Not the fact that the churches are unusually active these days, not what religious people are doing, should engage our attention, but why these things are so.
The big question is: Why? And no one seems to have an answer for it.
Not only is there no answer, but scarcely is there anyone to ask the question.
It just never occurs to us that such a question remains to be asked.
Christian people continue to gossip religious shoptalk with scarcely as much as a puzzled look. The soundness of current Christianity is assumed by the religious masses as was the soundness of Judaism when Christ appeared.
People know they are seeing certain activity, but just what it means they do not know, nor have they the faintest idea of where God is or what relation He has toward the whole thing.
What is needed desperately today is prophetic insight.
Scholars can interpret the past; it takes prophets to interpret the present.
Learning will enable a man to pass judgment on our yesterdays, but it requires a gift of clear seeing to pass sentence on our own day.
One hundred years from now historians will know what was taking place religiously in this year of our Lord 1956; but that will be too late for us.
We should know right now.
verse
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
— Romans 12:6
thought
In capitalizing on the popular today ? short sermons addressed to felt needs, cell-grooup churches, contemporary music, entertaining "worship," paraded personality ? where is it leading us? To a revitalized Church or one ill with spiritual anemia?
prayer
O God, send us discerning prophets! In Jesus' name.
cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
There has probably never been another time in the history of the world when so many people knew so much about religious happenings as they do today.
The newspapers are eager to print religious news; the secular news magazines devote several pages of each issue to the doings of the church and the synagogue; a number of press associations gather church news and make it available to the religious journals at a small cost. Even the hiring of professional publicity men to plug one or another preacher or religious movement is no longer uncommon; the mail is stuffed with circulars and releases, while radio and television join to tell the listening public what religious people are doing throughout the world.
Greater publicity for religion may be well and I have no fault to find with it.
Surely religion should be the most newsworthy thing on earth, and there may be some small encouragement in the thought that vast numbers of persons want to read about it.
What disturbs me is that, amidst all the religious hubbub, hardly a voice is raised to tell us what God thinks about the whole thing.
Where is the man who can see through the ticker tape and confetti to discover which way the parade is headed, why it started in the first place and, particularly, who is riding up front in the seat of honor?
Not the fact that the churches are unusually active these days, not what religious people are doing, should engage our attention, but why these things are so. . . .
verse
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up . . .
— Ephesians 4:11-12
thought
The Church today desparately needs prophets who can see where we are and give direction as to where to go; who understand current trends and discern their outcome.
prayer
Lord, for Your Church to be built up qualitatively, give us leaders who understand the present and the future and can apply Your Word accordingly. In Jesus' name.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
A prophet is one who knows his times and what God is trying to say to the people of his times.
What God says to His Church at any given period depends altogether upon her moral and spiritual condition and upon the spiritual need of the hour.
Religious leaders who continue mechanically to expound the Scriptures without regard to the current religious situation are no better than the scribes and lawyers of Jesus day who faithfully parroted the Law without the remotest notion of what was going on around them spiritually.
They fed the same diet to all and seemed wholly unaware that there was such a thing as meat in due season.
The prophets never made that mistake nor wasted their efforts in that manner.
They invariably spoke to the condition of the people of their times. Today we need prophetic preachers; not preachers of prophecy merely, but preachers with a gift of prophecy.
The word of wisdom is missing. We need the gift of discernment again in our pulpits.
It is not ability to predict that we need, but the anointed eye, the power of spiritual penetration and interpretation, the ability to appraise the religious scene as viewed from God's position, and to tell us what is actually going on.
verse
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, . . . to another prophecy . . . All these are the work of the one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
— First Corinthians 12:7-8, 10-11
thought
Prophecy is the evaluation of the present situation by looking into the past, peering into the future, or both. It is God who gives accurate evaluation.
prayer
Father, will You by Your Spirit, give to certain ones in Your Church the gift of prophecy.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
. . . there is at the root of true religion an inward witness, an awareness of God and Christ at the farthest-in core of the renewed Christian's spirit given to him by the Spirit of God.
This experience results from faith in and obedience to the Scriptures.
It is the end result of Bible doctrine but it is not that doctrine. It is a consciousness of God and spiritual things too deep and wonderful to utter or even think. If this sounds too extreme or mystical let me remind my readers that it was once an accepted and expected phenomenon in most Protestant churches.
In happier and holier times conversion was held to be (among other blessed things) an immediate acquaintance with God in living, spiritual experience.
This came about as the result of the Word preached in the power of the Spirit. And let's remember one thing more.
Even today there are those who can testify that they too know what I am talking about here.
We do not need to appeal to the dead past for support of our teaching. God still has His thousands who know what the inner witness is.
verse
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
— John 17:3
thought
Eternal life is
prayer
O Spirit of God, show me Christ and the things of Christ.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Knowledge by spiritual experience is not mental, it is intuitive.
It is consciousness, it is acquaintance with something or someone by direct awareness.
It might help the reader to understand what we mean by such words as awareness and consciousness if he were to ask himself how he knows he exists, how he knows he is himself and not someone else, how he knows he is alive and not dead. The answer is simply that he knows these things by conscious awareness of which reason is no part.
Let him attempt to prove to himself that he exists, for instance, and he will find that the he who is doing the demonstrating must first be aware that he exists before he can begin to prove that he does. When the French philosopher, Descartes, sought to get to the root of all knowledge he thought away all accepted facts, went back till he found the one irreducible element of knowledge that could not be challenged and came up with his celebrated Cogito, ergo sum, I think, therefore I am.
But let no one imagine for a moment that with his little syllogism Descartes went all the way back. He did nothing of the kind. The truth is that he was by intuition aware of his existence before he ever began to notice that he was thinking. His self-knowledge antedated thought and all he did was to prove to reason that he existed by proof that it could understand: I think, therefore I am.
This illustrates but does not explain what we mean by religious knowledge by direct spiritual experience. Stated in other language this means simply that there is at the root of true religion an inward witness, an awareness of God and Christ at the farthest-in core of the renewed Christian's spirit given to him by the Spirit of God. This experience results from faith in and obedience to the Scriptures.
It is the end result of Bible doctrine but it is not that doctrine.
It is a consciousness of God and spiritual things too deep and wonderful to utter or even think.
verse
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
— Romans 8:16
thought
As we, by faith and in accordance with scripture, open our hearts to God, the Holy Spirit witnesses to our spirit that we are children of God. God's inner witness to us!
prayer
Abba, Father, thank You that I am Your child.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
In a recent letter a man from Jamestown, NY, quoted a statement from an editorial, Three Degrees of Religious Knowledge, . . . and asked for clarification.
The quotation was taken from that part of the editorial dealing with the third degree of knowledge: . . . it is knowledge by direct spiritual experience . . . Since it was not acquired by reason operating on intellectual data, the possibility of error is eliminated.
The letter comments on this as follows: This statement seems to me to parallel the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal infallibility. I was always taught that the holy Scriptures are the only rule of faith and life. My observation has been that most of the false cults base their so-called doctrines and revelations on personal spiritual experience. I would appreciate your further clarification on this editorial statement . . . defining the boundaries with which `direct spiritual experience can be depended upon without danger of departure from the revealed Word of God as contained in the holy Scriptures and as projected in the earthly life of Christ.
This matter deserves further explanation and I'll be glad to make it.
In my editorial I said that there are three degrees of knowledge open to Christians.
The first is the common knowledge shared with all normal persons, namely, the data furnished by the senses and by reason operating upon such data. This embraces all knowledge of natural things from the first scrap of knowledge enjoyed by an hour-old baby to the highest reaches of scientific information acquired by the pooled efforts of the race.
The second is the knowledge received by faith. It consists of data given by divine revelation and received by the believing mind without proof. It is taken on trust and cannot in the very nature of it be demonstrated as being true. Were proof possible then it would belong in the first category and faith would be unnecessary.
The third kind of knowledge is that given by direct spiritual experience. This differs radically from both of the others.
It has nothing to do with the senses and so is not physical or natural data. It has nothing to do with ethics or doctrine and so is not moral or theological knowledge. I do not believe that God teaches doctrine by direct unmediated experience. The exact opposite is true.
The Scriptures are the source of all rational knowledge about moral and religious things, except those things that are revealed by nature as mentioned in Psalm 19:1-4 and Romans 1:19-20, and they are few and inadequate.
verse
The man who thinks he knows something does not know as he ought to know.
— First Corinthians 8:2
thought
There is head knowledge, head and heart and just heart knowledge. In knowing God (not just about Him) the heart must be involved.
prayer
O God, I want to know You! Take me beyond intellectual knowledge to that of the heart. In Jesus' name.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Our constant effort should be to reach as many persons as possible with the Christian message, and for that reason numbers are critically important.
But our first responsibility is not to make converts but to uphold the honor of God in a world given over to the glory of fallen man.
No matter how many persons we touch with the gospel we have failed unless, along with the message of invitation, we have boldly declared the exceeding sinfulness of man and the transcendent holiness of the Most High God.
They who degrade or compromise the truth in order to reach larger numbers, dishonor God and deeply injure the souls of men.
The temptation to modify the teachings of Christ with the hope that larger numbers may "accept" Him is cruelly strong in this day of speed, size, noise and crowds.
But if we know what is good for us, we'll resist it with every power at our command.
To yield can only result in a weak and ineffective Christianity in this generation, and death and desolation in the next.
verse
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
— Colossians 2:6-7
thought
Receiving Christ as Lord and continuing to live in Him is the way to life transformation. To preach Him and receive Him as less than Lord is to seriously modify the Good News.
prayer
May I personally experience and share with others the Good News, Father, without modifying it in any way for whatever reason.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Now the serious Christian wants to escape both extremes.
Yet he is much concerned about the whole matter of numbers and is eager to find the will of God for his life and ministry.
Should he go out for larger crowds or accept smaller ones as the will of God for him?
Does success in the Lord's work depend upon numbers?
Is it possible to make up in quantity what is lacking in quality and so accomplish the same result?
Perhaps an illustration or two might help.
If our country should be visited by a famine and you were put in charge of feeding the starving in your section of the city, would numbers matter? Most surely they would.
Would it not be better to feed five hungry children than two?
Would you not feel obligated to feed hundreds rather than tens, thousands rather than hundreds?
Certainly you would.
Or if a ship sank and your church were given a rescue boat, would numbers mean anything?
Again the answer is yes.
Would it not be better to save ten than two, 100 than fifty?
So with the work of God.
It is better to win many than few.
Each lost one brought home increases the joy among the angels and adds another voice to the choir that shall sing the praises of the Lamb.
Plainly Christ when He was on earth was concerned about the multitudes.
And so should His followers be.
A church that takes no interest in evangelism or missions is sub-normal in every way and desperately in need of revival.
verse
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
— Matthew 28:19-20
thought
We are to make disciples of all peoples, all ethne. Each of us, all of us are so commissioned by our Lord. But it is disciplesof Christ we are to make. Some people will turn back rather than be disciples (John 6:66).
prayer
Make me a discipler, Lord, not just a Good News announcer.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The question of numbers and their relation to success or failure in the work of the Lord is one that disturbs most Christians more than a little. . . . There are Christians, for instance, who dismiss the whole matter as being beneath them. . . .They prefer to sit around the Lord's Table in a select and tight little circle, admiring the deep things of God and, I very much fear, admiring themselves a wee bit also.
This is a kind of Protestant monasticism without the cowl and the beads, for it seeks to preserve the faith of Christ from pollution by isolating it from the vulgar masses.
Its motives may be commendable, but its methods are altogether unscriptural and its spirit completely out of mood with that of our Lord.
The other and opposite school is the most vocal and has by far the largest following in gospel circles today.
Its philosophy, if it can be called a philosophy, is that "we must get the message out" regardless of how we go about it.
The devotees of this doctrine appear to be more concerned with quantity than with quality.
They seem burned up with desire to "bring the people in" even if they have not much to offer them after they are in.
They take inexcusable liberties both with message and with method. The Scriptures are used rather than expounded and the Lordship of Christ almost completely ignored.
Pressure is exerted to persuade the people (who, by the way, come to the meetings with something else in mind altogether) to accept Christ, with the understanding that they shall then have peace of mind and financial prosperity, not to mention high grades in school and a low score on the golf course.
The crowds-at-any-price mania has taken a firm grip on American Christianity and is the motivating power back of a shockingly high percentage of all religious activity.
Men and churches compete for the attention of the paying multitudes who are brought in by means of any currently popular gadget or gimmick ostensibly to have their souls saved, but, if the truth were told, often for reasons not so praiseworthy as this.
verse
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
— First Corinthians 2:1-2
thought
Have we given way to a superficial, bouncy, fun-filled, engaging, culturally-in-tune Christianity in order to attract people? Jesus Christ and Him crucified is our message, which means death to self ? a message geared to spiritual quality rather than quantity.
prayer
O Lord, may I in no way try to diminish your Lordship or disguise Your cross or mine. "Thou, O Christ, art all I want; more than all in Thee I find."
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/