Indeed, the weakest among us who we now deride as unfit for the kingdom of God, may become the very object of our persistent prayer, compassion, and labor, so that when the Son of Man comes, he may find faith on Earth.That reminded me of a passage in Zechariah: 'In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.'Now don't get me started :-) I have been putting a lot of thoughts down about revival, and what you touched upon is real important. Rather than go into the context from which I lifted this out of, I'll just quote it:One reason why revival is not a passion among God’s people is that we are not as large-hearted toward our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ as Jesus is. We tend to follow sectarian lines and pray only for our particular brand of believers or denomination. From the times of the Reformation, theologians have butted heads over election and predestination and persecuted to the death Christians who disagreed with their doctrinal stance (such as the slaughter carried out in the name of Christ against the Anabaptists). Jesus ever lives to intercede for His people, but His followers are not always as large-hearted in their intercessions for their brothers and sisters. Proper Bible-based doctrine is no doubt essential and important. I oppose the modernism of our day that takes a scissors approach to the Bible, sitting in the judge’s bench as to what is God’s Word and what is not. Nevertheless there are very few brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ today who measure up with every line item of belief and practice with every as we do. But if Jesus Christ has accepted them and lavishes His love and grace upon them, who are we to reject them? The original disciples had the same narrow-heartedness. Look at John complaining to Jesus to stop the people who were casting out demons in His name because they weren’t following them. They would rather that people remain demon-possessed than having this other group doing miracles in Jesus’ name! Jesus rebuked that kind of thinking. Paul had to contend early on with denominationalism in the church of Corinth that was splitting over carnal preferences for preachers. By contrast, Paul’s love was expressed in prayer for even churches he did not start or even meet! For example, the church of Colosse was founded by someone else, yet hearing of love and faith stirred his heart of love to intercede for them. Paul encouraged the saints in Ephesus to pray for ‘all the saints’ (Ephesians 6:18), not just some. The heart of Jesus is that His Church be one even as He is one (John 17:21). Certainly there is the man-made false unity of ecumenism and humanism, but that does not negate the true one which God has worked and is working in the Church of Jesus Christ today.\tSometimes leaders of great movement of God may be large-hearted, but their followers are more rigid and narrow-hearted. The followers of Wesley, who were strongly Arminian, once asked John Wesley about fellow evangelist George Whitfield, who was a strong Calvinist. Both men were mightily used to lead tens of thousands to Christ in their lifetime.One day someone asked Wesley if he expected to see Whitfield in heaven. The evangelist replied, ‘No, I do not believe I will see Whitfield in heaven.’‘Then do you not think Whitfield is a converted man?’‘Of course he is a converted man!’ Wesley replied, ‘I do not expect to see him in heaven-because he will be so close to the throne of God, and I will be so far away that I will not be able to see him!’ An early quotation regarding proper attitude towards other believers can be seen in this: ‘In all things necessary, unity; in all things doubtful, liberty; in all things, charity [love].’ The context in which this statement is used determines its correctness. Just as a knife can be used for preparing food or for murder, the motive in which these instruments are used makes it good or evil. Who defines the ‘all things necessary’? We can see these defined by the early church fathers in the various creeds developed. So we get basic tenets of faith expressed in ones such as the Apostles’ Creed: ‘I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth…’ We need not reinvent the wheel and come up with a new set of creeds for the essential Christian faith. All I’m trying to briefly point out is that we need to guard against is the Adamic tendency of pride in glorying in men and organizations (the one which we belong to, of course) but are unmoved with heartfelt intercession for other members of Christ’s Body, who perhaps are misguided, not as enlightened on scriptural truth and practice, or weaker than ourselves. If we are strong, we should bear the infirmities of the weak (Romans 15:1). Paul was a firm believer that God would right the wrongs of fellowships, and his energetic night and day prayer life for the people of God exemplified his belief. Have you ever held up your prayer life against this great apostle’s to see how it holds up? I have done it, and it has humbled me to the dust. But out the dust has arisen great life and expectation to be more like the Jesus I see in this great man.The difference between Jesus’ holiness and my own practical day-to-day holiness is immensely vast (infinite, perhaps?) than my personal holiness in comparison with any other brother. Yet Jesus does not cease to pray for me. Shouldn’t we have the same mind that is in Christ, especially the more we claim to be filled with His Spirit and nature? The late Richard Wurmbrand, who founded Voice of the Martyrs and suffered fourteen years in a Romanian torture camp, made an insightful comment. The Communists didn’t make the same denominational distinctions that Christians often do. They didn’t give the Baptists to their own cell and Orthodox Christians somewhere else; they were all thrown together and beaten together for their one common faith in Jesus Christ. He noted that under such dire circumstances, much of the formality of icons and religious rituals (such as held by Orthodox faith) disappeared and these people became lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ, purified through affliction. Someday we are all going to be gathered around the throne from every kindred and tongue and tribe and nation. There will be no denominations then. Must we wait until we get to heaven, or may we begin in some measure practice the Spirit of Christ now in our prayer life?
