Watchman Radio Hour

Should we give up in despair today when we see so many bad things happening around us. Should we throw in the towel at this time in history when we see the church so weak especially in the western world and in America? We see Christians compromising in their morals as well as in their beliefs. We see sin on the increase in the nation. We go to churches where we hear a watered down gospel or a health and wealth teaching that completely distorts the proper understanding of God's Word. What lies ahead for the church in this age, defeat or victory?

People fear the Lord when God's Word comes in power. In Haggai's time, God's Word came in power to the people and then they feared the Lord. Today's pulpits for the most part are not proclaiming the Word of God in power and the people are not fearing the Lord. This needs to change. We need to go back and recapture the powerful preaching of the Word of God that once prevailed in this nation. When George Whitefield came to the colonies in the 1740's, a voice was heard that turned this nation upside down. It was the voice of God coming through the powerful preaching of Whitefield and others. God sent a mighty revival on the nation and that's what we need to happen again.

It is time to seek the Lord. We cannot continue in our present situation in society. If we do, we are headed toward certain judgement. Our nation cannot continue to wallow in immorality and irreverence and expect to survive. It is time to sow righteousness throughout the land but that will not come until God visits us from on high in revival like He has in the past. Revivals are not invented by man. They come from God. So, we need to seek Him.

One of the greatest needs today in our nation is for people to be reconciled to God. However, the great problem is that people in general do not realize they need to be reconciled to God. Why be reconciled to God? What's wrong? There is so little conviction of sin in our society. There is so little of real fear of God. Pulpits are so accepting and rarely emphasize sin and our need to repent and be made right with God. Yet, this is exactly what the gospel message is all about. It's about sinners being reconciled with a Holy God. God is holy. He has been offended. We are sinners. We have offended God and we need to be reconciled to Him.

A Day of Judgement is coming and we will all be there. Therefore, we should live in the light of the Judgement Day. Our lives should reflect the fact that a Judgement Day is coming. We will all stand there before the Great Judge. There will be no exceptions. The people of this nation need to clean up their act and get ready for the Judgement Day. The fear of God is needed. It has left us but it needs to come back.

Paul preached repentance and called the Athenians to turn from their idols unto the true God and many did. If we expect revival to take place in this nation again, we are going to have to hear a different message than we are hearing today for the most part. Revival is not going to come through health and wealth sermons or sermons preaching only acceptance without a mention of accountability for sin and a need for true heart repentance. Paul preached repentance and that's what we need to hear today.

God's kingdom continues when others fall. Herod's kingdom fell but the kingdom of Christ continued on. Today, Satan seems to have the u[per hand in the world but his kingdom will crumble and fall. We have the promise of God on it.

Are we living in the Kingdom Age now or is this age all in the future? Jesus talked of a great feast in the Kingdom of God. When will it be? Has it already started or is it yet to come? These are important questions which this sermon addresses.

Some say there is not much hope for the further advance of the church and its influence in this world in this age. Our task is about done. The mission to reach the world with the gospel is about over and we've done all we can. We can only expect a small remnant of those in the world today to be saved and only a small influence will be had by the gospel on most nations. The world is in decline morally and spiritually and all is headed toward imminent judgement. If this all be true, the 21st century looks very bleak indeed. Yet, is this truly a Biblical outlook for the future of the church and the world? Could it be that the Bible teaches that better days are ahead even in this age? Could it be that the Bible teaches that the church will be victorious in its mission even in this age?

The early Christians didn't give up. The odds were against them. They had been forbidden by the Jewish leaders not to speak any more about Jesus. They were risking imprisonment if they continued, but they prayed for boldness to proclaim the gospel even more. Those early disciples had a greater vision and refused to give up. They called on God and He answered and gave them power from on High. The gospel advanced beyond Jerusalem. At the end of the book of Acts, the gospel had already reached Rome, the capital of the world empire of that day. They could have given up and said it was no use but they didn't. We can learn from their example today.