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$Text Box: What about the spiritual revival of God’s people and the renewal of Christ’s church? Yes, these are things I still long for--- for our church, for our denomination, and for our world. Five years or so ago I began in earnest a study of such things. And while I have discovered several ingredients for revival, one sure foundation of any lasting, God-centered revival, upon which everything else is built, is a radical gospel revolution. Sadly though, much of the church has lost this focus and have left themselves less than revival ready. As theologian Richard Lovelace says, Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many have so light an apprehension of God's holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin that consciously they see little need for justification, although below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure. Many others have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification, drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther's platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude. In order for a pure and lasting work of spiritual renewal to take place within the church, multitudes within it must be led to build their lives on this foundation. This means that they must be conducted into the light of a full conscious awareness of God's holiness, the depth of their sin and the sufficiency of the atoning work of Christ for their acceptance with God, not just at the outset of their Christian lives but in every succeeding day. It is only the blood of Jesus Christ which is able "to purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:14). --- Richard F. Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal, pages 101-102 Only the gospel can provide the foundation for personal and corporate revival, because only the gospel can set our conscience free! So, when we hold out the empty hands of faith, God freely imputes to us Christ’s righteousness, establishing us eternally under his smile. Meaning, there is no bench to sit on for poor performers, for all are poor players to whom God credits perfect play because of Christ. Not only that, here is the only answer to our sense of nagging judgment within. Only the voice of God can persuasively refute the accusations of conscience. That divine voice we now hear in the gospel and can announce to ourselves moment by moment, whenever the accusing voice within would rob us of our peace and joy in Christ. I love Martin Luther’s letter to his discouraged friend Jerome Weller in 1530. Listen for how he counsels him to break free from his spiritual bondage: "Whenever the devil pesters you with these thoughts, at once seek out the company of men, drink more, joke and jest, or engage in some other form of merriment. Sometimes it is necessary to drink a little more, play, jest, or even commit some sin in defiance and contempt of the devil in order not to give him an opportunity to make us scrupulous about trifles. . . . Yes, when the devil throws our sins up to us and declares that we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus: “I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? By no means. For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where he is, there I shall be also.'" (Continued on page 4)$

LYCOMING CENTRE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH