On This Rock I Stand by Vance Havner

George Sweeting says Vance Havner “has traveled the length and breadth of America, calling our nation to repentance and faith. At the age of twelve he began to preach in the hill country of North Carolina and has preached well over 13,000 sermons since then. The heart of his ministry is revival. Courageously he speaks to our age, convicting our hearts, revealing our sins, and pointing to Jesus Christ as the only remedy. Havner says, ‘The tragedy of the hour is that the situation is desperate, but the saints are not. If they were, we would have revival.’ Thousands of students and Christian workers have been revived and recharged through his ministry.”

In a chapter entitled “Wake Up and Get Up” Havner writes: “Have I ever bowed to the absolute sovereignty of the Holy Spirit? Do I lie to him, grieve him, quench him? Do I regard my body as his temple? Have I ever been filled with the Holy Spirit? Or would I rather miss a blessing than to give up a prejudice? The trouble with us today is that we say we are depending on the Holy Spirit; but we are actually so wired up with our own devices that if the fire does not fall from heaven, we can turn on a switch and produce false fire of our own. If there is no sound of a mighty rushing wind, our furnace is all set to blow hot air instead. God save us from a synthetic Pentecost!”

About the Author
Vance Havner (1901-1986) was a unique servant of God whose spoken ministry spanned over seventy years and whose written ministry extended to almost forty books. Michael Catt, Pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, says of him: “There was no one like Vance Havner. His preaching style was unique, powerful, and pointed. He was a master at turning a phrase, using humor to set up a point, and then driving the point home like a sharp, two-edged sword. Every Christian should read Vance Havner… If you love A. W. Tozer, you’ll love Vance Havner. He was one of God’s gifts to the church in the 20th century. His ministry and his preaching needs to be heard in the 21st century.”