Greg Laurie - Revival in Our Time? (08/28/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie preaches from Jonah chapter 3 on the massive revival in wicked Nineveh after Jonah's simple warning message, showing God's mercy even to the most evil. He urges believers to pray for a similar spiritual awakening in America, defines revival as God restoring obedience in His people, and calls older Christians especially to recommit to sharing the gospel and being soul winners before judgment comes.
Jonah Chapter 3: Revival in Our Time?
It is Jonah chapter 3. Turn in your Bible there if you would. And the title of my message is Revival in Our Time? Hello to all the satellite campuses as well. This is a story of one of the largest spiritual awakenings in human history. It is a story of the revival of one of the most wicked cities ever. The city of Nineveh. How wicked was Nineveh? They were so bad that they effectively stunk to high heaven. In Jonah 1:2 we read God said, their wickedness has come up before me. Or literally their wickedness has reached a high degree or the highest pitch. Why does the Bible say that? Well the Ninevites were legendary for their cruelty. Graphic accounts of their cruel treatment of their captives have been found in Assyrian records. The Ninevites were known for being very savage. They would plunder a city. They would take boys and girls and burn them alive. They would torture adults. They would literally skin people and hang the skins on the walls. They would behead people and take their skulls and build monuments out of skulls and then inscribe on the monuments how many people they had killed and the pain they had brought to them. So you can see why they stunk to high heaven.
And the population of Nineveh was quite large for a city at this time. There were around one million people in the city. That is a little bit more than San Francisco to give you a point of reference. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria which was the superpower of our day. Nineveh was so large it took about three days to circle it. And these Ninevites 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 the world. And in addition Assyria had effectively ruled the world for two hundred years at this point. And they had the strongest military power at the time. But things were about to change. A more powerful military was about to overtake Nineveh in Assyria. And that was Babylon. So effectively the days of this nation were numbered. And know this. Every nation's days are numbered. We know that historically. Every nation has a moment when it is born. And a moment when it effectively dies. Or at least when it is diminished dramatically. And that is true for the United States of America.
Judgment Is Coming – But Pray for Awakening
So we know judgment is coming. We can't say that we can pray a prayer that would avert the judgment of God. Because as we study the book of Revelation we saw how the tribulation period is going to unfold. We saw how judgment is going to come upon the whole planet. We saw clearly the United States will no longer be the superpower we are today because we are missing in the last days super players. So we know judgment is coming. That is only a matter of time. Here is what our prayer is. Lord send at least one more spiritual awakening to America before the judgment comes. And that is what we all should be praying for our nation. Maybe even two. Perhaps even three. But Lord at least one more awakening. And listen to this. 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 certainly the Lord could do the same for the United States.
So let's kind of quickly review what we have read this far and then we will get to these final chapters in this last message in this series on Jonah that I have called Go. Remember the Lord said to Jonah, Go to the city of Nineveh and preach the message that I give to you. And Jonah went in the opposite direction. He caught a boat going to a place called Tarshish. That is about as far from Nineveh as you can get. Well the Lord sent a great storm. It was so bad that even the seasoned sailors were alarmed by it. They had never seen a storm of this magnitude. They tried to determine why this storm had come. And they determined or they realized that the culprit or the cause of all of this was this passenger they had never seen before. And they brought him up on deck and asked Jonah what was going on. And Jonah told them that he was an Israelite and he served the Lord God of Israel. Well that freaked him out a little bit because they had heard about the Lord God of Israel. This is the miracle working God. This is the God that parted the Red Sea. This is the God that drowned the entire Egyptian army. This is the God that could bring supernatural food from heaven. This was the miracle working God. And these sailors said, Why would you run from a God like that? It is a good question. You could broaden the question and say why would anybody run from God?
Well Jonah was running from the Lord. And he said, if you throw me overboard this storm will stop. They kept trying to row to land with no success. So they threw him overboard and a great fish or a whale swallowed Jonah. And that seems to be the focus of the story for most people. But really when you read the whole book you realize it is not the major point of the book. But why did God let Jonah get swallowed by this great fish? Is this the Lord's way of getting even? All right Jonah. Jonah. You messed up. It is payback time. That is how some people see God. Man God is getting even with me. I did something bad when I was younger. Now He is getting back at me. Listen. God doesn't deal with people that way. Especially His own children. God got even if you will at the cross when Jesus died in our place. He put the wrath that should have been upon you and upon me upon Jesus. As Isaiah 53 says Christ was punished for our sin. No. This is not about getting even. This is about chastening, disciplining, or spanking one of His own kids. Because God loves us He will discipline us when we go astray. God was not disciplining Jonah because He hated him. He was disciplining Jonah because He loved him. And that reminds us that God is chastening His preparation for a future task. God's chastening tells us He has something more for us to do.
See this was good news. Because if you are one of God's kids He will discipline you. What does that mean? You start to cross the line. He will step in. There will be the conviction of the Spirit in your own heart. Maybe something will happen that will make it a little harder for you to commit that sin. Maybe you will be found out right away. And you will say, Why can't I get away with sin like all the nonbelievers? Because God loves you. That is why. Because you are His kid. We discipline our children. We say we discipline our grandchildren but we usually don't. I was watching three of my grandchildren yesterday. Riley, Allie, and little Christopher who is now a year old. Allie is two. A little over two. And she is a free spirit. She is always barefoot. She is like a little bohemian. So Allie was going down the stairs. She was hopping down each stairs. Hop, hop. I said, Allie, use the rail. She keeps hopping. I said, Allie, use the rail Three, four, five, six, and she just walks off. She knows I am not going to do anything. But we do discipline our children. So here is what I want to say to you. If you are being disciplined right now it is a sign that God is not finished with you yet.
So here is Jonah. being prepared for his greatest work yet. He was revived and recommissioned by God. Now I am going to talk a little bit more about revival in a moment and I am going to define it for you. But let me just say this. Revival starts with you. It starts with me. Nothing can happen through me until it is first happened to me. So God had to first get Jonah right before he could work through him to get others right. So then of course that whale or fish cruised up to the beach at Nineveh opened his mouth and barfed out Jonah. And the story picks up there.
Jonah's Message and Nineveh's Response
We are in Jonah chapter 3 starting in verse 4. And by the way I am reading from the New Living Translation. On the day Jonah entered the city he shouted to the crowds, 40 days from now Nineveh will be destroyed. Here is an amazing verse now. Look at verse 5. The people of Nineveh believed God's message. And from the greatest to the least 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. He took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in sackcloth and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout all the city. No one, not even the animals, may eat or drink anything at all. Everyone is required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly to God. Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all of their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will have pity on us and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us. When God saw they had put a stop to their evil ways. He had mercy on them. He didn't carry out the destruction. He had threatened. We will stop there.
Let us pray. Father as we think about this great awakening in Nineveh it gives us hope that something like this could happen in our country. So help us to see what role we could play in that. Speak to us from Scripture we ask now in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now this is a stunning spiritual awakening. An entire city, population around one million, turning to God. They even turned from their sin of violence which they weren't known for. So God spared them and sent a nationwide revival. What I really find amazing is that they turned to God after a sermon like this. I mean all Jonah said was 40 days from now Nineveh will be destroyed. But in a way the very fact that he was giving them a warning was somewhat hopeful. For instance when God judged Sodom and Gomorrah he just judged them. He didn't send them a warning. There was no Jonah walking through their streets. Judgment just came. But in the case of Nineveh there was a warning given to them first. And they turned to the Lord. And they believed the message of Jonah. So this reminds us that no one is beyond the reach of God. These people were super wicked yet God saved them.
Do you know somebody that is super wicked? Do you know somebody that is a sinner with a capital S? Do you know someone that you can't even imagine in your wildest dreams walking around with the Bible saying, praise the Lord? I want to tell you something. God could save that person. He could bring them to faith. You say, no I don't think this person. Not this one. Wait a second. Saul of Tarsus was converted. And you know what he did for a living? He hunted down, tortured, and killed Christians. And yet God got hold of Saul. And God got hold of Nineveh. And God can get hold of that person. So here is what I challenge you to do. Start praying for them by name. And ask the Lord to save them. And now step number two. Extend an invitation to them to come with you to the crusade this year.
Expect God to Save – Don't Plan for Failure
I think we are reluctant to do it because we don't think it will ever happen. We prepare for failure, not for success. Someone once came to the great British preacher Spurgeon. And Spurgeon pastored what we call today a mega church. Now back in that day it was just the biggest church ever. I think he had around five or six thousand people coming to hear him preach there in London. And so he was known for his preaching. And many people came to Christ under Spurgeon's preaching. Every week people were coming to the Lord. So a young pastor came to Spurgeon and was complaining. He said, I don't understand it. Whenever I preach no one comes to Christ. Spurgeon asked him, Do you expect people to come to Christ every time you preach? And the young man said, Well of course not. Spurgeon said, And that is your problem. It is sort of a trick answer. Well of course not. See you go into it planning for failure. Not thinking people will respond. It comes down to this. We need to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God. Let me repeat that. We need to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God.
Could God send another spiritual awakening to America. I believe He could. I believe He can. And I pray He will. We have had four great awakenings in our nation over our history. The first awakening was in the 1700s when our country was still in formation. It was led by such people as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. During just two years of this revival from 1740 to 1742 25,000 to 50,000 people were added to the New England churches. Now that may not sound like a high number but consider the fact the population was only around 300,000 at that point. The second great awakening was from around 1790 to 1840. Names like Charles Finney came from this time they were preaching. This was when the Wild West was prevalent. Law was disregarded. Sexual sin was rampant. And they would have these camp meetings where crowds as high as 15,000 would gather for several days. And the population was very small at that time. Thousands would come to faith. More than 10,000 came to Christ in Kentucky alone between 1800 and 1803. They would just set these tents up or these makeshift structures in the middle of the forest. And thousands of frontier people would come and hear the gospel preached and turn their life over to the Lord. A lanky young lawyer was known to attend some of those meetings and had his life impacted by them. We know him as Abraham Lincoln.
The third great awakening in American history was from around 1857 to 1859. How this revival began is unique. A 48 year old businessman named Jeremiah Lanfear began a prayer meeting on Fulton Street in New York City. It began slowly but soon exploded. One of the things that caused it to explode was the crash of the stock market. Prayer meetings were happening everywhere in New York. Filling theaters on Broadway. Can you imagine such a thing? Within six months 10,000 people gathered daily for prayer throughout New York City. It is reported that 50,000 New Yorkers were converted from March to May. There were 10,000 additions to church membership weekly during this revival. During this time the number of reported conversions to the country reached an average of 50,000 a week for a couple of years. Over one million people came to Christ during this brief period. One of the men that came out of this revival was the great evangelist D.L. Moody.
But what is amazing about it is that it started with a prayer meeting. And it turned into a wave that rolled across the nation. Well the fourth great awakening in my opinion was the Jesus movement. And I think you have to classify it as a genuine American revival. An excellent book recently came out called God's Forever Family written by Larry Eskridge. And it is a scholarly look at the Jesus movement. I recently finished it. And I will tell you what. Larry got it right. And he filled in some gaps for me. Though I came to Christ during this time there were aspects of the Jesus movement I didn't fully understand that were happening in other parts of the country. And after I got done reading this book I thought, there is no other way. There is no way around it. This was a genuine revival.
You have to understand the culture of the time. This is the late sixties. Our country is in turmoil. Bomb drills in classrooms are mandatory. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought us to the brink of a nuclear confrontation with Russia. And not long after that our President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Followed by his brother Bobby, Robert Kennedy. And then Martin Luther King was assassinated as well. So this was traumatizing for a nation. The Vietnam War was raging with no end in sight. Watergate was about to happen. Kids were rebelling against society. And their mantra was sex, drugs, drugs, and rock and roll. One of the slogans of the time was turn on, tune in, drop out. And by and large the church was ineffective in reaching this youth culture. John Lennon made his controversial statement around this time that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. But in some ways he was right. For many young people the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. And then inexplicably, supernaturally, God began to work. And young kids were coming to Christ by the hundreds and soon by the thousands. And they were showing up in churches. And a lot of these churches were very conservative. They didn't have contemporary Christian music back then. They didn't have sort of a casual approach and dress in churches back then. It was very straight laced. Very formal. And all these crazy hippie kids start showing up. And the churches that welcomed them experienced revival. And the churches that did not welcome them did not experience revival.
One church that opened up their doors to the hippies was Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa. Now at first Pastor Chuck Smith didn't like the hippies. He thought they all needed to get a haircut and go to work. But his wife had a heart for them, Kay. And she was praying for them. And they were praying that the Lord would let them meet a genuine, living, breathing hippie. And one showed up at their house one day. His name was Lonnie Frisbee. He had come to Christ in San Francisco. And Chuck let Lonnie start preaching at Calvary Chapel. And the place just exploded. And soon. all these bands were forming. And a whole new genre developed called contemporary Christian music. As well as what we would call contemporary praise and worship. I watched this all happen because I came to Christ in 1970. The Jesus movement did not start at Calvary Chapel. But it blew through Calvary Chapel as it did many other places. But the reason that it had a sustained effect there was because when it was all said and done Calvary was a church with a pastor. And so a lot of these kids came to Christ and wanted to know how to grow more. And then they went out and started planting churches. People like Raul Rees, Jeff Johnson, Mike McIntosh, Skip Heidson, and a really cute guy named Greg Laurie too. So that is where our church came from. Our church was born during a time of revival. So I just look back and I say thank God I was allowed to be around for that. But you know what? That was 40 years ago. It is history. It is glorious history. But history none the less. Listen we can't live in the past but we can learn from it. And here is what we need to do. We need to pray, Lord do it again. We need another Jesus movement. We need another spiritual awakening. We need another revival in America today.
What Is True Revival? – For Believers
That is what the psalmist said in Psalm 85:6. Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Habakkuk said in Habakkuk 3:2, I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by the amazing things you have done. And in this time of deep need, Habakkuk prays, revive your work as you did in years gone by. So we have a whole new generation now that needs their own revival. Their own awakening. So we should pray the Lord would send another. But what is revival? You know we throw that word around a lot. Sometimes you will see a church with a sign out in front. Revival. This week only. Starts at seven. Ends at nine. Look. I mean you may be having some great meetings. I don't know if I would classify those as a revival.
Listen. Revival is something God does for us. We don't do it for God. You can't create a revival. You cannot organize a revival. But you can agonize for a revival in prayer. It is a supernatural invasion of God. A one person defined revival as a community saturated with God. Richard Owens Roberts who wrote a great book on revival said quote, Revival is an extraordinary movement of the Holy Spirit producing extraordinary results. End quote. A.W. Tozer defined revival as quote, That which changes the moral climate of a community. End quote. Listen. Revival is nothing more or less than a new beginning of obedience to God. Now really the world, non-believers, they don't need revival. They need salvation. The church needs revival. You need revival. I need it. What does it mean to be restored to original condition? To get back to the place God wants me to be? C.H. Spurgeon defined revival this way 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 are not and cannot be, in the strictest sense of the term, subjects of revival. A true revival is to be looked for in the church of God. End quote.
So you see revival is for believers only. But evangelism is for non-believers. And that is why we do these evangelistic crusades. That is why we are doing Harvest America. Because I don't believe most Americans have heard an authentic biblical gospel presentation. I think our country is filled with a lot of almost Christians. They know enough to get them in trouble. They know a little about it. But they don't understand it fully. And they haven't really embraced it. Almost. You hear that word sometimes. For instance when you are trying to go somewhere. I will personalize it. When I am going somewhere. And I say to my wife, we have to go now. She says, okay. So we have to leave at this time. Will you be ready? Yes I will. And as I am walking out the door she is still getting dressed. And I say, are you ready to go yet? And she says, almost. What does that mean? Depends who is saying it. When my wife and perhaps some women say that it means 15 minutes minimum. Almost. There are almost Christians. But you can't be an almost Christian. That is like being almost pregnant. No. You are pregnant or you are not pregnant.
And Herod Agrippa had the gospel proclaimed to him by the apostle Paul. He was moved by what Paul said. And he said, you almost persuade me to be a Christian. That is what I think America is filled with. Almost Christians. They have heard it. But they haven't yet responded to it. So our job is to go and preach the message God has given us. Just as the Lord told Jonah to. We are to go.
Jonah's Anger: More Concerned with Comfort Than Souls
Now we come to the conclusion of the book of Jonah. And here is one of the reasons why I believe the Bible is the Word of God. Because the Bible always tells the truth. Even if it is not flattering to the subjects. The Bible is not a puff piece. It is not edited to make a person look better. It just tells us what really happened. And because Jonah's book does not end with chapter 3 but chapter 4 I know it is inspired by God. If I wrote Jonah, and by the way most believe that Jonah wrote this book. If I wrote this book, if I were Jonah I would have left out chapter 4. And you will find out why I say that in a moment. Because look. Chapter 1. Jonah is called to go to Nineveh. He runs from God. He is swallowed by a whale. Revival breaks out. Awesome. They lived happily ever after. Then there is chapter 4. And it is so honest. And it is so real. I think Jonah put it in there so people would know what he is really like. And in a way we will see ourselves in this chapter.
We are not only going to learn about Jonah and the whale which we have talked about. Now we are going to learn about Jonah and the worm. Often left out. So here this great awakening is broken out. Thousands of lives have been spared. How does Jonah react? Does he rejoice? No. He is hopping mad. Go to Jonah 4 verse 1. Again I am reading from the New Living Translation. This change of plans upset Jonah. And he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it. Didn't I say before I left home you would do this Lord? That is why I ran to Tarshish. I know you are 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 these people. So just kill me now Lord. I would rather be dead than alive. Because I predicted it is going to happen. And the Lord replied, Is it right for you to be angry about this?
Jonah was angry because God did not wipe out the Ninevites. And a better translation of the statement of God to Jonah would be, You are very angry, aren't you? Man you are really mad. I can see looking at you. And boy was he mad. The word here for anger can be translated to burn. He was fuming. Burning with anger. He should have been rejoicing. And instead he is mad. Why? Because he was preoccupied with himself. I would rather be dead Lord than see these people spared. I mean here is Jonah. Jonah. A man who has survived three days and three nights in a fish's stomach. A man who repents, prays, and preaches to the people of Nineveh. A man that is used by God to bring one of the greatest revivals in human history. You would think at this point he wouldn't sin anymore. You know you reach super Saint status. Right? You know sometimes people are concerned about new believers not changing quickly enough. I am more concerned with old believers who have stopped changing.
Let me explain. You have new believers who have made a commitment to Christ. And maybe they are not changing as rapidly as we would like them to. You know maybe a cuss word slipped out. Or they didn't completely let go of that vice. Or maybe they lost their temper. They did something that makes us say they need to be changing more. Okay. Right. Keep praying for them. Be patient with them. Keep encouraging them. My greater concern than them is the older believer who has known the Lord for years who has stopped changing. The older believer who maybe is treated in the old sins that they used to commit. Like immorality or drugs or drinking etc. Now they have new sins that have taken their place. Like pride. Backbiting. Gossip. Bitterness. You see Jonah was an older Saint who knew better who was having a relapse. And he was angry with God.
Are you angry with God? Do you feel in your mind that God has somehow let you down? Maybe He did not answer your prayers as you wanted Him to. Things didn't turn out in life as you hoped they would. Or He has blessed someone else more than you in your perception. And you are jealous. You know Jonah was wondering why God did not destroy these people. Sometimes we wonder why a good God would allow bad things. Jonah was wondering why a good God would allow good things for bad people. He wanted God to be bad instead of good. He wanted God to be mean like Him. And wipe these people out. And he was still hoping against hope that God would not be predictably merciful but still would judge the people.
So he pulls up a ringside seat to watch the action. He kind of sits there on the outskirts of Nineveh. And he is hoping maybe God would still come through. And judge them. This would be awesome. Watch people die. Now that is entertainment. All he needed was a coke and some popcorn. Well that wasn't going to happen. Jonah chapter 4 verse 5. Then Jonah went to the east side of the city, and made his shelters to sit under, as he waited to see if anything would happen to the city. And the Lord arranged for a leafy plant to grow there. And as soon as its broad leaves were over Jonah's head, he was shaded from the sun. This eased some of Jonah's discomfort, and he was grateful for the plant. But God also prepared a worm. And the next morning it dawned, the worm ate through the stem of the plant. So it soon died and withered away.
Here is the worm now. King James calls this plant a gourd. Basically it was a palm tree like growth. Offering ample shade. So Jonah had his shade and comfort. He built his little structure. But God gave him a beautiful tree to keep him cool in the shade. Now we can look down on Jonah for his attitude. But maybe this is a warning for us. This is a man who became more concerned with his own comfort than the souls of others. Let me ask you a question. Has that happened to you? It can happen more easily than you may think. As you look back in your own life let me ask you. Have you found that the Bible is no longer alive to you? Is prayer no longer a regular part of your life? Have you gotten to a point as a Christian where you can't remember the last time you actually engaged someone in a conversation about Christ? Has your church attendance become more erratic? You see we want to be more comfortable than we want to be available. We become like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son.
Remember that story? We all know the first part. That boy that came to his dad said, I want my portion of the inheritance now. And the father gave it to him. And the boy went to a distant country and blew all of his money. He was with hookers. He was partying. He was drinking. He did everything he wanted to do and he lost all of his money. And he lost his reputation. And he drugged the family names to the mud. And one day that boy came to his senses and decided to go home. Meanwhile there is old dad missing his boy. longing for his return. And when he saw his son coming back down that road to their home the father got up and ran to his son threw his arms around him kissed the boy over and over again. The father was ecstatic with joy. But not the older brother. The older brother was angry just like Jonah. In a way there is two prodigals in the story. The prodigal who ran away and the prodigal who never left home.
And here is how the story goes. Luke 15 verse 28. I will just read it to you. And this is from a paraphrase. The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in the celebration for his brother. His father came out and said, Son, what are you doing? But the boy wouldn't listen. The son said, Look, many years I have stayed here serving you. Never giving you one moment of grief. But have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on horse shows up and you go all out with a feast. His father said, Son, you don't understand. You are with me all the time. Everything that is mine is yours. But this is a wonderful time and we have to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead and he is alive. He was lost and he is found.
Now what was this story all about? Well Jesus was getting criticized by the Pharisees for hanging around with sinners. Because he would actually sit down and eat with them. And enter the world and talk with them. And the sinner and the Pharisees were angry about this. So he tells the story. Well guess who is who in this story? The prodigal represents the sinners. The older brother is represented by those Pharisees. You see. You are like those guys Jesus is saying. So now let's bring it home to us. Are we more concerned with our comfort than the transformation of another person? Are we more concerned with what pleases us than we can change the life of another?
Let me ask you a question. How many of you plan on attending the Harvest Crusade? Raise your hand. You plan on attending it. Okay. How many of you plan on attending with a nonbeliever with you? Raise your hand up. Okay. Good. But not as many of you raise your hand. Now why is that? Have you run out of nonbelievers to invite? You don't know any nonbelievers? If that is the case you need to get out more. But I think that everyone should bring someone with them that does not know the Lord. But I notice not all of you raise your hand. Which means not all of you are coming to the Crusade. And maybe there is a reason. Maybe you have a previous commitment. Maybe you are on vacation. Or maybe you just don't want to go this year. You would say, Well I have gone before. I went last year. And I don't know if I want to go this year. And I liked the music two years ago more than this year. Yeah but see. Is that more about you now? That is more about your comfort than a soul that needs to be saved? Well I don't like to fight the crowds. Trust me. I understand that. I don't like big crowds either. But is it worth it to see a person come to faith? Well it is not my style of music. So? It is somebody's style of music that would relate to it. Someone who doesn't yet know the Lord. You can put ear plugs in if you want. It is not about you. It is about them. The souls of people.
And by the way in this story, this chapter, John 15, where the story of the prodigal son is found, Jesus makes this point a number of times. So there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that comes to repentance. And He prefaced that by saying likewise. Meaning here is what I am trying to actually say. It tells the story of a woman who lost a coin. A Shepherd who lost a sheep. A father who lost a son. And His point that He brings back more than once is, So likewise I say there is joy in heaven over one sinner. Get it? Every time a person believes in Jesus on earth, there is a party in heaven. Which means that is an ongoing party. Notice it doesn't say, Whenever a hundred people or more believe, there is rejoicing in heaven. One, it says. One sinner is enough to make heaven break out in applause. I think that is pretty amazing.
I remember the Harvest Crusade I did only days after our son went to heaven. Some people wondered if I would even do it. But as far as I was concerned, what else could I do? It was the only thing I could do. It was the thing I should do. Because I knew my son was in heaven. And I wanted others to join Him. And I will tell you it was the hardest time of my life. But God came near to me. And it is almost like heaven opened for me in a way. And as I saw people come to Christ in 2008, it is almost as though I could hear the applause of heaven. I don't mean literally of course. But I understood it better.
What would happen to you or me if God were to open up a portal and give us a glimpse of the other side? If we could see heaven. If we could see our loved ones there happily enjoying the presence of God and all the joys that await us. How would that impact us? What if God opened up a portal or a window to hell? And you could see that. How frightening that would be. How scary it would be to think, I know people that could end up in this place. See my point is this needs to get beyond our comfort when we start thinking of the souls of people.
So the Lord sent a worm to eat Jonah's plant or gourd. So Jonah was literally out of his gourd here. And the wind blows on him and the sun is beating on him. He doesn't have any sunscreen. And he says, I would rather just die. God had spared thousands of lives and Jonah missed his shade. Heaven rejoices when a sinner believes and so should we.
New Believers and Soul Winning – 80-90% Come from Recent Converts
You want to hear an amazing statistic? Between 80-90% of the people who have the Gospels shared with them hear it from a person who has known the Lord for two years or less. Let me repeat that again. Between 80-90% of people who have the Gospels shared with them hear it from a person who has known the Lord for two years or less. Why is that interesting? Because new believers seem to get it better than older believers. My daughter-in-law Brittany, Jonathan's wife, went up to L. A. yesterday to the Fred Jordan Mission which is led by my Aunt Willie Jordan. And they are right there at Skid Row and they share the gospel with people and feed them and clothe them throughout the year. So a group from our church went up and they were giving out bottled waters and invitations to folks to come to a meal. And then there is a gospel presentation. And Brittany told me when she was going up on the bus and talking with folks, many of whom she had never seen before, from our church, she asked them how long they had known the Lord, where they had come from. She said, almost every one of them said, I just came to Christ. I came to Christ a month ago. I came to Christ just the other day. And I am thinking this bus is filled with new converts reaching out to hurting people. Where is the older converts? Where are the people that have known the Lord for 20, 30 years? Why aren't they there? Have we become more concerned with our comfort than the souls of people? If so we need to ask God to change our hearts.
Now let's not be too hard on old Jonah. Because he did put chapter 4 in. And I think the best thing about chapter 4 is he gave God the last word. Look at Jonah 4 verse 10. And the Lord said to Jonah, You feel sorry about the plant. Though you had nothing to do with putting it there. And a plant is only at best short lived. But Nineveh has 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?
Listen to this. We all live in Nineveh. We are called to. And by that I mean some place, something that we need to do. Some place we need to go to. Something we need to do. Your Nineveh doesn't have to be far away like Jonah's was. Your Nineveh may be across the street. Basically your Nineveh is that place where God has called you to go. A place where popularity does not matter. A place where faithfulness to the will of God is all that matters. And finally a place that leads to a blessing beyond your wildest dreams. What is your Nineveh? What has God told you to do? Are you doing it?
One of the greatest revivals in human history started with a man. A man who initially ran from God but ultimately came to his senses. And this man did what was uncomfortable. He put it all on the line and God blessed him. Here is my question to you. Will you be that man or will you be that woman? We have all been called like Jonah to go. To go and preach the gospel. The question is are we doing it? God wants you to. So we need to think about this great opportunity just around the corner. But listen. Don't wait for the crusade. Often I will hear the stories of people who will say, I was inviting people to the crusade that led to a conversation and I led them to the Lord. Oh you can't do that. No. Of course you can do that. That is the whole idea. See that flyer that you give out. That invitation you extend. That just becomes the way to get the conversation rolling. Hey I would like to invite you to this event. What is this event? Well actually what it is. You tell them. And then you get into a conversation. See how that works? That is a good thing. But God is not going to force you to do it. He has given you a free will. My question is will you go.
Invitation: Here I Am Lord – Send Me
We are going to close now with prayer. And I am going to extend an invitation today. But it is not the typical invitation. As you know I often invite people to Christ at the end of the service. I am not going to do that today. If you brought a non-believer. you lead him to the Lord after the service. Here is the invitation I am extending today. This is an invitation to respond to the call of God to do what you are supposed to do. Which is share of the gospel. Jesus said the harvest is great but the labors are few. Then He said pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth more laborers into the harvest. So He told us to pray. He told us the problem, the challenge, the opportunity. Then He told us the solution. Big opportunities. Not enough people doing it. So what am I supposed to do? To pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth. And that word send forth means thrust them forward. That He would thrust forward more laborers to the harvest.
Older believers I am talking to you especially. Because I think the younger believers seem to get it already. I think the older believers they need a wake up call. So in this prayer I am going to give you an opportunity to make a commitment. I don't want you to make this commitment if you don't mean it. And I will tell you why. Because you are effectively making a commitment to God to do something. And I am going to tell you if you say to the Lord I will do this He is going to take you up on it. And sooner than later which I think is exciting. But don't say this if you don't mean it. There is no one to impress. You are not going to walk down in the aisle. It is going to be between you and the Lord. But if you need to make this commitment make it now.
Let us all pray. Now Father we have heard your word. And we have heard your command to us. To go on to all the world and preach the gospel. To every living creature. Well Lord you have told us to pray that you the Lord of the harvest would send forth labor. So I pray in this group. Every one of us here listening, watching. That you would find in this group men and women who would say, here I am. Send me.
Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying. If you want to be that man or that woman that would go proclaim the gospel. And maybe you have done this before. But if you want to continue to be that person I am going to ask you to stand to your feet. If you are the person who has never done this before but wants to start doing it I am going to ask you to stand to your feet. But as you stand And here is what you are doing. You are saying, here I am Lord. Send me. I will go where you want me to go. I will say what you want me to say. I will do what you want me to do. Now don't do this if you don't really want to do it. But if you do you watch what the Lord will do through you. So you stand up and we are going to pray together. Stand up. If you want to make this commitment I am going to lead you in a prayer. A simple prayer that I will be heard in heaven by the Lord. Anybody else in this last moment? You are willing to be that man, that woman? Alright.
Now all of you that are standing I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me. Here I am Lord send me. I will go where you want me to go. I will say what you want me to say. Open doors for me. Give me a boldness like I have never had before. Give me compassion for those that do not know you. Use me to bring others to you. I want to be a soul winner. Here I am Lord. Send me.
Father you have heard these prayers. I pray you will bless every one of them. And I pray you will use them. And I pray that you will work through them in a powerful way. So Lord thank you for these commitments that have been made today. And Lord send revival to America. And bless this time of giving now as we invest in your kingdom we ask all of this in Jesus name. Amen.