IS ALREADY UNDER WAY!
Don Hawley
July 25, 2001
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Back in the first century God brought forth a movement so powerful that it "turned the whole word upside-down." We refer to it as the Christian Church. This new entity continued its triumphant march for three centuries, until Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity. He not only embraced it; he squeezed it to death. The Church went into a decline that reached its nadir in what we call the Dark Ages.
In the sixteenth century Martin Luther rediscovered the very heart of the gospel: salvation by faith. That was the first Reformation, a giant leap forward.
In the eighteenth century another great step was taken when the Church rediscovered personal intimacy with Christ. That has been referred to as the second Reformation.
THE THIRD REFORMATION
Now it is time for the third Reformation, and the calling out of the Army of the Lord for the final battle. The prophet Ezekiel had a stirring vision that aptly depicts this progressive work of the Lord.
The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. He led me around among the old, dry bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground. Then he asked me, "Son of man, can these bones become living people again?"
"O Sovereign Lord," I replied, "you alone know the answer to that."
Then he said to me, "Speak to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to breathe into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’"
So I spoke these words, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as they had been before. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had not breath in them.
Then he said to me, "Speak to the winds and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’"
So I spoke as he commanded me, and the wind entered the bodies and they began to breathe. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army of them. Ezekiel 37:1-10.
THE ESSENCE OF THE THIRD REFORMATION
A few weeks ago the Lord brought to my attention a book containing a message of seismic proportions. It was written by one of the greatest Christian writers of the last century, Watchman Nee. This Chinese brother spent the last 20 years of his life in prison for his faith. The slim volume that forever altered my concept of "church" is titled "The Normal Christian Church Life." Only recently has it been reprinted. (It is easy to confuse this with another wonderful book by Nee titled "The Normal Christian Life.")
Using only the Word of God as the basis for its teaching, Nee’s book deals with the following three basic questions:
After finishing only the first chapter, I knew this book contains truth of life and death import to the Church today.
Now God has placed in my hands a companion volume titled "Houses That Change the World," by Wolfgang Simson. (Since this book was published in the UK it is a bit harder to find. I obtained mine through Amazon.com.)
God always does things properly, and these two books came to my hands in the right order. Although they both deal with the same subject, they each play a separate role. Nee’s teaching outlines the fundamental aspects of the matter in a way that reminds me of the bones in Ezekiel coming together to form complete skeletons. Simson’s book fills out the picture by adding the muscle, flesh and skin, the practicalities as they apply to our own age. Together they form a complete whole—except for one vital factor.
THE LIFE-GIVING WIND
As the assembled bodies in Ezekiel needed divine wind to bring them to life, just so the biblical pattern presented in these two books will come to fullness only when breathed on by the Holy Spirit. I think it important, however, to suggest that the Spirit will not provide his empowerment until the Church wineskin faithfully reflects the pattern modeled in the Word.
There are other volumes dealing with the subject, but I do not intend to seek them out. To simply add book on book might even prove counterproductive by adding too many human perspectives. These two sources are faithful to Scripture, and provide ample insight for the concerned Christian. Once we have the necessary knowledge, then it is time to act.
I know you are busy with many legitimate activities. Nevertheless, I challenge you to put enough of them aside to allow you to carefully and prayerfully consider a message that I believe will change your life as it has mine.
Return to Spirit and Truth Ministries