Jeremiah 2:28-32

The Literary Digest of September 15, 1923, states:

"History knows no disaster which parallels the earthquake and fire that visited Japan this month,
and  laid waste the capital city and the chief seaport."

The New York Tribune called this earthquake "undoubtedly the greatest disaster in recorded time."

The New York Times described the havoc as covering  about 45,000 square miles
which contained five large cities and a population of 7 million.

Other news articles reported that virtually every building in Yokohama was destroyed.
Perhaps three-fourths of Tokyo was burned, and the entire city with its 5 million inhabitants
was shattered by the earthquake.

A joint survey made by Secretary Hoover and the Red Cross  estimated the dead at almost 300,000
with 2,500,000 people  homeless.

Disease and despair rode throughout the island empire.

Then help came! Help came from America for helpless  Japan!

Food, clothing, medical supplies, money, and volunteer workers came by the shipload.
The American Red Cross collected $10 million from the  people of the United States
for the suffering and homeless Japanese  people.

Those who lived through the awful earth tremors, the gigantic  waves, and the tongues of fire
seemed doomed to die from starvation or  disease.

But they did not... because America  remembered.
America remembered their need, their suffering, and their  hunger.

The Japanese were grateful.
They put their appreciation in writing.
Walter Keirman, correspondent for the International News Service,  recalls their words:
"Japan will never forget! ."

But Japan  did forget!

American ships of mercy were forgotten, and the rising Sun sent planes of destruction in return.
On Dec. 7,1941, Japanese airplanes brought death and destruction to Pearl Harbor.
The Rising Sun proclaimed that they would bring America to its knees,
and that America would beg for mercy.

The Japanese are not the only ones who have overlooked past  mercies.

Long ago, the Lord said of Israel: "My people have forgotten me days without number."
(Jeremiah 2:32)

God had truly blessed Israel, but they forgot.
They forgot that: "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God."
(Psalm 9:17)

Adam forgot and lost Paradise.
Samson forgot and was shorn of his strength.
Saul forgot and lost a kingdom.
David forgot and reaped the dread consequences in his family.
Judas forgot and died tragically.
Peter forgot and cried the bitter tears of remorse.

It pays to remember!

Nothing but heartbreak, grief, and woe can come to those who choose to disregard the mercies
and the immutable counsels of  God.

God has blessed America, but America has also forgotten  God.

America has forgotten what made her strong and great.
America has forgotten God.

Americans, like the Romans of  old, are addicted to pleasure.

We spend $83 million a year for leisure  activities.
Another $35 billion will be spent on vacation travel within the  United States.
Foreign travel adds an additional $5 billion.

Rome lost her soul into a merry-go-round of "wine, women, and song."

America is doing the same!

When will our nation learn that you cannot have morale without morality?
In America over 25 million sex magazines are sold each month.

100,000 young women are lured  into prostitution each year.
Drug addiction and drug abuse cost our country from $10 to $17 billion annually,
and also cost our country thousands and  thousands of deaths each year resulting
from these deadly addictions.

100  students and staff are murdered each year in public schools.
70,000 teachers  are injured from attacks by students.
Chicago school system spends $3 million  annually to repair damage caused by vandals.
Washington DC spends $622,000  per year to repair broken windows.
School boards across the nation spend much more money on repairs than on textbooks.

One driver out of every four coming at you between 10 PM and 3 AM has been drinking.
One in eight has drunk enough to impair their driving ability.
Therefore, thousands are killed, slaughtered on our highways by intoxicated drivers.

When will  we learn our lesson?

Men or nations cannot forget Godwithout paying the consequences.

Computers have calculated that you, an average citizen in America, will live an average of 70 years.
You  will invest those years in:

Twenty-four years sleeping.
Fourteen years working.
Six years eating.
Three years learning.
Four years talking.
Five years walking, riding.
Eight years amusing  yourself.

Now listen to this!

Assuming that you spend five minutes a day in prayer, and up to three hours a week in church,
at the end of 70 years, you would have spent only 20 months in prayer and praise.

On any given Sunday only 40 percent of church members in America attend church  services.

Knowing that we have no guarantee of tomorrow, and that tragedy can strike at any time
in many different ways, how can we forget  God?

With over one-half of the world hungry, multiplied millions living on the  brink of starvation,
with crime crushing the life out of our cities,  neighbors living and walking in terror by day
and sleeping in fear by night, wars always starting and seldom ending -- how can we forget  God?

Yet, we have forgotten God!

Patrick Henry once said: "I know of no way of judging the future, but by the past."

The Roman Empire had a history to which we, as  Americans, can relate.

The world lay at her feet.
The wealth of the  world flowed into Rome.
What the armies of her victims could not do, wealth  and luxurious living did.

Rome rotted on the inside!

Even her pagan religious values lost their meaning.
The citizens of Rome lost  their initiative, depending on the government for circuses and bread.
Taxes  soared, corruption increased in public and private life, marriage decayed,  divorce increased,
and homes were broken.

What had once been a mighty  Empire became a hollow shell.

Rome fell easy prey to the barbarians from the North.

Every force which destroyed the Roman Empire is at work in our nation this very hour.

We need revival!

The only thing that can save us is a revival of genuine Christian religion.

Even more tragic -- could it be?

We, His  children, the church have forgotten God!

After God has blessed us so -- have we also forgotten God?

Check these  statistics:

57 percent of the nation belong to some church.
10 percent cannot be located.
20 percent never attend.
40 percent never give.
60 percent never attend a prayer meeting.
80 percent do not tithe.
90 percent have never been instrumental in leading a person to Christ.

Have we, His children, forgotten God?

Have we forgotten the  scars?
Have we forgotten the sacred brow dripping crimson from under its thorny crown?
Have we forgotten the wounded side where a savage Roman spear plunged deep
into the side of our Lord and  Saviour?
Have we forgotten the hands and feet pierced with the nails
and stretched and torn with the weight of the precious body of the suffering Saviour?

If our early love for Him is gone, then we  have forgotten Him.
If our love for His precious Word is gone, then we have forgotten Him.
If we have grown content with the knowledge of eternal truth already acquired,
then we have forgotten Him.
If we are not hungry and diligent in the study of God's Word, then we have forgotten Him.
If we do not feed daily upon God's  Word, then we have forgotten God.
If we never even open the  Word of God, then we have forgotten God.
If prayer is no longer  a vital passion of our life, then we have forgotten God.
If we have no regular times of prayer, then we have forgotten God.
If there is a complete lack of prayer in our lives, then we have certainly forgotten God.

When the services of the church no longer claim  our attendance or our interest,
then we have forgotten God.
When the singing of the hymns of praise no longer excite us, then we have forgotten God.
When the hearing of God's Word proclaimed no longer delights us, then we have forgotten God.
When attendance at God's house is abandoned altogether, it is clear that God is forgotten.

When sports, recreation,  and amusements become more important in our lives than the Lord Jesus,
then we have forgotten God.
When such events are more important than our spiritual progress, then we have forgotten God.
When more time is devoted to play than to prayer, then God has been forgotten.

When sins of the flesh can be indulged in without an uproar in your conscience,
then God has been  forgotten.
When sensitivity over sin has vanished, then God has been forgotten.
When sins no longer stun the soul, then God has been forgotten.

Once we would have been sick at the sight of sin.
Once we would have had sleepless nights over sin.
But now there is no  problem -- there is no remorse -- God has been forgotten!

When the acquisition of money and things become a  dominant part of our thinking,
then God has been forgotten.
When the focus is on money, houses, cars, lands, stocks, and bonds, then God has been forgotten.

When breaches of peace in the fellowship no longer disturb or concern us,
then God has been  forgotten.
When we are no longer concerned about the unity of the church, then God has been forgotten.
When there is no grief over broken fellowship, then God has been forgotten.
When the  slightest excuse is sufficient to keep us from spiritual duty and opportunity,
then God has been forgotten.

When we are no longer concerned with our lack of spiritual power, then God has been  forgotten.

When murmuring and complaining take the place of praising and loving,
then God has been forgotten.

When thousands of special mercies from the hand of God are forgotten
in the face  of one small affliction, then God has been forgotten.

When lying becomes an accepted way of life, then God has been  forgotten.
When dishonesty is accepted as a business practice, then God has been forgotten.

When we are no longer  concerned about the destiny of our loved ones and friends
who are without  Christ, then God has been forgotten.

When any of these things are true -- God has been forgotten!

When injustice and human misery exist around us, and we do little or nothing
to relieve the suffering, then God has been forgotten.
When we can pass by on the other side and do nothing, then God has been  forgotten.
When our tears are dried up to those who are hurting, then God has been forgotten.

Whenever our prayerlessness  does not cause our tears to flow...
When our personal sins do not provoke us to tears...
When the decline of spiritual  interest all around us does not force tears from our eyes...
When the lostness of our children -- parents -- sisters -- brothers -- husbands -- wives -- grandparents
 -- neighbors -- friends -- school friends --companions on the job --  cannot unleash the tears --
then God has been forgotten.

If any of these aspects apply to you, then to that extent, you have forgotten God!

How long will God tolerate our forgetfulness?
How long will it be until judgment begins at the house of God?

We need revival!

It is time to remember God!

The Great Depression was behind, and on March 18, 1937, people were prosperous in New London,
Texas from an oil boom.
The streets were filled with new cars and bank accounts were fat from royalties.

Unfortunately, the material prosperity seemed to have caused a decline of interest in spiritual causes.

The people of New London, Texas had no time for God.
They had forgotten God!

One  Wednesday night -- only the janitor and the pastor appeared for the midweek  prayer services.

On the very next day, a fateful Thursday, New Londoners went about their business as usual.

School children were busy in the new school building which had been constructed from all  revenues.
The new school building was the pride of New London.

Suddenly, the new school blew apart in a thunderous  explosion.

Children were blown out the windows upon the playground  like leaves
caught in a gigantic whirlwind.

It happened too quickly for even a warning.

One moment the  citizens of New London were going about their routine work;
the next thing they knew, they were picking up their dead children from off the  school ground.

Altogether, 294 children died from that tragic explosion.
That was horrible! That was tragic! That brought grief to the  entire city.

Twenty years after the blast, an elderly Baptist  deacon said:
"I'll never forget that scene in the Baptist Church after the  explosion.
The church was packed and jammed the next Wednesday night.
Parents were sobbing in repentance.
There were so many converted, the pastor couldn't keep count.
We had all forgotten God and begun worshiping the things which the oil royalties could buy.
But  after the tragedy, in which almost every family in the town and in the surrounding area
lost a child, we woke up to see what was  important."

Oh, may we wake up and see what is really  important!

We need revival!

"Coming now to Thee, O Christ my Lord
Trusting only in Thy precious Word,
Let my humble prayer to  Thee be heard,
And send a great revival in my soul.

Send a great revival in my soul,
Send a great revival in my soul,
Let the Holy Spirit  come and take control,
And send a great revival in my soul."

Sermon by  Dr. Harold L. White
Email Dr. White at hleewhite@aol.com