Some denominations and movements within the Christian world are foretelling or “prophesying” a world-wide revival. They even teach that we believers have to work to facilitate that revival, in order to put the world right, and, they hope, to persuade Jesus Christ to come back. If that’s your belief, good luck: you’ll need lots of it. It’s a battle you cannot win.
I was raised in the Salvation Army in the United Kingdom. To this day I don’t know if their official view was that it’s our job as Christians to put the world right before Christ will agree to return, but that was certainly the impression given to me as a boy and a teen, by ministers and speakers in that church and others. I looked around at my world, and rather than seeing more and more people coming to faith and living Christ-like lives, the reality was just the opposite. It was a very demoralizing, faith-killing belief, because it just seemed so highly improbable that the world was going to turn to Jesus. It’s even more improbable now.
I continued to hear the same story and the same “prophecies” – usually in Charismatic circles- over the years. In addition, prophecies of coming revival in towns where I lived have to this day, several decades later, not come to pass. The opposite is true – the churches have declined and the people are largely pagan.
FAULTY TEACHING
Once again faulty theology comes from ignoring what our Scriptures-the Bible- actually say. There may indeed be local or even regional revivals here and there, and they may well be dependent on our submission to the Lord and our witness to the world-that’s the Great Commission. However, the message of the Word of God concerning end-times events is clear that the return of Christ is not dependant on our ability to first change the world for the better. Thank the Lord for that, because in that case He would never come. In fact, and I’m sorry to have to say this, the world is not going to get “better” at all this side of the return of Christ. The witness of Scripture is that God is going to allow the world of humanity to almost self-destruct, and that He’s going to bring judgment on the earth precisely because of its steady and determined decline into sin, violence and rebellion against Him. This is the opposite of the revivalists’ theory.
THE REALITY
Here’s just one telling quote from the Son of God himself:
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:9-13).
If you see someone teaching that there will be a world-wide revival before the return of Christ, it’s a sure sign that they put their own words over the Word of God. And it’s in parts of the Charismatic movement where this effect is most dangerous, because they claim, wrongly, that what God is “telling them” now is new and powerful, and that what was written before is in the past. They’re making false prophecies which deny the Word, and so are hiding what our God has actually told us. Who, Scripturally, is the character most likely to be doing that? Is it not our Enemy?
Here’s what Paul had to say on the matter:
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
Here in the NIV, Paul is said to be warning of a “rebellion” of some sort. In fact the Greek word here is “apostasia“. It’s more correctly translated in the KJV and the NASB as an “apostasy”: a “falling away”. And since Paul’s topic is not being shaken at the time when the Day of the Lord is coming, it seems clear that Paul is warning of a “falling away” from the faith. This is consistent with the words of Jesus in our quote above. People are going to turn away from the faith, says our Lord, and love will be rare.
WAITING FOR THE OFF
Some teachers, such as Jimmy Swaggart, have tried to claim that Paul’s “falling away” really should be translated “standing away” and refers to a pre-Tribulation rapture. This is a very big stretch: an imposition. It’s nonsense designed to protect a hope that we will all escape trouble on the earth, and deliberately serves to obscure a warning which we all need to heed. The pre-Tribulation rapture, when it doesn’t happen, will likely cause some of the coming “falling away”.
What will happen in the hearts and minds of those convinced that they’re going to escape all the trials of the tribulation, when these events actually begin to happen? It’s claimed that the pre-Tribulation rapture is essential because God obviously doesn’t want us to suffer the Tribulation. The truth is that believers around the world have been subject to horrific wars, famines, sickness and persecution for centuries. But here in the West, many believers happily embrace the notion that they’re going to escape all those things which millions of their brothers and sisters around the world have already suffered as the norm.
Faith comes into this picture when we as individual believers accept that our God holds us in His hands, no matter what happens around us, and no matter what happens to our bodies. As the world falls away around us, as we look to our Creator and our saviour Jesus Christ, we maintain our hope, our faith, our peace and our joy.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 