Greg Laurie - Can We Have Revival in Our Time? (06/29/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie preaches on whether revival can happen again in our time, drawing from 2 Chronicles 7:14 and America's past awakenings including the Jesus Movement. He stresses that spiritual awakening—not politics—is America's true hope, urging believers to humble themselves, pray fervently, repent, and seek God for personal and national healing.
Opening Prayer for America, the Church, and Personal Revival
Amen. Good morning. Let's all stand up. And let's do that right now. Let's pray for our country. Let's pray for our church. Let's pray for ourselves.
Father, we come before you now recognizing that our nation in many ways is at a crossroads. And we have choices to make in the very near future. And we are praying that America will turn back to you. How our country needs you. How we need to return to the God who blessed us in so many ways. And so we pray for America. We pray for a healing of our land. We pray for our church. We pray for this church. That we will shine as a radiant light in our community, in our state. But we pray our church will be vibrant and alive. Not resting on past laurels, but pressing forward. We pray for the church in America, Lord. Lord, that you will help us all as followers of Jesus to reflect your glory to a lost and dying world. And finally, Lord, we pray for ourselves. That we will experience personal revival. That we will be spiritually alive in every way. So we commit this time of Bible study to you now. We ask you to bless it as we open your word. We ask this all in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, you can be seated. Grab your Bibles, turn to 2 Chronicles 7:14. And the title of my message is, Can We Have Revival in Our Time? By the way, we have a very special announcement at the end of the service. So you won't want to miss that.
Is Revival Possible Again—or Are America's Best Days Over?
But revival. Could it ever happen again? Could we have another Jesus movement? Or are the best days of America behind us? To be very honest with you, after watching this political cycle that we're in right now, I have less faith in political solutions than I have ever had at any time in my life. I don't think the ultimate need of America is going to be solved by the new occupant of the Oval Office or new members of Congress or the Senate. I think the real need for America is going to be met by a spiritual solution. So we really need to pray. America needs to pay attention because God may give us exactly what we want. America, this is your wake-up call.
I read about an interesting new alarm clock. I may even go buy one. I don't know. You wake up in the morning to the smell of bacon. I'm not making this up. It's called the Waken in Bacon Alarm Clock. So I was fascinated to know how such a device works. So the way it works is you take a piece of frozen bacon, put it in the special clock before you go to bed, 10 minutes before you are awake, the bacon starts cooking, so you wake up to that amazing smell. I love that. Now, for vegetarians, I don't know what to say. Maybe they have amazing broccoli or probably amazing Kale. What is the thing with Kale? I don't... Why do some... Anyway, so... And by the way, I love bacon. How many of you love bacon, raise your hand? Oh, yeah, I do too. I just love it. I love the smell of bacon in the morning. In fact, my favorite meal of the day is breakfast, followed only by lunch and dinner. But I do love that time. So, in the same way, I think it's time for America to wake up and smell the bacon.
Why America May Be Missing from End-Times Prophecy
And here's why. As we look at the prophetic scenario, and by that I mean, as we look at end times events, it is alarming to not find the reigning superpower on the face of the earth in that last day's chain of events. You can certainly find the nation Israel. You can find the nation Iran. I think you can make a pretty good case for Russia and perhaps even China. But where is the reigning superpower, the United States of America? Where are we?
Here's what we need to know. Every nation has a lifespan. Every nation has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Listen, the might of ancient Babylon only lasted for 86 years. The powerful Persian Empire did a bit better 208 years. The glory of Greece was eclipsed after 268 years. Mighty Rome ruled for almost nine centuries. The powerful Persian Empire did better for 208 years. Already mentioned that, sorry. The British Empire endured for some 250 years in her great power. And the USA is around, well, 300, excuse me, 235 years old in county. But here's what we need to know. Every day's, every nation's days are numbered. And the Bible says righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to the people. So if we turn from righteousness, if we turn from God, we're gonna face the consequences.
Knowledge brings responsibility. America is not like just any other country out there. I do believe in American exceptionalism. I think we're a special nation blessed by God in many ways. The only nation I think we could even compare ourselves to is the nation Israel. A nation that was founded on biblical principles. A nation that was founded in the belief in a God who placed us here. So I think there's a responsibility that goes to the great privileges we have in this nation in particular. And if we abandon God, if we forget God, even worse, if we rebel against God, there will be consequences to pay.
But I have a suggestion, a thought, as to why we cannot find America in the end time scenario. And here's what I think. It may be we're not there because a massive spiritual awakening, a fifth great awakening, if you will, or maybe a sixth or a seventh, happens, and it changes the course of our country. You say, well, I don't understand why a revival would change us, change our position in the prophetic scenario. Well, listen, if millions of Americans were caught up to heaven, we wouldn't be the superpower we are today. I mean, how many Americans are Christians? I don't know. Polls are taken, and usually half of all Americans say they're born-again followers of Jesus Christ. How many of you believe that, by the way? Okay, good, because I had a bridge I wanted to sell you. I don't believe it either. So there's over 300 million Americans. Let's be super conservative and say, let's say if one-third of America really were Christians, let's say there were 100 million Americans who believed in Jesus in a correct way. Or maybe a revival or two happened and so our numbers swelled to 100 million.
Now imagine this. If 100 million people were caught up to meet the Lord in the air, if they just disappeared, do you think that would affect our nation? Well, of course it would. Imagine the effect on our country of 100 million people, people in industry, government, military, business, agriculture, education, medicine, suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth. Now, Hollywood and the press would be largely untouched, but I'm talking about the rest of the nation. It would certainly have a crippling effect on our entire nation and upon our infrastructure. But this much we know. All nations as we know them are going to change, expand, or shift to some degree or another as the whole global situation rearranges for the events of the end times. So we need to pray for another spiritual awakening in the United States.
America's Four Great Awakenings – Historical Lessons
Now, as an introductory video pointed out, we've had four great awakenings in America. The first great awakening in the 1700s, led by such men as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. It preceded the Revolutionary War and the birth of America. It lasted from about 1740 to 1742 with around 50,000 people added to the churches of New England. Now, that may not sound like a lot, but that was when we had a population of around 300,000. So it was significant, the first great awakening.
The second great awakening from the 1790s to around 1840 was led by many including Charles Finney. It was during the days of the Wild West. The law was disregarded. sexual sin was rampant. And they had these events called camp meetings. You ever heard of those before? Wonder what they were? They'd set up a tent up out in the forest, put sawdust on the floor. Preachers would come and share the gospel. And thousands and thousands of Americans came to faith during that time. And they would have huge crowds. And so that was a significant awakening in our history.
The third great awakening was from around 1857 to 1859. And the way that began is unique. There was a 48-year-old businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier who began a prayer meeting on Fulton Street in New York City. And his prayer meeting was very small as that video pointed out. But then it exploded. Why did it explode? Well, the stock market crashed. And so suddenly thousands of people were showing up for this time of prayer. Within six months 10,000 people in New York City gathered daily for prayer. Can you imagine such a thing like that happening today? It's reported that 50,000 New Yorkers were converted from March to May. And there were 10,000 additions to church membership listen, weekly. And around that time around 1 million people came to believe in Jesus.
Now, that brings us to the fourth great awakening. And the last one in American history and I'm of course talking about the Jesus movement. Now I was privileged to have a front row seat for it because I came to Christ in 1970 and found myself smack dab in the middle of a full blown spiritual awakening. And by the way, we did not know it was a spiritual awakening when it was happening. I just thought it was normal Christianity because I had no point of reference and in a way it was normal Christianity. Normal in a New Testament sense. Normal in the way that it's supposed to be as opposed to a watered down version that we often see in its place today.
Stories of Revival Spark More Revivals – Jonathan Edwards
But I think it's a good thing to reflect back on what God has done in the past. Jonathan Edwards who was a part of the first great awakening made this statement and I quote, It has been found by experience that the tidings of remarkable effects of the power and grace of God in any place tend greatly to awaken and engage the minds of persons in other places. End quote. Let me rephrase that. Stories of revival often spark other revivals. So as we look back historically we ask the question is there anything we can learn? Let's consider the backdrop of the country when the Jesus movement happened. It happened in the late 60s early 70s.
Now, you know for those of you that have been around for a while like me you remember the 50s and the early 60s and the early 60s were a lot like the late 50s. It was an idyllic time we had come through World War II and people were building homes and starting families and there was an optimism and Eisenhower was our president and technology was sort of exploding one of the latest developments was something called color television. Up to this point it had been black and white I remember the first time I saw a color TV it was at a friend's house and we went over and looked in the window of his front room and watched with great envy the wonderful World of Color the Disney program.
So, you know there was sort of this excitement and this is a time when Elvis was the king of rock and roll and James Dean was acting in films and Marilyn Monroe was in her prime so there was a poll actually taken by Newsweek Magazine excuse me CBS News and they asked people what decade would you most likely travel to if you could? Now most people chose the decade of their childhood but by and large the decade that went out were the 50s. People wanted to live in the 50s cars were super cool I mean anything from 55 to 57 amazing cars so it was a great time and that was sort of the early 60s too but then we had a brand new president that really marked a change in our culture and really a change in the 60s. John F. Kennedy was elected president.
We went from a 70 year old grandfather to a youthful senator with a young family occupying the Oval Office but Kennedy was quickly put to the test by the leader of Russia at that time Nikita Khrushchev and Khrushchev was determined to expand the Russian Empire and so one of those things was he was putting missile sites over in Cuba which is not far from our shores especially Florida Kennedy became aware of this and they had this. conflict that's called the Cuban Missile Crisis And there was a moment where America thought we were going to engage in a full-blown nuclear war. I remember in school, when I was a kid, we would have drills in our classroom where, in case there was a nuclear explosion, we went under our desks. Do any of you remember that? Do you think it would have helped being under your desk? I know it's a nuclear blast, but I'm under my desk. I'll be fine right here. Yeah, so, kind of a scary time.
The Turbulent 1960s – Setting the Stage for the Jesus Movement
But everything changed in America when our president was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Television was pervasive at that time, and the whole country found out about it. In fact, everyone remembers where they were when Kennedy was assassinated. It's as though we watched it in real time. It was hard to believe that one man, Lee Harvey Oswald, could kill the president of the United States and effectively the leader of the free world. A lot of people thought there was conspiracies and others involved, and they did a great report on it done by the Warren Commission, and they determined there was one lone shooter.
But many experts believe that is the moment the 60s shifted. And it was shortly after that that four Liverpudlians landed on our shore. And we're on the Ed Sullivan Show. They're called the Beatles. And they were followed by a bunch of other bands known as the British Invasion. And then culture began to change before our eyes, almost monthly, certainly yearly. Add to this the fact that the Vietnam War is raging. Young American boys are coming back in body bags. And it was a draft back then. And we all wondered, are we going to be next? And then the worst year of the 60s happened. It was 1968. Our president has already been assassinated. And now Martin Luther King is assassinated as well.
Robert Kennedy, the president's brother, sort of steps into the gap and decides to run for the presidency. And many are hoping that he's going to turn the country around. There's sort of an optimism and it's gaining momentum. But as he announced, well, basically he was claiming victory in the California primary. And he addressed the supporters at the Ambassador Hotel. And a man named Sirhan Sirhan shot Bobby Kennedy three times, only two months after Martin Luther King was killed. Now Kennedy has been assassinated, only five years after his brother. The Vietnam War is raging on. Watergate is about to happen. An entire generation of young people are disillusioned. There's huge protests. There's riots in the streets. Kids were rebelling against society and turning to drugs, sex, and rock and roll.
The slogan at that time was, "turn on, tune in, drop out". And you know, the church was not effectively reaching this generation. John Lennon of the Beatles was famously quoted to say, the Beatles are more popular than Jesus. And for many, that was actually true. In my case, it was. And so Time Magazine came out with a cover issue with these words on it, is God dead? And some liberal theologians announced that indeed he was. So things are bleak, things are dark, things are desperate, and God intervenes. God intervenes, and the Jesus movement explodes on the scene. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, but right on God's time schedule, thousands of young kids are coming to Christ. So Time Magazine runs a different cover in 1971 with an image of Christ on the front and the words, the Jesus revolution.
Here's what happened. The churches that opened themselves to revival experienced revival. The churches that closed their doors to it did not experience it. But one man opened the doors of his church. And you all know who he is. Talking about Pastor Chuck Smith. He let it happen. Chuck was, you know, he was not some hipster guy. He was just your basic middle-aged balding man who was pastoring a church. And you can see I admire him a great deal. So I've taken after him. And he saw these hippie kids, and he wanted nothing to do with them. He thought they all should get a haircut and have a bath, right? But his wife had a burden for them, his wife Kate. And was praying for the kids to come to Christ. And Chuck sort of opened his heart up a little bit and wanted to meet an actual living, breathing hippie. And so one day his daughter, Jen, came home with this hippie kid named John, who was a Christian. And he told Chuck a little bit about what was happening with the kids. And then John introduced Chuck to another hippie kid who happened to be a preacher. And that guy's name was Lonnie Frisbee. And Lonnie was really used by God, along with Pastor Chuck, to bring the Jesus movement to a place of complete explosion. Lonnie was sort of like nitro to Chuck's glycerin. The combination just, boom, it blew up. And Lonnie was this charismatic preacher that drew kids in. So you might say the kids came for Lonnie, and they stayed for Chuck. Because Chuck stabilized things by teaching the Word of God.
But this whole thing was happening, and that's right when I came to Christ. In fact, Lonnie was preaching on my high school campus, Newport Harbor High. And I came to Jesus and started going to Calvary Chapel and walked in there. And I was just overwhelmed. There were people everywhere. There were people up the aisles. And they were worshiping God. And God was at work. And lives were being changed. And we saw contemporary worship born before our very eyes. And, you know, it wasn't long after that that I came up to Riverside from Orange County and we started a Bible study up here and turned into the church you're in right now, Harvest Christian Fellowship. So, listen. Yeah, that's worth clapping for it. The church globally was influenced by the Jesus movement.
There's a number of things that were prominent during this time that I remember. I have a friend, John Irwin, who was featured in that introductory video. who's making a documentary film about the Jesus movement. And I'm going to help him with it. And so he's been asking me a lot of questions. And so it got me thinking a lot about those days and sort of some unique traits that maybe we could learn from. And I thought of basically five principles that I remember from that time about just a typical church service.
Five Key Traits of Services During the Jesus Movement
Number one, there was a sense of expectancy in the service. No one was ever late for church because you wouldn't find a seat if you were. And you came expecting God to work. A sense of openness like, what's the Lord going to do today? Number two, the Word of God was always taught. The Word of God was always taught. That gave stability to us. In fact, I still have my Bible from those days. You can see it as an old beat-up leather cover. Here's a better shot of it. Look at it a little bit closer. It's all beat up. And, you know, I didn't want to have a Bible with just black leather, so I put it in this hippie leather because I thought it looked cooler. It looks like something from biblical times now. And I marked it up, and so much so that some of the pages are coming out of it. But the camera guy left. Okay, there he is again, as you can see. But anyway, I have a picture of what I used to look like back in those days. This is what I looked like when we first started our church. So, that... Can you see that? Yeah, that's... That was your pastor back in 1972, okay? I wish I had any of that here right now. So, the Word of God was taught.
Number three, people participated in the worship. We effectively saw what we know as just worship now. We have worship bands now. That was not happening in the late 60s, by the way. There were no electric guitars, for the most part, on church stages. There were no drum kits. It was a whole different thing. It was choirs, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I'm just saying it was different culturally. And this is when all of this started to happen, things that we take for granted now. But people engaged in worship. They would lift their hands in worship. They would participate in worship.
Number four, people brought non-believers to church, and invitations were extended, and kids were coming to Christ. Not just kids, people of all ages. Every week, there was that sense that God wants people to be saved. And fifth and lastly, there was a belief in and constant teaching of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. We believed that Jesus was coming back again. Some of you are thinking, well, you got that wrong, didn't you? How many years has it been, Greg? Oh, quite a few. But hey, we weren't wrong. What is 40 years, 45 years to God? The Bible says one year to God, or a day, it says a thousand years, and a thousand years are as a day. So what is it? A millisecond? And by the way, the Bible says, God is not late, as some men count lateness, but he's long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. True, we were praying for Jesus to come back in 1970, but aren't you glad he didn't answer our prayer? How many of you have become a Christian since 1970? Raise your hand up. Well, that's quite a few of you. So you see, God is at work, God was at work, and God still wants to work.
But we've all gotten older. I mean, you know, it's a fact that kids of the Jesus movement are now grandparents. I went to Grandparents' Day at my grandkids' school recently. That just makes you feel old to even go to Grandparents' Day. You know? But there we are. So you say, well, Greg, that's a nice little history lesson, but, you know, so what? So what? Listen, we should not live in the past, but we can learn from it. We should not live in the past, but we can learn from it. Now we can look at this generation and realize we need another Jesus movement. Just as in the 60s, and specifically 1968, we have riots in the streets. We have racial unrest. We have a drug epidemic. There's a sense of hopelessness in the air. How desperate are we for another Jesus movement? How desperate are we for another spiritual awakening?
Praying Like Habakkuk and Psalmist for Revival Today
The prophet Habakkuk understood this when he prayed this prayer in Habakkuk 3-2. I've heard all about you, Lord. I'm filled with awe by the amazing things you've done. But in this time of deep need, revive your work as you did in years gone by. Show us your power to save us. And in your anger, remember your mercy. Habakkuk saying, Lord, I've heard all these stories about the old days. Do it again. Revive your work again. The psalmist says in Psalm 85-6, Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? How badly do we want to see another revival? Here's reality. Often we pray for prosperity in our nation and in our own lives. But the fact is, revival often explodes when there's calamity. Remember, the first great awakening, excuse me, third great awakening happened after the stock market crash. I once asked Chuck Smith if he ever thought there would be another Jesus movement. And his answer was, well, people were desperate for revival back then. And I'm not sure people are desperate enough right now. That may be true. How desperate are we?
So let's try to understand what revival is. Let's strip the mystery away from the word. What is revival? Simple definition. It's to come alive again. Revival is the spark, if you will, that starts the engine. And you know what? Periodically, we need a new spark. The great evangelist, Billy Sunday, once said, they tell me a revival is only temporary, but so is a bath. And that does you some good. End quote. So it may be temporary, but we need one right now. Revival is like waking up from your sleep. One person defined it, revival is nothing more or less than a new beginning of obedience to God. See, we're not praying that non-believers have a revival. They don't need a revival. They need salvation. The church needs revival. This is a church word. This is for believers only who once were perhaps more alive than they are today and they need to be revived again. C.H. Spurgeon said, and I quote, to be revived is a blessing which can only be enjoyed by those who have some degree of life, those who have no spiritual life or not, and cannot be in the strictest sense of the term subjects of revival. A true revival is to be looked at and looked for in the church of God. End quote. So, it's for the church.
One person put it this way. If all the sleeping people will wake up, if all the lukewarm people will fire up, if all the dishonest people will confess up, if all the disgruntled people will cheer up, if all the estranged people will make up, if all of the gossipers will shut up, if all true soldiers will stand up, if all the dry bones will shake up, if all the church people will pray up, then we can have A revival. And I agree with that. See, the revival starts with us. Then it affects the church. Then the church affects the nation.
God's Clear Prescription – 2 Chronicles 7:14 Explained
So let's go now to the passage I had you turn to. A very familiar passage. 2 Chronicles 7. And it tells us, really, God's prescription for revival. Now, initially it was given to the nation Israel and applied to them. But I think in principle it applies to our country or to any nation. 2 Chronicles 7. In fact, to make it easier, let's put it on the big screen here and we can all look at it together. Look here at the screen. And I want you to read this out loud with me. Okay? 2 Chronicles 7.14. If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. That's an amazing verse. I love that. So we want God to heal our land. We want our nation to change. How does it happen? God lays it out for us. It starts off with His people. A lot of times we want to point our finger at somebody else. We say, the problems in our country, it's due to Washington, D.C. Or we'll say, it's due to Hollywood. Or it's the source of the problems are the White House. God says, the source of the problems are His house. His house. His house. The church. Notice He says, if my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways. God doesn't say a thing about secular culture. He doesn't say a thing about garden variety sinners, if you will. He talks to His own people. That's you. That's me. If my people...
See, I think one of the problems we have in our nation today is, we have a lot of folks running around who think they are Christians that really are not. In fact, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13, check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Or are you just pretending to be a Christian when you are not at all? And then there are those who are living a double life. You know, they put on a good performance at church. They say all the right stuff. But they're living a life that's completely contradictory to what the Bible says about how a Christian ought to live.
Three Essential Steps – Humble, Pray, Repent
So what do we do if we want to see a revival? Number one, if you're taking notes. If you want to see a revival, you need to humble yourself and pray. By the way, the word used there for prayer is interesting. Of the 12 Hebrew words employed in Scripture to express a single verb to pray, the one used here means to judge self habitually. Judge self habitually. You know, we're so quick to judge and criticize others habitually. But the Bible says we should be really judging ourselves. If we spent less time criticizing others and more time examining ourselves, maybe we would have revival. It starts with you. It starts with me. Notice Jesus does not say we need to love ourselves. That's what culture tells us. Jesus says we need to deny ourselves and take up his cross and follow him. And then here in 2 Chronicles, we are to judge ourselves. What does that mean? It means that we realize we have a long ways to go. Let me ask you a question. How many of you are completely satisfied with where you are at spiritually right now? You don't think there's any more need for change or transformation in your life? You're happy with where you are at at this moment? Raise your hand up. I'm glad no one raised their hand. Because no one should. Any Christian who really knows what it is to follow Jesus will always realize they have a long ways to go.
The Apostle Paul said, After years of walking with the Lord in Philippians 3, Hey, I don't consider myself to have arrived spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which God has grasped me. It's been said, self-satisfaction is a death of progress. So the moment I think, I've arrived, I've reached a plateau, I'm here. No, you're really far off, man. You've got to keep growing, keep learning. So we want to keep moving forward spiritually.
Now we cannot organize a revival, but we can agonize for one in prayer. Perhaps we can prepare the ground, but better yet, maybe we ought to pre-prayer the ground. Let me say it again. Yeah, we can prepare the ground, but let's pre-prayer the ground. There's never been a prayerless revival in history. So it does start with prayer. If my people, which are called by my name, will hum themselves and pray. And point number two, if they'll pray and seek his face. Not just pray, but seek his face. You can pray a little prayer, Lord, send revival, amen, let's get lunch. Or you can say, oh Lord, Lord, we're seeking you. Lord, we're calling out to you. Lord, we're desperate for you. Lord, we need you. Send an awakening to America. It's effectively a prayer that will not take no for an answer. You say, well Greg, aren't you being presumptuous when you pray the way? No, Jesus said, ask and it shall be given. Seeking you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened. And a different translation would say, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. Press on. Because listen, when you're praying for revival, you're praying according to the will of God. When you're praying for the salvation of a loved one, you're praying according to the will of God. God, so we need to press forward in our prayer and seek his face, not backing down.
Number three, there must be repentance from all known sin. So first we humble or judge ourselves, evaluate ourselves, so we have a long ways to go. Secondly, we pray with passion, with earnestness, with a complete dependence upon God. And thirdly, there must be repentance from all sin. Again, God says, if my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Listen, all the praying in the world is not going to help you if you're living in known sin. The psalmist said, if I cling to iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. And God says in Isaiah 59, it's not that my ear is heavy I can't hear. It's not that my hand is short I cannot save, but your sins have separated you from me. Listen, to pray and to then live in known sin is like hanging up the phone to heaven.
So it starts there, say, Lord, is there any wickedness in me? And let me ask you, be honest. Right now before God, is there something you're doing you know you should not be doing as a follower of Jesus? If so, you need to turn from it because you will never experience personal revival until you do. And those are not only the sins of commission, doing bad things. They can be sins of omission too because you can sit there and think, hey, Greg, you know, I'm living a clean life. I don't lie. I don't steal. I don't get drunk. I'm faithful to my spouse. Hey, amen. God bless you for all that for sure. But then you can be guilty of the sin of omission, right? Sin of commission, doing what you should not do. Sin of omission, not doing what you should do. The Bible says, to him that knows to do good and does not do it to him, it is sin.
So if the Lord's prompting you, go share the gospel and you say no. The Lord is saying, share freely of your finances and invest in the kingdom. You flat out refuse. The Lord nudges you and shows you to pray more. I don't want to do that. Study the word more. No, that can be a sin as well. If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways. Let me personalize this. Insert your name there. Take out my people and put in your name. I'll do it. If Greg will humble himself and pray and seek my face and turn from his wicked ways, put your name in there. God wants to do it for you first. He wants to revive you first and foremost.
God Desires Revival – But We Must Participate
But know this. Having said all of this, God wants to send revival. Isn't that good to know? God wants to send revival. But he wants us to participate in the process. Right? You know, God answers prayer. How many of you agree with that? God answers prayer, right? But often, the reason we pray is because, well, we have a need. We have a crisis. Something's come up. I need a healing. I need direction. I need financial provision. Whatever it is you need, you pray because you're in trouble. It's not like God just gives you everything you've ever wanted more. No problems. No conflicts. He'll allow conflict in your life so you'll see your own weakness and then see the greatness of God as you depend upon him. And we can all remember situations in our life where things were looking rather bleak. And we called on the name of the Lord and he intervened. Right? Can you remember something like that? I can. Many things. So now here in our nation, things are looking bleak. God is saying, check this out. Call on me and watch what I'll do. Pray right now. Follow my prescription for revival. Watch how I will intervene. Listen. It's his desire to bless. Did you know God wants to bless you even more than you want to be blessed? Psalm 84 says, the Lord is a son and a shield. He bestows favor and honor and no good thing will he withhold from those that walk with him. So here's what God says. Call on my name. Pray. Turn from your sin. I'll hear your prayer and I'll heal your land.
Let me say a closing word to someone that's joining us today as maybe a non-believer. You're thinking, what are you guys even talking about? Well, we're talking about our nation and we're talking about you. You don't need revival if you're not a Christian. You need Jesus. You need to see how much he loves you and how he will forgive you of every sin you've ever committed and change your life. This is what can happen for you. My life was changed many years ago. Your life can be changed right now. Maybe your life is falling apart. Maybe you need God to heal your life. Heal your marriage. You're in the throes of drug addiction. Or alcohol addiction. Or you're in despair. Whatever it is, Jesus Christ has everything you're looking for and more. And if you'll just ask him to come into your heart and life and ask him to forgive you of your sin, you can know that you'll go to heaven when you die and then you will begin to discover God's unique and special plan for your life. And that's why I'm going to give you an opportunity to believe in Jesus. And also an opportunity now to ask for personal revival.
Invitation to Salvation and Personal Revival
Let's all pray. Father, we've heard your word. And now Lord, we're praying for those that do not yet know you. Those that have joined us who don't have the hope of heaven. They don't have Jesus in their life. We pray that your Holy Spirit will convict and convince them of their need for Jesus. And Lord, bring them to yourself now. Now when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying. How many of you would say today, Greg, I need Jesus. I want my sin forgiven. I want to go to heaven when I die. I want to know the meaning of my life. I want him in my heart right now. Pray for me. I'm ready to say yes to Jesus Christ. Listen, if that's your desire, if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to go to heaven when you die, would you raise your hand up right now wherever you are and I want to pray for you. Just raise your hand up where I can see it. God bless you. God bless you. Anybody else? Raise your hand up. God bless you.
Some of you are watching a video screen right now. I want you to raise your hand up as well. This is for all of us here. It doesn't matter if I can see you. The Lord sees you. Just raise your hand saying, yeah, I need Jesus. Wherever you are, raise your hand up. Let me pray for you. God bless each one of you that are raising your hand. Anybody else? You want his forgiveness. You want to be ready for the Lord's return. Turn. Raise your hand up. Let me pray for you. God bless you. While our heads are still bowed, maybe some of you would say, "man, I need personal revival. I need to turn from my sin. There's things I'm doing I know I should not be doing as a follower of Jesus. And I'm ready to turn from that and recommit my life to Christ". If that's your desire, would you raise your hand up? You need personal revival. You need to turn from some sin. There needs to be that change in your life. Raise your hand up. God bless you. Wherever you're hearing or seeing me, raise your hand up if you would. God bless all of you.
Now I'm going to ask that every one of you who have just lifted your hand, I want you to stand to your feet and I'm going to lead you in a prayer. Just stand up. Everyone who lifted your hand, stand up now. We're going to pray together. Even if you did not lift your hand, but you want to make this commitment or recommitment to Christ, stand up. And we are going to pray together. God bless you that are standing. If you stand, you won't be alone. Others are standing. Wherever you are, stand up. There might be more of you. You are watching the video screen, stand up right now. We are going to make this commitment or recommitment to Jesus. Let's get this resolved. I will wait another moment. Anybody else, you want to get right with God, stand up. And we will pray together. God bless you. Anybody else? God bless all of you.
Now you that are standing, I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me. Again, as I pray, pray this out loud after me. Right where you stand, pray this prayer.
Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. But I know that you are the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin. I turn from that sin now. Now, I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for loving me and calling me and accepting me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
God bless you that just prayed that prayer. God bless all of you. Amen. I heard a lot of you pray that prayer. We want to give you a Bible that looks like the one I'm holding here. It's called the Start Bible. So I'm going to ask, and we're not done here. We're going to wait on you. Don't worry about this. But I'm going to give you sort of a Harvest Hall pass. Remember in school when you got a Hall pass, you could get out of class? And I want you that just prayed that prayer to get up out of your seat right now and walk over to this room here in the corner. You'll see a little red sign with a white arrow that matches the Bible. That's where we're going to give you this Bible and talk with you a little bit about what it means to follow Jesus. So all of you that prayed that prayer, that's right. Get up out of your seat. Walk over there right now. If you're a counselor, go over there to that room. Up in the balcony, come on down the stairs. Go to that room. You guys out in the amphitheater, come around the back of the sanctuary. Go to that room. It's the chapel, by the way. That's where you're headed. Let us give you a Bible and help you to get started in following Jesus Christ. Lord, we need revival in our lives, in our church. And we ask you to send that spark into our lives, or we will walk with you as we ought to. We ask it in your name.
Revival in Our Time – Part 2: The Hope from Nineveh
Hello. And that is our prayer, that God will send another spiritual awakening to the United States. How many of you think that needs to happen again? Raise your hand up. I'll tell you what. What's it going to take to wake our country up? Now, another terrorist attack, it appears, has now taken place in Orlando, Florida. Upward of 50 people were killed. And as many as 50 more have been wounded. And if this is a terrorist attack, and it appears that it will turn out that way, this will be the worst attack on American soil since 9-11. And, you know, we look to our law enforcement agencies. We look to the military. We look to first responders. There's only so much these people can do. Here's what we need to be looking to. We need to pray for all of them. And we need to pray for our country that America wakes up and turns to God. Because we need Him like never before.
So that's what I want to talk about in my message. I'm calling it Revival in Our Time Part 2. And my text is Jonah Chapter 2. Turn there with me if you would. Jonah 2. And my message is Revival in Our Time. Or rather, can we have revival in our time? I want to look at one of the largest revivals in human history. And this gives me hope for our own country. Because this nation we're going to examine together deserved judgment. And in a way, I feel as though our country deserves judgment. And you say, but Greg, why? Because knowledge brings responsibility. And as I mentioned in that video there in Pompeii, the only other nation we would be closely likened to would be the nation Israel. A nation also founded on biblical principles. That is how we started this country. And that knowledge brings responsibility. I think of the words of Thomas Jefferson who said, quote, I tremble for my country when I reflected God is just. And that his justice cannot sleep forever. But we're going to look at the story of a nation that had a revival. Just like America needs to have a revival. The name of this city is Nineveh.
Revival vs. Awakening – Key Distinction
But let me make a distinction between the word revival and awakening. We often use them interchangeably. But I think a distinction can be made. America needs an awakening. The church needs a revival. An awakening is when a nation comes alive spiritually and sees its need for God and turns to God. A revival is when God's people come back to life again. That brings me to point number one. What is revival? We need to take the mysticism out of the word and just see it for what it is. It simply means to bring back to life. To restore. To be revived is to wake up from a state of sleep. I have a C.S. Lewis who said, quote, A moderately bad man knows he's not very good. A thoroughly bad man thinks he's all right. You understand sleep when you are awake, not when you're sleeping. So in other words, if you think you're a great person with no problems, then you're really more asleep than you realize.
Now, sometimes I'll watch television with my wife and she'll select something that to me is, well, how shall I put it delicately, boring. And we just have different tastes in general. So I'll watch whatever it is she's watching and I'll sometimes doze off. And she'll say, Greg, you fell asleep. And I'll wake up to nine. And why do I do that? It's not a sin to sleep, not to take a little nap, but especially if something is boring. But that's the way we are. We don't want to admit we're asleep. We don't think we're asleep. But the person that is asleep doesn't necessarily know they're asleep. It's when you're awake that you can say, oh, wow, I was asleep. That's what revival is. It's coming back. It's waking up.
This is the kind of faith that God wants us to have. We need the faith of the Christians of the first century. The faith that changed the world. The faith that turned the world upside down. Consider this. Everywhere the apostle Paul went, there was either a riot or a revival. But there was always action. It never got boring. And G. Campbell Morgan once said, and I quote, organized Christianity that fails to make a disturbance is dead. That doesn't mean being obnoxious or just creating a scene. Making a disturbance means getting some reaction to your faith. I feel the time has come for the church to start making a disturbance again. Revival is when God gets so sick and tired of being misrepresented, he shows up himself. And that's what we need to pray for right now. That that will happen.
Biblical Preaching Sparks Revival – The Story of Jonah
So, number one, revival is waking up from sleep. Point number two, biblical preaching can bring revival. Biblical preaching can bring revival. And that's illustrated in the story that we're going to look at in a moment. The story of the prophet Jonah. The reluctant prophet. The chicken of the sea, you might say. The original chicken of the sea. He did not want to go and preach to the city of Nineveh. But because he finally went with a little extra persuasion, it resulted in the largest spiritual awakening in all of the Bible. God said, go. Jonah said, no. God said, oh. God will always have the last word.
Now, why did Jonah not want to go to Nineveh? Because Jonah was, well, a patriotic Israelite. And the enemies of Israel were the Assyrians. And their capital was Nineveh. And so when God said to Jonah, go preach to Nineveh, he thought this through. And he thought, I know your nature, Lord. I know how gracious you are and loving you are and how willing you are to pardon. And my fear is if I go and preach to those creepy people, you'll forgive them and not judge them. But if I don't preach, Jonah deduced, then God will judge them and that will be one less enemy we have to deal with. So he did not want to go. And it is true. The Ninevites were really cruel people. They were known for their savagery. In fact, when the Ninevites would conquer a nation, they would often torture the people they conquered before they executed them. They were known to burn boys and girls alive and to torture others, tearing the skin from their bodies and leaving them to die in the scorching sun. And rather than hide this depravity, they celebrated it and proclaimed it. They even built monuments to their own cruelty. It reminds us a little bit of the Nazis. In World War II, or in present day terms, reminds us a lot of Isis.
The size of Nineveh was around one million. That was a very big city for ancient times. That would be about the size of San Francisco. They were the capital of mighty Assyria, which was the superpower of the day. It required three days to circle metropolitan Nineveh. And those Ninevites, man, they lived large. They enjoyed the best chariots, the finest food, the most exotic entertainment. And they had an extensive business and commercial system like none in all of the world. And in addition, they had been ruling out for 200 years and they were the reigning superpower on the planet at this time. But unbeknownst to them, their days were numbered. It would not be all that long until Babylon would come and overtake her. So God was giving to Nineveh one last chance. And I wonder, is God trying to speak to America right now? Is he saying to America, you need to wake up and you need to turn back to me. Listen, if God could use someone like Jonah to bring about a revival, certainly he could use someone like you or me. One person put it this way, if God could bring a mighty revival in Nineveh with no better representative than Jonah and no more gospel than he preached in their streets, he can surely do the same for America. End quote. Very true.
Jonah's Personal Revival Inside the Great Fish
So God says to Jonah, go preach to Nineveh. Jonah's response was, Lord, no way. They drink Haterade in Nineveh. These people are wicked. I don't want to go to them. And truly, as I said, they were wicked because God said they effectively stink to high heaven. So Jonah, you know the story, got in a boat and went the opposite direction and a great storm came and all the sailors on the boat began to cry out to their gods for help. By the way, that must have been a bad storm because most people I know that have their sea legs are pretty common storms. But this was a really scary one. So they're crying out to their various deities, hoping one of them has a right one and they think about this mysterious stranger below deck and they bring him up. Of course, that's Jonah. They ask him what the story is. He goes, well, this storm is here because of me and I'm a Hebrew and I'm running from God and he told me to go preach in Nineveh and I said no. They're looking at him and thinking, so why would you run from a God this powerful? Then Jonah says, listen, if you throw me over the side of the boat, the storm will stop. They're like, really? Okay, bye over the side he goes.
Now the Lord brings a great fish to swallow Jonah. And by the way, the Bible never says Jonah was swallowed by a whale. I don't know why we always say that. Sort of like when we say Adam and Eve ate the apple. The Bible never says they ate an apple. It says they ate forbidden fruit. The Bible never says a whale swallowed Jonah. Now maybe a whale did, but the Bible specifically says a great fish and a literal translation would be a sea monster. So maybe it was a custom designed fish just for Jonah. Multiple rooms, you know, I don't know. Maybe it was a beast that is now extinct. Maybe it was a whale. It's certainly possible, but it really doesn't matter. People fixate on the story of Jonah and the whale and they miss the bigger story of the greatest revival in ancient history.
Well, you know the rest of the story. He swallowed. And inside, I have to say, Jonah was stubborn. He spent three days and three nights inside of that stomach and said, I ain't budging. Wrapped in seaweed, humidity like you can't believe, fish smacking him in the face. I'm not budging. Finally, he came to his senses and Jonah had a personal revival in the belly of the fish. And we read about that in Jonah 2, verse 1. Then Jonah, then, when, after three days and three nights, then, he prayed to the Lord as God from inside the fish, which reminds you, you can pray pretty much anywhere. If you can pray from the inside of a fish, you can pray anywhere else. He said, I cried to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me, I called to you from the world of the dead, Lord, and you heard me. You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. Drop down to verse 7. When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord, and my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy temple. Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all of God's mercies, but I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise. Inside the belly of the beast, Jonah had revival. Meaning he was revived and brought back to life in what God had called him to do. So now that he had hope again as he turned his thoughts to the Lord, he was ready to go obey the Lord.
We often make. the topic of revival way too mysterious. It's really quite simple. Ari Torrey, an excellent writer, who among other things has written on the topic of prayer, put it this way. He said he had a prescription for revival. Torrey said if a church or a person followed it, they would be revived. There's three things Torrey said they should do. Number one, he said, let a few Christians, they don't even have to be many, get thoroughly right with God. If this is not done, the rest will come to nothing. A few Christians, not a lot, get thoroughly right with God. Number two, Torrey says, let them commit themselves to pray for revival until God opens their windows of heaven and it comes down. And number three, let them put themselves at the disposal of God for his use as he sees fit in winning others to Christ. That is all. Torrey says, I've given this prescription around the world and in no instant has it failed. It cannot fail.
So now Jonah is revived and he's ready to do what God has called him to do. And so the fish cruises up to the beach at Nineveh and barfs out Jonah. So Jonah was righteous and ralphed. And he was revived and recommissioned by God. Listen to this. First God sent revival to Jonah. Then Jonah brought revival to Nineveh. That's because nothing can happen through you until it first happens to you. That's to start with you. You know, you're saying I want to raise my children in the way of the Lord. Great. Do that. But make sure you're walking in the way of the Lord. Because some things are caught and other things are taught. Yeah, they'll listen to your bedtime stories and they'll listen to your little mini sermons but they're also going to be watching your life to see if mom or dad live that out. Sure, we can go out into our workplace and tell people that work with us about Jesus Christ. Make sure you're a model of what what it is to follow Christ. It can't happen through you until it is first happened to you.
Nineveh's Massive Awakening – A Model for America
That brings us to Jonah chapter 3. Let's find out what happened. So he shows up in Nineveh and hears his message. Look at verse 4. One day Jonah entered the city and shouted to the crowds 40 days from now and Nineveh will be destroyed. Well, that's not a very hopeful message, is it? No promise of forgiveness. No way out. Basically, you're all going to die.
Now that message surely wouldn't make a difference, but look what happens. Verse 5. The people of Nineveh believe God's message from the greatest to the least and they decided to go without food and wear sackcloth to show their sorrow. And when the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes and dressed himself in sackcloth and sat on a heap of ashes and the king and the nobles sent this decree to the city. No one, not even the animals may eat or drink anything at all. So they were fasting. Everyone is required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly to God. Everyone must churn from their evil ways and stop all of their violence. Who can tell? Maybe God will have pity on us and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us. And when God saw they put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn't carry out the destruction he had threatened. Stop there. Is that not an amazing story? What a stunning awakening. An entire city turned to God. They even churned from the specific sin of violence that they were known for. God spared them and sent a spiritual awakening.
And after a sermon like this, 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. But actually it's more hopeful than you may think. Because by the matter of fact that he was telling them they had 40 days offered a measure of hope. 40 days until it happens. 40 days for you to get right with God. 40 days for you to wake up to what is happening around you. You see when God judged Sodom and Gomorrah there was no warning. 40 days and Sodom and Gomorrah will be destroyed. It just happened. But in this case God gave a warning just as I believe he's giving warnings to our country right now. But if a city as wicked as Nineveh could turn certainly our country can turn.
Revived People Become Evangelistic – Fresh Fire for Sharing Faith
That brings me to point number four. A revived person will be an evangelistic person. A revived person will be an evangelistic person. Let me turn that around. If you have no desire to share your faith. you need personal revival. Why is a revived person an evangelistic person? Because their evangelism is a result of a Christ filled life.
You want to know an interesting statistic. Most people that come to Christ do it because someone who is young in the faith shared with them. 80 to 90 percent of people who have the gospel shared with them are from people who have known the Lord for two years or less. Did you hear that? 80 to 90 percent of people who have the gospel shared with them are from people who have known the Lord for two years or less. Isn't that interesting? Why is that? Why is it not from ten years or more? The reason it's from two years or less is these are people who are often still in what we would call the first love relationship with Jesus Christ. They're still discovering what God has done for them. They're still excited about it but as we get older in the faith and we walk with the Lord for a time sometimes we start taking these things for granted. You know what that means? It means we need revival. We need to be brought back to the place where we once were where we realize how important it is to share with others what Jesus has done for us.
Listen you want to experience revival in your life? Get a brand new believer next to you and hang out with them. See here's the problem if you hang around with a bunch of jaded Christians some who have even become cynical and after church you critique the sermon you need some new friends. Hang out with some new believers who are hearing this stuff for the first time and are fired up and they have questions that will get you digging back into scripture again. It's the best thing you can do for your own spiritual health. You stabilize them and they re-energize you. Everybody benefits. But you see sometimes we get away from that and we need to have a revival.
Even Revived People Need Revival Again – Jonah's Relapse
Now that brings me to my last point number four and that is that if you are actually that is not my last point my last point is number five sorry I already did number four which means even preachers make mistakes that's my point write that down. my last point is even revived people need to be revived again. Even revived people need to be revived again. Why do I say this? Well here's this awesome spiritual awakening thousands of people are believing God is not judging them how does Jonah react? Is he dancing in the streets doing a little happy dance? No he's angry he's upset in fact he's hopping mad look at Jonah 4 verse 1 this change of plans upset Jonah and he became very angry and complained to the Lord about it saying didn't I say before I left home you would do this Lord this is why I ran away to Tarshish I know you're a gracious and compassionate God slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying So just kill me now, Lord. I'd rather be dead than alive, because nothing I predicted is going to happen. What a brat.
But look at how the Lord reacts. The Lord replied, is it right for you to be angry about this? You see, Jonah is just having a pity party. I wanted to see destruction. In fact, he was so excited, he pulled up a ringside seat to watch it. He had his popcorn and his milk duds, and it was going to be great. He's going to put it up on Snapchat and Instagram and Facebook and everything else. And nothing happened. Judgment didn't come. So he's angry. He's playing angry birds. He was so angry. Lord is like, what is wrong with you, son? I spared these people. You should be rejoicing. You should not be upset. See, the problem with Jonah is he was preoccupied with himself. Here's a man who survived three days and three nights in a fish's stomach. A man who repents and prays and preaches the truth of the people of Nineveh. A man that God uses to help bring about a spiritual awakening. And yet, this guy falls into sin. It's a good reminder, no matter how long you've known the Lord, you can still mess up. No matter how long you've known the Lord, you still may need to be revived again.
You know, sometimes people worry about new believers not changing quickly enough. I'm more concerned with old converts who have stopped changing altogether. Let me say that again. You worry about new believers. They're not changing quickly enough. I'm more worried about older believers who have stopped changing. So we go to that new Christian and say, oh man, they're rough around the edges and they haven't got all the verbiage right yet. And okay, we'll give them time. Be patient. You know, they'll get it. But I'm more concerned about older believers that stop changing. They've just settled in their ways. Maybe they've traded in their old vices like immorality and drugs and drinking and profanity and replaced them with new vices like pride, backbiting, gossip, or even bitterness. See, Jonah was an older Saint who knew better and he was having a relapse and he was angry with God.
Are you angry with God? I mean, be honest. Someone might be. You might say, well, you know, I was hoping this would happen in my life and it didn't happen. And I prayed this prayer and God didn't answer the prayer I wanted him to answer in the way that I wanted him to answer it. And he blessed somebody else over here. And I think I'm more deserving of that blessing. And I'm mad at God. Well, you need to let that go because Jonah missed the whole picture.
Jonah and the Gourd – Comfort Over Compassion
Now, interestingly, while he's sitting there waiting for Nineveh to be judged, the Bible says the Lord caused a gourd to grow next to him. Now that's King James gourd. It was sort of like almost a palm tree with a leafy top that would give him shade. So he's under his little gourd, you know, waiting for the judgment. And then the Bible says the Lord brought a worm and ate the gourd. That must have been one big gnarly worm, you know? It's funny. In the book of Jonah, we talk about Jonah and the whale. No one ever talks about Jonah and the worm. That was a sizable worm who ate it. And now Jonah is literally out of his gourd. in more ways than one. And he's more upset with losing his shade than he is with. the fact that God did not give these people a chance. And so here he is wanting comfort more than the will of God.
This reminds me a little bit of the story of the prodigal sons. Remember Jesus told that story? And we often say the prodigal son, but there was more than one. One prodigal stayed home. The other prodigal ran away. One prodigal went out and started with prostitutes and drugged the family name to the gutter and lost all of his money. And the other son never left home, but he was filled with anger. And you know, it's interesting because Jesus told this story to illustrate the fact that he was being criticized for sharing his love with sinners and ignoring the religious people. So what he's really saying to the Pharisees is, hey, check out the story and guess who you are in the story. The sinners are like the prodigal who came to his senses and returned home. And the older brother, well, that's like you.
Remember how the story went? The boy finally comes home after he's wasted all of his money. And the father runs to greet him and throws a big barbecue. But a lot of times we don't finish the story. It goes on Luke 15. And this is a modern translation. The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. And his father came out and tried to talk to him, but the boy would not listen. The son said, look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, and you've never thrown a party like that for me and my friends. But this son of yours, who's throwing away your money on whores, shows up and you go all out with a feast. The father said, son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time and everything I have is yours. But this is a wonderful time and a time to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead and he's alive again. He was lost. He is found. This brother of yours. You don't even care about him.
Do we even care about people that don't know the Lord? Do we care about people who knew the Lord but have stumbled? We should. Because we're told over in Galatians 6, brothers, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back to the right path and be careful to not fall into the same temptation yourself.
Back to Jonah. God spared thousands of lives and Jonah missed his shade. He missed his comfort. And God is trying to wake him up to the reality of what he is facing. You know, I think we all have a Nineveh. We are, in effect, called to. Some place where we leave our comfort zone. Some place where we admit our need. Some place where we reach out to someone we would not normally reach out to. And we need to be obedient to the Lord.
Here's something I find very interesting. Jonah wrote the book of Jonah. Jonah. Now, if I was Jonah, I would have not written Jonah chapter 4. It would have had three chapters. It would have told the story of a man who runs from God, a man who comes to his senses, a man who does what God wants, and then a man who plays a role in revival. But Jonah wrote Jonah 4 and told all about his selfishness and his sulking. And Jonah even gave God the last word. In Jonah 4, verse 10, The Lord said, You feel sorry about the plant. You did nothing to put it there, and the plant is only at best short-lived. But Nineveh, with more than 120,000 people, living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals, shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city? You see, that's the truth. God wants us to see our need and to act on it.
Revival Defined – New Obedience and Long Obedience
What is revival? Revival is getting back to the Christian life as it was meant to be lived. Revival is being in the bloom of first love for a lifetime. Walking closely with the Lord. No, you can't always have those initial emotions. You can't as a new convert any more than you can have butterflies in your stomach like when you first met your husband or wife-to-be. If I still felt the same way toward my wife as I felt when I first met her, and I told her, I have a lightness, my head feels a little dizzy, she'd think I was having a heart attack or something. That's not realistic, but your love can grow deeper. Your love can grow stronger. And that's how we ought to be as followers of Jesus. Revival is nothing more or less than a new obedience to God. And then it's long obedience in the same direction.
Listen, only God can send an awakening to America. But revival can happen right here, right now. What do I need to do? Well, remember 2 Chronicles 7, 14 said, If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and churn from their wicked way, then God says, I'll hear from heaven, I'll forgive their sin, and I'll heal their land. That can happen for you now. Now, the people of Nineveh repented of their sin. They called it what it was. God sent his healing. And God can do the same for you. We need to get back to that again.
Final Call – Leave Comfort Zone and Seek Revival
Now, I wonder right now if the Lord has spoken to your heart. And I wonder if you feel as though you need to have a spiritual revival. I wonder if you, who have been revived, need to be revived again. You're saying, I don't care about lost people. I don't have a passion for the word of God like I once had. I don't really care that much about prayer. But I want to be revived. I want to get back to that place where God wants me to be. Or maybe the Lord has spoken to you and there are some wicked things you need to churn from. Listen, if you want to do it, I'm going to give you a chance to do it. But I'm not going to make it easy. I'm going to ask you to leave your comfort zone right now. Listen to what I'm saying to you: If you want God to send revival in your life, if you would be honest enough to admit you need to be. refreshed again by God and need to turn from some sin, I'm going to ask you to get up out of your seat, walk down here in front of the platform, and I want you to kneel in front of this platform.
I want you to get up and come down here and kneel. And if there's no room at the front, you kneel in the aisle. Just get up and come. You say, but Greg, why do I need to kneel? Because God says we should come and humble ourselves. And I'm going to kneel with you. So you get up and come. You that want to be revived by God. You that have had the Lord speak to you. Get up out of your seat and come down here. Stand here and kneel. And we're all going to pray together. You that are watching this screen, I want you to do the same thing wherever you are. Get up. Walk forward. Right in front of the stage there. And you get down on your knees. And we're going to pray. And we're going to ask God to send revival to all of us. Don't do it if you don't mean it. But here's your opportunity. Come on down. Repent. Be revived.