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  A VESSEL PREPARED FOR REVIVAL
  by Keith Malcomson
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Summary: This sermon is about the preparation of Gideon as a vessel of
revival in the midst of obscurity, sacrifices, apostasy, and divine
confirmation. Gideon is called to rise up against idolatry in his
father's house and gather people to stand against the enemy. Through
divine signs and sacrifices, Gideon seeks assurance of God's will and
prepares for the coming revival.

Duration: 1:18:14 Topics: "Divine Preparation", "Faith in Adversity"
Scripture References: Judges 6:11, Judges 6:27, Judges 6:34, Judges 6:36, Judges 7:2

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon is about the preparation of Gideon as a vessel of revival in
the midst of obscurity, sacrifices, apostasy, and divine confirmation.
Gideon is called to rise up against idolatry in his father's house and
gather people to stand against the enemy. Through divine signs and
sacrifices, Gideon seeks assurance of God's will and prepares for the
coming revival.

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CONTENT
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Here this morning, I want you to turn to the Old Testament in your
Bible, to the book of Judges. If you want to find Judges, find
Deuteronomy, the fifth book of Moses. Then you'll have Joshua, then you
have Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, and you'll be able to find it.

But we're going to Judges, chapter 6, here this morning. And I'm
starting a new series, maybe over the next two or three weeks, I don't
know how far we go. But I do know where we're to start here.

And I've got a new mini-series called, A Vessel of Revival. And when I
talk about a vessel of revival, when I talk about a vessel, I'm talking
about an instrument. A gathering or a group of genuine born-again
believers, who are going to be forged together to be an instrument for
God to pour out His Holy Spirit.

And that's what we're going to deal with, a vessel of revival. And I'm
going to explain this thoroughly. We're going to begin this morning, and
I'm only laying the foundation of where God begins in seeking for a
vessel of revival.

You find that what I'm going to give you is found all throughout the
Bible, Old Testament, New Testament, all throughout church history in
every generation. But here this morning, as we turn to Judges, chapter
6, my first message here, a vessel prepared for revival. Reading from
Judges, and I'm going to deal with the entire chapter 6 here this
morning.

I'm going to expound it, preach it, teach it, and exhort you from Judges
6. But I'm only going to read a few verses, reading from verse 11. And
please follow with me here this morning. Judges, chapter 6, verse 11.

And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in
Uphra, that pertained unto Jehosh the Abizite, and his son Gideon
threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. An
angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with
thee, thou mighty man of valor. And Gideon said unto him, O my Lord, if
the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all
his miracles which our fathers told us of? Saying, Did not the Lord
bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered
us into the hands of the Midianites.

And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou
shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee?
And he said unto him, O my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold,
my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt
smite the Midianites as one man.

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show
me a sign that thou talkest with me. Let's pray together. Father, we
thank you for the word of God, the truth of God's word, that Christ is
exalted in all of these things.

And Father, we pray, exalt your Son, your precious Son, who died for us
on the cross this morning. We love you with all of our heart. And
Father, here this morning, we pray for the blowing of that wind upon
every life, that you revive, that you quicken, that you stir.

Nor God, you say in John chapter 3, that the wind bloweth where it
listeth. Nor God, to convert men, to save them, to change their hearts.
Who can explain the conversion of a precious soul? Nor God, who can
understand, O God, the mystery of the miracle of regeneration? And nor
God, we pray for those that don't know you, that the wind of God would
blow mightily upon them to save them, O God.

Nor God, to super them, to change them, to deliver them from sin. Nor
God, we as a church, I pray for the blowing of that wind. Revive us
again, stir us again.

Nor God, all those online, we pray for that blowing of the wind of God.
We pray for revival and a refreshing of their soul, and an infilling of
the Holy Spirit. Nor God, we pray, O God, because of Calvary, because of
the blood, O God, the way is open for you to have mighty dealings with
each one of us.

And nor God, we do pray, O God, those that are visiting for the first
time, will you meet with them in this room? Will you make this an
Ebenezer? Nor God, will you make it an altar, O God? Will you make it a
place where you speak of this, saith the Lord to their hearts? In Jesus'
name, we love you, we exalt you, and we magnify you. In Jesus' mighty
name, amen. My message, a vessel prepared for revival.

And over the next few weeks, we're going to look and deal with Gideon.
You know, it was on Monday that God both began to speak to Candace and I
separately. And sometimes it takes a few days to begin to realize that
God is speaking to you and laying something in.

You find that these truths are rolling with you. Then you realize this
is God speaking, revealing, opening his truth. And so we come to Judges
chapter 6, dealing with a vessel prepared for revival.

The book of Judges covers a period over 400 years long. Previous to the
time of Gideon here, Deborah, one of the judges, the fourth judge of
Israel, God kept raising up over a 400 year period. God's people would
turn away from him, grow cold in heart, begin to worship other idols and
other gods.

They would become compromised, sinful, wicked, and even evil. They would
depart from the living God. And what we have all through the book of
Judges is the repeated reviving of God's people.

When God would raise up a vessel, he raised up an instrument, he raised
up an individual. And through that individual who he called a judge, he
would again call his people back, restore his people, and begin to judge
them concerning righteousness. Now we know when we come here that
previous to this there had been 40 years of peace.

I mean peace from the enemy. I mean victory over the enemy. Deborah,
that woman of God, that woman of prayer, that woman of godly counsel,
had reigned and judged Israel.

She sat and gave them the word of the Lord. She was a woman of God who
walked with God. And there was peace in Israel 40 long years.

Their enemies did not arise. But then suddenly come a time where God's
people had turned away again. And God allows for a period of 7 years for
their enemies called the Midianites to come in and to rule over them.

And the Midianites were a terrible enemy who began to rule over Israel.
Look with me here in this chapter for a moment what it says in chapter 6
verse 1. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.
And the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Midian 7 years.

And so we see because of their coldness, their apostasy, their moving
away from God, God gives them over in the hands of their enemies. Do you
know what I believe has happened in our generation? You and I have come
into a generation where the church because of its spiritual condition,
God has given us over in the hands of our enemies. There is no doubt
about that.

Look at the condition of the real church in our nations. Whether it's
America or whether it's Ireland. Don't tell me there's revival in the
church.

There isn't revival. You know what I see? I see a people, an institution
given over into the hands of their enemies. And I want to tell you we
live in very dark and very evil days.

When evil gets inside the church, God will allow enemies to arise. He'll
allow the enemy to prosper. He'll allow the church to be defeated.

When evil gets inside the church, you see judgments got to begin at the
church. You better not condemn the world for sins that you tolerate here
in this church. You better not do that because there will be a dealing
of God.

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. And because of the
Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves dens, which are
in the mountains and the caves and strongholds. Look at God's people.

In an hour where the enemy begins to triumph, they begin to hide in
caves. They find holes and strongholds and they're hiding. You know here
it talks in verse 4. It says that the enemy left them no sustenance.

In other words, no food, nothing to eat, nothing to give them strength.
In verse 6 it says they were greatly impoverished, which means terribly
weakened, left without any strength to act. The name Midian means strife
or contention or trouble.

And so you have a massive army of Midianites that arise. It goes further
here in verse 3. And so it was that when Israel had sown, they're trying
to bring forth a harvest that they can eat. That the Midianites came up
and the Amalekites and the children of the east, even they came up
against them.

And they encamped against them and destroyed the increase of the earth
till thou come unto Cusa and left no sustenance for them. You know what
it says here in the following verses? That these Midianites came up as a
great host like locusts covering the ground. They were so many.

This enemy came up without number. They came riding upon camels and they
covered the entire earth. What a terrible enemy when you're without
strength.

And what Israel would do is they're just trying to grow their harvest.
They're just trying to feed themselves. They're just trying to survive.

And you have this massive unbelievable army riding in upon camels. These
Midianites, remember it was the Midianites who carried Joseph from
Canaan down into Egypt and sold him. The Ishmaelites, they sold him for
money.

Well it's the same Midianites here. And they ride into Canaan, into
God's land on the back of camels. Now I know something about camels.

I've twice or maybe three times tried to ride a camel. You want to be
very careful with a camel, I want to tell you. But listen, the camels
come in without number.

See a camel is a remarkable animal. You can travel three or four days, a
camel can, with a very heavy load. They can travel about 300 miles
without food or without water.

So each of these Midianites, each had a camel. And they could travel for
all that distance. They don't need to feed the animal.

They don't need to water the animal. It's just kept in that hump. And
you had an entire army sweep into the nation to steal the food of that
people.

When we come to this hour, when this enemy, it would pull back and go
home. And it would wait for the Israelites to grow their harvest. And
they bring their harvest in.

And then they'd sweep in and take it all. And go home laughing. And
Israel is left, they can't even feed themselves.

Then it would happen again. Let Israel grow their harvest. Let Israel
think they're going to eat and feast again.

Let Israel stockpile everything. And the Midianites would sweep in with
all of their camels. And they would take it.

And Israel is left without anything. This is the hour that God calls
Gideon. There's about a hundred verses written about Gideon in the book
of Judges.

More than any other single judge. He is the fifth judge in this book.
And we know the number five represents the number of grace.

That's what it represents. And we see that where Gideon lived was
Manasseh, the tribe of Manasseh. And that was the center of the attack
of the Midianites.

I want you to see here, Gideon is a type of a people being prepared for
revival. And that's what we're dealing with here. I'm showing you the
entire situation.

But we want to look at one man, one person. Who represents a vessel, a
church, or a people being prepared for revival. When we begin to look at
Gideon, we're looking at a man prepared.

Fitted for the task. Made apt for what God is about to do. You know, God
must do a work in Gideon, in his heart, in his life.

Before Gideon rises up to do a work for God. And I assure it's the same
for you as a church. Before you do a great work for God.

God's going to have to do a great work within your heart and your life.
I've got four points here I want to deal with. Number one, prepared in
obscurity.

You see, God is speaking to you. Speaking to you online and speaking to
you here. And I believe if we're going to see, how is Gideon prepared
for revival? How does this preparation come about? This is the first
great point you're going to have to see here.

He was prepared in obscurity. In other words, away from the sight of
man. Away from the hand of man.

He is utterly unnoticed. Look with me at verse 11. What you see here is
Gideon.

When he's first mentioned, when you first see him. He is being prepared
for a great task in obscurity. Do you know every revival of church
history has begun in obscurity? I can hardly find one revival that began
with a group of a thousand believers.

Almost impossible to find. Do you know when I begin to read the history
of revival for the past 2,000 years. Do you know what I begin to find? I
find 17 young people in a meeting in Wales.

And on that night, a young preacher who had never preached a sermon
before. Stands up in fear and trembling. And he begins to preach.

His name was Evan Roberts. Within 6 months, 100,000 people are born
again. And the nation is being lifted heavenward.

And a remarkable revival. 10% of that entire country turned to Jesus in
that year. That is revival.

Or if you look at the Lewis revival that happened at the end of the
1940s. You've got 2 old ladies who can't even make it to church. One of
them is blind.

And the other is crippled up with arthritis. But do you know what
they're doing? At least 2 nights every week. They pray all through the
night.

Every single week. 2 nights a week. They pray all through the night.

Saying, revive your church. Pour out your spirit. And you know what?
They knew the will of God.

The preacher, Duncan Campbell. He didn't know revival was going to come.
The elders in the church didn't know.

But 2 old ladies in that building. They said, God has spoken to us. We
know who the preacher is.

He's over in Belfast at the minute. They wrote to him. He didn't come.

He said, I'm too busy with ministry. They wrote again. Said, Mr.
Campbell, if you walk closer to God and heard from God, you'd know God's
going to use you in this revival.

You need to come to Lewis. Well, eventually, listen, he come there and a
revival broke out. Saints, every revival in church history has been
prepared and birthed in obscurity.

That is where God begins. Look where Gideon is here. The place where we
find him, where we first see him.

It's called Upfra, which was in Manasseh. Now, this place is about 16
miles of Jericho, from Jericho, in western Manasseh. Look exactly in
this town, in this community, where God finds Gideon.

He's here right next to an oak tree. And it says, an angel of the Lord
came and sat under an oak, which was in Upfra, that pertained to Joash.
It was owned by Gideon's father.

This community, this town, this land belonged to Gideon's father. It's
remarkable. And here there was an oak tree.

Do you know what? The oak tree represents something very important here,
when you begin to look at the life of Gideon. In verse 11, we see that
the angel of the Lord sat under the oak tree. A little bit further in
verse 9, it talks about Gideon bringing his sacrifice unto the Lord
under the oak.

So notice immediately, this oak tree is very important, what it
represents. This is where God first finds Gideon and meets with Gideon.
You know, when you look at oak trees in the Old Testament, and do a
study of it, you're going to see something very wonderful.

You'll go back to Genesis 35, and what you find is Jacob, on his way to
Bethel, has a family revival. And he takes all the idols and the
earrings, and he buries them under an oak tree on the way to Bethel.
When you're going to get back to the real church of God, you're going to
have to go back to the oak tree.

You see, there was a revival in that family. You know what else happened
in Genesis 35? We're told that Jacob's old nursing maid, the nursing
maid that raised him up from a little baby, looked after him as a child,
died here, and they buried her under the same oak tree. So the oak tree
begins to represent something.

The oak tree represents the cross of Jesus Christ. It represents the
death of something. Again, we read of Absalom, the rebellious, apostate
son of King David.

His hair, remember his hair? He was proud, he was arrogant. And he got
hung in an oak tree, and he died there. You see, the oak tree represents
the death of the old man, the death of the flesh, the death of self.

And this oak tree represents the cross. This is where God began to make
Gideon, the place of preparation, of obscurity, of isolation, of being
alone with God. You know, you and I, we need an experience of fresh
meeting with God at the cross, at the place of consecration.

When Gideon is seen here, it's a place of fresh consecration, a place of
meeting with God. It means the death of the old man and of the old life.
When that old nursing maid died there, do you know what it represented
to Jacob? Your old life, your natural man has to die at that oak tree.

Not that old lady that raised you up, spoiled you, looked after you,
treated you so well. She has just died, and everything of Jacob is going
to have to die at that oak tree. It is representative.

When the angel of the Lord sits under the oak tree, he's speaking to
Gideon, I'm bringing you to the cross again. I'm bringing you to
consecration. This is where the place of preparation is.

You want a revival? You need to get back to the cross again. You say,
oh, I repented of my sins. I got born again.

You know what? You're going to have to meet Christ at Calvary again, at
fresh consecration. The flesh is going to have to die. You're going to
have to yield everything at the place of the oak.

You know, we are singing there this morning, the old rugged cross.
Kenneth Copeland in America, he mocked those who used to sing about the
old rugged cross. I grew up in a home where my father, first thing on a
Sunday morning, he'd be getting ready for church.

I'd hear him singing, the old rugged cross. You will go nowhere with God
unless you meet with God at Calvary. If the cross isn't precious to you,
if death is not embraced by you, you'll not go anywhere with God, I
assure you.

Look what happens to Gideon here. It says that Gideon threshed wheat by
the winepress, by this oak tree. The angel of the Lord is sitting under
the oak tree.

What's Gideon doing? He is threshing wheat by the winepress. Now, you
may not be very intelligent or educated, but I want to tell you, you
don't thresh wheat in a winepress. In a winepress, what do you do? You
tread out grapes to make wine.

That's what you get in the winepress. And yet we have here is Gideon
threshing wheat or flour out upon a winepress. This is strange.

There's something not normal here. This is not normal procedure.
Normally, what you do when you thresh out the wheat, you normally do it
in a high elevated area, a high spot on top of a mountain.

In fact, where you beat out the wheat, it would be a round wooden board,
just open-ended, open that everyone can see, and you begin to beat out
the wheat. You know what you're trying to do? You're trying to produce
something that can make bread for you, and that's what he's doing here.
It was a circular flat wooden area that made a lot of noise, and it was
to separate the wheat from the chaff.

You're trying to knock out the chaff. You want to get rid of the chaff
in order to produce bread, and this bread always represents the Word of
God. You know what Gideon's doing? He's hiding from the Midianites.

He is hiding. He is making bread, and he's doing it secretly in hiding,
away from the eyes of the enemy. If he does it on the top of the hill,
he'll be seen.

If he does it on a wooden board, he will be heard, and so you have him
actually in a winepress producing the wheat, knocking out, trying to
divide it, and to bring forth something that can feed him. Now, where do
you find a winepress? It's usually at the bottom of a hill on a very low
plain, and in fact, if you see old pictures, they dig it down into the
ground. If you're in the winepress, you're hidden from sight.

You're below ground level, so you're not even ground level in the
valley. You go much deeper, so you have Gideon down inside the
winepress, but there's no wine. There's no use for the winepress.

You know the winepress and grapes are always a symbol of the joy of the
Holy Ghost, of the blessing of God, of a glad heart, but do you know
what you do not have in this story when we first see Gideon? There's no
joy amongst God's people. There's no blessing amongst God's people.
They're not trying to produce wine.

They're trying to produce bread and just feed themselves on the most
basic and elementary things. You see, normally a cow would feed out that
wheat, but not here. It's not happening.

You've got one man with his threshing instrument. He doesn't have a cow.
He's not doing it with servants.

It's one man just trying to make enough to eat and to get by. At this
point, this is where the angel of the Lord comes to Gideon. You see,
we're talking about being prepared in obscurity.

Here you have Gideon with many questions in his mind. Where are the
miracles? Where is God? What has happened? He's not a compromiser. He is
the real believer of that hour.

God's people have compromised. God's people have followed idols. But
here's a man of God, a young man of God, who loves God with all of his
heart.

And he says, I want to feed myself. I haven't given in to the enemy. I
haven't compromised.

I am making my stand. I'm doing everything I can. And the Lord speaks to
him, verse 12.

An angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, The Lord is
with thee, thy mighty man of valor. And Gideon said unto him, O my Lord,
if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where are
all the miracles which our fathers have told us, saying, Did not the
Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us and
delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. The angel of the Lord
speaks to Gideon and he's sunk down into the ground, just beaten out
this week, trying to make provisions.

What does the Lord say unto him? The Lord is with thee, thy mighty man
of valor. What a remarkable thing to hear when the angel of the Lord
comes and says, The Lord is with you. He can't believe it.

You know why the enemy is triumphant? There are no miracles. He reads
about them in the Bible, but there's no miracles. He is not seeing them.

There are many prayers unanswered. There's no revival in the land.
There's no stirring.

No great harvest of souls coming in. No power of God in the church. And
so he has many questions.

The angel of the Lord speaks to him, The Lord is with you. If he's with
me, why is all of this happening? Surely if God is with us, we wouldn't
be sitting like this here this morning. Surely the power of God would be
here.

Hundreds would be getting converted. Is it possible that God is with a
man, and yet he's not seeing great things happen? Yes, if he's a vessel
being prepared to obscurity. When you find any revival, any church, any
ministry, any preacher that's going to be used in revival, it's always
in obscurity.

That's where God finds him. That's where God meets him and begins to
prepare him. He doesn't prepare you amidst the crowds.

He doesn't prepare you in the busyness of ministry. He doesn't prepare
you in revival. He prepares you in obscurity, in darkness, in
oppression, in confusion.

He prepares you when you've got a hundred questions that cannot be
answered. He's there preparing you when your heart is broken, when your
heart is crying out to God for revival, and it seems the heavens are
brass. That's where God prepares a revival.

That's where God makes ready an instrument. Do you know God's preparing
a vessel now, right now in our world? Look at the world. It's never been
as dark as it is.

We are heading towards disaster in this hour. I told you on Friday night
about the same thing. The leader of the World Bank is saying we're going
into a deep crisis of trying to buy what we need for the next three
years.

We've got the British Army arming up, calling on civilians to get ready
for war. We've got NATO moving their military force up to 350,000. Look
around you.

The financial crisis, it's only beginning. The shortages of fuel, of
food, of everything else, it's only beginning. But can I tell you, God
is preparing a vessel, an instrument, in one of the darkest hours in
world history.

Never have we seen such a dark hour that encompasses the entire globe.
But I want to tell you, God is preparing a vessel, and I'll tell you
where it is. It's not in the megapulpits in some nation.

It's not the large crowds. God right now is preparing a Gideon, and he's
going to be found next to the oak tree. That's where God's going to
speak to him and meet with him, and he's going to say, I am with thee,
thou mighty man of valor.

Here's someone hiding underground depth, scared of the enemy, scared of
his own family, scared of his own people, and yet God says, you're a
mighty man of valor. You've got great courage. You've got great power.

You're a soldier. He's never had a sword in his hand during his entire
life. He has beaten out the weak with a threshing instrument, and yet
God is saying, look at the questions he asks.

If the Lord is with us, why is all this happening? Has that question
ever come to you? What is going on? Why is there no revival? Why are
souls not getting saved? Where are the miracles of healing? Where is the
power of God in this hour? You could resign yourself and say it's all
over. We're in the last days. There are no revivals.

You can simply say it's the sovereignty of God. That's not what Judges
teaches you. Every time God's people fall away, there's great darkness
comes in.

The enemy comes in like a flood. Don't tell me this is the church Jesus
is coming back for. He's coming back for a bride that has prepared
herself and made herself ready.

You know, as he begins to pour out all the questions to the angel of the
Lord, oh yes, he was a historian. Did you know that? Gideon had read the
book of the Lord. He said, yes, I know what the Lord done in past days.

Yes, I've read about how Moses brought them out of Egypt. Yes, I know
this has happened to us, but where is it now? The Lord doesn't answer
any of his questions. Verse 14, and the Lord looked upon him and said,
Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel.

Look at Gideon standing, I believe, below ground level with the angel of
the Lord looking down upon them. Thou mighty man of valor, go in this
thy strength. Hold on, all he's got is questions, all he's got is
contradictions, all he's got is confusion, but he does love the Lord
with all of his heart.

How can the Lord say, go in this thy might? Do you know what his might
was? God's might or power, where is it made perfect? In weakness. Do you
realize here that the strength of Gideon was his weakness, his
helplessness, his inability, his insufficiency? That was the might of
Gideon. You know the Lord said, I can use this vessel.

You know why? It is so weak, so unable. It can never take the glory. It
can never accomplish this.

If God is going to do anything, it's going to have to be by my power, my
ability, all my reserves. He had found the right man in the right place
at the right time to do the right thing. You know what Gideon's might
was? It was an overwhelming consciousness of his own weakness.

He was a broken vessel, an empty vessel, and he was standing ready to be
used of God. In this chapter 6 you see about Gideon, his humility shines
forth. His carefulness and his cautiousness marks the entire chapter.

He is a spiritual man. He is an obedient man, and he's a man of prayer.
I believe this is a vessel being prepared in obscurity.

Saints of God, I don't care if you're not shaking the city or the world.
What I'm asking you, are you such a vessel? Are you at the cross? Are
you obedient? Do you love God? Are you careful? Are you humble? Are you
crying out, where are your miracles, Lord? Is there a deep cry in your
heart, broken for the nation and broken for the church? That's number
one, prepared in obscurity. Number two, prepared by divine signs and
sacrifices.

Look at verse 17. And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy
sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. If I have found
grace.

If this thing's going to happen, it's going to have to be by your grace.
You know what the Bible teaches about grace? God's grace is his
unmerited favor in salvation. But it's more than that.

It is his power, his ability. It is the influence of heaven on a life to
accomplish the will of God. Gideon is standing there in this winepress,
beating out the flour to make bread with.

And you know what he says? If I have found grace, if this is really you,
if I know the grace is with you, because it's not with me, you call me a
mighty man. I need your grace if you're going to accomplish this. Are
you very aware that the grace of God can bring revival? Are you looking
at yourself and saying, I'm not holy enough, I'm not able enough, I'm
not accomplishing enough.

If I can't even win one person to Christ, how can we see revival in
Limerick City? Here Gideon is in the right place. If I have found grace
in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. Gideon is
looking for a sign.

He wants to believe this. He wants to be persuaded that you're actually
saying this. I've lived in a church generation where Christians have all
said, the Spirit told me, God told me.

99% of that is pure flesh. It's their own imagination. But I do believe
God speaks.

I know that God speaks to a heart, but he doesn't speak all the time,
every day, in every way. That would destroy you if God done that. I
don't know anybody that really happens with.

Not in the Bible. It didn't happen to Paul. Didn't happen to Samuel.

Didn't happen to David. Didn't happen to Peter. Do you know what? The
second thing, Gideon was prepared by divine signs and sacrifices.

He is looking for a sign. Now we know that the Jews, the Bible says
about them, the Jews seek for a sign. It's a bad thing.

Lord, show me a miracle, then I'll believe in you. You're in trouble.
God won't do that for you.

If you don't believe his word, he'll give you no sign. You're going to
get in big trouble. But this isn't about salvation.

This isn't about obedience. He's already obeying God. He's already
praying.

Hey, he doesn't understand anything happening in this generation. He
doesn't have an answer at all, yet he's being faithful. He's being
obedient.

He is consistent. You know, some of you, you're waiting, God, come and
do this, then I'll obey. You'll wait a long time.

Lord, give me a sign, and then I'll go and pray. You're really in
trouble. You're playing a dangerous game.

You see, Gideon was prepared in a place by divine signs and sacrifice.
Having said to the angel of the Lord, show me a sign that you're really
saying this to me. What does Gideon do? Verse 18.

This is very important. Remember I said at this point he was prepared in
a place of signs and sacrifice. Never separate sacrifice from the signs.

He's looking for a sign, confirmation. He just wants to know this is
really God speaking. And so what does he do? Verse 18.

Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee and bring forth my
present and set it before thee. Do you know what Gideon's going to do?
He's going to make a sacrifice. Has he got a sign yet? No.

Has the angel of the Lord done a miracle yet? No. Or something
supernatural? Absolutely not. Do you know what Gideon's doing? Gideon is
looking to be confirmed in this, but he says, hold on, I want you to
stay right here at the place of the cross, under the oak tree.

Do not move from here. And I want to bring an offering, a sacrifice. You
see, lots of people in the church pray for signs, but they're not making
any sacrifice.

They say, you do the sign, then I'll bring a sacrifice. Do you hear me?
They say, once I know, once I know the calling, you've called me to
preach. Well, after you do some supernatural sign and open up all the
doors, then I'll give everything to you and I'll sacrifice.

Oh no. Do you know what Gideon does? Before there's any signs or
confirmation, he runs to make a wholehearted sacrifice. And notice here
very carefully what happens.

And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. And Gideon went in and
made ready a kid. This is in a time where they can hardly feed
themselves.

There is very little to go around. Gideon goes and gets a kid.
Personally, I believe this could be the only kid that he had.

The only one. He goes and gets it, he kills it, and he provides it as a
meal. Then, unleavened cakes of an ether of flour.

Look carefully what he's doing. An ether of flour. And he makes little
cakes.

I looked this up. Do you know how much that's for? That's for about 45
men for a day. He's only speaking to the angel of the Lord.

The flesh he put in a basket and put the broth in a pot and brought it
out unto him under the oak and presented it to him. Do you know what
Gideon's doing here? He's making a massive sacrifice. Do you know how
long he would have to work in the wine press to produce enough flour to
bring forth enough food for 45 men for an entire day? Do you know how
long he would have to work? For a long time.

And he brings all of this. Do you know what he's doing? He's saying,
Lord, I want a sign. I need confirmation.

I want something supernatural. I want to know what you're saying about
revival in the nation. You're telling me I'm a mighty man of God and the
entire nation's going to be changed and the enemy's going to be defeated
and that you're going to send a revival.

I need to know. I need a sign to know that you, God in heaven, are
saying this. Do you know how he gets that sign? He gives everything.

He makes a sacrifice and he brings it to the angel of the Lord under the
oak tree. Saints of God, this is what you need. You don't play games of
God and say, prove yourself.

Do a sign and then I'll believe. Then I'll obey you. You would never
obey God.

Show me a man or woman saying, Lord, I really feel you're talking about
revival. I sacrifice everything. And see if I've got this wrong and
you're not speaking to me, I'm in serious trouble.

I mean, I'm in serious trouble. When God called us to start this church
seven years ago, doors were open everywhere from Ukraine to Australia.
Emails, calls were coming, come train leaders, come train pastors, come
preach, come do a conference.

And what did we do? We wrote and cancelled everything. Before we started
the first Sunday of this church, I cancelled everything and for the
foreseeable future, I turned down preaching engagements. I turned down
opportunities.

And I knew that I was going into a living room with about five or seven
people crammed in a kitchen, beginning to preach, with the devil telling
me, you'll be sitting here with ten people and nothing's going to happen
and all those doors are going to close and you'll never be able to
travel and preach again. What a battle. But thanks to God, when you know
God is speaking to you, there's got to be a church here in Limerick.

And you know what it meant? It meant an absolute sacrifice to go, God,
if you really want a church, if you're really calling us here, I can't
say give a sign and do wonders, then we'll do it. There was an ultimate
sacrifice of giving everything to God. And the angel of God said unto
him, take the flesh and the unleavened cakes and lay them upon this
rock.

There was a rock by the oak tree. That's where you'd have put it. It's
not for me to eat.

I'm not going to eat it. Put it upon the rock. The rock always
represents Christ.

And pour out the broth. And he did so. He's obedient.

Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of his staff that was in
his hand and he touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes and there
rose a fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened
cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. Fire,
burning up the sacrifice means acceptance.

God accepted the sacrifice. It was a sign. When you give everything, you
will get the signs, I assure you.

When you step out in faith, I told you when we stepped out with School
of Christ some 20 years ago, I didn't have enough money to put fuel in
the car. I didn't have enough money to get the first ticket to get a
ferry from Northern Ireland to Scotland. But do you know what? On a
Monday morning, I'm packed in my car, said goodbye to my mom, goodbye to
the church and all the Christians and I'm driving to the ferry port.

I don't even have money for it. Do you know what? I believe what I'm
preaching here. You are prepared in obscurity.

You're prepared in a situation that almost seems to mock at you and to
laugh at you. When Gideon is being prepared in a place of signs and
sacrifice, you better understand what that means. We as a church want
signs.

Lord, I want you to do something supernatural. You haven't given
anything. If you don't lay everything on the rock, if you don't
sacrifice, we'll give a little token.

Some of yous don't give enough money to have any signs come looking for
you. You know, you don't suffer, you don't sacrifice, you don't take any
risks. You play it so safe, you'll never be in financial need.

You know what? You're in dangerous ground. You'll be the one to suffer
while those whose sacrifice will be provided for. I want to assure you,
I know exactly what I'm talking about.

When Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, remember he just
disappeared. The signs come when you sacrifice and give to God. Gideon
said, Alas, O Lord God, for because I have seen an angel of the Lord
face to face, and the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee.

Fear not, thou shalt not die. In those days, you'll find again in Judges
13, they believed if you seen an angel of the Lord, you'd die. They were
convinced of it.

Remember Samson's parents, they saw the angel of the Lord, and they were
convinced we're going to die. They got scared. You know now people say
they've gone to heaven and played with Jesus.

No fear of God. They're reprobates. They're game players.

When you really meet with God, it's holy ground. It's a fearful thing.
Those who really meet with God, they tremble in His very presence.

It is an awesome experience to be in the presence of God. But do you
know what Gideon realized here? This is an angel of the Lord. In fact,
more than that.

You know what? Most Bible scholars believe this was the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is a pre-incarnate, physical appearance and manifestation
of Jesus. And you have about 40 of these in our Old Testament where
Christ reveals Himself.

Remember Moses, when Moses is sitting in his tent and three men come and
approach him. Two of those men are angels. One of them is the Lord, the
Lord Jesus Christ.

And he's the one who goes with them on the way pleading for Sodom and
Gomorrah. Three angels go to bring judgment. One of them stays there to
hear the prayers of Abraham.

But here what you have is the angel of the Lord meeting with Gideon. And
he says, Fear not, you will not die. Then look what Gideon does.

Then he built an altar there unto the Lord and called it Jehovah Shalom
unto this day. It is yet an uppra. Do you know what he done here? He
built an altar on this place where God confirmed.

I'm talking about signs and sacrifice. Do you realize Gideon was a man
of the altar? A man of sacrifice. You pray big prayers.

But do you give big sacrifices? Is your altar bigger than the signs and
miracles that you are looking for? Some people never build altars. They
never give sacrifices. They never give their last meal away.

And they don't have any miracles. I can tell you of miracles because I
know what it is to be driving up towards Glasgow and I'm watching the
fuel tank go down and not being foolish. I'm not tempting God.

I'm telling you I'm just trying to do the will of God. I say, oh God
will you help me? From that day to now 20 years ago I've never once ran
out of fuel. There's always been money for fuel.

But on that day I got tormented in my room or in my mind. You know some
of you never experience the power of God. The voice of God.

The presence of God. Because you never stand at the Red Sea. You go,
Lord you open up the Red Sea and then I'll get out of Egypt and I'll go
marching towards the sea.

Lord just send the manna and then we'll step out and walk out into that
wilderness. Lord I'm not going to look like a fool marching round the
walls of Jericho. Oh I'm not going to be seen to be a fool.

I'll just wait here and you make the walls fall and then I'll tell
everyone the walls are going to fall. That's how many Christians
prepare. Third of all, prepared in apostasy.

He was not only prepared in obscurity. Prepared in the place of
sacrifice and signs. He was prepared in apostasy.

The word apostasy means to fall away from the true faith. When God's
real people fall away from the Bible move away from God and truth that
is apostasy. It says in verse 25 and it came to pass the same night the
Lord said unto him, unto Gideon that same night when all of this
happened God's not going to delay.

This is the time of preparation. Take thy father's young bullock even
the second bullock of seven years old and throw down the altar of Baal
that thy father hath and cut down the groove that is by it. This is a
vessel God has chosen to change the entire nation.

Look where he's been living. Look at the home that he is living in. His
father has idols, idolatry all around.

Gideon has grown up in this. It surrounds him. He can't even win a
victory in his father's house.

He hasn't even led his father away from idolatry to the real God. Where
is the power of God? Gideon himself must have said how could I be a
vessel of revival? How could God use me in a great way whenever there is
idols standing in my own father's house? Look what God says to him. This
is the time and the hour.

You built an altar at the place of signs. I've confirmed to you this is
me. I've shown you that this is God dealing with you.

Now I want you to do something. It's time to throw down the altar of
Baal. Gideon was prepared in the midst of apostasy.

How are you going to be prepared? You will never see revival unless
you're prepared in the midst of apostasy. Every person used in revival
has had to make a stand. God is asking him here to throw down the altar
of Baal in his father's house.

A lot of Christians, they say I'm only four things. I love people. I
care about people.

I'm positive. I like everyone. Then you're only a half-baked Christian.

Can I tell you that? Do you know what? I know what sort of Christian you
are. If I ask you, what are you against? What are you against? What do
you stand against? What do you rise up against? What do you not believe
in? It's not enough to ask you what do you believe in? There's lots in
the ecumenical movement that say, I love Christ. I'm born again.

I believe in salvation. I believe in the Bible. I believe in the cross.

And then you ask some of these ecumenical Catholics, yes, but you pray
to Mary. Yeah. And you do the rosary.

Yeah. And you do the confessional. Yeah.

You're not born again. That's utterly impossible. It's not enough to ask
what do you believe? I've got to know what you're against.

And you know what? There's a lot of born-again Catholics who worship
Mary. They give her reverence. They pray to her.

They'll say they don't worship her, but they do. If you pray to someone
and bow before them and give to them and that person can see your heart,
you're worshipping. That's what it is.

See here, Gideon rises up in the house of his father. And you know what
he does? He begins to cut down the groove. He's moved from a threshing
instrument to an axe.

And there's a progression. We'll deal with this next week further.
There's going to be a sword.

He begins to move. It's time for the axe. Gideon was prepared.

You're not ready for revival if you can't rise up against apostasy. I
mean corruption all around you in the church. If you're not against
things in the church, and there's an awful lot to be against in this
hour, we'll never see revival in the 21st century.

We'll never have another revival unless preachers and Christians rise up
and they attack with the hatchet. No. A hatchet isn't an axe, is it?
It's nothing.

All through the years I'd say to Candace, Would you buy me an axe? We
don't have an axe. And she went out this day and she'd come back with a
hatchet. This is an axe.

You cut trees down with an axe. She'd come back with a hatchet. And I
went, Well, I can cut up kindling with that but not cut down trees.

It's the wrong instrument. She had always thought that an axe was a
hatchet. A hatchet meant this.

That's a hatchet. You need to be careful what you talk about. Lots of
people say, Oh, repentance is just a change of mind.

No, it's not. It's a brokenness of your sin. It's a contrition.

It's a turning around of your entire life. Here you have Gideon prepared
an apostasy. He is taking an axe to idols, idolatry, false teaching in
his own father's house.

Now look, he does have fear. He's a man that's lacking confidence here.
And it says, And build an altar unto the Lord God upon the top of the
rock where this other altar was.

It says in Ephesians 5 and 11, Have no fellowship with unfruitful works
of darkness but rather reprove them. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 17, Wherefore
come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing and I will receive you. There has to be a
separation from false systems and false teachings and false teachers.

Do you know if your pastor is a false teacher, you need to run. You need
to separate yourself. Gideon's name, and this is what Gideon means.

It means to fell or to shoo down. It means to cut down. That's what his
name was.

It's his character. Tell me what you want to cut down. And you can't
build unless you cut down.

If you're not willing to cut down the trees of Baal, you can't build an
altar to the Lord. You could say, I'm going to build an altar to the
Lord and leave that intact. You're going to have problems.

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants with him. What a small house
church. Ten men and Gideon, and you're going to change the nation.

Ha ha. Ha ha. If that's possible, we'll see elephants fly.

Ha ha. I believe that. Gideon got himself ten servants to go with him to
accomplish this.

To do what God had told him. And listen to why he'd done it at night.
And he'd done it at night.

Didn't do it during the day. And there's a reason. He feared his
father's household and the men of the city, and he could not do it by
day, and so he did it by night.

So he takes his ten friends by night, cuts it all down. Do you remember
a few years ago, we had a Gideon in the midst, or in the making. I think
he's a Gideon in the preparation.

Mary was coming into the church. Her house is filled with statues, and
idols, and idolatry, and she has a person who happened to wander into
the meetings, and hear the word of God. You know, Mary was sitting in
these meetings, and she said, Keith, after a meeting, she'd thought this
out.

Great wisdom. Now Keith, how about if I move them an inch every day? I
didn't say much, I just let her talk. She's not saved.

She's not born again. If she was born again, she'd threw them all out.
But she's got all of this idolatry.

So she says, Keith, I've got it. Mary got it. I know what to do.

I'm telling you the preacher. I'm going to keep moving them, an inch a
day. Who knows how long it would have taken.

And we're moving them towards the door, but it's very, very hard. Keith,
I'm working on it. I'm listening to your preaching.

I understand. I shouldn't be doing it. They shouldn't be here.

But I have to... Her statues, I can't bear to break them. Well, she had
an unsaved son who rose up in the spirit of Gideon. It must have been
our prayers.

Who took them in a bag and threw them over a wall. Didn't take an inch a
day after all. But do you know what, in the church of our day, where are
the Gideons? Here he is.

He is scared. He is fearful. He is doubting himself.

He's got so many questions. But do you know what, he does rise up and do
what he can do. He can't do it during the day, so he does it at night.

He can't do it alone, so he takes ten trusted friends with him. And what
do they do? They cut it all down. Next morning, everything goes crazy.

All the people in the town, the family, the area, they go crazy. You
know what, they go look and say, Gideon, who done this? Who destroyed
the altar to Baal? The idolatry. Who cut down all the trees? You know
what they find is a new altar and it's burning with the wood that was
raised up to Baal.

It's all burnt down. Burnt to God. You know, very quickly he said, this
Gideon.

We know who it is. They haven't been to talk to him. They haven't
knocked on his door.

They haven't inquired of him. They know it's Gideon. How do they know
it's Gideon? Because he's not an idolater.

Because he doesn't believe like them. Because he has been standing,
saying, I don't believe that. I don't drink your beer.

I don't worship like that. He is a separatist. This is where God
prepared Gideon.

So they go to his father and say, where's Gideon? Bring him out. We're
going to stone him to death. This is religion gone wrong.

Baal worship in the house of God. You say, that's extreme. That was a
false pagan God.

No, it's happened all through the church. You know what happened in
Israel? They synchronized everything. They made tiny little steps
towards Baal.

They said, oh well, Baal is another name for Jehovah. Allah is just
another name for God. It's all the same.

No, it's not. It absolutely isn't. And so you see them here.

They're coming, and they're going to kill someone for not following
apostasy. You say, that's crazy. No, it's all through the church.

You know, until two years ago, I took my life in my hands for decades
because I couldn't go with the flashing lights and the compromise and
the drunken pastors and the foolishness and the false prophecies and the
pushing down. You see, they said, this is Jesus. This is the Holy
Spirit.

No, it's not. I had to take an axe to it constantly. And you know what?
They hated me.

In churches, and they go, stone him. Not physically. Stone him.

Kill him. Stop that influence. We've been having a good time until
Gideon rises up and begins to cut things down.

God prepares an apostasy. Do you know what happens right at this point?
Providentially. Verse 33.

Then all the Midianites and the Amalkites and the children of the east
gathered together and went over and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
Jezreel is Armageddon. It's the same spot.

Here's this mass army moves down into Jezreel. It's massive. Do you know
it's bigger than ever before? And they've got all their camels and
they're coming for your bread.

For your word of God. For your sustenance. They are coming to raid and
take everything again.

Your harvest is going to get stolen again. Do you know what it's like to
be in the church? And you serve and you pray and you labor and just at
the time of harvest you lose everything. And you love God and you're a
good Christian.

I know what it's like. But this is the hour of God preparing a vessel
and apostasy. It's terrible we've got enemies out there but it's
terrible we have to deal with the church first.

Apostasy in the church. They don't even believe this book anymore. They
don't preach Christ.

They don't preach the Bible. It's so basic. It's so elementary.

What has gone wrong? That's why the enemy has come in like a flood.
That's why immorality is sweeping the nation. That's why abortion is in.

It began at the church. You're young teenagers dressing like harlots in
the church and you're worried about abortion in the government. Oh no it
begins in the church.

We need holiness and purity in the church again. When the church loses
the power of God. You know I read many years ago I can't find the quote
of New York.

It was way back 150 years during the 1859 revival and an Indian guru
filled with demons who used to levitate and had demonic power and he
said now is the time to go for America and he got on a boat and he
travelled to America and as he came into New York sailing in do you know
what happened? All the demons left him. He refused to get off the boat
and he turned around and went back to India. He said it's not time yet.

Do you know what's flooded into America now? There's no revival and
you've got everything flooding in. Fourth and lastly prepared by a
divine fleet. Prepared in obscurity.

Prepared with sacrifices and signs. Prepared in apostasy. But fourth and
lastly prepared by a divine fleet.

This is a man being prepared. But nothing's happening yet. Do you know
it says in verse 34 but the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon.

The spirit of the Lord came upon him. The power of the Holy Ghost came
upon him. What did he do? He blew a trumpet and God's people in the area
that wanted to stone him began to gather to him.

Do you know when the spirit of God moves there's going to be people that
hate your guts in this church. I mean right now this morning people who
would stone you who hate you who oppose you let the spirit of God fall
and they're going to be the first on the front line to stand with us. Be
very careful of judging people who attack us.

Tomorrow they may be our co-worker. Tomorrow they may be our brother and
sister. And this is what happened to Gideon.

The power of God came. The spirit of God came upon him. And he sent out
messengers into all of Manasseh and all the other tribes.

But prepared by a divine fleet. People are starting to gather. People
are listening the word of the Lord.

People are beginning to rise up. People are beginning to turn away from
apostasy. They no longer want to kill us because we're not a lover of
hell songs.

Now they're saying you were right all along. Now we see it. Yes it's
taken decades.

The whole thing's crumbling. It's riddled with apostasy. And it's only
one small thing.

This is where you find Gideon. Something's beginning to happen. And this
is the last thing.

Gideon said or he prayed unto God. If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand
as thou hast said. This isn't testing God.

This isn't unbelief. This is wanting to be sure that God is with them.
I've got to be sure that this is the Lord.

So he tells God. Isn't God very gracious at times? Lord I just need some
encouragement. I want to be guided by you.

I want to find your will. I want to be a servant. I want to be a vessel.

But I'm scared. Of course none of you are like that. Are you? None of
you is scared of standing on the high street or evangelizing the lost or
going preaching to your family member.

Are you scared to stand in front of a family member and say you've got
to get right with God? Gideon fully understood where you're at. Are you
at a place where you go there's no power. How can we do this? Gideon
would understand.

Do you know what Gideon asked the Lord? Behold I will put a fleece of
wool in the floor. And if the dew be on the fleece only and if it be dry
upon all the earth beside then I know that I will save Israel. And he
did it twice over.

God answered his prayer. He said Lord and this is called putting out a
fleece. Don't test God.

Don't prove God. Don't play games with God. Do you know a girl many
years ago when I was a single guy and she told a friend of mine she
prayed on this Wednesday night if Keith comes in with a blue shirt on I
know I'm meant to marry him.

I walked in with a white shirt. Thank God. You're playing games.

I had a very good friend, a spiritual friend. He went to visit someone
else's house and he sat down and he looked sideways went to the bathroom
looked sideways and there's some sort of shampoo with the girl's name on
that he was praying about is this the girl for me? He said that's my
confirmation. He didn't marry her.

We do this in all sorts of areas. God if you're calling me to preach if
you want me to go evangelize in the streets Lord if I'm called by the
grace of God to stand in a pulpit and preach then do this and do that.
Be very careful.

This is someone who has sold themselves out. They're on the edge. People
are gathering.

Everything is stirring. I said I need to know. I'm going to endanger
everyone's lives.

Do you know what? See what I'm preaching in this pulpit. I better know
I'm hearing from God. I better know the will of God for this generation.

I'm preaching to people through that camera scattered all over the
place. I better make sure I know the mind of God. I better know for your
sake that I'm not preaching an error or a hope so.

This better be a thus saith the Lord. And you know this poor preacher
you know what he says? Oh God are you sure? Will you just confirm me?
And so he puts out the fleece. Where do you get a fleece? Very important
question.

Where did he get a fleece? If you've got a fleece an animal died. And so
we see the fleece was obtained by sacrifice. An animal had to die.

It's always coming back to this. And he said, Lord let's do this. Okay.

Because there was always a heavy dew in Israel. If the fleece is dry and
the ground is wet I know it's true. Then the second time if the fleece
is wet and the ground dry or the other way round then I know it's true.

He'd done it twice both ways. Do you know it was impossible for one to
be wet and the other dry? Impossible. Both are guaranteed to be wet.

But he tried it both ways. And the Lord answered him. And he rose up
early in the morrow and thrust the fleece together and wringed the dew
out of the fleece into a bowl.

And Gideon said to God, Let not thine anger be hot against me and I will
speak this once. Let me prove I pray thee but this once with the fleece.
I'm not playing games with you God.

I've sacrificed everything. I've blown it in my father's house. I mean
I've tore the whole thing down.

If there isn't coming a revival I'm in serious trouble here. And I've
sacrificed everything. I don't have a meal for tomorrow.

I've given everything. And you know what? I just need assurance. When
you put out a divine fleece you're going, God I really want to know it's
you.

In 1993, and I'm closing with this, 1993, I'd flown into Scotland. I was
living in Switzerland and I flew into Scotland on a three month ticket.
And I went to a church and a ministry to work with them for three
months.

And on a Saturday evening I'm babysitting and I wasn't a good
babysitter. You do not want me to babysit your children okay, on a
Saturday night. And I was babysitting there up in bed and I was down in
the living room and I had my Bible open and I'm walking back and forth
praying, Oh God watch your will.

Lord I need your guidance. God I don't want to make my own decisions.
Lord help me, lead me.

And he spoke to me very clearly. He gave me the text of scripture. And
said in several weeks time your pastor is going to preach this.

This is what he's going to preach on from this chapter. This is what
he's going to say. And this is what it's going to mean to you.

Totally out of the blue. Wasn't expecting it. I'm going back to
Switzerland.

I've got a fiance in Switzerland. My ministry is in Switzerland. And
here's God speaking to me.

Six weeks later we're away in a special camp just the team together. And
that morning I wake up and he says it's this morning he's going to
preach on it. He's been preaching for an entire weekend.

And God says this morning he's going to preach on that text. So I read
it. I read it that morning.

I'm praying into this. I go into the meeting. We all gather.

He says turn in your Bible. I'm already turned to the text. And he gives
that chapter.

That's impossible. And he begins to preach and to teach on that. And it
was God's confirmation I was to stay there.

I stayed there seven years. Do you know God speaks and he reveals
himself? You don't play games with God but there is a place that can
bring you the assurance of God's will. Where you know that directed my
next seven years.

I know I'm going to stay here. This is the will of God. I am called to
this work in Scotland.

Do you know as well when I was first there in Scotland in 1993 someone
gave me an old audio cassette by a man called B.H. Clendenin called The
Prodigal Church. And I listened it and listened it and I prayed during
those seven years Lord to be in one of those meetings. Just one of those
meetings.

The power of God was there. The presence of God. This was the word of
God.

I said Lord just one of those meetings. Seven years later I get a phone
call. Someone said do you want to go to America? Arranged to go to New
York.

Go to Times Square. Go evangelize in the streets and then we'll go to
Texas to a preacher's convention. Says I'm coming.

Never met the preacher B.H. Clendenin. Never met him. Never in a meeting
where he preached.

And I walked in that night, that Tuesday night in Texas, in Beaumont,
Texas. And I walked in, sat down. Preacher stood up.

I've had one of his tapes since 1993. This is 2001. And he stands up and
he says I have not preached this message for many years.

But he says God told me to preach it tonight. The Prodigal Church. And
I'm to preach it here tonight after many years.

I knew that was a thus saith the Lord. Saints of God, we're talking
about revival. Serving God.

And being prepared as a vessel that God can use. Are you as a church,
are we as a church, including those online who join us, are we in this
hour, this unique hour, this two years is a very unique time in world
history. And the days ahead are going to be utterly unique.

You haven't seen anything yet. We better hope that we're being prepared
as a vessel of revival. And that God's hand is here.

And we've got to know it. Please stand with me here. Lord God.

Father we thank you for your grace and your mercy here this morning. We
bow the knee. And Father over these coming weeks we pray for your grace
and mercy upon us in Jesus name.

Will you help us O God. Lord God we want to be a vessel. We see our
world changing.

And we're only beginning to see the chaos, the confusion. Lord God the
lack, the famine, the turmoil that's going to sweep our world. And Lord
God yet it's all of you.

Lord God yet your hand is upon us to waken up your church one last time.
Lord God I pray like Gideon, prepare us, make us ready. Lord God of
people prepared in obscurity, prepared in a place of sacrifice with real
signs and tokens that you accepted.

And that you're in the midst. And O God we pray that you'd come and draw
nigh. That we might rise up in this hour of apostasy and begin to leave
a real testimony that we're against what is false.

That you might send a new revival. And Lord God the wind of revival
might blow again. And Father we pray O God.

Lord God if this thing be of you will you assure our heart. Will you
bring in such a deep assurance that we know the will of God. And that
we're a vessel being prepared for this hour and this time.

Lord God help us not to look at our size. Lord God that we're the least.
Lord God that our families are the least.

That we're poor. That there's no miracles. That there's no power.

Lord God but look to you and to believe your word. The mighty man of
valor. I will deliver by your hand.

And as one man you will smite the enemy. In Jesus mighty name. Amen.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/L_T7iSfNIM8.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/keith-malcomson/a-vessel-prepared-for-revival/
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