In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of trusting in Jesus as one's Savior and confessing one's sins. He encourages listeners to find a fundamental church that preaches the Word of God and helps them grow in their faith. The speaker shares a personal story about a group of missionaries who fasted and prayed for revival in the Congo, highlighting the power of prayer even in small numbers. The sermon also emphasizes the need to address any sin in one's heart before engaging in intensive prayer, referencing Psalm 66:18.

Well, it's good to be back with you again today on Eagle's Wings. I trust that the message last week that I gave you on unbelief was one that God was able to use in your life. From time to time, I believe we need to have a special message for our special needs. And if we need a message for the church today, it's the message of unbelief. Many, so many, do not believe that there can be any change in their churches or in their lives. And what I've been trying over the last few months is to convince you that you can have revival, that you can see change, that you can see God move into your life. Now, you may not be able to revive a vast area. And what we're believing God to do is to send a revival nationwide, continent-wide, really world-wide. But there's no reason why you cannot pray for and expect a revival in your own local church. And from there, who knows where that revival fire might spread. I know that the pastor in the church that I'm currently in is believing God to use what he's done here in this area to sweep the nation. Now, I mentioned to you that there is a secret to revival. There is a key. And intense prayer is the key. Now, notice that I said intense prayer. There's plenty of evidence that power through prayer did not cease with Wesley, Whitfield, Vinnie, others. And neither do revivals drop down out of the sky totally unexpected. Dr. Reuben A. Torrey, who worked for years with Mr. Moody and saw revivals firsthand, both overseas and here in the States, had this to say about the relationship of prayer to revival. Listen to what he said. He said, There have been revivals with absolutely no organization, but there has never been a mighty revival without mighty praying. Now, just after the awakening in Scotland in 1949, the Reverend Duncan Campbell, who was greatly used of the Lord during that time, said this. He said, Here's a paragraph from correspondence with the veteran missionary Alexander Reed. He was one of the three who led in the prayer effort of revival in the Congo in 1929. He said, He told in my book, The Congo Drumbeat, My heart became so deeply burdened after a time here in the Congo we felt something had to be done about it. We had but two or three of the missionaries among the crowd and no African colleague who understood anything about soul, travail, and prevailing prayer. But together we three decided to fast and pray every Friday evening together. We left off our evening meal and met in one of our homes for prayer. I don't think it was the sacrifice of the meal, but the pressure of soul agonizing prayer that God gave the victory. Though we pursued that practice with great regularity, even when I was traveling on a big district, I fasted the evening meal and reached out after God in soul longing prayer. Used by permission from Alexander Reed, 1971. So what's the first step? You might say, what do we do? Do we go out and talk our pastor into dedicating one evening each week to prayer for revival? Well, no, not yet. There's something else that you need to do. Something that needs to be done first. And it's in Psalm 66, 18. And there's a verse there that's of great importance to anyone planning intensive prayer. And that verse says, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. You see, if you want revival, you draw a circle, and then you get in the middle of it and you ask God to start that revival there first. So many are out pointing their finger at somebody else, when they need to see God work in their own hearts first. And those words mean exactly what they say. Because there's something about sin that short circuits our prayers. And many of us have to find out the hard way, that it just doesn't work to pray and have sin in our own life. Listen to what Dr. Torrey says on this same subject. On the same verse. He said, quote, Sin is an awful thing. And one of the most awful things about it is the way it hinders prayer. And the way it severs the connection between us and the source of all grace and power and blessing. Anyone who would have power in prayer, must be merciless in dealing with his own sins. And here's what the missionaries in the Solomon Islands concluded, before they began praying for the revival that happened in 1936. Quote, They saw that they themselves had been ignoring the sin of their own attitudes, the sin of their own rivalry, their own pride in its many forms, their own fear and their own unbelief. End of quote. Actually they had been regarding these things as unimportant. And even unavoidable. What about it? Are you ready to deal with sin in your own life? You know, even though we are Christians and we're redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, we still have the sin nature. And we sometimes say and do things that are hurtful to others. We all do. I still do. I wished I could say to you that I don't. But I do. And those things are not unimportant. And they're not unavoidable. But they are sin. And they must be dealt with as any other sin in our lives. When's the last time you heard someone get up in your church and ask for forgiveness from the body? When's the last time somebody came to you personally and asked for forgiveness? I've never been in a church where I see this happening all the time. Even today as I'm recording this message. There's one young man that went over to another town to make a restitution. And just a week before that, another young lady in this church went over to that same town in another church to make restitution. And they each went to the pastor first. And each pastor was just shocked. But they each got to do it. And we're praying that God will use that. One pastor said, Boy, this is of the Lord. Because his message that day was on dealing with sins of gossip. And those type of things that have been going on in the church. You know the scripture says, And sometimes I think we have fuzzy thinking in our minds about asking forgiveness or making restitution. And we'll argue that confessing a thing to God is all that's necessary. In some cases that may be true. But the scripture says, Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar and there remembers that thy brother hath anything against thee, Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way. But first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. I was just reading a little bit ago in Oswald Chambers about this same thing. About making reconciliation. Making things right with your brother. Chambers said on this same verse, If when you come to the altar and there you remember that your brother has anything against you, Not if you take or if you rake up something by a morbid sensitiveness. But if you remember. That is if it is brought to your conscience. Your conscious mind by the spirit of God. First be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. Never eject to the intense sensitiveness of the spirit of God in you. When he is educating you down to the scruple. You know it is an amazing thing to me. How many times as I move around I can talk to people. And they can bring up just as quick as a flash. Some offense that has been done against them. And how this brother has offended them. But yet on the same hand. They have something that they have done and they have never dealt with it either. I was just down about a week and a half ago. I think down in the southeastern part of Colorado. Went down there with a preacher buddy of mine. In an area where God has started a work in revival. They had some revival meetings and as a result of that. All of the deacons and even the pastor were broken before God. Even the pastor confessed that he had not been loving his wife. Had not loved her for a long time. Now he did not do that publicly but he confessed it to my pastor friend at least. And they were broken. These men. Over their own lives and their own sins. And these things are going on in their hearts. But yet they have been carrying on the function of a fundamental church. For years. Wondering why God was not doing anything. And my pastor friend who was supposed to be moving here. Under the direction of God has moved down there to help them. They asked him to come down there. God had told him to go down there first. And then he wanted some confirmation from the Lord. Because he was supposed to come here. And they came and asked him. The evangelist that was there came there and told him. He thought that he was supposed to go there. And it was a shock to us. Because we were looking for this dear brother to move in here and help us here. And what God has been doing here. But he moved down there. And they are dealing with it. They are making reconciliation. How are you doing? How are you doing? Do you have lumps under your carpet? Where you have been hiding things? You have been hiding things. And they are building up in your life? You know. You can have revival in your life. But you can't have it without intense prayer. And you can't have intense prayer. Without dealing with things in your life. They have to come first. And so before you go tearing off to your pastor. You just take a look at your own life. Let God do something there. Then you get somebody to start praying with you. You can talk to your pastor. Whatever. You don't do anything without him. He is the man that you need to talk to. And talk to about prayer. For revival. You know. We can look at all of the bad things that are happening. And we are in a very serious situation in our country. In the aspect of war. And I don't know. By the time this broadcast gets to you. War may have broken out over there in the mid east. I hope it doesn't. I am afraid for our military over there. And we have things happening around us. Like the pulling of plugs. On human lives. We are taking into our hands. Responsibilities that only belong to God. From the birth of babies. To the extermination of older folks. Or people that we consider. No more use for human society. We have swallowed. Philosophies. Even into our churches. That are humanistic. Atheistic. New age. Whatever you want to call it. But they are unbiblical. We need revival. And I am offering to you on this program. A booklet on rock music. We have brought into our churches. Music that actually invites demons. Into our fellowship. Into our services. And many do not know what is going on. But they do know that there is something happening. That they don't like. So much of the music that we have today. Is nothing more than just the old. Music that has come out of the. The heart of Africa. Many. Many times the testimony has been given. From those that have been saved. In that culture. As a rebuke against us. What are we doing with that kind of music? We can have revival. But we need to realize. That we have to deal with sin. In our own lives. We have to see. Our own attitudes in these things. Here is another paragraph. From missionary Jonathan Goforth. On the same subject. He said we believe too. That is regards secret sin. For example sin. Which is known only to the individual soul. And God. To confess it at the private altar. Is as a rule sufficient. To insert pardon and cleansing. As to sin against an individual. The scriptures are quite plain. It is vain for us to pray. While conscious that we have injured another. Let us first make amends. To the injured one. Before we dare to approach God. At either the private or public altar. As regarding public sins. Experience has shown us. That there can only be. These can only be swept away. By public confession. True. This amounts to crucifixion. But by our willful disobedience. We have put the Lord of Glory. To an open shame. And it is the price. That we must pay. How about it? You think you are going to tear into 1991. You are going to go into this year. With the glory of God. On your life and in your church. And I hope you do. But my friend I won't go anywhere. And you won't either. If we have things in our life. That we haven't dealt with. You know the Bible is very clear. On making reconciliation in the past. The Bible teaches us. That we need to deal with things. That are in the past. We need to deal with those. The Bible exhorts the believer. To live according to the truth. According to the standard of this word. When we fail to do so. We suffer spiritual loss. I was just thinking about the brothers of Joseph. All those years. They lived. In fear and torment and guilt. Because of what they had done to their brother. And they couldn't make reconciliation with him. But they could have done it with their father. And I don't know. Maybe they did. But I doubt it. The scripture doesn't say. But do you know that if you have things like that in your closet. They are going to affect your life. Whatever you have in your secret closet. Your thoughts. Your habits. Your lifestyle. You may be living in a prison. Because of this very thing. You have not made something right. With your brother. With your sister. With your mother. With your father. Oh how terrible a day it is. When one of those dies. And you never made it right. You may need to make a phone call today. And ask them to forgive you for something that you did. 50 years ago. Reconciliation of the past. And even Jacob and Esau. Jacob never did forget. How he had. How he had been a part of a scheme. To cheat his brother out of the birthright. And of course God works these things out. His own way. But he never did forget. What he had done. And I was just reading over in Genesis 33. How when he met his brother. He went to all this trouble. To put his family in the flocks. And everything ahead of him. He was afraid. He was afraid to meet his brother. And when his brother came rolling up. Boy he was afraid. He didn't know what his brother was going to do. But he knew that all those years. Were between him and his brother. And a lot of times there is a lot of hatred. And anger built up over that period of time. But the scripture says. And Jacob lifted up his eyes. And looked and behold he saw Cain. And with him 400 men. Boy I'll just tell you. He was shaking in his sandals. He was shaking in his sandals. And then finally when he gets to his brother. His brother said. What meanest thou by all this drove which I met. And he said. These are to find grace in the sight of my Lord. If you are clean. You won't have to be afraid like that. You won't have to go to all that trouble. You know. I just wonder. Do you know what it's like to live clean and free. To wake up in the morning. And just love Jesus. Just to lay there. And let the Spirit of God minister to you. And speak to you. And you just receive the joy of the Spirit. As you know there is nothing between you and your God. And you and your brother. But the Bible tells us that we are to confess. And reject all sinful patterns. Of past behavior. And we are not to allow these to influence us today. We are to be clean. We are to be pure. We are not to have things in our life. We are not to be contaminated. In our churches. I am amazed at how much garbage. Has piled up over the years in our churches. This little thing. Has been done against old sister Sally. Or sister Sue. And brother so and so is offended. Because he didn't get his way on a certain vote. And they let these things see. And they say to each other. Before the morning service. How are you doing brother? How are you doing sister? Oh it is so good to see you. And they say oh I am doing fine. But they don't see each other during the week. They don't speak to each other during the week. And maybe they haven't spoken to each other. Outside of the church for years. And my brethren we wonder. Why God is not working in our lives. And in our churches in power. And it is because of this kind of stuff. It is because of this type of stuff. That is going on. 1 Peter 1 and 14. As obedient children. Not fastening yourselves according to the former lust. And your ignorance. That kind of stuff. Was the stuff that went on before you were unsaved. It was a normal type of thing. But it is not to be normal for the Christian. The Bible tells us in Titus 1.12. Teaching us that denying ungodliness. And worldly lust. We should live soberly, righteously and godly. In this present world. If you haven't made reconciliation with somebody. You're not living godly. You've got skeletons in the closet. And they rattle. And they stink. You know what? All neglect. Of these things. Will bring some kind of repercussion in your life. It will come out in some kind of. In some area of your life. It will come out in your emotional life. I know people that are mentally. That are mentally weak. Because they have not dealt with. Sin in our lives. And many of the medical reports. Have told us that most of the cases. In the hospital. High percentages of those there. Are because of the mind. The mental state of the person. And the doctors will attest to this. If people had good mental health. They wouldn't have so much physical disorders. Emotional. Mental. Physical. Social. Spiritual. They all have their root back to sin. And I know the psychologist. If you go to him. He's going to try to find some place. To trace back. To show you where the root was. But the root always goes back to sin. Now I'm not a psychologist. I started off as a psychology major. That was my designation. I was going to have my shingle up. And join the others in my family. And make lots of money. But God got a hold of my life. And he's taught me. I believe deeper things. Than those type of things. Just go to the root. Why do you hang on to your bitterness anyway? Someday I'm going to take a series on bitterness. I was looking at it today. And almost shared it with you. The apostle Paul could say. Forgetting those things which are behind. Only because he had reconciled the past. He had cleared it up. Between God and man. He was clean. He had killed Christians. But yet he was clean. You may have done something. And you may think that God can't forgive you. But you can be forgiven. You can be forgiven. Matter of fact. You may be listening today. And you may not be saved. You may not be a Christian. And you're saying. I will not be a hypocrite. And I appreciate that. I talked to a young man about a little over a week ago. And he was close to getting saved. But he said I won't be a hypocrite. When I do it I want to go all the way. I want it to be real. And I said I appreciate your sincerity. So many pray and they don't mean it. So many of you out there listening. You've prayed to receive Christ. Maybe you walked an aisle ahead. Some kind of experience. But there's no reality in your life. It's not real. And you know that you're not real. It can be real. You just start by getting down before your God. And confessing all the sins that you can. Until you're clean. And then you accept his forgiveness. I'm going to share some things with you that might help you. Some of the patterns which we. May have received in and from the past. May be due to error. It may be due to some error about God. Or some error about yourself. Or life or events. And I'm sharing some things with you. Maybe if you write to me. And I know it might take a while before you get an answer. Because I travel around. And I don't know if I'll be back down in Missouri. I hope to be back down next week. I don't know. But I got this from Dr. Victor Matthews. And he said I could share it with you. And I've had him for an interview on here. But it's on reconciling the past. Sometimes you. Sometimes way back in the past. You may have received. Something. That was not true. Some incorrect teaching. Some incorrect error or doctrine. About God. About yourself. About life. Events. Or whatever. Or. You may have some unconfessed sin. And just. And not knowing something was sinful. Or accepting a way of protecting ourselves. Or placing wrong values on things. Events. People. Responsibilities. Or by accepting false guilt. Etc. Or maybe. Maybe you've allowed habits to develop. In your life. Physical. Mental. Emotional. Relational patterns. Or spiritual. Whatever. Maybe a negative thought pattern. Maybe you've allowed something to come into your life. That has damaged you. Maybe you've allowed an incorrect relationship. To continue in your life. Maybe you're a. You're the type of person that. Manipulates people. Or maybe you let people manipulate you. Or maybe you're defensive. Or you're always protecting yourself. And you're so reserved. Or maybe you're one of these. Overcorrective persons. Or maybe you're a pretender. Or self-righteous. Or whatever. Maybe something has entered into your life. And it has affected you. And you know there's something not right. In your life. I want to share with you some things that will help you. Clear this type of stuff up. First, ask the Lord to turn his searchlight on you. On your past. And you trust him to bring to your remembrance. All those times. Which you need to reconcile. You make a choice before God to be honest. Now you just say, God show me anything in the past. Anything you want to. That's not right. You might want to write it out. And don't just think about it or talk about it. But write it out. Every time you were sinned. Every time you were hurt. Be complete. Name the people involved. State what happened. Be truthful. Honest. Don't protect yourself or other people. And don't fantasize. And then you just evaluate the past event on the basis of truth. If you sinned and you confess it to God. 1 John 1.9 If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us. And ask his forgiveness and receive it. If you were hurt by someone. And it was their fault. Then you put the blame where it belongs. And state they should not have done that to me. But I forgive them. And you completely forgive them. And you forget it. These two activities. Putting the blame where it belongs and forgiving the person. Are very important. But you just do it. Now resist the temptation to hurry through this. I'm hurrying through because our time is about gone. But don't generalize. But you just be specific. You write down everything that you can remember. Every sin you've done. Every time you were hurt. And you deal with it. You take it to the cross. When you've finished each event. And you've confessed it. Or forgiven the person. Either one of those two. Remember you confess it. If you did it. You forgive them. If they did it to you. Then you carefully do these two things. You make an affirmation. That Satan the accuser may no longer use. What you've written out against. What you've written out against you. He can't use that anymore. State audibly with firmness. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I take this event away from Satan. And declare he may not use it against me anymore. You see Satan will use these things in your mind. Your thoughts. And then second. After you make that affirmation. You choose to receive the healing. That the Lord Jesus died to provide. For you on the cross. To those of you who believe in him. And you live according to his word. You state audibly this. Now that I have made this right with you. Heavenly Father. I receive the healing you have provided for me. He gives you forgiveness. And he gives you healing. When you finish this project. And don't overlook the grudges you may have against God. You may have something there against him. But when you finish this project. Then you count it finished. You may even want to burn the paper. That you have written it out on. You may not want somebody to find that thing. And when you think of a bad event in your past. Or you become aware that you are responding on the basis of something. That you have already dealt with. Then state I have dealt with that truthfully. It is settled. I refuse to allow it to influence me today. I have forgiven that person. Satan be gone. God has forgiven me. Satan be gone. Don't let him drag up something that is finished. So when you sin today. You confess. You forgive. You make the affirmations. You deal with your sin in the day that you do it. And you will stay clean. You will live victorious. But you can't drag around a big old garbage bag. Of hurt feelings. And grudges. And be a victorious free Christian. You can't. And my friend if you haven't trusted Christ as your Savior. You can do that right now. You just confess to him your sin. That you are a sinner. And by faith ask him to come into your life. Ask Jesus to come in. And to save you. And to make you the person that he wants you to be. And then you find a church. The best fundamental church you can find. Where they preach the word. And where they will help you. And help you learn the Bible. And they will be a friend to you. I have been sharing this stuff from Dr. Victor Matthews. Some of the stuff I have shared today. And I hope it has been helpful for you. Well my friend our time is about gone. And on eagles wings is designed for revival. We have a burden for revival for America. We are believing that our days are dark enough. To see this land completely destroyed. Unless we see God work. Would you pray for us. Would you pray for this work. Until next time. May God richly bless you. My friend.