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the poet wrote this only one life to
assume be past only what's done for God
will last and when I am dying how glad I
shall be if the lamp of my life has been
burned out for thee it's only one life
to ass soon be pass only once done for
God will last to reflect on Leonard
Raven Hill's life is is simply a real
inspiration by any measurement his was a
remarkable life and a remarkable
Ministry he was just a unique man that
was used to God in the 20th century in a
remarkable way he was converted when he
was about
15 just by
seeing that his father had a spiritual
reality that he himself didn't have he
came under conviction and he cried out
to the Lord and was converted when he
was 15 from then on he was engaged in
evangelism personal witness serious
prayer serious prayer meetings they were
in Holiness groups they were kind of
pre- Nazarene groups but they weren't
charismatic uh they didn't you know they
didn't speak in tongues they were just
serious-minded people who pursued the
Lord and prayed fervently they were
called the um Holiness trickers and they
actually full time walked the length and
breadth of England they walked across
England um lengthwise and widthwise more
than once pushing a cart with a with a
tent that they would direct and people
would come in for preaching in the tent
at night and They Carried a small you
know backpack each of them there would
be five to eight men on a team and they
would go into a town plan on staying two
or three weeks and sometimes it it
became two or three months because their
preaching really had an high impact on
the the local areas all over the north
of England and in Wales as well so
Leonard began to be a trekking
evangelist
from 1931 when he was 24 years old and
he did that
Ministry um throughout the 1930s into
the
1940s you know he was known as a as a
powerful evangelist fiery
passionate courageous
Fearless there's no concern there has to
come an Awakening in the church to the
Peril those loved on of yours at the end
of the table they don't go to church no
they're going to hell why did you say
it the only time you can say Christ is
all I need is when Christ is all you
have he and his wife moved
to Ireland she was from Ireland Martha
was from Ireland they moved there in the
1950s for Leonard to somewhat recover
from a severe accident that he had when
he had to jump out of a burning hotel
and he had seven major breaks in his
body his his back and his feet and legs
and uh it took 2 or 3 years to recover
then the doctor said you want he said by
another 11 years from now you'll be
crippled and paralyzed your back's
broken your feet are broken your legs
are broken you'll be
useless well I'm maybe useless but I'm
still hanging on he
saw local genuine revivals occur under
their preaching in England and in Wales
where scores of people came under
conviction and the meetings would
extended sometimes 3 months they would
be in a town 3 months and they saw
hundreds of true
conversions and whole churches were
birthed out of those those movements so
there's some authentic work of God that
that
happened the only thing that will time
me in Victory continually through the
blood of Christ is my personal Devotion
to him the Son of God my adoration that
I give him my Tribute every day it's
more than my service it's more than
giving my money that I love him and I
adore him and I Magnify Him I I take him
as it were by the feet when I read
Hebrews 11 I follow my FL because not
one person in Hebrews 11 ever had a
Bible there's a verse there that
staggers me and it says what it says
they did by faith subdued kingdoms
wrought righteousness obtain promises
stop the vs of Li and then one verse
says no not accepting Deliverance what
does it mean I'd rather die than fail
Christ even from the early part of his
Christian Life he developed his prayer
life so he spent literally hours every
day in private prayer praying with other
men and um it was you know it was just a
phenomenal life that he
lived I've said it many times I said
again this morning that no man is
greater than his prayer
life a man's life all his ministry it
showed do you see the difference between
the wood and the hay and the stubble and
the silver and the gold and the precious
stones wood hay and stubble are above
the ground they catch the eye silver and
gold and precious stone are below the
ground nobody sees them there's a lot of
public Ministry in that day that's going
to go down in ashes my
brother the Lord whom you seek we're not
seeking him we're seeking Revival we're
seeking healing we're seeking Miracles
it's not that we need if we get God we
gets all that's needed and Revival is
when God comes down finally in 1958 he
had more open doors in America than he
did in Britain and he and Martha and the
sons felt like God wanted them to move
to America so in the summer of 1958 they
moved to Minneapolis the power of His
preaching the the anointing of the holy
spirit that rested upon him uh it was
piercing it was gripping as toer said
you couldn't be neutral toward Raven
Hill you either loved him or hated him
uh because his preaching was to the
conscience and it stabbed you in the
heart and it calls for a verdict it was
he was too hot to handle and um he
wasn't just giving out information it
was prophetic powerful preaching to the
conscience where the presence of God
affected you when you heard him
preach he because if there's anything
about love one thing about it it's
obedient and if we get back to a people
who are really baptized with
obedience submissive to the total will
of
God not concerned about human opinion
not asking for more to spend prodigally
on ourselves but say oh God I want these
this life of mine adjusting so I when I
stand in your awesome presence as James
says we shall not be ashamed at his
appearing he was famous for his single
Standalone Barbed statements that were
like fiery arrows we live in a day of
itching ears but I have no commission
from God to scratch them or U uh you
know things like that and so he wanted
to he wanted to hit people with the
truth so as to shake them and arouse
them and wake them and stir them that
they they out a million roads into hell
there's not one road out
that if they continually sing in heaven
worthy as the lamb in
Hell the only thing they sing is the
Harvest is passed the summer is ended
and we're not
saved he exemplified what a true prayer
life was and he preached about the
importance of it and so I saw that and I
took it to heart I took it seriously but
prayer is a secret you know that you
make up your mind you're going to give
time to prayer the dev will fight it
more than anything else your phone will
ring off the hook visitors will come
somebody will say come and preach it to
our church why did you go conduct to
Revival in somebody else's church when
your own is
dead that's
nonsense I took to heart his seriousness
about God and the kingdom of God and the
gospel and about preaching he set a
standard for me that said this is what a
preacher how a preacher ought to view
things no foolishness no no carnal
entertainment no um no seeking of
popularity no trying to be
entertaining in my mind entertainment is
the devil's substitute for Joy the more
joy you have in the Lord the less
entertainment you need when you can say
thou oh Christ art all I
want but listen be careful it may strip
you of everything else you have you may
lose some of your best friends that
think you're fanatical they don't mind
you being kind and good but you become
holy and zealous and immediately he had
a carnivorous appetite for truth and for
the best books the best reading uh they
never replaced the Bible because he
would read and meditate in many chapters
of the English Bible just daily and he
devoured it he he meditated in it he fed
on it as a Christian not just to get
sermons he was about that and so then he
would preach with reality in the
Overflow of his life out of out of his
own devotional
life how can men sit and hear the word
of the Living God and not catch fire
amen that's right Christianity has not
been weighed in the balances and found
wanting it's being tried found difficult
and
rejected worst thing ever happened to a
preacher as he becomes
civilized it's
worthless
worthless one thing I noticed about
Leonard Raven Hill and I'd take a
Leonard Raven Hill over 20 dead
calvinist one thing I noticed about
Leonard Ravenhill he was dangerous he
was
dangerous the church never had more
equipment than she has now she never had
less
power nobody could preach like him just
like no one could preach like Spurgeon
did or Martin Lloyd Jones but there are
things we ought to take from Rabel
Hill's life and and seek to have them
his perspective about life his his
eternal perspective his seriousness
about God and about the Christian Life
his
personal discipline of how he lived his
life daily he didn't waste time you know
he probably prayed at least six hours a
day he was the only man I ever knew that
probably prayed more than he studied
every day and so he probably studied and
prayed at least 12 14 14 hours a day
every day except the Lord's day you know
the Nitty Gritty of the whole thing is
this we don't know God we don't know God
we know theology we know about
him why did Jesus Come into the world to
save Sinners that's not what Jesus said
what did Jesus say I'm come that they
may Know Thee every man that comes in my
office and I get them worldwide I don't
know why but they come and I say tell me
do you know God well I have a degree I
didn't ask you about that do you know
God when was your last encounter with
God when were you last prostrate in his
presence when did you last sit
Spellbound at his majesty you don't know
God his devotional life his discipline
and commitment to to be in the
scriptures devotionally his discipline
at prayer and at
reading uh are a great example that
ought to be emulated and followed today
and we prayed till I don't know what 2:
or 3: in the morning and somebody said
God came down that night well that's
where Revival is born you can't schedule
it the stupid thing we're going to start
a Revival next Sunday night and finish
there who who gives orders to the Holy
Ghost sensitivity to the spirit of God
isn't there you know the book went from
300 pages to 400 to 500 to 600 pages and
now
basically as it went to press this month
uh 672 Pages including over 40 pages of
pictures covering his whole life and so
it became very evident that God wanted a
record of his
life uh for a future generation who
maybe have heard him all they know is
this fiery guy uh named Raven Hill who
preaches this way but the full record of
life can be a phenomenal uh impact on on
this
generation but one thing I cover it I
want to be one of the 10 most wanted men
in hell I want the demons to say Jesus I
know and Ravenel I know Jesus I know and
D I know that's why the devil's opposed
him they tell me that out at Berkeley
there there's a guru goes out on the
lawn there every lunchtime and gathers
2,000 students around
him come and sit around us for a year
and
listen how is it men with unbelief and
air heresy can magnetize crouds and we
with the truth of the Living God
can't Paul says my preaching is not in
word only much about it but in power and
demonstration of the Holy Ghost
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