VERY DARK CLOUDS PERSIST

It has been a pleasure in the last two or three columns to have written about the great things God has been doing in our world, and to reflect on the even greater things he has yet in mind. But the prime reason for this site was to bring to mind the less palatable truth that God’s judgements are in the world, and threaten to increase. Paul put the basic issue very simply: “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18). Our age has certainly suppressed the truth about God: we cannot watch the consequences of that disdain of God with complacency. Its that more than anything that bring the dark clouds of judgement.
Man without God sows the seeds of his own destruction through his own godless behaviour. In other words, his behaviour itself brings judgement and disaster. The most obvious example of this truth at the moment is the extreme fragility and danger of the economic chaos in which we live. Few would or could deny that the vast debt and the threat of further collapse can only be placed at the feet of gross human self interest, not least amongst those who in positions of responsibility have simply had an eye to personal gain. Even the chaos of trillions of debt has not brought about any real repentance. Every human effort to find a way through comes to grief on the hard rock of our human nature. This debt is an extremely threatening cloud – another crash (much feared by economists) and the situation would be utterly catastrophic for society.
“Utterly catastrophic” – That’s the scenario God seems to be pointing to. The same sort of scenario has been conjured up by both the B.P. oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the volcanic ash. Superimposed on England the spill would stretch from Cornwall to the North Sea – much the greatest of such disasters yet seen - a disaster part human, part natural, but catastrophic. The volcanic ash (conveniently out of the news and forgotten) also gave us a glimpse of the real possibilities of the utterly catastrophic to our modern world.
None of these threats have gone away: a second crash is all too possible; the spill will continue until August at the earliest, and a greater volcano waits to erupt with vastly more ash. They lurk around. The clouds hover. Men do not read them; they have no fear of God before their eyes. The signs are of a massive and destructive storm.


Bob

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ITS DEEPER THAN YOU THINK!

I published a pamphlet on this website about two weeks ago which was called “A Sign of the Times – the Gentiles”. Its purpose was to demonstrate the astonishing spread of the preaching of the gospel over the last three centuries, and especially during the twentieth century, and to relate that fact to Jesus words, “This gospel will be preached in among all nations and then the end will come”. By the end of the twentieth century virtually every nation had heard the gospel preached. What remained for the fulfilment of Jesus’ prophecy was not so much a question of extension as a question of deepening. How deep was spread of the gospel to be within each nation?
Over the last twenty years much focus has been laid on the expression used in the book of Revelation that people would be found among the multitude gathered to Jesus who came from “every people and every tongue” (Rev. 7:9). This has led to a great deal of research into “people groups” within nations, groups which are distinguished very often by their own dialects or languages. The research has been undertaken not simply for interest sake but in order to focus evangelistic work on such groups where apparently the gospel has not been preached. This is seen as “in depth” work for the proper accomplishment of the work that Jesus prophesied would take place.
This has brought an awareness of the fact that much work remains to be done. Many attempts have been made, therefore, to plant churches within these national “sub groups”, and there has been much prayer for these groups. This has been a very important feature of the spread of the gospel in the last two decades.
However, (and this has sparked this blog) I have just heard of one of these sub groups in China where plans were being made plant a church, only to find that it had already been done by the Chinese themselves. It reminded me instantly of how frequently God is ahead of us. Certainly we in the West are by no means the only (or even main) force for the gospel. The words of the title of this column came immediately to mind with regard to the extent of the penetration of the gospel – “It is deeper than you think”. Jesus is massively at work right across the world. Every day is a day nearer to the fulfilment of his prophecy. It really is a time to look up!


Bob

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REVIVAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Having looked in some detail at the numerous and large outpourings of the Spirit which characterised the 20th Century (and to which reference is made in the new pamphlet “A Sign of the Times – The Gentiles), I am left musing on the enormous possibilities for the spread of the gospel in the 21st Century. I cannot believe it will be a century when we shall see a pause in the outpourings of the Spirit, but very much the opposite.
God’s purposes come “in the fullness of time”. It’s easy to see that Jesus came at a time that was very appropriate in purely human terms. At his birth the Roman Empire spanned much of the known world, communications were extremely good across the Empire, and the stage was set for the spread of the gospel right across the Empire. That duly happened over a number of centuries and the gospel was firmly embedded in the Western world.

Likewise in the 18thC new Western empires were about to dominate the world, and global communications were about develop on an unprecedented scale. As a consequence, over the last three centuries the gospel has become embedded in most nations across the world. Global communication now, however, in the 21stC has reached an unbelievable peak with the technological revolution. If, in the Reformation age, the printing of books had such an impact on the spread of the gospel and on the process of making disciples how much more the web age! The stage is set for an advance that could easily eclipse the 20thC.
Important and relevant as this human scenario of communication may be, the dynamic of revival remains crucial. A church full of spiritual life and vigour, impelled by the Spirit has to make use of the opportunities of communicating. Even when opportunities are not favourable for communication, as was the case in China in the 1950s-70s a Spirit-filled church will insist on communicating with extraordinary fruitful effect.
What can we see of revival in the first decade of the 21stC? One comment might be made: something very powerful is happening in the Muslim world. Communication with the Muslim world is at a level much higher than ever before, and there are many manifestations of the Holy Spirit at work right across those nations. Supernatural witness and witness from believers are combining to produce an extraordinary leavening. Pray God it may be a precursor to an ingathering of Moslems which outnumber even the continuing gathering of the Chinese. We may not have had our 21stC Welsh revival or Azusa St. revival in the West, but we must watch for outpourings on a greater scale from other continents and nations.

Bob

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