What do we want from revival?

Seeing all that God is doing in our media, seeing all of New England praying, fasting in a way that hasn't been seen in over a hundred years. Something powerful is doing the Lord. And the question for you tonight is what do we want from this revival?

We are entering a time when anything, that to me is revival, when we can, when the church of Jesus Christ can rise up and ask anything from the throne of God and the Lord hears our prayer, and changes the face of the earth. And that is what the word promises us.

James, Chapter 5. We are going to talk about one of the conditions, if that is what we want, brothers. There is a very important condition that we have to yearn for, seek and ask for from the Lord.

The word says, verse 16 of James, Chapter 5, the last part of that verse, the last sentence reads like this ".... the effective prayer of the righteous can do much". Another translation says that "the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective", and continues "....Elijah was a man subject to passions similar to ours and he prayed fervently that it would not rain and it did not rain on the earth for 3 years and 6 months. And again he prayed and the sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.

My brothers, for me that is a church in revival. A church with that level of authority in the presence of the Lord and why is it that the Apostle Santiago tells us "Elías was a man subject to passions similar to ours". Do you know why he says it? He says it to encourage them, to encourage us to desire an authority at this level, in other words, the Church of Jesus Christ, if Elijah, who was flesh and blood and bones and passions and subject to temptations just like us, could ask the Lord for stop raining on the earth and the Lord heard it, granted your prayer and stopped the rain for three and a half years, why not you?

If the Lord gave Elijah, a man subject to the same temptations, the same afflictions, the same thoughts, a man who slept and ate and walked like any other man, a man, the Bible records that he even suffered from depression; if that man could ask, 'well Lord now it is enough with this hunger that we have suffered for three and a half years, open the heavens'. In such a tiny prayer that records the word, like anything else, 'Lord, let it rain again', and may the Lord hear this man's prayer.

Brothers, I don't know about you, when you read this word, how do you read it? Like fairy tales or like true facts. A man touching the throne of God with authority and the Lord hearing him. I believe that the Lord is capable of operating through men like this. I believe, brothers, and that is why the Apostle James says it, I believe, brothers, that revival is coming before the presence of the Lord with that authority and that the Lord does in our midst, well, brothers, what We already see the shadow that he is making. We see the shadow of what is coming. We see institutions coming to the church and asking us to 'direct us, please', 'go before us, please', 'pray for us, please'.

We need the authority of this Christ that you preach. That is revival. That is revival. And, brethren, I say that that is merely the shadow of things to come. Brothers, I eat, we eat good Pentecostals... a brother told me yesterday, commenting on the Sunday service. He says 'that was tremendous Pentecostalism.' That was nice. That was nice.

Brothers, as good Pentecostals, I believe that the Lord opens the eyes of heaven, literally. I believe that the Lord lifts up people in wheelchairs, I do. I believe that the Lord is capable of asking, that we ask before the Lord, 'Lord, do great things among us, heal the sick, set captives free. Lord, may the state house, may the government be under your feet.'

I believe in such a mighty God. And I believe that is what is coming to the church of Jesus Christ in this age. Aren't you asking for it? Do you feel it? You are not sorry? Now, brethren, God wants us to want this. He wants us to want this. He wants us to want it, He wants us to long for it. He wants us to pray asking him for this environment before the Lord, that we ask him for this authority.

And the Lord in his mercy tells us clearly what are the requirements of such a powerful environment. If you want to see my glory in this way, if you want to see me move in this way, if you want to see, as you say, the eyes of the blind open. If you want to see the glory of the Lord come down like this, then that is what I expect. And one of the things that the Lord expects, and I think it is one of the things that he was saying to us on Sunday, one of the things that the Lord asks of us, is that we be a church that realizes, that we are aware of so much of the neighbor's pain. It sounds very simple, but it is very key.

For the Lord that is an immovable condition and it is very clear in this text. I believe the Lord is leading us to this. But, brothers, what I invite you tonight is that we ask the Lord to make our church, even more, in an intentional way, a church that realizes, that is afflicted by the pain of our neighbor.

Well, let's see how this text begins. Verse 13 “Is anyone among you afflicted? Pray. Is anyone happy in the house of the Lord? Sing praises. Is any sick among you? Call the elders of the church and pray for him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord."

And what does it declare that the Lord will do? Responding to a church that does this, that prays for its afflicted, that celebrates with joy, that anoints the sick in the name of the Lord. He says that “...the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up without exception. And if he had committed, and this is interesting listen to this, why would James mix this thought into this very verse? ".... and if they have committed sins, they will be forgiven them."

Think about how this verse begins. At the beginning it is the verse that we all know, that encourages us to pray for one another, to anoint our sick and pray for them in the name of the Lord. And, brothers, if you are new to the Gospel, you have just visited us, know that this practice that you have seen, perhaps as soon as you have arrived, someone approached you and praying for you anointed you with oil. I want you, brothers, to know that this is not a work of magic, it is not an amulet that we are throwing on it, it is not holy water, it is an act of faith in the name of the Lord. And through anointing him with oil, just like the first century sick were anointed with oil, just like kings, priests were anointed with oil, it's an ancient symbol of God's anointing falling on a human being, setting that human being apart. , pointing it out for the grace of the Lord.

The Lord says that when a church brings its sick, prays for them, anoints them with oil, the Lord will not only hear their prayers and heal the sick, but what else does he do, what else happens in that exchange? If he has committed sins, they will be forgiven.

Now, this is very important. This is very important. Brethren, one of the things that I have been asking the Lord for, and I believe it is that we are so close to the glory of God and what God wants to do in our midst, that you don't want the Lord to remove any opposition or Any obstacle to the flow of the glory of God? And I believe that one of the things that the Lord wants is this, that we see sin in the same way that He sees it, that we see a life in sin, in the same way that He sees it.

And when He sees a sin-laden soul, when He sees a sin-stricken soul in the house of the Lord, it breaks His heart. Because what He sees is.... sin, brothers, distorts the identity of the human being, from the inside out the sin distorts the human being. Sin is an affliction. Lord just give me words to explain this. It is an affliction. The one who carries sin is carrying an internal culture and God sees it. That is what God sees.

God sees a being that He has created in his image and likeness, with all the potential to do great things for which the Lord has set him apart from before he was born. And this same being realizes that he is not living up to his potential. Maybe they won't call it sin, but if they walk through these doors, they walk in the same way we sang today: 'sin hurt me, I went to Jesus to show him my pain.'

Sin is pain. Without involves pain. There is amazing pain involved in a life of sin. There is great pain, sin is pain. It is a pain of the soul, a pain that limits the human being from becoming what God has intended this being to be. And if they arrive, brothers, perhaps they will arrive complaining of the symptoms of sin. They, perhaps, will arrive saying 'my home is a disaster, my finances are a disaster, my health is a disaster, my children are a disaster, my life has been a disaster. My career is a mess, my thoughts are a mess, I can't sleep. I don't have peace.

They may not tell you all of this at once, they may not confess it all at once, but that is what brings them to the house of God. Furthermore, around us, even before reaching the house of God, there is a whole community captivated by this affliction. All around us is a humanity laden with sin. And the Lord invites us to see that pain. Just feel that pain. Feel that pain with them. Feel that grief.

Follow the text "confess your offenses to one another and pray for one another so that you may be, what about my brothers?, healed."

That's the idea. The one to confess his sin, the one to leave his sin, the one to pour out this sin before the Lord, is opening the door for the Lord to heal our afflictions, to straighten our paths, to straighten what is crooked, to put order to a messy life But it starts with confessing our sins.

And then the effective prayer of the righteous can do a lot. Brothers, in loving people that we see, in loving one another, because all of us arrive at the house of God, needing the Lord to heal this affliction. We all come in saying 'Lord, deal with my sin,' and by confessing those sins, brethren.....how do we deal with it? The mistake that many other churches make is to say, well, let's not point fingers at these people, let's not make people feel bad. And I don't think the Lord wants us to overlook sin, because that's not loving people who are afflicted with sin either.

For them to continue living in their sin, for them to continue living with this affliction, is not loving it. Saying 'well, welcome, you have arrived at the house of God, now continue living as you are', is not loving him. But to love him is to say 'wow! You must be in tremendous pain, I don't know how you can live like this and I ask that the Lord have mercy on you, that his blood cover you and that he order your path and that you live free once and for all of what has ruled your life . And I know someone who can set you free, and I know how you can live a completely different life.' That's loving him.

And, brothers, let's start with ourselves. Furthermore, let's stand up. There was a moment in the Sunday service, in the worship service, between all the jumping, between all the jumping, between crying out to the Lord, between shouting before the presence of the Lord, there was a moment when we all remained barefoot. They walked this pulpit and I don't think there was a guitar string, a drum stick, a piano key that they didn't get to anoint. They anointed the pulpit, they anointed the floor, they anointed everything around. But that doesn't impress me as much as what followed that moment. For me it felt like in the space of half an hour, but for a while a silence fell in this place, a silence in the house of God and it was a silence created by the awareness of the sanctity of this place, that we are before the presence of an inapproachably holy God, a holy place, a holy God, a God who admits no sin before his presence.

Now, brethren, believe it or not, that cloud of the Lord coming down, declaring his holiness, is an opportunity. God, being such a merciful God, such a good God, instead of pulling us back from his presence, instead of pulling us back from that cloud, one of the things that I love most about God is that He invites us to come closer. Instead of running from his presence, as the Israelites did, this is a God who tells you 'no, no, no, stay', and He does as...... His desire is to do as he did with Isaiah, who It was also felt that repelled by this powerful presence, so holy in the temple, he sent an angel to take a burning coal from the altar, pass it through his lips and in that he would take away his sins so that he would be before the presence of the Lord, stay before the presence of the Lord.

And the word of the Lord says in another favorite text in Second Corinthians, Chapter 3 that the Lord removes our finger, allows us to stand before his presence and in his presence we are transformed into his glory. And brothers, in such an environment, what can't God do? In an environment of love where one can arrive here and we know, whoever it is, we know that if it is your first time arriving, or if you have been here for a long time, but you can be sure that you can arrive at the house of God with everything and sin. If you came with the idea of getting rid of this, of removing this sting, you can get out of here again, you can get out of here anointed. That is the beauty of the house of God. That is a powerful church.

And, brothers, the more the Lord is using this church, the more and more we will be attracting sinners. And I say, amen, let them come. They need to eat. They need to eat.

Brothers, let's pray for someone, the least you think, who will accompany you to church this year: the most impossible neighbor. You know, what you are doing in the Lord through Alpha gives me the courage to say a prayer like that. The most atheist among them is the one who wants the glory of God to descend. Who is the most atheist in your family? Who is the most atheist in your workplace? Who is the person who resists the glory of God the most that you know? And we're going to take a moment, and we're going to pray for them.

Let's close our eyes for a moment. Now, ask the Lord for something rare. Try to imagine life in his shoes. Think about this person, this person who may have made your life miserable for being a Christian, this person who may have criticized you for being a Christian, this person who has persecuted you for being a Christian. Now ask the Lord, 'Father, help me to know his heart. Father help me understand his affliction. Lord for a moment, because only you are the one who can, the one who has the heart to carry this affliction for a lifetime, but I only ask that for a moment you let me see and understand your heart. Help me see it as you see it. Give me the words. Brother, the Lord is setting you apart as an evangelist. He is anointing you as an evangelist. Ask him to speak in the name of the Lord.

Sam I'm going to ask you to come up. Ask him to speak in the name of the Lord. Already have a specific person in mind? Do you have a specific person in mind? It can be a family member, it can be a neighbor, but, brothers, I believe that the Lord is taking us to a limitless stage in which......it can be a son, in which we can ask the Lord for daring prayers for others , daring.

I have a brother, I am going to confess to you now to make your life easier, I am asking for a brother in the flesh. Perhaps you have a brother, perhaps you have a relative, an uncle. Let's take a moment and lift it up before the Lord. We are going to lift him up before the Lord. Name it, name it. Make him a target of your prayer. Father, reveal his heart to me, I don't understand it, you understand it. He has to be living in affliction, a life without you is an afflicted, distorted, empty life. A life without you is a life that cannot live its purpose. A life without you is a chaotic life. A life without you will never become what God wants it to be.

And brothers, you also know if you are here, you are, brother, if you are the one who has come and said 'I am here, I am in the house of the Lord, but I also know that I have unpaid bills with God. I know that within me there are things that still exist, there are accounts that I have with the Lord, that he has to remove X, Y or Z from my life. You are a safe place, brother. Christ loves you. And that is precisely why you are here. You're my brother. If you are here and you are confessing sin before the Lord and you do not want to continue living that way, we love you in the name of Jesus and we declare that there is deliverance for your life.

Father, in the name of Jesus, raise within our midst a wave of liberation, from all sin, Lord, all afflicted life. Lord, we want to see souls arrive before you, what's more, we want our impossible missions to arrive before your presence. Father we present to you our impossible mission. Father, we present to you our most difficult case. Lord we declare that this is the year, we declare, Lord, that this is the season. We declare, Holy Father, that you will reach them in the name of Jesus. Lord have mercy on them.

Now we ask for words, we ask Lord that your spirit soften his heart of stone and make it a heart of flesh, Lord and that your word arrives, heals him, rebuilds him, Lord. Father, may you make them fishers of men too. Heal them, heal their lives in Jesus name.