This sermon emphasizes the need for revival God's way, focusing on the importance of surrendering to God, repentance, prayer, seeking God's face, and turning from wicked ways. It highlights the consequences of sin, the call to humble ourselves, and the promise of forgiveness and cleansing through Jesus Christ. The speaker shares a personal testimony of experiencing God's mercy and transformation, urging listeners to seek salvation and surrender to Jesus.

May God richly, richly fill your life with his glory, with his power, that you might be changed and that there would be a mighty outpouring from your own life towards others and the power of the Holy Spirit overflowing you. So thank you for coming. Thank you, Worship Leader Lisa. We appreciate so much leading these services and then we thank our dear brother Dan Lorette and beloved God has done many miracles in his life and this is his sixth anniversary of ministry today and tomorrow and so we want to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to acknowledge this great son of God what he has done in his life and in our lives. So give a hand to the Lord and let him know that God is incredible. Praise God. And then we also want to add in the comment that brother Dan made earlier, we want to thank Pastor Stephen and Sherry McLean allowing us to worship in this auditorium. Thank you so much, Pastor. And now the message title is Revival God's Way. Revival God's Way. And perhaps I'm doing something wrong here. Okay, good. Very good. The message title Revival God's Way indicates that we are looking for revival not our way but God's way. I have been in many revival services across the United States and they were special speakers. There was great, great musical production, light shows, excitement and stomping and showering glory, glory, glory and people falling to the ground and most of the times the people would go away and say it was a great service. It was a great service but no change in my life. No change in my life. And so beloved, that was Revival Man's Way and this is not Revival God's Way. And I'm not sure if you like Revival God's Way and sister read the verse from 2nd Chronicles chapter 7 verse 14 before. But let us just assume that we are affected by our surroundings and we ask for an audience of our Heavenly Father. We say Father we want to come with this whole congregation into your Holy Throne Room and Father we want to appeal to you and Father this is our appeal. Father there's a famine in our land. There's a famine of the Word of God. There's a famine of sin and disobedience and not following you nor your instructions. Many reject the name of your Holy Son Jesus. They say it's no longer necessary. There are other ways to God and that each one of us has turned towards our own way and we follow humanism. We are affected by the church society that we're in. We justify evil. We invite evil into our churches. We abort children and kill them. We demand entertainment in church. We demand possessions for ourselves, the world, and the money and we come to church and demand from you that you give us wealth and pleasure for ourselves. Now you have identified these things as sin and your judgment has started to fall on us Father. For in Romans chapter 1 you say very clearly when we sin in these matters that you will give us over to debased minds and such debased minds are now evident to the very highest level of governments where people who were previously rational even in a human sense and for family and for a righteous life those have turned around and now vote for direct evil against you Father and so evil is becoming good and good is becoming evil and we don't know what to do Father because we see that your judgment has started and we see it also in animals dying and so bees are dying. Half of the bee population is gone. We see fish dying in the ocean. We see the ecology turning. We know that hunger is not too far off. Father what are we to do? What are we to do Father? And then God the Father will answer us and he says I love you. I love you but when I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or when I command locusts to devour the land or set a plague among my people then act as I told you to. Read 2nd Chronicles chapter 7 verse 14. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then, then, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Have you understood that my people? It is my way of revival. It is not your way of revival. It is when you humble yourself and pray and seek my face, seek a relationship and turn from wicked ways. You might answer God I don't know which wicked ways you're talking about. I don't think I'm into wicked ways. God will show us in the presence of his holiness when we fall short against the Word of God. And now God will keep his promise because God cannot lie and in Titus chapter 1 verse 2 it says that God does not lie and God cannot lie. He will fulfill his promises if we do our part. This is a conditional promise. This is not a promise under any circumstances. It requires a sacrifice on the altar of God. And so the first condition is humbling ourselves and so in Luke chapter 18 verses 9 to 14, in Luke chapter 18 verses 9 to 14 we read the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector and here Jesus spoke about the self-righteous. He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God I thank you that I'm not like these people, not like other men, like extortioners, unjust adulterers or even this tax collector next to me. I fast, oh Lord, I fast. I fast. I fast twice a week. I give tithe. I give money. All that I possess. And on the other side there was a tax collector standing afar off. He would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven but be his breast and he said, God, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And then humbling before God includes our repentance for sin and asking for cleansing. And now there are denominations now that teach you that, no, no, everything is already forgiven. Everything is already done. But is that what Scripture says? Have you examined the word of God? Have you examined what Christ says? Did Christ not speak to seven churches? And of five of those churches he said, repent. If you don't repent, you're going to be in trouble. There are consequences. There are difficulties that are coming your way. And so in Revelation chapter 2 verse 5, he said to the Ephesians, who were really a very good church, he said, you lost your first love for me and it's a sin. And you say, no, no, no, I can decide how much I want to love God. We have a democracy, God. This is not an absolute territory for your part. I can decide how much I want to love you. I can decide whether I spend time with you or not. I can decide what I want to do. And Jesus said to the Ephesians church, it's a sin that you don't love me with your first love. Think of your first love in terms of a human relationship. When you first met your wife or your husband, you couldn't think straight anymore. You looked around every corner for that person. You wanted to see that person. You wanted to touch that person. You wanted to speak with that person. You could not think straight. Your thoughts were mixed up. That's the kind of love Jesus has for us. That's the kind of love he gives towards us. And he says, I don't want any less love from you. I want you to love me with your all. I want you to love me. I want you to look for me around every corner. When you go out on the street, when you go shopping, when you drive in your car. I love you. I love you. I want to be with you. If you have any problems, don't turn to your flesh. Ask me for help. I'm there for you. I love you. I love you. I love you. And then in Revelation chapter two, verse 16, there was a church called the Church of Pergamos, and they were to repent of false teachings. And, beloved, there's so many false teachings that are now given to us, like the prosperity gospel. Compare all Scripture. Compare all Scripture. Can it be right in comparison to the martyrs on the other side of the world? Wake up! These are satanic lies to mislead you. Mislead you to hell. Don't go there. Check the Word of God and find out what it says. It says, if you are a true believer, if you're godly, you'll be persecuted. If you're godly, there will be times when the world will turn against you and will say, I hate you. I don't believe what you believe. And we're going to take it in love, and we're going to love those people, and we're going to reach out to them with all we have and all we can do. And Jesus said, repent, repent quickly. I will fight against you with a sword in my mouth if you don't do that. And then there's Chrislam, there's hyper-grace, and there are all of these things that have been brought to us as truth. They're lies! They're all the lies! Because hyper-grace, if hyper-grace was true, then Jesus would have not said to five churches, repent. Turn around, repent! Repent from any evil that you get into, from anything that besets you. Repent. And so, then the church of Thyatira was to repent. They were dominated by a powerful false prophetess, which allowed immorality, which is sin. How do you think God feels about sin in you? How do you think he feels about sin in you? Now, there are both non-Christians and Christians watching, and once we're born again, scripture tells us that we become the temple of God. In the Old Testament, when you brought sin into the Old Testament temple, you were to die. So, why do you bring sin into the New Testament temple inside of you? Didn't Jesus say, this temple of mine is a house of prayer? It's no longer a den of thieves. It's no longer there for sin. I want to commune with you. I love you. I love you. I put this beautiful temple on the inside of you. And so, if you do sin, beloved, we have a gracious God who is willing to forgive us. But it also says, don't continue in sin because of grace. God forbid. God is offended. He hates sin. He has not changed for you or for false teaching. So, beloved, beloved, return to Jesus and say to him, no, I will not go this way. And then there's Chrislam. Chrislam depends on two gods and two different philosophies. So, if we think of a true God, wouldn't a true God help us know what the truth is? Wouldn't a true God tell us what is truth? Well, there was a beautiful, beautiful day. And there was a river in the Middle East. The river was called Jordan. And a man went into the river. And then God, the true God, opened up heaven and spoke by a voice. And he said, this is the beloved son in whom I bow, please. And was there Buddha in the river? Was there Muhammad in the river? Was there Hare Krishna in the river? Or was there Jesus Christ in the river? The only true son of God, Jesus Christ, was acknowledged from the Father to be the truth. So, our faith is real, beloved. We have the assurance of a true God. And then Revelation chapter 2, chapter 3, verses 3, the church of Sardis was to repent. It was a spiritually dying church. They were dead in their Christian life. And they had no fruit. And so, the question is, if you sit dead in your pulpit, and if you sit dead in your pew, is that pleasing to God? And Jesus said, no, no, no. I want you to have fruit. And so, repent. And then the church of Laodicea was to repent from lukewarmness, because it is sin. How does God feel about lukewarmness? Most of you know. And he went like this, poof, poof. He spit you out of your mouth. But this is my gentle Jesus. Isn't he just love? He is love, beloved. He loves you a lot. He really does. He wants you to turn around and repent and come back to him in conviction and asking others in this manner. But scripture is clear that it is him and Christ alone that can help us out of this dilemma of lukewarmness. And so, we must go back to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, the Lord Jesus says, repentance is part of humility. And also in Christian service, I must come humbly and serve him, because in Luke chapter 17, verse 10, Jesus said to his disciples, he said, So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do. What was found is our duty. And so, there was a little donkey carrying Jesus into Jerusalem, and people were clapping and shouting and calling hallelujah. And that little donkey knew he was smart enough to know that all of the accolades were not for him. And some of the speakers are not smart enough. And so, we must approach God in humility, and we are also asked to be humble towards our fellow man. So, Philippians chapter 2 tells us that we are to esteem others better than ourselves. And so, when I meet you, I look for your beauty and not for your faults. I look for your strength and not your weaknesses. I look and understand that each one of you is made in the image of the Most High God. I understand, secondly, that each one of you has a soul that has a greater value than all the money in the world. Because scripture says, for what shall a prophet of man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? And that's Matthew 16, verse 26. And then the third point is, so, I realize that you are made in the image of God, number two, I realize that your soul exceeds the value of this world, and number three, I realize that each one of you can do something better than I can. So, I can respect you, I can love you, I can reach out to you. I don't need to put you down. I don't have time for that. Okay? And so, I can be humble towards my fellow man. And then sometimes we have great opposition. We have people attacking us. And so, in the Old Testament, there was a great leader by the name of Moses. And Moses had been opposed by Korah and 250 leaders that stood against him. And Moses humbled himself, and scripture said that he was the most humble person. And so, what Moses did is, did he argue with them, or what does scripture say? What does scripture say? What Moses did is, he reasoned with the leaders of Korah and 250 ringleaders, and he put his face in the dust. Korah, Korah, I beg you, please. Korah, follow God. Follow his leading, follow his advice. I beg you, I beg you, and I beg you leaders to do it. Could you do that sometimes with someone that is opposing you? Could you humble yourself? Maybe we have a far, far way to go. And then in Numbers chapter 16, verse 33, it says, So they, all those with them, went down alive into the pit. The earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. And Korah would not agree with the men of God and 250 leaders, and God opened up the earth and swallowed them alive. Going into the pit. Where do you see humility in Jesus' life? Washing feet as the Son of God, making breakfast after he was raised from the dead, he invited them to the lake, and he still, he still served them. He was God incarnate by that time, and so from the cross, he asked for forgiveness of all those that had hurt him, and he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And so a Christian psychologist said, signs of pride include needing to be important, strongly opinionated, being argumentative, demanding your own way, wanting control over others, refusing advice, being critical, yet resisting criticism, being right on everything. So, if, if, if, such signs are evident in your life, God loves you so much, he hates pride, but he loves you, and so you can come and draw close to him and ask him to help you. The second condition from the Lord is to pray, and we have mentioned before that you are the temple of the living God, and the temple of the living God ought to be a house of prayer. Keep sin out. You are the temple of God. And then how to pray, well, Jesus told his followers how to pray in Matthew chapter 6, verses 9 to 13, and if you are a new Christian or someone on the line who is not yet a Christian, the word pray gives us help on how to pray. Four simple steps, P can stand for praise and thanks, R stands for repentance, asking God to forgive, and A stands for asking for my needs, and the Y stands for Yeshua, praying in Jesus' name, and Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus. And so, beloved, the second condition is to pray, and to pray always. In Luke chapter 18, verse 1 says, Then he spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. And then the third condition of the Lord is to see God's face, and to draw near to him. Now, in James chapter 4, verses 8 to 10, it says, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hearts, cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up. Now, I know you have heard these verses before, and you have reflected on them, but let me give you a comparison. Maybe you say, I'm not so bad after all, I'm a pretty good person. But the prophet Isaiah, he was called into the presence of God, and when he stood before God, in Isaiah chapter 6, verse 5, he said, Roar unto me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. So, when we come close to God, all of our life becomes open. His glory shines through us. It shows up every spot in us, and a pastor in a former revival told the story of a pastor going home at night on the English coast during the Second World War, and there were submarines out searching for traders, and they searched the coastline, and all of a sudden, in the middle of darkness, this pastor is walking along this path, and there next to him from the ocean rises this great submarine, and shines these incredible big lights on him, and this pastor said, it was like the light went through me from top to bottom, and it would have shown any impurity, and this is how God's light looks into us and shows every impurity, and so we are to draw near to God. Coming near to a person means two people coming together and seeing each other face to face, and beloved, this with a holy God is what will help you to cry out yourself and say, maybe I'm not so good, maybe I have some issues in my life that I must deal with, there are things that God wants to have cleansed in my life, and so we're going to go to the fourth requirement from the Lord. The first one was to humble ourselves, the second one was to pray, the third one was to draw close to him, and now we come to the fourth condition, which is to turn from wicked ways. We generally do not associate many sins that we actually do with violating the word of God, and before we had talked about the loss of first love, or we had talked about lukewarmness, we feel that's not a but Jesus said it is a sin, and so why should we continue in sin that grace may abound? We ought to do differently, but we need higher help, beloved, and Christ loves us so much that he's willing to give us this higher help if we come to him, because first Corinthians 15 verse 57 says that Christ is the victory, and so he's able to keep us from falling and to present us wholly into the presence of his father, so we need to draw near to Jesus and prayer to deal with sins in our lives, and so beloved, may I ask you if you're a Christian, does your life reflect heavenly love, joy, and peace? You're supposed to have the gift of the Holy Spirit, yes? Are you sour and complaining and feeling life is hurting you too much? Well, there's a loss of love somewhere, beloved, the loss of faith in this high God that we have, because he's willing to give us these emotions, but it combines with us trusting him and also staying away from those things that will take our faith away, that will take our love away, that will take our joy away, that will take our peace away, and then there's a wicked way of unbelief. Hebrews 11 6 says, but without faith it is impossible to please him. I think one of the biggest failure of Christians is to walk this life in our own power, and there was once a persecuted Chinese Christian, and he was incarcerated, and the officer who incarcerated him talked with him, and this man was tortured and held in captivity, and so one day this prisoner told him this story. He said there once was a pig underneath an apricot tree, and as this pig went under the apricot tree, it found some wonderful ripe fruit on the ground, and so the pig had a marvelous meal and enjoyed these apricots. When the apricots were gone, the pig started to look for more, and the pig tore up the ground trying to find more apricots, and the pig did not understand that more help comes from on high, and so as Christians, we tear up the ground. We compare our circumstances to what is surrounding us, and we do not call on God for higher help. I mean every circumstance, every situation that occurs, you're supposed to call on him. You're supposed to ask him to help you, and in Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 5, God says that the works of your hand, when you depend on them, are cursed, that the human works, they're cursed. If you dig up the ground to help yourself the best you can, that work is cursed. You dig up the ground, and you get disappointed. You must look for higher help because God loves you so much, and he wants to help you, and then Jesus also has said that he is willing to live his life in me and to provide his victory for me, and so in Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, it says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me. Praise God, Christ, and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Praise God, so when Christ lives in me, and I must take actually a tangible step towards that and say to the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, you have saved me from the penalty of sin. I now invite you to come into my life and take over. I surrender to you fully. I ask you to now also take over so that the power of sin is no longer evident in my life, and as you fully surrender, Christ will do that as you fully surrender, but with the surrender, there's also obedience because without obedience, you're not going to have victory. If I make provision for my flesh, I'm going to sin. God still gives us a free will after we are saved. I was much confused about that after I was saved, and I didn't understand that. You know, I thought, well, now I'm perfect. Everything is going to go well. I won't sin anymore. Praise God. God has helped me to understand that flesh cannot be improved by flesh. Flesh cannot be improved by flesh. Flesh cannot be saved. There's only one solution for my flesh, for my outer body. It must do what? Die. There's only one solution. I always thought that I could improve this outer body, and I tried, and I tried, and I tried. I fought sin for six hours, sweat rolling down my face and my back, and I could not win. It is only through Christ, beloved, that the victory is obtained over the power of sin. He's given us the victory over the penalty of sin, but he has also given us the victory over the power of sin, but it requires my going to Christ, my surrendering to him, and saying, Lord Jesus, I need you. I need you every hour, and I believe that you're not only in heaven, but you're only present. You're also resident in me, in me, in me, a poor sinner. I want to do your works. I don't want a backslide, but I cannot do it on my own. And so, in Romans chapter 8, verse 2, it just tells us, in Romans chapter 8, verse 2, and let me just turn to that, because there is the solution right there, and often we overlook it because somehow it does not enter our mind what the word says there, and in Romans chapter 8, verse 2, it says, okay, for the law of the Spirit. So, what is the law of the Spirit? Of life in Christ Jesus. So, it is life in Christ Jesus in me has made me free from the law of sin and death. Praise God. So, there is a law of the Spirit. There is a law of sin, and the solution is of life in Christ Jesus. Praise God. So, God loves you so much. He doesn't want you to walk in a defeated life. He has no interest in that. He loves you so much. He wants to help you, but our belief and unbelief in the Western world is such that it is supported by great wealth, by circumstances that are so easy, so that we do not go to Jesus the way we should. And now, there is the wickedness of not loving our neighbors. Beloved, only 20% of the people in North America go to church. 20%. So, if you take 360 million people between America and Canada, if it is about 20% that go to church, that includes Catholics, that includes Mormons. Even if we assume that they are saved, there are over 300 million people on their way to hell. 310 million on their way to hell. Does that affect you in any way? Does that move you in any way? And so, do we truly love our neighbors? Are we willing to share with our neighbors this great, great salvation that we have? And then, there is the wickedness of not loving our enemies. In Matthew 5, verse 44, it says, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. So, you've got to forgive first, or else you cannot love. You forgive, you love, you bless, you do good, and you pray for those. I had a pastor who accused me falsely in front of another church, and our own church, and quite publicly, and a large youth group. And as I heard it, I realized that there were misunderstandings and difficulties. And I said offhand, I forgive you. I forgive you. But he didn't want any forgiveness. And so, it was taken to the church council, and there was a big deal made about it, and he had to apologize publicly. But he said I was still wrong, and half of the church believed him, and the other half believed me. So, the church was split. I said to the senior pastor, I gotta leave, because he has to have a united church. I'd be glad to leave, you know. And that senior pastor said, no, you will not. What are you going to do about it? I said, well, I said I would love unconditionally, so I'm not changing my mind. I love unconditionally. And then, along the way, what God put on my heart was that I had missed out on one thing. I had forgiven, I had loved, and I had blessed him, I prayed for him. I didn't do one thing yet, and that was to do good to him. And so, on a Thanksgiving dinner, six months later, I invited him and his wife for dinner. And his wife said, no, he'll never come, but somehow God did. And we had dinner for three hours. I never accused him of anything, but then afterwards, he said, I truly see your heart, and I ask for your forgiveness. And we were reunited, and the church was reunited. So, God can do mighty things, but maybe we have to follow the Word of God. If we follow the Word of God, then perhaps there are different results. And then there's the wicked ways of loving money and wealth and possessions, and it has affected our children, because back in the 1950s and 40s, wealth started to emerge in a big sense, and so people wanted more and more in possessions. And then there were credit card debts and bank debts, and then both parents started to work, and the children did not get their upbringing in the Word of God. And then in 1963, they took prayer and the Bible out of church in America. And today, there is a youth generation that is without God. And the older Christians say, look at what they're doing. And I'm crying out, look at what you did and what I did. We did it. Because again, again, it tells us in the Old Testament through the prophet, and he said, God said, if you forget my laws, I will forget your children. Hosea chapter four, verse six. I will forget your children if you forget me. And so that is what has happened, beloved. And we blame others. We don't look at our own life. And so, beloved, then there are wicked ways of wrong expectations in the church. 30 minutes for a sermon. Don't give me more or else I'm going to complain. I've got a baseball game at noon. I got to get the children there. Who is your God? I was with a young man driving in the car, and he was helping me on a ministry project. And I was asking him, you know, about his relationship with the Lord. And he said, oh, the Lord is my all. He's my all. And there's nothing between me and him. He's my all. And so he arrived at the destination. And then I asked him to help. And he said, oh, I'm really very, very tired. I said to him, why are you tired? And he said, well, I watched video games all night. So I said to him, so, video games are your God. No, you're wrong. No, no, no, no, no. God is first. What will God think? What will God think? Compare your time in the Bible and in prayer with your most favorite activity and see who is your God. Yeah. And, you know, it's just a very sad thing. And then God loves you, though. God loves me. And he wants us to return to him. He wants us to repent. He says, I love you so much. Come back to me. Come back to me. I want you, but repent from those things that stand between you and me. Come back to me. And then there's the wicked ways of sexual sins, including divorce, adultery, fornication, living common law, pornography. Seventy percent of all men in North America are now hooked on pornography, and 30 percent of women are hooked on pornography. And it's the kind of sin where we want to hide because we know it's detestable in a sense, but we somehow cannot help ourselves. Now, in First Corinthians, chapter six, verse nine, it says, do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor homosexuals, nor solemnites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers will inherit the kingdom of God. Who do you believe? The church that gives you a different doctrine? Or do you hope? Or do you want to believe this? And so, beloved, we must return to God and even Jesus Christ can set us free from these addictions. It does require that we fully surrender to Christ. There must be a complete surrender, and then there must be obedience in fleeing youthful lusts and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and making no provision for the flesh. That's the only solution I have for you. But it is from God, and God will do it if you're willing. It means full surrender on your part, and then it will happen. And so, I think I have to stop because all of these many things that we do as Christians that we don't consider as sins, they overwhelm us. But I'll just have two or three more, and there is a wicked way of not making restitution. Brother Dave, that is, if you take things that don't belong to you, you're supposed to return them. So, if you have a lot more in your garage that doesn't belong to you, you're supposed to send it back. Okay? The Lord requires that of you. There's other wicked ways, not praying regularly, not reading your Bible regularly. Some are stealing from the Lord. I know you don't have much money, but even in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to Pharisees and hypocrites, but he said to them, don't ignore law, justice, mercy, and faith, but yes, you should still do the former, which was tithing. So, if you give less than 10% to God, beloved, you're hurting yourself. You know, I know you do what you want to do, but I think it starts at somewhere around 10%, okay? Don't hurt yourself, because you're giving in a little communion cup to God, and then you say, okay, now God, I want your blessings. Give me your blessings. Let me open up my chest and pour out your blessings on me. What should God think? He loves you. He loves you, but that is disobedience. Then there are ways of murder through anger. There are ways of stealing God's glory. There's a wicked way of complaining. Remember in the desert, when people were complaining about not having leeks and gherkins and things like that, God got angry at them, because he had provided them with food, but they wanted different food, and so he started killing some. Now, that's the Old Testament, but how does he look at your murmuring? How does he look at your complaining? And then there's a wicked way of gluttony, where you don't stop taking food, because the children that asked for meat, they got meat from heaven, and as they took the meat, God started to kill them in anger. They wouldn't stop. Then there is the wicked way of gossip and prejudice, and I'm going to read to you Numbers 12, 1 and 2. While they were at Hazaroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman. Cushite are dark brown people, okay? And so he had married a dark brown wife with African background, and then in verse 2, they said, has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he spoken through us too? But the Lord heard them. Now, Moses was very humble, more humble than any other person on the earth, and then God said, this was wrong on your part, Miriam, and I'm going to strike you with leprosy to die, and Miriam gossiped and prejudiced and prayed, and it doesn't say here how Aaron was affected, because he also acted in criticism, but Moses prayed for Miriam that she would be healed. Praise God, and she was healed again. So, beloved, here are some rules for self-discovery to find out who is truly your God. What do you want most? What do you think about most? How do you use your money most? What do you do with your leisure time most? Which company do you enjoy most? Who and what do you admire most? What do you laugh at most? And so, beloved, while we see all of these sins in our Christian lives, we also have a wonderful promise from God that if we do our part, and we humble ourselves, and we pray, and we see his face, he's so willing to forgive us and to cleanse us, because 1 John 1 says he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Praise God. Praise God. And then, beloved, God wants us to go one step further, and in the Hebrides revival, the preacher Duncan Campbell related a part of a prayer by a young man in the barn, and this young man asked God, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure? And he had quoted from Psalm 24 verses 3 to 5. And beloved Duncan Campbell relates that that young man fell to the ground in a trance, and then a revival started from a barn with power that shook the whole island of Lewis. God stepped down and he said, here is a true sacrifice. Here is someone who is willing to follow me with all of his heart, his soul, his mind, and his strength. Would you consider following him with all of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength and give up on any hidden and secret sins? Because John 8 36 promises, therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. And so now we look at some of our besetting sins and the old habits that we're in, we cannot break them on our own, we need higher help, but God wants to see a certain action on our part, and that action is reflected by Captain Hernan Cortez, who landed in Veracruz in year 1519. He began his conquest of Central America, and after they arrived, he gave the order to his men, burn the ships. No retreat, it was either conquest or death, and that's what Jesus wants from you, thinking about those things that beset you. It's either conquest or death, that Jesus will help you, he's the victory, and he also wants your obedience not to go where you're to be tempted, so cut off the temptations. Now Jesus was a little bit more strong in his advice in Matthew 18 8, and that advice, by the way, was given in a loving manner, because he loves us. And he said, it is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And he said, if your hand offends you, cut it off. If your foot offends you, cut it off. But he meant it in love, because the alternative is worse, it's an everlasting fire, he said. Don't believe all the false teachers out there, don't believe the word of God, check yourself in what I've given you, it's truth. I beg you, because I love you, and you can be set free. Now rather than practice mutilation, I want to advise you to practice separation. Don't practice mutilation, but practice separation, and separation means that you will separate yourself from those things that tempt you. You're going to burn those ships, you're going to put them aside, and you're going to say, I will not make provision for the flesh. If my computer bothers me, I'm going to leave it with my wife. It will not come to bed, it will not go into any secret room. If other things trouble you, and you have secret issues, anywhere, find a way, ask Jesus, say, Jesus, I'm committing my life to you, I don't want any of these things. He will help you, he loves you incredibly. And now there might be some people here on the internet, or even here, who have never yet experienced that glorious salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ. And so in closing, I just want to tell you my testimony, because I used to be a very bad man, and I was lost, I had no hope, I was deep in sin, I was into pornography, I was into, I had separated from the family, later on there was divorce, and even so, I was also a very successful businessman. I also taught at the University of Toronto. And so beloved, while on the one side I seemed to have a life that was successful, it was void of hope, it was void of joy, it was void of anything worthwhile in my life. And initially I considered suicide. And then beloved, later on in year 2004, God had mercy on me. And what happened is, I woke up at 7am in the morning, I was in a dream at first, and then what became a vision, and the vision was that I was in an open grave, six feet down, the grave was neatly cut out, it was a late afternoon sun, it was cold, the leaves were rustling in the tree, and I was lying on my back in an open grave. And I was bound from my feet to my head with great ropes of sin, and I said, what am I doing here, I must get out, I must get out, and I started to call for help, help, help, help, someone help me. I couldn't call too loudly because those sins were so heavy on me, and there was no future, no hope for me right there. I didn't know what to do, I called for more help, no one came, no one came. And then the sides of my flesh started to fall off, became dust, there were worms coming from the earth feeding on me, and that moment I realized I would go to a hell for eternity, forever and ever. And so I changed my call because I had been to church, I knew that Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, was the hope, he was the one who could help me, he was the one who could set me free, and so I called his name and I said, Jesus, if there's any mercy left for man such as myself, won't you come, won't you help me, won't you have mercy on me? And no one came for hours it seemed like, and I thought I was on my way to hell, beloved. But then after a long period of time, finally a person came at the bottom of my grave, and he reached into the grave, he put his hand around my neck, he helped me to sit up, all of my sins snapped off my body as if they were thread, and that moment I woke up, and I believe it was the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd fallen out of bed, I was next, I was next to my bed, and I knelt, and I prayed, and I said, Lord Jesus, you are the son of God, I ask you to forgive me my sins, I ask you to help me, help me Lord Jesus, come into my life, I give my life to you, forgive my sins, and make me new, come into my life and help me, and then I will give my life to you, amen, amen. And then beloved, what happened was a wonderful thing, an amazing thing, an incredible thing, and heaven came down, and glory filled my soul, right at the cross, the Savior made me whole, my sins were all forgiven, and now I am on my way to heaven, praise God, and he has helped me to adjust in many of the areas that I talked to you about, and his power is available to all of us. So thank you for listening, and I'm going to ask Brother Dan to come and close us in the service.