America, This is Your Wake-Up Call

the title of my message is America this is your wake-up call and we're in a Matthew chapter 5 so turn there with me if you would Matthew chapter 5 I've told you the story before about a girl that was walking down a beach and she saw a lamp laying there in the sand she reached down to pick it up and dust the sand off and then a genie appear this is a true story and the genie says oh master I will grant you one wish she said one wish what happened to three wishes he said you know the economy the way it is we've had to cut back one wish she just Wow one wish this is gonna be a good one she happened to be carrying a map of the Middle East with her she opened it up and he said you see this part of the world genie there's always conflict there's always work here's my wish I want there to be peace in the Middle East then she thought about it for a moment she'd sit down the way let me expand that since it's only one wish I want world peace I want peace all around the globe the genie says no lady we need a second there that's just an impossible thing to grant there's no way I can bring peace to the entire world come up with another wish she said well I you know I've always wanted to find the right man you know one that's considerate and fun and he likes to cook and we'll help with a housecleaning in he'll get along with my family and not watch sports all the time one that will do the dishes and one that will smother me with affection that's it genie I want the perfect man the genie said let me see that map again something seemed impossible but the Bible tells us with God nothing is impossible and I want to talk about our country which I still believe is the greatest country on the face of the earth the United States of America without question we've lost our way in recent days and we wonder are our best days behind us or are they before us is there any hope for America there's no question that our country is in a state of spiritual immoral crisis at home the family is under increasing attack and politically correct speech reigns if you dare to suggest that a family is made up of a man and a woman you are classified as a bigot and you're guilty of hate speech and if you really get down to this the breakdown of the family is at the root of almost all of our social and moral problems in the country today I could bombard you with statistics to prove that but this has been borne out as being true and I'm just saying we tamper with God's order at our own peril abroad terrorism has gone into high gear I know we thought least some thought I never thought that the war on terrorism was over but now we see this new force in Iraq on the March called Isis in a faith succeed in overtaking that country it will be the first terrorist state in fact a man who was leading this army of Isis who was released from prison said to the guard as who is being let go I'll see you in New York you understand what that means they would take this country in this face and all of these resources from oil and they would use it against us in more terrorist attacks and then we have this Russian aggression and the Europe Ukraine and elsewhere and that's something mentioned the powder keg is called Iran in North Korea I would classify all of this as a warning for a America this is your wake-up call some years ago I was in Alaska with a friend Richie Furai who was in the band the Buffalo Springfield they're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so we've been friends for years and Richie is also a pastor and so we were done with our event that night and we went back to the hotel and and I'm a bit of a prankster as you know so I thought it would be funny to take about five room service trays that were left out in front of rooms and put him in front of Richie's room you know so when he came out in the morning they'd be there so so then he did he won up to me and he took a picture off the wall and I might add a very large picture and placed it in front of my door so when I opened my door that picture covered the entire door way so I knew I was leaving the next day so I called the front desk and I said yes I was wondering if I could get a wake-up call for this room and I didn't say it was my room I said for this room I didn't give an explanation in fact I need to wake-up calls I need one at 4:00 in the morning and I need one at 5:00 in the morning I need a backup wake-up call I must this must happen these little capable take care of it so I went home and then Richie calls me in the next day and he says do you know what happened after you made that call to the front desk I said no well first of all I got the wake-up call up 4:00 in the morning I answered they said all he already knew it was me thank you very much thank you he hung up and then they came back upstairs open my door it started shaking me in my bed because they were afraid I was gonna miss a flight or something and I said you know sometimes things just work out I must feel like that's what's happening to America right now we're being shaken like wake up this is urgent I feel we have two options before us as a nation judgment or revival now listen judgment is inevitable not just for America but for every country judgment is coming to Planet Earth and a Tribulation Period is coming and an antichrist is coming I don't know when that is that can be very soon it could be later but this much I know it is coming but I'm frame we have at least one more spiritual awakening before this that's my prayer for our country Peter Marshall former chaplain to the US Senate once said and I quote the choice before us is playing its Christ or chaos conviction or compromise discipline or disintegration end quote so how are we to live as Christians in America shall we just throw up our hands and give up and say there's nothing we can do I don't think so I think there's some things we can do that are very important and here are the words of Jesus as on how we are to live as his followers in this world and in this country and we're really in our series here God came near because this is our next part of the Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter 5 starting in verse 13 Jesus says you are the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its flavor how shall it be seized it it's ain't good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men you are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven let's pray together father as we think now about these words of Jesus about being salt and light help us to understand what they mean help us to know how we can be that salt and that light in our country and in our world and in our sphere of influence speak to us from your word we would ask now in Jesus name Amen salt and light why did Jesus use these two word pictures in particular answer because the world is dark and corrupt the world needs salt because it's corrupt and it needs light because it start the pinnacle worldview in this culture is that it's dark and it's getting darker in fact by its very nature it cannot get anything but worse that's because man has no inherent goodness to build on man is increased and scientific medical historical educational psychological and technological knowledge to an astounding degree but he has not changed his own a basic nature and he has not improved Society his confidence has increased but his peace of mind has diminished his accomplishments have increased but his purpose has all but disappeared General Omar Bradley sent in an Armin said in an armistice speech in 1948 these words and I quote we have crunched the mystery of the atom and we've rejected the Sermon on the Mount the world has achieved brilliance without conscience ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants end quote how true that is instead of getting better man has only gotten worse man's discoveries and accomplishments have simply provided new ways for him to show himself for what he really is sinful in wicked modern man has simply devised more ways to corrupt and destroy himself we go from war to greater war from crime to greater crime from immorality to greater immorality from perversion to greater perversion the spiral is downward not upward so the world is very dark and it's in need of some light and fact the Bible tells us this is going to get worse before it gets better because on the last day 2nd Timothy 3:13 says 'i men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse deceiving and being deceived mankind even the history of the past 100 years and thinks that man is evolving upward is deceiving and being deceived just as Paul said no man has not made things better he's made them worse so as Christians we might sort of pull back from this and say man we got to get away from this we don't want to be a part of this anymore let's build a Christian city and we'll try Christian cars and will wear christian clothes and we'll leave in christian restaurants and we'll get christian gas and we'll have Christian dogs in in Christian cats maybe not Christian cats but except that one cat that saved the little boy in the video that went viral only that cat so some people point number one think they can evade the culture altogether they believe in isolation they think get away from it all isolate yourself that's virtually impossible you may remove yourself and your children from the culture or you think you are removing yourself but listen the culture will find you and then it's not what we're called to do anyway listen to this Jesus has not called us to isolate he's called us to infiltrate our job is to permeate to saturate not to Eve aid but to invade we are to impact culture without being compromised by it that's a tricky balance for sure Jesus said in John 17 I'm not asking you this is a part of the Father by the way I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them safe from the evil one they're not part of the world any more than I am as you sent me into the world listen I'm sending them into the world that's right Jesus didn't say isolate from the world he said in his prayer to the father of us he's sending us into the world but yet were warned in Scripture love not the world neither the things that in the world for a Fenian loves the world the love of the father is not in him and then Paul writes in first Corinthians 5 I wrote to you before not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin but I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin or the greedy or the swindlers or idol worshipers you would have to leave the world to avoid people like that so here's the point we are supposed to be in the world or as it's often said in the world but not of it so here we are now we don't want isolate from non-believers we want to impact non-believers Jesus was called the friend of sinners for good reason how can I influence a person if I never around them you might be surprised to know that I don't expect non-believers to behave like believers and sometimes I think Christians want to get the cart before the horse a little bit and will want to focus on the behavior of a non-believer I expect a non-believer to behave as a non-believer I don't start with behavior I go straight to the heart because I understand if I can reach them and see them make a commitment of Christ the behavior will change but if you're always linked focus on outward things you'll never reach some friends that you're running them non-believer in and they cuss think oh and you say that's a bad word you shouldn't tell you that word I don't say things like that I just like roll with it you know why they probably don't even know they're cussing and that's not even the main point anyway now they take the Lord's name in vain that's right draw the line I see nothing you know they'll say Jesus Christ so careful he might respond to you someday but other words I don't worry about it they light up a cigarette I'm not gonna freak out if they drink a beer don't drink the beer I'm a Christian I can't see the beer Hey I want to reach them and if you come off like a very cynical idiot you'll never even have a conversation with them no meet them where they are without compromising your fate see that's the important thing you don't want to be drinking their beer and smoking the cigarette with them okay I'm not suggesting anything like that what I'm saying is meet them where they are Paul spoke of becoming all things to all men so what does that mean that means that you enter their world without becoming a part of it so here's what we need to understand as believers we are behind enemy lines I was watching a World War two film the other day I'm a world war two fan and that fans not the right word buff I would think would be the better word but it just fascinates me this great conflict and you wonder what our world would be like if America had not entered that conflict and how we were able to put a stop to the Nazis and to the Japanese army and in this plan they had for the world but there's one scene from this film I was watching where a commanding officer is speaking to the paratroopers of Easy Company who are behind enemy lines and he warns them about a Panzer Division that's coming their way and he says and you're gonna be surrounded and the lieutenant who was leading Easy Company said we're paratroopers we're supposed to be surrounded I love that line and I thought that's what Christians are we're paratroopers we're supposed to be surrounded we've been dropped right in behind enemy lines not in a Christian world but in a hostile world but our objective is to live our faith out but it is hostile territory so we must infiltrate not isolate number two some will embrace all culture without reservation they said well there's nothing we can do to change it there is a massive cultural shift happening in America today there's no question our country was built on judeo-christian principles now not all of our founding fathers were true believers in Jesus Christ but many of them were and even among those who were not at least they had a respect for God in the Bible George Washington our first president made this statement to the distinguished character a patriot it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian and quo James Madison our fourth president said cursed be all the learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ can you imagine the president saying that today Patrick Henry errata fire of the US Constitution made this same if this is very important it cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians not on religion but on the gospel of Jesus Christ for this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded Asylum prosperity and freedom to worship here and quote the very freedom that is used to try to remove our faith from our country it's here because of faith because we do not force people to believe we don't have a state religion you must believe this no we give freedom there and our objective is to persuade then some have taken this freedom and liberty and used it to try to stop us from expressing our faith but our founding fathers understood that this unique experiment called the United States of America was built on spiritual principle and on a spiritual foundation there's no other country quite like this one President George Washington said in this night 1776 farewell address and was said 1976 he didn't live that long he said this listen reason and experience both forbid us that national morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principle after wean these same same words John Adams our second president said the United States Constitution was made for a moral and religious people it's wholly inadequate for the government of any others he our founding fathers believed in these principles that God has given to us our Creator certain inalienable truths that we live by that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness but it starts with the acknowledgment of a creator who's given us these rights and for years we had in America what we might call a civil religion though not completely Christian it did support the basic Christian worldview that there was evil in the world that Jesus was the son of God that the Bible was the Word of God that the Ten Commandments were important and should be posted on the classroom wall parents were respected discipline was applied when necessary the general philosophy of the civil religion was supported even by media back then all you have to do is go back to watch those old TV programs that I grew up on like Leave It to Beaver the Donna Reed show father knows best and you know here we had a mom and a dad together raising their children you know beaver would come home from school and mom was seen dressed in a beautiful dress her hair perfect a string of pearls she's making cookies you know now I know this was fiction to some degree but it was sort of supporting that basic worldview of the importance of the family but that world is long gone now fact people watch those old shows and they probably seem comical to them now things have changed that 10 commandments are passe the family has redefined the Bible is called a book of myths and what do we have in its place rampant divorce drug and alcohol use at an all-time high epidemic violent crime and suicide at record levels the Bible says you sow the wind and you reap the whirlwind and what are we have in the place of faith in God well we have a new spirituality USA Today did an interesting story on the fastest-growing spiritual group in America today the article says quote for decades if not centuries America's top religious brand has been Protestant No More where do they go well no where actually they didn't switch to any new religious brand they just let go of any a religious affiliation or label this group called the nuns not n UN s but n o & es the nuns is now the nation's second largest category after Catholics and at out numbers at top Protestant denomination their southern baptists so what to the nuns believe answer nothing in particular they're just open to spirituality right these are the people that say well I'm not into organized religion I'm just a spiritual person which is another way of saying I make up the rules as I go or maybe it's another way of saying I worship at the altar of me I'm my own God I I'm the one that decides I'm the one that makes the final decision CK Chesterton once made this statement quote when a man stops believing in God he doesn't then believe in nothing he believes in anything and that's what's happening in our country all right so what should we do should taking notes you might write these points down number one we must stand for truth if it's popular or not we must stand for truth of it's popular or not this is a non-negotiable there's no room for wavering we stand on what the Bible says on every topic scripture says let God be true and every man a lawyer we stand on what the scripture says this is not a time to retreat but to advance not to apologize but to be apologists giving the defense for the faith we stand with script on what the Bible says we believe that this is the Word of God we believe that Jesus Christ is the only way that come into a relationship with a father we believed in the sanctity of life that life begins at conception and every child has a right to live we believe that a marriage is between a man and a woman that's the only order God has this doubt is we believe these things don't back down from them stand up for them because these things are true but number two we must speak in a language people understand I think this is important I think sometimes were talking and no one's listening and for one reason they don't understand what we're saying then when I speak in a foreign country I will often have an interpreter I'm gonna have an interpreter I know that I have to cut my message in half because it takes twice as long to give it because I see my little part and then they interpret it or translate it for me and one of the problems is you wonder if they're really translating it right like maybe you speak for two minutes and they use two words like what was that all about or or you don't say a lot and then they go on for five minutes like what are they really saying to these people you never know you know you just hope it's good but I need that to communicate with an audience that speaks a different language and I speak and many times I think we're speaking a language that is not understood by people that our culture today will use a lot of religious words and in some cases even biblical words and I don't know what we're saying we're saying hey man are you saved are you washed in the blood are you sanctified and justified they're like what even they say have you received Christ into your life don't assume that your listener even understands what understands what that means I think we have to break things down Paul said in first Corinthians 9 22 I try to find common ground with everyone so I might bring them to Christ and in doing this I spread the good news another translation of that same verse has Paul saying I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people religious non-religious meticulous more or less loose live more or less the defeated to demoralize whoever that's so true Jesus when he spoke with a woman at the well was dealing with a loose living immoralist but then when he spoke to Nicodemus he was speaking to a meticulous moralist Paulin mars hill was speaking to the non-religious peter on the day of pentecost was speaking to the religious but the point is in all these situations they adapted to their audience number three we need to bring them the message of the gospel and some are going to respond favorably and others are not going to respond favorably paul says in second corinthians 2 wherever we go we seek to tell others about the lord and to spread the good news like a sweet perfume our lives are fragrance presented by Christ to God now this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and those who are perishing that's just a perfect analogy a perfume you know some people wear too much perfume are you one of those people you're probably sitting all by yourself you know just a little rule of thumb when applying for fumer cologne less is more you ever been hugged by someone and still smelled like them two days later like what was that all about and so for something like that I don't know about you but I'm allergic to perfume so I've actually had someone wearing too much perfume or cologne and afterwards I'm you know clearing my throat and so forth so what is attractive to one is not attractive to another or maybe a better analogy would be garlic my son Jonathan was making garlic cheese toast the other day and all it smelled so good so I had a piece probably shouldn't have had that piece then I had a second piece then I had a third piece then I had a severe stomachache I paid the price but garlic smells so good with when it's being cooked but it doesn't smell that great when it's on someone's breath does it hey how are you boom you fall down into the power not the power of the Spirit the power of the garlic so in one way it smells good in another way it smells bad and this is what the gospel is like you bring you this some you well that is the best news I've ever get I love that I receive it others are angry even hostile that you would dare to say such a thing to them our job is to simply live and share the gospel that brings in a point number four before I can effectively tell them I must first live it before I can effectively tell them I miss first livid nothing is a worse witness and a hypocritical Christian you might be surprised to hear me say this but to some people I would say please don't preach the gospel please don't just don't but great Jesus said go and all the water bridge goes yeah but it'd be better if you did it but why cuz you are not a good representative of Jesus Christ because you contradict it and the way that you live and the things that you're involved in you'd be better off not talking about it at all but when you live a godly life it's a powerful thing a powerful tool nothing that's harder to resist than the power of a good example and so what does Jesus say he says we're to be assault Matthew 5:13 you're the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its flavor how shall it be seasoned its end good for nothing now of course salt was different in the first century than it is in the first century salt today is not a valuable commodity it's not very expensive to buy in the supermarket but back then and the day that Jesus made this name if salt was very important in fact the Romans believed except for this son nothing was more valuable than salt Roman soldiers were even paid in salt hence the term he's not worth his salt and there's a few things that use salt for in the first century that help us to understand what Jesus was saying number one back in these days salt was used as a preservative not having refrigeration they would rub salt into me to preserve it they would take the meat cut it into slender strips soak it in a salt solution so the meat would keep longer so it was there to preserve someone Jesus says you're the salt of the earth one of the meanings of that is we are here to preserve it's always Christians that stand up for what is right when something immoral is happening or something that's wrong as the wrong is taking place it's Christians at sentiments say that's not right it's always Christians that lead the way in relief efforts around the world our presence makes a difference in our culture maybe some people are getting together and they're telling a dirty joke and they're just getting to the punchline and so there and then you come walking in and wreck the joke and it stops well hey man how's it going all right they wait till you leave the room that's good that's a great thing that you walked into a dark place and shed a little light that you went in with some salt it stopped that little bit of corruption it's even worse when you're telling the joke and sometimes that is the case the Bible tells us that when the Lord calls the church home and the rapture that all hell's going to break loose in fact we know in a second Thessalonians 2:7 that says the mystery of lawlessness is already at work and then the lawless one the speaking of Antichrist will be revealed according to the working of Satan with all power signs and lying wonders whom the Lord will consume with the breath of it's coming so a nick witty is spreading but if you think it's bad now wait until the church is removed so when the Holy Spirit working with the church calls us out of here then the Antichrist can just do his thing like never before so we are here to restrain evil we're here to stop the spread of wickedness we are here as a preservative number two salt stimulates thirst you know when you go to the movie and you order some popcorn what is with these sizes they are it's like you can get a little bag and would you like to upsize that to this much and it's like I really don't want that much bumper well good and it's only $30 I don't want to spend $30 on popcorn and then they bring out you know like a trash can size thing this is like $100 it so you Wow you're eating the popcorn it's salty and you go back and say it's like to buy a water but it's like the size of a Sparkletts bottle on the dispenser for $1000 could I just get a cup and use your drinking gun I'm sorry sir we're not allowed to give those cups out right so you know what I do maybe some of you do it i smuggle water into the theater oh I do I put up my back pocket pull my shirt over it is that wrong Sault stimulates thirst and that's what we're supposed to do as well we're here to stimulate thirst and others for Jesus Christ but if we don't do that we run salty salt listen to what Jesus says verse 13 Matthew 5 you know the salt of the earth listen but if the salt loses its flavor how shall it be seasoned it's dead good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men good for nothing heavy-duty words from Jesus Christ essentially he's saying if salt isn't salty what could have said it's like tepid coffee uncarbonated coke told you the story before of going into a coffee place with my friend Marty Goetz and I ordered like I don't know what a triple latte I get I get extra shots of espresso and all that and he ordered a decaf low fat latte decaf low fat latte said why don't you just get an empty cup and just pretend you're having a lumpy like they do in the TV shows you know the little empty cups I mean all the fun's gone come on nothing's worse than a decaf disciple a nun carbonated Christian a light hid under a cover a Christian when those zing or a believer who's not living it the world is full of people who've lost their salt and whose light has gone out and Jesus says if salt has lost its savor what good is it just a little bit of salt makes a difference have you noticed that some things just a little salt helps I've just rediscovered watermelon I mean I've always known about it and I've had it over the years but it hasn't been my favorite fruit but I started having watermelon again and I think what I like about it so much is it's like you're eating and drinking at the same time you know it's like it's quenching your thirst and when it's cold it's so delicious and so I've just been like pounding out watermelon a lot this summer it's a summer fruit of course and and I'll tell you here's a little secret to take watermelon to the next level little pinch of salt right okay not too much or you'll wreck it just a little same is true of oatmeal just a little bit of salt same as true of cantaloupe just a little now a little salt what difference could my life possibly make we ask more than you may realize God can go into a situation little pinch of salt I'm gonna put my serpent in there we'll see what happens and then the same way a little light goes a long way going back to our movie theater analogy you ever notice what when someone pulls out their cell phone how you notice it they even say in the screen do not use your cell phone or bring in your own bottled water Gregg glory and that light goes out on the phone I mean your warts and the screen on things look at the phone everybody looks at the phone because it a little light shows up more in a very dark place and then the same way that's true of us a little light goes a long way where we let our light so shine before men it's interesting that Jesus puts these two together first he says we're supposed to be salt then we're supposed to be like salt is hidden light is more obvious salt works secretly light works openly salt works from within light from without salt is a more indirect influence of the gospel what light is it's more direct communication so in effect when I insult I earn the right to be like does that make sense see by being salt I'm living it I'm a good example and I'll tell you the greatest compliment someone can play a pea Christian is when they say to you you know I don't know what it is you believe or what motivates you but I just want to say I admire you and I want to know more about it oh wow thank you very much now you give them the gospel that's great what's sad is when you're called out by a non-believer they'll say something like aren't you Christian well yes I am then why do you do the sand so and it's even worse when they're right so we're to be a light what does it mean to be a light well for one thing when you're a light you expose darkness turn on the light you see things you don't see when it's dark like maybe you lost something in your car a burrito we can't find it you search for it so you go and turn on the lights in the car and you find the burrito from two weeks ago that you lot sets now become a life form and that's frightening but then you find the other one you just lost but light exposes darkness and that's one of the things we do just by being a follower of Jesus you don't even have to necessarily say anything your very presence as his representative makes a difference jesus said in John 3:19 this is the condemnation light is come into the world but men loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds are evil for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds be exposed and so light exposes that and that's why people get angry with Christians because we're a representative of God but light doesn't just expose darkness light also shows away out of the darkness when it was dark I could not find the door now the light is switched on I see the door I can get out of the room and that's our job we show them the way out okay yeah this is wrong but here's the way out here's the way to a relationship with God here's how you can have your sin forgiven now let's go back again to the statement of Jesus verse 13 and 14 you are the light of the world you're the salt of the earth the emphasis is on the word you give a pin under line or circle the word you because in the original language it would translate out this way you and you alone are the salt of the earth you and you alone are the light of the world not interesting let me ask you a question what kind of world would we live in today if every Christian behaved just like you how many would be attracted to or turned off by the gospel what kind of gen opinion do you think people would have a Christianity if you were its sole representative you might said well Greg that's a lot of pressure to lay in one person well listen to this you may be the only representative of Jesus Christ that some people ever see you're it well you know I it's not all on me yeah listen you're the rep of God so be a good one Christians are walking epistles written by God and read by man people are watching you maybe you don't even know it but they're watching you so be a good representative of Jesus so coming back to our country for a moment is there any precedent for an entire nation turning back to God is that a pipe dream or is that something we could hope and pray for well of course there is a precedent it's a mighty city of Nineveh the capital of Assyria the superpower of her day it required three days to circle metropolitan Nineveh that doesn't seem like that big of a deal now but back then that was a massive City their population was around 1 million a little bit more than San Francisco so God raised up a man named Jonah and he was told to go preach to Nineveh you know the story we've talked about it God said go Jonah said no God said oh and God always has the last word Jonah finally came around I'll be it reluctantly and he did go and preach to the city of Nineveh and he said this to them forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown not a very hopeful message he didn't say but if you repent God will spare you though forty days and your dad is what he was saying but really there was hope in it for this reason he was telling them about what was coming see God didn't send a warning to Sodom and Gomorrah he just judged them but God did set a warning to Nineveh despite their incredible wickedness and of course you know the rest of the story the people of Nineveh repented the king repented they covered themself in sackcloth and ashes they even put sackcloth and ashes on their animal and because of this God decided to not destroy them and he spared the city so 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 surely God can do the same for America there is hope for America so there's three steps we need to take and I'll wrap up with these number one we need to infiltrate not isolate we need to be salt and light as I said God has dropped us behind enemy lines let's do what we can to reach people with the gospel I also believe that as believers we need to know what's happening in our country and we need to be aware and I think part of being salt is registering and voting this is very important let me take this step further I think it's irresponsible for a Christian to not register and vote I really do okay you know we're not supposed to be of the world wait hold on for a second you're supposed to be salt in the world remember and that's one of the ways we do it now I know and you know and we know that the enter for America's problem is not a political one it's not in passing laws or electing candidates but there is a role that they can play because even the scripture tells us in proverbs 29:2 when the righteous are in authority the people rejoice and when a wicked man rules the people groan and the righteous are in authority and does not Description tell us to pray for those who are in authority so let's pray for hopefully godly men in women that will have a biblical worldview and what they say and do let's be salt in our culture number two we need to pray of course second Chronicles 7:14 is the template for Awakening and revival where God says of my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then God says I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land we need to pray and don't forget of course those words are directed to believers that my people God says what are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face we need to do our part listen to this revival starts with you it starts with you we can point our finger and say the church needs to do this and the country needs to do that ok fine what about you do you have any wicked ways you need to turn from giovani sin you need to confess and third and lastly we need to preach the gospel Jesus has called us to go into all the world America needs to hear the gospel America needs to see the gospel lived out in our lives Jesus said you and you alone are the light of the world let's do our part there's hope for America and there's hope for you because maybe you're listening to this message right now and you're not sure if you have a relationship with God maybe there's some sin you need to turn from maybe you're a believer who's living a compromised life and because of this you've not been salt and you've not been light and in effect you are what Jesus said you're good for nothing but that can change and if God's Holy Spirit has shown you you need to take a step of repentance and turn from that sin I suggest you do it now and if you're not sure if you know Jesus Christ yet as your Savior and Lord I want to invite you to him now because one day folks Christ is gonna come and this could be the day and we're going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air the Bible says and others will be left and some of those that are left will be people who think there are Christians but are not so you want to be ready and the only way to be ready is to be right with God so let's close them prayer now and I want to give you an opportunity to make a commitment or recommitment to Jesus let's pray father thank you for your word to us and I pray for any of those here who do not know you yet help them Lord to see their need for Jesus help them to come and receive your forgiveness and when I had there no eyes are closed and we're praying maybe you would like to make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ maybe you would like him to forgive you of your sin maybe you want to be sure that you'll go to heaven when you die if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life if you want him to forgive you of your sin if you want to be ready for the Lord's return and you don't feel like you are yet would you just lift your hand up and let me pray for you wherever you are just lift your hand up and I'll pray for you god bless you god bless you wherever you are even if you're watching the video screen one of our campuses lift your hand up this is between you and God you want us forgiveness raised your hand let me pray for you God bless you God bless you god bless you that are raising your hand well the heads are still bowed maybe some of you would say you know and I'm one of those people that's living a compromised life I'm one of those believers that needs to turn from my wicked ways I need personal revival pray for me if that your desire will you raise your hand up right now let me pray for you raise your hand up god bless you god bless you now I'm gonna ask everyone who's raised her again I want you to stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer stand to your feet if your raise your hand even if you did not but you want to make this commitment or recommitment a Christ stand up right now you heard me that's right stand up stand up and we're gonna pray together just stand to your feet wherever you are if you're watching on the screen stand to your feet let me lead you in this prayer of commitment or recommitment to Jesus one more moment anybody else stand now I'll pray together anybody else god bless you that are standing all right you that are standing pray this out loud after me again as I pray pray this out loud after me pray this now Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner I've broken your Commandments I've fallen short of your standards I'm sorry for that sin and I turn from it now I choose to follow you from this moment forward as Savior and Lord as God and friend thank you for calling me and forgiving me in Jesus name I pray amen god bless you that just prayed that prayer stop bless you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 22,667

Rating: 4.9040766 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, greg, laurie, United States Of America (Country), Greg Laurie (Author), Christian Revival (TV Subject), Jesus Christ (Deity), salt, light, Matthew, Harvest America, Harvest Christian Fellowship, Christianity (Religion)

Id: yo1S3PqI2HY

Length: 48min 10sec (2890 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 29 2014