Revelation 2:1-5 – “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 “ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

THEME OF THE DAY: FIXING OUR NATION’S PROBLEMS BEGINS WITH THE CHURCH. We live in an increasingly ungodly country. Once sacred God-defined institutions like marriage are being redefined to fit the sinful passions of fallen humanity. Lifestyles God calls “abominations” are celebrated as human freedoms. The horrific devaluing of human life in the push for assisted suicide and the murders of millions of babies are attacks on the Author and Finisher of life. And the impact such overt wickedness has on the church is significant. The church is failing to be on her mission. She is called to be salt and light in a decaying culture, yet, the impact by Christians and the church of Christ is minimal. Christians are succumbing to worldliness, materialism, selfishness, and an indifference to the commands of God to seek personal holiness and do the work of the Gospel. And the results are a paralyzing church incapable of being distinct points of Gospel light in a very dark culture. Yet, we are not hopeless. Such dark times are not new in history. During such times as the Protestant Reformation (16th century) and the 1st Great Awakening (18th century), God moved His people to seek His face and He graciously sent reformation and revival. And He may do that again, but it will require at least two things from us who know Christ. Now these are not methods to create revival. There are none. God is sovereign and that includes revival. He sends it when He wills. We cannot manipulate Him to do so. However, there are two things found in God’s people which often led Him to send the only hope for us, our nation, our churches, and our families – revival.

First, we must see the chief sinful condition, not in our nation, but in our churches, even in ourselves. Much of society’s problems are due to the church of Jesus Christ not being the church of Jesus Christ. When Christians and churches are not Gospel-centered salt and light carriers, a nation dies. And what is this sinful condition? The loss of first love for the Lord Jesus – the worst condition the people of God may find themselves. In the letters to the churches of the Revelation, the first one went to a church solid doctrinally, active in service, but received the greatest condemnation a church and people may ever receive from the Lord – loss of first or priority love for Him. And it is important we recognize this sinful condition. The characteristics of such a sad life are no desire for prayer, neglect of the Bible, inconsistency in church attendance, no passion to know the Lord, no burden for the unsaved, no hunger to be like Christ, no eager anticipation of seeing Jesus, and no yearning for fellowship with other believers for spiritual growth. The chief cause of loss of first love is worldliness. Allow the world to creep into our lives, and the Spirit gets grieved, the Word is ignored, obedience neglected, and soon, we are Christians in name only. Gone is the reality and beauty of a living relationship with the Lord Jesus and gone is our influence in the world. Horatius Bonar said, “I went into the world to find the church but instead, I went into the church and found the world.” Friends, we will never reach and change the world if we are like the world.

After recognizing the loss of first love for Jesus, the second thing we do is seek the Lord for the only answer to our ills – revival and that by fervent prayer. Trace the history of revivals. We will not find one which was not preceded by intense, prolonged, agonizing prayer by God’s people with God’s people. What about us? Imagine if God rested the sending of revival on us as individuals in prayer; prayer marked by intense pleading, repentance, confession, and a “will not let go” practice. Would it come? Obviously, God doesn’t work this way, but each of us, no matter our lot and roles in life, hold a responsibility to be a prayer warrior toward revival. Our nation’s problems will not be healed by any man-made solution or election. It will be by revival. May God help us be agents of it, individually and collectively.

PRAYER: “Father, please help me to see the world, the church and myself as You do.”

QUOTE: “Unless we fight against a lukewarm spiritual life, we will have a lukewarm spiritual life.”