In an hour or so I shall be hitting the road on my journey into Wales where I shall be preaching the Word tomorrow at Moriah Chapel in Loughor near Swansea. It's another part of the journey which I embarked upon so many years ago, a journey which has a goal of reaching, as Augustus wrote, 'that kingdom which has no end.' I remember likening my journey to being on a train that stopped at numerous stations, each of which was an important place to get off and explore, discovering more of the knowledge that I needed in order to continue my journey in the right direction. In fact, I guess that what walking with Christ is in so many ways, a journey of discovery, for in discovering more about God I think that you inevitably discover more about yourself as well.
So what have I discovered about myself along the way? Well, for one thing, I have discovered that I have a capacity for compassion that far exceeds anything that I would have thought myself capable of. I have discovered strengths that I never realised I had, and concern for others that far outweighs concern for myself. I have discovered that true happiness comes to you as a result of bringing happiness into the lives of others. I have discovered that the joys of giving far outweigh the pleasures of receiving, although the latter should never be falsely discounted.
I have learned that, in terms of strength and endurance, alone I am no more than average, yet with God before me, Christ by my side, and driven by the Holy Spirit, I have strength and endurance that is always sufficient for any and every need that I might have. In this I have discovered that most basic truth, that, as John Donne so succinctly put it, 'No man is an island ...', for in my alone-ness I am nothing, yet in my oneness with God I am all that I need to be.
Forty years ago this coming September, I committed my life to Christ and to serving Him in any and every way that I could, and the journey that my commitment has led me on has been amazing. I have had the blessings of good companions along the way, and have found that God has never let me down, even though there have been many times when I have let Him down. They say that to err is human, and I guess that explains the difference between us and God when it comes to letting down.
The responsibility of being a Christian is immense! Jesus Christ has commissioned each of His followers to take the gospel message into the world and share it with all whom we meet. We are commissioned to bear a burden for the lost souls whom only Christ can offer salvation to. That means that whenever we fail to share the message with someone we meet we run the risk of condemning them to a future apart from God. It's that thought, the dreadfulness of such a situation, that becomes a spur in our Christian lives, urging us onward to share and serve, serve and share, not stopping to count the cost to ourselves but only considering all in terms of the kingdom benefits that can accrue to one who receives the wonderful gift of salvation.
So tomorrow, when I once again have the privilege to share God's Word, my thoughts will not be about how people meet and accept me but on how they meet and accept God, for surely the one thing that is of great importance is that we should diminish and let God increase. In sharing the good news of the gospel message we are not the creator's of the message but the bearers of it. We are, in effect, Ambassadors for Christ Himself, and what could be better than performing our duty the very best way possible.
One hundred and five years ago the Spirit of Revival spread out from Moriah Chapel and its influence was felt around the world. Hundreds of thousands of people were harvested into the Kingdom as a result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Will Revival sweep out once more from Moriah as it did back then with the young Evan Roberts calling on God, "Bend me!"? Only God knows the answer to that. In the meantime, we are called upon to be ready to share the Word both in season and out of season. I'm ready to do that each and every day, and pray that God will continue to bless me as He has done for so many years.
When it comes to the question of Revival, one thing that I have learned is that every time one person accepts Christ into their heart the a mini-revival has taken place. Someone who was spiritually dead has been revived and becomes spiritually alive. Add together all of the individuals who come to Christ each day and you can see that revival never ceases to take place. Our problem is only in the way that we view the situation, expecting, as we do, Revival to come only in a massive outpouring that affects thousands, yet God does things His way, and that is often not the way that we would expect.
It's time to take our blinkers off and instead of worrying and fretting about what we think God is not doing, we should be praising Him for what He is doing. Possibly the one great thing that stands in the way of a grand-scale Revival is ourselves, as we limit God to the size that fits comfortably into human understanding.
It's time to let go and let God!
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