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Things That Hinder Revival

(Jonah 3:5) "So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them... (4:1) But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry." Imagine if you will one of the largest and most wicked kingdoms of all time, repenting of their sin and turning to the God of heaven, and Jonah became angry. In fact he refused to rejoice in the repentance of a sinner. 1) Jonah's heart was not right with God. Jonah had seen the terrible things that the people of Nineveh did to Israel. They stole their possessions, raped their woman, killed and murdered Israel's fathers, and then enslaved their children. They were pagan, immoral, exceedingly wicked, and yet God still wanted Jonah to preach to them. For it wasn't until Jonah was in the belly of the whale that he truly surrendered to do so. You see, Jonah saw the forgiveness of God upon the Ninevites as wrong and so he refused to rejoice in their revival; In fact it disgusted him.. 2) Unforgiveness and pride hardened Jonah's heart. God has concluded that all men are sinners, and that all deserve hell, but he has also determined that all men have a chance at repentance. You see, it's not our calling to judge or condemn anyone, but it is our calling to go and preach to every creature, and to forgive them, and love them even if we don't like them. Revival cannot come to anyone who's prejudice and pride is in the way!  

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