October 31, 2009
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492 years later: You say you want a reformation? (my theses and a call to prayer)
Switching gears a bit here now...I've been writing a series of letters on assurance and fighting for joy, but in the next few days I hope to do some posts related to the Protestant Reformation and the need for revival in the Church today. (Please note: the first portion of this post is adapted from my post "The Ministry of the Word & Prayer.") ~Karen
I've been riding around "Jerusalem," i.e.- the Church at large, and observing.I'm sad and grieving because I'm seeing...
a heap of ruins rather than a vibrant city...
Yet I'm believing...
(yes, it's but a mustard seed of faith)Is the Lord's hand shortened that it cannot save?
Is His ear heavy that it cannot hear?They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
Isaiah 61:4I'm sad and grieving because I'm seeing...
a valley of dry, dead bones with no breath or life...
Yet I'm believing...
(yes, it's but a mustard seed of faith)Is the Lord's hand shortened that it cannot save?
Is His ear heavy that it cannot hear?So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath,
Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Ezekiel 37:7-10I'm sad and grieving because I'm seeing...
dry land and parched tongues where there should be springs of water
Yet I'm believing...
(yes, it's but a mustard seed of faith)Is the Lord's hand shortened that it cannot save?
Is His ear heavy that it cannot hear?When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the LORD will answer them;
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
Isaiah 41:17-18Are you sad and grieving?
Are you believing?I have become increasingly burdened and distressed at the way the Gospel is being watered down and corrupted and tainted. To tell you the truth, I've never really liked the term "Protestant" because it's a negative term. I don't like conflict; it really goes against my nature. I've always thought, "Why don't we as Christians merely say what we're all about? Why don't we focus on the positive?" Yet I've found that I've recently begun to have a sense of affinity with that the word "Protestant." (Perhaps that has to do with reading Luther, who's to say?) Although it is true we must uphold and put forth the Gospel in a positive sense, to say what we're all about, what we are for, yet as we do that, we must clearly say what we are not all about. As we speak forth all the words of His life, we must also clearly protest against any and all false gospels, any teaching or message that might undermine the Biblical teaching that salvation is the free gift of God and it is by grace we are saved through faith, not works. We must protest any so-called gospel that glorifies men rather than God.
We must protest any so-called gospel that does not make Jesus Christ preeminent.We must protest any so-called gospel that attempts to glorify men's works rather than God's work for us.
We must protest any so-called gospel that is based on men's works and ability rather than God's grace and God's power.
We must protest any so-called gospel that does not teach the need for the new birth and regeneration through the Holy Spirit.
We must protest any so-called gospel that tells us we must work to earn our salvation rather than receiving it as a gift by faith.
We must protest any so-called gospel that does not teach of the necessity of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ for our sins.
We must protest any so-called gospel that speaks only of forgiveness and justification but neglects to address the call to a life of holiness and sanctification through the Spirit.
We must protest any so-called gospel that minimizes, neglects or ignores, quenches or grieves the necessity of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the believer and in the Church as a whole.
* * *
On the 492nd anniversary of Luther's nailing the 95 theses to the Wittenberg door, I'm nailing these eight theses to the Xanga door once more.If you've seen any of these so-called gospels, I must ask you: Do you care? Are you sad and grieving? Do you not see that the glory of God and the life of the Church stands in the balance?
If you've seen these things and God has been giving you a burden and a desire for His glory and His life to return to the Church, will you join me in praying to God to revive His Church? We are sorely in need of a new Reformation!
And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter,
What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Related:- Tent of meeting, my other site devoted to prayer for revival.
- Postcards from England: do you care?
- postcards from England: "The Burden for Revival" (ML-J)
- postcards from England: are we excited over a dead fish and a car wreck?
- Naphtali News: the Ministry of the Word & Prayer
- Revival resources, etc.
- More revival resources: opportunity and eyes to see the ruins, a burden from God
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Comments (12)
Yesterday, this hit me like a brick wall. So I guess one could say I share your burden and I am praying, also. ♥
Those are eight theses that I could sign onto.
Karen,
I welcome these words! I pray that they be blessed and the Lord would render you courage and focus as you write this series.
Treat the Holy Body of Christ... that is the Church... with love, tenderness, and compassion. Defend it, bodly rebuke those who come to corrupt it, and be compassionate with those who do not understand it.
Thank you for these words and for this direction!
Co-defending.
David
~Michael Shannon
(This is me signing in agreement to your thesis)
I will pray about your concerns.
I have to differ with you that the church is also the Jerusalem of the Bible. That's a city in Israel. Also the New Jerusalem in Revelation is not the church either, it's Heaven. I don't think the glory of God is in any danger. It's His and he isn't going to share it with anyone though we Christians will take part in it. So I think I see what you mean that maybe the church needs revival. But I think revival has been here for a few years. In my life God is a popular topic of discussion and I see a return to prayer and ministries being jump started. If we need to be reformed then I think what we need is common ground within the body of Christ between all the denominations.
Amen. Thanks all. Let's continue in prayer for the Lord to revive us again.
@poetically_truthful, @SirNickDon, @deepestrecesses@revelife, @MC_Shann, @ANVRSADDAY
@designandart - No, I'm not saying the Church is equivalent to Jerusalem but there are pictures of the Church today in the OT. The return from exile and the rebuilding of the wall and gates of Jerusalem is one of those pictures. God's people were in trouble (they had sinned, they were a reproach to God) and they needed to see the ruins so they might rally together and rebuild in the strength and with the power God provided and confess their sin to Him. Same for us today.
Yes, the glory of God will endure but His Name is undergoing reproach today, Christ is no longer central in many churches. The Gospel of Christ is not being clearly preached as I alluded to in the post. I've written about this quite a lot previously. (If you're interested, you can check out some of the links at the bottom of the original post.) When the Gospel is not being preached, God is not being glorified in His Church.
I do agree that there are small pockets of revival starting here and there, including increased movements of prayer but we have a long way to go. There's no widespread effect on society; that's one sure sign of revival. The Church in most places is no different than the world; there's still no prevailing concern for holiness and conviction of and repentance for sin. We're still not salt and light in the world; the lost are not being converted.
@naphtali_deer - I know what you mean in that the gospel is not being preached on all christian TV shows. It needs to be. We are salt and light if we are saved, that's a fact. I listen mostly to NPR public radio and have for many years. I don't watch much TV at home any more. Jesus is mentioned much more frequently now than He has been in the past only a few years ago on NPR. Honestly, I'm not sure the OT has pictures of the church today. Those are true storys of Israel. I just go with the NT when it comes to the church and what God wants for us. Paul went to minister to the Gentiles while Peter went to the Jews. All the books by Paul are written to the Christian church while James and Hebrews are written to the Jews.
@designandart - Re: the OT instructing us re: the Church. Consider Paul's words in I Corinthians 10 as he spoke about the Israelites testing and provoking God in the wilderness: Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. So that's an example for the Gentiles. (And we do see the same example given for the Hebrews to consider (Heb. 3-4).)
There's one Church composed of Gentiles and Jews. (Consider Paul's rebuke of Peter in Gal. 2.) Paul tells us we are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26), that there is neither Jew nor Greek...God has reconciled us both to Him and to one another through the cross (Eph. 2).
In II Tim. 3 Paul tells Timothy all Scripture is profitable to us, and that includes the OT. The whole NT can't really be understood apart from the OT. See also Rom. 16:26.
The NT (including Jesus' own words) is filled w/ OT references. We can't ignore those references. There is no NT without the OT. Augustine said that the NT was latent in the OT and the OT is patent in the NT.
@naphtali_deer - Okay, thank you for clarifing that for me. It does say for our instruction. To me that means so we won't make the same mistakes, not that we have to go through all the same things just like the Israelites did.
@designandart - You're welcome.
All history (not just Biblical history, though of course the Word of God is inspired, so that's unique) can be a very good friend if we use it well. The old saying, "those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it." That's exactly what the problem was w/ Israel. The great example is in the book of Judges. You see there they keep going through these cycles. They forget God and fall into idolatry. They cry out. He rescues them. God keeps telling Israel to take heed, to remember, not to forget Him. (Of course, He told them this back when He'd rescued them from Egypt, before they'd gotten into the promised land.)
We're the same way. Church history has had those same cycles. We get so far from our moorings and then God stirs people, there is a hunger once more for Him and His Word, a love for Christ and His Gospel, a desire for the glory of God, so a few people begin praying, the Word of God and the Gospel is made central. And then in His sovereign time, God brings revival once again to the Church herself and then it flows out into the world.
I've seen God once again beginning to stir hearts (including mine), so that's where I'm coming from with this post and much of what I blog about. I am longing and praying for Him to bring revival once again.