The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-07-22

| dren, saith the Lord, that
taketh counsel, but not of
me; and that cover with a
covering. but not of my
spirit, that they may add
sin to sin; that walk to 60
down into Egypt, and have
not asked at my mouth; to
strengthen themselves in
the strength of Pharaoh,
and to trust in the shadow
Of Egypt" Isaiah 3O:1-2
'Lo, thou trusteth in the
staff of this broken reed.
on Egypt; whereon if a
man lean, it will 60 into his
hand, and pierce it, Isaiah
1876.
From a spiritual standpoint,
what is the answer?
Problems can never be settled
Alright purely at the secular or
political level. The ultimate so
luton of Americas dilemma has
to do with our right relationship
with God. The answer then lies
in repentance, conversion and
healing.
And that is exactly what the
Gospel of Jesus Christ does
brings repentance for sin, con-
version to Christ and healing of
the soul and spirit.
The answer to this dire crisis
is a revival of true religion: a
turning to Christ and the bless
ings which flow therefrom.
How can such a revival come?
It cannot come from a wat
cred down Gospel. It cannot be
brought about by a compromised
Christianity. It will never come
as the result of a perverted
message.
There is a desperate need for
revival within the Church-in
pulpit and pew. We can never
go out to win men for Christ
with doubt in our hearts, COM
promises in our personal lives,
or faith in an organization alone.
America needs Christ crucified,
dead and risen. America needs
the power of the Holy Spirit
working in the lives of man and
women. We need a new sense of
slnfulneSS and crying out to
God in importunate prayer.
Frankly. the writer does not
believe that the Church in
America is at the present time
capable of bringing about such a
revival. I'm belief must be
changed to simple faith; love-
lessnesS and consciousness must
be supplanted by love; trust in
man-made schemes and organi-
cations must be renounced and
the Person, work and power of
the Holy Spirit be trusted to take
the Gospel message and apply it
to the hearts of men.
In other words we MUST turn
to the power Of prayer, the
power of the Holy Spirit. and the
power of the Holy Scriptures.
Omit any of these and failure
looms; for prayer alone can lead
to failure to witness; a trust in
the Holy Spirit alone to fanati-
cism; and unbelief in, or mis-
trust of the Bible, to warfare
without a weapon.
Such a revival must begin at
the personal level. Each Of us
must turn to the Lord in humble
confession of sin and willingness
to be filled with the Spirit and
used by Him. AS we do this, let
us get others to join with us in
united prayer and work for re-
vival. If this takes place, we can
have the joy of seeing tremen-
dous change in the Church and
in the land we love. We will then
have taken the steps through
which alone God can act to d.
vert disaster to men as indi-
viduals, and to our nation as a
people.
The writer may be wrong.
America may not have made a
fatal m i S take in recognizing
Soviet Russia. But, if by so do
ing we have offended God; and
II we can judge the woes which
have come to us since that time
because of RusSia's activities in
the world; and if we can evalu-
ate the future in the light of
CommuniSm's continued spread;
then we come face to face with
two alternatives: take the step
which is right and leave the con-
sequences in Gods hands; or let
present trends continue until we
either fight or surrender.
When that day comes it will be
too late.