As we enter the second decade of this millennium, we don’t know what religious controversies lie ahead, although there do seem to be clues that the debate over Calvinism will probably intensify, and the issue of a state church may be revived before the end of the century. Throughout all the years that the church has been in existence, apologists for countless different views, both important and unimportant, have waged war, each hoping to establish his view as the truth, and no mortal man can know for sure exactly what is going to face us in the next few years.

This article is part of a series.

God gave Old Testament Israel the Law, His commands for them to follow. The Law basically seems to consist of two different parts, the national law for Israel as a nation, and the personal law for each follower of God in the nation (and also for those of other nations who would follow God with the Israelites).

This is the first article in a series on the Kingdom of God.

The “Lord’s Prayer” contains a beautiful expression of our desire for revival, both in our lives and in the church, when it says, “Thy kingdom come.” Revival is simply the time when we enter the kingdom of God, and revival continues as we continue to live in the kingdom. “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” The Pharisees hoped for a physical kingdom, a visible realm with government and territory. But Jesus explained that the true kingdom would not come this way. It would not be seen, but would consist of people whose lives God had quickened, people who had found revival.

I believe that the most important issue facing us in the rest of this century, will not be tongues, Calvinism, works, war, liberalism, modernism, evolution, false religions, or ethics. It’s an issue you may have never even thought about, because it’s come in undercover. While Christians have been attacking errors all over, this one has come in so slowly, so carefully, that it’s broken in all over Christianity, even in conservative circles.

During the Christmas season, the phrase “Peace on Earth” is sometimes displayed. It is probably taken from what the angels said to the shepherds when telling them about the birth of Christ.

In the past years, claims about the Holy Spirit’s work have spread across the entire world. Many have professed to have had the Holy Spirit work in their lives through “tongues” and other emotional experiences, and the “gifts of the Spirit” have received a lot of publicity.

Reading the gospels, we may get the idea that when Jesus healed people, He simply spoke, and, just because of His great power, the person was healed. No cost, no pain, no trouble. That’s how we would like to start revival in our churches, too.

Revival is a word that is never mentioned in the Bible. Revive and reviving occur nine times in the Old Testament, and never in the New Testament. Yet the concept is definitely spread across the entire Scripture. There are a number of dictionary definitions, but when we speak about revival in a Scriptural sense, it basically means that we are dead or weak, but God infuses new life and strength into us and empowers us. “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?”

I remember listening once to part of a recorded lecture from a supposedly conservative Christian college that would have openly proclaimed a belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. It’s been years now since I heard the lecture, but I still remember it clearly, because it had such an effect on me. The teacher was speaking about a verse in I John, and he declared in front of his students that this verse did not belong in the Scriptures.

To the Pharisees, ritual and ceremony were the most important parts of religion. To them, paying tithes, offering sacrifices, praying publicly, and other such things, which were done as a ceremony, as a demonstration, were the central focus of religious experience.