1. There are many great revivals in the Bible. For example, we think of the great revival that took place under King Hezekiah.
2. And there are a few great revivals recorded in the book of Acts.
3. Many people believe that the greatest revival took place in the wicked city of Nineveh, under the preaching of Jonah the prophet (cf. Jonah 3:1-10).
4. Now Jonah was an unlikely preacher for such a great revival. In fact, at first he disobeyed God and tried to flee from the presence of God (1:1-3).
5. How foolish of him! Beloved, you can never flee from the presence of God (cf. II Chron.16:9).
6. You can run from the church. You can run from the preacher. And you can run from the other members of the church. But you cannot run from God!
7. Sometimes when I am out visiting, I can see people peeping through their blinds at me. Sometimes they send their kids out to lie for them. "My mommy is sick" or "My daddy is taking a nap," etc. I think to myself, ‘What is it going to take before they stop fooling with God?’
8. During the great revival on the island of Lewis, off the coast of Scotland, a pastor felt led by the Lord to go down to the local dance hall and witness to the worldly young people who were gathered there. It was 3:30 in the morning, and when he walked into the dance hall the music immediately stopped. He asked that they all sing a verse from Psalm 139. (It was the custom of the Scotch people to sing the Psalms.) Several people joined him in singing:

"From Thy spirit whither shall I go?

Or from Thy presence fly?

Ascend I heaven, lo, Thou art there;

There, if in hell I lie."

9. The preacher then started to pray, and followed that with a few words of exhortation. Suddenly the power of God swept through the dance hall. Opposition broke down under conviction of sin and distress of soul. Lost sinners started crying out to God for mercy. The dance was over. God broke it up.
10. And God broke up Jonah’s plans. We read here in verse 4 that "the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea" (1:4-16). But that was still not enough to straighten out this backslidden prophet, so the Bible says "the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah" (1:17).
11. "Then Jonah prayed…" (2:1). When Christians get things right with God and start praying (really praying), then things start to happen. I want to preach today on the great revival in Nineveh.

I. THIS REVIVAL STARTED WITH GOD.

1. God told Jonah, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me" (1:1,2).
2. Anytime you hear about a real revival, you will notice that it starts with God. Some may say, "But doesn’t it start with Christians praying?" Yes, but who gives them this burden to pray?
3. Who brings conviction? Who brings them to their knees and they cry out, "Woe is me! I am not praying like I should be praying." It is God that convicts us of our prayerlessness.
4. The Lord has been dealing with me about this. I received an e-mail. It was forwarded to me by Bro. Cloud. It was written by a youth pastor in Ohio. He said that for six years he has been working with the teenagers in his church and he was quite frustrated. They were all worldly. None of them was going to Christian colleges. None of them was winning souls. None of them was actively serving in the church. None of them was going on to serve as preachers or missionaries or Christian school teachers. They were all going off into the world when they got old enough to leave home.
5. Then the Lord convicted him. He was not praying for them like he should have been. He started praying fervently for them. And God changed his preaching and teaching. He realized most of them were not truly saved. That’s why they were so worldly and so cold! They started getting saved, one by one. They started serving in the Sunday School and in the church. They got on fire for God. They started going off to Christian colleges. They surrendered for full-time Christian service.
6. All because a youth pastor started praying like he ought to (Acts 6:4).
7. It’s God that brings conviction of sin. And make no mistake about it. Not praying is sin (cf. I Sam.12:23).

II. THIS GREAT REVIVAL CAME AFTER PRAYER (JONAH 2:1).

1. Several of our members have been stirred by God as they have read of the great Welsh revival. Evan Roberts was the instrument used by God in that great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. A man named David Matthews wrote a book called "I Saw The Welsh Revival." He wrote these words about Evan Roberts: "His soul seemed to be saturated through and through with the spirit of prayer."
2. I mentioned before the great revival in Lewis, off the coast of Scotland. A pastor there on the island of Lewis had been praying with some of his men for several months, asking for an outpouring of the Spirit of God And then God came down and revival broke out.
3. I have spoken before of the great revival that started down on Fulton Street, right here in NYC back in 1857 when a soulwinning layman got burdened to pray. Others joined him and God moved in a spectacular way.
4. In Jonah chapter 1, Jonah is the Prodigal Prophet. But now in chapter 2, he is the Praying Prophet. God cannot do much with a prodigal prophet, but He can use a praying prophet (2:1-10).
5. The Lord has been dealing with me about this business of prayer. I have been thanking Him for His mercy. He could have shut us down. He could have sent dealt with us in a stern manner. But He has been gracious. Let us praise God for His mercy and longsuffering.
6. He could have said, "You have members skipping prayer meeting, and Sunday School, and Sunday night service! And your pastor is not praying like he should be. OK – I’ll send a big whale to eat him up. I’ll close the church down. I’ll close down your Christian school, and your radio ministry!"
7. Lord, forgive us for our prayerlessness! For our coldness! For our worldliness! For our stinginess! We have members who spend more money on entertainment then they do on the Lord’s work!
8. We have members who spend more money on donuts then they do on missions!
9. We have members who spend more time watching the stupid television than they do reading the Bible. We have members who feed their minds with the sloppy filth straight out of the devil’s pig-pen!
10. Jonah was in the belly of the whale. He realized his situation was desperate. The problem with most church people today is they do not realize their situation is desperate. Parents are losing their children to the devil. Don’t you think it’s time to get serious with God?
11. "Then Jonah prayed…" (2:1). He got serious with God.
12. I have been reading Job the last few days. Job was afflicted. So he got on his knees (Job 16:15-22; 42:5,6).
13. Many other examples could be given. What did Esther and Mordecai do when they discovered Haman’s wicked scheme? They prayed and fasted.
14. What did Daniel do when wicked men plotted against him? The Bible says Daniel got on his knees and prayed three times a day.

III. THIS GREAT REVIVAL BROKE OUT AFTER STRONG PREACHING (3:1-5).

1. Some people complain I preach too hard. Beloved, I honestly do not think I preach hard enough! But if you promise to pray more for me and I promise before God to pray more for you, I know God will make me a better preacher.
2. "Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead!"
3. Notice that God says, "Preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee" (3:2). Jonah was the Prodigal Prophet, and then he was the Praying Prophet, and now he is the Preaching Prophet.
4. Jonah was to preach the message God gave him. If more preachers were doing that today our country would not be such a mess. People hear me preach on the radio, and they call me on the telephone and say, "We never hear any one preaching against sin any more!"
5. Jonah preached the judgment of God (Jonah 3:4). Our Lord said, "They repented at the preaching of Jonah" (Matt.12:41). There will be no repentance without strong preaching.
6. The apostle Paul told Timothy, "Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears" (II Tim.4:2,3).
7. There is preaching that gets the right results and there is preaching that gets the wrong results (cf. Isa.58:1).
8. Jonah preached the judgment of God and the people in Nineveh got right with God (Jonah 3:4-10).

CONCLUSION:

1. I believe it will soon be all over for America unless God sends revival. Some people say America is too wicked for revival. They say sin is too rampant and the apostasy is too deep.
2. I do not believe that. Read about the spiritual condition of Wales before the great revival. Read about the spiritual condition of Lewis before the great revival. There was drinking and dancing, and people skipping church, and people claiming to be Christian but showing absolutely no evidence of ever being born again.
3. Beloved, remember that the city of Nineveh was far more wicked than NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles put together (Jonah 1:2; 4:11).
4. We are at a crossroads today. God has given us a choice. We can either get serious about the things of God or we can just play church.
5. A family came here a few times but stopped coming. I went to visit them to find out what the problem was. The father told me his teenage son was seduced by a 43-year-old woman in their old church, and he is all messed up now.
6. I wish I did not have to deal with this but I hear these things all the time! Beloved, it is either revival or ruin. The choice is ours (Jonah 3:9,10).