Raju Ebenezer

The Pentecostal revival of the early 20th century arrived like a summer rain down to a parched Christendom. Although the revival subsided, its scorch slowly kindled different sections of Christendom including Catholics, which steadily grew into a wild fire!

Christendom today is vibrant with mega campaigns, rapid evangelistic activities, mass retreats and a host of varied activities. Regeneration and renewal, faith and promises, gospel and evangelism, power and miracles, and praise and worship are heard so widely, from the pulpits of the evangelicals, Protestants and the Catholics alike.

Never in history, the Holy Spirit was so much a matter of discussion. Never in history, evangelistic activity had so many volunteers. Never in history gospel campaigns were so widespread and revival news heard from every corner. Indeed the gospel of the kingdom is being preached to the last and the farthest of the nations.

The only comparable occasion of such widespread revival is the post Pentecostal revival of the first century. The cloven tongues that came upon the hundred and twenty made them fireballs and that fire rapidly spread, with the result in the first two hundred years the gospel pervaded the whole known world!

This former revival and the current revival stand out as pinnacles in the history of Christendom. It is for this reason it is commonly said, ‘Pentecost was the former rain and the current revival the latter rain’!

However when we consider the essence, effect and description of the ‘former rain’ with that of the ‘latter’ in general, there is so much of a mismatch! Indeed there are many similarities between both these revivals notwithstanding there are striking contrasts too! And those who closely watch this current move are baffled like the old Isaac, ‘the voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau’. That is to say, there is so much ‘Christian’ about it all, equally there is so much ‘unchristian’ too about it. The name- the appearance- the enthusiasm- the pattern is all Christian. The attitude, the character, the spirit, the essence is contradictory.

In other words, it is very ‘Christian’ in profession yet it is far Christian in its life and pursuits. It is so ‘other worldly’ in belief, but altogether ‘this worldly’ at heart. It claims to have the right creed of faith while it is callous at the practice of faith. It zealously advocates the authority of the scriptures but ignores its statutes over life. It appears closely similar to the true stream of Christianity while it lacks the inner reality!

Paul’s Christianity was glaringly distinct and in sharp contrast to what was not christian! Remember his humorous sarcasm to Corinthians, ‘what partnership have righteousness and sin, or what fellowship has light with darkness or what harmony has Christ with Belial or what agreement has the temple of God with idols’1. The age-old glaring contrast of life, perspectives, attitudes, conduct and pursuit of a godly Christianity against a godless generation has given way to a glaring similarity! The whole congregation are now professing to be believers, confessing to be born again and claiming to be spirit- baptised. Nevertheless there is little that contrasts them with the spirit of the world rather they fade into the world!

Time has come where it is too difficult to make out between a believer and a non- believer. It has become a hard task to differentiate one who is truly born again from the one who is not. Still further it is almost a vain attempt to find out one who is genuinely spirit baptised from those who make claims about spirit baptisms!

In fact those aberrations and inconsistencies seen at large today had already emerged in principle towards the end of the former rain. It is at this backdrop Paul wrote his last letters, the Pastoral Epistles- to Timothy and Titus. We find Paul herein attempting to deal with a great crisis- the threat against the truth from within the Church.

This is why these letters are apologetic- defensive of truth in nature. And this is why it carries and leaves the great challenge, ‘fight the good fight of faith’.

It is then worthwhile to evaluate the present crisis in the context of the Pauline apologetics.

The mistake of fact Looking around, the believers are a heterogeneous group. That is to say there is so much of a discrepancy of understanding, divergence of experience and disparity of life and conduct between the clan of believers. Two believers saying, ‘I received power’ would mean two distinct things. What someone understands as ‘blessing’ is not what another understands. You hear two evangelists preaching the gospel and you find the very message and content to be essentially different. Two persons speak on worship but both do not mean or convey the same. Thus with every terms of the scripture.

The Holy Spirit is the great theme of the last hour Christianity. But the ‘Spirit’ that is taught and represented is not the same everywhere. And it is so with Jesus Christ too. Amidst many ‘Christ’ and many ‘Spirit’ it is a hard task to recognise the Christ of the scriptures and the Spirit whom Jesus promised.

You enquire of a person with a certain name and somebody directs you to a person. You find the name to be right but find the person to be wrong! It is not enough to have the right name, you need the right person!

Amidst the umpteen versions of truth ranging from fact to fiction and from truth to myth, the distinctive truth remains obscure. Herein is the great confusion of the believers. The term is the same but the fact is different. The name is the same but the person is different. And it’s a great riddle to identify the truth. Every honest seeker today is facing the great dilemma of an identity crisis!

Over and above the confusion, the danger is yet to be mentioned. Think of the great sedition Aaron did to Israel. It was the worst of evil to form the golden calf. However it was the worst of treachery to call that idol ‘Jehovah’! It was like offering poison terming it honey!

The content of gospel is manoeuvred. The subject of gospel is no more salvation and eternal life; instead it is deliverance, prosperity and blessing. How disastrous to take for granted a fraudulent fact relying on its right label!

No wonder amidst a ‘faith saturated Christianity’- ‘faith life’, faith ministry’, ‘faith missions’ and so on, the Lord said, ‘when the Son of man comes, will He find the faith on earth’.

There is a real breach at the essence of things. There is a great defection from the truth of the gospel. It is not enough to say, ‘I believe’- It really matters the substance of your faith- what you believe. Good that you had an experience! Yet it really matters the nature, the fact and the impact of your experience! You need to cross match your experience and faith and understanding with the scriptures! You need to reconcile your Christ and Holy Spirit with that of the Bible. You need to evolve your understanding and carve your life out of the scriptures! Paul names Timothy and Titus as ‘genuine’ sons of faith3. He had to qualify them as genuine sons for there were many who were ‘ingenuine’. Wherever the word is preached there is the inevitable result of tares too coming up with the genuine. That is why we see cardinal truth of the scripture qualified as- true worshippers, true grace, true holiness, true faith, true life and the like. The mystery of iniquity is far more at work in this last hour than the first hour. It is a time of great deception. It is then our solemn responsibility to ensure what we hold is true, at our eternal interest.

Misconstrued object of truth
What is most conspicuous of Christianity today is its noise and bustle. There is lot of noise- talks, arguments, preaching and teachings all around. There is lot of activity toocampaigns, conference, ministries, projects and charities.

Remember, Israel coming out of Egypt got occupied with their daily existence and miraculous provisions losing their sense of call and purpose. The same way, there is so much noise and ado in Christendom today. There is no forward direction for those who have been awakened, into the call and purpose of God. Like Israel encircled mount Seir, people enter a circular phase of moving on without reaching anywhere! And so the awakened people move on and on meeting and singing together, having a ‘nice time of enjoyment’, ‘feeling so good’ by the preachings and ‘motivated’ by ‘faith’. Not alone there has been a breach in the subject of truth but also there has been a breach in the object of truth. Truth has lost its relevance, object and purpose.

For example ‘faith and salvation’ is the inseparable kith and kin of the new covenant. The primary object of faith is salvation. But this solemn object of faith has been slowly replaced. In the place of faith unto salvation, it is faith to be successful, faith to attain ends, faith to materialise dreams, faith to receive material benefits and so on! It is no more a ‘saving faith’ but a ‘beneficial faith’. The outcome is a ‘useme’ Christianity!

It is of this faith Paul said, ‘they suppose that godliness is a means of gain’4. The popular faith is covetous and utilitarian and has produced a ‘this worldly’ Christianity.

True faith lays hold of our birthright in Christ- faith that justifies, faith that delivers us from the law and power of sin, faith that overcomes the world, faith that triumphs over our adversary, faith that transforms us to Christ, faith that enables us to live to the pleasure and honour of God, and faith that strengthens us to serve God!

Grace is another term that has lost its spiritual implication. The gratuitous benevolence of God has been taken advantage of and a popular grace with a spirit of licentiousness has filled the air. And the current version of grace provides for a ‘blanket condonation of sin’. With the result there is a permissive attitude and lose life around this ‘grace’. The multitude of believers who embrace this pseudo- grace go away and continue to sin with greater ease of conscience, live to their fleshly indulgence with greater assurance and pursue their selfish ambitions with greater conviction! No wonder this contemporary grace commends a wide following!

‘The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of our great God and saviour Christ Jesus who gave Himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works’.

Redemption is not merely a neutral act of forgiving man and acquitting him of judgement. It is positive that man is given a new birth and brought up to the sonship of God. This is the ‘redemptive will’ for man. And grace that Christ brought from heaven is granted to fulfil this redemptive will in us.

Truth too is a term that has lost spiritual application. Truth is a matter of doctrinal positions stirring heated debates in our times. It produces dogmatism, schism, exclusivism, sectarianism, elitism, cultism, hatred and enmity. To Paul, the object of truth was ‘godliness’.

Godliness is the essential impact on our life on account of knowing God. The knowledge of God leads us to an understanding of a ‘godly version’ of life. In other words life to us would more and more mean what it means to God. Our attitude, lifestyle, pursuits and ambitions radically change in the light of the knowledge of God. It is this ‘divine perspective for our life’ what the scripture speaks as ‘godliness’.

Therefore Paul maintained that all doctrine and the knowledge of truth were to result in godliness. He said that the purpose of all teaching and instruction was to lead a man to purity of heart and intention, good conscience towards God and man, and to a sincere and sound faith in the gospel thereby to the ultimate virtue of love!

Now look around and listen if you ever hear a term ‘godliness’. It is an obsolete expression to the modern Christian. How sad the ‘latter rain Christianity’ has moved away from the sacred object of truth!

Spiritual unreality
Paul warned Timothy of difficult time to come8. It is that difficult times when believers have put on a ‘form of godliness’ denying the power of godliness in their lives.

Everything has a form- an external appearance and Christianity too has. A daily time of prayer, regular church attendance, participating in spiritual activities, speaking a religious language or conducting in a religious manner, all could be a form. Having such a form essentially doesn’t ensure the person has the inner reality of spirituality.

Many do the right thing or go through the right process and assume they have the right thing. Thus many accept the ‘teaching on new birth’ or pray the ‘sinners prayer’ and consider themselves as born again. Their sense of guilt is not altogether vanished nor a deep assurance of divine acceptance or a heavenly joy filled their hearts.

They can’t heartily sing, ‘Heaven came down and glory filled my soul’. They have a form of regeneration but haven’t known the power of regeneration.

There is so much talk about power. There is ‘power conference’, ‘power ministry’ and ‘power experience’.

Power is not a physical or emotional feeling that tickles a person for a while. Power is the ‘power of resurrection’ dispensed to us through the Holy Spirit to make us a new creature. Power brings repentance to our stubborn heart, converts our stony heart into a fleshly one, delivers us from the bondage of sinful habits, plants in us Christly attitudes and transforms us to His image. Power in us gives spiritual boldness to take a stand for God, strengthens us to be living witnesses to Christ, enables us for spiritual battles and unction us for fruitful ministry! Where there is no spiritual reality, there is no power.

Thus there are forms of prayer without real prayer, forms of praise and worship without actual worship and forms of ministry without true ministry to God. But what makes the ‘form of godliness’ in the last days a most difficult time is that firstly it engulfs the whole Christendom. Secondly it misrepresents Christianity. Thirdly it replaces a pseudo- Christianity. And finally it is a sin indulgent Christianity!

It is that difficult time when the ‘arrogant, brutal and malicious gossips’ shall profess as ‘born again’! It is that difficult time when the ‘boastful, irreconcilable and without self- control’, shall stage perform the ‘Praise and worship’! It is that difficult time when the ‘conceited, unholy and unloving’ shall be the ‘anointed’ preachers of the time! And it is that difficult time when those ‘self- loving, money- loving and pleasure loving’, ‘servants of God’ shall be those representing Christ and His saving work in their generation!

No wonder if it’s become a mockery Christianity!

Truth remains distorted and perverted. The Christianity that Christ brought and apostles taught is missing. However a ‘form’ of scriptural and spiritual Christianity without power is widely present. Indeed it is an hour of crisis!

(To be continued)