Getting “caught up” in an obsession with seeing how many phrases I could find ending in the word “up,” I decided that might have been just an idea from my little peanut brain, rather than an answer to prayer for a subject. However, this morning while searching another much more serious subject for this column, this little poem by R. G. Lee, a past three-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention, just “happened to be” on the same page as information about the possible future destruction of America:
Revival will come
“If all the sleeping folk will wake up,
If all the lukewarm folk will fire up,
If all the dishonest folk will confess up,
If all the disgruntled folk will cheer up,
If all the depressed folk will cheer up,
If all the estranged folk will make up,
If all the gossipers will shut up,
If all true soldiers will stand up,
If all the dry bones will shake up,
If all the church members will pray up…
Then we can have a revival!”
by L. Agnes Russell
The Bible is clear that this world will be burned up, (II Peter 3:10), after a time of great tribulation, and that only those who stay true to God and His Son Jesus Christ, refusing to worship the satanic antichrist, will be saved (see Revelation 12:11; 13:8; 13:16-18 and 14:9-11). God’s Word also proclaims in Joel 2:28, 31 and 32, “I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh…before the great and the terrible day of the LORD shall come… And whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered…” This was partially fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, recorded in the Book of Acts; however, the Spirit was only poured out on some, not all flesh at that time. We are looking for and praying to have a worldwide revival or outpouring, and another “Great Awakening” for America.
Jesus said in Luke 21:28, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Go back and read from verse 24 down through 28, to see what we are beginning to experience now. He also promises our escape in verse 36, if we stay prayed up and are “accounted worthy.” We do not know when the Lord shall come; we only know for sure that He will, based on the fact that He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies when He came the first time. There have been many more fulfilled, not the least of which is Jewish people being given their own state of Israel in the place they had been given by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, thousands of years ago; where they had been ousted almost 2000 years ago.
When He does come, “…the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord,” I Thessalonians 4:16, 17. We must wake up, and be filled up, as the five foolish virgins failed to do in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25.
First, we must wise up, in several ways. As many have written and preached, the first thing we must do to save our lives, our souls, our spirits, is to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” Acts 16:31. Then begin to follow up by praying, seeking God and His will, and reading up on how to live pleasing to God and other subjects, including prophecy in the Bible. “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery,” I Timothy 4:13, 14. This type of prophecy is personal, different from the one found in Daniel 12:3, which is part of end-times prophecy, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Go, light up your world!
Verse 15 of I Timothy 4 above gives one example of doctrine: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” Then a great promise to us is in I Corinthians 6:14, “And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by His own power.” See also James 5:15, giving a promise to being raised up from a sick bed.
Let me just list some of the others I discovered: “Building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost…” Jude 20; Live up to or “…walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” Ephesians 4:1; Free up time for God, give up money for God and “…offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,” (See Romans 12:1, Hebrews 11:6 and 13:15, 16, 21). Lift Jesus up, don’t be puffed up, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up,” James 4:10. Also, see Isaiah 40:31, where God promises that those who “wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Clean up or purify yourself, soak up and store up the Word, as in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” Then mix up His Words with faith, as we read the Israelites did not do, in Hebrews 4:2. My life verse is Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
After getting faith and blessed assurance, rise up and go, speak up, and preach up a storm! Several times the reader is admonished to gird up his/her loins, preparing for battle, facing God or obedience to God (See I Peter 1:13-16; Jeremiah 1:17; Job 38:3; Proverbs 31:17). I am reminded of our being told to “Put on the whole armor of God…” Ephesians 6:10-18.
Finally, we should strive to store up or “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” Matthew 6:19, 21. See I Timothy 6:18, 19 which tells us how, and reiterates, “Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” Looking forward to that eternal, everlasting life, we are glad that “Death is swallowed up in victory!”
Live for Jesus! He is coming again! You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
