say listen.

You can't go to that church down there and they have no power but go up the street. To the Pentecostal Church, you'll see the power of God there. You know what a million miles from Pentecost. When I read this I tell you an embarrassed Pride came in she said and so we lost our anointing.

But now listen to what she says. God restored that strength to us and again, she's out getting the scum of the earth. She's not offering them free meals of free blankets banquets of free clothes. She says we have something here, which is not of man.

It's not theology. It's not doctrine. It's a living God. Come and bring in your paralyzed. Come and bring in the lunatics. Come on bring in the filthy unclean people that could make hell blush with this lifestyle.

Come and bring them. You know, she says The Spirit of God came. And we began to exercise spiritual gifts and those who came to the wall city about thing out asking about our drugs withdrawal. Withdrawal program rarely came in the in the room and they weren't there five minutes.

Did you hear that not five hours preaching not singing a song room this room at the cross? But there's something in this room they said this room is filled with God. I think before we're through these two weeks people will come trembling through those doors.

The awesome presence of God will so subdue us. I say I want to see this precious woman. But more than that, I want to see it happen in America, but it's costly. Let me say this to you. We need a vision of the holiness of God.

A Vision of God's Holiness and Human Need

We have vision of our helplessness. We'd see a vision of lost people. If I asked you about the Salvation Army you say it was launched by a man who'd been trained as a Methodist. He got kicked out took his half crippled wife into the streets.

I'll tell you how it was started if you have those wonderful books of there are ten volumes of the sermons of Campbell Morgan called Westminster pulpit. It's in chapter 6 volume 6. Now listen, this is an unbeliever.

Can you listen to this a minute? This 80 says were I a religionist? Did I truly firmly consistently believe as people millions of people say they do. That the knowledge and practice of religion in this earth on our feelings.

If I believed it was transforming. Then he said religion would be my first waking thought of my last image when sleep sunk into my unconsciousness. I would labor in its cause alone. I would not labor for the meat that perishes not for the treasure of earth.

But only for a crown of glory in heavenly regions. I would take no thought for the tomorrow but for eternity alone. I Will be neither worldly prudent nor calculating circumstance to engross my zeal. Earthly consequences should never stay my hand or seal my lips.

I would speak to the imagination awake the feelings stir up the passions arouse fancy Earthly its joys and grief should occupy no moment of my time. I would strive to look for eternity alone and for immortal souls who will soon be in everlasting bliss or Everlasting darkness and torture.

I would deem all things That men have outside of that as pure madness. I Would not give a second thought to materialism. I Control my life control my eating control my sleeping make me a slave. I don't want to be a servant of Jesus Christ.

A servant knows what time to start what's time to finish. A slave doesn't. He's looking for slaves. That's why the Apostle Paul declared. He was a slave. In the year that King Josiah died I saw the Lord and and everything in life was totally transformed.

He became what Spinoza called a top a God intoxicated man. And it's going to take that to move this generation in which we live. I Need a vision of a holy gun. Holiness is the residence of God because his word says Holiness.

What the psalmist says speak from the habitation of thy holiness. You go to the other end of the scale. He says in Ephesians to wear the residence of God. You are the habitation of God. Would you dare say that?

I've gone around holiness churches around the world. For at least 40 years. I've heard people say I was saved and then I'm sanctified or saved. I've come and I never knew till today. I've never once heard a person say I'm holy.

We sang in that hymn tonight only thou art holy. Holiness is originally God's but he demands holiness. You can't pray without holiness. You say my prayers don't get through the devil in that it doesn't hinder you.

You hinder yourself. Why? Thinking of Bob again. Remember that word you gave me up in Kansas City. Psalm 24 who shall ascend the hill of the Lord even have clean hands. That's our relationship with men.

You know, you think it's your righteous. You get blessed. Well Abel was righteous. What do you get for he got killed. What was Noah a preacher of righteousness. What was Zachariah a preacher of righteousness.

He was killed in the temple. People hate righteousness. Righteousness is my relationship with God. Holiness is my relationship. No. Righteousness is my relationship with man. Holiness is my relationship with God and God demands holiness.

Holiness, Worship, and the Vision of the Lost

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. You can't worship God with bitterness in your heart. You can't worship God with a grudge in your heart. You can't worship God when all the time you're catering for selfishness and your own ambition.

No. That's totally impossible. I could give you a whole list I want but just say why did a young man go from. I think it was America a young preacher and He went to. What country am I thinking of now?

I was going to Siberia. Wasn't Siberia. It was out that way. Anyway, how you went there for one reason he had a vision of the lost people there. Vision Motivates us. If you get vision you look at action.

You can't say you have a passionate love for soul without compassion. Then salvation army sang when I was a kid except I moved with compassion. How dwelleth I spirit in me in thought word and deed. Burning love is my need.

I know I shall find it in thee. So here is a man in the year the King Uzziah died. Everything changed. As I had a vision of deity in the heavens is a vision of depravity in his own heart and a vision of duty.

In a world outside. He also had a vision in chapter 1. He sees his whole nation full of wounds and putrefying source from the head to the feet. There's no soundness. It's corruption. It's corruption, but he doesn't cry there for the nation.

It's when he sees his own corruption. 20 times in his writing he says one to you one to you sit up late at night. One to others, but then finally the greatest role is me. It's not my brother nor my sister.

It's me. Oh God standing in the need of prayer. It doesn't say well to the priests and others. He says always me. I'm undone. That takes an awful lot of saying let me wind this up quickly. I've leaped around a bit of sure.

But you know what? Don't get edgy. Well, I say this for the last 50 years or a hundred years. Evangelism has been Ridiculed. You know, you talk about Elmer Gantry in American history, but it's only this last three years.

It's been scorned and joked about. The misconduct of some of the leading men had had millions of dollars. One took 20 years to build the Christian Disneyland at PTL. Another one got millions of dollars to build a place with his name on but wait a minute.

The Church Must Be Ready for Christ's Return

I Don't care hella beans what people say about Christianity. But when Jesus says it, I'm torn up. I don't need to want my Bible at night. I lay in my bed and weep and say Jesus you said it. Paul didn't say.

What do you say about the day in which we live? I check this with Jack the other day. I keep picking on Jack, but he's helped me so much. What did Jesus say? He wasn't Paul. It was Jesus that said of the church for which he gave his blood.

That she's poor wretched naked blind and Miserable. Are you telling me the church at this moment is ready? The one thing that holds Jesus Christ back is not all the rotten damnable sin of the world and heresies and cults.

The one thing that keeps Jesus from coming is the bride is not ready. He's not coming for a crippled bride. Young men in England in the Royal family usually want to get married in Westminster Abbey. It seats only 3 ,000 people.

Everybody going to a royal wedding gets excited. Oh, you can't sell the ticket. You must use it if you sit on a chair in the hours. You can take it home and all the celebrities were there there all the leaders of the nation's presidents principles men of money men of talent the the cream of science the cream of society all flock in.

They borrow clothes to go they're gonna see a royal wedding, so let's figure it. It's so so those ladies wear what they call them tiaras. Is it tiara? Precious stones and. They wear the ghost gorgeous counts gowns a lot of them random.

So here's a man up in the music loft and this fellow in the loft says How do I know when to start playing here comes a bride? Well, there are trumpeters at the door and they'll sound a blast and when they sound the blast you start praying.

Here comes the bride. So the trumpet sound this fellow up there Plays here comes the bride and here's the royal prince standing there immaculately with his suit. Gold buttons gold handle on it this Looking the model of sartorial perfection everything else.

He's scholarly. He's well-trained. He speaks three or four languages. Maybe like Prince Charles. He's been in charge of a boat. He can fly a private jet. He can do all this thing. Here's this most envied bachelor in the world.

And there's a woman coming down the aisle and everybody gasps. Isn't she gorgeous and Just before she gets there a woman over here jumps out. She has an artificial tiara on she's a dress. She's borrowed and just as the prince comes and the bride's gonna go up and the prince gonna say Darling this is it at last.

She shrieks out. She tears her clothes. She thinks she isn't bathed. She's blind. She crashes into something against bloody knees and rubs them then rubs their hands and then gets it on a dress and there is despicable stinking.

And a soldier gets hold of what are you doing here? She's. I'm the bride. I'm the bride you idiots. You're the bride. You think our royal prince? He's gonna marry a dirty stinking smelling blind woman like you.

Well, that's what your preacher says. Your preacher says Jesus will take the whole church. I don't believe that you say I believe Jesus come at any moment. I don't believe that if you believe that you're walking in purity at this moment.

I read it this morning in John when we see him. We should when we see we shall watch. Be like him. No, that's the old version when we see we shall say Lord. I'm sorry. My prayer life is in rags. I have a disobedient heart.

I have a will that isn't set to do the will of God. I'm behind in my tithing. I don't love prayer. Friend if you went to heaven as you are just now it would be hell. You'll be miserable in the holiness of God.

No, Jesus did not come for a bride that's impure and dirty. He's come for a bride that's pure. So dear brothers sisters, I'm prepared by the grace of God. Whether I'm in or out of this place, I'm prepared that some other people are up there in Kansas City.

I'm prepared to lay down my life to see a revival of holiness. To make the bride ready. Not to make the church feel better. But because Jesus Christ has been waiting 2 ,000 years. Isn't amazing? Is it staggering?

Christ's Call to Repentance and Purification

He looks through the latch and he sees this dirty filthy rebellious woman that we call the church he should spit on her and kick it out of his life and he threatens to do that and Yet mercy upon mercy mercy upon mercy patience upon patience the blessed Son of God stands outside of the door as he done for 2 ,000 years and locks in and sees this rotten woman and you know, he says Behold, I stand at the door and knock if you repent I'll cleanse you.

I've come in and possess you. I'll come and make you pure. I'll carry you into my presence for eternity to make pure because of my own blood. But the church doesn't want that. She's sleepy and lethargic and indifferent.

But Jesus Christ is waiting for the church to be purified and I guarantee you the Holy Ghost can come and sweep not America, but the world in six months and purify purify the bride in a short time. He's waited long enough.

I find it terrible To ponder that he's waiting. Okay, let's take this precious man for a moment. Do you know purity does? It drives you to prayer. It drives you to realize we've no resources of our own.

You may be stacked up with theology or good is it if it isn't on fire? We've got to see as God sees and love as God loves and sacrifice as God sacrifices. There's no other way.