Revival Conference 2007 - Part 1

Well, it's time to seek the Lord. I trust that's what you came for. I'm very grateful to be here.

I'm pretty burdened right now with my message. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week to see what God can do in my own heart. But I'm very grateful to be here, and I've been looking forward for some time to these meetings.

What a good, wise, and a good thing to do for God's people to gather together, sanctify, set apart all their time, and do nothing but seek the face of God. What a good and a wise thing to do. I just want to give my appreciation for those who organized these meetings so that we can all do that.

And just a few words of introduction here. I just want to be open and honest with everyone here. We found ourselves going through much purifying in the last few months.

I don't know how many of the other speakers can testify to that, but I would have to say that God has been doing a real work of purifying in my heart. I call it the withering work of the Spirit. You ever hear of that? I believe that phrase comes from Spurgeon, but it also comes from the Bible in Isaiah chapter 40.

You know that prophecy there about John the Baptist where he said, The voice said, Prophesy, John! And he said, The voice said, Tell the people, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth. The flower fadeth.

Why? Because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. So when we think about the withering work of the Spirit, it's the Spirit of God blowing on our flesh.

And you know, just like that grass, you know when the wind starts blowing on it, all the natural juices in the grass just dry up. And when that wind starts blowing on that flower and all of its goodliness thereof, all the natural juices dry up out of it. And there it is, a wilted flower.

The grass withereth. The flower fadeth. For the Word of our God shall stand forever.

That's what you have left, you know, when the Spirit of God gets done blowing on you and purifying you and all your natural juices are all dried up and all of your goodliness is laid aside and you don't feel like you have anything to say or anything to do. Ah, then. The Word of our God shall stand forever.

And that's what we want to stand on this evening. The Word of our God. So I just want to encourage you all to expect some withering the next couple of days here.

I'm planning on it myself and I trust that you will also be doing that. You know, the Bible has several accounts where God's people and individuals set aside a time to do nothing but seek God. And each time in the Bible when they did that, we see them prospering beautifully and God being glorified by it.

And I don't know what your mindset is as you come to this place. I mean, I'm sure some of you came because you're burned before revival. Maybe some of you came to hear special speakers.

But I want to encourage you to go a little bit deeper than that. Go deep enough that you meet God while you're here. That's what we need.

Set apart and sanctify this time as a season to seek the Lord. You will not be disappointed. You know, the prophet Isaiah said these words.

It's time to seek the Lord. You know that verse? Just before it, it says, Break up your fallow ground. It's time to seek the Lord.

That's a good word for us, isn't it? That's not the message this evening, but that's a good word for us. Break up your fallow ground. It's time to seek the Lord.

To seek the Lord. Till when? Till He comes. It's time to seek the Lord until He comes.

Till He comes? Yes, till He comes. And what? Reigns. Reigns? Righteousness upon us.

Brothers and sisters, let's be honest. We don't have any righteousness in ourselves. We can't do this thing.

We can't crank it up. We can't put it on. It's got to come from the Lord.

So let's just set this time aside and seek the face of God until He comes and reigns righteousness upon us. Righteousness, brothers and sisters. Righteousness coming from the flow of the spirit of a righteous and a holy God.

It's time to seek the Lord until He comes and reigns righteousness upon us. But we must seek in faith these days, like Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 says, For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Did you hear that, brothers and sisters? He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

He that cometh to God must believe that He is, that God is, that He's the God of heaven, that He's the God of the universe, that He's the creator, that He sits on His throne tonight, and that He is a rewarder. He will not let us waste our time here these few days, brothers and sisters. He will not let us waste our time here.

He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But we must come in faith. We must believe that.

It's a promise in the Word of God. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Do you believe that? Amen.

But do you know the next verse? Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn. Let your laughter return to sorrow and your joy to heaviness.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up. Yes, brothers and sisters, it's time to seek the Lord. I hope that you will do that here.

I hope that you have come with a heart that wants to seek God. Not just a heart that wants to hear some speakers. You know, I was impressed with the little announcement there on the website of Sermon Index.

A different kind of revival conference. Brothers and sisters, let me tell you right here at the beginning, this evening, what will make this a different kind of revival conference. I mean, there's lots of good conferences where there's lots of good preaching.

There's not very many conferences where everybody falls on their face before God continually and says, God, I'm not satisfied the way that I am. And I'm not satisfied with the church in America. And I'm not satisfied with the way things are around me.

And I'm not satisfied with the world around me. And I'm going to get a hold of you and I'm not going to let you go until you bless me. Those are the kind of things that will make it a different kind of revival conference.

Amen.