Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What bona fide Christian would not love to see God move in mighty power, “rending the heavens” (Isaiah 64:1) and sending a revival in our midst? Whose heart has not cried out, “My sorrow is that the right hand of the Most High is no longer the same” (Psalm 77:10, a possible translation)? Would not a revival bring greater glory to God than what we see now?

On the other hand, when we express our longing for revival, many Christians today tell us that it’s no use to desire one. They tell us that we are seeing so many fulfilled prophecies which are signs of the end- times, that Christ’s return must be very near. They claim that, according to the Scriptures, when Christ’s return gets that close, we can only expect the world, and even the Church on the whole, to get worse and worse until Christ comes. If this is true, then any prayers for revival, and any efforts to favour the coming of a revival, would be a waste of time and energy. Many tell us that all we can hope to do today is to “stem the tide,” to delay the downward trend a little in order to give us more time to bring souls to Christ, and to “do our best” to glorify Christ in these last days. This sounds very pessimistic, but our concern ought to be to know whether it is realistic-whether it is true. If it is true, then by all means, let us not waste effort seeking the impossible; yet, if this claim is an error, and revival is still possible, how tragic it would be to miss an abundant blessing that we could have!

The belief that revival is impossible today, is commonly held by Christians who pay a great deal of attention to disasters in today’s world, which they take to be signs that the Great Tribulation is close. Their reasoning is that, since Christ’s coming for the Church (the Rapture) must precede the Tribulation, therefore

the Tribulation is close, the Rapture must be even closer. They look on that conclusion as being a source of encouragement, for they long to be caught out of this evil world to be forever with the Lord. They also often use these supposed indications of the nearness of Christ’s return, as a support for warning the lost of how urgent it is that they repent. They are thus motivated by wholesome desires.

We nevertheless have reason to say that these Christians are looking for encouragement in the wrong place; and that this misplaced encouragement is having an adverse effect on their orientation in serving the Lord. The right source for our encouragement is simply the imminence of Christ’s return for the Church. We don’t need any signs to tell us that the Rapture is imminent; it has been so ever since Pentecost. No signs can make it any more imminent than it already is. Even with no signs at all, Christ could come TODAY! That is where our attention should be. What effect would this orientation have on a desire for revival in our time?

A CERTAIN EXPECTATION

Nothing could be more certain than Christ’s promise:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be there also (John 14:3).

The fulfilment of that promise is imminent; nothing has to happen before it can come true. We should simply be living in expectation of it day-by-day.

The Scriptures do give us signs to indicate the coming of the Great Tribulation, which will occur after the Church will have been removed from the earth.

Those are the signs that so many Christians are looking at closely today, which convince them that the Tribulation is very close indeed. We agree that many things happening, and being reported in the news today, could be harbingers of the Great Tribulation. Yet that is not as certain as many Christians think. There have been comparable occurrences in the past, which seemed just as unprecedented to people living at the time when they happened, but that were not part of the Tribulation.

For example, the movement toward world government, claiming to be the way to world peace, is commonly taken to be a preparation for the reign of Antichrist, the “Beast” of Revelation chapter 13. Certainly it might be so. Yet, compare the “Concert of Europe,” organized in 1815. This was a movement toward one government that would have controlled Europe, to start with, and eventually reached further afield. Its purpose was to control the power of each nation, and make sure that none got strong enough to be a threat to the others. Granted, the world of that time didn’t have our modern means of inspecting and spying, nor weapons as destructive as ours; yet to those living at that time, it must have seemed just as new, certain, effective, and dreadful. It had the same basic purpose.

Many are convinced that the modern effort to form one world-wide religion, particularly through the “New Age” movement, will pave the way for the establishment of the Mystical Babylon (Revelation chapters 17, 18). It’s very possible. Yet, consider the Act of Uniformity, passed in England in 1662 under Charles II, which demanded that all his subjects submit to the State Church and conform to its order. That act looks dwarfed today in comparison to what we see happening; yet to those who lived in seventeenth- century England, which was then building up an ever- increasing empire, it probably appeared just as fearful.

The moral corruption of today’s world is frequently pointed to as being the fulfilment of “iniquity abounding” (Matthew 24:12). Yet the condition of England at the beginning of the eighteenth century was no better. Even Ontario’s law that now allows women to go topless in public, is not new to western civilization; it was fashionable for them to do so in England during at least part of William Law’s lifetime (1688-1761). The only reason why England at that time didn’t have today’s proliferation of pornographic literature, is that the printing trade hadn’t developed to the point where it is today; but that has nothing to do with how corrupt the hearts of the people were. The reign of Charles II (1660-1685) was known as “the most immoral period in British history.” Yet, God turned that situation completely around through the ministry of the Wesleys and George Whitefield.

All my life, I have been hearing Christians pointing to frightening news events as being part of the “wars and rumours of wars” (Matthew 24:6) that are to be heard of in the last days. In 1956, Egypt seized the Suez Canal, and Christians holding the “futurist” view of the book of Daniel expected that crisis to lead to “the rise of the ‘King of the South” (Daniel 11:5, 9, 11, 14, 25, 40). There was a crisis involving Israel in 1967, of which I forget the details; but many Christians were were strongly inclined to believe at the time that it would lead to the battle of Armageddon. Many were almost fully convinced that the Gulf War in 1991 would set off the Great Tribulation.

Shortly after World War II, the Soviet Communists claimed to have plans all laid out for the conquest of the entire world by 1973. Christians I knew were convinced that the communists were “right on schedule,” and that furthermore, according to Scripture, a worldwide takeover by communism was inevitable. What happened to that prediction?

I have in my library a book on prophecy, published just before World War II broke out. The author seems to have been convinced that it would hardly be possible for the present world to last much beyond 1940, since he thought so many events at that time were fulfilments of prophecy indicating that the Tribulation was “just around the corner.” In reading the book, I could see how, to people living at that time, its claims could have seemed to make perfect sense; yet that was not the way the Lord had chosen to fulfil the prophecies.

For some years there was a false rumour about a computer filling a three-storey building in Brussels, and called “the Beast;” and many were convinced it was a future instrument of the Antichrist. In reality, there was a three-storey computer- that is, a computer that had three parts placed vertically instead of horizontally, to increase its efficiency; and it was called a “beast,’ like computers are often called (and even by worse names) when they fail to work.

In the early 1980’s there was a rumour that a certain American state had pre-printed its welfare check blanks for some years to come. It was claimed that the welfare of that state had mistakenly used the checks blanks for the last year first; but that when the recipients had tried to cash them, the tellers refused because the fine print on them required a mark on the right hand or the forehead. That convinced many Christians that the reign of Antichrist couldn’t be farther away than the number of years for which that state had pre-printed its check blanks. Yet after all the years that have passed since then, we’ve heard no more about that rumour; it was probably a mere fabrication. It wouldn’t take much to get a rumour like that going. It is true that we are hearing of more “wars and rumours of wars, famines, epidemics, and earthquakes” than ever before. This reminds us that Christ’s return is ever approaching, for He told us that these natural phenomena would increase as His return drew closer. However, there was never a period in history since Pentecost (and probably never before either) when these phenomena were absent. There was never a time when people could say, “It’s impossible that Christ’s return would be soon, since we never hear of any wars, epidemics, famines, or earthquakes.” Never! So all that these phenomena really tell us is that Christ’s return is closer than it was a century ago! They’re a reminder, rather than a sign.

It was at one time predicted that the alignment of the planets in 1983 would trigger off many natural cataclysms such as had never been known on earth before. Christians I knew published a French tract which claimed that those cataclysms would be the Great Tribulation. That alignment came and passed without producing any noticeable effect on the earth. It was also rumoured in the late 1970’s that the vultures in Israel were multiplying at five times the normal speed; and the same French-language Christians published a tract saying that this was a preparation for the corpse feast in Revelation 19:17, 18. An inquiry to the government of Israel found that rumour to have not a shred of truth in it. Nothing unusual was happening to the vultures in Israel.

What shall we further say about the Y2K “millennium bug” (to strike the computer world in 2000)? So many supposed experts on the subject were predicting that it would mean the end of civilization as we knew it, and many Christians wondered whether it would usher in the Great Tribulation. It alarmed so many people to the point where they were spending fortunes on going “back to nature.” Yet nothing of consequence happened.

This all shows that, by concentrating our attention on what we think to be harbingers of the Tribulation, we are looking at something uncertain-instead of our blessed and certain hope that Christ is first coming to snatch us out of this world, and that that could happen TODAY! In a bookstore where I worked for several years, we used to sell lists of predictions that the true. The list was long enough to nearly fill both side “Jehovah’s Witnesses” had made, but that hadn’t come of a letter-size sheet, in ordinary type-writing. Since that time, I’ve been warning Christians not to make the same mistake. It only encourages scoffers to make mockery of prophecy. On the other hand, nobody can find a reason to contradict the sure promise of Joh 14:3. To anyone who asks why the fulfilment of tha promise is taking so long, the answer is found in 1 Peter 3:9- that Christ doesn’t want any to perish, s He is giving all an opportunity to come to repentance

AN ENCOURAGING EXPECTATION

Dwelling on the supposed signs of the Tribulation tends to produce a certain pessimism in Christians, an even a sort of fatalism. It leads them to think that great work of God is impossible in our time. They tell us that all we can expect to accomplish is to “stem the tide;” that corruption, even in our assemblies, w certainly come, and there’s nothing we can do t prevent it. Some try to support this idea by quoting Matthew 24:12, that “the love of the majority shall grow cold.” Let us not forget, however, that the conte of that verse concerns the Tribulation. The “majority who will grow cold, is among those who will have professed salvation during the Tribulation, doubtless least partly through the ministry of the “two witnesses (Revelation chapter 11).

This fatalism is also often supported by telling that we are in the “Laodicean age,” and that there for we musn’t expect anything better of today’s church than increasing lukewarmness. This claim is based on the “futurist” view of the “Seven Churches of Asia (Revelation chapters 2 and 3), which takes each – those seven churches to represent one period of church history, from Pentecost until the Rapture. Many who hold the “historicist” view, that these seven churches were literal churches in John’s time, also believe the “futurist” view. Since the church of Laodicea is the last one mentioned, they take it to represent the state of the Church just before the Rapture; and the church of Laodicea was “neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm.” Is this gloomy reasoning valid?

In the first place, the present author is not entirely convinced that the futurist interpretation of those churches was in the Holy Spirit’s intention when He inspired the Scriptures. I entirely see the logic of that explanation, and how it all fits, but am just not convinced that it was divinely designed to have that symbolism. The Scriptures do not say it was. It seems so natural simply to take those churches to have been seven literal churches in John’s time, whose conditions are also quite typical of the conditions to be found in certain churches at any point in history.

I also have a problem with the futurist viewpoint, in the question: what if somebody had deciphered it before the present period, which is said to be the “Laodicean age?” For example, suppose it had been deciphered during the age of Sardis, or Philadelphia? Would that not have revealed to that person that the Rapture could not occur in his day, since there were future periods still to come in the Church age? How could we reconcile such a discovery with the imminence of the Rapture? Unless, maybe those who hold that view believe that the Holy Spirit actually prevented its being deciphered before the “Laodicean age,” during which the end of the Church age would be imminent? Well, if that’s what they think, I won’t quarrel with it.

Let us assume, however, for a moment- for the sake of further reasoning that the futurist explanation of the Churches of Asia is correct. Does that necessarily condemn all churches in our day to nothing better than lukewarmness? BY NO MEANS! Even if that viewpoint is correct, none of the conditions supposedly represented by the seven churches was ever universal. Let us run through them, and see that.

The church of Ephesus is supposed to represent the time when the letters to these churches was being written; and this church, though technically faithful, had “left its first love.” That may have been true of many churches at the time; but it was obviously not true of all. The churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia, to whom Christ addressed no word of reproach, had obviously not left their first love.

The church of Smyrna supposedly represents the period of myriads of martyrdoms when the Roman Empire persecuted Christians. Yet we know from history that, by that time, there were churches in lands of the Persian Empire, and also in India, and even China, which were never reached by the Roman Empire’s persecutions.

We are told that the church of Pergamus respresents the condition of churches in the Roman Empire, after Constantine had made Christianity the official religion of this empire. Yet the churches in lands that had never been part of the Roman Empire, were not affected by this edict.

The church of Thyatira is said to represent the period of history when the papacy was established, and the beginning of Roman Catholicism as such. There were, however, churches in the East, and some even within the territory of the former Roman Empire, that never came under the umbrella of the Church of Rome.

The futurist theory tells us that the church of Sardes represents the Reformation, and Protestantism during the few centuries that followed it. The Reformation did not, though, extend even to all countries that had been Catholic, let alone those that place. hadn’t even been touched by Catholicism in the first place.

We are told that the church of Philadelphia represents the period of multiplied revivals, beginning with that under the Wesleys and Whitefield; and also of vast missionary efforts, beginning with that of William Carey. This took place in certain countries where the evangelical faith had a widespread influence. Many countries at this time, however, still remained predominantly Catholic, and many others were dominated with dead Protestantism.

The church of Laodicea, it is held, represents the condition of the Church in our day, with widespread superficiality and worldly influences. That is why, we are told, we cannot expect revival in our time, since we are in the age of lukewarmness that must last until Christ comes. Let us not forget, however, that, since none of the conditions supposedly represented by the other six churches were universal during the periods allotted to them, what reason have we to think the lukewarmness of the “Laodicean age” must be universal? As a matter of fact, anyone informed on the work God is doing on foreign mission fields, and in countries where the government openly persecutes Christians, is well aware that lukewarmness is NOT universal in our day! Churches in many countries of totally different cultures, are very fervent! It is an established fact that there have been more martyrs for Christ since the beginning of the twentieth century than in all the rest of the Church age put together. Where is the lukewarmness there?

All this shows the invalidity of the claim that, since we are in the Laodicean age, which must last until Christ’s return, we must not expect any more revivals. Even if the futurist theory is correct (which the author is not convinced it is), it doesn’t prove such a thing at all. Even if Laodicean conditions prevail in certain parts of the world, there is no reason why there cannot be revival elsewhere- nor even why territory held at present by Laodicean conditions cannot be “pushed back!” Furthermore, if it was necessary that the Church be in a certain condition everywhere in the world just before Christ came, then at any time when the Church was not in that condition everywhere, Christ’s coming would not be imminent then. That is an unacceptable supposition.

There is therefore absolutely no prophetic reason why a great revival would not be possible in our time; and, if such a revival did come, it would not diminish in the least the possibility that Christ could come TODAY. Why, then, do we not have such a revival at present? Do you want to know why?

You do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2)!

What, then, would happen if a revival did come? Let is remember that a revival is primarily a work of God among Christians- for only those who are born can be wakened up! Those who are not born again, are dead, and would need to be born before they could be awakened. In a revival, Christians who have become mediocre (or “lukewarm”) in their spiritual life, are brought to repentance. Also, all Christians are stimulated in a new way to fervent holiness of life, and ardent zeal to serve the Lord. That is the primary fruit.

Revivals also generally lead to multiplied conversions, since the presence of revived Christians brings greater conviction of sin on the unconverted. The Holy Spirit has more liberty to work through revived Christians, and revived Christians are more zealous to reach the lost. In some revivals, crowds of non-Christians gathered outside where Christians were assembled praying, without having received any human invitation. The Holy Spirit had sent them, and they were waiting to be told how to be saved. This resembles what happened at Pentecost, in Acts 2:6.

Most revivals have brought “fringe benefits” in effects on society. That must not be our primary focus, since it is not our mission to change the present world, which God has condemned. Our focus must be on increased holiness in believers and conversion of the lost. Yet because of the sovereignty of God, the Holy Spirit is at liberty to bring about any social reforms He chooses, and He often does so through revivals. Let us review a few of the well-known revivals in history.

After England had been thoroughly corrupted morally under the reign of Charles II, the political situation deteriorated until, according to most historians, the country was developing toward a revolution similar to the French Revolution (1789- 1799). At such a time, God raised up John Wesley (1703-1791), with his brother, Charles, and George Whitefield. Excluded from the State Church of England, they preached in the open air to vast crowds. Thousands upon thousands were converted and led to Christian lives with very high standards of holiness. As “fringe benefits,” fear of God swept over English society and brought in great moral reforms. The system of education was improved. Even unbelieving historians credit this revival with saving England from the revolution it was headed for.

Another great revival swept the United States and Ireland in 1859. It began when a few businessmen met for prayer regularly in their offices during their lunch hour at noon. More and more such prayer meetings were formed, and the numbers meeting at them increased until their was a great turning back to God in these nations that had become largely secularized.

The Welsh Revival in 1906 began when a young miner, Evan Roberts, told the young people of his church of his burden to see a great work of God among them, and they responded with prayer for one. This revival is known particularly for the trans- formation it brought about in the atmosphere of the coal mines. In fact, it was necessary to re-educate the donkeys that pulled the wagons in the mines, who had been accustomed to responding to cursing-and-swearing words. Many miners were converted, and even those not converted no longer dared to swear because the testimony of Christian miners brought the fear of God over them. So it was necessary to teach the donkeys a totally new vocabulary to take orders from.

There was a great revival among Christians in China in 1910, under the ministry of Jonathan Goforth. and in some Christians who had made crooked deals with others, cases with the government, made restitution; and many who had had prolonged quarrels with each other were reconciled in love.

A revival occurred on the Hebrides Islands (off the coast of Scotland) in 1953, under the ministry of Duncan Campbell. Besides the increased fervour in the lives of Christians, there were many conversions. Also, all the institutions of worldly entertainment (saloons, dance halls, theatres, and gambling houses) went bankrupt for want of customers.

A little revival occurred in Saskatoon (Saskatchewan, Canada) in 1971. Though its results were neither as deep nor as far-reaching as those of many previous revivals, it led many Christians to make restitution for wrongs done, and to be reconciled with one another. It made them more conscientious about holy living, and gave them boldness to witness. Its effects “spilled over” somewhat into other parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

There is no reason why a great revival should not be possible in our day, if Christians were willing to respond to it, and would pray seriously for it. We need a revival that would give Christians a sharper distinction from the world by abstinence from worldly pleasures, and a good testimony in tastes, attitudes, conduct, language, dress, use of their time, and even what they do for enjoyment. Instead of trying to woo the world to salvation by imitating it, they would seek to “shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15) in order to bring conviction on the unconverted. The consequent professions of salvation would have a much higher rate of genuineness, and those saved would grow much more and faster. Then, who knows but that the Holy Spirit may grant some “fringe benefits” to such a revival? It may well lead to laws against abortion, pornography, and divorce. It might clean up the crookedness in government, and restore capital punishment wherever it has been abolished. It might even restore encouragement of the fear of God and Christian values to public schools, cause immodest and unisex styles of clothing to disappear, destroy the feminist movement, and create a society that would honour and practice honesty and obedience to the law. Why not pray seriously for such a revival?

AN APPROPRIATE EXPECTATION

According to the parable of the pounds in Luke 19:12-27, when Christ comes back, He would be pleased to find saints seeking increase in the fruit they bear for Him. Granted, the immediate reference of this parable is to saints of the Tribulation. Yet, what will please Christ when He returns in glory after the Tribulation, will certainly also please Him when He comes for the Rapture, since He doesn’t change. This parable teaches us that, when He comes, He wants to find us busy with a work in which we aim at growth- that is, not statistics at the price of compromise, but nevertheless an increase.

The man in this parable who buried his talent, kept it very carefully. He did not lose it, nor exchange it for something of lesser value. He therefore did the very same thing as Christians today who think they can do no better than “stem the tide” by keeping the faith themselves and encouraging other faithful ones to do the same. Yet, far from praising him for having kept what he had, his master denounced him for not having sought increase.

In a context that directly concerns the Rapture, 1 Corinthians 15:58 exhorts us to be “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” The idea behind the original text is a portrait of a flower developing from the bud to the full bloom. That is certainly an encouragement to seek growth through our labours. And verse 57 indicates that Christ wants to find us living victoriously when He comes.

According to 1 Corinthians 1:7, 8, Christ expects His work to grow to the point where we lack nothing, and to continue so until He comes. According to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Christ expects “children of the day” to be sober and vigilant; and verse 5 says that all Christians are “children of the day.” That exhortation is given in a context about waiting for Christ’s return. Verse 8 tells us that, when He comes, He expects to find us sure of our salvation, sober, strong in faith, and filled with love. According to Philippians 1:6, it’s God’s plan to perfect His work in Christians “until the day of Jesus Christ”- that is, the Rapture and the Bema to follow. These instructions about what Christ wants to find when He comes, would not have been written if it were not realistic to expect them, at least in a vast sector of the world.

A great work of God, and even a revival, is therefore fully possible in our day. Moreover, we need one! And, if one were to come, that would not diminish in the least the possibility that Christ could come TODAY. What if we seek a revival, but Christ comes before we have one? In that case, He will be pleased to find us seeking one-whereas He would be much displeased to find us “sitting around,” brooding over a hopeless resignation to “Laodicean lukewarmness” and merely “steming the tide.” Which will it be? Christ asked in Luke 18:8, when the Son of man comes, shall He find faith on the earth? Many Christians have assumed that the answer is “NO.” Yet the Bible doesn’t say that! Rather, He left the question unanswered, so as to require each of us to answer it personally. It is up to each Christian to respond by saying, “Lord, if Thou wilt come today, by Thy grace Thou wilt find faith in me.

Therefore to our question, “does prophecy permit revival in our time?” the answer is:

YES!!
IT DOES!!

So then, let us:

• Study what the Scriptures teach about revival • Read about revivals in the past
• Pray for a personal revival, being willing to let the needed revival begin “in me”
• Talk about our need of revival with fellow-believers
• Pray together for revival, and encourage others to do likewise
• Seek from God the kind of preaching that favours revival, to prepare the way for it
• EXPECT a revival.

Amen! Let us live in such expectancy until Christ comes, for His glory!

Copyright 2000
by the author.
Used by permission.
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