PowerPoint

Jack Graham: Now that we are saved, it's our responsibility to own our own disobedience to God. Repent of anything in your life that is in disobedience to the word and to the will of God for you.

Guest (Male): On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about what it will take to bring America back to God. Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message, America's Way Home.

Jack Graham: I read years ago the cycle of the history of a nation. It was given by a professor whose name is Alexander Tyler. He says this is how nations come to be. The average lifespan of a nation is 200 years, so we're now on borrowed time in many ways.

For here's what the professor said. The nation begins from bondage to spiritual faith. Our nation was born out of suppression and oppression and the liberty that came to spiritual faith. Yes, our founders were believers. They were believers in God. They knew that freedom doesn't come from government, but freedom comes from God.

So from bondage to spiritual faith, and then from spiritual faith to great courage. It takes courage to build a nation and to sustain it, and we've seen great courage in America by Americans through the generations. From courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, and then from abundance to selfishness, which is greed. Now the decline begins.

From selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy. Somebody said the problem with America is apathy, but who cares? From apathy to dependence. More and more people are dependent upon the government. Then from dependence back to bondage. We're seeing that cycle in God-blessed America. We are declining certainly morally. The domestic decline, what's happening in the home and the family.

We began this series on the family, and I wanted to conclude this series with this subject: America's Way Home. Because as the family goes, so goes the nation. The breakdown of the nation is a result of the breakdown of our homes and our families.

We look at the decline and spiritually and morally, we know we're in desperate states. Traditional biblical marriage is under attack. Divorce and adultery and fornication are rampant. Homosexuality and perversion and profanity and pornography all being normalized. More and more people are living together without God and without commitment to marriage.

America, we have lost our way. If we are going to return America to its former greatness, we will need to rebuild the home. So I take you to the first chapter of the book of Nehemiah in your Old Testament. A man who found his way home. You may not have heard of Nehemiah as you have heard of David and Joseph and Isaiah and Abraham and some of the great personalities of the Old Testament. You may not know Nehemiah that well, but let me tell you a little bit about Nehemiah before we read the scriptures as background.

The children of Israel rebelled against God, and they were defeated by the Babylonians and taken into captivity. At the end of the captivity, a remnant, a small portion of the Jewish nation, returned to Jerusalem, their former home. When they returned to Jerusalem, they found it in ruins.

1,000 miles away was this man, Nehemiah, who was a patriot. He tells us that he was a cupbearer to the king, that is, he was in the king's court, the King of Persia. He was a slave there, a servant there, but he had risen to some prominence. It may not seem to be that big a deal to be a cupbearer to the king, but you're close to the king. You're inside the king and the kingdom at this point.

Here is a Jewish man exiled out of Jerusalem, and he could have just enjoyed the rest of his life, lived out his days, finished his course, but he wouldn't leave well enough alone. We discover what happened then in chapter one. It says the words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, the capital city, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah, that is they came from Israel.

I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, these exiles, who had survived the exile and concerning Jerusalem. He said to me, "The remnant there in the province who have survived the exile is in great trouble." King James gave this word the word "reproach." They're in trouble, they're in reproach, and they're living in shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates are destroyed by fire.

So what did Nehemiah do? As soon as I heard those words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days. It might be a good place right now for us to stop and ask ourselves what breaks our hearts today. So often we are numb to everything that's going on. It's like a psychic numbness and paralysis. What breaks your heart? What keeps you up at night?

His heart is broken over the broken walls of his city, the place that he loved, the nation that he loved. So he sat down and he wept and he mourned for days. He said, "I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven." Then he gives us his prayer. He said, "O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open. O God, look at this. To hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night."

This was fervent prayer, focused prayer, and he's praying for his nation, the people of Israel, your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel which we have sinned against you. Notice he included himself, though he was living 1,000 miles away. He said not just they but me, not just we but me, for he went on to say that even I and my father's house have sinned.

We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, which is the very definition of sin. Sin is when we break the commandments of God. Because we break the commandments of God, we are broken on those commandments. Then he said the rules that you commanded your servant Moses as well, that is the spiritual principles that you find in the Bible.

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, "If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the people. But if you return to me and keep my commandments, if you return to me and keep my commandments, though the outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there."

Let the name of the Lord be praised. They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name. Who fears God in our generation? And gives success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was the cupbearer to the king.

So there is the scripture. What is this all about? As I view it, America has two choices. One is retribution, judgment. Let judgment begin at the house of God. Judgment is coming unless we repent and turn around as a nation. I don't know how much more time we have. In fact, we may already be under judgment. Did you know that?

God doesn't have to send his wrathful fury of judgment to judge America. All he has to do to judge an individual or a country is to take his hand off of us. I pray God has not taken his hand off our beloved country, but it seems in many ways that his hand of protection has been removed. That's judgment. Read Romans chapter one and you see it there. But judgment is coming. The Bible says do not be deceived, God is not going to be mocked. A man sows and he reaps. We sow the wind, we reap the whirlwind, the Bible says.

Judgment is an option. It could be happening now. It could be greater later. Retribution. But then we have another option, and I pray we'll take it, and that is revival. It's revival or ruin. I also like to think about the fact that there is something else that could happen and that is the rapture and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The rapture of his people and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's an option before greater tribulation comes upon the earth and our nation.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message "America's Way Home." This summer, America turns 250 years old and Dr. Graham wants to mark it with you. That's why we're releasing a 21-day devotional series called One Nation Under God. Beginning June 14th, Dr. Graham will trace the faith at the heart of America's story all the way through the 4th of July.

Walk with us through the faith that built our nation, the scripture that shaped her founders, and the God who is still sovereign over her future. To sign up, text freedom to 59789. It's absolutely free to join, so text freedom to 59789. Every gift given to PowerPoint Ministries before June 30th will be doubled through a $200,000 matching grant. This is a crucial moment as we close out the financial year because your support helps ensure that the truth of Jesus continues reaching people who are searching for something real they can trust.

As our thanks for your gift, we'll send you "The Jesus Discoveries" by Dr. Jeremiah Johnston, a resource designed to strengthen your confidence in the truth of the Gospel. To give your gift and request your copy, text June to 59789. That's June to 59789. Now, let's get back to today's message, "America's Way Home."

Jack Graham: So many people say they believe in God. I know church attendance is on decline. That's another thing that's happening around the world and in America. And yet people say in America, 90-something percent of people say they believe in God. Well, good, but the devil believes in God and trembles.

90-something percent believe in God. Something like in America, three quarters of the people say they are Christians, they're followers of Jesus. 51%, according to a recent study, say they have a biblical worldview. In America, we have a biblical worldview. And yet when you dig down deeper, when you really find out what people believe, really only about 6 to 10% of people in America have a genuinely biblical worldview where they believe in the deity of Christ and the exclusivity of the Gospel, that the word of God, the Bible, is inerrant.

So many of people who say they believe in God and believe in Jesus and go to church, they believe that all religions will get you to heaven. It's amazing. So many people who say they're Christian believe in reincarnation. I could go on and on. So what's wrong? And what do we need in America? We need the church to be revived.

Now what does that mean? We need God's people to be revived. The word "vive" is to live. So revival is to live again. That's the simple definition. Now revival is not for unbelievers. Unbelievers don't need revival; unbelievers need Jesus and his salvation. It's our prayer, if you don't know Christ as your savior, that today would be the day that you would live again for the first time because we're born dead in our trespasses and sin, and you need to be saved in order to be delivered from the power of sin and death and hell. So come to Jesus.

But revival and evangelism are not the same. Evangelism always takes place subsequent to revival, but revival begins in me. Revival begins in you. It's when we draw a circle around our lives and our families and we get on our knees and we stay there and we pray there until God revives our hearts. Revival has been described as a new beginning of obedience to God. A new beginning of obedience to God.

You could also say revival is God's finger pointed at me. This patriot, this man, got on his knees and said, "It's the nation, Lord. The nation is in ruin. The people are walking on the rubble and they don't seem to care. But Lord, it's my sin. It's my father's house. We have sinned against God." So he prayed for revival. When he prayed, we see four quick things that I want to show you.

Number one, we recognize the power and the presence of God. That's verses four and five. Look at them again. Let's just scan them again. He said, "I heard these word, I wept, I mourned to the God of heaven." And I said, "O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments." He begins the prayer with praise.

When you've got a problem in your life, don't start with the problem, start with praise. Praise him anyway. Praise him anywhere. I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise will continually be in my mouth. Though there are salty tears streaming down this man's face, it was such a gut punch to hear the condition of his nation, his country, and yet he is praising God. You start with God when you've got a problem or trouble going on in your life because God's got a plan.

It's on our knees, on our faces when we fast and pray that we discover God's plan and God's purpose and God's presence in our lives. This man is praying and it puts us in a position like him to find out what God wants us to do. Somewhere in there as he is praising God and pray, he discovers what God wants him to do. Nehemiah says, "God, you are greater, you are bigger than anything going on around us. You are powerful, you are awesome."

Then he repents of personal and public sin. So should we. He said in verses six and seven, "Hear our prayer. We've not kept your commandments. We're broken by our sin. We have acted corruptly against you, your statutes, your rules that you have commanded. We've all broken the commandments." This is why we need Jesus. Now that we are saved, it's our responsibility to own our own disobedience to God. No more excuses, rationalizations, and justification. No, repent of anything in your life that is in disobedience to the word and to the will of God for you.

Repentance. Jesus said unless we repent, we will all perish. Unless America repents, we will perish. Again, it's revival or ruin. You know what repent means? It means to find your way home. You're going in the wrong direction, away from God. You're lost like the prodigal, far from home. You've lost your way. But when you repent, you turn around. When you repent, you're going away from God into sin, into a life of disobedience to God. If you're not saved, you're on your way to hell. If you're saved, you're on your way to discipline, and disobedience brings discipline in our lives. But you're going the wrong direction. But you come to Christ, you repent, you receive his grace and forgiveness in your life, and you turn around and you go a brand new direction. That's what repentance is.

America needs to repent. We need to repent. Our families need to repent of our sin. The way home is the same way the prodigal son took when he came back to the father's house. Number three, remember the promises of God. This is what he did. Verses eight and nine, he says, "Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses. If you return to me, verse nine, and keep my commandments and do them, though the outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there."

What is he doing here? He is reminding himself of the promises of God. He is reminding the Lord of what he had said. "We are your covenant people. We belong to you. We have strayed, we have wandered away. We are far from home. But Lord, we're coming home." He pled the word of God. This is what I always encourage us to do: plead the promises of God, pray the promises of God, personalize the promises of God. There are six or seven thousand of them in the Bible. Mark them, memorize them, make them your own.

Lord, I agree with your word. That's what Nehemiah's doing. This is when he is building his confidence in his faith to go and do what God would call him to go and do. Now he's knowing and believing God's promise. God said, "I've made a covenant with you, Israel, and I'm not going to break my promise. If you come back to me, count on the fact that you can be restored. Those walls can be rebuilt. Your broken lives can be made over."

And then finally, he cried out, he requested the favor and the blessing of God. He said, "Lord, give your servant success." Notice there's no pride here. He said, "I'm just a slave, I'm just a servant, I'm a cupbearer. I'm a cupbearer." This is how he is able. He prays for success, for God's provision and God's protection. He says, "God, we have failed you, but you have never one time failed us." Amen? Not one single time, never once.

Do you really want revival in your home, in your church, with your family? Do you really want it? As long as we are content to live without revival, we will. We will live without revival. But revival should be the heart cry of every one of us. The Psalmist said it in 85:6, "Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you?"

Revival is God's power and presence filling us again. Revival starts in you and me. Revival starts in his church. When we are revived, we reconnect with Jesus. We restore our relationship with our family. We're faithful in worship to Christ and his church each week, the fellowship of his church. We live and we give and we serve and we witness in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's what we read prayed in 2nd Chronicles 7:14, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land."

He's praying for revival. Eight times he calls himself the servant of the Lord. So he gets off his knees and he goes in the power of God. Lord, we praise you and we repent of our sin and we believe your word and we will do whatever you tell us to do. That's what's happening here. That's what's going on. The only hope is for revival to come. Not to despair, but to repair.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message "America's Way Home." When you support PowerPoint Ministries, you help share God's word with people around the world through programs just like this one. And as a thank you for your gift this month, we'll send you "The Jesus Discoveries" by Dr. Jeremiah Johnston as our thanks.

This powerful resource walks through real historical evidence that points directly to Jesus, helping strengthen your faith and giving you confidence in the truth of God's word. And right now, every gift given before June 30th will be doubled through a $200,000 matching grant. To give your gift and request your copy, text June to 59789. That's June to 59789.

This summer, America turns 250 years old and Dr. Graham wants to mark it with you. That's why we're releasing a 21-day devotional series called One Nation Under God. Beginning June 14th, Dr. Graham will trace the faith at the heart of America's story all the way through the 4th of July. Walk with us through the faith that built our nation, the scripture that shaped her founders, and the God who is still sovereign over her future. To sign up, text freedom to 59789. It's absolutely free to join, so text freedom to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Jack Graham: We're in danger, not just from without but from within. And by that I mean the moral failure that is decaying this great nation. We see moral failure with the explosion of pornography, and especially on the internet. We can see the moral failure of the murdering of an unborn baby called abortion. We can see moral failure even by religious groups who give places of leadership and religious prominence in the church to people who are openly homosexual.

America is disintegrating at the core, and there is only one way we can stop the moral corruption. That is if we, the people of God, those of us who know and love our savior Jesus Christ, will truly humble ourselves and seek the face of God. It's either revival or ruin for any nation that turns its back upon God.

We must be a people who are willing to stand on principle and live the kind of life to which God has called us. I want to challenge you: make a commitment in your life today to be morally pure. Be involved in a church where the word of God and the principles of truth are being taught. Step out by faith in your own life and in your own family. Begin to pray and ask God to send revival upon this nation. Be a part of the answer and not just the problem. Get engaged in the culture by ministering and sharing Jesus Christ through community service and especially through your church, witnessing of your faith in Jesus Christ. We can make a difference. Our influence for Christ counts, but we must be willing to pay the price because we love God and because we love our country.

But let me ask you: are you following God's call upon your life? Are you doing what God wants you to do to make a difference for Jesus Christ in this nation and around the world? I pray that you will, in the power of God's spirit, live a full-throttle life for Jesus Christ and watch what God does through you as you make yourself available to him.

Guest (Male): And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Jeremiah Johnston's book, "The Jesus Discoveries." Just text June to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how to fulfill the dreams God's given you. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.