The Moravians Part Two
“….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
