Next weekend, our church is having a fall revival weekend. I have been reading, praying, and meditating about revival. In my preparation, I have been reading some of A.W.Tozer's writings (If you’re not familiar with him, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tozer).He had a knack, a powerful knack, at cutting through a lot of fog to give a clear assessment at what's wrong with many a church (and many a Christian, too). A friend loaned me a little booklet entitled Paths to Power which basically says without obedience, all our talk about faith is just talk, and that the Holy Spirit won't do a thing if we are blatantly, consistently disobedient.
Just do the next thing you know you should do to carry out the will of the Lord. If there is sin in your life, quit it instantly. Put away lying, gossiping, dishonesty, or whatever your sin may be. Forsake worldly pleasures, extravagance in spending, and vanity in dress, in your car, in your home. Get right with any person you may have wronged. Forgive everyone who may have wronged you. Begin to use your money to help the poor and advance the cause of Christ. Take up the Cross and live sacrificially. Pray, attend the Lord's services. Witness for Christ, not only when it is convenient but when you know you should. Look to no cost and fear no consequences. Study the Bible to learn the will of God and then do His will as you understand it. Start now by doing the next thing, and then go on from there.
Tozer wouldn’t say these are works in addition to faith; he’d say this is what true faith is, a trust in God that results in continuing obedience. He would remind us that James is clear when he writes, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."(2:17)
Can anyone watching you, and listening to you, figure out that you really have faith in Christ? Do you want to obey God more and more? Is you life characterized by a faith-initiated, truth-enlightened, Spirit-empowered obedience that is transforming you into someone who does life more and more like Jesus Christ and less and less like the world?
If you want to have a daily dose of Tozer, go to:
http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/devotions.jsp
2 comments:
Wow! TOZER? I’m impressed. I'm glad I scrolled down, I love Tozer. What a great post! finally, some meat to chew on. As to the Tozer comment you quoted that "We need no new movement ... to show us the way. It is before us as clear as a four-lane highway." I would tend to agree, but that assumes a level of knowledge of the truth that many churches are afraid to teach. "My people perish for lack of knowledge" (Hoshea 4:6). So, wether we need a “new movement” may depend. It may depend on how far we have moved away from the truth, (if we ever knew it at all). Maybe we need a “new movement” to get us back to our old principles. One of my favorite quotes from Tozer is, “To escape the error of salvation by works we have fallen into the opposite error of salvation without obedience.”
Anyway, thanks so much and God bless you for the inspiring and invigorating post.
Tozer is great, some of the other STUFF is a corny waste of christian time. (One persons opinion)!
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