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The Moravians Part Two

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“….fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.” – 2 Chronicles 7:1-2

An entry in the journal of Von Zinzendorf: December 18, 1734 “I was but 10 years old when I began to direct my companions to Jesus as their redeemer. My deficiency in knowledge was compensated by sincerity. Now I am 37 and though I have made various experiences, yet in the main, my mind has undergone no change. My zeal has not cooled….I will continue, as heretofore, to win souls for my precious Savior…I shall endeavor to imitate the labors of my brethren who have the honor of being the first messengers to the heathen…”

The Moravians were honored to be “Ambassadors for Christ,” even though where they were going meant sure death, and they knew it. Up until that day and age, an organized system of spreading the Gospel to the lost of the world was nonexistent, especially to civilizations in the most desperate places. The commission of Jesus, Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature…(Mark 16:15), had no relevancy to the European churches. The Protestant churches of that day were too locked in theological debates and internal dissension to even care about the rest of the world. That was about to change. The missionary outreach that would explode out of the “Moravian Revival” was so full of passion, zeal, and compassion for the lost it had to be direct from the heart of God. Sure death meant nothing to them. Many sold themselves into lifelong slavery in places like Suriname in South America just so they could spread the Gospel to closed societies. The Moravians were the first missionaries to the slaves of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. They went to Supland, Greenland, the West Indies, New Guinea, from the Arctic Circle to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. A Zinzendorf hymn reflected their conviction: “Ambassadors of Christ, know ye the way to go; It leads unto the jaws of death, is strewn with thorns and woe.” But a lot had to take place before this unheard-of mission of bold evangelism could be attempted. – Excerpt from The Fire That Once Was, by Frank DiPietro

Count Nikolas Ludwig Von Zinzendorf and the Moravians, Part One

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Count Zinzendorf was born into one of the noblest families in Europe. His inheritance was to sit on one of the continent’s most powerful thrones. He gave all that up and spent his life and fortune to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Zinzendorf was not a Moravian but a devout Lutheran, and from a very early age had a desperate hunger for the Lord. At age six, he made a commitment to the Savior: “I firmly resolved to live for Him alone Who laid down His life for me.” Again, at age 9: “…To have a living communion with Christ, my heart’s affection never departed from my Savior.”

David Smithers tells of Zinzendorf: “His ‘blessed presence’ was his all-consuming theme. He had chosen from an early age as his life’s motto the now famous confession, ‘I have one passion. It is Jesus, Jesus only.” Prevailing prayer was a lifestyle for the Count. Establishing circles for prayer was his daily routine.

When he graduated from the school of staunch Pietist, August Franke in Halle, at the age of 16, he left the famous professor a list of seven praying societies. While at the school, the young Count was exposed to two evangelists who had been sent to India. At meals and daily meetings, these men recounted their experiences preaching the Gospel in foreign lands. To young Zinzendorf, these stories sounded like a modern Book of Acts. It was then that he was stirred with a passion for preaching the Gospel…The road had been paved. These two works of God (Zinzendorf and the Moravians) were about to meet and erupt in an explosion of God’s Presence on the earth. Holy Fire was about to be poured out on these humble, desperate, and hungry souls, and God was going to dwell and walk among His people.