Walking Where Giants Have Walked by Greg Gordon

The Church historian David Smithers retells the life’s of two spiritual giants from the past, Oh to realize that we can walk in their same ways. They were of men of like passions! Consider these two saintly life’s Robert Murray M’Cheyne and William Bramwell. Surely they were a different race of men.

“It is not how long you live, but how you live that counts.” Robert Murray M’Cheyne was a living example of this often neglected truth. At twenty-three years old he was ordained and inducted into the church of St. Peters at Dundee. At thirty years old he finished his course, dying in the spring of 1843. Like John the Baptist and the Savior Himself, M’Cheyne ushered in Christ’s kingdom in just a few short years. It was during his brief public ministry that Scotland experienced one of its greatest revivals. M’Cheyne’s power in the pulpit was the result of his intimate knowledge of Jesus. He could boldly say, “I am better acquainted with Jesus Christ than I am with any man in the world.” Often as he preached the entire congregation was brought to tears. M’Cheyne’s diary and letters describe for us some of these precious meetings. He wrote, “It was like a pent-up flood breaking forth; tears were streaming from the eyes of many, and some fell on the ground groaning and weeping and crying for mercy.” At other times men and women were so overcome with grief and conviction that they literally had to be carried out of the church – “In some areas whole congregations were frequently moved as one man, and the voice of the minister was drowned out by the cries of anxious souls.” M’Cheyne’s voice, eyes and gestures spoke of the tenderness of Christ. It was not Robert Murray M’Cheyne the people saw, it was Jesus. M’Cheyne declared, “A man cannot be a faithful minister, until he preaches Christ for Christ’s sake – until he gives up striving to attract people to himself and seeks only to attract them to Christ.”

“The life of William Bramwell is a vivid picture of one who followed hard after God and as a result truly lived. Motivated by a fervent love and a haunting view of eternity, William Bramwell sought the face of Jesus with all his heart. It is in a letter written by Mr. Bramwell in 1807 that we get a glimpse of the driving passions that motivated his life and ministry. He writes, “Pray, O pray, my brother! never, never quit your hold of the fullness of God; for time is nearly over, and if this fullness be lost it will be lost forever. I am astonished that we do not pray more, yea, that we do not live every moment as on the brink of the eternal world, and in the blessed expectation of that glorious country.” Again he writes, “I grieve that my love is no stronger, and that I am no more like Him. I wonder at His glory, and sink before Him with shame. How is it that the soul being of such value, and God so great, eternity so near and yet we are so little moved?” William Bramwell sought to redeem every moment for the kingdom of God. Therefore he gave himself to prayer and intercession literally day and night. “He would spend two, three, four, five and sometimes six hours in prayer and reflection. He often entered his room at nine o’clock in the morning and did not leave till three in the afternoon.”

Tempting God by Greg Gordon

“NOW, Christian is the hour for you and me to prove God. But what in reality are we doing? Tempting Him! To see how far we can go how much we can get away with, while souls drop into hell all around us, and the cry of the Psalmist is heard in the land, I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me; refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.” -David Otis Fuller

We need desperateness for the times we live in. The world needs revival or its over! There is such a falling away of any moral standard or rules, people are doing what they wish, or as what seems right to them. God is being taken out of the governments, nothing but a nation-wide awakening of souls will stop this landslide of immortality and filth. Start today, stop tempting God, and make it your supreme desire to have Christ reign in His rightful place in your life. Be honest with yourself, wake up out of your complacency and see your nakedness. And dare I say to you Christians, “Repent!” for the time is short and we will stand before the one that we much give account for every word spoken and every deed done.

Listen to George Fox’s words: “But they could not endure to hear of purity, and of victory over sin and the devil. They said they could not believe any could be free from sin on this side of the grave. I bade them give over babbling about the Scriptures, which were holy men’s words, whilst they pleaded for unholiness. Then I bade them forbear talking of the Scriptures, which were the holy men’s words; “for,” said I, “the holy men that wrote the Scriptures pleaded for holiness in heart, life, and conversation here; but since you plead for impurity and sin, which is of the devil, what have you to do with the holy men’s words?” Surely you will have the words of Jesus ringing in your ears ‘blessed is he who hears the words of God and OBEYS them.’ God is a holy God and we need to be a holy people. A different people set apart to God, strange to the world yet precious in the sight of Christ. ‘He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ God is calling for a different race of men! will you hear this call?

Men Of Renown by Greg Gordon

And When I hear about the next man of God. It is usually ending in disappointment. How can God bless men of God with such a powerful enduing of power to have them quite soon after fall into gross sin, or teach such heretical and devilish doctrines? There are so many people in the last 50 years that have had an appearance of godliness, but it’s questionable whether they truly walked in Spirit. God does not entrust an abundance of His Spirit with a person who would not be a good caretaker of the responsibility given. He entrusts Himself with people who have been tested and shown faithful with the small things. How many of the leaders and so called anointed men of God these days would lay on their sides for 50 days if God told them too! Ah! but faithful Ezekiel did! How many cry day and night over the sins of America. Forget money, size of ministries, spiritual gifts, Lord give us even a small portion of the burden that Jeremiah had for the lost. These are desperate times and require desperate measures. Help us to see the world that is burning alive before our eyes as we apathetically sit back in our pews not alarmed over the urgency of the matter. Give us eyes to see, awake us from our slumber.

Rise up Men of renown, not in earthly wisdom or stature, but renown for their faith. People willing to go anywhere, do anything! A generation of believes like Jacob that will not let go until you move God. The Lord desires to move on our generation… He is hovering over the waters… let the burden of prayer and pleading get heavy and the Lord will break through.
There is restlessness in my soul and many others for the Lord to show Himself strong on our behalf. I do not want to be as much in the world as I can and still call myself a ‘Christian.’ No! Ten thousand time No! I want to be separate and holy before the Holy God I serve. We have to be a different type of people, seeking those things which are above. How long will the Church go on till it realizes that it’s in the world and not being effective for Gods Kingdom? Horatius Bonar once wrote: “I looked for the Church and I found it in the world, I looked for the world and I found it in the Church!” Surely we must not feel comfortable in this world we are aliens, foreigners, strangers in the world. We are to be salt and light in this dark and perverse generation in which we live. Oh for men that are so heavenly they are of no earthly use. These are the type of men needed in these days, a different race of men.

Vanishing Men by Greg Gordon

”Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.” The psalmist penned this startling observation in his day but how true for us as it speaks of our current situation. As another translation states: “have vanished from amongst men.” Spurgeon states on this verse: “For the godly man ceaseth; the death, departure, or decline of godly men should be a trumpet call for more prayer.” Where are the men of God in our generation that are likened to the apostles, prophets, and believers of God in the Scriptures? Those who walked after God in the power of His might. I want to say firstly we are called to be strangers in this world a people set apart to God and His purposes. Secondly there are many who claim to be ‘people of God’ yet are false and malign the Name of God. And thirdly God is willing even today to work in your life to make you a person that He can call His own and do great exploits through.

I can name so many that have reached that ‘high-calling’ in Christ Jesus in the recent past, Men like: Moody, Finney, Wesley, Whitefield, Payson, Bounds, Ravenhill, dare I go on… It seems like there has been an ending of a line of men that were born not of this world, peculiar to the ways and habits of this world. Men of another sort that were so heavenly minded they were of no earthly use. Just looking at the List found in Hebrews eleven gives you a picture of a people that God could unashamedly call His own. God desires to make a Name for Himself in the earth. Is the world worthy of you? Are you accepted? Think of Christ who was mistreated, maligned and murdered! How can the world accept you if it didn’t accept Him? Does the Spirit of Christ truly have its abode in you? Leonard Ravenhill said he could read Hebrews eleven everyday and weep over it. “Of whom the world was not worthy!” they wandered around, sojourning as a different race of men. “Not accepting deliverance!” Oh the stubbornness of their testimony and belief in Christ, they were not willing to accept defeat knowing they were serving the Lord Jesus Christ who was victorious. “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder” imagine it! not with a metal saw but wooden saw, can we accept this as normal Christianity? Are we willing to suffer for the Lord that suffered for us?

The Moral Crunch

Here is a article that I was quoted in. It appeared in the “Revival Preacher 6″ periodical released by theInterceders group in Great Britain.

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“The United Kingdom is in great trouble, not only through the financial crisis in our banks but also because the foundations of society are being shaken. The economic problems have exposed the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of the nation through which we have allowed the powers of greed and corruption to be released into the nation. We have a generation of children and young people who hardly know right from wrong. Our great spiritual heritage has been squandered so that Britain, which was once a missionary powerhouse of the world, is now almost morally bankrupt.”

The above is a quotation from a statement issued in connection with a meeting held on December 11th 2008, when eighty Christian Leaders from most branches of the church, from both Hoses of Parliament, from business and education, met in the House of Lords to consider the moral and spiritual implications of the present financial crisis. They agreed that “the current financial situation is primarily the result of the pursuit of moral choices and values that do not accord with the word of God.” In other words, the Credit Crunch has come about because of a Moral Crunch. Moral Standards have been squeezed and minimized and rejected by the people of Britain and America, and we are paying, or starting to pay, the price.

Twenty years ago, Leonard Ravenhill warned America and Britain that they were on the edge of disaster, while in 2007, Greg Gordon said, “We need to realize how close we are to the judgment of God in America and Britain..….There is no escaping that awful and dreadful day, Church! God is crying out to you: ‘I know your works. Be zealous therefore and repent.’ Many will say that we are ready to be judged because of the wicked heathen and unbelievers who are blaspheming the name of God. No! Judgment is coming to America and Britain because of a back-slidden, lukewarm, professing Church. Preaching is needed that will confront a church that is comfortable in her sins. I would quote to you the saintly Finney: “Away with your milk and water preaching of the love of Christ that has no holiness or moral discrimination in it. Away with the preaching of Christ not crucified for sin.” On this very truth a Highland minister stated once: ‘Bring me a God of all mercy but no justice; bring me a God of all love but not righteousness; and I will have no scruples in calling Him an idiot of your imagination.’ Alas, today’s Church has embraced such an ‘idiot’ conception of God,” continues Gordon. “Is that hard to hear? It will sound much harder to hear the words from the judgment bar of God: ‘Depart from me, I never knew you.’ We are afraid to disturb people these days. We are afraid to preach against sin.”

What will it take for the Church of America and Britain to truly follow God in denying self and taking up the Cross of Christ? David Ravenhill responded in this way: ‘I’m hoping personally for some sort of an economic collapse.’ (Remember this was written in 2007.) ‘ I know that sounds very extreme, but I believe it’s going to take this to bring the church back to God. The prophet Isaiah said, ‘When the earth experiences Your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. If the wicked is shown favour, he does not learn righteousness.’ (Isaiah 26:9) We have known the continued favour and blessing of God in this nation for years, yet continue to live selfish, self-centred lives. God has simply become a means to an end. We have made Him to be the divine butler who stands waiting to meet our every whim and fancy. It’s time for the church to be ‘about our Father’s business.’ Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not wanting to go through another “great depression” but I fail to see any other way.’

Ron Lagerquist shares these sobering words: “Revelation 18 describes an economic earthquake that will hit the America and the Western world with such force it will make the Great Depression seem like child’s play. It will be utter destruction in which she will never rise again, a judgment from the hand of God because of a nation that is seeped in adultery and rebellion. A nation that began as a Light on a Hill became a corrupting stench rising up to the altar of the Living God. The moral fabric that allowed America and Britain back on their feet as it did from the Great Depression will not be present in this massive economic earthquake. The only warning will be the prophetic voices of the faithful saints of God who will be hated and despised by the world…..If you have built your life on the sands of the kingdom of this world, your hopes, your dreams, your energies and aspirations will mingle with the smoke that will rise up from the utter destruction of Babylon.”

“Does this shake you, believer?” asks Greg Gordon. ” Does it move you? Oh I cry with the godly Duncan Campbell for this land: ‘I would to God that a wave of real godly fear gripped our land.’ How calloused we have become, how dry eyed in the light of such moral and spiritual collapse in our countries.