Revival Conference 2007 - Richard Sipley - Part 1

Good morning. Can you hear me? Yeah, all right. I don't want to tell you how to run the church, but it would be good to have a little light right on the Bible. Is God speaking to you? Well, I left Akron in 1977 to go to Canada, so I've been gone a long time. I've come back for visits because I have a son that lives in the Akron area. Every time I think about the revival we experienced in Akron, my heart gets full. I think about the wonder of God's presence. God gave me a psalm, and I'm not going to speak on that this morning because God won't let me. He wants me to do something else. The last brother just gave the introduction to my sermon, so I have to do it. Oh, thank you. Perfect. There you go. You see, you have not because you asked not. You asked. But the Scripture God gave me in revival, Psalm 126. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like then to dream. I tell you, when God comes, it's like a dream. You want to pinch yourself, say, Is this really happening? Wow! When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like then to dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue was singing. And you've never heard singing until you hear it in revival. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who goes forth weeping, bearing precious seeds, will doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. And that was the time of God's visitation, time of laughter. I remember standing on the platform. I smiled and laughed until my face was stiff. And just letting God do what he wanted to do. So I just want to encourage you how much that has happened right here in this part of Ohio. And it's been a long time ago. But God wants to do it again. Amen? He wants to do it again. My son talked us into leaving one of the most beautiful places on earth, Vancouver Island. And coming back here, he said, I've let you go all these years because you were serving God. And that was all right. But now you've retired for the third time. And of course, being retired is just being tired all over again. That's all. He said, you're not going to pastor a church anymore, so it's time to come back here and give the rest of your time to us. So I said, well, I'll pray about it and went to pray. And the first scripture that came to my mind is, What does the Lord require of thee but to do justice? And my son had said, that's just just and right and you should do that. So I said, all right, that's it. And we sold our home and furniture and everything and came back. But once we got back and got settled, then God began to work powerfully in my heart. And he said, you didn't just come back here to be with your children in your last years. You came back here to do more than that. And I tell you, for the last couple of weeks I've been running. And God is moving and God is at work. Isn't it wonderful how he's touching hearts here? God wants, longs, longs, yearns with a heart of love to bring revival to his church and to save people by the millions. He longs to do that, but God is not morally free to do everything he wants to do. Do you know that? God cannot lie. Amen? There's some things God cannot do. He cannot be untrue to himself. He is God. He can never change. And God longs to do things for us, but sometimes he's not morally free to do them for us. And it's because there are things we need to do. And so I believe that with all my heart. And I believe God wants to do some new, fresh, wonderful things in this part of Ohio. Amen? All right, let's believe it. I want to begin this morning with my secondary text, and then I'll get to my main one shortly. But my secondary text, of course, is that great passage, 2 Chronicles 7:14. If my people, I'm talking about God's people, which are called by my name. Are you a Christian? Let's see your hand if you're a Christian. Are you a Christian? Yeah, you're a Christ one, right? A Christ one. You're called by his name. My people, said God, my people, not the world's people, my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves. Don't wait until God humbles us, right? Because that's rough. Don't do that. They humble themselves and pray and seek my faith, and we could preach on all those things for weeks. And turn from their wicked ways. Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, not the world's sin, their sin, the sin of God's people, and I will heal their land. Oh, our land needs healing! You cannot understand what a shock it is to come back into the United States after not living here for a while. I mean it. We lived in Canada for almost 30 years, and we moved back here. We visited here, of course, but we moved back here, and it was a tremendous shock. Our country is on its way to hell as fast as it can go. And there isn't anything in this world that can save it except God. And he can, amen? He can do it, and he can heal our land, and we want to believe him for that. And so, of course, I have to ask the question. You already heard it in the message before. Powerful, wonderful message. Never heard anyone preach on that passage that way before, have you? That was a message to our hearts. Is it true that the terrible wickedness of unbelievers in our world is what is causing the downward trend of our society? And, of course, the answer that we've heard this morning, and you know it's true. No, it is not. It is not the world. Our text tells us clearly it's God's people. So do God's people have wicked ways? Well, they must, or God wouldn't say for them to turn from them, right? God says, turn from our wicked ways. So we must have, God's people must have wicked ways. Now, I've been licensed in the Christian Missionary Alliance for over 60 years preaching, and I've been in revival ministry for many years now, and I have had a chance to see what is wrong with God's people. You say, well, it's sin. Yes, it's sin, but I wanted to find it a little more closely this morning. There are three wicked ways of God's people, and I can only give you one, okay? You'll have to get the other two some other time. But the one I think is the most pressing and probably the most important one is the wicked way of worldliness. The wicked way of worldliness. Now, my primary text for my message this morning is one that you could guess, 1 John 2, the first epistle of John chapter 2, verses 15 to 17. It says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.