I wrote this series of five articles about 16 years ago, so some of the events mentioned may appear a bit anachronistic. However, I think the subject needs to be revisited, especially in the light of comments made on this board that God's judgments are reserved for after our Lord's Return. There is talk in the UK of a 'Quiet Revival' going on at the present time. I will address that in the final post
Read 2 Chronicles 7:11-16.
These verses from 2Chronicles constitute one of the texts most often referred to in connection with revival. They are frequently preached on and have even been set to music, but I have my doubts as to whether they are truly understood or, more importantly, obeyed. Being of the view that Britain, Europe and America stand in desperate need of revival from God, I propose to look at these verses in five or so articles in the hope of encouraging my readers to understand the four conditions for revival that the Lord lays down here and commit themselves to them. I do not believe that there will be revival without them.
In the U.K., some few years ago, there was an extended series of tent meetings organized in Exeter by a well-known evangelist and large amounts of money were committed to the event by the local churches. Many people responded to the altar calls and there was much optimism about the results, but I am not aware of a single person being permanently added to any participating church. I see no reason to suppose that a second event will be any more successful.
Why am I so gloomy? Why should not such events be blessed by God? Because it is self-evident that God has turned His face away from this country at the present time because of its sins. ‘Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear’ (Isaiah 59:1-2). The reader should read the rest of Isaiah 59 to see the nature of these sins and iniquities. There are the empty words and lies spoken by religious leaders; there is a turning away from the truth of God to nihilism and existentialism, and most particularly there is the shedding of the of the innocent blood of unborn children. I do not really believe that there is any such thing as a ‘Christian nation,’ but it is very clear that whereas Britain was once a nation whose people by and large respected the Bible and paid at least lip service to Christianity, today the vast majority of her people is almost unimaginably far from God and increasing numbers feel quite free to scoff at and blaspheme the Name of the Lord. In Rom 3:10-18, the Apostle Paul lists the sins of the people of his day and concludes with the words, ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ So it is with contemporary Britain.
These things in themselves would not necessarily prevent God from sending us revival. After all, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself came into a world no less evil than it is today. No, the problem lies with the Church and in particular with its leaders. It was the apostasy of the religious leadership in Judah that finally ended the Lord’s patience and provoked Him to send disaster on that land. ‘I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they commit [spiritual] adultery and walk in lies…………….But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil ways and from the evil of their doings……..Therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you……and will cast you out of My presence’ (Jer 23:14, 22, 39). It is the churches and their leadership (2) in Britain that by their failure to preach the word of God and to live it out, have caused Him to turn His face away from us and leave our prayers unanswered and our evangelistic outreaches to wither on the vine. It is simply no good blaming the Government for our moral problems; they have merely given the people what they want: seven day shopping, 24 hour drinking, value-free sex, abortion on demand, the lottery and violent T.V. Before we criticize, imagine how many votes a Party would get that tried to abolish or restrict that lot! Also, how many professing Christians do the lottery? How many do their weekly ‘shop’ on Lord’s Day afternoon? How many sit in front of the Telly regardless of how foul the programme? And how many churches are busy holding raffles or applying for Lottery grants? No, if we would see our churches revived, judgement must begin at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17).
Let us now consider the first part of our text. ‘When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people……….’
I suppose that some readers will have a problem with what I’ve been writing. Perhaps your view of God does not permit you to believe that God visits the world with judgement. In the minds of many, God is a sort of cross between Jeeves the butler and the Tooth Fairy- too soft and kindly ever to get angry or to judge sin, and only really there to minister to our needs. In Jeremiah’s day, many of the religious leaders were of just such a view. ‘They have lied about the LORD and said, “Not He. Neither will evil come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.”’ (Jer 5:12). And again, ‘They have healed the wound of My people slightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace’ (Jer 8:11). The fact is that God does indeed visit this world with calamity. ‘When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?’ (Amos 3:6). Perhaps I should address a word to any church ministers or elders who might be reading this. If you have been accustomed in your church to preach only the love of God, leaving aside His holiness, His justice and His righteous anger against sin, then there is a part of this text that would have an especial relevance to you: ‘Turn from your wicked ways!’
I am not referring primarily to physical calamities here. I am writing in the aftermath of the terrible earthquake in Haiti, and in the light of Luke 13:1-5 it would be perverse indeed to suppose that because there has been no disaster on such a scale in Britain, the British are therefore more righteous than the Haitians. Rather such dreadful events should cause men to fear God and to repent, for “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” The fact is though that there have been several physical calamities that have fallen upon Britain in recent years: ‘Mad cow’ and Foot and Mouth diseases afflicting our cattle; droughts in one part of the land and floods in another; epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases, and most recently, a blight on our financial institutions. I believe that these are remedial judgements by God on our nation, which, if we were wise, would be causing us to turn back to Him. But, ‘The people do not turn to Him who strikes them; neither do they seek the LORD of Hosts’ (Isaiah 9:13).
What I have in mind, however, is a spiritual judgement on the land rather than a physical one. The famine that we are seeing in Britain today is, ‘Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the words of the LORD’ (Amos 8:11). The Bible has never been more available than it is today, but how few are reading, studying and meditating on God’s word today, even among those who call themselves Christians. The locusts are those of materialism and secularism that are eating away at the moral life of the nation. The pestilence is that of sin and immorality, with the grossest sins being not only justified but openly promoted, and the inevitable result has been a plague of STDs, divorce and fatherless children.
Our text is, of course, God’s response to Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple (2Chron 6:12ff). Starting at v19, Solomon cites various possible disasters that might overtake Israel and prays that whenever the Israelites come to the temple to pray in a spirit of confession and repentance, God will hear their prayers and forgive their sins. The Temple is long gone, but in Jesus Christ we have One who is far greater than the Temple (Matt 12:5). May we not believe that the penitent prayers of God’s people, made in the name of the Lord Jesus, will have no less effect than those offered in the Temple?
[continued]
Read 2 Chronicles 7:11-16.
These verses from 2Chronicles constitute one of the texts most often referred to in connection with revival. They are frequently preached on and have even been set to music, but I have my doubts as to whether they are truly understood or, more importantly, obeyed. Being of the view that Britain, Europe and America stand in desperate need of revival from God, I propose to look at these verses in five or so articles in the hope of encouraging my readers to understand the four conditions for revival that the Lord lays down here and commit themselves to them. I do not believe that there will be revival without them.
In the U.K., some few years ago, there was an extended series of tent meetings organized in Exeter by a well-known evangelist and large amounts of money were committed to the event by the local churches. Many people responded to the altar calls and there was much optimism about the results, but I am not aware of a single person being permanently added to any participating church. I see no reason to suppose that a second event will be any more successful.
Why am I so gloomy? Why should not such events be blessed by God? Because it is self-evident that God has turned His face away from this country at the present time because of its sins. ‘Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear’ (Isaiah 59:1-2). The reader should read the rest of Isaiah 59 to see the nature of these sins and iniquities. There are the empty words and lies spoken by religious leaders; there is a turning away from the truth of God to nihilism and existentialism, and most particularly there is the shedding of the of the innocent blood of unborn children. I do not really believe that there is any such thing as a ‘Christian nation,’ but it is very clear that whereas Britain was once a nation whose people by and large respected the Bible and paid at least lip service to Christianity, today the vast majority of her people is almost unimaginably far from God and increasing numbers feel quite free to scoff at and blaspheme the Name of the Lord. In Rom 3:10-18, the Apostle Paul lists the sins of the people of his day and concludes with the words, ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ So it is with contemporary Britain.
These things in themselves would not necessarily prevent God from sending us revival. After all, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself came into a world no less evil than it is today. No, the problem lies with the Church and in particular with its leaders. It was the apostasy of the religious leadership in Judah that finally ended the Lord’s patience and provoked Him to send disaster on that land. ‘I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they commit [spiritual] adultery and walk in lies…………….But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil ways and from the evil of their doings……..Therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you……and will cast you out of My presence’ (Jer 23:14, 22, 39). It is the churches and their leadership (2) in Britain that by their failure to preach the word of God and to live it out, have caused Him to turn His face away from us and leave our prayers unanswered and our evangelistic outreaches to wither on the vine. It is simply no good blaming the Government for our moral problems; they have merely given the people what they want: seven day shopping, 24 hour drinking, value-free sex, abortion on demand, the lottery and violent T.V. Before we criticize, imagine how many votes a Party would get that tried to abolish or restrict that lot! Also, how many professing Christians do the lottery? How many do their weekly ‘shop’ on Lord’s Day afternoon? How many sit in front of the Telly regardless of how foul the programme? And how many churches are busy holding raffles or applying for Lottery grants? No, if we would see our churches revived, judgement must begin at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17).
Let us now consider the first part of our text. ‘When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people……….’
I suppose that some readers will have a problem with what I’ve been writing. Perhaps your view of God does not permit you to believe that God visits the world with judgement. In the minds of many, God is a sort of cross between Jeeves the butler and the Tooth Fairy- too soft and kindly ever to get angry or to judge sin, and only really there to minister to our needs. In Jeremiah’s day, many of the religious leaders were of just such a view. ‘They have lied about the LORD and said, “Not He. Neither will evil come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.”’ (Jer 5:12). And again, ‘They have healed the wound of My people slightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace’ (Jer 8:11). The fact is that God does indeed visit this world with calamity. ‘When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?’ (Amos 3:6). Perhaps I should address a word to any church ministers or elders who might be reading this. If you have been accustomed in your church to preach only the love of God, leaving aside His holiness, His justice and His righteous anger against sin, then there is a part of this text that would have an especial relevance to you: ‘Turn from your wicked ways!’
I am not referring primarily to physical calamities here. I am writing in the aftermath of the terrible earthquake in Haiti, and in the light of Luke 13:1-5 it would be perverse indeed to suppose that because there has been no disaster on such a scale in Britain, the British are therefore more righteous than the Haitians. Rather such dreadful events should cause men to fear God and to repent, for “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” The fact is though that there have been several physical calamities that have fallen upon Britain in recent years: ‘Mad cow’ and Foot and Mouth diseases afflicting our cattle; droughts in one part of the land and floods in another; epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases, and most recently, a blight on our financial institutions. I believe that these are remedial judgements by God on our nation, which, if we were wise, would be causing us to turn back to Him. But, ‘The people do not turn to Him who strikes them; neither do they seek the LORD of Hosts’ (Isaiah 9:13).
What I have in mind, however, is a spiritual judgement on the land rather than a physical one. The famine that we are seeing in Britain today is, ‘Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the words of the LORD’ (Amos 8:11). The Bible has never been more available than it is today, but how few are reading, studying and meditating on God’s word today, even among those who call themselves Christians. The locusts are those of materialism and secularism that are eating away at the moral life of the nation. The pestilence is that of sin and immorality, with the grossest sins being not only justified but openly promoted, and the inevitable result has been a plague of STDs, divorce and fatherless children.
Our text is, of course, God’s response to Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple (2Chron 6:12ff). Starting at v19, Solomon cites various possible disasters that might overtake Israel and prays that whenever the Israelites come to the temple to pray in a spirit of confession and repentance, God will hear their prayers and forgive their sins. The Temple is long gone, but in Jesus Christ we have One who is far greater than the Temple (Matt 12:5). May we not believe that the penitent prayers of God’s people, made in the name of the Lord Jesus, will have no less effect than those offered in the Temple?
[continued]