What Is Revival

Thank you for joining me. My name is Edgar Reich and I am called for revival by the will of God. What is revival? Revival refers to Christians in need of being revived from a deep sleep, having given in to the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Revival has a number of meanings. The meaning of revival I would like to refer to in this message comes from Isaiah chapter 57 verses 15 to 19. Isaiah chapter 57 verses 15 to 19.

And here it says, Thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend forever nor will I always be angry for the spirit would fail before me and the souls which I have made.

For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him. I hid and I was angry and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart. May I ask, are you backsliding? Are you failing? Verse 18.

I have seen his ways and will heal him. I will also lead him and restore comforts to him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips.

Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, says the Lord. Now comes the wonderful part. It says, this is what God says and I will heal him.

Praise God. God says if you have a humble heart, if you're willing to turn from evil ways, God will stop being angry. And even if you are far off, even if you are in sin and backsliding, God wants to heal you.

He wants to reason with you. He wants to tell you that he loves you incredibly through his son Jesus and that there is nothing that will stop your coming back to him and being healed if you ask him for forgiveness and if you repent. So, what is revival? Revival is the profound awareness of the holy presence of God and it is his awesome holiness and his holy spirit convicting the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

John chapter 16 verse 8. Revival is the restoration of the church to a vital and fervent relationship with God. It is spiritual renewal, renewed faith and restoration to usefulness. After a period of decline affecting the thoughts and moral behaviors of the people of God, God wants to heal us.

God wants to restore us. Now your question might be, what happens during true revivals? Beloved, in the presence of God and there have been occasions in the past where God came in a mighty outpouring of his holy spirit. In God's presence men and women come under the mighty conviction of sin.

God's presence produces a terrifying fear of facing a holy God in light of our sinful condition. The existence of unconfessed sin becomes unbearable. Repentance and restoration will follow if you want to repent.

In all true revivals, prayer and confession of sin were conduits for revival. In a Corinne revival, an elder openly confessed stealing from a friend's widow. God started to work and other leaders of the church started to confess.

Confessions included adultery and absconding church funds by the leaders. All elders and deacons and the pastor confessed and resigned. They were forgiven and reinstated by their congregation.

Overnight, a revival started in other Corinne churches across South Korea. This is a hallmark of true revival, that the power of God is present and there's open confession of sin, repentance, and turning from sin. It is followed by a deep joy and peace of forgiveness and liberation from the power of sin.

So what is the result of revival? Revival is the return to God and turning from sin to a joyous and productive relationship with our Lord. In many of the great revivals of the past, there was virtually no more backsliding. There came a victorious Christian life, walking before the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart and victory over known sin.

Revival includes a total surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. The old person is crucified with him and the new person walks in the spirit and righteousness of God in love. Revival is from God and all glory belongs to him.

There must not be any credit given to anyone except God. Revival includes a passion for souls to reach family, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances for Christ. So how can revival come about? It is only God who can revive our hearts and bring revival.

It is solely at the Lord's discretion and his timing. But God's presence cannot be caused or produced by man, but God gives us guidelines. Such passages as 2 Chronicles chapter 7 verses 14 and 15.

And there he said, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. And then verse 15 tells us what God is looking for. He says, now my eyes will open and my ears attentive to prayer made in this place.

Prayer and reaching out to God is the starting point. God looks for an environment where there's prayer and willingness for repentance. This passage of 2 Chronicles 7, 14, and 15 is conditional.

God cannot lie, so he will bring healing of the nation if we fulfill our part. Now you say, who will start? Beloved, this is what is called personal revival. It starts with you and me.

Revivals have started in the past with individual persons who have humbled themselves, have wept and prayed to such an extent that it touched the heart of God. The Holy Spirit then manifested himself in powerful and visible ways through such men in revivals of the past. God chose men of faith, humility, and prayer.

Here are some revival examples of personal revival. And many who have experienced personal revival were used mightily by God to impact congregations, churches, denominations, regions, and countries. God's holy presence came where individuals humbled themselves and prayed and included such men as Count Zinzendorf of the Morovians, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, David Brainerd, George Whitfield, Jeremiah Lampierre, Charles Finney, Dwight L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, William Seymour of the Azusa Street Revival, Duncan Campbell of the Hebrides Revival, Evan Roberts of the Whales Revival, and many others.

Evan's personal revival is illustrated in the following report. Evan Roberts was among the Methodist Academy students who attended meetings by Pastor Joshua. At a pre-breakfast meeting on Thursday, September 29, 1904, the evangelists concluded, crying out in Welsh, Lord, Lord, bend us! When Evan Roberts later recalled that morning, he explained, it was the Spirit that put the emphasis on bend us.

This is what you need, said the Spirit to Evan Roberts. Evan began praying, O Lord, bend me. The Lord did bend Evan Roberts.

He says he prayed 10 to 11 years for revival, and a great revival followed. The four points of Evan Roberts' message and his interpretation of the word bending, which is like brokenness, were, number one, confess all known sin and then receive forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ. Number two, remove anything in your life that you are in doubt about or feel unsure about.

Number three, be ready to obey the Holy Spirit of God instantly. Number four, publicly confess the Lord Jesus Christ. When revival came in those days, J. Edwin Orr, a revival historian, reports and noted some of the results of the Whales Revival.

He said, drunkenness was immediately cut in half, and many taverns went bankrupt. Crime was so diminished that judges were presented with white gloves, signifying that there were no cases of murder, assault, rape, or robbery or the like to consider. The police became unemployed in many districts.

Stoppages occurred in coal mines, not due to unpleasantness between management and workers, but because so many foul-mouthed miners became converted and stopped using foul language that the horses and ponies which hauled the coal trucks in the mines could no longer understand what they were supposed to do. News of the revival was widely published, both within and outside Wales. So revival must start with you and with me.

Revival has started in my life, but I'm not finished. I'm not there. I'm praying.

I'm weeping. I'm crying out to God that he would bring revival to me, to many people I love, and to the churches in North America. I thought I had become a Christian when I got married in 1967, and I had two daughters, but there was no power for the new Christian life in my life.

I taught at the University of Toronto, and I was in big business. I ran a big corporation in Europe. In 1988, I left my wife and two daughters.

My old heart was desperately wicked. Who can know it? We divorced, and I lived with another person, with another woman, for 18 years. I was hooked on pornography, and I could not laugh.

My two daughters prayed for me for 18 years. I was destined for an eternal hell with no hope except the lake of fire, but God had mercy and saved me. You see, I never found happiness in big business.

I never found happiness in power, in money, in recognition, in huge cars, in private airplanes, none of these things that gave me the happiness. However, God was merciful to me. Please listen to my testimony going back to when I was at the age of 62.

In 2004, I was in an apartment in New Jersey. I woke up on a Saturday morning, and all of a sudden, I found myself in a vision. In this vision, I was in an open grave.

The open grave was neatly cut out on all four sides, and I was lying on my back inside this grave. It was cold. There was a late afternoon sun, and I said, what am I doing in this grave? I must get out.

When I tried to sit up, I could not move. When I looked at myself, I was bound with great, great heavy ropes of sin from my neck onwards down to my toes. I realized I could not help myself, and I started to call for help.

I called help. I could not call very loudly because the sins were very heavy on me. I called help.

Someone help me. Someone help me. No one came.

After a while, my flesh started to turn to dust on the side of my body. Worms and bugs were coming from the earth to feed on me. That moment, I realized that if I died, I would be going to an eternal hell forever and ever and ever.

Yes, the Bible clearly says this, that the wrath of God abides on those who reject the Son of God. Then, if we live like hell afterwards, are we truly saved? No, because in Matthew, Jesus said, only those who do the will of my Father. Beloved, I was on my way to hell.

I became frantic at that time when I saw myself losing flesh, going into dust and the worms. I started to change my call. You see, I had been to church.

I knew the way because it was the Son of God, Christ Jesus. So, I changed my call. I said, Lord, if there's any mercy left for a sinner such as myself, would you have mercy on me? I could not call too loudly, but I started to call, Jesus, have mercy on me.

God, have mercy on me. Jesus, have mercy on me. For hours, no one came.

I thought I was destined to go to an eternity of hell. Then, after a long period of time, a person came at the bottom of the grave. I could not see his features, but I knew it was the Son of God.

He reached into the grave. He put his hand around my neck. He helped me to sit up.

That very moment, I woke up. All of my sins had snapped off my body like a thread. I had fallen out of bed.

I was next to my bed. I knelt and I repented of my sins. I asked the Son of God, God, come into my life.

Come and save me. Make me whole. Forgive me for my sins.

I believe that you are the Son of God, that you have died for my sins, and that you rose again, that you are with the Father to also intercede for me. Thank you so much, Lord Jesus. I give my life to you.

Beloved, then an incredible change started to take place in the Bible. In John chapter 3, it tells us that this process is that we are born again. You see, heaven came down and glory filled my soul.

When at the cross, the Savior made me whole. My sins were all forgiven. Now, I am on my way to heaven.

Praise God. Then my Christian life started. Of course, I had also experienced before that when I went forward, there were still issues that seemed to attack me.

Sin still seemed to come back in forms that attacked me. Even as I was praying, and I was praying, and I said, Lord, I love you, immediately the answer came, if you love me, keep my commandments. But Lord, I'm a Christian now.

I'm keeping your commandments. Yet God answered me and said, if you love me, keep my commandments. That's what Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 15.

And so here are several points that led to my going the way of revival. And personal revival includes for me, number one, confession of every known sin. And that includes turning from such sins and following Jesus.

It includes forgiving those that have hurt me. You see, I was sexually misused as a 10-year-old. I also had to forgive that person.

It starts with family members. It starts with church members. It starts with people at work, people that even hurt you.

We as Christians are required to forgive. Number three, it was to seek forgiveness from those that I have hurt. Number four, I should make amendments and restitution where possible.

If I have heard others done wrong to people and stolen things. And then number five, I needed to surrender fully to God and follow his call to do what he called me to do. And then number six, it was to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit and to go public with my witness.

Now, as to the first step, which is confession of sins, here are a couple of examples. I have been in big business. And of course, I was trained to use language that would always seem to seek an advantage, to not always tell the truth, to use white lies.

And beloved, I got tired of that. And I cried out and I said, Lord Jesus, help me. And as I read my Bible and I read Isaiah chapter six, there was a prophet, a good man.

And he cried out when he came into the presence of God. He cried out, whoa, whoa, whoa is unto me for I'm undone because I am a man of unclean lips. And the great prophet Isaiah realized his state of sin in the presence of almighty God.

And then God sent a seraphim, an angel, who took a hot call from the order of God to touch Isaiah's lips. And he was clean. And so I cried out and I said, Lord, I'm nothing, but I cannot stop this insidious sin where I don't always tell all of the truth.

I want to stop that, Lord. I'm not an Isaiah. I'm just dust, but have mercy on me.

And so three days later, nothing touched me that I can recall, but I could stop lying. Praise God. We have a great God.

And then there was also when I prayed and I was on a Sunday, God reminded me to keep a day of rest. For me, Sunday was a catch-up day, sports day to do whatever I wanted to do to feed my flesh. But God said, it's a day of rest.

Come, come and be with me. Come and worship me. And so I said, Lord, I'm going to try and do that.

Then there's another commandment. And of course I had lived with another woman for 18 years and I was still living with her. But Jesus said, don't commit adultery.

And even if you look at a woman with lust, you have already committed adultery with her in your heart. Around that time, I got skin cancer. It was April of 2004.

It was after Christ had saved me. My doctor sent me to a skin specialist. They took a biopsy and they confirmed that it was skin cancer.

An operation would be necessary. A large black blotch had formed on the right hand side of my face right here. I was working in a Fortune 500 company at that time point, looking after their international businesses.

And the chairman of the company invited two men to his place down south. We would be flying on a Saturday and be working on a Sunday. So I prayed, what should I do? And as I prayed in the airplane, I went over to the chairman and I said, chairman, I'd like to worship God tomorrow.

Would that be all right with you? He said, of course, go and worship your God. The next morning after breakfast, and it was Sunday, the chairman said, we will meet in an hour or so, get ready for that. And I went back to my room and I prayed and I said, God, why are you allowing this? I asked you, I want to follow you.

I want to do the right thing. I want to keep a day of rest. Why are you allowing this Lord? And I started sweating.

I knew that if I went against this meeting, it should normally cost me my job. And I realized that this would be a great decision. I knelt and I prayed.

I started sweating. I started sweating through a shirt. I had to change my shirt.

And then I went out and here the chairman and vice chairman were sitting at a table waiting for me. And I said to the chairman, and please forgive me, but yesterday I asked you whether I could worship God this day. And you said, yes, I could worship him.

And I'm so sorry, but I really must go and worship God today. Please understand, we can catch up tomorrow on the things that we need to do. Now, the vice chairman immediately said, if you don't meet with us, you are fired.

You will lose your job. I responded that this was a situation where I needed to worship God and to keep my word. He then, the vice chairman turned triumphantly to the chairman and he said, you see, you see, you're not God after all.

You're only in second place. I went to the door and as I turned the doorknob, the vice chairman shouted behind me, if you touch that doorknob, you will be fired. I looked at my hand and I said, God, before I belonged to Satan, this hand belonged to Satan and now belongs to you.

I will do what you want me to do. And so I walked out and I found a community church in the area. The sermon that day was, if you had cancer and three days to live, what would you do? Now, even so, the title was very exciting.

The sermon was dry. They were only old people in the congregation, old people behind me. But in the middle of the sermon, there was something or someone who touched me on my back and I turned my head sideways and a voice said audibly, I have healed you.

Now they were only old people behind me. And later on, I left the service and I didn't understand. I went back to the villa where we were meeting and I told the chairman I had been healed.

He looked at me, he saw the black blob on my face and he thought I had lost my mind. I was not fired. And then after that, each day I prayed and I said, Lord, you said you have healed me, but I don't see it.

Did I really hear your voice? Was it really you? And the answer came, if you love me, keep my commandments. On the way home in the airplane, I still had the cancer and I was praying and I said, Lord, what is it? What are you referring to with keeping your commandments? And then he reminded me that I was still living in adultery with the woman that I had been for 18 years. I read Romans chapter 7, verses 2 and 3 in the Bible and the conviction came as long as my first wife is still alive, I was not to remarry.

I told a pastor when the plane landed, I called the pastor in the church and I said, is this an incorrect relationship I have or how do you interpret scripture? And he said, no, I agree with you. You ought to cancel it. Beloved, it was a very hard, hard step for me to do.

But I said I would follow Jesus. I made a commitment. So would I follow him or would I put the Bible aside and say, no, the Bible is not for me.

I do what I want to do. Oh, no. Oh, no.

And then the Holy Spirit convicted me and I called up this dear woman and I shared with her how God had saved me. And she was in tears, of course. And I listened for seven hours, six, seven hours of great hurts.

And I told her I needed to follow God. Two years later, she called me and she said, if God had not taken you away from me, I would have never found him. Now, the following morning after I had come back and spoken to her and canceled this wrong relationship, I was washing my face in a wash basin.

And as I was washing my face, all of a sudden they appeared this little black animal in the sink. And I said, what is this animal? I don't know what it is. It seemed to be moving.

Did it come through the pipe or what is it? And then I looked at the mirror and beloved, the cancer had fallen off my face. It was all new baby skin right here. And the cancer was in the sink.

I called up the doctor who was to perform the operation. I only could get a senior nurse. And she said, oh, come on in.

Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you too much. Even if something like that happens, there's still cancer underneath.

So come on in. And even so, I believed I was healed. I wanted to give a testimony to that doctor.

I went and I had the operation done. And they dug down several times and they said, no, there is no cancer. Praise God.

So God did a wonderful, wonderful thing. Now, my next step that I had to go through was to forgive those that hurt me. You see, when Satan has an opening into a Christian life through the past, he still attacks, he still comes back.

And there was such an opening in my life. And I had to forgive. I had to forgive the person that misused me.

And it was very, very hard for me because Matthew chapter six, verse 14 says, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. Bondages exist in your life where Satan still has access if you don't follow the word of God. And so I wrote a letter of forgiveness on October 28th, 2005, but I never mailed it because the person was already too old.

But I said, Lord, I consciously forgive. And I set this person free. Later on, the person that took care of this person told me on the phone that that person had lived with guilt all the life.

And then she said, in the last two days of that person's life, that person knew that the person was forgiven. Now, how the person knew, I don't know. We were 2000 miles apart, but I have a great God.

Who is your God? Do you follow him? Do you follow Jesus Christ, the true God? He's incredible. He's wonderful. And he gives us love, joy and peace, even if we give up some of the other things.

The next step for me was the hardest part, which was asking for forgiveness of those that I had hurt deeply. And that included my former wife. It included the woman I had lived common law with.

It included my two daughters. It was harder than anything that I had ever done in my life. I called up my older daughter in 2005, and I said to her, Honey, could I come and have a meeting with you and your husband? She was married in the meantime.

And I said, I want to ask you for forgiveness, because in Matthew chapter five, verses 23 and 24, it says, Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and thou rememberest that thy brother or sister has anything against you, leave your gift at the altar and go your way. First be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. When I called up my oldest daughter, she said, Yes, Dad, come.

And her husband was present. We sat on a red couch that was six feet wide. My daughter sat at one side, I sat at the other.

And I started to tell him that I loved her so much, but I had left her. I had left her when she was young. I had left her because of sin in my life.

It was not her fault. And she could have never, never done anything about it. Because I was sinful.

It was my fault. I asked her for forgiveness. Then I asked for forgiveness for all of the other things that I had done to my children.

And I asked my daughter, if she would forgive me for my over control, if she would forgive me for my judgmentalism, if she would forgive me for my self-righteousness. You see, I expected her to be right in everything. But I didn't think that I needed to be right in these things.

Each time I asked my daughter for forgiveness, she moved a little bit closer to me. I asked her for forgiveness for my perfectionism, for my uncontrolled anger, for not communicating with her, and for not allowing her to communicate with me when she wanted to. I asked her to forgive me for not loving her the way I should have.

I explained to her why I had not been able to hold her when she turned 10 years old. I told her I was misused as a child. And later on, a psychologist told me that the reason I could hold not my daughters after 10 years was because I was afraid deep down that I would do to them what was done to me.

And as I shared with that, my daughter came and we clutched in our arms and she wept and I wept. My younger daughter said when I called her, yes, dad, come. And as I met with her and her husband, she said to me, dad, you don't need to ask for forgiveness.

I forgave you a long time ago. But beloved, their wounds, when you do wrong, the sins of the father go on to future generations. 10 years after both my younger daughter and my older daughter had forgiven me, they wrote me a letter in 2015.

And I'll read excerpts from both letters my younger daughter wrote. I know that we have had some rough times. And I have struggled over the years, as I felt for part of my life, I didn't really have a dad.

When I got divorced and I needed you, I just felt like you weren't there. I'm only saying this to share truly how I felt over the years. I think there has been a void in my life as I was missing that regular male role model.

And I have looked to friends to fill it. And I had looked to my husband to fill it. And that void was unhealthy for me.

And it caused me to have an unhealthy relationship. All that is to say, now, dad, I see you as a changed man. You are compassionate, caring, forgiving.

And I'm thankful to have you fully in my son's life and my life. And beloved, God did that. But it caused so much harm.

How much harm have you caused in your family? Are your children cutting themselves? Are they seeking suicide? Are they hurting themselves? Are they rejecting Christianity? Ten years later, my older daughter wrote and she said, dad, we also remember all that God has done in your life. Dad, and in mine too. Just this morning, I had a dream.

In my dream, I was visiting some sort of gathering in a scummy part of town with druggies and people that were really messed up. It was interesting because some guy got up and sort of mockingly made fun of God saying, God has done great things in my life. Guess what? The Holy Spirit came upon me in the dream.

And I got up and started testifying of God's greatness in my life and in your life, dad. You were sitting in the crowd in a different place. You were going to be speaking to everyone.

I started calling you daddy. I started calling you daddy and talking about what God has done in your life, how he has changed you, how you're a new creation, how that doesn't mean that you don't sometimes still fall short, but you are new. You're made new.

And I was so proud of you. And God did that. Those two letters are some of my most precious possessions after the word of God.

And God can change you. God can make you new. God can take those things out of your life that are hindering you.

He can bring you back to a place where your children will say, dad, we're proud of you. Dad, we're so glad you held on. And then beloved, I returned stolen things.

I contacted the border crossings where I had lied. And I tried to also make up for those things that I had stolen with the poor. And Zacchaeus stood before the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 19, verses eight and nine.

And he said, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything from any man, my false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, this day is salvation.

Come to this house. Praise God. Now the next step for me was to follow God in obedience in everything I do to surrender my all to him, to remove every doubtful habit, to give him my plans, my goals, my purpose in life.

But I wasn't quite ready yet. You see, in 2005, God had called me for ministry. And I said, no, God, I'm too evil.

I'm too evil. I cannot follow you in that way. I'm divorced.

I have no church connections. I'm no good God. However, in 2005, I started to study for the ministry for three years, but I had no intention to follow him.

On a Thursday morning in 2008, I was praying with a chaplain. He is a good friend of mine. And he started to get angry at me as we were praying together.

And he started shouting at me and he said, you better declare that God has called you. Do his will. What's the matter with you? I didn't want to.

I said, look, you're supposed to be a Christian. Stop shouting at me. But I was very upset.

I went home in the afternoon. It was now a Thursday afternoon. And I knew I was called for revival.

God has called me for revival. And so I entered the word revival in my computer on Google and I hit enter. And up as a first website came a website called Wall Street Revival, New York, Pastor Bruce Berliner.

Wall Street Revival, New York, Pastor Bruce Berliner. I said, Lord, am I supposed to contact this man? There was no answer. The next morning at 6.30 a.m., I went to a man's meeting about 40 miles from New York.

I sat in the back on a round table. Across from me sat a man who was already there. He said, I said, good morning.

And he replied and said, good morning, pastor. I looked at him and I said, good morning, but I'm not a pastor. He looked at me and he said, yes, you are a pastor.

You're called of God. I got angry, to be honest with you, because I didn't like people prophesying over me. And then also, how would this man know? He surely was looking for something.

In my business sense, that's what I thought. And I answered testily, and who might you be? And he said, my name is Pastor Bruce Berliner from Wall Street Revival, New York. It was the same man.

I had not seen his picture. I didn't know who he was. I just knew his name.

And God had sent him that morning. I nearly fell off my chair and I became afraid of God. And Pastor Bruce then explained, he said, he had two churches.

He had to take care of a funeral that morning. He said, I don't have time to be here. The Holy Spirit called me to be here.

I don't know why. And I was afraid to tell him. Later on, I called him up two weeks later and I told him.

And he said, no, you are called of God. And we had dinner together. He invited me to his meetings.

And he started to give me a foundation in revival. Pastor Bruce Berliner is with the Lord. In the meantime, he has passed on.

But there were four more men whom God used to call me into ministry. And that includes Pastor Dr. Robert L. Curry from the Mount Zion Baptist Church and the former chairman of the Baptist Convention of New Jersey and others. So finally, I gave in and I said, perhaps God, if you can use Paul, who had murdered and given agreement to murder, maybe can even use a person like me.

And so perhaps you are a Christian in a right place today. Perhaps you have little or no joy. Perhaps you are a minister of the gospel watching.

By the way, statistics of Christian pastors say that 1,500 ministers leave the ministry every month in the United States of America. 18,000 are affected by burnout, spiritual failure, moral failure, falling into sin and contention within their church. 70% feel called at the beginning of their ministry.

Only 50% feel called after three years. 50% of pastors get divorced. 80% of pastors' children have had to seek professional help for depression.

70% of pastors do not have a close friend. 95% do not pray regularly with their spouse. 80% of the pastors spend less than 15 minutes a day in prayer.

70% study the Bible only when preparing sermons. Beloved Christian, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, some of you need a miracle today. Perhaps you need personal revival where the Holy Spirit is allowed to take over your life, where you give your life to Christ in total surrender to change you.

God has said in the beginning of this message in the book of Isaiah chapter 57 verse 15, for thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Yet beloved, if you have tried and tried again in your own strength and you have failed, there is a reason. You have tried in your own strength and you have never fully surrendered.

In Jeremiah chapter 17 verses 5 to 10, here God gives the antidote. God gives the solution and here God says in Jeremiah 17 verses 5 to 10, thus says the Lord, curse it be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departs from the Lord. And here God says, if you try in your own strength, if you only trust for you to change, for you to do new things, for you to follow me properly, you're going to fail.

You're going to fail. There's a better way. And then God explains what happens to that person in verse 6, for you shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the porch places in the wilderness, in the salt land not inhabited.

Are you in a dry place without water, thirsty, dying of thirst, a dried up weed, a tumbling weed in the desert? Then in verse 7 it says, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. And here is the solution. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is.

Then in verse 8, God gives a metaphor of a tree planted by the waters. That is you and me. For you shall be as a tree planted by the waters and that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaves shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought.

Neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Praise God. But then right after that, God immediately gave a warning.

And the warning is not to fall back in the old ways. Because here in verse 8 of Jeremiah 17, God reminds us, I've given you the solution, which is trusting me and following me in all you do. And then you'll be like this wonderful tree.

But then in verse 9 he says, here's the warning. Be warned. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

Who can know it? And then God said, I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. You want to rely on your own strength? God says, go ahead, do it.

You'll fail. And you are failing. Will you turn to God? The advice is given by God himself.

He says, you're cursed if you depend on yourself. And then this tree is founded upon Christ Jesus, the living water. He is the savior.

He is the word of God. He is the prayer. And then it goes on to say that this tree is well watered in the spirit of God.

You see, your branches, your roots must go deep into the soil, into the word of God, into prayer to reach that fountain that never shall run dry because a Christian must live by the spirit, must walk in the spirit and is led by the spirit. And then this fear, this tree does not fear when the heat comes. Romans 8 17.

If we're children, then we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. It does not matter what your opposition is.

It does not matter what your sin is. If you turn your eyes upon Jesus, he will forgive you. He will restore you.

And it says, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look at his wonderful face. Then all the things of the earth become strangely dim in the light of his power and grace.

And then this tree remains healthy. How? Through trust, faith and hope in this living Christ. He is our solution.

First Corinthians 15 57. Christ is the victory. He will give you the victory if you truly surrender to him.

And then to retain green leaves, this Christian stays connected with Christ because he activates the mind of Christ. You have been given the mind of Christ, says First Corinthians, but you need to activate it. He is in you.

His mind is available to you, but you need to activate it. And then it says this tree will live without anxiety. Anxiety includes overwhelming fear, a feeling of going crazy at times, losing control, feeling you're in grave danger, feeling you might pass out, a search of doom or gloom, an urgency to escape, dizziness, palpitations, tremblings, sweating, shortness of breath, chest pressure or pain, turning pale, feeling detached from reality, weak in the knees, burning skin, pins and needles, hard and cold flashes, numbness and tingling, sensation.

God will be with you. God wants to restore you. God wants to heal you.

And then God said this tree will have fruit. You will have the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians chapter 5 22 and 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such there is no law, and God cannot lie. He will let you experience that if you trust him, if you fully surrender to him. And then you will share your faith.

In China, with a hundred million Christians, they have 23,000 new believers every day. Every day. They are in the power of the Holy Spirit and they share Christ.

Now, which will your human heart listen to? Your human heart will listen to your own power, to the world, the flesh and the devil. And I ask you, will you follow unbelief? Will you follow disobedience? Will you follow the flesh that wants to take over? The solution is given as advice by the Lord. Trust and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

This includes faith and obedience also to his son. It includes repentance, cleansing, and ask for the filling with the Spirit of God. Trust and hope in the Lord.

There's a wonderful song that goes like this, when we walk with the Lord in the light of his word. What a glory he sheds on our way while we do his goodwill. He abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. You see, I wanted to trust and obey but I never saw my miracle. I overlooked the miracle.

The miracle is the Son of God. I overlooked him in my Christian life. He is my only hope.

He is my only Savior. He's the one that saves me and also keeps me from sin and he is able to keep me from falling and to present me in the glorious presence of his Father. Thank you, thank you, thank you Lord how wonderful you are.

Now perhaps you say, perhaps you say, yes I want to start a new life. I want to put the old things behind. I want to experience personal revival.

Yes, yes, yes I will cry out to God. You see, if you're willing to turn around and stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, he requires that you come to him. The battle is the Lord's but he wants you to come to him.

He wants you to come in repentance. He wants to endure you with power from on high to change things, not through your own power but through his power. So please let us bow in prayer in a moment.

If God has put a burden on your heart for a new start and for personal revival, would you please pray with me? He's an omnipotent God, a holy God. He says come, come into my holy presence. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Will you pray with me? Let us pray. Heavenly Father, you are our incredible God. You are our father in heaven.

You are the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. You said you dwell in the high and holy place, but you would also dwell with me if I have a contrite and humble spirit. You said you would revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

You said you will not contend forever, nor will you be angry forever, and that you will forgive me. Forgive me, Lord, for the iniquity of failing your commandments and following the world in unrighteousness. And forgive me specifically for the following sins.

And beloved, would you mention your own sins in this spot? Perhaps sins that are besetting sins, sins that are like molasses, would you mention them to God? And then say to God, God, you have been hiding from me and were angry at me because of sin. Forgive me, Lord. You have seen my backsliding in the way of my heart.

Now you see my ways and know that I am sincere. You said you see my ways and that you will heal me. Heal me, Lord.

Heal me, Lord. I cry out to you in repentance. I want to turn around and I have not been able to do it myself.

I tried in my own strength. Now, Lord Jesus, I give my life to you. I surrender to you.

Set me free. You have set me free already, but I'm not experiencing it. Help me to mourn for my sin.

Help me to turn to you. Help me to be comforted when I mourn. And then, Father, you said you would create the fruit of your lips and forgive me in your mercy.

Would you, would you, would you, Father, give me new peace, love, and joy because I have been in the desert and far off? Please heal me. I claim your promise where you said in your word that you will heal me, that you will heal him, which is me. In Jesus' name, I pray and I believe.

Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name. Thank you for praying with me and if you have prayed that prayer, I believe with all my heart that you will experience personal revival and then infect others around you. Ask God to fill you anew every day with the power of his Holy Spirit to help you to do his work that you're supposed to be doing and which you're called for.

Ask the Lord to help you. Now, there's some of you that have watched and you have never asked Christ Jesus into your life. You have heard my testimony when I humbled myself and I prayed and I asked Jesus Christ to come and save me, to do so, and he did.

And you have seen my life. It has changed. Your life can be changed too.

You can experience true love, joy, and peace. But God says, I have given you this gift of my son. It's up to you to ask him and receive this gift.

And so I ask you to pray to the Lord Jesus Christ. Ask him to forgive you. Ask him to come into your life.

Ask him to help you to live this Christian life and then commit to follow him. Beloved, if you just say the prayer and nothing happens and you don't do anything, I believe you're not saved. I think there must be evidence in your life.

And what are fruits of repentance? What is fruit of evidence? Let me see evidence in your life. For Jesus reminded us in Matthew that not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will be able to go to heaven. Not everyone that heals, not everyone that drives out demons will go to heaven.

In Matthew, Jesus said, only those who do the will of my Father. I wish I had a different message for you, an easier one. But this is what is the truth.

So please consider giving your life to Christ, but also that it is a commitment on your part. And then I would ask you to take your Bible every day. Start reading your Bible.

Pray every day and seek out a church that is a Bible believing church and join others to join them in worship. I thank you so much Christians who have joined to watch me. Thank you for yet unbelievers who have joined and I pray that you would receive this eternal life.

Thank you for watching and the Lord be with you. Thank you. Bye-bye.