Preeminent Presence of Christ

There have been times, through the years, where the preaching of God's word is attended by the preeminent presence of Christ, where the divine presence is so thick and overwhelming that all you can do is be melted down under his awful presence. And no, the King has arrived in his court, and all frail humans can do is to bow in humility and repentance before him. Such was the case in Enfield, Connecticut, under the preaching of Jonathan Edwards, when he preached his famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and the screams and cries of his hearers so drowned out his preaching that he had to desist, as they felt they were dropping into hell itself.

Oddly, Edwards had previously preached that very same sermon to his congregation in Northampton, with little effect. Why God shows up when he does is a mystery I have not been able to fathom, for Jesus declared, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.

There have been times in my public ministry, when I preached my heart out to no avail, and with no visible results. There have been other times, though few and far between, when God was pleased to show up in his majesty, and alter the very atmosphere of the room until you could sense eternity, and the God of that eternity. That's when the Spirit's at work on the hearts of men, and lives are touched, and there is an effectual change.

I was recently sitting on my couch, reading Arthur Fawcett's wonderful book on the Scottish Revival in Camp Buslang, under the ministry of William McCulloch and George Whitefield, and in the back of the book I noticed my handwriting, and this is what I had written many years ago. It is pertinent to our study today, friends, of the movements of God in revival. I must have had this book with me when I finished preaching that night, and I jotted down my experience from that evening as it had occurred.

Here, now, is what I wrote in my diary account that night. February 20, 2006. Preached at Oldford Ministries this Monday evening to a group of 18 ministers.

Text was John, chapter 15, verses 1 through 8. Topic, personal revival, the praying process, and the pruning process. I talked about how God was the tiller of the soil, and he prunes his servants with the divine pruning knife in order to produce more fruit. My outline was, number one, the act of care of the Father in the vineyard, the pruning process.

Number two, the union between Christ and the Church, the praying process, or the abiding. Number three, the anointing work of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, the power possessed. I began with an introduction about Enoch walking with God, and as I proceeded with the message, I saw their countenances and behavior strangely altered, smiles changed into looks of concern and startlement, as God began to grip their hearts.

Christ became very real to us. One hearer on the front row, a woman, put a shroud over her head and kept her face completely covered the whole time of my discourse. When I ended the message there was a solemn solemnity among us, as hearts were stirred.

Four pastors stood in line to hug me and speak to me. One had a serious look on his face, and he told me very solemnly that he needed to hear that message. The next man in line was an old black pastor, and he hugged me hard and said, I've been a pastor for nearly fifty years, and tonight I'm going home, and when I get there I'm going to go kneel at my bedside and ask God to get out his pruning knife on me and my ministry.

That was the end of my notes. But that evening long ago still has the fragrant memory of Christ in our midst doing business with his bride, and that should be the object of preaching, friends, to preach in such a way that man gets out of the way, so God can go to work. I hope that helps us as we go now to a time of prayer.

Let us pray that God would show up in the midst of his people and bring effectual change. Let us pray, friends, for our teenagers, that they will witness the power of God in a meeting again, so they can be gripped with eternity. Let us pray that a true revival will visit our sanctuaries and transform us to be better evangelists and witnesses for Christ and his gospel.

Let us pray that a heaven-sent spiritual awakening will saturate our nation with a God-consciousness that will turn this nation back to the God of the Bible. Let us pray.