I want to show you by asking a question, “WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET YOU TO LOVE GOD AND SERVE HIM AS YOU SHOULD?”
Illus: When I think of this question, I think of the atheist school teacher who was thinking, “WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO CONVERT THIS CLASS OF YOUNG BOYS AND GIRLS OVER TO ATHEISM?”
She decided she would do this by stating that she was an atheist, and asking her class how many of them were atheists. She knew they were very young, and they really did not know what an atheist was. The young students, wanting to be like their teacher, all raised their hands indicating they were atheists also.
There was, however, one exception. One beautiful young girl did not go along with her class mates. She was the only one who did not raise her hand.
The teacher asked her why she decided to be different from all her classmates. She said, "Because I'm not an atheist.”
“Then,” asked the teacher, “What are you? She said, "I'm a Christian.”
The teacher was a little perturbed, her face slightly red. She asked her why she was a Christian.
She said, "Well, I was brought up knowing and loving Jesus. My dad and mom are Christians, so I am a Christian also.”
The teacher was now angry. '”That's no reason. What if your Dad and Mom were morons, what would you be then?" She paused, and smiled. “Then”, Lucy said, "I'd be an atheist.”
Today we are not going to talk about WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO MAKE YOU AN ATHEIST, that is simple, all you would have to do is become a moron. What I want to ask you is, “WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO MAKE YOU LOVE THE LORD LIKE YOU SHOULD?”
The goodness of God should be all that it takes. One of the reasons God is so good to us is that He hopes His goodness will lead us to repentance.
Look at Romans 2:4, we read, “…despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
God is so GOOD TO PEOPLE, you would think that people would recognize His goodness and would want to serve Him. The goodness of God has led many to Christ, but sometimes it takes other things for some folks.
Illus: For example, anyone who knows anything about horses knows this about them:
• There are some horses that are so easy to lead, all you have to do is place the leather reins of the bridle on the horse’s neck and they can be led. This is called “Ring” necking.
• But there are others that you have to pull the leather strap so tight that the horse’s head is pulled back before you can make the horse turn.
That may seem cruel, but it takes that to lead some of these stubborn critters. The same thing is true with some people, God has to use drastic measures to get the attention of some people.
Illus: This reminds us of the farmer who sold a mule to another farmer. The man took the mule to his farm and hooked him up to plow, and the mule just stood there. Nothing he tried would make the mule plow. He got in touch with the farmer who sold him the mule, and said, “This mule won’t plow, I want my money back.” The man said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you something you must do before that mule will plow.” He said, “I will come to your farm in a few minutes and show you.” When he got there, sure enough the mule was hooked up to the plow but was standing there and refusing to move. He saw a two by four laying on the ground, and he reached down and picked it up, and walked up to the mule and swung the board and caught the mule on the side of his head. The mule was so dazed, he almost fell to the ground. He said to the farmer, “I forgot to tell you about that, NOW HE WILL PLOW!” Sure enough that mule plowed all day long.
God has to do this with many folks before they will serve Him. He has to use drastic measures to get their attention. He doesn’t do this because HE IS A CRUEL GOD, He does this because HE IS A LOVING GOD. He knows this is the only way He can get their attention and get them to serve Him.
I want to ask you again, “WHAT WILL IT TAKE for God to get YOUR ATTENTION and get you to the place where you are willing to serve Him?” Sometimes He has to use drastic means-
I. IT MIGHT TAKE A DROUGHT
This is something God frequently used in the Old Testament.
Look at Amos 4:7-8, we read, “And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”
Notice, this was a society where almost everyone was a farmer. Farmers are totally dependent on God for rain. Observe how God dealt with these farmers.
In Amos 4:7 we see that He caused it to rain in some places and in other places He withheld the rain.
WHY DID HE DO THIS? Look at the last part of verse 8, He said, “…YET YE HAVE NOT RETURNED UNTO ME, SAITH THE LORD.”
God sent a DROUGHT into their lives so they would RETURN TO HIM.
Farmers then are like farmers now, they are constantly thinking about the weather because they are totally dependent upon God for rain to water their crops. However, most of us do not think about the weather every day.
Illus: This is how many of the people in South Carolina are, but when they were told a devastating storm named “Hugo” was headed their way, everything came to a standstill, and everybody in South Carolina was thinking about the weather.
Many folks live their life each day not thinking about God, but God can change that situation any time He chooses. He can send something across their path, and He can get their attention WHENEVER HE CHOOSES.
Today we are not dependent on God for rain like the farmers are, but we are all dependent on God for other things, such as:
• For Oil
• Electricity
• Food to eat
• Water to drink
God can bring a nation to their knees any time He so chooses.
Illus: July 13th, Fox News channel reported that an entire plant in Montana had to close down because electricity costs had increased dramatically. These prices had escalated so high that this particular plant was going in the hole millions of dollars each month.
But notice something else:
• Not only does God send a DROUGHT that will prevent us from being blessed
• HE ALSO CAN REMOVED BLESSINGS THAT WE ALREADY HAVE
Look at Amos 4:9, we read, “I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”
In this age of affluence, we have people who live their life as if they are ALWAYS going to have as much as they need, as long as they live.
Illus: But listen, God almighty can withhold His blessings on a nation, and the “drought” can become so severe that men like Bill Gates and Ted Turner will be walking down alleys opening garbage cans and eating out of them.
Illus: When someone starts to think too highly of themselves, we have an expression that we use in the South, we say “They are too big for their britches.”
One thing is sure, America is getting too big for her britches, and sooner or later God is going to withhold His blessing on this nation. When He does,:
• People who had everything will have nothing
• People who had an obesity problem, will have to wrap their clothes around them because they are so skinny
• People who had large bank accounts will have no bank accounts
You say, Preacher, this could never happened to the good old USA!!!
Illus: I want to remind you that in our life time Russia was a super power also. And there was a time it looked like this super power was going to rule the world. But today, she is having to live off other nations to survive.
We might be the big super power, and no nation on this earth can take us on, BUT I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT GOD ALMIGHTY CAN BRING THIS NATION DOWN TO HER KNEES ANY TIME HE CHOOSES TO. Whenever He chooses, He can withhold the RAIN like He did so frequently in the Old Testament.
Sometimes it takes that to get people’s ATTENTION and get them to the place where they will SERVE HIM. When God brings a nation to their knees, the fear of almighty God is restored to that nation:
• They won’t listen to comedians like Jay Leno on national television making fun of God, the Bible and the Lord.
• They won’t put up with this Hollywood crowd that is anti-God, anti-Bible and anti-church, that is constantly promoting evil.
• They won’t make role models out of the scum of the earth.
• They won’t put up with these school boards that are teaching the things they are teaching in our schools.
• They won’t put up with the ungodly liberal politicians that have no core values.
When God brings a nation to their knees, God gets their attention.
• IT MIGHT TAKE A SPIRITUAL DROUGHT to get Americans back on their knees.
• IT MIGHT TAKE A SPIRITUAL DROUGHT to make God more important than football, baseball, fishing, hunting, golfing, and etc.
• IT MIGHT TAKE A SPIRITUAL DROUGHT to get parents to realize they are more than just CHILD MAKERS, they are supposed to be spiritual leaders and examples to their children.
• IT MIGHT TAKE A SPIRITUAL DROUGHT to make God more important than movie stars and athletes.
• IT MIGHT TAKE A SPIRITUAL DROUGHT to get people back to worshipping God, instead of turning God’s churches into places of entertainment for themselves and the youth of this nation.
You can rest assured that God, in His time, will do whatever it takes.
IT MIGHT TAKE A SPIRITUAL DROUGHT TO GET THIS NATION BACK TO SERVING GOD. Also, sometimes-
II. IT MIGHT TAKE A DISEASE
Illus: Africa is a male dominated society. Some of these men live like animals, going from one woman to another. Marriages are few, and faithfulness in these marriages is rare.
As a result of this infidelity, Africa has a serious problem. The national news media tells us that twenty-three million of these Africans now have AIDS. Life expectancy in Africa is now in the low forties.
Other nations are trying to figure out what they can do to help these people. But the problem is astronomical, in that they know that the government is so corrupt, that whatever money they send to these people will go into the hands of the corrupted officials.
WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THESE PEOPLE? I wish I could say with confidence that they are going to find a cure for these people.
But if they did find a cure, and everyone was healthy again, WHAT WOULD THESE PEOPLE DO?
• Would they fall on their knees and give God thanks for giving men the wisdom to find a cure for this deadly disease?
• I wish I could say that is what they would do, but knowing the heart of sinful man, I am compelled to say that if these sinful people were cured today, they would continue this sinful lifestyle of living like animals.
Nobody can stop them from living this sinful lifestyle. No man, but there is a God in heaven WHO CAN STOP THEM!
It is obvious that these men and women, and babies who have been breast fed by their mothers, are going to die a cruel death. They are discovering as a nation that you can not break the laws of almighty God and get away with it.
Illus: Most of us who drive on the public highways, knowingly or unknowingly, break the laws of this land every day, and we get away with it. BUT NO NATION CAN BREAK THE LAWS OF ALMIGHTY GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT.
What these people need are missionaries to tell them how they can be forgiven of their sins, and how they can be saved and leave this life and go to be with the Lord.
But we can not point our fingers at other nations as more holier than thou. America also has a growing problem with Aids. While we sit here today, this AIDS virus is spreading across this nation like wild fire.
Illus: Dr Odell Belger conducted a funeral for a young girl that attended a very large high school in Columbia, South Carolina.
This young girl had lived a very sinful life, and due to this lifestyle she had contracted AIDS. She was not sure who she got it from, but once she got it, it began to go to work in her body much faster than usual. It could be that she had it longer than she thought she did.
When she announced she was not feeling good and was taken to the doctor and diagnosed, she was a beautiful young girl. She looked so bad at her funeral that the family would not open the casket. She looked like a skeleton, with skin stretched across her bones. They had a picture on the top of her casket to show that once she was a very attractive young lady.
Before her death, the principal became aware that she had this disease. He also knew she had been very sexually active with many of the male students. Because of the seriousness of the situation, he addressed the student body through the school intercom, requesting all the male students who had slept with her to report to his office. He was shocked when almost the entire football team, and many others reported they had slept with her at least one time.
And here is where it even gets worse, they also admitted that since that time they had slept with her, they also had slept with other female students. And of course, these female students had been sleeping with others boys also, and only God knows how seriously that one school has been infected by the AIDS VIRUS.
And it even gets worse, these were the ones who reported they had slept with her, they do not know how many refused to divulge that information, because of fear of their parents and of society knowing what they had done.
Only God knows how many in that one school now have AIDS, and are still passing it on to others, knowingly or unknowingly.
If you do not think this is a problem in America, talk to a funeral director and ask him if his business has increased since the AIDS VIRUS appeared in this nation. Many of them will tell you that in recent years their business has doubled or tripled.
The problem with AIDS is that most of the time it is years later before people find out they have it. During that time, when they do not know they have it, if they are sexually active, they are giving it to others. And it continues to be passed on.
It might take a DISEASE like AIDS to cause America to become like the country of Africa, where it looks like a whole nation could be wiped off the face of the earth if it continues to spread as it is spreading at the present.
WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET THE ATTENTION OF THIS NATION AND GET THEM BACK TO SERVING GOD?
• IT MIGHT TAKE A DROUGHT
• IT MIGHT TAKE A DISEASE
Conclusion:
We can continue to strut around here like we all are little gods, and we can do AS WE PLEASE, WHENEVER WE PLEASE, but when God decides it is enough, God can bring a super power like America to it’s knees in a short time.
It has always been the will of God to lead people in a loving and gentle way. But when the goodness of God fails, God begins to look at other alternatives for getting people to RETURN TO HIM.
He has definitely used the GOODNESS approach, and it is not working. If God follows the trend that He normally follows when the GOODNESS APPROACH FAILS, He will resort to “Tough Love”.
Sometimes you have to put a soldier in the fox hole before he will call upon God. IS THIS WHAT GOD IS GOING TO HAVE TO DO TO YOU?
(1 of 2)
I. IT MIGHT TAKE A DROUGHT
II. IT MIGHT TAKE A DISEASE
(2 of 2)
I. IT MIGHT TAKE A DIVORCE
II. IT MIGHT TAKE A DEATH
III. IT MIGHT TAKE A DISCIPLE
