1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:03,720 We have a story here I'm going to read a little bit more than I 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:07,960 normally would read on a Sunday morning or not on any service, 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,480 not just a Sunday morning, but just a little bit, a little bit 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,800 longer passage here because I want to, I want to give you the 5 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,640 entire context of this passage here and let you understand 6 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:18,920 exactly what's going on. Because you know, the, the 7 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:20,960 Christian life is the best life by far. 8 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,440 There is no better life than than living the life of a 9 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,600 Christian. But that does not mean that it's 10 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,000 a life that's without burdens. It doesn't mean that it's a life 11 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,600 without trials. It doesn't mean that there won't 12 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,040 be seasons where we spend time in a valley. 13 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:41,080 And for a child of God, for somebody who knows Christ is 14 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,960 their savior. Revival is not contingent on our 15 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,440 circumstances. It's not contingent on our 16 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,880 current life situation. General Dwight D Eisenhower said 17 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:51,680 there are there are no victories at discounted prices. 18 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:54,360 And I think that's the same thing when it comes to our 19 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,200 Christian life as well, our Christian walk. 20 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,160 There's no victory at a discounted price. 21 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,560 Sometimes you have to go through the valley to understand how 22 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,120 important the victory is. And here in Ezekiel chapter 37, 23 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,040 I think this is probably a story that you've read before or a 24 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,360 passage that you've read before. But God asked Ezekiel to go into 25 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:19,040 a valley. And this is a prophecy about the 26 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:23,200 nation of Israel, but I think it fits in other ways as well. 27 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:27,120 And so we pick it up there in Ezekiel chapter 37 and verse #1 28 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,440 The hand of the Lord was upon me, Ezekiel saying, and carried 29 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:32,720 me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the 30 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,360 midst of the valley, which was full of bones. 31 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,000 It caused me to pass by them round about, and behold, there 32 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:40,800 were very many in the open valley. 33 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,240 And lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, 34 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,080 can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou 35 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,320 knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophecy 36 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:55,360 upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the 37 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,320 word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto 38 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,600 these bones. Behold, I will cause breath to 39 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:02,480 enter into you, and you shall live. 40 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,560 I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, 41 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,880 and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall 42 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,960 live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 43 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:15,760 So I prophesied as I was commanded. 44 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,000 And as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold the shaking, 45 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,040 and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 46 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,840 And when I beheld lo, the sinews in the flesh came up upon them, 47 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,960 and the skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them. 48 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:35,000 Then said He unto me, Prophecy unto the wind, prophecy, son of 49 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,320 man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, come from 50 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,440 the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that 51 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,200 they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded 52 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,520 me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood 53 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,160 up upon their feet, and exceeding great army. 54 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,160 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole 55 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,560 House of Israel. Behold, they say, our bones are 56 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,920 dried and our hope is lost, we are cut off for our parts. 57 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,440 Therefore prophecy in saying to them, Thus saith the Lord God, 58 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,840 Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to 59 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,680 come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of 60 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:10,920 Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 61 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:14,120 When I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up 62 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,720 out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and you 63 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,000 shall live, and I shall place you in your own land. 64 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,840 Then shall you know that I, the Lord have spoken it and 65 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,080 performed it, saith the Lord. Now to, to not take this out of 66 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,080 context, I want to give you a little bit of an understanding 67 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,920 of what this is talking about. These, these bones that are 68 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:36,000 coming together. We're seeing that exact same 69 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:37,560 thing happened with Israel right now. 70 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,320 The, the population of Israel in the last ten, 1520 years has 71 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,600 just exploded. They, they became a nation. 72 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:51,040 And obviously once they became a nation, so many people from all 73 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,120 different parts of the world started moving back to Israel 74 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,360 and they're coming together. But it's just dry bones, right? 75 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,480 It's empty because God is God's spirit is not there. 76 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,240 They've not repented of their sin. 77 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,200 They don't they, they have not acknowledged Jesus Christ as the 78 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:05,600 Messiah. They're never going to have that 79 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,800 life until the Spirit of God comes in. 80 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,640 And he says that that I shall put my spirit in you and you 81 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:13,800 shall live and I shall place you in your own land. 82 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:16,720 And that's that's going to happen in the future. 83 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,279 But I think the important thing here is this. 84 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,240 We understand that sometimes we end up in a valley and sometimes 85 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:28,160 it's just it's a valley of dry bones and it's a difficult spot 86 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,920 to be in. And whether it be that sometimes 87 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,480 we spend time in the mountaintop or whether we're deep down in a 88 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,560 very low valley, we can experience personal revival and 89 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,760 blessings that come from that revival. 90 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,280 Regardless of what our circumstance is, regardless of 91 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:45,080 what our situation is. Even a valley full of dead, dry, 92 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,000 divided bones, when God's Spirit is there, they can be 93 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:49,840 transformed into an army for God. 94 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:54,440 There can be victory even in the valley, and that's what I want 95 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,360 to preach to you about this morning for a few minutes. 96 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,480 Victory in the midst of the valley. 97 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,760 How can we experience victory? How can we experience revival 98 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,640 even in the midst of the valley? Let's pray and then we'll take a 99 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:09,680 few minutes to talk about this this morning. 100 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:11,680 Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us. 101 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,040 We thank you for allowing us to be here together today. 102 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:15,920 We don't want to be here without your power. 103 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:17,480 We don't want to be here without your presence. 104 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,640 So God, I ask that you would, that, that you would give me the 105 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,400 powers I preached this morning that you give us ears that will 106 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,160 listen, hearts that will be soft and tender to what you have for 107 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,200 us this morning. And God, may you speak to our 108 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,680 hearts today. We thank you for all that you do 109 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,720 for us in Jesus name, Amen. Put a ribbon, if you will, or a 110 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,200 bookmark something in there. We're going to jump around to a 111 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,560 few different passages, but I'm going to come back to Ezekiel 112 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,280 chapter 37 several different times because there's three 113 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:44,640 things that we need to realize this morning when it comes to 114 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:46,520 having victory in the midst of the valley. 115 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:47,760 And the very first thing is this. 116 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:50,920 We have to realize the Providence of God brought us to 117 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,200 that valley. Realize that it was the 118 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,360 Providence of God that brought you to that valley. 119 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:57,920 Look what the Bible says there in Ezekiel chapter 37 and verse 120 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:02,320 #1 The hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the 121 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,880 spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley, 122 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:09,040 which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round 123 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:10,760 about. And behold, there were very many 124 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,400 in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry. 125 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:18,040 Ezekiel found himself in the valley, as we all will from time 126 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,000 to time in our lives, but he didn't happen to find himself 127 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,360 there an accident. The Bible reveals to us that it 128 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,960 was God who positioned him in the middle of that valley. 129 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,480 He didn't end up there because of anything other than the fact 130 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,160 that God had a purpose for him being in that valley. 131 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,640 Sometimes the circumstances in life lead us to that valley and 132 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,880 God certainly knows about those circumstances and what you're 133 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,600 going through. And sometimes those, those 134 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,400 circumstances are things that we have no control over. 135 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,360 Obviously Brother Todd passed away. 136 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,640 It's a valley and I, it's a, it's a much deeper valley for, 137 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,960 for Miss Tawana and for Trey and for Miss Barber and for 138 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:57,640 everybody else in the family that's going through. 139 00:06:57,640 --> 00:06:59,960 That's a difficult valley. It's a valley for all of us. 140 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:02,560 It's a hard thing to, to, to cope with. 141 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,040 It's a hard thing to understand. Those are things though that we 142 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:08,640 have no control over, right? There's sometimes when we end up 143 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,080 in a financial situation where maybe it wasn't necessarily our 144 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:13,800 doing. It's just something happened in 145 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,760 and we found ourselves in this valley or family problems. 146 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:19,880 There's, there's so many different things that happened 147 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,520 in our lives where we find ourselves in the middle of this 148 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,400 valley where we didn't really choose it. 149 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,000 Nobody would choose a valley, but where we didn't, where we 150 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,520 didn't 'cause it maybe would be a better way to say it, but we 151 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,840 find ourselves there anyway. Sometimes we walk into the 152 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:39,960 middle of that valley ourselves. Spiritual apathy, we allow that 153 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,840 to creep in, but it's still a valley of supernatural 154 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,080 appointment. God knows that you're heading 155 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,840 that direction. And I think, I think maybe 156 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,000 that's more of the direction that we're aiming at this 157 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:53,520 morning. You find yourself in a valley, 158 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,280 but a lot of times it's a valley that you walked into yourself, 159 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,280 right? Sometimes you can't help it, but 160 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:01,720 other times you're walking toward that valley and God puts 161 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,320 stop signs in there and says, hey, you're going the wrong 162 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,040 direction. You're going to find yourself in 163 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:07,360 a place that you don't want to be. 164 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:10,440 You're going to find yourself in this spot of spiritual apathy 165 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:15,800 where you disallow everything to, to, to, to not be fervent 166 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,480 the way that it should be. Where you find yourself in this 167 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,400 valley of spiritual apathy where you've decided, you know what? 168 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,320 I'm just not really into living for the Lord the way that I 169 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,720 should. And then, and then you allow 170 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:28,160 those little things to get in there. 171 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,280 And the more that the, the more those things just get in and, 172 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,200 and, and start to dig inside. Instead of allowing those, 173 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:36,880 instead of allowing God to use those things to push you back to 174 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,440 him, you allow it to drive you further away from him. 175 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,559 And God knows that you're heading toward that valley and 176 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,760 he allows you to keep walking because you ignore the signs 177 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:48,160 you're not there. An accident. 178 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:52,160 God knows that that's exactly what you need to help you get 179 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:54,960 out of that situation and help you get away from that spiritual 180 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:56,800 apathy. God knows that's where you're 181 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:58,600 heading, and sometimes He lets you get there. 182 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:01,080 But I want you to understand this. 183 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,920 In the valleys of life, be encouraged by remembering that 184 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:09,080 God's Providence is at work. You did not end up in that 185 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,360 situation by accident. God knew you were going there. 186 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,920 Whether you walked into the valley yourself or whether He 187 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,680 allowed the circumstances to happen that put you there, He 188 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:23,800 knows that you're there and his Providence is at work. 189 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,200 Turn over, if you will, to Jeremiah chapter 29. 190 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,560 God has a purpose for allowing you to be in that valley. 191 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:36,560 And I use these verses quite often because they're what I 192 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:39,280 would consider to be my life versus if somebody asked me to 193 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,440 sign their Bible, I would always sign it with Jeremiah chapter 194 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:44,400 29. God brought these verses to my 195 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,760 attention when I was in the middle of a valley and they 196 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,760 changed my perspective. They changed everything about my 197 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:56,040 view of life and about my view of why God allows the things to 198 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,440 happen in our lives. And to give you just a little 199 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,720 bit of context about Jeremiah 29, this is the the nation of 200 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,480 Israel that God had warned. Hey, you continue on the path 201 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:07,160 that you're going on. You're going to find yourselves 202 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,600 in captivity in Babylon. That seems like a valley to me, 203 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,040 huh? Who wants to find themselves in 204 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,920 captivity, away from everything that they know, away from being 205 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,160 able to have the freedom that you want to have to do the 206 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,560 things that you want to do. But God said, hey, you keep 207 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:22,760 going down that direction. You're going to be in a valley. 208 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:27,680 And they said, whatever, if that happens, that happens. 209 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:31,280 And sure enough, that's where they found themselves. 210 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,520 They didn't listen. And God allowed them to be 211 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:36,560 carried off into captivity. And he said, listen, you're 212 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:40,320 going to be there for 70 years, you might as well make the best 213 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:41,960 of it. You might as well get married. 214 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,280 You might as well build houses, you might as well plant gardens. 215 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:45,520 You're going to be here for 70 years. 216 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:46,840 You might as well just start over. 217 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,960 And the Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse #11 in the middle of that 218 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,000 valley, in the middle of those difficult things, here's what 219 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:54,920 God said to them. For I know the thoughts that I 220 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:58,200 think towards you, say at the Lord, thoughts of peace and not 221 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,360 of evil, to give you an expected end. 222 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:05,080 Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, 223 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,960 and I will hearken unto you, and you shall seek me and find me, 224 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,040 when you shall search for me with all your heart. 225 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,040 What do you notice about the top of a beautiful mountain? 226 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:18,560 You see the rocks, you see the snow, you see all those things. 227 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:21,360 It's a beautiful place. But what doesn't happen on the 228 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:23,640 top of a mountain? I'll tell you growth. 229 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:26,640 You don't see anything growing on the top of a mountain. 230 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,440 Oh, it's beautiful up there. It's a great view. 231 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,400 But you don't really grow on the top of a mountain. 232 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,880 There's only growth in the valley, and sometimes when you 233 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,360 find yourself there, be, listen, it'd be great to live on the top 234 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,680 of the mountain, but sometimes God has to bring us low to teach 235 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:43,400 us and to train us and to temper us and to tweak us so that we 236 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,800 can actually be useful in his service. 237 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,720 And isn't that what we want? I don't, I don't know. 238 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,480 I'm not. I'm not saying you ought to hope 239 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:53,160 that you go into a valley. You ought to want to go there. 240 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,000 Nobody wants to go there. But when you find yourself 241 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,760 there, it's an opportunity for God to work. 242 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,840 It's an opportunity for you to get things right with God. 243 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,200 It's an opportunity for you to say God not why am I here? 244 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,320 But what do you want to accomplish while I'm here? 245 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,120 That's what God wants us to ask him. 246 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,960 And you have to understand that sometimes when we find ourselves 247 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,000 in those valleys, we have to realize that it was the 248 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,960 Providence of God that brought you to that valley. 249 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,080 But here's a very encouraging truth back over in Ezekiel 250 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:28,440 chapter 37, we saw first of all, and we must realize first of all 251 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:30,560 that the Providence of God brought you to that valley, but 252 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:33,560 realized second of all that the presidents of presence of God is 253 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:38,120 with you in that valley. The presence of God is with you 254 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:42,440 in that valley. Verse #4 of Ezekiel 37 And he 255 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:44,720 said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? 256 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,120 And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest again he said unto me, 257 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,600 prophecy upon these bones, and saying to them, O ye dry bones, 258 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,280 here the word of the Lord. The prophet Ezekiel is in this 259 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,480 valley, but who find out that he's not alone there. 260 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:02,680 God was with him in that valley. The preacher is carrying on a 261 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:04,880 conversation in the midst of the valley. 262 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:08,600 The same God that had brought him to it was with him in it. 263 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:11,360 Turn over to Psalm 30. Psalm 23. 264 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,480 I know that all of you are very familiar with that passage. 265 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:16,720 It's probably one of the most well known passages in all of 266 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,560 the Bible. Psalm 23 but in the valley, 267 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:24,800 realize the presence of God that is with you there. 268 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:29,080 I don't know anyone that's not familiar with these verses, but 269 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,240 verse #4 the Bible says this. Yeah. 270 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,960 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will 271 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,000 fear no evil, for thou art with me. 272 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:40,960 Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 273 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,960 I'm not here to tell you that the Christian life is all roses 274 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,960 and sunshine. It's a great, it's great living 275 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,400 the Christian life. The Christian life is a 276 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,600 wonderful life, but it doesn't mean that everything's just 277 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,160 going to go perfectly for you. Doesn't mean that because you 278 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,080 accept Christ as your savior that all of your problems go 279 00:13:58,080 --> 00:13:59,240 away. It doesn't mean that you're 280 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:00,840 never going to struggle financially. 281 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,000 It doesn't mean that you're not going to have issues with your 282 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:04,680 family. Doesn't mean that there's not 283 00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:07,320 going to be any problems with who knows what else. 284 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,760 You're going to face problems in your Christian life. 285 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:11,640 Yeah. And all that will live godly 286 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,600 shall suffer persecution. If you happen to make it through 287 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,320 all of those things, then the world is going to be the one 288 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:18,840 that persecutes you on top of it. 289 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,800 So I'm not trying to tell you that that everything is perfect 290 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:23,480 in the Christian life. And I'm not going to pretend 291 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,000 that there's no tough days as a Christian. 292 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,040 And I'm not trying to convince you that you can always feel the 293 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:32,840 warmth of God's love, because sometimes, sometimes you can't 294 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,360 feel that. When you're in the middle of the 295 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:39,000 valley and it's dark and the wind is blowing a little bit and 296 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,280 the hair and the back of your neck is standing up, it's not a 297 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,840 warm feeling. Ever been in that situation? 298 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,200 Maybe as a kid, especially, your parents make you go out and do 299 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,680 something in the dark at night, and you feel like somebody's 300 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,520 standing right behind you, right? 301 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:57,680 You might be a little ways away from the house and you start 302 00:14:57,680 --> 00:14:59,240 walking faster. The next thing you know, you're 303 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,560 at a dead Sprint. All the hair on the back of your 304 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:04,600 neck is standing up. And you get in the house and you 305 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,120 slam the door and you're like, man, I'm glad I got away from 306 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,080 whatever that was behind me. All right? 307 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,320 You've all been there. Sometimes that's the way that it 308 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,160 feels when you're going through your Christian life. 309 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,120 I don't know what that is, but something's there and I'm 310 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,520 running for my life. Sometimes that's what the valley 311 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:22,960 feels like. It's not always a wonderful 312 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,200 feeling. Sometimes you'll feel like 313 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,840 you're alone because of the shadows in the valley. 314 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:31,520 But make no mistake, if God's going to lead you to a valley, 315 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,440 he's going to be walking in that valley with you. 316 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,640 There's an old Native American ritual for training their young 317 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,600 Braves. And on the the day that they 318 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,600 turned 13 years old, he was brought out into a very dense 319 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,600 forest, blindfolded and brought out into a place where he didn't 320 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:53,520 really know where he was at. And then he'd be left there. 321 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:58,760 And his job as a 13 year old boy was basically to face all of his 322 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,800 fears. Whatever came, he was supposed 323 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:03,920 to face him. If it was wild animals, he was 324 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,520 supposed to face him. If he was, whatever it was he 325 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,440 was, that was that was that was him becoming a man. 326 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:15,080 It was his opportunity and he would go out into those woods 327 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:20,320 and they would drop him there. And as the night fell around 328 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:24,720 him, I'm sure as any 13 year old boy would, he started to hear 329 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:28,760 the noises in the forest, wondering if it's a wolf that's 330 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,840 ready to attack him or whether wondering if it's something else 331 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:33,920 that's out there. And every, every time he heard 332 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,640 the wind blow, he wondered what kind of noises was were being 333 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,440 masked. But he would spend the night out 334 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:42,080 there in the woods by himself alone. 335 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:46,720 And he wakes up in the morning. You can just imagine the, the, 336 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,320 the thrill of knowing that the morning was finally there. 337 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,080 But as he starts to look around, he can see the outline of the 338 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,080 trees and he starts to see the outline of the path and the 339 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,720 flowers and everything else as the sun begins to rise. 340 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,400 And then to his utter astonishment, he would see a 341 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,000 figure standing just a few feet away from him. 342 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:07,400 And he realizes that's his father standing there with a bow 343 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:12,119 and arrow, standing there all night protecting him in case 344 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,400 something were to happen. Now, you can't see it in the 345 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,640 middle of the night. You can't see it when you hear 346 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,079 those noises. You can't see it when when 347 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:22,000 everything around you is scaring you. 348 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,160 But his father was there all along. 349 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,480 If anything were to happen, he was there protecting him. 350 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:30,840 Nothing could happen to him because his father was there. 351 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,120 And that's exactly the way that it is in our lives. 352 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:38,280 So it's a lesson for these young Braves in independence. 353 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:40,720 I'm becoming a man. I'm becoming my own person. 354 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,320 I'm becoming something that I was always meant to be. 355 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:45,400 But it's also a lesson in dependence. 356 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:52,080 You aren't alone. Even when you're lonely, you're 357 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,000 not alone. The Bible says in Hebrews 358 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,360 chapter 13 and verse five, I will never leave thee nor 359 00:17:56,360 --> 00:17:59,320 forsake thee. Isn't that such a comforting 360 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,760 thought? Oh, sometimes we find ourselves 361 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,360 in those valleys, but we have to realize that the presence of God 362 00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:06,920 is with us in those valleys. If you know Jesus Christ as your 363 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:10,440 Savior, he's not leaving you. It might feel like it. 364 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,760 It might be dark. You might see shadows. 365 00:18:14,120 --> 00:18:16,200 You might even see the shadows of death. 366 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,640 But he's with you. Sometimes it might feel like 367 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,920 we've been abandoned. Sometimes it feels like the 368 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,360 Israelites said, God, did you just bring us out into this 369 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:30,560 wilderness to, to abandon us and let us die out here in the 370 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,920 wilderness. I'd rather been in Egypt where I 371 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,720 had food and where I had shelter and where I had protection. 372 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:38,520 You brought us out into this wilderness just to let us die. 373 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:44,360 Oh, we, we're looking at it from a, from a, an upper level 374 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:46,880 perspective. And we can read in the passage, 375 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,160 God never left them. He was with them all along. 376 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,200 He was there the entire time. They just felt like He had 377 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,080 abandoned them because they didn't see a way out. 378 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:57,880 They didn't know how they were going to get out of that 379 00:18:57,880 --> 00:18:59,440 wilderness. And sometimes we don't know how 380 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:00,680 we're going to get out of that valley. 381 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,200 And so it feels like we're being left alone. 382 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,560 But make no mistake, if God LED you into that valley, He is not 383 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,640 far away. His presence is with you in that 384 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:11,080 valley. Turn back over to Ezekiel 385 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:19,040 chapter 37. Ezekiel chapter 37, not only 386 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,640 should we realize the Providence of God that brought you to the 387 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:24,040 valley, but realize the presence of God is with you in that 388 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:25,400 valley and I want you to understand this. 389 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,160 Lastly, you have to realize that the provision of God is 390 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,440 available for you in the valley. The provision of God is 391 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,840 available for you in the valley. Verse #5 Thus saith the Lord God 392 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,560 unto these bones. Behold, I will cause breath to 393 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,640 enter into you, and ye shall live, and I will lay sinews upon 394 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,840 you, and I will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with 395 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,240 skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall 396 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,600 know that I am the Lord. See, as Ezekiel is in this 397 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,000 valley, he's given orders from the Lord. 398 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:54,680 It's encouraging to see that phrase. 399 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:59,680 I will, I will, I will, I will. God's going to do it. 400 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:01,440 We don't have to. Do it for ourselves. 401 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,040 God asked Ezekiel to do something while he was in that 402 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,800 valley, but God very quickly revealed to Ezekiel that it 403 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:09,840 would be him that would perform that task. 404 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:12,400 Turn over to Second Chronicles chapter 16. 405 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,800 Everything that Ezekiel would need, God would provide. 406 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:19,120 And the same thing is true with us. 407 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:24,240 Well, I think sometimes we get into those valleys, whether it's 408 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,680 a valley that we chose or whether it's a valley that we 409 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,600 didn't choose, we end up in those valleys. 410 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:33,440 And God wants to do something, but we don't have to do it on 411 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,000 our own. God will do that for us. 412 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:40,160 Second Chronicles, chapter 16, speaking to King ASA. 413 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,200 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole 414 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:48,480 earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart 415 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:52,120 is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly, 416 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,560 Therefore from henceforth thou shall have wars. 417 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,800 This was a king who had the opportunity to allow God to 418 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,080 work, and he decided he didn't want it. 419 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,800 The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth 420 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,400 to show himself strong, and the behalf of them whose heart is 421 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,000 perfect toward him. Psalm 34 and verse 15. 422 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,880 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are 423 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:18,320 open unto their cry. I think it's very interesting to 424 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:22,600 go back a chapter here in Ezekiel and I had you turn away. 425 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,600 But if you go back to Ezekiel chapter 37 and then go a page 426 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:31,160 back to Ezekiel 36, I think it's very interesting to see what God 427 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,760 said He would do. And Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 428 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,160 #22 Therefore say unto the House of Israel. 429 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:42,000 Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O House 430 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,000 of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have 431 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,680 profaned among the heathen. Whither do you went? 432 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,600 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among 433 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,360 the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them. 434 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,240 And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord 435 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,440 God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 436 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,800 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out 437 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,600 of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 438 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,320 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean 439 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,200 from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I 440 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,320 cleanse you. A new heart also will I give 441 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,720 you, and a new spirit will I put within you. 442 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,680 And I will take away the Stony heart out of your flesh, and 443 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,320 will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within 444 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:27,320 you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. 445 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,840 And ye shall keep my judgments and do them. 446 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,880 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your Father's. 447 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,520 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 448 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,480 I will also save you from all your uncleanness. 449 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,480 And I will call for the corn, and we'll increase it, and lay 450 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,080 no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of 451 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,400 the tree and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no 452 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,560 more reproach of famine among the heathen. 453 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,560 Then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that 454 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:58,720 were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for 455 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:00,880 your iniquities and for your abominations. 456 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,080 Not for your sakes do I. This saith the Lord God, Be it 457 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:08,400 known unto you, be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O 458 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,360 House of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God. 459 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,160 And the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your 460 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,640 iniquities, I will cause you to dwell in the cities. 461 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:22,280 And the wastes shall be builded, and the desolate land shall be 462 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,520 tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed 463 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,080 by. And they shall say, This land 464 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,400 that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden, and the 465 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,040 waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and 466 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,400 are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left 467 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,240 around about you shall know that I the Lord, build the ruined 468 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:43,200 places, and plant that that was desolate. 469 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:46,720 I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. 470 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,360 Thus saith the Lord God. I will yet for this be inquired 471 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:53,280 of by the House of Israel. To do it for them. 472 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,680 I will increase them with men like a flock as the holy flock, 473 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,320 as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feast, so shall the waste 474 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:03,040 cities be filled with the flocks of men. 475 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,040 And they shall know that I am the Lord. 476 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,160 Now that's such an interesting passage. 477 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:12,200 A new heart, a new spirit, a renewed understanding of how 478 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:16,480 wicked their sin was, a renewed view of who God was. 479 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,640 And I'll tell you this, you will never, you will never come to 480 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,200 the end of yourself and get things right with God until you 481 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,480 understand just who God is, until you get a new view of the 482 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,800 holiness of God. When you see God in His 483 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,640 Holiness, you cannot help but loathe yourself. 484 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,760 You cannot help but look at the condition of your life and hate 485 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:41,360 the condition of your life and want to change to be what God 486 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:44,520 wants you to be. What an encouragement. 487 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,200 That's what revival is though. That's the definition of 488 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:48,160 revival. It's not. 489 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,880 It's not for our own sake, but so that we can bring glory to 490 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:52,920 God through it. And I think that's one of the 491 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,840 problems with with so many churches today is that they want 492 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,160 to see revival because they want people to see what their church 493 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,720 is doing. They want to see revival so they 494 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,120 can be lifted up and look at how big our church is becoming. 495 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:10,360 We saw revival. It's not for us, it's for God's 496 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:13,880 sake so that we can bring glory to Him and so that He can be 497 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,880 lifted up. Revival is not something that 498 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,760 you want to have so that you can say look what we have. 499 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:21,440 Look at. Look at the revival that's 500 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:23,080 taking place. In fact, when you really see 501 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,960 revival, most of the people who are going through revival don't 502 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,040 even realize that that's exactly what it is. 503 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,320 They just want to please the Lord above everything. 504 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,720 They want Him to be pleased. People on the outside are the 505 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,600 ones looking at it and saying they're experiencing a revival. 506 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:41,160 I just want to lift up the name of Christ. 507 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,280 I just want God to be glorified. That's what revival is. 508 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,840 And when you want more than anything else for His name to be 509 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,880 lifted up and for Him to be glorified in your life, then you 510 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,280 will see revival because you seek Him for who He is. 511 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,880 You'll see yourself for who you really are, and it'll make you 512 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:02,640 want to change so much so that you will actually change for His 513 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:07,240 sake, so He can be lifted up, so that He can be exalted. 514 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:09,720 Isn't that the entire purpose and the entire point of our 515 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,240 lives anyway? What we need more than anything 516 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,640 America, in America right now is revival in our churches. 517 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,360 But so often we pray for revival in our churches, but we don't 518 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:24,840 want revival in our own lives. God send revival to our church, 519 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,680 but let me live my life the way that I'm living it right now. 520 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:33,240 God send revival to America, but let me just be content to live 521 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:34,840 my life the way that I want to live it. 522 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:39,200 I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm content living in just the 523 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:40,680 little bit of sin that I'm living in. 524 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,640 I'm content living in just the little bit of apathy that I'm 525 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,640 living in. God's not going to send revival 526 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:51,160 to America if we don't see revival in the church, and God's 527 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:52,720 not going to see revival in the church. 528 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:54,960 God's not going to send revival to the church unless we see 529 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,440 revival in the individuals in the church. 530 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,600 The sad news is that if we don't see it in our lives, we don't 531 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:03,880 see it in the church. And we are the church. 532 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,400 It's not just all those other churches. 533 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,480 It's not just America needs revival, it's I need revival. 534 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,200 Our church needs revival. It's not. 535 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:17,000 It's not a message specifically about revival, but I wish it 536 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,920 was. But we can see that in the 537 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:24,160 middle of the valley if we're willing to let God do that work. 538 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,360 I've been reading a book again that it touched my life. 539 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:31,000 It's called Why Revival Terry's by Leonard Ravenhill. 540 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,880 He's written several books. In fact, I think that would be a 541 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,920 book that will will get in, get into the bookstore and make some 542 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,040 copies of that available. It's a challenging book. 543 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:46,080 But Leonard Ravenhill said this. If we do God's work in God's way 544 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,840 at God's time, with God's power, we shall have God's blessing. 545 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,640 Oh, that believers would become eternity conscious if we would 546 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,080 live every moment of every day under the eye of God. 547 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,200 If we did every act in the light of the judgment seat. 548 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,680 If we sold every article in the light of the judgment seat. 549 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,520 If we prayed every prayer in the light of the judgment seat. 550 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,360 If we tied all our possessions in the light of the judgment 551 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:12,440 seat. If we preachers prepared every 552 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,200 sermon with one eye on on damned humanity and the other eye on 553 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,080 the judgement seat, then we would have a Holy Ghost revival 554 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,960 that would shake this earth and that in no time at all would 555 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,000 liberate millions of precious souls. 556 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,280 And before we can be clean and ready for Him to control self 557 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:31,520 seeking, self glory, self-interest, self pity, self 558 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,480 righteousness, self importance, self promotion, self 559 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:39,640 satisfaction, and who whatever else there be of self must die. 560 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:44,160 That's the need of the hour. James Gilmore, he was an old 561 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:46,120 missionary to Mongolia. He said this. 562 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,160 Do not we rest in our day too much on the arm of flesh? 563 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,040 Cannot the same wonders be done now as of old? 564 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:55,680 Do not the eyes of the Lord still run to and fro throughout 565 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,720 the whole earth to show him, show himself strong on behalf of 566 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:00,280 those who put their trust in him? 567 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,640 Oh, that God would give me more practical faith in him. 568 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:06,160 Where is now the Lord God of Elijah? 569 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,600 He's waiting for Elijah to call on him. 570 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,800 I want to point out one last thing before we close back in 571 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,880 Ezekiel chapter 36, notice what God said after He listed all the 572 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:20,120 things that He was going to do for them. 573 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:22,600 We read that entire list. We started back at verse 22. 574 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:24,280 We read through all of those things. 575 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,160 God said, I'll do this, I'll do this, I'll do this, I'll give 576 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,520 you a new heart. I'll put a new spirit within 577 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:32,360 you. I'll put my spirit within you. 578 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:37,520 I'll do all of these things, but in Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 579 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:43,160 #36 he says, I, the Lord have spoken it and I will do it. 580 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:49,920 Verse 37 Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be 581 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,240 inquired of by the House of Israel to do it for them. 582 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,600 God was already working, but He wanted them to pray and ask him 583 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,440 for it. Isn't that interesting? 584 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,520 God said, I'm going to do all of these things, but they have to 585 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:08,760 come ask me for it. I will yet be inquired of them 586 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,960 for this. What a powerful truth prayer is 587 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:13,320 how we're going to see it all get done. 588 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:16,320 You want to see God do something in your life. 589 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:17,480 It's only going to be through prayer. 590 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,960 If you're not, if you're not in the habit of praying, prayer 591 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,360 ought to be something that you do constantly throughout the 592 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,280 day. You ought to have your prayer in 593 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,040 the morning and you ought to, you ought to take some time to 594 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,080 pray together as your with your family and everything else, but 595 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,480 you ought to be having a continuous conversation with God 596 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:40,120 throughout the entire day. That's what pray without ceasing 597 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,480 means. Don't expect that anything in 598 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,600 your life is going to change if you're not in prayer. 599 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,120 And I'll tell you what happens. One of the first things to go is 600 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,640 prayer. Because when you allow sin to 601 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,960 come into your life, number one, if I regard iniquity in my 602 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:58,240 heart, the Lord will not hear me. 603 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:01,040 And most of you know that. So you just why should I pray? 604 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:06,680 I know that I've got these things there, but if you think 605 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,520 that God's going to send revival to your life, if you think that 606 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:11,600 you're going to learn something in the middle of that valley 607 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,640 that you're going through and you're not even talking to him, 608 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,520 you're not going to find that victory that you want to have. 609 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,720 You're not going to see that revival that you need unless 610 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:27,520 you're in prayer with him. For this sin hungry age that 611 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:28,800 we're living in. We need a prayer. 612 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:33,240 Hungry Church revival is not going to happen because we want 613 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,080 it to. It's not going to happen because 614 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,720 we hope it's going to happen. It's not going to happen because 615 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,360 we know God can send it. It's going to happen when we get 616 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:41,880 on our knees and beg God to send it. 617 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,960 Sometimes when you find yourself in the middle of that valley, 618 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,480 it's a valley that you've allowed because of spiritual 619 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:50,800 apathy. The only way that you're going 620 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:54,280 to get out of that spiritual apathy is to get on your knees 621 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:58,760 and beg God to revive you till we find ourselves drawn into the 622 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,200 valley for the purpose of God bringing us low so that we might 623 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,960 groan and travail for God's power. 624 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:06,920 It's not going to happen until we find ourselves utterly 625 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,080 helpless and utterly hopeless apart from God. 626 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:11,160 It's not going to happen until we learn that God brought us 627 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,760 into that valley, that God is leading us through that valley 628 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,440 like a shepherd leading his sheep for the sake of for the 629 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,520 sake of showing us who he is. Only then will we see revival. 630 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:29,240 Turn over to Romans chapter 8. See. 631 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,960 When God brings you low and travail over the souls of lost 632 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:37,040 men, rejoice. When God brings you down into 633 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:38,760 the valley of dry bones, rejoice. 634 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:41,560 When God burdens your heart for this nation, rejoice. 635 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,160 When God burdens your heart for your family, rejoice. 636 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,560 When God burdens your own soul for the condition of your own 637 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,560 apathetic soul, rejoice, because that only means that God has 638 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:53,800 brought you there to show you what He's capable of. 639 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,920 He's only brought you there to show you that He's given you a 640 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:01,640 chance to throw your all upon Him so that He might show 641 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,400 Himself mighty in your life and that He might be glorified 642 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,320 through your life. Romans chapter 8 and verse #37 643 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,920 says nay and all these things. We are more than conquerors 644 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:15,800 through Him that loved us. We are more than conquerors 645 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:22,640 through Him that loved us. We like to take these little 646 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:27,360 Christian phrases. I'm a conqueror, I can do all 647 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:30,160 things. No, it's through him. 648 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,080 It's through him. Yes, I am a conqueror through 649 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,120 him. Yes, I can do all things through 650 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,200 Christ. It's only when we all, it's only 651 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,520 when we come to the end of ourselves and we're going to 652 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,920 understand the power that God has to get us to where He wants 653 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:53,120 us to be. This is a song that I heard many 654 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:57,120 years ago now, and I've sung it before. 655 00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:02,000 I would like to do it again, and I probably will, but here's what 656 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,600 the words of that song say. When I'm low in spirit, I cry. 657 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:10,440 Lord, lift me up. I want to go higher with Thee. 658 00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:15,480 The Lord knows I can't live on the mountain, so He picked out a 659 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:20,199 valley for me. He leads me besides still waters 660 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:25,159 somewhere in the valley below. He draws me aside to be tested 661 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:30,400 and tried, but in the valley he restoreth my soul. 662 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:33,679 The second verse of that song says, When it's dark as a 663 00:34:33,679 --> 00:34:38,760 dungeon and the sun seldom shines, I question Lord, why 664 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:41,800 must this be? Then he tells me there's 665 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:46,719 strength in those sorrows, and there's victory in trials for 666 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,480 me. He leads me beside the still 667 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,159 waters, somewhere in the valley below. 668 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:58,680 He draws me aside to be tested and tried. 669 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,240 But in the valley, it restoreth my soul. 670 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:08,080 These are times that seem to have driven us into turmoil, 671 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,600 times that make us aware that we're in a valley. 672 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,440 The world that we're living in today is just a it's a difficult 673 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:19,280 place to live as a Christian. Even this country, it's a 674 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,920 difficult place to live as a Christian because the world is 675 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:26,960 going so opposite of the way of Christ. 676 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,360 But it's in the valley that you can realize the Providence that 677 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,920 God brought you there. It's in the valley that we must 678 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:39,240 realize that God's presence is there with us in that valley. 679 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:41,000 And it's there in the valley that you can realize the 680 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,880 provision of God is available for you in that valley. 681 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:47,920 See, God, God needs us to be serious. 682 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:54,160 God needs us to to set aside the petty worldly things that we so 683 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:59,320 often get sidetracked by money. I mean, we get so wrapped up in 684 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,560 money, we get so wrapped up in things. 685 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,040 We get so wrapped up in all this stuff. 686 00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:08,200 Those things are not going to count for anything. 687 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:15,800 But listen, He desires for us as Christians to get back to the 688 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:18,640 spirituality that He wants us to have. 689 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:22,400 He desires for us as Christians to have that relationship with 690 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:25,320 Him that we ought to have. It's in the valley that we can 691 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,240 grow if we allow God to do His work. 692 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:32,880 Some of those valleys you don't have any say in. 693 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:37,680 You find yourself there. Nothing that you did on your 694 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:39,080 own. You just ended up in that 695 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:42,240 valley. It's a dark place. 696 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,200 God's there and He's doing something. 697 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,560 He just, you just have to allow Him to do it. 698 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,200 Sometimes it's a valley that you created for yourself because you 699 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:56,920 just let yourself get away from the Lord. 700 00:36:57,520 --> 00:36:59,920 If you're not closer to God today than you ever have been in 701 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:01,160 your life, then you're backslidden. 702 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:04,520 I'm not. If you're not closer to God 703 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,480 today than you ever have been, you're not where you are. 704 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:10,960 You slid back. We don't like to think about it 705 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:13,200 that way. We don't like to look at 706 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:16,680 ourselves like that, but where are you in your spiritual life? 707 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,840 Sometimes it's a value created for yourself because of that 708 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:23,640 spiritual apathy that you've allowed yourself to fall into. 709 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:30,080 But God's there too, and God still works there too. 710 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:32,880 And God can still do great things. 711 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:35,600 But he's trying to get you to the point where you understand 712 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,600 it's not about me, it's about Him. 713 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:45,520 It's about bringing Him glory. What can He do through my life 714 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,520 if I give Him the opportunity to do it? 715 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:53,640 Victory in the midst of the valley. 716 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,680 We can have it. We can have it. 717 00:37:57,720 --> 00:38:00,920 You got to realize that you were there by a divine appointment 718 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:04,680 and that God wants to do something in you and through 719 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:07,160 you. Won't you let Him do it? 720 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:12,720 It's hard to be specific on things like this because there's 721 00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:14,440 so many different things that you end up in. 722 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:19,560 And if I don't point out your specific spiritual apathy, then 723 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:22,080 you think you're fine. If I don't point out your 724 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,000 specific problem, then you think you're fine. 725 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,160 If I don't point out your specific thing that you're 726 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:28,640 dealing with, then he's not talking to me this morning. 727 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:32,640 I'm leaving it broad on purpose because there's as many people 728 00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:34,200 as there are in here. There's probably that many 729 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:39,440 different things that you can go through in your life, but it's 730 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:43,800 still a valley. And God wants to help you out of 731 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:46,440 it. And He will if you let Him. 732 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:49,400 Let Him convict you of the things that you need to be 733 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:51,640 convicted of. Let Him do the work in your 734 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,600 life. Let Him change you into what He 735 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:58,760 wants you to be. And you'll come out on the other 736 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:02,800 side, not just like gold, but you'll come out on the other 737 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:04,880 side glorifying God through your life. 738 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:08,280 And that's what it's all about. We can have victory in the midst 739 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:12,440 of the valley, but we have to be looking at the right place and 740 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:14,840 that's to him. Let's pray. 741 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:16,920 Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us. 742 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:19,320 We thank you for the opportunity we have to be here this morning. 743 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,720 We know each heart, you know each situation. 744 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:27,000 God, may you use the message in our hearts and the way that only 745 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:30,480 the Holy Spirit can. Thank you for all you do for us. 746 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:31,840 In Jesus name, Amen.