I am going to be speaking a message that going into this, because this year with how busy my
wife and I are, we're not really getting into a series and Pastor kind of gave us that preparation
in the beginning of the year. So I'll be filling in pockets as needed as today. And I was going
to speak this message. I'm like, well, it's just one Sunday and I'll be done. Well, then
I started looking over my notes and I started looking over everything that I've studied
and got into. And I was like, well, it might be more than one Sunday, Lord. So I want to
get into a message that is, from my perspective, it's a very prophetic message. And what I mean
by prophetic is that this is a message that I believe God is currently... I mean, there's
so many things that God is emphasizing as you kind of go. But this is something that
that I believe is a big emphasis and has been. And it's something that God is really
trying to show the church and prepare for now rather than when it comes, we're missing out.
You guys have heard me say a lot of times that the urgent hour in the kingdom of God
is far before the hour actually comes. That's how God treats the urgent hour. You know,
where we here, I feel like in America, we're constantly reacting to the things that
have already occurred. Where I believe the way that the kingdom operates is God
likes to urge us and get us ready for something prior to it happening. Now, do we
have the full understanding of how everything, every little facet of detail?
No. And I think there's a reason why God does that. Actually, one of the reasons why I
believe God doesn't give us the full thing, like to the t into the dot, is
because if God gave us the full thing to the t into the dot, I guarantee you
none of us would sign up. I'm telling you, I guarantee you none of us would sign up.
I'll share with you a quick story. I heard a man of God share a dream he had.
This is years ago. And he said, in the dream, it was him and I think two other
people. And he said, all of a sudden, this school bus pulls up. And they're
kind of like... I'm trying to remember the dream, so don't quote me
exactly for it, but I'm getting the context of it. He said, a school bus
pulls up, and I think it was two or three of them, and they were kind of like at a
cliff canyon areas where the road was. So they got into the school bus, and they
sat down, and all of a sudden, they didn't know who the school bus driver was.
And all of a sudden, they started driving. And this school bus driver was
just like Tokyo Drift, man, like, you know, corners and all these things on
the edge and just doing all this stuff. And everybody in the school bus is
holding on, and they're like, dude, slow down, slow down. Then when the
school bus gets to a stop, the man who turns around is actually Jesus, and he
was driving the school bus. And what the guy got out of the dream is that he
said, I guarantee you that if Jesus Christ came and laid out his playbook
fully, like, here's what we're doing, this, this, this, and that, he goes,
I guarantee you nobody would sign up to follow that playbook. They said
nobody would get on the school bus to actually ride it if they knew
exactly the road that it was going to take. So I say all that to say that God
prepares his people, and let me even underline that a little bit. He prepares
the people that want to be prepared. Let me say that again. He prepares the
people that actually want to be prepared. You know, we can say, well,
that God's not fair. How come he didn't tell that church across the
street, or the other church across the street? Who says he didn't tell them?
Who says the alarm has not been sound? The Scripture says sound the alarm.
Who says that the alarm has not been sound for the church to now respond to
the very hour that we're living in? So that's why I say that God prepares
those who actually want to be prepared. Now let me take it a step further.
You ready for this to make it personal? You could be sitting here in a church
that is alert, pastors that are alert to the things of God, and we can be
sounding the alarm from the stage. We could be sounding the alarm from different
classes, from different things that we do in this church. At the end of the day,
I can sound the alarm as much as I can as a pastor at the end of the day.
It is your choice if you want to be prepared or not for it. It's like
you're dressing your kids in the morning. I got little kids. You lay out their
clothes. And one of our boys is at that age where he's like, he's in that
transition age. He's used to mom and dad getting him dressed. But now he's at
that age where I'm like, hey, it's time for you to get dressed yourself.
Oh, you're not dressing me? No, it's time for you to get dressed yourself.
It's in the same way. God prepares those who want to be prepared.
And you could be sitting here. You could be eating the good food.
And I'm talking about the spiritual food. You could be receiving.
But are you implementing it? Is the word becoming flesh in you?
Is the word becoming flesh in you?
So this morning, I want to speak a prophetic message that the Lord actually
gave me to speak not just in our local church, but I actually already spoke
this message at a different church this year. And as the Lord opens doors,
I'm going to be speaking this message, catering it to every local body the
certain way that God wants me to cater it to them. The context stays the same,
but every house has an anointing. My wife and I like to call them,
every house has a flavor. And the Lord, I believe the Lord's already
opened up some doors. And as time goes, I'll be speaking this
message in different local bodies. But I have the ability being that
I'm a pastor here, I have the ability to not just condense it for you
and just... but I actually have some time where I can unpack a little bit this.
So you guys get first hand pick here by the way. So I know, right?
If you have your Bibles, open up to Revelation chapter 2.
Revelation chapter 2 starting at verse 1.
Here's what I felt the Lord... this is a while ago I've been sitting on this
for some time letting it brew in me, studying it on and so forth.
But here's something that if I was to title this message, I would
title this message Revival Is. . . . That's how I would title this message.
Revival Is. . . .
And with that, I think one of the
frequent talked about things in the church
and it doesn't just have to be in full gospel, Pentecostal circles.
I believe they talk about this in Baptist circles.
I believe they talk about this in Lutherans and probably even Catholics as well.
I mean, this is just a topic of Revival Is in many different denominations.
And I have come to the conclusion. This is now again my conclusion
because I'm a people person, so I get to talk to a lot of different people
and I love to meet new people and talk to new people and you learn stuff.
And my conclusion is, could be wrong, but this is my conclusion,
that majority of Christians don't know what Revival Is.
That's my conclusion. We have ideas of Revival.
But when it comes to the core and the essence of Revival,
I actually don't even think we know what we're asking for when we're asking for Revival.
And I'm hoping to, I kind of feel where the Lord wants me to land today.
I'm not going to get through everything, but I kind of like,
I think this is where you want me to land today, Lord.
And I'm hoping to kind of show you and explain to you
when we ask for Revival, scripturally, when we're asking for Revival
or we're asking for God to come and rain down and do what you do,
the move of the Spirit, all these things that we want,
there is actually a tale that follows these things
that oftentimes Christians don't even consider.
And that's why it brings me to the conclusion
that majority of Christians, we don't even know what we're asking for
when we're asking for Revival.
A man of God that actually has now graduated,
he was a prophet of God.
I'll name him, some of you might know him.
His name was Harold Eatman.
Anybody know Harold Eatman?
If you do, just raise your hand.
Yeah, Harold Eatman, he was actually a household name in Minnesota.
He was very well known in Minnesota.
And from my experience, a true prophet of God.
So very accurate, very...
not your fortune teller like we have these days.
He was a fourth teller, not a fortune teller.
And Harold Eatman actually said, he said,
I believe 99%, now this is coming from his spiritual son
that told me this, so I'm quoting his spiritual son.
He said, Harold Eatman said that 99% of Christians
don't know what Revival is.
I was like snap, man.
I didn't go that far, but he was a pretty direct man.
He's pretty direct in a lot of the things he said.
And I'm gonna be honest with you.
I don't wanna be up here
feeling like I know all of what Revival is,
how it comes about on and so forth.
Though I've studied, I've sought the scriptures,
I've sought the Lord, but I don't wanna come off
and seem like I got it all figured out.
Because in all honesty, I don't.
I can't say exactly how Revival is gonna come about
or what exactly it's gonna look like.
Do I have ideas that I'm confident in?
Yes, it's coming from a scriptural basis.
But I can't say that I have it all figured out
and I know exactly when it's gonna happen.
I know how it's gonna happen.
I'm gonna be completely honest with you this morning.
I can't say that I have it all figured out.
But I would say this, I have enough
that sometimes when I talk to people
and we get in the conversation of Revival
and some people start to tell me their perspective of Revival,
most of the time I bite my tongue.
But it's like, man, I think you're gonna be blown away
when Revival actually comes.
I think you're gonna be like,
well, that's not what I was expecting.
So I'm hoping that I give you enough today
that you get maybe a better idea of it.
Let me do this.
So I just wanna kind of go off
some of the things that I've heard over the years.
This is not over the months, this is over the years.
Some say Revival is the power of God
coming and manifesting itself,
which I can't disagree with.
I really can't disagree with that.
Some say it's a strong move of the Spirit
or a great outpouring of the Spirit of God.
Again, I can't disagree with that either.
Some say it's the gifts of the Spirit
operating in the church like never before.
And I wanna pause there for a second.
I feel like just because the gifts operated somewhere
right away we're so quick to call it Revival.
And it's like, yeah, maybe there was a Reviving
of something that was dead,
but I can't necessarily say just because the gifts are flowing,
it's important.
Now hear me here because the gifts are something
that are overlooked oftentimes
in full gospel Pentecostal circles.
I'm not talking about the Baptist circles,
the Lutherans, the Catholics.
I'm talking about full gospel Pentecostal circles.
We oftentimes overlook the gifts.
And they are needed, and I'll even say this,
they are needed more now than the early church needed them.
Honestly, we need the gifts
of the Spirit more now.
The latter church, we need the gifts now
more than they actually needed it in the book of Acts.
We're the generation, if I'm understanding,
the latter church is the one that's going to be
ushering Christ to come as bridegroom and as king.
We need the Holy Spirit more now than we did.
Not to say they didn't need them,
but I'm trying to compare it to you.
We need the Holy Spirit now more than they needed them back then.
Okay, maybe I need them more than you guys need them.
I'm just going to be honest with you, I need the Holy Ghost.
Some say that revival is a tingling feeling.
You're laughing.
But these are people that genuinely love the Lord,
but that's their perspective of it.
Some say revival is falling over under the power of God.
Some say it's the billion soul harvest.
Some say revival is the spirit of repentance falling on a people,
both believers and unbelievers.
And according to history, when you read some of the, you know,
revivals that God moved, you saw a lot of these things.
So I don't disagree with any of the things that I just read you.
Now I want to read actually some of the descriptions
that the fathers of the faith, people like John Wesley,
Charles Finney, George Winfield.
I want to read some of their descriptions and definitions of it.
John Wesley viewed revival as the church's primary purpose
famously stating that believers should spend and be spent
in the work of saving souls.
That was John Wesley's view of revival.
Let me read that again.
That revival...
John Wesley's view of revival is that the church's primary purpose,
famously stating, this is his famous statement,
that believers should spend and be spent
for the work of saving souls.
Charles Finney described it this way.
While acknowledging God initiates it,
Finney argued that revival is a human duty
suggesting it can be worked up through proper obedience,
prayer, and methods.
I mean, would you guys agree so far with some of these things?
I mean, I don't disagree.
I do believe that God is the one that actually initiates revival.
He does.
We can't force God and twist his arm and say,
now you have to pour out your spirit, Lord.
It's as he wills, but there is a part.
And Jim, you touched on it a little bit this morning.
There is a part that we play as intercessors,
which, by the way, if you study revivals,
to the measure that I've studied them,
revival never started without people dedicated in prayer.
Revival actually never started without people
laying their lives down in prayer
and seeking the face of God.
I said hours a day.
Hours a day.
Study revivals.
Just study the past history of revivals.
A lot of the times people will come into a revival
and they see the result of what's been done in secret
by just a few.
By just a few, I said.
Let me throw this into the mix.
We all want revival, right?
But very few of us are willing to pay the cost for it.
Do you see what I mean?
See, I'm going somewhere here.
I read these quotes and it's like I'm going somewhere
because I get passionate.
Because I'm like, people, wake up.
We don't know what we're asking for when we're asking for revival.
We all want it.
We pray about it.
We sing about it.
We talk about it.
But when it comes to actually doing the work,
it seems that there is very few.
And I'm not trying to throw...
How does Pastor Verne say it?
He says, if the shoe fits, then put it on.
I'm not trying to...
I'm not trying to have you wear a certain shoe.
But to me, it's interesting that when we have
our intercessory prayers,
there's very few that show up.
Well, Pastor Igor, I'm busy. Good, me too.
Well, Pastor Igor, you don't understand. Good.
You must not understand what I'm going through
then as well.
So I would agree with Charles Spinney that there is a part
that we play.
God initiates it.
But we play a part.
He said, improper obedience.
Improper obedience.
Improper prayer.
And improper methods.
So there is improper methods.
And there is improper prayers.
And there is improper obedience.
If you flip the coin on the other side.
Martin Lloyd-Jones, I'm not too familiar with him,
but I really liked what he wrote.
This is what he wrote.
He's one of the fathers of the faith.
He described revival as a sovereign outpouring
of the spirit that goes beyond ordinary.
Transforming not just individuals,
but whole communities.
Okay, now we want to see that, right?
We want to see that as this house.
I don't know about you.
I want to see our community changed.
Okay, get ready to put boots to the ground and work then.
Friends, that's the truth.
I'm just being real with you.
This is what I mean is I talk to people about revival.
And they're like, yeah, man, we're all four.
Let's have the spirit of God come.
Let's have the fire of God come.
Okay, what sacrifice are you putting on the altar
for the fire of God to actually come and consume?
I've said this before and I'm going to say it again.
If we do not put a sacrifice on the altar
that is enough for the fire of God to consume,
the fire of God won't come.
Do you know why?
It's actually for our mercy.
Because if there is not a sacrifice
that is big enough for the fire of God to consume,
the altar itself will be consumed.
That's talking about us.
That's talking about us being unprepared,
unready to receive the fire.
A fire that actually destroys you
rather than the offering that you're bringing on to the Lord.
We want to see our community changed, friends.
It's boots to the ground working.
Hours in prayer and then properly,
let me underline that,
properly obeying God.
George Whitfield wrote this.
He viewed revival as a sovereign,
transformative move of God.
Which again, I don't disagree with any of those statements.
But here's where...
Here's where oftentimes when I talked to people
over the years,
here's where oftentimes people miss it
when they talk about revival.
And it's like, I'm going to say it
and you're going to be like, well, yeah, I get it.
But it's like, we need to actually pay attention
to that thing more than everything else.
The purpose of revival,
the purpose of it, of why God
even is going to send what we're waiting for,
the great revival, the billion soul harvest,
all this stuff.
The purpose of it is actually found in Revelation 2.
If you take revival
and you get to the core and the essence of it,
of God, why do we need revival?
The core and the essence of revival
and what it is, the purpose of it,
is simply first love on to God.
That's literally the core
and the essence of it.
That's revival.
Revival is not just, oh, I love you, God.
It's actually living a life
in first love on to God
and it's growing in that love.
That's revival.
Everything else is secondary.
I'm gonna be honest with you.
I'm not saying that it's...
No, no, listen.
It's secondary.
The purpose of revival
in even why God is wanting to serve the church
and serve people is
that he desires to be a God
that is loved with first love.
Did you know that you can have a move of the spirit
yet not have love?
Did you know that?
You can actually have the gifts
operate yet not have love.
You can actually have people get saved
yet people are not walking in first love.
You can have a church.
I heard this story, by the way,
and I'm gonna get into it here a little bit.
I heard a pastor get interviewed
and he was talking about how their church
experienced revival
and like this thing just boomed.
And the pastor says on this podcast
and first I was like, that's kind of odd.
But then the more I thought about it,
I'm like, oh, that makes sense.
He said, revival broke out
and he actually, this is gonna sound super weird
and some of you are gonna be like, that's weird.
He actually shut it down
in the midst of its highest peak.
Because he said all of a sudden
he said, I saw people coming
what he called the revival seekers.
They weren't Jesus seekers.
They were revival seekers.
And he said, I shut it down
because I knew that that thing
was gonna take a left turn into the ditch.
You can have revival
yet when the dust settles
and everything comes down,
all of a sudden Jesus ain't even there.
You got people that are revival seekers
rather than Christ seekers.
So that's why I say at the core
and the essence of what revival is
and the purpose of it, why God is even bringing it,
it's because he is a God that desires
to be loved with first love from his people.
That's the core and the essence of revival.
When I see people actually falling in love with Jesus
and walking in first love with Jesus
that's when I can confidently say
they're being revived.
That's when I can actually say,
yep, that individual's being revived.
The Holy Spirit is
birthing he is bringing life into within them
just because you operate in the gifts
which again, I am for them.
I love the gifts. We need them.
But just because you operate in the gifts
does not tell me that you're walking
in first love towards the Lord.
See, first love is different
and I'll get into it here a little bit
but first love is different.
It speaks different.
It prioritizes different.
It sets its schedule different.
Revelations chapter two, let me read some of this.
Starting at verse one.
Again, this is Jesus addressing
the seven churches in Revelation.
And I'll give you this little nugget here.
Some time ago when I was with the Lord
he was bringing me through these seven churches
and he asked me, he said,
son, out of the seven churches
what was the first church
and what was the thing that I addressed there?
And I'm like sitting and I'm trying to remember
and I'm like, well, I think, Lord,
you were regarding that they lost their first love.
So he said, you're right.
So I started reading it.
And the Lord said it is strategic
of why I addressed that church first
out of the seven.
He goes, because it all begins with first love.
The Lord was telling this to me.
He said, son, he goes, it all begins with first love.
That is the foundational ground
to the move of the spirit, to the signs,
the miracles, the wonders,
the souls being saved.
How can I tell somebody to love Jesus
if I myself don't even love him
the way that he's asking me to love him?
We become hypocrites.
Revelation chapter two, verse one.
And to the angel of the church of Ephesus, right.
These things says he who holds the seven stars
in his right hand, who walks
in the midst of the seven golden lamp stands.
I know your works, your labor, your patience.
See, the Lord is so gracious.
Even in his correcting, he tells us how good we are.
He's just gracious.
I know your works, your labor, your patience.
And that you cannot bear those who are evil.
And you have tested those
who say they are apostles and are not
and have found them to be liars.
He's commending them.
The Lord is commending them.
He's saying, hey listen,
you guys have really good discernment.
You can actually discern
when somebody comes into your meeting
if they are a true apostle,
if they are a true prophet,
if they are a true evangelist,
if they are of me, you have a gift of discernment.
You see, the gifts are operating.
The gifts are operating in that church.
He's commending them.
He's saying, I'm so glad that you have the ability
to see and to test
that who's a true apostle
and you found them to be liars,
so you've tested them.
And then in verse three he says,
and you have persevered and have patience.
So you're not giving up.
You have a vision.
In other words, you have a vision.
And the Lord is saying, listen,
you've persevered.
You've been patient to watch the vision.
You've been patient to sow the seed,
to watch the seed die,
and now you're watering it
and you're watching that seed begin to grow.
He's commending them.
There is vision.
Friends, that church was not a church without vision.
They had the gifts flowing.
They had the vision there.
Who does that talk about?
Talks about us, right?
We have a vision set in place here.
We have the gifts of the Holy Spirit flowing,
signs, miracles, wonders.
We have it happening here.
We're patient.
We're persevering.
We're standing in faith
and he continues to commend them. Listen.
He says, and have labored for my name's sake
and have not become weary.
So he's saying, hey,
you can discern hallelujah.
You've persevered and you're being patient.
You're watching the vision.
You have vision.
That's awesome.
You're laboring.
You're laboring and you're not growing weary.
In other words,
you're doing the things that I'm asking you to do.
Good job. That is awesome.
I am commending you for it.
But then he says this in verse 4,
nevertheless, I have this against you.
That's gut-wrenching.
I'm going to be honest with you.
If I was a pastor of that church and the Lord came,
that would be gut-wrenching for me to hear.
Here I am on the outside.
Everything looks like it's great.
We have everything working for us.
We're doing it the way that we should be doing it.
But yet to hear the Lord say,
nevertheless, I have this against you.
I have this against you.
You've left your first love.
You see, we can have revival.
Friends, you can have,
I'll even put it this way,
you can have a form of revival.
Yet when the dust settles,
Christ ain't there.
First love ain't there.
So the purpose of the revival that God is intending
to actually pour out on the earth is
the first thing is I want a people to love me
with all of their heart, with all of their soul,
with all of their mind.
I want them to be sold out for me.
That's the purpose of revival.
That is revival in my books.
Revival is dot, dot, dot, dot, dot,
first love onto him.
The sovereign move of the Spirit,
trust me, will come if we love him well.
The souls will come if we love him well.
More than that, if you love him well,
how can you contain it?
Like I'm gonna be honest with you,
if you love the Lord
and you've recognized the price that he's paid for you,
you're not gonna hold that within you.
You're gonna tell Betty, Steve, Joe, and Greg about it.
You're gonna tell your aunt that is an atheist
and you're gonna tell how much Jesus loves her.
That's first love.
See, that's why first love is the core
and the essence of it.
Revival is first love.
Lord, I love you and I'm willing to do anything for you.
Jesus, I love you and I'm willing to do anything for you.
And I get a group of 200, 400, 600, 800 people like that.
Man, the roof would blow off.
Amen.
Verse five, remember there are four.
So let me finish verse four.
He says, nevertheless, I have this against you.
That you have left your first love.
So you got all this stuff going on.
But the purpose and why you're doing it,
you forgot all about it.
You're tithing because you have to
and because we just went through a tithing series.
So you feel convicted because you're not, you know,
it's like, man, we just did a series.
I probably should tithe.
But it's not coming from a place of first love.
You're praying for people because Jim is constantly on your case.
You need to pray for people.
But it's not coming from a place of first love.
You're preaching.
You're preaching because you're called to it.
But it's not coming from a place of first love.
You're in the children's ministry
because you need to fill in a need
but you're not doing it from a place of...
I'm just trying to draw you something here, friends.
I'm trying to draw you.
If we're after revival and we want revival,
friend, if you don't have first love in your life,
you're going to miss it.
You're going to miss it.
You're going to watch it fly by you.
Verse five, he says,
So he says, I have this against you.
You left your first love,
but he doesn't just leave us there.
The Lord isn't just like, hey, you left your first love.
Deuces, figure it out.
He's still gracious.
Even when he corrects us, he's still gracious.
He says, remember,
therefore from where you have fallen,
that's actually the Lord giving us a way out, by the way.
That's actually Jesus saying,
hey, you went this way,
but if you come back this way,
it'll be good for you.
He says, remember,
therefore from where you have fallen,
repent and do the first works,
or else,
and then he gets back into it.
What does he mean when he says, remember?
Remember where you lost it.
Remember where that point was,
where this became of,
I have to do it,
rather than I'm doing it because I want to do it.
I'm going to get real honest with you.
I'm going to get real transparent with you this morning.
I have to check my heart,
and I have to guard my heart constantly
of Holy Spirit.
Make sure that my have to
doesn't come from a place of, oh, I got to do this.
I got to go preach.
I got to go pray.
I got to go this,
because the flesh likes to get in the way.
I constantly have to be on my heart.
I have to guard my heart
that I'm not losing my first love.
I'm going to get real transparent and honest with you guys.
Ready?
Years ago, I've shared this story
and there's more pockets of the story.
When the Lord corrected me,
He said that you love the pulpit
more than you love being with me.
That was part of the whole first love thing.
But it's easy when you're called to something
and you have a gifting in it.
You can come up and you can preach
and let your gifting flow.
I'm coming from a preacher's,
I'm getting real transparent with you guys here.
It's easy when you're called to speaking
and you have a gift in it
for me to come up here
and just let my gift flow.
But there comes a difference
when somebody who is called and gifted,
yet at the same time
they're walking in first love,
there's actually a difference
in the way that they preach.
All of a sudden, God shows up.
Because unfortunately,
there's not enough people
that have the discernment
nor the knowledge of recognizing
that's just a gift
and that's actually the gift
and God showing up together.
You didn't catch that.
No, no, you didn't catch that.
Let me say that one more time.
Unfortunately, in the church world,
we don't have enough discernment
to recognize when that's just a preacher
preaching under the gift
and that's a preacher
preaching under the gift
and the call and the Lord shows up.
I've sat in services
where preachers would preach
and it's like, yeah, that was good.
He's gifted.
But I don't think God was on that.
But it was good.
I've learned, one way that I've discerned it
is when I sit under somebody
who actually walks in first love,
when they preach and their gift is activated
and the Lord shows up, it's cutting.
It's cutting.
It makes you feel uncomfortable.
It makes you recognize
you're in a holy place here.
All of a sudden, conviction comes.
So the Lord says, remember, where was it?
Where was that place where you tipped over
and you became where you're doing it
because it's an obligation,
rather you're doing it because
God, you called me to it
and I want to keep loving doing this.
And then he says, he says,
when you remember,
remember, therefore, from where you have fallen
and repent.
I'll give you a quick thing of repentance
of what repentance is.
Or if you're a foreigner, you might pronounce
repentance as repentance.
That's how I used to pronounce it.
But that's all right.
I'm a foreigner, give me a break.
When the Lord is saying remember where,
so there was somewhere,
somewhere along the line of the church
that they turned away from the Lord.
So when the Lord is saying repent,
we oftentimes think,
okay, change the way of my thinking.
That's what we think.
We think, okay, I gotta change my thinking pattern.
Yes, I'm not gonna disagree,
but I've learned over the years that true repentance
is not just turning away from something
or changing the way that I'm thinking,
but it's actually turning to someone or something.
In this case, it'd be Christ.
Repentance, true repentance is not just me.
Okay, I'm gonna stop doing this and that's it.
Repentance is I'm gonna stop looking at this
and I'm gonna turn and I'm gonna look at the Lord.
That's what he's talking about.
He's talking about first love.
First love is I'm so captivated with you, Jesus.
It's just like Heidi was singing this morning.
I wanna know what you sound like.
What do you look like?
What do you feel like?
What do you smell like?
You're saying God smells?
Yeah, he smells really good.
God smells really good.
There's an aroma of heaven that we are yet to smell.
Ain't no Gucci or Prada
or any other perfume company can make the smell
that God makes up in heaven.
So when the Lord is saying he said,
remember, somewhere along the line,
you turned away.
But he says now repent.
Turn back to me.
Remember how we were when you just met me.
Remember how it was like.
You spent hours in prayer.
You spent hours in seeking me.
You thought about me.
You dreamt about me.
You talked about me.
You prioritized your life around me.
Friends, that's first love talk.
First love talk is Lord,
I want to do this thing with you.
I don't just want to do it for you.
We fall into that oftentimes.
Obedience is not just doing something for God.
Just because God told us,
I want you to go do this, that, and the other.
He's not wanting you to do it himself.
But we are so quick to do it ourselves.
Well God told me I need to do it.
But did you know that when he asked you to do it,
he actually wanted to partner with you
in doing the thing that he asked you to do.
And we're so quick to run and do a thing for God
without even God himself.
Where he's saying, but first love is,
do this thing with me.
I'm asking you to do something.
Do it with me.
Don't run along and do it yourself.
And then come back like a child to his dad
and say, daddy, daddy, I did it.
God says, yeah, but I wanted to do it with you.
I didn't want you to run
and do that thing all by yourself.
The desire of God's heart
is for a people to love him.
And part of obeying him
is he wants to build his kingdom
together here on earth.
He wants to actually build his kingdom
together with a people.
He's not a God who sits in heaven
and just says, go and do it, and then turns away.
When he says it, I keep drilling this point
because you got to hear this.
He's not a God that says, go and do it
and then expects you to get it done.
He's a God that says, go and do it.
Now let me do it with you.
Let my spirit strengthen you.
Let my spirit give you wisdom.
Let my spirit give you knowledge.
Let my spirit help you love.
It's all together.
He is the God that wants to partner with us
to do the things that he wants to accomplish.
Amen.
I guarantee you, I guarantee you,
this is just a testimony.
I'm a man that is very observant.
I'm very observant.
I watch things.
I track things.
Not to hold it against people
is just simply what I do.
And knowing Pastor Vernon Mary
for as many years as I've known them,
I've tracked.
And everything that God has asked them to do,
I can't say one thing that I know
that they have done without God.
They've partnered with God in doing it.
And I say that as a testimony.
To get to this point,
you can't just obey God and do it yourself.
God has to be doing it with you
to get to this point.
And the story is not done yet. Did you hear me?
I said the story is not done yet.
Did you hear me?
I said this before.
I'm going to say this again
to kind of put a little bit of responsibility on you guys.
Where we are headed to as a church
is going to take more than just Pastor Vernon
and Pastor Mary.
It's going to take all of us.
Can I say something to the young people?
Because I feel like I need to say this.
And the older generation, I'm not excluding you
because you are very important.
You are very important.
But I feel I need to say this
to the younger generation.
And it's stirring in me fresh
because my wife and I were just talking about this recently.
Younger generation, it's time to step up.
I'm just going to be completely honest with you.
It's time to step up.
The permission has been given to us
to step up.
It has been given to us.
We don't have a soul
that's chasing us
from cave to cave.
David, it's okay to come out of the caves.
I speak that prophetically.
David, it's okay for us to come out of the caves.
And he finishes off his thought here
in Revelation 2.
He says, repent and do the first works.
In other words, turn to me.
And then he says, or else I will come
to you quickly and remove
your lampstand from its place
unless you repent.
This is what I mean
by you can have a form
of revival.
But when the dust settles
what will the Lord actually say?
When the dust settles
what will the Lord actually say?
Because he says, if you don't repent
he said, I will come quickly
and I will remove
the lampstand from you.
And a lot of the times he does it
and we don't recognize it till
months, even maybe years down the road
of, oh my goodness, this is all flesh.
We're not even walking in first love.
We're doing it out of a place of
format, out of a place of just my gift.
When the dust settles
what will be left?
I'll share with you another story.
I'm sharing a lot of stories from my own life today.
When the Lord, this is again years ago
when the Lord was correcting me on things
and changing my heart posture, there is
something that a man of God said
that the Lord emphasized in my heart
and I've lived by it to this point
and I've kind of adapted it
to my own, but
this is how I've adapted it
to my own, is that when I am
when I am older
I don't want to say old because
there's 70 year olds in this
room and I'm not calling you old.
When I am older
when I am older
and let's say
the Lord has called me away from now
preaching at pulpits, he's
repositioned me. Now the younger
generation after me, my kids come up
when I am older and I am sitting
in a rocking chair, when all the crowds
are gone, when all the
dust has settled, is God
still going to visit me?
That's how I began to live my life. I began
to live my life in a way of
yes, this is good for me to preach to people
but at the end of the day
Lord, if you're not meeting me privately
if I'm not walking in first love and you're not meeting
me privately, all this here is in vain.
When the dust settles
what do we have left?
When the emotion, the hype
the programs, when all of it
when you leave this Sunday
what do you have left?
Honestly, what do you have left? Do you still
have Christ and the first love
in you on to Him?
I got to bring this to a wrap here. I told you
1201.
2 o'clock.
They may not come next Sunday
and then Pastor Verne is going to be like
what did you do man?
First love is
I'll just read you
here's a few scriptures if you want to write them down
Revelation is one of them
First love, I'm just trying to give you some language
to first love. Romans 12
verses 1 and 2
Luke 9, 23 to 27
1 Corinthians 13
4 to 8
I know I'm just firing him off here, I just don't have time to read all of them
1 Corinthians 14
1 Revelation 22
17
Revelation 22, 17
this is first love talk right here
the spirit and the
bride say come
see that's first love
talk
husbands
you ever said to your wife
honey come here
but like in a loving way
no I'm the only one
listen if Pastor Verne allows me
I can teach you guys the
we can have romantic classes here
every Thursday if you guys want
I can teach you
yeah I can teach you
I can even read from Song of Solomon
and we can go through that and I can teach you
how to talk with your wife
and how to woo your wife
that's all scriptural, she's being honest with you
we give premarital classes by the way
if anybody's interested
it's good uh Jim
you'll pass?
why not?
Song of Solomon my friend it's good
but see
that's first love talk
the spirit and the
bride say come lord
nothing else
will do
that's first love talk
one man said it this way
and then I think I want to land where I want to land
one man said it this way
regarding revival
he said there is no revival
and this is again this is first love talk
he said there is no revival
without a life
thrown to the ground
like a seed
and he's quoting John 12
he's quoting John 12 where Jesus said
if a seed does not die
it does not produce
that's first love talk that's revival talk
You can't have revival if you haven't had people pay the price.
I'm going to tell you something even more that's very humbling for me.
What we're going to reap in our generation, I'm talking about the younger generation,
what we're going to reap is not something that I actually laid things down for.
It's what the generation before me laid down for.
Now that's humility to recognize that.
Do you know what fear of the Lord is on me?
Is recognizing, wow, we're about to reap as a generation something that I did not even labor for.
But this is something that my grandparents, that my parents, that their generation actually labored for.
Now I get to step into it with my generation and I get to actually bear the fruit of what they labored for.
That changes my attitude of the next generation now.
Well, I know what I'm doing now. I'm actually laying a foundation.
I am toiling, breaking up foul ground so that my kids and their generation can actually reap what I've labored for.
Friends, we are about to reap something that we didn't even labor for.
I'm being honest with you, there's men and women that have gone before us, that have cried out, that have travailed, that have asked God for revival.
They've asked God that a church would walk in the fullness of first love.
They've fasted, they've prayed, they've done all the things, the proper things, the proper obedience, the proper format, all these proper things, they've done it.
And they've passed on, they've now graduated and they're becoming part of the cloud of witnesses in heaven that Hebrews talks about.
And they're looking down and they're saying, you're about to reap something that you didn't even labor for.
The question is that, or not the question, the reality is that a lot of people are not willing to labor for something that they don't see the results of.
Did you catch me?
We labor, we want to get paid. I get it. I get it.
We do something, we've toiled, we want to see the results of it. I get it.
But what if God in a sovereign, merciful plan wants the people to labor and he says you actually won't even see the full thing.
You'll see it from the other side.
How many people would sign up for that?
Very few.
That's the reality.
That's the reality, friends.
Is that very few are actually willing to sign up for something that they don't see the results of it.
You don't think I want to see the great outpouring?
Of course I do.
Of course I want to see the billion soul harvest.
Of course I want to see all these things.
But I've come to the place, God, if it's not in my lifetime,
I'm going to labor for it as if though it is.
I'm going to pray for it as if though it is.
And if my kids and their generation experience it, hallelujah, praise the Lord.
I labored for it, I toiled for it like it was to be in my generation.
Let me leave you with this.
And then I'm going to, when I get back into this, I'll develop on this a little more.
Isaiah 66.
I'm kind of skipping ahead due to time.
Isaiah 66.
This is what I believe God is doing right now.
This is the emphasis of the Lord in the hour that we are living.
Isaiah 66, you guys have heard me quote this.
I've said this so many times and I'm going to continue saying this until God tells me I don't need to say this anymore.
Isaiah 66 verse 1.
God says heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool.
Where is the house that you will build me?
And where is the place of my rest?
For all those things my hands has made and all those things exist says the Lord.
But on this one will I look.
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word.
This is what I believe wholeheartedly.
It's like a conviction in me.
It's a burning passion in me of the Holy Spirit that in the hour that we are living in.
The Holy Spirit is going to and fro.
He's going to and fro and he is specifically looking for local bodies.
And he's saying what kind of house will you build for me?
What kind of resting place will you build for me?
You see I'm not against conferences.
I think conferences are good.
I think Bible schools are good.
I think all those things are good.
But what I feel in my spirit with deep conviction that there is an emphasis of God on local churches like never before.
Listen to me friends listen to me.
I believe that there is an emphasis of God on local churches like never before.
He's not against the conferences.
I think conferences are good.
He's not against the Bible schools.
I think Bible schools are good.
But there was something about a local body that God is paying far more attention to right now than he's ever done before.
And he's asking every local church he's asking.
That's what I'm saying.
The spirit of God is going to and fro.
He's looking.
He's seeking.
Will you build me a resting place?
Of where I can dwell.
Of where I can actually come and rest.
Of where I can actually come and find pleasure in the people.
Do you see why I feel the Lord asking me to preach this in other local churches?
Because he's going to and fro.
He's saying the hour is now for the local church to create a dwelling place for me to come and rest.
And how do we do it?
It's the next three things.
God said, on this one will I look?
Who?
Poor, contrite spirit and trembles at my word.
All three of those things talk about first love, by the way.
I'm not going to get into them today.
But all three of those things are talking about first love.
The spirit of God is searching and he's looking.
Where can I rest?
Where can I come that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are pleased with what they see?
There is first love that's there.
There is a lamp stand that is burning and it's burning for Jesus.
Not for the numbers, not for the notoriety, not for the popularity.
They just want Jesus. That's it.
They want to know what he looks like, what he sounds like, what he smells like, even what he tastes like.
You're saying that's weird.
Read your scriptures.
The Bible says taste and see that the Lord is good.
I'm quoting you scripture.
Friends, this is what I believe. We as a house, as a local body, we are experiencing that.
You're saying, well, Pastor Igor, doesn't God already dwell here?
He does, but what if I told you there's realms of God that we have not reached yet that I desire to get to?
Ah, come on, somebody.
There's realms of God.
Revelation knowledge of Jesus that we have not yet attained that I desire for us to come to corporately, not just individuals, corporately.
There's realms of God that we can be trusted with that you don't even need to lay hands on the sick and they get healed.
Amen.
They will bring the paralytics.
They will bring the crippled, the blind, the deaf.
You're saying, what are you saying? I'm prophesying to you.
They will bring them from the highways and the byways.
They will bring them.
Why?
Because this house is to be a house of where God rests and dwells.
And if we can catch the attention of God even more, revival is inevitable.
You can't have revival, true scriptural revival unless God is looking.
You're saying, are you telling me God doesn't look at other churches?
Correct.
Because he removes the lampstands.
Does he still see?
Yeah, he sees.
But he is not focused in.
He is not gauged in because first love don't exist there.
And he is the God who desires and requires.
I will even say that requires first love from his bride.
I believe this house already is and even more is to be a dwelling place for God.
It's been prophesied by Jim and without me even knowing, I prophesied this to pastors
that we are to be like a John the Baptist of where people will run from the city
and they will run to the wilderness simply to meet with God.
That's it.
It's not to hear this person or that person preach simply because God has a dwelling place
at word of life ministries.
Simply because God is pleased with what he sees us doing here.
Simply because we have caught the attention of God because we are poor.
God, we are with the contrite spirit.
We tremble at your word and you say you promise us that you will look on us.
It's a promise of God to us and to a people.
If I am to be poor and have a contrite spirit and if I tremble at his word,
he makes me a promise as an individual.
I will look at you.
You will catch my attention.
And I will move upon your life that will blow your socks off.
I will do a thing that you never even imagined.
Revival is first love unto God.
Everything else is secondary.
These three things are talking about first love, friends.
That's what they're talking about.
You can't walk in first love yet not be poor in spirit.
You can't walk in first love and not have a contrite spirit.
You can't walk in first love and not tremble at his word.
They go together.
They're woven together.
God says, I'll look at you.
I will look at you and I will bestow a trust and a manifest presence on your life.
That's a promise that God makes.
Stand to your feet, please.
Father, we thank you.
We thank you for your word.
We thank you that you make a promise to your people.
Lord, you have watched us labor.
You have watched us not grow weary.
You have watched us be patient and watch the vision that you have given us.
Father, I thank you that by your spirit you have not let the lamp stand fire burn out.
But by your spirit, Lord, you help us keep our hearts guarded.
That we as a church walk in first love onto you.
And Father, I thank you for your promise.
Lord, you said that those who are poor and have a contrite spirit and tremble at your word,
Lord, you said that you would look at them.
That you would gaze upon them.
That you would rest upon them.
And Lord, we desire to be that and grow in that.
I said we desire to be that and grow in that as a church here in this place.
And we will build an altar for you, God, that you would send down your fire.
And we as living stones, we will lay ourselves down.
Whether it's for this or the next generation, we shall do it simply for the glory of God to come and rest.
In Jesus' name.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
In Jesus' name.