The Church’s Greatest Need - by Jim Tharp

I have preached the gospel of Jesus Christ for 75 years, pastored churches for 42 years, and preached throughout the world for 33 years. I am convinced that the greatest need in the church at this critical hour is to experience the kind of spiritual awakening that will cause the Spirit of God to restore spiritual power to professing Christians and cause unbelievers to feel conviction of sin that will draw them to faith in Jesus Christ!

Let all professing Christians remember that Jesus spent more than three years training His twelve disciples and promising them that after He had finished His mission on earth, He and the Father would send the Holy Spirit to fill them with power for spreading the Gospel to the whole world. Following Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, He returned to the disciples for several days. His last words before ascending back to the Father were for His disciples and other believers to go back into the city of Jerusalem and pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

We read in chapter 2 of Acts that out of more than 500 believers in Christ, 120 responded to this instruction. The result of their obedience is recorded in Acts 2:1-4. “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Following this experience, the disciples and the other Christians who had been filled with the Holy Spirit left the Upper Room and went down to the crowds on the street in Jerusalem. As a result of the apostle Peter’s preaching, about 3,000 sinners repented of sin on the first day and the Church of Jesus Christ began! Throughout the history of the church, there have been times of great spiritual awakenings that revived the church and convicted unbelievers of their sins, resulting in both their repentance and being added to the church.

I believe that never in the history of our American churches has Christianity been so weak! In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said to His believers, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” When we repent and believe in Jesus as Savior, the Holy Spirit is given to us. But very few believers realize the requirements for growth in the power of the Spirit. It takes prayer, worship, searching the Scriptures, and loving fellowship with fellow Christians. Neglecting these devotions will grieve the Spirit until the professing believer is empty, cold in heart, and weak in the faith. In Ephesians 5:18 we are commanded to “. . . be filled with the Spirit.”

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is being delayed in these last days because the weakness of the church has allowed millions in most countries to remain unbelievers. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). Therefore, a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit is required for the church to regain its “salting power” for praying down the glorious outpouring of the Spirit to prepare both the church and the world for the Second Coming.

Please, let all devoted believers join the prevailing prayer warriors in contending earnestly for the greatest revival known in all of church history!