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Signpost 4: Orthodoxy Without Devotion
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There's is a fourth signpost that reveals our need to return to our
first love. It's the reverse of the previous one. It is orthodoxy
without devotion. Many churches are filled with people who believe the
right things about God but have lost their devotion to God.
I once preached in a church in London, where I was reminded of the need for whole-hearted devotion in our worship of God. At the conclusion of the service, I was greeting people at the entrance of the church. A teenage girl leaving the church was wearing a coat covered with buttons. The buttons were filled with lots of funny sayings. But one of them simply said, "Boring!"
I thought to myself, I have seen a lot of Christians leave churches without any buttons, but they have had "boring" written across their hearts and faces. Great damage has been done to the name of Christ by half-hearted, lukewarm Christians who appear to be worshipping. It's this type of worship that will cause the church to lose the battle for the souls of future generations. It's absolutely outrageous that we teach our children that the place where we worship Jesus Christ is the place where we catch an hour's nap during the worship time.
The church of Laodicea is described as one that was neither hot nor cold. It was lukewarm. God said to them, "I will spit you out of My mouth" (Rev. 3:16). Half-hearted lukewarm worship breaks the heart of God because it is not true worship. Many claim to believe that Jesus is the "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace" spoken of by the prophet Isaiah (9:6) yet only irreverently and half-hearted do they tip their hats to Him one hour of the week. Theirs is perhaps the worst form of hypocrisy in which a Christian can involve himself.
A wind of revival must blow across the children of God to reawaken us to the glory of the Lord Jesus. If we are to be true worshipers, we must embrace with our whole hearts the fact that our only hope is Jesus. We will then be renewed in our faith and walk with God. The great men of God in past years have been men who were both orthodox and deeply devoted to the Lord Jesus. One of them was George Whitefield, who was mightily used in the first Great Awakening in America. Bishop J.C. Ryle said of him, "he was a man of burning love to our Lord Jesus Christ."
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