ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
September 13, 2019
This is a letter to our friends –
The best is yet to be
A World Destined for Glorious Revival
“R.T. Kendall in 1992 refers to, ‘the post-charismatic era’ when government and people in highest places will come on bended knees to God’s people and ask for help … We are talking about something big… It will be a time when children will be sovereign vessels, an era when ordinary Christians will be equipped with prophetic gifts … We are talking about an awakening that reaches areas, people, places that heretofore were impenetrable without the aid of the media and public relations men and the endorsement of high profile people.
“In 1989 Wesley Richards records his conviction: ‘The signs are clear: the countdown has begun to another great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The best is yet to be.’ (Asian Revival)”
These notes from “The Revival Study Bible” page 1184, published 2010, spoke to my heart.
Common sense and the Bible say that our most important duty on earth is to learn to love God and one another. “Providential History” (The hand of God in the affairs of men and nations) illustrates that we are slow learners!
It appears to me that God has been doing everything He can to help us learn. The vertical relationship between God and mankind is an individual thing, aided by the fellowship of the church and family.
The horizontal relationship between individuals and individuals is, by definition, a corporate thing. We call it “civil government”.
God’s classwork began long before He inspired the writers of the Books of the Bible. He reveals Himself through the laws of nature (“Natural Law”). Because we did not learn well, that is, we tended to misinterpret the data (the flat earth society), or we simply chose to rebel (the Tower of Babel), God, in His benevolence, gave us the Bible (also called “Revealed Law”), which is much more difficult to misinterpret!
It is important to note that “Natural Law” is discovered by observation and reason. Both human observation and human reason are imperfect. “Revealed Law” (the Bible) is learned by study and prayer and is far more authoritative than “Natural Law” because it was dictated by God Himself. Note that Natural and Revealed Law are from the same source and will never be in conflict.
Consider the events in God’s classroom – God introduces himself to Adam, then Eve. They violate His law and are banished from the Garden. They make a baby and “family” is begun.
Multiple families create civil government.
Civil government is a trial and error thing. Both common sense and Revealed Law try to combat human nature on an up and down learning curve through human history. God created a nation to illustrate vertical and horizontal church and civil government. The Old Testament records its history through anguishing trials and errors in the near east and Egypt.
There is a 400 year historical gap between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. During that time Alexander the Great and the Greek culture spread out over the known world. There are more efforts to incorporate large civilizations. Finally Rome succeeds to incorporate the Middle-east, Europe, and most of the British Isles. The Scandinavian culture of representative government is added to the mix.
In the midst of the Roman conquest era, the advent of Christ plants a seed that changes everything! The Bible is translated into common languages. That stimulates an explosion in public literacy. That stimulates, in turn, explosions in the arts and sciences as well as in concepts of liberty and government.
The classroom was ready to illustrate the Christian concept of “government by consent of the governed”. America is not a Christian nation because it was formed by Christians. America is a Christian nation because it has a Christian form.
Trace the development of concepts of civil government on a world globe and you discover part of a great circle. Even the details of major culture changing revivals in America follow the path from New England to Azusa Street in Los Angeles. Teacher (God) has invested a lot in these lessons. I believe they will be a launching pad for that “something big” that will sweep across the Pacific, Asia, India, and the Moslem world.
A baptism in righteousness the likes of which the world has never seen!
These columns are archived since 12/10/09
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