When Jonah obeyed God, a revival swept through the city of Nineveh. and the whole population turned to God. Could that happen again in our time? Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah considers this possibility as he continues the series, Jonah the Runaway Prophet.
Is your heart ready for an awakening? To introduce the conclusion of his message, The Anatomy of Revival, here's David. And thank you for joining us as we continue our study in the book of Jonah. We're at the part of the book where the revival in Nineveh is underway. We're learning so much about what God does when he sends revival to his people.
And we hope that you're following along with your Bibles, maybe a study guide, and understanding the purpose and poignancy of the Book of Jonah. We'll get to that in just a moment. But first, let me remind you that Turning Point has a magazine that we're really excited about because we know it's having an impact on the lives of people. It has devotional material for every day of the week, Monday through Friday, and then a special one for each weekend.
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Here is part two. of the anatomy of revival. Yeah. Uh God had a preacher, and that preacher carried the message to the city. God Could have caused revival without a preacher.
We know that, God can do anything. He could, but he does not because his plan has always been the preaching of the word of God. Romans says it this way, How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard. And how shall they hear?
without a preacher. When Billy Graham went to London in 1954, Many people thought it was all glory and headlines. But when he went there he faced great opposition. The London Times mocked him as a foolish man who would return to America humbled because he brought a simple gospel. to a sophisticated society.
Yet God's people prayed. And God used that preacher greatly. More than two million people attended the meetings over a 12-week period. and thousands gave their lives to Christ. I cannot imagine that.
I have done a few rallies over the years in arenas. I've never done more than two in one week and always had a day in between. Billy Graham preached for twelve weeks every night of the week. I don't know how he did it, but God helped him do it, and God used that. to bring a great awakening to Great Britain.
In the passage from Luke, we are told Jonah was a sign. When he went to Nineveh, he was assigned in two ways. His preaching was a sign. And Jonah himself was a sign. Consider what would happen to a person after days in the belly of a fish.
Many believed that digestive juices would bleach the skin and remove the hair. And bleached skin and no hair, Jonah was walking through the streets of Nineveh, declaring. Yet forty days and judgment is coming. His appearance alone was a sign. When you saw him coming down the street, you've got to listen to this guy.
He's a strange dude. He commanded attention. And people listened. But not only his presence, but his preaching also. The Jews were enemies of Nineveh.
and this Hebrew walked their streets, warning them to repent or face destruction. Revival preachers are usually marked by great boldness. You've probably heard a preacher so gripped by God that he no longer cares what people think. Jonathan Edwards is a perfect example. If you read his story, you will come to a place where he preached a sermon that became famous.
a sermon called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. He read his sermons word for word. He hardly ever looked up from his manuscript. But when he preached the sermon like that, sinners in the hands of an angry God, people cried out in terror, and those who were there said they felt as if they were being dangled over hell. as they heard the gospel, many of them for the first time.
So there was a preacher, and Jonah was the preacher. There's only one explanation. He was a man filled with the power of God, and God is going to use his preaching. as we discover, to bring many to himself.
So there was a God-appointed prayer. There was a God-appointed preacher and there was a God-appointed proclamation.
So here's what the proclamation was. Preach to it the message that I will tell you. God said to Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh and I want you to tell them what I tell you to tell them. Jonah didn't need any long preparation. He didn't need to go and study.
God just told him what to do. And in verse 4 it is recorded, And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day, and he cried out and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh will be overthrown. That was his whole message. Just eight words in the English Bible and five words in the original Hebrew. Jonah walked the streets and announced that judgment was coming and it was going to happen in 40 days.
Now, whenever God blesses a preacher, it is because he preaches the message God gives him. I know that sometimes today we hear preachers and we wondered where did they get that? Because it sure didn't come from the Bible. I am grateful to have a book that contains everything God wants me to say. I don't have to look anywhere outside this book because this is the total revelation of God.
People ask me why I preach the Bible, and I'll tell them because that's the thing God promises to bless. When I get outside the Bible, I'm on my own. That can end up pretty disastrous. Here's what I put down. I begin with the text, and then I preach what's next.
That's how you get going as a preacher. That helps me stay out of trouble. Keeps me from picking on anyone. If you get caught in the passage, that's because you came to church on the wrong Sunday. And I had nothing to do with it.
You know, I used to hear people say, well, he's coming to church on Sunday, I'm going to preach on that. No, you don't want to do that. You want to preach what God tells you to preach, and that's what Jonah did. Very short message, but it was God's message to Nineveh.
So Jonah went to Nineveh with the Lord's message, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. What did that mean?
Well, in the scripture, 40 days often is a time of testing. Moses was 40 days on the mountain while Israel was tested and failed. Because of disobedience, they wandered forty years in the wilderness. Even the Lord Jesus was tested 40 days in the wilderness.
So when you read about 40 days, In the Bible, it is often a time of testing. The people understood this was a final opportunity for them. 40 days left. And they would have to repent. His message was a message of judgment.
If they didn't change, God's judgment was going to fall. We don't hear much of that these days. We don't hear many preachers preach against sin or preach about the coming judgment of God. When I teach on prophecy and I tell you what is ahead for us, And what is ahead for those who reject the Lord? I often get criticism.
People say, this is not positive.
Well Let me tell you, it's better to feel conviction now. and joy later than to feel comfort now and regret later. You'd be better off to hear the truth. And the Bible is filled with the truth. When I preach the Bible, I will come to some passages.
that we might swallow hard. When we hear them. But they're there for our benefit. They're there for our blessing. They're there for our salvation.
We who preach today proclaim more than Jonah did. Jonah warned of a coming judgment. We proclaim a judgment that's already taken place. At the cross, a holy God placed the judgment for sin. on his righteous son.
Jesus took my judgment and yours. And now God says that whoever receives Christ Will not bear that judgment because it has already been borne for him by the Lord. On the cross.
So whenever we preach, we must not only speak of the accountability and of judgment, but we must make much of the cross where judgment and mercy meet. Billy Graham once told A crusade in Dallas back in 1953. Afterward, a friend said to him, Billy, you didn't speak about the cross. How can anyone be converted without seeing the cross? You must preach the blood that was shed there.
Graham admitted that he was upset at first, but during that night he realized it was true. And before morning, he resolved never to preach again without clearly presenting Christ's death and resurrection. If you listen to Billy Graham over the last years of his preaching, you know he never preached without coming back to that. You know, Franklin Graham, his son, is a friend of mine, and I've noticed that Franklin does the same thing. Franklin never talks.
Unless he talks about that. There is great power in preaching the judgment of God for the Calvary judgment and for sins that have already been forgiven. That is the good news of the gospel. In revival, there's always a God-appointed prayer. There's a God-appointed preacher, there's a God-appointed proclamation.
and there's a God-appointed place. Where did this revival happen? It happened in Nineveh. What a strange place for a revival to start. Nineveh wasn't the kind of place you'd want to raise your children, I promise you that.
It was a wicked and violent city. We've already noted that some of the terrible practices of its people, how they treated their enemies with cruelty. And into that culture came Jonah, preaching judgment. He could not have chosen a city that needed awakening more. It was the most wicked city of its time.
Chapter 3, verse 8: When the king issued his proclamation, he said, But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. And cry mightily to God, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Nineveh was a violent city. We have a Pretty good illustration of that going on in our world, what has been happening in Iran. that group of people over there, that nation.
Brutally killed 38,000 of their own people because they didn't agree. with the government. And if you read the story of the cruelty of Iran, You discover a lot of things. That's the kind of thing that happened in Nineveh. And it's hard to believe that it could happen anywhere in our world today, but it has happened.
This was a violent society. As I've studied revival, I've noticed something. God often begins His work in the darkest places. And there the light shines the brightest. I have never visited a city in America that is not a candidate for revival.
and our own community here in San Diego. are not sheltered from sin and brokenness. It's present all around us. Revival is needed here as much as it is anywhere, and God often chooses places like that. to begin his work.
A God-appointed prayer and a preacher and a proclamation and a place. And then there was a God-appointed period. Let me suggest to you, number five, that there was a God-appointed period. You won't find this directly in the Bible, but you discover in church and secular history that events had already begun to prepare Nineveh before Jonah ever arrived.
Some historians say Jonah was actually the fourth warning. A severe plague swept the city in 765 BC. followed by a total eclipse of the sun in seven sixty three. and another plague in seven fifty nine. To ancient people, these were not accidents.
They were seen as divine warnings. Jonah appeared after all of that, preaching judgment. If a city had experienced plague, eclipse, and another plague, then a strange preacher arrived. with no hair and pigmented skin People would listen. Did that just happen?
No. God orchestrates events, does He not? Have you ever wondered whether some of those things are happening in our own nation right now? Few generations have witnessed as many national tragedies and crises within a single lifetime. We have seen widespread violence.
national upheaval. Global disease. for which answers seem beyond reach. I'm not trying to predict disaster. I am simply saying that if God uses plagues, and an eclipse to prepare Nineveh, he may also use events to awaken people today.
Sometimes God prepares a culture before he sends the message. It was the right time. And then as we study this further, we discovered there was a God-appointed power. Prayer, a preacher, a proclamation, a place, a period of time. And A great power.
It says in verses 4 and 5 of Jonah 3. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. And he cried out and said, Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. Archaeologists tell us that The Ninevites worshipped a pagan god named Dagon. part man and part fish. Into that culture came Jonah. talking about the true God who would overthrow them.
It is possible the Ninevites asked Jonah about his appearance. Maybe he told them how God had disciplined when he refused to obey. His appearance gathered the crowd, but his message carried the power. As he preached, the power of God fell on the people. Why did they believe?
Because God enabled them to believe. Romans 10:17 says, Faith comes by hearing. And hearing by the word of God. The Bible says they repented from the greatest to the least. I can't get over this.
Even the animals. were included in the fasting and mourning. How could an animal Experience revival.
Well, maybe they had a man. Or a woman over them who was evil and kicked them.
Now that no longer happened, that would affect the animals, wouldn't it? When I read this, it reminds me that we should pray more fervently for God. To do a work like this in our own land. We wonder sometimes if we have another chance. I have people ask me that all the time.
Has America burned up its opportunities? We often think the answer lies in getting the right leader in office. We should be responsible citizens and we should exercise influence for good. But ladies and gentlemen, our deepest problems are not political or moral. be our spiritual Everything else is temporary.
What we need is a return to God. that reaches the heart of who we are as a people. I pray that before my life is finished. I may see such a work of God. Without it, For the generations that follow, our nation needs a visitation from God.
We're living in a very crucial time. We're on a bubble. What will we do with what God has given us? In Psalm 85, there is a prayer that I'd like to give you. I hope you'll put it down in your notes.
Actually, pray it. Here it is. Restore us, O God of our salvation. and cause your anger toward us to cease. Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again? That your people may rejoice in you. Show us your mercy, Lord, and grant us your salvation. What a prayer.
O God, revive us again. renew us and bring us to repentance. Revival does not begin with the crowds. It begins in hearts. An evangelist once told a man who asked how to have revival to go to a quiet place.
Draw a circle around yourself and pray, Lord, send revival to everything inside this circle. That is where it starts, one life at a time.
Some of you walk with God. But others have allowed sin and distraction and the cares of life to dull your spiritual usefulness. You belong to Christ, but you have lost the joy of His fellowship. Today, I am calling you to revival. Not first in the nation, not first in the church.
but first in your own heart. In England. A pastor once knelt in his study. pleading with God for revival. He had 19 children.
With a house full of kids, he asked his wife to keep them quiet while he prayed. Samuel Wesley probably never imagined the answer to his prayer was running up and down the hallway outside of his door. God raised up two of his sons, John and Charles Wesley. to shake a continent for Christ. They became leaders in the great evangelistic revival of the 1700s.
John Wesley traveled thousands of miles on horseback. Preaching more than forty thousand sermons and organizing society that spread Methodism. across Britain and America. Charles Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns. Including Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and Christ the Lord is risen today.
Through their preaching and their songs, thousands came to Christ. Lives were changed, the poor were helped, and spiritual life across Britain and America. was renewed. Revival happened. It can happen.
George Davis tells a story in his book When the Fire Fell. During a season of revival in 1857, A spiritual awakening began aboard the battleship North Carolina. anchored in New York Harbor. Here's how it happened. Out of the 1,000 sailors on board, Four Christians discovered one another and agreed to meet for prayer.
They gathered in a quiet part of the ship far below the waterline. One was an Episcopalian, one was a Presbyterian, and two were Baptists. there in the dim light of a small lamp, Every day they prayed together in the hull of that ship. As they prayed, their hearts were filled with such joy that they began to sing. Their voices drifted upward through the decks, and curious sailors came down to investigate.
Many came to mock them, but something unexpected happened. The power of God gripped them mockery turned into conviction, and strong sailors who had come laughing soon knelt in prayer. beside those four millimeters. Night after night, the prayer meeting grew and conversions began to occur. Ministers were brought from shore to help counsel those coming to Christ.
Because the North Carolina regularly sent sailors to other ships, the revival spread as those new believers carried their faith with them to the other ships. what began with four sailors praying in the bottom of a ship. spread from vessel to vessel and eventually around the world. What incredible stories of revival. I tell them to you only to let you know.
It can happen again. I think sometimes we should just say, Lord, do it again. Do it again. Let us be a part of it. And I hear the Lord responding to us.
Will you pray? Were you Ray? The pattern is the same. God's people prayed. And God moved.
If revival begins with prayer, Then every time we pray. We should be asking God, please send revival. to our homes, to our churches. to our cities and to our nation. God will do that.
I believe it with all my heart. Let us have the courage and audacity. to believe him. and to begin to pray for revival. If he could do it for Jonah.
He can do it for David. If he can do it for Jonah, he can do it for you. He's the same God. He cares the same about this generation as he did that generation. And there's no reason.
Except our lack of asking. The Bible says we have not because we ask not.
So if we don't have revival, maybe we haven't asked for it.
So maybe we should start asking for it. I'll put that on your prayer list and let's begin to do that. as the days go forward. And we can begin to see that happen if we ask God. I have a friend who's a pastor in New York City where one of the great American revivals took place in history.
And that revival took place when people got together at noontime to pray. And now in his church, he has 200 business people coming to pray every day at noon. And I believe it could be the beginning of another great awakening in our nation. I hope that you will pray with me and with him. And if you're in New York City and you're a business person there, find out about this revival and get involved.
This is Turning Point. We come to you every day with the Word of God. And it's our privilege to do so because. We believe God's Word changes lives, and we have so many illustrations to prove that it's true. If you have a story about what God has done in your life through the teaching of the Word of God on Turning Point, we'd love to hear from you.
Write us and give us the story. It will be a great encouragement to us and to others as well. We'll see you next time. Have a great day. Today's message originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor Dr.
David Jeremiah. Drop us a note to let us know how God is using this ministry in your life. Write to TurningPoint, PO Box 3838, San Diego, California, 92163. Visit our website at davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of our 14-month 2027 calendar, The Light of the World.
It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also download the free Turning Point mobile app to instantly access our content. Search the app store for the keywords Turning Point Ministries. Visit davidjeremiah.org/slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio for details.
This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series Jonah the Runaway Prophet on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
