by T. Austin-Sparks

We realize, with intense sorrow of heart, that all is not well with that which ostensibly represents the Lord here… and that there is a state of things widely prevailing which does not truly accord with the revealed desire of God.

We live in a time of more than usual dearth spiritually - the state of things may well remind us of Ezekiel's valley of dry bones. We have not merely to cope with evils which have characterized bygone ages, but also with the matured corruption of a time wherein the varied evils of the Gentile world have become connected with, and covered by, the cloak of Christian profession; and when we turn to the state of those whose knowledge of truth and high profession might naturally encourage the expectation of more healthy and vigorous Christian action, we find, alas! in many - yea, in the majority of cases - that the knowledge is but cold and uninfluential theory… and the profession but superficial.