Dr. John Goetsch: A Revival Killer

take your Bible tonight let's go to Jonah chapter one Jonah chapter one I want to speak to you tonight about a revival killer there's a killer on the loose they'd like to kill anything that would resemble revival in our lives this week Jonah chapter 1 let's read the first three verses in verse 1 of chapter 1 the Bible says now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of a mid Ty saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before me but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarsus from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa and he found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them a to Tarsus from the presence of the Lord nothing kills God's plan for revival faster than stubborn selfishness I trusted Christ as my savior at the age of 15 the next year I returned to the camp where I had gotten saved for a week of summer camp return that following year and God began to speak to my heart again it was that year during my sixteenth year that I a dedicated my life to Christ I remember going forward and making that decision I didn't really know what it meant I knew that God wanted my life and at that moment I was willing to give it to him two years later as a senior in high school I wanted it back it wasn't that I wanted to go out and live a life of sin I there were some temptations I suppose around me that could have attracted me but quite frankly I didn't desire to go get drunk at a party I didn't desire to shoot up my body with drugs or become immoral I didn't even like rock music I just didn't like it there wasn't reason the Beatles made their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show when I was in sixth grade on a Sunday night I missed it I was in church there was a young lady in my sixth grade class her name was Judy I'd been trying to make an impression upon her for some time that next Monday morning I went to a class and I sat down and she sat several seats in front of me and and and I noticed on the back of her tennis shoes she had written my name John I thought this is progress it's on the heel but at least it's there and I got really excited about that I thought she's finally awakening to truth until the first recess I noticed there were three other names on her shoe Paul George and Ringo now there was a Paul in the class and there was a George in the class but I didn't know a Ringel in the whole school so I began to ask a few questions and I learned about the Beatles and I've hated rock music since they ruined my sixth grade romance I didn't want to live in the world I just wanted to live herself I didn't want God's Way I wanted my way and I began to run so I was still in church but I wanted to do what I enjoyed as my senior year developed my goal was to do well enough and football to earn a scholarship take that scholarship and go play football I had no desire to go to some secular school and live like the world I in fact in my mind I thought I could be a Christian there perhaps a testimony I tried to rationalize all those things I just wanted to live for me not God On January the 20th of my senior year in high school God put me in the hospital I stayed in that hospital until April the 18th I never moved a muscle never got out of that bed to use a restroom I'll go look out the window or take a walk down the hall I laid flat on my back the doctors didn't know what was wrong with me they did every test they knew put me on all sorts of medications I was taking seven pills after every meal 21 pills a day five shots and you know where every day nurses were making tattoos back here before they were unpopular my second semester my senior year went by with me in that bed my 18th birthday basketball team on which I played went to the state tournament I laid in bed and listened to it on the radio track season started and ended with me in the hospital finally one day the doctors came in sat my parents down and they said John you have pericarditis I said what's that he said well it's a virus but instead of being in your throat or your nasal passages your virus is in your heart sac there's a sac in your chest that holds your heart in place and pericarditis can be two different kinds it can be wet it can be dry very little was known about the disease in those days in fact I found out later I was one of two cases in the United States that they knew of now they treated in dogs my heart sac was filled with poisonous liquid x-rays showed that my heart sac had grown to the size of a girl's basketball filled with poison I said what do we do the doctor said well we have one of two options we can do we can take you off all the medication and begin to get you out of this bed gradually hoping that you're healthy enough and strong enough for your body to expel the poison on its own or we can stick a needle in there and try to draw the poison out but if it hits your bloodstream you'll be dead in a second are you running from God tonight the way of the transgressor is hard there's a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death Saul Saul it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy you see it's a selfish stubbornness that kills revival and it is only when we get back to selfish submission that we can start this process of revival once again resistance to God's plan is not recommended suppose you went to the doctor and you had I don't know maybe a little rash of on your skin on your hand it's kind of annoying looked kind of bad it's all the time bothersome she go to the doctor doctor examines and he says well it's not really a big deal it it looks bad and it it's bothersome but it is really not that bad it's not going to kill you yeah but doctor I don't like it it's uncomfortable it looks bad sometimes people stare at it and I don't like to itch all the time isn't there's something you can give me well yes he says there's some medicine I can give you there's a prescription I can ride well I want it so he writes the prescription you go down to the pharmacy and you ask the pharmacist to get it for you and he he prepares it he brings it out he puts it in the bag he says would you like me to explain it no that's okay you go home and you read the label it says warning this product will relieve rashes but could have some side effects nausea vomiting flu-like symptoms severe headaches rheumatism heart disease stroke and possible death you know what live with the rash now sometimes the will of God seems like a rash it's uncomfortable we feel like to live in the will of God is conspicuous others are noticing it it's awkward it makes us peculiar and we think well there's got to be some way around it there's got to be something I can do besides this rash of the will of God and there is but there are some dangerous side effects and I want you to see the painful steps on Jonah's journey to revival in this passage we see as the chapter opens a prideful resistance you know if we learn to be silent God will speak if we can get quiet this week if we can get still before God God will speak and we see jehovah's decree here in verses 1 and 2 he comes to jonah and he says in verse 2 arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before me the word of the lord came unto jonah when you get quiet when you get still the word of the lord will come to you are you interested in thus saith the lord are you interested in god speaking to you maybe you'd prefer the noise so as to drowned out the Word of God maybe you're content - to drown out his voice o erth erth erth Jeremiah said hear the word of the Lord James said be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath the time will come and they will not endure sound doctrine whole will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the truth Jehovah's decree is followed by Jonah's disobedience in verse 3 but Jonah but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarsus from the presence of the Lord what have we heard God say that we have not done see when we get still God speaks God's more than happy to relate to us his message and when we quiet ourselves from this world and we get alone with God and we say God speak to me he will speak now when he speaks will we obey the adores of the word not hearers only deceiving your own selves God doesn't like wasting his breath God doesn't like repeating himself if God is great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness as iniquity in idolatry and because all those rejected the word of the Lord he hath also rejected thee from being King oh there was such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always that it may be well with them and with their children forever can I tell you something mom and dad you are not just disobeying for you you are disobeying for your children and your grandchildren God says all that there was such a heart that they would obey because if they will obey it will be well with them and with they're children forever a prideful resistance is followed by a painful repercussion you know if we are not walking exactly according to the will of God we're walking away from if I said I'm gonna walk to dr. Rasmus dr. Rasmussen said I'm going to walk to dr. Rasmus now if I walk directly to dr. Rasmussen oh I I best deviate a little bit here I'm now walking away from and if you are not walking directly in the will of God you are walking away from it thank you sir and the repercussion to our disobedience the repercussion to us say no to God is not a pleasant thing now there will always be a chosen alternative look at verse 3 the Bible says in Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarsus from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa you might want to just circle all the downs in this chapter because when you are not doing God's will you're going down down to Joppa down to a ship down inside the ship down into the belly of a fish he goes down to Joppa and he found a ship going to Tarshish how convenient there's always a ship going away from God's will there's always an alternative the devil will make sure of it if not heaven then hell that's the alternative friend if you're not going to get saved you're lost if you're going to reject Christ as your Savior you're not going to heaven you're going to hell and Christian the alternative to obedience to God's will is disobedience you say brother got you're cutting that kind of short aren't you no not at all I'm cutting it just what God said in Deuteronomy 30 and verse 19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you behold I've set before you life and death blessing and cursing it is an ABCD or none of the above it's life or death it's blessing or cursing the will of God is for us to be saved the of God is for us to follow Christ to dot do the will of God is to be lost to not do the will of God is to act in total disobedience to God we don't get to choose a little of each I chose an alternative leads to a costly abuse verse 3 it says he paid the fare thereof friend disobedience isn't free he paid the fare there up and this was just the first payment of many installments sin is expensive the wages of sin is death turn ye not aside for then you should go after vain things which can not profit or deliver friend if you are going away from God tonight and following vain things the things of this world it's not going to pay up it's not going to deliver what's promised you've been sold a Wooden Nickel well the devil makes it look great he's got great advertisements for sin for disobedience but God says your iniquities have separated you from me your sin has withhold and good things from you so God creates an adversity verse 4 the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the sea so the ship was like to be broken then the Mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his God and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them but Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship and he lay in was fast asleep so the ship master came to him and said unto Him what meanest I was sleeper arise call upon thy God if so be that God will think upon us that we perish not now it's it's it's a fact that God sent this storm but don't you dare blame God for the storm yes God sent the storm but don't blame God for the storm you see we want to disobey we want to disregard we want to disrespect God without any repercussion and God loves you too much to let that happen you see whom the Lord loveth he correct us he chasing us did you know that God loves lukewarm Christians God loves lukewarm Christians he said to that church at laodicea I know thy works thou art neither cold nor hot I would that thou wert cold or hot but because our lukewarm I'll spew you out of my mouth because they'll say as time rich and increased with Goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayst be rich and white raiment that thou mayst be clean and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou may see verse 19 as many as i love i rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent you see the storm the trial the adversity that God is going to bring into it their life abut this will be in Christian is the love of God in action he loves us he's not gonna let us go this direction and so we see thirdly a proclaimed revelation in verse 7 they said every one to his fellow come let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us so they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah you know sin is the world's best detective it always finds you out o God thou knowest my foolishness my secret sins are not hid from thee now set to our iniquities before thee can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him do not I fill the heavens and the earth with ash like gold from my spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence if I ascend into heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell behold our earth there if I take the wings in the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea even there shall I hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me if I say surely the darkness shall cover me even the darkness shall be light about me the darkness hide if not from thee the darkness and the light are both alike unto thee you see we have as God's people an inescapable relationship verse 9 he said unto them I am in Hebrew and I fear the Lord the God of heaven which made the sea in the dry land an inescapable relationship I've had people say to me I used to be a Christian well the truth is if you ever were a Christian you still are you have an inescapable relationship jesus said I give them eternal life they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand the father that gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand I am the bread of life he said he that cometh to me shall never hunger he that believeth in me shall never thirst all that the father gives to me she'll come to me and neither cometh to me I will in no wise cast out you see God has loved you and I with an everlasting love and he has promised I will never leave thee nor forsake thee so we see an inevitable rendering burst and then were the men exceedingly afraid and said unto Him why hast thou done this for the men knew that he fled for the presence of the Lord because he had told them then said they unto him what should we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us for the sea wrought and was temp shoes and he said of them take me up and cast me forth into the sea so silver sea be calm unto you for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you nevertheless the men rode hard to bring it to the land but they could not for the sea wrought and was temptress against them wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said we beseech thee O Lord we beseech thee let us not perish for this man's life lay not upon us innocent blood for Thou O Lord has done as it pleases thee so they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea and the sea ceased more raging then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice under the Lord and made vows you know the problem here is not with the weather the problem is with the will of Jonah it's not the storm on the sea it's the sin in the heart that's the problem be not deceived gods are not mocked whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap you can roll against the storm with all your might but it'll be no use until you root out the sin rose you will against the sea rose you will against the tempest roll as you will against the storm but it's not gonna stop until you and I deal with sin fourthly we see a patient remembering I'm glad the Lord's always one step ahead of us aren't you he knoweth our frame he remembers that were dust the Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger plenteous in mercy we see a divine preservation in verse 17 now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights I love Psalm 116 and verse 6 the Lord preserve a--the the simple when you and I are too simple-minded to make right choices god preserve us if United CAS how many times God bailed us out of something that we didn't even know about because we were too undiscerning and unspiritual to even know we were about to get into trouble the Lord preserveth the simple but not only here is a divine preservation but we see a design prophecy Jonah is in this belly of this fish for three days and three nights isn't that interesting in the midst of this storm in the midst of this crisis in the midst of this sad story where God gets the gospel in here Jesus referred to it in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 40 he says for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whales belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth the Lord through this incident predicted his burial of three days and three nights following his death prior to the resurrection what a wonderful God and now fifthly we see a personal repentance did you know that God has done everything he's done up to this point for this very moment the storms the difficulties the trials are all to bring us to submission and we see a reverent voice in verse 1 of chapter 2 then Jonah prayed unto the Lord is God out of the fish's belly God would love to hear some of us pray and you can pray anywhere and be heard even in the belly of a fish and this is the confidence that we have that if we should ask anything according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hear us we know that we shall receive the petitions we desired of him when we are ready to get into God's will God is ready to go to work on our behalf when we're ready to submit he is ready to show himself strong we see a reproving vexation and verse 2 he said Jonah did from this belly of the fish I cried by reason of mine affliction under the Lord and he heard me out of the belly of Hell cried I and thou hurt us my voice for thou has cast me into the deep and the midst of the Seas and the floods compass me about all thy billows and high waves passed over me then I said I am cast out of thy sight you know I will look again toward thy Holy Temple the waters compass me about even to the soul the depth closed me around about the weeds were wrapped about my head I went down to the bottoms of the mountains the earth with her bars was about me for ever yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption o Lord my God when my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord and my prayer came in unto the indezine Holy Temple you know you and I don't have to wait for a ferocious storm or a fish's stomach to pray you don't have to wait for the adversity to come to God despiseth our riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering knowing not that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance and we see in verse 9 a renewed vow I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of Thanksgiving I will pay that which I avowed salvation is of the Lord isn't it time we all paid up well now vows to bow to fir not to pay it for he hath no pleasure and Fools pay that with selves about better it is not to bow than to bow not pay suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin how many times have we knelt at this altar or Rab perhaps by the side of our bed or perhaps in one of those moments of difficulty and said God I will friends it's time to pay God has no pleasure in fools don't allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin don't say one thing and then not do what you said it's time to pay up we want revivalists pay up let's pay our valves we've made them enough decisions by Christians in this room have been made to have revival we don't need more decisions we need one decision and that decision is to keep all the decisions we've already made it's time to pay we've told God we'd be faithful at church but we haven't been faithful we've told God we would read our Bible every day but we haven't we've told God we'd get serious about prayer but we haven't we've told God that we would be faithful in our soul-winning and our stewardship and our faithfulness to our class whatever it is we've told God a million things it's time to pay thou and pay unto the Lord your God all that is due him and when that happens we see finally a powerful revival in verse 10 of chapter 2 and the Lord spake unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land you know this fish was more obedient than the Prophet he was a lot quicker in his obedience in verse 1 of chapter 3 the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time saying and I want you to see there's an unaltered message verse 2 and arise go unto Nineveh that great city and preach unto it the preaching that ibid the kind of rings a bell doesn't it you see it's an unaltered message nothing has changed about God's plan the command is still the same as it was back in chapter 1 you're obstinate will will never change God's omniscient will you can say no to the will of God but doesn't change anything about what God wants God doesn't cut deals God doesn't yet God doesn't sit down at the negotiating table God says here's the will of God for your life and Jonah now finally says okay and verse three and four we see an Unleashed man Jonah rose and went on to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three day's journey 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 suddenly this man who'd been running from the Lord now runs to this city and preaches the message that God has given him the wicked flee when no man pursueth but the righteous are bold as a lion you see a wicked life leads to a Wimpy testimony but a broken life leads to a bold witness and there was an unusual manifestation here in verse five 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 for the 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 and he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles saying let neither man nor beast heard nor flock taste anything let them not feed nor drink water but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God he let them turn everyone from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger the we perish not one servant and this massive City repents I mean an unusual manifestation not just the men the men and the women the young and the old the human beings and the animals fasted well some of you your dog back home hopes you don't have revival this week they put sackcloth and ashes on their animals and they'd let him eat or drink you talk about a revival you talk about an awakening you talk about a movement of God it was this wicked wicked City perhaps one of the worst on the records of history and yet one servant and the nation turns and then God pours out an undeserved mercy and verse number 10 and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them and he did it not now that's of the Lord's mercies we're not consumed his Compassion's failed on he delights in mercy he would delight in mercy tonight he would love to show mercy we got to be silent we've got to submit I said to the doctor what are we going to do he said we're going to try the first way first well I was happy to hear that no more shots no more pills the next day the nurses came in they sat me on the edge of the bed for five seconds then laid me back down for a week five seconds a day I could sit up the second week 10 seconds 15 seconds one day they stood me on my feet I could barely stand I'd lost 30 pounds I couldn't move my legs they would push them forward after a day or two I could I could move them myself after a week or so I could get to the door in the back and back to the bed and I went from sitting on the edge of that bed five seconds a day to two years later working out 17 hours a day running lifting weights therapy exercise and all the time saying God stand aside I'm playing football it was two weeks before my first college football practice first of two-a-days I was out running at 3 a.m. and suddenly a pain gripped my chest that I'd felt years before I went to the doctor they did about 3 hours of tests he came in he said John there's no sign of pericarditis not a trace I said doc but I've got the same pain what's going on he said well you have an enlarged heart your heart is twice the size it's supposed to be I said well that doesn't sound so bad I it's a muscle right it's gotten stronger I can play football within a large star right he said no with your past history no no I said but doc I I have to play for two years I've I've got I've prepared to get to this point it practice starts in two weeks I've got to play so I'm sorry I saw there's there's got to be some medicine there's got to be something I can take to to bring my heart back down inside so I can play the others something I can give you he wrote a prescription I went and got the pills I took them every day and every day I drove 80 miles to Madison every day they did the test and every day the result was the same two-a-days started I watched to it is ended I was still watching one week before my first college football game the coach came over he said John we got to know you gonna play or not we got to make some decisions I drove to the doctor I said doc I need every test in the book I don't care how long it takes give me every test you got I want to know today if I'll ever play football again five hours of tests he walked in he said jeonyul you'll never play again it's okay he said you can live a normal life you can live a healthy life you just can't play sports he said some other things I I don't remember because my life was over everything I was living for gone I drove back to the college that were scrimmaging offense against the defense coaching staff was standing behind the offense I walked up behind him watched several plays the head coach he spotted me he came over he said John what's the news I said coach I can't believe coach was six eight weighed 270 pounds played basketball at the University of Minnesota had a wingspan that went on forever he took an arm put it around my shoulders and he could reach the other side he was a Christian he pulled me up to his side and he said John whatever happens to you serve the Lord I looked at that football lying between the offense and defensive Huddle's for what I thought was the last time as I walked off that field it got real quiet and that stillness I submitted I said okay you win I'm tired of running because I can't outrun you I'm tired of fighting I can't beat you I give in I drove to a little drive-in hamburger place place where we got free milkshakes we want our games got a hamburger fries and a coke sat there about an hour wept and prayed gave my life to God I said god I don't know I don't know why you'd even want it my life's just a bunch of pieces broken pieces my life verse I don't share it often I don't write it in Bibles when I sign them my life verses job sixteen twelve I was at ease but he hath broken me asunder he has taken me by my neck and shaken me to pieces and set me up for his mark in my life at that point was just pieces I said god I don't know what you want with these but whatever it is I drove home my parents had sold the farm while I was in the hospital they couldn't manage it they were living in town I pulled the car into the garage and as I was getting out of the car there was a window there in the side of the garage and as I stood up my mother was running around the side of the garage my mother doesn't usually run around garages she can run into the garage she said John you can play you can play you can play I said mom I I can't play I was at the doctor this morning he told me I'll never play again she said I know you were where you were he just called somehow while you were there the tests were read wrong your heart is back to normal size he said you could start practice tomorrow I slumped over the back of that car I thought what a fool what a fool I've been I've run and I've run and I've run and God kept taking away and taken away and taken away and now within an hour that I surrender God says okay you have it back and verses started flooding my mind that I had learned in Vacation Bible School and summer camp verses like seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you versus like delight thyself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart did you know that psalm 119 verse 32 says I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart that is not the correct interpretation but it works for me God let me play three years of college football and four years of college basketball but not until there was surrender not until there was submission God's not a hard God God's not trying to make it difficult for you friend but we got to get silent so he can speak and when he speaks we've got to submit without it there's no revival

Channel: Lancaster Baptist Church

Views: 2,184

Rating: 4.8048782 out of 5

Keywords: lancaster baptist church, lancaster baptist, baptist church, paul, chappell, paul chappell, pastor paul chappell, Dr. John Goetsch, revival, mercy, revelation

Id: gmfvluTiuKM

Length: 53min 37sec (3217 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 28 2018