There are many reasons people come into the church today without
entering by the highway of holiness. Many seek a feeling rather than
the Lord God Himself. Charles Finney, the great American revivalist,
said:
Many excitements which are taken for
revivals of religion, after all result in very little substantial
piety, simply because excitement is too great. Appeals are made too
much on feelings….a tornado of excitement results, but not intelligent
action of the heart. The will is swept along by a tempest of feeling.
The intelligence is rather, for the time, being stultified and
confounded than possessed with clear views of truth. Now this certainly
can never result in good.
In 1980, my wife was planning to make her first trip to Romania with
me. She was aware of the revival taking place there, so she studied
God's holiness during her quiet time. One evening she confided that God
was dealing with her life in a deep way. As we talked about the
holiness of God for the next three or four days, the Holy Spirit
performed a work of deep repentance in our hearts. As we saw the
holiness of God we saw also our failures of the past, of which we had
not confessed and repented.
Paul was also branded by humility. Moths could not corrupt this
God-given robe. He never fished for praise with humility's bait, but in
the long line of sinners put himself first (where we would have put him
last).
Many believers today are fearful to discuss humility. Yet, we must
discuss it if we're to be serious about God sending spiritual
awakening. Augustine encouraged the church to set about getting
humility as her chief characteristic. There's no way for the wind of
revival to blow across the nations without humility in the hearts of
God's people.
