“‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’ So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.” (Joel 2:1-2)
America…the West….the entire world sits at a crossroads. There is a spiritual battle that is going on for the souls of men …..the soul of a nation…..the soul of an entire planet. We live in a time when Good has been declared evil and evil has become ‘good’. We live in a time when lawlessness abounds and the love of many has grown cold. We live in a time when each man does what is right in his own eyes. But there remains one thread of hope….that is the hope brought by repentance and revival ….and surrender to Son of God, Jesus the Christ. We are all called to be witnesses of the Gospel “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) (ESV) And we we are each called to be “ambassadors for Christ” (2Corinthians 5:20) and agents of that revival.
IN DESPERATE NEED OF REPENTANCE
Surrounded by the chaos that we walk through today, it takes some effort to not to recognize that we are walking through some momentous times; on the threshold of the very end of history; a future that God has ordained for us since before the foundations of the world. And to that end we’ve been talking about the outworkings of prophecy and how the ancient scriptures may or may not apply to current events. But today I’m not going to talk about so much about what’s in the news or even the prophetic connections – but rather the implications of the chaos we are seeing and how we need to respond. But Where is God taking us in all of this? What is it that God requires of us? This will not be the usual newsletter, first because I’m going to tell a story – about something that was going on in America about 150 years ago – just before the start of the Civil War – the bloodiest and most earth-shattering time in American history. And out of that I’m going to tell you what God put on my heart – several years ago to begin with – that should serve as the catalyst for our actions going forward. I believe it pertains to me first of all, but it also applies to you – and the Church – and America itself.
But let’s start by reviewing how things have gone in this country since the turn of the century – since 911 to be specific. On September 11th 2001 America was the victim of a monstrous terror attack; a crime against our nation. The terror that had pretty much been contained ‘over there’ visited our shores. Those of us old enough to be aware remember it clearly – it is indelibly etched in our memory. For those of us old enough to remember, it is exactly like the Kennedy assassination. We see the crashing planes – the burning towers – the jumpers – the fireman – a president with a bullhorn amidst the ruins. We also remember the spirit of those first few weeks. The patriotism – a flag on every other car – the Churches filled ….but it was just a few weeks …..and it fizzled. God had allowed an event – a warning. Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn calls it a harbinger of judgement to come – and there were many such harbingers tied in to the scriptures found in Isaiah 9. This was a direct parallel to what Israel once faced – and sadly we mirrored their response. We did not react with humility or even recognition of our national sins, but rather with pride and self-determination. We turned not to God but against Him. We turned instead to our own strength. And we are paying with chaos. America was not ready for the repentance that was called for.
Since those days much has changed in America ….and much of it not for the better. Crosses have been forcibly taken down off public property. Nativity scenes have been banned. Christians have lost jobs because of their faith. Businesses have been put out of business for not being politically correct enough. Public immorality is advanced and celebrated. Gay Pride parades proliferated. The mayor of Dallas demanded the power to approve sermons by that city’s pastors to make sure they complied with LGBT sensitivities. In Iowa it became against the law to make a member of the LGBT community uncomfortable.
In all of it we followed the template of ancient Israel. As Israel responded with increasing defiance – so are we – with never a turn toward God.. Eventually even the biblical definition of marriage was struck down. The day the ruling came down was the 9th of Av on the Jewish calendar. The 9th of Av is a day of disaster in Jewish history. In 423 BC the First Temple was destroyed on that day. About five centuries later, the Second Temple went down on the very same day. In 133 BC the 9th of Av marked the day of a great slaughter of Jews by the Romans, putting an end to the Bar Kochba revolt.[i] After that event the Jews that had remained in Palestine were scattered by the Romans to the four corners of the earth, returning only beginning in the late 19th century. And it happened that on the very 9th of Av, the White House lit itself up in the colors of the rainbow in celebration of this national sin. America has let in the spirit of Babylon – the spirit of Baal.
There were other times like this in America; different sins, same spirit. One such time was the 1850’s. America was fast falling away from God – Church attendance was in decline. The economy was booming, people were making money and materialism was on the rise. The nation was about to engage in a bloody war with itself over slavery; a war that would take hundreds of thousands of young lives, rend the land and bathe it in the blood of patriots North and South. Many souls would have been lost. But God sent His Spirit – and the nation was moved.
Now this is when it becomes personal. It was several years ago – perhaps 10 or more – when I was given a word – and I knew that God was laying it on my heart to pray for the nation. And I had been given a word that I was to do so with a pastor from my city that I did not know. His name was Lynn Zankl – and he pastured the ‘biker church’ in the city. Over time I came to love that man of God very much. He has since gone to be with the Lord.
I remember it all went down something like this. I had heard this presentation on the radio about the great revival that had broken out before the Civil War and it stirred something in me. A ‘word’ was given in my church – And I felt compelled to contact this pastor. He later told me he was really hesitant about moving forward. He said something like: “Who is this ‘garbanzo’ that wants to use my church and pray with me at 6 o’clock in the morning.” But God led him to do it and we made plans. So we contacted a good number of pastor’s in the area of his church and invited them to join us on a specific date. I think it was a Wednesday morning. The agenda was simple. We would repent for ourselves and the church and our nation and pray for conviction and repentance and revival in the land. Of all those pastors that we contacted not one ever came. Some other folks came. For awhile, we even had kind of a Christian blues band lead the music. We ended praying for many years. And then it got down to just the two of us again – and Lynn was getting sick …..and it just petered out…..But I never regretted it and I still believe to this day that it was a call from God. In fact, I am more convinced than ever today that the call to repentance for this nation is just as urgent – if not more so. But it was what happened back in 1857 that inspired it all. It is a story of God at work – and it is amazing – and timely – and glorious – as all the works of God always are…..
So it was in the late summer of 1857 that a New York businessman by the name of Jeremiah Lanphier felt the call to summon people – especially businessmen to a lunchtime prayer meeting at the North Dutch Reformed Church of Manhattan. So he prepared some pamphlets and passed them out for weeks in advance announcing the first weekly prayer meeting to assemble on September 23rd. Here’s some of what the pamphlets said: They called on people to “leave the business of time for that of eternity and intercourse with God.” They made it clear that no one need dedicate the entire hour …..just what they felt they could afford to give. I guess God would meet them where they were at …..and do the drawing from there.
The first meeting was scheduled for noon on September 23, 1857. Noon came and went, but no one showed. 12:15 and no one was there yet. So 12:30 rolls around and one man could be heard stomping up the stairs to the second floor meeting room. By the end of that first session there were only 6 men that had showed up. But God honored their faithfulness. The next week there were between 14 and 20. The third week nearly 40 showed up to pray. Soon they were filling the church building – Hymns were sung. Heartfelt pleas for the salvation of souls were offered. And then quite suddenly: The stock market crashed. Banks failed and businesses went bankrupt. Thirty thousand people lost their jobs in New York City alone. But by the beginning of the next year – three simultaneous prayer meetings were being held. Then it spread to other churches in the city. Within 6 months -10,000 were at prayer – Then the prayers started to be held every day. The revival spread across the entire nation. Two thousand men were meeting for prayer in Chicago, four thousand in Philadelphia. It is estimated that at one point there were 20,000 baptisms going on every week across the nation. And possibly as many as 2 million souls were saved through the course of that nearly forgotten revival.[ii] [iii]
That brings us to the purpose of today’s offering. I believe, with Rabbi Cahn, that God has allowed the terror attack of 911 as a warning, a harbinger of coming judgment if we do not change our ways. He is calling on us to repent, to turn from our sin, to walk in humility rather than arrogance, to seek the way and the face of the Lord rather than following our own. He would want to heal our land. But the choice is ours to make. The warning has been sent just as it was to the ancient Israelites as recorded in the Book of Joel. “Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of he Lord is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness.” (Joel 2:1-2)
However, the warning is not the end of the thing. It is God’s heart that we repent. I believe that God is putting out the call for dedicated men and women to heed the call and step forward to call God’s people to repentance. God is looking for a response from those who would heed this call. When God gave Isaiah the vision of His throne room, the great prophet was undone. Isaiah realized his sin. He knew that he was a man of “unclean lips.” And after showing Isaiah his sin, and providing for his cleansing, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord ask him a question. The exchange is recorded in Isaiah 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’” And it followed that as he was willing to obey, the prophet received his instructions. Obedience here was the key.
Just the same, it took the obedience of one man in New York City to accomplish the work that God had ordained both for that cit and the nation. One man, Jeremiah Lanphier, heard God’s call and obeyed. I truly believe that there are soldiers in the army of Christ that are willing to hear God’s voice in the matter. I put out a challenge to all who read this newsletter or hear of this on the radio. Begin to plan how we can accomplish God’s purpose here. Begin to plan how a prayer meeting can be launched in your circle of influence. We can take as a model what came to be called the Layman’s Prayer Revival that blessed our nation in the years just prior to the Civil War. Next time we will discuss some details, give some suggestions. But in the meantime, if you are hearing God’s voice in this matter, that you seek guidance in prayer – and prepare to obey.
“Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the Lord your God, And cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand.” (Joel 1:14-15)
[i] What happened on the Ninth of Av?, Chabad.org, viewed March 2, 2017
[ii] Rev Oliver W Price, The Layman’s Prayer Revival of 1857-1858, Bible Prayer Fellowship, Dallas, TX, viewed February 24, 2017
[iii] Gerald Procee, Revivals in North America: The Great Revival of 1857 in New York, Reformed Resource, 2012
YES! Crossriver is doing it daily and it will be much easier when we can get out of the hotel and into our own building. Keep preaching it!