Call Assembly

By the way, before going into detail, I want to tell you that we have started this series on the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And whenever I can on a lame Sunday to focus on one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. There are always different things involved, guest speakers, special events like we've had, but that's my purpose to continue that series underlying everything we do and wrap up.

Today, in fact, we had a guest speaker, Françoise Agustin, who you know, a young man who grew up here in León de Judá spiritually speaking. He is now a pastor at a church here in Boston. He couldn't come for family reasons, but then it was my turn today and I said, “well, what do I do? Do I preach on the third fruit of the Holy Spirit and continue with that theme?”

But you know that last Sunday on Easter Sunday, God led me to talk about the Valley of Dry Bones, which talks about a type of resurrection. Those bones were a symbol of death and through this passage the Lord speaks of his power to turn dead things into living things. And we spent quite a bit of time on that. And I was saying that we as a church, the Lion of Judah congregation, the world we inhabit, the universal church of Jesus Christ, in a sense right now is like a valley of dry bones. There is devastation, there is much loss.

I do not want to say that everything that is happening in the church of Christ is negative. Obviously not, but compared to what God wants to do, what He needs to do in his church, in a sense, there is death that needs to be dealt with by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And in that passage from the Valley of Dry Bones, we saw how the Lord takes Ezekiel to a vision of a valley full of bones that symbolize death, symbolize sterility. And we know that that referred to historically speaking, Israel in exile, separated from its land, the Hebrews scattered, separated from each other, a dead nation. And it declares God's intention to take that dead nation and bring it back to life and bring it back together, just as God did over 3000 plus years ago.

We had said that Ezekiel 37 is fulfilled, not only at that time, but it was also fulfilled in the year 1949, when after 2000 years of scattering and dispersion throughout the earth, the Jews returned to their land and became a nation again. And God began to assemble them from all parts of the world and took them and constituted anew, for the second time, the resurrection of the nation of Israel.

But this passage from Ezekiel 37 not only applies to those historical events, but also applies to the church in our time. The church is in a sense, like a valley of dry bones that needs revival, needs a fresh vision, needs a visitation from the Holy Spirit. The church of Jesus Christ at this time in history, and I am referring to the universal church, is a decrepit church. Yes, there are good things that happen, like today where we have seen the glory of God. God is doing great things through missionary works as they do with our brothers in Malawi. People are converting.

But compared to what God wants to do at this time in history with the church, we are like a valley of dry bones. We need a visitation. And the reason why I say this is not to stay in that negative scene, but to say, wow! God has so much more for us. Let's go forward. But first, many times you have to recognize a reality. The church in our time is scattered. The church in our time lacks prestige before the nations, in Europe, in North America, Canada, the United States, the church has no prestige, it is in reproach. The church is in bondage to a certain extent. The world looks at the church and says, "Where are those great promises that you say?" The church is, to some extent, in shame. The world is getting worse and worse every day. Humanity is degenerating more and more.

When we see the terrible doctrines that are taking place. When we see the schools in our own city of Boston teaching doctrines of demons to our children, teaching them that they can be a lady, a little man, and we often have no power to stop that. We look from the outside, we see the enemy every day helping himself with the big spoon in the West. We see Islam proceeding more and more every day, wreaking more havoc in the world. We see the progress of bad doctrines. We see a worldly church, to a degree, a church that is abandoning the doctrines of the faith in large numbers. We still see within the church, doctrines of demons proliferating and prospering.

In our own segment of the city of Boston right next to us, we have thousands of drug addicts, homeless people, and we just... And glory to God that God is using... I have to get that straight, God is using us as a congregation to bless that area of the city of Boston, every day we see new people come to the Lord from that area. God is doing miraculous things. God is using our street ministries. But that's a drop of water in a desert. And we have to be unhappy. We have to be dissatisfied in a holy and spiritual way for God to do what He wants to do.

And we have to recognize, to a certain extent, that that gloomy scene of a valley of dry bones, to a certain extent, applies to us. But you know what? That does not fill me with pessimism. On the contrary, it fills me with excitement, with encouragement, because I know that God is going to take those dry bones, assemble them and turn them into a powerful army for the glory of his name and the conquest of nations. And that is why I am standing here this afternoon, to proclaim that, to fill us with a thirst and a holy restlessness. Say, “Lord, we want more. We want to see your glory manifested. We want to see your face. We want to touch you. We want your spirit to descend upon us and then send us as a spearhead to do the work that you want to do in these times of history."

The meaning of Ezekiel 37, The Valley of Dry Bones, is precisely that, at the center of that stage, and from that story is the Holy Spirit moving. The spirit of the Lord asks Ezekiel, "Son of man, do you think those bones can live?" And he sheepishly replies, "Well, Lord, you know." But the Lord is evidently saying it rhetorically because He says, "Now prophesy over those bones."

And everything that happens in that passage is the product of the presence, the guidance, the intervention of the Holy Spirit through the life of the prophet Ezekiel. The Lord tells him, "Preach to those bones." No, He says, “Prophesy to those bones,” meaning, speak in the power of the Holy Spirit. Speak in my spirit.

And when a church is filled with the Holy Spirit then it can prophesy to the nations, it can prophesy to that valley of dry bones that is there on the so-called Methadone Mile that we have chosen to call Miracle Mile. And then people can rise up in the power of the Holy Spirit.

It comes to my mind now when Lazarus is in his grave, it smells bad after four days of burial and decay, and the Lord tells him, "Lazarus, come out." And the Word says that Lazarus came out of the grave. And that is the power that the church needs in this time. We need the power to prophesy to drug addicts injecting in the neck, in the veins of the neck, in the name of Jesus be free.

I long for the day when we see the glory of the Lord manifested in one of the most unbelieving cities in all the earth: Boston. And may the power of God be manifested. I asked the Lord while we were here, "Father, we want irrefutable miracles, undeniable miracles, irresistible miracles, miracles that cannot be contradicted because your glory manifesting itself is so great." And God can do it in this city. Boston is a valley of dry bones, but the Lord can declare your life and make it a place of great life, great resurrection.

But we have to seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit. What was happening today, God is doing it. The service in English has been the ashen ministry of León de Judá, quiet, muertecito, but God is doing something marvelous in that service. Today I barely had time to preach about 20, 25 minutes because the glory of the Lord descended during the time of intercession and we saw the glory of God manifested. Those people are getting their act together. God is doing something.

I believe that we are in a kairos moment as a congregation and I do not believe that... And look, through the years, we are 40 years old. I have been with this church for 40 years, since 1982, and I have seen the process that this church has followed. And we have had times of blessing, visitation, exaltation, but I am convinced that what we are experiencing now is something new and different. And that we are in a very special moment.

Many times, brothers, this church has been in process, it has been in God's dealings through all these years. You can tell someone that he is like a historian, because I have experienced it, I have lived it these 40 years. Some of you have been around almost as long as I have. But there is something, in this book that I just finished, “Life by Design”, one of the things that I talk about a lot is… not a lot, but I do have a section on Habakkuk and the vision of Habakkuk.

And God tells him, "Even if the vision takes time, wait for it because it will come." Many times the visions of God take time. God is a maximum and master of processes and sometimes God's promises take time, while God is working in our lives. That is why it is important that if God has put a dream in your life, God has put a vision, a conception of something, you have to wait for it, you have to declare it, cherish it, work on it, let God complete his work because many times God The first thing you have to do is work on us so that the vision can be fulfilled.

And God has to work in us so that the vision doesn't fall apart when God gives it to us. If the person whom God is calling for that vision to be realized is not prepared, the vision stagnates, the vision dies. And God often prepares us, works with us, God is not in a hurry, we are in a hurry. He has trillions of years to live, we have 60, 70, 80 and we are in a hurry, like Abraham. We want to make an Isaac because we already want to see something, but God takes a long time.

God has been working in this church for decades. And he's been working in my life, and in his life to get something done. We are, I think, close to the consummation of that time, and we have to move on. What I believe that God is doing now is something very special, seeing the other things that God has done and we have to persist. This is not a matter of emotion.

I tell him, "Lord, give me the stamina [sic] and the resistance of a marathon runner so that we can nourish, caress, bless what you are doing." And every time you come to the house of the Lord, come with the determination to fan the glory of God. Because sometimes we believe that it is God who does everything, and we sit there and say, “Okay, Lord, do…” No, no, God wants you to also work in the manifestation of his glory.

When you come to church, come to cry, come to travail, it means to agonize for the Lord. Stand up, praise the Lord, adore him, stir up the presence of God in your life because that is part of it. God does not do everything. God has his purpose, but we are also responsible.

And in fact, what I'm seeing in the 9:00 service is that, as these people are getting a vision of stirring up the presence of God, God is responding. Don't stay where you are. Many people look at where they are emotionally, culturally, intellectually, and say, "Well, Lord, if you want to do something, do it, I'm willing." But God tells you, "No, see that I command you to strive and be brave."

There is a part that we have to do. You have to seek the presence of the Lord. You have to get up early, knock on the doors of the Lord. You have to read more of the word of God. You have to agonize more. You have to ask the Lord, “Father, do what you want in my life,” and to the extent that we give ourselves, God does things.

I'm getting ahead of the sermon, but that's okay. God will assemble it as He wants. But I'm talking to you. I believe that God's message to us at this time is specific and at the same time universal. God's call to this congregation is Lion of Judah congregation but also put your name there specifically. God wants to move in each one of us. And I don't just mean the people who are naturally up front here, the intercessors, the leaders, the spiritual people in quotes, God wants you, new believer, new visitor to church, young person who never spends time in the word, new people in the spirit, people who may never have done much in the Kingdom of God, God is interested in your action. God cares about your revival. God is interested that you stand up and assume your responsibility in the Kingdom of God and that you begin to seek Him more strongly. Because the only thing…

And brothers, what justifies what I am saying right now is this, that as in the case of Ezequiel with dry bones, the only thing that can change this world today is a visitation of the power of God over his church because everything resides in church. The Holy Spirit already has work, but God needs an instrument and historically it has always been the church. Men and women filled with the Holy Spirit carrying out the work of God.

And for this reason, if there is going to be visitation, if the dry bones are going to become a powerful and useful army for the Kingdom of God, there has to be an Ezekiel filled with the Holy Spirit with a divine intimacy that says to those bones, “In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.”

We… and there is an urgency. This is a time in human history like never before. I have spent some time studying something about the moment we are in. For many years I have not talked so much about the end times, the eschatology of the church. I have resisted that and through the years many brethren have asked me, "Why don't you preach more about Revelation and the end times?" I have felt that there were still processes to be done, things that had to happen.

But honestly when I see the state of humanity, when I see not only the negative things that we find ourselves in in the 21st century, all the epidemics, the wars, the rumors of war, the devastation, the economic crises, the movement of terrorism and wars like the ones in Ukraine and all these things, yes, of course, all these things indicate something that is happening.

But when you also look at where humanity is at this time, the doctrines, when you look at the advancement of science... Daniel in his book says that science will multiply in recent times. And when you see humanity at this time, talking about artificial intelligence, talking about biotechnology that promises to turn us into semi-robots, when talking about mixing mechanical parts with human parts in ourselves, when talking about robots that are part human and part machine, when talking about putting chips in the human brain to do different things that we can't normally do, when we see the advancement of quantum science and technology and the discovery of more and more about the universe and its true nature , when we see the exploration of the human brain and the continuous knowledge of human neurology, when we see the decoding of human genetics and the ability to manipulate human biology, one sees that we are in a time like when in Babel the technology of man arrived to a certain point and God said, "We have to stop it because if they continue, we don't know what's going to happen."

And we are in that time when God is going to stop the progress of humanity because humanity, like a very precocious young man, very bright, but who does not have the wisdom to handle what his intellect, his brain tells him. And God is going to intervene, he has to intervene, because otherwise we are going to destroy ourselves.

So, I think so, that we are at a very important moment in human history. And at that time God wants to do something. I believe that God wants a great harvest for these last times. Before the second coming of Christ, we are going to see an unprecedented manifestation of God's glory on earth, a visitation of the Holy Spirit. The church age begins with Pentecost and will end, I believe, with a great Pentecost as well.

And I believe that this is the moment and we have to capture that impulse of the spirit of God, we have to take advantage of that movement of what God wants to do. And like Ezekiel we have to be looking for the visitation of the Holy Spirit because the only thing that is going to change this world today is a fresh flood of God's spirit on earth. Boston, for example, one of the most exquisitely developed cities in its intellect in all of human history, is not going to be conquered with very modernist lighting technology and services and special effects. The only thing that is going to conquer this inveterate and super intellectualized generation is a visitation of the power of God that breaks the inertia and that passes over the brain and the human intellect and reaches the hearts and minds.

Signs, wonders, manifestations of the power of God. I believe in everything else, I believe in theology. I read a lot, I study a lot, but I know that the only thing that can make a difference is a people of God filled with the Holy Spirit, sanctified, prepared.

So, that was the reason why I chose today instead of continuing with the series on the fruit of the Holy Spirit, delving a little deeper into that idea that God is calling this church to seek more of the anointing and filling. Holy Spirit.

Now, many times we stay there and I want to go a little deeper into how it is going to be possible for that to happen in us. There is a price, brothers, there is a price to pay.

Joel 2. It is a chapter that talks about God's intentions at this time. It is a chapter that begins precisely with a scene of devastation. The nation of Judah after returning from exile to Israel has now been devastated by a plague of locusts. And that was a historical event that the prophet Joel alludes to.

And as in the case of the valley of dry bones, there is devastation on the earth, just as there is devastation in the church at this time. Let me say something about Joel before I go deeper. Joel is a book for the end times, as well as being a book for the times in which it was written. Joel is one of the few prophecies that is fulfilled three times. The first time historically was when Joel preached to the nation of Judah that it was experiencing that plague, which was the product of God's judgment on the nation for its sin.

And if you read the book of Joel, you see a calling. There is a terrible recognition of what is happening and there is a call then for how to bring healing to the earth. Joel is fulfilled in that way in the times in which it was preached. It was fulfilled for the second time when? When the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. You will remember that Peter, in his first sermon said, "This is the outpouring of which Joel spoke."

If you read in Acts, I don't know if chapter 2, out there, interesting that it is the same chapter of Joel. But there you see that Peter recognized that the visitation of the spirit that the Apostles were experiencing at that moment of Pentecost was the fulfillment that your children will be visited.

What I read at the beginning, "Your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams, on my male and female servants I will pour out my spirit." And Peter recognized that this was the fulfillment. Imagine, when Joel declared that prophecy he did not know that a thousand years or so later the prophet Peter was going to be recognizing that he was referring to that time.

But there is a third visitation, which is in our own time as well. Joel is speaking prophetically about a visitation. And how do I know that? Because much of Joel's language is apocalyptic language, it is eschatological language. One of the things that you will read about in Joel is the day of the LORD. And that word, that term, the day of Jehovah, is a code word that means, "a time near the end of time when God will fall with his power on humanity and there will be judgment."

The day of the Lord is a terrible day, it is a day of darkness, it is a day of war. "God will gather," he says, "the nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat." We do not know how this is going to be fulfilled, but it will be a time of great anguish, of terrible suffering for humanity and it will be God pouring out his judgments on humanity.

And that's why Joel refers a lot to the day of the Lord, to the day of Jehovah. In other words, that prophecy, Joel, as happens many times with the prophets, they prophesy things but they do not know everything that what they are prophesying means. They are under the possession of the Holy Spirit or the control of the Holy Spirit and they say things that they themselves do not know why they are saying it.

But Joel says, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, give an alarm on my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the earth tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming because it is near."

Joel is referring to that Hebrew people, but he is referring to us as well. We are near that time. And what I say is that Joel 2, above all, although Joel 1 also has a lot to do with it, is like a recipe for revival. The first part is a declaration of the devastation, the disaster that exists, as in our times, as I have just said. Because this prophecy is very parallel to the one in Ezekiel 37 and that's why I chose it.

So, Joel takes the time to declare the earth is devastated, the locusts are a symbol of the spiritual devastation, and also the physical devastation that exists in our times. We have so many disasters in our time and God is telling us, "Look at the state, look at the condition."

Now what is the solution? And that's why I say we can't just stay, “Oh, we need the Holy Spirit. God wants to send the Holy Spirit. We are going to seek the Holy Spirit.” How are we going to do it? And this is the part. And I want to conclude in a moment with a call to us, which I believe God has given me to lead a moment, a search that God wants us to undertake of his anointing and his power.

There is a holy convocation that I believe we have to do in obedience to what God wants to do. But after his exposition of the state of decay in which the people find themselves, in verse 12 God says, "...Therefore, therefore, now, says the Lord, return..." Not Romans 12, Joel 2, verse 12.

"Therefore, therefore, now says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and lamentation." Again, sister, it's Joel 2:12.

“…with all your heart, with fasting and weeping, and wailing and tearing your hearts and not your clothes. Return to the Lord your God for he is merciful and clement, slow to anger and great in mercy and pained by punishment."

Joel is saying to the people, he is saying to us, “Brothers, let us search.” And the first thing that has to be is a repentance, the first thing that has to be an awareness, the first thing that has to be an honest recognition of where we are and a search for the mercy, the grace, the forgiveness of the Lord .

And God is telling each one of us, we have to take time to recognize ourselves, our spiritual poverty, our sin. God is looking for a repentance. There is time to rejoice but there is also time to cry and express pain. And we have to experience that pain.

And so Joel tells the people, “Seek, be converted.” If God is going to bring revival to the Lion of Judah as He wants, the first thing we have to do is get on the operating table and let God work in us.

The other passage is Romans 12, where it says, “I beseech you, by the mercy of Jehovah, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Do not conform to this century but be transformed through the renewal of your understanding." In order for God to move in our lives there has to be a stretching out on the sacrificial table. There has to be a surrender of our lives.

León de Judá is a great church, a beautiful church, with many people who love the Lord, many people who pray, intercede, but there are still many of us, and even the very consecrated, there is a lot of work that God has to do, many sometimes in his temperament, his character, his lack of love, of gentleness, of goodness, of humility, of meekness. So don't believe it, many people believe that because they put tithes on the envelope and because they do certain external things, no, God wants to do surgery on your character too. God wants the fruit of the Holy Spirit to manifest in your life.

That is why I am preaching about the fruit of the Holy Spirit, because many times we believe that simply, well, by doing external things I am already fine. No, God wants to do surgery on your character, on your heart, on the way you treat your wife, your husband, your co-workers, your children. God wants to work within us.

The surgery that God wants to do is complete, very profound, and that is why we have to lie down on the sacrificial table so that God can do the total work in us. So that applies to the highly dedicated and the understated, supposedly. There is always something that God can do in your life. Do not limit God's surgical work to only the outermost part. The church of Jesus Christ needs a very deep work and all of us have to enter into that process.

But, as we submit to that scrutiny of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and as we open ourselves to God's treatment in us, then God will be able to. Because God is looking for a sanctified church, a purified church, a church where there is no mixing, a church where there is no leaven.

We are now close to the time of Passover and Easter in the calendar of the Jewish people, and one of the things that the Jews had to do was to search symbolically throughout the house, wherever there was a little bit of leaven. And they still do. What is the time of…? Easter. Yes, but there is another time where they repent and mourn. You are looking for the name right now. Yom Kippur is the time of repentance and mourning. And God is looking for the church and for us, the Lion of Judah, to have its own Yom Kippur, where we look for leaven in the house.

Lord, it will be me, as the Apostles said, Lord, it will be me who delivers you. I'll be the one who needs a deal in my life. God needs each of us to search. There is a beautiful hymn "Let us search our ways and return to the Lord." And that certainly is something we have to do.

"Rend your heart and not your clothes, turn to the Lord, your God, for he is merciful and clement, slow to anger and great in mercy and who hurts from punishment."

When we tear our hearts, when we grieve over our sinfulness, when we reach a point of despair, “wretched that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death,” then the Lord begins to pray. And that's for you, that's for me, that's for each one of us. Lion of Judah, God is calling you. God is calling us to seek more times with the Lord.

Men, I am addressing men, God wants you to stop allowing the woman to direct the spiritual temperature of the house. God wants men to stand up and cry out to the Lord. And I say that to men who may never have been serving the Lord as they should. "Wake up you who sleep," says the word of the Lord, "and God will enlighten you."

Man of God, begin to absorb and internalize God's call to you. Your wife needs you. Your sons and your daughters need you. God wants priests. I tell you, sometimes I suffer, I told the group this morning, we were in prayer time and a wonderful and very anointed time... And with this, by the way, I do not want to minimize the importance of my sisters, the women, but one after another, women prophesying, women speaking, women praying, women doing… I went up to Mik and said, “Mik, I want to hear a man's voice.And I said, "Pray." Because many times our sisters are the ones who lead.

And, brothers, God wants men too. God wants priests to lead as well. So, men, the call of God is for you to also stand up and seek the anointing of the Lord. God is speaking to priests like me too. There is a passage that says, verse 17:

"Between the entrance and the altar, let the priests, ministers of Jehovah, weep and say, Forgive, O Jehovah, your people and do not deliver your inheritance to reproach."

There is also a call from God for us, the pastors, the priests, a consecration of the Lord. I am the first to feel the weight of this call from God on my life. I assure you that I am in a time of great spiritual surgery in my life. And I feel the need every day to give myself more and more and more to the Lord and seek his glory. And I make that call to all my brother pastors of the León de Judá Congregation as well.

God wants pastors to drop everything they have to do and seek more of God's presence, that we be filled with the Holy Spirit. God is calling us, brothers. And I can't make a call to my brothers who are sitting, if I don't do it to myself first. Because that passage from Joel that I beg you to study, it is also the priests first, that they consecrate themselves, that they sanctify themselves and that they prepare themselves. Because God is not going to use us unless this leaven is fully extracted from us.

But it is also a call, as I say, to men. It is a call to the leaders of the congregation, you who are a discipler, you who are a refugee, you who are a member of the Council of Deacons and Elders, those who disciple in the church, those who are in some kind of leadership capacity, those who run cells. Leadership of the Lion of Judah Congregation, God tells us, let us sanctify ourselves, purify ourselves, search our ways, consecrate ourselves to the Lord, commit ourselves more and more to seek fulfillment.

This is the time, this is the time. And I want to impregnate you too so that you feel the urgency of this moment that we are living. I believe that this is a moment like no other and a universal impartation is needed and I hope that each one of you, my brothers and my sisters, leave here this afternoon with a sense of urgency.

Oh, Lord, Father in the name of Jesus right now I ask that you open the eyes of the blind. If there is a heart here, Lord, that is hard and that its spiritual skin is calloused, Lord, wake us up. Wake us up to leave here knowing that you have called us, Lord, to something different. Father, this is a moment, it is not a generic sermon, Father, it is a call from your spirit to each one of us to wake up and seek your glory.

O God, open the eyes of the blind and rise up a people in León de Judá full of the Holy Spirit, a restless people, a desperate people, a hungry people, Lord, so that your glory may descend upon us.

I haven't finished yet but they're good. Come forward. It's good. Come on, but I have a couple more things that I want to work with you. There is a little more. They are well trained and are doing what I have told them to do. That's very good. It's very nice.

He says, as a result, brothers, as a result of this cry to the Lord, of saying, “Father, we are in reproach, we want to pay the price. We sanctify ourselves, we give ourselves to you.” As a result of a desperate cry on our part, then God is going to do something. In verse 18 of Joel, wonderful words he says:

"And the Lord, who is caring for his land, will forgive his people." Glory to the Lord. We have such a merciful God, so generous. Do you know, my brother, my sister, that God is... The word caring is a very deep word. God is willing, God loves his people, God wants to see his people rise up like a father who wants to see a disobedient son stand up and finally take the inheritance to which he has been called. God is solicitous and what God wants is simply a sign from us. God wants us to cry out to him, to seek his glory.

And then he says, “The LORD will answer and say to his people, ‘Behold, I am sending you bread, new wine – that is wine – and oil, and you will be filled with them, and I will never again reproach you among the nations.”

God wants to do a work in his church so that God's church is never again said to be a ridiculous thing. Let shame not even come close to the church of God. May the church command the respect of the nations, may they say as they said to Samuel, "Do you come in peace or do you come in war?" Because they are afraid of the voice of the church.

When the church is filled with the Holy Spirit, the nations stand up and fear because the power of God is with the church. God removes his shame. He says, “I will drive away the enemies of the north from you, and I will cast them on a dry and desert land. Earth, do not fear, – verse 21 – rejoice and be glad because Jehovah will do great things.” Hallelujah!

When God's people do what they need to do, declare a holy convocation, because that's what Joel 2 is all about, look it up in full. When God's people blow the trumpet, look at verse 15, it says, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim a fast, call an assembly, assemble the people, sanctify the assembly, assemble the elders, assemble the infants and those who suckle, come out the bridegroom from his chamber, the bride from his bed, enter the entrance and the altar let the priests, ministers of the Lord, cry and say 'Forgive, O Lord, your people and do not deliver your heritage to reproach so that the nations may rule over it . Why should they say among the peoples where their God is?

When the church declares a holy convocation, when the church recognizes its spiritual poverty, when the church understands that we are devastated, we live in a valley of dry bones, and many times what we are doing is with a very large tractor, moving the dry bones back and forth, and we think we're doing something.

God wants the bones to become life. And if we do our part, God will do his. I believe that God is there biting his knuckles, saying, "When will my people look for me?"

And many times, let me tell you something that God's specific moment has to coincide with the cry of God's people. Many times we can talk and talk and talk and pray and do many things but if God is not in his time, because God is a strategic intervener, God has his times for everything.

The Bible says that at the culmination of time Jesus Christ came. I believe that we are in a time when God wants to act and we have to say, "Lord, act." This is the moment that the two match perfectly. I believe that this is the time in which God will listen to our prayers in a special way, because it is God's time. So when the church cries out to the Lord, when the church says, “Lord, we know that we are in reproach, we know that we need your intervention. We see the devastation, the plague of locusts is everywhere. We see the dry, dead bones, we see death everywhere in our territory, but Lord, you are powerful. Fill us with the Holy Spirit. Purify us and we become, we recognize.”

My brothers, God wants to give you the desires of your heart. Many of us say, why doesn't God answer my prayers? Why are my children away from the Lord? Why is my house a mess? Why is my marriage not working as it should? Why this depression I feel? Why this discouragement, why this lack of desire? Why is my life a continuous problem?

When a man or a woman enters the intimate place of intimacy with God, when they have love with God, when they cry out, when they are broken in the secret place, God begins to work. And I know that I would like to have the words of a poet to get inside each one of you and tell you, “This is the time, my children, this is the time that God wants to do something. This is the time when God wants to turn you from a mere spectator into an agent, an actor in his great drama.”

But you have to believe that this is for you. Don't allow the enemy to lull you into spiritual dullness. Ask the Lord, Father, right now open my understanding so that I can hear with my spirit. And if you draw near to the Lord, He will draw near to you. The Bible also says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Sinners, bend your knees. Let's cry in the intimate of the altar. Let us seek the glory of God. I want to read that passage, I hope I can find it in James, chapter 5, because that is for you and I am going to declare that this afternoon over your life before we leave here. I'm going to look for it here better. Sometimes computers prevent us from many things.

James, chapter 5. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

There are no qualifications of any kind. That does not refer to the professionals of religion. That is for you, if you get closer to God, if you dare to believe the Lord and start investing in Him. If we start, God will get closer to us.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Sinners, - that's in the 4th chapter of James, just in case - Sinners, clean your hands. You double-minded…”

Double minded, many people in the church of Jesus Christ are double minded people. And the Bible says that double-minded people should not think that they will receive anything from the Lord. We will be like leaves blown by the wind. God respects a man, a woman who seeks God with integrity, with dedication, with resolution, with persistence, with clamor. And when a person has a desire to be visited by God, God stands up and listens and works.

If you remove double-mindedness from your life, purify your hearts. Many of us have divided hearts and God says, "Dare to believe me, dare to believe me." Many of you are invited, for example, to this encounter with the Holy Spirit and I assure you that I almost see this announcement go over your heads. They don't get it. They don't feel alluded to. But the Lord is calling you for a search. If you are not willing to pay the price for something as small as that, how do you expect God to visit you with bigger things. If you can't be faithful in a little, how can you be faithful in a big way.

If in an investment of a few hours you cannot do it because you have this, the soccer game, the television program, going out with friends, the extra time you want to sleep on Saturday to lick the wounds of the week, God says , “How am I going to bless you? How am I going to pour out my spirit if your mood is insecure, uncertain, indefinite? Purify your heart and then I will be able to visit you."

“Sinners, cleanse your hands. The double-minded purify your hearts. Afflict yourselves, lament, cry, your laughter turns into crying, your crying into sadness, humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you.

That is the moment we are living. And Joel is about that. Look at the devastation of the land. Look at his subjection to disaster visits and look for me, look for my face, and then I will tell him "Stop!" the devastater and the devourer and then I will visit your land, I will heal it, I will populate it with new fruits. The wine will come, the grape will come, the grape harvest, the grain harvest will come, the olive that produces the oil will come.

All of these are images, not only of physical blessing but also of spiritual blessing. The grain is the word of God, the oil is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the wine is the joy that God wants, the effervescence of baptism, the filling of the Holy Spirit.

God wants to send those things upon his people. But you have to do a part. I end with this idea. God has placed in my heart, in this time of visitation, in this time that I believe is something special, and again, I say that God's processes are elliptical. God is increasing, increasing, increasing through the years. God has been increasing his glory, his complexity. God has been working in many of us doing things, preparing the Lion of Judah, preparing buildings, preparing programs, training us, because God is a strategic thinker and He takes time to devise a system and then use it.

I believe that in these 40 years of life, in fact we are going to celebrate 40 years, the 40th anniversary of León de Judá, God has been like this, preparing a people. 40 years is nothing. What are 40 years in the eyes of God? It is nothing, and yet God has been working on us.

I have had the privilege of having a first row seat, a front line seat and seeing the development and of my own life as well, of God working in us, preparing us, preparing technological systems, preparing buildings, preparing programs, preparing servants and servants. , working on them, and also preparing the environment around us.

And I believe that this is a time that may be, may be, I believe so, that it is a special time. That elliptical move of God is reaching a point of consummation. I ask you, Lord, do not let us lose this moment and return to business as usual, return to the routine. God free us.

Brothers, let us commit ourselves to the Lord. And I believe that what the Lord wants to do in this time of those 40 years also, that we take some time. I think it's going to be a week, let's say, to be modest, 7 days, that I'm going to look for the Lord's time in these times, which I think coincide so well with these 40th anniversary to make a holy convocation on behalf of León of Judah. Summon the young, the children, those who are breastfeeding, the elderly, the leaders, the laity, and ask the Lord that at that time we can raise a cry before God, consecrate ourselves as a church, brothers.

I ask you now that you receive that from the Lord. I am committing myself here publicly, going back would be a dishonor and saying, Lord, we want to give you a time of consecration as a church. We want to do what God calls Joel to do, cry out to you, repent of our sins, acknowledge our spiritual poverty, acknowledge that the land is devastated, and have the priests call a holy convocation. And that we use this time… I want to commit you, you, it doesn't matter, I wish I could isolate the most novice and most rudimentary person in the things of the Gospel in this place and tell you, “God is calling you. ” God is interested in your commitment to Him at this time.

And I ask the Lord to give us a sense of great commitment and great desperation so that we come and I will let you know the time, we will be consulting and I pray that the Lord gives us the precise time to arrange different types of activities and things that are like that cry, that holy convocation, that solemn assembly, a holy assembly of the Lion of Judah Congregation and may the Lord help us.

Brother, if we start like this, I believe that God will respond. I believe that we are going to open the windows of heaven and God is going to pour out blessings in a special way. It's going to cost us, it's going to cost us something, but what about a few hours in search of something that can transform our lives, transform our church, and even transform the city and perhaps even the world? It's no big deal. If God is in this, He is going to bless us.

So, people, lower your head now or stand up or whatever you want to do, I challenge myself and I want to challenge the people of God to seek the presence of the Lord in a special way. And may the Lord give us wisdom, because this is the time. Those dry bones are waiting for an Ezekiel who, anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit, prophesies life and prophesies transformation. And we commit ourselves, Lord, before you. Oh, Lord, let your glory come down.

We know that you want to do something in the nations, we know that you have a special time and we ask you, Lord Jesus, to do that work in our lives. We commit ourselves, Lord, to you. Oh God, let your glory come down. I want to bless this mother who comes here with her children. And if there is someone else who wants to give their life to the Lord, this is a time… I invite you because that is where it all begins.

If you have felt a call from God or simply want to come forward here and cry out to the Lord, Father, visit us. You have all work. I invite you to do it right now. Forget time. It is one of the things that we have to take our watches, or our Iphone and throw them away when we arrive at the house of the Lord. God wants times where He is the one that governs the moments and that He moves.

If you want to receive a touch from the Lord, if you want to underscore your sense of urgency before God, do that right now. Let's cry out to the Lord. Let's cry out to the Lord. Cry out to the Lord the creation, sing to Him the majesty and the power for the King.

Oh Lord, we cry out to you, Lord, any need of your people this afternoon we place at your feet. Exalt yourself, glorify yourself, Father, do your work in families, do all work in marriages, do your work in individuals, do your work in pastors and leaders. Glorify yourself in the need of your people. Lord, we are in reproach and we need you to lift up our heads. Heal us. We cry out to you, Lord, from the depths, we cry out to you, as a church.

People, cry out to God. Ask the Lord that what we are preaching is something that takes place in our church, that God raises us up like Ezekiel. God wants an Ezekiel church, impelled, directed, coordinated by the voice of the Holy Spirit directing to know how we can bring life to those dry bones. But it begins with that church crying out to the Lord and realizing that it needs to seek the face of God.

And that is what, Father, we ask you to do in this church, in this family. We want to see your glory. We want the name of Christ to be installed in the high places of this city. Lord, we want the Asherah statue to be pulled down and the cross to be placed on those high places. May all work of the devil be destroyed. May every illegitimate power of Satan be brought down, may every false claim of the enemy be neutralized, may every work of the enemy in this city, Lord, and in the nations be neutralized by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, we want you to break the enemy's back and behead the giant and install your purposes, Lord, over this nation, over this city, over this church. We want your glory to manifest. Spirit of God, Spirit of God we need you. We cry out to you, Lord, we cry out to you right now. Come your glory Your purpose be established in the nations. And give us the wisdom for that moment that you have for us, Lord, to seek your face, to cry out to you as you want to find yourself as you want to be found.

We adore you and we bless you. Thank you Lord Jesus. Thank you Christ. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen, amen and amen, thank you Lord.