The theme of this three part series is that reverence for God and the things that represent His person and presence are dead or near death in many American churches and the lives of Christians who profess to be a part of the body of Christ. The church is being called to recognize and take actions to remedy this loss of reverence.

It is through these things which represent God’s person and presence that Satan often attacks the church—the sanctuary, worship, and music. In Part II it was noted that the American church is making two serious mistakes with regard to music in worship. There has been a loss of sacredness in worship music and that worship has been humanized and redirected toward man and away from God. But the corrupting influence of worldly music in the church goes much deeper than these two issues and will be examined in Part III.

Music – Adoration of God or the anthem of rebellion

Without question music is the driving force in corporate worship and is of such importance that it must be addressed separately. Little more can be said in this section other than to repeat some of the thoughts expressed in Evangelical Winter – Restoring New Testament Christianity.[1]

Music and song are chief expressions in a church’s communal worship of God. When music and songs that mirror the world are brought into the house of God and presented as worship, what distinguishes worldly music from music that is true worship of the living God? Is it words alone? The Old Testament had much to say about defiling God’s house, and things that defile included much more than words. “But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.” [Jeremiah 32:34. KJV]

Rick Warren is typical of those in the Church Growth movement who believe that the style of music is immaterial and that it is the message (words) that makes it “sacred.”[2]

Music is the primary communicator of values to the younger generation. If we don’t use contemporary music to spread godly values, Satan will have unchallenged access to an entire generation. Music is a force that cannot be ignored.

I reject the idea that music styles can be judged as either “good” or “bad” music. Who decides this? The kind of music you like is determined by your background and culture.

Churches also need to admit that no particular style of music is “sacred.” What makes a song sacred is its message. Music is nothing more than an arrangement of notes and rhythms; it’s the words that make a song spiritual.[3] [emphasis in original]

Writing over thirty years ago, the late David Wilkerson delivered a devastating indictment of rock music which destroys Warren’s contention that the style of music does not matter.

I hear sincere Christians say, “Satan doesn’t own music. It belongs to God. The music doesn’t matter as long as the words are right.” Dead wrong! The devil owns all music that is ungodly and evil. And Satan had all the right words when he tempted Christ. The Israelites dancing around the golden calf had all the right words. Were they not singing, “This is the god that brought us out of Egypt”? Same people, same words—but their god had changed. It is much more than holy, intelligent words. Satan has always spoken in temptation with accurate words mingled with a lot of Scripture, and so has every angel of light who has come to deceive.[4]

A substantial portion of the music in Warren’s church and many others following the Church Growth model is centered on rock music. Unlike Warren who says that it’s just the lyrics that matter, Wilkerson wrote that rock music can’t be defined or judged on technicalities because it is primarily a soul and spirit matter. The line between satanically inspired punk or heavy metal rock and other forms of popular music cannot be drawn by legalistic rules—it is a matter of spirit and truth.[5]

But spirit and truth receive scant attention in many Church Growth/Purpose Driven churches as they compete for the best musical hook to snare the seeker surfing the church scene. Warren and others in the Church Growth movement have forgotten that God’s house is a house of sacrifice. “And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.” [2 Chronicles 7:12. KJV] God will reject any offering that is polluted or spotted in the least bit and that includes music and song.

This is not a condemnation of all non-sacred music. There is much music in the world which is not ungodly or evil in and of itself. However, even when “non-spiritual” popular music passes the spirit and truth test, it still doesn’t belong in God’s house of sacrifice.

In Part I it was noted that a great contributor to the decline in reverence was a loss of respect for authority and hierarchy in the general culture. There is a strong causal link between the general culture’s rebellion against authority and rock music.

Judge Robert Bork in his book Slouching Towards Gomorrah – Modern Liberalism and American Decline wrote that in keeping with the themes of liberalism and its progress in the 1960s, popular entertainment embraced the hedonistic concept of the unconstrained self. The importance of self was expressed in the music of the era—rock ’n’ roll which evolved into hard rock[6] and its various iterations such as punk, heavy metal, acid, and rap. Bork quoted Michael Bywater who wrote of the modern music industry.

[The music industry] has somehow reduced humanity’s greatest achievement—a near-universal language of pure transcendence—into a knuckle-dragging sub-pidgin of grunts and snarls, capable of fully expressing only the more pointless forms of violence and the more brutal forms of sex.[7]

Bork contended that the rock music business clearly understood that a large part of the appeal of rock music to the young was its subversion of authority through its incoherence and primitive regression.[8] Rock ‘n’ roll was the rebellious cadence to which many in the Boomer generation and their liberal elders marched. So too are many in today’s evangelical churches.

Recall that Warren wrote, “Music is the primary communicator of values to the younger generation.” Whether or not it is the primary communicator of values is debatable, but Warren is correct insofar as he meant that music is an important communicator of values. And here we speak not just of the words that communicate values; it is the whole package in which the words are wrapped. The message of rock ‘n’ roll music still communicates the attitudes and values of much of the rebellious Boomer generation to the present day. It has no place in the lives of the followers of Christ, and it certainly has no place in the house of God.

Ravi Zacharias wrote, “The lesson from history is that sanctity within the temple ultimately defines life outside the temple, and without the former, life becomes profane. Just as reverence is the heart of worship, profanity is at the heart of evil.” Zacharias was speaking of worship in the larger sense of living a Godly, holy life.[9] [emphasis added] But if applicable in the larger sense, it is also applicable to corporate worship. There is certainly no sense of reverence in the type of rock music discussed above. Regardless of the words, it is not sacred but profane.

Richard M. Weaver wrote that, “…it is admitted that what man expresses in music dear to him he will most certainly express in his social practices.”[10] One need only look at the social practices that have grown over the last half century as rock music became the anthem of popular culture.
______

In every facet of American life, there has been a decline of the sacred and a breakdown of what it means to be a civilized and moral society. The church must be included in those institutions in decline. One of the reasons for the decline of the sacred is the death of reverence for God and those things pertaining to His person and presence. Without reverence for God and the things of God, the church will also die.

Larry G. Johnson

[1] Larry G. Johnson, Evangelical Winter – Restoring New Testament Christianity, (Owasso, Oklahoma: Anvil House Publishers, 2016), pp.221-225.
[2] Rick Warren, The Purpose Drive Church, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1995), p. 281.
[3] Ibid., pp. 280-281.
[4] David Wilkerson, Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth – Hosea 8:1,” (Lindale, Texas: World
Challenge, Inc., 1985), pp. 99-100.
[5] Ibid., pp. 92-93.
[6] Robert H. Bork, Slouching Towards Gomorrah, (New York: Regan Books, 1996), pp. 125-126.
[7] Ibid., p. 124.
[8] Ibid., pp. 23-24.
[9] Ravi Zacharias, Deliver Us From Evil, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1997), p. 15.
[10] Richard M. Weaver, Ideas Have Consequences, (Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, 1948, 1984), p. 87.

The theme of this three part series is that reverence for God and the things that represent His person and presence are dead or near death in many American churches and the lives of Christians who profess to be a part of the body of Christ. The church is called to recognize and take actions to remedy this loss of reverence.

In Part I, it was noted that there has been a general demise of respect for authority and hierarchy in culture which has greatly contributed to the decline in reverence for God. Also, there is a loss of the fear of God among His people which is revealed in two ways. First, there is a loss of reverence for His majesty, holiness, anger against sin, and judgment. The church’s and the individual Christian’s relationship and interaction with God have become so casual and sporadic that it is undeniably apparent that much of the church has lost its first love. In Parts II and III, the Church’s declining reverence for the “things” that represent His person and presence will be examined—the sanctuary, worship, and music.

Have reverence for my sanctuary

Most sanctuaries in evangelical churches are now designed to give the consumer-oriented Christians and seekers the ultimate experience in doing church. And what attracts them is entertainment which is now disguised as worship. As a result, seeker-sensitive churches are building world-centered sanctuaries and entertainment complexes designed for and directed at the consumer-seeker instead of being places for Christ-centered worship that is directed toward God.

In the age of doing church instead of being the church, sanctuaries have become state-of-the-art, high-tech enterprises with walls entirely covered with multi-colored lights that are programmed to change to fit the mood dictated by the printed order of service. Strobe lights are coordinated to the music and smoke machines do their work to mimic the atmosphere found at rock concerts. Sound systems have decibel-generating capabilities that can crack paint but which can only convey unintelligible words during the worship service. Sanctuaries now contain the preferred theater-style seating in which one may enjoy one’s favorite drink and popcorn that are available just outside in the lobby. All that is missing are the cup holders, and those will soon be ordered.

But those concerned with the direction and future of the church must ask themselves several questions as to how their plans fit in with God’s view of what His sanctuary ought to be. Where does reverence and awe of God’s sanctuary fit into all of this? What particular facets of this type of atmosphere and activity in the sanctuary help in training our children and grandchildren to reverence God and His sanctuary? How do these distractions encourage and foster a hunger for and seeking of revival so desperately needed in the church and nation today? Is the sanctuary designed to be bait for the seeker and entertainment for the church member, or is it aa house to welcome and honor the presence of God?

The prophesies of Hosea written 2,700 years ago present a chilling portrait of the modern American church. Hosea’s prophecy was God’s last effort to call Israel and Judah to repentance for their rebellion and desire to follow false gods. In Chapter 8 we see the consequences of their rebellion.

Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law…For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal. [Hosea 8:1, 7. KJV]

In verse 14, we see God’s verdict and pronouncement of the judgement to come.

For Israel has forgotten his maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah has multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. [Hosea 8:14. KJV]

Over three decades ago the late David Wilkerson published a small book that compared the condition of Israel and Judah in Hosea’s time to the condition of Christianity in the modern American church. Wilkerson wrote that history is repeating itself once again because many in the American church who claimed to know God “were actually being chased by the enemy into projects that were an abomination to God.” At the same time they were neglecting His true temple, the one not made by human hands.[1] In other words, these projects were not just a lack of reverence but a crass irreverence and contempt for the things of God.

Reverence is the heart of worship

Many Pharisees of Christ’s time acted as if they were very concerned about violating God’s law but in many ways broke that law to achieve their own ideas, traditions, and conveniences. Jesus rebuked them for their hearts were far from God.

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you; These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. [Matthew 15:7-9. NIV]

Likewise, many in the modern church have also “nullified the word of God” because of tradition, popular ideas, cultural norms, or their own interests. This is the same trap into which the Pharisees fell.[2]

Today’s monolithic seeker-sensitive Church Growth movement is leading uncountable thousands of churches into incorporating man’s ideas of marketing God to the target consumer audience—the unchurched seeker. The Church Growth gurus insist that seekers must be given what they want. As previously stated, worship is now entertainment, and much of the entertainment is world-centered so as to appeal to the seeker-consumer. However, Rick Warren and the other Church Growth advocates have committed a critical error that undermines the entire concept of the Church Growth movement. They have wrongly redirected the purpose of preaching and weekly church gatherings from being primarily focused on Christ and the body of Christ to weekly seeker-sensitive services aimed at the unchurched. Similarly, they have redirected the worship service toward the unchurched seeker instead of being Christ-centered worship directed toward God.[3]

Chapter 13 of Warren’s The Purpose Driven Church is titled “Worship Can Be a Witness.” He states that “Everything we do in our weekend services is based on twelve deeply held convictions.” These convictions all center on the various elements of worship such as “style” of worship, witnessing, seeker expectations, and seeker understanding.[4] What Warren does not talk about is what the Bible says about worship belonging to God.

Perhaps the ultimate expression that worship is a tool for man’s gratification, entertainment, and happiness is found in the words of Victoria Osteen, wife of mega-church pastor Joel Osteen. In August 2014, Ms. Osteen, with her husband standing close behind and nodding his approval, admonished their congregation that the purpose and intent of obedience to God and worship was to make the people happy. In other words, God wants you to be happy; it’s all about you.

I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God—I mean, that’s one way to look at it—we’re doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy…

So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy…When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?[5] [emphasis added]

Ms. Osteen’s pathetic beliefs about worship are the ultimate outworking of the gradual redefinition of worship and its redirection from Almighty God to man.

Very few have so precisely described the reasons for this redefinition and redirection of worship as has F. Dean Hackett. He states that this has occurred because there has been a decline in the proper identification of the nature and character of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Over several decades many Christians and non-Christians alike have come to perceive God and Jesus in human terms and the Holy Spirit more as a force than a person. These general perceptions are being mirrored in many areas of life—the media, sermons, writing, teaching, and worship songs.[6]

Hackett believes that the decline in the proper identification and understanding of the nature and character of the three persons of the Godhead has led to two serious mistakes in worship. The first mistake is removing the sacredness of the worship experience. When the words of a song used to worship the living God are so generic that the song is able to be used for other purposes in secular venues, something is missing. Hackett believes that what is missing in the song are those words that provoke holiness and fear of the Lord in the heart of the worshiper. Ture holiness and fear of the Lord result in adoration, worship, and a holy awe of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This occurs when worship and praise music correctly identifies and declares the nature and character of the persons of the Godhead.[7]

The second mistake being made in worship services is the humanization of the worship experience.

Worship songs are being written using terms of intimacy in public worship that are not seen in any of the holy Scriptures on the subject of public worship. That level of intimacy between God and the worshipper reflected in the writing of the Song of Solomon is reserved for the privacy of one’s own heart and life, not public worship.[8]

Without properly identifying Almighty God, the words of a song subtly change the emphasis of worship and the motivation of the worshipper. As a result there is greater emphasis on what the worshipper feels and experiences as opposed to adoration, exaltation, and worship of God. Effectively, worship has become humanized instead of being centered on the divine. The human–centeredness of worship songs is further encouraged by subtle changes in the worship center. Hackett identifies several innovations of recent years which are designed to enhance the worshipper’s feelings and experience: low house lights, spotlights on musicians and singers, and smoke and staging designed to bring focus to the stage experience.[9]

Worship of God is not optional for the Christian, and it is not about making us happy or entertained. God rejects worship that is offered with the wrong attitude or is corrupted by man-centered ideas and practices. Such worship is an offering of less than our first fruits. True worship is an expression of our love, adoration, respect, devotion, praise, and reverence.[10] To our great harm, very little of what is seen and experienced in many evangelical churches of today comes close to this description of true worship.

In Part III, we shall discuss in greater detail the role of music in worship and the lives of individual Christians.

Larry G. Johnson

Sources:

[1] David Wilkerson, Set the Trumpet to Ty Mouth – Hosea 8:1, (Lindale, Texas: World Challenge, Inc., 1985), pp. 118-119.
[2] Donald Stamps, Commentary – Matthew 15:7-9, The Full Life Study Bible – King James Version – New Testament, Gen. Ed. Donald C. Stamps, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1990), p. 1718.
[3] Larry G. Johnson, Evangelical Winter – Restoring New Testament Christianity, (Owasso, Oklahoma: Anvil House Publishers, 2016), p. 221.
[4] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), pp. 239, 240-249.
[5] Heather Clark, ‘Do Good for Your Own Self’: Osteen Says Obedience, Worship ‘Not for God’, Christian News Network, August 28, 2015. http://christiannews.net/2014/08/28/do-good-for-your-own-self-osteen-says-obedience-worship-not-for-god-video/ (accessed December 18, 2015).
[6] F. Dean Hackett, “Many Christians Make These 2 Serious Mistakes in Worship,” Charisma Magazine, May 9, 2017. http://www.charismamag.com/life/women/32626-many-christians-make-these-2-serious-mistakes-in-worship (accessed May 17, 2017).
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Johnson, Evangelical Winter – Restoring New Testament Christianity, p. 221.

Reverence for God and the things that represent His person and presence are dead or near death in many American churches and lives of those who profess to belong to the body of Christ.

In some instances reverence and respect may be used interchangeably, but they are not identical. While respect is a special regard, esteem, or consideration, reverence has a much narrower focus and rises to a higher level such as worship, adoration, awe, veneration, or devotion.

The demise of respect for authority and hierarchy

Without a doubt, the decline in reverence within the church and the lives of individual Christians is a reflection of the decline of respect for authority and hierarchy in the larger culture and has led to a general loss of civility and respect for law. The demise of authority and hierarchy is a result of the ascendance of humanism’s false definitions of freedom, democracy, and equality. These false definitions have seeped into the church and eaten away at the biblical understanding of holiness, reverence, and ultimately the fear of God.

As the evangelical church has become a cultural captive of the humanistic spirit of the world, it has absorbed humanism’s demands for a perverted understanding of democracy and equality. God has been “democratized” and is no longer the Great “I AM.” He is ignored much of the time, even in His own house. What is preached from many pulpits today is only a single-sided message that God is all-loving, kindly, non-judgmental, and tolerant. Many in the church have begun to see the once mighty Creator of the universe as little more than a kindly grandfather that is visited only on special occasions (Christmas, Easter, or when in need of a favor). For others, he is portrayed as the big daddy up in the sky, a cuddly teddy bear, or a good buddy who will see them through when they are in a pinch.

This casualness that borders on insolence has invaded the sanctuary where “God meets with His church community.” This informality and indifference in the sanctuary has extended to the manner in which Christians dress. Although there are no biblical directives for dress in the sanctuary, there are manners of dress that are at best disrespectful and at worst are sacrilegious. The position of one evangelical denomination expresses the proper approach to dress that reverences the sanctuary which represents God’s presence.

The dress of both men and women should show at least as much respect as we would expect to show in the presence of an important government leader. On the other hand, we cannot demand the same of a sinner who walks in off the street needing to find Jesus as Savior. Maturity in the Christian walk will naturally show more reverence and respect for God’s presence.[1]

To varying degrees, the profane beliefs, attitudes, and actions of the dominant anti-Christian culture have been absorbed by the church and have greatly contributed to the death of reverence.

Decline in the fear of God

It is a safe assumption that many Christians and churches do not reverence God because they no longer fear God. A. W. Tozer wrote that, “No one can know the true grace of God who has not first known the fear of God.”[2] But fear is a negative concept in our modern society. And the evangelical church that presents only the soft side of religion agrees with the culture’s assessment of fear. That is why for almost two generations messages on sin, the end times, the rapture, tribulation, judgement, punishment, hell, and other “negative” topics have been banned from many pulpits in America for they don’t sell well to consumer-oriented Christians shopping for the right gospel. In their efforts to avoid the topic of fear, ministers must leave out considerable portions of God’s revelation because the Old and New Testaments speak of fear in relation to God almost three hundred times. But the Bible is explicit that Christians must have a healthy fear of God.

His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation… I tell you my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell, you, fear him. [Luke 1:50, 12:4-5. NIV]

First and foremost, reverence is a matter of the heart. For those that love and obey His commands, fearing the Lord means that they must remain in awe and total reverence of His majesty, holiness, anger against sin, and judgment. For those of His followers who lose the fear of God, there is a corresponding loss of awe and reverence. Those Christians who have lost their fear of God generally develop a casual and sporadic relationship with Him. This strained relationship and growing separation often leads the Christian into a state of ungodliness by which is meant a loss of purity and separation from evil. Therefore, we can say that reverence begins with a right understanding and practice of “the fear of God” as taught by His word.

Reverence for the things that represent God’s person and presence

Although reverence to God must first be a matter of the heart, the depth of that reverence is generally revealed by the manner in which the Christian reverences those things which represent His person and presence. The Old Testament has much to say about reverence for God and the things of God. “Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my Sanctuary. I am the LORD.” [Leviticus 19:30, 26:2. NIV] However, many moderns say that we are not living under Old Testament law but in the age of grace. Therefore, grace has released the Christian from the strict rules and rituals required of the Israelites in the Old Testament. In other words, grace has effectively suspended many of the requirements to reverence the things of God. But this is a misunderstanding of grace.

The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat and was where the presence of God resided in the wilderness tabernacle and later the Temple. God’s presence in the Holy of Holies was separated from the people by the Temple Veil. The high priest was allowed to enter into God’s presence only once a year to offer a sacrifice for atonement of the sins of the people. No one could enter the Holy of Holies but the high priest. When Christ died on the cross the Temple veil was rent from top to bottom. The significance of the torn veil is that Jesus’ sacrifice made God accessible to all people. For those who put their trust in Him it was now possible to come directly into His presence.

In the age of grace, God’s children may approach Him directly as a child would approach a loving father. But the child must still have a filial fear of God which does not lessen or excuse the Christian’s duty of reverence for God and the things that represent His person and presence. Claims that grace is a replacement of the law is an excuse for many to bring the things of the world into the church but which clearly dishonors those things that represent God’s person and presence. Christ said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” [Matthew 5:17. NIV] The law that Christians are responsible to follow are the ethical and moral principles of the Old Testament as well as the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. These laws and teachings disclose God’s character, desires, standards, and general purposes for all people and still apply today.[3]

There are numerous biblical commands in both the Old and New Testaments which require Christians to reverence God and the things that represent His person and presence. The New Testament does not lessen or relax those standards of reverence due God. We see this continuing requirement of reverence in the book of Hebrews. “Let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.” [Hebrews 12:28-29. NIV]

As we have said, a Christian’s reverence as he communes with God is a matter of the heart, but reverence is also required for the “things” which represent God’s person and presence. These can generally be grouped as reverence for places (His sanctuary), persons (people and their relationships including hierarchy), and actions/things (worship, dress, and music). It is through these things which represent God’s person and presence that Satan often attacks the church. In our modern times Satan attempts to lure the church into worldliness by claiming it must be relevant to the culture but which is merely an attempt to lessen and ultimately replace the church’s reverence for the things of God. Writing over a half century ago, our friend Tozer once again cuts through the fog oozing from the smoke machines populating evangelical sanctuaries across the nation and reveals the heart of the matter.

Those Christians who belong to the evangelical wing of the Church (which I firmly believe is the only one that even approximates New Testament Christianity) have over the last half-century shown an increasing impatience with things invisible and eternal and have demanded and got a host of things visible and temporal to satisfy their fleshly appetites. Without biblical authority, or any other right under the sun, carnal religious leaders have introduced a host of attractions that serve no purpose except to provide entertainment for the retarded saints.

Any objection to the carryings on of our present golden-calf Christianity is met with the triumphant reply, “But we are winning them!” And winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world’s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love of God? To total committal to Christ? Of course the answer to all these questions is no.[4] [emphasis in original]

As the church focuses on self and its fleshly appetites, there is also a precipitous decline in attention to and reverence for God and the things of God. In Parts II and III, an examination will be made of the death of reverence with regard to three things that represent the person and presence of God—the sanctuary, worship, and music.

Larry G. Johnson

Sources:

[1] “Reverence and Respect,” The Assemblies of God. https://ag.org/Beliefs/Topics-Index/Reverence-and-Respect (accessed May 8, 2017).
[2] A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous, (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: WingSpread Publishers, 1955, 1986), p. 39.
[3] Donald Stamps, Commentary – Matthew 5-17, The Full Life Study Bible – King James Version – New Testament, Gen. Ed. Donald C. Stamps, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1990), p. 1683.
[4] A. W. Tozer, Man – The Dwelling Place of God, (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: WingSpread Publishers, 1966, 1996-997), pp. 150-151.

The third and final prescription for the church is to seek a broad spiritual awakening across the body of Christ as well as revival of individual Christians and the local church. The pattern of sin and falling away from God followed by repentance, revival, and restoration of His people is a recurrent theme in the history of God’s dealings with the Israelites in the Old Testament. This pattern is illustrated in Psalm 80 as the author pleads with God to once again revive and restore His chosen people.

Return to us, O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself. Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish. Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. Restore us, O Lord God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. [Psalm 80:14-19. NIV] [emphasis added]

The essence of revival of the church is a return to God and His ways. In the Old Testament there were at least twelve instances of revival.[1] Preceding each of these revivals there were at least four common elements present:

• A spiritual decline among God’s people.
• A righteous judgement from God – While varying from revival to revival, God’s judgement led to prayer, brokenness, repentance, and a desperate seeking of God’s face. Sometimes God’s judgement led to the deaths of the wicked.
• The raising up of an immensely burdened leader or leaders who had a heavy burden of the moral and spiritual needs of God’s people and the nation.
• Extraordinary actions were taken, the most common of which was a call for a Solemn Assembly of the people who humbled themselves, sought the Lord, wept, fasted, mourned, prayed, confessed and repented of their individual and national sins, and who committed themselves to leading a Godly life and separation from all unrighteousness of the nations.[2]

The prophet Joel called for a solemn assembly following God’s judgement on Judah by sending a horrendous swarm of locusts that devastated the land due to the drunkenness and rebellion of the people. “Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord.” [Joel 1:14. KJV] [emphasis added]

For those Christians of our day who are in anguish at the spiritual condition of the church and the nation, there is perhaps no verse that is more invoked in their prayers for revival and restoration than 2 Chronicles 7:14. It is sometimes called the revival verse.

…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. [2 Chronicles 7:14. KJV]

Notice that God required His people, not the culture at large, to turn from their wicked ways. Although this promise was to Israel and not to other nations, it is a biblical principle that when adhered to has been proven to dramatically change the church as well as the destiny of cultures and mankind’s history for the better. During times of spiritual and moral decline within the church and nation, God will hear His people and respond with spiritual revival, renewed purpose, and restored blessings when the four conditions listed in verse 14 are met.[3]

If my people will humble themselves – God’s people must humble themselves. Humility is a brokenhearted expression of spiritual poverty and wretchedness. This humility comes from their shame and chastisement as their failures and sin are exposed and recognized and for which they now express true sorrow followed by a renewal of commitment to follow God’s commandments and direction for their lives.

If my people will pray – Prayer for revival it is an incessant and desperate plea for mercy and a casting of one’s complete trust and dependence on God. Such prayer is not a casual, intermittent recitation of the awfulness of the one’s situation and a request for a Band-aid® to treat the abrasions caused by a fallen world so that one may get back to more pressing matters of the hour. That’s not a prayer for revival and restoration.

If my people will seek my face – Seeking God’s face is seeking his presence. When God’s presence is withdrawn, Christians feel it. The individual Christian and the body of Christ must turn back to God and seek his presence once again with passion born of a hunger, a burning desire to feel and see more clearly the nearness of His presence. This leads to a deeper and closer relationship with Him. As the Christian basks in His presence, there will be an increasing desire to please Him by obeying His commandments, plans, and purposes for his or her life.

If my people will turn from sin – Christians must repent for their sins and turn from their own sinful ways and rebellion against God. This is a separation from evil influences while focusing on a life of purity and holiness.[4]

Prayer – The common threat

Although all four of God’s conditions are necessary for revival and restoration of His people, it is prayer that stands at the vanguard and acts as a covering for the other three. Dr. A. T. Pierson once said, “There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer.”[5] Throughout all of history, the common and inextricable thread running through all spiritual awakenings is the concerted intercessory prayer of Christians. This was proven in each of America’s three Great Awakenings between the 1730s and the 1860s.

The church must not be discouraged if it does not see immediate results from its prayers for revival. Sometimes God must shake His people with drought, disease, war, economic collapse, or other calamities. At the beginning of the First Great Awakening in America, Jonathan Edwards prayed 2 Chronicles 7:14. But things didn’t seem to get better immediately, and the shaking continued with many tragic events and unusual deaths. God used these deaths and natural disasters to urge the people to church. Conversions began to increase due to prayer. People started talking about eternal things. And the Great Awakening eventually followed and served as the foundation of the American republic four decades later.

The Third Great Awakening that began in 1857-1858 is a pattern for the modern church. It was called by many names including the Businessman’s Revival, the Layman’s Revival, and the Union Prayer Meeting. Although popularly called the Revival of 1857-1858, it bore all the marks and qualifications of a general moral and spiritual awakening in America. [Note: Revivals tend to be localized events (church, village, town, or city), but an awakening encompasses a much larger area (district, county, or country), can last for years or decades, and significantly raise the moral standards of a society.[6]

The revival sprang from an initial meeting at the noon hour on September 23, 1857 in the upper room of the Dutch Reform Church in lower Manhattan. Jeremiah Lamphier had advertised the prayer meeting, but only six came that first day. Three weeks later, a financial panic that had been building since August exploded on October 13th when banks were closed and did not reopen for two months. Attendance soon mushroomed as businessmen from nearby Wall Street began attending. The prayer meetings quickly spread to other churches, auditoriums, and theaters.[7] During the winter months the crime rate dropped even as in mass unemployment caused by the financial panic engulfed the large city and where one would expect the crime rate to rise under such circumstances.[8]

The greatest intensity of the revival occurred between February and April of 1858. The initial effects of the revival were felt in New York City where the revival began. The prayer revival also sparked local church revivals in New England, the Midwest, and upper South (beginning particularly with New Year’s Eve “watch night” services); in separate women’s prayer groups; and on college campuses across the nation.[9] The character and results of the Revival of 1857-1858 were described by Matthew Backholer.

The lay influence predominated to such an extent that ministers were overshadowed. This awakening was not a remote piety in little corners of churches, but to the fore of everyday business life, college life and home life. It was right there in the nitty-gritty of everyday work, not just a Sunday affair.[10]

After considerable and careful research, J. Edwin Orr, one of the twentieth century’s foremost revival historians, confirmed estimates that over one million solid, long-lasting conversions occurred during 1858-1859 out of a population of less than thirty million.[11] Historians have debated the impact of the Revival of 1857-1858 as it related to nineteenth century social reform efforts. But, the reality was that the 1857-1858 Revival was about personal religious transformation but with which society greatly benefited. The revival caused men and women, in both the North and South, to be spiritually prepared for the coming struggle in which the nation would exorcize the demon of slavery and recover its national unity.

One hundred and sixty years later America and the church are again in profound rebellion against God, and as a result He is pouring out a measure of judgement on the nation. Whether this measure of judgement is remedial in nature or a final judgement depends on the actions of God’s people. Pierre Bynum says that America is ripe for destruction because of the rebellion of the church.

The Evangelical Movement in this country is characterized by an arrogance that is almost beyond belief. The neglect of prayer, the involvement in Philistine methodology, the moral evils, the doctrinal corruptions that characterize the Movement are sufficient to cause the people of Sodom to wonder at God’s justice in destroying their city while sparing the United States.[12]

The nation’s only hope is for God’s people to once again humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways. From such comes revival.

As important as revival is to the church, it must add the previous two prescriptions to complete the church’s healing as discussed in Parts IV and V. Christians must resist cultural captivity through cultivation of resistance thinking that is essential to voice a prophetically untimely message to the church and a lost and dying world. This must occur in conjunction with a restoration of the doctrines, teachings, and practices of the New Testament that guided the first century Christians.

A final word to resistance thinkers who become prophetically untimely people

For those that develop and practice the art of resistance thinking, the outcome will be frustration, anger, and sorrow for they are untimely men and women, out of step with the trendy and fashionable, never at home in their present age, and whose message will be rejected by the majority. This occurs because resistance thinkers have a counter-perspective that is anchored in the uncompromising Word of God. Prophetically untimely people have the courage to say “no” to things that are wrong, but there is a price that is paid for their boldness. They are called purveyors of doom and gloom, mal-adjusted, out-of-touch with reality, divisive, legalistic, and haters among other vilifications. But those labels are of little consequence to the resistance thinker who speaks an untimely message.

Their greater pain and sorrow comes from their broken-heartedness as they see the lost-ness of friends, family, and the church that have become acclimatized to and are held captive by a culture saturated with the humanistic spirit of the age. Anger surges in their breasts as they see Satan’s devastation of the lives of men, women, and children engulfed by a sin-soaked world system and a church that is oblivious to the enemy within. They are in anguish at the destruction of the nation’s hard won Judeo-Christian foundations at the hands of false teachers, secularist and humanist philosophers, ungodly politicians, and their groveling fellow travelers.

The prophetically untimely resistance thinker can take solace in that their feelings of sorrow, anger, frustration, and brokenness are similar to the feelings common to all of the Old Testament prophets. They were few in number and rejected by their own age as are resistance thinkers in the present age. But the prophetically untimely resistance thinker can also take comfort, encouragement, and direction from the words of A. W. Tozer written long ago.

Take nothing for granted…Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross, follow your Lord and pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. The masses are always wrong. In every generation the number of the righteous is small. Be sure you are among them.[13]

The church is sick and the nation suffers. The road back begins with resistance thinking. Be among those to sound the alarm.

Larry G. Johnson

Sources:

[1] Rev. Pierre Bynum, Family Research Council Prayer Team, April 19, 2017.
http://www.frc.org/prayerteam/prayer-targets-rev-ro-roberts-the-solemn-assembly-national-day-of-prayer-may-4-2017 (accessed April 20, 2017).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Donald Stamps, Commentary, Fire Bible: Global Study Edition, New International Version, Gen. Ed. Donald Stamps, (Published by Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, Peabody, Massachusetts; Copyright 2009 by Life Publishers International, Springfield, Missouri), p. 723.
[4] Ibid.
[5] J. Edwin Orr, “Revival and Prayer.” http://www.jedwinorr.com/resources/articles/prayandrevival.pdf (accessed April 11, 2017).
[6] Matthew Backholer, Revival Fires and Awakenings, (www.ByFaith.org: ByFaith Media, 2009, 2012), p. 7.
[7] Michael McClymond, ed., Encyclopedia of Religious Revivals in America, Vol. 1, A-Z, (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2007), pp. 362-363.
[8] Backholer, “Revival and Prayer,” P. 62.
[9] McClymond, “Revival Fires and Awakenings,” p. 262-263.
[10] Backholer, “Revival and Prayer,” P. 63.
[11] Ibid., pp. 62-63.
[12] Bynum, Family Research Council Prayer Team, April 19, 2017.
[13] A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous, (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: WingSpread Publishers, 1955, 1986), p.5.