A Call to Repentance and Prayer: Society Needs God, Part 1. The Church Needs to be Revived and Society Transformed
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 will forgive their sin and heal their land
– 2 Chronicles 7:14
Revival elevates society and can change the moral character of a city or nation. It can transform a country, as the Spirit of God descends in showers of blessing. In the past, this has brought about social welfare and changes which have been enshrined in law.
The Church needs to be revived; revival, a spiritual awakening. God calls us to repentance because it leads to restoration. It sets an individual right. It restores families. It frees nations. True repentance is restoration by the manifest grace of God. This is why members of society need to forsake sin and embrace Jesus Christ or face the consequences on Judgment Day. There is a Heaven to embrace and a Hell to shun.
Politicians can make good laws, but they cannot make good people. The Holy Spirit not only shows people how they ought to live but can give them a new heart to enable them to obey Him
– John Ferguson
The Word of God reveals: ‘I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh’ (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
‘Justice is turned back and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity [treatment of different views] cannot enter. So truth fails and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor’ (Isaiah 59:14-16).
1. Do you Deny there is a God / Turned Away from Him?
Many people deny there is a God, a Creator, whilst others have turned from the God of Heaven, the God who made Britain great (Great Britain) and other Christian nations who once followed Him and His Word (the Bible).
The lack of fear of God, having no accountability to God, leads people morally empty doing whatever they want. ‘The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God’ (Psalm 14:1-2).
‘ “Your own wickedness will correct you and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you,” says the Lord God of hosts’ (Jeremiah 2:19).
2. Do you Believe God’s Law is Null and Void?
‘It is time for You to act, O Lord, for they have regarded Your law as void’ (Psalm 119:126). The Word of God, the Holy Bible and the precepts contained within have been disregarded. They are often laughed at as archaic, and regarded as null and void by many of our government’s laws. ‘It is not good to show partially to the wicked or to overthrow the righteous in judgment’ (Proverbs 18:5). ‘The wicked prowl on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men’ (Psalm 12:8).
The Word of God declares: ‘Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and Your law is truth’ (Psalm 119:142). The moral requirements of an Eternal God do not have an expiry date. ‘Forever, O Lord Your word is settled in Heaven…. They continue this day according to Your ordinances’ (Psalm 119:89, 91). ‘…The grass withers and its flowers fall away but the word of the Lord endures forever’ (Isaiah 40:8 and 1 Peter 1:24-25).
3. Are the Laws of God Despised?
Many people despise the laws of God. Thus says the Lord, “For three transgressions of Judah and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed’ (Amos 2:4).
‘Justice is turned back and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen [or trampled] in the street, and equity [treatment of different view] cannot enter. So truth fails…’ (Isaiah 59:14-15).
4. Are God’s Laws being Suppressed by Governmental Laws?
Former Christian nations have denied God by the laws they have passed and are on a slippery downward slope. ‘Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy and because of Your truth. Why should the Gentiles say, “Where now is their God?” ’ (Psalm 115:1-2).
“Your words have been harsh against Me,” says the Lord, yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance and that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free’ ” (Malachi 3:13-15).
5. Is there Legislation which Contradicts the Laws of God?
Governments or States have passed legislation which contradicts the statutes and laws of God. ‘Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they have prescribed to rob the needy of justice and to take what is right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless’ (Isaiah 10:1-2).
‘Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You?’ (Psalm 94:20); the answer is no, categorically no! Evil people cannot have fellowship with God. We need to have clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 15 and Psalm 24). ‘Many times they again did evil before You…yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from Heaven’ (Nehemiah 9:28).
Society Needs God, Part 2. Truth is Being Erased and Good is now Called Evil
By Mathew Backholer.
Mathew Backholer is a revival historian, author and TV presenter. If you want to know more, you can find his books or watch his programmes on streaming services, etc.
