Ruin Or Revival

 RUIN OR REVIVAL

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” - Isaiah 5:20

Our world is in a mess. The news headlines remind us of this fact every day. It would not be an understatement to say that our nation is facing judgment because she has embraced, encouraged and endorsed sin. Isaiah wrote, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.” Sadly, that describes our nation today. Notice that God declares “woe” unto such people.

In the Old Testament, prophets were given the unpleasant task of preaching a message of judgment to nations. Israel was not exempt from the message of doom. As a result, God-ordained prophets were abused and tortured because of their faithfulness in preaching God's message. In spite of the “positive message” from false prophets, the prophecy of judgment actually occurred.

I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet. However, it is my firm belief that there is no political solution to our nation's spiral descent into destruction. Apart from a miracle of God's grace, our nation is doomed.

There are many “feel-good,” preachers who, like the false prophets of old, refuse to warn of bad news. While it is true that the Christian message is good news, it can only be fully appreciated in the light of the bad news. Only when unbelievers realize their guilt before a holy God will they really appreciate the cross and God's marvelous gift of eternal life.

Although we are commanded to spread the Gospel, our message does not negate the reality of judgment. When a nation proudly follows the path of Sodom and Gomorrah, the same judgment that fell on those two cities will certainly come to such a nation that embraces their sin.

There is only one hope for America. Only one. The people of America need to honestly admit their guilt and desperately seek God for mercy. Is this possible? Let me give you an example of a city that did this. Nineveh was an evil, wicked city. God sent Jonah to preach to them. His message was not a self-improvement, self-motivation sermon. Instead, he preached the message that God gave him. In forty days, Nineveh would be destroyed.

Surprisingly, this wicked city believed the message and repented, including the king! As a result, God had mercy and spared them.

This story gives me hope for our land. We need more preachers to preach the uncompromising truth of Scripture. We need to get serious about our situation. Let me put it bluntly. We are in a desperate situation … yet the American church seems oblivious to this fact.

I invite you to join with me in doing three things:

1. PRAY

If these are desperate times, we need to act like desperate people. We need to pray for America. We used to sing, “God bless America,” but she is not on blessing grounds today. Instead, we should pray, “God have mercy on America.” Pray for the American church to be revived. Intercede on behalf of the lukewarm church members. Pray for a mighty spiritual awakening to come to our nation. Pray for our leaders. If the king of Nineveh could repent, so can our leaders. We need to pray desperately because this is a desperate situation.

2. PREACH

Next, we need to faithfully proclaim the Gospel. Warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come. We need to point lost souls to Jesus. People need to hear the truth. There is good news and we need to spread it. If Christians got serious about sharing the Gospel, God would change this country! Lester Roloff once said, “If you want to save America, get America saved.”

3. PREPARE

As we pray and preach, we should expect a hostile response from the devil. Prepare for spiritual warfare. Put on the whole armor of God each day. Stand on the promises of God. America is worth fighting for. Souls are worth fighting for. As Christians, we fight on our knees, fighting spiritual battles with spiritual weapons. We shouldn't be surprised when persecution comes. The devil is a dirty fighter. We can't afford to get complacent or lazy. Too much is at stake.

I'm not giving up on America. Yet it may be that I'll never see a spiritual awakening in my lifetime. Perhaps America has gone too far. At the very least, I want to go to my grave fighting against the devil every step of the way. I want to finish well, living for the glory of God, preaching the Gospel and winning souls. Or as the late evangelist, Bill Stafford once put it, “I want to die with my boots on.”

What about you?