Mike Bickle emphasizes the transformative power of the Holy Spirit's conviction as described in John 16:8-11, asserting that this divine influence is more impactful than any physical miracle. He explains that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, fundamentally shifting human hearts towards truth and repentance. Bickle highlights historical revivals as evidence of this supernatural work, encouraging believers to seek a deeper understanding and experience of the Spirit's conviction in their lives. He stresses the importance of positioning oneself in prayer and faith to witness this powerful move of God in the end times.

Stir our hearts. We thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well in John chapter 16 verse 8 to 11. That's the passage. We're looking at this is part session 3 and our second semester on John 16. We're doing it verse by verse every Friday night. And this is I'm calling the Holy Spirit conviction. We all know that term. We're familiar with it, but I'm not sure most of us have a fuller grasp of what this involves. Well, none of us understand it fully but this is a significant release of the power of God in history the several the times it's been manifest in history in a great way. I consider this to be the ultimate display of the power of God on the human condition. It's more powerful touching the human heart than watching somebody race from the dead. When the Holy Spirit releases an unprecedented measure and unusual measure of the conviction of sin on the heart. It's absolutely transformative. It's the critical piece of power far more than even signs and wonders and healings. That's very important. But this is more important in terms of changing multitudes of human beings in a substantial long-term way. Paragraph a Jesus described one of the most important ministries of the Holy Spirit. He says it here in verse 8 when he the Holy Spirit has come he will convict the world of three things. Three massive arenas of truth with many layers to each one of them. He will convict the world of sin righteousness and judgment. Now the Holy Spirit will convict other translation say convince. Other translation say he will reprove or correct. He will shift wrong thinking in believers and unbelievers to line up with truth and the Holy Spirit will exert his power in an unusual way in a way. I believe is more powerful and transforming hearts at any other type of miracle. What happens when the Holy Spirit does this is a supernaturally fastens truth on the heart. So that a person's conscience we're talking about unbelievers here, but it applies to believers. We know that testimony through history. It's so fastens truth upon the human heart that it troubles one's conscience deeply where they can't shake free until they make a change. This is a supernatural work of the spirit. Far more beyond human gifting personality or presentation meaning some people which is okay, you know, give lessons on how to teach better communicate better lead worship better and all that's good. The presentation of our gifting is important, but it can never ever touch what this touches. This cannot be imitated. It cannot be produced by trying harder or exerting more energy or gaining a new style that gets people's attention paragraph B. Remember the context that we're in and John 16. We looked at session to the grief and trauma of sorrow. We looked at session one betrayal. That's the context of what she's talking about. The supernatural convincing of humans by the Holy Spirit to line up with God here. In verse 8, Jesus elaborate is elaborating on what he just promised them a few moments ago. You go back three or four minutes three or four minutes earlier in his presentation or a minute or two. He's talking about the world hating them and persecuting them. Then he talks about betrayal. Sorrow, but here in chapter 15 verse 26, just a minute or two before because I got good news for you. The Holy Spirit is coming. I'm going to send him from the father. They still don't know he's going to the father tomorrow. And they don't understand that the father will not release the Holy Spirit into the human condition talk about it to the human realm in an ultimate way unless a human releases it. So he waited till Jesus live the perfect life offered the perfect sacrifice rose from the dead and as a resurrected human the father says now you can release the spirit into the human realm, but I'm not going to happen till that happens. He says when he comes I'm going to the father as a glorified resurrected human the God man and I will have the authority there to release the spirit to have more about that in the notes, but of course, we probably won't get to those parts of the notes, but here's what Jesus said don't lose the power of this. He goes when I release him, he will testify of me. He will talk to you about me and power with supernatural clarity and force. He will grab your heart. He will testify about me to you. You won't be left to just wallow in your sorrow and bitterness and betrayal. I'm going to help you but not only that. Then I'm going to use you to be the vessel to testify of what the spirit tells you about me to other people and you're going to be the vessels of mercy and Glory that's going to bring other people into divine alignment with my heart. You're going to empower them to stay steady under pressure. I'm going to use you. Why do we need to grasp this truth because I'm going to develop it kind of more than what you would see it a casual moment of looking at the spirit of conviction. Why do we need to grasp it? Because this truth is so often overlooked. But this supernatural activity of the spirit, it's essential to empowering the end time church to walk in victory in the place of persecution sorrow betrayal earthquakes Wars rumors of Wars pressures at every level. There's a place of joy and peace. That's the theme of John 13 to 17. You can actually overcome because of how I'm going to touch your heart. I'm going to share a little bit of my journey around this phrase. The Lord captured me with John 16 verse 8 many many years ago. And I happened over the course of a year in a very dramatic way and then on since then. I haven't read here just for my own notes here. It was in 1978. I remember vividly. I was reading the biographies. I have these men here. And if you're unfamiliar with them, I really recommend maybe you read a short biography, maybe a long one, maybe go on the internet and find out these were men that God used in an unusual way in the first and second great awakenings in America. I have their names there George Whitfield, David Brainerd, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, Charles Fenney. We'll talk more about them each a little bit more, but I want you to have those names because you might go. I don't know any of those names. I don't know what you mean. The first great awakening 1700s the Spirit swept across the 13 colonies in a way that's not been surpassed except for the second great awakening 100 years later in the 1800s. No revival since then has even begin to touch the power of those two great awakenings. I appreciate the revival since then, but none of them have had the testimony of transformation and the deep heart transformation of the unbelievers and believers by the operation of the Spirit. Paragraph D. I encourage all of you to become students of revival. Because when you study revival in the past, I don't mean to be experts. I don't mean to know every revival every name. Take the first two great awakenings. Those are the big ones in our history, but there's other ones in other nations. Take two or three of the main preachers and see how God worked with them because that's a down payment of how he's going to work through messengers in this generation. See how willing he is to give more and how far he'll go. I read these biographies of these four or five guys. Some of them over and over. Some long versions, some short versions, the diary of David Brainard and the autobiography of Charles Finney. I mean, I just couldn't read it enough. They were brand new people to me. I found at first hard to believe it was real and I talked to some old guys. That guy's some pastors in their 30s. And they said, no, this is these were real historical figures. This is all new to me. I was about 22, 23 years old. Paragraph E. Now, these men preached with great power. And what are the common phrases that describe them by observers is that when they preach the word of God was released in power like a sword that pierced hearts. Like a fire that burned the hearts of people like fire burns dry grass or hey, consume them. Or like a hammer that shatters the rock of resistance. Now, we've heard inspiring preaching. We've heard insightful preaching, but I don't know much in our generation. I think it's happened a bit at Pensacola for a few years, a touch of this of touch of this more than anything I've seen. In my 50 years of walk with the Lord, not a big degree, but more than anywhere. I've anything I've experienced. But we're going to see the word of God, like a sword, like a hammer, like fire again. Paragraph F this supernatural conviction can be released in many ways, not just preaching. But singing through writing people reading a story a blog and getting touched by the spirits conviction dramas media productions paragraph G. Let me give you some examples from history. George Whitfield. He's one of the he's 22 years old. He's in England. 1700s. I got the dates on the other page. 22 year old young man newly saved. So we're not talking about he went deep in God and quote deserve this anointing. It was a sovereign time in history. He had to say yes, but these things this measure of what I'm talking about happens at just brief moments in history typically for a short period of time. You can't make it happen. The reason I'm saying that I want to stress that I've given this testimony this message over the years, maybe five or ten times. I don't know and always for about a month or two afterwards people want to make it happen. I don't 50 years. I gave up trying to make this happen. It does not work by raising your voice or physical antics or anything. It just won't that's not the same as the supernatural move on the heart. Not that those are bad things, but that's not what makes it happen. My early days. I thought I might have. Donated my tonsils to the to the movement there for a few years. Found out I didn't have to. Anyway, George Whitfield would preach tens and twenty thousand people would listen. The power of God would fall sovereignly on these unbelievers was such fierce with such power. They would cry out for mercy and repent radical conversions. The famous sermon of Jonathan Edwards. Centers in the hands of an angry God. He read it by candlelight. No human force was involved again. I'm going to get human force. I just don't trust it as the agency to transform. He read it at night. 1740s. He read it in a dark room with no air-conditioned. I bet. Stuffy and the power of God fell on those that when he would preach this and many other messages as well. My point is it's a supernatural work. By the way, his amazing wife is named Sarah Edwards. And I reminded of her that many times. If you marry her, she'll be Sarah Edwards. Wow, I read her biography to amazing woman of God, Jonathan Edwards. Why Charles Finney? He's 1800s 1830s 40s 50s. In his biography, which I read several times. I'm not saying I'm not saying I read it. That's not the point. My point. It was so captivating. I had to read again. I went. Oh my goodness. Is this real? No way. Then I read it again and again and then it really shaped my vision. For the future. I can say with certainty that so much of what I have done in the last 40 years in Kansas City. That's been a part of this ministry was shaped and fashioned in this discovery, but he talked about New York City 1857 preaching and such power. 500,000 people came to the Lord that year. That's what he says in his biography. I don't know how he would have known those numbers. There's no transportation systems. How do you get 500,000 people? No microphones. How does that happen? One of the famous Charles Finney stories, the power of God was on him. He walks into a factory hadn't said a word. He just walks in. They don't know him. He's looking at it's a large factory sewing weaving factory and about 20 people look at they start shaking their hands start trembling. They don't know who he is and what's going on. He knows what's going on. And he's probably under his breath uttering, you know, what we say more Lord or something. I don't know. All of a sudden they start crying people from the second floor came down. They started the unbelieving factory owner shut it down and they cried out to God for eight hours. And most of them came to the Lord. The power of conviction was cutting the hearts of people like a sword. Supernatural power of God. It's coming in great measure in the days to come. I'm not waiting. I'm never been happy to wait till one day. This will happen. I want it this week. I've always wanted it this week. 47 years later. I want it this week, so I'm not in till it's wait one day. No, because it happens suddenly. You never know. It's undeserved. Yes, we could position ourself, but many godly men and women position themselves and never experienced this. The positioning is important, but the positioning in prayer and fasting doesn't earn it. There's a sovereign hour in a sovereign operation. We're going to position ourself in anyway, and if it's prolonged, it is if it's not, we've still done well to position ourself in a radical pursuit of the Lord. But again, many people that position themselves, this never happened in their life. And the ones that had a dramatic in a long-term, it happened over years. They would, they would attest the fact that God just did it, but I got good news. He's going to do it again. He's going to do it through some of you in this room and your children and grandchildren is going to maybe be the shock of your life when it happens. And maybe you'll be already praying for it. So won't be. Throughout history, when the spirit of conviction was manifested, took heart hold of the hearts of people in such a dramatic way. We find it all through the book of Acts. Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost. He's talking to a city that rejected Jesus six weeks earlier, 50 days earlier. They're cut to the heart. 3000 souls in one day. This is the Peter that 50 days earlier, plus 50 days, plus a day or two. He denied the Lord in fear. And the city said, crucified Jesus spirit of conviction had not shown up yet. Later, acts for 5000. I give a few more examples. Paragraph I. This is the essence of what happened in Asia or in, let's say in Ephesus, Ephesus was the largest city in Asia, which is modern-day Turkey today. Ephesus, the third largest city of the world at that time. Paul goes into this pagan Gentile city, this Jewish preacher, completely unknown in Ephesus. The third largest metropolis in the earth filled with demon activity, pagans, all kinds of negative stuff. He began to preach. No one ever heard of him. Before he was there three years. Because the power of God was resting and manifested that much all in Asia, not just the city of Ephesus, the entire region, all of Turkey, modern-day Turkey, all of them heard the word of God. How does that happen? There's no microphones, no automobiles. There's no trains. There's no catch a plane to go to the Revival Center. The power of God is just electrifying people who are electrifying people. Verse 20, the word of God grew so mighty, meaning the impact, the depth of the impact and the number that were impacted. That's what it means by the word of God grew. It touched people deeply and it touched a multitude. Look at this. What a sentence. The word of God prevailed in Ephesus, in Asia. Are you kidding? The third largest city today, some say, I don't know that they shift over the years, New York City or thereabouts. Talk about the whole area. Could you imagine all of New York hearing the word of God in power or Mexico City or Tokyo? Well, Paul, after that three-year revival, he moved on to other places. Paul's now in prison some years later. And he goes, Lord, I remember Ephesus. I remember what happened some years ago. He's in prison in Rome. Ephesians, father of glory, do it again. Release the spirit of wisdom and revelation. That's the prayer for conviction. Father of glory, I saw what you did in all Asia some years ago. Enlighten the eyes of the human heart supernaturally. We pray that prayer all the time. We're actually praying for John 16, 8, the spirit of conviction. Paul knew the power of that. It's probably the number one most prayed prayer of IHOP. Eye on purpose. In 40 years in Kansas City, put it first on the list every time. I got to make the list. Always number one. Understanding it's the prayer for conviction. And the revelation of the knowledge of God. It touches unbelievers and believers. This is essential in the generation the Lord returns because we know the Bible makes it clear. Sin will reach the greatest levels of any time in history and the final years of this age. Gabriel appeared to Daniel. He said sinners will reach their fullness. They'll go beyond any time in history. And Jesus said there'll be more false teachers and deceptions. So in the face of false teachers, deception everywhere, sin at a level. God says don't worry church. I'm giving you the greatest weapon experienced in the human realm. The spirit of conviction. You just haven't seen it yet. It's explosive. It's far more powerful than lust or deception or the pain of sorrow, the trauma of sorrow or the bitterness of betrayal. This will overcome cause you to overcome anything. Nothing in human history equals its force and power on the human heart. That's what I want you to walk away going, okay, really? Some of you know that. Others of you, that's a new idea. This is going to be one of the great most significant, one of the most significant aspects of the end time move of God in Israel. We find it in Zechariah. The Lord says this. He's talking to Zechariah. I'm going to pour out on unbelieving Israel at the end of the tribulation. Not only then, but that's when it will come to fullness. I'm going to pour out a spirit of prayer on them. And that spirit of prayer and that spirit of grace is going to have conviction. It's they're going to mourn because that's what the spirit of conviction does. We see the truth about sin about five facets of it. We see the truth about righteousness, another five different facets. We see the truth about judgment. Believers and unbelievers, they line up with God and go, I've been out of sync. My God, their hearts are troubled, their conscience. I'm yours. And they mourn and they shift their life. It's going to happen to unbelieving Israel that had been seemingly hardened through the tribulation. They'd resisted the revival all the way through the tribulation. But when the spirit of prayer comes on them and the spirit of grace, which is speaking of the conviction, the mourning is going to set in at a level. They had no comprehension existed. Paragraph L. There's a supernatural release of the spirit of prayer. That's a phrase I'm taking from Zechariah the passage before the spirit of supplication. Supplication means prayer spirit of prayer. Some spirit of supplication. Same thing. It's an anointing of prayers. What that is, it's not an attitude of prayer. It's an anointing of the spirit on the person praying where it's God. It's actually God the spirit praying through them directly. That's what the spirit of supplication of the spirit of prayer is again. You can have some people could say the spirit of prayer meaning an attitude of prayerful life that that's good. This is not that this is much very definitively the operation of the spirit and Paul develops it in Romans 6 8. He goes the spirits going to help you. The spirits going to give you what you can't have until he gives it to you. And when he lifts it, you don't have it when he releases that you have it. He helps you in your weakness. He's talking to deeply committed believers in Rome. He goes you can't make this happen. And when he releases that it doesn't mean it's there for it for good. It comes and goes. Jesus said like the spirit is like the wind. It blows. You don't know when it's coming where it's going where it came from. It comes for a few moments a little bit later longer. The next time not so long the one after that with a gap in between you don't know when it's coming. It's the spirit himself praying through the person. Here's the point the takeaway point for our community. This operation of the spirit of grace spirit prayer. What I meant to say with the spirit praying is as sovereign the timing of it as what God promised us that the drought the spiritual drought in America would break at the appointed time. Can't make it break. We can't pray longer or louder or get more people in the room and speed it up and make it happen 10 years earlier. The problem we have the dilemmas. We never know when the Lord says just keep coming keep presenting yourself. You don't know when but I tell you there's a sovereign time. And we have little breakouts here and there in our nation. I mean, I've appreciated them over the years little moments of refreshing. We call them revivals. I'm happy with that word. They happen here and there and we want them to happen here and there still but a day's coming when the drought the spirits of drought this nation is going to live and the spirit of prayer and conviction will be I believe the most prominent manifestation of the spirit more than even healings. I think the healings will be there more than manifestations physical manifestations. They will be there undoubtedly more than gifted this that the other that will be there. But when the spirit fastens the heart of the hearers through the lips of a weak messenger God knows what he's going to release it. Roman number two, let's look at the passage real quick. I'm gonna be a little bit quick on the passage itself. Paragraph a the Jesus said the Holy Spirit will convict of sin of righteousness and judgment. He says that in verse 8 now verse 9. He takes the area of sin verse 10. He takes the air of righteousness verse 11 the area of judgment and when you read it, it seems a bit cryptic and Jesus could say remember John 13 to 17 every phrase has many levels to it. Every phrase has many levels to it. I might give you just a few of them here. He said he's going to convict the world. He's going to convince unbelievers about the area of sin unbelievers. They kind of believe in sin. They're not very concerned. They don't think they send that much. They go. I could be better. Yes, I blow it. Yeah, since I'm sure I said something they have no comprehension the magnitude of their sin and how serious it is to God because God's kindness that don't even know because the preachers can't talk him into it. They don't figure it out. But when the spirit convinces them, it's a whole different story. And Jesus says is very interesting phrase. He goes he will convict the world said because they do not believe in me. What? You mean because they're steeped in sexual perversion. No, no, that's not their main problem. Their main problem is they don't believe in me. He means much more about that phrase that meets the eye when he reveals our sin to us. It's critical. It's such a gift because we never would see it ourself. We see little bits of it. We see the introduction of it. And when he convicts us of our sin, I'm talking about believers and unbelievers because he keeps doing this to believers on through their spiritual life. It compels us to seek God for mercy and cry out in repentance. Paragraph B. Now, as we know, the world has many different views of what they call sin. And most people's perception of sin is a list of moral codes or duties. And those lists differ depending on what their background is. But it's typically a list of things they consider on their moral code, even if they don't have that language or a list of duties they're responsible to do. And I didn't do them, so I sinned. Most people, when they think of sin, and I understand I do as well, we think of particular sins and particular activities. Paragraph C. This surprises us. It goes the sin I'm talking about, the fundamental sin of their life is they don't believe in me. Jesus presents unbelief as the way that shows the true nature of sin. And again, this is different to our perception in the Western culture. The premise is this. If we believe Jesus, here's the premise. This is the biblical idea of believing. We embrace his leadership as king. And we embrace his claims as truthful. And if we believe he's king and his claims, which are so extreme, if you take them at face value, we take them as reliable and truthful. Jesus says, when you do those two things, then you can put a few more things on that list. You have believed in me. We think of believing in Jesus. We pray the sinner's prayer. We believed in him. He goes, no, I mean, you know, I don't want to tease that out right now because the Lord's so gracious. To refuse his rightful kingship and to assume his claims are not 100% true in the court of heaven is treason against the king of the entire human order. To us, it's, well, I struggle with unbelief. It's actually a statement of treason against his kingship. You think, huh? I didn't realize that. Well, that's why we're going to pray for the spirit of conviction to touch us. So we go, oh, paragraph D. Jesus is the greatest revelation of the beauty of God ever given to human experience. I mean, the ultimate beauty of revelation of splendor and greatness. All authority is his. He stepped into the human arena. He's so used to who he is. The angels are so used to who he is. The human race goes, well, I'll negotiate whether I think you're right or wrong. It's like the angels said, do you have any comprehension who you're talking to? Therefore, because of he's this ultimate expression of glory and beauty, the essence of all sin, the essence, the core of all sin is unbelief in who he says he is, in his glory and authority. Paragraph E, I just say it a couple times the same way. The root of sin is to refuse his leadership. That's why this is the first sin the spirit can convince his people of. This is the first one. Sin here. He's not talking about a long list of moral duties. Those lists are in the Bible, but that's not what Jesus is saying here. The city's talking about is that man puts himself at the center of his own reasoning. He puts himself as the center of the reason of his being. He sees himself as the highest authority to choose what's right and wrong for his life. Lord says not at all. I am the king. I'm your creator. I have full rights over you. You cannot think of yourself in this way and cast me aside. Paragraph G throughout the New Testament. The sin of not believing again. We've in the Western world. We're just so used to it. We pray the sinner's prayer. We now believe. If we don't pray the sinner's prayer, we now don't believe and I appreciate the sinner's prayer. But in the New Testament, when you read it straightforward, particularly gospel of John, this one issue of believing in him. It's all through John is the preeminent offense to God as they don't the father saying, do you know the wealth and the glory of who I sent and at the cost that I sent him to him and to me and you trivialize him and set him aside and his leadership over your life and his claims that he graciously revealed to the human race. You think they're nothing? Father goes, how dare you? That's what the Spirit's going to shout unbelief in the way the biblical presents it. The Bible presents. It is far more than an error of judgment. It's an aversion of heart unbelief exposes our moral problem. Not our intellectual problem. Meaning people imagine they have an intellectual problem of accepting his claims. Jesus said, no, you have a moral problem. You think it's an intellectual problem at the core of your being. You're the boss. You're the arbitrator of truth. And you're the reason for why you exist and what you where your happiness lies. Jesus said it in John 3. He goes men love darkness. We don't grasp that. I don't grasp it very well. We don't we see it some but men love darkness far more than we know. That's why writing Jesus off is a moral problem. Not an intellectual problem, though. Most people think it's an intellectual problem. Jesus exposes that in John 7. He goes if any of you wills to do my will if you'll say yes, you'll know with certainty. If what I'm teaching is true from God. Your problem of not knowing is because you got a moral issue. About who's the leader of your life. Once you determine your little baby, you will know with certainty. It's a pretty big statement. Let's go to Roman over to three. Verse 10. He reveals the truth about righteousness. Meaning he convinces to convict of righteousness to convince to reveal. To convict to correct all those words can fit in this reality. Jesus is talking about the multi-faceted diamond of righteousness. There's many levels to this that the Spirit's going to convince number one the earth believes that Jesus was written off by the Jewish leadership as a criminal. They think well, I don't know if he's criminal, but he wasn't what he said he was. The Holy Spirit's going to say no, he's right and he's innocent. He's not wrong. He's truthful. He is right. Not well-meaning. He's righteous. He's holy to the core of his being the spirits going to convince us spirits going to convince us that the righteousness that he won for us and imparts to us freely is real. The Spirit's going to convince unbelievers the righteousness Jesus gained by his death on the cross is real to them. It's within reach for free that takes the gift of God to see that the Spirit's going to convince believers and unbelievers how much God loves righteousness. We know he loves righteousness. The Spirit touches us. He wants our life consumed with righteousness because he loves it and he rewards it forever. Even a cup of cold water. That's how much he loves righteousness. And by nature because we're weak human beings. We don't grasp that. We do a little bit. We teach on it. We sing about a little bit. We don't grasp it. But the Spirit's going to convince a billion unbelievers of this truth and he's going to retransform the end time church from a label to see in spirit of compromise by convincing them. How important righteousness how doable it is in the grace of God. How right Jesus says that everything he's ever said how right his messaging is not one word is wrong. It's all right. All of it is 100% right. The father's declaration of Jesus is innocent is diametrically opposed to the world's view. Israel cast him off as a criminal against the state. The father says he's innocent and I'm going to prove it. I will raise him from the dead. I was let 500 people witness it and on the day of Pentecost. He'll pour out the spirit and people from 16 different nations will witness the power of the Spirit poured out through 120 people speaking in their language. The power of God will convince will pierce them. There'll be this public witness from 16 nations and 500 people witness the resurrection. The father says I've proven in history. Jesus is right not a condemned criminal not a well-meaning teacher who overdid it and then they killed him. The fact is the world regards Jesus as wrong and them as right. It's exactly opposite. We know that. But why can't we convince our neighbors of that? Well, we do sometimes because the spirit moves a little bit of conviction. I'll tell you I've been used by the Lord. To speak and have a little conviction. I love it. I just want one. I just want much much more. But I'll take what we have. I mean, I'm not looking at that going. I've led a lot of people to the Lord in 50 years, but not very powerful number of them backslid a few years later. And I'm grateful for the opportunity, but I'm not content with that. Jesus says why? Am I going to convince them about righteousness for two reasons? Because I go to the father. Okay, and you will see me no more. Those are the two reasons. I'm going to convince unbelievers that I'm that he's the spirits going to convince unbelievers that I am right Jesus of Nazareth. It was his resurrection and his exaltation to the father that the father vindicated him in the presence of witnesses. Again, the 500 and first Corinthians 15 that witnessed the resurrection. I mean the 12 day. I mean that the apostles did too, but 500 at one time nothing like that's ever happened where 500 people saw a resurrected man with the with a resurrected body standing in front of him. And never before in history have 3,000 unbelievers gathered in Jerusalem and the power of God came through men that had denied the Lord just weeks earlier and pierced these 16. These people from 16 Nations with such depth. They all went back home and brought the gospel in one afternoon. The Ascension of Jesus. He rose to the right hand of the father is the guarantee the proof that God calls him righteous. His Ascension is proof that his atoning death is accepted. His Ascension is proof that his ability to give us the free gift of righteousness is true. Jesus was exalted or installed into Splendor at the right hand of the father. The city thought Jesus's body was decaying in the tomb. He was in Splendor at the right hand of the father Peter understands it on the day of Pentecost. Look at paragraph D. He goes we get it now. Jesus said. You believe I am righteous when I go to the father. He goes, I don't know what you meant. I get it now. He said in verse 33 on the day of Pentecost. He goes Jesus was exalted to the right hand of the father and as a man he received the promise from the father to release the spirit into the human experience the human dimension in a broad in a broad way. Meaning there a spirit came on Elijah here and there on a prophet in history, but never collectively on all who said yes to the Lord has the spirit of a calm Peter said this man who rose from the dead the father to vindicate him and to honor him gave him the spirit and he poured it out and he goes and you guys have just witnessed that he's talking to people from 16 nations. You can find that in Acts chapter 2 verse 5 to 11 to 16 Nations. He goes therefore. I want all of you to know with certainty. Here's all these 3,000 people. They're not they're not they're on the verge of getting saved. I want you to know with certainty the father raised him. He's not a crime against criminal against the state. He's not an in a sincere man deceived the power hit you is proof. God raised him. And these 3,000 said my goodness. This is true. I don't know if I said that they actually said what must we do to be saved. That's actually what they said paragraph II Jesus makes this other statement. He goes you'll see me no more when I go to the father like what? I'm going to enter into my resurrected Glory. I'm re-entering the royal court as king. You're not going to see me in my lowly state of humiliation ever again. Never will you see who you're looking at now in the state. I'm in never and because of my re-entry to the royal court as a as a king and overcoming King. It is a very rare privilege even for you to ever see me in this state. Because it's who I am. You don't really know who I am. So don't be discouraged. You won't see me because of the realm. I'm entering into. And because of your weak Humanity, you really can't take it and John might have thought Lord. I will so he appears to him and wrote Revelation 1 of John Falls is a dead man. I told you you couldn't take it. No, I mean John Revelation 1 and John fell as a dead man 60 years later as a mature apostle. Jesus could have said I do you understand you couldn't you can't see me anymore like you do regularly now. Another thing you're not going to see me as the one that's going to take all the heat of the persecution because up until now whenever there was problems Jesus gave the testimony in the answer because I'm out of the way you are going to be anointed to stand in that position and it's going to work you won't see me anymore because you're in that position as messengers that I've been in but I got good news. It's going to work because the spirit will convince them and convince them that I am righteous and that they're not righteous and that salvation is the gift of righteousness. He will do that through you. They're not grasping that he says another thing you're not going to see me anymore. And when you speak without me being next to you, you're going to move God's heart. When you speak without me being there, you're going to move the hearts of believers. When you speak without me being next to you, unbelievers are going to be moved. It's going to work. You won't see me and you'll be sad at first, but you're going to find out my plan is completely fought through and it's perfect. The conviction, the Spirit's conviction of this should be of judgment. Spirit's conviction of judgment. Verse 11. The Holy Spirit will convince the people of judgment. Because the ruler of this world is judged. What does that mean? He's going to convince unbelievers. Now judgment is the most politically incorrect topic in human history. God's judgment. And all most people don't believe it and don't like it and don't think they deserve it. But the Spirit's going to convict them. He's going to convince them. Why? What's the basis? Because Satan has been judged when Jesus went to the cross in the resurrection. If Satan can be judged. Surely all your persecutors can be judged and stopped. If the main leader against you in the Spirit, Satan is stopped and held accountable. So were your leaders because he's talking about persecution and sorrow. Paragraph B. The Spirit's going to convince the world that judgments coming on the nations and he's going to convince the world the judgments coming on them. And they're going to see it as righteous because of your mouths because of your words and your songs. Paragraph C. Colossians 2. Paul said Jesus disarmed the despotic principalities and powers. He made a public spectacle of them. He embarrassed them. He humiliated Satan when he rose from the dead when he stood in front of 500 people. Satan was publicly humiliated by that. And the human arena and in the spirit realm. He was made a public spectacle of them. He did. 500 saw Jesus and a hundred and twenty weak people were vessels that touched those 16 people from 16 nations in power in one day and one afternoon. Satan lost Jesus. Paul said he triumphed over these demonic powers in the cross and resurrection. So the idea is. Unbelievers and believers have very wrong ideas about judgment. The Spirit's going to convince them through your mouth and through the mouths of others to line up with his ideas about judgment on the nation's judgments at the Great White Throne, why it's righteous and good. Why judgment will come on them if they don't repent and they deserve it. A big subject because this is the this is the hot. I mean, this is this stay away from topic in the body of Christ. The Spirit says, let me do the talking. You wait and see what I'm going to do. I'm going to convince nations of this. The Spirit paragraph E will convince unbelievers that Jesus is invested with power to execute judgment because he's already done it to Satan. When he raised him from the dead, God's judgment is revealed the world's deception about God's judgment is going to be exposed supernaturally and corrected by the Spirit when the gospel is preached. Not just a side note here paragraph G. The Jesus called Satan the God of this world in the cultural conversation, the cultural wars. No one's imagining the leader of the cultural arguments is Satan the God of this world. They don't believe there's a God of this world. Jesus said, I promise you. He's the one leading the conversations in many places and they have no idea who's inspiring them top of page 5. It's going to tell a couple stories and bring this to an end two stories. Which I've told many times over the years paragraph 5 a little bit more of my journey. There's a I could remember I was reading all these biographies 1978 and the first and second Great Awakening and this is all new to me and there was this real clear relationship that when the spirit of prayer came on them power was released in meetings. I began because I didn't get this power of conviction. I thought conviction was, you know, just prayed the sinner's prayer were good. We did it. I had no idea there was a supernatural force the ultimate power of the human experience again more powerful than physical miracles, though. I really appreciate physical miracles. There's a dynamic. I began to learn 1978 79 in those days. I began to learn or I began to postulate this. Maybe there's a relationship between anointed intercession and anointed preaching was a new idea. I came to understand they both require a supernatural work of the spirit paragraph B. So I would read David Brainards biography. Near daily for five years, maybe not every day but four or five days a week. Some of you don't know David Brainerd one of the most godly men in America's history. And he is called hit the diary of David Brainerd. He died. Jonathan Edwards, the famous preacher in the first Great Awakening published his diary on his deathbed. He threw his diary into the fireplace. So half of it was burned because he didn't want people. He didn't write it. So people would read it. He died of tuberculosis Jonathan Edwards snatched some of the saved it and published it. And oh my goodness, the reason I read it because I heard Revival preachers like Leonard Ravenhill people say and the saintly David Brainerd. I got who's David Brainerd the most blah blah blah man blah blah blah. Okay. Okay. I'll go read it. And oh my goodness beware. Radical, but he had a little bit a little bit of not perfect theology. He didn't have the bridal paradigm. I'll put that way. Like amazing my favorite you'll be one of my favorite guys in the age to come. I'm sure I noticed reading his biography near daily for five years a cause effect dynamic in his ministry. He would write in his diary. He was a missionary to the Native Americans. He'd go out into the wilderness to a tribe and he was a hostile Englishman to them. Who are you? He preached through an interpreter. Can you imagine going to a 1747 preaching through an interpreter? Up in New England area and one of his interpreters for about a year was a drunkard a drunken interpreter by New English and he would have the time. I don't know for real. And Brainerd would preach and the day and he would pray and some days he goes prayer. I was so oppressed. My prayer was horrible. I wanted to quit everything. So he's really honest some days ago is the power of God came on me and I went for souls with such force and energy and the next day even through the drunken interpreter, you know, the 50 Native Americans started sobbing and weeping and crying out for mercy. And he's got a number of those examples and many where his prayer life was really bored and terrible and he boring and terrible. I mean to him and he says it all I saw that connection. I love the Leonard Ravenhill story. I got to the privilege of knowing Leonard Ravenhill a bit in the 1990s late 80s and early 90s. He won the great revival preachers. He's with the Lord now, but he would tell these David Brainerd stories. That's why I learned about David Brainerd was through him. What is one of his favorites? David Brainerd is out in the wilderness snowing at tuberculosis. He died of it. He's coughing up blood but praying in the spirit of prayer got so a hold of him. He says he cried out to God for three hours in the snow blood every not everywhere with blood spattered and the sweat in his body from the intensity of the intercession was so intense the snow melted all around him. Then when he went and preached the next day the power of God fell on the Native Americans at least according to his biography his diary, but I believe it's true because he always told the bad side to and he threw his diary in the fire not to be read. He didn't write it for men to read. Well, I began to learn that. I saw the David Brainerd embrace regular prayer and fasting seeking to position himself to receive the spirit of prayer. I began to see a spirit of prayer was a gift that came here in there. You can't make it come but you could visit position yourself. But as I said earlier persisting yourself doesn't guarantee it's going to come so you don't get that you don't earn it, but you we want to be positioned. So back in those days the late 70s, I set my vision. I'm going to get this gift of the spirit of prayer my get it. And again, a lot of what I've done in the 40 years in Kansas City, whatever impact it's been. That's not my point to measure my pointed but it was modeled around these 78 79 and 80 learning this spiritual premise and believing it to be true. So my first my journey begins is a great story for you. Make I'm no meaning it applies to you. That's what I mean. You may not like the story that much but applies to you and your future. That's why I'm telling it. It happened in the spring of 1982 March. We moved to Kansas City in November six months later. We don't know we're coming to Kansas City that happened that summer. I'm in a Saturday night prayer meeting. When primary every Saturday night. Sometimes that we had a remarkable turnout. Sometimes we got five. We mostly had three no music. We pray for a couple hours. It's kind of horrible to be honest. But we did it because of David Brainerd. I talked a few of my 23 24 25. I talked to my buddies. I go really I go we're going to get this. So I'm in that Saturday night prayer meeting and the spirit of prayer hits me. What I mean is I feel this groaning and this jet this weeping that intensifies. And I'm not one. I mean, I'm convinced no one else has to hear it or see it for it to work. Some folks when they get a little touch, they just want an arrow pointed at them. I'm just I encourage people don't do that. This is so holy and so big and so important who cares about who's watching you? That's not what's going to move anything. Okay, so I went over the corner and I just my son was tight. I just wept and I may had this intensity of groaning. The other three guys didn't even know it lasted for an hour. It never happened. I said, oh my gosh. This is a David Brainerd thing. I get done with that Saturday prayer meeting. I'm happy. I don't know. I go the next morning. I go. What if what if what if what if? I go the next morning. We got about 500 people in our young adult church in st. Louis and every week. We'd have one or two people get saved typically and we were always excited about that. We thought that was awesome. I said, what if something starts happening today? I'm not telling nobody. So I was preaching and maybe one or two hundred people. I was observing it. We're gently weeping first time ever and I can hear sniffling and for about a half hour. All through the congregation. I go, I felt strong, but it was hitting that's never had before. I said, who would like to give their heart to the Lord? We got 500 people. Most of them are all part of the church. 20 of them came fell down before God sobbing over their sin. 20 of us 10 times our record. Normally, it's two. I've never seen anything like it in my world. I go. Oh my goodness. I didn't tell anybody about it. I just said, okay, I'm on something. Man, I'm every all these nights. I started. These prayer. I kept going to these prayer meetings. They were dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull. Paragraph have two months later. It happened again. Saturday night. There's four of us. I'm feeling this trembling and groaning. I'm oh, I can't go over here in the corner. I'm not embarrassed, but I know it's not about them. Someone says, well, if you cried, screamed out, they'd all get it. No, it doesn't work that way. I've seen this many, many times. It doesn't pass on like that. That's not how it works. It seems like it should, but I've never seen it happen. That's a nice theory, but I've never seen it to be true. Same thing happens Sunday morning. I go, could it be? I got up one or 200 people gently weeping second time ever in my life of preaching. 10 or 20 people get saved. I got I got this. Well, that's made June. God interrupts us by the audible voice of God. It says go in essence. Go to Kansas City. But I got my I don't really know I'm going but that was the next month, but I'm set. I know what I'm going for. I mean, I what I mean, I don't mean I know I'm going to Kansas City for this. I know what spiritual dynamic I'm aiming for. I'm going to go do this. Paragraph F G. Okay, we're G. I write this down because some of you like the data. Some of you the data is not that important. But so I've we're in Kansas City now five months. We move in June and November. We God tells us in June. We move in November from st. Louis Kansas City 40 years ago this year. We've been here five months. We got four or five hundred people in our young adult Church Overland Park. I've known Bob Jones about three weeks two weeks Sunday morning. I get up. It's Easter Sunday. Been there five months get about 6 o'clock in the morning. Our service is at 10. And I just my normal Sunday morning prayer time because you know, I want some people Easter. I'm undoubtedly people gonna bring their unbelieving friends and family. There's always a few extra. I start praying suddenly this travail comes on me. Same thing like st. Louis. I'm two for two right now. Two times two times two times prayer two times the an unusual manifestation of power was it's unbelievable. But for me, it was beyond anything. I'd known so relative to me. It was really intense. But in reality, it's not going to make any history books. I get up for two straight hours. I'm at home. I am what I am travailing for souls. I go. Oh my God, it's gonna hit today. So nine o'clock now the service is at 10. I drive to Overland Park to our office. It hits me again in the office. Oh my good travailing weeping. I locked the door. Service starts at 10. Hey Mike, we're starting a service. Start it without me. No, come on. You're starting without me. This thing won't lift. So now it's maybe 11. I don't know. It's a long. It's time for the message. They've taken the offering. They're all waiting on me. I can't make it stop. I come walking out. I don't tell anybody. My eyes are swollen up. You know, it's a new congregation. I don't know most of the people. I haven't been here five months about four or five hundred people. Most of us don't know each other. Hi, happy Easter. I think a bomb is going to go off this morning. I mean, we're talking collectively. It's probably five hours of this now and my equation is this leads to that. I get up and preach. I remember it vividly. Oddly enough. I preached on Psalm 2 on Easter Sunday. Not that because some of us Psalm 2s are important. It was the most. Oppressed. I'm not joking. It was not dead. It was doubly dead. It was horrible. I quit early. I was embarrassed. I was so oppressed. Stop. Said amen. Happy Easter. They named it. Just if you want to give your heart to Jesus. Come on, give it to him. No, I'm I was hurting. Nobody came up. They were like man. You should have you went like 28 minutes. You should have stopped at the 18 minute mark. It was that bad. I don't know how long I went but it was short. Three visitors came up. I am so depressed. I go down the platform about this kind of size platform. I go right down there. I don't know who they are. Nobody else. I go to the guy. I just put my hand on him. I just go Jesus name. The guy goes fell to the ground started sobbing God. Give me mercy. Give me mercy. Jesus saved me. I went one second. I touched him and he did that. Whoa. This lady over here. I asked with the lady go her eyes closed. I go. Hey, it's like pressure. It's kind of groaning touch her same thing. She cried out fell to the ground sobbing Jesus. Forgive me. Please give me mercy. The third guy exact same thing. I am now so confused. Page 6. I go to the back. I've known Bob Jones three four weeks. I still don't get him. The first of spring came a couple weeks earlier. So I know he's been sent but I don't get him yet. I go to the back and he's talking to a couple guys. He's getting to know some of the young people. I walked back to her. I'm still in pain. I'm a little mystified by these three people. I don't know what it no one saw it because everybody's mingling kids are running and I mean they're sobbing but there's hundreds of people talking and I'm just going what happened Bob goes. Well, you had quite a day today. Didn't you? I was like Bob. I'm not in the mood for a joke right now. If you don't mind. I didn't say that. He goes. I saw it all last night in the visions. You saw what he goes. The Lord showed me last night. He set you up to go fishing today. For souls. I haven't said nothing. He goes you were in a little boat with the Lord. You were so excited because there was a net in the boat and you grabbed the net you were going to bring in a major Harvest today. The Lord said I set him up Bob. To go fishing today. So I grabbed the net then Jesus. He said he grabbed your hand and said put the net down. You can't throw it today. Because you were so disappointed in the boat. I'm listening going. I still haven't done the like what? He goes the Lord gave you a hook. You got down on your knees on the boat and you hooked three fish right through the heart pierced them through the Lord says you could have those three today. But he said tell him I have a written here paragraph J the day is coming in this youth movement. And he kept on by this youth movement. I didn't always talk about. There will be 1,000 times the power of what happened with those three people. And you will have permission and they will have permission to cast the net and you will go fishing with the Lord. But he said whatever you do. Don't leave the pray place of praying for soul stick with it paragraph K one more story quickly. There's quite a bit shorter. This is a five years later. We've had daily prayer meetings. I'm going to stick with it. We're going to have 1,000. I don't know if it means 1,000 times the intensity. I think it's 1,000 times the quantity. Noel Alexander had a vision just really powerful. I don't want to go into this but he saw the day coming in Kansas City where 7,000 people a week will be saved for an ongoing period of time 7,000 a week till hundreds of thousands come in. I am in the way the Lord confirmed it. I'm sure that's a true vision and me and know we've latched on to that in these prayer meetings over the years. Paragraph K July 88, which is by the way for the prophetic history buffs. Some of you really are that's the same month where the song of Solomon 86 happened. That was a lively month. June July 88 Bob Jones is at a young adult Bible study. And he says hey tomorrow Mike Sunday morning. He's going to preach on John the gospel John tomorrow. He goes he's going to have a big night tonight. He doesn't know it but an angel is going to visit him tonight. He goes you wait and see tomorrow. He's going to preach from John. He's going to preach on souls at intercession tomorrow from John an angel told me he's going to visit him tonight. He was that poor guy. He doesn't even know it's going to be an angel. He won't even figure it out. He tells us about I guess it's 50 people. I don't know. I don't know any that I'm go to our prayer meeting and I go to bed there at some other young adult meeting. 2 30 in the morning. I suddenly wake up 2 30 in the morning. Instantly. I'm in travail in the spirit. Like the five years earlier. And I've had this happen about maybe I'm making this up. I don't really know. I've never counted 20 times 30 times in 40 years as I've been here where I spent at a meeting a conference or a gathering and I had this and then that happened where it was unusual weeping and tenderness and not unbelievable but more than over but it's tit-for-tat. I watched it time and time and time again. So I really do understand this and my limited experience. So it's something the Lord's really established that I believe it. So I wake up at 2 30 in the morning of the spirit of prayers on me. I pray for a harvest. It was just like that that Easter Sunday morning five years earlier and the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He goes in my sovereign timing. I'm going to supernaturally anoint prayer in your midst and this can result in a supernatural harvest of souls in Kansas City and the verse he gave me was John 644. The Lord says I will draw the father will draw you and the Lord spoke to me goes first. He's going to draw you to prayer that is going to anoint you in prayer that he's going to draw sinners through that anointed prayer next day. I'm so excited. It's Sunday morning. This happened at 2 30 in the morning. I got I preached on John 644 this very message these 50 young people all giggling and laughing. I didn't appreciate it. I was trying to be serious because Bob had told them all the night before that I was going to do that. It said you're really going to do that Mike you wait and see but the Lord is established in these 20 or 30 times. I don't know the number there is a connection between the two but I want to say this because that the five or ten times I've given the story always for a month or two people in their sincerity. They want to stir it up to make it happen and I want to tell you you can't make it happen. You can't it's not volume. It's not intensity as I get five people to circle get them all crying and see if it spreads I have seen so many seasons of that that no, I don't mean to sound like a hot shot. We've seen 10 or 15 seasons of that for a month or two of I tell the young people go go give it a shot and then a month and later they kind of okay. We're back to normal. I know you can't make it. It's Sovereign God wants the credit and the glory and it's his wisdom. We keep this is not born of the flesh. It's not born of the will of man. It's not born of our desire. It's born of God when it happens. I don't mind people doing it, but I do understand you can't make it happen. I'm going to end with paragraph D. This is I have heard been given this verse by very sweet people that I love dearly well-meaning for 40 years have been given this verse many times. Because they see me kind of as the killjoy guy of the prayer meeting. And I go no, I just wanted to be real and if you get going and it's not real people don't they get bothered by it. They quit coming to prayer meetings because it's not real sincere, but it's not really what it's been presented. I want it to be real. I don't want to fake something. So I get this prayer regular. I've known up over the years Jeremiah 917. I can quote it to you. Jared thus says the Lord call the wailing women. And they're imagining the wailing women are intercessors. They're not at all intercessors. But if that's the only verse, you know, Jeremiah, you think they are get the wailing women get them all up front and then Revival will come. I get it written here. These wailing women are professionals. They it's like saying Jeremiah was saying call the funeral parlor because death is coming. This was a very negative statement get the coffins ready is what he's saying get the professional mourners because Babylon is coming any minute and it's not going to be stopped. So he's not talking at all about wailing intercessions. He's talking about wailing because Babylon destroyed them because they've been sinful the funeral parlor get the team on the funeral parlor involved because it's coming. That's a prophetic statements. What he's saying. I don't think they ever did call them. And the way that you can be sure that's what number one the context is really clear in Jeremiah 9, but go back two verses two chapters earlier. Jeremiah 7 three times the Lord tells Jeremiah don't pray for Israel. He's not saying call the wailing women to pray because don't you dare pray for Israel. They're under judgment. You're not going to stop at Jeremiah prayers. He's not going to stop this one. So when he says the wailing women, he's not talking about intercession and the only reason I care about that because again, every time I stirred us up we go about a month and we have the hubbub and people's feelings get hurt and then they go, let's maybe not do it. Let's just be real be sincere. We wait on God's sovereignty. We steady every day day in and day out and I tell you in my little 20 or 30 moments and then it happened afterwards and the promise of a thousand times greater it is coming. On you your children and your grandchildren, but it's not born of man is not born of the will of the flesh. It's born of the father the spirit releases this but it's our portion and it's sure to come in Jesus name. Amen. Let's stand before the Lord. I know it was kind of a bummer ending but I just want us to stay steady father. We say yes to you. Lord, we want to position ourselves for the spirit prayer to increase to increase to increase Lord. We trust you. We trust your leadership. We trust your passion for this city. We trust your call on this movement and many other movements. Lord, we say yes to the spirit of conviction. We want to be students of Revival. We want to be stirred up to believe for this. We want to have some elementary even personal experiences like my 20 or 30 to where we see it in a little group here and there give us more of these so we can learn and be wise and train the next generation and that we could even be a part of it as well.