7. Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill's personal letters
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revival
Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill's personal letters, number 7
Make no mistake about it, Ravenhill understood that we must know God according to the Bible… the Bible is, above all, the revelation of God. However, Ravenhill saw clearly that we must go beyond a doctrinal view of God into personal relationship. He then refers to Daniel 11:32. Knowing God and doing exploits is revival language and it goes far beyond evangelism. Godly exploits, however, will not get approval from the world, but it will get its attention. Can we say of the church today, as Peter said, “This is that!”? Leonard ponders an interesting contrast between Matthew 21:13 and 23:38. If “your house” (church) is not the house of prayer, then it is not “My house” Instead of being full of God, it will be desolate. He ends the letter, where he began. As a nation within a nation, we are not under its doom and we are governed by higher laws.
Dec. 17:1988: A blessed Christmas and New Year to you. The pundits tell us 1989 will be a year of gloom. So what? Psalm 24 is ours. I think v. 4 is the key and v. 10 the assurance - all between is ours.
6. Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill’s personal letters
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revival
Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill’s personal letters, number 6
Have you all read The Seduction of Christianity by Dave Hunt? It should be read. I think it was written in the 1980's and it caused a huge stir. Hunt was able to spot some errors and tendencies in the church at that time and exposed them.
Leonard Ravenhill brought it to my attention. He had been observing deficiencies and deceptions for a much longer time. His heart was grieved and he spoke cuttingly and fearlessly against them. He also brought these things before the Lord in broken-hearted prayer. He had no new message to bring to the church, just the ancient truth, about which Jeremiah wrote: Jer 6:16 "Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein." And again in Jer 18:15 "But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway."
I think these two verses are some of the most important for us to mull over these days. Christians don´t want to take the well-traveled, historic way, but are going off on new trails, and eventually wind up serving new gods. Idolatry is as common today in the church, as it was in Israel. People form their own gods, rather than the God of the Bible and historic theology.
The Order of Melchizedek
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The Order of Melchizedek
The Lord has sworn…You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:17, 21
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ho is the most important human being in the Old Testament? Certainly, every Bible student would rank Abraham among the greatest. However, the unnamed author of Hebrews shows us that greatness is found in the ability to mirror Christ in a life… “made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually” (Heb.7:3) He points us to one, who is much greater than Abraham.
It is this writer who, above all others in the New Testament, emphasizes the Holy Spirit as the Author of Scripture, eclipsing the human channel, prophet or Psalmist, used to pen His words: “As the Holy Spirit says…the Holy Spirit is signifying…the Holy Spirit also testifies…” (3:7; 9:8; 10:15). He sees beyond the mass of material written about any other character and notices that Melchizedek is great, though little is recorded about him. In contrast, the story of Abraham begins in Genesis 11 and continues to chapter 25. He is mentioned again and again throughout the Old and New Testament.
5. Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill’s personal letters
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revival
Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill’s personal letters, number 5
We present a couple seasonal letters from Leonard Ravenhill. The first was apparently written after we had crossed over to Germany, so I added the year 1986. Through Ravenhill we got to know Elmer Klassen, who has quite recently joined Len in heaven. Elmer saw to the publishing of Revival God’s Way in German. He led the publishing of the Herald of His Coming in German and in at least ten other languages. One of my articles was published in that paper and Elmer also translated and printed another in tract form.
I still remember some of Ravenhill’s message at Wilkerson’s meeting, of which he speaks in the second letter. He said, “I am more hungry for God than I have been all my life.” Somewhere in that message, he mentioned that neither DW or he had ever been offered an honorary doctorate. He then turned to Wilkerson: “If I ever get one you and I will get together to celebrate. Oh no, we can’t,” he quipped, “you don’t drink tea!”
4. Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill's personal letters
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revival
Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill's personal letters, number 4
Rare are the opportunities in this generation to hear from a man who steps out of the presence of God into the pulpit. Ravenhill spent many hours every day in prayer and spoke fearlessly the words that he heard from God. Many loved him and just as many hated him... perhaps more! It is one of the signs of a true prophet.
Margaret heard Ravenhill speak many times during the chapel hour at Bethany Fellowship, as well as in the regular church services. We went to hear him, when he preached anywhere near our home in Minnesota.
3. Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill's Personal Letters
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revival
Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill's Personal Letters, number 3
Margaret thought that the book Ravenhill mentioned in the last item we posted was probably a book on prayer by MacIntyre. If so, I can see why he said it was the best he had read in 10 years. Ravenhill often sent us books or recommended them. They were treasures, including the one he mentions below by Dr. Machen. As you see, in the same letter, he also sent catalogues and Bible study outlines.
I will be on a trip for almost two weeks, so I wanted to post another item featuring Leonard Ravenhill’s personal letters to us, before I go. I may not have another chance until I return. Since we are entering the Christmas season, these two should fit well. They don’t need much explanation… they’re just good thoughts. What Len writes about the Scripture being of no private interpretation is immensely important. It should be everyone’s plumb line. John Wesley said, “New doctrine is false doctrine!” :
Nov. 14: I do not usually recommend a book I have not read – here is an exception (God Transcendent). A friend of mine studied theology under Dr. Machen and he still glows when he talks of him. Let me know your reaction to the book, please. Maybe some books in this catalogue will do for Christmas gifts. These outlines on Hebrews, I did for my class. They might make good winter studies for your fellowship. I have three classes to teach most weeks and so keep hopping. Have a blessed Thanksgiving. We thank Him for your love, faith and friendship…
Dec. 10: A very blessed Christmas to you. Thanks for sharing about your future ministry. (meaning our move to Europe, which we were to make in 1986) We will pray with you about it. How blessed to be able to say with the Psalmist, “My times are in Thy hands”. “The steps”, and therefore, ‘the stops’, “of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” We are not kicked around by circumstances. We are precious in His sight, though fools to the world. I have not read ‘God Transcendent’ but hope to get to it soon. My plumb line is - the Scripture is of NO private interpretation. As an old saint put it, the Bible is like a stream, where a Lamb can splash in its cool waters. It is also as vast as an ocean, where an elephant can bathe. Peace and joy be yours in the Holy Ghost…
2. Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill's Personal Letters
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revival
Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill's Personal Letters, number 2
In many of his letters, Leonard Ravenhill only wrote the day and the month, not the year, so it is difficult to ascertain their chronological order. I will therefore concentrate on the content, rather than the chronology.
In these first presentations of the letters we received from Ravenhill, I want to firmly establish the personal side. Len felt it important, not only to impart truth, but to form relationships with people. I marvel at the number of people that he counted as friends. He had time for people and, I think, when a ministry gets so big that it doesn’t have time for people… then it is too big! The Kingdom of God is about people and God - and the relationships between them.
After our family had come to live in the US for a few years, we had established a home fellowship. One summer, we planned a trip to Mexico, to show our field of labor to some of those who attended our meetings. This took place in 1984. It was quite a caravan of vehicles, 6 or 7 if I remember right, that traveled down I-35 from Minnesota through Texas to the Mexican border. We drove on far south to the State of Oaxaca. One of the vehicles was a late-model, 4-wheel drive, which we were donating to the work.
I had proposed ahead of time a meeting with Leonard, as we would pass through Lindale, Texas, and he graciously accepted:
Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill's Personal Letters
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revival
Quotes from Leonard Ravenhill’s Personal Letters
I have been reading the almost 600-page biography of Leonard Ravenhill by Mack Tomlinson. It brought to mind photos taken while Margaret and I waited with Leonard and Martha for their flight from the Minneapolis airport to Dallas. We had just finished meetings with Len, sponsored by a number of churches around the Minneapolis area.
I didn’t find the photos, but I did run across 45 letters, untouched for years, that we received from Len between 1983 and 1993. Len died in 1994. Shortly before that, Len wrote the foreword to our book, The Christ of the Apocalypse. That foreword was more than the result of a random request to a well-known author, in order to help bring the book to the public’s attention. It was born out of these years of communication, through the which, we also had many telephone conversations and a visit in the Ravenhill home, while traveling through Texas to Mexico. After sending Len a good portion of the manuscript of The Christ of the Apocalypse, I gave him a call from Germany. “I have read your work twice,” he said, “and I was just going over it the third time, when you called.”
Margaret came to know the Ravenhill´s at Bethany Fellowship Missionary Training School, where she attended classes with the Ravenhill sons, Paul, David and Philip in the 1960s. The family lived on campus. I came to know him many years later, after he spoke at Spiritual Life meetings at Crown College of the Christian Missionary Alliance. Margaret and I attended most of those meetings.
NEW BOOK: WE HAVE AN ALTAR
The new book has arrived from the printers and I am very anxious for people to read it. I know it will be a help in establishing new believers in the faith and, I hope, it will also prove to be a useful book for mature believers. I think, it will provide plenty of material for meditation. Please consider this book seriously. Here are the front and back cover, as well as the Table of Contents:
Click on front cover for larger view
New Book Announcement!
In the next few days, I will be making an announcement concerning the arrival of the new book in English, "We Have an Altar". I believe that this book will be profitable for all levels of Christian living, beginning with the new believer. It will help him to get his feet firmly established upon a solid foundation. He needs to know and understand what Christ's cross means to him, as he begins this altogether new walk of faith. Too many times in these days, new Christians are taught to become involved with activities and programs, but are not taught about what they have come into from a biblical standpoint. They know little of the provisions of the cross and what God seeks to do in and through them.
More mature Christians will perhaps learn also from this book, but I am certain, at least, that it will provide much material for meditation concerning, not only the substitutionary work of Christ, but also their identification with His cross. Please be waiting for the forthcoming announcement of "We Have an Altar".
In the meantime, today I am printing the Fall issue of the Call to Commitment leaflet. The title is "The Order of Melchizadek". This order of priesthood concerns you, if you are a Christian. The benefits go far beyond what I can express, but I made an effort to share with the reader what I have been able to comprehend. I intend to put much more meditation and prayer into it in the future. You will also be able to read interesting "News and Notes", which begin with a short account about four generations of ladies... my oldest sister, Ruth, my mom, my grandma, and great-grandma. I then write about a friend, Matt Luneau, and of the evangelistic efforts of people from Swanton Christian Church.
I can send this leaflet to your home. Just give me your mailing address, by sending an email to: loelmarga@telefonica.net .
Four generations... all are now in heaven!
The Bible Puts Man in His Place
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Important messages
The Bible Puts
Man in His Place
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ost commonly, man will exalt himself and take too much upon himself, therefore the Bible gives us scriptures like this: “We have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man” (He.8:1-2). They remind us that man is limited to the temporal and earthly, whereas the Lord’s work is eternal.
There was no greater individual in Jewish history than Moses. Jesus belittled Moses discipleship in His day, “It is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven” (Jn.6:32). According to biblical principal, only that is true, which endures forever. Moses’ manna, essential as it was for that one generation, failed the test, ceasing when the Israelites crossed Jordan.
WE HAVE AN ALTAR, CHAPTER 1
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Important messages
I can't say, when the English version "We Have an Altar" will be published. It is already in Spanish. In the meantime, I would like to give you an idea of the contents and the theme. God's people need better understanding of the cross... of the substitutionary work of Christ and our identification with His work. If we want to love Him, worship Him and serve Him, there is no greater motivation, than to contemplate His cross. This chapter begins with a story of a real moving of God among young people in a camp. Then, it briefly presents the One, who went to the cross, and gives a general glimpse into His work. Please read it prayerfully with a heart and mind ready to receive the truth, which will draw you closer to Christ.
WE HAVE AN ALTAR
Chapter 1
The Cross – One Single Theme
“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
1 Corinthians 2:2
I have been invited many times to speak at youth camps. What material do we generally think appropriate for challenging young people? Often, the emphasis is on particular youth problems and challenges, about the things that they confront in school, such as sex, evolution and peer pressure. We hear of the use of inspiring, professional speakers, as close to the age of the young people as possible, for camp speakers, so that they can identify with him. They are especially effective, if they can crack a lot of jokes to keep the kids entertained.
Personally, on different occasions, I have taken young people through the book of Jonah, speaking about the dangers of missing the will of God for their lives, and the first six chapters of Daniel, showing the necessity of standing uncompromisingly for God. I have talked about Samson and his supernatural strength, about David, his youth and commitment to the purposes of God. I have stressed discipleship and missionary activity.
A couple summers ago, I went to a camp that was to be over a week in length and I would be speaking at least twice a day. As the time approached for it to begin, the growing burden on my heart concerned the cross of Jesus Christ. I will have to admit that I struggled for a while, imagining myself before over a hundred energetic, life-loving, human beings, trying to convey to them a message of resignation and death. To any kind of natural thinking, such an emphasis was incongruous and destined to failure. But then, 1 Corinthians 2:2 turned me away from natural reasoning and put me in touch with eternal truth.
The Prodigal Son
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Important messages
The Prodigal Son
By Dave Brueckner
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me;
I once was lost, but now I’m found,
Was blind but now I see.
“What is God like?” The Bible reveals the heart of God. There is found a sure answer in the Bible for those who are serious enough to read its sacred pages.
One of the things that God yearns for is fellowship with his people, who are the crown of his creation. In Genesis, He walks in the garden in the cool of the day, looking for Adam. In Mark, he calls his 12 disciples, “that they might be with Him…” Later, when His disciples discover that Jesus is going to leave them, He tells them that He is going to prepare a place for them, “that where I am, there you may be also”.
WE HAVE AN ALTAR (introduction)
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Important messages
I wanted to let you have a glance at the title verse, the title song (by Fanny Crosby), the Table of Contents, and the Intoduction to the our new book, WE HAVE AN ALTAR. I hope it will soon be available in English. It is already published in Spanish.
“We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” Hebrews 13:10-14
Near the Cross
Jesus, keep me near the cross, there a precious fountain;
Free to all a healing stream, flows from Calvary’s mountain.
In the cross, a trembling soul, love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star, shed its beams around me.
In the cross, oh Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day, with its shadow o’er me.
In the cross I’ll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever,
‘Til I reach the golden strand just beyond the river.
In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever,
‘Til my raptured soul shall find, rest beyond the river.
Fanny Crosby
(whose sightless eyes saw the cross more clearly than most)
Wake up! It’s Later than You Think
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I grew up the son of a missionary pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Personally, I have been in the ministry for 47 years and, during all that time I have observed and warned about the dangerous direction that God’s people are taking. Speaking in general terms, probably the best way to describe it is that there is a lack of the fear of God. There is little reverence for the things of God or for God Himself. It is quite common today to hear people refer to Him as “Daddy”.
I remember hearing in the 1960s teachings that provoked a rebellion against established Christianity and, as a consequence, today there is little interest in church history. In many congregations, you rarely hear hymns sung. The practices, the styles and the morals of believers have reached such a decadent level that there is little difference seen between them and the people of the world. Saddest of all, the Bible is losing its place as the maximum authority among Christians and everyone loosely interprets it in his own way. I wish we could hear John Wesley say once again, “Every new doctrine is false doctrine.”
The Testimony of Herman Williams
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personal testimonies
A PAGE OUT OF GOD’S BOOK
Christian biographies, I think, are the most intriguing of all literature. They contain an element that is not found in accounts merely human and natural. One can detect an authorship superseding the ability and intelligence of earthly writers. This issue attempts to outline a story which has its origin in the heavenlies and will only be related in its entirety in the annals of eternity. Please read it with this in mind…
God’s choices of men, raised up to fulfill eternal purposes, are intriguing evidences of His excellent wisdom. Jesus rejoiced to ecstasy because the Father “had hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes.” The twelve apostles were all unlikely material to become jeweled foundation stones in the New Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, God called Abram out of idolatry from the heathen capital of Ur and made him a nomadic prince, destined to become a spiritual father of nations. David was taken from the sheepfolds, groomed in caves and foreign citadels, to become king over God’s chosen people. Amos, a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit, wondered why he, of all people, should receive a prophetic calling. The Great Architect still has His blueprint in hand and His designs continue to amaze.
Give Me Children or I Die
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Call to Commitment pilot issue, July 1994
News and Notes
I have written articles, from time to time, on subjects which mean a great deal to me. A few of these have been published or printed and I’ve been surprised sometimes to see how far they’ve spread. I have on my desk two articles which have been on my heart and mind for months. I considered sending them to a Christian paper for possible printing. Then a thought occurred to me, “Why don’t I print these articles myself and send them out on a regular basis?” So, what you have in your hands is the result of that idea. I couldn’t possibly start with a subject closer to my heart. I trust you will read it prayerfully and that you will be challenged by it. (written in July 1994)News and Notes
SPIRITUAL CHILD-BEARING
A Matter of Life and Death
“And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said unto Jacob, give me children, or else I die.” Genesis 30:1
Every truly born-again believer wants to see others come to Christ. This single verse of scripture opens to him ample material for spiritual contemplation to help him sharpen and deepen that inherent desire.
It is obvious that we have more before us than a simple petition. Here is a desperate, heart-rending cry from one whose longing has reached its ultimate level. It has touched the very spring of her existence and she is ready to sacrifice her life in order to see it fulfilled. Parenthetically, we might note that Rachel did just that upon the birth of her second son.
This text suggests something more than a common, natural desire among women to bear children. I think it also goes beyond a mid-eastern cultural need of the day. God placed an especially strong child-bearing principle in the heart of Hebrew women towards the preservation and propagation of the race.
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