Hope for America

Jonah 3:1 Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time:

Jonah 3:2 "Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you."

Jonah 3:3 This time Jonah obeyed the LORD's command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.

Jonah 3:4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: "Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!"

Jonah 3:5 The people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

Jonah 3:6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.

Jonah 3:7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: "No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.

Jonah 3:8 People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.

Jonah 3:9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change His mind and hold back His fierce anger from destroying us."

Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, He changed His mind and did not carry out the destruction He had threatened.

INTRODUCTION

Good Morning! Well, it has been some kind of week for America.

Many are worried, many are wondering what the future is for America.

Many just don’t care anymore. But I want you to know there is hope for America.

Let me begin by pointing out ath America was founded on Christian principles. Listen to the first prayer prayed in Congress:

“Oh Lord our Heavenly Father high and mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords who does from your throne behold all the dwellers on the earth and You reign with power supreme and uncontrolled over all of the kingdoms, empires, and governments, look down in mercy we beseech Thee on us these American states who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee.

And the prayer goes on to ending with these words: “Lord, we pray that in America there would be religion and piety and that we would remember that there is everlasting glory in the world to come and we pray all of this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. If you will notice they didn’t include and A-woman.

I just wonder what would happen if that prayer was prayed today in Congress.

As you look at our country and you look at the statements of our founding fathers though they may not have all been Christian. But many of them were. They at least at the very least had a respect for the Word of God and believed it to be an authoritative source.

And they believed in the person and the power of Jesus Christ.

George Washington our first president made this statement: To the distinguished character of patriot it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian. End quote not just religious guy. No. Christian.

James Madison the fourth president said this I can not imagine a president today saying this: “Cursed be all of the learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.

Can you imagine any president saying that?

If we moved the foundation, if we remove that belief in the Bible as the Word of God, we have a vacuum and suddenly this whole American experiment begins to unravel.

You see, it is not just about freedom. It is certainly not about freedom from religion. It is freedom of religion.

Harvard college’s first president said: “ Everyone shall consider that the main end of life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life.”

Well, we have strayed just a little bit from that.

Instead, today we are teaching: There is no God. There is no afterlife, there is no final judgement, there is no right, There is no wrong.

so my question is if there no right or wrong, if there is no good or evil. if there is no God why would we expect people to live morally.

You see, that’s why the only hope is not merely a return to conservative values. It is returning to the biblical truth that we can only find in the pages of Scripture. The Word of God.

Here is the problem with America.

President Abraham Lincoln said this: “ We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our heart that all of these blessings that we see in our country were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”

The hope for America is revival. But let’s understand what revival really is.

Some people when you say revival might think that it a bunch of people in church, hot and sweaty, screaming and yelling and might even be a few snakes passed around. For other, it might be a sign down at the church that tells us we are having revival from 7 till 9 Sunday thru Wednesday.

But what really is revival?

C.H. Spurgeon defines revival : It is to live again, to receive again a life which has almost expired. To rekindle into a flame the vital spark which was nearly extinguished. It is to come back to life again.

Another person defined: Revival : Revival is a time when heaven draws closer to earth.

You see, revival is for the church. When we say revival what we are really saying is God’s people need to get back to living the Christian life as it was meant to be lived.

And if we are revived it will then impact our country. So a revival must starts in the church.

Revival is only for the believers.

C.H. Spurgeon said this: 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.

Habakkuk 3:2 I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, revive your work as in years gone by. Show us Your power to save us. And in your anger remember Your mercy.

So he is saying Lord we want to see it again. We have heard about the good old days. We have heard about the great awakenings. We want to see it again Lord. Revive your work.

Psalm 85:6 Will you not revive us again Your people may rejoice in You.

Martin Lloyd Jones defined revival this way. “Revival awakens in our hearts an increased awareness of the presence of God. A new love for God. A new hatred for sin and a hunger for His Word.

So I want to get to our text now.

I want to talk to you about the nation of Nineveh. This nation was going the wrong direction to turn around and go the right direction and have her life extended was so so important.

Listen to me, America’s day are numbered. We know that there is going to be a beginning, middle, and end to the nation of United States of America just as there was for the nation of Rome, and Greece and other superpowers that have come and gone across the world’s stage.

But the question that I want to ask you is this: Have there ever been a nation that was wicked that turned to God that had her life spared and her days extended?

And the answer is yes!! There had many a few. But I want to talk to about one: Nineveh. The capital of the mighty Assyria. Her population was around 1 Million.

They enjoyed the best chariots. The finest food. the most exotic entertainment. An extensive business and commercial system like none in the world.

the Assyria had been existence as superpower of 200 years. They had the most powerful military anywhere. They were the undisputed superpower.

But her day was numbered. Because she was wicked.

Jonah 1:2 "Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce My judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are."

Their wickedness was so bad it stunk to high heaven.

Have you ever forgot to take your trash out for a week? Then you know how trash can stinks.

That is how Nineveh was. It was like a trash pile that was stinking to high heaven.

They were know for torturing and murdering people in cold blood and they took great delight in it.

They would torture adults tearing their skins from their body and leave them to die in the hot sun.

We in the United States of America are just as wicked, because since 1973 over 57 million babies have been denied the right to live.

The United States of America needs a revival but the revival must begins in the House of God First.

1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

The Hope for United States is not in our government, policies, our president, congress, senate, Superior court. Which is all need but if America want to continue free and strong, we need a revival in the church.

Look what God told Jonah to do.

Jonah 3:1 Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time:

Jonah 3:2 "Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you."

Jonah 3:3 This time Jonah obeyed the LORD's command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.

The second time, the first time Jonah would not do it, because he knew that God was a loving and forgiving God and he didn’t think they deserved to be forgiving and gave a second chance.

But the great fish, whale came along and Jonah change his mind. What will be our whale, our wake up call?

Rom 10:13 For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved."

Rom 10:14 But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?

The results of Jonah going and be obedient to God, was that the nation listen, the king listen and fasting and praying started.

Jonah 3:5 The people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

Jonah 3:6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.

And because of them being obedient and fasting and praying God forgave and they were giving the second chance.

Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, He changed His mind and did not carry out the destruction He had threatened.

We don’t have to have preach behind a pulpit or teach a class but you do need to be obedient to God and do what He tells you to do.

Be the Jonah of our day, the church that is on fire and telling the message of God’s love and God’s grace.

God will restore but it start with the church.