Leonard Ravenhill passionately calls the church to rekindle the consuming fire of God within their hearts, urging believers to live with holy zeal and urgency in preparation for eternity.
This sermon emphasizes the urgent need for a revival in the church, calling for a return to the fire of God for prayer, vision, and discernment. It challenges believers to seek God's presence and power, to repent of disobedience, and to prioritize spiritual intimacy over worldly distractions. The speaker highlights the importance of living passionately for God, rejecting lukewarmness, and being consumed by the holy fire of God's love and zeal.
Full Transcript
The one thing that alarms me in America and England is that there is no alarm in the church. Most of you can't handle the light you've got now. Why should you hear more? And I believe God is holding back.
I think David wrote this one in a lot. I can't live another day without the fire of God. You need the fire of God to pray.
You need the fire of God to see visions. You need the fire of God to recognize. There's no help for us.
I don't want to cry as I've done so long. Like David in Psalm 80, O thou that dwelleth between the cherubims, Lord, don't stay there. Come down here.
We need God here. Does it matter if it breaks your heart today, even a million millenniums in eternity? There'll be no sorrow there. You can't catch up your prayer line when you get to the judgment seat.
You can't sacrifice when you get to the judgment seat. You can't weep when you get to the judgment seat. It's all between here and there.
This period we're in now is a dressing room for eternity. That's all it is. You need God this morning.
Some of you disobeyed God all the week, and this is the day, the valley of decision. You'll go back more after today than have you done in your life unless you obey God. As I've said to you more than once, I'm troubled every morning I wake up for this simple reason.
I live in a world, I live in a world that has lost its way, and a church that has lost its voice. That voice has to come. You think the devil isn't a clever guy? How he tricks people, he never shows at the end.
He just shows at the beginning. God's going to give us a new breed of men, and every time in that prayer meeting I would say this morning at the judgment seat, don't stand there in your majesty and read the record of my poor life and say, son I had many things to tell you but you couldn't bear them, you were too occupied, your ears were catching other voices but not mine. That's why that damnable TV has to get out of the way.
You're hearing more about men than you hear about God. You're getting more vision that's television than you are about the vision of the almighty God. That's all got to change.
I believe many of you are going to a new lease of life from this meeting. You'll be amazed when you wake up, you'll be amazed how the Bible speaks, you'll be amazed how the Holy Ghost speaks, you'll amaze how all your interests in other things are withered. Do you want to disappoint God? I don't want to disappoint God.
I disappoint some people, but one thing I want to live for, Lord, I don't want to disappoint you and I don't want you to be disappointed in me. Let me say this this morning again, listen, you are just as spiritual as you want to be. A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men.
That's revival. When you can't sit through the meeting you feel you've got a burning cancer. If I don't get to cross now I may die before the meeting's over.
I don't want a warm heart, I want a heart on fire. For the simple reason he's coming for a bride, he's not coming for a widow. And if you don't keep fire going it goes out.
He says still let me guard the holy fire. Then he says this awesome thing, enlarge in flame and fill my heart with boundless charity divine. So shall I all my strength exert and love them with a zeal like thine and turn them to a pardoning God.
You see he's not asking for a theological definition. He says I want a fire. Listen if our God is a consuming fire and he is, if he takes a residence in you, you'll burn till you die.
God won't die in you. And all he's asking you this morning is to let the walls down, let the fire in. I can't live in coldness anymore.
I can't live in blindness anymore. I can't be indifferent to a dying world. Every preacher who has lost the fire, you should be on your face down here.
You used to burn but you got so busy with organizing the fire has gone out. Come on. I believe God's going to breathe on us this morning.
I believe you're going from this place. I believe you're going to have to say I'm in the valley of decision. Thank God consuming me everything that's on Christ's life, consuming me everything which hinders.
God is brooding over us. Don't insult the Holy Ghost. He stood at the door in Revelation said if any man will come, I don't care how backstabbed you are, how disobedient you are, there's enough fire in the Holy Ghost to burn up every bit of broth in you, every bit of failure, every bit of coldness.
God needs a torch of holy fire in your house. He wants the fire of God your neighbors will know. I'm sick of theology and words.
We need God to move in our midst. What does it matter? Surrender everything. It's purging you and stamping you and claiming you for his own.
You'll never be the same after this morning. I won't. Then Lord take us out and give us a vision of a lost world.
Some of you are held out on him for five or ten years and this morning he's got right in your life. Lord let these men bring life where there's death. Bring freedom where there's bondage to drugs and prostitution.
Dear God, many of our people go to church every Sunday. It's only a custom. They don't want God.
Find some people that want God. Find some young men in Hong Kong who've been to hell and back. They're just about worn out.
But Lord, you lift the beggar from the dunghill and make him a prince unto God. It's either going forward or backward after this. We refuse to go backward.
We refuse to let the devil throw the dust of time in our eyes and blind us to eternity. You can't catch up your prayer life when you get to the judgment seat. If I don't get to the cross now I may die before the meeting, brother.
This period we're in now is a dressing room for eternity. That's all it is. You want to disappoint God? Don't insult the Holy Ghost.
I can't live in coldness anymore. I can't live in blindness anymore. I can't be different to a dying world.
You used to burn but you got so busy with organizing the fire has gone out. Come on. I mean you're gonna have to say I'm in the valley of decision.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Alarming Spiritual Coldness
- The church lacks alarm and urgency
- Believers struggle to handle the light they have
- God is holding back due to lack of readiness
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II. The Necessity of the Fire of God
- Fire is essential for prayer and vision
- A heart on fire is needed, not a lukewarm heart
- The fire represents God's consuming presence
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III. The Urgency of the Valley of Decision
- This life is a dressing room for eternity
- Judgment seat awaits where prayer and sacrifice cease
- Believers must choose to obey God now
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IV. The Call to Revival and Surrender
- Reject distractions like television and worldly voices
- Allow the Holy Spirit to consume and renew
- Commit to a new life of zeal and holy fire
Key Quotes
“I can't live another day without the fire of God.” — Leonard Ravenhill
“I don't want a warm heart, I want a heart on fire.” — Leonard Ravenhill
“You are just as spiritual as you want to be.” — Leonard Ravenhill
“This period we're in now is a dressing room for eternity.” — Leonard Ravenhill
Application Points
- Seek daily the fire of God through prayer and surrender to maintain spiritual fervor.
- Remove distractions that hinder hearing God's voice, such as excessive television or worldly influences.
- Make a decisive commitment today to obey God fully, recognizing this life prepares you for eternity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Leonard Ravenhill mean by 'a heart on fire'?
He refers to a passionate, zealous, and consuming love for God that fuels prayer, vision, and holy living.
Why is the fire of God necessary according to the sermon?
Because without it, believers cannot pray effectively, see visions, or recognize God's guidance.
What is the 'valley of decision' mentioned in the sermon?
It symbolizes the critical moment of choosing to obey God and live for eternity, as this life prepares us for judgment.
How does Ravenhill view modern distractions like television?
He sees them as hindrances that drown out God's voice and must be removed to experience true revival.
What is the consequence of losing the fire of God in one's life?
It leads to spiritual coldness, blindness, and ineffectiveness in witnessing and living for Christ.
