You will find our reading this evening in
the first epistle to John, and we shall
read chapter one.
Might I ask, do you hear me all
right at the back?
Yes.
That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled of the word of life.
For the life was manifested, and we have
seen it and bear witness, and shown to
you that eternal life which was with the
Father, and was manifested unto us.
That which we have seen and heard, declare
we unto you, that ye also may have
fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is
with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus
Christ.
And these are things, write we unto you,
that your joy may be full.
This then is the message which ye have
heard of him, declare unto you, that God
is light, and in him is no darkness
at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with
him and walk in darkness, we lie and
do not the truth.
But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word
is not in us.
Amen.
And God will add his blessing to the
reading of that short portion.
Before we turn to the word of God,
might I say that I am happy and
privileged to be with you here this evening
to share in the fellowship and the ministry
of these days.
Now, might I say also that God has
placed, I believe, a burden on my heart
for this meeting, and the burden is that
of a message on heart preparation for revival,
heart preparation for revival, a message that
speaks, I think, particularly to those who are
gripped by a desire to get into reality,
or the need of reality in the field
of Christian work and Christian witness today.
It seems to me that we are living
in a day when, particularly in the field
of evangelism, everything seems to be real but
God.
You may disagree, but that is a deep
-seated conviction with me.
Publicity so real, organizing so real, publicity
so wonderfully real, yes, and even decisions.
And perhaps I should say here, personally, I
am tired of this trafficking in decisions.
This gospel of simply believism has cursed your
country and mind.
We do want to get into the grips
of reality.
Now, turn with me to this portion of
Scripture which we read together, and to verse
7.
If we walk in the light, as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,
his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
It seems to me that in that short
portion of Scripture, we have in it a
message, a word from God on what might
be termed heart preparation for revival.
I find today, in many quarters, a hunger
for the real, especially in the field of
godliness.
Or, I prefer the word holiness.
I was deeply impressed by what the minister
of the parish in which the revival broke
out in 49, a statement that he made
at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
of Scotland in Edinburgh.
He made this statement, and I was deeply
impressed by it.
That night that God swept into a prayer
meeting and the revival began, I made this
profound discovery that a God-sent revival must
ever be related to holiness and separation.
I was deeply impressed by that statement, and
I would reaffirm it this evening.
I believe that a God-sent revival, and
of course, every revival is from God.
I believe that God is sovereign in the
field of revival.
I am simply enough to believe that.
But, having said that, I also believe that
we are the human agents through which God's
revival is possible.
That is why I believe God hath laid
it upon my heart to direct your attention
this evening to heart preparation for revival.
I can well believe that there may be
those listening to me here this evening who
are very conscious of a heart need.
Conscious of a heart need.
Men and women who have been led step
by step in the ways of truth, and
have suddenly discovered that their lives do not
attest the reality of their faith or of
what they profess.
It is true that we talk about revival,
we talk about Christian work and Christian witness,
but what is it in our lives that
corresponds to that great fact?
That is a question I feel we would
do well to face at this hour.
Now, with that conviction, there hath come an
intense longing to get into the grips of
reality, into the place where God touches the
heart.
My dear people, it's got to begin with
God.
Got to begin with God.
Revival begins in His heart.
And He operates through my life.
Some time ago it was my privilege to
address a series of meetings in Cambridge, England.
One afternoon the meeting was chaired by a
young undergraduate.
And in his chairman's remarks he said this,
Master Speaker, we are not here to listen
to pious platitudes, nor are we interested in
sentimental humbugging.
We are seeking certitude in the realm of
truth, assurance in the field of Christian experience.
Certitude in the realm of truth.
Assurance in the field of Christian experience.
And then he added, can you tell us
that there is a Savior who can save
young men and young women in this university
city from sin?
Now, I believe that that intelligent young man
was giving expression to the thinking mind of
intelligent youth today.
Thank God there's an answer to the supreme
human problem, which, after all, is sin.
I love to proclaim that there's a Savior
from all sin.
I believe that that is the most pious,
poor, no-indulging with this great truth.
I would direct your attention to three simple
thoughts.
First, I must get into the light.
That's the first condition.
And then I must acknowledge what the light
reveals, and that brings repentance.
Oh, the need for a message on repentance
today.
The crying for it.
And then we must be prepared to walk
in the light.
And that speaks, of course, of obedience following
a genuine repentance.
So, first of all, we must get into
the light.
There is a very suggestive word in the
Gospel by John, the third chapter and verse
twenty-one.
The man who is really sincere will face
the light according to this verse.
He that doeth truth.
Now, in my Gaelic revised version, it is
slightly different.
He that is truthful will come into the
light.
And he will come with a prayer that
finds expression in the words, Search me, O
God, and know my heart.
Try me and know my thoughts and see
if there be any wicked way in me.
And lead me in the way everlasting.
That is the prayer of a sincere and
honest man.
He is not even prepared to do the
searching himself.
There are avenues within the bounds of his
personality.
There are enemies well entrenched in the garrison
of his soul.
That God alone can deal with.
Search me, O God.
And know my heart.
But I fear today a pleasure-crazed and
morally bankrupt generation refuses to face the fact
of grim reality.
And I fear that to a very large
extent that spirit hath entered the Christian church.
But the man who is entirely sincere will
live no longer under any self-created illusion
about life in its immediate or in its
ultimate aspect.
He will face himself with unqualified honesty and
stand in the full blaze of God's searching
presence.
He will face the light and throw his
mind and heart open to the searchlight of
truth.
Now might I say in this the opening
meeting, are we really prepared for that?
Are we prepared for it?
If not, if not, can it be proved
that our very coming together is just a
laughingstock of devils?
Oh, we want sincerity, we want honesty, we
want reality.
That is, my dear people, the only way
if we are to make contact with Christ
that is vital.
And know an experience that is real, such
as Paul had when he referred to it
and said, God revealed his Son in me.
After all, is that not Christian, is that
not true Christian experience, a revelation?
My dear people, that is infinitely greater than
mere decision.
God revealed his Son, that's why I'm constantly
saying that the baptism of the Holy Ghost
is, in its final analysis, just the revelation
of Jesus.
That's infinitely more, infinitely greater than anything else.
You can speak of gifts, you can speak
of miracles, and thank God that can be
real.
Oh, it can be real, when God gives
it.
He hasn't given it to me.
But to me, the supreme reality relative to
the baptism is just the revelation of Jesus.
Oh, show me a man in love with
Jesus.
We have, or rather we had in Scotland,
a very remarkable young woman saved during the
revival, trained in our Bible school, was wonderfully
used in revival in Scotland, years of it,
years of it.
She is now in South Africa, and I
heard her make a statement at a conference
of ministers.
She asked the question, What are we to
understand by the sacrifice of praise?
And she answered her own question by saying,
The ecstasy of joy in the one I
love the most.
Man, I thought that's got it.
The sacrifice of praise, the ecstasy of joy
in the one I love the most.
Now my dear people, let's just face this
with honesty and with sincerity.
Ain't there a hunger in your hearts this
evening to get into the light?
To get into the light.
My God, whatever it costs.
My young daughter said to me years ago,
when I made the discovery that I wasn't
just what I ought to be.
Perhaps some night I may give my personal
testimony.
But when battling and seeking to get into
the light, tired of dead formality in the
church as a Presbyterian minister, tired of it
all, that dear lassie came into my study,
I'm lying on the floor, and said this
to me, Daddy, whatever it costs, get right
with God.
My dear people, that shook me.
That shook me.
She went on to say, You know that
you were God's instrument in the Middergyle revival
of years ago.
How is it that you're not seeing revival
today?
That question went home with conviction.
And God, in his mercy, gave me back
the years of the locust that he did.
My dear friend, it just means that.
To go through whatever it costs.
If you're interested in revival, if you're seeking
the greatest power of God to course freely
through the avenues of your personality, it just
means that.
Whatever the cost may be, are you prepared
for that?
You would do well to face that question
with honesty and with sincerity.
Oh God, let me into the being that's
flying from Zion's hill.
The words of the paraphrase, the Scottish paraphrase.
Let me in, Lord, get me in.
I'm sincere, I'm honest.
My God, I want the best.
That's your sincerity, that's your honesty, that's your
conviction.
My dear people, if we get through there,
we're going to see God at work here.
But I say again, it's got to begin
there.
In the field of sincerity and honesty.
So that brings me to my second thought.
We must acknowledge what the light reveals.
I believe God has already begun to reveal.
I believe that.
I believe that there are those here coming
to this camp meeting.
And on the road, God spoke to you.
Oh God, will you meet with me.
God, will you do something for me.
Causing me never to be the same again.
Is that true?
I can well believe it is.
You remember it was David who said, I
acknowledge my transgressions.
And my sin is ever before me.
That was a great moment in David's life
when he spoke of my sin.
You see, in the light he's made conscious
of his awful sin.
But brother, perhaps not a bit more awful
than yours or mine.
But David was an honest man.
Again, let me say, it begins in the
realm of honesty.
These are days when there is a tendency
to cover up sin.
And we sing, Calvary covers it all.
Now might I ask a question here that
may disturb you.
Is it true that Calvary covers it all?
If you're thinking of the vicarious sufferings of
Jesus, if you're thinking of his atoning sacrifice,
if you're thinking of the glorious fact that
he's tasted death for every man, is it
true in that sphere that Calvary covers it
all?
Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
Listen brother, Calvary will not cover what you've
got to uncover.
Oh, let's get that clear.
Let's get that clear.
If there is something hidden in your heart
that you know to be wrong, if there's
a habit, if there's a custom, if there's
a friendship, oh, I couldn't mention ever so
many things.
Cover it and keep covered.
Brother Calvary will not cover that.
I think I can perhaps illustrate what I
mean by something that happened at Oxford, another
university city.
I was conducting a series of meetings there
under the auspices of the InterVarsity Fellowship, and
I made that statement, Calvary will not cover
what you've got to uncover.
Now at the close of the meeting, a
young undergraduate came to see me.
He was obviously very disturbed in his mind.
He was the son of a nobleman of
high rank, and a professing Christian, made a
profession under the ministry of Alan Redpath, a
Baptist minister and now an evangelist.
He was counseled by a brother, I would
say a very foolish brother.
This young man had something on his mind.
He had wronged a maid in his father's
house, and he felt that he had to
mention this to the man who was counseling
him.
And this foolish counselor said, My young brother,
doubt you confess that to God and Calvary
will cover it.
My dear people, no more damnable advice was
ever forged from the anvils of hell than
that.
And he is now in this meeting terribly
disturbed, because this keeps coming back.
And he faces me with a question, What
can I do?
What can I do?
My dear brother, I said there is only
one thing that you can do.
Write to the girl and tell her that
you're the father of her child.
He had been denying that, and he got
off with it because of his position.
Write to your parents and tell them the
same truths, and write to her parents and
tell it all.
On the following morning, I had the pleasure
and the joy of reading the three letters
and saw them with my own hands posted.
My dear people, Calvary will not cover where
restitution has got to be made.
It's a truth that you seldom hear preached
today, the truth of restitution.
If a thing is wrong, it's wrong.
There are two great words in the English
language, right and wrong.
If a thing is wrong, be done with
it.
If a thing is wrong, put it right.
I believe, dear people, that this is a
truth.
We must face it sincerely and honestly.
But it means that I acknowledge it.
I illustrate this by an incident in my
own life.
At this time, I was a Presbyterian minister
in the northeast of Scotland and was attending
the Strats Pepper Convention, one of our great
Scottish conventions for the deepening of spiritual life.
And we certainly had a wonderful time.
Oh, a wonderful time.
So wonderful that I and my young people
found it most difficult to leave.
So we lingered in the midst of the
fellowship until midnight.
And then we set off in my car.
Halfway between Strats Pepper and my home and
church, we found ourselves in the midst of
a terrific storm on a very dark night.
And to make matters worse, the lights failed
us.
So here we are on the roadside, in
the dark, not a move, as far from
home as ever.
But there was one thing that I could
do, and I did it.
I made an honest confession.
And, Matthew, it was honest.
I said there's something wrong with the lights.
Of course, that was obvious.
But it was honest.
It was honest.
But, my dear people, my honest confession got
us nowhere.
We're still in the dark.
We're still by the roadside, not a move.
It was during the first few months of
the Second World War.
And one of Britain's great battleships, the Warspite,
was anchored in a bay.
And just at that moment, began to sweep
the coastline with her searchlight.
A girl sitting in the back seat suggested
that we get out and push the car
into the beam.
No sooner said than done, the car was
pushed into the beam.
And the officer at the controls, possibly seeing
our predicament, allowed the beam to remain stationary
right across the road.
In front of the car, we pushed it
in.
And in a matter of minutes, I discovered
what was wrong.
Disconnected wire.
And made the necessary adjustment.
And got back to my seat.
But I did not speak now in general
terms.
I spoke of a disconnected wire.
But understand, I had to get into the
beam to make the discovery.
And I had to act quickly in case
the light would again become darkness.
My dear people, it is one thing to
make a general confession of course.
We're all sinners.
We've all come short of the glory of
God.
We have left undone the things that we
ought to have done.
And done the things that we ought not
to have done.
But you know and I know that gets
us nowhere.
That gets us nowhere.
We're not a bit near a revival.
We're not a bit nearer sanctification.
Not a bit nearer getting into a right
relationship with God.
But in the beam, if I make a
discovery.
And I realize what is wrong, it may
be in my prayer life.
My prayer life.
Oh my dear people, how we have failed
God in prayer.
God speaks to you about that.
It may be something else that deals with
impurity in thought, in word, in action.
I do not know what it is, but
in the light you've made a discovery.
Oh, you've made a discovery.
What is your reaction?
Confession?
It may be lack of fellowship.
That demands confession in the church.
I was listening to a minister, as a
matter of fact, Dr. Alan Redpath.
And he told in his address of two
women that he had in his congregation.
They weren't on speaking terms.
Oh, they weren't on speaking terms.
But one night, didn't both of them meet
in the aisle of the church?
And immediately one became an astronomer and looked
up.
And the other became a geologist and looked
down.
And the astronomer and the geologist passed each
other without saying a word.
But at the prayer meeting on Thursday, both
of them sang lustily, We're bound for the
land of the pure and the holy.
My dear people, what a travesty.
Oh, what a travesty.
Why the laughingstock of devils.
They're neither holy or bound for the land
of the pure and the holy.
That is my conviction.
Oh, we want to face this matter.
One thing in a meeting, another thing in
the home.
And Whitfield was asked, Is such a man
a Christian?
I cannot tell you.
I never lived with him.
Oh, to so manifest God that it becomes
obvious.
Bearing about, said the apostle, bearing about in
my body the dying of Jesus.
That the life also of Jesus might be
made manifest through my mortal flesh.
Not just through my emotions.
Not just through my intellect.
But my mortal flesh crying aloud, this is
the work of God.
My dear people, that to me is where
revival begins.
Oh, that is where it begins.
A willingness to walk in the light.
After all, is it not stated that the
Holy Spirit is given to those who obey?
Now, what does it mean to walk in
the light?
It just means that you are going to
let Christ the light lead you to where
the blood can heal.
To me, this is the light of atonement
made.
The light of purity assured.
The light of sin forever cleansed.
This is where we discover that the precious
blood of Jesus reaches deeper than the stain
can go.
This is where we see the facts of
the cross becoming glorious factors in our lives.
Oh, get a hold of that, brother.
And come, and as you come, you will
discover that what the light reveals, the hidden
things, all the hidden things, that the light
reveals.
I make this glorious discovery that the precious
blood of Jesus can heal.
My prayer is that the penetrating light of
God may get us this evening.
Now, I tell you, if you got through
here, I believe we would see a moving
of God within these walls.
That would startle the very trembling gates of
hell.
That's what I believe.
After all, what light is this?
To me, it's the light of his abiding
presence.
I am the light of the world, that
Jesus, he that followeth me, shall not walk
in darkness.
It is Jesus himself who imparts his own
life, who shares his own spirit.
Some years ago, I was brought back from
the gates of death by a blood transfusion.
Coming home from London on the night train,
I had a fearful hemorrhage.
Fortunately, there was a doctor on the train,
and he stopped at the next station.
It was the express from London, stopped the
express, and got in touch with the Royal
Infirmary Edinburgh.
And I found a team of doctors waiting
for me at the station.
And right there, I got a blood transfusion.
And it was that transfusion that saved my
life.
Now, I would say that in a spiritual
sense, this is how Christ heals the sin
-sick soul.
Not only by the blood he shed for
us on Calvary, but by the transfusion of
his life into ours.
The transfusion of his life.
Paul says this in clear light, For when
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
by the death of his Son.
Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life.
Oh, what a truth.
My dear people, we must ever remember that
the interpretation of Christ's righteousness is the foundation
on which faith rests.
But oh, bless God, it is the impartation
of Christ's life that saves and empowers.
The life also of Jesus.
Now, how is all this to become real?
Just by coming into the light.
And in the words of a prominent Keswick
speaker of years ago, Let the healing, cleansing
rays of Calvary play upon your heart until
the very single angle is sterilized.
My dear people, if you wish to honor
God, give him full credit for the excellency
of his work in redemption.
He provided a savior to save men from
sin.
So, come to his feet and lay open
your story of sorrow, of suffering, of sin,
and of shame.
For his pardon for sin is the crown
of his glory and the joy of the
Lord to be true to his name.
That, to me, dear people, is heart preparation
for revival.
Are you prepared for it?
Oh, that's a question.
Are you prepared for it?
Now, before I sit down, I feel that
I ought to mention at least it is
on my heart that tomorrow evening I shall
deal with revival and perhaps tell you of
the remarkable move of the Spirit of God
in the Hebrides just now.
Not only in the outer Hebrides, but also
in the inner Hebrides.
Do you know, dear people, that we are
in the midst of a holy ghost revival
just now?
Right in the midst of it.
All communities are being transformed by the grace
of God and particularly among teenagers.
My dear people, revival is the answer to
the teenage problem that baffles us today.
Tomorrow evening, in the will of God.