July, 1935
249
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
There came such a fear over the religious leaders o f Ger many that they actually banned the name o f the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, in Europe today there is evidence that the Holy Spirit, so long disregarded, is moving upon the hearts of men and women for revival. Speaking in one German church, I gave a message on the Holy Spirit. A fter the meeting, the pastor and his wife asked me to remain to tell them how they could have this fullness o f power. For years they had longed for it. That pastor said, “ There has not been a message like this given in Germany for twenty years.” Friends, in other parts of Europe, in other Protestant countries, people are possessed by fear if you mention the name o f the Holy Spirit. Why ? The reason is that the devil is going to see to it that the truth-about the Holy Spirit is not given. You cannot get a revival without the Holy Spirit’s fullness and power. O f course Satan is trying to thwart the giving of that message. If darkness prevails, how do we get the light to enter? Do we shut the windows and keep the darkness in? If there is error, how are we going to get at the truth ? Are we to find the truth by closing our minds and mouths and cover ing the error? No, we must proclaim the truth, and error will be dispelled. E ager -L onging for R evival The Holy Spirit has been dealing with individuals in many parts o f Europe. In Holland I was led to say that God had laid on my heart a great prayer for revival in Hol land. I saw one man look up, and tears sprang into his eyes. After the meeting he came up to me and said, “ I am a con verted Jéw. I have had a tremendous burden for revival for Holland. But I thought I was the only one praying for it. It means so much to know you have that burden, too.” One deeply spiritual woman had been praying for re vival in Denmark and had begun to wonder whether it could ever again come there. She heard that God had put that longing for revival on another heart, and the realiza tion gave her hope and courage to continue. The Reformation did not break out in one country and go to another country. God put it on the hearts of people simultaneously. That is the way the Reformation started in France and Germany and Switzerland. And He is doing the same thing now in putting the prayer for revival on the hearts o f many o f His people simultaneously. U nited in W aiting upon G od A fter I had visited several countries and had seen the need, the hunger, and the loneliness o f those longing for revival in their own land, and Lord led me to pray that these isolated, scattered units might be brought together in one ness of purpose to pray and work under the Holy Spirit’s guidance for revival in Europe. Why should the prayer power o f the Christians o f Europe not be mobilized and focused on revival? Satan is mobilizing his forces very successfully. Should we not expect God, the Holy Spirit, .to unite His forces? One day in Belgium three missionaries of the Belgian Gospel Mission came to spend the afternoon with me over the Word o f God— just to study it together. W e opened the Word to see what the conditions were for a true Spirit- born revival. Then we gave ourselves to prayer for it. I have been in Christian work thirty-five years. Never before had I heard such agonizing crying unto God as in that little group in that humble home. W e determined that we would take the first Tuesday o f every month and set On the opposite page is a view of one of the quiet canals in the Netherlands. The cathedral at Mainz, Germany, is pictured on the right of this page. The illustrations for this article are used through the courtesy of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.
that day aside to give the whole day, or as much o f the day as we possibly could, to pray for revival, not only in Bel gium, but in all Europe. Prayer brings an unveiling of God’s will, an unfolding of God’s purpose, an outworking o f God’s plan. God has given a thought at a time, and there has been growth. The next thought was that we should have a week end conference, and God led us to go to Groendael. We learned later that it was in this city that the Reformation began in Belgium. Thirty o f us from five countries were there from Friday afternoon through Sunday night. First o f all, the need of revival and the needs o f the different countries were presented. I wish you could have heard a Frenchwoman, who had three brothers in the war and had hated Germany and Germans, pray for Germany. I wish you could have seen her and the German woman who pre sented Germany’s need, as after that meeting they stood hand in hand with tears in their eyes. Friends, that is peace. Christ is our peace. He hath made peace. And you know we will never get peace ip any other way until He comes again, the Prince o f Peace. There was marvelous fellow ship between the Dutchman and the Frenchman, and the Swiss and the Belgians, for it was “ the unity of the Spirit in the bond o f peace.” P ersistent P rayer for R evival W e considered also the relation o f prayer to revival. We did not merely talk about prayer; we prayed. We got down on our knees, and with no thought of time we stayed as long as the Spirit of God kept us there. A fter three days like that, we thought that this wonderful unity in purpose and prayer must be continued. Our Dutch friends invited us to go to The Hague for a similar conference to which more o f their countrymen might come. There ten countries were represented. There we decided that this prayer fellow ship should be extended if possible. One person from each country was asked to send in the requests for prayer from that country every month to Mr. Willett of the China In land Mission who would compile them in a bulletin, which he would return to the'representative in each country to be translated into that language. There are now over a thou sand people in Europe who are receiving this prayer bulletin
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