Introduction
Before leaving on my prayer journey to the United States[1], I wanted to write an article on a direction I sense God is leading the global church. (To be honest, one of the reasons for writing now is that I don’t want anyone to think I’m copying something I first picked up in America.)
Interpreting the biblical symbols listed in the heading, the harp stands for praise – worship, the bowl for prayer- intercession, and the nations means world mission. At the intersection of these three axes we will see the outgrowth of world revival.
Discerning a Pattern
The vision central to our theme is found in Revelation 5[2];
“6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they reign on the earth[3].”” (Rev 5:6 – 10)
The Lamb is pictured as a generating centre of praise and prayer from which dominion over the nations flows[4]. This teaches that we should not focus on praise, prayer and mission as our first priorities, but on Jesus himself. Worship, prayer and evangelism are drawn out of believers as they behold an inspiring vision of the heavenly Christ.
The Lamb and the Harp
Australia is called to become a leader in global Christian worship from a missiological foundation[5]. It is a necessary truth that the greater the exaltation of Christ the further the expansion of the kingdom of God. This is not a statement about the intensity of singing[6] but sacrificial devotion.
“What goes deeper to the conscience goes widest to the world.” (P.T. Forsyth). What impacts the conscience is the blood of the Lamb[7], a conscience free from guilt and shame spontaneously and boldly wills to serve God without the hindrance of fear[8]. Gratitude for sins forgiven is the greatest motivation for praise and testimony[9].
Paul says, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” (2 Cor 3:18). Since an essential aspect of the image of Jesus is that he was “sent” by the Father[10], the more we see who Jesus is as we praise him the more we will share in his experience of being sent[11]. We are about to go through a spiritual megashift from thinking about “worship” in terms of my personal feelings of well – being to a deliberate place of connecting with the Christ who sends in the power of the Spirit[12].
The Bowl
The connection between the incense filled bowls and Christian prayer is explicit in John’s heavenly vision[13]. The background is Psalm 141:2, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!”[14] This expresses the ability of intercession to evoke the favour of God, all of which is grounded in the cross. “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph 5:2).
The context in Revelation 5 makes it clear that the saints on earth are not praying for their personal satisfaction. They are asking for the glory of God amongst the nations[15]. This is what is so pleasing to the Father that it is carried in golden bowls before his throne. Prayer for the conversion of the nations will soon become a central focus of the life of the people of God, locally and globally.
The Nations
We are about to enter into a new and final phase of world mission[16]. In the bible, mission never falls into the realm of duty but arises out of a radical encounter with the risen Christ. We are about to witness a shift from the principle of “the Great Commission”[17] to a powerful awareness in the Spirit of the presence of the Great Commissioner, Jesus. This is what will make the difference in motivation for mission.
The Moravians of the eighteenth century were the pioneers of the modern Western missionary movement. Their slogan, coined by young men who deliberately sold themselves into life- slavery to bring the gospel to an unreached people group, was
“May the Lamb who was slain, receive the reward for His suffering!” This movement spread out in all directions from Europe sustained by 100 years of continuous prayer, and vital worship. As believers are immersed in the pleasure of God and sense the promise, “how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col1:27), this spirit is about to be released again.
The Greatest Obstacle: Mammon
Currently, 24 billion US dollar is embezzled every year and stolen out of the pocket of the church by its own staff. This is two billion more than the entire world’s giving for global mission. If this process goes ahead unchecked, theft within the church by the church, will reach 65 billion by AD 2025.[18]
Love of money[19] has unashamedly become a part of the Western church scene in a way that would have appalled our spiritual ancestors. God is about to move against this abomination; he is especially going to delight doing it here in Western Australia, fast becoming one of the wealthiest corners of the globe. He will break it in the same way as he breaks all idolatry[20], by releasing us from the root cause of money –worship, shame[21]. This will come through a new revelation of the gospel of Christ: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation” (Rom1:16).
With this release will come an abounding of “simple church” structures[22]. With cost per baptism currently at an extraordinary 349,000 US dollars, the Spirit is moving the church into expressions that are light, mobile and can meet anywhere at any time through every sector of society.
Conclusion
We are about to be gripped by awareness that the slain Lamb is worthy to receive “the treasures of all nations” (Hab 2:7)[23]. This will release a desire for the glory of God in Christ that will find spontaneous expression in the 3 axes of praise, prayer and mission. In this milieu the church will be continually empowered because it will rediscover and re- experience the truth of the presence of Jesus in the doxological context[24] of the Great Commission, “make disciples of all nations….And behold, I am with you always[25], to the end of the age.”” (Matt 28:18,20).
[1] To the International House of Prayer in Kansas City for a Joseph Company marketplace leaders retreat. Please pray for the four of us who are going.
[2] The theme is in the book from its beginning, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.” (Rev 1:5- 6).
[3] Some manuscripts read “they will reign”, there are good reasons however to believe the present tense, believers are now reigning with Christ, is to be preferred; compare Rev 1:6; 20:1- 6.
[4] Similar imagery occurs later in the book, particularly 14:1- 3; 15:2- 3, where the Lamb is followed by singers and harpists who acknowledge his rule of the nations.
[5]Whilst admitting diversity in e.g. Hillsong, such as Darlene Zschech’s “Worthy is the Lamb,” the centre of the dominant cultural matrix of the most influential songs is not Jesus himself but the personal devotion of the worshipper. The “I love/worship/am devoted to you” emphasis is non- missiological.
[6] Football crowds and rock concerts can produce this.
[7] “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Heb 9:14; see also 1 Pet 1:19;Rev 7:14;12:11).
[8] Paul illustrates this by describing his own motivation in ministry, “the love of Christ controls us…. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” (2 Cor5:14, 20)
[9] See especially, “Her great love shows her many sins have been forgiven. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (Luke 7:47).
[10] There are numerous references to this, especially in John (3:34;4:34;5:23, 30, 36 etc.).
[11] “Jesus said… “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”” (John 20:21)
[12] This is integral to the motto, “What the cross cleanses the Spirit fills”, i.e. fills to witness (Acts 1:8).
[13] “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Rev 5:8)
[14] Acts of devotion functioning as sacrifices are also present in the New Testament, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”(Heb 13:15).
[15] See Revelation 2:26; 12:5; 15:3- 4;21:24 – 26; 22:2.
[16] “Final” in the sense of anticipating the imminent return of Jesus because the days of the Spirit are the last days (Acts2:17; 1 Cor10:11).
[17] In the sense of an impersonal principle (or axiom/law) that Christians feel bound to obey.
[18] joelnews.squarespace.com/thisweek/the-status-of-global-mission-in-2007.html
[19] “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils” (1 Tim6:10).
[20] “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Col 3:5; compare Eph 5:6).
[21] Since shame is a loss of glory, money and what it brings is an attractive substitute for inner emptiness (Rom3:23;1:23; Gen2:25; 3:7).
[22] See the work of Neil Cole on organic church, http://www.cmaresources.org/ and the review at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_church
[23] Compare Revelation 21: 22 – 26“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations.”
[24] Doxology means to give God praise and glory.
[25] In the structure Matthew’s Gospel, the foundational statement about the identity of Jesus, ““they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us)” (1:23), is fulfilled in his final command, “make disciples…”.