The number #1 Revival of what we would call modern times was the Welsh Revival of 1904. The Welsh Revival began in England. It was an act of God moving upon the hearts of people. The principal human agent used by God in the Welsh revival was Pastor Evan Roberts and Dr. G. Campbell Morgan. There was an intense passion for Jesus. The point is that you want revival when you pray for more of Jesus. You are in revival when you’ve got so much of him that you feel compelled to say, “Let me tell you what Jesus did for me.”

What were the results of this awakening? Saloons and bars shut down for lack of business. Public drunkenness was almost non-existent. Old debts, many long forgotten, were paid off in full. Traveling theatrical societies canceled their engagements, as everyone was in church! Profanity disappeared. It was said that horses everywhere were in complete confusion. During the time of revival the police were left with virtually nothing to do and the courts were empty.

The movement came to America and in Philadelphia Methodists reported having 6,100 new converts. The pastors of Atlantic City churches claimed there were only fifty unconverted adults left in that entire city. On a single Sunday in New York City, 3,064 people were received into membership and 286 converted to Christ. The revival swept through the South. The First Baptist Church in Paducah, Kentucky, added a thousand people within a couple of months. Across the Southern Baptist Convention, baptisms increased by twenty-five percent in a single year. In the mid-west, Methodists reported “the greatest revivals in their history.”

Every store and factory in Burlington, Iowa, closed to allow employees to attend prayer meetings. When the mayor of Denver declared a day of prayer in that city, churches were filled by ten o’clock. At 11:30 am virtually every place of business in the city closed as over 12,000 gathered for prayer meetings in downtown theatres and halls. Every school in town and the Colorado State Legislature closed for the day. In the west, united meetings attracted 180,000 people in attendance. The Grand Opera House in Los Angeles was filled with drunks and prostitutes getting saved.

In Portland, Oregon, the city virtually shut down between 11:00 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. for prayer meetings. During the Welsh Revival, the culture was so transformed that new mules had to be obtained to work in the coal mines and elsewhere. The old mules would not respond to miners because they no longer cursed and abused their animals. People were saved! Approximately 70,000 came to faith in Christ in the first two months and over 100,000 during the course of the revival. As incredible as this revival was there was an amazing revival in the Old Testament during the time of Jonah the prophet, an awesome time for God’s grace and forgiveness.

I Jonah is Re – Commission to Nineveh 1, 2
1. The occurrence of Jonah surviving in the belly of the whale isn’t the greatest miracle in this book. The miracle of chapter 3 is greater. In this chapter we see nothing less than the greatest mass conversion in the history of the world.
2. Do you see the irony in this text? The “great “(3:2) city of Nineveh gets a second chance because of the preaching of a prophet who too got a second chance. The text begins by saying “the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time “(3:1). God gave Jonah a second chance to obey, and now He was giving the city of Nineveh one more chance to obey.

3. What intrigues me is that when “the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time “it was the same Word –“Arise, go to Nineveh “(3:2; 1:2). It doesn’t surprise us that God pursues us when we wander. God is the God of the second chance… But one might think that God would take note of the fact that Jonah ran away the last time He told him to go to Nineveh and, therefore, change the command. But God does not change His command.

4. The first time Jonah is commissioned to go to Nineveh we read that, “Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord “(1:3). But now, after receiving the commission the second time, we read that, “Jonah arose and went… this is personal revival. Jonah’s obedience makes this story more remarkable. For in this chapter we see God, in His mercy, use a reluctant prophet to convert an enormous city.

II Jonah Preaches to The City of Nineveh 3, 4

1. The Bible said, “The city was a three days journey (3:3). So, Nineveh was a city of great magnitude in what today is modern Iraq. The city was 30 miles long and 20 miles wide. Its walls were one hundred feet wide and could hold four chariots riding side by side. It was the capital city of Assyria. Over 1/2 million people lived in and around this capital. In chapter 4, the text says that there are “more than 120,000 people “(4:11) living in Nineveh. Historians and theologians both agree that this number accounts only for the adults. With an average of 3-4 children per household, Jonah would have witnessed the conversion of nearly 600,000 people. Folks, that a great revival with the potential of greater fruit.

2. Nineveh was a city of depravity. Jonah knew about their cruelty and brutality. Its people were known for their savagery. They burned children alive and tortured adults by skinning them and leaving them to die in the scorching sun. Sexual immorality was the way of life with widespread worship of fertility goddess and temples of lewd worship. Remember I told you history says they were one of the worst. Anthropologists tell us that the Assyrian’s were one of the cruelest people ever to live on the face of the earth. Their captive’s males were chained together and marched into captivity with tackle hooks in their mouths. The Aztecs, Assyrian’s and the Vikings were the top three.

3. Jonah’s message as he walked through the city of Nineveh, “yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown “(3:4). Jonah was told to “proclaim” what the Lord told him to proclaim. God did the rest! He was already working in their hearts and minds. On the surface, Jonah’s message is quite unimpressive. Jonah does not present any persuasive evidence nor does he utilize any clever arguments. Roberts was not a brilliant speaker or preacher, yet his audiences were captivated by his words. “The secret of his power is that he is ‘full of faith and love and zeal and the Holy Spirit”. In the same way, we Christians must deliver the message. Psalms 126:6— They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Application: Let me remind you–that when Jonah fled, it got him trapped in the belly of a whale. When Jonah shared his faith, 600,000 became converted. While the world struggles to validate their beliefs on more than what they see on television, Christians have the trustworthy Scriptures to base their beliefs and message on. When you witness to others, follow the example of Jonah, and stick to God’s Word.

III Jonah Witnesses the city of Nineveh Repenting 5-9

1. Notice that the Ninevites did more than just hear and believe Jonah’s message–they “believed in God”. And to demonstrate the genuine nature of their faith, the Ninevites acted on their belief, “they called a fast and put on sackcloth “(3:5). Even the king of Nineveh took part, issuing a “decree” for all the people to participate in the rituals of repentance, and by urging them to “call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way “(3:8). The news of their impending doom, gets him off his throne, removes his royal robes puts on sackcloth and sits down in the dust. In all humility and contrition, he trades his robes for rags and his throne for the dirt.
This is what we need to pray comes to Washington a great awesome fear of God. Such a pouring out of the spirit of God that these leaders would fall down and beg God for forgiveness and seek His face and we do the same!!

2. The people of Nineveh were enemies of the people of Israel. We are often negligent in sharing our faith with others because we have a fear of rejection. Jonah, however, was not simply risking rejection by preaching to the people of Nineveh–he was risking his life. Jonah’s courage should motivate us to be courageous in sharing our faith.

3. The entire city of Nineveh repents of their sin, and how does God respond? “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, and then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it “(3:10). God, instead of destroying them, had compassion on the 120,000 people who lived there.

Conclusion:

Folks do you believe like Nineveh, America can have revival? We need Revival because it’s time like never before to deal with the trash. The awful effects of sin have seared the conscience of our people even we as Christians. We no longer govern according to what is right and wrong but according to what works and what makes money. Our creed is greed and our god is gold. The things that use to amaze us now amuse us. The things that use to embarrass us now entertain us. What use to be consider sinful behavior is become a way of life in the world and in the church. Our culture has sold its soul to materialism. If we are going to go in the right direction, we must also have revival – to once again reaffirm the truths of Biblical principles. —Luke 11:28-32

Ps. 85: [6] Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?