A Gory Gospel

Preaching the Gospel

Leonard Ravenhill, whatever else he did for the Lord, left us some brilliantly quotable snippets. For a long time, I have longed for an anointing even vaguely resembling his so that I could preach the Gospel even half or a quarter as well. Even with less anointing than that, I feel I would probably do as well as, or even better than most do today.

Just listen to this - "Paul never glamorized the gospel! It is not success, but sacrifice!
It's not a glamorous gospel, but a bloody gospel, a gory gospel, and a sacrificial gospel! Five minutes inside eternity and we will wish that we had sacrificed more!!! Wept more, bled more, grieved more, loved more, prayed more, given more!!!" - Leonard Ravenhill

That really is some statement isn’t it?

Paul never glamorized the gospel!

It is not success, but sacrifice! Jesus did not ‘succeed’ at Calvary. He didn’t go through all the agony of crucifixion to succeed at anything – He sacrificed Himself for our sins. Where our sins deserved God’s punishment, there Jesus went in our stead in order that we might have eternal life. He sacrificed Himself for each and every one of us.

It's not a glamorous gospel. It’s not some kind of glamorous drama where the hero finally gets the heroine and they all live happily ever after.

It is a bloody gospel, a gory gospel. Jesus was flogged with a whip that shredded His back. He was spat upon, beaten, and mocked. He was given a cruel crown of vicious thorns which was rammed into His precious head and He was made to carry His own cross to Calvary. When He finally collapsed from the brutality and loss of blood, the Roman soldiers made another man carry it for Him. Then they drove nails through His limbs and fixed Him to a wooden cross and waited for Him to die. Still the blood-letting wasn’t over. When they thought He might be dead, a soldier thrust a spear into His side until both blood and water came out – the presence of water signifying death.

It is a sacrificial gospel! Jesus sacrificed Himself – the perfect lamb – for us. In order for our salvation to be real, and according to God’s own law, a sacrifice of a perfect lamb had to be made to atone for the people’s sins. Jesus did this of His own choice – He voluntarily laid down His life as a sacrifice for us so that we might have not only eternal life but also that we might have immediate and direct access to God the Father where He Himself would also be at the Father’s right hand interceding for us.

Five minutes inside eternity and we will wish that we had sacrificed more!!! What have we sacrificed that is in any way comparable to what God the Father did when He gave up His own son? Or what have we sacrificed that compares to Jesus sacrifice for us and for our sins?

We will wish that we had wept more. When was the last time any of us wept over a lost soul – a family member, a friend, anyone in our street or town – anyone at all?

We will wish that we had bled more. Very rarely are any of us, particularly in the West, asked to shed our precious blood for Christ and His Kingdom cause.

We will wish that we had grieved more. When we weep, we grieve. When did you last grieve for lost souls. Jesus wept and grieved for Lazarus – who have you grieved for who had not already died.

We will wish that we had loved more. Love is the most precious gift of all. It is so easy to love babies, to love family, to love friends. It is not so easy to love others in our neighbourhood who we do not know very well. It is not easy to love those with whom we work. It is harder to love those less fortunate than ourselves – the sick, the homeless, the drunk, and the ‘unlovable’ ones. Hardest of all are our enemies – those who would harm us or even kill us. Yet Jesus told us to love every one of our neighbours as ourselves. The good, the bad, and the ugly – we are supposed to love them all.

We will wish that we had prayed more. Prayer is an incense that rises before the Lord yet how often do we pray – and how do we pray? Most Christians love to pray ‘me’ or ‘I’ prayers. Yet God’s word tells us that He knows what we need. Don’t get me wrong here – there is a time and a place for prayers for ourselves. But most Christians ONLY pray for themselves and their families – and even than only when it’s urgent. Prayer is the most neglected of the Christian disciplines. It can always wait ‘til tomorrow’. The time is fast approaching when we will need to make our whole life a prayer and I feel a little sad for those who have forgotten how to pray.

We will wish that we had given more. There are many things we can give to the Lord or to His Kingdom service. Money is the first thing most people think of, but Gods word urges us to give our goods, our time, our help, and most importantly, to give of ourselves. I am certain we can all give more of something to His Kingdom cause.

What do you reckon ?? I think Mr Ravenhill was right – spot on, you might say. If you think Ravenhill was harsh then what do you think Jesus sacrifice was? What do you think the Gospel is? A soft fluffy gospel full of soft easy choices? No it’s a hard Gospel driven by ultimate love.