IT’S TIME
HOOK (Explain what a Hessian was)
– During the Revolutionary war, Colonel Rahl, A Hessian commander at Trenton, was playing cards when a courier brought a message stating that General George Washington was crossing the Delaware River. Rahl put the letter in his pocket and didn’t bother to read it until the game was finished. Then, realizing the seriousness of the situation, he hurriedly tried to rally his men to meet the coming attack, but his procrastination was his undoing. He and many of his men were killed, and the rest of the regiment was captured. Tomorrow is the excuse of the lazy and the refuge of the incompetent.
• If I were to ask, “Who would like to make an impact on the world around them and help inspire true change for the better,” I believe just about everyone would raise their hand.
• There will be some who will make a difference and help change their world during their lifetime.
• Sadly however, most people will never truly make a significant impact on the people around them
• This is because of one of Satan’s most valuable tools that he uses on people – it’s called procrastination or (I can do it tomorrow)
TITLE – IT’S TIME
• I titled this message “It’s Time” because the world around us is growing darker and darker
• And we desperately need revival.
• Time is running out for us to make a difference in this world
• Even Jesus said in Revelation “behold I come quickly.”
• Friend, I believe that anyone who knows even a little about prophecy realizes just how short our time is before Jesus returns
• And besides that, none of us are promised the next minute of our existence.
• Sin is having a hay day in our country – it’s almost like a sewer pipe has been opened and is flooding us.
• Many lives and families are in a mess today and as a result our nation is in a mess.
• The problem with our nation is not a political problem
o Throwing more money at it and making more laws will not fix it!
• The problem is not a philosophical or an educational problem
o Educating people with bad hearts only creates clever devils!
• Friend, the problem with our nation is a heart problem (moral, spiritual).
o We as a nation have turned away from God
o We’ve kicked Him out of our government and schools and wonder why kids are going off of the deep
o They wonder why our children are so rebellious –
o the problem may not really be in the schoolhouse but rather the church house - amen
o We have reared generations of children who do not know God – and now they are in charge.
• The good news friends is that we serve a God who is able to turn things around
• And He so desperately wants to turn things around!
• Guess what? God will do His part if we do our part!
• You know who can save a home, a community, a country?
• Yes, God can, but He can only do it through people like you and I in this room right now.
• Friends, we don’t have time to put things off, we ought to be doing for the Lord today!
TEXT CONNECTION –
• 2 Chronicles 7:13-15 is a very popular passage.
• In it we find the Lord speaking to Solomon and telling him that if His chosen people (Jews) turn from Him and He curses their land that He will restore it
• “If” they meet certain requirements set by Him.
• Now we know that this passage is written to the Jews
• But the New Testament says that all the things that happened to the Jews were meant to be examples to us.
• I believe, that as believers in America, we can apply these passages to ourselves as well.
ETS – In our text we find God laying out stipulations for His people to meet in order to revive or restore their land.
ESS –
• We find six principles that are long overdue for us to be implementing in our lives
• Or another words, it’s time to start obeying these six principles
OSS – My prayer for us today is that we would decide to not procrastinate and start doing the things that God will use to bring spiritual healing to ourselves and our land.
Let’s read 2 Chronicles 7: 13-14 and come back to pull out the principles
God says it’s Time To:
I. Look Around (2 Chronicles 7:13-14)
A. God was telling His people that in order for things to change they needed to take a look around and see the horrible condition of things.
B. The punishment described here was agricultural or the land was cursed
C. But we know from other passages that when Israel strayed from God that they were also cursed spiritually
1. They were given over to paganism (serving other gods)
2. They were also conquered many times by other nations
D. Friend, could God be telling us to take a look around at our nation, and see the horrible consequences of our sin?
1. Haven’t we become a nation that is very much Godless?
a) I mean you can find a religion to worship just about anything you want to now-a-days.
b) And even if they don’t call it a religion - people are worshipping something.
(1) We’re bowing at the altar of:
(a) Money, sports, material possessions, drugs, sex, popular people (movie stars etc.), our careers
(b) And in general to ourselves – we worship what makes us feel good.
(2) You name it and someone is worshipping it today.
2. And unlike Israel, we are not being conquered by evil nations - but evil influences are conquering us.
a) Take violence for example,
(1) It used to be that we were shocked when we heard about violent acts being committed - but now its common place.
b) There has never been a time when families were falling apart like they are today
(1) For that matter, we don’t even know what a family or a marriage is anymore
c) It used to be that living or sleeping together outside of marriage was shameful – now it’s the norm.
d) Pornography is now a billion dollar, or more, a year industry
e) Drug and alcohol abuse is out of control.
f) Christianity used to be the standard or looked up to even by unbelievers
g) But now it is constantly being ridiculed and it’s politically okay to mock us
3. Friends, God is saying, “It’s time for us to take a look around and see what’s going on around us.”
4. In a speech made in 1863, Abraham Lincoln said, "We have been the recipients’ of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us." – Folks, that was in 1863. How much worse off are we today? LOOK AROUND – WAKE UP
II. Check Inside (v. 14 “If my people…”)
A. God was speaking to His people the Jews – but who are God’s people today?
1. Those who have a relationship with Him – some call them Christians or believers
2. Friend, if you’re going to make a difference for God you need to be one of His.
3. Let me ask you - Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
4. Are you 100% sure that if you died today you would go to heaven?
5. The Bible says that you can know for sure
6. 1 John 5:13 says that you can know for sure you have eternal life
7. You might ask, “How can you know for sure?” – I’m glad you asked!
8. To make it easy to remember I use the ABC’s of salvation
a) A – Admit that you’re a sinner and cannot work your way to heaven
(1) Rmns. 3:23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”
(2) All of us have broken God’s commands and disobeyed Him
b) B – Believe that Jesus died to pay for your sins – not just sin in general but yours
(1) “For Christ has once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God.”
(2) Praise God for the blood that washes us whiter than snow
c) C – Call out to Him to save you – accepting His free gift
(1) Rmns 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved”
9. Friend, if you’ve never done that you can do it today!
III. Bow Down (v. 14 “If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves…”)
A. The word humble in the bible doesn’t have the same meaning we ascribe it today
1. Today we think of a humble person as one who is very nice or quiet
2. Maybe one who gives in or goes along with everything
B. Here the word literally means to “bow the knee in subjection to”
1. The word is often used when describing the military defeat of an enemy
a) It means to “subdue an enemy or cause them to surrender; to humiliate them”
b) And it was a forced act.
c) However, in this passage it is implying a “willful act of submission”
d) He says if they will “Humble Themselves”
2. God is saying that He wants us to surrender every area of our lives to His authority –
3. To bend the knee in allegiance to Him
4. Friend, can we say that we’re surrendering every area of our lives to Him as he reveals it to us.
5. Dr. Elmer Towns said “the Christian life is one big yes, followed by a bunch of little yes’s”
6. Another words, the big yes is salvation – God I want You in my life.
a) Then as we grow in the Lord He reveals things that we either need to incorporate into our lives or things we need to get rid of and we say yes each time.
7. D.L. Moody said, “Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody; then he spent 40 years on the backside of the desert realizing he was nobody; finally, he spent the last 40 years of his life learning what God can do with a nobody!”
8. God has two thrones, one in the highest heavens, and the other in the lowliest heart.
9. Now friend humility is not walking around saying I’m a nobody.
10. But rather it is acknowledging that I owe everything to God and others who have invested in me
11. Pride on the other hand, will keep us from hearing God’s word and doing God’s will.
12. Friends are we humble and shapeable, or are we becoming proud and hardened towards God in any area of our lives?
IV. Speak Up (v. 14 “…shall humble themselves and pray…”)
A. Prayer in its simplest form in scripture means “to communicate.”
1. If we truly want God to do a work in our hearts and revive our nation
a) Then ask yourself, “How often do I communicate this to God?”
(1) Do I spend time talking to Him?
b) We can pray as we go throughout our day but,
c) I believe that we should also set aside time to just be alone with God and focus on Him
(1) Someone said:
(2) Much prayer, much power – Little prayer, little power – No prayer, no power.
d) And sometimes we don’t know what to pray – especially in a difficult situation
e) But that’s okay
(1) John Bunyan said, “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without heart.”
B. There are three basic types of prayer in the Bible.
1. Supplication - Making a request for oneself (asking God to supply a need)
a) This is easy for most people – we don’t mind asking for ourselves.
2. Intercession – Making request for someone else (Interceding)
a) This is a little more difficult – it takes extra effort
3. Praise – A prayer that worships or gives thanks to God
a) This is the level God wants us to be at continually.
b) King David said that “His praise shall be continually on my lips”
(1) You know, it’s easy to praise God when things are good
(2) However, it is more difficult to praise God when things are not going well
c) King David praised God in the good times and in the bad.
d) And God called him a man after His own heart.
e) Friends if we would learn how to praise God it would revolutionize our lives.
f) Hasn’t He been good to us all? Isn’t He worthy of our praise?
g) Jerry Falwell said, “Nothing of eternal significance happens apart from prayer.”
V. Dig In (v. 14 “Shall humble themselves and pray and seek My face…”)
A. The phrase, “seek My face” literally means to “desire a favorable audience with” to get one’s attention
B. There may have been times when you have wanted to have a favorable audience with someone
1. Now men, when you were dating your wife or girlfriend, how did you get her attention or gain a favorable audience with her?
2. I would dare say that you found out what she liked and you attempted to please her in that.
C. Well friends, this is what God desires from us
1. He wants us to find out what pleases Him and do it - not out of duty but because we love Him
2. God wants us to love Him for who He is – not to use Him to get what we want
D. I titled this point “Dig In” because seeking God’s face is something that takes work
1. You have to dig in your hills and decide to do it
2. It’s not a momentary thing but a lifelong process
E. Notice that He didn’t say, “Seek my hand”
1. When scripture talks about God’s hand it refers to what He can do or what He possesses
2. The face rather refers to the countenance and reveals the character of a person or who they really are.
3. This is not saying, “God what can you do for me?”
4. But rather, “God what can I do for you?”
F. An excellent example of this is when God told Solomon that He would give him whatever he asked for
1. Instead of asking for riches, long life, or the life of his enemies
2. He asked God for an understanding or discerning heart to be able to properly lead God’s people
3. He was essentially asking for something to help others.
4. God was so pleased with his request that he not only gave him a discerning heart
5. But He also gave Solomon unbelievable wisdom, riches, peace, and long life.
G. Friends are we only seeking God’s hand or are we committed to seeking His face?
VI. Clean Up (v. 14 “Shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from there wicked ways.”)
A. There is not much that I can add to this phrase
B. It simply means that if we are going down a wrong path in any area of life – we need to turn around and go the opposite direction
C. There are two basic types of sin in scripture: sins of omission or commission
1. Sins of omission are things that God tells us to do but we neglect to do.
a) Things like reading God’s word, praying, loving others, etc.
b) Maybe we need to turn from the path of apathy and neglecting spiritual things
2. Then there are sins of commission – things that God has told us not to do but we do them anyway.
a) Maybe there is a path of disobedience we are following that leads to destruction
b) Friends, all sin eventually leads to misery (gives temporary pleasure)
(1) Isn’t it time that we turned from the path of misery to the path of joy and life.
VII. Closing
How will God change our nation? – By changing a state.
How will God change a state? – By changing a county.
How will God change a county? – By changing a town.
How will God change a town? – By changing a church.
How will God change a church? – By changing a family.
How will God change a family? – By changing us.
• I know that this is a lot, and none of us will change all at once
• But maybe today we could determine to take a step toward God
**Someone once asked an old time evangelist Gypsy Smith to explain the best method to start a revival. He answered, “Take a piece of chalk and mark a circle on the floor, get down on your knees inside the circle and pray to God to start a revival inside this circle. When this prayer is answered, the revival will be on.”
