1 00:00:00,270 --> 00:00:02,030 We invite you to listen now to a 2 00:00:02,030 --> 00:00:04,470 broadcast of a message preached during the regular 3 00:00:04,470 --> 00:00:07,990 Lord's Day services at Faith Free Presbyterian Church 4 00:00:07,990 --> 00:00:09,810 in Greenville, South Carolina. 5 00:00:10,530 --> 00:00:12,730 Today's message is being preached by the minister 6 00:00:12,730 --> 00:00:15,070 of the church, Dr. Alan Cairns. 7 00:00:15,450 --> 00:00:17,770 Our Bible reading is very brief this morning. 8 00:00:18,730 --> 00:00:22,550 I want to basically to read two texts 9 00:00:22,550 --> 00:00:23,250 of Scripture. 10 00:00:23,250 --> 00:00:29,850 The book of Isaiah chapter 32, we'll read 11 00:00:29,850 --> 00:00:31,670 verses 13 to 15. 12 00:00:32,450 --> 00:00:38,150 And then the prophecy of Micah in chapter 13 00:00:38,150 --> 00:00:41,830 2 and verse 7. 14 00:00:43,530 --> 00:00:49,630 Isaiah chapter 32, reading the three verses 13 15 00:00:49,630 --> 00:00:50,530 to 15. 16 00:00:51,410 --> 00:00:56,290 And then Micah chapter 2 and verse 7. 17 00:01:01,660 --> 00:01:03,400 We'll start in Isaiah 32. 18 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:09,960 Upon the land of my people shall come 19 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:13,960 up thorns and briars, yea, upon all the 20 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:16,320 houses of joy in the joyous city. 21 00:01:16,900 --> 00:01:20,840 Because the palaces shall be forsaken, the multitude 22 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:22,220 of the city shall be left. 23 00:01:23,100 --> 00:01:26,500 The forts and towers shall be for dens 24 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:27,060 forever. 25 00:01:28,180 --> 00:01:32,080 A joy of wild asses, a pasture of 26 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:32,660 flux. 27 00:01:32,660 --> 00:01:36,600 Until the Spirit be poured upon us from 28 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,960 on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful 29 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:45,640 field, and the fruitful field be counted for 30 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:46,260 a forest. 31 00:01:47,100 --> 00:01:49,920 Then Micah 2 and verse 7. 32 00:01:54,890 --> 00:01:57,890 O thou that art named the house of 33 00:01:57,890 --> 00:02:01,930 Jacob, is the Spirit of the Lord straightened? 34 00:02:02,650 --> 00:02:04,870 Are these his doings? 35 00:02:05,870 --> 00:02:10,310 Do not my words do good to him 36 00:02:10,310 --> 00:02:13,330 that walketh uprightly? 37 00:02:14,510 --> 00:02:20,410 We have it on divine authority that there 38 00:02:20,410 --> 00:02:25,090 will be times of refreshing and times of 39 00:02:25,090 --> 00:02:27,670 regression in the work of God. 40 00:02:27,670 --> 00:02:32,190 The Apostle Paul admonished Timothy in 2 Timothy 41 00:02:32,190 --> 00:02:34,670 4 and 2 that he would be instant 42 00:02:34,670 --> 00:02:41,630 or urgent, in season and out of season. 43 00:02:42,530 --> 00:02:44,870 We could put that very colloquially. 44 00:02:45,690 --> 00:02:50,410 In good times and in bad or hard 45 00:02:50,410 --> 00:02:51,110 times. 46 00:02:51,990 --> 00:02:54,210 Now this is a perplexity for us. 47 00:02:55,210 --> 00:02:58,370 Given the truth of the fact that the 48 00:02:58,370 --> 00:03:02,450 gospel is the power of God, given the 49 00:03:02,450 --> 00:03:05,570 truth of the fact that the Spirit of 50 00:03:05,570 --> 00:03:08,490 God is promised to the Church of God, 51 00:03:09,630 --> 00:03:13,550 how come that the Church of God so 52 00:03:13,550 --> 00:03:18,710 often does not enjoy the fullness of the 53 00:03:18,710 --> 00:03:23,050 blessing and the fullness of the power and 54 00:03:23,050 --> 00:03:27,790 the mighty outpourings of the Spirit of God 55 00:03:27,790 --> 00:03:32,730 that so effectively quell the onrush of the 56 00:03:32,730 --> 00:03:35,710 devil and establish truth in the land? 57 00:03:36,910 --> 00:03:40,550 Again the question arises, if it be that 58 00:03:40,550 --> 00:03:44,630 the Church hits a period of declension, how 59 00:03:44,630 --> 00:03:47,410 can she get back into blessing? 60 00:03:47,410 --> 00:03:53,150 These questions raise for us the issue, the 61 00:03:53,150 --> 00:03:56,130 vital issue of revival. 62 00:03:56,810 --> 00:03:59,750 We have read two texts of scripture this 63 00:03:59,750 --> 00:04:03,190 morning, each of which has much to say 64 00:04:03,190 --> 00:04:07,030 on the subject of revival and each of 65 00:04:07,030 --> 00:04:11,110 which treats the subject of revival in close 66 00:04:11,110 --> 00:04:14,950 connection with the person and the work of 67 00:04:14,950 --> 00:04:15,790 the Holy Spirit. 68 00:04:15,790 --> 00:04:19,029 And so as we continue in our studies 69 00:04:19,029 --> 00:04:20,670 in the person and work of the Holy 70 00:04:20,670 --> 00:04:24,650 Spirit, I want us today to fasten our 71 00:04:24,650 --> 00:04:28,370 attention on these verses of scripture and to 72 00:04:28,370 --> 00:04:30,950 think upon the spirit of revival. 73 00:04:32,110 --> 00:04:34,750 Now I want to be as simple and 74 00:04:34,750 --> 00:04:37,110 clear as I can possibly be. 75 00:04:37,930 --> 00:04:41,630 There are four very clean observations that we 76 00:04:41,630 --> 00:04:43,870 can make from the texts of scripture before 77 00:04:43,870 --> 00:04:44,170 us. 78 00:04:44,170 --> 00:04:50,510 First and foremost, seasons of declension in the 79 00:04:50,510 --> 00:04:55,730 Church of God are never because of any 80 00:04:55,730 --> 00:04:59,150 failure on the part of the Spirit of 81 00:04:59,150 --> 00:04:59,650 God. 82 00:05:00,750 --> 00:05:05,130 Micah 2 and verse 7 is a scathing 83 00:05:05,130 --> 00:05:08,590 indictment of God's professing people. 84 00:05:08,590 --> 00:05:12,690 O thou that art named the House of 85 00:05:12,690 --> 00:05:18,050 Jacob, is the spirit of the Lord straightened? 86 00:05:19,070 --> 00:05:21,030 Are these His doings? 87 00:05:22,230 --> 00:05:24,990 This strong denunciation should be noted. 88 00:05:26,110 --> 00:05:28,010 It is very, very like the words of 89 00:05:28,010 --> 00:05:30,850 the risen Christ to the church in Sardis 90 00:05:31,630 --> 00:05:34,270 where He said, Thou hast a name that 91 00:05:34,270 --> 00:05:35,710 thou livest and art dead. 92 00:05:35,710 --> 00:05:38,850 Here He comes to these people and He 93 00:05:38,850 --> 00:05:45,330 says, Thou that art named the House of 94 00:05:45,330 --> 00:05:45,710 Jacob. 95 00:05:47,110 --> 00:05:48,930 What a prestigious name. 96 00:05:50,350 --> 00:05:54,930 What a tremendous profession is in that name. 97 00:05:56,010 --> 00:05:59,610 Here is a people standing forth in the 98 00:05:59,610 --> 00:06:05,190 world as God's chosen people, God's redeemed people, 99 00:06:05,810 --> 00:06:10,610 God's covenant people, God's specially blessed people. 100 00:06:11,090 --> 00:06:13,930 They are named with the name of the 101 00:06:13,930 --> 00:06:14,750 House of Jacob. 102 00:06:15,830 --> 00:06:18,930 And yet, though they have that name, they 103 00:06:18,930 --> 00:06:21,970 are far from enjoying the privileges that are 104 00:06:21,970 --> 00:06:25,650 in the name, far from enjoying all the 105 00:06:25,650 --> 00:06:29,050 fullness that God promised, say, in Deuteronomy chapter 106 00:06:29,050 --> 00:06:32,170 8 and in Deuteronomy chapter 11 for the 107 00:06:32,170 --> 00:06:34,650 House of Jacob as they moved into the 108 00:06:34,650 --> 00:06:35,490 promised land. 109 00:06:35,790 --> 00:06:38,890 These people were languishing and there was a 110 00:06:38,890 --> 00:06:43,670 time of national spiritual backsliding and declension. 111 00:06:45,030 --> 00:06:47,550 And as they looked at the awful state 112 00:06:47,550 --> 00:06:51,170 of their land, they would have blamed their 113 00:06:51,170 --> 00:06:51,730 God. 114 00:06:52,490 --> 00:06:55,570 They would have led the onus for the 115 00:06:55,570 --> 00:06:59,390 situation on the lack of movement by the 116 00:06:59,390 --> 00:07:00,330 Spirit of God. 117 00:07:02,090 --> 00:07:04,010 There were other occasions when the House of 118 00:07:04,010 --> 00:07:06,710 Israel did the same thing, in other words. 119 00:07:08,330 --> 00:07:10,590 At one time, and Ezekiel takes them up 120 00:07:10,590 --> 00:07:14,550 on this, at one time they lamented, Our 121 00:07:14,550 --> 00:07:15,790 fathers sinned. 122 00:07:16,490 --> 00:07:18,250 We are bearing the consequences. 123 00:07:19,470 --> 00:07:22,390 Or to use the language of Scripture, our 124 00:07:22,390 --> 00:07:27,230 fathers ate sour grapes and their children's teeth 125 00:07:27,230 --> 00:07:28,410 are set on edge. 126 00:07:28,990 --> 00:07:31,870 In other words, they were blaming God for 127 00:07:31,870 --> 00:07:34,350 what He was doing in their generation. 128 00:07:34,350 --> 00:07:38,750 They were saying things are not good today 129 00:07:38,750 --> 00:07:43,250 because of the lack of activity and powerful 130 00:07:43,250 --> 00:07:46,330 moving on the part of the Spirit of 131 00:07:46,330 --> 00:07:46,830 God. 132 00:07:48,310 --> 00:07:51,610 They obviously were saying these are the Lord's 133 00:07:51,610 --> 00:07:52,550 doings. 134 00:07:53,490 --> 00:07:55,270 Obviously that was their complaint. 135 00:07:56,830 --> 00:07:59,690 Now, we may also be guilty of the 136 00:07:59,690 --> 00:08:00,830 very same sin. 137 00:08:01,830 --> 00:08:03,950 In fact, I find that it is a 138 00:08:03,950 --> 00:08:04,870 very common sin. 139 00:08:06,410 --> 00:08:08,770 We may be guilty of this sin by 140 00:08:08,770 --> 00:08:15,570 lamenting the awful spiritual condition that we find 141 00:08:15,570 --> 00:08:22,270 prevailing around us today without a bitter confession 142 00:08:22,270 --> 00:08:26,810 of our own responsibility for it. 143 00:08:28,090 --> 00:08:31,570 On every hand there are people who are 144 00:08:31,570 --> 00:08:37,049 lamenting the fewness of conversions, real conversions that 145 00:08:37,049 --> 00:08:38,070 we find today. 146 00:08:38,730 --> 00:08:42,270 The shallowness of the work that appears to 147 00:08:42,270 --> 00:08:44,150 be going on in most churches. 148 00:08:45,210 --> 00:08:48,490 So many people are lamenting the wicked state 149 00:08:48,490 --> 00:08:50,670 of the world and the wicked state of 150 00:08:50,670 --> 00:08:51,170 the nation. 151 00:08:51,170 --> 00:08:54,410 And they are lamenting the powerlessness of the 152 00:08:54,410 --> 00:08:56,890 Church of Christ and the preaching of the 153 00:08:56,890 --> 00:08:59,030 Gospel to do anything about it. 154 00:08:59,950 --> 00:09:05,850 But with all those lamentations there is usually 155 00:09:05,850 --> 00:09:10,770 very little confession of sin and very little 156 00:09:10,770 --> 00:09:15,190 brokenness and shedding of tears before the throne 157 00:09:15,190 --> 00:09:15,850 of God. 158 00:09:15,850 --> 00:09:20,410 The question of the text stands, is the 159 00:09:20,410 --> 00:09:22,250 Spirit of the Lord stricken? 160 00:09:24,470 --> 00:09:27,210 Are these His doings? 161 00:09:28,170 --> 00:09:30,590 In other words, the answer to the situation 162 00:09:30,590 --> 00:09:32,410 lies a lot closer home. 163 00:09:32,410 --> 00:09:38,930 We, sad to say, have an awful lot 164 00:09:38,930 --> 00:09:42,950 of the saddest sickness in our day. 165 00:09:43,530 --> 00:09:48,540 The name to live but dead. 166 00:09:50,140 --> 00:09:55,440 How many are called Presbyterians and they luxuriate 167 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:56,320 in that name. 168 00:09:56,620 --> 00:09:58,140 It has a great history. 169 00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:03,940 But they have none of the life of 170 00:10:03,940 --> 00:10:06,480 the man who were willing to burn to 171 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,620 death for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 172 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,080 They have none of the fire that set 173 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,040 the world ablaze with the power of evangelism. 174 00:10:18,340 --> 00:10:20,280 There are others and they love the name 175 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:20,800 Baptist. 176 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,060 But where are the Spurgeons, where are the 177 00:10:25,060 --> 00:10:28,280 Bunyans, where are the Keechers, where are the 178 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,140 great Baptists who knew what it was to 179 00:10:31,140 --> 00:10:36,040 trap the land, preaching Christ and winning souls, 180 00:10:36,420 --> 00:10:38,560 going through with God in prayer? 181 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,200 We have a name that we live. 182 00:10:43,060 --> 00:10:45,660 We take such pride in names. 183 00:10:46,660 --> 00:10:49,360 Worst of all, we can say that we 184 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,400 have the name of Jesus Christ. 185 00:10:53,220 --> 00:10:55,660 We walk in a world of sin and 186 00:10:55,660 --> 00:10:58,620 we dare to be known by the name 187 00:10:58,620 --> 00:11:00,140 of the Son of God. 188 00:11:00,860 --> 00:11:03,900 And yet there is little likeness to Christ, 189 00:11:04,420 --> 00:11:07,560 little love for Christ, little of the mighty 190 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:11,320 enjoyment of Christ, little being taken up with 191 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:12,080 the Lord. 192 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:16,960 A name to live and all the time 193 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:17,700 we are damned. 194 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:22,940 You think of the prayerlessness that afflicts the 195 00:11:22,940 --> 00:11:24,680 church of Christ today. 196 00:11:25,420 --> 00:11:28,800 And let this question burn into our hearts. 197 00:11:29,260 --> 00:11:32,120 Is this the Lord's doing? 198 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,940 You look at the carelessness about the souls 199 00:11:37,940 --> 00:11:38,680 of men. 200 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:43,320 The carelessness even about the souls of your 201 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:44,080 own offspring. 202 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:49,440 The carelessness about the whole condition of this 203 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,900 nation today that prevails among God's people. 204 00:11:53,580 --> 00:11:56,620 You think of the worldliness that has infested 205 00:11:56,620 --> 00:11:58,920 the church of Jesus Christ. 206 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,520 You think of the materialism that has blighted 207 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,040 and blasted the people of God. 208 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:10,320 Then ask the question, is this His doing 209 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,660 or is it our doing? 210 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:18,700 The powerlessness of the church of Jesus Christ 211 00:12:18,700 --> 00:12:23,180 may not under any conditions be led at 212 00:12:23,180 --> 00:12:26,400 the door of the blessed Spirit of God. 213 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:31,760 Rather, the blame lies upon a carnally minded 214 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,200 people called by the name of the Lord, 215 00:12:35,700 --> 00:12:37,860 but without a heart to go along with 216 00:12:37,860 --> 00:12:38,540 their calling. 217 00:12:40,740 --> 00:12:46,200 Prophet Isaiah, chapter 59, verses 1 and 2, 218 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:48,340 sums it all up. 219 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:51,740 He says, The Lord's hand is not shortened 220 00:12:51,740 --> 00:12:52,780 that it cannot see. 221 00:12:52,980 --> 00:12:54,880 His ear is not heavy that it cannot 222 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:55,320 hear. 223 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,220 But your iniquities are separated between you and 224 00:13:00,220 --> 00:13:00,960 your God. 225 00:13:01,540 --> 00:13:04,260 Your sins have hid His face from you 226 00:13:04,260 --> 00:13:07,620 that He will not hear you. 227 00:13:08,380 --> 00:13:12,460 That's the real trouble in the church today. 228 00:13:12,460 --> 00:13:16,180 Oh, it's true, the Lord can send revival 229 00:13:16,180 --> 00:13:21,080 despite all the coldness and deadness of His 230 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:22,080 professing people. 231 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,620 But the matter of fact is that the 232 00:13:25,620 --> 00:13:30,700 Lord usually visits a people who are prepared 233 00:13:30,700 --> 00:13:34,880 by grace and are going on with God 234 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:39,440 with hearts that are deeply burdened for the 235 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:40,460 blessing of God. 236 00:13:40,460 --> 00:13:44,000 So, one reason for the declension is clear. 237 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,480 It may not be led at the door 238 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:47,900 of the Spirit of God. 239 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,280 It comes back to the sins of God's 240 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:51,600 people. 241 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,040 But there's another reason. 242 00:13:54,460 --> 00:13:57,140 We notice from the text, especially in Isaiah 243 00:13:57,140 --> 00:14:02,480 32, that seasons of declension in the church 244 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:09,420 are directly due to a lack of experience 245 00:14:09,420 --> 00:14:12,260 of the fullness of the Holy Ghost. 246 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,860 We were reading in the 32nd chapter of 247 00:14:15,860 --> 00:14:18,600 Isaiah of the blight that lay upon the 248 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:18,940 land. 249 00:14:18,940 --> 00:14:21,320 You know, when you look at this spiritually, 250 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,780 you think you could be describing America today. 251 00:14:25,300 --> 00:14:28,260 You could be describing Great Britain or any 252 00:14:28,260 --> 00:14:31,420 of the once great centers of gospel preaching. 253 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:34,220 Upon the land there are now coming up 254 00:14:34,220 --> 00:14:35,580 thorns and briars. 255 00:14:37,180 --> 00:14:39,420 Those are always the mark of the curse 256 00:14:39,420 --> 00:14:39,900 of sin. 257 00:14:41,420 --> 00:14:43,800 We read that upon all the houses of 258 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,760 joy and in the joyous city, these thorns 259 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:49,180 and briars are coming up. 260 00:14:49,380 --> 00:14:50,380 Now, you think of that. 261 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:54,300 You think of churches across England. 262 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:56,940 And you'll find many of these in New 263 00:14:56,940 --> 00:14:57,740 England as well. 264 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,640 So, the Atlantic obviously hasn't made any difference 265 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:03,000 to it. 266 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,400 But you think of houses that once were 267 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,620 filled with weeping souls seeking Christ. 268 00:15:12,300 --> 00:15:16,200 Where once hundreds and thousands gathered under the 269 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:17,760 preaching of the Word of God. 270 00:15:18,340 --> 00:15:21,240 And today they're either boarded up or they're 271 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:25,660 sold off as warehouses or for some other 272 00:15:25,660 --> 00:15:26,620 carnal means. 273 00:15:28,190 --> 00:15:32,530 What's the reason the thorns and the briars 274 00:15:32,530 --> 00:15:35,090 are coming up in what were the houses 275 00:15:35,090 --> 00:15:37,350 of joy and the joyous cities? 276 00:15:37,770 --> 00:15:39,270 The palaces are forsaken. 277 00:15:39,750 --> 00:15:41,770 The multitude of the city left. 278 00:15:42,670 --> 00:15:45,350 The forts and towers are dens forever. 279 00:15:46,030 --> 00:15:47,570 The defenses are gone. 280 00:15:48,110 --> 00:15:51,510 The wild animals, as it were, are free 281 00:15:51,510 --> 00:15:52,110 to roam. 282 00:15:52,870 --> 00:15:55,630 And the reason they will do this until 283 00:15:55,630 --> 00:15:57,810 the Spirit be poured upon us from on 284 00:15:57,810 --> 00:15:58,210 high. 285 00:15:59,230 --> 00:16:02,270 Isaiah 32 and 15 is a text of 286 00:16:02,270 --> 00:16:06,990 Scripture that should be emphasized in every Christian's 287 00:16:06,990 --> 00:16:07,350 Bible. 288 00:16:07,590 --> 00:16:09,250 It should be much of his heart as 289 00:16:09,250 --> 00:16:11,050 he gets before God in prayer. 290 00:16:11,250 --> 00:16:12,690 It should be a verse that is never 291 00:16:12,690 --> 00:16:15,390 far from your mind as you're pleading with 292 00:16:15,390 --> 00:16:15,950 God. 293 00:16:15,950 --> 00:16:20,490 This situation will persist. 294 00:16:21,570 --> 00:16:22,770 Until when? 295 00:16:24,350 --> 00:16:27,050 Until we get a bigger congregation. 296 00:16:27,490 --> 00:16:27,950 No, sir. 297 00:16:30,020 --> 00:16:33,040 Until we become a richer congregation. 298 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,340 Until we can afford to flood the country 299 00:16:36,340 --> 00:16:39,980 with radio and television programs about the gospel. 300 00:16:40,340 --> 00:16:40,940 No, sir. 301 00:16:41,340 --> 00:16:43,860 All those things may indeed be useful to 302 00:16:43,860 --> 00:16:44,240 God. 303 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:53,040 But this awful situation will persist until the 304 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,940 Spirit be poured upon us from on high. 305 00:16:57,540 --> 00:17:00,980 Once the Holy Ghost is poured forth, thank 306 00:17:00,980 --> 00:17:03,819 God the death is dispelled. 307 00:17:04,099 --> 00:17:07,560 There's no substitute for a night pouring of 308 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:08,740 God the Holy Spirit. 309 00:17:08,740 --> 00:17:11,800 I was reading C. 310 00:17:11,819 --> 00:17:12,079 H. 311 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:14,160 Spurgeon's comments on this subject. 312 00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:16,400 And he said this. 313 00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:20,400 I thought it was a very insightful statement 314 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,599 from a man who had preached his way 315 00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:24,940 through a great revival period. 316 00:17:25,819 --> 00:17:28,860 And indeed, whose entire ministry, you would say, 317 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,000 was lived in the fire of revival. 318 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,980 I suppose there was never a week in 319 00:17:33,980 --> 00:17:37,000 Spurgeon's ministry unless it would have been a 320 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,700 couple of weeks after the great fire in 321 00:17:39,700 --> 00:17:41,540 his first service in Surrey Gardens. 322 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:43,580 Or the great cry of fire. 323 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,360 For there was no fire in the Surrey 324 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:49,420 Gardens Music Hall when he was just knocked 325 00:17:49,420 --> 00:17:50,560 out for a couple of weeks. 326 00:17:51,060 --> 00:17:53,060 But I suppose there wasn't a week other 327 00:17:53,060 --> 00:17:53,520 than that. 328 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,620 That people were not coming to Christ. 329 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,000 That there wasn't a tremendous move of the 330 00:17:59,000 --> 00:17:59,520 Holy Ghost. 331 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:03,220 Here's a man who, for his entire London 332 00:18:03,220 --> 00:18:06,960 ministry, preached not to hundreds, but to thousands. 333 00:18:07,300 --> 00:18:09,220 Six, ten thousand people. 334 00:18:09,500 --> 00:18:10,420 Every service. 335 00:18:11,460 --> 00:18:12,540 Great things were done. 336 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:14,400 This is what he says. 337 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:21,420 Whenever the church declines, one of the most 338 00:18:21,420 --> 00:18:27,000 effectual ways of reviving her is to preach 339 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,080 much on the Holy Spirit. 340 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:36,220 After all, He is the breath of the 341 00:18:36,220 --> 00:18:36,640 church. 342 00:18:37,860 --> 00:18:41,400 Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there 343 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:42,300 is power. 344 00:18:44,470 --> 00:18:45,170 What a statement. 345 00:18:45,170 --> 00:18:49,350 Do you see why I lament and have 346 00:18:49,350 --> 00:18:51,590 done so again and again through these studies? 347 00:18:52,690 --> 00:18:55,010 That since we started studying the person and 348 00:18:55,010 --> 00:18:57,550 work of the Holy Spirit, I have had 349 00:18:57,550 --> 00:19:00,250 more Christians come and say, I have been 350 00:19:00,250 --> 00:19:04,150 seeing for years, some of them many years, 351 00:19:05,370 --> 00:19:07,810 and they are confessing this is the first 352 00:19:07,810 --> 00:19:11,830 time that any preacher has ever taken time 353 00:19:11,830 --> 00:19:15,430 to go into what the Bible teaches concerning 354 00:19:15,430 --> 00:19:17,730 the person and the work of the Holy 355 00:19:17,730 --> 00:19:18,290 Spirit. 356 00:19:20,530 --> 00:19:21,170 What a tragedy. 357 00:19:22,170 --> 00:19:26,910 Here is the greatest English preacher, possibly of 358 00:19:26,910 --> 00:19:31,610 all time, certainly the greatest English pastor in 359 00:19:31,610 --> 00:19:32,970 modern times. 360 00:19:34,210 --> 00:19:35,710 The greatest soul winner. 361 00:19:37,010 --> 00:19:40,090 And yet, he can say, if we are 362 00:19:40,090 --> 00:19:43,450 going to have revival, we must have an 363 00:19:43,450 --> 00:19:45,530 emphasis on the Holy Spirit. 364 00:19:46,110 --> 00:19:47,530 He is the breath of the church. 365 00:19:47,530 --> 00:19:51,050 But in our day, we have seminars on 366 00:19:51,050 --> 00:19:51,590 methods. 367 00:19:52,690 --> 00:19:54,890 We have books on psychology. 368 00:19:55,790 --> 00:19:58,910 We have everything dreamed up in order to 369 00:19:58,910 --> 00:20:00,090 pump people up. 370 00:20:01,770 --> 00:20:05,050 And all the time, what we need is 371 00:20:05,050 --> 00:20:08,410 the power to pray God down in the 372 00:20:08,410 --> 00:20:11,450 person of the Holy Ghost upon His church. 373 00:20:11,450 --> 00:20:16,790 There is no substitute for the outpouring of 374 00:20:16,790 --> 00:20:17,930 the Spirit of God. 375 00:20:19,090 --> 00:20:22,930 If you read the experience of eminent saints 376 00:20:22,930 --> 00:20:26,610 in revival, you will discover that though the 377 00:20:26,610 --> 00:20:30,170 revivals obviously took place at different times in 378 00:20:30,170 --> 00:20:34,530 history, and under different political and social circumstances, 379 00:20:35,110 --> 00:20:37,690 and though there were many points of divergence 380 00:20:37,690 --> 00:20:40,330 as to their conduct, etc. 381 00:20:40,330 --> 00:20:44,130 Yet, they have certain things in common. 382 00:20:45,170 --> 00:20:47,150 If you look at the men who were 383 00:20:47,150 --> 00:20:54,150 involved in revival, always, without exception, their hearts 384 00:20:54,150 --> 00:21:00,170 were ravished as God the Holy Spirit revealed 385 00:21:00,170 --> 00:21:04,350 Christ to them in all the glorious reality 386 00:21:04,350 --> 00:21:05,270 of His person. 387 00:21:06,310 --> 00:21:11,330 And they were overwhelmed as Christ was made 388 00:21:11,330 --> 00:21:15,710 real and personal and sweet to their souls. 389 00:21:16,830 --> 00:21:19,430 It wasn't just that they believed the doctrine 390 00:21:19,430 --> 00:21:20,990 of the deity of Christ. 391 00:21:21,370 --> 00:21:24,090 It wasn't merely that they believed in the 392 00:21:24,090 --> 00:21:24,930 blood atonement. 393 00:21:25,230 --> 00:21:27,910 It wasn't merely that they would say yes 394 00:21:27,910 --> 00:21:29,830 to His current intercession. 395 00:21:29,830 --> 00:21:31,710 They believed those things. 396 00:21:31,870 --> 00:21:34,890 Naturally, you couldn't be saved without believing them. 397 00:21:35,810 --> 00:21:39,090 But suddenly, these things gripped their heart. 398 00:21:39,870 --> 00:21:43,050 Suddenly, Christ was not a doctrine, but He 399 00:21:43,050 --> 00:21:44,250 was a living Savior. 400 00:21:44,910 --> 00:21:49,350 Suddenly, their hearts were overflowing with Christ's love 401 00:21:49,350 --> 00:21:53,730 to them and their reciprocating love to Christ. 402 00:21:54,930 --> 00:21:56,590 That was always the case. 403 00:21:57,390 --> 00:22:04,050 And along with that mighty, overwhelming, ravishing experience 404 00:22:04,050 --> 00:22:06,850 of Christ, and you'll notice I say an 405 00:22:06,850 --> 00:22:09,850 experience of Christ, not of the Holy Ghost. 406 00:22:10,810 --> 00:22:13,450 Oh, I know they experienced the Holy Ghost, 407 00:22:13,790 --> 00:22:17,110 but any experience that pretends to be an 408 00:22:17,110 --> 00:22:19,730 experience of the Holy Ghost that does not 409 00:22:19,730 --> 00:22:22,190 lead a man to Christ is not an 410 00:22:22,190 --> 00:22:25,330 experience of God's Spirit, but of another spirit. 411 00:22:25,330 --> 00:22:28,190 For we have seen again and again that 412 00:22:28,190 --> 00:22:29,810 the work of the Spirit is to lead 413 00:22:29,810 --> 00:22:30,810 man to Jesus. 414 00:22:31,750 --> 00:22:35,470 But along with that, there was another matter. 415 00:22:36,450 --> 00:22:39,330 Always as the Holy Spirit came upon them, 416 00:22:39,850 --> 00:22:42,490 a fire was kindled in their heart. 417 00:22:43,110 --> 00:22:44,790 A fire of holiness. 418 00:22:46,250 --> 00:22:47,190 That's the first thing. 419 00:22:48,150 --> 00:22:49,470 A fire of holiness. 420 00:22:50,470 --> 00:22:54,810 We have much pretended and professed revival today. 421 00:22:56,410 --> 00:22:58,790 It doesn't take you to be a theologian 422 00:22:58,790 --> 00:23:01,790 to see your way through all the arguments. 423 00:23:02,690 --> 00:23:04,350 I confess that if you were to sit 424 00:23:04,350 --> 00:23:10,350 down and listen to all the conflicting, charismatic 425 00:23:10,350 --> 00:23:13,230 claims of the day, your mind would soon 426 00:23:13,230 --> 00:23:14,450 be in a turmoil. 427 00:23:17,190 --> 00:23:19,830 But I tell you this is a very 428 00:23:19,830 --> 00:23:23,110 simple way to find out whether a movement 429 00:23:23,110 --> 00:23:25,270 is a movement of the reviving power of 430 00:23:25,270 --> 00:23:26,450 the Spirit of God or no. 431 00:23:28,610 --> 00:23:32,610 Revival always produces deep holiness. 432 00:23:34,150 --> 00:23:36,170 There is a fire of holiness. 433 00:23:36,390 --> 00:23:38,970 Our God is a consuming fire. 434 00:23:38,970 --> 00:23:42,910 And people in revival will have the burning, 435 00:23:43,390 --> 00:23:47,130 blazing purity of holiness stamped upon them. 436 00:23:48,470 --> 00:23:51,810 There is also a fire of love. 437 00:23:53,210 --> 00:23:55,010 A love for Christ. 438 00:23:56,450 --> 00:23:58,730 A love for the means of grace. 439 00:23:59,350 --> 00:24:01,890 In revival it's not hard to get people 440 00:24:01,890 --> 00:24:03,350 out to hear the Word of God. 441 00:24:03,950 --> 00:24:07,590 In revival you'll not get people moaning that 442 00:24:07,590 --> 00:24:09,650 the preacher preached too long. 443 00:24:10,110 --> 00:24:12,150 They moan that he didn't preach long enough. 444 00:24:12,470 --> 00:24:13,630 And I tell you if I was the 445 00:24:13,630 --> 00:24:15,790 preacher that would certainly strain credulity. 446 00:24:16,310 --> 00:24:19,010 But still, that's the way it is. 447 00:24:19,710 --> 00:24:24,290 In revival it's not hard to get them 448 00:24:24,290 --> 00:24:25,270 to the prayer meeting. 449 00:24:26,690 --> 00:24:29,550 In revival it's not hard to get them 450 00:24:29,550 --> 00:24:30,890 to pray in a prayer meeting. 451 00:24:32,010 --> 00:24:36,650 In revival the only difficulty is to stop 452 00:24:36,650 --> 00:24:37,610 the prayer meeting. 453 00:24:39,290 --> 00:24:40,710 Oh, there's a fire of love. 454 00:24:41,530 --> 00:24:43,250 A love for the means of grace. 455 00:24:45,110 --> 00:24:46,270 A spiritual love. 456 00:24:47,510 --> 00:24:48,890 Oh, people still have to eat. 457 00:24:49,370 --> 00:24:50,410 They still have to drink. 458 00:24:50,530 --> 00:24:51,930 They still have to clothe their family. 459 00:24:52,430 --> 00:24:53,830 They still have a job to do. 460 00:24:55,170 --> 00:24:57,210 In the Isle of Lewis they said in 461 00:24:57,210 --> 00:25:00,350 the revival that they got more work done. 462 00:25:00,530 --> 00:25:01,870 But they got it done in a lot 463 00:25:01,870 --> 00:25:02,690 less time. 464 00:25:03,970 --> 00:25:09,790 Because the people were not given to materialism 465 00:25:09,790 --> 00:25:13,970 and then adding on the church and its 466 00:25:13,970 --> 00:25:15,070 services to that. 467 00:25:15,410 --> 00:25:17,870 They were given to the Lord and they 468 00:25:17,870 --> 00:25:20,250 just did what they had to do to 469 00:25:20,250 --> 00:25:22,610 be good employers or good employees. 470 00:25:22,610 --> 00:25:24,030 As the case may be. 471 00:25:25,010 --> 00:25:27,410 But then a love for the things of 472 00:25:27,410 --> 00:25:27,850 God. 473 00:25:28,670 --> 00:25:30,470 Then of course there's a love for souls. 474 00:25:32,050 --> 00:25:34,110 There's a love for the perishing. 475 00:25:35,290 --> 00:25:36,730 There's a melting of the heart. 476 00:25:38,730 --> 00:25:42,690 You know, I feel and fear that if 477 00:25:42,690 --> 00:25:45,890 there's one thing missing among God's people today, 478 00:25:47,010 --> 00:25:48,810 it's a love for souls. 479 00:25:50,940 --> 00:25:54,480 We can watch as sinners go to hell 480 00:25:55,990 --> 00:25:58,270 and it never touches our heart. 481 00:25:59,910 --> 00:26:02,230 Once the Holy Ghost comes that changes. 482 00:26:02,350 --> 00:26:05,390 I tell you, it's because of a lack 483 00:26:05,390 --> 00:26:08,770 of the experience of the Holy Spirit filling 484 00:26:08,770 --> 00:26:11,330 our hearts that we can have such an 485 00:26:11,330 --> 00:26:11,690 attitude. 486 00:26:12,490 --> 00:26:14,230 And of course then there's a fire of 487 00:26:14,230 --> 00:26:14,870 boldness. 488 00:26:16,350 --> 00:26:20,190 With holiness and love there will come boldness. 489 00:26:20,190 --> 00:26:24,590 In Acts chapter 4, when the people of 490 00:26:24,590 --> 00:26:26,830 God were wanting the fullness of the Spirit, 491 00:26:27,270 --> 00:26:28,470 what did they pray for? 492 00:26:28,750 --> 00:26:30,590 They prayed for boldness. 493 00:26:33,180 --> 00:26:35,680 I'm not talking about a brass neck. 494 00:26:36,500 --> 00:26:41,000 There are some tactless people who imagine that 495 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:48,940 their impolite attitude and tactics amount to boldness. 496 00:26:48,940 --> 00:26:50,740 That's all they amount to so often is 497 00:26:50,740 --> 00:26:51,720 foolhardiness. 498 00:26:52,900 --> 00:26:55,960 I'm not talking either about the kind of 499 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,400 notion that says to you, well, I have 500 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,760 to witness to ten people this week and 501 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,080 therefore by hook or by crook I'm going 502 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:03,580 to do it. 503 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,340 And so just to rid your conscience of 504 00:27:06,340 --> 00:27:09,040 guilt you get through your little spiel. 505 00:27:11,420 --> 00:27:14,040 I'm talking about a people who are so 506 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,820 made like Christ in holiness, who are so 507 00:27:16,820 --> 00:27:19,580 made like Christ in love, whose hearts are 508 00:27:19,580 --> 00:27:22,860 so thrilled with what they have of Christ, 509 00:27:23,580 --> 00:27:26,260 and they're so stamped with what they see 510 00:27:26,260 --> 00:27:29,800 of eternity that they have a boldness to 511 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:30,720 speak for Him. 512 00:27:31,380 --> 00:27:34,900 And they fear neither man, woman, nor devil 513 00:27:34,900 --> 00:27:37,260 in the cause of Jesus Christ. 514 00:27:38,890 --> 00:27:42,350 That is always the case when there is 515 00:27:42,350 --> 00:27:46,470 an experience of the fullness of the Holy 516 00:27:46,470 --> 00:27:46,890 Ghost. 517 00:27:47,850 --> 00:27:51,730 But sadly, we have too much of a 518 00:27:51,730 --> 00:27:56,450 religion of the head, of the mouth, and 519 00:27:56,450 --> 00:28:00,200 of the hand, but very little of the 520 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:00,560 heart. 521 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:05,200 A religion that can think its way through 522 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:09,600 the deep conundrums of theological questions. 523 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:16,680 A religion that can profess great things, has 524 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,680 all the vocabulary, but none of the vitality. 525 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:25,200 A religion of the hand that has the 526 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:30,700 mechanical doing, but without the heartbeat of a 527 00:28:30,700 --> 00:28:34,380 powerful manifestation of the Spirit of God. 528 00:28:35,980 --> 00:28:40,980 Isaiah says there can be no bettering of 529 00:28:40,980 --> 00:28:47,240 the situation spiritually until the Spirit be poured 530 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:49,800 upon us from on high. 531 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:57,200 Declension will dominate until we experience the outpouring 532 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,760 of the Spirit of God. 533 00:29:00,340 --> 00:29:04,120 Thus we can see the cause of the 534 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,380 condition of the declension that we find so 535 00:29:07,380 --> 00:29:09,960 often in the church of Jesus Christ. 536 00:29:10,700 --> 00:29:12,500 But as I look at these texts, thank 537 00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:13,320 God there's hope. 538 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:18,240 Because in Micah 2 and 7, I have 539 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:23,160 to note that seasons of declension in the 540 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:28,380 church are never beyond the power of the 541 00:29:28,380 --> 00:29:30,080 Spirit of God. 542 00:29:30,780 --> 00:29:32,940 The question, is the Spirit of the Lord 543 00:29:32,940 --> 00:29:33,620 straightened? 544 00:29:34,380 --> 00:29:37,960 The answer implied is no. 545 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:42,820 And then again, do not my words do 546 00:29:42,820 --> 00:29:46,020 good to him that walketh uprightly? 547 00:29:46,780 --> 00:29:48,420 The answer is yes. 548 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,280 Now the Spirit of God is not straightened. 549 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:56,160 He's not put in any straight jacket of 550 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,760 impotence or idleness. 551 00:30:01,420 --> 00:30:04,340 He's not straightened by the devices of the 552 00:30:04,340 --> 00:30:05,040 wicked world. 553 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,860 He's not straightened by the grip of the 554 00:30:09,860 --> 00:30:11,560 devil and the souls of men. 555 00:30:12,660 --> 00:30:18,040 He's not straightened because of our position in 556 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,680 the program of prophecy. 557 00:30:20,340 --> 00:30:23,500 So many people want me to believe because 558 00:30:23,500 --> 00:30:26,560 of the lateness of the hour, we can't 559 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:28,240 expect much from God. 560 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,680 I think we must be reading a different 561 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:31,120 Bible. 562 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:37,300 He's not straightened by the fury and the 563 00:30:37,300 --> 00:30:39,540 faithlessness of apostates. 564 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:45,360 All the ecumenists and rationalists and otherists that 565 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,520 are infesting the church today can never straighten 566 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:53,340 the power and operation of the blessed Spirit 567 00:30:53,340 --> 00:30:54,020 of God. 568 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,460 He's not straightened by the magnitude of the 569 00:30:57,460 --> 00:30:59,600 problem that confronts his church. 570 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:03,320 In fact, the very opposite could be said 571 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:03,980 to be true. 572 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:08,340 In Isaiah chapter 59 and verse 19, there 573 00:31:08,340 --> 00:31:11,880 is that outstanding and immutable promise. 574 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,860 When the enemy shall come in like a 575 00:31:16,860 --> 00:31:21,320 flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall raise 576 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:23,580 up a standard against him. 577 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:25,900 Now that's still in my Bible. 578 00:31:27,420 --> 00:31:28,620 I believe it. 579 00:31:29,620 --> 00:31:32,220 The enemy has come in like a flood. 580 00:31:33,300 --> 00:31:36,560 There is a very wicked generation in the 581 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:37,280 world today. 582 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,400 The grip of the devil and the souls 583 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:42,800 of men is horrendous and horrific. 584 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,220 We are late in the program of prophetic 585 00:31:47,220 --> 00:31:47,880 truth. 586 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:53,380 Apostates are on every hand, cursing the work 587 00:31:53,380 --> 00:31:54,040 of God. 588 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:56,640 The problem is enormous. 589 00:31:59,060 --> 00:32:02,360 When the enemy comes in like a flood, 590 00:32:03,820 --> 00:32:06,700 the Spirit of the Lord shall raise up 591 00:32:06,700 --> 00:32:08,580 a standard against him. 592 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:13,360 We look with dismay on the current situation. 593 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:16,480 We have to be honest. 594 00:32:18,020 --> 00:32:22,100 It's very difficult to be optimistic about what 595 00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:24,780 you see going on in the world and 596 00:32:24,780 --> 00:32:25,960 in the church today. 597 00:32:26,500 --> 00:32:28,000 It's difficult to be optimistic. 598 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:34,680 But when you go back to Ezekiel 37, 599 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,220 now I know this is a prophecy and 600 00:32:37,220 --> 00:32:39,020 it has yet a literal fulfillment. 601 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:43,120 But I believe also it's an outstanding parable 602 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:45,480 that has a continuing fulfillment. 603 00:32:48,580 --> 00:32:53,820 In Ezekiel 37, we read, The hand of 604 00:32:53,820 --> 00:32:55,520 the Lord was upon me and he carried 605 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:58,820 me out in the Spirit of the Lord. 606 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:01,060 Note those words. 607 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,740 Because it's only in the Spirit that you 608 00:33:05,740 --> 00:33:07,820 can see the rest of Ezekiel 37. 609 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,400 You look at this with the eyes of 610 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:12,940 the flesh and you'll come to a different 611 00:33:12,940 --> 00:33:13,500 conclusion. 612 00:33:14,540 --> 00:33:16,480 But when you're in the Spirit, you'll see 613 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:16,740 this. 614 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:18,460 He set me down in the midst of 615 00:33:18,460 --> 00:33:20,640 the valley which was full of bones and 616 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,000 he caused me to pass by them round 617 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:23,380 about. 618 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,760 And behold, there were very many in the 619 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:29,480 open valley, and lo, they were very dry. 620 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:33,620 Here's the vision of the valley of dry 621 00:33:33,620 --> 00:33:37,140 bones scattered upon the face of the earth. 622 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:41,820 And he said unto me, here's the question, 623 00:33:42,460 --> 00:33:50,600 Son of Man, can these bones live? 624 00:33:53,510 --> 00:33:56,690 Let's bring it into different language with the 625 00:33:56,690 --> 00:33:57,330 same meaning. 626 00:33:57,330 --> 00:34:05,900 Can God send revival, such a revival as 627 00:34:05,900 --> 00:34:10,920 will bring life to scattered, dead, dry bones? 628 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:20,020 Ezekiel was not making any strong responses of 629 00:34:20,020 --> 00:34:21,120 faith at this point. 630 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:25,679 He said, O Lord God, thine owst. 631 00:34:27,179 --> 00:34:28,239 Thine owst. 632 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:32,699 But the Lord said, prophesy upon these bones 633 00:34:32,699 --> 00:34:35,340 and say unto them, O ye dry bones, 634 00:34:35,500 --> 00:34:37,620 hear the word of the Lord. 635 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:41,199 Now what could be more stupid than standing 636 00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:46,820 talking to an excavated graveyard with all these 637 00:34:46,820 --> 00:34:49,179 dry bones scattered over the place? 638 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:51,940 What could be more stupid in the mind 639 00:34:51,940 --> 00:34:53,560 of the flesh than to look at those 640 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:55,199 bones and start preaching to them? 641 00:34:58,110 --> 00:35:03,230 That's not the way, you would say, to 642 00:35:03,230 --> 00:35:04,490 see anything much done. 643 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:08,420 But that's God's way. 644 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:14,540 And I tell you this, my friend, these 645 00:35:14,540 --> 00:35:16,820 bones can live. 646 00:35:19,740 --> 00:35:22,720 And they live first when God gets a 647 00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:25,280 man filled with the Holy Ghost. 648 00:35:26,500 --> 00:35:29,140 And when a man filled with the Holy 649 00:35:29,140 --> 00:35:32,540 Ghost starts doing what the world says is 650 00:35:32,540 --> 00:35:37,480 stupid, and starts preaching to dead bones, telling 651 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:42,860 them what to do, and by the mighty 652 00:35:42,860 --> 00:35:45,760 power of God, they'll do it. 653 00:35:48,150 --> 00:35:51,950 When the Spirit of God comes in, as 654 00:35:51,950 --> 00:35:56,510 He later does in verse 9, and breathes 655 00:35:56,510 --> 00:36:01,390 life into them, these slain shall live. 656 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:11,460 So there's nothing could be more discouraging than 657 00:36:11,460 --> 00:36:15,140 the situation that Ezekiel presents, but God could 658 00:36:15,140 --> 00:36:15,780 send revival. 659 00:36:18,210 --> 00:36:21,010 When you think, very often we read history, 660 00:36:21,110 --> 00:36:23,850 you know, with rose-tinted spectacles, everything was 661 00:36:23,850 --> 00:36:26,230 great in the past and everything's gruesome today. 662 00:36:27,230 --> 00:36:29,290 Well, that's not quite true. 663 00:36:29,650 --> 00:36:32,170 Because if you were living back in those 664 00:36:32,170 --> 00:36:33,910 days, they were saying the very same thing. 665 00:36:34,930 --> 00:36:38,530 Well, if you read in the period of 666 00:36:38,530 --> 00:36:43,910 England, just before the Great Awakening, under Whitefield 667 00:36:43,910 --> 00:36:50,400 and Wesley and others of their movement, Delamore 668 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:52,340 says in his Life of Whitefield that the 669 00:36:52,340 --> 00:36:55,920 life of England between 1730 and 1740 was 670 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:01,480 foul with moral corruption and crippled by spiritual 671 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:02,040 decay. 672 00:37:03,500 --> 00:37:05,560 Well, you would think that he was writing 673 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:06,560 of our day, wouldn't you? 674 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:12,320 Foul with moral corruption and crippled with spiritual 675 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:12,760 decay. 676 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,860 If you study that period of English history, 677 00:37:17,540 --> 00:37:21,160 you'll find that there were various great marks 678 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:21,700 of sin. 679 00:37:21,700 --> 00:37:24,480 There was unfettered uncleanness. 680 00:37:25,500 --> 00:37:27,980 This went back to the restoration of Charles 681 00:37:27,980 --> 00:37:30,680 II to the throne of England, where he 682 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:33,580 brought in with him a mighty reaction against 683 00:37:33,580 --> 00:37:34,360 Puritanism. 684 00:37:34,780 --> 00:37:38,660 And there was unfettered uncleanness running like a 685 00:37:38,660 --> 00:37:41,800 polluted stream from the court of the king 686 00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:42,900 right through the nation. 687 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:49,940 There was, starting in 1662, political persecution for 688 00:37:49,940 --> 00:37:53,120 Christians when, in the year of the Great 689 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:57,760 Ejection, many, many of the greatest ministers England 690 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,800 ever had were thrown out of their pulpits 691 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,900 and forbidden to preach. 692 00:38:03,940 --> 00:38:08,200 Since they couldn't preach, at least in the 693 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:12,620 places that they once preached, it led them 694 00:38:12,620 --> 00:38:13,540 to great prayer. 695 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:18,200 And I thoroughly believe that the great awakening 696 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:23,520 in following generations had largely its roots in 697 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,500 the praying of persecuted saints. 698 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:30,520 You can't tell me that John Bunyan's twelve 699 00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:36,420 years in Bedford jail, crying to God, were 700 00:38:36,420 --> 00:38:38,280 years that God ignored. 701 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:42,920 Prayers that God didn't answer, I couldn't believe 702 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:43,280 that. 703 00:38:44,380 --> 00:38:47,060 Revival came as the result of prayer. 704 00:38:47,340 --> 00:38:48,600 There was political persecution. 705 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,340 There was a deadening deism across the land. 706 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:54,880 The church was gripped with its form of 707 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:55,780 rationalism. 708 00:38:56,180 --> 00:38:58,540 These were the people that believed that God 709 00:38:58,540 --> 00:39:02,040 had wound up the universe like a clothmaker 710 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:04,260 winding up a great cloth, and then He 711 00:39:04,260 --> 00:39:06,960 just left it to take its way through 712 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:07,400 faith. 713 00:39:08,140 --> 00:39:09,440 But He was not involved. 714 00:39:10,100 --> 00:39:12,480 They didn't want a religion that touched the 715 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:12,800 heart. 716 00:39:13,340 --> 00:39:16,340 They hated a religion that had what they 717 00:39:16,340 --> 00:39:18,260 called enthusiasm. 718 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:20,520 Fanaticism. 719 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:24,260 Now, I don't think that fanaticism is good 720 00:39:24,260 --> 00:39:25,500 in the church of Christ. 721 00:39:26,340 --> 00:39:29,980 But if anybody were to cry, I love 722 00:39:29,980 --> 00:39:33,300 the Lord to these rascals, he was a 723 00:39:33,300 --> 00:39:33,800 fanatic. 724 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,980 If anybody were to feel Christ in his 725 00:39:37,980 --> 00:39:40,220 heart, he was a fanatic. 726 00:39:40,740 --> 00:39:43,720 If anybody were to warn of hell, he 727 00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:44,600 was a fanatic. 728 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:50,140 Oh, what a curse rationalism is in the 729 00:39:50,140 --> 00:39:51,860 church of Jesus Christ. 730 00:39:51,980 --> 00:39:52,940 We have it today. 731 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:56,800 Then there was what I would call a 732 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:58,900 deficient defense of the gospel. 733 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:03,420 Against deism, the church in England produced some 734 00:40:03,420 --> 00:40:06,040 of the greatest theological minds that it has 735 00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:06,720 ever known. 736 00:40:10,010 --> 00:40:12,690 Many of you have heard of Butler's Analogy, 737 00:40:13,470 --> 00:40:16,770 supposed to be one of the greatest apologetic 738 00:40:16,770 --> 00:40:19,470 works in the history of the Christian church. 739 00:40:22,180 --> 00:40:24,180 Now, I've had that book for years. 740 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:26,480 I have read parts of it. 741 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:28,880 And I want to tell you, there are 742 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:30,860 many things that I would rather do than 743 00:40:30,860 --> 00:40:32,260 have to read the rest of it. 744 00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:35,520 And I confess that I maybe should have 745 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,520 read every page and every line. 746 00:40:39,420 --> 00:40:40,860 But my, it's dry. 747 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,220 It's as dry as dust. 748 00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:49,920 I think it was John Murray in Westminster 749 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:51,740 used to say when they came to dry 750 00:40:51,740 --> 00:40:54,780 things, and people said, Professor, this is dry 751 00:40:54,780 --> 00:40:55,380 as dust. 752 00:40:55,420 --> 00:40:57,320 He would say, yes, but it's gold dust. 753 00:40:57,620 --> 00:41:01,060 Well, you couldn't say that about Butler's Analogy. 754 00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:05,380 It's just plain, ordinary dust. 755 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:08,940 That's the kind of defense. 756 00:41:09,100 --> 00:41:10,040 It was very learned. 757 00:41:11,020 --> 00:41:11,700 Very learned. 758 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:14,420 But it was cold. 759 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:18,060 And it was Christless. 760 00:41:18,060 --> 00:41:22,470 I have often said that it's my belief 761 00:41:22,470 --> 00:41:26,130 when the church of Jesus Christ sinks into 762 00:41:26,130 --> 00:41:30,370 this kind of logical apologetic that is not 763 00:41:30,370 --> 00:41:34,190 centered on the vitality of the risen Christ, 764 00:41:34,990 --> 00:41:37,330 that it's a sign of her death and 765 00:41:37,330 --> 00:41:37,850 decay. 766 00:41:38,470 --> 00:41:40,090 And it never accomplishes anything. 767 00:41:41,610 --> 00:41:47,010 Oh, we have this deficient defense of the 768 00:41:47,010 --> 00:41:47,970 gospel today. 769 00:41:49,690 --> 00:41:51,350 Devoid of spiritual power. 770 00:41:52,610 --> 00:41:54,570 Do we not find it even in fundamentalist 771 00:41:54,570 --> 00:41:54,930 churches? 772 00:41:56,750 --> 00:41:59,330 Yes, they stand for what's right, thank God. 773 00:41:59,910 --> 00:42:02,410 And I do not for one moment undervalue 774 00:42:02,410 --> 00:42:05,150 the importance of that stand. 775 00:42:07,300 --> 00:42:08,840 But I want to tell you that for 776 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:11,380 a man to stand up and say, I'm 777 00:42:11,380 --> 00:42:14,120 against Rome, I'm against the World Council of 778 00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:17,280 Churches, I'm against the Communists, I'm against this, 779 00:42:17,540 --> 00:42:20,400 I'm against the other thing, and there is 780 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:22,460 no preaching of Christ. 781 00:42:24,820 --> 00:42:27,100 There is none of the fire and the 782 00:42:27,100 --> 00:42:29,620 life-transforming power of Christ. 783 00:42:30,260 --> 00:42:31,560 I tell you, for a man to do 784 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:33,720 that is to add to the problem, not 785 00:42:33,720 --> 00:42:34,540 to solve it. 786 00:42:36,660 --> 00:42:38,760 There were in those days a carnal clergy, 787 00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:41,060 ministers. 788 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,480 Thank God the non-conformist churches weren't nearly 789 00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:51,060 so bad in this regard, but carnal clergy, 790 00:42:51,300 --> 00:42:54,100 ministers who were so taken up with this 791 00:42:54,100 --> 00:42:54,480 world. 792 00:42:56,300 --> 00:42:57,920 Do we not have those men today? 793 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:01,480 Do we not have this in the pulpit 794 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:02,240 and in the pew? 795 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,300 People who are more taken up with the 796 00:43:08,300 --> 00:43:10,220 business of this world than they are with 797 00:43:10,220 --> 00:43:11,280 the business of eternity. 798 00:43:15,180 --> 00:43:18,220 We had also the separatists, the non-conformists, 799 00:43:18,220 --> 00:43:23,300 the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, the Baptists. 800 00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:26,880 They were all there in England in the 801 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:31,440 18th century, but they were stagnant separatists. 802 00:43:31,620 --> 00:43:33,100 Their preaching was cold. 803 00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:40,510 They were weak many times in theology, and 804 00:43:40,510 --> 00:43:43,350 those who weren't split up with needless divisions. 805 00:43:46,020 --> 00:43:48,240 I don't need to draw the parallel with 806 00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:48,620 today. 807 00:43:48,620 --> 00:43:51,260 It's too plain for anybody to miss. 808 00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:54,240 And the result was a godless nation. 809 00:43:57,090 --> 00:44:00,350 Yes, my friend, that was England before the 810 00:44:00,350 --> 00:44:00,950 Great Awakening. 811 00:44:02,190 --> 00:44:05,450 God in His grace raised a small handful 812 00:44:05,450 --> 00:44:09,750 of men, starting in the University of Oxford, 813 00:44:11,950 --> 00:44:14,990 and in grace in other places, as in 814 00:44:14,990 --> 00:44:18,690 Wales, He was preparing other small handfuls of 815 00:44:18,690 --> 00:44:19,050 men. 816 00:44:19,050 --> 00:44:21,650 At the same time over in New England, 817 00:44:22,190 --> 00:44:24,670 He was dealing with other small numbers of 818 00:44:24,670 --> 00:44:27,810 men, and He was warming their hearts. 819 00:44:28,750 --> 00:44:31,590 They were usually men of great intellect. 820 00:44:33,030 --> 00:44:36,190 Here in the United States, the leader of 821 00:44:36,190 --> 00:44:39,410 the Revival was, at least in New England, 822 00:44:39,550 --> 00:44:45,750 Jonathan Edwards, arguably the greatest philosophical and theological 823 00:44:45,750 --> 00:44:49,510 intellect this country has ever produced. 824 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:53,980 These were usually men of great intellect. 825 00:44:54,900 --> 00:44:58,160 But it wasn't their intellect that brought revival. 826 00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:03,120 These were men whose hearts God had touched. 827 00:45:05,190 --> 00:45:09,110 Thank God they found that however dark the 828 00:45:09,110 --> 00:45:12,710 day, it was not beyond the power of 829 00:45:12,710 --> 00:45:14,070 the Spirit of God. 830 00:45:14,830 --> 00:45:17,650 He is evil. 831 00:45:18,650 --> 00:45:22,050 You could very easily get disappointed in our 832 00:45:22,050 --> 00:45:25,750 day, but it's not beyond the power of 833 00:45:25,750 --> 00:45:26,470 the Holy Ghost. 834 00:45:27,470 --> 00:45:31,550 Therefore, the final thing I note is this, 835 00:45:32,090 --> 00:45:35,190 that in seasons of declension in the church, 836 00:45:36,350 --> 00:45:41,530 we should be much in prayer for revival 837 00:45:41,530 --> 00:45:44,090 from the Spirit of God. 838 00:45:45,010 --> 00:45:48,710 There is a striking verse toward the end 839 00:45:48,710 --> 00:45:56,600 of the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 62, verses 840 00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:57,620 6 and 7. 841 00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:04,880 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O 842 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:11,200 Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day 843 00:46:11,200 --> 00:46:11,800 nor night. 844 00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:18,060 Ye that make mention of the Lord, margs 845 00:46:18,060 --> 00:46:23,120 no reading, ye that are the Lord's remembrances, 846 00:46:24,720 --> 00:46:31,920 you who are God's reminders, keep not silence 847 00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:39,200 and give Him no rest till He establish 848 00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:44,340 and till He make Jerusalem a praise in 849 00:46:44,340 --> 00:46:44,640 the air. 850 00:46:46,660 --> 00:46:47,600 What an injunction. 851 00:46:50,390 --> 00:46:50,730 Watchmen. 852 00:46:50,790 --> 00:46:51,810 Who are the watchmen? 853 00:46:52,710 --> 00:46:55,290 They are the men who mount the tower 854 00:46:55,290 --> 00:46:55,910 of prayer. 855 00:46:57,490 --> 00:46:59,510 They are the men who are there to 856 00:46:59,510 --> 00:47:01,510 remind God of His covenant. 857 00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:08,580 God says to these prayer warriors, though He 858 00:47:08,580 --> 00:47:11,600 even seems to suffer long with them, He 859 00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:20,080 says, Give your God no rest until He 860 00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:25,400 establishes Jerusalem, until He pours out His Spirit, 861 00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:28,040 until He sends revival. 862 00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:31,880 Why and how can you do that? 863 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:36,280 The answer, verse 8, The Lord hath sworn 864 00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:38,940 by His right hand and by the arm 865 00:47:38,940 --> 00:47:39,880 of His strength. 866 00:47:39,980 --> 00:47:41,280 And He goes on to give the promise. 867 00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:45,640 We have a God of covenant faithfulness. 868 00:47:46,220 --> 00:47:47,760 We have a God who has given His 869 00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:48,140 promise. 870 00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:51,060 And therefore we ought to pray. 871 00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:54,440 And that without ceasing giving Him no rest 872 00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:56,660 until He send us revival. 873 00:47:57,180 --> 00:47:58,320 You listen to His promise. 874 00:47:58,500 --> 00:48:02,640 Isaiah 41 and 17 When the poor and 875 00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:04,880 needy seek water and there is none, and 876 00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:06,420 their tongue faileth for thirst. 877 00:48:07,740 --> 00:48:09,840 I've often pointed out in reading that verse 878 00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:12,880 in prayer meetings, that these are not just 879 00:48:12,880 --> 00:48:14,720 people who are finding it hard to pray. 880 00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:19,180 These are people who are so weak that 881 00:48:19,180 --> 00:48:21,460 they can hardly utter a word in prayer. 882 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,720 Their tongue fails for thirst. 883 00:48:25,900 --> 00:48:29,040 With spiritual thirst their tongue, as it were, 884 00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:30,680 has swollen in their mouth. 885 00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:34,980 And they are incapable of great wordiness in 886 00:48:34,980 --> 00:48:37,400 prayer, but with a broken heart. 887 00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:39,680 They are before God. 888 00:48:40,140 --> 00:48:42,100 And it says, I, the Lord, will hear 889 00:48:42,100 --> 00:48:42,320 them. 890 00:48:42,500 --> 00:48:45,300 I, the God of Israel, will not forsake 891 00:48:45,300 --> 00:48:45,480 them. 892 00:48:45,600 --> 00:48:47,360 I'll open up the rivers and hide places 893 00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:49,520 and fountains in the midst of the valleys. 894 00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:51,500 I'll make the wilderness a pool of water. 895 00:48:52,460 --> 00:48:53,360 And so on. 896 00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:56,040 Revival promised. 897 00:48:56,840 --> 00:48:59,180 There is a beautiful promise in the 44th 898 00:48:59,180 --> 00:49:00,680 chapter of Isaiah. 899 00:49:01,860 --> 00:49:03,580 How often we need to plead it. 900 00:49:03,580 --> 00:49:07,100 I will pour water on him that is 901 00:49:07,100 --> 00:49:07,560 thirsty. 902 00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:11,320 Floods upon the dry ground. 903 00:49:12,340 --> 00:49:15,840 I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed. 904 00:49:17,660 --> 00:49:20,560 My, here's a promise for every Christian parent 905 00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:21,540 to be pleading. 906 00:49:22,980 --> 00:49:25,340 Here's a promise for every father and every 907 00:49:25,340 --> 00:49:28,880 mother worried about their children growing up in 908 00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:32,580 this sinful and adulterous generation in this day 909 00:49:32,580 --> 00:49:35,300 when the devil is using every act and 910 00:49:35,300 --> 00:49:37,820 every device to damn their souls. 911 00:49:38,260 --> 00:49:40,020 Lord, give me water. 912 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:43,080 Give me the floods on this dry ground. 913 00:49:43,380 --> 00:49:48,020 And pour out Your Spirit on my seed. 914 00:49:48,940 --> 00:49:50,660 That's the promise that He gives us. 915 00:49:52,040 --> 00:49:53,220 What a promise it is. 916 00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:57,160 Those who have heard the tape of the 917 00:49:57,160 --> 00:50:02,960 Isle of Lewis revival will remember that in 918 00:50:02,960 --> 00:50:05,840 one part of the island as they were 919 00:50:05,840 --> 00:50:09,020 praying and the revival had not broken there, 920 00:50:10,820 --> 00:50:13,560 one old elder of the church got up 921 00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:15,880 in the middle of the night in an 922 00:50:15,880 --> 00:50:18,020 all-night prayer meeting and lifted his heart 923 00:50:18,020 --> 00:50:21,660 to God with these words, Lord, Thou hast 924 00:50:21,660 --> 00:50:24,600 said I will pour water on him that 925 00:50:24,600 --> 00:50:25,200 is thirsty. 926 00:50:26,200 --> 00:50:31,080 Lord, as best I know my heart, I 927 00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:32,780 am thirsty. 928 00:50:34,660 --> 00:50:38,040 And he called on God, yea, challenged God, 929 00:50:38,500 --> 00:50:43,520 that He would now fulfill His covenant promise. 930 00:50:46,350 --> 00:50:49,810 And God did it with immeasurable power. 931 00:50:51,750 --> 00:50:53,770 Therefore, we can pray. 932 00:50:55,050 --> 00:50:58,870 Isaiah prayed in 64 in verse 1, O 933 00:50:58,870 --> 00:51:03,310 that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come 934 00:51:03,310 --> 00:51:06,430 down that the mountains might flow down at 935 00:51:06,430 --> 00:51:07,230 Thy presence. 936 00:51:08,370 --> 00:51:10,510 When I come to church, when I come 937 00:51:10,510 --> 00:51:13,970 to the meetings, that is very, very frequently 938 00:51:13,970 --> 00:51:14,750 my prayer. 939 00:51:16,050 --> 00:51:19,130 O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens today. 940 00:51:19,710 --> 00:51:21,610 God, take us out of the ordinary. 941 00:51:21,610 --> 00:51:25,070 We were singing from the 85th psalm, the 942 00:51:25,070 --> 00:51:26,930 prayer of the psalmist for revival. 943 00:51:27,350 --> 00:51:28,490 And what did he cry? 944 00:51:28,730 --> 00:51:33,810 Wilt Thou not revive us again that Thy 945 00:51:33,810 --> 00:51:37,930 people may rejoice in Thee? 946 00:51:39,230 --> 00:51:44,170 Habakkuk prayed in chapter 3 in verse 2, 947 00:51:45,330 --> 00:51:52,110 O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst 948 00:51:52,110 --> 00:51:53,230 of the years. 949 00:51:53,610 --> 00:51:56,850 In the midst of the years make known 950 00:51:56,850 --> 00:52:00,910 in wrath, remember mercy. 951 00:52:03,630 --> 00:52:05,210 These are the prayers we ought to be 952 00:52:05,210 --> 00:52:05,510 praying. 953 00:52:06,510 --> 00:52:09,450 And praying them will entail having the Lord 954 00:52:09,450 --> 00:52:10,290 be with us. 955 00:52:11,230 --> 00:52:12,730 As we come to the close of this 956 00:52:12,730 --> 00:52:17,660 meeting this morning, if you're a Christian, I 957 00:52:17,660 --> 00:52:19,880 want you to realize when you pray God 958 00:52:19,880 --> 00:52:24,900 send revival, you're praying that God will start 959 00:52:24,900 --> 00:52:28,460 dealing with your sin and start dealing with 960 00:52:28,460 --> 00:52:32,260 your carnality and start dealing with everything in 961 00:52:32,260 --> 00:52:34,300 your life that's grieving to God. 962 00:52:36,670 --> 00:52:39,290 In the 80th psalm, I commend it much 963 00:52:39,290 --> 00:52:41,210 to your very careful perusal. 964 00:52:41,650 --> 00:52:42,390 Pray through it. 965 00:52:43,010 --> 00:52:46,310 In the 80th psalm, the psalmist is looking 966 00:52:46,310 --> 00:52:48,030 back on what the Lord did. 967 00:52:48,490 --> 00:52:49,770 He's the shepherd of Israel. 968 00:52:50,150 --> 00:52:51,830 He sits between the cherubim. 969 00:52:52,090 --> 00:52:53,750 He led Joseph like a flock. 970 00:52:55,570 --> 00:52:57,270 And yet here they were in an awful 971 00:52:57,270 --> 00:52:58,010 situation. 972 00:52:58,330 --> 00:52:59,170 And what's he praying? 973 00:52:59,450 --> 00:53:02,470 He's praying, Lord, stir Yourself up! 974 00:53:03,130 --> 00:53:06,110 Stir up Your strength before Your people! 975 00:53:07,910 --> 00:53:10,290 Ah, but as soon as he starts to 976 00:53:10,290 --> 00:53:12,750 pray for revival, what happens? 977 00:53:13,210 --> 00:53:15,210 God starts to convict him of sin. 978 00:53:16,310 --> 00:53:21,970 And he prays, Turn us, O God! 979 00:53:23,310 --> 00:53:26,230 Cause Thy face to shine upon us, and 980 00:53:26,230 --> 00:53:27,110 we shall be saved. 981 00:53:27,830 --> 00:53:32,050 Three times in that psalm, he prays, Turn 982 00:53:32,050 --> 00:53:34,290 us, O God! 983 00:53:35,410 --> 00:53:37,250 Then, O Lord God! 984 00:53:38,210 --> 00:53:40,890 And then, O Lord God of hosts, the 985 00:53:40,890 --> 00:53:43,890 three great descriptions of our God. 986 00:53:44,750 --> 00:53:45,930 He's the God of heaven. 987 00:53:46,310 --> 00:53:47,610 He's the God of hosts. 988 00:53:48,030 --> 00:53:49,630 He's the God of the covenant. 989 00:53:50,630 --> 00:53:53,930 And here we're praying, Lord, Turn us to 990 00:53:53,930 --> 00:53:54,490 Yourself. 991 00:53:55,970 --> 00:53:58,190 You know, you can pay all the lip 992 00:53:58,190 --> 00:53:59,690 service you will to revival. 993 00:54:01,070 --> 00:54:03,410 But while you're a carnal man, you're just 994 00:54:03,410 --> 00:54:04,810 a liar before God. 995 00:54:06,130 --> 00:54:08,590 I know that's a strong thing to say 996 00:54:08,590 --> 00:54:11,710 to a Christian, or one who names the 997 00:54:11,710 --> 00:54:12,530 name of Christ. 998 00:54:13,490 --> 00:54:16,230 My friend, if you pay lip service before 999 00:54:16,230 --> 00:54:18,530 God and the things of God, and you 1000 00:54:18,530 --> 00:54:21,230 have a heart yet uncircumcised, you have a 1001 00:54:21,230 --> 00:54:23,710 heart that's still set on the world, and 1002 00:54:23,710 --> 00:54:27,310 you're more interested in jobs and money and 1003 00:54:27,310 --> 00:54:31,650 houses and lands and pleasures and pastimes than 1004 00:54:31,650 --> 00:54:34,830 you are in your God, then you may 1005 00:54:34,830 --> 00:54:36,170 have a name that you live. 1006 00:54:37,830 --> 00:54:41,370 You've got to wonder, are you not yet 1007 00:54:41,370 --> 00:54:41,890 dead? 1008 00:54:43,590 --> 00:54:45,490 If you're going to pray for revival, you're 1009 00:54:45,490 --> 00:54:48,070 praying that God will deal with your sin 1010 00:54:48,070 --> 00:54:50,970 and the thing that grieves His Holy Spirit. 1011 00:54:51,710 --> 00:54:54,350 Judgment must begin at the house of God. 1012 00:54:55,270 --> 00:54:58,210 The temple has to be purified. 1013 00:54:58,210 --> 00:55:02,390 God must then dedicate it to the Lord. 1014 00:55:03,530 --> 00:55:05,370 What a beautiful picture it is. 1015 00:55:06,130 --> 00:55:09,850 When Solomon dedicated the temple, the glory of 1016 00:55:09,850 --> 00:55:12,170 the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 1017 00:55:13,250 --> 00:55:15,470 Your body is the temple of the Holy 1018 00:55:15,470 --> 00:55:15,910 Ghost. 1019 00:55:17,410 --> 00:55:20,190 This church and every other church that's true 1020 00:55:20,190 --> 00:55:23,390 to Christ is a living temple of the 1021 00:55:23,390 --> 00:55:24,150 living Christ. 1022 00:55:25,110 --> 00:55:30,470 When the temple is cleansed and dedicated to 1023 00:55:30,470 --> 00:55:35,790 Christ, then the Spirit of the Lord will 1024 00:55:35,790 --> 00:55:39,510 fill the house of the Lord, and we 1025 00:55:39,510 --> 00:55:43,510 will then again prove the Holy Spirit to 1026 00:55:43,510 --> 00:55:48,850 be the Spirit of revival. 1027 00:55:49,810 --> 00:55:52,910 May God make that our real experience. 1028 00:55:52,910 --> 00:55:55,310 For His namesake. 1029 00:56:25,350 --> 00:56:28,470 29615 We invite you to listen each week 1030 00:56:28,470 --> 00:56:30,690 at this same time for a message from 1031 00:56:30,690 --> 00:56:32,690 Faith Free Presbyterian Church.