Strom, Andrew - The Coming Great Reformation

Excerpt:
Chapter One

VISIONS OF REFORMATION AND REVIVAL.

For generations now, God has been speaking to His people all over the world about the great end-times Revival, the final "harvest" that will come before the tribulation and judgement that will close this present age. On the day of Pentecost the apostle Peter declared, "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit upon ALL FLESH. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams..." (Acts 2:17). The Bible speaks of the `former' (or ear- ly) rain and also the "latter rain" (or `harvest-ripening' rain) which occurs much later, just before the wheat fields are harvested. It is this great "latter rain" outpouring of God's Spirit that we are now awaiting.

Jesus spoke of the harvest as being the "end of the age" (Matt 13:39). In the parable of the tares and the wheat He declared that at the time of this end-time harvest He would cause the `tares' (or false wheat) to be separated from the true wheat. The true wheat would be gathered into His barn, but the false wheat would be gathered into bundles and burnt. We are now living in the days that will see the dramatic fulfillment of this parable, first in the church (for judgement must first begin at the house of God - 1 Peter 4:17) and then in the world. This `tares and wheat' parable should be a very disturbing and significant one for the end-time church to contemplate, and in many ways it is central to some of the awesome (and sometimes shocking) things that God has shown us here in New Zealand regarding the immediate future of the church.

Some Christians have opposed the idea that there will be any great Revival at the end of the age. They point out that according to the Scriptures, the end-times church will be in a state of almost complete spiritual bankruptcy - materialistic, carnal, lukewarm - "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God". Surely such a church would be in no state to bring in such a great `harvest' in Jesus' name? And in this respect we have to admit that WHAT THEY ARE SAYING IS ABSOLUTELY REASONABLE AND CORRECT. Indeed, the Scriptures on the subject are universal in the picture they paint of an end-times church that is virtually apostate and Laodicean in every respect. How can such a church ever be part of the greatest Revival in history? The answer to this question is very simple: IT CAN'T!