Live Coal: In This Thunder, God

“Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.“

Psalm 46:8

Erich Sauer wrote of Christianity with a distinctly European worldview. His estimation of the state of the church after World War II, however, is distinctly Biblical. He saw his nation’s overthrow and the upheaval of the world as the working of God. A call is made to pay attention to the judgments of God. We send only a brief sample of his introduction to revive that call. (Italic emphasis is his, bold emphasis is mine)

“God’s people need a new awakening!”

“It is an alarming fact that, in spite of the mighty voice of God in the momentous happenings of recent years, there has been no really great lasting general revival, not in a single European country!

Certainly in not a few towns and districts the Spirit of God has been able to work in local movements. The general public has been spoken to with power by the gospel. Christians have been quickened and non-Christians won, triumphant songs of thanks and salvation have been heard in churches and tents, in halls and homes. For all these works of grace in town and country we cannot sufficiently bless the Lord.

Amongst believers, we see so much earthly-mindedness, so much love of the world, so much anxiety, so much narrow egoism, so much exclusive concern for one’s own little circle, so much firm holding fast to old forms which have long since been dead and which, not seldom, never had any solid warrant in Scripture, so much over-emphasis on secondary matters, and so much neglect of the true values that really matter.

We must seriously ask ourselves the question: Have our ears become so deaf that we are not able to hear the voice of God for the thunder of the battlefields, the roaring of the bombers, the crashing of walls, the collapsing of houses, the dying of millions of men and women, old and young?

Without a doubt, sin has been at work here. Not God but the demoniacal powers of world kingdoms separated from Him have caused all this. But in this thunder of catastrophies God has spoken, secretly controlling them and, in the last analysis, mightily ruling by them. (cf. Jeremiah 51:20, Isaiah 45:1-7)

“Come, behold the works of the LORD,
what desolations he hath made in the earth.“

Psalm 46:8

How could God speak yet more impressively?

First-class world powers have been smashed, towns have been changed to fields of ruin, irreplaceable works of art, centuries old, have been destroyed, millions of men have been killed. Under the judgment of God the estrangement of sinners from Him has worked itself out in a most terrifying manner to their own disaster.

How clearly ought God’s people to have recognized God’s voice in the midst of this Satan-driven whirl of history! To what a large extent should there have been power-filled witness, missionary energy, readiness to service, zeal to be sanctified, and willingness to show brotherly love, showing forth thus the fact and the fruit of really living for eternity!

And yet in general one has seen so very little of all this.

How can we expect non-Christians to awake if we ourselves are not awakened? How can “fire” arise if we ourselves do not “burn”? How shall life be begotten if we ourselves are not truly filled with “life”?

Things must be altered.

God’s people must awake.

You must awake and I too!

We must let ourselves be clothed anew by life-giving power from on high. The living Christ must become again the reality of our souls and take possession of all we are and have.”

From In The Arena of Faith by Erich Sauer, 1955

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Disclaimer: Recommending this article does not imply an agreement with all the content, information, or advice authered by Erich Sauer. Please “chew the meat and spit out the bones.”