Count Zinzendorf Throughout the history of the Church, it has always been the most ardent lovers of Jesus who have felt the greatest need for more of His presence. Surely it is with this class of saints that Count Zinzendorf belongs. For Zinzendorf, loving fellowship with Christ was the essential manifestation of the Christian life. Throughout the Count's life, "His blessed presence" was his all consuming theme. He had chosen from an early age as his life-motto the now famous confession; "I have one passion;it is Jesus, Jesus only." A Man of Prayer Flowing out of Zinzendorf's passionate love for Christ came a life disciplined in prayer. "Count Zinzendorf had early learned the secret of prevailing prayer. So active had he been in establishing circles for prayer that on leaving the college at Halle, at 16 years of age , he handed the famous professor Franke a list of seven praying societies." Also preceding the great Moravian revival of 1727, it was Count Zinzendorf who was used to encourage prayer for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. John Greenfield describes for us the constant prayer that followed the revival of 1727. "Was there ever in the whole of church history such an astonishing prayer meeting as that which beginning in 1727, went on one hundred years? It was known as the 'Hourly Intercession.' And it meant that by relays of brothers and sisters, prayer without ceasing was made to God for all the work and wants of His church.' The best antidote for a powerless Church is the influence of a praying man. The influence of Count Zinzendorf's prayer-life did not stop with one small community. It ultimately went on to influence the whole world. Souls For the Lamb As Zinzendorf's passion for Jesus grew, so did his passion for the lost. He became determined to evangelize the world with a handful of saints, equipped only with a burning love for Jesus and the power of prayer. The Moravian Brotherhood readily received and perpetuated the passion of their leader. A seal was designed to express their newfound missionary zeal. The seal was composed of a lamb on a crimson ground, with the cross of resurrection and a banner of triumph with the motto; "Our Lamb has conquered , let us follow Him." The Moravians recognized themselves in debt to the world as the trustees of the gospel. They were taught to embrace a lifestyle of self-denial, sacrifice and prompt obedience. They followed the call of the Lamb to go anywhere and with an emphasis upon the worst and hardest places as having the first claim. No soldiers of the cross have ever been bolder as pioneers, more patient or persistent in difficulties, more heroic in suffering, or more entirely devoted to Christ and the souls of men than the Moravian Brotherhood The Moravians beautifully explain their motivation for
missions in the following 1791 evangelical report.
"The simple motive of the brethren for sending
missionaries to distant nations was and is an ardent
desire to promote the salvation of their fellow men, by
making known to them the gospel of our Savior Jesus
Christ. It grieved them to hear of so many thousands and
millions of the human race sitting in darkness and
groaning beneath the yoke of sin and the tyranny of
Satan; and remembering the glorious promises given in the
Word of God, that the heathen also should be the reward
of the sufferings and death of Jesus; and considering His
commandment to His followers, to go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature, they were filled
with confident hopes that if they went forth in obedience
unto, and believing in His word, their labor would not be
in vain in the Lord. They were not dismayed in reflecting
on the smallness of their means and abilities, and that
they hardly knew their way to the heathen whose salvation
they so ardently longed for, nor by the prospect of
enduring hardships of every kind and even perhaps the
loss of their lives in the attempt. Yet their love to
their Savior and their fellow sinners for whom He shed
His blood, far outweighed all these considerations. They
went forth in the strength of their God and He has
wrought wonders in their behalf." They Had All Things In Common Another vision of Count Zinzendorf's was that of the restoration of Apostolic community. He labored to establish a community of saints that loved and supported one another through prayer, encouragement and accountability. To a great extent Zinzendorf's vision became a reality in the small village of Herrnhut. A deep sense of community was maintained through small groups based on common needs and interests, original and unifying hymns and continual prayer meetings. In 1738 John Wesley visited "this happy place" and was so impressed that he commented in his journal "I would gladly have spent my life here . . . Oh, when shall this Christianity cover the earth as water covers the sea?" He Had No Other Happiness But To Be Near Him By no means was Count Zinzendorf's life flawless, but
one cannot help but be moved by his consuming passion and
pre-occupation with the person of Jesus Christ. A glimpse
of his burning love for Jesus can be caught in the
following letter. "Our method of proclaiming
salvation is this: to point out to every heart the loving
Lamb, who died for us, and although He was the Son of
God, offered Himself for our sins ... by the preaching of
His blood, and of His love unto death, even the death of
the cross, never, either in discourse or in argument, to
digress even for a quarter of an hour from the loving
Lamb: to name no virtue except in Him, and from Him and
on His account,-to preach no commandment except faith in
Him; no other justification but that He atoned for us; no
other sanctification but the privilege to sin no more; no
other happiness but to be near Him, to think of Him and
do His pleasure; no other self denial but to be deprived
of Him and His blessings; no other calamity but to
displease Him; no other life but in Him.' Zinzendorf & The Moravians Back to: The latest page
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