plan B

Everybody knows what "plan B" means.  Plan B is what you do in the event that plan A fails. By all appearances ~ of which there are many indisputable proofs, the Church in America has long been attempting to operate on plan B.  And, no, I'm not referring to the apostate Church.
In the first place, the Church is not the one with "the plan" for building God's kingdom.  The Church is nothing more nor less than the corporate body of individual Christians whom God has been able to lead them to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in truth.  Jesus said, in the context of what is called 'the Lord's Prayer,' that not only the kingdom but also the power and the glory all belongs to God.  It is God's plan, which the Church is supposed to be following in order as we seek to obey and to please the Lord.

God does not have a plan B.  God has only one plan ~ which he has plainly revealed that in his Word.

On the day of Pentecost, God showed us what is his plan involving the Church, as a body.  First of all, that plan began with complete obedience to Christ.  The events of Pentecost didn't begin in the Upper Room.  They began on the Mount of Olives, on the day when Jesus ascended to heaven.  The very last thing that Jesus commanded his disciples, was that they were to "tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).  Jesus gave that command to all five-hundred (and more) of his disciples who were gathered there on that day.  But as soon as Jesus was taken up in a cloud to heaven, more than three-fourths of those disciples went home!  Only about 120, of those 500+ disciples, actually obeyed the Lord's command.

Let's follow those 120 who, perhaps, first went home to get a little food and freshen up, in preparation for their "tarrying" in Jerusalem.  When later that same day they all came together in the Upper Room, they probably had no idea how long they would be there.  Would it be a few hours? or perhaps a few days?  In any case, all they knew was that Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem ~ until.

The remainder of that day and all of that first night, there must have been great anticipation.  Most of them perhaps spent the night talking about recent events and speculating about what it was they were waiting for.  The following day, though they may have been tired and the room likely was rather stuffy, yet they were still excited.  By the third day, due to the lack of privacy, the lack of conveniences, and the overcrowded environment, their patience began to wear a little thin.  Four days passed.  By the fifth day, I suppose that their little supply of food ~ if not also their patience ~ was exhausted.  Why was it taking so long for God to move?  What was He waiting for?

They began to pray more earnestly.  They were no longer merely waiting, but they were earnestly seeking God for answers.  Six days passed and, still, nothing.  All of Jesus's "inner circle" of disciples (except Judas Iscariot) were present in that Upper Room.  They huddled together in prayer.  They must have sensed that everyone else was looking to them ~ who had walked so closely with Jesus, for some answers.  Somehow, in the midst of that hot (it was mid-summer), sweaty, stinky, crowded Upper Room, those 120 souls humbled themselves before God and each other, and allowed their own hearts to flow together "in one accord," to wait on the Lord ~ until....

Obedience was the starting point.  Their obedience to Christ, to tarry together in Jerusalem, then led them on in further obedience, to pray and wait together in the spirit of unity.

Importantly, the baptism of the Holy Ghost ~ which they all did afterwards receive, is not what produced their obedience or their unity.

The baptism they received, on the day of Pentecost, did not precede (come before) their willingness to obey Christ's command to tarry in Jerusalem.  Nor did that baptism precede their willingness to humble themselves and come together in unity ~ which, as I tried above to portray, that spirit of unity could not have been an easy thing for them to achieve and to maintain.

The baptism of the Holy Ghost was given, on the day of Pentecost, to those who by their works demonstrated their faith and their obedience to Jesus Christ.  The result of which, baptism of the Holy Ghost, was both immediate as it was also powerful.  Three-thousand souls were promptly brought into the kingdom of God, on that same day.  3,000! Jews! in Jerusalem ~ where, only a few weeks prior to that, the Jews had cried out: "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

The "Church" (and the Church Age) was in a real sense 'launched' on the day of Pentecost.  And from that day, until at least a couple of centuries later, the Church continued to spread the Gospel throughout the then known world, with the miracle-working power of the Holy Ghost working with them.  The severest trials of persecution did not keep the Church from spreading the Gospel and winning multitudes to Christ.  Clearly, winning multitudes of souls, through the power of the Holy Ghost ~ for which cause Christ died and rose again, was and yet is God's plan for the Church, the body of Christ.  Some would call that "Revival."

I have thus far labored to make the point, that God's plan is Revival.  God's plan is that the Church, empowered by the Holy Ghost, should be the agency whereby vast multitudes of souls may be won to Christ.  God doesn't have any other plan.  There is no plan B.

How is it, then, that the contemporary Church (I'm speaking in reference to the believing Remnant) ~ notwithstanding their occasional complaints, nevertheless appears (by their inaction) to be willing, for years even, to cling to a form of religion which possesses nothing resembling the power of true Revival? 

Do we suppose that God has a "plan B," and that God is O.K. with the fact that we're on plan B?

Meanwhile, the wrath of God burns hot against America and hundreds of millions of souls stand in danger of eternal damnation!  Do we suppose that we can still be well pleasing to God, even though we are not truly striving to understand and then to follow God's plan for Revival?

A few good Christians, doubtless, believe they are doing all they can for the cause of Christ.  Yet, are they truly and earnestly seeking to find ~ and then to covenant together with ~ other, like-minded believers who really want to see a move of God?  Personal piety and personal work notwithstanding:  there is no substitute for the ways in which God has chosen to work in and through the corporate body of Christians.

They are tragically mistaken, though, whosoever supposes that simply being a part of some or another local church is the same thing as being in Covenant with a holy body of true disciples of Christ.  My long experience convinces me that such persons, almost invariably, will find themselves greatly constrained in such circumstances, by reason of having to serve underneath of compromised leadership (in most churches), as well as by the presence of a "mixed multitude" in the assembly.

In Charles Finney's autobiography (a man who was instrumental in the conversion of an estimated 500,000 souls, in the early 1800s), he related the case of a certain local church which, as the result of their having experienced a Revival that resulted in the conversion of most but not all of their members, the majority (of newly-saved persons) voted to dissolve that church ~ so they could then reconstitute themselves as a new church, one comprised only of regenerate persons.  They understood the danger to themselves as a local church ~ and to the work of the ministry and to the cause of Christ, in the case that they would any longer remain a "mixed multitude" of saints and sinners, together, 'doing church.'  They believed ~ as also I firmly do ~ that only truly born-again individuals should be received as members of any local church; and, that great care must be taken to ensure that future church growth be the direct result of soul-winning labors in ongoing Revival ~ which is the life of the Church.

If it is true (and I'm certain it is true) that God's will for the Church is Revival, then, why are we not experiencing Revival?  It is because there are great hindrances to Revival.  I will elaborate upon a few of those, as follows.

1. Most professing Christians ~ believe it or not ~ don't want Revival, because they don't want to be holy, and because they don't want the responsibility or the work of Revival.
2. Many professing Christians don't understand God's will.  Thus they don't know that Revival is God's will for the Church.  Neither then do they understand Revival.
3. Many other professing Christians don't believe that Revival is possible today.  They are willing, however, to believe any of a number of different reasons why the Church cannot experience Revival.
4. Some professing Christians believe that Revival may be possible ~ but that God will send Revival if, and when, He may want to.  But there is really nothing that we can do in order to receive Revival, except, wait for God to do something.
5. Some professing Christians believe that Revival may be possible, but not until and unless there may occur some great calamity which "wakes up" the Church.
6. A few professing Christians know something of the truth about what Revival is, and how that Revival comes, and how that Revival works; but, they don't want to dedicate themselves fully to God, to pray and to labor for Revival.  They understand that real Revival is an ongoing lifestyle.  And, if the truth be known, they don't want that kind of lifestyle.

Those who believe that Revival may be possible ~ but not unless and until that God may (arbitrarily) decide to send it, don't understand Revival.  Yet, they grieve the Holy Ghost, by reason of their ignorance and unbelief, and because they are themselves hindering the Church from receiving Revival.

Those who believe that the Church must first be awakened by some calamity, in order that the Church will then seek God for Revival, are grossly mistaken.  Trouble does not bring Revival.  If, for example, America were to suffer sudden economic collapse, so that basic commodities would quickly become very scarce, local churches would perhaps then see a correspondingly sudden increase in the number of attendees.  But those attendees would not be coming to seek God for Revival in the Church; they would not be the least bit interested in soul-winning.  Rather, they would be seeking food and shelter for themselves and for their families.  Granted, that such circumstances could present opportunities for true Christians within local churches to present the Gospel to persons suddenly confronted with life-threatening challenges.  And, in turn, that could lead to a notable increase in terms of conversions amongst communities.  But that is not the same thing as Revival in the Church.  Such circumstances might lead the Church to more seriously reflect upon the truth of God and, so, to seek God for Revival.  But not necessarily so.

The written Word of God and the living Spirit of God, being given priority in the life of a truly regenerate soul, is the beginning of Revival in the life of that individual.  And while that is not only possible, but it is also required, for each and every individual Christian; nevertheless, the presence even of a sizable number of faithful Christians, in any given geographical area, does not at all mean that the Church in that geographical area therefore is moving in Revival.  It merely means that Revival should be possible, in that area.

Revival requires a number of factors to be brought together in the right way.

There must first be a core group of faithful Christians who are willing to Covenant with God and with each other for Revival.   Such a Covenant must be explicit for that purpose.  Revival necessarily entails an extraordinary (as in more than what is common) commitment of time and effort both to attain and, thereafter, to maintain.

Secondly, there must be Godly and capable leadership within that core group.  Such leadership, ideally, should be very knowledgeable of the Word of God as well as of the principles of Revival methods.  I say "ideally," because there have been reported cases where that God divinely led and used certain individuals, in promoting and leading Revivals, who were not very knowledgeable either of Scripture or of Revival methods ~ but who had great love for God and zeal for souls.  Revival is not rocket science.  But Revival is the outpouring and outworking of God's Spirit flowing through pure and willing lives.  I stress the corporate aspect of Revival, because, no one individual is capable to accomplish anything near what can be done by a group of persons working together with singleness of heart to accomplish one purpose.

God himself insists upon cooperation and unity amongst the body of Christians, in every place.  God has given promises, and power, and grace, and ministries TO THE CHURCH, corporately, which do not pertain to any individual alone.

God wants to move and work by his Spirit in and through the Church.  But he can't do that as long as we are satisfied with plan B.  When we're ready to do it God's way, he's ready to answer.