By Tom Shanklin

Sometimes just getting out of your environment can open your eyes in powerful ways. It’s not that you receive a new revelation, it’s just that the things that you know become much clearer. The missions trip that Susan and I took to England last month opened our eyes and brought a profound change in us—a deeper work of the Holy Spirit.

This trip made us to see:

• The great need for humanity to receive King Jesus in their lives.
• The great need for the Church of Jesus Christ to awaken and come into her position of strength in this hour.

As the scripture says…

“Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” Isaiah 52:1, 2, KJV.

It’s time for the Church (That’s us!) to arise!

We need to put on our strength. We need to put on our beautiful garments which have been provided for us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 7:1)

Yes, we need holiness if we are ever to fulfill our destiny and be the mighty army He called us to be. A compromising church will never win the world. We have allowed too much of the world into the Church and that must change. We must arise and sit down. Arise means get out of the dirt. Sit down means take your place of authority. Beautiful garments means putting on the glory of Jesus in our lives. His glory shall be seen upon thee.

The only thing that can bring change in this earth is a great sweeping move of God. A revival, an awakening must come. But that awakening begins with you. And it begins with me. We must let Jesus truly be Lord of our lives. We must obey His commands.

The American evangelist, Charles Finney (1792-1875) said, “A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.” That is what we need today, “a new beginning of obedience to God.”

At the beginning of this year, I preached and wrote a message entitled “It’s a New Day: If You Want it to Be.” God has great things for us … but we must cooperate with Him. The promises of God are dependent on our faith and obedience.

Think of it! Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and ALL these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33, KJV. There is no lack on His side of the equation. There is no weakness in Him. He is able to deliver. He is able to save. We must fulfill our part, and trust Him for the results. This will bring forth great victory. This will bring forth great joy.

One of the great features of revival is joy! When God’s people turn to Him in obedience and surrender, a tremendous awareness of His presence and joy pervades the atmosphere. I read that in the Welsh Revival the meetings would sometimes last 10 hours, and afterwards the people would be found outside the church enjoying fellowship with one another in the presence of the Lord.

The Welsh Revival is still impacting the world today! It just read an article last night by a man whose father was part of that great move of God. This man is so on fire for God today that it cannot be contained.

I tell you! We need revival! We need true repentance! We need the fire of God to burn out the dross and fill us with expectancy and holy desire.

Some of our preaching has conditioned us for sin. We hear, “Everyday we sin in thought, word and deed.” What a negative confession! We ought to say, “I’m dead unto sin and alive unto God.”

John Wesley (1703-1791) preached a doctrine called Christian Perfection or Entire Sanctification. He said that a Christian could come into a place of absolute surrender to the will of God and walk in holiness. It was a desperately needed message for a Church which had settled into and intellectual acceptance of the message of justification by faith. God’s people had lost their sense of responsibility to live a life of holiness before God. But Jesus came not only to forgive our sins, but also to cleanse us from our sins.

We lament all the problems that are in the world—sexual immorality, murder, greed, selfishness, pride, gender confusion, etc. But the problem is that much of the Church is the same as the world—unmarried couples living together, pornography, lying and cheating in business dealings, gossip and slander and cursing. The list could go on. It’s time to repent and get right with God that the world may see the glory of the Lord!

God will deal with our hearts and deliver us. We need to say with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalms 139:23, 24, KJV.

It may be hard to face the sin in our own lives. But if we will allow God to search our hearts and if we will turn from our sin, we will learn that all His ways are pleasantness and peace. We will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living and find that the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done … in me!