SOVEREIGN GRACE LIFE

Revived ~ Renewed ~ Restored ~ Reformed

Lasaro Flores / P.O. Box 298 /Boling, TX 77420

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NOTE: Although I’ll be using articles from various authors, it does not mean I agree totally with what they write. But after reading them, I believe some benefit can be derived from them with respect to Revival and Spiritual Awakening.

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MY PURPOSE

There is a fourfold purpose for this newsletter: It goes out for Revival, for Renewal, for Restoration, and for Reformation. Perhaps to some this means the same thing, yet I believe that there are four aspects of a Life that experiences the Sovereign Grace of God that will be manifested when believers experience these four things in it. It is my desire that “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10) will be pleased to use the articles, not only for His awesome Glory, but also to “revive (His) work in the midst of the years” (Habakuk 3:2); and as a result, we should be willing to “endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10).

REVIVAL VS. APOSTASY

Today one hears much about a Revival taking place in the Church, but what I personally have seen and heard it is limited to a certain segment of today’s professing Christianity. For the moment though, I neither have the time or space to go into detail about it, other than noting that it is that “popular” type of revival that is associated with the Charismatics, or the Word of Faith movement, or the Health and Wealth Gospel, etc., etc., or even the very popular Purpose Driven Life teaching that is influencing so may churches and professing Christians in all denominations. In fact, the proponents of this revival claim that it is to get the Church ready for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, in spite of all of that, we can truthfully say that this so-called “revival” is no way comparable, or even associated in any way, with the great Revivals and Spiritual Awakenings our Sovereign God has been pleased to bless His people with in the past.

The question we have to make is this: Does the Bible in any way indicate that there is going to be a Revival before the Lord Jesus Christ returns to judge the wicked and to “rapture” His people? Ref. to 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. The answer to this is simply a resounding NO! One can search the Scriptures with respect to the last days to see if there is any indication of a great Revival taking place in the Church, and you would be hard pressed to find it. But on the other hand, you’ll find that there will be an Apostasy; or as our text calls it, “a falling away”. “What is that?” you might ask. First, “falling away” is translated from the Greek apostasia, which means defection from the truth. It is from to separate, and to stand off, or away from. So THE “falling away”, or Apostasy, is to “fall away” from the Truth of God, “as the truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21); or from the “one faith” (4:5) “which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude v.3). It is to profess to believe “the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27), and then to “fall away”, or to defect from its truth, even to deny it! This, of course, will be doctrinally, i.e. from the true teachings of “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24); and that, beloved people of God, IS ALREADY HERE! In fact, to confirm it, you don’t even have to go a particular church; just turn on your TV to the “Christian” station, and see the Apostasy in full sway! (Praise God, though, not every program would qualify as such____ once in a while one can still get a breath of fresh air in this polluted atmosphere.)

Note the following Scriptures that further confirms that there will be an Apostasy: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils…” (1 Timothy 4:1); “For the time will come (referring to the future, which is TODAY!) when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3,4). We can see, then, that in the last days, instead of a Revival within the professing Christian Church there will be an Apostasy so great that the apostle Paul says it will be “perilous times” (2 Timothy 3:1) for the true Christian, that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (v.12). It would be impossible for one to believe and to stand up for the Truth of God and be exempt from persecution in some shape or form because of it. So, according to the Scriptures, we can say definitely that there WILL NOT be a general Revival in the true Biblical and historical sense within today’s professing Christian Church as so many of the ‘self-anointed preachers and prophets’ claim!

Perhaps someone will ask why the reasons for my newsletter; or why is it that we can still hear from others about praying for Revival? If what I said is true, then why waste our time in being concerned about it. That is a very legitimate question; and so let me answer it as follows. Remember, that Revival is for the true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, one who has been born again, has repented towards God and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and has been washed in His blood; and therefore now has LIFE, whereas before he was “dead in trepasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) and was “alienated from the life of God” (4:18). Now in Christ he is “a new creature”, o creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) because he is ALIVE in Him; for “he that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:12). Why? Because he “hath everlasting life” in that he has “passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

But the issue of backsliding in the life of the true believer is a reality. In other words, a true Christian may, and can, backslide into sin. There’s not one Christian that is exempt from this happening to them. In fact, every one of God’s people is exposed to this danger; and this is due to at least three factors in the life of every believer. First, there is the attraction of the world. Remember, before experiencing God’s grace in salvation we were of the world and used to “walked according to the course of this world” (Ephesians 2:2), but because He chose us “out of the world”, we are no longer “of the world” (John 15:19). Nevertheless, there’s always the danger of falling back to loving “the world”, and “the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15). The sad thing is that it does happen to true Christians; and what happened to Demas is also true of professing Christians. Demas at first worked together with the apostle Paul, but then Paul says of him: “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:10). Cp. Philemon 1:24. In fact, a backslidden Christian has become an enemy of God, as James 4:4 states – “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God”. When a professing Christian falls back into the world, there is the danger of “falling away” from the faith, i.e. becoming an apostate, unless our Sovereign God, of His Free Grace, brings him back to Him.

Then, secondly, the believer has to contend with Satan, who is the “adversary” of the true Christian, and “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8), to bring them into captivity “at his will” (2 Timothy 2:26). Believe this, dear people of God, the devil will try, and do, anything, to cause the Christian to backside; for as Paul says: “For we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11); for once he does that, not only is the Christian his prisoner, but also his slave! Perhaps you might say that is not true; but let me ask you, who is the backslider serving, and in whose cause? Remember, the Christian was in “the power of Satan” (Acts 26:18), and not only “walked according to the course of this world”, but also “according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). In fact, there are times, by the discipline of the church, that a backsliding Christian may have to be turned over to Satan, as Paul tells us in 1  Corinthians 5:5 – “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”. So, keep this in mind, he will attack us from every direction in order to cause us to fall into sin and away from the Lord; so “be sober, be vigilant” (1 Peter 5:8) we are exhorted!

But, thirdly, there could be times that the temptations from the world and the attacks from the devil might be withdrawn (cp. Luke 4:13 – “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season”), yet there is one thing that is with us every moment of our lives until the day of our glorification; and that is, our own sinful nature; or as it is referred to as “the flesh”. The sin that still indwells us is our daily and constant enemy, “which wars against (our) soul” (1 Peter 2:1); and as the apostle Paul declares: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Romans 7:18-20). Knowing this, then, the Christian has to be on constant alert in order not to give in to “the lusts of the flesh” (2 Peter 2:18), that delights in “the pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25). It is the Christian’s responsibility, by the grace of God, to flee all sin; otherwise, if we don’t, we’ll backslide into sin, not because the grace of God is not sufficient to keep us from sin, but because we will freely give in to it simply because we will love it! That’s why it is said of the backslider: “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways” (Proverbs 14:14). THIS IS OUR DAILY STRUGGLE AND DANGER!!!

Now, having said that, the reason we make so much of Revival and Spiritual Awakening, (even though as I said before, I cannot find anywhere in the Bible of a REVIVAL taking place in the professing Christian church before the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ), yet, at the same time, we have to say that Revival, not only will reveal who are true Christians, but also will assure the true believers of their relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A backslider cannot presume that they belong to the Lord in their sin; and for sure, the Holy Spirit will not confirm their salvation as long as the backslider remains obstinate and opposed to Him. That’s why throughout the Scriptures the backslider is warned about the danger of their condition, and exhorted to return back to the Lord before it’s too late! “Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever” (Jeremiah 3:12). In other words, God’s wrath and anger is upon the backslider; and if he doesn’t return….. Even David recognize the awfulness of God’s wrath and anger upon him because of sin: “O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin” (Psalm 38:1-3). So, although we have the promise of 2 Timothy 2:1 that “the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his”, nevertheless, we are exhorted that “every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”.

But another reason for  Revival is to prevent the apostasy of the true believer, and to confirm the eternal security of the child of God. In other words, since Salvation can only come because of God’s Free and Sovereign Grace, it is that same Grace that will Revive, Renew, Restore and Reform the backsliding Christian, that not only will keep them from apostasy, but will also assure that they have been “saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation” (Isaiah 45:17). We have to always remember, and never lose this precious truth: IT IS ONLY BY GRACE THAT WE HAVE BEEN SAVED, AND IT IS ONLY BY GRACE THAT WE SHALL BE KEPT SAVED! Consider this very seriously: If it depended on our faithfulness and strength to keep ourselves “saved” from apostasy, you can be sure of one thing: WE WOULD FALL AWAY! How much more can this be true of the backslider? You see, a backslidden Christian, in a sense, has already “fallen away” from the Lord and the Truth of the Gospel; so again, unless “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10), who “delighteth in mercy” (Micah 7:18) “will turn again,” and “will have compassion upon (the backslider)”, and “subdue (their) iniquities; and…cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (v.19), and “heal their backsliding” (Hosea 14:4), the backslider will continue in his rebellion and finally apostasize!!! This doesn’t contradict the Truth of the Eternal Security of the Believer, or the Perseverance of the Saints, but it is ONLY those that are Revived, Renewed, Restored, and Reformed in experiencing True Revival from their backsliding that are assured of being “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5), and not finally apostasizing.

Then, not only is Revival to assure the true believer of their relationship with God and to confirm their eternal security in the Lord Jesus, but also Revival is to conform us in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone might ask, “What does Revival have to do with this?” Much in every way! We are told in Romans 8:29: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son…,” meaning that every true believer will be; for that is their destiny because of their election in Christ “that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:4). Although it is very preciously true that the Lord Jesus Christ is our “righteousness, and sanctification” (1 Corinthians 1:30), so that positionally we are “holy and without blame” in Him; nevertheless, we have not been saved in our sins, but have been saved “from our sins” (Matthew 1:21), so that “he that saith he abideth in (Christ Jesus) ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). True Revival does that; so that the backslidden Christian is not only Revived, Renewed, Restored, but also Reformed in that the backslider can now truly be a Christian, i.e. “Christ-like” in his walk! This should be our concern as it was Paul’s when he wrote to the Galatians: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you” (4:19,20).

There is so much to say about this, but for the sake of brevity, let me close with the following: The danger of apostasy is always present before the Christian, and especially today due to so much false doctrine and the compromise of the truths of the Gospel of the grace of God in order to please man, that it has been watered down, and even corrupted, to please the whims of man. Perhaps you might think that doctrine has nothing to do with Revival, but notice that David prays for his own revival according to the Word of God in Psalm 119: “Quicken (revive) thou me according to thy word” (vv.25, 107, 154). This means, then, that in True Revival, not only is the backslidden Christian Revived, Renewed, Restored and Reformed to an intimate and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, but also to a submission of the Truth of God’s Word, “as the truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21). In contrast to this, the apostate “receives not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). On the other hand, just as salvation is “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (v.13), it is also true in True Revival. In both, the means are the Work of the Holy Spirit, and the preaching of God’s Truth. Leave either one out, and there is no Salvation, or Revival!

EVIDENCES OF A BACKSLIDDEN CONDITION

From Revival

By Richard Owen Roberts

Backslidden Christians are evident everywhere. They are in the churches and out of the churches. They are in the pews and in the pulpits. They are on boards and are bored. They are on committees and teach Sunday School. The backslidden seem to be more numerous than the upright and their influence throughout the world vastly more profound. While backsliders do not all manifest the same traits, evidences of their condition are not difficult to pinpoint. The following characteristics merit our serious attention.

8. When sins of the body and of the mind can be indulged in without an uproar in your conscience, your backslidden condition is certain. Prior to conversion it is to be expected that sins will play havoc with the conscience. The unregenerate is known to have a seared conscience and can hardly be required to shed tears over sins. But how can a Christian, who has been made a new creature in Christ Jesus, for whom all things have become new, manifest this same callousness? By one method only: backsliding.

When a Christian is walking in fellowship with Jesus Christ, he has sensitivity to right and wrong similar to that which characterized Jesus in His life on earth. But let that walk with Christ deteriorate and sensitivity will vanish. The backslider is characterized by his disregard for personal sin. What once seemed almost inconceivably awful becomes too insignificant to worry about. Sins that were once carefully shunned the backslider now embraces with relish. As the backslider grows more and more full of himself, he looks with increasing warmth upon those sins of body and mind which will make his position comfortable and pleasant, demonstrate his freedom from unnecessary restraints and prove that he is able tom discern good from evil as the Almighty. Once sick at the mere thought of sin, the backslider can now engage in gross iniquity with scarcely a stir of conscience or a tear of grief.

Tears Of Repentance

by Thomas Watson

There is no rowing to paradise except upon the stream of repenting tears. Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet. Why are the wells of repentance stopped? Do not the sinners of the land know that they should repent? Have they no warning? Have not God's faithful messengers lifted up their voice as a trumpet and cried to them to repent? But many of these tools in the ministry have been spent and worn out upon rocky hearts. Do we think that God will always put up with our affronts?

Some bless themselves that they have a stock of knowledge, but what is knowledge good for without repentance? Learning and a bad heart is like a fair face with a cancer in the breast. Knowledge without repentance will be but a torch to light the way to hell. Repentant tears may be compared to myrrh, which though it is bitter in taste, has a sweet smell and refreshes the spirit. So repentance, though it is bitter in itself, yet it is sweet in the effects. It brings inward peace.

We are to find as much bitterness in weeping for sin as ever we found sweetness in committing it. Surely David found more bitterness in repentance than ever he found comfort in Bathsheba. Tears have four qualities: they are moist, salt, hot, and bitter. It is true of repenting tears, they are hot to warm a frozen conscience; moist, to soften a hard heart; salt, to season a soul decaying in sin; bitter, to wean us from the love of the world. And I will add a fifth, they are sweet, in that they make the heart inwardly rejoice. David, who was the great weeper in Israel, was the sweet singer of Israel. The sorrows of the repentant are like the sorrows of a travailing woman: "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world". (John 16:21).

Be as speedy in your repentance as you would have God be speedy in His mercies. Many are now in hell that purposed to repent. Satan does what he can to keep men from repentance. When he sees that one begins to take up serious thoughts of reformation, he bids them wait a little longer. It is dangerous to procrastinate repentance. The longer any go on sinning, the harder they will find the work of repentance. Delay strengthens sin and hardens the heart and gives the devil fuller possession. A plant at first may be easily plucked up, but when it has spread its roots deep in the earth, a whole team cannot remove it. It is hard to remove sin when it comes to be rooted. The longer the ice freezes the harder it is to be broken. The longer a man freezes in security, the harder it will be to have his heart broken.

 INVITATION TO SALVATION

In order for one to experience Revival, they first need to have Life, otherwise they are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) and “alienated from the life of God” (4:18). If you have not been “born again” (John 3:3,7), then you have not the Life of Christ in you according to 1 John 4:12 – “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life”. If this is true of you, then you do not need Revival but Salvation in order to have Life.

You may obtain this Life in Christ Jesus by believing in Him; for “this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (v.11). At the moment that a spiritually dead sinner believes in Him, he “is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). Is this true of you at this very moment?