God Brought Revival: Who May Ascend Into the Hill of the Lord — Shane Idleman

God Brought Revival and the Church’s Spiritual Slumber

This is not going to be your typical Christmas message. I had something prepared and then all week something's been stirring in my heart even as early as this morning. And what I want to talk to you about this morning, or actually this evening, is that God brought revival.

And I think what happens in our culture is, you know, we forget, of course, why Jesus came and the whole point of Him coming, born to die. And not only did He bring revival, He revived His people, He saved His people.

And I sometimes link them together. Salvation is God quickening dead men, the sinful heart, the sin nature we have. God reviving us, saving us. And then also there's something in the Bible that talks about in regard to revival, is God reviving believers, reviving His church.

And I looked up the word revival there is to awaken, or to restore, or to renew, or to repair. So what God does when He revives, He awakens, He restores, He renews, and He repairs us. And can I be honest with you tonight?

The church is in a sleep of death, what I call. We are being lulled to sleep. It's a sleep of death. And we see this happening everywhere. You can look at the media recently, right? The politically correct police shot Duck Dynasty and took them out for time being.

I mean, we see the media's prejudice against Christianity. We see politically, as we know, there's two things to occur in order for severe persecution to hit these shores. And they are very simple. Number one, you get rid of any legislation that protects our God given right to worship God and to talk about God.

And you remove godly leaders who are going to interpret those laws. And we see that happening now. You saw at the president's inauguration, I'm not taking sides here, I'm just saying what happened. They had somebody scheduled to speak there to pray, Pastor Louis Giglio.

You guys remember that? He was scheduled to speak, but because of his stance on homosexuality, he was told to take a back seat, basically, not show up. And then they brought in somebody who is in support of the GLBT movement, this whole movement.

And he actually prayed blessings upon our nation. Folks, we are a nation adrift. We are calling good evil and evil good. The need to be awakened from our spiritual slumber has never been greater. We are in a sleep of death.

And I know you want to hear about a little baby born in a manger. But sometimes we need to talk about some issues that are confronting us today. Also, we see this in our military. I don't know how many of you have been following, but atheist groups are now coming against the military and saying, you can't have chaplains doing this, you can't talk about God, you can't do this.

So they're hitting everything. And the church is just lulled to sleep. There's no call to seeking God again. We see it in our educational system. You'll start seeing a lot of curriculum brought in now to the public schools.

Talking about, you know, as long as little Johnny, even though he got his answer wrong, if little Johnny can explain why he got his answer wrong and what his meaning was behind it, then he's right. As long as he can show us why he was sincere and how he came up with the wrong answer, we call that right.

It's relativism. Everything is sneaking in. And that's what really brought me to this. A lot of people ask me, Shane, is there any hope for this, for the church, for America? And I say, apart from a spiritual awakening of God, no, there's not.

Because we are on a slippery slope. We're going deeper and deeper. And God revives His people, revives the church. He's not going to revive the culture. He's going to revive the church. And then from the church, from us, go out as pillars of light.

But the light has been dimmed. The salt has lost its savor. We've become so politically corrected, we offend no one and challenge nobody. So that's why I wanted to speak on this topic tonight. God brought revival.

And we think of Christ coming, God brought revival. He revived His people. That's what a genuine relationship with Christ does. It revives us. And revival, quite honestly, is our only hope. And if you came tonight seeking and not sure about things and distant from God, that is what you need.

The Fear of the Lord Brings Peace and Joy

We need revival. It's very interesting. I was reading this week. The Bible talks about fear and comfort in the same sentence. I was like, what? That doesn't make any sense. If you're fearful, you're not comfortable.

There's not peace. There's not joy. But the book of Acts records that they walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to make a statement here I hope you never forget.

When you fear God, there's tremendous peace and joy. When you fear man, there's tremendous anxiety and fear because you're fearing the wrong thing. And this isn't a fear of an angry, abusive stepfather.

It's a reverent fear for God. And we need to get back to that. We need to teach kids the fear of the Lord. That's what makes a sinner a saint. That's what helps kids walk the straight and narrow. That's what helps little Johnny understand that his answer is wrong and here's why your answer is wrong.

Pain, Sorrow, and the Cross

There's an absolute truth given by God to direct man. And the need to be revived has never been greater. So with that introduction, here's the thrust of this message. This is a time of joy for many people.

But it's also a time of great sorrow. Is it not? Many people say, I hate this time of year. I hate this time of year. You lose a loved one. I mean, I'll never forget January 6th. My dad passed away. It's been a long time.

But that time of year, the seasons kind of bring in a different meaning. And I want to just encourage you tonight. Allow that pain to drive you to the cross. Allow that pain to drive you. Because pain is often the catalyst to revive the heart.

I don't like that. I don't either. I don't like that at all. But God uses pain to drive us back to Him. And we either become bitter or we become better. Do we not? So we've got to use that pain. If you're feeling that pain, and I hate this time of year, use that.

Because often the greater the pain, the greater the blessing. If you can focus it back towards God. Think about it. Before a child is born, is it nice and relaxing? Every time I go in the delivery room, I say, never again.

Never again. I don't even know why guys are in there. My dad never was in there. He sat in the waiting room and said, oh, it's a boy. Here he goes. But that pain, that tremendous pain before the delivery of a baby.

Did you know that I have seen more pain in somebody's eyes before salvation? Obviously not after. But before a person is saved by God, often there's tremendous pain. Why? It's called travail of the soul.

The old sinful man says, no. But God's calling and drawing. And there's tremendous pain. Usually there's dark days of depression. There's anxiety. There's fear. There's fighting against God. I'm fighting God.

I cannot submit to Him. There's tremendous pain. But what happens? What happens when that decision is finally made? Tremendous joy. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I was lost, but now I'm found.

I was blind, but now I see. T 'was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. Oh, how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed. That's a sermon right there. I could sit down.

I could sit down. The worship team could come back up. Do you realize that? Do you know the history behind that song? Isaac Newton? Used to command slave ships. So when you hear his chains were broken, I was blind, but now I see.

That's revival. God reviving us. This I know, for the Bible tells me so. God often breaks a heart before He revives it. So the spiritual condition of our church, especially in America, is obviously appalling, and many people are upset, but I say something's coming, because God can use that pain that we're feeling to drive us closer to Him.

Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

And the verse I want to focus on briefly is this. Who may ascend into the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in its holy place? Listen, guys, wake up. This is Scripture. This is God talking. He's basically saying, who can stand?

Who can stand in the holy place of God? Who can stand in the mountain of God? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, and who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor has he sworn deceitfully.

They will receive blessings from the Lord, and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. So if you look at that, who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?

Mountaintop experiences. Moses met God on the top of a mountain. People would meet God on mountaintop experiences. Or who may stand in His holy place? And if we had time, we'd take you to the tabernacle, where the Shekinah glory of God would fall in that place, and people could not stand in the mighty presence of God.

That's true revival. When God's presence hits a place. And we learn, we celebrate obviously Jesus' birth, but we forget about the 400 years of silence that many theologians talk about. Malachi ends, and you have 400 years of silence.

Nothing. Is God dead? Hawkins and Dawkins and all these guys would like you to believe that He is. Great minds. 400 years of silence. And then what? The earth trembles. John the Baptist comes on the scene.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. There's one standing among you who I'm not even worthy to baptize. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. This revival fire, Jesus said, if you believe on me as the Scriptures say, out of your belly will flow rivers of living water, reviving His people.

400 years of silence, and Jesus comes on the scene. We need a revived passion for the presence of God like never before. We need a revived passion for the presence of God like never before. Many people say, I don't feel like it.

Well, that doesn't mean we... Well, what do you want me to do with that? You don't feel like going to work, do you? We don't feel like doing a lot of things, but that doesn't negate our responsibility and our need to seek in.

And I found that the reason many people are not experiencing God, quite honestly, is they're not seeking in, they're not pressing in. The Bible doesn't talk about if you pray for five minutes and if you come to church, you'll find me.

If you seek me with all of your heart, with all of your mind, with all of your strength, with all of your soul, I will be found by you. I am a rewarder of those who diligently seek me. It's in that diligence.

I don't feel like it, but I'm going to seek Him. I don't want to, but I'm going to seek Him. Why? Because I'm resting in His promises, not what I feel like. Do you realize that sinful, fallen man does not want to worship God?

There's something in here that doesn't want to worship Him. I want to get the heck out of Dodge. I want to go eat. I want to stop preaching. But the Spirit says, keep going. This word is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones, I'm weary of holding it back.

And the best tool that the enemy can use against us is ourselves. Five minute worship, quick devotional, I'm on the run, I did God a favor. That's not seeking Him. And you guys know I make fun of that show a lot, Duck Dynasty, of course, but not in a bad way.

I make fun of it that we have so much time for this, but no time for God. We wonder why we don't know God in intimate relationship, yet we have all the time. We know all about these guys. I don't even know their names, but everybody knows all about their names, their background, this, that.

Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm a redneck. I have duck calls. I have a 12-gauge with three-inch mag capacity to shoot geese in case they're far up. I know, I love that. That's me. I feel that. But that's natural.

See, I could sit and watch that for hours. But to get the supernatural, you've got to fight the flesh and pull back to God. Discipline is a spiritual principle. Paul says, I discipline my body. I bring it in subjection.

I tell my body what to. We're going to worship God. I don't feel like it. No, we don't feel like it. That's why we've got to worship a long time, get into his word. If you seek me with all of your heart, you will find me.

That's how revival starts. Revival starts as men and women are pressing in and praying for God to move. God, revive our hearts. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord or stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart and has not lifted up his soul to an idol.

Seeking God Above Idolatry

And then it goes on after that. Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors. You might say, what's he talking about? Well, the gates protected Jerusalem. You have to lift up the gates, lift up these things so that God can come in, pour in the glory.

It's basically action on our part. He's saying, lift up your heads, lift it up. Look to God and God alone. Let him pour in, let his shekinah glory fall in. And then it says, and the king of glory shall come in.

Not might, not may consider it. Might put you on the schedule next week. The Lord of glory will come in. If what? Clean hands, a pure heart, not lifted up our soul to an idol. We're seeking him. And that's my biggest concern is we think we're seeking him.

If we squeeze him in on a five-minute devotional and a quick prayer on my way to work, I got him in. No, you didn't get him in. You didn't get him in. Try eating once a week and see if you survive. Physically, spiritually, your hunger for God should match our hunger for the things of this world.

If your hunger for the things of this world are greater than your hunger for God, the Bible calls it idolatry. Now, we all stumble and fumble and fall and are perfect, so please don't get me wrong. But there has to be a challenge in our hearts, something drawing us back to God.

I know many of you right now are saying, amen. I know I'm starting tonight and I'm starting tomorrow. And many of you are convicted and upset maybe. And it begs the question, why does seeking more of God upset people?

You want to know why? Because you're challenging pride. You're challenging their heart. Are you saying? Are you saying? Pastor, are you saying me? I've been raised in a Christian home all of my life. When the binky went out, the Bible went in.

How dare you? And I say, no, how dare you, sir? That pride and arrogance will keep you from God every chance it gets and every opportunity it gets. I'm here to crush that pride. How do I know? Because have I said before, I'm a prideful man working on humility by the grace of God.

Many of you have heard of C .J. Mahaney. He was famous for saying that. We are prideful people. Unless that pride is shattered and crushed, we will hold God off as long as we can because we get into a pattern.

I got him down. I've got my doctrine down. I've read the Bible all the way through, Shane. Great. What's Jesus Christ saying to you today? Not 13 years ago. We have time for the gym and time for work and time for Duck Dynasty and time for this, but no time for God.

See, the problem is we're all so busy. We're not so busy. We're all involved in, many of us, in idolatry. We're loving the things of God more than the things of the world. Listen, I didn't come here to tickle ears tonight.

I came here to challenge hearts. Why? So that deep, lasting change can take place. But as a word of encouragement, this isn't a bad thing. This is a good thing. If you use this to fuel you, it's almost like the fire, the gasoline on the fire, if you use this to move forward in God's direction.

Clean Hands, Pure Hearts, and National Repentance

And again, I'm going to have to give the long version of this at the second service, but let's just talk about this briefly. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord's experience or revival? He who has clean hands.

What are hands? I mean, what we know, yeah, but do you know that they can hold or they can hit? They can comfort or they can abuse. They can stroke the hair of a child or they can strike that child. Hands.

My niece is here from Arizona. She was telling me last night in Arizona, it happened in front of a, still can't get it out of my mind, she was in front of a Bed Bath Beyond and saw a dad beating his four-year-old baby girl.

Right here in Palmdale? No. Okay, I'm like, wow, the hands of a father striking when they should be holding. My wife says, you're lucky it wasn't Palmdale and you weren't there because you'd probably be in jail.

I might be. So I'd say, you want to know what that feels like? Come on. That's the hands though, the hands that are meant to hold and nurture and develop, not beat down and crush. So when the Bible talks about hands, it's what we do.

It's what we do with our hands. Do you realize that our nation has the blood of innocent children on her hands? Oh Shane, that's not my problem. Oh yes it is. It requires national repentance. Look at Daniel.

Look at Nehemiah. Look at Moses. Crying out, calling out to God in intercession for the people. Lord, we have sinned against you. We confess the sins of our people. That's very healthy. And if it's something we've done, it requires repentance as well.

What we've done with our hands. What about porn? The porn industry is alarming the statistics. And men, they're looking at these things, abusing, addiction, all these things. We need to repent from that.

What about our heart issue? The arrogant attitudes of the heart. God condemns this area more than anything else. Does He not? The hardness of our hearts. That's when we say, I don't need more of God, Shane.

Who are you to challenge me? And I was reminded, if you've ever read Paradise Lost by Milton. Milton's Paradise Lost. Hundreds of years ago, he makes a statement in there. And Lucifer, he quotes Lucifer saying, I would rather reign in hell than be a servant in heaven.

I think many people feel the same way. I will not bow to that God. I would rather reign in hell than serve in heaven. That book and that movie, I hope they serve beer in hell. No, they don't. The blasphemy.

The words we use towards God. This pride and this arrogance. Our nation is caught up in this. Number three, idolatry. Which we talked about. Loving this world more than the things of God. And basically, that's double-minded, unstable, wavering, back and forth, serving two masters.

And we see this, I see this often in our culture. Even in the Christian community. Look at, for a perfect example, this is country music. They'll put Amazing Grace on a CD. Then the next song, save a horse, ride a cowboy.

Amazing Grace. Next song, tequila makes your clothes fall off. Guys, this is appalling. They come in and ask if God's gonna endorse it. Look at this, we did Amazing Grace. No, you're mocking the very grace you should be praising.

That's what idolatry is. These things might be a little crude, a little rude, but I gotta wake you up. Wake up the culture. This is the world we live in. Give us clean hands and a pure heart. Let us not lift up our soul to an idol, nor should we swear deceitfully.

There's a lot of church playing. There's a lot of coming in and acting as if we're doing God a favor, but we're living in deception. So he calls the church out of that. But be encouraged. Again, this isn't meant to necessarily be a rebuke.

It's meant to encourage. Say, listen, here's what the Bible says. Here's where I should get my life in order. Right? Because these things, clean hands, a pure heart, lifting up our soul to an idol, seeking God with all of our heart.

That's just the conduit. Those things allow us to clean out the heart, and now it's a conduit. You know what a conduit is? A conduit brings something from this end to that end, or allows something to travel through it.

That's the conduit. Obeying God's Word is a conduit to receive His blessings in His favor. Some of you construction guys will appreciate this, but I remember probably 2005, 2006, I was operating heavy equipment, and I had a deep trench, and kind of V-cut, and we were laying 5-inch conduit, to schedule 80 for Southern California Edison.

And as I'm digging this, and putting in the conduit, which they're going to run 12 ,000 volts through it, we're scurrying, we're getting the measurements down, we get slurry in there, which is concrete, they've concreted it all in, it takes all day, and then we leave, and then it's raining all night, the night before.

Well, the pipe comes up in this end, near a telephone pole, and this end, near an Edison box, and somebody forgot to cap it, right at the dirt. So we get there in the morning, and all this trash, all this mud, and rocks, and water, everything was ran into the pipe, it's five feet deep, with slurry over it.

I said, oh my Lord, we're done. Edison's got to bring over a mandrel, they're little things that go in the pipe, that make sure the pipe's clean, and he's going to be here in an hour, we're done. This job is ruined.

Somebody said, hold on. Brought over his truck, on the back of it, he's got a trailer, on that trailer is an air compressor. Hmm. Whenever you have an air compressor on the back of a trailer, it's a big one.

So he said, hold on. Ran the hose over, there's big two inch holes, had a little mechanism, and he turned that air compressor on, he put it in the pipe, and all I heard was, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

And out the other end, it looked like a volcano, of just trash, and debris, and rocks, everything came out, the pipe is clean. But see, that's what God wants to do. Don't you see the parallel, the imagery?

Clean that conduit out, allow the Holy Spirit to come in, whatever you want to call it, clean it out, so that now it's whole, it's pure, it's a conduit, can now be used for what it's for, but we've got all this trash, and garbage, and everything in there.

You've got to hook up the air compressor, or something, blow it out, clean that out, that's what these things are. Clean hands, a pure heart, not lifting up their soul to an idol, nor swearing deceitfully.

Historical Revival and the Price of Spiritual Awakening

That's the whole point of this. I actually want to read briefly, something, it's a good little book I received a while back, The Price and Power of Revival. And I want to talk, I want to just read briefly, what I'm talking about when I mention revival.

About 50 years ago, they experienced in the islands around Scotland, this revival from where the book was written. I want to just give you a sense of what, what they were experiencing. Whole communities were mightily moved as God came, and the following instance is typical, of what they witnessed in the churches, and in the crowded homes.

A crowded church, the services over the congregation, reluctant to disappear, or disperse, stands outside the church, in a silence that is tense. Suddenly a cry is heard within, a young man burdened for the souls of his fellow men, is pouring out his soul in intercession.

Heaven hears, and the congregation moved by the power of God, comes back into the church, and a wave of conviction sweeps over the gathering, moving strong men to cry for mercy. The service continued until the small hours of the morning, but so great was the distress, and so deep the hunger for God, that gripped the people they refused to go home.

The other service was already coming in, assembling together, and a number of those who made their way to the church, were moved by the power of God, that they have never before experienced. Others were deeply convicted of sin, and crying for mercy, in their own homes, and before coming to church.

None who were present at this early morning visitation, will forget that moving scene. Some were weeping in sorrow, others filled with joy, others on their knees praising God, conscience only of the presence and power of God, who had come in revival blessing.

Within a matter of days, the whole parish was in the grip of a spiritual awakening. Churches became crowded, the services continued until three o 'clock in the morning, work was largely put aside, as young and old were made to face the eternal realities.

Such is the background for this sermon. Trying to have you understand the desperate need for revival. And revival is more than just singing, it's more than becoming a member, it's more than enjoying fellowship, and reading the Bible.

Revival is God at the center of your life. It's at the center of your life. You might say, Shane, if you're making me feel uncomfortable, again, I go back to that question, why? Why does this make us feel uncomfortable?

It should make us want to leap for joy and say, Lord, bring revival to my heart. Revive this dead and barrenness that I'm experiencing. Well, here's one reason. Robert Barr of the Presbyterian Church in South Africa, said this during, I believe, this time of this revival.

This is what our age needs. Not an easy moving message, the sort of thing that makes the hearer feel all nice inside, but a message profoundly disturbing. We have been too afraid of disturbing people, but the Holy Spirit will have nothing to do with a message or with a pastor who is afraid of disturbing.

We say send revival, but are we willing to pay that price? We say, Lord, revive me, but are you prepared for the fire? God talks about the refining fire of the Holy Spirit, the refining fire of God. It's not some weirdness.

It's God visiting His people and reviving them. Wilt thou not revive us again so that your people may rejoice in thee? I also want to read a quick excerpt from this as well, page 60. I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget.

This is tying in with this. So they waited and months and months passed and nothing happened until one morning a young man in the company read the portion of Psalms 24 that we've been reading. Who shall ascend unto the heel of the Lord?

Who shall stand at His holy place? He hath clean hands and a pure heart. Looking down at his praying companions, he said, Brethren, it seems to me just so much sentimental humbug to be praying as we are praying, to be waiting as we are waiting, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God.

And then he prayed, Are my hands clean? Is my heart pure? He got no further. At that moment there came to them a realization of God and awareness of His presence that lifted them from the spear of the ordinary into the spear of the extraordinary.

Revival had come and the power that was let loose in that barn shook the whole community of Lewis. Why? Because one man said, Is my heart pure? Is my heart right? See, it's self-examination. This is very healthy.

It's very healthy to examine the condition of our heart. See, what happens is we pray. People pray, Lord, help me pray, but you still love your porn. You pray, but you're just as arrogant as ever. Well, let's talk about where the rubber meets the road.

Repentance, Humility, and the Church’s Calling

That's what's happening here. We pray, yet we've never really turned from our sins. We pray, but anger dominates our lives. We pray, but selfishness still controls us. You realize when God calls us to prayer and revival, He wants us to clean the conduit of our heart.

I've said this before, and I'll remind you that the Holy Spirit, you don't see Him falling on like Ozzy Osbourne. You see Him falling on a broken, humble church, emptying themselves and saying, Lord, fill me.

Would you fill me with your Spirit? We're all worried about the culture, but the church is the problem. Now, please don't misunderstand. There are wonderful churches doing great things. I don't want to come up here and beat up the bride of Christ because that's very dangerous.

But I do want to call the church to her primary responsibility, and that is, as A .W. Tozer said, the number one goal of the church is not to go and spread the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.

The number one goal of the church is to be spiritually worthy to spread it. Let that sink in. The number one goal of the church is not to spread the gospel. The number one goal of the church is to be spiritually worthy to spread it.

Salvation and the Call to Full Devotion

Not perfection, but a heart set afire on God. Well, let me just end with this in closing. Salvation can be a form of revival, and I don't want to miss this opportunity. If there's somebody here listening on the radio or the Internet or here tonight, if you don't truly know Him, that's what this season is about, Christ coming to die in our place, a baby born to die.

If you like this talk of revival or something stirring in your heart, there's no greater opportunity than tonight during worship. Cry out to God, say, Lord, I'm done playing games, I'm done playing church, because you know my heart.

See, we can fool everybody else. We can fool everybody, but God knows. God knows. He sees your heart right now. He can see that depth of a heart. Is it after Him or is it after something else? So I would just encourage you tonight, we're going to have a prayer area in the back during worship, or just as you're taking communion, now that you've repented and put your trust in Christ and you want to be part of that, you don't have to raise your hand, you don't have to say a prayer, you don't have to be theologically correct, you just have to repent and trust in Him.

Or if you're a believer and you've drifted from God, that is the word revival. God is restoring. He is reviving. He is reviving us. And a church, Christians, you know you can be alive but dead spiritually?

Read the book of Revelation, chapter 1, 2, and 3, when He talks to the churches. Oh, I know your work, but you're dead. You say you're rich, but you're poor. So God is calling believers back to Him as well.

If there isn't full devotion and fully surrendered life, then maybe you're here for a reason tonight. God is saying, listen, I want all of you, not five minutes here and a chunk here. Don't keep me around.

I don't go around just preaching and praising all day long. I've got to work. I've got to change diapers. I've got to clean things. I've got to take out the trash. I've got bills to pay, just like everybody else.

But is your heart set on God or Sodom and Gomorrah? Uh-oh. I'll stay away from that one tonight. Leave it for the second service. God is reconciling. That which is dead is now alive in Christ. That which was dead is now alive in Christ.

God brought revival. That's the reason for this Christmas season. God brings revival. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Can we truly say that? Do you know how many people just, oh, amazing grace. Yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Do you realize how impactful that could be if the heart's engaged, when that song really means what it says? Follow one of the blind men around that Jesus healed. You think he just said, oh, that's a little better, thanks.

I got it now, thanks, Jesus. They couldn't contain those guys. They had to tell everybody. They had to tell everybody. I was blind, but now I see. I was blind, but now I see. I've got to tell the world.

Jesus said, no, no, no, don't go tell anybody. Don't go tell anybody. Don't. My time has not yet come. Raise the dead. Cure the leopard. Open the ears of the deaf. Heal the dumb. Everything was healed in Christ.

There's power in his name. People got excited over physical things. This is spiritual. I was lost eternally, but now I'm found eternally. This is eternal salvation. We should either be jumping for joy or weeping when those words are saying.

Why? Because the heart's not engaged. Go to a bar and watch them worship the 50-inch screen TV when their team wins, but they come in here, they're dead as a doornail. Why? They need revival. They need God to revive their heart, and it can't be forced.

It can't be manipulated. I can't sit here and make you and go against your will. All I can do is bring the truth of God's word and let it pierce your heart, and that's when revival takes place, when the heart finally breaks and says, Lord, I'm giving you everything tonight because I can see.

I was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. Can you say that and mean it? Look how quickly we go through these songs. Sometimes I see those words, I'm like, do you just realize what we just read?

But it's like this. My phone on me. Is that worshiping God? We wonder why there's a disconnect with God. I don't know. I can probably tell you where to start. Right here.