Sermon
Shekinah 7 – Revival _ Day 1
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Okay, guys, so let me introduce the first day of the seven days of Shekinah.
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Today is day one and then we'll meet on Monday, Tuesday, then Thursday, Friday, then Sunday,
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Monday.
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And I'll send you the timings via email.
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So this is one of those messages that defines sometimes an error or the trajectory of a
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church and whenever the church is on a trajectory, the earth is affected.
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So this is one of those messages.
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So let me just pray because I don't have the ability to convey it.
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Jesus, I don't know if I've ever spoken a teaching that is more far-reaching than this
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one.
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I don't know if, not I don't know, it's a way of speaking.
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I know that I haven't taught anything that will have the ripple effect that this teaching
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will have.
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And I'm absolutely incapable of doing it because I cannot make it happen with oratory skills.
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And so I seek refuge in 1 Corinthians 2 and say that, Father, I come before you and before
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people that are hearing.
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I will hear this in the future.
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Not with persuasive words, not with fancy words or oratorial skills or any kind of ability
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that I possess, but I come and ask, O God, for a demonstration of power by the work of
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the Holy Spirit through us.
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Through us.
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I don't even say through me, through us because what you want to say to us cannot be done
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through any one man, two men, three men.
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Through us.
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And then I also pray, Father, that because it is such a critical message that you want
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to speak to the earth, and really this is not restricted or is not meant just for Acts
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29, Acts 29 is a player in this drama.
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But since, Spirit of God, others have to hear with ears that can hear, I just ask Holy Spirit,
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would you give me ears to hear?
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Would you give me a mind to understand?
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Would you give me, as Jillian was praying, a heart that ignites with passion for what
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you're saying?
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Would you give us, in this church that we call Acts 29, ears to hear, a heart that is willing
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and ignited and a mind that comprehends and feet that then follow?
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Would you give us the ability to persevere through this?
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And then would you cause the same thing that you do in me and do in the church to begin
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to just multiply and gain such potency as every time someone hears it?
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All this can't be done humanly, O God, there is no such person that can do it.
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It can only be done by your Spirit and so I just ask Holy Spirit for these things.
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This is a sheer work of God and it's colossal.
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I pray against distractions, I pray against hesitation, I pray against dullness of hearing
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and coldness of heart, I pray against the lie that I can handle another 10 minutes or
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20 minutes and then I need to take a break, I pray against callousness or a very casual
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attitude.
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I come against lukewarmness and I pray these in my heart first, I don't for a moment take
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for granted that just because I wrote these notes that I understand it.
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Become humbly, Abba.
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Thank you for the privilege of hearing your voice through your word, through your word
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Father, through your word in Jesus name, Amen.
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Okay, guys, so continuing from last week, we were talking about the glory of God and
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we said that in the Old Testament the glory of the Lord was often referred to as Cabod
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Adonai, Cabod Adonai.
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We said it was called Cabod Adonai in the Old Testament and in the New Testament it
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was called Doxa Curios, Curium or Curios and both mean Lord of Glory and then we said there's
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a word that is often used to talk about the glory of God which surprisingly is not found
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in the Bible but has become normal usage and that word is Shekinah which by the way
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is not in the Bible, it's not a word used in the Bible and Shekinah comes from two words
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which are found in Deuteronomy 25, verse 8 and 9.
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One is Shekinah and the other one is Mishkan.
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We talked about this last week and basically Shekinah simply means the one who dwells,
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the one who dwells.
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That's what Shekinah means, the one who dwells, the one who dwells.
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Mishkan means I will dwell, Mishkan is tabernacle and so out of that comes a word that is not
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found in the Bible but that well describes what God wants to do.
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I don't know if you can see the picture on the wall but I found a rendition of the pillar
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of cloud and fire done by somebody and I was saying to myself, man it must be something
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else to wake up every day for 40 years and see this marvelous pillar of cloud and fire
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blazing sometimes, moving, tenting.
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I want it must have been for people to know that Yahweh was in their midst and somehow
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to be able to translate that to a point where I begin to really think that Yahweh is in
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me and in our midst and therefore I don't have to worry about the things of the world.
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They're all taken care of, provision, presence is there.
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It frees me to run after the things of God.
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Just a thought on the side.
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The other thing we said last week is that the reason the glory of God isn't experienced
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the way it is supposed to be experienced is because as a church we have a tendency to
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accommodate God's glory and God's glory cannot be accommodated.
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It cannot be accommodated.
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God's glory should not be accommodated, it cannot be accommodated.
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There's only one response to God's glory.
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You have to be foolish and surrender.
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You cannot accommodate God's glory.
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You can't accommodate God's glory.
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You can only be foolish and surrender to it.
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We talked about that and that's something that's really impacted me over the last one
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week that I refuse anymore to give God a corner or two corners or three corners of a room
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for his glory.
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We do not accommodate his glory.
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To accommodate is to contain within limits.
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Instead we become foolish and surrender to it.
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You cannot surrender to the glory of God with any of your own wisdom.
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It doesn't work.
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So much so that God said in 1 Corinthians 2 that listen, 1 Corinthians 1 I think he
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says I use my foolishness to confound the wisdom of men so don't come to me with your
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wisdom to try and figure this out.
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So you cannot accommodate his glory.
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You can only be foolish and surrender.
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And if you do, if you are foolish and you surrender then you begin to engage, you begin
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to participate and you begin to encounter his glory.
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And all three words are very deliberate.
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They're not the same.
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You begin to engage, you begin to participate and you begin to encounter or engage and you
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begin to encounter, you begin to engage, you begin to participate.
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I think that's the right order.
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You begin to encounter as in you meet it.
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You begin to engage as in you get acquainted with it and then you begin to participate
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as in now you begin to flow in it.
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And that's when Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 14 comes to pass.
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When a church begins to, when a people begin to encounter, engage and participate in the
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glory of God because they refuse to accommodate it but foolishly surrender to it, then a people
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begin to see Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 14 coming to pass either amongst them and then through
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them.
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And what does Habakkuk 2 verse 14 says?
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For as the waters fill the seas, the earth fills up with an awareness of the glory of
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the Lord.
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As the waters cover the seas, as the waters, as the waters cover the seas, so the earth
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fills with an awareness and I love that way of saying it, an awareness of the glory of
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the Lord.
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As the waters cover the seas, so the earth is filled, earth begins to fill with the awareness
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of the glory of the Lord, the awareness of the glory of the Lord.
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Where people begin to become aware of the splendor, the magnificence, the power, the
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light, the laughter, the joy, the presence of God through a people amongst whom he dwells
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just like the nations in the desert viewed this pillar of cloud and fire that would roam
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in the night and the day and would hover over Israel and foolish was the king that ever
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dared to touch the people of God.
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Every so often, and this is where we begin to get into the first bite of what God wants
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to do on earth, every so often this awareness of the glory of God which seems withdrawn
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when you look around the world, you don't see much of it, you hear about it, you hear
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prayers about it, but every so often this awareness of the glory of God which seems
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withdrawn comes in like a tsunami across the earth.
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Every so often, and it's happened many times on the earth, every so often this awareness
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of the glory of God that seems withdrawn suddenly comes in like a tsunami across the earth and
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we talked about this last week when we called it his disruptive glory.
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And just when you think, you can talk about it, you can pray about it and you don't see
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it and it seems kind of withdrawn or it seems absent, out of God's sovereign will it suddenly
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comes in like a tsunami and it's his disruptive glory and what does it do? It dismantles and
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then rebuilds, dismantles and then rebuilds David's tent or David's tabernacle.
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From Acts chapter 15, verse 16 and 17, it always begins in the house of God, as in it
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begins first amongst the people of God. Where people who used to talk about it suddenly
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become aware that something is coming upon them, crashing like a tsunami, it's almost
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like something that's withdrawn but you can see it beginning to come and you don't know
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how to respond to it and I would suggest to you again, the mistake we make is we try to
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accommodate it again by building a bigger room. No, no, no, no, you can only be foolish
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and surrender to it and it begins to wash over with big waves only it doesn't destroy
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you and yet it completely destroys you because it's a consuming fire. It dismantles you and
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it rebuilds the tabernacle, David's tabernacle. Peter stood up in Acts chapter 15, verse
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16 and 17 and he says, and in those days I will rebuild the tabernacle of David. Here's
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the thing, the rebuilding may start with the people of God but look at the intent. The
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intent is so that the ends of the earth may seek him and the Gentiles may turn to him.
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That is the reason why. That is the beauty of the glory of God. His people experience
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it so that the ends of the earth may seek him and the Gentiles may know him. Acts chapter
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15, verse 16 to 17. In other words, there's a beautiful word for this. I'm going to use
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red which you can't see but I hope this time you'll see it. The word for all that I have
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described is the seven letter word that sometimes has been bandied around so often that we lose
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its sense but it is this idea of revival where God in his sovereign time and sovereign
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will and intent decides that I am going to come in with an awareness of my glory, sweeping
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through our people into different parts of the world or different regions and I'm going
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to revive like I haven't done before for a while. This is what we are looking at and
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this is just the intro. Have you got seven days of this guys? I'm not looking forward
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to it because I don't know what to look forward to. I'm just looking. I'm just looking. I'm
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just looking. So let's talk about what a revival is so that we get this right in the
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beginning. The times that we will meet in the future over the next five or six days,
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my intent is that we meet for 45 minutes but if we end up being here till 3 a.m. so be
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it because I refuse to accommodate what God is going to do. But I'm starting with the
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intent of 45 minutes but we'll talk about that a little later. I hope you're clapping
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at home. I hope you're clapping in this room. Someone is. So why does God send these odd
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timed revivals because it's not a thing that is common. Why does he sometimes send these
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times? Why is he planning to do that through this rag tag motley crew? One of the reasons
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he sends revival is because his intent is to avert the revivals of the people who are
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in the future. So that's one of the reasons. He knows that if he can revive now, a people
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group in perhaps Timbuktu or Mongolia or India or Minnesota can avoid or avert disaster.
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Avert spiritual disaster. Physical disasters only take life guys, physical life. Spiritual
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disasters end you for eternity. One of the reasons God begins to decide that I'm going
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to send a particular form of revival and it's very targeted often. Even though it spills
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over, it's often very targeted because God has intentional specific purposes. One is
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to avert spiritual disaster that he sees coming. Two, it is to create momentum because
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he sees that passion is growing in a people and now he knows that he can create momentum.
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He wants to course correct as in help the ship steer back into the navigational plan
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that he had for the kingdom. And then the other thing he does through every revival
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is he regenerates reformers for the next generation. As in he gives birth to reformers that can
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help the generation after you. In every revival this has happened. We don't even hear about
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them. Reformers are not guys like Martin Luther and famous people like that. There are many
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of them but then there are hundreds and hundreds of small time reformers you'll never hear
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of that begin to change people. They'll never write a book, they'll never be heard of. But
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this is another reason why God sends revivals because he notices that there is a passion
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that is growing and he can use that passion and create momentum by pouring fuel like you
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have never seen before. And that the ship that is beginning to veer off because of religious
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sophistry or some call it religious technology where you know how to preach, you know how
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to cater to groups, you know what music to put on, you know how much smoke to fill the
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audience with. Religious sophistry that has caused the church to begin to veer off, false
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doctrines or half distorted doctrines that causes the church to veer off. Revival has
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the ability to bring course correction so that in a matter of years the ship is back
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on course. And thirdly and I love this, it always generates reformers. Thirdly, revival
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is a quickening divine visitation. A quickening divine visitation as in the ship is not going
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to be a big deal. It is something that quickens, it's like Red Bull. It just gives you such
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a shot of quickening divine energy that it rescues people from falling into the dullness
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of worldly wisdom and religion. It rescues people. Just when you're beginning to slumber
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off because you can't handle the physics anymore or the math anymore and you're just
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on the verge of dozing, you get this shot of Red Bull that changes everything where
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once again you're alert to what, that is literally how it is. A quickening divine visitation.
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I've seen this happen and you've seen this happen in our lives so often where everything
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seems dull and then God does just this one thing that will not mean anything to anybody
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else but it just jumpstarts you. It gets your engine going when it was absolutely cold and
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dead. How God does that, we don't know. But if you can do it with an individual you think
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he can't do it with a massive nation. It's the same for him. Four, one of the intents
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of God when he sends a revival is he's hoping that we can, that people can move from the
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from asking where is he to who is he. The problem today in North America or in any other
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part of the world is not that people don't understand God. They don't even see him. The
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intent is hey, people are asking where is he. They look at the church and they can't
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see him. They look at you and they can't see him and the question is where is he? And this
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is the ability that God has to move people from the question where is he to who is he
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because they actually see him. Now they want to know who he is because they are beginning
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to see him. Glory is visible. When Queen Sheba visited Solomon, her words to Solomon were
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I had heard of your fame. I had heard you were brilliant, you were wise, you were wealthy.
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But it is only after I've come here and seen it that it has taken my breath away. There
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is a visibility to glory. I'm not talking about the pillar of cloud and fire but there
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is still a visibility to glory. Remember we talked about this last week that there is
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dazzling, the dazzling brilliance of God which can manifest in supernatural signs and wonders.
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There is the honor and majesty of God and there is the power and authority of God. We
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talked about these three different aspects of glory last week. Go listen to it, disruptive
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glory. The fifth reason is revival brings in a new quality of life, a new quality, revival
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brings in a new quality of spiritual life, a new quality of spiritual life, a new quality
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of spiritual life that comes through knowing the greatness, that comes through knowing
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the greatness and the nearness of a holy God. The greatness and the nearness of a holy
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God. I love that. The greatness and the nearness. Revival brings into the hearts of the people
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who experience this awareness of who he is. Both an awareness of the greatness of God
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and the awareness of his nearness and that he is a holy God. Something that every revival,
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every bonafide revival carries is an awe for the holiness of an awesome God. Psalm 110,
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verse 3 puts it this way. David says, oh God can you enlarge my heart? This is what happens
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with revivals, our hearts are enlarged. Can you enlarge my heart that I may run in your
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path? This is what happens. Your heart is enlarged. It can carry, it has a capacity
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for God that you have not yet plumbed. So I'm going to say this next sentence maybe
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three, four, five times. Not because you need to hear it but because I need to declare it
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on our behalf. Not because you need to hear it five times but because we need to declare
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it. So feel free if you want to. So here's what I'm saying. I say to you that today the
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spirit of God is releasing the winds of heaven. I take that from Zechariah 6.5. I say to you
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that today the spirit of God is releasing the winds of heaven from this place across
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the earth, contending, reviving and breaking specifically upon the young. Specifically
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upon the young. I'm going to write it so that we can repeat it. I was asking God can you
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make it more dramatic and he said I'm doing this so can you leave that alone? So I'm going
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to write it just as I heard it. I say to you that today the spirit of God is releasing
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the winds of heaven. I say to you today, I say to you today, the spirit of God is releasing
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the winds of heaven. The spirit of God is releasing the winds of heaven. The spirit
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of God is releasing the winds of heaven. The spirit of God is releasing the winds of heaven
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from this place. When I say place I mean a people in this area right now. So I'm going
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to write it down. I'm going to write it down. I'm going to write it down. I'm going to
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write it down. From this place across the earth, contending, reviving, breaking upon
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the young. By young I mean not children, but children of God. I'm going to write it down.
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I don't want to put an age limit on it, but the young as in the generation that is not
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50 yet. One is below 50. That is all I know. I don't know how low the lower limit is, but
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I know that it is the teens, the 20s, the 30s, the 40s that God is desiring to do this.
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So I'm going to read this a few times again and again. I say to you that today the spirit
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of God is releasing the winds of heaven from this place across the earth, contending, reviving,
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and breaking upon the young. Young men, young women. I say to you today the spirit of God
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is releasing the winds of heaven from this place across the earth, contending, reviving,
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and breaking upon the young. One more time. I say to you today that the spirit of God
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is releasing the winds of heaven from this place across the earth, contending, reviving,
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and breaking upon the young. One more time. I say to you today the spirit of God is releasing
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the winds of heaven from this place across the earth contending reviving and
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breaking upon the young one more time I say to you today the Spirit of God is
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releasing the winds of heaven from this place across the earth contending
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reviving and breaking upon the young one last time I say to you today that the
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Spirit of God is releasing the winds of heaven from this place across the earth
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contending reviving and breaking upon the young amen one of the scriptures
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that I remember long ago God showing was from Isaiah 62 it was it was more the
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idea of Isaiah 62 and I just want to read it and then read you a couple of
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things that people send me Isaiah 62 reading from the message verse one to
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three and it was his idea this has happened long ago at the beginning of
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Acts 29 maybe Heidi and Chris may remember it because it happened just
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prior to us going to Montreal for a for a mission trip of sorts I remember
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seeing torches that God would send from Acts 29 and that was like more than 12
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years ago man and Isaiah 62 one says regarding Zion I can't keep my mouth
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shut regarding Jerusalem I'm reading from the message I can't hold my tongue
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until her righteousness blazes down like the Sun and her salvation flames up like
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a torch foreign countries will see your righteousness and world leaders your
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glory you'll get a brand new name straight out from the mouth of God you'll
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be a stunning crown in the palm of God's hand a jeweled gold cup held high
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in the hand of your God one more time regarding Zion I can't keep my mouth
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shut regarding Jerusalem I can't hold my tongue until her righteousness blazes
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down like the Sun and the salvation flames up like a torch foreign countries
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will see your righteousness and world leaders your glory you'll get a brand
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new name straight from the mouth of God you'll be a stunning crown in the palm
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of God's hand a jeweled gold cup held high in the hand of your God amen in
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November someone in this church sent me this email it said years ago I had a
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dream and vision years ago but she sent it to me on November 26 years ago I had
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a dream and vision I was looking down on Canada from a great height I saw a
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torch suddenly appear and swirl from the west to east and it came back to BC it
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hovered over BC and as I looked down I saw three flames in the torch that was
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November 26 this morning someone sent me a text not knowing any idea what I was
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preparing and I began to weep as I read it it said I saw a world map dotted all
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over with small flames burning more flames will be ignited they seem
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insignificant on their own but altogether they actually light up the
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whole world and this is just the beginning and as I listened to this man
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I just thank God for the assurances he gives you because who are we to even
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think that God would want to start something on the earth but that is the
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beauty of a revival God picks some of the most Nazareth like places so that no
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one can boast in his presence so listen to the promise or the prophetic word
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that we need to grab a hold of that we need to you'll have to put it up the
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PowerPoint that we need to grab a hold off because we cannot walk into this
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without knowing what God is saying and so I'm gonna put it up on the screen I
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pray God that some of you will print it out and put up this these simple words
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on your mirror or wherever you put stuff so that you can see it I pray that one or
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two or three of you will make a banner that we can hang here every time we do a
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service or hang wherever we go next because I'm not sure that this place
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will be able to contain it and so here's what it says that if I we forgive me
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because I don't understand this I don't understand this and so here's what it
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says so don't be afraid I am with you every time it refers to children remember
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the young eh so don't be afraid I'm with you I will bring your children from the
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east and gather them from the west I'll send orders north and south I will say
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to the north give them up and to the south do not hold them back return my
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son from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth I want them back every
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last one of them who bears my name every man woman and child whom I created for
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my glory yes personally formed and made each of them how wonderful and beautiful
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they will be the young men will thrive on abundant grain and the young women
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will flourish on new wine you will raise up young men and young women bishops
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strong apostolic ministries strong teachers going out from your company and
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they will reproduce this anointing across the earth and then it talks about
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the young adults that we presently have your young adults or young people will
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freely join you at the break of dawn with all the vigor of youth resplendent
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and holy armor on the day of your conquest this is the word that is being
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released to us now we may put it on banners that we may wave it as a banner
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that it'll start in Jerusalem and then go to Judea and Samaria at the ends of
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the earth the people that are in their teens in their 20s in their 30s and their
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40s will suddenly become aware of not just where is he but who he is that
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they'll begin to somehow have their hearts affected because of this tsunami
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like disruptive glory that God wants to express through us he'll do in his own
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wonderful awesome way and it won't just be something that's limited to this
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region this is why I've been saying right from the start almost like a
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statement of faith because I need to believe it too that we stand in one of
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the most momentous occasions in this church that will affect history for
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years on end when I was thinking thousand generations today what's that
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line be it thrown upon the praises of a thousand generations I wasn't thinking
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of the ones gone past I was thinking of the ones going forward there there'll be
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thousands of generations of nations cities small villages and towns that
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will begin to recognize who Christ is and that there'll be praises that come
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from a thousand generations not of the past not that are seated in heaven but
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that will come in the future this is the prophetic word this is the
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promise if you don't have a promise you don't know what to stand on this is what
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God is giving us write it on your doorposts stick it up on your mirrors
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make banners of it it'll set the ship back on course
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let me just read it once again so don't be afraid my god we should be afraid
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because we don't know how to do this so don't be afraid I am with you I will
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bring your children from the East and gather them from the West I will send
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orders not in South I'll say to the North give them up and to the South to
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do not hold them back guess who's doing a tea return my sons from afar and my
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daughters from the ends of the earth I want them back every last one who bears
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my name every man woman and child whom I created for my glory yes personally
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formed and made each one how wonderful and beautiful they will be the young
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men will thrive on abundant grain of the young women will flourish on new wine I
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love that that they will have abundant grain as in substance a new wine as in
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the spirit you will raise up young men and young women bishops strong apostolic
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ministries strong teachers going out from your company and they will reproduce
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this anointing across the earth your young people will freely join you as in
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the ones we already have will freely join you freely join you at the break of
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dawn as it's ready as soon as the Sun rises with the vigor of youth
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resplendent in holy armor on the day of your conquest and that's what some 110
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was three I don't know which version it is one of the things I've been asking
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God is why us why us why us and here's his response for the last 15 years
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through thick and thin you have lived out Genesis 26 18 like Isaac you dug
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again the wells which were dug in the days of your father Abraham and had been
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clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham's death and you have renamed
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them using the original names of your father that the father had given good it's
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a beautiful scripture I mean such an odd reason why he why us go to Genesis 26
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verse 17 and 18 Genesis 26 verse 17 so Isaac moved away from there and
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encamped in the valley of Gerar and settled there Isaac reopened the wells
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that have been dug in the time of his father Abraham with the Philistines that
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stopped up after Abraham died and he gave them the same names his father had
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given them and the sense that I had was God saying listen you doesn't matter
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whether you were small or whether you were big doesn't matter whether you had
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plenty or you had little doesn't matter whether miracles were happening or not
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happening the one thing that you guys kept doing is you kept going back to the
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blueprint renaming things as I named them digging up the ancient paths of the
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spirit not getting caught up in trends not getting caught up in the latest
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whatever that you kept going back like Isaac and digging up the wells that your
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fathers had dug for you but the Philistines had stopped and you went and
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dug them up again and you renamed them not what you wanted to rename them you
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renamed them not what the world wanted you to rename them you renamed them
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exactly what your father Abraham had renamed them why us that was one of the
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reasons that was one of the reasons that you've kept coming back to the
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blueprint renaming things as I named them digging up the ancient paths of the
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spirit I I see now how much sense it made to have Elijah's from the past help
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launch us into the Elisha year that we are stepping into when we asked Eddie
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and Mike and Chad and Roland to come and just pray over the church as it enters
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2021 the other reason was such a strange beautiful one and God was saying your
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young people are free your young people are free they have learned to run after
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the things of the kingdom because they trust my goodness to take care of the
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things of life your young people are free and they have learned to run after
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the things of the kingdom because they trust my goodness to take care of the
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things of life I wish someone had taught us older ones that really early I wish I
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had learned it ages ago where you never have to worry about the cares of life
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because and how it frees you to pursue the things of the kingdom why us those
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were two reasons I love the first reason the second reason I kind of knew first
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reason is beautiful that for the last 15 years through thick and thin you all
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have lived out Genesis 26 18 Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the
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days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after
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Abraham's death and he renamed them using the original names his father had
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given him so what will this look like what are some of the patterns that we
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can expect what what will this look like and what are some of the patterns we can
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expect I felt God saying go look at Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 2 and Habakkuk
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makes a statement in chapter 3 verse 2 saying oh God I have heard of your fame
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I stand in awe of your deeds renew them in our day and in our time time make
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them known oh God I have heard of your deeds I I've heard of your fame I stand
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in awe of your deeds renew them in our day in our time make them known and I
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felt the Lord saying that one of the things you have to do is look at some of
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the parallels in the revival that happened in the Hebrides islands off the
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coast of Scotland in 1949 where the old and the young participated when I say
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that this revival will happen amongst the young I do not mean that we who are
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older will not get a part to play in it I mean this picture that's up on the
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screen those were two sisters in this little town of Lewis on the island of
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in the Hebrides islands one was 82 one was 84 their names were Peggy and
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Christine one of them was blind the other one had stenosis but one of the
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things that they would do is that these two old women would pray and at that
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time in November 1949 there was not a single young person who attended public
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worship not a single young man or woman who went to church on that island and
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they began to pray and one of the sisters had a vision she saw the church
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of her father's crowded with young people and the guy in the middle is a
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guy called Duncan Campbell who was instrumental in that revival and who had
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no intention of coming and joining the revival but these women saw him in a
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vision and sent word he refused first and they sent word again and God changed
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his plans and he turned up even today there are some that remain from that
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revival in 1949 because there were some young people that got saved then that
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were interviewed just a few years ago and every time you came to this place
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where you asked them tell us what happened there would be this odd silence
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in the room because there were not enough words to express what God did what
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will it look like when we begin to see that it's not the sight of it that
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attracts me it is what it can do to the world isn't this what you live for is
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this why you why you wake up every day
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everything God does has the old and the young guys you look at Acts chapter 2
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verse 17 or Joel 2 it says your old men will dream dreams your young men will
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see visions you see the birth of Christ and John the Baptist you have Zechariah
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and Elizabeth very old old so old that they can't have children and then you
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got Joseph and Mary it's never one or the other it just so happens that the
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target in this case are the ones that are younger the ones that are below 50
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especially the teenagers the 20s or 30s the 40s so that everything can be
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steered back on course quietly there was Anna and Simeon I pray God that over
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this next week and the weeks following that this church not because of
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deliberate intentional times of prayer but because of the spirit of prayer
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that'll I pray the Holy Spirit will cause to wash over us that we will begin
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to just call each other in groups of twos and threes not what you may have
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been doing but things that are spontaneously crafted by God that you
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will go for walks and you will begin to pray to this promise of this word that
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God has given saying oh God I've heard of your faith I stand in awe of your
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deeds renew them in our time make them known oh God not for our sake father but
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for the sake of the earth and what you want to do it's on in Isaiah 62 verse
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6 & 7 God actually invites us saying hey give me no rest till I establish what I
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have said give me no rest I'm posting you as watchman so that you can begin
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your work and that you will give yourself no rest that's the first
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statement in Isaiah 62 verse 6 but in Isaiah 62 verse 7 he says but listen I
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don't want you to give me rest harass me don't give me rest
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even in this revival in Hebrides the church began to meet in a barn and they
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began to claim the promise that was given to them in their case the promise
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was from Isaiah 44 verse 3 which said I will pour water on him that is thirsty
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and I will cause floods upon the dry ground pour water on him that is thirsty
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pour floods upon the dry ground and they would begin to take that promise and
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pray guys remember what I said last week this is not something that we are
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initiating this is not our this is not our responsibility the odd thing with
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revivals guys is that you cannot produce it but you can quench it or opt out of
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it you cannot produce it but you can quench it or opt out of it and the thing
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is if it is quenched and you opt out God will go around you because he is going
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to do it
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one night a deacon in the church in this little island of Lewis isle of Lewis
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deacon in the church got up and he began to read Psalm 24 I've been listening to
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some 35 or how many times but it begins to read Psalm 24 and at some point
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the psalm says who shall I send the hill of the Lord and he lifts up both his
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hands and he says oh God are these hands clean and is this heart pure and
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something breaks in the meeting are my hands clean is my heart pure and that is
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the conviction that I pray we will have a that will grip us today after I
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finish teaching that will spend some time over one or two things that we can
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start praying and then we'll go every day and what happened then 72 years ago
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had never happened for the last hundred years
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this cannot happen without the acknowledgement of an awesome God and
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without an acknowledgement of holy presence I go back to what this
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beautiful what this bottle says pure life begins now pure life begins now
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blazing purity pure life begins now
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remember a method of operation a what is the promise what is the promise oh God
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if this is your promise this is what I'm gonna take these are the arrows that
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I'm gonna strike the ground with this is what I will use like these two old women
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who were 82 and 84 used and we begin to strike the ground we begin to say you
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said we begin to challenge God saying oh God you said I challenge you or God
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that because you said you must do and you can demand like Derek was saying
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when we began you can have all of us all of us all of us all of my life you can
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have I'm giving it to you or God it rightfully belongs to you what I'm doing
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is just my reasonable sacrifice
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I'd so suggest to you guys that if possible adjust your schedules because
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preparing for revival is best engaged live preparing for revival is best
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engaged live as in it's not a pre-recorded event so to the extent
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possible free yourself up because this is not something you can pre-order or
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experience by scheduling an appointment so I realized some of us are working
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some of us are working night shifts some of us are coming off long days and I
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realized that but to the extent possible may you be able to just shift
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prioritize maybe the word prioritize puts guilt on you so let's say adjust
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shift so that you can partake of the 45 minutes or the 7 hours I got no idea I
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don't know which one to choose either
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because I got no idea I've never done this before
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go listen to disruptive glory
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I had no idea I'd be talking about this this week these things have been brewing
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but I didn't know we'd get here so fast the next seven days not seven continuous
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days will be skipping Wednesday Saturday try to tune in 715 p.m. Monday Tuesday
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Thursday Friday Sunday Monday we'll have zoom and I'll send you the link we can't
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meet here and cultivate an awareness say cultivate an awareness and an internal
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appetite cultivate an awareness of an internal appetite cultivate an
-
awareness and an internal appetite one of the ways you cultivate an awareness
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and an internal appetite is by swearing звуч food one of the things that I heard
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Derek advised somebody was, hey why not let your phone be for the last hour and
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a half of the day. Put it aside. You don't need to grab the phone. You don't need to
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have a last look at Facebook. Put your phone aside. Learn how to sleep in the
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frequencies of God. Sometimes cultivating an awareness and developing an internal
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appetite for his presence is so darn simple you would think surely it must be
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more profound. No. I know that there are people here that are praying. I know
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young adults here that have decided that for 40 days they're going to spend time
-
pursuing God. I love this. I love this. I can see why God is setting us up. I also
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want to lay down this idea that Acts 29 is anything. That's one of the things I
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certainly want to do today. Saying oh God we devolve this thing called Acts 29. We
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do not even do this under that banner. God can't care to who would say this
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move in, can you put the prophetic word back guys, this move in the Hebrides
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Islands happened with the Presbyterian Church. It always happens with Nazareth.
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One of the things we'll have to lay down is any definition that we are proud of.
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This cannot happen through an individual. It cannot happen through a group of
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leaders. It happens through a people and it happens surely by God. We can quench
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it. We can opt out of it. We cannot produce it.
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Let me end. Guys, presence requires intimacy. Presence requires intimacy. This
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is not new for you but I just need to reiterate it during a time like this.
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Presence requires intimacy. Intimacy requires time and I realize some of us
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will not be able to participate our live stream online. Don't worry about it. Don't
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feel guilty. Find time. Set it aside. God will meet you man. God will meet you as
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you cultivate an appetite and awareness. God will meet you. Doesn't matter if it's
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two hours later or four hours or a day later but be very deliberate about this.
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Intimacy requires time and missed intimacy births things of the flesh.
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According to John 3, 6, flesh gives birth to flesh, spirit gives birth to spirit.
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Missed intimacy births things of the flesh and makes you irrelevant.
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And I don't want to become irrelevant in a time when God is moving with intentional
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relevance. I don't want to as a pastor be able to teach this and then miss out on
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intimacy because I do not prioritize my time and therefore birth things of the flesh.
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That would be so sad. That would be so sad. I don't want to be held accountable for that.
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I'm just talking about me right now because I have a responsibility in this.
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So during this week and I pray God that this week be so life shaping for all of us that
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it'll affect the rest of our lives but during this week let's not sacrifice seeking him
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for more immediate priorities. Let us not sacrifice seeking him for more immediate priorities
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because we have priorities and they are immediate and they are calling out to us but this week let's
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not sacrifice seeking him for more immediate priorities and every time you feel guilt know
-
that it is not of God. God brings wisdom into this situation not guilt.
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God doesn't change our priorities using guilt. God changes our priorities using wisdom
-
and favor. He gives great favor and wisdom when it comes to priorities that need to be shifted.
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In Songs chapter 5 verse 2 to 7 and I've often referred to this in the past in Songs chapter 5
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verse 2 to 7 you find that there is this woman who is in the midst of a lot of trouble.
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There is this woman and she hears a knock on the door and it's a lover and there is no question
-
of her love for him. It's just that he has come at an unexpected hour.
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She loves him but he's turned up at an unexpected hour. She's put on her robe. She's in bed and
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should she really at this unexpected hour when she should be sleeping should she go open the door?
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And so his presence was not repelled by rejection but by hesitation or distraction with lesser
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things. In her hesitation in her being distracted he goes away and the streets will not recognize
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our royal connection if we don't carry his aroma. The streets will not recognize
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his royal our royal connection to him if we don't carry his aroma which is why I'm saying
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try and see if this can be a time where our lives are shaped. I've been telling God oh father please
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let me not fall into the trap of having taught this and then not being able to engage it wholeheartedly.
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That'll be so easy.
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In every revival that God has brought on earth prayer was and is always a starting point
-
whether many or few a united desperate cry that agrees with God will watch heaven take over.
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A united desperate cry that agrees with God will watch heaven take over. A united desperate cry
-
a united desperate cry that agrees with God will watch heaven take over. This is not the kind of
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praying that we hear of tarrying some nights you will wait on him some nights you won't.
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But what is important is that in my heart in my somewhere deep inside me where rivers run
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there I must begin to develop a united desperate cry with anybody else
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and if I do and if we agree with God we will watch heaven take over. And this teaching I'm
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not teaching this just to Acts 29 I'm teaching this to anybody who we walk with who we are
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connected with which is why it's so critical that I lay down the Acts 29 label on on behalf of the
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people of Acts 29. I lay down the Acts 29 label. We will have no confidence in our name or our past
-
or our strengths before we have absolutely no confidence in it.
-
You put your confidence in what a church may have accomplished it becomes flesh and it becomes an
-
idol. We have no confidence in the money we have we have no confidence in our young adults they
-
are flesh and blood. We have no confidence in our pastor we have no confidence in our teaching
-
we have no confidence in what Acts 29 has accomplished we have no confidence in our
-
mission work we have no confidence in the different places that we may have gone to we have
-
absolutely no confidence in it. We refuse to be self-sufficient we refuse to be self-sufficient.
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We have nothing we don't even have our name anymore. I lay down that label
-
for we are going by a way we have not gone before. Joshua chapter 3 verse 4 and 5
-
I'm taking you by a way you have not gone before
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and yet verse 5 actually says
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Joshua chapter 3 verse 4 and 5
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verse 4 and 5 yeah
-
do not come near in order that you may know the way you shall go for you have not passed this way
-
before then Joshua said to the people consecrate yourself for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders
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among you that's my hope eh that's my hope is everything okay Don yeah
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good
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it's 3 35
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yeah
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let's just ask God what we need to do on this first day of the seventh
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at some point I'm going to ask Joan to pray Joan's mum comes from Inverness I just felt that
-
because God said there are similarities to this as happened in the Hebrides island I just
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thought I'll ask Joan at some point to pray over zoom
-
but other than that I've got nothing else so let's see where we should go
-
so
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and then I know we'll sing that song where it says I see the I see a I see a generation
-
we'll I see the king of glory we'll sing that at the end
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guys I really don't know how to go about this eh so just be patient
-
so
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so I'm gonna ask uh yeah let's just
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father
-
we just want to empty ourselves just want to empty ourselves
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we just want to empty ourselves empty ourselves of all self-sufficiency empty ourselves
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of any name any claim any fame that we operate under
-
empty ourselves of
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that which is not blazingly pure
-
I think that's what we'd like to do today
-
and at some point raise our arms to you and say is this heart pure and are these hands clean
-
that's where we want to start today
-
we want to operate only under one name
-
the king of glory strong and mighty in battle to whom the whole earth belongs
-
and who established the heavens and the earth and founded them we want to ascend your holy
-
hill today we want to start there so father