True passionate preaching is the flower and fruit of
passionate praying. The fiery preaching that transforms the Church and the market place is
first kindled in the secret place. This truth is powerfully illustrated through the life
of W. P. Nicholson. In the early 1920's, Northern Ireland passed through a period of great
strife and bloodshed. These were times of great despair and apprehension. Fear gripped the
heart of many and even spread to the churches and religious community. "In the mercy
of God, an intervention came from an unexpected source. There began a series of
evangelistic campaigns, which in the course of the following years had a profound effect
upon the religious and communal life of the Province." The evangelist used of God
during these meetings was W. P. Nicholson. He was a fearless individual, peculiar to some
and offensive to others. Nicholson didn't care what others thought of his manner of speech
or methods. He had been taught by God Himself in the secret place and as a result was
quite unique in his preaching and dealings with men. To be all-out for the Kingdom of God
and it's interests was his passion. Burning zeal was the chief characteristic of
Nicholson's whole life and ministry.
"Nicholson used to say that when a mission was begun it was not long before they had
either a riot or revival. Sometimes we had more riot than revival, but never a revival
without a riot." Nicholson wielded the Sword of the Spirit with a fury. His hearers
were always affected one way or another. Some through his preaching were brought to humble
repentance, while others resisted God's Word with indignation. Two favorite themes of
Nicholson were "God's love" and "God's hell." W. P. Nicholson always
preached the love of God with all the warmth and tenderness he could muster; but for those
who rejected this Good News, he offered the only alternative, GOD'S HELL. He preached on
every aspect of hell with such zeal and passion that his hearers claimed to be able to
almost smell the burning sulphur. Still others, under deep conviction and anxiety, dripped
with sweat and unconsciously shredded the hymn books they held in their laps. Through this
kind of fervent preaching, God brought entire communities face to face with the question,
"What shall I do with Jesus?" One elderly man who had recollections of the
Ulster Revival of 1859 said that some of the effects of Nicholson's meetings even exceeded
what happened in '59. Another commentator on Nicholson's work said that he had seen
nothing like it since the days of D. L. Moody.
Apart from prayer such revival power is unattainable. Mr. Nicholson was always a man of
deep prayer. "Prayer might be called his habit, for he loved to pray. His campaigns
had nights and half nights of prayer. Praying in the Spirit kept him in the spirit of
prayer. From the prayer closet he mounted the pulpit - endued." Mr. Lindsay Glegg
wrote of W. P. Nicholson, "The secret of his power was no doubt in his prayer life.
He stayed at our home . . . and he was up in the morning at six o'clock but he never
appeared until twelve noon; he spent the hours wrestling with God in prayer. By his own
special request he was not disturbed by telephone or visitor, however urgent." On
another occasion the sheets of his bed were found to be torn to shreds. Mr. Glegg again
commented; "What had happened was that he unconsciously, agonizing in prayer had
ripped the sheets into strips . . ." Yes prayer was surely the secret of his powerful
life and ministry.
Perhaps the sweetest fruit of Nicholson's prayer life was the deep familiarity that was
produced between himself and the person of Christ. In Nicholson's book, On Towards the
Goal, he writes, "I do not know anyone in the world that I know better than the Lord.
I do not know my wife or my mother the way I know the Lord. I do not know the best friends
I ever had the way I know the Lord. We walk together, my Lord and I, because we are in
fellowship, and there is nothing that I have but is His." Truly this is the essence
and heart of revival, an intimate visitation and fellowship with Jesus Christ. Lord, will
You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice and delight in You? (Psa. 85:6).
References Used:
W. P. Nicholson Flame for God in Ulster by S. W. Murray
God's Hell by W. P. Nicholson
From: A Revival Source Center