Most of us would truly say no.
What do you mean, Dave? We all want churches packed with people. We all want God's word being preached, people being saved, "Heaven full and Hell empty," right?
I think we would all like that end, but not at any cost.
I've been reading in the Old Testament about the twilight years of Israel and Judah. God sent prophet after prophet to call His people back to Him. He sent prophets to tell the Israelites of His love. When that didn't work, He sent them to warn them of coming catastrophe. When that didn't work, He pronounced judgement and brought in foreign nations to destroy the land, kill the people, enslave them, cart them off into captivity, and force them to live in exile.
After this, we read the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, which chronicle a huge revival.
Hmmm. The path to revival can be painful. In the Bible, the path to revival is mostly painful. So, the question to American Christians is, "Do you really want revival if the path to revival is extremely painful?"
What if the only way for America to turn back to God is for a foreign army to invade, kill most of us, enslave the rest of us, destroy our comforts, destroy our homes, destroy our idols of sports stadiums, and so on and so forth? What if the only way for America to take God seriously again would be the crashing of the economy, 80% of Americans being thrown out of work, losing power and running water, dollars turned to worthless pieces of paper overnight, all investments and retirement and all savings reduced to nothing?
CS Lewis says that God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain. If the path to revival was painful, would you pray for it? Would you, as an American Christian, be willing to endure the temporary pain of the loss of your home, investments, comforts, job, community, etc in order for there to be a nationwide revival that leads to eternal blessings of joy?
The period of suffering and exile lasted seventy years in Biblical times. Would you be willing to endure hardship for seventy years if that meant your beloved homeland once again turned to God, asked His forgiveness, turned from its wicked ways, and began to call on Him as Lord and Savior?
What if God said to you, "I will bring revival to America. I will heal the land of every ill, every sin, every scourge. Drug addiction will be gone, persecution will be gone, all the problems of society will be gone. However, the only way America will turn to me is if I completely destroy her way of life. The economy will collapse, stock market will vanish along with all investments, electricity will be gone, running water will be gone, food will be scarce, people will die by the hundreds of thousands, jobs will be gone, and you will live in extreme poverty until America repents and turns back to Me, then I will restore you once again." Would you pray for that to happen?
Would you be willing to endure seventy years of poverty and despair if that meant America experienced a revival that rid us of abortion clinics, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, gangs, drug addiction, radical Islam, militant atheist organizations, human trafficking, and political corruption? Would you endure seventy years of complete and utter loss if that meant churches were packed with believers, baptisms happening at a record rate, churches planted everywhere you looked, fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) everywhere, divorce rates plummeting, Bibles sold out of bookstores, communities restored, and God lifted up and worshiped as only the Supreme God of the Universe should be?
That's the kind of stuff that happens in a revival; in a nationwide revival.
Most of us, if not all of us, have prayed for revival. But have any of us said, "Lord, we want revival so badly that if it takes tremendous suffering, loss, and despair in this country, do it. Lord, we want revival so badly that if it takes a foreign army coming in here, conquering our country, taking away our rights, enslavement and brutality to accomplish it, do it. Lord we want revival so badly that if it takes this entire country the loss of our comforts, the loss of our jobs, the loss of our money, homes, cars, running water, electricity, etc, do it."
Not many pray that way. What if that was the only set of circumstances that would wake up America to the power and majesty of God? What if those circumstances were the only way to shake America out of its sin-induced slumber? Would you still want it?
I would.
We are here for such a temporary time. Comforts come and go, homes come and go, money comes and goes; but what happens for eternity lasts forever. I would rather spend seventy devastating years in abject poverty and slavery with the guarantee of heaven than seventy years of comfort seeing the moral and spiritual degradation of America sending hundreds of millions of people to hell. How about you?
In light of eternity, what we experience on this earth is nothing. A drop in the bucket. But what we experience in heaven, or hell, is forever. Are you willing to trade temporary pain for eternal joy?
When we pray for revival, let's consider the fact that the path to revival may be very painful. Would we still want it if it costs us dearly? The Christian would say yes. What would you say?
You can always tell the importance of something by how much you are willing to sacrifice for it. Are you, as an American Christian, willing to sacrifice to see revival happen? Until we are, we most likely won't see it. That's why the sad, sad answer to the question, "Do you really want revival?" is an overwhelming, terrible, soul-killing "no."
What do you mean, Dave? We all want churches packed with people. We all want God's word being preached, people being saved, "Heaven full and Hell empty," right?
I think we would all like that end, but not at any cost.
I've been reading in the Old Testament about the twilight years of Israel and Judah. God sent prophet after prophet to call His people back to Him. He sent prophets to tell the Israelites of His love. When that didn't work, He sent them to warn them of coming catastrophe. When that didn't work, He pronounced judgement and brought in foreign nations to destroy the land, kill the people, enslave them, cart them off into captivity, and force them to live in exile.
After this, we read the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, which chronicle a huge revival.
Hmmm. The path to revival can be painful. In the Bible, the path to revival is mostly painful. So, the question to American Christians is, "Do you really want revival if the path to revival is extremely painful?"
What if the only way for America to turn back to God is for a foreign army to invade, kill most of us, enslave the rest of us, destroy our comforts, destroy our homes, destroy our idols of sports stadiums, and so on and so forth? What if the only way for America to take God seriously again would be the crashing of the economy, 80% of Americans being thrown out of work, losing power and running water, dollars turned to worthless pieces of paper overnight, all investments and retirement and all savings reduced to nothing?
CS Lewis says that God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain. If the path to revival was painful, would you pray for it? Would you, as an American Christian, be willing to endure the temporary pain of the loss of your home, investments, comforts, job, community, etc in order for there to be a nationwide revival that leads to eternal blessings of joy?
The period of suffering and exile lasted seventy years in Biblical times. Would you be willing to endure hardship for seventy years if that meant your beloved homeland once again turned to God, asked His forgiveness, turned from its wicked ways, and began to call on Him as Lord and Savior?
What if God said to you, "I will bring revival to America. I will heal the land of every ill, every sin, every scourge. Drug addiction will be gone, persecution will be gone, all the problems of society will be gone. However, the only way America will turn to me is if I completely destroy her way of life. The economy will collapse, stock market will vanish along with all investments, electricity will be gone, running water will be gone, food will be scarce, people will die by the hundreds of thousands, jobs will be gone, and you will live in extreme poverty until America repents and turns back to Me, then I will restore you once again." Would you pray for that to happen?
Would you be willing to endure seventy years of poverty and despair if that meant America experienced a revival that rid us of abortion clinics, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, gangs, drug addiction, radical Islam, militant atheist organizations, human trafficking, and political corruption? Would you endure seventy years of complete and utter loss if that meant churches were packed with believers, baptisms happening at a record rate, churches planted everywhere you looked, fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) everywhere, divorce rates plummeting, Bibles sold out of bookstores, communities restored, and God lifted up and worshiped as only the Supreme God of the Universe should be?
That's the kind of stuff that happens in a revival; in a nationwide revival.
Most of us, if not all of us, have prayed for revival. But have any of us said, "Lord, we want revival so badly that if it takes tremendous suffering, loss, and despair in this country, do it. Lord, we want revival so badly that if it takes a foreign army coming in here, conquering our country, taking away our rights, enslavement and brutality to accomplish it, do it. Lord we want revival so badly that if it takes this entire country the loss of our comforts, the loss of our jobs, the loss of our money, homes, cars, running water, electricity, etc, do it."
Not many pray that way. What if that was the only set of circumstances that would wake up America to the power and majesty of God? What if those circumstances were the only way to shake America out of its sin-induced slumber? Would you still want it?
I would.
We are here for such a temporary time. Comforts come and go, homes come and go, money comes and goes; but what happens for eternity lasts forever. I would rather spend seventy devastating years in abject poverty and slavery with the guarantee of heaven than seventy years of comfort seeing the moral and spiritual degradation of America sending hundreds of millions of people to hell. How about you?
In light of eternity, what we experience on this earth is nothing. A drop in the bucket. But what we experience in heaven, or hell, is forever. Are you willing to trade temporary pain for eternal joy?
When we pray for revival, let's consider the fact that the path to revival may be very painful. Would we still want it if it costs us dearly? The Christian would say yes. What would you say?
You can always tell the importance of something by how much you are willing to sacrifice for it. Are you, as an American Christian, willing to sacrifice to see revival happen? Until we are, we most likely won't see it. That's why the sad, sad answer to the question, "Do you really want revival?" is an overwhelming, terrible, soul-killing "no."
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