In Light Of Eternity

March 10, 2011

He took time for me.

“My main ambition in life is to be on the devil’s most wanted list!” The words of Leonard Ravenhill, a modern day sage that walked with God and pleaded with His people. The impact of Mr. Ravenhill’s life will surely be revealed in eternity.

The most striking characteristic that I found so amazing about this man of God was, ACCESS! As a week old follower of Christ with not even a hint of church background to entangle me, I heard a message by Leonard that shook me to the core. Shortly after, sill not skilled in the finery of access to Super Saint’s, I had the audacity to call this man and even more shocking was that he answered the phone.

In a day when access to “pop star” Christians is severely constricted, Ravenhill was accessible. Not only did he answer the call of the well known but also the desperate call of the unknown, like me.

In the talks and time that I had with Leonard as a new believer, what strikes me most is that he never gave me an answer to any of my myriad questions, rather he simply pointed me where to look and get them myself. Much of what we call discipleship today is actually transference of information of a religious nature. Information has sadly taken place over inspiration for building “cookie cutter” preachers as Mr. Ravenhill would say.

In Mark Chapter 5 we read,

1They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.^a 2And when Jesus^b had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

14The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed^c man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17And they began to beg Jesus^d to depart from their region.

18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

20And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

How could it be? Jesus would deny discipleship to a man that begged to get into the boat with Him!

Were this miracle to happen today with much of our modern ministries we would not only take him into the boat, we woud mount him to the masthead. Proudly, we would set sail for the next church to display the once “Demon Possessed Man” as proof of how mightily God uses OUR ministry. Would not people sit back in awe as we paraded this “trophy” through the circuit of meetings and churches, surely glorious praise and big offerings would follow as church folk see what power our ministry wields.

For the glory of God this trophy of His grace was sent back to his own town to testify to the Glory of God. Jesus would fund His ministry by trusting the Father who had sent him instead of parading a side show of “the set free” to build up His ministry.

Oh how I have searched my heart over this passage that shows Jesus setting a man free while never seeking to “use” that moment of redemption for anything more than bringing glory to the Father. I rejoice that my Lord still sets men free from demons and touches the infirm. I also confess that I tire of meetings were the body of Christ exults with raptured glee when testimony of healing or deliverance is given but can hardly muster an amen when a simple broken missionary stands before them to report that one or two souls were convicted of their sin and found live in Christ.

If I learned anything from Leonard Ravenhill it was simply this, Let God get the glory while I listen for the crescendoed drum beat of my death march! May the Lord come once again and by His Holy Spirit raise up another “boney fingered prophet” that will not prostitute His gifts nor His graces, that he longs to adorne His bride with, and be content as one of His hidden ones.

If you are wanting a great book to read then I sincerely point you to the many books that Ravenhill penned and I point you to the book that Mack Tomlinson penned about Mr. Ravenhill.

http://www.ravenhillbiography.com/

Kevin J Turner

Posted in Pondering, Revival, Strategic World Impact