This sermon emphasizes the importance of repentance, surrender, and living a life free from hidden sins in order to experience true revival God's way. It highlights the need for personal revival before corporate revival, the impact of secret sins on individuals, families, churches, and nations, and the call to follow Jesus, deny self, and do the will of the Father. The message urges believers to believe in their freedom in Christ, run to Jesus for victory, and live a life of repentance and obedience empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for joining me. My name is Brother Edgar Reich, and I am called for revival by the will of God. The message today is Revival God's Way. I was called for revival in year 2005, but I did not do anything for revival for three years. I was disobedient. And then in 2008, I started to truly pray for revival. And so we've prayed for revival 12 years. As I was talking and walking, as I was having a conversation in prayer with my Lord, I asked him to help me pray in the Holy Spirit that I might pray in accordance with his will. And I started to pray for revival. And as I was praying for personal revival, which must precede corporate revival, I started to weep asking the Lord why revival has not come. Why, Lord? And there was a still small voice that came after I was walking for some time. And it said that the God that we love, that we honor so much, he wants revival more than we do. And then the Lord reminded me of the Hebrides revival in Scotland in 1964. There was a preacher by the name of Duncan Campbell. He relates part of a prayer by a young man in a barn. The young man had asked God, "'God, are my hands clean? "'Is my heart pure?' And then he fell to the ground in a trance," says Pastor Campbell. But then the power of God was unleashed. He said it was unleashed upon the whole island of Louis and God stepped down and the Holy Spirit started to work in the hearts of men and women. So who may stand with God in his holy place? "'He who has clean hands and a pure heart,' says Psalm 24. Often we are Christians with hidden sins and secret sins that block God from coming in a mighty outpouring of his Holy Spirit. No true revival has ever started without prayer, and it seems that God selected those that had a humble heart, clean hands, a pure heart. And so, beloved, is that what God wants from us? You see, when we allow hidden secret sins in our lives that we don't want to share with others, sins that we don't seem to have the power to overcome and which we keep secret, unknown sins to us when we follow the world, perhaps it's unbelief, perhaps it's unloving behavior, perhaps it's wrong thoughts. Perhaps they are besetting sins. Beloved, does God overlook these type of sins? Does he just step aside and say, it's okay, it's all under grace? A preacher by the name of Ray Comfort did a video on the West Coast of the United States of America, and he spoke with many, many young people. And as he asked many of the young people, there is a segment in this video called Noah, where he asked whether these young people were truly Christians. They said, we're Christians. Are you born again? Yes, we're born again. But these same young people also said, oh, it's okay to watch porn. It's okay to steal. It's okay to commit adultery. Not doing the will of God, it's okay. So may I ask you, are there secret sins in your life? Are you born again? Have you been saved from such sins if you're born again? Are you saved from bitterness? Are you saved from unforgiveness? Are you saved from unbelief? Are you saved from lies? Are you saved from porn? Are you saved from adultery? Are you saved from fear? Are you saved from pride? Are you saved from cheating? Are you saved from lying? Are you saved from drinking? Are you saved from drugs? Are you saved from cursing? Are you saved from gossip? Are you saved from stealing? Are you saved from addiction to video games? Are you saved from rebellion? Are you saved from the love of money? Are you saved from the unwillingness to share your faith in Christ Jesus? Scripture says, if you're truly born again, and Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Are things new in your life? Or are you back in your old life? And John 8, verse 36 says, therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Is that true in your life? And beloved, I also must ask the same question of my life. You see, I am just a sinner saved by grace. So, when the Son of God died on a cross in Jerusalem, for mankind, He not only set us free from the penalty of sin, if we follow Him, if we repent and if we follow Him, but He also set us free from the power of sin. You see, before, I didn't have a choice. Sin came and I had to follow it. And now I have a choice. I don't need to do it anymore. Praise God. It is only through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. You see, to live free requires my participation and obedience as well. Scripture says, flee youthful lusts, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for sin. Before man had no choice, they simply sinned. Now, when we ask Jesus for help, we no longer have to sin. We still can, but the power of sin is broken. Praise God. Now you argue with me and you say, I have not experienced this. This is not what the churches tell me. I fall all the time and God is a forgiving and kind and loving God. All the things you mentioned, I don't have to worry about because you see, we are under grace. Beloved, we are under grace. But in the New Testament, it also says that Jesus won't know those that do not do the will of the Father. Let us look at another example in the Bible and let us look at the Old Testament. Now, all happenings in the Bible are given to us for instruction, for proof, to understand God better and to be recipients of that great salvation that God has given us through his son, Jesus Christ. God wants us to see his heart and he wants us to experience salvation. Our great temptation is to follow what we think is right. Our great temptation is to follow what the world says is right. And our great temptation is to follow what the devil says is right. But what does God say in his word, the Bible? Do you have a Bible? Are you reading it regularly? There is a story in the Bible, in the Old Testament where the children of Israel were released from the land of Egypt. They had traveled to their promised land and as they crossed the River Jordan, the first obstacle was a great city called Jericho with very high walls. And God said, if you do what I ask you to do, the walls will come down. And they did come down. As part of the walls coming down, God had given an instruction to the nation of Israel. And that instruction is found in Joshua 6, verse 19. And there God said, but all the silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron are consecrated to the Lord. They shall not, they shall come into the treasury of the Lord. Now, please let us go on to the next chapter of Joshua which tells us what happened. And so please turn with me to Joshua chapter seven. I'm going to read from a New Living Translation because the story is easier understood for young people. The story here is about hidden and secret sins. And verse one of Joshua chapter seven says, but Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the Lord. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things. So the Lord was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, a descendant of Zimri, son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah. Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the next town after Jericho, which was Ai, which is east of Bethel, Bethel near Bethhaven. When they returned, they told Joshua, there's no need for all of us to go up there. It won't take more than two or 3,000 men to attack Ai. Since there are so few of them, don't make all our people struggle to go up there. So approximately 3,000 warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai chased the Israelites from the town gate as far as the quarries, and they killed about 36 men who were retreating down the slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear. At this turn of events, their courage melted away. Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay. They threw dust on their heads and bowed face down to the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening. Then Joshua cried out, oh, oh, sovereign Lord, why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you're going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side. Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies? For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land, when they hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name? And I'm reading from Joshua chapter seven, and now I am at verse 10. But the Lord said to Joshua, get up. Why are you lying on your face like this? Israel has sinned and broken my covenant. They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them, but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. That is why the Israelites are running from the enemies in defeat. For now, Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. That's what God said. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction. Get up, command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, hidden among you, oh Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you. I repeat this, you will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you. Verse 14, in the morning, you must present yourselves by tribes and the Lord will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must come forward with its clans and the Lord will point out the guilty clan. That clan will then come forward and the Lord will point out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the guilty family must come forward one by one. The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself, beloved, this is God speaking, God said, will himself be burned with fire along with everything he has for he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a horrible thing in Israel. And then verse 16, early the next morning, Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the Lord and the tribe of Judah was singled out. Then the clans of Judah came forward and the clan of Zerah was singled out. Then the families of Zerah came forward and the family of Zimri was singled out. Every member of Zimri's family came forward person by person and Achan was singled out. Then Joshua said to Achan, my son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don't hide it from me. Achan replied, it is true. I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. Among the plunder, I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon. I saw 200 silver coins and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much, I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent with the silver buried deep and deeper than the rest. So Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there. Just as Achan had said, with the silver buried beneath the rest, they took the things from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the ground in the presence of the Lord. Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, tent and everything he had. And they brought them to the valley of Achor, the valley of trouble. Then Joshua said to Achan, why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you. And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. They piled a great heap of stones over Achan, which remains to this day. That is why the place has been called the valley of trouble ever since. So the Lord was no longer angry. May I ask you what do you like about this story? What do you think about this story? Is it troublesome for you? Is it troublesome for me? What do we learn from this story? Okay. So what were the sins of Achan? Now the sins included disobedience. They included rebellion. They included stealing from God. They included lying. They included hiding. And then the last part which caused Achan his life, there was no repentance on his part, beloved. He simply declared he had done what he had done, but there was no repentance. There was no turning from his sin. There was not asking God, God, forgive me. God have mercy on me. God, forgive me. He neglected to do it. And then it cost his life. So what did Achan do to himself, his nation and his family? He made God fiercely angry. We read verse one and verse 26. And there are talks about God's anger, about sin. Then God denied to bless him and his family. God denied to bless the nation of Israel. There was a loss of individual and corporate blessing because of sin. In verse five, we read that this loss of blessing resulted in man getting killed. And so Achan caused the death of 36 men that were killed. 36 fathers were killed. 36 families were affected and the wives became widows. All their children had to grow up as part orphan without a father, without an earthly father. They had a heavenly father. Also with 3000 men, there were probably many who were injured, but it is not specifically mentioned in the text. Then Achan caused his own death, the death of his family and the death of his animals. You see sin affects all. God nearly abandoned the nation of Israel and he said so in verse 12. Now in verse 11 is an interesting comment because God said the whole nation has sinned and they have transgressed, plural. The story seems to talk only about one man, Achan. Yet all of the loot Achan was taking and carrying was seen by others. They stood by and did nothing about the sin. So God punished the whole nation at first. When we stand by and do nothing, we also sin beloved. You see Jude one verse three says, but now I find that I must write about something else urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. Then going back to our story of Achan in verse 10, God told Joshua to do something. What was that? God said, get up from the ground, stop praying, do something. And so likewise, we Christians, we have to stop praying and do something. You see in the book of Acts, they did that. In one part of the book it says, and here came those who turned the world upside down. Beloved, has the power of God changed? No, it has not. Who has changed, may I ask? It is us beloved sisters and brothers, it is us. How horrible. Now the question is, did Joshua give the death penalty to Achan or did God? When you read verses 13, 14 and 15, it is very clear that God gave the death penalty. Now God is a God of love, yes, but he's also a God of justice and a God of judgment. So what did Achan forget to do in verses 20 and 21? Beloved, Achan forgot to say to God, to acknowledge his great, great failure, asking for the mercy of God, repenting before God, and so he died. Do you think God might've forgiven him if he had repented, if he had humbled himself and prayed? There's a story in 1 Kings chapter 21, verses 24 to 29. It talks one of the most wicked kings in the Old Testament, King Ahab. And Elijah had come to King Ahab and he told him in 1 Kings chapter 21, verses 24 to 29, and I'm reading verse 24, the members of Ahab's family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures. And then when Achan heard this in verse 27, he tore his clothing, he dressed in burlap, he fasted, he even slept in burlap, and he went about in deep mourning. And then in verse 28 of 1 Kings chapter 21, 1 Kings chapter 21, verse 28, God said this. Then another message from the Lord came to Elijah, verse 29, do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me because he has done this? I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons. I will destroy his dynasty. But God had mercy on Ahab himself. So what is the moral of the story of Achan and his hidden sins? What is the moral of the story? Sin, yes, secret sin is known to God and it hurts God, that is the greatest sin. Then it hurts you, it hurts me when we sin secretly, it hurts your family, it hurts my family when we sin secretly. Then it hurts your church, it hurts my church. It hurts our fellow man because when we have secret sins, we're so reluctant talking about God and his great salvation to others, we don't share our faith. And then it hurts your country and it hurts my country. It causes anger with God, it causes loss of blessing. And as we give in to these secret sins, victory evades us. We hide and we do not disclose it, we do not repent it and we don't repent of it and so we continue in sin. But beloved, who may ascend into the hill of the Lord or who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart who has not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully. And I just used that terrible word of continuing in sin forever, we don't have to. Praise God, praise God, because he has set us free. He has given us a new life in Christ Jesus. And then 1 John 1.9 says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Praise God. I recently received an email with an excerpt from a message by A.W. Tozer and the message is Seeking Wrong Revival. We appeared, and he said, we appear to conceive of revival as a kind of benign miracle, a feverish renaissance of religious activity which will come upon us, leaving us morally just as we are now, except that we will be a lot happier and there won't be so much sin and there will be many more of us. It's a good talking point and it has an aura of superior godliness about it, but the trouble is it's just not true. Our mistake is that we want God to send revival on our terms. We want to get the power of God into our hands to call it to us that we may work for us in promoting and furthering our kind of Christianity. We want still to be in charge, guiding the chariot through the religious sky in the direction we want to go. Shouting glory to God, it is true, but modestly accepting a share of the glory for ourselves in a nice, inoffensive sort of way. We're calling on God to send fire on our altars, completely ignoring the fact that they are our altars and not God's, and like the prophets of Baal, we are working ourselves into a frenzy as if we could, by violence, command the arm of the Almighty One. Of this we may be certain, said A.W. Tozer, we cannot continue to ignore God's will as expressed in scriptures and except to secure the aid of God's spirit. Today, we have the strange phenomenon of a company of Christians solemnly protesting to heaven and earth the purity of their Bible creed and at the same time following the unregenerate world in their methods and managing only with difficulty to keep their moral standards from sinking out of sight. Coldness, worldliness, pride, boasting, lying, misrepresenting, love of money, exhibitionism, all of these things are practiced by professedly Orthodox Christians, not in secret even, but in plain sight and often as a necessary part of the whole religious show. It will take more than talk and prayer to bring revival. There must be a return to the Lord in practice before our prayers will be heard in heaven. We dare not continue to trouble God's way if we want him to bless ours. Joshua sent his army up to conquer Ai only to see them hurled back with bloody losses. He threw himself to the ground on his face before the ark and complained to God. And the Lord said to Joshua, "'Stand up, what are you doing down on your face? "'Israel has sinned. "'They have violated my covenant. "'That is why the Israelites "'cannot stand against their enemies "'because they have been made liable to destruction. "'I will not be with you anymore,' said God, "'unless you destroy those evil things.'" So beloved, what are hidden sins of good Christians? And yes, I have wept much and there are many hidden sins in my life too. You see, I have to pray, Lord, break me, break my stony heart. Sometimes I am unbelieving in the powers of the universe placed in me through the Holy Spirit of God. And the temple of the Holy Spirit, this incredible power in me, and unbelieving sometimes in Christ living in me and willing to exercise his victory through me. Sometimes pride gets a hold of me. I want to look better than I am. I don't want to confess my sins openly. Oh Lord, I mourn, I mourn. How selfish are we in the Western world wanting to do what we want to do, accumulate what we want to accumulate? Not sharing our faith, not sharing that great salvation. Being totally selfish. Oh Lord, I mourn, I mourn. Not loving others the way I should. Oh Lord, I mourn. And often we want the pleasures of the world. We want to watch things on television, on the internet. And in Psalm 119, verse 37, it says, turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way, oh Lord. I mourn. And then I want the pleasure of foods that are not good for me, that hurt my body, but they're pleasurable to me. And so I don't deny myself. And then there's a stony heart. And do I still have tears left for my family that are going to hell? Do I have tears left for the world's people that are going to hell? Do I have tears left for my neighbors? Do I have tears left for the 60 million babies that have been killed in our country? Do I have tears left for many thousands of martyrs being beheaded? I say, they're far off, I can't deal with this. And then, do I have tears for not doing the will of God? Am I fully surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ? Or am I relying on the self? You know, in Jeremiah chapter 17, verse five, God says, I'm cursed if I rely on the self, I'm cursed. Jeremiah 17, verse five, I must rely on him, the Holy Spirit, to lead me. I must walk in the Spirit, as not to fulfill the lust of the flesh. I must live in the Spirit. And so, beloved, we have failed so greatly. Some of you might say, well, I speak in tongues, I'm full of the Holy Spirit. May I ask you to give yourself a test based on Acts chapter one, verse eight? And there it says, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, that's your hometown. In Judea, that's your home state. In Samaria, that's the neighboring state or province, and then to the outermost parts of the world. So, beloved, our problem starts with unbelief. We often forget and deny God's power, and then we live in fear. Why don't we share Christ? We fear. What will we do in the Middle East or in North Korea if we happen to go there? You say, well, I won't. Why not? We fear. Suppose we have to go through the great tribulation. I know many of you feel that you won't have to go through. Praise God, I hope that this interpretation of the Bible is correct because Jesus said no one knows. Jew told us to contend for the faith, but we fear contend means to defend the faith. We need to do it in love, we need to be wise as serpents and harmless as a dove. We must believe, we must follow Jesus, we must repent anew. We must believe that we are set free in Christ Jesus because in John 8, verse 36, it says, therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. And in the Bible, it says, God cannot lie. So why don't you live free? What is wrong? It starts with repentance, it starts with asking for forgiveness, it starts with surrendering anew to the Lord Jesus Christ and to follow Him. Yes, to follow Jesus. In fact, Jesus told the disciples and those He spoke with, He didn't say to them, as far as I recall, believe in me and everything is going to be all right. It's fine. No, He said, follow me, follow me. Follow me, take up your cross and follow me. Deny yourself and follow me. Following Jesus is a great commitment on our part and it means doing the will of God as well. So we must believe in this verse that God has given us, but we need to repent first. And then we need to believe that we are freed from the power of sin. We must believe that we are set free from the fear of men. We must believe that we are freed from the power of unbelief. We must believe that we are set free from besetting sins. We must believe that we are empowered through the Holy Spirit and that we can ask for a cleansing anew and that we can ask God the Father to fill us anew. You see, greater is Jesus in us than he that is in the world. And in 1 John 4, it says, ye are of God little children and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Praise God. Then run to Jesus when tempted and believe he will give you the victory. This is part of surrender to the Son of God. Without him, he can do nothing, he said in John 5, 5. And Jesus is the victory, says 1 Corinthians 15, verse 57. So let us live free from fear. Let us live free from self. Let us live free from besetting sins. You can only do it in the power of the Holy Spirit. Believe you can live free. Do it through Christ Jesus. Christ is the victory. Faith is the victory. Now I do need to add that in accordance with Romans, God asks us to participate in this freedom because in Romans 13, verse 14, it says, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Run from youthful lusts. Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. Repent anew. Be cleansed from failures of sin. Beloved, run back to God. Repent. Ask him to cleanse you from all hidden and unseen sins. Help him to live that Christian life. Help you to live this Christian life, that you might follow the Son of God in spirit and in truth. And then go to God in prayer and say, Lord, I confess anew. I surrender to your Son, Jesus. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. And in Luke chapter 14, it says, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask? You see, we are born again through the Spirit, but as we permit sin in our lives, sin takes over a part of our body and we cannot be filled with his Holy Spirit if there's also sin remaining and overtaking our lives. So there is that born again person in you that is justified before God. But then the outer part is the old flesh that can never be improved. It can only be overcome through denying the self, through dying to the self. And John 8.36 says that Jesus Christ has accomplished this for you and for me. That's why we have to run to him. And therefore it says, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Ask the Son to set you free and help you to be obedient to his commands. Live this Christian life in accordance with the will of the Father. Because 2 Corinthians 5.17 also says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Achan did not repent. Will you and I? I've made myself a little acrostic to help myself and to remind myself of three steps. You know, Braille, Braille is the language for those that cannot see. I cannot see the living Son of God right now who inhabits me. I cannot see the Holy Spirit right now who inhabits me. So I need some help. So B stands for belief. I must have this faith that I am free in Jesus, that I am free when I follow him. That faith is the victory as per John 5.4. And then there's R, B-R as part of Braille. R, I need to run to Jesus because I cannot manage on my own. He's the victory, 1 Corinthians 15.57. And then L as part of Braille, I need to live this life free and I can do so. I need higher help through his Holy Spirit. I need repentance to be cleansed. And then I need to ask the Father to put the Holy Spirit to the top in me again because right now many of us are running on fumes. So put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. Yes, you can do it in the power of his Holy Spirit through the help of Christ. I need to follow Jesus. I need to deny the selves. Yes, it is possible because Jesus has set us free. Praise God. So what are secret sins in the church today? What are secret sins in your and my life? Revival God's way starts with repentance. Revival God's way starts with hands clean and a pure heart. Will you repent with me and repent with others before the Lord Jesus Christ, before the Father? There is a famous song called All to Jesus I Surrender. And it goes like this. All to Jesus I surrender. All to him I freely give. I will ever love and trust him. In his presence daily live. I surrender all. I surrender all, all to thee my blessed savior. I surrender all. All to Jesus I surrender. Humbly at his feet I bow. Worldly pleasures all forsaken. Take me Jesus, take me now. All to Jesus I surrender. Make me savior, savior holy thine. Let me feel the Holy Spirit. Truly know that thou art mine. All to Jesus I surrender. Lord I give myself to thee. Fill me with thy love and power. Let thy blessing fall on me. All to Jesus I surrender. Now I feel the sacred flame. Oh, the joy of full salvation. Glory, glory to his name. Will you and I truly repent? Will you and I truly follow Jesus? Will you and I do the will of the father? If yes, we will experience great joy in our lives. We will experience that which is promised. Love, joy, and peace. And therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Therefore, if the son sets you free, you are free indeed, praise God. Lord, Lord, are my hands clean? Are my hands clean, Lord? Is my heart pure? Oh Lord, come, come, rend the heavens in revival. Rend the heavens in revival. Thank you for joining me and may God be with you. May you cry out to God for personal revival and for corporate revival. The Lord be with you. Thank you. Goodbye for now.