The Puritan Hope

Ian Murray writes ;
Today the church's hope in respect to her mission of discipline all nations is in eclipse.

The world gives Christianity no future and evangelicals themselves doubt whether the cause of Christ can ever attain to a greater triumph before His second advent.

Must the prospects for succeeding generations be darker than those of today?

Can we even expect any period of history to intervene before the advent of Christ?


How these questions are answered determines somewhat how we live moving forward.
Misunderstanding a verse like

4 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

The question is;
The latter times?The Last Days?
of what?

The Jewish theocracy? or a time yet future?

It makes a difference.

 

On page 43 he's quoting from Richard sibbes and he says the Jews are not yet come in under Christ banner and then he goes on to speak about the fullness of the Gentiles has not yet come in Romans 11:25 but Christ, that hath the uttermost parts of the earth given to him for possession as a Psalm 2 verse 8 will gather all the Sheep the father has given him it's a one fault that there may be one she fold and one Shepherd John chapter 10 verse 16 He says the faithful Jews Rejoice to think of the calling of the Gentiles and why should not we joy to think of the calling of the Jews?

 

Maintaining the truth that the great day for the church would be the day of Christ appearing at the End of Time, Sibbes nevertheless saw warrant for expecting what he calls lesser days before the great day he continues
as the first coming of Christ, so at the overthrow of the Antichrist, the conversion of the Jews, there will be much joy These Days make way for that day
Answering what does the larger catechism ask in the question
what do we pray for in the second Petition of the Lord's Prayer? Like Kingdom Come we pray that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in that Christ would rule in our hearts here and hasten the time of his second coming

 

On page 51 in Murray says we are now in position to see how this somewhat prolong discussion of Puritan thought on Prophecy relates to the subject of Revival. If the calling of the Jews in the white version work in the world is to occur without such cataclysmic acts as the personal Descent of Christ and the resurrection of the Saints, by what means will these blessings be brought to pass? The answer of the main Puritan School became the most important part of the Heritage which they left the posterity. It was that the kingdom of Christ with spread and Triumph through the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the church in revivals.
Such periods would come at the command of Christ, for new Pentecost would show him still to be both Lord and Christ. The whole calvinistic Theology of the Gospel, with its emphasis on the power given to Christ as mediator for the sure ingathering of the vast number of the elect, and on the persons of the Holy Spirit as the one by whom the dead are quickened dovetails in here.