Revival in
Fourth of July Message 2006
Can you name the following country and
what year it is??
Society:
- 8 out of 100 people are drunkards
- There are daily bank robberies
- Crime is rampant
- Rape and murder common
- Citizens fear to leave their homes at night
- Public profanity is shocking and filthy
Churches:
- Methodist and Baptist lose members faster than they gain them
- Lutherans and Episcopalians consider a merger to survive
- A New York Episcopalian Bishop ordains people who simply promise they won’t quit the ministry
- One pastor states that it has been 16 years since a young person joined the church.
- A
Bible is taken from a Presbyterian church in
University Life:
- Harvard has zero believers in the student body
- Christians meet in secret on campuses
The United States Chief Justice says that churches are “too far gone ever to be revived.”
Scroll down for answer . . . . . . . . .
This is a description of the United
States of America
What you may not know is that the above information is not
describing the
This is instead a description of the
If we recovered from the 1790’s we can recover from the 1900’s.
Charles Carroll - signer of the Declaration of Independence
said this in 1800:
"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore
who are decrying the
Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining
the solid foundation of morals,
the best security for the duration of free governments."
- Said To James McHenry on November 4, 1800.
Obviously the
There was a revival and it carried the nation for the next 100 years.
In 1792 John Erskine in
He sent a copy to Jonathan Edwards in the
Ministers and churches were called to pray beginning the first Tuesday in January 1795.
They where to meet and pray every quarter.
Special prayer meetings continued.
In August 1801 one of the great outdoor camp meetings was held
- 20,000 people assembled
- There was no promotion and or organization
- 40-50 preachers preached in the fields and people gathered to hear them
- They preached late into the night around camp fires.
This atmosphere swept the nation.
During this time at Yale the school president, Timothy
Dwight (John Edward’s grandson) began a series of lectures
on Christian Faith. Half of the student
body was saved.
In 1806
This period in the
It would set the course of the nation for the next 100 years.
The Beginning of
the Four Generation Decline
In the time period of 1880-1920 a
generation of
Proverbs 30:11-14 – Describes the four generations of a declining culture
Leviticus 26 describes the 5 cycles of judgment God brings in an attempt to bring that declining nation back to him.
1880-1920 Disease
1921-1960 Economic Crisis
1961-2000 Crime
2000-2040 Strike the land with war
2041 Revival will have occurred or there will be a complete overthrow of the rebellious culture
Signs That America is ready for another Great
Awakening
We are in the early years of the fourth generation
These are some of the signs we are in the midst of a revival
in the
1) Importance of discussion and application of Values in:
a. Business
b. Politics
c. Schools
2)
3) Absolutes and discussion of God are returning to public debate and to schools. Why? Because people believe things are becoming morally worse. In 2002 67% of the people believed morals where getting worse. In 2006 that number has grown to 81%. In four years 14% more people believe things are getting worse in the area of morals. This indicates that 81% of the people recognize a problem.
4) Intelligent Design is rocking the scientific world. Science is demanding that we recognize a creator.
a. After years of public education teaching evolution 64% of the people still believe God created them.
b. Only 2 out of every 10 people believe they evolved.
c. Why is this happening? Why has evolution failed to capture people’s hearts? Because of Romans 1 – God has made it clear in creation that he exists and that he is the creator. 45 minutes in a class room can not alter the truth that students see everywhere they look. There is a God.
d. In 1995 44% of the people believed that evolution was had totally been proven true. Ten years later in 2005 that number had dropped to 38%.
e. This is what people today believe about where they came from:
i. 12% believe they evolved with no God
ii. 31% believe they evolved with God helping
iii. 53% believe creation happen just like the Bible says
5) Atheism is losing any ground it gained in the 1900’s
a. Anthony Flew the famous spokesman for atheism through out the 1900’s is now in his 80’s. About 2 years ago he rejected atheism and became a deist (believes in a God who created and started the world but is not daily involved in running the universe.)
b. Anthony Flew debated CS Lewis in the famous 1948 debates.
c. Flew became a deist because of Science and DNA research. He believes the evidence demands that there is a creator
6) Sociological Studies are showing traditional beliefs about men and woman and about children are correct.
7) Secular Humanism is unraveling because it is based on a self-defeating philosophy.
a. They teach that everything came out of chaos by chance. There was no reason, no logic and no order.
b. But they believe they figured this out by using reason, logic and order.
c. The problem is that the very fact that they have reason, logic and order means that chaos and chance can not produce their world or themselves.
The World will Not End Up Godless (or, without the concept of god)
1) Historically this is not the pattern. Through out history nations, cultures and people believed in their god (s)
a.
b.
c. Canaanites
d.
e.
f.
g.
h. Romans
i. Roman Catholic
2) Current World Crisis shows that belief in a God to be very strong. We are living in a day where religious extremists are forcing the world to think about God and his direct involvement in our lives.
3) The Future in the book of Revelation and 2 Thessalonians indicates that the world of the future will be very focused on God. The man anti-christ will not say there is not God (so, he is not a secular humanists) but instead says he is God. An, amazingly, the world accepts him and his definition.
The Church’s Role
2 Thess. 2:3-8
Matthew 5:13
Matthew 13
Matthew 16 – Hades will not overcome church
Matthew 28 – Jesus will be with us to the end of the church age
The church will continue to testify of Jesus until he returns.
We will not fail. We will not go away until he takes us at the rapture.
We are in the midst of a revival in
History will record this as a time of spiritual awakening for thousands of
people.
It will be a move of God and he will move through his church.