THE FORERUNNER—Preparing the Way
By Arthur Wallis
“Behold, I send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple” (Mal. 3:1).
In preparation for a great visitation, God may raise up many messengers, each preparing the way of the Lord in his own appointed sphere. This is surely a day when God is looking for forerunners to blaze the trail of revival; not smooth preachers, but rugged prophets: men of the stamp of Elijah, who, with the hand of the Lord upon him, girded up his loins and ran before the king to the entrance of the royal city (1 Kgs. 18:46). Thus, he demonstrated the spiritual work he was doing as a forerunner. On Carmel Elijah had prepared the way of the Lord, and now the Lord was coming “as the latter rain that waters the earth” (Hos. 6:3).
Those whom God calls to such a ministry—and a call is essential—must be prepared for a pathway of unpopularity and misunderstanding. “You troubler of Israel” was the way Ahab addressed Elijah (1 Kgs. 8:17), and so this prophet whom God had sent to deal with the “Achans in the camp” (see Jsh. 7:25) was himself accused of being one. John the Baptist demonstrates also this element in the ministry of the forerunner. Standing alone as the champion of righteousness, he unmasked the hypocrisy of the religionists and even denounced the sin of the king upon the throne.
This man, who was “much more than a prophet,” was called to seal his ministry with his blood, yet he succeeded in preparing the way of the Lord. “Among them that are born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist” (Mat. 11:11). A forerunner must be one who can say, “I truly am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin” (Mic. 3:8).
Jeremiah was another forerunner. In a day dark with declension and judgment his fearless ministry helped to check the evils of the time, and prepare the way for a reviving that he did not live to witness, under Ezra and Nehemiah. The commission given him by the Lord is deeply significant: “I have set you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to overthrow; to build, and to plant” (Jer. 1:10). It will be noted that there is twice the emphasis on the negative element as on the positive; two thirds of his ministry was to be destructive, and only one third constructive. This is characteristic of the work of a forerunner. Stumbling blocks of iniquity have to be taken up (Isa. 57:14) and stones of unbelief have to be gathered out (Isa. 62:10) if the way of the Lord is to be prepared. The very word “prepare” contains this idea of casting out, emptying, and clearing as a field before planting. Destruction, ruthless and thorough, must precede the greater work of construction that is to follow. It takes a man who “fears no one but God and hates nothing but sin” to proclaim the message of the forerunner.
The Proclamation
The first point to note in the proclamation of the forerunner is the place of visitation. “Prepare ye in the wilderness…make straight in the desert,” cries the prophet. We should not be surprised to discover that God does not often choose the well-watered garden, the fruitful field, or the luxurious forest as the scene of a divine visitation in revival, for they have no need. He chooses rather the dry and weary land, parched and barren, whose yawning cracks plead to heaven for showers; it is here that God is pleased to come in the rain of the Spirit. The promise that “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,” expresses the very nature and purpose of revival. God therefore chooses the place which provides the greatest scope for the demonstration of that glory. When the spiritual wilderness is transformed into a paradise, men exclaim, “This is the finger of God!” They acknowledge that “the exceeding greatness of the power” that has accomplished the miracle must be of God and not of men, and so the Lord alone is exalted in that day.
“Wilderness” is that which the farmer looks upon as unworkable, and therefore hopeless. Maybe that word is a fitting description of the sphere of your spiritual activities, that which has been for so long the scene of your travail and tears, your labors and longings. When it seems a sheer impossibility that there should be a work of God there, take heed to the command, “Prepare ye in the wilderness…make straight in the desert,” for God has promised that: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isa. 35:1). Here is a message of hope for some discouraged servant. The God to whom no situation is impossible, has chosen the desert as the place in which to manifest His power and glory. “Strengthen the weak hands,” continues the prophet, “and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you….For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” (vv. 3-7).
Before this wonderful work of transformation can take place, a way must be prepared, a highway must be made straight. But who is to do it? You! “Prepare ye…the way of the Lord,” cries the forerunner. But how is it to be done? “Beginning with me” is the first step. “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called The way of holiness” (v. 8).
We need to pause to ask ourselves: Is my heart, is my life, a highway of holiness for God? Have I swept away the stones of unbelief? Have the crooked places of unrighteousness been made straight? Have I taken up the stumbling blocks of inconsistency, unreality, and worldliness? When the God of unsullied holiness moves in the irresistible power of revival, will He find in me the avenue He needs in this spiritual wilderness? If you cannot answer “Yes” to these questions, lay down this book and seek the Lord now. When revival comes it may be too late.
It was said of David Brainerd:
God could flow unhindered through him. The omnipotence of grace was neither arrested nor straitened by the conditions of his heart; the whole channel was broadened and cleaned out for God’s fullest and most powerful passage, so that God with all His mighty forces could come down on the hopeless, savage wilderness and transform it into His blooming, fruitful garden.
Here was one who truly prepared the way of the Lord in his own life, and God saw to it that His glory was revealed in revival. When it comes to the mighty movements of the Spirit, every heart is either a highway or a hindrance.
“Moving to others” sums up the next sphere in which we must prepare the way of the Lord. Revival truly begins in us, but it does not end there. There must be a sense of responsibility towards our fellow believers who do not yet feel the need or see the possibilities of the hour. “Write the vision, and make it plain…that he may run that readeth it” (Hab. 2:2). Until the vision is written others will never read; until others read, they will never run, as men with a mission, as those sent of the Spirit. The vision must be written upon our hearts, upon our lips, upon our lives, if the way of the Lord is to be prepared in the lives of others. There must be expectancy in our praying, passion in our preaching, boldness in our planning, and holiness in our living, if we are to stir the saints. We must be miniature forerunners, each in our own sphere. It is not enough to prepare the way in our own hearts, we must prepare the way in the hearts of others. This is a ministry which demands steadfastness of purpose, desire, and expectancy, for it is fraught with disappointments.
Some seem to catch the vision at once, but setbacks, delays, or opposition take their toll, and they lose that vision. Others are slow to catch fire, but once aflame they are steadfast and irresistible in their burning.
The Promise
When we have prepared the way of the Lord in our hearts, in the hearts of others, in the hearts of sinners, and in the heavenly places, then, “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him” (Psa. 50:3). We must expect a spiritual revolution if the wilderness is to be transformed into the garden of the Lord. God will see to the revolution if we will provide Him with the roadway. Herein lies the wonder of the promise. It is not our concern to transform the general situation, to deal with valleys and mountains, crooked paths and rough places, and whatever else may make up the spiritual wilderness. Give God a highway and He promises that “every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” This is the revolution of revival: the wilderness turned upside down and inside out.
God is promising that this visitation will bring a reversal of values and a transformation of conditions. The valleys, abased and despised in the eyes of men, shall be exalted. The fear of God, obedience to His word, reverence for His day, love of righteousness and truth and equity, and all the things which have become valleys and depressions, matters of no account, in the foolishness of man’s thinking, shall be exalted to a place of prominence according to God’s original intention. Similarly, mountains of pride, unbelief, materialism, worldly cares, pleasures, ambitions, and lusts shall flow down at the presence of the Lord. This is what God promises to do, in greater or lesser degree, in the visitations of revival.
Lastly, all the promise is gathered up and expressed in one final all-inclusive declaration, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” Here is the highest and holiest thing in revival, the manifestation of God, the shining forth of His glory before the eyes of men. It is the soul who, like Isaiah, has caught a glimpse of that effulgent glory—and one glimpse is enough to spoil him for all of earth—who will go forth, whatever the cost, to obey the divine command by preparing the way of the Lord, that men too may behold that glory and be changed?
[From: In the Day of Thy Power—The Scriptural Principles of Revival by Arthur Wallis].
Published at: Revival List published By Andrew Strom at: Revival School.
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