Deception Undone

Introduction

Despite the disaster laden apocalyptic “signs of the times” (Matt 16:3) declaring the End is nigh, the average Australian remains blind and deaf to God’s Word. Our compatriots have been placed, by God, under “a strong delusion” (2 Thess 2:11). This means we can wrestle with God to change his mind from pouring out wrath (Ex 32:14; Col 4:12). In the light of such things I have been pressing Jesus about why he seems unwilling to share more of his saving life with us. An unexpected answer came at our Perth Prayer meeting Tuesday.

Breakdown

As we began to pray one brother was chatting with a young man who’d dropped into the foyer of the church in the midst of a crisis involving a stillborn child and separation in the family. After a short time of praise and worship this man totally broke down in tears pleading with the Lord to save this young man. A short time later as one of our female members was praying for the salvation of the lost in the city she dissolved in tears as well. Then I saw clearly that the Spirit of the Lord was visiting us with a message for the whole Body of Christ. A broken-hearted Church will see a mighty saving move of God.

Embrace His Pain

It is natural for sinners condemned to death (Rom 6:23) to turn form the pains which speak of the inescapable sentence of mortality. For the deceived, ongoing pain means defeat. But Jesus has changed everything, “in Christ”, pain issues in victory (Rom 8:37).  Sharing in the pains of Christ is the greatest gift ever given to humanity. Receiving from the Lord brokenness for others leads in turn to wholeness for them as an expression of his death and resurrection. A death experience in us means a resurrection encounter for them. This pattern is integral to the New Testament. “death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2 Cor 4:12), “I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.” (Eph 3:13), “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col 1:24). Voluntary suffering for others is redemptive. Our society understands this in a temporal way; we honour military people, firefighters and surf lifesavers who lay down their lives for others. But rarely do lost people see such powerful pain on their behalf in the lives of those who say they believe in Jesus! We need a weeping revolution.

The Weeping God

“Jesus wept” (John 11:35) carried prophetic power not only for the raising of Lazarus, but for the resurrection us all. Just as surely, Christ’s tears over obstinate of Jerusalem mean a new city will shine with his splendour forever (Luke 19:41-42; Rev 21:9-11). And the “ground at the foot of the cross” is a place of kneeling submission to his universal Lordship (Phil 2:10) because it has been softened by his blood. Christ’s passion of Christ reveals that God is a broken-hearted Father. The power of this testimony can change any spiritual climate.

Tears Soften the Soil

Paul shared and pleaded “with (many) tears” (2 Cor 2:4 cf. Acts 20:19, 31; Phil 3:18). “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart….for the sake of my brothers” (Rom 9:2-3). Through heartache for others divine power is released. When the crying woman in Perth Prayer wept about the hard ground of the city I knew that as her tears fell hard hearts were being softened. It was like we were back in the days of the great preacher George Whitfield, who often wept whilst preaching. One day he was confronted by a man who had brought stones in his pocket to throw at him; “I came…intending to break your head, but your sermon got the better of me: It broke my heart.” Whitfield’s listeners found it difficult to hate a man who openly wept so much over their souls and themselves often dissolved in a flood of tears. I’ll never forget the story told by a friend after she visited a prayer house in Mongolia. She could see where its floorboards had been stained with tears. Of course, Mongolia is enjoying a move of God.

Too Hard

Despite its expertise in distractions, our society is failing utterly to deal with the dimensions of pain overtaking it. Abortion is therapeutic, euthanasia is the easy way out, especially for those engulfed by mental illness. Very few Australians will allow themselves to be touched by the depth of utter hopelessness that drives a young person into the outer darkness of suicide. As for Indigenous folk plunged from birth into toxic shame, this is way beyond any natural response. Only supernatural suffering in Christ for others, redemptive suffering, can deliver our nation from apocalyptic terrors and spiritual paralysis.

Conclusion

Any parent who has grieved over a lost child intuitively knows the teaching of this article is correct. Thankfully, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!” (Ps 126:5) is a promise of resurrection life. As my brother and sister broke down in tears at Perth Prayer it could sense how the Spirit rushed to empower Jesus in his labours to save a lost humanity. It was this Spirit who was outpoured at Pentecost breaking the hearts of those who heard the gospel; “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). When the Lord gifts us with tearful broken hearts there will be a transplant from inside the Church to a lost world of the revelation of the broken-hearted Father. The deception will be undone, and multitudes will be swept into God’s kingdom. May God grant us a weeping revival. Amen.