The Revival Movement: Where It Fits In The End Time
The position of ‘Read and Run’ is that there is almost nothing we are waiting for that could prevent the return of Christ from occurring right now. To be more specific, by that we mean the beginning of the Day of the Lord – the End time. The actual return of Christ will be three and a half years after the starting point.
We have held for (many years now) that the fifteen scriptures that state the day of the Lord begins without warning and very suddenly, mean exactly what they say.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 1Thess 5:2
Fourteen other verses support that statement.
This leads to the conclusion that there will be no clear signs of anything that would make it obvious that Christ has determined time is up. Realistically however, some things will need to be underway for all the events to fall into place (suddenly) when the time occurs. One of those is the presence of who will become the beast. If the End Time is on our doorstep then that person must be present now. See our separate article: The Beast – What Are We Looking For? (Coming in a few days)
The point of this article is how does the Revival Movement fit into the picture?
Below is a chart, not meant to be to any accurate ‘scale’ but a rough representation of how the different Church groups fit into a category facing the issue of the return of Christ in the short term.
How ready will they be when the time comes? Where does the Revival scene fit in?
This chart is how we have represented the broad Christian community. Biblically there are going to be exceptions, outstanding ones, from all the groups.
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. Rev 3:4 This is typical of Christ’s evaluation of all the Churches.
Chart: Church Groups and a Typical Response to the Return of Christ
- The Bulk of Mainstream
This would include Roman Catholics, Anglicans and all traditional large Church denominations. The typical attitude is they know all they want to know for now, ‘Yes, Christ will return one day, but we have no need to concern ourselves with that at this moment’.
- Rapture Ready. The prevailing attitude within this group is one of excitement at the prospect of Christ returning. As far as the detail is concerned, ‘Why get worked up about specifics, Christ is coming for us and I am ready’. Proponents of this attitude are spread through many Church denominations.
- Preterists. This group, of course, gets very frustrated when discussion turns to the return of Christ. For them it has already happened. You might think that the idea of Christ having returned, the resurrection as a past event and the great tribulation as nothing to be feared since it also happened in AD 71, as strange. However when you add the degrees of partial Preterism into the equation such as ‘the Kingdom of God is here now’ (i.e. ruling out a literal reign of Christ during the millennium), then this group is much larger than at first thought and has a widespread following.
- The smaller groups. These would include Messianic, Seventh Day Adventist, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses and Church of God congregations. They are discussed together since they have very fixed opinions and will not listen to anyone outside of their own ranks. That makes them inflexible and unreachable.
Lastly we come to the individuals, once again scattered from within all the above groups that comprise the Revival movement.
The Revival Movement.
There is one characteristic that separates these individuals from all the others and makes them unique. They are searching. Their minds are still open and they are looking for direction. They see the status quo as seriously lacking any real spiritual fibre and want to do something about it. They are burning with a zeal that is facing the right direction. As a whole they are young and energetic. God’s Word is their yardstick.
The problem this body has is one of direction and focus.
From within their ranks are divergent views that need to be harnessed if the maximum synergy is to be gained.
At the heart of their message is ‘things cannot continue as they are’. Some are saying America as we know it is about to crumble. Some go further to say that America is Babylon. Some say that Christ is coming soon. None of these views are shared by all and certainly there is no unanimity in understanding the detail of Christ’s return.
A quote becoming more popular these days is ‘If God does not deal with America, then He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah’. There is a general recognition that the world’s superpower is also the primary vehicle for the spread of much that is causing God’s name to be profaned. His own people are in effect spitting in God’s face. How much longer can that continue? God is not mocked.
To keep this article a little shorter, suffice to say that taken as a whole, taking all the views of the Revival Movement it comes down to one question: if things are not going to continue as they were, what is going to happen?
If the USA, UK and other Christian nations are facing an inevitable Muslim takeover of their populations then Christianity as we know it is as good as dead. This is only one of the problems that the Church is facing.
We know from God’s promises that the Church will never die so something has to give.
All in all with every issue taken into consideration the fact that Christ is going to return soon should be the predictable conclusion. That however is not the case. Why is that?
The answer lies in the disparate views held on this subject and that is where the lack of focus for the Revival Movement can be pinpointed.
Until this subject is clarified there will be no meaningful direction before the event.
All is not lost. I firmly believe that a real mountain of a revival will occur. It has to occur. Malachi 4 states without a ‘revival’ the earth will be destroyed (‘curse’ in Hebrew here means utter destruction):
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
God is saying ‘work it out, or I will move to plan B’.
I believe the bible indicates that it will only be after the Day of the Lord has begun that this Revival will take place in earnest through much tribulation, but the end result will be beyond the wildest dreams.
The bottom line is a huge revival is in the bible; the people that will secure this event as a reality are those that are working and praying for it now.
The sooner people realize what Christ is trying to achieve at His return, the quicker and easier it will be to fall inline with His objectives.
That is the purpose of our website Read and Run. Read all about it and run with it to others. www.readandrun.co.uk
Michael Storey
