The Way of Revival

I won't read all of it, but in verse 1 it says, Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. Here we have a time with the children of Israel, when Solomon's temple, perhaps still by many believed today, still yet to be believed to be the greatest structure ever made in the history of man. When they go through the list of materials, and the financial implications of the building of that and all that went into it, the greatest and still most glorious building.

There is, Solomon as he finished praying there and dedicating that temple to God, the Lord came and fire came from heaven, consumed the offerings and the sacrifices that were there. There was some 122,000 sheep and 22,000 oxen, quite an offering, quite a sacrifice there that was offered to the Lord that day, and it was a great and glorious day. The glory was so heavy the priests couldn't even enter into it.

The people there found themselves in great worship, praising God, surrendering to their lives in the most wonderful of ways, and their hearts filled with great joy. And it goes on to tell us that as this service kind of went on for days, at the end of it, it says in verse 11, Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house and all that came to Solomon's heart to make a house for the Lord and his own people, and he prosperously effected. And the Lord appeared unto Solomon by night, and he said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.

Then he goes on to talk about a future day where God must discipline and chastise his own. He says, if I shut up heaven, there is no rain. And if I command the locusts to devour the land or if I send pestilence among my people, even then, 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, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word this morning. And Lord, as great and glorious as the beginning of the temple was, as awesome as its beginning was, Lord, even then, at the very time when they rejoiced in all that they had, you came and said, however, if it doesn't stay this glorious and I end up having to discipline you, I shut up heaven, let the land dry, devour it, and I let difficulties come.

I want you to know that even then, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, I'll forgive their sin, heal their land. Lord, we pray that today that you administer your word to us, as there is so much upon our hearts, wanting to know what it is that is truly going on. Where do we go? What do we do? We ask that you administer to all of us.

We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.

During this last week, I have actually been asked by a number of people how these events of the last week fit into prophecy, and we will be addressing that in the future. I think one of the things that is so much a part of the ministries of Calvary Chapel is the prophetic issues. And of the things of the last days, there's many, the scriptures are filled with them.

And we will look at that. Let me just do, though, read a little out of mark to you, only a couple of verses, but in verse seven, Jesus saying, And when ye shall hear of wars, rumors of wars, yet be ye not troubled, for such things must needs be, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes in diverse places, there shall be famines and troubles, but these are the beginning of sorrows.

We'll be looking at these things more, but it's something that many of the events that we are watching today, I believe, are even in a sense of the category of the beginning of sorrows. As nation rising against nation, the Bible telling us there should be prize for peace, but there shall be no peace. And of looking at these difficulties, that is something that we will be looking at more and more, but today is already read out of 1st Chronicles, 2nd Chronicles.

What I believe is so important for us somewhat to look at is this great call, I believe, that God, in the midst of all of the human aspects and of the terror and the sorrow and the heartache and the grief and the suffering and the pain that is going on in the world today, how much there is also God wanting to speak back to us. And I believe that he is, in a very real sense, saying somewhat of the same issues that he had to say to Solomon, that if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, and that they will pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sins and heal their land. Something that has happened in this last week is we have watched these four planes.

Many of us just riveted to our television sets, watching in unbelief. Something that initially almost was so surreal, it was like this was a television movie. This had to be something of almost special effects.

This had to be the ultimate prank, but realizing, of course, it wasn't. That this was in reality these four hijacked airplanes, three of them devastating their targets. One of them, perhaps because of the heroics of a few that gave their life and lost their lives on the plane there, but having it fall short of another target, thus saving many.

But only then to watch as the World Trade Center and as the Pentagon got hit, began to realize that this was, as we have been told in this last week, the most devastating single day of war in the history of the world. On D-Day in 1942, 1,500 were killed. Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, 2,400 were killed.

The death toll is now over 5,000 and climbing from September 11, New York City and Washington, D.C. And something, though, that with a backdrop of such terror, such sorrow and suffering, such grief, only God, I believe, has the power to take something like this, that it can be so terrible of human tragedies, and turn it around. And I believe we have been watching in this last week some wonderful events happen, some fulfillment even here of 2 Chronicles 7.14 where we have been, as Solomon is told by the Lord, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves. And there is a strange and wonderful humility that seems to be coming across the leaders of our country, the ones that always have the answers, that always know what ought to be done and how to do it seemingly, but now in a humility there of looking there and realizing they don't have all the answers.

We are heading into a time for the next few years of this country that are going to require the wisdom of Solomon, the guidance of God's hands and has produced, I believe, a wonderful humility upon our leader and upon many of our leaders. Our President called the nation to prayer. Millions found themselves called to prayer spontaneously around the streets, in homes, in neighborhoods, at offices, in schools.

Our Congress, how amazing it was to see them literally stand on their own steps there of Congress and to break out in spontaneous singing of God Bless America. Here a Congress that has continuously voted out his existence, that has neglected the thought of him. Now to see some wonderful sense of humility happening, hearing of a number of wonderful prayer meetings happening throughout our whole political structure, through the White House, through the halls of Congress, in the states, in the cities.

There is people humbling themselves and finding themselves not only in humility there, but beginning to pray, turning to God, realizing there is something there that all the king's horses and all the king's men, in and of our own strength and capacity, are at great loss to know where to go and what to do, but realizing for God it is nothing, nothing impossible to him. And to see these wonderful events not only of humility, but humility bringing people to pray. And then pray bringing people to seek God's face.

For he says there, that of my people, called by my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face. But he didn't stop there. God had one more qualification essentially there.

He says that when I forgive their sins and heal their land, three of the four, I believe, we have addressed marvelously. Three of the first four things have been laid out, but there is one more critical issue. I believe extremely critical, and that is there that he says, and turn from their wicked ways.

Throughout Israel's history, God many times, they would humble themselves, they would pray, they would cry out to God, but yet still they would retain their wicked ways. Still they would go on the same way they had lived, and while they were in terrible terror and suffering and grief and agony, being attacked by their enemies and being devastated, because they did three, but they did not the fourth. They did not turn on occasion from their own wicked ways.

The result was they were left to their own devices, and they suffered very greatly for it. But here I believe that one of the great things that we ought to be concerned and praying for and longing for, whether in our own lives or in the lives of our land, is that we would also know what it is. God, if ever there is a time, I believe in my entire life on this planet, that there is a potential of our nation turning from wicked ways.

Ways that are profoundly and deeply and terribly wicked. For we are spent, and I almost feel the need, things that I believe we obviously should clearly understand, but I don't believe we do. That is a sad commentary in itself, that I almost have to stop and talk of some of the wicked ways, that I believe heaven as it looks there, and that's the definer of wickedness, not me.

Not some, you know, general consensus of our populations. We'll decide and determine what's right and wrong, what's wicked and not. But rather than that, that we would find ourselves churning humbly, prayerfully, seeking God's face, say, you tell us how to live.

You tell us what is right, what is wrong. And something in our government that hopefully now, and how I pray that this would be the day in the opening, that ways in which we have shoved God out of our land, governmentally, for 40 years, could be turned. It was in the 1960s that our Supreme Court literally outlawed school prayer.

Outlawed it. Removed the Bible out of our school, essentially. Laid the groundwork for the stopping of the teaching and the using of the Bible, and the trading and the equipping of an entire generation.

Outlawed its possibility of being used. And in that, opened the door for evolution to be taught as fact for an entire generation of kids. We've stopped Bible clubs in many schools, as much as we've been able to do it, with having to go back and forth before our Supreme Court, fighting to get Bible clubs, prayer meetings being able to happen legally on school campuses.

Though at the same time, the enemies of this, the separation of church and state, a phrase that appears nowhere in the fundamental documents of this country, nowhere in the Constitution, nowhere in the Declaration of Independence, and didn't appear in anything for many years. It was just last Sunday morning, one of the men in our church, one of the coaches, came up to me, having received a letter and threats from people because some of the students had been praying before football games. Wanting to know how to handle this.

And here we are literally in a nation where our students still yet today, wanting to pray, wanting to open a Bible, wanting to have a prayer on a field before a ball game, being outlawed, having these pressures. We have so publicly, so powerfully pushed God out of our educational system that we have virtually raised an entire generation of youth today that know virtually nothing about right and wrong. That know little about morality.

We have instructed them in our schools that morality is a personal issue. You determine your own morality. There is virtually nothing immoral.

It is your own personal persuasion. Whatever you want to do as far as any sexual desires or appetites that are being conjured up in you, you just determine them because you're just simply being you. We will aid you if you need any form of birth control.

And we will even see to it that if required and necessary, you get an abortion without parental consent or knowledge. If that's determined, that that would help. And this is all legally based.

This is things that have happened in our government, to a government that once so deeply stood for God. Early on in the history of our country, you could not even apply for federal funds to start or to maintain an educational system, to have a school district, if you did not agree with the receiving of those funds to teach the Bible. Now, if you teach the Bible, forget the funds.

These are things that don't, believe me, I'm not against America. I'm more for it today, I believe, than I ever have been. But I also believe that these are the issues that we need truly to address when we want to teach our children that they have evolved from apes and that they have no God before whom they are at all accountable.

They merely live and let live. It is something there that now we have driven an entire generation to look for another, for their source of identity and power and direction and meaning and purpose and existence. They now look to another place for hope.

They now look for another place for love, not God. And it is something now that we're upset and scratching our heads so often as a nation because we have a generation that has no regard for authority, no sense of right and wrong, virtually no value system, no morality, no ethics about it. Many just living for the pleasure of the moment, living in a dimension of virtual meaninglessness, falling into drugs and immorality.

We look today so often now that we're watching a generation that when it gets frustrated and depressed, that we find ourselves committing the most violent of acts, of crimes, of pathetic murders in the most terrible of ways. There's a complete disregard for human life, but we have taught it. For over 40 years, we as a nation have asked God to take his hand off us, to leave us alone, to let us rule ourselves.

And this has gone on, our government. As far as another issue, abortion. In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion.

Not only legalized it with its infamous Roe v. Wade judgment case, but since then our government has also paid. The government today we're praying for, that God will lead and guide, but it is paid and supported for millions upon millions of legalized abortions. Let me give you a few statistics.

I don't like to bore people with them, but let me let you do this to get an idea of the enormity of this. Annually, 1973, this is from the Bureau of Statistics of our government, 744,600 abortions, 74,898,600. 75, 1,034,000.

76, 1,197,000. 77, 1.3 million. 78, 1.4 million.

79, 1.5 million. 81, 1.55 million. 81, 1.577 million.

82, 1.53 million abortions. 83, 1.57. These are all legally our government. It's gone on.

You can read the statistics all the way up until 1978, the last one I could find on the website for it. But there, that number totaled, within the first 25 years of legalized abortion within this country, 38 million, 10,000 abortions. Since then, it's estimated there's at least another five, bringing it up to approximately 45 million abortions.

In the last 28 years within this country. Now, to put that number in perspective just a little bit, just to know how many have died in wars since the inception of this country, bringing it about. Something, again, Bureau of Statistics.

Revolutionary War, 10,643. War of 1812, 6,765. Mexican War, 17,435.

The Civil War, 930,000. Spanish-American War, 4,100. World War I, 320,000.

World War II, 1,078,000. Korean War, 136,000. Vietnam War, 211,000.

This is on both sides of these things, by the way. The Gulf War, 760. The total of all the wars that the United States has been involved in in the last 225 years.

Killed. Establishing, protecting, defending this country, 2.5 million. In the last 28 years, we have aborted over 15 times that many.

If any of you have ever been to Washington, D.C., and you've seen the Vietnam War Memorial, it's 500 feet long. It's a beautiful structure. I've been there.

Friends of mine that I grew up with etched in paper their name. They're remembering them. The sorrow and the grief of what that war took over 50,000 American lives alone on that.

And that war memorial is some 500 feet long. But as James Dobson points out, that if you were to make a memorial of the exact same size and dimensions of names writing there for the amount of people that have been aborted in the last 28 years within this country, it would not be 500 feet long. It would be 50 miles long.

The same equivalent memorial for the lives that we have taken. Our government behind it fully and completely. Supporting it, sustaining it, legalizing it, paying for it.

Now, this is a country I love. This is a country that I have lost relatives and friends defending it. I love it more than ever.

And long that something about it of a greatness and a glory that it once had, it can return to it. But to ask God to be praying and turning and seeking our face to him, implementing three of these aspects there, but if we have no correlation between these events, if our congressmen and women are going to come out and stand on the steps of Congress and sing, God bless America, longing for his blessing, that he would once again put his hand upon us when we have spent 40 years saying, take it all, leave us alone, we'll govern ourselves, we will decide what is precious and what is wonderful. Tragically, even now, here in our country today, we are concerned, and many of you, of Social Security.

How long will it last? How is it going to be afforded? How do we pay for it? And here, over 40 million lives not in existence today because they were inconvenient at the time. How interesting it is that an entire generation, 40 million, that would be pouring billions into Social Security to be taking care of that which are not here to do it. That is a minor issue, obviously, to the truth and the morality and the godliness of what is going on, but many of our sorrows we are bringing upon ourselves, particularly there when many that support abortion want to look there and say, it's all right.

You see, it's a mother's choice, and it's only a fetus. It is not a human being. It's not alive.

Well, the Bible is quite contrary to that. In Psalm 139, David says, For thou hast possessed my reins, thou hast known me in my mother's womb. And as he found himself there pondering his life, he says, I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knows right well. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought at the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect.

And in thy book all of my members are written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. David looked there, and he realized there that even when his mother and his father made him in secret and didn't even know that that child had been conceived, God knew it. He saw that very conception.

And there in his book, all of his members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. Before there was even an eye or an ear or a nose, before anybody could even guess, was it a boy or a girl? Was his hair red or blonde or black or brown? It was all there in his book. All of his members were written, when in continuance they were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

And to sit there and to want to say it is not a living being, we are not murdering anyone, is foolishness compared to the truth of the Word of God. I don't say these things to in any way come against the great tidal wave of humility and prayer and seeking of God's face. It is only my great longing that we would come into a comprehension that for forty years we have been telling God, we don't need you.

Judiciously, governmentally, legally, crying out, setting up these things from the highest places in the land. When you look at morality and what has occurred, and many here are old enough to look back and realize our world today is absolutely corrupt and immoral compared to the world in which many of us grew up in. The government censors.

The ones in our authority there out of protecting supposedly this perversion of First Amendment rights have opened up the floodgates of free speech. Publishers are now free in virtually any form of literature to simply put out all forms of immorality. Anything that is perverse and wicked that their hearts can virtually imagine under the First Amendment, free speech and free communication rights, people are doing the most vile of things.

Some thirty years ago, the American Psychiatric Association that had forever in its entire history classified homosexuality as a mental illness and a perversion from natural human behavior that needed correction. It turned that around. You see, you throw God out of the schools.

You throw Him out of the educational system. You train up a generation of attorneys. They're fighting and making defense.

They said, no, not God or the things or the truths of God. And life all of a sudden is irrelevant. There's no absolute truth.

There's nothing moral or immoral. There's nothing right or wrong or good or bad. Any longer, you take those things away.

And the next thing you know, now all of life is just simply personal choice. And now legally we go and say, who are we to tell somebody they can't pursue whatever their own moral desires or direction is? Survival of the fittest anyway. Leave them all alone.

And now we have virtually an entire generation of people living carnally, foolishly, hopelessly through life. You see, you start throwing God and removing Him away from a country. How it's interesting, you know, when you watch and you look at these things.

It only gets worse every year when you think it can't. The status quo of immorality is never good enough, it seems. It's got to get worse every year.

We find a way to take greater steps towards more wickedness, more immorality. We've got to get more of it in our entertainment, more of it in our newspapers, in our magazines, more of it in everywhere. We continuously do it.

In 1939, for the first time on any major film, a profane word was used. And there was great debate over it, but they decided, oh, let it happen. It's a great movie.

And in Gone with the Wind, Clark Gable turned and he turns to us as he's walking out, frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. And then that now is nothing, obviously. And every year since then, we take something that initially had a shock upon this country, that was turned away from many people because the word damn was used within the theaters.

They found themselves saying we'll have none of it. But little by little, we condition ourselves more and more to where it gets worse. Aaron Sorkin, the creator of NBC's West Wing, most recently kind of in the news this last April 15th, arrested on charges of having hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana, and cocaine.

But as the director and the producer of this number one television show, we're told, the West Wing, they are now going to be inserting more sexually explicit material, foul language than ever before in this fall season. Sorkin is once the principal character there, namely the President of the United States in the hit series in the West Wing, to curse God in a way, to curse in a way that uses the Lord's name in vain, quote, unquote. And here we are looking there, the Times says that the producers have submitted network censor scripts that include practically every crude word imaginable, including the F word, and more nudity is on tap.

In the very first opening series, it goes on to say, the West Wing conservatives probably won't be pleased with the first episode of the West Wing coming up soon, in which the President tells religious leaders to haul their fat, another word for donkeys, out of my office. Martin Sheen nails it as Josiah Bartlett, the liberal president who suffers no fools. And here's something now, it's as if there is a force, if we can take this nation into a level of corruption and immorality and filth, if we can do it, there is an entire, that sometimes we, right now, we believe the greatest enemies here of this country are external and Osama Bin Laden, and make no mistake, we ought to hunt them down and fight them, I believe that with all my heart.

But to also neglect enemies that have destroyed far more, far more lives, morally, spiritually, physically, and what has happened is merely a drop in the bucket to it. Today, 25% of American households have adult channels coming into their homes. We are a nation that is simply obsessed with sex.

We're buying it, selling it, prostituting it. It's in our homes, theaters, newspapers, magazines, cable, satellite dishes. It is something there to where we've led a nation into premarital sex.

Nothing is immoral any longer. Extramarital sex and the lust of the heart controls many. 75% to 80% of the money spent on the Internet is spent on pornography.

Billions of dollars. It's a plague that is destroying our land. The sanctity of marriage is being destroyed.

We have sat here and we've watched now for 40 years. Our nation has churned and says, God, leave us alone. We'll run ourselves.

We have done it morally. We have done it legally. We have done it educationally.

We have done it politically. It's nobody's business any longer a politician's life. What multiple affairs he may be having.

How he cheats on his wife. How he may have lied in his vows. Lied to God.

Lied to his wife. Deceived his family. As long as he can keep interest rates down, vote him in.

And we're in a country in a time there to where we have a wickedness that has overtaken us. That is all around us. And for us to think, God bless us.

God be on our side. God, guide our army. Guide our nation.

And at the same time, we want it to have no implication whatsoever. On our school system. On our moral system.

On our evaluation of life and people's pursuit of pleasure. Without having something there, God, he simply looks. He says, if you will humble yourself.

Pray. Seek my face and turn from your wicked ways. I tell you, we spent 40 years telling God, leave us alone.

Telling God, take your hand off of us. Last Tuesday morning, September 11th, for a few minutes, he did. He lifted it.

You want my hand off you? The hand that is protected. Loved. Cared.

Been patient. Been long-suffering. Been merciful.

For 40 years. You truly want it off? You truly want me out? And how I believe there, that it has something there. That in that moment, the most famous icon of all of capitalism.

The World Trade Center. Of all places, to have struck and brought to dust. And there to see an event there happening.

There of seeing this most invisible of capitalistic icons on the planet. As the whole world watched them fall. We cry.

That is good. We humble ourselves. That is good.

We pray. That is good. We seek his face.

That is good. Now. Will we turn? Will there be something that correlates? The hand of God back upon this country.

That longs to have him lead and guide. Protect our lives. Protect our children.

Right now, it is something there to where are the leaders of our government. And not that I have any great sources, but I have heard a few internal things offered to me. But now that they are looking for a potential level of sabotage and of warfare within this country.

That may try to affect everything again from the airports. Every form of transportation. Public gatherings.

Dealing with our power plants. Water supplies. Water systems.

Transportation systems. And something there to where we have a potential battle ahead of us. The likes of which we have never known.

And for the first time in our history, it is on our own soil. It is our own lives. Our own families.

Our own children. Our own grandchildren. And to find ourselves simply thinking that we are going to throw a few missiles in the air.

And to have God's hand upon us. How I believe with all my heart. We need to find ourselves.

They are not simply declaring war of which I am. Sometimes I feel I am too worldly. I am too much of a hawk.

You know, I am like the guy almost, you know, that you see. The guy with the t-shirt with the American flag on it, you know, or something there. And in the back it says, blow them all up.

Let God sort them out. And I need forgiveness for that. But there is also something that that is not the primary war.

I believe that is the secondary war. The primary war is God is vying for the hearts and the lives of His own people. He is looking there and He says, If my people, mine, that belong to me.

In our country, you look at Gallup polls where we supposedly have 70, 80 percent different polls say they are Christian. And yet at the same time we go on with lies. Untouched.

And to ask God to preserve our way of life. Is a rather presumptive prayer when we also say God protect our schools. God protect our abortion clinics.

God protect our Congress. God protect. You know, even though we don't pray in school, there's no morality taught any place.

But when we find ourselves saying, God, help us turn. Help us turn. From our wicked ways.

I believe to me again, I have no way I want to take any advantage of this country when it is under attack. I just long to see us equipped to truly win. To have something that at the end of this war we are a greater people.

We are a greater nation. There are people that have found a godliness that is pure. That is, has a sense of holiness.

Peter tells us in second Peter chapter three. He tells us, knowing that in the last days coffers will come. They're walking after their own last and they will say, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, things continue as they were.

For this, they willingly are ignorant. That by the word of God, the heavens were of old and standing up and out of the water. Whereby the world that was then being overwhelmed with water perished.

But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word are kept in store. Reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But beloved, be not ignorant of this.

One day is with the Lord is a thousand years. A thousand years is a day. God is not slack concerning his promises.

As some men count slackness, but is long suffering. To us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens will melt with a fervent heat.

And the elements thereof shall be burned up. Seeing then, seeing then that all these things shall come to pass. What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holiness, godliness, looking for and hastening into the coming day of God.

Peter says, if you realize the days in which you live, let it affect the way. Holy, godly and ready. And how I believe that the hope of this country is right here today.

And it's in churches all over America today. And when people would realize the potential of your life and would realize, God use me. Use my life wherever I go to be used.

We all have to be in amazement to think of these terrorists, men of wickedness, evil, perverse people. Guys there on one hand out drinking, partying, you know, attending strip joints all the way up until they died. But here they plan two years, learn how to fly a plane that they'll only fly one time to die in.

To give their lives for something that is so perverse and evil and wicked and hateful. How much more ought to the children of the living God, who know His love and His power, ought to have such a surrender within our lives, such a focus. How we ought to be ones that we look at who we are.

I long that you kids that are here in junior high and high school and the reason I wanted you to stay is I believe it's up to you to go on to your campuses. Call together prayer meetings, get your Bible. If ever there's a time that I would love to see a principal in a school today, say get those Bibles out of here.

I'd love to see it now. I believe the children would rise up when they begin to pray and something happening and I believe this can be done. In your schools, in your offices, when you go to work to realize there and take your Bible and put it down and say, this is the hope of the world.

When we've been a carnal, wicked country, just concerned with our own pleasures and been able to fight these sorts of things in Congress. But isn't it amazing on how a whole Congress that has never seemed to believe he is, has outlawed his existence in our schools, now stands on his own steps. God bless America.

How much of it was just politically motivated for the moment. But then it's their own wicked hypocrisy that caused them to sing it and they'll stand for that truth. But how much more to look there and to go to your work, go to school.

This last week, one of the couples in the church just hadn't done anything in their home particularly before, but they just felt. To send out and see if any of the neighbors, anybody wanted to come together to pray, they made a little flyer, passed it around the neighborhood. That there on last Tuesday night at 7 o'clock or Wednesday night.

If anybody wants to just pray for our country, they put some chairs out in their driveway and just come and join. 50 people came and want a Bible study to come out of it. Is this astounding? Friday night, Matt Valencia was over here at Chili's having dinner.

At 7 o'clock, the Chili's where Nicole Miller, one of the girls that was killed in the plane crash, happened to work. And there at 7 o'clock, they quieted everything down, asked everybody for a minute of silence in honor of Nicole who died. Matt seized upon the moment, he said, may I say something? They said, well, there is her family.

See, whatever they say, talk to the family. They said, of course, he said, I'm a Christian, can I share something for a minute? And they said, please. There he stood up in Chili's restaurant for five minutes in absolute silence of a packed restaurant, over 100 people.

As there he shared the love of God and the hope in Christ. As they speechlessly, respectfully listened. This is you, this is your neighborhood, this is your school.

This is a time, I believe, we've been praying for revival, longing that God would once again put his hand upon this country. I believe that there is a space of time right now and an opportunity for us to seize upon the name and the glory of Jesus Christ in a way that is awesome. And that we would be praying for our leaders, not only there that for a few moments something would happen, but what a day that may be of Congress.

And something that our president, who has great convictions, who has gotten into office amazingly being opposed to abortion. What an opportunity to stand before our country and before our leaders and want to make decisions. What an opportunity for our Supreme Court to turn around and to say this country was founded upon the Bible.

It was founded upon the likes and the love of God. It was founded upon the identity of a Christian country. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

And what a glorious opportunity. How we ought to be ones that we find ourselves praying and longing that God would put his hand upon us and upon us individually. As well as corporately.

The Bible says one shall chase a thousand and two a great nation. The way in which I believe God can use you in your work, in your office, when you take that Bible, set it down and say if anybody wants hope and direction. See me at break time, I'll have lunch with you.

Unless the boss wants to call off an afternoon study. You know or call us all into an afternoon study to say tell us what the Bible says about these days. I wouldn't be surprised.

But that you and I would find ourselves being able to say God I am yours. And to realize to me what a wonderful day in which to live. This is not a day for the children of God to cower in fear.

To run into our homes. To try to go build bomb shelters. To find ourselves there wanting to seal off our walls and to protect things.

This is a day I believe where God looks at us to unleash us upon the world around us. That's what he's always done. When all he needs is Moses.

Somebody there will just go before Pharaoh and say you let my people go. And the next thing you know an entire nation is delivered. When Joshua would go just single handedly.

You look through the book of Judges. Seven times, seven individuals came and spoke and the nation turned back. Men and women alike.

When you would look there and realize the potential. When a little stripling, a little teenager like David came along. And when the whole nation stood and cowered in fear before a giant.

He said I'm not afraid of this uncircumcised Philistine. God delivered the lion and the bear into my hand. Surely he'll deliver this uncircumcised Philistine into my hand.

And there as he ran down, picked up a stone, sunk it into the forehead of the enemy. And he dropped dead. An entire nation was turned.

This is the world in which we're alive now. David then rose to great power and leadership. And when you and I can pick up and realize today.

When we can say God is our refuge and strength. Verse 26, God is our refuge and strength of very present help and trouble. Therefore, will we not fear? Though the earth be removed.

Though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Though the waters thereof roar and are troubled. Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

There is a river. The streams thereof make glad the city of God. The holy place of the tabernacle of the most high.

God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. The wonderful thing there of where God looks.

Come to me. And there is God begin to move. This is the heathen rage.

The nations were moved. He uttered his voice. And the earth melted.

The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come behold the works of the Lord.

What desolations he bringeth upon the earth. He maketh wars to cease under the ends of the earth. He breaketh the bow asunder.

He breaketh the bow. He casteth the spear asunder. He burneth the chariot with fire.

Be still. And know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen.

I will be exalted among the nations. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

And this morning. Perhaps you're looking and maybe always felt your life was of little consequence. But the consequence of it is immaterial.

It's not my business what my life is to do. My business is to do. My business is to offer it and to yield it.

Surrender it up to God's business and his using. And this morning. As we go.

Perhaps the Lord's speaking to you. Perhaps there's things that you look in your life. Perhaps some of these things that you realize man I'm part of the wickedness of this nation.

Well if you'll humble yourself. If you'll find yourself seeking his face and praying turning from your wicked ways. As quickly as you will do that.

God will hear from heaven. Forgive your sins. Heal your life.

Perhaps you look into your own life and say I've been terribly wicked. I've been. I'm one of the people that everybody ought to be praying for.

I'm not part of the solution of this country. I'm part of the problem. But to be able to come therefore and open your heart to Jesus Christ.

So you forgive me. Before you get the words out of your mouth. You're God who created you.

You're redeemer who loved you and gave himself for you. Will embrace you and say of course I will. I love you.

I want to transform your life. Use you. These last days.

I'll forgive it all. I'll forgive everything. Forgive you.

I want you.