We had a Revival meeting last week in our church Sunday night thru Wednesday. A fairly sad indictment that in our church of 100 - 150 that the best night was an attendance of 40 people. Then on Saturday night we had a Thanksgiving Banquet -- 110 showed up for that. What kind of nation are we?
We can not get the people of the church stirred up for God? How then shall we win the people who need this revival and the Lord Jesus? Well today we are going to examine a city that was in the same state of immorality and despair lost and dying when they received the call from God and their response.
Jonah 3:3-10 KJV
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
All of us know the story of Jonah and I hesitate to use the word story because then folks put it in the fable category when this actually happened, documented through the city's own history.
Well it seems that this huge city was given over to sin and wickedness. The city was to be destroyed and then this man who was fresh from a 3 day stay in the belly of a great fish shows up. I am certain he did not wear a 3 piece suit and drive a Cadillac; Nor ,and this is pure supposition, did he have flowery words or the gift of congeniality. Jonah was dead set against this city getting a reprieve so he was surly and sullen about the whole thing.
Yet in spite of the unseemliness of the preacher, the poor attitude of the messenger, and the sheer ludicrousness of the whole situation, God's word penetrated a city government from the top to the bottom. They repented, and God heard them.
We have all the ways you can possibly have to access God's word but we fail to do so. Why? I can only come to the conclusion that we in this world of 2013 DO NOT WANT REVIVAL.
God forbid we should go out of our way to do anything to facilitate this. We want God to work but only if He will do it without us putting forth any effort.
Now even in Jesus' day they did not want to hear Him
Matthew 12:41KJV
41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold , a greater than Jonas is here.
We are in a sad state folks when we can not get out for a revival. We are lost: Non - Christians and Christians alike. We shall never see a revival in this country because we don't want one. We want the flowery feel good God loves me bible. We will get the Wrath of God version if we do not turn and turn now.
Call sin SIN. Weed out the unrighteousness we are so content wallowing in. Get out of our chairs and get to work on God's word. disseminating it doesn't seem to be enough anymore. We have it in all forms: book, tv, web, spoken word, online video, commentaries, radio etc.
But we do not have the heart of God. We do not have a desire. We do not have the drive.
Well the sad state of this world is our fault. We shall give account for our inaction. Remember the sin of Omission (not doing something) is as great as the sin of commission.
2 Chronicles 7:14KJV
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray , and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
We are running out of time and we are losing God's blessing in this land. We must turn. We must care. We must get off our duffs and preach the Word!! God's Word is the only hope. Stop sugarcoating the truth and let our people who have itching ears hear the truth and know we are not Right with God.
Tell folks that wrong is wrong!
Sin is Sin! and we must turn from our wickedness. The church and the people of God must start being the people of God. Stop trying to conform to the world. Come out from among them and be ye separate.
We can not get the people of the church stirred up for God? How then shall we win the people who need this revival and the Lord Jesus? Well today we are going to examine a city that was in the same state of immorality and despair lost and dying when they received the call from God and their response.
Jonah 3:3-10 KJV
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
All of us know the story of Jonah and I hesitate to use the word story because then folks put it in the fable category when this actually happened, documented through the city's own history.
Well it seems that this huge city was given over to sin and wickedness. The city was to be destroyed and then this man who was fresh from a 3 day stay in the belly of a great fish shows up. I am certain he did not wear a 3 piece suit and drive a Cadillac; Nor ,and this is pure supposition, did he have flowery words or the gift of congeniality. Jonah was dead set against this city getting a reprieve so he was surly and sullen about the whole thing.
Yet in spite of the unseemliness of the preacher, the poor attitude of the messenger, and the sheer ludicrousness of the whole situation, God's word penetrated a city government from the top to the bottom. They repented, and God heard them.
We have all the ways you can possibly have to access God's word but we fail to do so. Why? I can only come to the conclusion that we in this world of 2013 DO NOT WANT REVIVAL.
God forbid we should go out of our way to do anything to facilitate this. We want God to work but only if He will do it without us putting forth any effort.
Now even in Jesus' day they did not want to hear Him
Matthew 12:41KJV
41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold , a greater than Jonas is here.
We are in a sad state folks when we can not get out for a revival. We are lost: Non - Christians and Christians alike. We shall never see a revival in this country because we don't want one. We want the flowery feel good God loves me bible. We will get the Wrath of God version if we do not turn and turn now.
Call sin SIN. Weed out the unrighteousness we are so content wallowing in. Get out of our chairs and get to work on God's word. disseminating it doesn't seem to be enough anymore. We have it in all forms: book, tv, web, spoken word, online video, commentaries, radio etc.
But we do not have the heart of God. We do not have a desire. We do not have the drive.
Well the sad state of this world is our fault. We shall give account for our inaction. Remember the sin of Omission (not doing something) is as great as the sin of commission.
2 Chronicles 7:14KJV
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray , and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
We are running out of time and we are losing God's blessing in this land. We must turn. We must care. We must get off our duffs and preach the Word!! God's Word is the only hope. Stop sugarcoating the truth and let our people who have itching ears hear the truth and know we are not Right with God.
Tell folks that wrong is wrong!
Sin is Sin! and we must turn from our wickedness. The church and the people of God must start being the people of God. Stop trying to conform to the world. Come out from among them and be ye separate.
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