Isa 26:2
Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
For many years I have searched for and looked after the elusive revival that I have heard so much about, the revival that so many say is coming, the revival that many say is already here, the revival that is supposed to turn the world upside down.
And in my search for this revival I have come to the ever revealing truth concerning revival and that is that revival is nothing more than the glory of God breaking forth out the four walls of the church and flowing into the streets of the city.
Revival is nothing more than the decreasing of our own selves and the increasing of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives,
Revival is nothing more than coming to a place of intimacy instead of that place called complacency,
Revival is nothing more than the fires of God burning hot within in our soul instead of being lukewarm and revival is nothing more than seizing every opportunity to minister to some ones life instead of wanting to be ministered to.
When Jesus Christ becomes the focal point, when He becomes the motive, the intent, when Jesus Christ becomes the reason for intimacy then we will have the very ingredient that a hungry world is searching for, revival that flows from out of the bread of life.
John 6:35
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
You see I am convinced that the church has stocked its shelves with the wrong product and I believe the reason that we have not stocked our shelves with the right product is because the cost of the right product is to high.
There is a high price for the right product and you might say what is the right product, the right product is the Lord Jesus Christ in all of His glory, not a watered down version of him, not a glossed over picture of Him, but a revelation of who He is and what he desires to do within you.
Isa 6:1-5
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
The right product is the Lord Jesus Christ and the high cost is intimacy with Him and intimacy does not come cheap.
You see I believe that the church has only reached the halfway point in its journey across the wilderness
Exod 19:3-6
And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
It is here that I believe the church has come to a fork in the road and it is trying to decide what they are going to do.
Are they going to enter into intimacy or are they going to continue to be contented with burning bushes, with water gushing out of a rock, with manna falling from heaven or with quail surrounding them three foot deep in a 20 mile radius, are they going to be content to be lead by a cloud by day and a fire by night or are they going to enter into covenant (INTIMACY)
Exod 19:5
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation
Deut 14:2
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
Ps 135:4
For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.
What was the wilderness journey all about?
What was the journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai about?
What was the journey from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea all about?
What was the journey to the Jordon River and Canaan land all about?
IT WAS THE MAKING OF A PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT A PEOPLE
1 Pet 2:10
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
God took slaves who had no self esteem, who had no education and He began a journey coming out of Egypt headed for Canaan land,
Slaves bound with all of the bondages, trapping and dependencies of Egypt, God took them out of Egypt and began a journey where he placed His name on them and began to place his character in them to make them a people.
Why
He was looking to build Himself a bride.
So he brought the descendants of Abraham to Mount Sinai to bring them to Himself.
Mount Sinai means the mount of God, the Glory of Yahweh and it was here at Mount Sinai that He desired to bring the people to Himself
So when the people needed food, God wanted the people to seek him for there bread.
Deut 8:3
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
But instead of seeking the face of the Lord for there bread who was there bread, they complained and berated Moses and talked about how good they had it back in Egypt.
When the people needed water God wanted his people to seek and search His face so that He would provide for them that life giving water but instead of believing and seeking the face of God they once again complained and murmured about how good they had it back in Egypt.
Num 20:4-5
And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
You see the sad and unfortunate truth concerning the Israelites that came out of Egypt is that the people that God brought out of Egypt are not the same people who crossed over into the Promised land.
The people who crossed over the River Jordon are a different group of people than the group who came out of Egypt and the reason that they are a different group is because of what happened at Mount Sinai.
Exod 19:10-13
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
Notice the scripture,
Moses sanctify the people, wash there clothes in other words get the people clean, make ready for I am calling you to a place of blessing, a place of change and intimacy.
Don’t fall into the trap of believing that the place that he was calling them too was a place called Mount Sinai, a place of real estate in the wilderness.
No—He was calling them to a promised place of rest in Him.
Ps 95:11
Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Heb 3:11
So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:18
And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Heb 4:3
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:11
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
What is this place of unbelief that the scriptures are speaking about?
What is this that kept the Israelites from partaking in the covenant (Intimacy) of the Lord?
Why could they not be persuaded to enter into a place of intimacy and communion?
Why could they not be persuaded to enter in to the place of closeness and confidence to believe and to trust solely and completely in and on the Lord?
Hear me,
The same generation that is gathered around Mount Sinai is the same generation gathered around the spies at Kadesh Barnea and I believe because they refused to go in at Mount Sinai they will refuse to go in to the Promise land across the Jordan River.
If the promise is refused at Mount Sinai, the promise will also be refused at the River Jordon.
Exod 20:18-21
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
They saw the lightning and thunderings and they shrank back in fear, they ran from His presence instead of running to and pursuing Him, they shrank back instead of pushing in, they preferred distant respect instead of intimate relationship.
I tell you it was not God’s original plan that the first generation of Israelites die in the wilderness.
He wanted to take the same group of people that he had brought out of Egypt into the Promised Land.
He wanted to give his new nation of slaves there own land and there own inheritance but they would not have it because of fear and unbelief.
There doom was sealed when they looked over the Jordan River and shrank back from going in but there problem really began when they shrank back from the presence of God in the cloud at Mount Sinai.
And the church has been suffering from the same problem for many years,
We often prefer a man to stand in between God and us.
We often want to hear what God has to say as long as He says it through the man
We have a hell inspired fleshly fear of holy intimacy and the roots of that fear go all the way back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve hid in shameful fear while all the time God was longing for intimate fellowship.
I am going to close this lesson with this,
Exod 20:18-21
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
Notice the scripture,
and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
One group of people shrank back and stood afar off and said tell us what the Lord has to say,
And then there was one who drew near unto the thick darkness where God was
Ps 42:1-8
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
What are you going to do child of God?
Stand afar off content with church and all its programs or enter into intimacy.