“The love of Christ constrains us….”

An illustration from a Tim Keller sermon

"My favorite example of that is the great story in 1865 when Korea was closed to foreigners. Foreigners were not allowed to go there except on pain of death. A single American ship tried to sail up the Taedong River into Pyongyang. Almost everybody on that ship was an American, and they were desperately hoping when they got to Pyongyang they would trade with them anyway. It was terribly dangerous. They were risking their lives, but if they got Korean goods and brought them back to the West, everybody on that ship would be a zillionaire forever. They’d be set up for life.

They all risked their lives hoping to get rich, except one guy. One guy was risking his life for something else. His name was R.J. Thomas. He was a Welsh missionary. Things didn’t go well, because the Koreans lined up both sides of the river, and they wouldn’t let the ship land. The ship ran aground on the rapids in the middle of the river, and the ship caught fire. They realized they had to get to land, so everybody on the ship except one got their guns, got their knives, and they came in and tried to fight their way through.

They came in shooting and killing, but they were all clubbed. They were all killed. One guy came without a gun, without a knife. His arms were filled with books. It was R.J. Thomas, and as he came to the bank wading with his arms full of books, as they clubbed him, as they killed him, he kept putting these books into their hands. They were Bibles.…

Why was he doing that? As Saint Paul says, “For the love of Christ constrains us … [Therefore] they who live [henceforth] should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them …” 

The Effects of Revival リバイバルの影響

 "In 1859, there was a major revival in Northern Ireland. There was a whole slew of prostitutes. Most of the prostitutes in the cities of Northern Ireland were converted. Do you know why? A man, a reporter, sat down with one of the prostitutes and said, “Why are all of you girls coming to church?” She said, “Well, sir, there are two problems. First of all, business completely fell off during the revival.” Then she said, “Secondly, for the first time in our lives, people on the street are treating us with kindness and respect.”"

「1859年、北アイルランドで大規模なリバイバルがありました。多くの売春婦がいました。北アイルランドの都市の売春婦のほとんどは回心しました。理由を知っていますか？レポーターの男性が、 売春婦たちに言った、「なぜあなたたちみんなが教会に来るのですか？」 彼女は、「そうですね、二つの問題があります。まず、リバイバル中にビジネスが完全に落ちました」と述べました。 それから彼女は、「第二に、私たちの人生で初めて、通りの人々が私たちを親切と敬意を持って扱っています」と言いました。

from a sermon by Tim Keller ティムケラーの説教より

 

「リバイバルとは何か?」DM ロイドジョンズ

 「リバイバルとは何か。定義すると、キリスト教会の歩みの中で、並外れた祝福と活動の一時期なのだ。元来、リバイバルとは、教会で起きるもの、キリスト者、信者の間でまず起きるものである。定義上それは正しい。「リバイバル」とは、何かが「生き返る」ことであり、いのちをもって存在している何かがあることを意味する。、、、、、リバイバルの本質とは、聖霊が、多くの人が集まっている所に降りて来られることである。一つの教会全体に、多くの教会に、地域に、または国全体に臨むことである。それこそがリバイバルの意味するところである。それは聖霊の訪れ、または、たびたび使われてきた用語だが、「聖霊の注ぎ」である。、、、、、聖霊がその全地域を支配し、すべての人のいのちを満たしているのだ。これがリバイバルで起こることである。かくして、いわば、罪の大いなる自覚と、大いなる喜び、主を畏れる気持ちと大きな感謝と賛美という、相反する思いの不思議な混じり合いが見られるようになる。リバイバルでは常に、ある人がかつて、神聖なる混乱、と形容したものが見られる。ある者はうめき、罪の自覚のもとの苦しみ、他の者は、大きな救いのために神を賛美する。」D. M. ロイドジョンズ

リバイバル　より