Pastor A

Revival: Our Nation is Beset by Chaos – “Go through the midst of the city, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.” Ezekiel 9:4

What God is seeking today, as in Bible days, is not a people with an outward sign of respectability and church attendance, nor even scholastic preachers whose names are known nationwide; but God is seeking those whose hearts are burdened and broken, and whose eyes are red with weeping before Him due to our sin and abominations in our cities. Weeping in the pulpit and weeping in the pew are the Divine price for visitations from on high.

Today, America stands at the crossroads of destiny, faced with an unavoidable choice: the mark of the man with the inkhorn (Ezekiel 9:3) or the mark of the Beast! Unless there are tears from the pulpit and tears in our pews, there will be tears in our streets and homes. For already this great nation staggers beneath its gigantic burdens of spiritual depravity, moral deterioration, and material corruptness.

In view of these tremendous facts, what is the verdict of the “man with the inkhorn” as he passes our way? Is the “mark” upon our foreheads? The price is heavy, but as former President Eisenhower once declared, “A soldier’s pack may be heavy, but it is lighter than a prisoner’s chains.” Far better to pay the price for revival than to wear the shackles of a godless regime!

Abraham stood before the Lord and interceded for godless Sodom until even Divine Grace was exhausted; Elijah stood before God for backslidden Israel until fire fell from heaven and the altars of Baal were broken down with a nation returning to God; and down through the centuries men have dared to stand before God in holy desperation for the sins of their generation, until God moved out of His Holy Temple in nation-shaking revival.

The half-hearted prayer meetings of today are a mockery in comparison to the depth of spiritual travail of the men who, in yesteryear, caused nations to be swept by the power of God. The price for heaven-sent revival has never changed. Before the floods of Holy Ghost conviction could sweep across cities, towns, churches, states, and nations, strong men must be broken before God. Upon their faces before God, strong men and women must travail in agony of prayer through long hours.

Outpourings from on high must be preceded by a willingness to make time to wait upon God. This is perhaps the greatest problem besetting us today. We have all the modern luxuries of life to make work easier and yet we cannot make time to pray! What a tragic paradox. Dr. Wilbur Smith was quoted as saying, “I never get time to pray; I’ve always had to make it.”

I still believe the floodtides of revival are waiting to be released upon the face of this earth. Dare we spend 24 hours a day for seven days in prayer and fasting?