Oh that believers would become eternity-conscience! If we could live every moment of every day under the eye of God; if we did every act in light of the judgement seat; if we sold every article in light of the judgement seat; if we prayed every prayer in light of the judgement seat; if we tithed all our possessions in light of the judgement seat; if we preachers prepared every sermon with one eye on damned humanity and the other on the judgement seat – then we would have a Holy Ghost revival that would shake this earth, and that in no time at all, would liberate millions of precious souls.
It has been well said that there are only three classes of people in the world today: those who are afraid, those who do not know enough to be afraid, and those who know their Bibles. Sodom, which had no Bible, no preachers, no tracts, no prayer meetings, and no churches, perished. How then will America be spared from the wrath of the Almighty? We have millions of Bible, scores of thousands of churches, endless preachers – and yet what sin!
Men build our churches but do not enter them, print our Bibles but do not read them, talk about God but do not believe Him, speak about Christ but do not trust Him for salvation, sing our hymns and then forget them. How are we going to come out of all of this?
Church growth conferences major on being like the Church of Ephesus ignoring the fact that it was necessary to exhort that carnal Church to “put off concerning the former conversation” of the corrupt old man (Eph 4:22), “awake” from its spiritual slumber (Eph 5:14), and “put on” the neglected “armour of God” (Eph 6:11). We are Ephesians all right, but as the Ephesian Church in the Revelation, we have “left our first love”. We appease sin, but do not oppose it. To such a cold, carnal, critical, care-cowed Church, this lax, loose, lustful, licentious age will never capitulate. Let us stop looking for scapegoats. The fault in declining morality is not radio or television. The whole blame for the present degeneration and corruption lies at the door of the Church. It is no longer a thorn in the side of the world. Yet, it has not been in times popularity but of adversity that true churches have always triumphed. It is strange that we are so simple as to believe that we are presenting to men the New Testament standard of Jesus by such a substandard of Christian living.
(Adapted from “Why Revival Tarries” by Leonard Ravenhill, an evangelist in England during the first half of the last century)
