Bringing A New Thing To Birth — Alan Bartley

Now there was a certain man of Ramatham, Zotham, of the Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroboam, the son of Elihu, the son of Pohu, the son of Zuth. And after a fight, and he had two wives.

The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other was Pohu. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. This man went out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh.

And the two sons of Elihuphna and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. And when the time that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah, his wife, unto all her sons and her daughters, portions. But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb.

And her adversary also provoked her sower to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her, therefore she wept and did not eat.

Then said Elkanah, her husband, to her, Hannah, why weepest thou, and why eatest thou not, and why is thy heart grieved? Am I not better to thee than ten sons? So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk.

Hannah’s Desperate Prayer for a Child

Now Eli, the priest, sat upon a seat by the post of the temple of the Lord, and she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou would indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no laser come upon his head.

And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart only, her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.

Count not thine handmaid the daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. And Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. And they rose up in the morning early and worshipped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house to Ramah.

And Elkanah knew his wife, and the Lord remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come, about after that Hannah had conceived, that she bear a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.

And the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then will I bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.

And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth good to thee, Tari, until thou have weaned him. Only the Lord establish his word, so the woman abode, and gave her son suck, until she weaned him.

Amen, and God will bless the public reading of his word. Now there was a brother who was going to bring me a little glass of water, and if someone could do that I would really appreciate it. Before we look at the scriptures, let's unite again in prayer together please.

Heavenly Father, I realize my complete helplessness here this morning. And a fresh Lord, I give to thee all I have and am, and all I ever hoped to be. And I claim thy cleansing and sanctifying power on my spirit, soul and body.

And for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the extension of thy kingdom, and for the fulfillment of divine promises, I take the promised Holy Ghost, the blessed power of Pentecost, to fill me to the uttermost.

I take, and I thank thee that he, the Holy Spirit, will undertake, in Jesus' name. Amen, and Amen. I find it a little strange, personally, to be here, because I really feel in a sense, out of my depth, I'm just an ordinary Ulster man.

A Lifelong Burden for Revival

And when the occasion came to speak, it was unusual in one degree, and yet I've been just talking to the Lord as to why I'm here. For many, many years I have had a very real burden for revival. And I can't explain it any other way than that God has impressed and apprehended me toward it.

I was converted many years ago, and God, after three years, began to do things in my life. I've come to realize, while we cooperate with God in the yielding of our will, yet there is a sovereign unseen hand that works.

And the thing that is most profound in my life, after many years as a Christian, is the grace and the mercy of God. It is something that overwhelms me more and more in my personal life. And yet it's a wonderful thing when the Lord apprehends you.

There's something so majestic about it. There's something so heavenly about it. But nevertheless, I was in a church where I never heard the word revival. I didn't know what it meant. And the Lord had dealings in my life, and I gave myself entirely to Him.

And the Lord came and filled me with His Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit fills an individual, He will lead you in a specific way. It's always unique. But the way in which the Lord led me in those days was primarily in the area of prayer.

Now, before this happened, my prayer life was very much very conventional and typical to a church prayer meeting. That is, I would have prayed consistently for the things you were meant to pray for. But what happened was, I found that the Holy Spirit, I didn't know it was Him then, but the Holy Spirit would start coming and compelling me to pray.

I say compelling me to pray. And I worked on the farm. I was brought up, I'm a farmer's son. Thank you very much, brother. And I drove the tractor. And all I can say is that sometimes this terrible burden would descend, in which I would have to leave my tractor and run.

Because I knew that I was going to meet with God. And I had a little port-a-cabin at the farm. And when I would enter into that port-a-cabin, as I said, I didn't know what revival was. I didn't know.

I had no theological knowledge of it. But this is what introduced me to the whole subject. Because I would go in and kneel. And I knew that I had an appointment with God. And invariably it would always be the British Isles would come before me.

Primarily the island of Ireland, but the British Isles. And all I can say is that God would somehow press something into the heart. And somehow He would want me to release it. And it was horrendous. It was so painful.

And yet it was so glorious. I never ever felt as much the presence of God in my life as during those lonely seasons. When God came down my soul to grieve. And glory crowned the mercy seat. And dear friends, that would happen on a regular basis.

I began to read about revival. And as I would read on it, these feelings, these longings, these aspirations would rise. And I would have to run for prayer. Now I've said to my wife, I remember after a number of years this subsided.

Now by the way, don't be running out and saying, listen, that's what I've got to do. Because it was just the work of the Holy Spirit. And it passed away to a large extent. And you know, I really began to think I was a backslider.

Because this wasn't happening. I wasn't feeling the Lord as real to me. And I went to see good men of God in Ulster and they said, well you're not backsliding. But obviously the Lord is doing something.

And dear friends, it would come occasionally and go. But you know, yesterday as one of the meetings was in progress, I felt compelled to go out to stand at the grave of a man of God. I don't believe in worshipping bulls.

But you see, they were just vessels. They were just vessels. And they saw their nations moved. And the psalmist said, the godly man faileth. You see, as a young Christian, I went to Bible college. And I had wonderful privilege of listening to some of the greatest men of God.

And some that are never met, but I feel I have met them through listening to their material and reading it. But it seems in my heart that we have come to a time I can only speak. Primarily for my home island, Ireland.

But what I sense is, as I get older, that the godly man faileth. And you see, dear friends, when I look at the grave of Evan Roberts, I'm thrilled and I'm grieved. When at college we traveled up to the church in Dundee of Robert Murray McShane and I stood at his tomb.

And I was thrilled and I was grieved. When in Scotland we traveled to the grave of Duncan Campbell and I stood there and I was thrilled and I was grieved. Just last week on Monday, my Bible college principal, I stood at his grave, Dr. Colin Peckham.

And I was thrilled and I was grieved. For the godly man faileth. But I really don't know what to say. But I have a longing, and I know it's from the Lord. I have just this inner longing for revival. You see, friends, revival is really just God taking possession of the vessel and just having his way.

My problem is as a Christian that I keep getting in the way. My problem is that my own will, even my evangelical will, gets in the way. I want to speak for a little time on the passage that we've read regarding bringing a new thing to birth.

Hannah and the Birth of Revival in a Time of Apostasy

For I have listened carefully and my heart has been touched and blessed through the ministry of the brothers who have gone before. But dear friends, this woman that we read of called Hannah in the Bible.

The Lord brought a new thing to birth through this woman. It was at a time of national apostasy. It was a time when the priesthood were completely corrupted. Hophni, Phinehas, even Eli had all lost their way.

And of course that has been the cry from the pulpit here. And I have no doubt there are many here who are well capable of bringing the word of God. And there's that inner consciousness and awareness. Where do I go to find God today?

Some of the saintliest people I know at home in Ulster, the saintliest ones, some of them don't even go to church. They say we're so grieved, we're so hurt, it's so empty. There's nothing there. It's just a little routine, turn the cogs.

And if you get up and speak as I speak, you're ridiculed as negative. And to bring it in a negative way, in a sense to be negative, is not the way to do it. But friends, when the burden of the Lord is there, then we must take heed and stand back.

Well, this lady you know, she was quite unique. As one of the brethren said earlier on, she came and often the Lord's people who he uses in revival all come from obscurity. You would never choose them, you would never pick them, you'd never select them.

But God chooses them and there he works on them, he handles them. I always remember my life was very much changed over a period of perhaps a year and a half. I had come home from work with ill health and for a year God was dealing in my heart through prayer.

And I was living on a mountain of tapes that a man gave me, my pastor, the late Leonard Ravenhill. I feel as though I know him. And many men influenced me, but you know Leonard Ravenhill used to say when he was a young boy of 17, he said, I read and decided to read E .M. Bounds and he said, I went out and decided to go through it, but it went through me.

Well, that's exactly what happened with Leonard Ravenhill's tapes. I decided to go through them, but they went through me. And friends, in one of his tapes, one particular tape that he preached 20 something years ago, it still comes to me.

The Holy Spirit took this little part of it and he implanted it deep in my heart because he knew some of the things that we would have to go through. And whenever I think of those words, he said, you know, Moses, when he went to the backside of the wilderness, he learned that it was more terrible to live than to die.

And whenever God has a hold of you, God will start to crush you. He will pulverize you in ways that nobody else knows about. It's a secretive thing. It's a secretive thing. But again, to take the words of Ravenhill, you know, dear friends, you get to the stage when God draws near, that you would rather weep in his presence than laugh with your friends.

And that's true. There's nothing like it. Well, this woman came from obscurity. She came at a time of apostasy. But you know, the Lord can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. The Lord can take the natural and by his intervention, by his glory, by his power, he makes the ordinary extraordinary.

He takes the natural and he just propels it into the supernatural. And the wonderful thing about it is you don't have to prop yourself up. You don't have to look for a name. You don't have to have a reputation for, as one brother said, dear friends, listen, that's the thing God will kill in you.

Surrendering Reputation and Self to God

If you want to go through with God, one of the last things you lose is your reputation. And it's painful. It's painful. I remember going over and we were doing open airs. There's some of our friends with us here from Ireland.

And I was on my way over the bridge to the open air. And this fellow came and he put on, you know, one of these texts with all the wee verses. And I thought, oh, this is great. He said, we can get more.

I said, get more. And I was preaching and he came the next week. And I said, listen, you mean all the boys around. We always put these on. I didn't put one on. I was preaching. And so the following week when I was crossing the bridge, the Holy Spirit spoke.

He said, you put one on. I said, Lord, I'm the preacher. He said, I don't care what you are. He says, you put it on. You know, if somebody would have put a ton of bricks on me, it would have been easier to handle.

It was the most painful experience putting that thing on. I felt my head would blow up. The heat that I thought kettles would be held on me. It was because there was something dying in me. I didn't realize.

I didn't even think that it was there. And, you know, when I got that thing on, I felt a release. I felt a release. But, dear friends, in recent years, the Lord many years ago, about 20, 16 years ago, or thereabouts, called my wife to take over an old building in Lisburn.

A place where God has moved in great power in the past. The place where Duncan Campbell preached. The place where the Holy Ghost came down. A building not unlike this, but God came down. Many were called to the work of God.

Great servants of God preached. And the power of God was in that place. It had been closed. And the Lord said to us, we want you to open it up. It's a long story. We went in so excited. Well, I did. I was so thrilled getting into this place.

I just said, let's get seats. But my wife, I have a good wife. I have a wife full of the Holy Ghost. That's a great blessing. And, you know, she has more discernment than I have because I said, let's get seats for this place.

She said, Alan, you won't need them. I thought, what a discouragement. I'm coming to see revival. I'm so excited. My wife says, we don't need seats. I said, what do you mean we don't need seats? She said, the moment you told me we were taking that place, she said, an arrow went through my soul.

She said, this isn't going to be a blessing. This is going to be pain. I dismissed it. But friends, you know, God kept people away from that place for 16 years. I tried everything. I preached. I brought my wife to preach.

She's a pretty good speaker. I thought, well, man, if I try anything to get God down, if my wife can get him down, she can bring him down. I tried everything. I brought speakers. We tried meetings with tea.

I did everything. And God just gradually wore me down until my health collapsed, until the work just came down. And you know what? I'd already declared the promises of God. I'd said to people and Christians, I had spoken freely, the promise of God for this house is, the Lord had said, I will fill this house with my glory, saith the Lord of Hosts.

And in this place, I will give peace. And I knew it. And listen, friend, it lives in my soul today. But a year ago, we were kicked out of it. Did you ever lose your baby? Did you ever lose your child?

Well, I lost my child. And I prayed, and I wept, and I called, and I said, Lord, you do this, do that. And he didn't. He didn't move. And one day in a garage, he was building an old garage, I said, Lord, what are you doing?

I was trying to be spiritual, to forgive the man who had apparently taken the building from me, and wrestling and trying to forgive. And then the next thing, I wanted to fight him, and I was just struggling.

And I said, Lord, why? What's going on here? And just like that, the Lord spoke. He says, it is of me. It is of me. I said, Lord, I don't understand this. What do you mean it's of me? What are you doing, Lord?

He said, I'm dealing with your reputation among Christians. He said, they're going to banter you about. They're going to say all manner, though he got the promise of God. He was saying about revival. He was, oh, I got it.

I mean, I got it straight away. And I said, Lord, OK, super. Let them. Lord, if they bandy me about, or kick me, or laugh me, or condemn me, what do I care? I've nothing more to loss. I've been to the cross.

Keep me at the cross. And you know, friends, I got a piece. I got a piece. I got a freedom that day. And you know, I really, honestly, this is where I want to be. I want, and I believe that God wants everybody to be that, yeah, it's wonderful to be used.

It's wonderful to be used in revival, in moves of the spirit, and so on. But you know, you have to be willing to be a big fad zero. You've got to be willing to let God pass you by. And just say, Lord, that you be glorified.

If I'm never seen, if I'm never heard. You see, friends, I preached recently a message back home on why Christ doesn't satisfy. You remember when the children of Israel got the manna, and they said, we loathe this manna.

We can't stick this manna anymore. You know, in the evangelical church, that's where we are. We loathe the manna. We loathe Christ just himself. When I think of the words of Wesley in Times of Awakening, you know what he said?

Thou, O Christ, art all, more than all I find. Those are profound words. You see, a man on one occasion got down and he said, Lord, I want you to use me. He had a picture of Charles Grandison Finney. He had a picture of John Wesley.

He had a picture of Robert Murray McShane. And he said, Lord, make me a combination of those three. Sure, I want God to use me, but it's willing. Dear friends, God won't do that. You see, the Lord will bring you to the cross.

I thought I had a message prepared, but it's really gone. But listen, friends, all I'm doing is, and I was so touched when I heard the dear brother last night. He said, I'm giving you my heart. I'm giving you my heart.

I'm not giving you my head. I'm giving you my heart. And I just long for revival. You see, friends, this woman was taken from an unusual place, but she was barren. The Lord had closed up her womb. Listen, some of you said, listen, I want to go through with God.

My heart is open. That's fantastic. Praise the Lord. It's just the beginning of the story. Do you know what I find whenever I give all to God? I was so excited. And the Holy Ghost came. I was walking on air.

I thought I would never need an airplane again. I was enjoying the Lord, His presence, prayer. It was wonderful. But dear friends, listen, God at home, I don't know if you have it in other places, but we call it a crush where you put cattle.

Consecration Through Spiritual Barrenness

On the farm, we had a crush, and you chased the bullock in or the beast in. And then I was a little boy, and I stood with the string. My dad or somebody would chase the animal out, and then they'd say, pull the string.

I'd pull the string, and the animal's head was caught. And he couldn't go forward, and he couldn't go back nor up nor down. And he would toss and turn and fight and go on. That's what consecration is.

God puts you in a crush. It's basically taking your hands off the vessel and saying, Lord, I'm going to let you do operations now, and I'm not going to struggle. Because that's why he does it. He brings you to that place because there's an immense work that's required to be done.

More than we've ever dreamed of. And a work has to be done. And the Lord will bring us to barrenness. Barrenness. The Lord closed the womb. Barrenness is an awful thing, and barrenness is a wonderful thing.

Because, you see, friends, we read in the Scripture of the greatest women who ever conceived sons that were used, they were barren. Sarah was barren. Rebecca was barren. Manoah's wife was barren. Elizabeth was barren.

And out of the barrenness, the bankruptcy, the inability, the failure, God stepped in. You see, the loveliness of failure is that it gives God an opportunity to display his majesty. And one of the reasons why God brings us to a place of absolute distrust in ourself and disgust of ourselves is that when he does come, we will stand back and we will say, this is the hand of God.

I know I can't do it. I know I'm not. You see, when Moses was called by the Lord, he was ready. Boy, he was going to kill them one at a time. He took on that Egyptian. The Lord said, you're going to be the deliverer.

So he killed one, buried him in the sand. He was probably planning to do them all in. The only problem was that he was trying to do and perform the promise of God and the will of God in the energy of the flesh.

And you may have a promise from God in your heart and it's burning. And you say, I long to see the answer. Listen, friend, you've got to learn to be patient with God to let him perform that promise his way.

It's very easy for the Lord to insert a promise into his child. He puts that burden down in and he puts that promise in there. And boy, it's not that you lay hold on the promise. The promise lays hold on you.

The promise becomes part of you. It's your thinking. It's your dreaming. It's your talking. It's you. It's like as though God has infused it into you. It becomes your personality. And if you happen to forget it, the Holy Ghost will come and remind you.

And when he infuses that promise in, you know, friends, that's so simple. But he infuses it into your spirit and then it will take sometimes years of pain and weeping and calling and striving and sacrifice and the cross into your life before your body and your spirit are prepared for it.

Moses was called. He was ready to slay them. Very interesting after 40 years in the wilderness. You know what happens? The Lord comes. Peers at the burning bush. He said, right, Moses, you're ready. You know what he says, Lord?

Lord, please. Lord, really. I mean. The old tongue and all, Lord. Well, what has happened in the 40 years? Flesh and self have been dealt with. In the 40 years he has recognized God is all and in all.

Dissatisfaction as a Divine Ache

Dear friends, this woman was in barrenness. Great things come from barren wombs. Great promises were birthed from barren wombs. But this woman in her barrenness. She wasn't satisfied. You see, friend, there are many folk.

And they're barren. And they're satisfied. They're satisfied. But this woman. Was not satisfied. In first Samuel chapter 1 verse 10. This woman said that she was in bitterness. Of soul. Bitterness. Of soul.

A great heaviness. And discontent. Friend, it's. It's the divine ache. Of God. It's divine. It's God's ache. In the soul. And she had it. And that dissatisfaction. Drove her. Drove her in the fact that she was prepared.

And longed to get rid. Of reputation. You see, friend, sometimes we can labor. On what we give up. And giving up is painful. Going to the cross and letting go of your ambitions. Your dreams. Your future.

Even your evangelical dreams. Putting them all down before the Lord. And saying, Lord, whatever. Just take them. You know, that is painful. But bless God. Three days later from the cross. There was something wonderful happened.

It's called resurrection. And when you enter into the grave with the Lord. And you experience the cross of Christ. You will then experience resurrection. And the Holy Ghost produces in you things impossible.

You find that things that you could not accomplish. Are so easily accomplished. By the power of the Holy Ghost. It is not by might. Nor by power. But by my spirit. Saith the Lord of hosts. That this mountain shall be removed.

She lost her reputation. She had great qualities of beauty and charm. But she wasn't interested anymore. All the things that other women were interested in. She had lost interest in them. And you know, friends.

Consecration and Intimacy With Christ

When the Lord gets a real hold on you. The world may call. The world may pull. It may try and put a hook in you here and there. But when the love of Christ has been revealed. By the Holy Ghost into your heart.

And you have known that fullness. And that oneness with Him. And that walking in the Spirit. And enjoying His presence. You will never be satisfied. You will never be satisfied. He only will satisfy. And you will find one thread.

Many threads. But one in particular. Through all the great servants of God. That were used in seasons of revival. And quickening in the land. In any land around the world. Is that they were all totally consecrated to the Lord.

Their lives were on the altar. And they got sensitive to God. They got sensitive to the Holy Ghost. They knew the Lord as a person. Right beside them. And He spoke to them. And they spoke back. And there was an intimacy.

This intimacy with the Lord. Dear friends. This woman. She doesn't care tuppence anymore. About her reputation. Doesn't care tuppence about her qualities. Even the relationship with her husband. He said am I not better to you than ten husbands?

Ten sons? She said no. No. What I have burning in me. This desire. This overcoming. This barrenness. Not even you can satisfy. I think it was R .A. Torrey said. About the fullness of the Holy Ghost. He said that no man ever received this blessing.

Who thought he could live without it. My dear friends. This woman was dissatisfied. But very quickly she got desperate. In prayer. Chapter 1 in verse 6 it says. Her adversary provoked her so were to make her fret.

The adversary provoked her. Do you not sometimes feel when you look out on the world. When you look out on the unsealed. Do you not feel the impotence sometimes. Do you not sometimes feel as you look out on a lost world.

And say Lord I. I really am so helpless here. The enemy provokes. He mocks. He blasphemes the Lord through his children. He passes the laws that violate the law of God. And he seeks to bring in the age of Aquarius.

Where Christianity will be extinct from the land. Where Britain will become no longer a force for God. And where Muslims and bringing their false gods and so on into the land. My dear friends. Where we are left.

And we are overwhelmed by the power of darkness. Where the lights have gone out. One would almost despair. The answer is not in evangelism. We need evangelists. But it is not in evangelism. It is not in television evangelists.

It is not in what our brother mentioned yesterday. Under the cloak of covetousness. It is not that my friends. It is men and women who are reckless for God. Who say Lord take me and perform a miracle through me.

Faithful Surrender and the Loaves of the Multitude

Some of you young men from England. Some from Scotland. Some from Wales. Could you not cast yourself on the Lord. And say Lord take me and do a miracle through me. Whatever you want Lord. Do it. Do you remember the little boy with his lunch box.

I often prayed that and have and still do. He did not have much. He was a little boy. He was not a man of influence. He was a little boy. And he came with his little lunch box. And the Lord was needing something.

And they said there is a little lad here. A little insignificant lad here. And he gave his little lunch box. Over to the Lord. And the Lord took the little lunch box. He opened it out and he started breaking it.

And as the Lord broke it. He fed the multitude. Listen friends. The Lord will feed a multitude through you. Some of you young people. The Lord will feed a multitude through you. Do you believe that? The Lord can feed a multitude through you.

Little me. Yeah little you. But I am insignificant. That is the quality. That is the requirement. But I have had such failure in my past. I am struggling with areas of sin in my life. Listen. The blood of Christ can come.

The Lord can cleanse. The Spirit can give the enabling and the power. And God can take you from the slough to spawn. And he can bring you into a high place with himself. And he can empower you. And use you.

No matter what you have done. No matter where you feel. No matter where you have been. He takes the beggar from the dunghill. And he sets them among princes. She prayed friends. Long heart pain. Heart hunger.

Disappointed hopes. Silent waiting. Waiting and holding your peace. Have been necessary to teach you. How to pray. To lead you into the secret of childlike faith. To fit you to be the parent of some priceless gift to the world.

Pray till you pray. Pray till you pray. Elijah prayed in his prayer. And the heavens were closed. My friends let me draw to a close. This woman was desperate. She wept. Her heart was grieved. She was provoked by the enemy.

She was misunderstood by the preacher. And let me tell you. If you get close to God. And you get full of the Holy Ghost. And you start to pray in an average evangelical church. It will not be long until arrows will come at you.

And oft times it's the preacher and the elders. Because you will start exposing the areas in their lives. You see dear friends. I have found from home. That some of the saintliest saints I have met. They're not in leadership.

They're not in leadership. There are those who are. Thank God. But many of the saintliest ones. They're just lay people. And many of them are not treated right. This woman wasn't treated right. The preacher looked down.

And he said. Woman you're drunk. You see friends. He was sitting down. He should have been standing. He was the high priest. But he had lost touch with God. He had all the religion. And all the paraphernalia of the priesthood.

But he had lost God somewhere. His eyes were dim. But here was a woman. In his very presence. Who was going to be the means. And the vehicle. To bring the very replacement. Of him and his family. And so.

This dear woman wept. And she was misunderstood. And she had to explain herself. I'm not drunk. I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit. And you know something. I don't really know. I have to confess. I'm not a great scholar.

But somewhere in there. In around verse 17 and 18. There's something supernatural is happening. There's something happening in there. Because what happens is. This old man. Says to her. Go in peace. The God of Israel.

Grant thee that petition. Which thou hast asked of him. Now friend. Have I got a. An old backslidden preacher. Told me. If I was calling to God. And weeping. And he said to me. Go on your way. It'll all be alright.

I wouldn't be listening. I wouldn't be listening. But maybe it was because. He was the high priest. Maybe it was the Holy Ghost. Came on him at that moment. But beyond the voice of that man. Inside the heart of this woman.

There came a witness from the Holy Ghost. There was faith arising. And faith got into her heart. Because immediately she got up. And she started to eat. You see she had prevailed. In prayer. I remember my father-in-law.

Revival, Faith, and the Hope of Ireland

My dear wife is from the outer Hebrides. Where the last revival came. 1949 to 53. And I talked to my father-in-law. And he told me about. Whenever the awakening came. It's not documented. But on one occasion.

After the revival had broke out. In various places. The Duncan Campbell traveled to another venue. Nothing much happening. And Campbell went in to pray. And as he prayed. God came to him. And he came out.

And he waved his hands. At some of the praying men. But they were working. And he said. Man I've got through to God. Revival is coming. It came that night. I've got through to God. I have the witness of the spirit.

The assurance of faith. Brother David mentioned yesterday. Faith is proof. I nearly felt like jumping. Through that ceiling. I thought praise the Lord. You see friends. Back in Ireland. As I said. And I'm concluding.