Truth and Revival (part 3)

There are reasons why it is that Revival has not been forthcoming in the Church.  Those reasons all have to do with the nature of Revival itself.  Revival is not a thing; it is not an event.  Revival is the working of a holy God amongst a holy (believing and obedient) people.  God is ever ready and willing to work ~ but only on His own terms.  When God's people will humble themselves, and seek God, and cooperate with God, God will then surely move.  To seek God is to seek the God of truth.  God will pour out His Spirit to those who will seek not only to know but, moreover, to obey the truth.  The above image shows how closely that "tares" resemble wheat, in outward appearance.  Yet, wheat is life-giving; whereas, tares are poisonous.  Likewise, the Gospel of Christ is life-giving; whereas, the gospel of the Apostate Church ~ which sounds and looks a lot like the Word of God, in fact it is deadly.

God said: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6).  With churches and mega-churches in abundance; and, with so-called Christian media pumping out torrents of teaching materials (television, radio, Internet, books, conferences, etc.); is it possible that Christians (in America) may nevertheless lack knowledge of the truth of God?  It is not only possible but indeed that is very largely the case.  The Apostasy (led by multitudes of false prophets) has not advanced without a message.  But the Apostasy ~ the nature of which is deceit, has advanced by means of a message that in many ways resembles the Gospel of Christ, although in fact, both the spirit as well as the message of the Apostate Church is anti-Christ.

In order for God to move and work in Revival power in the midst of the true Church, the true Church must first labor (as in the case of Nehemiah) to rebuild and restore the walls (of true doctrine), and set up the gates (of true judgment), of the City of God.  We are not waiting upon God, for Revival, but He is waiting upon us to return to Him in the truth.  And while it is the case that the effort to restore true doctrine in the Church shall entail no little amount of time and labor; yet, the importance as well as the consequences of that effort, far outweigh every other consideration.

The doctrine of SIN
By far the most important and consequential idea which must be addressed has to do with God's view of SIN.  The message of the Apostate Church pointedly trivializes and even excuses sin ~ to the damnation of all those who embrace that message.  That message, which lies at the core of the Apostasy, is essentially the means whereby the Church has been deceived and subverted.  What did the Serpent, the devil, tell Eve?  "You will not surely die."  In other words, you can sin ~ and get away with it.  Many professing Christians are quick to say they are no longer "under the law," because, they are now under grace.  That is because they do not want to be bound by the Law of God, nor do they understand what "grace" is.  As the Holy Ghost said in Jude, the Apostate Church seeks to "turn the grace of God into lasciviousness" ~ that is, a license to sin (Jude 4).  

But God said, "The soul that sins shall surely die."

Apostates want to believe they are in Christ ~ not because they truly love God, but because they don't want to go to Hell.  They are willing to be in Christ, yet, they are not willing to be bound to obey the Law of God.  Yet, they are so blind that they do not understand that to be "in Christ" binds them not merely under the authority of the Law, but under the very Law-giver himself!  The next-to the last verse in Ecclesiastes says: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecc. 12:13).  But that word, "duty," is an obscene, 'four-letter word,' to the Apostate Church.

God has zero-tolerance for sin.  Consider what immeasurable suffering has resulted to the whole human race, by reason of one man's (Adam's) sin!  Consider too, that God "drove them out" of the Garden of Eden, because of that one sin; notwithstanding He afterward provided Adam and Eve with tokens (lamb skins, which involved the shedding of blood) of salvation.

Salvation cost God dearly.  Consider the meaning of Christ's suffering on the way to, and including, Calvary.  God stood by while Roman soldiers mercilessly abused the Son of God: they tore out chunks of his beard ~ with the flesh beneath that; they blindfolded and then pummeled him, all the while mocking him; they spat upon him; they literally beat a thorny crown into his scalp.  Doubtless driven by demonic impulses, those soldiers seemed to relish the opportunity to torture Jesus.  They stripped him of his clothes, dragged him out into the courtyard and bound him to a post.  Then they ruthlessly "plowed his back like a field," in the process of "scourging" him with something like a "cat-of-nine-tails" whip; a form of torture which many other men did not survive.  And all of that was merely preliminary to Christ's crucifixion at Calvary.

What on earth was God doing by allowing His only begotten Son to suffer so?  God was expressing His violent hatred of SIN, by pouring out the fury of His wrath against His own Son ~ who "was made to be sin"... for us.  Jesus stood as the embodiment of sin, to bear the wrath of God against sin.  Why? so that we may nevertheless continue to sin?  "God forbid."  It was so that God could forgive those who will cease from sinning and who will submit themselves to Christ ~ who suffered the penalty of death for their sins.  And (God) shall still be holy and just to forgive repentant souls: because, He does not merely pass over the fact that we did sin, but God punished our sin, in Christ.

God cannot and will not tolerate SIN.  "Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). 

For the sake of blog-space, I cannot further elaborate upon that all-important point, that is, of God's intolerance of SIN.  The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is full of that truth.  Yet, remarkably, the Apostate Church somehow manages to communicate a message which is widely and enthusiastically received by multitudes of professing Christians ~ though that message is contrary to the truth: the effects of which message substantially leads many professing Christians to believe not only that they cannot actually live above sin but, furthermore, that they need not be at all concerned to live holy lives!

Here is the essence of the Apostate Church's message:

• Christ alone is holy; we are not holy, nor can we be. 

• He suffered and died for our sins. Therefore, we will not suffer or die because of our sins.  Howsoever much we may sin, it has already been 'paid for' by Christ.  We 'apologize' (but do not actually repent) and go on with God.

•  We are saved by "grace," through "faith," and not by our own "works."  Striving to live without sin amounts to "works."  Those who suppose that obedience to God is somehow necessary to their salvation, are fallen from grace; they are trusting in their own self-righteousness. 

•  Be good, and do good: and you will go to Heaven. 

•  "Sin" is "making bad decisions."  Although that may have short-term consequences, yet no sin can separate a Christian from God. 

• There is nothing that anyone can possibly do which may cause God ultimately to stop loving them.  God's love is "unconditional."  He accepts you just as you are.

Every single one of those ideas is straight from the pit.  Yet, untold millions of professing Christians believe that the Bible actually teaches those ideas.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  God "now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).  The first step to Revival is true, and thorough, repentance of all sin.  "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (James 4:17).  Lukewarmness toward God is sin.  Spiritual laziness is sin.  Apathy concerning the propagation of the Gospel, and the salvation of souls, is sin.  Prayerlessness is sin.  Neglect of the Word is sin.  Neglect or refusal to witness of and for Christ, is sin.  "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).  To love anyone or anything more than God and Christ, is sin.  Neglect or refusal to serve as part of the Body of Christ is sin.  All carnality is sin.  Unbelief is sin.  Having a bad attitude is sin.  Spreading gossip or slander is sin.  Vanity is sin.  Pride is sin.  Covetousness of worldly things is sin.  Rebellion against lawful authority (in the home, firstly) is sin....

Evidently, there is a great deal of repenting that must be done, in order for the Church to receive Heaven-sent Revival.

Before I conclude this essay, I must also address the destructive practices of those professing Christians who fill their minds with Facebook trivia and other Internet foolishness, and/or with other forms of media (movies, books, etc.) which turn one's thought away from God rather than towards God.  Romans 12:1-2 instructs, indeed it commands, that professing Christians must "present their body" to God ~ that is to say, we must give our time and thoughts and energies to God, in order that we may allow the Holy Ghost to "renew our mind" ~ which is essential to the process of our "transformation" into Christ-likeness.

A person who gives about one hour, out of a normal day (16 hours), to meditate upon the things of God, has thus only given 6% of his or her time and thoughts to God.  That is barely more than half of a "tithe" (10%) of one's time.  Sadly, most professing Christians give nothing even close to an hour a day to seek the Lord in prayer and in His Word.  How can such persons hope thus to have their minds renewed and themselves to be transformed?