Biblestudies

THE URGENT NEED FOR REVIVAL TODAY

THE URGENT NEED FOR REVIVAL TODAY'Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever he seizes him, he throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to your disciples, that they should cast him out, but they could not."' (Mark 9:17-18 NKJ)

I am calling your attention to these two verses, and to the second in particular, in order that we may consider together the great subject of revival, and of the need, the urgent need, of a revival in the Church of God at the present time. For I am persuaded that this is a very urgent matter.

In a sense, of course all preaching should promote revival and it is only as we, as Christian people, understand the doctrines of the Christian faith that we can ever hope truly to see the need of revival, and therefore to pray for it. But it does seem to me that there are certain considerations which call for a special and an unusually direct and explicit dealing with this subject at the present time.

The first of these considerations is the appalling need. But I have a subsidiary reason also for calling attention to this matter and that is that it happens to be the year 1959, a year in which many will be calling to mind and celebrating the great revival, the great religious awakening, the unusual outpouring and manifes- tation of the Spirit of God, that took place one hundred years ago in 1859. In that year there was a revival, first in the United States of America, and afterwards in Northern Ireland, in Wales and parts of Scotland, and even in certain parts of England, and this year there are many who will be calling this to mind and commemorating that great and signal movement of the Spirit of God. I believe it is right that we should participate in this, and understand why it is being done, and why the Church of God should be very concerned about it at this present juncture.

This is obviously a matter for the whole Church and not merely for certain of her leaders. The history of revivals brings that out very clearly, for God often acts in a most unusual manner and produces revival and promotes it and keeps it going, not necessarily through ministers but perhaps through people who may have regarded themselves as very humble and unimportant members of the Christian Church.

The Church is so constituted that every member matters, and matters in a very vital sense. So I also call attention to this whole subject, partly because I sense that there is a curious tendency today for members of the Christian Church to feel and to think that they themselves can do very little and so they tend to look to others to do all that is needed for them. This, of course, is something which is characteristic of the whole of life today. For instance, men and women no longer take exercise in sport as they used to. Instead, people tend to sit in crowds and just watch other people play. There was a time when people provided their own pleasure but now the radio and television provide their entertainment and pleasure for them. And I fear that the tendency is even manifesting itself in the Christian Church.

To talk about revival is to talk superlatives, for revival is Christianity taken

To talk about revival is to talk superlatives, for revival is Christianity taken to a heightened intensity. God never does more for his church than when he revitalises her with the breath of heaven. In the midst of the years he 'makes known' (Habakkuk 3:2). We then experience more of his grace and power than at all other times.

Defined

This serves to remind us of what revival is. We can define it like this: 'When ordinary spiritual conditions are intensified to the extraordinary.' Hence the title of this article. We are not talking about a difference in kind from the norm; rather a difference in degree - although a very great degree. In revival God pours out the Holy Spirit and phenomenal results follow.

One outcome of revival is the extraordinary conversions wrought; another is the exceptional recovery of things that have declined in the church. So the chief benefits are vast numbers brought into the church, and the church itself raised up to new heights of blessedness.

The Folly of Leaving Your First Love

I am praying every day for revival. Please join me.
Dr. AM Clayton

But I have this against you, that you have left your first love (Revelation 2:4).

By 1630 Scotland was in need of another revival, a time of visitation by God when a whole community is soaked with his presence. Such had occurred five years earlier in the town of Stewarton under the ministry of David Dickson, and that revival no doubt influenced and moved the people of nearby Shotts, not far from Glasgow, to seek a similar blessing. In accordance with the Scottish Presbyterian tradition of seasonal communion services, Shotts set aside several days in June for people from surrounding communities to come together for soul-searching preaching, calling them to repentance and conversion. A few godly Scottish women of royalty who were sympathetic toward the cause of the Covenanters (those who sought the independence of the Scottish church from the king's episcopal policies) prevailed upon the local pastor at Shotts, John Home, to invite two powerful Scottish preachers for the occasion — David Dickson, whom God had used so powerfully a few years before at Stewarton, and seventy year old Robert Bruce, a man whom some said was the human instrument God had already used to bring conversion to thousands of people. Instead of the usual plan to end the services on Sunday with communion for those who could give evidence of true conversion, the leaders decided to stay another day, closing with a service of thanksgiving on Monday.

That Sunday evening a number of ministers, elders, and leading women, including both the Marchioness of Hamilton and Lady Culross, met and prayed through the night for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the people who would gather the next day. We do not have a record of the prayer meeting but we do know they prayed all night, no doubt asking for the Holy Spirit to visit them powerfully in this last service of the communion season. After the prayer meeting, each having gone their own way for personal devotional time, Lady Culross closed the curtains on her bed and for the next three hours could be heard praying earnestly, with great liberty in the Spirit. At the end of this time she called on Pastor Home and strongly urged that he invite young John Livingstone to preach the last service.

Livingstone was only twenty-seven years old and not ordained, though his lack of ordination was no fault of his own. Archbishop William Laud, who was determined to root out Calvinism in England and Presbyterian Scotland, considered Livingstone a dangerous man and was therefore unwilling to ordain him. Known throughout the region as a powerful preacher of the doctrines of grace — the question of ordination notwithstanding — Livingstone was nonetheless mortified at the prospect of preaching before such a large crowd on such a solemn occasion, and before these older men, Dickson and Bruce, whom God had so powerfully used the previous days and for many years in the past. But he agreed, and then proceeded to go out into the fields to pray and prepare his heart to preach. On such occasions, Livingstone says, he spent little time in preparing his mind, in thinking through what he was to say. Instead he focused on his heart, seeking to fill himself up with Christ, trusting the Holy Spirit to prompt him with what he ought to say, asking for the Spirit’s presence and power. This time, however, the more he prayed and thought through his daunting task, the more terrified he became. He felt totally inadequate and utterly weak. Finally he decided that he could not go through with his preaching and began walking away, in the opposite direction from the town, passing several who were coming for the thanksgiving service. As he walked away from the town of Shotts he sensed the Holy Spirit being grieved over his flight, impressing upon him that he was not trusting God. He became fearful of God’s chastisement and repented, literally turning around and walking back to town.

What To Do When You Have Blown It

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord (Genesis 8:20).

The year 1995 was a difficult one for me. I was working far too many hours and the idolatry of my work and my children’s activities had caused me to drift in my devotion to my wife. We were not in danger of divorce (we agreed early in our marriage to never allow those words to drip from our mouths) but there was a coldness, a distance. While in Africa on a preaching trip, God showed me my sin, the damage I had done to my wife, and the need I had for repentance. I had blown it. What could I do? I wrote her a long letter and when I saw her in Northern Ireland (our church was on a mission trip there) I gave it to her, asking her forgiveness. She still carries the letter everywhere.

I bet you have blown it too, perhaps in more severe ways. Maybe your wife has said that she wants a divorce, that you have demeaned her one too many times and she can no longer take your verbal cruelty. Maybe your children have lost respect for you and now pity you, or worse. Perhaps your angry outbursts at work have cost you another job. All seems lost. Your life has left a series of broken relationships in its wake. Is there any hope for you?

Genesis 8:13-22 is a remarkable 'Yes and Amen' to that question. God has justly destroyed the earth and every living thing because of the people’s pervasive sin. In verses 13-19 we find, as Noah and his family disembark from the ark, Elohim’s (this is God’s name to designate his creative action, see Genesis 1) re-creative work. The language here is very similar to that used in Genesis 1. The animals are to be fruitful and multiply. So, in spite of the earth’s destruction God is telling Noah that he will start over. Then in verses 20-22 we see two more vital elements to God’s work of restoration and renewal. Noah worships God by taking from all the clean animals and offering a sacrifice. No doubt this sacrifice was two-fold in nature. He was giving thanks to Yahweh for sparing his life. He had seen the carnage of bloating bodies on the flood waters and knew he deserved the same. But there is a sense of propitiation, atonement here also. Surely the sacrifice of all these animals took many hours. The blood that flowed must have covered him. The animals squealing in agony as they died sacrificially was a sobering visage. Noah, acting on behalf of his covenant family, sought God in worship. Then we note that Yahweh (the name used here for God’s covenantal faithfulness to his people) renews his covenant with Noah and creation, saying that he will never again destroy the world, though he knows the sin of the people is evil continually.

The bottom line here is that God will restore all that your sin has destroyed. This is wonderful news, very comforting, but I know what you are thinking, 'I have blown it. I see no hope of restoration. And besides, isn’t it true that we sometimes must live with the consequences of our sin, even though we are forgiven through Christ? Can I really expect God to bail me out of the consequences of my sinful actions?' I know. I wonder about that myself sometimes, but we serve a God of re-creating grace. What is this work of restoration he promises to do? Three principles are gleaned from this text — re-creation, redemption, and regeneration. He promises new opportunities, though all seems destroyed (2 Cor. 5:17). The world was destroyed by the flood but God in mercy started over. He gives you the grace to do the same.

God Standard TIme

Physicist Itzhak Bars, of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southern California (USC), has an interesting theory. He believes there is another dimension of time (other than the one we are used to) and is conducting research to prove his theory.

In his article called, “Are we missing a dimension of time?” Telegraph

reporter (www.telegraph.co.uk), Roger Highfield, quotes Bars as telling telling the New Scientist (www.newscientist.com), “There isn't just one dimension of time. There are two. One whole dimension of time and another of space have until now gone entirely unnoticed by us.”

Highfield then says, “Time is no longer a simple line from the past to the future, in a four dimensional world consisting of three dimensions of space and one of time. Instead, the physicist envisages the passage of history as curves embedded in six dimensions, with four of space and two of time.”

Commenting on its physicist's theory, a USC report explains: “Einstein’s theory of gravity and quantum theory don’t fit together. Some piece is missing in the picture puzzle of physical reality. Bars thinks one of the missing pieces is a hidden dimension of time....With two times, Bars believes, many of the mysteries of today’s laws of physics may disappear. Of course, it’s not as simple as that. An extra dimension of time is not enough. You also need an additional dimension of space.”

For years, some scientists have included an additional dimension of space in their research (increasing it from three to four) because it helps “reconcile theories of electromagnetism and gravity.” [The three dimensions of space are up/down, forward/back and sideways.]

But by adding a second time dimension, Bars is considered a bit of a heretic among physicists who point out his theory -- if true -- could lead to time travel.

God standard time

Bars may have an unusual ally in his struggle. Through Scripture, we discover God not only exists in a different realm, but there are hints He exists in a different time dimension as well.

From Grief to Glory* - A Review by Sarah Pawlak

I sat down to read From Grief to Glory on a busy day, expecting to read only a chapter or so. As I began reading, I reprioritized my agenda and got through the entire book (and a stack of tissues) in one sitting. I expected this book to be good, but I did not expect to be so affected by the testimonies of such serious, historical theologians. This slim, 214-page volume was profoundly healing and encouraging for this infertility-worn seminary student and would make an excellent addition to any church or counselling library.

Author James W. Bruce III, married to Joni, works as an attorney and serves as an elder at Grace Bible Church of Oklahoma City. His middle son, John Cameron Bruce, lived a short life of only fifty-five days during the winter of 1997. It was Bruce's deep sorrow over this dear boy's death that encouraged him to seek out the comfort and consolation that God has extended to Christians throughout history, appropriate it for himself and share it with others — for the glory of God and the good of his brothers and sisters in Christ.

This text features the succinct, yet moving biographies of significant historical Christians who have grieved the loss of a young child, including: John Bunyan, Martin Luther, Robert L. Dabney, Philip Melanchthon, C. H. Spurgeon, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Bradford, John Calvin, Matthew Henry, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Lemuel Haynes, Frederick Douglass, George Müller, John Owen, Samuel Rutherford, John Flavel, Benjamin Morgan Palmer, Thomas Boston, John Brown, Hetty Wesley, Selina Hastings, Fanny Crosby, as well as the author's own testimony.

We Need the Ghost

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6).

We must preach Christ crucified. This is not limited to pastors and missionaries.1 It is clear that disciple-making, including the task of evangelizing, is part and parcel of our sanctification. We are commanded to take Jesus to the nations, moving out through the concentric circles of our lives — to our children, grandchildren, extended family, neighbours, friends, work associates, city, nation, and world. But we are cowards, largely unmoved by what we read in Scripture of the impending judgment on all outside the kingdom of God. Besides, the task is an impossible one. We are doomed to failure unless God works among us. Why? Man is born rebellious to God. He is stiff-necked and does not want Christ. Paul says that the natural man does not receive the things of God because they are foolishness to him (1 Cor. 2:14). He says that the devil has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they do not see the glory of the gospel of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4ff). And what keeps him away from Christ? His pride and ignorance. The Scottish and French Enlightenment, as well as modern Science and Logical Positivism,2 have largely been destroyed by Post Modernism,3 and this continues to embolden man to believe he is the measure of all things. Man’s pride and ignorance lead to apathy. He is unaware of his impending doom. He thinks such talk of hell and judgment is at the least quaint and superstitious, and at the worst, downright harmful and hateful.

The rejection of Biblical Christianity, while always present in America, began to gain speed in the late eighteenth century, growing all the way through the end of the nineteenth century. It was encouraged by the creeping Unitarianism of William Ellery Channing, Horace Mann, and Horace Bushnell. The great New England cultural and educational ethos, founded on seventeenth century Puritan Calvinism, gave way to a rejection of Calvinism that taught original sin, total depravity, and the need for the new birth. They kept the desire for knowledge but rejected the foundation of that knowledge — Holy Scripture and what it says about man, God, and culture.

What does this mean for us today? Our task is humanly impossible. As the old black preachers used to say, 'We must have the Ghost.' Without the Holy Ghost, without God working through the third person of the Godhead, we are doomed to failure. In Acts 10 Peter is led by God to Cornelius’ household in Caesarea. It is clear to him that God has opened the door of the gospel to the God-fearers, Gentiles who embrace Judaism. So he begins to preach to them, saying that Jesus, who was baptized and anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, went about doing good, overcoming the works of the devil. How many times have I read Acts 10! I have preached on it, yet I had never seen this statement of Christ’s anointing with the Spirit and power. How is it that Jesus needs to be anointed with power and the Spirit? Certainly he did not need this in his deity, but apparently he did in his humanity. Think about it — if Jesus, almighty God incarnate, needs the anointing of the Holy Spirit in order to fight the devil, then what does that say about us?

God of Powerful and Preserving Providence

And God blessed them, saying, '. . . fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.' (Genesis 1:22)

On the fifth day of creation Elohim created swarms that swarm in the sea and flying birds that fly in the sky. In his commentary on Genesis, John Currid says that the Hebrew makes use of two polyptotons � verbs with their cognate nouns, used for the sake of great emphasis � swarms swarming and flying birds flying. We are also told that God made the tannin, the sea monsters of the deep. This word is sometimes translated serpent, dragon, or Leviathan. It is used in Exodus 7 where Aaron�s rod became a tannin that swallowed up the tanninim of Pharaoh. Later the word is used in Psalm 74:13-14 and Isaiah 27:1 in referring to Yahweh who destroys tannin or Leviathan with his great and mighty sword. The allusion here is to powerful nations at enmity with Yahweh but he overcomes them. Then we are told that God called the fish and birds good, that he blessed them, and called them to be fruitful and multiply. We find here a clear reference to God�s powerful and preserving providence, that he directs and disposes all things for his glory and the good of his creation.

I wonder � do you see God at work in the details of your life? Are you resisting him in those details? People have always resisted the doctrine of God�s sovereignty and the corresponding teaching on his providence. We like to think we are in control, that we can 'fix it.' This manifests itself today in neo-deism and neo-spirituality. Deism � the religion of preference in the mid to late eighteenth century in Colonial America, best known by Benjamin Franklin and his adage, 'God helps those who help themselves' � taught that while God did in fact create the world, he is no longer engaged in the affairs of this world. We must make things happen ourselves. This fits well with today�s psyche of rugged individualism, of pulling one�s self up by one�s boot straps. You are a neo-deist, even if you claim to be a Christian, if you fail to realise that God is in the details of your life, even the hard things happening to you right now. And neo-spirituality is seen today in the religiously intolerant, those who call themselves religious or spiritual, who claim to be open and affirming of all religions, yet despise the 'narrowness' and exclusivity in the claims of Christ. The neo-spiritual person is syncretistic � so called �Zen Christians� or �Presbyterian Buddhists.� The problem with neo-deism and neo-spirituality is that these weak, powerless forms of religion tend to inoculate people against vibrant, Biblical faith. These give people the false impression that a little religion is all one needs.

Church and Tradition in a Changing World

At the annual assembly of the Association of Evangelical Churches in Wales, Ian Parry, pastor of the Bay Church in Cardiff, delivered a paper on the above subject and then led a seminar in a discussion of it. The following is a summary of what he said.

1) We need to UNDERSTAND our traditions. Where do they come from? We may claim to be controlled by the authority of the Bible alone. And the Bible has certain commandments which are non-negotiable. Yet there is an inevitability about building traditions. Our traditions are the ways we seek to obey the Scriptures, and they�ll shape the feel & ethos of a church.

2) As well as understanding them we need to VALUE them. We have them however new or old our churches are. The church universal has a history. In the UK reformed tradition we have a certain history which shapes what we do. So there are some good traditions in the past associated with the Reformation. We are privileged heirs of a tradition. You only need to go to the mission field to appreciate this. And this gives us a certain perspective on things. We are heirs & custodians of the past. The Church is bigger than our own day & our own context. It gives Colour: If you strip away the past it leaves you with a characterless thing with no associations. It gives Power: Our generation has cut its ties with the past and is finding it hard to live with the results. As other religions enter the country people are saying 'What exactly am I? What is my identity in?' So we should value them.

Billy Graham�s Daughter Tells how her father is �Growing (old) in God�s Grace�

-- Evangelist Billy Graham has been the confidante and spiritual advisor to American presidents and men and women of fame, financial and political power. He became a household word, not only in Christian circles, but in the homes of most of the people across the globe. Anne Graham Lotz with her father Dr. Billy Graham Personally, in his lifetime, he has preached to over 215 million people and, estimates say, seen 2 ½ million come forward in his meetings to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. His radio and TV audiences have reached over 2 billion viewers and listeners. Today the once busy minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is still active, but not as much as before. His daughter Anne Graham Lotz, the second of the Graham�s five children and the wife of a dentist, operates a ministry called AnGeL Ministries which, following in her father�s footsteps, reaches out internationally. In a new do*****entary, Graham Lotz spoke about her father�s new pace of ministry. She stated in the recent interview: "My father didn�t really retire until his body sort of quit on him. He has always said that, for a minister of the Gospel, there is no retirement, but his body decided differently." It was 17 years ago that Billy Graham was diagnosed with Parkinson�s Disease. "He has a difficult time hearing, a difficult time seeing, a difficult time walking. His heart is still strong. His mind is clear," said Graham Lotz