The Counterfeit Revival - Part 4

Then the children of Israel did put away Balaam and Ashtoreth and serve the Lord. And Samuel said, gather all Israel to Misbah and I will pray for you unto the Lord. That's the place of revival. Now what does that mean? Misbah means watchtower and it has two connotations. It's the idea of a guard being placed on a high turret and looking in order to protect the people from the enemy coming. But it's deeper than that. Misbah simply means you stand in the presence of God and you are conscious that God is watching. So you're not before the observation of the Lord's people. You're standing before the Lord and he's watching. Now that's the place to put away the idol. To get right before the Lord, to get to Misbah, the place of watching, the watchtower. Remember the Lord is looking. Not the brethren. The Lord is looking. And it's done before him. Then he says, gather all Israel to Misbah and I will pray for you unto the Lord. Now there's a problem. Why didn't the children of Israel pray? Why didn't he say to the Israelites, get on your knees and start praying? Why did they come to him and say, would you pray for us? Do you know why? They knew their hands were dirty. And whilst you have dirty hands, it's a symbol that there's dirt in the life. And who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. And they looked at this man Samuel and they knew that he was a man of God and they knew that this man had clean hands and they pleaded with him to pray for them. You don't find that in the fourth chapter. Beloved, God wants to wash us and cleanse us so that all of us can lift up clean hands and then he'll work and move. Now notice what he does. And they gathered together to Misbah and he drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, we have sinned against the Lord. Now what does that mean? Now probably he would take a big jar of water and then taking this big jar of water, he would pour it out. You say what does that mean? It means that they're being poured out in confession before the Lord. But more than that, when he took this jar of water and poured it out as a kind of a drink offering of water, he was praying that there would be cleansing. Not the cleansing that comes through the blood. That's once and for all the cleansing that comes through the world. Beloved, I need it. You need it. Can I repeat that? I need it. You need it. We need that water that will wash us clean before we shall see revival. As clear as that. Then he comes and they say together, we have sinned against the Lord. Now they didn't say that at the beginning when they were still having idols and worshipping idols. They didn't say that when they were serving the Philistines. When they had dealt with their idols, when they had dealt with the servitude perhaps that was in them, when they had been cleansed and washed and the whole movement of repentance was clean, they cried out, we have sinned against the Lord. Now that's important. You see, they didn't say we've been faithful, Lord. They cried out, we have sinned. Now, beloved, I do not want to swing an axe tonight. I don't think we do any good speaking to God's people like that. I'm glad there's just a few of us here tonight and I mean that. All of us, we need to get low before the Lord and tell him with tears we have utterly failed. There are a very few evangelical churches that God is richly blessing Sunday by Sunday by adding precious souls to them. And we know we have passed through barrenness for years. But you see, we may confess our sin, but if we don't deal with our sins, first of all, they're still with us. And therefore, there was put in the way Balaam and Ashtoreth. There was coming before with Mishpah, the watching of the Lord. There's the pouring out of water and there's the fasting. And when they had dealt with their sins, they cry out repentance, we have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mishpah, the place where God was watching. Beloved, I am not trying to bring false encouragement. But if there were four or five local churches in Northern Ireland that did that, you would see the blessing of God. And that would be the beginning of revival. Now you will notice satanic opposition. Look at verse 7. And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mishpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the children of Israel said to Samuel, cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. Now you'll notice this because this is vital. Immediately there's cleansing, and the idols are put away, and there's brokenness, and there's that universal cry, we've sinned against the Lord, and it's all done in the place where God is watching. Then comes, not the Philistines, the lords of the Philistines. What does that mean? The whole of the Philistine army, the five cities are joined together with all these brilliant military men in order to slaughter Israel. Dear friends, the moment there is true revival, breaking out among the people of God, we get attacked by the devil. And I've seen it over and over again. Now I'm glad there's not a lot here tonight because I want to share something to you that I don't want you to pass on. I have never in all my life been attacked by the devil as I have been since I've been taking up these subjects of revival. I've hardly slept tonight. I've had to crawl out of bed and cry to God for deliverance. Do you know what that means? God's beginning to move. Satan is being disturbed. And let us take the warning. If there are four or five groups of Christians, no matter how small, that come together and they're cleansed and purged and rededicated to the Lord, and they cry out, we have utterly failed,