John Rich on Dispensational Eschatology

[Ekklesian]

There is one Chick Tract that is written only for Christians called “Why No Revival?” We all come from different backgrounds with many different denominational upbringings and that would include Jack Chick who may have published some things that are questionable but I fully believe he had a desire to see lost people saved in spite of any shortcomings he may have had. Every Christian of every denomination should read this powerful booklet.

If I remember right, the answer is God’s waiting on us to do something so He can do something.

 

[Ekklesian]

In March of 1971 as an 18 year old working at a Kroger grocery store I picked up a gospel tract someone had slipped into a flower pot. I was brought up in church and was baptized in a river after repeating a prayer on a Wednesday night at ten years of age and convinced myself I was saved because of that. No work of grace was done in my heart and I could lie and steal with impunity. I had no desire to live for Jesus or read my Bible or anything else that would indicate a born again experience had taken place. I put that gospel tract in my pocket and read it when I got home and was brought under tremendous conviction, realizing from the depths of my soul that if I died that night I would go straight to hell. I didn’t get saved until a couple of weeks later but it was that particular gospel tract God used to show me my sinful heart. That gospel tract was “This Was Your Life.” The current version has a copyright date of 1972 but that is a revised edition that changed the invitation at the end of the booklet.

I will go on to say this. I believe too many Chick tracts are outright ridiculous in the scenarios they present and I strongly disagree with their KJV only teaching even though I knew nothing other than the KJV when I got saved. I believe “This Was Your Life” is a good tract and it is the only one I will ever use from that ministry and on every one I use I put the Living Waters address for contact information.

I hear this kind of thing a lot, but I think what is happening more than not is that the believer is simply coming into maturity.

1Co 3:1-3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [even] as unto babes in Christ... For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

 

[Baptist Renegade]

If I remember right, the answer is God’s waiting on us to do something so He can do something.

Agreed. Chick's "Revivalist" position is very much problematic and unscriptural and "Finneyesque!" We are unable to manufacture revivals but we are to seek out the Lord, to humble ourselves before him, and turn from our wicked ways! These actions are very much on us but do not mean that doing such things automatically guarantees "Revival" to happen!

 

[biscuit1953]

Agreed. Chick's "Revivalist" position is very much problematic and unscriptural and "Finneyesque!" We are unable to manufacture revivals but we are to seek out the Lord, to humble ourselves before him, and turn from our wicked ways! These actions are very much on us but do not mean that doing such things automatically guarantees "Revival" to happen!

“Revival ought to be acknowledged and promoted.” Jonathan Edwards

“When Christians are revived they live more consistently, they make their homes more holy and more happy, and this leads the ungodly to envy them, and to enquire after their secret. Revival begins by Christians getting right first and then spills over into the world.” Charles Spurgeon

“When revival comes to a church or community, piety is reformed. People start to live like they profess. Instead of blending in with their cultural surroundings, God’s people stand out. They return to God and reform their ways. They pursue faithfulness to the word, not the fashions of the world. So what is true revival? It is not generic spirituality, mere emotionalism, or utopian idealism. True revival is marked by a rediscovery of the word of God, a restored sense of the fear of God, a return to God through confession and repentance, a renewed spiritual commitment as God’s people, and, finally, a reformation of true piety.” Kevin DeYoung

What Is True Revival? | Clearly Reformed

What are Christians to make of the Asbury Revival? This blog post outlines biblical examples of spiritual renewal through the ages.

clearlyreformed.org

What the tract was saying is nothing more than what other Christian leaders in the past have said. It has nothing to do with Charles Finney’s method of getting people to walk an aisle which can sometimes lead people to a false assurance of salvation because of the physical act of “taking that one step for Jesus” so they don't leave the service lost.

 

[biscuit1953]

“I hear this kind of thing a lot, but I think what is happening more than not is that the believer is simply coming into maturity.”

The believer coming to maturity has nothing to do with passing from death unto life. The night I put my trust in Christ alone for salvation was when God changed my heart and gave me a desire to live for him. Jesus made it very clear that many who profess to be Christians will hear the most frightening words imaginable, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt 7:21-23).

The apostle Paul warned the Corinthians to examine themselves as to whether they were in the faith (not made a profession) unless they be found to be reprobates, or someone who has failed the test (2 Cor 13:5). Paul also made it clear that those who practice sinful lifestyles as many professing Christians openly do today would not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9-10). The apostle James gives a clear teaching on a faith that doesn’t affect one’s actions, likening a dead faith to that of demons who fear and tremble even though they “believe” (James 2:19).

And finally, the prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” I was a lost church member for several years believing in a false assurance of salvation because of my deceitful heart, having no desire to live for God and using Jesus as a fire escape from hell and nothing more. All who profess to be Christians should take these warnings seriously.