I am at present reading a book that was first published in Great Britain in 1932!
It is a 'spiritual novel' if you will allow me to call it that - the story of a church that had become lukewarm in it's preaching, teaching, and the Christian walk of its members - it reminded me very much of the Church of God all over the western world to-day...
The name of this book is "A Modern Pentecost", and the author is, or was, Charles E Robinson.
I think it was more than coincidence that I chanced upon this book at our church library immediately after the last devotion that I wrote on this blog...
Anyway, the story goes that the church board decided to invite a pastor to take charge of the specific congregation as they had been without a pastor for a while, and this newly invited pastor, certain Dr. Rollins, set before the church executive a set of seven points that the congregation would have to agree to in order for him to consider accepting the invitation to become the pastor of the congregation.
I quote the seven points hereunder:
"1. The Bible is to be taken as God's Word and therefore true, and no one will be permitted to dispute anything in it.
2. The church is in the serious business of soulsaving, and this business every member must work at. No enterprises for money-making will be engaged in.
3. It is a function of the church to find and minister to the poor of the entire community; and to bring the gospel message to all, by the printed page. It must also look after poor brethren, and strive to love back into active service any erring ones.
4. This will call for a force of deaconesses and assistant pastors, and, in time, for the erection of a school in which workers can be trained.
5. All this will make necessary large financial resources, and because of this all of us must live economically and bring into the church treasury such of our income as we can spare, never less than a tenth.
6. Because allowing members who live worldly or wicked lives to remain in the church would seriously hamper the work of soul-saving, such persons must either repent and live rightly, or have their unworthiness published.
7. Prayer is to be recognised as the means of releasing the power of God for the running of the church, and daily meetings for prayer will be held." (Quoted from : A modern pentecost, Chas E Robinson, page 72)
I was challenged by the above. Are you? Do we live according to these principles; this foundation?
The book carries on to tell how members of the church were first taught that in order to pray to God for miracles, they needed first to believe that God could perform the miracles that they prayed for, and in order to believe that God could perform such miracles they had to be able to establish from the Word of God that it was reasonable to expect that God would do such miracles.
They were also taught that any unrepented sin would automatically cloud their ability to believe that God could do what they asked of Him and therefore it was of the utmost importance that they would live lives that were holy and wholly committed to the Lord and that each prayer would start by praising God for who He is, thanking Him for what He had already done, including the sacrifice on the cross, and then to repent of any and all sin that they might have committed since their previous prayer session, BEFORE asking ANYTHING of God. Only once they believed that God had heard and answered their prayers for forgiveness and were reasonably assured according to the Word of God that they had reason so to believe, could they proceed to ask God for the miraculous!
I ask that you think about this... I challenge myself and you to think and pray about it... I challenge myself and you to live according to these principles and to talk about them and incorporate them into your congregation and to see what God will do in and through our lives!
Will you accept the challenge?
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were
cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,
I will vomit you out of My mouth. Rev. 3:15-16
Are you cold? Hot? Lukewarm?
Father God, thank you for your precious Son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. Father, will you, for Christ's sake, please forgive every unrepented sin to this minute, and help us to live holy and wholly commited lives to Your glory and honour and to the extension of Your Kingdom on earth. We thank You in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
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