REPENTANCE, THE KEY TO REVIVAL!

"God has always sought a humble people.He can use no other...There is
always much need of heart preparation, in humility and separation before God can consistently come.The depth of any revival will be determined exactly by the spirit of repentance that is obtained. In fact this is key to every true revival born of God." -Frank Bartleman
In my ongoing study of II Kings the key to world wide revival again came down to one simple task: REPENTANCE!  Something most of our churches today fail to message.  Why?  Because most feel it is "Old Testament".  They preach a message of the love of God rather than the judgment since that is too "harsh" on their congregants.  From chapter 13: 5-9 King Jehoahaz has just pleaded with God to spare Israel from the oppression of the King of Syria.  God did listen, but did Israel make the change?  Here is a powerful quote from Spurgeon:  "“Israel’s repentance was only half-hearted; they repented because they suffered. They repented because of the suffering rather than because of the sin. They went back to the sin after they escaped from the sorrow.”  As Solomon once said their is nothing new under the sun and so it is with us as the body of Christ today.  Our repentance is half-hearted.  We repent only to escape the suffering, and then when we have had our suffering lifted, we return to our sin without any shame or remorse. Oh that we would truly get on our faces before an Almighty God, pray and repent.  Then we shall truly see the renewal and revival we have so longed to experience.