Genuine Revival - What Do you See?

God, sometimes words can't even express the longing in our hearts for more of you. To be desperate for more of you. And I pray that what you started Wednesday night will be strengthened tonight through the words of Brian, anoint him with the Spirit of God. A fresh feeling, a fresh anointing. We come against any works of darkness, any thoughts, any discouragement, and I say, let light this place on fire through the filling of your spirit, anointing him to speak your truth. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. Praise God. Thank you. And thank you, church, for hosting this conference, your servant hearts, the love that you've shown all of us. You've been wonderful hosts. And I thank God for all of you. Thank God for everyone who's here. And everyone who has a tremendous heart and burden for revival for the Lord. This has been wonderful. I might just share a brief testimony before we begin. The Lord spoke this message to me before I got here. He gave me this word. But you can have the message, the right message, but preach it in the wrong spirit. So I was really praying, just crying out to God, because you know, when you pray through, you sense that liberty, you sense that touch of God. And I was not experiencing that for a couple of days before I came here. And I was travailing in prayer. And there seemed to be a block. And there was something ever so faint in the background of my heart that I kept wanting to suppress. That's not that big a deal. That was their fault. And I kept suppressing that over and over again. And thinking that can't be it. It's got to be something else. Seeking God, continuing to pray. And the first night I got here, Wednesday night, I was praying, just travailing in prayer in bed. And I fell asleep praying. And I had a vivid dream. And I'd never been in this church before. But I was here. And I was right over in one of these pews. And I began to weep uncontrollably, as God began to just break and melt my heart. And I woke, I woke up. And I said, that's it. I felt the breakthrough. But I felt the Lord saying, this is what he wants to do. But there's still something unresolved, something I needed to do. And when, is Sister Sarah here? She had to leave. Oh, I wanted to thank that sister. When she got up here and shared her testimony of being in that prison camp in China. And she said, it's hard to die. The Lord spoke directly to me in this area that it's time to die. And I began to sob back there, just like I did in my dream. And I confess that to the Lord. It seemed at that time, not that big a deal. It was a huge deal. Anything that is grieving the Spirit of God is a big deal, brothers and sisters. And the Lord gave me a personal breakthrough. So really, I'm standing before you tonight as one who is continually being personally revived. And just recently touched even by the Lord. Turn in your Bibles tonight to Zachariah chapter four, please. Zachariah chapter four. Father, I ask you to breathe upon me. Breathe upon us. And let your word go forth tonight with great power and unction. Our desire is to see you, Lord Jesus. Lifted up and exalted and for you to be glorified and magnified in this house. I am weak, but you are strong. Oh, God, let your power be made perfect in my weakness and take over this meeting. I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Zachariah chapter four. And the angel that talked with me came again and wakes me as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. And he said unto me, what seest thou? And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold with a bowl upon the top of it. And his seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are upon the top thereof. And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me saying, what are these, my Lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, knowest thou not what these be? And I said, no, my Lord. Then he answered and spake unto me saying, this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying grace, grace unto it. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it. And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven. They are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. Then answered I and said unto him, what are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again and said unto him, what be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, knowest thou not what these be? And I said, no, my Lord. Then said he, these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. You'll notice in verse one that the prophet Zechariah is awakened as a man is awakened out of his sleep and the angel confronts him with one question. What seest thou? What do you see, Zechariah? And I want you, brothers and sisters, to please consider with me what he saw. Consider this vision. He saw a golden lampstand made up of seven golden candlesticks. It was burning. It was on fire. Above the golden lampstand was a golden bowl. On either side of the bowl was an olive tree, one on the right side of the bowl, one on the left side of the bowl. From each of the olive trees came an olive branch. And from the olive branch flowed oil into a receptacle which flowed through a golden pipe into the bowl. When the bowl filled up with oil, there were seven pipes that came down from that bowl, a pipe leading down to each of the seven flames on the seven golden candlesticks. And the golden oil would flow through the pipes, giving fuel to the fire. Get the vision. The lampstand was shining because it was on fire. It was on fire because the oil was flowing. The oil was flowing because the bowl was filling up to overflowing. And the angel of the Lord asked that pointed question, What do you see, Zachariah? And I believe the Holy Spirit has asked me the same question in praying and reading over this passage. What do you see? And my answer, though it doesn't come quickly, nor flippantly, nor presumptuously, but this answer came from being shut in alone with God in prayer in a deep season of brokenness. My answer is, Lord, I see revival. I see genuine, real revival. And I see in this vision characteristics, real characteristics that make up for a genuine revival, the revival that we need. Why do I have to say real revival, genuine revival? Because there's plenty of the false and plenty of the counterfeit. You'll notice that Zachariah's vision was full of gold, a gold lampstand, above it a gold bowl, inside of it golden oil flowing through gold pipes. Why all this gold? Because gold, beloved, is a type and a symbol in the Bible of that which is genuine, that which is real, that which is pure, that which is without mixture. Pure gold is that which goes through the fire, stands in the fire and is proved to be real, to be genuine. We need real revival. We need genuine revival. And the golden lampstand that Zachariah saw, what is that? It's a mystery. But Jesus Christ, our Lord, reveals the mystery. He clearly reveals the mystery in Revelation chapter 1. If you hold your place in Zachariah and turn to Revelation chapter 1 with me. Revelation chapter 1, John the apostle was in exile on the island of Patmos. He says, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and he saw the Lord Jesus. He saw him in his glory. But he saw Jesus standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks. What are these? Let's begin reading in verse 12 of Revelation 1. He said, and I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were as a flame of fire. His feet like undefined brass as if they burned in a furnace. His voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars. And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. And his countenance, that is his face, was as the sun shining in his strength. John said, I saw him. I saw the Lord Jesus in all of his glory. And he was standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks. Now, what are the candlesticks? Verse 20, the mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. What do you see, Zachariah? I see a golden lampstand. What do you see, brothers and sisters? We see a church, the real church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a golden lampstand, the genuine church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And she is made up of every blood-bought, born-again Christian who follows the real Jesus. And what was she doing? She was lighting up the darkness. She was lighting up the darkness. The lampstand was doing what it was created to do. It was shining. It was gold. It was pure. Jesus Christ will have a holy bride. He will have a pure church. A spotless bride, a genuine body and bride. He will have her. I see a church, and I see a church on fire. That is revival, a church that is alive. The lampstand was shining because it was on fire, brothers and sisters. It was on fire. It was living up to its purpose. We need real fire. This is one of the genuine characteristics of real revival, real fire. Not strange fire, not fake fire, not trying to manufacture up some kind of fire, but real Holy Spirit fire. And fire does two things. Fire begets light, and fire begets heat. Fire begets light. That is truth. Thy word is truth. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And we as the church of Jesus Christ are to be lovers of truth, bearers of the truth, proclaiming the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But fire does something else. It begets heat. What is this? The real love of God. And oh, that the world needs a demonstration of the real love of God. Is there a counterfeit? It's rampant today. The counterfeit love, the perversion of love. The LGBT community is full of it. That's they all talk about love. That's not love. It's a perversion. It's an abomination. Real love, real fire. What is that real love? Listen to the Song of Solomon, chapter eight, beginning in verse six. He says, set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death. Jealousy is as fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. So here in the word of God, we have fire being a type of love, real love. What happens when a church leaves her first love? The fire dies. We begin to just puff smoke. The lamps go out and the darkness begins to prevail. Look at the example of the church of Ephesus. Revelation chapter two, beginning in verse one here. Jesus said unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, write. These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience. And how thou canst not bear them which are evil. Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not. And has found them liars and has borne and has patience. And for my name's sake has labored and has not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love. Thou hast left thy first love. And notice how serious this is. Verse five. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of its place. A serious dreadful warning to those who have left their first love for Jesus. Jesus is saying if this continues, if there continues to be no fire of first love on this candlestick, I'm going to have to remove you. I'll no longer walk with you. I'll no longer be in your midst. What good is a lampstand that's no longer shining? What good is a candlestick that's no longer burning? What is a church that doesn't love Jesus? The head of the body. The bridegroom. You have left your first love. You could be doing lots of things right. But I have this against you. You've left your first love. And when the church leaves her first love, the fire dies, the light goes out, and the darkness prevails. And there you have the very state and condition of this nation, of ours that we live in. Darkness is pervading. Why? Because underneath the cover of darkness lies a sleeping church who has left her first love and whose lamps are all but gone out. And it didn't, it wasn't always this way. America, the churches in America were once alive. There was a real love for God and a real love for people. There were preachers who were preaching with fire. In fact, Shane quoted Tocqueville. I actually had that in my notes as well. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French historian in the 1800s, said this. He said, I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, but it was not there. In her fertile fields and boundless forest, but it was not there. In her democratic congress and her matchless constitution, but it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame, aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and her power. There you have it. Even a French diplomat couldn't help but notice when the pulpits in the USA were on fire, preaching with fire. The Christians loving each other with holy love, burning, shining. Even he noticed it. And this is what we've left. We've left our first love. Revival is not an experience. It's a person. Jesus is our life. Christ is our life. When you leave him, you leave life. When you walk away from him, you no longer burn and you can no longer shine. The Bible says the Holy Ghost is that God has shed abroad his love in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. This is the fire we need. But Jesus warned us that in the last days, because iniquity would abound, the love of many, many would wax cold. And we're living in that time where the love of many has waxed cold. Even though we have all the knowledge in the world. We have so much knowledge, so much Bible knowledge. We can quote so much scripture. But I want to ask you, my brother, my sister, what good is it to have all this knowledge if we don't really love Jesus? If we don't really love one another. I'll tell you what happened to me not long ago. I was walking on this trail in a park where I often walk to pray. And I found myself walking and praying, just uttering prayers, quoting out scripture, and suddenly it struck me. I'm quoting scriptures that no longer burn in my heart. I'm saying prayers that are almost just sounding mechanical. And the Lord gripped my heart. Have I lost sight? Have I lost sight of the one I once loved? Quoting scriptures about the cross and no longer being moved. And I tell you, something happened that day. I cried out to God. I said, oh, God, I don't want to just quote scripture anymore. I don't want to utter empty, cold prayers. What's wrong with me? God, break my heart. I don't want to quote John 3 16 without this burning in my heart of the reality that God, God truly so loved the world that he gave his only son. We quote it, but do we believe it? Does it burn within us anymore? God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He hath made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. I remember the first time God opened my eyes to that scripture. I was walking on a dirt road and I wept a river of tears. To think of Jesus, the son of God, becoming sin on the cross for me. Shedding his blood in Gethsemane for me. Something's wrong if I can, we can read those scriptures and our hearts no longer burn. We've left our first love. Knowledge puffs up, love edifies, love builds up. You can have all the knowledge you want, but if you don't love Jesus, you're a smoking wick. And you'll be a nuisance wherever you go with your Bible knowledge. There's much of it around preaching, preaching, preaching. Do I love those I'm preaching to? I remember preaching to a group of youth one time. Preaching, preaching, wanting them to get it, wanting them to be gripped by the truth. God broke my heart in the middle of the message. Brian, you don't love them like I love them. You need to see them as your own sons and daughters. And the whole preaching changes, brothers. The message doesn't change, but the spirit in which you preach it changes. I don't want to quote scripture that I don't believe. I don't want to quote scripture anymore that doesn't burn within me. It's not a reality. I want to return to my first love, Jesus. He is revival. He is life. And this is what the Lord is calling us to do. He's calling us. Listen, this is revival. When God takes that smoking flax, that smoldering wick, that smoking candle that's just giving off smoke. Knowledge, but no love. Smoke, but no flame. Form, but no fire. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. But this is revival. This is revival. When God takes the smoking flax and breathes on it. His breath of life, Ruach, the spirit of the living God. The Holy Spirit. We need the word and we need the spirit. Light and heat. Truth and love. The word and the spirit. And what God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Let no man separate. Many say we want to be a word-based church. Praise God. But I've been in a lot of word-based churches that were dry as gunpowder. Because they grieve the spirit. They don't want to move of the spirit of God. They ignore the Holy Spirit. They grieve the spirit of God. And I've been in many churches where we want the spirit to move. But we're not as interested in truth. And you're open to incredible danger and error. The revival we need is a revival of the word and the spirit. Truth and love. And God wants to blow on that smoking flax with the wind of His spirit. The Holy Spirit. When will He do it? When we return. When we return to our first love. When we return to Jesus with our first love. But this requires something, doesn't it? It requires something else that must be genuine. Genuine repentance. Genuine repentance. And repentance is twofold. It's turning from sin. But if you only turn from sin, you've not fully repented. You can turn from sin and go to another sin. You can turn from this sin and turn inward to yourself. You've not repented. True, genuine repentance is turning from your sin to Christ. Your first love. That's repentance. Genuine repentance. And that's what the Lord's calling the church of Ephesus to do. Verse five. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen and repent. First of all, remember. Remember what? Remember the one that you left. And why have we? What have we left him for? The trinkets of the world? You know, many of us are as guilty of idolatry as the heathen who bows his knee to a statue of wood or stone. How does the time you spend on Facebook compare to the time you spend in God's book? I think one of the greatest idols in the church today is the screen. We are captivated by a screen and it's blinded us from the glory of God. Is there something wrong with the screen in and of itself? Is not God's using the screen tonight? He's using the screen. He can use the screen just like there's nothing wrong with the rock. But there is if you bow to it. There's nothing wrong with a piece of wood if it's used for a good purpose. But there is something wrong if you bow to it. If you give your devotion to it. If you're giving all your love and time and devotion to a screen, there's something wrong. It's called idolatry. You've left your first love to embrace an idol. Sports, is anything wrong in and of themselves in itself? No, but there is when it takes the place of Jesus. Love for Jesus. Remember the one. The one you've left. And what have you left him for? Love, not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye. And the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. James says, you adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Whosoever, therefore, shall love the world is an enemy of God. Strong words, adulterers, adulteresses. But here's what absolutely amazes me. The one I've left wants me back. The one the church has left wants her back. Return to me and I will return to you, God says. Remember when. Remember when you first loved. This is first love. When you woke up in the morning and the first one on your mind was Jesus. You woke up in the morning and the first one you talked to was the Lord. The last one you spoke to before you went to sleep at night was him. In all of your thoughts throughout the day, he is there. Speaking of him to someone else, sharing him with someone else, as natural and easy as breathing when you love him with all of your heart. Do you remember that kind of first love? When his words were more precious to you than your daily bread? God says, remember. You know why? Because he remembers. He remembers when. Jeremiah chapter two. I love this. This is the heart of God. Jeremiah chapter two. Verse one, moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord. I remember you. I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your spouses. When thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord. God says, I remember when. I remember when you loved me, when you went after me, you sought me with all of your heart. I remember. God remembers that. And he's calling you to come back. You've left the one who wants you back. That's what's so amazing. Amazing love. How can it be? I left the one who wants me back. God doesn't need any of us. He's totally sufficient without any of us. But he loves us. And he wants us back. The one who left him, he wants her back. Return unto me and I will return to you. Jeremiah chapter three, verse one. They say if a man put away his wife and she go from him and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? Shall not that land be greatly polluted? But thou has played the harlot with many lovers. Yet return again to me, saith the Lord. Verse seven. And I said after she had done all these things. Turn now unto me. But she returned not. Verse twelve. Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, return now, backsliding Israel, saith the Lord. And I will not cause my anger to fall upon you. For I'm merciful, saith the Lord. And I will not keep anger forever. This is God pleading. Come home. Come home, saith the Lord. Come back. Return to your first love. Return to me and I will return to you. It requires genuine repentance. It requires something else. Genuine prayer. Another characteristic of real revival. Genuine prayer. Calling out to the Lord. Where do you see that in the vision? Do you remember the bowl? The bowl that was just above the golden lampstand. What is this bowl? That's also a mystery that Jesus reveals and unveils in Revelation chapter five. Listen to this. Revelation chapter five, verse eight. I'll read from the ESV here. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each holding a harp and a golden bowl, a golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. That golden bowl represents the prayers of the saints. It's gold. It's genuine. Genuine prayers. Why do we have to say real prayer? Genuine prayer of the saints? Because there's a lot of false praying. And I've been guilty of it. And you have been guilty of it. What is false praying? Prayer that goes not up, but out. Not up, but down. Listen, the incense. The gold, the incense in that bowl goes up, not out. How many of you have ever battled with praying in a public prayer meeting and thinking? I wonder what he thinks of my prayer. That's not praying unto God. That's not real prayer, is it? What is real prayer? Praying to God, not to man. When you are really engaged in praying to God, you couldn't care less what man or woman thinks of your prayer. It's praying to God. The incense rises and goes up. Real prayer. And this is something that is so precious to God. He refers to it as a sweet aroma. And this is what his house is supposed to smell like. My house shall be called a house of prayer. Some of us had a grandma. And every time you went into her house, it smelled good. Grandma's house always smelled good. There was an aroma. There's to be an aroma in God's house. And it's called the prayers, real prayers of the saints. It's prayer that goes up, not out. But it's also, listen, it's also fervent prayer. The incense doesn't rise out of the bowl unless it's on fire. You have to take the coals of the altar and put them in and start the fire for the incense to rise. And James says the effectual, what? Fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Fervent prayer. And it doesn't matter if fervent prayer can be a whisper, a groan, or it can be a loud cry. The volume makes no difference as to how fervent it is. Fervent praying, fervency comes only by the spirit of God. And it's prayer that's prayed from the heart. And this is what God wants. And many of us struggle in prayer meeting. I don't know how to pray. How do I pray? I don't know how to pray. I listen to him pray. Oh, he can pray. I listen to her pray. Oh, she can pray. But how can I join in prayer? You can't go wrong, my brother, my sister, if you're talking to God and you're praying from your heart. If you're pouring out your heart like water before the face of the Lord, you can't pray wrong. Just pray. And how do we learn to pray? We pray. We pray. And there's something else so beautiful about this genuine prayer. The incense is not made. Listen, it's not the prayer of the saint. But that golden bowl, he says, is the prayers, plural, of the saints, plural. There is a time to shut yourself alone with God, where it's just you and him. But there's also a time for corporate prayer. My house shall be called a house of prayer. Who believes that anymore? We can quote that one too. Just like we can quote 2 Chronicles 7, 14. Do we believe it? If we believed it, we would do it. If we believed it, prayer would characterize the church more than even preaching, more than the music. My house shall be called a house of prayer. This is what smells good. And you know what? This incense, it's the prayers, it's the plural prayers. It's not made up of just one spice, but many, many spices. We pray in one accord, but we all don't pray the same way. Just like we all don't preach the same way. And you fall into a snare when you try to compare yourself among yourselves. He preaches this way. I wonder if I should, I wish I could preach that way. I'll share something quick because I see Brother Sandeep in the back. I remember when I was a young preacher, I was so impacted by the ministry of Brother Zach Poonen. And I started running dry because I was preaching Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and I'm a young pastor and I'm running out of messages. And I'm thinking, okay, what am I going to preach next Sunday? So I'm devouring these tapes. And then I found a YouTube video and I watched how Brother Zach preached. Well, they already told me I shouted too much. And I said, he doesn't really shout. So maybe, and I moved around too much. Well, he stood right behind the pulpit. So I said, this Sunday, I just devoured that video. And really, I don't think I intended to do it necessarily or plan to do it. But in the pulpit, I thought if I preach like him, it'll go to people's hearts. And I preached and there was a big man. He hadn't been saved two months. He sat right here on about the second row. And he was usually really engaged. And I noticed this time he's about to fall asleep the whole time. And I remember after the message, I went outside and I was shaking people's hands. And he came up to me and said, Brother Brian, that was the sorriest message I ever heard you preach. And the Lord quickened me. Okay, I didn't call you to be Brother Zach. I called you to be who I made you to be. It's the same in prayer, brothers and sisters. We pray in one accord. We pray all in the same name. The name of Jesus to the Almighty God, our Father, by the same spirit. But we don't pray the same way. Here's how it looks. A brother leads us in prayer to the throne of grace through the courts, the gates and thanksgiving and praise. He's giving God thanks and praise and he's leading us there. But here comes another brother that begins to plead with God to forgive us for our sins. And he's praying prayers of confession and repentance. It's a different prayer, but it's in one accord. So we join with him. And then a sister comes in and she's praying for her children and for the prodigals to come home. And then another sister comes in and points us to Calvary and the cross and the blood of Jesus that it's never lost its power. And she leads us in that realm. And then here's a brother that begins to exalt the glory and majesty and power of God in whom nothing is impossible. And faith arises in our hearts. We're praying to the same father. We're praying as one family and one body. We're calling upon him, but we don't pray the same way. Pray how God called you to pray. Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. And you can't pray wrong. And we need one another in the body of Christ. I see myself as this tiny preacher here. I'm a tiny little spice in the bowl. And in the prayer meeting, I'm but one little spice in the bowl. But I don't care. I just want to be on fire. Set me a fire. Set me ablaze. So the smoke, the fire rises and the incense burns and it goes to the heart of the father. And set my brother and my sister on fire. So we can pray prayers that ascend to the throne of God. And you know what happens? The bowl fills up. Prayer, these prayers are so precious to God. He's storing them as it is. This is all typology, but storing them in a bowl. The bowl fills up and the bowl overflows. And God answers and God comes. And God delivers and God revives. There's something else about that prayer though. If anyone asks of God, let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. He that wavers in unbelief, it's like a wave tossed to and fro. Let not that man or woman think that they'll receive anything from the Lord. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. He that comes to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Well, where do we find faith in the vision? Go back to Zechariah chapter four. Another real characteristic of genuine revival. Where do we see faith in this vision? Zechariah chapter four and verse seven. Who art thou, O great mountain? Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain. This is genuine faith. Standing before the mountain without wavering, saying, Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain. Now, what is this great mountain that stands in the way of the people of God? It is that which has blocked your view of the glory of Christ. The mountain is that which has blocked your view of Christ, your vision of Christ. It's that which stands in the way like the giant Goliath. It stands there to defy the armies of the living God. It's a mountain that stands there and shouts, Impossible, impossible, impossible. Revival, impossible. Valley of dry bones, impossible. Your prodigal sons and daughters really coming home, really getting saved, really repenting. Impossible, the mountain says. That which blocks my view, it blinds us to the glory and majesty and power of God. And that mountain must come down. It must become a plain. And how does it happen? You see, it happens when a man or woman of faith stands before that mountain. Yes, they acknowledge the mountain's there. He doesn't pretend it's not there. O great mountain, who are you, O great mountain? I acknowledge that you're there. I see that you're standing in front of me. I hear these condemning voices, impossibilities. But faith doesn't gaze at the mountain. Genuine faith lifts its eyes higher, higher than the mountain, to the one who is high and lofty, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, who spreads out the heavens with the span of his hand, brings out the starry host. One by one, he calls them each by name. This is our God, the one who sits enthroned above the circle, the heavens and the circle of the earth. Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. And faith looks to the one who is high above the mountain and cries out, O God, rend the heavens and come down, that this mountain might flow down at your presence. And when he does, the mountain melts like wax before the sun. Genuine faith, brothers and sisters. There were places, Jesus' own hometown, he could not, did not do many mighty works there. Why? For one reason only, because of their unbelief. And he marveled. He marveled at their unbelief. I don't want to have written across my life at the judgment seat. I could not do many mighty works with you because of your unbelief. You don't want that written across your life. I've noticed here lately with lots of emails and calls, one of the main things that keeps, seems to keep rising from people of God, these are genuine believers, Christians, but this overwhelming sense of guilt and shame for past sin. Like I can't be forgiven, really forgiven. That's a mountain that stands in the way to defy your God and the power of the cleansing blood of Jesus. And you must lift your eyes higher to a hill called Calvary and see the cross and see the bleeding lamb and that precious blood that makes us whiter than snow and put your faith in Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin, all sin. But until you look to him, the mountain will stand in the way and you will stay in bondage. A genuine faith looks higher to the one who moves the mountain. And when God does rend the heavens and comes down, he melts the mountains, he shakes nations, he awakens sinners, he revives his church, and he does it here. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain. And when he does, we're all going to have one shout. Verse seven, he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, grace, grace unto it. When God moves the mountain and comes in mighty revival or in answer to prayer, it sure won't be because we deserved it. It sure won't be because we earned it. We deserve judgment of the fiercest kind. There's only one appropriate cry from all of us who are called by his name. And that cry is grace, grace, grace unto it. Why are you and I gathered here tonight and not in a bar somewhere or a prison or a grave or on a fast track to hell? Grace, it's all grace. It's the amazing grace of God that saved a wretch like me. And we have one thing to shout. When God comes and God answers, grace, grace, grace unto it. Hallelujah for the grace of God. Marvelous grace of our loving Lord. Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured. There was the blood of the lamb spilt. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that is greater than all our sin. Sin and despair like the sea waves were cold. Threaten the soul with infinite loss. Grace that is greater. Yes, grace untold points to the refuge, the mighty cross. Dark is the stain that we cannot hide. What can we do to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson tide brighter than snow. You may be made today. Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace. Freely bestowed on all who believe. You that are longing to see his face. Will you this moment his grace receive? Grace, receive it, but don't receive it in vain. This is the grace that not only pardons us from the penalty of sin, but empowers us to overcome the power of sin. Don't receive the grace of God in vain. The true grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness. Turn away from sin. Listen, when the prodigal son came home, when he's embraced by his father and experienced that matchless grace. Do you think he had one thought of, I'm going to go back into sin? The last thing, if you have a revelation of the real grace of God, the last thing you want to do is sin against your father. You want to turn from it with all of your heart because he loves you. And he's shown you, he's given you what you don't deserve. Grace. And when it comes to the grace of God, a whisper won't do. So hear that if you have a problem with shouts of praise, it's not a whisper. When it comes to God breaking chains, opening prison doors, bringing my prodigal son and daughter home, setting captives free, healing broken hearts, making filthy sinners clean and pure, a whisper won't do. It's a shout, a shout of praise. It's a shout of praise. Grace. God, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your amazing grace. And this is a real characteristic of real revival. Not by works, dead works of our so-called righteousness. But because of his grace. And not only do you need to receive it, you must be ready to give it away. Because when the prodigal son comes home or daughter comes home, they're going to need a lot of grace. And you are to give what you've received. Freely you have received. Freely give. When Muslims come to Christ by the masses, they'll need lots of grace. Just like we need lots of grace. When a lying politician repents and comes to Christ, are you ready to give grace? Because you've received grace. It's a shout of praise. And I'll leave you with that one. Another genuine characteristic of real revival. Genuine praise. It's always a fruit of answered prayer, of real revival. Psalm 85 verse 6. Will thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee. Praise his name. What is it really all about anyway, brothers and sisters, revival? Is it really all about the name of Jesus Christ being glorified? Being exalted? Being magnified? Being praised in all the earth? Isn't it about the Father's house being full? And that all the nations of the world might know that the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. I think that's my greatest desire for revival. Is that the name of Jesus be known in the land. Be exalted. Be praised. Where it's being blasphemed today, being praised and exalted and glorified. God inhabits the praises of his people. And David said, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Why at all times? Because at all times God is worthy of praise. In every circumstance, he is worthy of praise. I'll leave you with a real testimony to the glory of God. His name is Dmitry. He was a Russian pastor. He was actually a factory worker that started a house church in his own home. And the Lord grew that church to about 150 people. Well, under communism, it drew the attention of the government. And they came to shut him down. And all he had to do was sign a document saying he would stop preaching the gospel. All he had to do was renounce Christ. But he wouldn't do it. And they arrested Dmitry. And they took him away from his family, his wife and his children. They took him a thousand miles away. And they put him in a prison with about 1500 hardened prisoners, criminals. And this man was in this prison for 17 years. For 17 years, they beat him. They tortured him. They persecuted him. For 17 years, though, every single morning at daybreak, without fail, Dmitry stood up next to his bed and outside his prison door there and lifted his hands to heaven and sang the same heart song of praise to Jesus every single morning at daybreak. They would beat him. The other prison inmates would bang their cups on the bars trying to drown out his song. They threw human waste at him. They cursed him. They mocked him. The guards would go in at times and try to beat it out of him. They couldn't beat it out of him. They gave him every opportunity to recant. He would not. Every morning, without fail, arms lifted, hands raised, singing the same heart song of praise to Jesus every morning at daybreak. And finally, at the end of 17 years, when they saw they're not going to change this man, they said, you're going to be executed. We've had enough of this. You see that out that window, that execution block? That's where you're going to be hung in the morning. In the morning, they come to take him out of his cell. Again, they beat him after he stood and sang the same song of praise to Jesus, offering up the sacrifice of praise every morning. And as they drag him down the hallway to his execution, suddenly something happens. Nearly every prison inmate in that prison stepped forward to his cell door, lifted up their hands, and in one accord, with one voice, sang the very same heart song of praise to Jesus that they had learned from Demetri. Imagine this sound of praise, 1,500 inmates singing the same song to the Lord. The guards drop Demetri. Stunned, they look at him and they say, who are you? Demetri stands up and says, I'm a son of the living God. And Jesus Christ is his name. Revival hit that prison. They released Demetri, and not very long after that, his own son becomes a chaplain of that prison. Revival? Revival in a prison through one man that they couldn't beat first love out of. They couldn't beat it out of him. They couldn't drown it out of him. And when you've seen him, the king, they won't beat it out of you either. They won't drown it out of you. If you love him with first love, and if you don't return, come home. I think that's one burden that I know without a shadow of a doubt that God sent me to California with. Come home. Come home. Return to me and I will return to you. It's simple, brothers and sisters. Love him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength and love one another. Father, please send this kind of real revival to the hearts of your people. Please, Lord, do it for your name's sake. Do it for your glory. In Jesus name. Amen.