"With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of
religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost
our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God
in adoring silence... It is impossible to keep our moral practices
sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous
or inadequate. If we could bring back spiritual power to our lives, we
must begin to think of God more clearly as He is."
A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of God
O Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Isaiah 6:5
The great need in every generation is for a true knowledge of God. Without this knowledge, the world loses its sense of meaning and the church falls into a state of apathy. Much of the church has fallen into that state today. There is a need for a great revival among God's people. Revival brings us as God's people back to our original purpose. It causes the Christian to worship God in simplicity and with the devotion from the depths of his heart. The child of God is placed on the highway of holiness, because he has tasted the holiness of God.
As the church prepares to enter the twenty-first century, it needs a fresh wind of revival. We must recapture that original purpose: to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). Many Christians in this generation are like the Ephesian Christians Jesus addressed in Revelation 2. The Ephesians had endured difficult circumstances and had remained orthodox in their faith. But Jesus told them they needed to repent, because they had left their first love. They needed the word of revival to rekindle in their hearts the flame of worship and adoration of the Lord Jesus.
Today it is not much different. There is evidence that the church in this generation needs a similarly great awakening. Five signposts point us to the need of that awakening.
Signpost 1: Having an Improper View of Circumstances
The church of Ephesus had gone through great trials and difficult circumstances. Yet they had lost sight of the loveliness of the Lord Jesus in the midst of difficulties. Had they held Him near in those times of trouble, it could never have been said of them, "You have left your first love" (Rev. 2:4)
We, too, fail to hold the Lord near in our times of trouble. We need to heed the words of Thomas a Kempis, who said, "Shut thy door upon thee and call unto Jesus, thy love. When Jesus is nigh all goodness is nigh and nothing seemeth hard; but when He is not nigh all things are hard. If Jesus speaks one word, there is great comfort. To be without Jesus is a grievous hell, and to be with Jesus is a sweet paradise. If Jesus be with thee, there may be no enemy hurt thee."
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