Revival? What is missing?
Guest editorial
by Don Batten
Many Christians today are praying for revival, and that is good. But something else
is needed.
Throughout history, revival occurred with the faithful preaching of righteousness,
sin, and judgment. Elijah, faced with 450 prophets of Baal, challenged the people
in black and white terms: ‘How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him’
(1 Kings 18:21).
The prophets to Israel and Judah detailed the people’s sins and called on
them to repent.
John the Baptist called sin what it was—sin—and lost his head for it.
He called the Pharisees and Sadducees a ‘generation of vipers’
(Matthew
3:7). It was hardly ‘seeker-sensitive’ preaching. Note that
John was not an arrogant man; he was not worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus, he
said (Luke
3:16), but he preached with authority.
When Paul came before governor Felix, who had the power over Paul’s immediate
fate, Paul spoke boldly about ‘righteousness … and judgment to come,’
and Felix ‘trembled’ (Acts
24).
 Central
to all biblical preaching is sin and judgment. Why? Because the sinner needs to
know he is in trouble before he is likely to have any interest in being saved. Jonathan
Edwards’ famous sermon was titled, ‘Sinners in the hands of an angry
God.’ Wesley, Whitefield, Finney and Moody all emphasized that their
listeners had broken God’s Law, were guilty before the Righteous Judge of
heaven and earth, and deserving of His wrath. These great revivalists knew that
the Good News of God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ would not make much sense
unless people understood the ‘Bad News,’ the full impact of their lost
condition in Adam, and would cry out to God for mercy.
In Finney’s day, over 90% of those counseled for salvation persevered. Today
it is apparently less than 5%. Why?
In today’s evolutionized world, unlike the world of the revivalists, most
no longer believe in Creation and the Fall, as recorded in Genesis. So there is
no longer any basis for understanding the meaning of sin, namely rebellion against
our Creator. So sin has been variously re-defined—loss of self-esteem, or
left-over aggression from our animal ancestors. So, when evangelists try preaching
about sin, instead of having people call to God for mercy, they get a confused,
even hostile response.
So evangelists have tended to minimize talk of sin and judgment, offering instead
happiness here and now, rather than rescue from eternal damnation.
If an air hostess offers you a parachute ‘because it will give you a more
comfortable ride,’ you will soon take the parachute off because it is uncomfortable,
and what’s more, the other passengers are laughing at you! However, if the
hostess says, ‘Put on this parachute, this plane is going to crash soon and
you will need this to save your life,’ you will not care that it is uncomfortable,
or that others laugh, you will keep it on.
When Peter preached about sin and repentance to believing Jews (Acts
2), his audience already understood the vital foundational truths of Genesis—God
made us, He owns us, we are all fallen in Adam, and have transgressed against His
holy, perfect standard. When Paul also preached sin and repentance to the pagans
in Athens (Acts
17), he had to first lay the logical foundation of creation for his message,
so that it would make sense.
Today we are ploughing even harder ground than Paul was—not only do people
not know about the vital Genesis background to the Gospel, they are actively
taught a contradictory view.
So not only do we need to restore faithful preaching about sin and judgment, we
need to understand how to defend and proclaim the truth of Genesis, in
order that the Gospel message might make sense. This is what
Creation magazine is all about. This is God’s world,
He owns me and I am accountable to Him for how I live. He has given laws which I
have flouted and I deserve punishment. I am a sinner in need of salvation. Thank
you Lord Jesus, for taking the penalty for my sin that I might have eternal life!
|
