Barren Ground – Dr. John R. Rice

·37 min·3 clips

Dr. John R. Rice reveals why God cannot do big work until Christian people get broken up and shaken.

Dr. John R. Rice delivers a classic revival sermon focused on the biblical command to 'break up your fallow ground' from Hosea 10:12-13 and Jeremiah. He opens by setting the historical context of Israel's failure to repent, leading to Jerusalem's destruction. Rice first applies the text to Christian people, asserting that God cannot do significant work until believers are broken, shaken, and make new dedications. He critiques fundamentalist Christians for being self-satisfied and lacking in public rededication, citing examples from large soul-winning churches like Temple Baptist in Detroit and Dr. Lee Roberson's church in Chattanooga. Rice emphasizes that spiritual growth requires deep plowing, not superficial cultivation, using his childhood experience driving a six-mule disc plow in West Texas as an analogy. He states that revivals must involve tears, confession, and changes among Christians, such as quitting bad habits or starting family altars. Rice then addresses sinners, explaining that the unconverted heart naturally produces sin like weeds in fallow ground. He shares a personal story about his uncle hating morning glories in a cornfield to illustrate that sin must be uprooted. Rice recounts the tragic death of his brother-in-law from alcoholism to show that external fixes fail without internal transformation. He argues that education or cultivation of a wicked heart only leads to greater ruin, citing his own academic background and board positions. Rice urges listeners to become sick of their sin, sharing the conversion of Sergeant Simmons in Dallas and Fred Hawkins in Missouri, who after persistent witnessing begged God for a new heart at age 47. He concludes by calling for both Christians and sinners to seek the Lord, break up their ground, and allow God to reign righteousness upon them, ending with a prayer and invitation.

As heard by us

A revival sermon turns fallow ground into a blunt call for repentance.

The sermon centers on a stern agricultural image: fallow ground, left untouched, grows weeds, while repentance means letting that ground be broken open.

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Why you'd press play

You want an old-fashioned revival sermon that makes repentance feel like plowing a field before the weeds take over.

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