The Urgency of the Hour
Only 20 years of life is left for the Southern Baptist Convention. With recent years of concern over baptismal numbers dropping, there are other issues at hand. The issue behind the baptismal decrease has not been dealt with suffeciently. It's not a physical issue, it's a spiritaul issue. But at the heart of this 20 years of life left is based solely on the older generation. When you look at the whole of the convention, 80% of SBC life is found in the hands of those that are 60 years old or older. That means that 80% of all leadership, volunteers and tithes is found in our seniors. One SBC leader said it this way: 'If all SBC people that are 60 years or older where to be removed tomorrow from the churches; 75% to 90 % of all churches would close or cease to exist.' And that means that within 20 years the vast majority of this age bracket will be gone or unable to continue to work and support their SBC church. Thus, we are left with under 20 years to continue.
I. The Problem
II. The Need
III. The Result
It is not that the Lord needs the Southern Baptist Convention, but we do need the Lord most desperately. The very fact that this body of believers has the potential and the ability to reach the world with the Gospel is before us. But with shortcuts along the way there has come an increasing wave of demise among us. A major fight over the inerrancy of the Scriptures through the 1970's and the 1980's brought us to a common ground of keeping the Authority of the Word the main thing. But all the while, there was a grosser sin affecting and corrupting our schools, churches, pastors and members. The sin of abandonment to God. We have so many that declare they believe the Bible to be the Word of God, yet we find a hosts that never read, study, memorize or glean from its pages. They fly to the bible when they need to get a sermon or make a point of reference or argument.
We have also, the abandonment of prayer. The failure of leadership and churches to have weekly prayer meetings. Prayer is widely void in the Christian homes. Prayer times before the Lord, one on one, with Him is rare to find. And with time given to prayer and the Word of God gone or sorely disminished, we have removed ourselves from being in intimacy with God.
Understand that this demise is not about methods of worship or church polity. It is not about doctirnes of pre-tribulation vs. amillenism. It is not about Calvinism vs. Armianism. It is not about translations, or music, or dress codes, or entertainment; it is about our relationship with God. Leonard Ravenhill said, 'If you have God, you don't need anything else; but if you don't have God, then you need everything else.' This is the problem.
The problem is not God. 'The hand of the Lord is not waxed short, neither is His ear heavy, that He cannot hear.' 'But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear'. The problem is with us and our sinfulness of negelct, abandonment and self. Time has been changed from being with God to being with people. And there is an unhealthy state of time alotted to things of this world and not time with the things of God. The sad confession of many pastors, 'I don't have a prayer time'. 'I'm so busy I left my quiet time with God.' At the core of our demise is not numerics or stats. It is not methods or means. It is our relationship with God. And it is a cancer eating us alive. The longer we stay 'as is' the more Satan makes of our choices to neglect and reject God. The more we fill our time with TV, computer, games, entertainment, meetings and neglect God the faster we hasten the end of existence. for His service. He will not use empty-headed and empty-hearted men.
The power of God that flows from His holy throne to His people is found in the ones that get before Him and wait. 'Be still and know that I am God.' 'I will pour out My Spirit upon you'. The departure from the presence of God has left us empty and relying on man made methods for Divine projects. What witnessing program can bring souls to Christ? What church growth method can bring the masses to salvation? NONE. Only God can bring souls to Himself. It is His hand that draws, it is His Spirit that calls souls unto Himself. He uses us, the church, to preach these truths to them. We are to go forth bearing precious seed for reaping the harvest. He uses us, the church to pray for His Spirit to work upon these that are blind and lost. It is His power that enables, leads and fulfills His holy desire for 'the lost to be found.' The understanding is, that we need God to bring the lost to Him is somewhere lost in the midst of trying to fix the problem. The solutions seem to continue to come in, another method, anothe program, another personality, but in truth all we need is Him.
The time for our demise in drawing close. Without a return to the foundations of seeking Him in prayer, holiness, Bible study and rising up in obedience to go when He speaks there is no hope. Every day pushes us closer to this reality. Is there a hope? Is there no 'balm in Gilead'? And we that know God, know that there is hope, in Him. Revival is our hope. God coming down and walking in our midst is our hope. A reality that has not happened to the church in over a 100 years in North America. But oh, when revival did come down upon God's people, everything changed. Some accounts tell the power of God to reverse the trend being set. Whole families, whole communities turning unto the Lord with all their heart. Churches full, salvations occurring by the 1000's all becuase of God coming in power to His people.
Is this not what we need?
The labor of men in their religion can produce a hand of souls over a 20 year period. But when God comes down He can bring 20,000 to Himself in a week. Much better is it to have the Lord than the arm of flesh that fails. This is the need of the hour, we need Revival. We need God in all His fullness.
Yet, I feel here is where many will divide from me. They agree with the problem; but they will not agree with me about the need. Many will say, 'How can you say that?' Because their actions declare their intent. If a man shakes his head in agreement with me, but does nothing to amend the wayward ways then it is simply idle words. It is the condemnation that Christ spoke from Isaiah, 'these people profess me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.' If the need is on your heart to see a people yielded, surrendered, consecrated, resigned to this life and ready to obey, then you will seek that end. But if there be some desire of rescue by our own merits, our own labors, our own ingenius ways, then God cannot be glorified. Nor will He rescue us.
The need at hand is to restore our relationship with the Lord in earnest supplicaiton, confession, and intercession. A pleading with God as Daniel did in Daniel chapter 9. 'We have sinned' was his cry. Nehemiah, Ezra both cried out with supplication and confession for the Lord God to pardon. They recognized the need of the hour, God's mercy and forgiveness. Ezra was so moved, that he said, 'I am so ashamed to even lift my face up to You, O Lord.' Sin should shame us; we have given an occassion against the Lord before the eyes of the heathen. Let the need for God's cleanisng, empowerment, filling be upon our souls.
Let the need of restoration among the brethren compel us to seek for our ways to 'be right with God and man.' 'For who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, but he that has clean hands and a pure heart.' This need of abolishing sin in us, should be our fervor. If the soul be tied to the world or the things of this world, then we know that the need has not pressed them to 'come out from among them and be separate.'
This is a progressive labor of the Spirit to purge, cleanse and anoint us for His service. Many will acknowledge the problem; Fewer will see the need for filling of the Holy Spirit; and fewer, will do what is necessary for revival. Is it true of what Ravenhill said, 'The reason that we do not have revival in North America, is because we are content to live without it'? Those content to live without revival, still have a self-agenda. They still trust in the arm of flesh. They have not faith to move moutnains. They do not see the need of the hour.
And that will lead us to our end result - do or die. Do the will of the Lord; or die according to the will of the Lord. 'The soul that sinneth it shall die.' One of two choices are before us. With no spiritual response of confession, calling upon the Lord, humbling ourselves and seeking Him, we will perish. And our children, and our grandchildren will reap what we have sown in neglect, idleness and sloth. All the curses of Deuteronomy 28 will come to pass. He did it with Israel, with Judah, and with JErusaelum; so He will do it to any people of His' that rejects the will and way of the Lord. No change from us? The clock is ticking, streaming ahead to our utter failure as His people, because we ran away from our first love in Him. We sought after humanism instead of His Holy Presence, and we lost it all.
Or, the other result, that God in His favor will restore us. Out of the ruins God is able to raise up His people for His desired will. There is a prayer movement deepening, widening and laboring for this result of revival. More conversations about it. More desire for it. The time is growing more urgent, more desperate.
Continuing. . . .
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