The Counterfeit Revival - Part 3

Are we hungering for the Lord? Lamenting. Are you sisters lamenting for the Lord? May I say to these young people, if you marry and you're a mother, become a homemaker, and rear those children for the fear of God, and God can bless you. All the externals that you put in the home doesn't matter. Those little children are precious, and we need godly fathers and godly mothers to produce their Samuel in this day. All right, let's read on. And they lamented after the Lord. Now look at this heart preparation. And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If, now note that word, If. It's conditional. If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods, and Astaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him. That means to serve like a slave, serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Now, that's heart preparation. You don't find that in the fourth chapter, but you find that in the seventh chapter. But it's If. If my people that are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, and so on, then there's blessing. But it's all an If. And therefore, immediately they lament after the Lord. Then Samuel comes onto the scene. Now note this. For twenty years he had been silent. Twenty years. Not a word from him. We know that he was moving in a circuit, and thank God for that circuit. The word of the Lord had come to him. The word of Samuel had come to Israel. But this is the sad thing. They took no notice of it. Probably sent a very challenging message, but no action. Beloved, I have been speaking about revival for nearly fourteen days, but that's not revival. Until we do something about it, God will not take us away. What does he want? He wants us to stay behind and pray it through. I can't leave this place tonight. God has spoken. I'm staying. And I'm going to say with Jacob, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. And then God will take us away. So can you see, first of all, he says, if you do return with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and asterisks from around you. Now what does this mean? There were two kinds of gods here that they put away. I think if my memory serves me right, there are twenty-four gods mentioned in the Old Testament. These are the two major ones, Balaam and Asteroth. Balaam was the sun god. It was the god of culture. It was a god where sometimes they worshipped the stars and the moon and invariably the people that worshipped Balaam were moral. But you see it was idolatry. Asteroth was the female god. It was the god of fertility. It was the god of nudity. And it was the god that they looked at that generated sexual desires and therefore it was the god of seed. But it was the god of lust. Beloved, I believe we have those two kinds of gods. Some of us make gods of our home. Nothing wrong with that but when we make a god of it, it is. Some of us put our family first. Some of us put the business first. That's all associated with Balaam. Then there's the god of nudity. That newspaper that has pornographic pictures. When you switch on the television, pornographic manifestation and this is colouring the minds of people. Let's deal with it. Now my dear friends, we have no right to say to God's people they must put out the television. That is your own responsibility before the Lord. And if you can discipline the knob, pray that God will help you. But that television can smash the whole of your spiritual life. And all of us have to be careful. I know with little children and I now have grandchildren and they soon will have grandchildren, that if they go into other homes and they see certain things, it's awful. That's why some parents feel that they must have it so they can discipline the knob. But may I say this, don't grow up with that kind of astro. Always rely, remember it's dangerous and discipline. They had to put out the idols. And then you will notice and serve him only. What does that mean? The word there, serve, means don't be in slavery to the Philistines or if I may put it in New Testament language, don't be in slavery to the flesh, don't be in slavery to the law, don't be in slavery to self or to the world. Be one of God's slaves and then you'll be free. Isn't it wonderful to be set free from all the chains that bind us to flesh and sin and to be a bond slave of Jesus Christ. For therein is liberty. Then he goes on, and serve him only and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Now that was heart preparation. Now I want you to note their prompt obedience. They could have said to Samuel, that was a challenging message. Now can I share something with you that is for your commendation. The messages that I have given, I have rarely given before. I have challenged God's people but I've never challenged people like this before. And invariably when I challenge God's people, two things can happen. People will say going up, that was a challenge. And then other people will shake me by the hand with their head down and say, goodnight, goodnight, goodnight. Both are wrong. But I've heard you saying and I've seen tears, that was from the Lord. But this is the problem. Did we put away the gods? Did we say to our own souls, I want to be not in captivity to the flesh any longer? I'm going to lay myself on the altar. You see, it's when we do it that matters. Now I know this is hard and I'm saying this to you in deep love. The more you hear and the less you do, your heart will get hurt. That's why when we hear the word of the Lord, we must act immediately. And that's vital.