Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the critical connection between repentance and revival, drawing from 2 Chronicles 7:11-14 and the book of Joel. He highlights that genuine repentance is essential for experiencing God's outpouring of the Spirit and healing in our lives and communities. Beach points out the alarming moral decline in society and the church's responsibility to uphold God's standards, urging believers to engage in heartfelt repentance and prayer. He calls for a collective season of fasting and prayer, encouraging individuals to confront their sins and seek God's cleansing. Ultimately, he reassures that God's call to repentance is rooted in His love, aiming to restore and bless His people.

Verses number 11 through 14, 2 Chronicles chapter 7, verses 11 through 14, like to talk about this morning repentance and revival, repentance and revival, beginning in verse number 11 of chapter 7 of 2 Chronicles. Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house and all that came into Solomon's harp to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house. He prosperously affected. And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven and there be no rain and if I command the locusts to devour the land or if I send pestilence among my people, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Joel, the book of Joel, which is in the Old Testament right before Amos, right after Hosea. Joel, something of interest regarding the book of Joel that in the first 39 verses of the book of Joel, which includes all of chapter one and. Up to chapter two, verse twenty eight. The first thirty nine verses. Of Joel. The call to either repent or statements that would allude to repentance, that would refer to a repentance. There are no less than 17 references in just those thirty nine verses of the scriptures where God is calling us to repent or he alludes to activities that would be indicative of genuine repentance. And I think that's very significant. Over 17 times, God mentions repent in just thirty nine verses of scripture. Now, I would like to read in Joel chapter two, beginning in verse number twenty eight, we read this before. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids. In those days will I pour out my spirit and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance. And the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. Now, this particular verse, Joel chapter two, verse number twenty eight follows Joel chapter one through Joel to up to verse number twenty seven. And it's in that section of scripture where the call to repentance is made no less than 17 times. So therefore, it would be very, very safe to conclude that Joel chapter two, verse number twenty eight, God's promise to pour out his spirit upon all flesh. God's promise to cause his sons and his daughters to prophesy and to speak the word of God. God's promise to bring deliverance in Mount Zion and salvation and a mighty move of the spirit of God hangs upon the people of God repenting. Genuine, heartfelt repentance. Now we can see something of this repentance mentioned. We're just going to go quickly through the book of Joel here in Joel chapter one. I want to point out here several verses that allude to or directly refer to the need for repentance. Now, beloved, I know that we've heard repentance before, but I believe that this is a season that we are approaching a season. The month of March, particularly before we get into this in Joel and look through the various different references here that are made to repentance. There are many, many national leaders who are currently beginning today a season, an extended season of prayer with fasting for 40 days. The reason why is because God has moved upon many Christian leaders and has instructed them and moved upon their hearts to call the church to a season of prayer and fasting and repentance. Because if we truly repent and pray and seek the Lord with all of our heart, then God promises to pour out his spirit in a significant way and restore our homes and restore the church. Now we know that the nation is in a great, great turmoil right now. There is one Christian leader and I happen to agree with what he says. He says that for the first time in the history of America, we are living in a post-Christian era. And I believe that's true. I believe there has never been a time in the history of America when America as a country has become so obstinate and so opposed to and so ignorant of the way and will and law of God. And as a result, he believes that the church in America must become mission minded. We must become like missionaries are when they go to other countries and deal with people who really have no understanding of what Christianity is. The modern youth today doesn't have any concept or understanding of what it means to repent. Because in order for a person to grasp the meaning of repentance, they must understand what is right. They must understand what is wrong and they must realize they're guilty of committing wrong. But nowadays, young people don't even know what right and wrong is. They don't even have the concept because they are being taught with the parents who grew up in the 60s. And the 60s generation declared there is no God, there is no absolutes, there is no right and wrong, there is no authority, rebellion. Nobody can tell me what to do. They rebelled against the police. They rebelled against the parental authority. They rebelled against biblical authority. They rebelled against the authority of the word of God. And these people, we have a man in the White House who is from the 60s. And we can see that he doesn't have any morals. He doesn't have any any clue of what right and wrong is. And what we have as a leader in our country is indicative of what's in the land. Just like God gave Israel Saul because they rebelled against God. In Saul, we see a man who took things into his own hands, who decided that he knew better than God. And the reason why God gave Israel King Saul was because for the most part, that's the way Israel was. Israel didn't want to hear God's word. Israel rebelled against God and told Samuel, Samuel, we don't want you to tell us God's word anymore. We don't want you to travel through Israel and prophesy to us. We want a king like the other nations. We want somebody that we can follow. And Samuel mourned and cried before God. The Bible says that God spoke to Samuel and said, Samuel, don't weep. They haven't rejected you. They've rejected me. And because they've rejected me, I'm going to give them their desire. And what their desire was a king. And we see that Saul destroyed Israel and Saul led Israel astray and Saul died a tragic death because he didn't fear the Lord. And likewise, today, the country is characterized by a spirit of rivalry, a spirit of rebellion, a spirit of insurrection, a spirit of I'm going to do my own thing. I'm not going to come under the authority of the word of God. I'm not going to come under the authority of the moral absolutes of God. You hear this outcry today on every talk radio that you tune into that character doesn't matter, that all that matters is that they do the job. So therefore, if we have a murderer in the office, if we have an adulterer in the office, if we have a pedophile in the office, if we have a charlatan, if we have somebody who doesn't care what he does, as long as he gets the job done, then it's OK. No, it's not OK. But really, what we need to see, beloved, is that when people say character doesn't matter, what they're really saying is God doesn't matter because character and God are interrelated. The basis of character hangs upon the existence of God. Character and godly character presupposes God and an ideal character that we are to that we are to imitate and we are to participate in. So when people cry out and say character doesn't matter, what they're really saying is I don't want to be told that there are moral absolutes, that there is a right way to do something and that this has to be demonstrated and exemplified in our leaders. Because to acknowledge that character matters would mean that we acknowledge there is a standard that we have to live by. So therefore, character doesn't matter in the eyes of the world. And that frees us from the responsibility of believing in a holy God and following his commandments and honoring his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So in response to this outcry in the world, character doesn't matter. God's word and the church ought to be saying not only does character matter, but character is the most important thing that the church can possess. A church without the godly character of Jesus Christ is nothing more than a religious institution, nothing more than hypocrisy destined to be judged by God and mocked by the world. Character must be a priority in our life. Beloved Christian character is indicative of the life of Jesus Christ and his moral perfections being held to the highest degree and esteem within the heart of the Christian believer. And when character no longer matters, when character is not the most important thing that we are seeking for when we see Jesus Christ, then we are most likely being defiled in our conscience and in our mind. And we most likely are allowing things in our conduct and in our life and in our speech that is not pleasing to God. And when that happens and it doesn't bother us, then we are in sad, sad situation. We are in danger of being judged by God. Character is the most important quality that should be guarded and sought after by a believer in Jesus Christ. The character that reflects the eternal moral perfections of Jesus Christ. That means we shouldn't lie. That means we shouldn't engage in deceitful speech. That means we shouldn't cheat. That means we should honor our mother and our father. That means we should not covet. That means we should not be greedy. That means we should not commit adultery or engage in any kind of unclean, impure lifestyles. That means we shouldn't steal. That means we shouldn't cuss or take the name of God in vain. Beloved, there is still a law that God has. There is still a standard in heaven that God holds to. And the whole purpose of the church in the world today is to hold this standard before the world. And to show the world what God is like. When we forsake this calling, then we are like salt that's lost its savor. Or like light that has lost its light. And we're good for nothing. So therefore, beloved, it is my firm belief, and by the way, I have decided through much prayer and much consideration to join together with many other Christians and want to challenge you to consider also participating in as much as you can during the month of March in seasons of prayer with fasting in your own life. And allow the Word of God to speak to your heart. Allow the Word of God to deal with any area of sin in your life. Any area of darkness in your life. Let the month of March be a time when you set before the Lord your heart and say, God, I do not want anything in my life that is displeasing to you. Sins that have had control over you. Areas of attitudes and lifestyle patterns in your life that you know are not pleasing to God. Let March be a time when you call upon the name of Jesus Christ. And through the power of the Word of God and the Spirit of God, you pray and turn from sin and let God cleanse your heart and your mind. Let God make you a righteous person. Let God make you a holy person. Let God adjust your attitudes and your words so that you can be free. Through the power that is available to us in Jesus Christ. So I want to challenge you during the month of March to join together with myself and many others in this season of prayer with fasting. Some of you won't be able to fast long periods of time. That's perfectly fine. Do what you can do and God will honor it. You know, it's not what you can't do that God holds you to, but it's what you can do that God holds you to. Like people oftentimes get frustrated regarding given and they say, well, I don't have much to give. Well, God's not holding you accountable for what you can't do. He's holding you accountable for what you can do. Do what you can do. You say, well, it's so little. It doesn't matter how little it is. Doesn't matter how much little time you have. Use all the time you have for God. The widow's might was little and Jesus said that she gave more than all of them. So God has a different concept and understanding regarding little and much. So beloved, please hear this word from the Lord this morning. God is calling us to repentance, genuine, heartfelt repentance. The reason why is not because God is an angry God in heaven who is cruel and belligerent and who is always wanting to find fault with us. But the reason why God is calling us to repentance is because it says in the word of God, Revelation chapter three, and I want to read it to you. This is the reason why God is calling us to repentance. Revelation chapter three, verse number 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. That's Revelation chapter three, verse number 19. The reason why God is calling us to repentance is because God loves us with an everlasting love. It is love that motivates almighty God to speak to his people and say, repent. Turn from your sins. Turn from your iniquity. Turn from your wayward ways. Turn from your selfish lifestyles. Turn from those sins that are snaring your soul. It is God's love that calls us out to repent because God knows that if we repent and we genuinely show godly remorse and sorrow for our sins and we go to him and seek for the grace and the power that is available to us, then God knows that he will then be able to pour out his spirit upon us in unprecedented manners. So it is an act of pure love on God's part that calls us to repentance. Pure love. So consider the call of God this morning. Consider the intensity of the heart of God regarding this issue of repentance in the church to be an act of his pure love. The highest act of God's love towards somebody that he loves is that he would call them to repentance that he might make a way for them to receive the fullness of the blessing of God. What was the message that John the Baptist bared when he came on the scene in the book of Mark? Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. What was the message that Jesus began to preach in the cities that he traveled in when he finally went into his public ministry after he was baptized into the river Jordan? What did he say? He said repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. Both Jesus and John the Baptist were heralders of the message of repentance because they knew that before God could pour out his spirit upon the earth, people had to repent and turn from their sin. And likewise, beloved, our families and our children and our churches will not know the fullness of God's outpouring, the fullness of God's presence and the power that is available among a people who have laid their lives down in selfless devotion to Christ and to one another. We will not know this kind of life that God intends to give to his church except we repent and turn from our sins. And we're not here speaking of vague, general repentance such as, yes, I acknowledge I'm a sinner. No, God, I'm sorry. But the kind of repentance that the Holy Spirit wants to offer in our life is a very deep, heart searching repentance. And it is over specific sins that God puts his finger on. Specific sins. We must call sin, sin in the church. We are being deceived in this late hour and we are beginning to carry into the church the language of the world. The world doesn't see sin as sin and many Christians don't see sin as sin. Lying is no longer lying, it's just changing the truth a little bit. Committing adultery is no longer a grievous sin, but it's just having an extramarital affair because my needs aren't being met. God understands lying is no longer lying. Cheating is no longer cheating. Stealing is no longer stealing. It's okay to steal, everybody else is doing it. What's wrong with a little bit of stealing? What's wrong with it? Come on, let's face it. God understands my need and this idea, this lying spirit that has seduced the world is coming into the church. Beloved, we as Christian families need to hold up the standard high. We need to reaffirm the fact that Christ came in order to establish the law of God in the hearts of the church. Not do away with the law, we're talking about the moral law now. Not the religious ceremonial law that was done away in Christ. But the moral righteous law of God that basically is summed up in the Ten Commandments. God didn't come to destroy those things. The liberty that the Christian has as a believer does not exempt him from obeying the moral law of God, but it empowers him to obey it. The Holy Ghost comes into our life not so that we can do our own thing and say, praise God, I'm not under law, I'm under grace. No, the Holy Ghost comes into our life in order to liberate us from the law of sin. That we might become slaves to righteousness. That we might become slaves to the law of God. That we might do by the power of God the things that are pleasing to God. We must hold up the standard. We must bring back the standard of God's moral perfections into our lives and into our families and into the church of Jesus Christ. We must do it, beloved. There is an outcry in the world today. People don't know what is right and wrong. And if the church does not hold the standard up and demonstrate what right and wrong is, who's going to know? Who else can tell the world but the church? Joel chapter 1 verse number 5. We're going to go through various references in the book of Joel that allude to or directly refer to the need of repentance. Just so you can see some of the language that the Holy Spirit has chosen in order to describe what genuine repentance ought to be doing in our lives. Joel chapter 1 verse 5. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep. And how, all ye drinkers of wine. Notice the language. Weep. How? Verse number 8. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. So we see the word weep. We see the word how. Now we see the word lament being used. Verse number 9. The meat offerings and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn. So here is a call for the priests and the ministers of the Lord to mourn. All of these words are describing the condition of the heart when genuine repentance is being experienced. There's a mourning. There's a weeping. There's a lamenting. There is a confession. There is an acknowledgement. Oh God, I have sinned against heaven. I have sinned against my brothers, my sisters, my husband, my wife, my children. Lord, I stand guilty before you. Have mercy upon me. Verse number 11. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen. Another word that the Holy Spirit uses in order to describe repentance is the concept of being ashamed. There is no shame anymore in the world today. People are not ashamed. People are not ashamed when they hear vulgar language. People are not ashamed when they see indiscreet pictures, whether it be in magazines or whether it be on the television. Shame is a quality that the church needs to pray. She will get a hold of once again. It ought to make us want to close our eyes when we see obscenities. It ought to make us want to close our eyes when we see indiscreet stuff. But no. But rather, like animals, like brute beasts, many people, when they see it, they stare and they want more. And this is a perversion of the justice of God. This is a distortion to the character of God. The essential nature of the church ought to be that of Christ's nature. And Christ does not engage in those kinds of things. That's why we need a change in our hearts. We so easily can sit. We're like the proverbial frog. You put a frog in cold water and put the water on a burner and turn the burner on, and as the water gets hot, the frog doesn't realize it, and all of a sudden, the frog boils to death without even knowing what happened to it. And that's just what's happening in the church. The enemy has implemented a subtle strategy in the church. And basically, the game plan of this strategy is this. Very slowly, very subtly begin to seduce the conscience, the moral conscience of the church. Very slowly begin to introduce and infest little bits of lying, little bits of uncleanness, little bits of untruthfulness, little bits of pornography. The world calls it soft porn and hard porn. Just a little bit. Years and years ago, it was disgraceful for a woman to be so indiscreet in public. And that is not a pure naked thing, but just having indiscreet clothes. Nowadays, it is nothing. Even hardcore pornography is nothing. Because the eye of sinful man is never satisfied. And if he gets a hold of something and indulges in it, you can be sure that sooner or later, he's going to want more. He's going to want more. That's the whole trick behind the drug scene. Start him out with marijuana. Just get him a little bit. All this downplay of marijuana in the world today. Oh, it's medicinal. It's not going to hurt you. That's fine. Let's get that message to our kids. That's real good, isn't it? All right, kids, just smoke a little pot, but don't go into anything any more heavy. That's ludicrous. You let a kid get into pot and you let a kid feel like pot's all right. And after six months, pot's going to get boring and they're going to start popping pills and then they're going to start shooting up. And before you know it, they're going to be in the same boat that those two couples were in or those two kids were in that Pam talked about. They become suicidal. You don't tell kids pot's all right. It's not all right. God doesn't want us to be distorted in our mind. He doesn't want us to take things into our body that distort our reason, that deaden our understanding. That's why alcohol is no good. You read what the Bible says about alcohol. And the abuse of alcohol is dreadful. It'll destroy you. It'll kill you. Alcohol is a belligerent taskmaster. And if you get involved in alcohol, it'll kill you and destroy you. You talk to anybody who grew up in an alcoholic family and they'll tell you what alcohol does. It ruins kids. It ruins children. It ruins relationships. It brings children into despair and confusion. It brings hurts that can't hardly be healed. That's what alcohol does. Don't come and tell me, I have liberty, God lets me drink. You need to stay away from drinking. If you were in a third world country and the water was poisonous and the only liquid you had was wine, well, I can see maybe drinking a little wine. But in America, when you don't have that condition, you better stay away from wine. You better stay away from alcohol. You say, well, God doesn't bother me about it. Well, I'm not going to go into a conscience issue now. But you know what? You ought not to be deciding what you can do based on your liberty. What about in Romans where it says you shouldn't do anything that'll cause your brother to stumble. So you have liberty to drink wine. Well, what if one of your younger brothers in the Lord see you doing it? And they say, well, brother, so-and-so does it. It must be all right. And they start doing it and they become an alcoholic. Whose blood is going to be on his hands? Yours. You're going to be responsible for it because your liberty caused your brother to sin. Your liberty destroyed your brother's faith. Don't you say I've got liberty to do this and I got liberty to do that. Your liberty should be freeing you from selfish indulgence in anything and should make you a slave to righteousness and should make you want to serve people. That's what Christian liberty is all about. Not how far I can live in the world and feel like God is not condemning me. That's perversion of Christian liberty. Perversion of Christian liberty. So stay away from spirits or people or books that embolden you and strengthen you to try and get as close to the world as you can. Stay away from people who think that they can have one foot in the world and one foot in the church and still think everything's all right. Everything's not all right when you've got one foot in the world and one foot in the church. Let me just tell you something that James says. We're going to go back to the book of Joel. But I want to tell you something that James says regarding this idea of one foot in the world and one foot in the church. James chapter 4. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Now what are you going to do with that? If you're a friend of the world and to be a friend of the world is to walk together with the world and share mutual interests and enjoy the things that the world offers. Now I'm not talking about going to a park and enjoying the beauty of the creation and the beauty of trees. I'm not talking about occasionally going out and maybe golfing or something like that. When the scripture here speaks of the world, it's specifically referring to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. If we start feeling like we have a kinship with the sinful desires that this world is offering, then we become an adulterer and adulteress before Almighty God. We become an enemy of God. You cannot be a friend of this world and in fellowship with the lusts that this world promotes and at the same time expect to be in friendship with God. Because Jesus said those who are friends with God keep his commandments, obey his word. And his word says, love not the world nor the things that are in the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are not of the Father but are of the world. And the world and the lust thereof shall pass away. But he that doeth the will of God shall abide forever. That is what a friend of God is. A friend of God is somebody who says no to the desires of this world, no to the deceitfulness of riches, no to the inordinate drawl, to want to engage in sinful activities. No, I am a friend of God. The word of God is what I meditate upon. Oh, hallelujah to God. We need to be radical. We need to get back into the word of God. There is a clarion call from the heart of God to the church today all throughout the land. And it is repent, turn from your iniquities, turn from your sin, come back to me and I will bless you. I will pour out my spirit. Stop looking in broken cisterns for satisfaction. Stop drinking in broken cisterns because you are going to thirst again. Jesus said in John chapter 4, if any man drink of this water, he shall thirst again. He shall thirst again. If you drink in the water of this world, if you are sucking down the things of this world, you are going to thirst again. It is not going to satisfy you, beloved. It is not going to meet the need. But if you come to the water that Jesus has to offer and you drink at the fount of God and you live by the word of God and you take a stand against all that is unholy and unrighteous in your home and in your personal lives, watch out what you do when nobody sees you. Most likely that is a true reflection of what you really are. Be careful, beloved, be careful. Declare war on everything and anything in your life. That is contrary to the word of God. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Declare war on it. Take a stand in the name of Jesus against everything and anything in your life. Allow people to speak into your life. Allow people to show you areas of blindness in your own life. Don't resent it when somebody comes and tries to correct you or show you that there might be something wrong in your character. Thank him for it. Don't say thank you. Pray with me. Verse number 13. Joel chapter 1. Gird yourselves and lament. Priests, how? Ye ministers of the altar. Listen, come, lie all night in sackcloth. Ye ministers of my God. For the meat offering and the drink offering is withheld. Verse number 14, the latter part. Cry unto the Lord your God. Verse 19. Oh, Lord, to thee will I cry. Verse 12, chapter 2. Verse 12, chapter 2. Therefore, also now saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, with fasting and with weeping and with mourning. This is incredible language, is it not? Oh, I hope to God, I pray to God that you are not just listening to a sermon right now. I am hoping that you are not just listening to this and saying, oh, how interesting. I hope that the Holy Spirit is taking this and it is a living word to your own heart. Do you hear God speaking to you this morning? I hear God speaking to me. I hear God saying, repent, mourn, weep, pray, fast, turn to me, come. I have life. I have forgiveness. I have restoration. Just come to me. I hear God. Verse number 15. Blow the trumpet in Zion. What do you think it means to blow the trumpet? Well, you know, the trumpet was blown in Israel for several reasons. In one instance, it was blown when they were about to engage in a feast. Another instance was when they were about to engage in war. The trumpet was blown. But do you know another reason why the trumpet was blown in Israel? When the prophet of God spoke and decreed and declared that there was sin in the land. When there was sin in the land, the prophets got up and blew the trumpet of God. And it was a call to repentance. It was a call to come before God and confess your sins and repent. Lest the Lord judge. And that's what this blow the trumpet in Zion is all about. It's a sound of a trumpet blowing. And the meaning of it is a call to repentance. Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Verse 17. Let the priests and the ministers of the Lord weep before the porch and the altar. I bet you never realized how much the book of Joel was so full of exhortations from God to us as the people of God to repent. It's full of it. Now it says weep between the porch and the altar. What significance is that? In the Old Testament, the tabernacle had a porch that it had an altar before the porch and the altar. There was the labor, which was a basin filled with water. And in that labor, you had to come in through the porch. That was the entrance way into the temple. And then you had to go to the labor and there you had to wash before you can go to the altar. Well, so what that means is weep between the porch and the altar. Weep at the labor. So the labor represents to the church. I'll tell you exactly what it represents. Ephesians. Ephesians chapter five, verse number 26. This is Christ talking about the church that he might sanctify and cleanse it. Listen with the washing of water by the word. So in the Old Testament, the labor washed the priests as they came into the temple. In the New Testament, the labor becomes the word of God. And as we weep between the porch and the altar or the word of God, as we weep before the word of God and let God's word speak to us, let God's word become more than a book of doctrines, more than just interesting stories. But let it become the very words of God speaking to us, showing us our sin, showing us the glories of what God wants to do in us in Christ as we weep before the word of God. The scripture says in Ephesians five that we will experience a washing. The reason why there is so much filth in the church today is because there is no weeping between the porch and the altar. There's no weeping before the word of God. You see, just to hear a sermon doesn't necessarily mean that the word of God is getting in you. Just to read your Bible doesn't mean the word of God is getting in you. There has got to be a change in the hearts of God's people toward the word so that it is no longer just an interesting book to read in order to get knowledge or information, but it becomes the very words of God that convict us and bring us to our knees and show us what God wants and shows us our own sin and drives us to genuine repentance. The word of God must become a living book to us. There's so much filth because we're not being washed daily with the word. The word as it comes to us by the Holy Spirit cleanses us. Don't you ever feel a cleansing effect after you spend time in the word and God speaks to you? You feel clean. It washes your mind. It washes your heart. It cleanses you. You rise in faith. You feel like God is in control. Hallelujah. You feel power with God. You feel cleansed. You feel close to God. You feel encouraged. You feel health and healing because the word brings healing. Hallelujah to God. Instead, our minds are filled with the world and the things in the world. Our meditation should be on the word of God. Weep between the porch and the altar, verse 17, chapter 2, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thy heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them. Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Where is their God? Spare thy people. This is the kind of prayer that we should be praying. Spare thy people, O God. Spare us. Spare our lives. Spare our families, God. Our grandchildren. Lord, help us. Lord, God, if you don't come on the scene, our lives are going to be destroyed. Spare thy people. What's the first word in verse 18? Then. When. Then. What does then mean? Then is a word. It's a transitional word. And then indicates this, that once there is genuine repentance in the church, and once there is a genuine turning from sin, and an acknowledging of our sin, and a hating of our sin, and an abhorring of our sin, then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people? When will God come on the scene and heal the church? What is the only hope that America has? The only hope America has is a healed whole church. That's the hope America has. The church is the hope of America. The church of vibrant, living, on fire church. Holding up the moral, righteous standard of Jesus Christ. Living in this world, but not being of the world. Having a song in their heart. Not driven by greed and covetousness. Sharing and caring with one another. When the world sees this, Jesus said that they might believe. Then will the Lord be zealous for his people and pity his people. Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied.