Revival God's Way: Part 1

Redeeming Grace Church

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April 5, 2020

Revival God's Way: Part 2

00:01: Well, if you notice on this Palm Sunday, we have a lot of songs that are tuned around what revives us, and nothing can revive us more than the
00:14: Word of God, because only God's Word has the power to do so. I'd like to begin with a story, very quickly, that was true in history of a man by the name of Napoleon, which everyone knows.
00:35: He conquered most of the world in Europe back in his day. At one time, he took his index finger, extended on the outline a great stretch of country on a map of the world, and there he growled and said, this is a sleeping giant.
00:57: Let him sleep, and if he wakes, he will shake the world.
01:05: Of course, as you know, that sleeping giant in that time of history was China, and today
01:11: Napoleon's prophecy of many hundreds of years ago makes sense. Now, transfer
01:17: Napoleon's statement to a realm of the spiritual substitute
01:23: Lucifer, the fallen angel for the growler Napoleon, and the church of Jesus Christ for China, and then you will almost see, as Ravenhill says, fire belch from between Lucifer's teeth, and almost behold the fear in his very eyes.
01:42: I would like to say that he thinks of the church as unmeasured potential, and he growls.
01:48: And you almost can hear Satan say, let the church sleep, but if she wakes, she will shake the world.
02:00: He knows this because there's nothing that's going to stop the church of the living
02:05: God. When she does awake, she may be in a stumble, and she may be stumbling and sleeping, but if she does awake, the church will shake the world.
02:20: Is not the church of Jesus Christ like the sleeping giant of today? I'd like to ask a few questions.
02:27: Are we a threat to the kingdom of darkness? Are you a threat to the kingdom of darkness? Are you known in hell?
02:35: Are you a very menace of the devil himself? Does Satan fear every time you go to God in prayer?
02:42: Scripture says, as the Apostle Paul says, therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober -minded, and then he says, and that knowing the time, that now is high time to awake out of sleep, for now, now is our salvation nearer than when we would believe.
03:05: The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
03:17: That's not my text, but as an introduction to what revival means, the church must be awakened once again.
03:27: She's alive, but she must be revived. The text
03:33: I'd like to choose comes this morning from 2 Chronicles chapter 7,
03:39: I'd like for you to turn there please, and I'm just going to read a few verses from chapter 7, but in order to really get what is being said in the word of God here, we're going to go back and we're going to glean a lot from chapter 6 of exactly what's going on in this time period in the nation, in the history of Israel.
04:07: Second Chronicles chapter 7, and I'd like to start with verse 11 and read through verse 20, even though we will not be unpacking everything, the main verses we're going to be looking at today is verses 13 and 14, but as I say, before we get to that, and breaking that down, we're going to look at chapter, most of our time will be in chapter 6, because there's so much that is said in chapter 6 in Solomon's prayer.
04:42: But beginning with verse 11, hear the word of the living God. Thus Solomon finished the house of the
04:50: Lord, and the king's house, and all that came into Solomon's heart, to make it the house of the
04:58: Lord, and in his own house, he prosperously effected. And the
05:04: Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.
05:15: Verse 13, if I, this is God speaking, as God appeared to Solomon, if I shut up heaven, that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, and if I send pestilence among my people, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will
05:42: I hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
05:49: Now my eyes shall be opened, and my ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place.
05:58: For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
06:13: And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shall observe my statutes and my judgments.
06:25: God goes on to say, and then I shall establish the throne of thy kingdom according I have coveted with David thy father, saying, there shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.
06:39: But if ye turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which
06:47: I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods and worship them, then
06:52: God gives a strict warning here, then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land, which
07:00: I have given them. And this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and I will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
07:12: Let's stop right there and let's ask God's blessings and seek his face this morning as we look into his word within this hour.
07:21: Our Father in heaven, we come to you once again as we have already called on you.
07:28: Lord, we seek your face, we beseech you Lord, to come among us, which you are already here.
07:38: But Father, we need a divine intervention within your church across this world.
07:46: Father, there are other parts of the world where your church is being persecuted. They are very strong. Father, we do pray that you will keep them as they endure the suffering.
07:58: There's many I've heard even say, do not pray that God would deliver us from the suffering.
08:04: Just pray that, Lord, you will keep them and keep them strong because suffering keeps them close to you.
08:12: Father, we do not know this kind of suffering, but Lord, persecution is right around the corner for America.
08:18: But Father, as we come before your courts this morning and we come humbly in your presence, we first of all recognize,
08:28: Father, that we are weak. Father, we are small and we are insignificant in many respects.
08:34: We can do nothing without you. But Father, you are exalted. Your name is to be hallowed above all, exalted, glorified, and great are you,
08:46: Lord. Great above the heavens. And Father, we pray that your name would be exalted in all that is said among your people today as many of your servants are preaching your word.
09:02: Lord, may your word go forth. As you said, it does not return void. It accomplishes exactly what you have sent it to do.
09:10: And Father, above all, the earth and heaven and hell, Lord, we pray that Jesus Christ, his name will be exalted.
09:20: And Father, we would ask that within this hour, and Lord, we pray as we think of an hour, this hour grows dim and dark.
09:29: This may sound negative, but Father, you know what is happening. And Lord, you have ordained all these things to happen, even this virus, even this pestilence for your glory.
09:44: Father, we would pray that as we come to approach you and we seek your face, that you would grant mercy to intervene once again, to revive your people once again.
09:59: Lord, and most of all, may we as your people heed and obey you. Father, we pray that you would grant to us an ear to hear what the
10:09: Spirit is saying to the church within this hour. Lord, you have given us the divine instructions of righteousness right in your word to correct us, to instruct us in the way that we should go.
10:24: Not to turn to the right, nor to the left, but to keep our eyes completely upon you and Jesus Christ.
10:32: So Father, in every sense we are without excuse because you have given us so much light from your word.
10:42: So much revelation that it makes me tremble. But Father, I would pray, help us again as we call on you.
10:51: May we heed everything that you are saying to us, everything that you have commanded us this day.
10:58: And Father, as I minister your word, I pray that you would anoint each and every one that is hearing.
11:06: Anoint us with your hand. Anoint us by your
11:11: Spirit. It's just not enough just to hear your word.
11:16: Father, we must obey it. We must be just not hearers of the word, but doers of the word.
11:22: As your word has said, if we do not do this, Lord, we deceive ourselves as we look into a mirror and see our own reflection.
11:31: So Father, may we do something about this and examine our own hearts before you. And Lord, I pray that again, save us from the worst enemy of all, and that is ourselves.
11:42: Father, grant to us your favor, your loving favor, that you would revive your church once again.
11:50: And I'd ask this in the name that's above all names, Jesus of Nazareth, Amen and Amen.
12:00: Well, within this text, we see for seven years the people of God have been building the temple on the
12:10: Mount Moriah. And it is now completed, and the time has come to dedicate the temple, and the people have now gathered together for this special occasion.
12:22: Solomon is kneeling on a small platform that has been built for the occasion, and his hands are lifted up to heaven as he kneels down on this platform.
12:35: And he raises his hand towards heaven, and he offers up a wonderful prayer.
12:43: And Solomon's prayer is recorded in 2 Chronicles chapter 6, the chapter that is before.
12:50: And the reason I'm having to go this direction is because if we truly understand the context of verse 14 in 2
12:59: Chronicles 7, we must understand the direction of the prayer that Solomon gives, and everything that happened before God says this to Solomon as he appeared to him.
13:14: It's a magnificent prayer, it's very powerful, and it is actually revealed as reverence to God's warnings, which were given to all of Israel, and before even this time period it was given to all of Israel in the time the prophet
13:33: Moses was actually leading the people of God. You can see that in Leviticus chapter 26, and Deuteronomy chapter 28, and in the complete chapters.
13:46: But if you look at chapter 6, there's much that's to be said as we take our tracks and lead toward the text we have before us, and I want to try to do this as quick as I can because there's a lot to be said.
14:06: If you look at chapter 6 of 2 Chronicles verse 12, again
14:12: Solomon is kneeling and it says this, and he stood before the altar.
14:18: It's a beautiful part of scripture, he stands before the altar of the
14:24: Lord, and you know what an altar is for, an altar is for a sacrifice. So he offers himself up as a sacrifice to the
14:31: Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and he spread forth his hands.
14:38: Verse 13, for Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits long and five cubits broad and three cubits high, and he set it in the midst of the court, and upon it he stood, and then it says, and kneeled down, and upon his knees before the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands toward heaven.
15:02: That's his posture of prayer as he's about to pray. And then if you notice in verse 14, which is a very key verse, and it said,
15:12: O Lord God of Israel, and he begins to pray, there is no
15:17: God like Thee in heaven nor in earth, which keep His covenant and show His mercy unto
15:23: Thy servants that walk before Thee with all their hearts. And you see right here that he is coming and addressing the
15:32: God of Israel, and I love the way he starts it off, there is no God like Thee in heaven.
15:39: He stands apart and holy. Solomon had a right view of God, and he had a very high concept of God.
15:49: I believe that's part of our problem today in the church, our view of God's word is not high enough, our view of God is not high enough, our concept of God is not high enough.
15:59: Tozer is exactly right, what we think of God is the most important thing about us. So we must have a high and a holy view of God, of the knowledge of the holy, and this is so significant, and this is part of the downfall of what is happening today among the evangelical circles and why the church has become so worldly, because we do not have a high and a holy view of God, a concept of God that is high above the heavens, and Solomon had this, he begins,
16:30: O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like Thee in heaven, nor in earth. I love that prayer.
16:38: And then if you notice, as he continues to pray, and then
16:43: I'm going to go through this, let me just go through this whole prayer real quick, and then we'll just go back and glean from it.
16:49: Notice what he says, it's a powerful prayer, that which has kept with thy servant David my father, that which thou hast promised him, and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
17:02: Verse 16, Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant
17:07: David my father, which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel, yet so that thy children take heed to their way, to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
17:26: Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant
17:32: David. Verse 18, he says, But will God in very deed dwell in the men, with men on the earth?
17:41: And then he says this, Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house which
17:50: I have built. Have respect therefore the prayer of thy servant unto the supplication, and O Lord my
17:57: God, to hearken unto the cry of the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee, that thine eyes may be opened upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldst put thy name there, to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this.
18:16: Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place.
18:26: Hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven, and when thou hearest, notice what he says, forgive, forgive.
18:37: Verse 22, If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house, then hear thou from heaven, and do judge thy servants by acquitting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head, and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.
19:05: And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall return, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication before thee in this house, then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people
19:26: Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
19:33: And when the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee, notice that, because of sin, because they have sinned against thee, yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, there is repentance, when thou doest afflict them, then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people
19:55: Israel, and thou hast taught them the good way wherein thou shouldest walk. And sin reign upon thy land, which thou hast given thy people for an inheritance.
20:09: And if there be dearth in the land, and if there be pestilence, and if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars, and if their enemies besieged them in the cities of their land, whatsoever sore, or whatsoever sickness there be, then what prayer or supplication soever shall be made of any man, or all thy people
20:30: Israel, when every one shall know his own sore, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house?
20:38: Then hear thou from heaven, thou dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest, for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men, that they may fear thee to walk in thy way so long as they live, in the land which thou gavest our fathers.
21:01: And then he says, Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people
21:06: Israel, but is come from a far country, for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand hath stretched out arm, if they come and pray in this house, then hear thou from heavens, and even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee, for that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doest thy people
21:30: Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
21:38: If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by the way, thou shalt send them and pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which
21:49: I have built for thy name, then hear thou from heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
21:57: If they sin against thee, for there is no man which sinneth not, don't you love that, and he's telling the truth in parentheses, and be thou angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto the land far off or near, yet if they bethink themselves in the land whether are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying we have sinned and have done amiss and have dealt wickedly, and if they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whether they have carried them captives and pray toward their land, and thou gavest unto their fathers and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which
22:47: I have built for thy name, then hear thou from heavens and even from thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.
23:00: And then he says this, Now my God, let I beseech thee, thy eyes be opened, and let thy ears be attended unto the prayer that is made in this place.
23:12: Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength, and let thy priest,
23:20: O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
23:28: O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed. Remember the mercies of David, thy servant.
23:38: And it says in chapter 7 verse 1, and it continues, Now listen very closely what happens.
23:45: Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering, and the sacrifices, and the glory of the
23:57: Lord filled the house. Verse 2, And the priest could not enter the house of the
24:03: Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the
24:11: Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement and worshipped and praised the
24:21: Lord, saying, For he is good, and his mercy endureth forever. And then the king and all the peoples offered sacrifices before the
24:29: Lord. And if you notice, this was a tremendous sacrifice of many many animals that took place and this was probably, it literally took days on end for this to happen.
24:45: I would actually say the scripture says 8 days. A barbeque, that was above all barbeques.
24:51: You think you have big barbeques, this one beats them all. It's a champion of all barbeques.
24:58: And the king Solomon offered a sacrifice, listen to this, of 20 and 2 ,000 oxen.
25:06: 120 ,000 sheep. So, the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
25:14: That's what this is for, the dedication of God's house and the glory of the Lord was there. And the priest waited on the offices and the
25:21: Levites also on the instruments of the music of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the
25:27: Lord, because his mercy endureth forever. When David praised by their ministry and the priest sounded trumpets before them and all
25:35: Israel stood. And moreover, Solomon hallowed the middle of the court, that was before the house of the
25:41: Lord and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brazen altar which
25:48: Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings and the meat offerings and the fat.
25:55: And also at the same time, Solomon kept the feast 7 days and all Israel with him, a very great congregation from the entering in Hamath until the river of Egypt.
26:08: And in the 8th day, they made a Solomon assembly, for they kept the dedication of the altar 7 days and the feast 7 days.
26:18: And on the 3 and 20th day and the 7th month, he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in the heart for the goodness of the
26:30: Lord had shown unto David and to Solomon and to Israel his people. And it was in that setting right there, that the text we have before us, that God appears to Solomon and gives the condition of what will happen if his people forsake the
26:50: Lord, if Israel forsakes the Lord, he tells of the negative in verse 20, then
26:55: I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them this house, which
27:01: I have sanctified for my name. God warns I will cast out of my sight and I will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
27:10: As you well know, that in 70 AD, the Temple Mount was destroyed by Titus, and there was much,
27:18: Jesus even said one day that every stone that you see will be totally broken to pieces.
27:29: There is much here in our text. The first point I would like for us to see here is that in this prayer that Solomon recognizes the purpose for this temple, there was a purpose for the temple.
27:41: And that purpose was to come and meet with God. That's the reason, you know, we really have lost sight of that purpose.
27:50: A lot of churches meet today for all kinds of different reasons. But the purpose we meet together, and of course, it's just not the structure of the house.
28:00: As now in the New Testament, we are the temple of the living God, but yet when we meet together as people of God, God is in the midst of us.
28:12: We meet because God is the audience. God is in the presence of His people.
28:19: And that's the purpose. You know, it's not to come just to greet with the preacher, shake the preacher's hand.
28:27: It's not even just to sing, even though the singing is to praise the
28:32: Lord. But the whole purpose of church is to meet God. We sing praises to God.
28:38: We pray to God. It's all about God. It's hearing
28:44: God's word. We want to hear from heaven. Solomon recognized this, that first of all, he says, it is
28:53: God's name that is in this place. It's not Pastor David.
28:59: It's not Pastor so -and -so. It is God. God is the reason.
29:04: We meet with God. And don't you love what he said in that prayer?
29:10: This is one of my favorite verses and I know everybody beloved here loves this verse in verse 18 in chapter 6.
29:18: But will God in very deed dwell with men on earth? Behold, heaven and the heavens cannot contain thee, how much less the house which
29:27: I built. Think of this, even the universe itself cannot contain God.
29:33: That's how big God is. You know, you think of it, you fly, if you've flown in a jet and I've flown several times,
29:42: I'm not too crazy about it nowadays, but if you fly 32 ,000 feet above the ground and you're above the clouds and everything and you think, wow, you cannot even see the cars, you cannot see the people, so, so small, almost like a little insect, like dust.
30:04: You can't even see it. But you know, I don't know about you, but my thoughts really go out there when you start thinking of the vastness and the greatness of God.
30:14: And that is nothing compared. And even the earth compared to the universe, how vast it is, is so small compared to the suns.
30:24: It's just so infinite and all that God has created. Well, next, not only does he recognize that the place was for God, but next to the temple here is a place where men might come to meet
30:40: God in order to find forgiveness of sins. You know, it's for God's people to come to meet together, to assemble with one another, and to meet
30:51: God and call upon God and pray to God and hear God's word, hearing it read and hearing it preached and praying to the
30:59: God of heaven. But interesting to note that a thousand years later, when the Lord of glory came,
31:06: Jesus Christ and Brother Ben read about the triumphant entry and today is
31:11: Palm Sunday, but Jesus came in great humility. This is the second person of the
31:16: Trinity, God himself, and came and the
31:22: Father sent his beloved Son, he came to dwell on this earth in his incarnation, and Jesus, now this is interesting to note, that Jesus began his earthly three year ministry, and after the first miracle that we read of in John chapter 2, after at the feast, at the wedding feast in Cana in Galilee, after his first miracle he turned the water into wine, what does
31:47: Jesus do next? He goes up to the temple. He goes to this temple and what does he do?
31:54: He cleanses the temple. He does a cleansing. This is the way
31:59: God, and what happened, you know, as I was writing this down and studying this, as you can read about, here we see the freshness of the temple and Solomon is dedicating this temple to God in God's name and God comes and speaks and his glory fills the temple, but down through the years we see that God's glory departed, right, and there was silence later on and all because of sin and Israel just departed from the
32:31: Lord and forsook the Lord and went into idolatry and rebellion and became stiff necked and hard hearted and they did what they wanted to do in their own eyes.
32:40: God forsook them and abandoned them. Silence for 400 years until Jesus came in the fullness of time.
32:48: He came on the scene, but we see now Jesus. Picture with me. He cleanses the temple and can
32:55: I say this from scripture? As I read it and study it, Jesus not only cleansed the temple once, he cleanses it twice.
33:05: This is proven in scripture. He cleanses the temple at the beginning of his ministry and he cleanses the temple at the end of his ministry.
33:18: You can see the first cleansing in John chapter 2 and if you turn with me very quickly there in John chapter 2, notice what happens.
33:28: Now you're talking about zeal for his house. God here has a zeal for his house and notice
33:37: Jesus goes to the temple, John chapter 2, look at verse 13, and the Jews Passover was at hand.
33:43: Jesus went up to Jerusalem, founded the temple, those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting.
33:53: When he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen, poured out the changers of money.
34:02: He overthrew the tables and he said unto them that sold doves, listen to what he said, take these things hence and make not my father's house a house of merchandise.
34:13: And his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
34:20: And then hath answered the Jews and said unto him, what sign show unto us seeing that thou doest these things?
34:26: And of course Jesus said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. They didn't get it, did they?
34:32: He was talking about his body being the temple. They didn't get that. But Jesus cleanses the temple.
34:40: There's a cleansing at the beginning of his ministry and then at the end of his ministry, you can read in the
34:46: Synoptic Gospels, at the final Passover week before Jesus' crucifixion in which we are approaching as Palm Sunday is today and then his passion week comes,
34:57: Jesus once again cleanses the temple. Pastor John MacArthur says this, and there's a reason why both of the cleansings, and I like this,
35:08: I'm quoting Pastor MacArthur, the historical circumstances and literary context of two temple cleansings differ so widely that attempts to equate the two are unsuccessful.
35:21: Furthermore, that two cleansings occurred is entirely consistent with overall context of Jesus' ministry.
35:29: For the Jewish nation as a whole never recognized Jesus' authority as Messiah. Instead, they rejected his message as well as his person, making such repeated cleansing of the temple highly probable as well as necessary.
35:48: And scripture says Jesus drove them all out of the temple. And then MacArthur goes on to say when the holiness of God and his worship was at stake,
36:00: Jesus took fast and furious action. The all indicates that he drove not only men out but also animals.
36:09: Yet although his physical action was forceful, it was not cruel. End quote.
36:15: You see, the necessity of Jesus cleansing the temple twice tells us something very important.
36:21: It tells us that the corruption and the love of money became a paramount in the name of God.
36:30: It was such blasphemy. In holy anger, God himself in the flesh cleanses the temple, totally drives them all out.
36:42: Sadly, the purpose and the reason for the temple was prayer supposedly and not to offer up merchandise in the name of God.
36:54: So they blasphemed God's name but it was the love of money the reason they did it. Ever wonder why our
37:00: Lord was so angry? Well, if you think about how
37:06: God grieves now with the prosperity gospel that is growing leaps and bounds.
37:14: But you know something, not only in the prosperity gospel in the name of God that people are justifying their coveting and using the grace of God and cheapening the grace of God and justifying everything under the sun in God's name.
37:27: Do you not think that God is going to do something about this? You know, you think of this, the corruption has come not only in this land in America but the corruption has come right into the church.
37:38: The church has allowed this, not only in the charismatic circles but in the evangelical circles.
37:44: You know, you think of it, this is so sad. But God is greed and God's not going to wink at this.
37:50: God's going to do something about it and actually what's taking place is Romans 1, we are there beloved. Not only has
37:57: America abandoned God, God has abandoned America. This is happening now and God is teaching
38:05: America a lesson of what is taking place and I pray in the midst of all this that God revives
38:11: His church, His people. Now think of it, here's another reason. In Old Testament times the sacrifices of animals could never put away the sins.
38:21: The sacrifices of all the animals could only cover the sins. How do we know this? Because of Jesus Christ who came as the
38:29: Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. And actually if you read
38:35: Hebrews chapter 10, I like to read just a few verses of scripture.
38:41: For the law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of things can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
38:55: For then would they have not ceased to be offered because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
39:06: But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
39:13: But it is not possible that the blood of the bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world he sayeth sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not but a body hast thou prepared me.
39:27: This is about Jesus, listen to this, the Lamb of God. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
39:36: Then said I, lo I come in the volume of the book as it is written me to do thy will
39:42: O God. Above when he said sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offerings for sin thou wouldest not, neither had his pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
39:55: Then said he, lo I come to do thy will O God. He taketh away the first and he may establish the second.
40:03: By the which will we? We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.
40:14: Don't you love that? It's Jesus Christ that can take away the sin once and for all forever and cleanse us from dead works to serve the living
40:26: God. You know and all this is shadows if we see this about the temple and all the sacrifices and that gigantic sacrifice that Solomon put up.
40:36: But Jesus the Lamb of God came and he took away the sin of the world. Well if you go back to 2
40:44: Chronicles 6 you see the results. The glory of the Lord comes and this is what
40:51: I love. The fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering. You know as God always appeared and God came and as he does come, read it all the way through scripture.
41:02: He always comes like a fire. On the day of Pentecost when the
41:07: Holy Spirit came, what does it say? It says tongues of fire set upon their heads.
41:15: God came as a fire. When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, God it was as a consuming fire.
41:23: The bush itself was not consumed because God didn't allow it because God was in that bush. But God is a consuming fire.
41:31: He purges. He cleanses. It's always fire. You see Isaiah when he saw the
41:37: Lord high and lifted up in Isaiah 6. There's an altar.
41:43: There's fire. There's the tongues and as you know for Isaiah to be commissioned with his lips must be purged and cleansed.
41:55: This is a prophet. God purges him by coals of fire.
42:02: It's always fire. And here God comes. The fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and sacrifice and then it says the glory of the
42:11: Lord filled the house. Can you imagine that? It was so great that the scripture says that even the priest could not enter the house of the
42:20: Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the house. Well next we also see the temple was to be a place for dealing with the sin issue.
42:32: And you know this is where the church has failed. And I don't want to just sound like I'm throwing stones at the church.
42:38: God has a remedy and we're going to look at that remedy in just a minute. But you know really what's it talking about?
42:46: This was a place where the sins of men were dealt with, was in the house of God, in the temple of God.
42:54: Sins were dealt with. You know Jesus is the one that gave the first instruction about church discipline.
43:02: Why? To keep the church clean and pure. To keep it holy from contamination from the world.
43:11: Now unfortunately because so many churches and so many ministers have failed to put before them the pure instructions of the word of God, you don't even see church discipline taking place.
43:24: That's sad. That breaks my heart. Because if there was church discipline and love it would purge out the ones that are tares and keep
43:35: God's church holy and pure. You see there's a reason like I said Jesus cleanses the temple.
43:40: There's a reason for the purging and the cleansing. Now these sins were dealt with on a personal level and on also a national level.
43:50: Sin always is destructive. You see this in some of the verses I just read.
43:56: Sin destroys individually. Sin destroys nationally. But before it destroys on a national level it always destroys on a personal level.
44:07: And sin has to be dealt with. Now forgiveness is necessary and there has to be forgiveness of sin.
44:17: And to save us from the inherent destruction that sin brings. You see this in verse 39 in chapter 6.
44:25: Then hear thou from heaven even from thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplication. Maintain their cause and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.
44:37: But in order for sin to be forgiven sin must be forsaken. You know we got this cheap theology now that says oh okay
44:45: I just make a confession and I'm forgiven. Well confession is part of it. But more than just confession as the proverb says you must confess and turn from it and forsake it to receive mercy.
45:01: That is what God is looking at. He knows the hearts of men but we must be serious about dealing with the sin issue in our life if we want to see revival take place among us.
45:14: And beloved revival begins with the church. Not America.
45:20: It doesn't start in the White House. It doesn't start with the President. It starts in God's house. And beloved that's you and me.
45:27: Sisters I don't know about you. Brothers I don't know about you. I want to see revival but it has to start with me.
45:35: It has to start with me. It's me oh Lord that stands in the need of prayer. Not my mother. Not my father.
45:40: Not my sister. But it's me oh God. So may God deal with our own hearts. And beloved can
45:46: I say this? America is corrupted not because you know people are going to sinners are going to act like sinners naturally.
45:56: The problem is is corruption in the church. The sins of the church is much more vile and abhorrent and hateful to God than the sins of the nation.
46:07: America is corrupted yes. But what about the church? The church has failed to be the light of the world.
46:16: The salt. Jesus said this. What happens? Salt is a preservative. What happens if the salt has lost its saltiness?
46:24: It's no good for nothing. It's nothing. So salt preserves.
46:30: May God help us to be salty once again and be a preservative as the intercessors and step in and pray and pay the price and count the cost if we care enough.
46:44: And can I say this about revival? Revival always has a cycle. It begins with brokenness.
46:51: We must be broken in heart. We must be repentant and I'm not talking about worldly sorrow.
46:57: It must be godly sorrow. There is and then after first there is brokenness, humility. Then turning from sin is repentance.
47:05: Forgiveness of sin. Then there is freedom from sin. There is deliverance. Then there is the love toward God and then you have love toward others and then you have worship.
47:16: Then that worship comes right back into its cycle. Broken before God. Repentant.
47:22: Forgiveness. Freedom. Loving Christ. Loving others. And pure worship.
47:28: That's the cycle. Well I've got to move on. My time is going by so quickly. The temple is also a place where the truth is revealed.
47:38: You know when people, God's people meet together. I don't know about you. I want to hear from heaven.
47:44: I want to hear God's word. That's why Paul told Timothy. Preach the word. Don't tell stories.
47:51: Don't get me wrong. There's illustrations we can give. I'm not against that. But when I'm talking about stories,
47:57: I'm talking about behind the pulpit, just making people laugh and being funny and being a jokester.
48:04: God has nothing to do with being a jokester. He don't care about jokesters.
48:10: If anything, he would desire jokesters to come to repentance. Beloved, we need to hear, thus says the
48:15: Lord. We need to hear from God. Whatever happened to the fear of God?
48:21: Whatever happened to, like Solomon here, he falls on his face before God. You know, you don't see him telling jokes before the people in this situation, do you?
48:31: Now there's something very serious going on. He stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel.
48:38: He spread forth his hands and Solomon made a brazen scaffold and then it says he kneeled.
48:44: He stood and he kneeled down on his knees before the whole congregation. You can see all of Israel there.
48:51: He spread forth his hand and then he gave this prayer. And this prayer is so God -centered. What has happened?
48:57: We have failed to be God -centered. You know why we failed to be God -centered? Because the Word of God is not being preached.
49:03: We must get back to the Word of God. Now, I've got a chapter and verse now.
49:09: Oh, beloved, I could give you a whole hour for this, but because of time, notice what it says.
49:15: What does it say in Ezekiel 37? You know I was going to go to Ezekiel 37. Amen? The valley of dry bones.
49:23: What does God say? Ezekiel says in 37, the hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the spirit of the
49:31: Lord and set me down in the midst of a valley which was full of bones. Are we not in the valley of bones today?
49:38: We are. Dead people are everywhere. Now I'm not talking about just corpses, but we're talking about walking dead.
49:45: You know, I mentioned this before when we talked about the walking dead in America. You know, they've got this series about zombies and everything.
49:52: They're about right. People are like zombies. They're dead zombies.
49:58: They're corpses. They're dead. But you know something? We may be in the valley of dry bones and full of bones, like the nation of Israel was at one time, but notice what
50:08: God says in verse 2. He calls me and He calls me to pass by them around about and behold there was very many in the open valley and behold they were very dry.
50:20: Wow, we could say that. Very dry. Okay, and then what does He say? And He said unto me,
50:25: Son of man, can these bones live? God always comes with a question. Always with a question.
50:32: And He says, and you know this prophet is so wise. What does he say? He answers God and he says,
50:38: O Lord God, thou knowest. Hey, God knows.
50:44: If God asks you a question, you know it's best a lot of times one or two things. Keep silent and if you're going to answer, you could say, thou knowest
50:51: Lord because He's the all -wise God. Well, this prophet, he knew what to do and God said again,
51:00: He said unto me, prophesy upon these bones. You know what He's saying there? Preach my word. Say unto them,
51:06: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones. Behold, I will cause breath.
51:13: Boy, don't you love that word cause? God does it. If a revival is to take place,
51:20: God's going to cause it. It's divine intervention. Thank you, honey. I had to get a little water.
51:30: I know Teresa here is not liking the sound of my gravel voice, but anyway.
51:38: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live.
51:44: There is revival. God gives the breath. It enters into the corpses.
51:52: What does He say? I will lay sinews upon you. I will bring upon flesh upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live and you shall know that I am the
52:02: Lord. So I prophesied and I was commanded. I prophesied and there was a noise.
52:09: Notice what happens. Something happens. A noise and behold a shaking and bones came together.
52:17: Bone to His bone. God does this by His breath, by the word. The word of God is active.
52:24: It's alive. It's powerful. It's sharper than any two edged sword. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon it and skin covered them above and there was no breath in them.
52:35: Then said He unto me, prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, doth sayeth the
52:41: Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live.
52:49: So I prophesied as He commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet.
52:56: And what happens? A sleeping giant came about, beloved. All these bones came together with muscle and sinew and what happens?
53:07: An exceeding great army arose. Beloved, this is God's people.
53:12: This is what happens when revival comes. Amen. The church militant will come in strong and God will have
53:21: His way. Revival always comes, excuse me, God's way.
53:31: Amen. Well, in context with everything that's being said, let me bypass a lot here.
53:42: There's so much more that could be said on this, but let me go to the text. What does
53:48: God say? What does God say? God says to our text, 2
53:59: Chronicles 14, that He says to His people, if my people. Now let's go to 13.
54:05: If I shut up heaven, there be no rain. Notice God shuts up heaven. Or I command the locust to devour the land.
54:13: He talks to the locust. He commands the locust. And God is the one.
54:18: He's sovereignly in control. What if I send pestilence? COVID -19, yes,
54:24: God has ordained this. God has sent it. Among my people. See, the pestilence could be among God's people.
54:32: If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, that's real repentance.
54:41: Then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Four things.
54:47: Let me say one thing before this. J. Barton Payne says this about this verse. This great verse is the best known in all
54:54: Chronicles. It expresses as it does no other in Scriptures. God's requirements for national blessing, whether in Solomon's land or in Ezra's land or in our own land.
55:08: Those who believe must forsake their sins, turn from the life that is centered in self and yield to God's word and will.
55:20: Then and only then will heaven send a revival. You see, there are conditions, even though God sends the revival in divine intervention, but there's conditions that we must do.
55:34: We must first of all, and let's look at these conditions. You know, I love the way, you know, today is
55:41: Palm Sunday. You see great humility in the life of Jesus. He was perfect. He says, come unto me all you labor and heavy laden.
55:49: I'll give you rest. But what does he say? Because, why? Because I am meek and lowly of heart.
55:57: Jesus was the great example of true humility. Scripture says time and time again to humble ourselves.
56:04: It is the opposite of pride. Well, how do we know this? God hates pride, right? Well, if you're familiar with Proverbs, and I know you are,
56:15: Proverbs is something to read on this because Proverbs chapter 6, verse 16 says this.
56:27: Chapter 6, verse 16. These things, six things doeth the
56:32: Lord hate, yea, seven are abomination unto him. What's the first thing God says?
56:37: A proud look. Pride. Beloved, that's what turned an archangel into a devil.
56:45: And it can do the same for us as well if we're not careful. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
56:55: America's guilty of that, a heart that diviseth wicked imaginations. Wow.
57:01: Feet that be swift in running to mischief. Notice what he says. A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren.
57:10: Well, you can break that down and see all the things that God hates. But you know something, the very first thing, a proud look.
57:18: We must humble ourselves before God. J .C. Ryle said that this humility is the chief and it is the crown of all virtues.
57:31: We must practice humility. Humility. You know, what did Jesus say? Jesus said that, and on the
57:41: Sermon on the Mount, the very first thing, the very first beatitude was what? Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
57:51: If Jesus says that this is one of the first beatitudes in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven, we better take heed to what he says.
58:00: Poor in spirit. We must strip ourselves of pride. Now, one of the greatest illustrations
58:06: Jesus not only preached at, he illustrated it. Now, if you go to Matthew 18, notice what
58:13: Jesus does. In chapter 18, at verse 1 through 5, at the same time came the disciples unto
58:23: Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Look at this question.
58:30: These are the disciples. The disciples are concerned about being great.
58:39: Well, God, Jesus tells, basically sets an illustration. He doesn't even, before he answers them, he first gives a live illustration.
58:49: Jesus was a master teacher. Listen to this. Jesus called. He calls a little child unto him and he set him in the midst of them.
58:59: It was a male child. He set him in the midst of them. Boy, you know that had to be a lesson to these guys, these disciples talking about who's going to be great in the kingdom of heaven and Jesus sets a child among them.
59:14: And then what does he say? Verily I say unto you, except you be converted, that basically means repent, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
59:32: Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same as the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
59:40: Jesus answered their question. If you want to be great, you've got to become humble and stripped of all your pride like this child.
59:52: And then he says, and whosoever shall receive one such a little child in my name receiveth me. I tell you what, beloved, don't get me wrong.
01:00:00: We've got to know sound doctrine, but today the church is full of arrogant Pharisees.
01:00:06: God save us. No wonder there's not the Spirit of God among us because people are so full of pride.
01:00:13: And I'm not saying be ignorant. We must know our scriptures. We must adorn the doctrine of God. We must know the scriptures.
01:00:19: But you know something? Paul even said this, knowledge puffs up. Knowledge puffs up.
01:00:28: We need to be careful not to be puffed up in knowledge, but love builds up. Love is always not thinking about others.
01:00:37: Love is not thinking about myself or how great I'm going to be in knowledge. You know, Jesus, he don't care how much, you know, you can have all the knowledge, we can have all the knowledge of scripture and have this
01:00:47: Bible memorized from cover to cover, and if it's not in our heart, it's not going to do us any good.
01:00:54: You know, we better take heed and hide, treasure the Word of God in our heart.
01:01:01: Humble ourselves before God. What did David say in Psalm 51? Oh, this,
01:01:08: David knew it. This is why he was a man after God's own heart. Listen to the Word of God as he laments, as Brother Keith mentioned about lamenting before God.
01:01:17: He says this in Psalm 51, verse 16 and 17, For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would
01:01:27: I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offerings. And then he says this, The sacrifices of God over a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart,
01:01:36: O God, thou will not despise. Okay, what's the next thing?
01:01:42: I don't have time to go through all this. Maybe I'll have to break this up into a two -part session. My time is gone.
01:01:48: Well, first there's humility. We must humble ourselves. Then we're to pray.
01:01:54: How many verses of scripture are there about prayer? Oh, my goodness. And by the way, if you notice,
01:02:02: Solomon was praying when the Spirit of God, when the glory of the Lord came. It's by prayer that revival and spiritual cleansing is going to take place.
01:02:15: I'd like to say more about that, Lord willing. I can't do it next week because we've got Resurrection Sunday.
01:02:21: I'll be preaching on the resurrection, but Lord willing, maybe I can pick up right here. The third thing is seek my face.
01:02:29: Time and time again, God mentions about seeking his face. By the way, let me say one thing about prayer.
01:02:37: I love this. S. D. Gordon said, The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is pray.
01:02:43: It is not the only thing, but it is the chief thing. The great people of earth are the people who pray.
01:02:50: And I do not mean those who talk about prayer nor those who say they believe in prayer, or yet those who can explain about prayer, but I mean those people who take time to pray.
01:03:03: We must take the time to pray, to pray. Seek God's face.
01:03:10: You know, Hebrews 11 .6 speaks about that, doesn't it? He that believes in God, faith, believes
01:03:20: God, that he's a rewarder of them that basically seek him.
01:03:26: Seek his face. So that's paraphrased, but we're talking about seeking God's face.
01:03:32: It's impossible to please God without faith. Faith is the mix.
01:03:38: And then after faith, there's action. That's what James talks about, right? Action always follows faith.
01:03:45: It's working faith. It's not faith saying, Okay, I got faith. Just trust God. Trust in God. There's action that goes behind it.
01:03:52: Well, we're going to visit this again, Lord willing. Not next week, but the week following.
01:04:00: But the fourth thing is turn from our wicked ways. We must have true repentance.
01:04:06: True repentance. Well, there's so much more that could be said on this, but I'd like to stop right there because the time is up.
01:04:16: But we need to take time to pray, to seek God. I pray that this is a time why all of us, most of us are taking time to basically be in quarantine, right?
01:04:32: That we take time to get close to God. You know, I look about and even yet, of all that's taken place,
01:04:41: I see so many people, and I understand you got to get out and get some fresh air.
01:04:46: I'm not saying that's sin, okay? But I see more people still lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.
01:04:54: They're taking time. They think this is one big vacation. They're taking their boats.
01:05:00: They go into the lake, okay? They stay in distance from people, and they think this is one big vacation.
01:05:06: You know what God's people should be doing? We should be seeking God's face. Lord, help us.
01:05:12: Have mercy upon us. God has allowed this to take place to teach us, to humble us, and to bring us to a point that we come to Him and turn back to Him, and once again that God will revive
01:05:26: His people. Well, on that note, I'd like to say this.
01:05:36: Revival, this is what Ravenhill said about revival, and the offense of true revival is this.
01:05:43: It cannot be organized. The wind bloweth where it listeth. This is Ravenhill. It cannot be subsidized.
01:05:51: It does not need financial backing. It cannot be advertised, because there's nothing more advertising than a fire, and a revival is a fire from heaven.
01:06:02: It cannot be computerized. God alone knows the extent of His power.
01:06:08: It cannot be regularized. We cannot lay a theological track for it to operate on it.
01:06:15: It cannot be rationalized. It is a divine mystery beyond finite minds.
01:06:21: It cannot be denominationalized. It leaps over doctrinal barriers. It cannot be nationalized, and then he says this, and those preachers by the hundreds have been flying to Korea to see what
01:06:33: God has done in that country, and most have grasped the packed church's return, sad that our mechanical services are so sterile.
01:06:44: He says this, many people express an interest in revival. There are not so many deeply concerned about, and fewer are still burdened for it.
01:06:55: Still fewer are brokenhearted for it, yet spiritual revival is not an alternative for the nations right now.
01:07:03: It is an imperative. An imperative. Beloved, this is what we should be.
01:07:10: If we want to see God move, we're going to have to be desperate for God. We're going to have to get desperate for God, and I close with this.
01:07:19: We're not going to sing this song, but I love this. This is one of the great songs, I think, that has been sticking to my mind here, that come ye sinners poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore.
01:07:36: Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love, and power. Then he says this, come ye thirsty, come and welcome,
01:07:43: God's free bounty glorify. Notice what he says here, true belief and true repentance, every grace that brings you nigh.
01:07:54: Come ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you're better, you will never come at all.
01:08:04: Let not conscience make you linger, not of fitness fondly dream.
01:08:11: I all the fitness he requires is to fill your need of him. Now listen to this, view him posturing in the garden, on the ground your maker lies, on the bloody tree he suffered.
01:08:28: Sinner will this not suffice? Lo, the incarnate
01:08:34: God ascended, pleads the merits of his blood. Venture on him, venture wholly, let no other trust intrude.
01:08:46: I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in his arms, in the arms of my dear
01:08:55: Savior. Oh, there are ten thousand charms. Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
01:09:03: Let us not linger, beloved. Let's go to Jesus. Because all the fitness he requires is to fill our need for him.
01:09:13: Amen, amen. I pray that this was encouragement to stir your soul this morning and take this time as you're inside, even distance from others, but God isn't distant.
01:09:26: God is there to seek his face and as scripture says, may we draw nigh unto
01:09:31: God and he will draw nigh unto us. Let's pray. Our Father, Lord, as the
01:09:41: Apostle Paul says, we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord. This is not about telling stories.
01:09:50: This is not about hearing from Reader's Digest. Father, we desire to hear from you from heaven.
01:09:58: And Father, we thank you for the dust says the Lord that you have given us the instructions from your book.
01:10:04: Lord, save us from ourselves. Save us from laziness and idleness. Lord, may we saturate ourselves, just not for head knowledge, but Lord, to know the knowledge of the truth, but to know you in this book.
01:10:17: This is your love letter to us. Lord, we desire intimacy with you. We desire to know you in a more, in a personal way.
01:10:26: And Father, this book's all about you. You shine forth in it. You speak to us.
01:10:33: And as Paul said, and your word, for God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the one who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
01:10:47: So Father, that's what we desire. We desire to see your glory, as Moses said.
01:10:54: And Father, you even taught him and said, no one can see your glory and live. But Lord, he got a quick glimpse of you.
01:11:03: And after he got that quick glimpse, Father, there had to be a veil put on his face.
01:11:09: And that was just a quick glimpse. Not even of seeing your face. It was the backside of your glory.
01:11:18: Lord, help us. Put us between the cleft of the rock like Moses. That we may have a hunger and a desire and a longing as David says, as the heart, the deer pants after the water brooks.
01:11:31: So panteth my soul after thee, O God. Help us, Lord. Break us. Humble us.
01:11:38: And even in this time, Lord, with this pestilence, this virus going on,
01:11:44: Lord, may it awaken people, Lord, that you may use this for your glory to bring many souls to Jesus Christ.
01:11:54: Lord, may the church be the church. May we be salty. Lord, help us to be a beacon light.
01:12:01: Help us to be salty, to rise and shine for Jesus' sake.
01:12:07: And Lord, we just thank you for this time together. Father, I thank you for all my brothers and sisters that can hone in with the technology that we have to hear your word, to sing your praises, and most of all, to pray and to seek your face.
01:12:20: Lord, we thank you. Now may we take this thus says the Lord. And may we just not just hear it, but Lord, may we do it.
01:12:28: May we apply it to our own lives, in our everyday life,
01:12:33: Lord, and to seek your face with all of our heart. And we ask this in Jesus' name.