A Dire Dearth
A Dire Dearth
"For when the earth experiences Thy judgements the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." (Isaiah 26.9)
"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives." (Hebrews 12.5-6)
There is a line of "thought" abroad in some parts of New Zealand's Christian Community today which states that current decisions being made and laws being created by our Parliament will bring the judgement of God upon us as a nation.
Allow me, strenuously, to put before you another (more Biblically and historically accurate) viewpoint. It is that our present dolorous state-of-the-nation (including farcical parliamentary machinations let by the present Labour Government) indicates that we are already experiencing the judgment (chastisement with a view to correction) of the Lord.
And this is because of our (the Church's) failure to embrace Heaven-sent, national revival during the 1990s.
I am well aware that few Christians (even leaders of that Revival) are prepared to explore this particular path of enquiry. Nevertheless, our forefathers in the Faith were not so scrupulous or squeamish.
Puritan thinkers anticipated consequences for the nation they perceived was Reformation-shy. "God will bring some heavy affliction upon England and that speedily. But He will provide a shelter and hiding place for us and ours", they said, whilst taking flight for the (as yet) unspoilt American colonies.
They interpreted England's cruel and bloody Civil War of the mid-1600s as being the consequences they predicted and the Lord's chastening judgement. And (for them) the terrible portent of that war had been a tornado which scythed a path through southern England. It tore open the graves of plague victims, scattering bodies scarcely in the ground for a year.
Early in the 20th C, the pioneers of modern Pentecostalism interpreted the First World War as being God's judgement upon the religious Establishment's summary rejection of the Holy Spirit's Last Days' restoration of His Baptism and Gifts. At that time a national council of churches conference in Germany formally rejected the Welsh and Azusu St. Revivals.
It is clear to me that the bulk of Old Testament prophecy targeted God's Covenant People ... rather than the world or the surrounding nations. Why? Because God had ordained that where Israel went spiritually and morally, so followed the nations.
"Thus says the Lord God, 'This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the centre of the nations, with lands around her.' " (Ezekiel 5.5)
"So keep and do (God's commandment), for that is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgements as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today." (Deuteronomy 4.6-8)
And so it is in our day. As God's New Covenant People (the Church) go, so follows the world and the nations.
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people." (Proverbs 14.34)
Ancient Israel was never called upon to rave or rail against the surrounding world's sins, and nor are we. Their destiny was, and ours now is to so shine forth the Light of God's Law and Glory that the nations' paganism (spiritual, moral and intellectual darkness) would be dispelled. And to the extent that Israel walked in that Light they were empowered to illuminate others. And it's exactly the same for the Church today.
So what really lies at the root of our present-day Christian frenzy to fulminate with such ferocious self-righteousness against "evil" prime ministers and "antichrist" parliaments?
A dire dearth of spiritual integrity!
There are Christian leaders in New Zealand today, still happily going about their "business", who ruthlessly opposed, stealthily put the handbrake on, and unashamedly manipulated and "milked" for their own selfish ambitions The 90s Revival. And now we are all living with the consequences. And on top of that, weirdly and pathetically some are dumping the blame on "them" ... the "unrighteous".
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." (Galatians 6.7)
The law of sowing and reaping (in both the natural and spiritual realms) is as immutable as gravity ... and equally inescapable!
