CRY ALOUD AND SPARE NOT!

  

Cry aloud, spare not,

Lift up thy voice like a trumpet,

And shew my people their transgression,

And the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1)

Our modern brand of pretentious Christianity needs honest voices revealing our hypocrisy, faithlessness, sin, traditionalism, fruitlessness and materialism. Occasionally God commissions His faithful preachers to sound the alarm to awaken His people to their intimacy with sin. He is not moved by hatred, but loving concern for the welfare of His people. Let each of us be extremely honest with ourselves, we desperately need a heavenly Father who will correct us! One way the God of the Scriptures evidences real love for us is by correcting and chastening His genuine children (Heb. 12). He desires that we partake of the "peaceable fruit of righteousness" (Heb. 12:11). His grand love moves Him to pursue what is best for us, and sin is never something He is willing to tolerate. 

Transgressions…sins…and iniquities pervade, though many people are 'religious' and appear interested in the Lord. Actually the modern brand of Christianity is weak and shallow. I am not certain the Spirit of God even recognizes it as Christian. Carnality predominates and sin is unchallenged... routinely overlooked... dismissed...and even justified! Our selfishness is extreme and our narcissism is consuming! So many believe God is their servant instead of vice versa. People believe themselves to be the center of the universe while God simply orbits around them to reflect their glory! God exists to make them happy seems to be the prevailing sentiment.... 

We are guilty of trying to use God to get what we want out of life, and we cling to this world as if it is all we have and want. The Lord God does not have our hearts; there is little or no real passion for Him. Instead we seem crazy for more and yet more stuff, things...more money, more material possessions. A second home, a new car, another big screen TV for the theater room, and on the list goes.... The pervasive form of idolatry in our country is MONEY! Too many bow down at this altar and worship at the 'temples of commerce' with radical faithfulness! People will easily miss church with a small case of the sniffles, but they will be at work the day after a serious surgical procedure! Few Christians are concerned about hundreds of churches closing each year, but EVERYBODY is nervously interested in a failing and fragile economy! If you say "No one was saved all year in the average church." a few souls would register slight disappointment. In contrast, if I say, "The stock market crashed!" you would be hard pressed to find anyone who is not intensely interested. Everybody wants to be happy and satisfied, but there is precious little interest in being holy and sanctified! While there is incredible zeal pursuant of what we want from God, there is precious little desire for Him. Why isn't God more central to our deepest longings and desires? Why isn't there a powerful hunger and thirst for God and righteousness? Beloved, we have transgressed; our churches have crossed the line…we have gone too far…and have forgotten why we exist. By our own iniquities we have been lead astray! We desperately need a prophet of God….   

We need fearless prophets throughout this land confronting us with the imperative of REVIVAL. This should not be regarded as a luxury or nice extra...revival is extremely vital to our time. Without a modern "Awakening," Christianity will continue to die in our country. Actually this 'death' seems to have accelerated in alarming ways in recent years.... We need courageous lionhearted prophet-like preachers now! Prophets in the Scriptures are God's spokesmen...Jehovah's mouthpieces. They faithfully delivered God's messages without alteration or dilution. Whether the message was popular great news or ominous announcements of judgment because of sin, they delivered God's messages to His people and the nations. When the message was grievous to the people the prophets were sometimes mocked, attached, imprisoned and even killed. Some of them suffered greatly for sounding the truth...proclaiming "thus saith the Lord." Never-the-less, they consistently sounded the alarm to alert the people of God to God's displeasure with their sinfulness and disregard for His Law. They did not merely mention specific sins occasionally; they righteously thundered against it repeatedly like the Lord Jesus did (Matt. 23). They had to be men of courageous faith and dynamic holy power! Bold, audacious, indomitable, and fearless describes them quite accurately.... Such preachers burned white-hot with passion for God and spiritual concerns. They understood deeply that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a terrible reproach to people. Resultantly, they lifted their voices like trumpets to painstakingly reveal the sins of God's people... to unveil the flawed justification for their high tolerance for sin, and to unmask gross transgressions (Isa. 58:1). They called people to repentance, godly renewal, and yes...REVIVAL!

Our wretched times require Soldiers of the Cross who love God supremely and trust the Word of God entirely. We must have Preachers with a white-hot passion for God and His glory above all else. The present spiritual climate demands blazing prophets like Elijah, men zealous for God's worship like Elisha, and Holy Spirit embolden servants like John the Baptist. Our times require men who understand the power of the pen like Isaiah, and servants propelled by holy vision as Ezekiel and Daniel were! Nothing less than flaming evangelists craving the salvation of the lost will suffice! Certainly our prayer is that God in great mercy and grace would raise up among us men of God passionate for the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus Christ. Such men should not be considered a luxury that would be nice to have, but essential to our spiritual revival and invigoration. While there are many faithful pastors, missionaries, evangelists, and preachers, our nation needs an army of fearless prophets lifting their voices and wielding their pens to show God's people their transgressions and sins. Revival is the aim! Deep spiritual cleansing is the goal! Glorifying God again is the chief point of interest! O' dear God give us men who love you supremely and love their neighbors as them self! We need such servants of the Most High more than we need food and water.

Countless modern preachers are far too soft on sin...they are distracted by concerns for themselves instead of the things that are of Christ. I am afraid...yes, I know deep inside that those modern spineless placebos will never lead our nation to experience real revival. They are NOT willing to get right with God and such points of interest seem irrelevant to them. They refuse to humble themselves acknowledging their failures to God. They even believe REVIVAL is impossible and unnecessary for this generation of Christians! Actually those modern day Pharisees and Sadducees could not care less about what is on the heart of Christ Jesus. They care about themselves and not the things of Christ.

Dear Father, please raise up real men of God with the courage of thunder and voices like lightening! Men of tenacious faith and abiding love. May they storm all over this land until the rains of revival fall with redeeming, purging, transforming, and correcting power! O’ Lord send a torrential downpour of righteousness! Graciously cascade your spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus upon us that we may be mobilized to battle and to build. A deluge of chastening grace is needed my Father…a deluge! Father God, I pray the mountains of sin and iniquity will melt like wax before your brilliant glory. I plead for wickedness, injustice, and idolatry to flee before Thy exalted presence. I cry out to You against apathy, indulgence, theological poison, and gross avarice. I beg for all fortifications and strongholds of sin to fall like dominoes before Thy awesome Spirit of revival all across this country. Turn hearts to Your holy Word again as the foundation and rule of all reality and truth. Turn Believers to seek your face again…. Almighty God, move among us like wildfires across the prairies of the Mid-West. Not to our destruction, but to the end that every Bible-preaching church may be spiritually renewed. Breathe holy life into all Bible-Believing churches. May Your churches become living centers of worship, ministry, preaching, teaching, evangelism, and missions to the world. Thank You for our high regard for sound teaching, but inundate us with holy power from on high! Start a royal mighty heaven-sent fire in our souls! The hour is late.... We need You more than we know…. 

Erect, O' God, a palpable fear of the LORD in each heart. Forgive us, dear Father, for our unfaithfulness, worldliness, fruitlessness, and tolerance of wickedness. Forgive us for entertaining ourselves with the most violent and brazen forms of transgression. Forgive us for embracing worldly godless values and ambitions while abandoning Your truth and plan for our lives. We have permitted the wrong people and wrong ideas to influence us far too deeply. We have been careless with spiritual advancement, growth, and holy service. Forgive us... forgive us...O' dear God, forgive us. Please establish an adamant hatred for sin in our hearts; erect such a standard throughout this country also. Afford us precise discernment to discriminate between truth and lies. May we, O’ Father, not only recognize the best, but faithfully choose it seeking your honor as our highest priority. Restore every facet of this land unto yourself, and seize new territories for Thy kingdom's sake. We claim homes, neighborhoods, schools, governments, and civil authorities for Thy glory sake. May You always and forever be greatly honored in this land! Revive us O' God! Pour out your power upon us anew! Revive us again…in mercy O’ God, revive us again. May we always treasure You supremely, and humbly walk with Thee in the beauty of holiness. This is my revival prayer in the Awesome Name of our Mighty Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.