Josiah - The Components of Revival

I want to invite you, brothers, to go to the Word of the Lord in Second Chronicles, chapter 34 and the theme that I want to share with you is, components of revival, components, elements that constitute revival. And I confess that I kept my Bible at home and I said to Meche, "Look, get me the most Pentecostal Bible that you find around the congregation." And here is the Holy Wilson Bible, I believe it is, and it qualifies as Pentecostal. First, it has large print, which was what interested me. Second, it's covered in cellophane, imagine to protect it. And third, it weighs about fifteen pounds, at least, so it definitely qualifies as a Pentecostal Bible. Glory to God.

But I want to talk to you about that, on Friday, this Friday two days ago, I was preaching at a revival meeting, precisely. There have been 16 meetings in and around the Boston area seeking a visitation from the Lord over New England. And I have had the privilege of preaching in several of those sessions and whenever I have had the opportunity to preach, I have taken the subject of revival as the basis of my comments. And this Friday, I commented on King Josiah, who God used to bring a very powerful revival to the people of Israel. And I felt from the Lord to share this sermon with you this afternoon, because I believe that the teaching is very well justified in repeating it, although the majority of you obviously did not listen to it, the vast majority.

Second Chronicles-34, here he speaks of this pious king, Josiah, one of the few kings truly approved by God, because of his heart, his attitude, his dedication to the Lord and his desire to establish legitimate worship among the people of Israel. It gives us an interesting detail from the very beginning, Josiah was eight years old, when he began to reign. Imagine yourself, having an entire town on your shoulders at eight years of age. You would be, today, in the second grade, imagine, in elementary school, when he began to reign and he reigned in Jerusalem for 31 years, and here something beautiful is said about Josiah, it says that "he did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah".

How many of us would like to have that there, in our epitaph, in the grave? This one or this one did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and "walked in the ways of David his Father, turning neither to the right nor to the left." One of the most approving things that could be said of a king, in these times of Scripture, was that he had walked in the ways of David. Because? Because David had loved the Lord above all things. David was an extremely imperfect man but zealous for the Lord. And you will not talk to David about sharing the glory of God or insulting God, because David was totally committed to the glory of the Lord. And that is why he cut off the giant's head and attacked this giant, because he felt that the glory of God was being compromised by this giant who insulted the Lord and the armies of the living God and he said, I cannot allow that. David was an upright man, committed, he loved the Lord above all things and this man, Josías, was of the same lineage. And that is why it is said that he did what was right according to King David.

It says here that, and I'm not going to read all the passages, but you, in your meditation time in the next few days, take these two chapters, Second Chronicles 34 and 35 and make it a platform for your personal studies, for your devotionals. A couple of days, pick up and read these two verses and ask the Lord to speak to you about these chapters of Scripture. It says here "that at the eight years of his reign as a boy." That is, at this moment Josías is 16 years old, he knows that it is never too early to serve the Lord and it is never too early, either, to do something significant. If there's a young man here this afternoon, the Bible says, don't underestimate your youth, and don't let anyone underestimate your youth. These little children that we present here are as precious in the eyes of God as any adult, because their souls are ageless.

And remember young man, there is something that you can do for your life, whether you are a man or a woman, I mean, for the Kingdom of God, in your life. If you, from now on, dedicate your life to the Lord and commit yourself to Him and love Him above all things, God can use you greatly. I think one of the problems is that young people sometimes underestimate themselves. And young people do not understand how important adults are for us, the greeting of a young person can bless us. It blesses me when a little boy from church comes and greets me, because I appreciate that. And we adults, we can be blessed. Young people, God is calling you, we need a new generation, this generation is passing, the one I represented. But there is still a lot of work to do in this culture, and you have a special calling to be the ones to replace us, and now you can start serving the Lord. I love that maybe, I don't know, Wilson will be prophetic, that you lend me your Bible to preach. It was Wilson, a young man who grew up with us here at church. And I always brag about Wilson because he was a puppet when we met him at thirteen or fourteen. And I always tell people, Wilson could be out there selling drugs, God help him, but he is, now he is a man of God who serves the Lord, a family man, a professional, ministering to the youth of the church . What a blessing and an inspiration to so many of us. One can be young and pious, one can be young and useful to the Lord's work. So let's not underestimate the importance.

Josías at the age of 16, when he was still a boy, began to search for the God of David, his father. There was something born in Josiah's heart at an early age and he determined that he wanted to know God and he wanted to know the Creator in a different way. And that led him to other things, too, because he says that at that age, after 12 years of his reign, that is, he was already 20 years old then, 12 + 8. At 16 he began to search for God, four years later, it seems that after he had already been simmering for four years seeking the Lord. At twenty he conceived in his heart a great project to reform his nation and to transmit what was in his heart to his nation and his kingdom. Know what? Piety, love for God, passion for the Lord cannot remain in ourselves, they have to be transmitted, then, in acts. But before going into that detail, and I am going to see how I order these thoughts, there must have been in him first a passion, there must have been in him a holy restlessness to know the Lord, and he began to search for God. And speaking of revival, brethren, every revival begins with a person. Sometimes we think that revival is something that begins as an explosion of many churches and an entire region. No, many times revival will have to start with a man, a woman, with a church that is dedicated to passionately seeking the Lord and from there, then, everything else is born.

In this passage, the revival begins with a young man, Josiah. And let me say something about Josiah, Josiah was an unlikely candidate to start a revival. Josiah was the son of Amun, a man, a tremendously evil and sinful king, an idolater who led Israel to a deep level of idolatry. But his grandfather, Manasseh, was a criminal, he was a wicked guy. Manasseh was a terrible idolater, he sacrificed his own children, desecrated [sic], damaged the very sanctuary of God with idols within the sanctuary, prostituted the priests of Israel leading them to make sacrifices to idols. And he offended God so much that God punished him with a shameful captivity. It says he was taken to Babylon with a nose ring and dragged off, taken to Babylon as a captive. In Babylon he repented, thank God, in Babylon he repented and it seems that the shame and affliction was so great that the man reconsidered and repented. And God healed him and blessed him at the end of his life. But Josiah, imagine, the grandson and son of two terribly sinful men, came from a corrupt lineage, and yet this man decided to serve the Lord.

And there is something there, there is a lesson for us, it does not matter where we come from, it does not matter if your family, if your family lineage has been a lineage of sin, alcoholism, adultery, bigamy, incest, crime, of failure, of poverty, of not seeking God. You can start a new tradition in your family, you can be part of a new lineage, a new generation. Don't let your past control your present or your future. Use the mistakes of the past, use the mistakes of your ancestors as a stepping stone to spiritual greatness. God can use you more, even, because you have been through it and you can be a trophy for the glory of God. And you will be able to speak with an authority that no one else can speak. Thus, do not allow the enemy to tell you, "no, I come from my family, these". No, look in Christ Jesus you can do new and powerful things for the glory of the Lord. Josías did not allow his past to bind him, but he said, I am going to be different, I am going to start a tradition.

And what I say about that, that revival always starts with one person, it starts at one point and from there it spreads out in concentric circles, ever more comprehensive. Revival can begin with you, when you begin to feel a holy zeal for the Lord. When you are not happy with a habitual religion, to come to church on Sundays, punch out the card and leave just as you arrived. I believe that the secret of Christianity is to establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and love him in a dear way and get to know him, as God wants to be known. Do you know that God wants to be known by us? God wants you to know him in his intimacy and God wants you to feel hungry for Him. When a man or a woman hungers for God and wants revival in their lives, God always honors them.

In Jeremiah 29 God tells the Hebrews in Babylon, "You will seek me and find me because you will seek me with all your heart." When a man or a woman dedicates themselves to seeking God, when we reject vain, ceremonial religion and feel a holy desire to know God, God will always bless us. The psalmist David says, "As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." You have to seek God with an appetite, you have to seek the Lord with all your heart. God does not want your spirituality to depend on the pastor and the church, you have to look for the Lord in private, in the dark of the early morning, you have to look for him fasting, in prayer, you have to look for him in those moments of intimacy, of communion with the Lord. Salvation is individual, brothers, and spirituality is individual. God wants each of us to be a burning coal, burning for the glory of God. There is nothing that excites the Lord more than a man, a young man who says, I want to know God.

Moses said to the Lord, Lord until now you have blessed me, you have used me, but you have not shown me your face, yet. What a scandalous thing, to say to God show me your face. And you know what? That God, instead of being offended, told him, "Well, look, I can't present my face to you because I would carbonize you, I would burn you, I would turn you into a coal, but I am going to allow you to see my back." And he showed him his back. I would settle for seeing the back of God. And he said, "I'm going to put you in a cleft of a rock to protect you when you see me." God loves it when you want to know him. God meets the great men of Scripture in intimacy and solitude. He found Elisha there, with oxen plowing. Elijah had his greatest moment with God in the desert, alone. Moses found him in another desert, taking care of goats, in the silence of the desert. God finds men like this, in moments of solitude, and women too, obviously.

My sister, my brother, gain an appetite for the Lord, renounce religion, renounce living mounted on the religiosity of your parents. They say that God doesn't have grandchildren, someone says, "No, my mom was evangelical, my mom this and that." Your mom has nothing to do with it, it's you who has to know the Lord. You have to establish a relationship with God. Not only that, but we can't depend on past experiences, as that chorus says, yesterday is over, I need you today. Every day we have to go back to look for oil for our lamps and when a man or a woman has an appetite for God, then God visits him and blesses him. And that is what Josías did, Josías got a project, I want to meet the Lord and God blessed him. For there to be a revival there must be a hunger and thirst for God. Each man, each woman, each one of us, I invited the León de Judá Congregation to be a great association of men and women hungry and thirsty for God. Each one looking for his plunder, each one in the room of prayer and search for the Lord, each one constituting himself in a cry before God.

Brethren, the church in America needs reformers, it needs Josiah. Men and women who say, I am going to seek the Lord in private. Because the United States of our time, and the church of this 21st century, is like Israel in the time of Josiah. They have forgotten, we have forgotten God. The word of God in our time has been corrupted. In Josiah's time, the Bible was completely hidden and unknown. Notice, I'm going to tell you a little bit more about that later. But, the word the Lord is corrupted in our time, it is not preached, people do not know the Bible. I was talking to a young man this week, a beautiful boy, very special, an admirable man in many ways. But he does not know the Bible, he has a lot of mercy but is ignorant of the word of the Lord. And I encouraged him and he himself recognized, you want to know more about God, you want success in your life, dedicate yourself to studying the Bible. Know the word of the Lord.

In our time, brother, people don't want to listen to the Bible. I try my best to preach twenty minute sermons and fail miserably every time. Because the Bible, the Word needs, the people of God need good instruction, they need time in the Word. Twenty-minute sermons, glory to God to those who have that gift, I don't have it. I believe that the Word must be preached exhaustively and deeply, and when we come to the Lord's house, we have to come at our own risk. Don't make appointments with people who are very punctual, don't leave the beans burning there in the oven, in the house, thinking that you're going to arrive. No, no time belongs to God. I don't want to abuse that, but let's learn to give God the time he needs so that his Word can be explored and taught properly. At least there are a few who agree with me.

In the times of Josiah, the Word was not preached, the Word was chained, as in the times of the Reformation, too, when the Bible was chained in one of the cathedrals of Rome. The doctrine has been mixed with all kinds of foreign teachings that rather reflect the culture and values of our time. Today, people come to church to be entertained, they come to be told beautiful stories. To be told, only, God loves you, God is going to give you great prosperity, God has two cars for you. There's a young lady over there, blue-eyed, blonde, six feet tall, who has everything, a big house, a successful job, God has fortune for you. But he does not want them to be called to work that requires a life pleasing to the Lord. And, then, today, it is a lot of blessing, blessing, blessing, but what about the call to holiness, to search for God, to surrender, to service, to give generously to the Lord? And our nation is full of it, we prophesy what people want to hear, not what they need to hear. There is moral corruption in the church, we have allowed sin, in all its different forms, to run rampant within the life of the church. This has removed the presence of the Holy Spirit from our meetings. The revelation, the power of God is not manifested because the Holy Spirit has been grieved for all our sins within the church. We have refused to reject what God rejects.

And this is a confession that we are making, right now, we have made all kinds of compromises with the holiness and the truth of God. We priests have been remiss in keeping ourselves clean before the Holy Spirit. We have become comfortable and we put our pleasures, our comfort, our material possessions before the interests of the Kingdom of God. We have gone after our own dreams and visions, we have not given priority to the Kingdom of God and the fulfillment of the mission that Jesus left his church. Brethren, we have not cried enough, we are not sorry enough for the sins of our culture and of the church itself. God needs a gear adjustment of the church to do what He wants to do, therefore we are very much like Israel in the time of Josiah. Even conservative churches have sometimes lost the fire for the Lord and need to go back to the old ways. I believe that God wants, brothers, God wants to do something new in his church. I believe that these times are pregnant times, in which there is something that God wants to do in our 21st century. I live thinking that there is a revival that is coming, that it is going to be like a mighty wind, that it is going to enter and conquer nations. whole. I believe that there is a visitation of the power of God that God wants to give.

Why are we in Boston? Why have we built these buildings? Because I have wanted to establish a base for the power of God and for revival. When the revival comes, prepared churches are needed, churches are needed with a good physical plant, planted in strategic places, with technological capabilities. Because, if the revival comes, we are going to need to preach the gospel to all nations in an easy and cheap way, and that is the Internet and we have to be the best in many areas. Because I believe that revival is coming in which we will see entire nations prostrate themselves at the feet of Jesus Christ, we will see a visitation of the power of God where there will be resurrections, there will be healings, there will be massive conversions, there will be entire nations saying we are going to follow the ways of Jesus. But there is a price to pay.

A sister prophesied to me, up there this morning, in the first service. A woman that I respect a lot told me "Look, I had a dream with your wife and I saw first a rough road and difficulties and threats, but then we went in because I was going with a company, to a blessing and a big harvest, something bright, a banquet, a table set before us." And I want to say, brothers, that God's blessing is always accompanied and preceded by trials, difficulties. Satan always wants to kill the baby before it is born. He did it with Pharaoh and the firstborn, he did it with Jesus, he wanted to kill the life of God before it was born. And we are going to have to fight a lot, God's blessing is not cheap. Religion is cheap, but the blessing costs and that is why we have to pay the price as a church, because if we want that great glory of God, God wants to use clean vessels. I am more aware of this than ever, we have to purify ourselves, we have to heal ourselves, we have to cleanse ourselves. If one is going to take a long trip, what does one do? One measures the oil, makes sure that the car's oil is changed, that it is full of gasoline, that it is well tuned up, that the tires have good air, because the trip is long and demanding.

What awaits the church is great and demanding, but the church needs to tighten all the cogs on its wheels. We have to prepare. We are going to ask the Lord to sanctify us, to cleanse us. I am, as never before, committed to honoring the Lord until the end of my life and to serving him with holiness and a clean heart. And we want to be, each one of us like this, we want the Lord to be pleased with our hearts. We have to tighten our marriages, we have to improve our parenting, we have to love God more, we have to humble ourselves more, we have to hone our character more. We have to ask the Lord to polish us, to grind us, to disassemble us and reassemble us as He wants. Let him take the vessel, undo it and reshape it as he wants to shape it. Because when a church is dedicated like this, to serve the Lord from the heart, God uses it greatly. I see you, my brothers, now I see, I see us, worshiping and seeking God and we are in a good time. I invite you now, as a great company, to continue training ourselves, preparing ourselves, loving the Lord, giving ourselves more so that God can use the León de Judá Congregation as a revival center. Perhaps the fire will start here, with these immigrants who should give this nation an example of what a healthy, prophetic, powerful spirituality is, delivered to the Lord, helpful, sacrificial. We are going to be a church, my vision at this moment is that León de Judá becomes a center of revival, a place where souls come and meet the Lord.

This morning, in the English service, I could count about 12 people or 15 people in serious rebuilding, people recovering from drugs, recovering from homelessness, from terrible families. Lots of those people coming from there, Methadone Mile, and rebuilding. And I say glory to God, I hope that the church is filled with people like that, that they are taken out of the fire and that God is using them to be conquerors. León de Judá should be a refuge for souls, a place where people feel they have space to walk their Christian journey, and where there are other pilgrims who welcome them and tell them, come with us because we are looking for the same thing, too. I pray that the Lord fill the Lion of Judah with his mighty spirit.

What's more, we are going to pray right now, raise your hands with me and we are going to ask, Lord, in the name of Jesus, that these words are not empty words, that they are not empty words, Lord, that they are words that truly honor you. Make León de Judá a place of revival, Lord. Make the Lion of Judah a place of holiness, make the Lion of Judah a place where your power is manifested. Make León de Judá a place, Lord, of effective evangelism, where many souls know Christ. Help us to be an inspiration to other congregations, not for our glory, but for the glory of Jesus Christ. Pour out your spirit on this congregation, protect it Lord, keep it from all harm, and make us a company of people who love one another, Father. That we walk in humility, that we announce your word, where the power of Christ nests without any kind of resistance, Lord. Sanctify us, purify us and fill us with your power. In the name of Jesus, amen. Don't get too excited because we're not done yet, it fits me, but I wanted to take that moment just to say it's important. Revival has to start with us, just as it started with Josiah, it has to start with you.

Josiah, after confessing the sins of his people, after conceiving a great and powerful spirituality within him, then proceeded to cleanse Israel of all idolatry. He devoted himself, over the next few months, to dethroning idols and what is interesting is the way he did it, he did it violently, he did it unambiguously. Look at the language the Bible uses to talk about how Josiah carried out that great cleansing of Israel. It says in verse 4, "...And he tore down the altars of the Baals before him..." There are a number of verbs of violence here, "He tore down the altars, he smashed to pieces the images of the sun that were set on them, he tore to pieces also the images of Asherah, the sculptures and molten statues, he crushed these statues and scattered the dust on the graves of those who had offered sacrifices" to Baal and Asherah and to all these Gods. Do you see the resolution of this man? No it was a reform, there, lukewarm, it wasn't something like apologizing, Josiah was determined to humble the idols. "He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And when he had broken down the altars and the images, verse 7, of Asherah and broken and crushed the sculptures and destroyed all the idols throughout the land of Israel, returned to Jerusalem.” He himself oversaw the cleansing of the nation, and he did it completely.

I spoke a couple of Sundays ago, perhaps I did it with the service in English, about a holy violence that God wants from us, it is not carnal violence, it is not self-righteous violence, it is a violence that is accompanied by grace, by love and mercy. And it is a violence against the powers of the devil that are chained to the people. It is not violence against sinners, sinners need mercy, but against the spirits that control and enslave the lives of sinners. There is an evil industry behind the Methadone Mile, there is an evil industry behind God-rejecting governments. There is an evil industry behind every politician who announces false doctrines to the people. There is a demonic industry that teaches our children that being a woman or a man is the same, that there is no difference, it is a demonic industry.

And, I believe, that Josiah's violence came from the fact that he knew he was in spiritual warfare, and by humiliating these idols and these statues, he was waging a spiritual warfare to dethrone the powers that held Israel in bondage. . It was war that he had. Brothers, we are at war and our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. And the church has to be clear in the proclamation of the word of God, we have to be clear in the way we live. If we are going to try to take souls from the devil, we have to be clear and sure, our backs have to be covered. We have to prepare ourselves because the counterattack will come, Satan will not stay calm. And that is why I say that if we are going to wage war against the enemy, we have to purify ourselves, sanctify ourselves, cleanse ourselves so as not to give the enemy a foothold. Because the devil uses any excuse to harm and destroy us, he is the great accuser. And that is why I believe that Josías used this violence.

Brothers, God is telling us, as a church, for some time now, prepare yourselves, circumcise yourselves because a time of much work and much work is coming. Before Moses entered the people, the promised land, or rather Joshua, he circumcised them so that they would enter the land, because a great war awaited him. And sanctification, preparation, knowing the word of God, a vital prayer life, a vital devotional life, putting all the pieces of our life in order is important if we are going to do that spiritual warfare. Lion of Judah has been called to war. Our banner is not the lamb, it is the lion and glory to God for the lamb, it is also important. But, at this time in history, the church needs to be a warrior church, a violent church. I was talking about Finns, and Jehu, read the story of Finns and Jehu in the Bible, they were men totally dedicated to a battle. Jehu dethroned Athaliah and Jezebel, how did Jezebel die? Shot from a balcony by the eunuchs. Men like Elijah were needed, at that time the more powerful evil is, in the life of a nation, the stronger the spiritual warfare that God's people raise must be. This is a time when we have to say, Lord fill us. This church, the name of this church was conceived as a vision of the Lion of Judah looking down with authority over the powers of the devil, those spiders that were ruling over the city.

A week ago, I was with a pastor who came to meet the church and spend some time with me in conversation. It was a bit of a rainy day, I was taking him to the third floor of room L, up there on the third floor of 68 Northampton Street. And, when we were there, when we were entering the room, through the window there was a falcon perched on the railings of one of the balconies of León de Judá. And I don't know if you've seen a hawk up close, but I could, I was about five feet away, through the glass. And that hawk was there, its claws were stuck in the metal railing, and I didn't know that hawks, that hawk, I tell you it was about from here to here, it was an animal about two feet tall, I have photos of it here. And that hawk was looking down that alley, which is between the building here and the condos next door. And I was entranced looking at him with the pastor who was with me and he stayed there quietly, he didn't flinch. And, brothers, the eyes and I wish I gave you a photo, I have it here to have projected it. The eyes of that hawk were marvelous, totally clear and determined, and since they have eyebrows, something like that, it was clear, the one in profile, because I could only see one eye of it. But, those eyes were completely steady and full of authority, unchanging. A falcon is not afraid of any other bird, it is a bird of prey. And so was the lion that I saw in that dream, it was just the same, it was a lion but with powerful eyes, full of authority and it looked over the city, it looked over the principalities and powers, he being total authority over them. And it reminded me of that hawk, I don't know if God put it there so that I would remember the dream, but that hawk was there, fixed, calm, and it was there for about fifteen minutes, me looking at it. In the end I got tired and left him alone and went to show the pastor the rest of the church.

How wonderful that almighty God. We are not pigeons, nor turkeys -which we are not going to eat right now- we are birds of prey. The church is a church, it is an eagle, we are eagles, we are hawks, we are people of power, we are people of authority, we are people of war. We have to sanctify ourselves because God has a victory for us, God has an assignment for this people and we have to prepare ourselves. We are a royal lineage, we are kings and priests called to conquer nations and we have to live that way. Josiah, with total violence, like a bird of prey, led his men, went throughout the nation, extirpating all principalities and powers. Those idols, they were demons that were behind the idols and they had to be humiliated, they had to be knocked down.

God always, before starting a revival, the first thing he does is dethrone principalities and powers. The Bible says that if a man wants to plunder a strong man's house, he has to tie him up first. We clearly understand that if we want revival and conquered souls, we must first bind the powers of the devil, dethrone idols. And there are idols in our hearts too, idols of comfort, idols of love of money, idols of fear, idols of career and prestige and of loving the things of the world before the things of God. One of the great idols, in our times, is that idol of comfort and convenience. After COVID, brothers, the church has to recover its prey instincts, come to the house of the Lord, adore the Lord.

The other thing that Josías did was that, he cleaned the house, he fixed the house of God. First he knocked down the idols and then he said let's fix the house. He says that after having cleansed the land of idols, he said that "...At the age of eighteen - he says - after having cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, governor of the city, and Joah the son of Jehoahaz, to repair the house of the Lord their God. These came to the high priest and gave the money that had been brought to the house of the Lord, and delivered it into the hands of those who did the work. , who were stewards in the house of the Lord, who gave it to those who did the work and labored in the house of the Lord, and also gave to the carpenters and stonemasons to buy stone, wood, etc. ."

Read that part, there's some revival material in there. Revival is not only emotion, it is also structure, it is also discipline, it is honoring the house of God. I thank the Lord because this church cares about the material things of the Lord's house. I told the brothers that this Friday I went to that church where I was preaching and the bathrooms in that church, brothers, they are bathrooms that smell good, clean, tidy, the temple is a wonderful temple. And I thank God, because our church is very similar, this church of immigrants, that there are not many of us who are very rich or very powerful. But you know that when you tithe, when you give, you are giving to repair God's house. It is that, that air conditioning, it may seem, I should be mentioning this, that the air conditioning that we are going to use for heating. God's house is matter, too. It's, there's something about the materiality of praise that's important, and I'll leave you with that thought. If you read this passage, 34, especially, you will see all the emphasis placed on repairing the house, the doors, the wood that was needed, the carpenters were paid money to buy all these things. Let us not underestimate the importance of the house, because the house is the platform that God uses to do his spiritual works, let us honor the house of the Lord.

And that connects again, because I insist so much that in this time of recovery from the pandemic, we do not stop coming to the house of God. The house of God is irreplaceable, brothers, the sanctuary is a place where that space has been dedicated to adore the Lord. You bless your life, bless your family, bless your children when you come home to the Lord. Let's not miss an opportunity to worship God as a congregation. It's good to use Zoom, it's good to use the screen, back home, but there's nothing like sacrificing and coming to the house of the Lord. Christians, we are going to recover the habit of congregating, we are going to honor God in his sanctuary. There is something that will not change no matter how many centuries pass.

I was reading now, I'm finishing reading Ezekiel. And Ezekiel ends with a grand vision of the temple, "...When Christ comes, there will be a temple in Jerusalem." I don't know how that is reconciled with the sacrifices, that is too strong for me. But I do know that God loves his temple and God loves the materiality of worship, there is something special about the house of the Lord. Always, brothers, let us honor the house of God, let us give for the maintenance of the house of God, because a house of God must reflect the excellence of God. These physical plants should always speak of the greatness and excellence of God, also the greatness and excellence of the immigrant community in the United States, you know. There is also something beautiful when people enter this house, North Americans, Chinese, African Americans, and they see a well-ordered, well-maintained church. That says something about these immigrants who give so that God's house is well, to have a decent place.

Brother, always honor the house of God, always worship the Lord in his sanctuary. Teach your children to love God's house. Let's not be too spiritual, there is something special about that, I hope that the Lord blesses these spaces. These three buildings that God has given us, I know that they have a place, a role to play, there is something that God still has with these buildings. I have always felt, in my heart, that these are buildings that we are preparing for a powerful visitation from God. There are few churches as strategically located as Lion of Judah, right now, in a city like Boston. And God is going to use these buildings, I don't want to die without seeing the glory of God, finally, nest in these buildings. We haven't seen anything yet, God can use these buildings for soul restoration, for discipleship classes, for drug addicts and people in recovery. These places can be places of restoration for life, we are going to ask the Lord to send his fire.

Ezekiel's vision in the sanctuary, after the temple had been built, says that "The glory of God entered through the eastern gate and filled the house." And we are going to beg the Lord, Father, flood these houses with your glory. Fill this place with your glory. Rise with me, let's praise the Lord for that revival. Let us first consecrate our lives, conceive a great vision, a great appetite for the Lord. We are going to dethrone the idols, break all implicit or explicit deals with the devil. We're going to be a people who come together, the people of God, corporate worship, come together, serve the Lord as a people who come together to worship God.

May Lion of Judah be a place of revival. Let's not settle for yesterday's victories, let's make a pact as a church. Oh, God we want to enter a new stage as a congregation. Thank you for what you have already achieved, but we want more, because you are a God of more, you are a God of always exceeding yourself and giving us more than what we have achieved. And now make use of this people, each life, Lord, that they become a burning coal, in their home, in the intimacy of the early morning, in their beds before going to sleep. A town that loves you, a brave town, a town devoted to you. We consecrate ourselves, we take our crowns we put them at your feet. We want to heal your offended Father's heart. Father, forgive us for having abused your trust, forgive us for taking liberties with your mercy and your grace that are not our responsibility. Forgive us for being lukewarm, forgive us for not being vigilant enough in the dignity of our priesthood, forgive us for hurting your Father's heart and not taking into account your extreme holiness. Forgive us for preferring money and the comfort and warmth of home over the warmth of your house. Forgive them because we prefer our idols and we put them in the place that only You should occupy.

Today we repent, Lord, and we tell you that we use it for your glory. Come into us, Lord, cleanse us, purify us, make us instruments in your hands, we want to be used by you and we repent, Lord. Clean, clean your people, Father, put in us a healthy and holy desire for purity, for holiness, consecrate us to you, Lord. Clean this house, Father, and remove everything that does not please you, everything that is not yours, Lord, and establish yourself on the throne. Heal your heart with our songs, Lord, may your heart be healed with our praise. Accept this church that You have created, Father, that You have invested in this congregation, every chair speaks of Your provision, the rug we stand on says that You are a God provider, the walls of these buildings have been raised by You, Lord. They are miracles that You have done, now use them for your glory, enter with your glory and fill these spaces, Lord, with the power of your Holy Spirit and that the name of Christ be enthroned, to Him we give all glory and all honor in the name of Jesus, amen and amen.