The Counterfeit Revival - Part 5

We have utterly failed and now we are willing to be willing to go thy way. Then be sure of this, you'll be attacked by the devil. And then notice what Samuel does. Notice there's no presumption here as far as their military ability was concerned. They fill all their weakness and they cease. They cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. And then please note this, look at this unique offering. And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a burnt offering, holy unto the Lord. And Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel and hallelujah, the Lord heard him. Now I put that hallelujah in because I can't help it, the Lord heard him. But that suckling lamb, how ridiculous. There were the lords of the Philistines. There were these mighty Philistine soldiers. Men that could say, quit ye like men and fight. Here were soldiers that had muscles like the rhine of a rhinoceros, were strong as elephants. Here was little Israel, weak and trembling. Forgive my cockney, muscles like sparrow's kneecaps. That was it, was weak. And here is Samuel, we would imagine him taking a great bullock and offer him up, speaking of strength and servitude. Or if not a big bullock, why not a ram with those horns of strength? Denoting the strength of Jehovah, not a bit of it. In the light of the lords of the Philistines, he takes a suckling lamb. The only time the suckling lamb was ever offered in the Old Testament. This little lamb couldn't chew the cud properly, had to depend upon its mother for everything. It's marked by weakness. This little lamb is totally dependent upon its mother for food. But it was a lamb, a little lamb, a suckling lamb. Not for a sin offering, but for a burnt offering. It was all for God. Think of that. The Lord Jesus said, of my own self, I can do nothing. He was totally and absolutely dependent upon the Lord. The one who made the worlds, the one who holds the worlds together by his cohesive power. The one who is the heir of all creation. The one that's going to build the new heaven and the new earth. Said, of my own self, I can do nothing. He depended entirely on God and the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul was praying to the Lord that that affliction may be lifted from him. And the Lord came and said, no, I'm not going to do it, Paul. My strength is made perfect, made perfect in weakness. And here was Israel, all trembling. There was the might of the Philistines. There was the little lamb, a suckling lamb. Speaking of weakness, speaking of dependency, but then speaking of devotion. Totally yielded up for God. And that's the secret of blessing. You know, dear friends, we're living in days when people think that we've all got to come together. And we've got to have masses all together. And we've got to have great bands and pop groups and the dancing girls and the acting groups. And we've got to have comedians. Oh, yes, we've got to put on a show. Don't you believe it? When God is about to work, he takes up the weeping. How did he feed 5,000? Five loaves, two small fishes. How did Samson destroy a thousand Philistines? Short bone of an ass. What about Zechariah 4? There was that great mountain, the opposition of the enemy. And the Lord had to teach them, not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who hath despised the day of small things? Now, I'll tell you what it does for me. That in the last days, God can only do little things. Do you know what it means? In the last days, God will do great things through little things. He'll remove the mountains. And when God finds us in our weakness, trembling, totally thrown upon him, then we'll see the blessing of God. But let's look at verse 10. And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. Now notice this. And the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and it discomfited them. And they were smitten before Israel. And the men of Israel went out to Mishpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them until they came under Beth-char. And so they were discomfited. They were smitten. They were pursued. They smote them again, and they subdued them again. Total, absolute victory. In fact, more than that. All the days of that generation of Samuel, they saw victory. Total victory. Why? It was the victory of the Lord. Now this is what I believe God is saying now to this modern generation, with all its gimmicks. If he can find a remnant of people in a local church that's laid on the altar. If he can find a remnant of people who are filled with the Spirit. If he can find a remnant of people whose homes have a family altar, where they're praising God constantly in that home. If he can find a small group of people who recapture his presence, recapture his presidency, and recapture his power. He'll shake the community again. And it will be the principle of the suckling man. But then something else. And the cities which the Philistine had taken from Israel were restored to Israel from Ekron even unto Geth. And the coast thereof this Israel deliver out of the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. What does that mean? Israel lost four of the coastal cities. All the lovely beaches. All the lovely sea, the Mediterranean Sea. All the beautiful places were in the hands of the Philistines. And all they had was the little sea of Galilee. None of them could get to the sea. But when there was this great victory, the five cities that they had taken from Israel, these lovely seaside cities, they were all restored to them. That's true revival. Now, I'm going to cause a storm.