Our Rule of Life - Revive

We are gonna jump in 'cause I've got a lot to get through.

So today I've called this message, "Will you not revive us again?" Today

I wanna fuel and stir your kingdom imagination for the realm of the possible.

Because it's so easy to let the brokenness of this world, it's so easy to let our

own weaknesses, it's, oh, so easy to let the weight of situations around us

subtly drift us into a quietly shaped false belief that God no longer moves.

The days of the miraculous have somehow come to an end.

They've passed us by.

It just seems so hard to seek the Lord with all my heart.

I just feel like I'm not doing it right.

It just seems all so exhausting.

And Scripture doesn't ignore those feelings or emotions of the human

experience, but it speaks to call us into a very different reality.

Scripture does not ask the weary soul to pretend.

It calls us to keep seeking the Lord, to come to Christ for rest,

and to trust the God who renews our strength for those who wait for Him.

Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

The God who parted the Red Sea, who raised the dead, who opened blind eyes, healed

broke- healed the broken, has not changed.

His power has not diminished.

His heart towards His people has not grown distant.

What He has done before, He is still able and willing to do again.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

Thank you.

But if we're not careful, people, disappointment can dull expectation.

Familiarity can shrink faith.

We can begin to interpret our present circumstances as, "Hey, this is a limit

of what God will do," rather than allowing His Word to define what is possible.

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there's no vision, the people perish."

Proverbs 29:18

So in w- many ways, a diminished kingdom imagination leads to a

diminished experience of God's power.

Paul speaks into this tension in Ephesians 3:20 when he says that

Ephesians 3:20

God is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to

His power that's at work within us.

Notice that beyond what we ask, beyond what we imagine, this means

that our imagination, when it's shaped by faith and truth, becomes

a doorway rather than a limitation.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus consistently challenged his peop- people to believe.

To the blind man, he asks, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

That's an interesting question, isn't it?

Uh, to Martha, in face of Lazarus's death, says, "Did I not tell you

that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" Again and again,

he invites people out of resignation into expectation and imagination.

And so today, I've got an invitation before us all today to reject the

quiet lie that God has stopped moving, and to reawaken a kingdom imagination

anchored in His Word, stirred by His Spirit, and alive with faith.

Because the truth is, God is still healing, He's still restoring,

He's still delivering, He's still doing the miraculous in ways that

reveal the glory of God and rev- and draw people unto Himself.

The question is not whether God is able, but whether we believe,

whether we will position ourselves, believe and trust Him to move.

And this is scripture based on the title… Well, the title's

based on the scripture, actually.

Psalm 85:6, it says, "Will you not," speaking to God, "revive us again

Psalms 85:6

that your people may rejoice in you?" Who needs a bit of that this morning?

Yeah.

Four of us.

That's fantastic.

I'm glad you've come to church today.

I need that.

We all need that.

Interesting, that scripture, this is a prayer of a people who already have God.

Did you hear what I said?

So it's a prayer of people who already have the presence of God with them,

and yet they are still praying, "Will you not revive us again?" That sounds

like the normal human experience to me.

This is a prayer of people who already have God, but circumstances

have dulled and drifted the heart away from an active, vibrant, joyful

connection with a God who is alive.

So the question is today for you as you sit here in Cockburn Central

is where, where are you dry?

Where have you settled for maintenance rather than life?

Where do you feel the ache in your heart, but you're not brave enough to name it?

Where are you caught in the mi-- in a midst?

A mist, sorry.

Where are you caught in a mist, like a cloud that's covering your vision

and you just can't see clearly?

As you may know, uh, Dale and I have been away for about a month now.

Um, no, not now, we're back now.

Um, and, um, we had the opportunity to go to Scotland and, uh, also

north of Scotland in Faroe Islands.

And lots of stories to tell, and I tell you, I can't get through them all today.

So you're gonna get one.

Is that okay?

So, um, we had an opportunity to drive all the way to the most northern

point of Scotland, um, which…

The most northern point of the mainland of Scotland, there is

islands above, uh, the mainland.

Um, but, uh, what are those islands called?

Hawk- Hawkney?

Orkney.

Orkney and Shetland.

They're, they're still Scotland, but to the north point.

And the north, most northern point is Dunnet Head.

Has anyone ever been to Dunnet Head?

No?

None of us?

Great.

Well, let me s- let me te- let me, let me show you something in a minute, but

let me just tell you, we, we, we're driving to Dunnet Head, and it was

nice and fine, and it was kind of, sun goes down at 11:30 there, so it's

like, you know, 10 o'clock at night and we're driving there or something.

And, um, the place was just completely misty.

The f- the cloud just descended and you couldn't see a thing.

Um,

so we're sitting there for about an hour in the car park going, "I wonder

if the wind's gonna change and it's gonna blow the clouds away so we can

see clearly." Didn't, didn't change.

So I toddle off down the, down the face of this cliff.

It's a, it's a massive cliff edge, apparently.

I couldn't see it.

Apparently, that's what they told me.

I saw a photo.

And, uh, I had the trusty drone and, uh, I thought, "Oh, I'm just gonna chuck it

up and see how, see what happens." So I just wanna show you this little quick

little trip, uh, quick clip of what we, what we experienced real quickly.

Shut it down.

So this is the road.

I can't see anything.

Fun roads in Scotland, by the way

Us on the way to see the amazing view at the end of this headland here.

And just as we've headed out, a giant cloud has rolled in, and

we cannot see a diddly squat.

So hoping and praying that it will pass as quickly as it descended

This is what we saw with the drone

Sorry, that's all you're getting

If you wanna watch more, you can jump on my YouTube channel,

youtube.com/@adam bmeredith.

Very good.

16-minute extravaganza if you wanna sit down and watch it

I was confronted in that moment of feeling completely blinded by the saturation

of cloud cover that was in our face.

And as soon as I got a different perspective, as soon as I was able to

elevate above what was in front of me, I suddenly got a different perspective.

And I just felt God speak to me and say, "Adam, you are so stuck in the clouds.

But with me, I will elevate you, not just to see a perspective that might

be akin to the perspective of God, but to elevate your spirit, that your

heart would be warmed by the fire of his presence that cause you to not just

visually see, but see with not just the eyes, but with the heart." And I

was really s- pushed by that moment

Where we're saturated in a spirit of the age that has blinded

us from the reality of seeing.

And Isaiah 44 doesn't speak into this using a niture, picture of

seeing, but in verse 3 it uses this picture of, of drinking.

And it says, "I will pour water on a thirsty land." Remember,

thirsty can be the fact that, oh, we just haven't seen God.

We need to see him.

We're thirsty.

"And streams on dry ground. I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring

and my blessing on your descendants."

Notice the order here.

Thirst comes before pouring.

Did you notice the order there?

Like, you gotta be thirsty for the pouring to come.

God's, God's not offended by your dryness, everybody.

He desires to address it.

Just close your eyes for two seconds.

Father, we just wanna acknowledge your presence right now.

We acknowledge that we are dry and that we are in need of your

living water to freshen our souls.

God, we, we can't manufacture that, we can't pretend that, we can't… We just

get exhausted, tired, and frustrated and disappointed, but God, we need you.

Living water, come and flood dry ground today.

This is not a work of the flesh, but this is an invitation of your

Spirit to come and be with you.

Father, one moment with you and we are forever changed.

We are forever flooded with living water

For all of us, God, help us to taste, help us to see, help

us to know that you are here.

We acknowledge your presence today in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Today, I wanna talk a little bit about what it looks like

when God revives a people.

What does it look like?

I wanna share a little bit about what happened between 1949 and 1952

in the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.

There's something about testimony of God moving that stirs the heart,

and we know that we overcome the enemy through the blood of the

lamb and our word of our testimony.

12:11, Revelation v- chapter 12.

There's something about hearing what God has done that stirs the

faith of the heart to realize that he still, in fact, can do it.

I love this Psalm, Psalm 126:1-3, and again, it's touching on that

Psalms 126:1–3

idea that there is thirst, there is dryness, and then it says, "When

the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.

Our mouths were filled with laughter; our tongues with songs of joy.

It was said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.'

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with," everyone

said, "Joy." I love that itch- picture.

We were like those who dreamed.

Imagine being unable to see for so long and suddenly our eyes are wide open.

The restoration of dreams, a holy imagination awakened by God as if there's

something long dormant coming alive again.

The people of God suddenly finding themselves stepping into the reality

they scarcely dared hope for.

Revival is not quiet or merely internal.

It overflows.

What God does becomes visible, tangible, undeniable.

Joy replaces heaviness.

Testimony replaces silence.

True revival carries a witness beyond itself.

When God moves, even those outside the church take notice.

It becomes a testimony not just to the church, but to the world.

Because revival is not merely an historical event we look back on,

but it's a present possibility rooted in the unchanging nature of God.

The same God who restored Zion and filled his people with joy, who

caused the nations to take notice, is still at work today, right now.

Duncan Campbell has this quote about revival, and he says,

"Revival is a God consciousness seizing the community or region."

Revival is not something that man can manufacture or make happen.

It's a sovereign decision of God to move on a, in a specific

time, in a specific place.

It's not an event.

It's not a meeting format.

It's not an emotional atmosphere you can create.

It's God visiting his people with an increased sense of his presence

and holiness, which breaks out into the surrounding culture

Please know that when we talk about this idea of revival, the heart being

revived, a people being revived, dreams being restored, the reality seen clearly

being restored, this is not a crushing weight telling us we need to do more.

This is a hopeful invitation to pray, to prepare, to position, and to expect.

Duncan Campbell was a missionary from Edinburgh, best known in his role

that he played within this period of time between forty-nine and fifty-two,

uh, known as the Hebrides Revival.

It's also called the Lewis Awakening.

Um, I've got, I've got a bit of a map which kind of shows you the,

the region we're talking about.

So we're… obviously, we're talking about Scotland.

The next slide just talks… So you can see Scotland, and on the left there is a

set of islands going down the, the, the west coast of Scotland there, and the

top one is called the Isle of Lewis, and the bottom section of that same segment

of land is called the Isle of Harris.

And, um, this is sometimes known as the, the, the great Lewis

Awakening, uh, of, of a moment.

And, uh, it was a significant moment of spiritual revival in the Outer Hebrides.

And I could tell you a little bit about it, and I will, but I wanted you

to listen to Duncan himself because you'll just love the accent, and you'll

just hear his passion because he's…

If you haven't heard this before, you'll… it'll blow your mind.

It's awesome.

So we're just gonna play this video, and just listen to him for a few

minutes describing from his perspective.

Now,

before

I, uh, begin the story, I would like to s-say one thing, and that is that,

uh, I did not bring revival to Lewis.

It has grieved my heart again and again to read articles about the

man that brought revival to Lewis.

Notices on church boards, "Come and hear the man that brought revival to

Lewis." My dear people, it's not true

I don't carry revival about with me in my pocket.

Revival broke out in Lewis some time before I went to the island.

I thank God for the privilege of being in its midst for over three years.

I went to, at the invitation of one parish minister for 10 days, but God kept me

there for three years, and I'm thankful to God for the privilege of perhaps in

some small way leading that movement and

teaching the young converts in the deep things of God.

Now, you might ask me, what do you mean by revival?

There are a great many views held by people today as to what revival is.

So you hear men say, "Are you going out to the revival meetings?

We're having a revival crusade,"

and so on.

There is a world of difference between a crusade or a special

effort in the field of evangelism.

My dear people, that is not revival

As I already said from this platform, I thank God for every soul brought to

Christ through our special efforts, and for every season of blessing at

our conferences and at our conventions.

We praise God for such moments.

But in revival, the community suddenly becomes conscious of

the movings of God beginning among his own people so that in a matter

of hours, not days, in a matter of hours, churches become crowded

No intimation of any special meeting, but something happening that moves

men and women to the house of God.

And you find within hours scores of men and women crying to God for

mercy before they went near a church.

When God stepped down, suddenly men and women all over the parish

were gripped by the fear of God

God

stepped down.

The Holy Spirit began to move among the people, and the, the minister

writing about what happened on the following morning said this,

"You met God on Medewamoor land. You met Him in the homes of the

people. God seemed to be everywhere."

What was that?

Revival.

Revival.

Not an evangelist, not a special effort, not anything at all organized

on the basis of human endeavor, but an awareness of God that gripped the whole

community so much so that works of-

What was happening?

The people were meeting in groups.

Young men would gather in a field and begin to talk about this

strange consciousness of God that had gripped the community

I could listen to his voice for hours.

The sermons must have gone for a long time, I reckon.

And so on

On the Isle of Lewis, the spiritual tide in that period of time, nineteen

forty-nine, the tide was out.

Church attendance had declined after World War II.

The church culture and society culture in that region, ultra-conservative.

Poor Duncan got in trouble for wearing brown shoes.

Should've worn black shoes.

Do you know what I'm trying to say?

I'm using that as an example to say ultra-conservative.

The younger generation showed little interest in God.

Many of the churches were almost empty.

The places of sin were crowded.

And in that atmosphere, the burden fell heavily on the hearts of two ladies.

I've got a photo here.

Peggy and Christine Smith, two sisters.

One blind, the other bedridden, crippled with arthritis, and they couldn't attend

church reg- regularly, but they spent much of their time in prayer at home.

They clung to the promise that re- we just read in Isaiah forty-four,

"Pour out water on thirsty land, on streams of dry ground."

They prayed to God to move in their community.

Their prayers were not casual or occasional.

One account says every Tuesday night, they're kneeling from ten o'clock

at night to four AM, wrestling with God in a humble cottage.

This is often how revival begins, not in the big and obvious, but in

the hidden intercession, the long obedience, the refusal to accept

spiritual barrenness as the final word.

A group of church leaders in Barvas, unified because of Jesus,

were burdened also, and they gathered in a wooden barn to pray.

There they ca- they came to see… feel a s- fresh sense of

God, this covenant-keeping God, who had already given promises.

They entered into a solemn covenant to humble themselves, to seek God, to

prevail in prayer until revival came.

For months, they met three nights a week, waiting on God, before, before

God in the early hours of the morning.

Now, now Barvas, you gotta understand, this Isle of Lewis, I think in nineteen

fifty-one, the census said there were twenty-seven thousand… twenty-four

thousand people in Lewis, right?

So just have a quick look at this next picture.

This is Barvas, and this is Barvas more like in twenty nineteen, right?

So you can imagine what it looked like in twenty twenty… nineteen fifty-one.

It's a small town.

It's unimpressive, okay?

Th- the next one, this is normal.

You see just miles of field, and there's just a, just a shop.

There's one little building.

It's a good photo, hey.

Um, the next one, this is the church that things began.

Caleb's dad, um, David took this.

He sent it to me, Caleb, 'cause I didn't have a good photo of the outside one.

This is where things began to happen.

We'll, we'll touch on this in just a minute.

So Campbell was invited to come to Barvas, this region in Lewis, right?

And he refused because at the time of the invitation, he was speaking

at a conference, and so he's like, "Oh, I don't wanna go to… Uh, I

gotta go to the conference, right?

I'm committed to that." So he's at the conference, and the Lord speaks to

him and says, "You need to leave now, and you immediately n- immediately

need to make your way for Lewis."

So Campbell arrives by ferry, and he went straight to Barvas.

So this is, like, about seven o'clock at night, right?

And the church had gathered.

Things are beginning to be stirring in the community.

But in the gathering that, the first gathering that Campbell, um,

uh, sort of led, nothing dramatic happened during the service beyond

a strong sense of God's presence.

So that, that meeting kind of ends, and one of the young deacons, convinced that

God was about to move, began praying.

It's a bit like, imagine everyone's kinda leaving, right?

And imagine I'm later on the service, sort of just, sort of walking out kinda

thing, which I normally do, and someone's like, "Adam, I need to talk to you.

God's about to move." This is what's… This is how this happened, right?

And he basically just prayed again, "Pour water on the thirsty land."

That's what, that's what he prayed.

Shortly after 11:00 PM, so that moment of prayer, 10:45, 15 minutes later, a

man came running in announcing that 600 additional people were already outside the

church, drawn with no human invitation.

So you know that picture I showed you of the church?

Outside there, you can imagine 600 people.

It's a pretty small population.

Where did these people come from?

Good question.

At the same time, there was a dance of… a dance going on.

Remember, there's no Netflix, okay?

So, right?

So there's 100 people at a dance hall, and suddenly, with no one talking

about it, they're convicted of sin.

The music stops.

They flee the dance.

They go to the church.

Some people are awakened in their beds.

They come running as well.

By midnight, the church is packed again, and the crowd spent all night

singing psalms and crying out for mercy.

That meeting continued to 4:00 AM.

This is the same day that Duncan Campbell's arrived, right?

No altar call, only a sovereign work of God.

4:00 AM.

Don't worry, he's still got work to do.

Just after 4:00 AM the same night, Duncan Campbell was told

to go to the police station.

Oh, no, he's in trouble.

300 people had gathered at the police station with no idea what to do

other than the experience of a f- a fresh, heavy conviction of sin.

Something was hitting them really hard, and all they knew, the theory

is, all they knew was that the constable was a God-fearing man,

and maybe he would know what to do.

So they're all over the petrol… uh, petrol station.

The police station, right?

So Duncan goes to the police station, right?

And he sh- shares the gospel there.

Finally, he gets to the manse at 5:30 AM to have a rest.

What a first day, hey?

After five weeks in Barvas, the revival began spreading to other towns.

Duncan Campbell preaching between four and eight sermons a day in churches,

in open fields, in shorelines.

The services were scheduled as late as 3:00 AM.

Something was happening in this place, and the, and the Holy

Spirit's power was increasing.

In the village of Arnol… So Arnol's a f- bit further down from Barvas.

We went there.

Because of the bitter opposition, get this, from other Christian ministers,

the leaders of the local church who were in favor of the revival, all

they could do is not argue, but pray.

30 of them praying together with Duncan Campbell.

Remember, opposition's coming, right?

In a local farmhouse in Arnol, about midnight, they were praying, Campbell

told a man in the farmhouse that God wanted him to lead the prayer.

So the man prayed.

He looked up to heaven and said… This is a bold prayer.

Try and get this around in your head.

He… This is the man's prayer.

He said, "God, God, your honor is at stake. Now take… I take it

upon myself to challenge you, God, to fulfill your covenant promise."

So he's challenging God, right?

This is full on.

You shouldn't talk to God like this.

But what he was doing was, prayer was, "In the name of Jesus,

fulfill your promise to us."

Bold, bold as brass.

With that, the granite house shook like a leaf.

The s- a jug on the sideboard fell on the ground.

It broke.

The dishes and the dresser rattled, and Campbell testified that wave after wave

of divine power swept through this room.

In that exact, exact moment, the Spirit of God swept through the village, and

people were awakened from their sleep.

They got up and made their way to church, crying out to God for mercy.

So this continued to occur for the next three years

The conviction of sin was so overwhelming.

So you under- do you understand what I mean by conviction of sin?

There's a holy God who's perfect, and then there's us who are broken and imperfect.

And when you get close to a holy God, the reality of your insufficiency,

your brokenness, you can't stand in the midst of a holy God.

And so when he comes close, this thing called conviction of sin hits the

heart, and that was happening all over the Isle of Lewis and other islands.

But it was so overwhelming that some attempted to, to run away from

that, and it followed them wherever they went, into bars and even across

the channel to mainland Scotland.

People were lying prostrate.

Do you know what I mean by prostrate?

They're laying down, face down, arms out, just laying down on the

ground for hours upon hours 'cause of the overwhelming presence of God.

There was times when large groups of people froze into place, and

some appeared to be having fits.

Duncan Campbell soundly declared that this was not a demonic movement, but

this was an overwhelming presence of God resting upon the people.

Many had visions that provided guidance that led to other people's salvations.

There were visions and trances.

Trances, that's interesting, isn't it?

There's one story I read where they had a meeting, this is in

that three-year period, right?

And everyone in the gathering goes into a trance, other than kinda

like the leaders in the church.

So I would like to go into a trance.

Anyway, they didn't know what to do.

So Duncan Campbell and a few of the elders walked out, closed the door,

and said, "God's got them. They'll be fine," and went off to the next thing.

Like this is like brain melting stuff, right?

Campbell said we shouldn't seek visions and trances, they were incidental.

The focus should be on Christ and his word.

But these things were happening, not because they were focusing on them.

Numerous people confessed of having heard angels singing.

It was in many different locations.

Um, some did see demons flying out of church buildings.

One man testified that while praying in a church, he saw white

doves resting on people's heads.

Um, the name, uh, those duds, doves named the individuals one by one, and those who

were named were all converted that night.

How, how do you know my name?

This revival wasn't clean and tidy and organized.

It's what I like to call beautiful chaos.

The presence of the Lord would make your hair stand on end.

It continued day after day after day, day and night, and the presence

was pervasive and undeniable.

It didn't matter if you were a Christian or not, you could sense that

fearful awe inspiring presence of God.

When leaving the church one night in an open field, get this, a ship was seen

on dry land by everyone at the meeting.

It was a Navy ship.

It was shrouded in light.

In a vision, it left everyone speechless.

They didn't… They couldn't say a word.

Some people were looking, or walking along the roads and lights were

following them down the roads We've got to remember, we're talking

about Lewis, nineteen forty-nine.

There's not… I think there might have been one bus traveling

up the main street, I read.

But most of the time, they were just walking.

We're not gonna wait for the bus.

I, I gotta go.

But lights were following them.

They had, uh, reports that there were buildings in the region, and there's

particular buildings that are just lit up by light sources that were unknown.

Like, how is that building being lit up?

No one knew.

There were lights moving around the region.

Many sailors gave their testimony that while ships were passing the

island, they would come under the conviction of sin, the presence of God.

The presence of God s- was so sensed on the other islands as well.

Um, Harris had experiences, uh, Barina, Tiree, North Uist,

all of those had encounters.

This went on for three years.

If you don't believe me, read the book called Revival in the

Hebrides by Duncan Campbell.

You can get it on Kindle.

Amazing read.

The people who witnessed this event, um, there's, there's a, there's a,

there's a handful of them still alive.

Um, there's a guy by the name of John Tyson.

He said that he met them, and one of the observations was that they

couldn't say the name of Jesus without breaking down and weeping.

That's seventy years after all of this has happened.

Seventy-seven years in some, in some cases.

Seventy-seven years.

We're talking about the manifest presence of God.

Everyone say manifest.

Say, "Well, what do you mean by manifest, Adam?" Oh, I'm glad you asked.

Um,

ever heard of the word the omnipresence of God?

It, it means that God's everywhere simultaneously, right?

But there's also something called the manifest presence of God.

Well, what is that?

Well, imagine right now in our auditorium right now that we have a billionaire in

our midst, but none of us knows who he is.

He is omnipresent in this moment.

Would you agree?

Well, he's not everywhere at the same time, but he's certainly present.

Would you agree?

But you don't know who he is.

The manifest presence of God is like when the billionaire starts writing checks.

Do you understand?

So his character is having expression and being revealed.

It's becoming visible.

Is this stirring your heart this morning?

I hope so, 'cause I'm about to burst.

The Hebrides Revival is an example of the manifest presence of God.

But there's some warnings.

The first warning is we're not seeking revival when we talk about these things.

We're seeking the face of God.

Does that make sense?

It's important to understand that.

This is not about seeking revival, it's about seeking God.

The fascinating things is the trials and challenges of the people in

nineteen forty-nine in, in Lewis, they actually didn't change.

They still were working like crazy people in the fields.

Like, they were, they were hard, capable work people.

Even the women were stronger than some of the men in this days because

they were, they were workers.

But none of that changed, but everything had changed because

they had an encounter with Jesus.

Interesting, the conference that we went to was in a town called Stornoway,

which is also on the li- Isle of Lewis, and as I mentioned before,

there was a lot of opposition s- to the, to the revival at the time.

Stornoway was the only place that didn't have an encounter with

God like I'm describing to you.

Stornoway didn't see any of it.

And most historians say that the reason is, is because there was a

lot of churches in Stornoway who disagreed with the revival and were

publicly speaking against it, right?

But that wasn't just in Stornoway, that was happening all over the isle.

And guess what?

Those impacts of revival never touched those churches

who were speaking against it.

Interesting, isn't it?

It makes… it challenges me to think about, God, in your sovereign

power, what if you move in Perth, Western Australia, and you choose to

use, I don't know, just name another church, that you didn't use Red Door.

How will we go with that?

That's my question.

Well, my question is, how will I go with that?

Oh, Lord, help my heart to not be, you know, critical, but actually

go, "The kingdom of God is breaking through in my city, and I'm the

greatest proponent of it." Like, that's the posture we should have.

Does that make sense?

Like, these are, these are thoughts about how… what do we learn from these things?

'Cause I tell you, the ministers in Stornoway now, not all of them,

certainly some of them, I met them, are longing to see God do it again.

Habakkuk says, "I've heard of your fame.

I've heard of your deeds.

I've heard of your great power.

Do it again in our day." They're praying that way for Stornoway.

They've seen it.

God can do it again.

I'm telling you this stuff, and I'm aware that there's probably a variety

of reactions in the room right now.

Um, some of you might be feeling excitement, stirring.

Some of you might be feeling fear.

Some of you might be feeling, "Oh, we're gonna become one of

those churches, are we, Adam?"

Some of you might be feeling skeptical.

Well, that's just in a book.

See it for my eyes.

Some of you might be feeling a fresh hunger for the more of God.

You know what my prayer is today?

Is that this story, this testimony, that you would have a reaction.

So even if that reaction today for you is fear or concern or skepticism, you

know what I want you to do with it?

I want you to say, "Holy Spirit, reveal to me why I'm feeling like that." I'm not

telling you to believe this testimony.

I'm just telling you that if this stirs you in any way, ask God, "Is that real?

Could you possibly even do that today?"

I don't need to defend God in all of this

My hope is that you would pray that way, that God would show you.

Ultimately, like I said earlier, th- I talk about these things not to create

a crushing weight on you, but a hopeful invitation to say we serve a God who

is bigger than the box you put him in

The Hebrides revival is a example of the manifest presence of God.

You can't create revival.

You can't manufacture it.

You can only cultivate surrender.

But there's some observations, like I said to you, there was

a couple of warnings there.

There's some observations that Duncan Ham- Campbell had in the three-year period.

You would have some observations, wouldn't you think?

And he, he talked about… I'll just use this quote to

summarize what he talked about.

He says, "For, for revival to come, God's fire must fall on four altars: the heart,

the home, the church, the region." Now, you might be reading that and you might

think, "Okay, I'm, I'm not sure about what that sentence means." So let me talk

about maybe firstly God's fire, okay?

Um, we're talking about the presence of God, the, the cleansing, purifying,

convicting, empowering presence of God.

The kind of holy activity that revival, and when his presence

is close, it burns away sins.

It a- awakens faith.

What I mean by burn away sin is that if you're addicted to some sin pattern,

the fire of God transforms the heart and causes you to go and sin no more,

because you've, you've just been cleansed.

Does that make sense?

That's the fire of God.

It's this holy, perfect presence of God.

It's unmistakable.

The, the altar is like… Each of us have a heart.

Each of us could be described as the, the altar of the

heart, the place of your heart.

It's the place where the, our will is surrendered.

We, we, we say, "God, consecrate my heart.

Prepare my heart." It, it's biblical language, this idea of altar.

It's, it's where something is laid before God, whether that's your heart, whether

that's your household, whether that's a church, whether that's entire community.

The altar means each sphere must be yielded to God.

Again, we can't create revival.

We can't manufacture it or cultivate it

But these four altars describe places where surrender must be real if we're

to ask God for renewal with integrity.

I, I, I picture it like this.

You know, the scripture we read, God send… pour, pour

water on th- on the thirsty.

So my question, like, so the fire of God preparing the altar with the fire of God

is a bit like you saying, "I'm thirsty for you, God," as opposed to, "I'm thirsty

for something that is just trying to fill the void, something that's not of God."

For instance, you've got to be thirsty for him.

If you're not thirsty at all because you're just full of the

world, the altar's not prepared.

Does that make sense?

'Cause God's gonna move where he's wanted.

He's gonna come where he's desired.

And so the preparation of the altar, the heart, the home, the church, the region…

Just very quickly, I'm not gonna go through these line by line, but in the

home we're talking about, "Jesus, help me to have a heart that is passionate

for you, responsive to the Holy Spirit and your Word, loving towards others,

repentant for my sin, forgiving of others' sin, pure from the world's pollution,

honorable in dealing with others, generous with all you've given me."

The heart, the home.

I, I won't read all these out, but, "Jesus, I long for a home that is

spiritually strong." The church.

"Jesus, help me to build a church that is hungry for your Word and passionate

to worship you." For the region.

"Jesus, will you come in power upon our Perth region, starting in

our neighborhood, our churches and pastors throughout Cockburn and Perth,

schools, teachers, administrators, government, civic leaders, businesses,

business leaders, community, not-for-profit organization."

Revival is not something you can just simply ask for.

It's, it's making room for it first.

It's making room.

And the four w- altars is just a way of describing the

places that must be readied.

It must be readied, prepared.

The question is like, well, we can't make these things

happen, God, but what can we do?

Well, we can prepare this, the altar of our hearts.

Like, how would you go?

Like that list I read before, did anyone brain get melted then?

I d- I keep getting melted every time I read the list.

Like, what, what, what are you capable of, God?

Remember, what was my, what was my heart this Saturday for you?

My heart was that the Holy Spirit would fuel and stir a holy imagination

in the realm of the possible.

That's what my intent was today.

Do you hear my intent?

That's what I'm, I'm praying for you

But this requires spiritual discernment.

It requires faithful participation.

It's not about controlling God, but it's about living attentively

so that, so that Jesus is moving in us, through us, and around us

I hear these stories and I think about the churches who missed this

You know, if you missed that 77 years ago is 1949, FYI.

If you missed that

And yet 77 years of not really seeing God do much

I reckon there's a number of hearts in those churches who are thirsty

You might be saying, "Well, Adam, do you need that stuff

to…?" No, but doesn't it help?

Doesn't it help to see it with your eyeballs and go

He's real.

He's here.

I wanna see it.

Does my faith depend on me seeing it?

No

But I want my heart refreshed.

I want water to be thrown onto the thirsty land of my heart

I hope you're picking up what I'm putting down this morning.

I've got a bit of a reflection time that I wanna just lead you

in, and it's got a slide here.

And so there's a bit of words here, but it's really just identifying what's the

area that you need to participate in?

We can't make these things happen, but what we can do is say…

And remember, this is invitation, okay?

This is not telling, this is inviting.

So for your heart, calling you into personal repentance, holiness,

hunger, a fresh openness to God.

Home, invited to let God shape family life, relationships, and

discipleship in everyday ways.

Church, community can be drawn into prayer, faith, obedience, worship,

and a renewed spiritual vitality.

Region, led into the wider culture, touching communities,

institutions, and the public square.

What are you participating in that is dulling your devotion in each area?

So what, what are you-- what's going on for you that are causing the fire of God

to be quenched in your heart, in your home, in your church, in your region?

So Father, we just ask that you allow this time for us to just reflect.

And, uh, God, we, we read that scripture into the atmosphere

of our hearts and minds today.

God, that we read in Psalm… Well, actually Isaiah forty-four, sorry.

It said, "You will pour water on a thirsty land and streams on dry

ground. I will pour out my spirit on your offspring and your, and

my blessing on your descendants."

So God, we ask for just that.

We're bold enough to pray bold prayers.

But God, your honor is at stake, and if there's any time in our nation, God,

people have forgotten you.

People are ignoring you.

God, your honor is at stake.

And in humility, I take it upon myself to challenge you to fulfill

your covenant promise in our time, in our region, in our place, God.

Because you are mighty, and you are the King of all creation.

And so Holy Spirit, come and renew our hearts, revive our hearts, so

the fire burns bright once again.

In Jesus' name.