Denny Kenaston emphasizes the urgent need for revival among God's people, urging them to seek the Lord with sincerity and faith. He reflects on the 'withering work of the Spirit' that purifies hearts, encouraging attendees to break up their fallow ground and seek God until He reigns righteousness upon them. Kenaston highlights the importance of remembering past revivals to ignite a strong cry for revival today, while also acknowledging the angry enemy of revival, Satan, who seeks to distract and destroy. He calls for earnest prayer and repentance as the unchanging way to experience true revival, reminding the congregation that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Well, it’s…time to seek the Lord. (Amens from crowd) I trust that’s what you came for…I’m very grateful to be here; I’m… pretty burdened right now with my message. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week, and see what God can do in my own heart. But I’m very grateful to be here, and I’ve been looking forward for some time to these meetings. What a good, wise, and a good thing to do, for God’s people to gather together, sanctify, set apart all their time and do nothing but seek the face of God! What a good and a wise thing to do! Just wanna give my appreciation for those who organized these meetings so that we can all do that. And just a few words of introduction here, I, um, just wanna be open and honest with everyone here - we found ourselves going through much purifying in the last few months; I don’t know how many of the other speakers can testify to that, but I have to say that God has been doing a real work of purifying in my heart – I call it the “withering work of the Spirit”. You ever hear of that? I believe that phrase comes from Spurgeon…but it also comes from the Bible, in Isaiah chapter 40 - you know that prophecy there about John the Baptist? Where He said, the Voice said, cry, or prophesy – prophesy, John! And he said, “What shall I cry? What shall I prophesy?” The Voice said, “all flesh is grass…tell the people! All flesh is just like grass. And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth; the flower fadeth. Why? Because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. So when we think about a withering work of the Spirit, it’s the Spirit of God blowing on our flesh. And you know, just like that grass, you know when the wind starts blowing on it, all the natural juices in the grass just dry up. And when that wind starts blowing on that flower and all of its goodliness thereof, all the natural juices dry up out of it, and there it is, a wilted flower. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever and that’s what you have left, you know, when the Spirit of God gets done blowing on you and purifying you and all your natural juices are all dried up and all of your goodliness is laid aside and you don’t feel like you have anything to say or anything to do. Ah, then: the Word of our God shall stand forever. And that’s what we wanna stand on this evening, the Word of our God. So I just want to encourage you all to expect some withering the next couple of days here, I, I’m planning on it myself and I trust that you will also be doing that. You know, the Bible has several accounts where God’s people and individuals set aside a time to do nothing but seek God, and each time in the Bible when they did that we see them prospering beautifully! And God being glorified by it! And I don’t know what your mindset is as you come to this place, I mean, I’m sure some of you came because you’re burdened for revival, maybe some of you came to hear special speakers, but I want to encourage you that, to go a little bit deeper than that, go deep enough that you meet God while you’re here. (Applause, amens) That’s what we need. Set apart and sanctify this time as a season to seek the Lord. You will not be disappointed. You know, the prophet Isaiah said these words: “It’s time to seek the Lord.” You know that verse? Just, just before it, he says, “Break up your fallow ground.” It’s time to seek the Lord. That’s a good word for us, isn’t it? That’s not the message this evening, but that’s a good word for us. Break up your fallow ground. It’s time to seek the Lord. To seek the Lord…till when? Till He comes! It’s time to seek the Lord until He comes. Till He comes? Yes, till He comes! And what? Reigns. Reigns righteousness upon us. Brothers and sisters, let’s be honest. We don’t have any righteousness in ourselves; we can’t do this thing; we can’t crank it up; we can’t put it on; it’s got to come from the Lord – so let’s just set this time aside and seek the face of God until He comes and reigns righteousness upon us. Righteousness, brothers and sisters, righteousness coming from the flow of the Spirit of a righteous and a holy God! It’s time to seek the Lord until He comes! And reign righteousness upon us! But we must seek in faith these days, like Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 says, “For he that cometh to God must believe that He is - and - that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him!” Did you hear that, brothers and sisters? He is a rewarder of those who: diligently seek Him. He that cometh to God must believe! That He is! That God is! That He’s the God of heaven! That He’s the God of the universe! That He’s the Creator! That He sits on His throne tonight! AND: that He is a rewarder. He will not let us waste our time here these few days, brothers and sisters. He will not let us waste our time here. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But we must come in faith! We must believe that! It’s a promise…in the Word of God. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Do you believe that? Amen. But you know the next verse? Cleanse your hands, ye sinners…and purify your hearts, ye double-minded...be afflicted…and mourn…let your laughter turn to sorrow; your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. Yes, brothers and sisters, it’s, it’s time to seek the Lord. I hope that you will do that here. I hope that you have come with a heart that wants to seek God. Not just a heart that wants to hear some speakers. You know, I was impressed with the little announcement on the website there of sermon index: “a different kind of revival conference”. Brothers and sisters, let me tell you right here the beginning of this evening what will make this a different kind of revival conference. I mean, there’s lots of good conferences where there’s lots of good preaching. There’s not very many conferences where everybody falls in their face before God continually and says, “God, I’m not satisfied the way that I am, and I’m not satisfied with the church in America, and I’m not satisfied with the way things are around me, and I’m not satisfied with the world around me, and I’m gonna get a hold of You and I’m not gonna let You go until You bless me. (Amens from listeners) Those are the kind of things that’ll make it a different kind of revival conference, amen? Well, those are just a few thoughts that I have. Now we’re going to pray. I want you to open your Bibles to psalm chapter 80, that’s where we’re going to be looking for our text this evening…but first we’re going to pray. You have that text…let’s bow our heads for prayer. O God, the heathen are coming to Thine inheritance, Lord. Thy holy temple have they defiled. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps, Father. O remember not against us former iniquities, Lord. Let Thy tender mercies speedily prevent us, for we are brought very low. Help us, o God! O, God of our salvation…for the glory of Thy name…and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for Thy name’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, o Lord, “where is their God?” Let Him be known among the heathen, in our sight again. Father, these words…we find our heart in these words this evening. Yes, the heathen have come into Thine inheritance. And God, that’s why we’re here. We are not happy, Lord, with the way we find things as we look around us. And that’s why we’re here. O, God, I pray that You’ll settle down upon us tonight. Lord, from the beginning, thank You, for the sweet, holy, awesome Spirit that we sense in this place, Lord. We invite You, Father, to come and sit among us, move among us - Spirit of the living God. Fall afresh on us, Lord. There’s nothing we can do except what You give us to do. There’s n nothing we can say, except You say it within us. Father, I pray that You’ll anoint us all: the preacher and the people, that we may all have ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the church in these last days. O, God, we pray, in Jesus’ holy name. Amen. Alright, we’re looking at psalm chapter 80. I don’t know how much you’ve studies this psalm, but this is a revival prayer – there are many revival psalms in the, um, book of psalms, and this is one of the revival psalms, it is a revival song, but it is also a revival prayer. And we would like to divide it that way this evening…I want you to notice that, before we begin to read this psalm, I want you to notice that, 8 times in this psalm, we hear the cry of the psalmist’s heart rising up; it seems to me to be a broken-hearted cry rising up out of the heart of the psalmist. A cry for revival. A cry for return to reality. A cry to return their hearts back to God and His ways. A cry to bring back former days of blessing, and a cry to save them, to come and personally deliver them. 4 of these 8 cries flow together like the refrains of a chorus. You’ll see as we read down through there…as I studies this psalm, it reminded me, you know, of that song which we often sing which is also a revival prayer. Do you know the song? “Lord, as of old, at Pentecost, Thou didst Thy power display...with cleansing, purifying flame, descend on us today!” That’s one of the verses. But then there’s a chorus that you sing over and over again. “Lord, send the old-time power, that Pentecostal power, Thy floodgates of blessing on us, throw open wide. Lord, send the old-time power, that Pentecostal power, that sinners be converted, and Thy name glorified.” This song is put together just like that one. It is a prayer. Israel was commanded by God to sing it, as a prayer, unto God. And we want to look at it in light of that. I want you to notice 8 things in this psalm…first of all, we want to see the beautiful memory of revival, secondly, the great need of revival, thirdly, the strong cry for revival, fourthly, the angry enemy of revival, number five , we wanna see the powerful reality of revival, and six, the glorious Person of revival, number seven , we’d like to look at the longevity of revival, and number eight, the unchanging way of revival, and all of these points are hidden here in this text. Shall we read together…Give ear, o Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, Thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up Thy strength and come and save us. Here’s the chorus: Turn us again, o God, and cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. O Lord, God of hosts, how long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears, and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors, and enemies, and our enemies laugh among themselves. Here’s the chorus again: Turn us again, o God, of our, of, of hosts, and cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparest room before it and didst cause it to take deep root. And it filled the land. Hallelujah. The hills were covered with the shadow of it. And the bows thereof were like the goodly cedars. She set out her boughs unto the sea, that’s the Mediterranean Sea…and her branches unto the river, the river Euphrates. Why hast Thou then broken down her hedges? So that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Return, o, we beseech Thee, o God of hosts. Look down from heaven and behold and visit this vine. And the vineyard which Thy right hand hath planted, and the Branch that Thou madest strong for Thyself. That’s Jesus. It is burned with fire. It is cut down. They perish at the rebuke of Thy countenance. Let Thy right hand be upon the man...let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, upon the Son of Man, Whom Thou madest strong for Thyself. So will not we go back from Thee. Quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name. turn us again, o Lord God of hosts, cause Thy face to shine, and we…shall be saved. Isn’t that a beautiful revival prayer? God commanded Israel to sing this song. And they sang it continually. Just like we have songs that we sing continually, just like we have songs that we sing that are a prayer, that we find the very burden of our heart in the words of the song. Here, Israel had an opportunity to find the burden of their heart in the songs that they sang. This revival psalm. Breaking the psalm down tin 8 different sections, first of all, we want to consider the beautiful memory of revival. We see it in verse 1, and we also see it in verse 8 through 11. Israel is looking back. Israel has remembered the way it used to be. And brothers and sisters, if we have no beautiful memory of revival, there’s probably a good chance that we’ll never see another one. The beautiful memory of revival is a catalyst in the hearts of God’s people, which works like salt, to salt their appetite, and give them a hunger and a thirst for something that they do not have anymore. It’s the beautiful memory of revival. And for Israel it was the memory of the beautiful way in which God was with them, how He led Joseph, like a shepherd, like a, like a flock through the wilderness, and into the land of Canaan. How He was there, guiding them and with them, a pillar of cloud by night, and a pillar of fire by day. Oh, those were sweet memories for the children of Israel. Also, as Israel begins to put their memory on the beautiful things that God has done for them in the past, they also have to remember how that God led them out through that wilderness and into the land of Canaan, and drove out the heathen that were there, and planted them like a vineyard there, in the land of Canaan, and cause that vine to prosper, and cause that vine to grow, and its boughs spread out in all the area and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, and all the way over to the, the river Euphrates. That’s the beautiful memory of revival. The glorious memory of God leading them through the wilderness, and planting them in a beautiful land. Oh, brothers and sister, for us, well, you can start on your own personal side right there, what about the beautiful memory of that day when you first met the Lord Jesus Christ, you remember what it was like, do you remember how your heart was overflowing, do you remember how you couldn’t keep yourself quiet, do you remember how you just kept opening and telling others about it - do you remember how sweet the Bible was, do you remember how sweet it was when you prayed? It’s the beautiful memory of revival, brothers and sisters. Praise God for the beautiful memories, amen? (agreement from listeners) Those beautiful memories are like a catalyst on our heart, which will not let us settle down very long, if we lose our way and the fire of God doesn’t burn in our heart anymore, we begin to remember, don’t we? We begin to remember. That’s God’s plan for each one of our hearts. For the church, we look to the historical memory of the book of Acts; if you wanna have a beautiful memory of what revival is all about, in the book of Acts, there you can go and look and see the beautiful things which God did - how that Christ was in the midst of His church, how that Christ was building His church, how that the Spirit of God was upon the early church there and souls were being saved in every side, and glorious fellowship was happening form house to house, and everywhere. That’s the beautiful memory of revival. Psalm chapter 44, verse 1 says these words, “We have heard with our ears, o God, our fathers have told us what work Thou didst, in their days, in the times of old.” And I believe, brothers and sisters, that it’s the will of God, and I thank God for every man and woman who wrote down the records of revival in the past. Because we can read them, and when you read them and you realize, I’m so far away from this account that I’m reading in this book right here, there must be something wrong with me. And there is!! It’s the beautiful memory of revival. There is something stimulating about the accounts of revival that sparks a desire in the heart, amen? It just does that, that’s why we’re here this weekend. We’re here this weekend because of the beautiful memories of the revivals of the past. And when we saw that little name, revival, come seek God for revival. Because we have a memory of what revival is all about, we came here to this meeting. Hallelujah. There’s something stimulating about the accounts of revival, it creates hunger within our hearts, it builds faith for today and it encourages us on to believing prayer, that we can believe God for a revival in this, our day. Maybe it’s in our own personal life, you know, I can’t stand up here this evening and promise you a nationwide revival will come out of these three days that we’re spending together; I can’t promise you that. But there’s one thing that I can promise you, I can promise you a personal revival, I can promise you a life-changing three days here, based on the promises of the Word of God - God’ll meet your needs! And I can also promise us a corporate revival; if you get this many people together, with a serious heart to seek the face of God, God will meet with us! (Amens, applause) It’s because of the beautiful memory of revival that I can tell you those things; I’ve seen it happen before. And here they were, they’re supposed to sing this memory as a song over and over again. With a refrain that echoes a cry from their heart, “Do it again, Lord, do it again!” Amen? I mean, that’s right where we are…it’s the beautiful memory of revival, I think of the, that, uh, that account of revival there that happened in, I believe it was in 1970 there, down in, in South Africa, where brother Keith is from, and he can attest to this, you know, the, the revival among the Zulu people and how those, those German missionaries were there, and, and they were doing their missionary work, and things weren’t going very well, and, and there wasn’t very many converts and the converts that did come fell back and went back into the world, and they decided instead of just saying, “The people are hard and don’t wanna listen”, maybe there’s something wrong with us, ohhh…good question. Maybe there’s something wrong with us. You know, I thought about it as we were singing those beautiful songs about the Lord Jesus Christ, I thought, Lord, how, how is it that we have lost our way so far from all the beautiful things that You dies and shed Your blood for? How is it, Lord, that we have lost our way? How is it? There are those German missionaries, and they had enough humility about them to say, you know, maybe something’s wrong with me. And they opened up the book of Acts and started having Bible studies on their knees early in the morning and they’d read a chapter in the book of Acts and study it, and then fall on their knees and weep and say, “God, that’s not my life.” This went on for months! Then, suddenly…God came!!! God came!!! And everything changed. Everything changed, and I just read the account here the other day of, of, the, the, the senior missionary there, uh, Erlo Stegen, I believe that’s how you say his name, and he gives this testimony about the fact that he, there was some things in his own heart and life and, God was pressing him, withering him, amen? God was withering him, and he was resisting, and he was not wanting to bring it out and not wanting to get public about the things that God was pressing on his heart, and, but finally he got through to God, and He opened those things up and He broke his heart, and he confessed his need. And then a couple of days later…God came!!! Oh, think about it, brothers and sisters! What if He hadn’t? Hundred thousand Zulus would not have been converted. What if He hadn’t? But He did. It’s the beautiful memory of revival, these things, these stories stir my soul…I’ve been reading revival history…my, how long? Ever since I met Lou and Ralph Cetera (sp?), that’s 1974. They stir our heart, don’t they? You know, God…God knew, God knew what memory does, you know, there, with the, Revelation chapter 2 there with the church at Ephesus, and, I mean, everything was going real nice, you know, they’re taking a stand for the Lord, and they’re laboring and they’re doing many good things, and, I mean, they’re a fine church, and they were a fine church, but God knew, God knew better, God knew the memory that they had in their minds and, He told them: nevertheless, I’ve somewhat against you, you have left your first love. Hmm. And sometimes they say, “you lost your first love.” Brother, sister, we don’t lose our first love. We leave it!! There’s a big difference, isn’t there? Losing something - oh, where did it go?? And leaving something little by little, allowing the heart to get cold and insensitive and, and a little sin creeping in there, and all of a sudden, that fire, that love, that zeal that we had…it’s gone. See, God knew that the beautiful memory of revival was in the hearts of that church at Ephesus. And He said, “remember…and do the first works.” Well, we could give many accounts here but we better move on. I understand there’s no clock in this building; is that right? (laughter) I don’t see one. Alright – let’s move from there to the great need of revival. You see those two flow together. First you have the beautiful memory of revival, and with that beautiful memory of revival then there comes to settle down upon the heart the great need of revival, when you realize that’s something back there but I don’t have it here…it’s like it creates a jealousy in your heart…doesn’t it? I remember the account of the Welsh revival and when the news of the Welsh revival ended up down in India, those people down there in India in the area where Amy Carmichael was and other missionaries down there, they heard about this revival, and it did something inside their hearts, you know it’s like, provoked them, and they realized, hey! If God did it for them, God can do it for us! Let’s start praying! (applause) And it’s just that simple, brothers and sisters! If God did it for them, then God can do it for us. (agreement, amens) And they began to pray. The great need of revival…o Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou be angry against the prayers of Thy people, You’re not answering our prayers, Lord. You’re feeding us with troubles and tears and, just seems like there’s troubles on every hand. The great need of revival. Our neighbors, Lord…we’re a reproach, to our neighbors. Lord…that beautiful vine that You planted there all those many years ago, and You put a hedge about it? You said, “This is My vine - these are My people!” And You put a hedge around us. Why have You broken down the hedge, Lord? The hedge is broken down. And the boar out of the woods comes in and - tears at us. And the people walk by, the heathen walk by, and pluck the fruit off of the vine. The great need of revival. Brothers and sister, is there not a great need for revival? What about the Lord’s testimony? What about the testimony of the Lord? His name! His name is not being represented properly! I think of the children of Israel, oh, they had some memories, they remembered how the vine prospered, they remembered back there in those days, in Solomon’s days, when the temple was built, and the Holy Ghost came down and filled that temple, the shekinah glory and the cloud filled that place, and all the priests had to run out of there, and the people fell on their faces, and then Solomon get up there and offers a sacrifice out there, puts no fire on it, fire comes down out of heaven, and lights the sacrifice in fire. They remembered those days, those beautiful days, when the Lord’s testimony was clear, when the people traveled from nation after nation, all around Israel they came, they came - what for? They came to hear the wisdom of Solomon the king. They came to see the order of the people as they worshiped. They came to see the beautiful temple, God’s house, which had been built there. And now…all that’s gone. All of that’s gone. What about the Lord’s testimony in our day, brothers and sisters? You see the great need of revival, when you start reflecting on the memories of revival. If you reflect on them sincerely, up out of your heart will gush a burden: it’s not that way anymore. And it’s not that way anymore, brothers and sisters. We all know that. I mean, come on, there’s no difference between the world and the church. All the Gallup polls attest to it, and they’re not slanted one bit, you know, they’re totally unbiased. And they go out there and take these Gallup polls and find out, there’s basically no difference at all between the world and the church. What about the Lord’s testimony? And I thought about all those people coming by and plucking fruit, you know? When you first read that, you think, ok, the world’s coming and eating those nice grapes, but they’re not plucking grapes, brothers and sisters, they’re plucking sons and daughters! (agreement) mark it down, if Israel was a vine, then the fruit of the vine is sons and daughters! Oh, how the world loves to pluck the sons and daughters of the church of Jesus Christ! God help us! God says, “I’m grieved with you…I’m burdened down,”, He says in the book of Amos, “because I gave you sons, and, I gave you sons for prophets, and Nazarites…and you just - let them go do all kinds of other things.” Yeah, the world loves to pluck the fruit from the church. Fine young men and young ladies, crisp, gracious, kind, mannerly, hard-working, obedient, just pluck ‘em, one right after another, just pluck them. And instead of a prophet, you get a businessman who makes a million dollars, so what? God says, “My heart is bowed down heavily because I gave you sons for prophets and Nazarites.” There are not very many prophets around anymore, is there? Why hast Thou broken down the hedge, Lord? We know, don’t we? We know. It’s the great need of revival. And we need revival. But from there, we don’t stop, praise God…we have this beautiful memory of revival, which begins to quicken in our heart, we begin to see the need, the great need, for revival. Then out of that, if we’ve got a responsive heart, comes a strong cry for revival. You see how that works? You see, brothers and sisters, it needs be that we be in this place this evening. Because things are falling down. And we know that it can be different. The hedge is broken down, and we know that it can be built up again. It’s good for us to be here. But thus, the strong cry for revival in verse 1, I mean, all the way down through there…”turn us again, o God, turn us again o God…give ear, o Shepherd of Israel! Shine forth!” Hear those prayers…turn us again, o God. Make your face to shine on us again! You know, you know what happens when God’s face shines on His people? You know what happens? It’s pretty powerful, when God makes His face shine again. Turn us again, Lord. Return, we beseech You, o God of hosts. Look down from heaven, behold, and visit this vine. You see, the strong cry for revival comes up, once you let the memory of revival grip your heart! And then the burden comes upon you for the need of revival. Well, then the natural thing is to PRAY! Amen! (amens) The natural thing is to pray. Prayer - earnest prayer, believing prayer - broken-hearted prayer, persistent prayer – it’s the secret of every heaven-sent revival. You know as well as I do, you’ve read the history books, that’s exactly how it works. Something beautiful happens, it begins to cool, things fall down, the testament of the Lord is destroyed, the young people start going in directions that we don’t want ‘em to go, and then there’s a small group over here. It’s often a hidden group, just a couple of little old ladies, and four or five ministers hiding in the barn in the middle of the night, small little group, and up coming from their heart comes this cry… Lord….Lord...turn us again, Lord…send revival, Lord…send revival! We need revival, and the next day, you’re out in real life, and there you see the, the way the church is, and you see the youth, and all those things, and back there you go to the prayer again. But brothers and sisters, it would be very discouraging if we didn’t have those beautiful memories of revival, wouldn’t it? It’d be very discouraging! You look around, all you see is trouble, you know, just like, uh, oh, which, which one of the prophets was it there, that, Habakkuk, I believe who said., “Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years,” you know what he was saying? He was looking around, he, he was seeing the condition of everything and saying, o Lord…revive Your work. Everything’s falling down. But the exciting thing is, when you read accounts of revival, there rises within your heart a faith that, it reaches (?) a faith; that believing prayer beings to come out of your heart, and you don’t just tell God how bad everything, is, YOU SEEK GOD, WITH A POSITIVE, FAITH-FILLED ATTITDUE: LORD, SEND REVIVL!! You did in the past; I know You’ll do it again!! That’s’ a whole lot different than just complaining before the Lord, isn’t it? And I’m afraid many times, that’s, that’s about what the Lord gets from us, is a bunch of complaints about how bad it is, look at this and look at that, and oh, my, I’m so tired of this and…that won’t bring revival, brothers and sisters…but prayer will. Prayer will. Earnest prayer. Believing prayer, broken-hearted prayers…will br4ing revival. David Brainerd – wrestled with God day and night because of his burden for the heathen. Day and night…that God would call out a people for His name among the Indians. And do you know what? God did. There as a day, I mean, that, that young man, he, he prayed, he prayed when nobody else was praying, he didn’t have anybody to pray with him, he prayed by himself, but bless God, he prayed with God, and God and one man is a majority. It didn’t bother him that he didn’t have anybody else to pray because God was with him and he went out there in the beginning of the day and started praying, and sometimes it was snowing, and he finished praying four or five hours later, and the snow was all around him this high, and he just had a hole in there where he had prayed the thing open!! He prayed. Then one day…God came. And you know when God comes, things happen. You know, you might stand there and look at those Indians back there in Brainerd’s day, and they were drunkards and they were mean and they, they were murderers, they killed each other and , and there was just, they were on drugs and all of those things. They were a mess! And you could look at ‘em and say, “no hope for them!” But David Brainerd knew God. And he knew that with God, all things are possible and he sought the face of God in prayer, believing prayer, earnest prayer, broken-hearted prayers, I mean, brothers and sisters, he got on praying ground and he stayed there. And one day…suddenly….God came. Took those bunch of wild Indians and turned them into holy, worshiping saints. Hallelujah!! Do it again, Lord. (Amens) Got any drunks in your neighborhood? God still saves drunks, you know. I’m one. The revival in Wales was preceded by many, many praying people. From 1897 all the way to 1904, many ministers gathered together to pray for a visitation of God upon the chur4ches of Wales. At times, there was utter desperation in their prayers but they refused to let go and they continued to pray, and the day came when God came!! I think of the Moravian revival…1727 there, Count Zinzendorf, there, at Hernhutt, with all that, I mean, that mixed multitude of Christians, Lutherans, uh, brethren, Anabaptists, uh, uh, Calvinists from Switzerland, I mean he had a bunch, all kinds of them there! And they started fussin’ with each other and, you know, they’ll do that, all those doctrines, and things weren’t going too well, and they started praying – Count Zinzendorf started praying for revival and he got a few others to start praying for revival, and suddenly, one day, in the middle of a communion service, God came. And when God comes, things start happening. And God took that little group of praying Moravian Christians, and turned them into one of the most powerful missionary bands the world has ever seen. There they were!!! Bunch of fussin’, carryin’ on, uh, with each other’s - dividing and arguing about this doctrine and that one, and whether the, whether the bread turns into this and not, whether it doesn’t and all those things , and then one day, God came. And Jesus was in their midst. Spurgeon testified of the hidden group of desperate prayer warriors, who stormed heaven for a visitation in their church every Sunday morning. He said, “At times, the burden and presence of God was so intense that no one dared to even speak. Now that’s when you know God’s there. Nobody wants to say anything. Have you ever been there? I’ve been there. You don’t even wanna get up behind the pulpit and say anything. Because God is there. Can it happen again?” they say…well…is God still alive? (Amens, agreement) Brothers and sister, revival is just God!!! (Amens, agreement) Is God still alive? (Amens, agreement, louder) Revival is God!! So, yes, revival can happen again. It can happen in your own life again. It can happen here this week again. It can happen in your church! (Amens) Yes it can. The strong cry for revival comes up. Do you understand, brothers and sisters? Let’s move on from here. Let’s look at the angry enemy of revival. Anybody know who that is? In this psalm, he’s the boar out of the woods. And this boar out of the woods…I’ve seen a boar; we’re not talkin’ about a regular pig, like you find in a barn somewhere here in America. This is a boar. I mean, he’s got teeth, and he’s got fangs sticking out there, and he is one wild, mean character. And he’ll kill you if you meet him out in the wilderness somewhere. There is an enemy who hates revival. With an evil, lustful passion. satan is his name. One of these boars can destroy a beautiful vineyard in one night of he gets in there. Just tearing thins, vines, shredding in every direction…he can destroy a vineyard in one night. And so can satan. Destroy a vineyard in one night. he’s the angry enemy of revival, he hates revival. Oh, he doesn’t mind if you go to church! No problem-you can go to church, he doesn’t mind if you go to church, he doesn’t mind if you carry your Bible and go to church, he doesn’t mind if you bring a songbook along with you, he doesn’t mind of you sing those songs at the time, he doesn’t even mind if you say “amen” when the preacher’s preaching, he don’t mind…but you let that fire begin to burn in your soul again, and you will find out about the angry enemy of revival. He’ll be on your doorstep in short order. Isn’t that interesting?!?! we can float along for five years just kinda doin’ the old church thing, you know, and he’s not gonna bother us, he never knocks on our door, he never messes with us, he doesn’t need to mess with us, but as soon as the fire begins to burn, and that old conscience starts getting clarity, and it gets clear again, and the Spirit of the living God begins to settle down upon you, and all of a sudden that mouth wants to open up, and speak about Jesus everywhere you went, ohhhh, he’s gonna be knockin’ on your door. He’s the angry enemy of revival. He doesn’t want revival to happen; he doesn’t want you to get stirred up; and he’ll do everything he can to keep you from doing it. He doesn’t want you to turn your life around…he goes to and fro throughout the whole earth seeking whom he may devour. And brothers and sisters, if there’s a choice on who he can devour, and not devour, think about it. Tonight: are you one whom he may devour? There are those he may not devour – and there are those he may devour!! (pause) which one are you? We must watch his wiles. We must keep our hearts clear…we must not give him any place. he would to destroy us! Brothers and sisters, and he would to distract us, ohhh, listen: that’s probably his greatest trick here in America is to distract God’s people. Ehh? To distract them! You know, get the TV on! Yeah, get the TV on! Distract them! Somethin’ else to do. Oh, good deal comin’ up. Big business deal, lots of money, yeah, go make some money. Here! Here’s a few toys you can play with. Go do that for a few hours. Fill your garage up with them and spend your weekends doin’ That! Yeah, he loves that. he loves it. Amen? (Amens, agreement) Now we go into meddlin’. But it’s true, you know it’s true! He’s distracting God’s people! I’ll never forget the sermon that I heard preached by Billy Graham I don’t know, 1954 or something like that, wow, was it a hot sermon – he preached on television and he stunned those people about television in 1954, and he made a prophecy when he said it, in 1954 he said the television will, is going to destroy the devotional life of American Christianity. Oooh! Was he a prophet or what?!?! It happened! You know what id’ do if I were you? I’d take, I’d get my shoe, I’d get my boot on and I’d put my boot right through the middle of it. Sorry about that, call me a legalist if you want (Applause, amens), but I’d just put my boot on, and put my boot right through the whole thing, and pick up my Bible, and GO FOR GOD!!! (Amens, applause) I mean, how do you think revival’s gonna come, brothers and sisters? Watchin’ the soap operas and all the nonsense they have on there? I don’t believe so. But the boar out of woods is after us, because the hedge has been broken down. he would demolish our unity, and get us fussin’ with each other. he would deceive us into little sins, that open up our heads so that our conscience gets cloudy and we no longer can see clearly what’s happening around us. he would cloud our conscience so that we’re not sensitive of the lost souls that are around us every day. And once he (?) has you there…he’ll get you right there, and you can float along, for the next ten years, enjoy life, and wait for heaven to come. Oh, really? Alright. Brothers and sisters, the boar out of the woods is loose in the church. he is the angry enemy of revival. Oh, let us get our hearts clear and right with God, and stand guard over that precious heart, and the precious gift of Jesus Christ which is in there, let us get jealous over our heart, brothers and sisters, because Jesus will not dwell there and rule there, where He’s not allowed to rule, and He will not dwell there where idols are dwelling. Brothers and sisters, there’s a lot of idolatry in America. Oh, we’re sophisticated heathen, we don’t bow down to them anymore, dance around them, like they do in Africa…there’s a lot of idolatry in America. Do you think that revival will come if God’s people are bowing down to all kinds of other things except precious Jesus? It will not come. It will not come. Let’s move on. Number 5, we wanna look at the powerful reality of revival. The powerful reality of revival. The pillar of cloud by night, fire by day, shekinah sitting on the mercy seat, that’s the powerful reality of revival. Verse 14, the psalmist says, return, we beseech Thee, o God of hosts. Look down from heaven and behold and visit this vine. Now that’s revival, isn’t it? God visiting His people. Look down from heaven and behold and visit this vine, the psalmist prays. The powerful reality…of revival. Israel remembered the reality of the living God in their midst. That stirred them on to cry and pray and sing…that God would return them to former days of blessing. Brothers and sisters, the reality of revival is so worth everything that we may need to sacrifice in order to have it. For when God comes, everything begins to happen. We think about the powerful reality of revival, as the church of Jesus Christ, all again we have to do is go back to the book of Acts and see God was in the midst of His people. Men and women weep under conviction when God visits His people. Even the good and the holy break down under deep revelation of their need. Amen? I mean, look at Isaiah. That was one powerful prophet. He got one little glimpse of the glory of God, and Isaiah was on his face crying, “woe is me, I am undone! I’m a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of an unclean people”. That’s what happens when God comes…it’s one of the greatest gifts that God could give you! Is a revelation of yourself! It’s one of the greatest gifts that God could give you!! Isaiah…I’m sure he treasured it all his days. That revelation of the High and Holy One lifted up there…and the revelation of his own heart. I’m sure he treasured it all his days. That’s the powerful reality of revival. Real revival. When God comes, when God comes...it’s not a silly thing, brothers and sisters, when God shows up. No. Know why? Because God is God. And all of Who He is…He’s the Holy One, He’s pure. He’s righteous, He’s just. He’s a powerful God, He sees everything, He knows everything! You take that God, with all those attributes, and let Him settle down in the midst of His people. I mean, nobody hides in that atmosphere. Nobody. No phony-baloney Christians hide in that atmosphere. I’ve seen it. Many times. Oh, listen, pastors…you know, it’s pretty hard to walk up to one of your church members and say, “brother so-and-so, I don’t think you’re born again.” I mean, try it once. That’s pretty hard to do! But yet, if you’re an honest pastor here this evening, there’s people in your congregation-you have the witness in your heart - you, you know that man, he’s not born again! Oh, when God comes…you don’t need to walk up to him and say, “friend, I don’t think you’re born again”…he won’t be able to make it when God comes. Because when God comes, He comes, in all that He is (?). He knows everything, He sees everything, He’s holy, the atmosphere becomes holy, He’s pure, He’s a righteous God, He’s a just God…yes, He’s a God of love and He’s a God of mercy too! Usually when God comes, you know God’s people, they get a bit uncomfortable, and they need to get a bit uncomfortable, and when all that gets taken care of, then love and mercy, ohhh glory, it’s there. This is the powerful reality of revival. Listen, I’ve seen God do in three weeks, in church, that would’ve took me a year of counseling to do on my own. God did it in three weeks without me even saying a word to all of the people. When God comes, things happen. The power and presence of God is felt in amazing ways when God comes. God’s presence transcends the church and flows out into the community, isn’t that beautiful? It transcends the church and goes out into the community. Large numbers get converted. Hardened sinners get right with God. The Holy Spirit becomes the soul-winner in our midst – when God comes. Restitution is made in amazing ways when God comes, you think about it, think. You don’t have to sit ‘em down and say, “ok, you need to make restitution on this point and restitution”-no way, you don’t have to say a word! The Holy One of Israel is in the midst! And he comes on His own and says, “I stole 2000 dollars, and God’s tellin’ me I have to give it back and go make restitution and make it right, please pray for me, I may be in jail tomorrow.” In the Heberdeezen (sp?) revival, in the Heberdeezen, 1952, every bookstore sold out of Bibles in just a few days, amen? That’s what happens when God comes. Drunkenness dropped to half, after the revival was over. When God comes, the church becomes a vibrant testimony if consecrated believers. When God comes, the church becomes…a vibrant testimony…of consecrated believers. Amen? Talkin’ to a pastor just a few days ago, catching a few of his tears, he was counseling and asking me questions, telling me, asking me what he should do, he has a church-I don’t know, maybe a hundred, hundred and fifty people, and there’s a sincere pastor, and he’s you know, he’s praying’ and he’s fasting and he’s seeking God, and this pastor means business, you know? He wants something for his people, and he spends time alone with God and he fasts and he prays, and he brings a message on Sunday morning, and people just sit there like a bump. He said, “brother Denny, what shall I do?” well, I said, “brother, it sounds to me like you’ve got a church full of carnal Christians.” Now, I’m not sure how long you can be one of those, frankly, theologically, I’m not sure how long you can just be a selfish, self-centered, live your own life, and go to church on Sunday kind of person. I said, “pretty hard to lead a group of people into a Spirit-filled reality ho are carnal and do not wanna go!!” But when God comes, the church becomes a vibrant testimony of consecrated believers. When God comes, family worship is revived. Family worship is revived. In Africa, in the revival among the Zulus in 1973, it was testified that you could hear the families gathering first thing in the morning, to sing and read and pray, and you could hear ‘em all down through the villages there, they were all gathering in the morning, fathers, gather-just imagine that!! These are Zulus! Bless God! You know who the Zulus are? They the fiercest tribe in all of Africa, I mean the tribes all the way up into Ghana know who the Zulus are way down in South Africa. The fiercest warring tribe there is. There these Zulu men get converted, born again –filled with the Spirit of God, and now they’re gathering their children into their little huts, morning by morning, reading the Bible to them, singing songs and having prayer. Hallelujah! Only God could do that! (Amens, agreement) and God needs to do the same thing here! (applause) I mean, we’re losin’ our children in this land! We’re losin’ our children, I’ll tell ya. The reason why we’re losin’ our children is because God hasn’t come yet. It’s the powerful reality of revival. Number 6, we wanna look at the glorious Person of revival. You know Who that is, don’t you? Lord Jesus Christ! Son of the living God! The glorious Person of revival. The – Man of Thy right hand…upon the Son of Man, Whom Thou madest strong for Thyself. You see, in Israel’s day, there was this longing for Messiah. And they knew, when things got tough, they looked ahead. They had this hope in their heart – someday Messiah will come, and everything’s gonna be set straight. Oh, brothers and sisters, Messiah has come. But when the great need of revival is settled down upon us, the glorious Person of revival is just kinda back in the shadows…but for the early church, He was there with them, Christ building His church in the midst of the people. He was there! They didn’t have any books back in those days, ten steps, or ten new methods for building a new testament church, they didn’t need any of those methods, they only had one or two methods and they worked. Jesus told, them, “I promise you that I will build My church. You won’t have to build it, I‘ll build it. (Agreement) You don’t have to do it, I’ll do it. (Agreement) BUT: you must build your life on Me, and if you build you life on ME, I’ll build My church, and the church which I build, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Brothers and sister, the gates of heel are prevailing against it. Why? I’m not sure if Christ is building this church. Jesus said, “you build your lives on Me,’ now that that doesn’t, that’s not talking about a limp profession brothers and sisters, that means I am solidly walking in Christ Jesus, and my heart’s desire is to walk with Him every day, and to go forward, and to live for Him and to love Him, and of you get a whole bunch of people together like THAT – you’ll have a church!!! (Amens, agreement) I mean, I guarantee it! They’ll come, the people will come. That’s the way to was in the book of Acts – Christ was in eth midst of the people. He’s the glorious Person of revival. And He was in the midst of the people, It even says, “and the Lord added unto the church daily such as should be saved.” He was there! He’s the glorious Person of revival. The Spirit of God exalts Christ, and when the Spirit of God is turned loose in the midst of God’s people, Christ is exalted, honored, and loved. We should long for an overwhelming love for the Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters; when God comes, the glorious Person of revival is in the midst. He will be preached about, He will be worshiped, He will be the topic of conversation in life, He will be the song on the lips of His people, He will be the all in all, everybody talks about the Lord Jesus when revival comes! (Amens, agreement) We all know it’s true! It’s nothing new; I’m not sharing anything new with us tonight. Very interesting, in the setting where I come from, what happens when someone in a very religious setting gets born again – and they show up at church the next Sunday morning and start talking about the glorious Person Jesus…they throw, they throw ‘em out of the church, where I come from. (reactions, nervous laughter) Oh, you can talk about God, no problem. You can talk about God. But, when you start that bubbling over about Jesus Christ, that’s enough, you either sit down and shut up or leave. (reactions) but He’s the glorious Person of revival, and when revival comes, Jesus is center stage. (Amens) and you think about it now, Jesus is the Christ, the anointed One. Think, (??) stay with me, when the anointed Head and the anointed body are together, Christ manifests His life in a given community. And by the way, that’s the only way that it can happen, brothers and sisters. When the anointed body gets in tune with the anointed Head, Christ manifests His life in the midst of a community. He’s the glorious Person of revival. In seasons of revival, men and women come with open faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, and they’re changed into the same image…from glory to glory. Even if by the Spirit of God…when revival comes, the glorious Person of Jesus Christ is seen. Not with the eyes in our head, but with the eyes of our heart. And when you see Jesus with the eyes of your heart, the Bible says that the Spirit of God will change you into the same image that you see. Do you get that? I mean, that’s the positive side of a sanctified life, amen? I mean, yes, sometimes we need to come to an altar and get some junk out and deal with those things, but you know, you don’t always have to go to an altar and do things on the negative side…how ‘bout gettin’ your heart clear and right with God, and juts opening up the Bible, with a vision of Jesus, looking into His Word, and gazing on the open, with an open face, upon the glories of Jesus Christ, and having that spirit, write on the fleshly tables of your heart, the beautiful character of Jesus Christ. (Amens, agreement) Now that’s revival! I mean, that’s what we want, isn’t it? Oh, to be like the precious Redeemer. Oh, to be like Thee, pure as Thou art - how do you think that’s ever gonna happen, brothers and sisters? That’s not imitation, dear brothers and sisters, that’s impartation. (Amens, agreement) Sorry Thomas a Kempis, but it’s not the imitation of Christ. It’s the impartation of Christ, that’s the only way we’re ever gonna become like Jesus. And we know these things, you know them. I’m not telling you anything, new, but you know, we just – this is so easy to settle down into the natural, you know, and start going through the motions of our religion, you know, whatever it may be, hey, whatever denomination name you got on it. We can all put all upon a big form. That’s not gonna make us like Jesus. We must come with an open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. And be changed. ..into the same image. Do it, Lord. Do it. Number 7…the longevity of revival. The longevity of revival. So will not we go back from Thee? Quicken us, and we will call, and keep on calling, and keep on calling, upon Thy name. The longevity of revival. True revival has a stabilizing effect upon the people. Its converts have clear testimonies of continuing for many, many years after a visitation from God. We’re talking about longevity. Brothers and sisters, true revival lasts. It lasts. If it doesn’t last, it wasn’t revival. You didn’t stay there long enough. Maybe you, maybe you went forward, maybe you went into your closet and you confessed some sins to God and, and God, and God forgave you and you went out your closet and went your way. But if it doesn’t last, you didn’t stay on your face long enough…for God to come. Because true revival lasts. 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years…oh, I’m not talkin’ about perfection, sure, there’s some ups and downs and maybe a little bit this way and a little bit that way, but steady on, moving forward, always gaining…true revival lasts, brothers and sisters. I think if the East African revival movement back in 1930, I believe that’s when revival broke out in Eastern Africa, Kenya and Uganda, over there in that area there. 40 years later, it was still the same. I went to Kenya in 1896. 56 years later. I never met Africans like those Africans in Kenya. And they were just, they were still on the back side of revival!! They were powerful people. Powerful people. Why? True revival lasts, brothers and sisters. It’s got longevity to it. None of this-up and down stuff. None of this-up for three days and then 5 days later or two weeks later, back down to life as usual, no, it’s not that way, not when revival comes. It lasts. I’m afraid we’re still too much in the mode of this up and down Christianity, you know, roller coasters. Up for the special meetings, and ride up there a little while then down, back down again and then up for the special meetings and then back down again. That’s not the will of God, brothers and sisters. (Amens) That’s anemic Christianity, there’s no revival in that whatsoever. Revival lasts. And I thought about it you know, earlier this afternoon, we owe our children a heaven-sent revival. We owe our children. (Applause) Brothers and sisters, our children…have never sat…in awe…in fear…as they saw God…moving powerfully in the midst of His people. We owe our children a revival. I thought about revival lasting – why shouldn’t it last? It’s just normal Christianity…did you hear that? It’s just normal Christianity!!! It’s nothing special – it’s just normal. But we’ve been living in the sub-normal so long…that the normal looks – abnormal. And we think, “ooh, this would be wonder-“ well, it would be wonderful!!! But it’s nothin’ special. It’s just normal. It’s just God, being in the midst of His people…isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be! We’re Christians. Christ is living in me, it is God that is in me, both willing and doing of His pleasure; God is with me, God’s presence is with me; today, tomorrow, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, 50 years from now…it should last, shouldn’t it? And if you study church history, it did last. It did. And it will. If it’s real. So…let’s not settle for anything less than the real. And when God comes, you will be changed. And everyone will know that you’re changed. And a year from now, they will know that you have been changed. And lastly, the unchanging way of revival, excuse me. (gets a drink) Revival only comes one way – only one way. That way is expressed throughout this psalm, in the cry: turn us, Lord. Turn us. In the Old Testament that “turn”, that word turn means repent. Repent us, o Lord!! Repent us! That’s what it means in the Old Testament. Repent us. It is the unchanging way of revival. Every history book, every account, you follow them out, down through the annals of history for 2,000 years, it’s always the same. Wherever there’s a group of people who decide they’re going to get thoroughly right with God, and then begin to pray, God comes. And the way never changes, brothers and sisters. It’s through repentance. It’s through undoneness. It’s through brokenness. Sometimes it comes through failure. Through strong crying and tears. Through repentance and restitution. Through honest confession. That’s how it comes. You know, if a heart says, “I’m not gonna let anybody know who I am, not gonna let anybody know my secret sins, oh, I’m here, I like the sermon, I’ll say ‘amen’, I’m not gonna let anybody know who I am,”…that’s pride, friend. And God resists the proud. I mean, it’s just like this: do you wanna go through these whole three days when God is like this with you? Think about it. Think about it. You’re here. And God is like this with you. I don’t wanna do that. Honesty, brothers and sisters. Are you willing to get honest? You know, it…seems awful quiet in here. I don’t say that to be funny. It seems awful quiet. God does wanna visit His people. But it’s the unchanging way of revival. There is no other way. There is no other way. You can pray and pray and pray and pray, go to the prayer meetings and you know, all the - you can sing and sing and sing, but if, if in the heart, there are things there and you don’t wanna deal with ‘em, or you don’t wanna bring ‘em out… I was reading the other day the account of John Sung. You ever hear of him? Leonard Ravenhill – I was watching a video of Leonard Ravenhill, and just, he’s almost gone. It’s two years before he passed away, and, and in the midst of the – it was Sung, a couple brothers were asking a lot of questions and he was answering questions and one of the things he said was, “the biography of John Sung. Most powerful book I ever read besides the Bible.” Boy, I wrote that down so fast – John Sung. Chinaman. Evangelist in China. Whew! That man…he was a mighty evangelist. You know how come God blessed his meetings everywhere he went? He preached on sin. That’s why! Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night, he preached on sin!!! And he held the people and told them, “you’ve gotta repent”. Finally toward the end of the week – I mean, he did this – I, I, I, read the biography; he did it hundreds of times; he just went from one place to the next to the next. Spent hours in prayer. Spent hours in the Word, every day, got up there and preached his heart out to the people. Preached about sin! Named them! Sometimes he moved in the prophetic and he’d look right out over the crowd and say, “you! You’re holding out on God!” And he was right! He knew it! He preached on sin. People started breaking their hearts toward the end of the week and confessing and opening up and, and they started having testimony meetings and confessions were being made, and as this was happening, I mean the Dove just settled down in that meeting, you know, and the people started singing and rejoicing, and then he started preaching on evangelism toward the end of the week and put these little groups in bands of three and sent ‘em out like foxes with their tails on fire, all over the community where they lived. And you know what happened? The crowds started coming. And people got converted everywhere. The unchanging way of revival, brothers and sisters, is through repentance, is through honesty, is through humility, is through brokenness, it’s when we’re undone. It’s when we’re all done. And we say, “ok. I don’t really care anymore. I want God. I want God in my life; I want a reality of God in my life; I don’t care what I have to do, I don’t care what I have to go through, I don’t care what humiliation may come my way, I want the reality of God in my life”. (Amens) brothers and sisters, that’s the way every one of our hearts should be crying, “I want the reality of God in my life.” That’s Christianity. That’s what it is. But if a reality of God is not in my life…it’s a grief to God and it hurts His testimony. Alright, I think I’m done, we’re going to read just a few verses in Psalm 81 and…I think we’re going to give an invitation tonight. Gonna give you an opportunity just to do business with God, and this is a nice altar up here, there’s lots of room, you know, if you wanna come up here and pray, but I wanna read a few more verses for you, and then pray. It’s time to seek the Lord, brothers and sisters. Listen to the heart of God, in Psalm 81, speaking about Israel. But He comes pretty close to home. Lemme read it. “I removed his shoulder from the burden. I removed his hand. They were delivered from the pots. Thou calleth in trouble, and I delivered thee. I answered thee in the secret place of thunder. I proved thee at the waters of Meribah.” God, pleading with His people, reminding them of the glorious deliverance that He so graciously gave to them. “Hear, o My people, and I will testify unto thee, o, Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto Me,” God says, “oh, if you would just hear Me…My heart is open towards you; My heart has enlarged your way,” says God – ”if you would just hear Me…there shall no strange god be in thee, neither shalt thou worship any strange god; I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it,“ says God. And He’s not talkin’ about givin’ ‘em a piece of bread, friends; He’s talkin’ about that spiritual bread – “open your heart’s mouth wide and I will fill it”, saith the Lord. “But: My people would not hearken to My voice. And Israel would none of Me…they don’t wanna have anything to do with Me. So…I gave them up, unto their own hearts’ lusts, and they walked in their own counsels.” That’s a pretty sobering verse, isn’t it? Oh, God, please – don’t do that to us…but you know, as you look around you, and you hear all the crying, woes, of God’s people, as they talk about how their church is, it seems that’s exactly what has happened. They’ve been given over to their own hearts’ lusts and they follow their own counsels. I mean, I’ve talked to people who visited twenty churches…finally they gave up, and they just sit at home and read their Bible; take a tape and put it in on Sunday morning. “I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lusts”. Verse 13, “oh, that My people had hearkened unto Me, and Israel has walked in my ways. I should soon have subdued their enemies and turned My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto Him, but their time should have endured forever. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the rock. Should I have satisfied thee.” You hear the heart of God this evening? All God is doing is just simply, He’s just, He’s opening His heart to His people here in Psalm 81 and saying, “look at all that I’ve done for you, yes, I am the Lily of the Valley, I’m the Bright and Morning Star, I’m the Altogether Lovely One, and I died for you, I gave everything for you, look what I’ve done for you, I led you out of Egypt, I transformed your life, I changed you. And He did. But Israel wouldn’t listen to Me. Wesley Dewell (sp?) says these words in a song he wrote: “come suddenly again, o Lord, Your temple waits for You today, come in accordance to Your Word, come suddenly, eve while we pray. O blessed, blessed Holy Ghost, bring revival we need most.” I’m going to have a prayer, and if you – no song, no singing or invitation or anything, but if you need to do business with God, if you, the