June 30, 2009

• postcards from England: "The Burden for Revival" (ML-J)

  While in England I read Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' book "Revival" (Crossway, 1987), which consists of twenty-four sermons he preached fifty years ago (in 1959) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Welsh revival. Dr. Lloyd-Jones was pastor at Westminster Chapel, London from 1938-1968.

  This excerpt is from Chapter 21, "The Burden for Revival," and Dr. Lloyd-Jones' text was Isaiah 62:6-7:

  I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, 7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
  
  What is our burden? To what extent can we say that the condition of the Church is on our hearts and minds and is deeply concerning us? Do we realise what the Church is? Do we remember that she is his new creation by water and the word? The city of God. That is what the Church is. This is Zion; this is God's dwelling place. God has made her for himself; he has brought her into being even at the cost of the blood and the death of his own Son. So are we concerned about the state of the Church? Surely, we must admit, many of us, that we are so occupied with ourselves and our own personal problems, and difficulties, all that we talk so much about, that we never stop for a moment to look at the Church objectively, and see her, and begin to mourn because of her condition.
  
  As you read these prophets, and as you read the Psalms, you will find this is the thing that is always uppermost in the minds of these men; they had such a conception of the nation to which they belonged as the people of God. All God's purposes were in her, and were involved in her well-being. Seeing her as she was, they could not think of anything else, in a sense. And what is sad about the present time is that this aspect of the matter seems to be almost absent. Men and women can not see any need to be concerned. And if we are not concerned there is only one explanation. It is because we do not have a right conception of the Church of God. This is because we do not see her as she was in the early years, and indeed in the early centuries, if we but really understood what she was like in every period of revival and re-awakening, then we would be heart-broken at the present condition. We would be grieved and filled with a sense of sorrow. Are we troubled when we see something that once was great and famous going down or ceasing to be? The decline and fall of am Empire is a sad spectacle. It is a sad thing to see a great business going down. It is sad to see a great professional man losing his grip. It is sad to see a man who is great at sport suddenly, because of age, beginning to fail. It something that always fills us with a sense of sorrow and of sadness. Well, multiply that all by infinity, and then try to conceive of the Church of God as she is in the mind of God, and as she was formed and founded, and contrast that with what she is today. 'Oh,' says this man [Isaiah], 'for Zion's sake, for Jerusalem's sake, I will not hold my peace, I will take no rest.'
  
  There, then, is the starting point for the prophet, and this is so because he sees her as she was at that present time. Look at his terms. She is forsaken, she is desolate – he says that in verse 4. When the reformation comes, he says, 'Thou shalt be no more termed Forsaken.' But she is forsaken now. 'Neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate.' But it is desolate. God seems to have left her, the people have been carried away, and the sight of Jerusalem presented by Isaiah is that of desolation. Not only that, in verse 8 he gives us another picture: 'Surely I will not more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies.' but at that moment that was what was happening. 'And the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured.' There she was forsaken, desolate. The people were working, yes, but the results of their work were taken, the corn was taken, the wine was taken, the enemy, their conquerers were eating the corn and were drinking their wine. And all their activities, and effort and labour, finally, as it were, came to nothing. This was his picture of the Church in his own day and generation, and as he looks at it, and contrasts it with what she was and was meant to be he is burdened, he is concerned, his heart is almost broken. Christian people, are we really satisfied with the state of the Christian Church today? Do we ever stop to think about it? There are towns and villages in this land which were once filled with a praying, and praising, and glorifying people, towns and villages which stand out in the annals of Christianity in this country once filled with a sense of the glory of God. But today they are desolate, they are deserted, they are forsaken...

   

   

  

  

  
  There, then, is the position that confronts us. And the question I ask is, to what extent are we conscious of the feeling that animated the prophet? Is it our business, as members of the Christian Church, every one of us, to be concerned about these things. We must be concerned not only about our own personal problems, we have them, I know but we must deal with them and go beyond them. We must become intercessors, as the prophet was calling upon his fellow countrymen to become intercessors.

  * * *

  I had read a lot of the Doctor's books prior to reading "Revival," and it had been on my to-read list for some time. While I was away and read portions of the book which specifically referred to the United Kingdom, I cannot help but think it more than a coincidence that I was reading the book right there in the country and the church of which he spoke, the church whose desolate and forsaken condition he so lamented.

  There are towns and villages in this land which were once filled with a praying, and praising, and glorifying people, towns and villages which stand out in the annals of Christianity in this country once filled with a sense of the glory of God. But today they are desolate, they are deserted, they are forsaken...

  Though ML-J's words were powerful (through the power of the Holy Spirit), I believe they had an even greater impact on me because I was there, and for all I know I may have even been in some of those towns and villages and churches which might have once been filled with a sense of the glory of God...That's sobering and humbling...

  As I was rereading Dr. Lloyd-Jones' words today I began to consider:

  Isaiah stood in the midst of the Church.
  Isaiah saw the true condition of the Church.
  Isaiah spoke to the Church of her current condition.

  Don't we have a similar picture in Revelation?

  Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

  16 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches...
  
  ...He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

  The Lord Jesus Christ stood in the midst of the Church.
  The Lord Jesus Christ saw the true condition of the Church
  The Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the Church of our current condition.

  And where is Jesus today? Is He not in our midst today?

  The Lord Jesus Christ is in our midst.
  The Lord Jesus Christ sees our true condition.
  The Lord Jesus Christ speaks to us of our current condition.

  Do we have ears to hear what His Spirit is saying to us today?

  Or, like Israel, will we be hearing but not understanding?
  Or, like Israel, will we be seeing but not perceiving?

  Isaiah was burdened about the Church.
  Isaiah was so burdened for the Church he prayed for her and spoke to her.

  The Lord Jesus was burdened about the Church in Revelation.
  The Lord Jesus was so burdened for the Church He prayed for her and spoke to her.

  The Lord Jesus is concerned about the Church today.
  The Lord Jesus is so burdened for us today He prays for us and speaks to us.

  Are we concerned about the Church today?
  Are we so burdened for the Church we pray for her and speak to her?
  

  Isaiah was about His Father's business.
  The Lord Jesus Christ has always been about His Father's business.
  What about us? Are we about our Father's business?

  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

  Do we have ears to hear what His Spirit is saying to us today?

  Like Israel, will we be hearing but not understanding?
  Like Israel, will we be seeing but not perceiving?

  In Your mercy, give us ears to hear what Your Spirit is saying to us today!

  ---

  Related posts:
  

  • Postcards from England: "the fog is lifting on My Church"
  • Acts - some questions the Church should be asking
  • every day ought to be our Father's day
  • Things To Look for in a Church: What We Find in Solomon's Temple: Prayer
  • Naphtali News: the Ministry of the Word & Prayer

  Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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