SNOW OFF THE BEN
Saturday, October 12, 2024
NOT HOME YET (Review)
Monday, October 7, 2024
AN OPTIMISTIC ESCHATLOGY
Excerpted from pgs. 413-17. If not in Australia, check Amazon for copy in your own country
The Kingdom: Every Square Inch : McKinlay, Neil Cullan, Schwartz, D. Rudi: Amazon.com.au: Books
An optimistic eschatology
Neither the negativity of Two Kingdom Theology nor Dispensationalism nor anything else will stop Christ’s Kingdom from coming. Why? Because His Kingdom, (yes, yet another little trinity!), has come (past tense), is coming (present tense), and will come (future tense). Imperceptible to the naked eye, it progressively expands like the tiny mustard seed that grows into a great tree, and in influence like the yeast in the batch of dough. We cannot stop it because it is not we, but the Spirit of Christ, that is building His Kingdom. Our hastening or our hindering its coming is simply another way of saying that God blesses covenant obedience and curses covenant disobedience. Therefore, it is important that we properly understand the Great Commission as we pray the Lord’s Prayer lest we disobey and disappoint the King.
It is presumed that the reader
has a basic understanding of the three main views of ‘end times’, viz.,
Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism. There are books
aplenty discussing each member of this trinity. Now, when discussing each of
these views, it can be difficult for the reviewer to give an assessment
unbiased by his own particular perspective. That being said, in terms of
Scottish weather, in order of sequence (i.e.., Pre-, A-, Post-) one might
describe a) as overcast and raining, b) clouds with intermittent showers, and
c) clear skies and sunny. For the first two, one needs to take an umbrella. For
the last, sunscreen and sunglasses will do.
While referring to themselves
as Optimillennials, those of the Postmillennial view refer to those holding the
other two views as Pessimillennials. Should Christians be optimistic or
pessimistic about God’s Kingdom promise to Jesus (and to us in Christ)? “But
each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are
Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God
the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He
must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will
be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:23-26). So, we see that it is God who is
progressively subduing all of Christ's enemies (and ours). Just as Jesus defeated
death by being resurrected from the dead, so will all those that belong to Him
at the Last Day, a.k.a. Resurrection Day or Judgment Day.
Though there are trinities
within this trinity of views, e.g., Premillennialism’s Pre, Mid, and
Post-tribulation, all three views are agreed that Christ’s Kingdom is coming.
The Pre- and A- views believe that things will not get better on earth till
after Christ’s bodily return. The Premillennialist believes that things will
progressively get worse, the Amillennialist believes that things will pretty
much continue as they are. The former studies the news for signs of what it
believes are supposed to take place before Christ’s return, with a particular
fixation on today’s Israel and Jews in general. Some of the latter style
themselves as optimistic Amillennialists, which, to all intents and purposes
makes them Postmillennial, though they may not like to admit it.
Postmillennialism is viewed by the other two as being triumphalist. However, as
we have already noted, it is not we by our feeble human efforts, but God by His
Spirit who progressively brings in Christ’s Kingdom. As it was for Zerubbabel,
so it is for us, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor
by power, but by My Spirit’” (Zech. 4:6).
Albert Wolters puts paid to an
old canard, the false notion that having an optimist eschatology means anything
other than a forward march fraught with falling into, but then draining and
filling in swamps, ditches, and potholes. It is no smooth triumphalism. Says
Wolters,
[T]he
coming of Christ introduced an overlap of the ages in which the powers of evil
continue to co-exist with the healing and renewing power of the age to come
(Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43). A battle between these two “powers” characterizes this
time period. In fact we live in a time when the antithesis between the two
kingdoms has been heightened.
The
history of this “time between the times,” then, will not be one of smooth
progress or an incremental linear development of the kingdom towards its
consummation. Neither will our mission be one that resembles a steady
victorious march toward the end. Rather this redemptive era is one of fierce
conflict with many casualties. Our mission will be one that is costly and will
involve suffering. Paul states that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in
Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12, NIV; cf. Acts 14:22). How close
our understanding of mission is to the New Testament’s may perhaps be in part
judged by the place which we accord to suffering in our understanding of the
calling of the church.
Now, Two Kingdom Theology
belongs in the Amillennial camp, and, like Premillennialism, it does not hold
to the progressive Christianisation of nations (and all the sovereign spheres
therein) as Christ’s Kingdom continues to grow larger and spread in influence
till Christ comes again, i.e., till His Kingdom comes. And so, if the
Postmillennial view is triumphalist, then surely the Premillennial and
Amillennial views are defeatist.
Like the man who “drew a
bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints
of the harness”,
so Premills and Amills think they have found the chink in the Postmill’s
armour. It is found among those verses of Revelation from whence those endless
disputes about Millennialism come. One is where it speaks of Satan being bound
for a thousand years (a millennium). “And cast him into the
bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should
deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and
after that he must be loosed a little season” (Rev. 20:3 KJV). It is upon
that little word “till” (ἄχρι)
in the verse just quoted that the doctrine of “final apostasy” or “Satan’s
little season” has been built. How can the Postmill position of the progressively
increasing Kingdom – even to such a point where the nations will have beat their
war weapons into gardening and agricultural implements and study war no more – be
true if, in the end, Satan is going to be released to deceive the nations?
According to the Postmill view, aren’t all the nations supposed to be Christian
nations by then? Nigel Lee responds,
The KJV
misunderstands the meaning of the word achri [ἄχρι]
and renders Rev. 20:2-3:
“The
Devil…should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should
be fulfilled” etc., missuggesting that after the ‘Millennium’ the Devil
will again deceive the Nations afresh. This is not so. For, after the visible
return of Christ for His saved Nations at the end of the
‘Millennium’ – all the then-unchained Devil will be enabled to do – is keep on
deceiving the resurrected dead nations he had
previously been deceiving until the start of the ‘Millennium’ some thousand
years earlier. Accordingly, we have better rendered Rev. 20:2-3; “The
Devil…should deceive the Nations not even when the thousand years were
completed” etc.[1]
In an article titled Reconstructing
Postmillennialism, Martin Selbrede referred to Postmills who struggled with
texts of the supposed ‘final apostasy’ as ‘pessimistic Postmillennialists’. Says
Selbrede,
Modern
postmils took Boettner’s 1958 ideas and ran with them, while Boettner’s
continued scriptural examination of the issue led him to revise his book in
1984, readopting Warfield’s view and rejecting the final apostasy. Somebody
surely missed the boat. But who? Today’s optimillennialists? Or Dr. Boettner?[2]
In Nigel Lee’s John’s
Revelation Unveiled, (from which we have just quoted above), we find a Commendation
by Professor Dr. Loraine Boettner, (which he wrote to Dr Lee in 1978), in
which we read,
…I
think that you have given a good explanation of that very difficult passage,
Rev. 20:7-10. That is a section of Scripture that has been puzzling to me, as
on the surface it seems to indicate a future final apostasy of the Church; and
yet that seemed so contrary to what I believed would actually take place – no
apostasy but rather a smooth transfer or merger into the heavenly kingdom…
Dr.
Warfield did not believe that there would be a final apostasy. You have given a
good explanation – that there is no actual apostasy, no real danger ever faces
the saints, and that the Devil and his followers, are merely exposed before the
righteous shortly before their final expulsion into hell. Thank you for it.
Directly after quoting Dr
Warfield, says Dr Boettner in his revised 1984 version of The Millennium,
We
agree that Revelation 20:1-10 affords no real basis for believing that there is
to be a final apostasy in the sense that a large proportion of earth’s
inhabitants turn against God, or that the safety of the saints is seriously
threatened.[3]
Nigel
Lee again,
There
is no question of Satan deceiving the Christian
majority of all the World’s many inhabitants – in that day! Nor is
there then any apostasy from the World-dominating latter-day Church.
Thus: Hippolytus, Jonathan Edwards, John Gill, Moses Stuart, Warfield,
Stonehouse, Kik, Boettner, Vonk, Rissi, and Rushdoony. Nor is there even a
short period of successful renewed Satanic activity to deceive even a portion
of any Nation then extant. No! At that time, powerless Satan will need to
be enabled, however feebly, to crawl out of his prison. Only Almighty
God can and will unlock the door – and then turf out the Devil,
unto his Final Judgment.
Still,
the Devil will then indeed make a feeble and desperate attempt “to deceive” his
previous dupes once more. Yet in doing this, he thus deceives not God’s
elect – but only Satan’s own servants.[4]
And so whatever the real or
imagined chink in the Postmill’s armour was, it has now been expertly repaired
and our optimistic eschatology is fully intact.
Christ has already defeated
death, and even though we are still in the ‘not yet’ aspect, we have confidence
because of His resurrection as firstfruits. And because Christ has already ascended
to receive His Kingdom, though we are still in the ‘not yet’, it is as good as
having arrived! And though we have only received tokens of the ‘not yet’ (such
as the Holy Spirit, regeneration, salvation, new hearts, new natures, new
records et al), we are as good as having been resurrected as we await the redemption
of our bodies.
So, after that brief but
necessary digression in which we have stated, using the broadest of terms, some
of the stumbling blocks and aversions some Christians have towards cultural
engagement. It has to do with your view in eschatology, your view of last
things from the perspective of your own day. Premillennialism says, why bother
engaging culture when Christ is coming back at any moment? And Two Kingdom
Theology Amillennialism says, engaging culture it is not the Church’s remit.
But here’s what Henry Van Til says,
Through
sin man fell away from God and his religion became apostate, but through Christ
man is restored to true religion. It is therefore more correct to ask what the
role of culture is in religion than to put the question the other way around …
Man, in the deepest reaches of his being, is religious; he is determined by his
relationship to God ... Hutchison … says, “For religion is not one aspect or
department of life besides the others, as modern secular thought likes to
believe; it consists rather in the orientation of all human life to the
absolute.” Tillich has captured the idea in a trenchant line, “Religion is the
substance of culture and culture is the form of religion.”[5]
[1]
Francis Nigel Lee, John’s Revelation Unveiled, (Lygstryders,
Lynnwoodrif, South Africa, 1999), 273, fn. 911.
[2]
Martin G.
Selbrede, 160 Journal of Christian Reconstruction / vol. 15.01, in an
article titled Reconstructing Postmillennialism, 159-60.
[3]
Loraine Boettner, The Millennium, (The Presbyterian and Reformed
Publishing Company, 1957, Revised edition 1984), 74.
[4]
Francis Nigel Lee, Ibid, 278.
[5]
Henry Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, (Baker Book House
Company, Grand Rapids, 1959, Re[5]print
2001), 37.
Saturday, October 5, 2024
HORSES
Horses
Image from Net |
Politics has to do with governance, whole nations and every aspect thereof. Government
is God’s minister to promote good and discourage evil (Rom. 13:1-5). Therefore,
they are accountable to Christ, the King of kings for implementing His
instruction (Matt. 25:32; Acts 17:31; Phil. 2:9-11). ‘Righteousness exalts a
nation, but sin is a reproach to any people’ (Prov. 14:34). Speaking of horses…
Everyone has heard of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rev. 6:2-8). Each rides a differently coloured horse – white, fiery red, black, and pale, each horse and rider symbolising something. Though the Book of Revelation is seen by sensationalists as the motherload to mine for material for their bestselling books, they invariable are putting the cart before the horse. They interpret Revelation from the daily news rather than the rest of Scripture (See, e.g., Zech. 1:8-17; 6:1-8).
Revelation is all about the construction of Christ’s Kingdom while at the same time Satan’s kingdom is gradually being destroyed. In other words, it’s all about Jesus, the King of kings, progressively conquering the nations by His Spirit and His Word, i.e., with His Law and Gospel working in the hearts of men, women, and children. ‘And I looked, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer’ (Rev. 6:2). This rider has been identified as everything from Christ to His opposite, viz., antichrist. Scary videos are legion promoting their aberrations. We’ll let the sane and sober Bible commentator Matthew Henry give us a brief description of this verse: ‘The Lord Jesus appears riding on a white horse … The successful progress of the gospel of Christ in the world is a glorious sight, worth beholding. Christ’s work is not done all at once.’ Christians know how difficult it can be at times sharing the gospel with friends. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. However, lest we be discouraged we must remember that the Spirit must work with the Word, the sword of the Spirit, otherwise they will not drink the water of life. The Rider of the white horse must slay them before they will live.
'Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS’ (Rev. 19:11-16).
Monday, September 23, 2024
A NEW CHAPTER
From Mason to Minister - Nordskog Publishing
A New Chapter (pgs. 70-73)
After completing the three degrees of the Blue Lodge, I came to a fork in the road. Should I now seek admission into Scottish Rite or York Rite Freemasonry? I had read enough of the book The Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871) by the American Albert Pike (1809-1892) to put me off taking the Scottish Rite route! Albert Pike is very much maligned by - and apparently very much misunderstood by – anti-Masons. I personally found the contents and language of his Morals and Dogma book to be very esoteric. I believe this in itself is an unchristian approach to writing, for Christianity is all about truth done in the light - nothing is purposely hidden. Thus the word “occultish” sums up Pike’s book for me.It was through reading Morals and Dogma that I was led to
believe that there had to be an elite and occultist group - a wheel within the
wheels of Masonry if you will - in which and among which the hidden secrets of
God and His universe resided. For Pike unabashedly alleges that the Master
Mason, after having gone through the first three degrees, has been duped. Wrote
Pike:
The Blue Degrees are but the outer court or portico of the
Temple. Part of the symbols are displayed there to the Initiate, but he is
intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he shall
understand them, but it is intended that he shall imagine he understands
them.”
(Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, prepared for the Supreme
Council of the Thirty-Third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the U.S.,
Charleston, 1871, 819).
In other words, Pike was urging the Master Mason to proceed
through the Scottish Rite degrees in order to learn and discern the true nature
of Masonry.
At the time, what Pike had written seemed very ominous to
me, especially in light of what Scripture has to say about occult practices!
Indeed on Pike’s instigation I started reading writings on the Jewish cabala.
Thankfully, however, instead of going through the Scottish Rite, I sought and
gained entrance into the “more Christian,” as I was told, York Rite.
This being said about Albert Pike and his Morals and Dogma,
and whatever terrible things his enemies may have said about him, Pike is
reported to have been a staunch Trinitarian Christian till his dying day. I’ll
let the reader make up his or her own mind on this! There is much information
about him to be found on the Internet that has been written by Freemasons
themselves. The Scottish Rite, from what I could see, had very little if
anything to do with Scotland-hence,
for me, the obvious “Scottish” attraction was assuaged. The Holy Royal Arch, or
York Rite Freemasonry, is a branch of what is sometimes referred to as Red
Lodge. The Holy Royal Arch is more commonly known as “Chapter.” Royal Arch, or
Chapter, is a continuation (even the completion) of the three Blue Lodge
degrees, as has been well said: “Pure Ancient Freemasonry consists of but three
degrees, that of Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason, including
the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch.”[1]
A cursory search of the Internet revealed the following handy, concise, and
verifiable information regarding Chapter:
The Chapter of Royal Arch Masonry
itself consists of four degrees: Mark Master; Past Master; Most Excellent
Master, and Royal Arch Mason. The Royal Arch Degree being said to be the climax
of Ancient Craft Masonry and Masonic Symbolism. It is described as “the root
and marrow of Freemasonry.” It is the complete story of Jewish History during
some of its darkest hours. Jerusalem and the Holy Temple are destroyed, the
people are being held captive as slaves in Babylon. Here you will join with
some slaves as they are set free to return home and engage in the noble and
glorious work of rebuilding the city and the Temple of God. It is during this
rebuilding that they make a discovery that brings to light the greatest
treasure of a Mason - the long lost Master’s Word. Many historians have traced
the earliest origins of the Royal Arch Degree to Ireland, late in the 17th
century and in England in 1738. In 1752, ambulatory or military warrants for
Lodges were introduced. This was instrumental in placing the Royal Arch Degree
on a par with the Master Mason Degree. Military lodges were greatly
responsible for planting Freemasonry in the Colonies and also gave birth to the
use of the Marl and Royal Arch degrees in the “New World.” Lodge records show
that the Royal Arch Degree was conferred at Fredericksburg No. 4 on December
12, 1753. George Washington
was raised [i.e., symbolically resurrected to become a Master Mason] in this
lodge a few months prior to this date. The value of Royal Arch Masonry will be
appreciated by all who are exalted to that most sublime degree, particularly by
those who are seeking to complete their Masonic education. It reveals the full
light of Ancient Craft Masonry, presents it as a complete system in accordance
with the original plan and justly entitles you to claim the noble name of Master
Mason.”[2]
I don’t suppose either the United States of America’s first
president and Church of England Episcopalian George Washington (1732-1799) or
Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald (1819-1891), entered
Freemasonry for the same reason I did. I was seeking God. I thought that Christians were like sheep - and I didn’t want to be a sheep! That’s why I didn’t
attend church to look for God! The truth is that I had been put off of
Christianity by the Pentecostal televangelist “preachers” who inundated
Canadian television at the time. I was afraid of their Christianity. There were
numerous televangelist scandals in the late 1980s, so, understandably, I
thought “the church” was only after people’s minds and money. But a new chapter
began in my life when I joined the Chapter of Royal Arch Masonry. It was there
that I was confronted by “the stone the builders rejected.”
[2] (www.themasonict rowel.com/Articles/apendent_bodies/york/further_light_masonry_royal_arch_ mason.htm)
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
NEITHER HERE NOR THERE (Review)
Neither Here
nor There (Review)
The book’s
title is self-explanatory of its contents: Neither Here nor There -
Migration: Irish and Scots in Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven 1855-1900 by
CG Docherty. As one would expect, the book contains lots of numbers and
statistics about the influx of migrants to the area, data regarding their housing
and housing situations, (ten a room tenements etc.) and commentary on their
places of employment, wages and working conditions. Sources include census
records from those times.
The
fast-flowing River Leven running through the Vale of Leven from Loch Lomond to
the River Clyde lent itself well to the textile and shipbuilding industries
that were the big attractions for migrants to the area during the years the book
deals with – mostly women to the Vale and men to Dumbarton (see e.g., pgs. 169-70). As
an oversimplification, it was the cloth of the Vale with its related bleaching,
dyeing, printing, weaving, etc. versus the heavy metal industry with its
related red-hot forges and furnaces, riveting, pealing hammers, etc. of
Dumbarton.
Though the
stats can sometimes be a challenge for those who don’t “do” numbers, the author,
methodically but eloquently, delightfully adds to the pot pinches of poetic
prose, as he intelligently interacts with the voluminous facts and findings. (This
book is no slapped together makeshift raft built by weans for sailing doon the
Leven on. With intentions of making it to Dumbarton, a mate and I did this
onetime and managed to float down the Leven from Balloch to just beyond the ‘Stuckie’
Bridge before overhanging branches capsised our jerry-built raft! Anyway, how
were we supposed to get back to the Vale from Dumbarton in only our swimming
trunks?!) The book’s garnered information is professionally end noted with tidy
references from whence it was sourced and is neatly set at the end of each
chapter. There are some old b/w photos and maps, a helpful index and a Bibliography.
Why Vale folk
are referred to as ‘jeely eaters’ is explained:
Whether using natural or artificial
products, the dyeing process produced harmful liquids and unpleasant, often
noxious, vapours. Those who worked in this industry faced hazardous conditions
daily – often with serious consequences. Female print workers were known as ‘jeely
eaters’ because their hands were stained permanently red. p. 27.
One of the ‘Sons
of the Rock’ went down with the Titanic:
Roderick Chisholm, born in Dumbarton
1868 … was one of nine men selected for the ‘Guarantee Team’ that would sail on
the Titanic’s maiden voyage, none of whom survived its sinking.” pgs. 119-20.
Referring to an
article in the Lennox, we see something of the discouraging disparagements
Irish migrants had to contend with:
[I]n 1864, the Lennox Herald reported
that Irish illiteracy was the reason why houses had to be given numbers in
Renton, the village with the heaviest concentration of Irish in the Vale of
Leven. p. 141.
Though I was witness
to sectarianism in the 70s, it was mostly in the form of friendly banter regarding
the ‘Auld Firm’, i.e., Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic, (with Celtic FC, of
course, being equated with the Irish Catholics and Rangers FC with the Scots
Protestants). Docherty alerts us that a version of ‘fake news’ was also around
way back then. For he goes on to write:
In towns with identifiable ‘Irish areas’,
reportage in local newspapers ensured that there was much attention paid to
disputes between the Irish and the Scots and amongst the Irish themselves.
Whereas evidence of cooperation, particularly amongst industrial labourers who
worked and lived beside each other, was not newsworthy. The Scots and Irish
were not in constant conflict with each other, even if some newspapers gave the
impression otherwise. pgs. 146-47.
Yet, perhaps
paradoxically, the author goes on to inform the reader, “There were employers
who expressly refused to hire Irish Catholics, a situation that persisted well
into the twentieth century.” p. 175. Like the ‘common old working chap’ in the ‘I
Belong to Glasgow’ song, perhaps the perspective on sectarianism in the Vale
and Dumbarton changed with ‘a couple of drinks on a Saturday’!
The stats, facts, and figures so capably verbalised in Neither Here nor There for the years of 1855-1900 is, of course, now all water under the bridge. However, it gives us an informed and detailed sense of who we are and where we have come from. This book has done the Vale and Dumbarton a great service and ought to be on the bookshelf of every home there. We may be neither here nor there but we’ve come a long way. Thank you CG Docherty for writing this part of our history so readably.
Friday, September 6, 2024
RETIREES
Retirees
Picture from Web |
‘What funeral
plans do you have for retirement?’ Some people can’t seem to adjust to major
life changes.
One of my many reasons for leaving my railway
job in Canada to move to Australia was an aversion to the ‘gold watch to pine
box’ transition. Excuse the pun, but a dead-end job was not for me! God had
graciously converted me just before I moved to Australia. Like every other new
convert, I wanted to make sure everyone else got converted too! Australia
looked like fertile soil. Of course, with a young family to feed, I also needed
a job, hopefully, not a dead-end job. After much study to become a Presbyterian
minister some 30 years ago, and after also becoming an Australian army chaplain,
I subsequently became a retiree. Retiring from fulltime army, I then did
another year working a couple of days a week for Army Reserve. So, my
transition to retirement was smoother. The ADF did offer me some help to
transition. I had been a writer/author for years, so ‘reinventing’ myself was
easy. However, back to fighting the good fight, finishing the race and keeping
the faith. Becoming a retiree can be alike running a marathon. You see the
finish line approaching, but you’re spent. You use up whatever adrenalin and
cortisol you have in reserve to get you over the finish line. Once crossed, you
collapse in a heap – and hopefully recover! Of course, there’re are those who
take all this in their stride. But, as an army psychologist asked me as I
approached the ‘finish line’ exhausted, ‘Are you Superman? No? Then why don’t
you let us help you?’ Isn’t that a lot of our trouble? As Christians we can be
so busy giving of ourselves, that we neglect ourselves.
Paul adds, ‘I have kept the faith.’ He fought the good fight and ran the race, not for himself, but for Jesus. Isn’t that why we keep going as Christians? We do it in gratitude to our Lord and Saviour. There is a reward, but the subtilty is that it is not for the reward that we fight the fight and run the race. It’s as Job says, ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him’ (Job 13:15a). That’s keeping the faith! During our working lives the mantra is ‘soldier on!’ It’s when we become a retiree, we begin to really feel all our aches and pains. We now have more time to discover how busted and broken we really are! Ah, but then there’s that reward for keeping the faith. As Paul said, ’Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the Day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing’ (2 Tim. 4:8). The ‘crown of righteousness’ is worth more than every Olympic gold medal together. The Olympic gold medallists earned their reward through arduous physical training and winning the race on the day. However, like our faith, our reward is a gift – paid for by Jesus, ‘the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God’ (Heb. 12:2).
Monday, August 19, 2024
Great Southland Revival (Review)
As can be
expected, the book uses much Pentecostal/Charismatic jargon to detail the story’s
movements of the Spirit of Christ down through the years. It is good to see
that the book supports a victorious Christ “down here”, i.e., an optimistic rather
than a pessimistic eschatology:
“What began in the book of Acts made its way to the farthest
reaches of the South Seas. The dream of the psalmist has been fulfilled: “The
Lord reigns; let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.” (Psalm
97:1). And now, few regions in the world are better prepared for that great
Revelation scene when the enthroned Lamb is worshipped by the vast multitude
from every nation, tribe and tongue.” p. 262.
Likewise, it
is good to see the book deal with more than conversions, but also considers the
impact revivals have on nations and what happens if they fail to continue
honouring God for His gracious, special and transforming visitation(s). For example,
I was also grateful for a helpful key to understanding an area of Australian
politics:
The methodist presence in the labour movement eventually
faded. Discrimination drove large numbers of Irish Catholics – the majority
from working class suburbs – into the ALP [Australian Labor Party], ultimately
reshaping it as a Catholic workingmen’s party. For decades, the ALP served as a
conduit for Catholic social teaching. It was only from the 1960s that Labor,
like other parties, became secular and more hostile to Christian values.” p.
244.
With the
following wise disclaimer provided by the authors, this Australian reviewer wholeheartedly
endorses this very illuminating book:
Human and even demonic meddling may well be present in a revival.
But that does not mean that God is absent. In fact, it could count as further evidence
that we are witnessing the spiritual frontlines of a battle between the kingdom
of God and the kingdom of darkness.” p. 283.
In the words
of that old hymn 679 in the Revised Church Hymnary, we sing and pray to the
Triune God these words of Albert Midlane ((1825-1909):
1
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Thy mighty arm make bare;
Speak with the voice which wakes the dead,
And make Thy people hear.
2
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Create soul-thirst for Thee;
And hungering for the Bread of Life
O may our spirits be.
3
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Exalt Thy precious Name;
And, by the Holy Ghost, our love
For Thee and Thine inflame.
4
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Give power unto Thy Word;
grant that Thy blessèd Gospel may
In living faith be heard.
5
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
And give refreshing showers;
The glory shall be all Thine own,
The blessing, Lord, be ours.