Repentance - Part 6 — Leonard Ravenhill

A Generation With More Religious Resources but Less Power

Get your soul. Move in the area of this. Come on. This thing troubled me last Saturday night. I hardly slept a wink. I tossed on my bed. I cried. I wept. I groaned. God in heaven. What's my generation doing?

We've all the equipment. We've more Bibles. We've more interpretations of the Bible. We've more tracts. We've more books on the Holy Ghost than any generation ever. But we never had less power. It's all in print on bookshelves.

Like most of our praying is. I'm sure on that great day out of this cover when Jesus stood in the temple, he's looking backward and remembering the marvelous deliverance of God. And then he's looking forward because he had said already, and I have to wind this up.

The Promise of Living Water in John 4 and John 7

Time's running off. Always does. Do you remember he met a woman there in the fourth chapter of John? And he said, give me a drink. And if you knew who it was, you'd ask of him. And he put in you a well of water, springing up to everlasting life.

Now he says, I'm that well of water. But wait a minute. Go back to John 4 a minute here. Pardon me, John 7. 37. In the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.

And he that believeth on me, listen, as the scripture said, out of his belly shall flow rivers. Out of whose belly? Mine? No. Well, whose? Well, look at the next verse. This spake he of the Spirit. I like John Wesley's hymn, Jesus, you lover of my soul.

Remember a verse, section in it says, thou of life, the fountain art, freely let me take of thee, spring thou up within my heart and rise to all eternity. This spake he of the Spirit, who was not yet given life.

The Holy Spirit and the Glorification of Jesus

The Holy Ghost was not yet given life. Told you here. Because Jesus was not glorified. Look, you can pray your heart out and weep and fast and knock your head on the wall and ask for the Holy Ghost. But if he's not glorified in your life before that, you'll not get the Holy Ghost.

If there's bitterness in your life, if there's strife in your life, if there's anger in your life, if your secret lust, shout to high heaven, beat your breast, get out in the field and yell a head off.

Won't make a bit of difference. Until Jesus is glorified, till he knows he has full control of your life, your spirit, your soul, your body, your mind, your will, he won't come and take up his abode. Now let's get this straight, remember these men that went to the upper room, they'd already received the Holy Ghost.

Read John, what does John say? That while they were gathered in the upper room, Jesus came and he breathed on them. I always think of Abram, you remember, A-B-R-A-M, Abram. And God breathed on him, Abraham.

Never the same. The Holy Ghost is not given because Jesus is not yet glorified. Jesus has to go through Gethsemane, the hell and agony of being separated from God. He has to descend into the abyss. He has to go and announce his victory in hell, to demon spirits.

And then he ascends on high, like the high priest who presented blood in the holy place. He takes his own precious, priceless blood and presents it to the Father. The Holy Ghost is the coronation gift of Jesus.

If I do not ascend, he will not descend. If you don't do some housecleaning, curse your own habits, list them, tell God what they are, what your failure is, prayerlessness, powerlessness, lack of vision, lack of tears, lack of compassion, lack of love for lost people.

The Loss of Grief for Those Perishing

I don't want to be facetious here, but you know, each time I've seen on the TV a little crooked woman there, that's made a fortune out of saying three words. Where's the beef? What's it got to do with you brother in it?

This, if I had a church now, over my pulpit, I'd have this in big cap and letters. Where's the grief? Let people go to hell, what do we worry? We've got a nice Sunday coming up, we've got it all planned.

We've outlined the hymns, we know when the choir will stand up and sit down, and Miss Jones will stand up and sit down as she sang and something else. And we've given the pastor a little more time now, he has 21 minutes today instead of 20.

I could walk on my knees onto the platform some Sundays, I'll tell you that quite honestly. The biggest job in the world is not running the White House, it's running God's house. Jesus is not glorified.

Jesus’ Priority Over Every Area of Life

He's not glorified with the selfishness in the life of so many Christians. Me first, me second and me last. Does he have priority in everything, in my life, in my eating, in my sleeping, in my social life?

Will I push others on one side to give him time? The greatest gift this side of the world is to be filled, anointed and kept anointed with the Holy Spirit of God. Do you know what's troubling our generation?

I'll tell you. The high way of Christian living is strewn with the wreckage of has-beens. I remember preaching in Australia, the pastor, you know what they do on the platform, talk behind his hand. You see the man over on the right, that big man with the bald head?

Do you know that 15 years ago he was the greatest man in Australia? He had an incredible anointing. He was almost as though he had a torch in his hand going through dry grass. Everywhere he went he set cities and towns on fire.

He lost out. He got caught up in money and something else. I believe the only person in God's earth that gives the devil any nerves is a holy ghost man. I've seen God do all kinds of miracles. People jump out of bath chairs.

Holiness as God’s Greatest Miracle

Blind people get the sight. When we prayed, crippled arms. I'm out of that now. You think I lack compassion? Well, you were right to think it. There's something greater than that. The greatest miracle that God can do is to take an unholy person out of an unholy world, make that unholy person holy, put them back in an unholy world and keep them holy.

In the midst of a crooked and perverted and perverse generation. I spent a little time yesterday with Dave Wilkerson and he said, Len, I've come to this conclusion. Five years from now, I don't think any Christian will dare to have a TV in their home.

There's some new invention you can get. Put it on the top of the house. I think he said about a hundred dollars. You can get all the corruption you want from all the stations around this country and if it's powerful enough, other countries.

We're saturated with worldliness. The king of America, there isn't one, yes there is, said his name, sport. He has a wife, what's her name? Entertainment. Think of the billions that they get. Think of the billions that go into the liquor business, the billions that go into pornography.

Rivers of Mercy, Compassion, and Love

Does it disturb us? I'd like to see every church in the nation shut down for a week at least. Why should I preach to you? God knows I'm adding condemnation to you tonight. You can't handle the truth you've already got.

You've had it for five or ten years, you can't handle it. Why should I bring you more truth? Why should I give you the challenge of having a spirit-filled life? Out of his inmost being, when he is resident, out of my inmost being will flow rivers, not trickles.

Rivers of living water. What kind of rivers? Rivers of mercy, rivers of compassion, which will melt my eyes to tears. Rivers of love that will let me go to the most perverted and wicked and crooked people.

That helps me to look at the TV and not see a bunch of skeletons. The lady here said the other day she was tremendously moved, I was, it was on last night again. Those million people in Ethiopia.