283, we'll make a start this evening. Page 290, "'Twas Jesus my Savior who died on the tree to open a fountain for sinners like me. His blood is that fountain which pardon bestows and cleanses the foulest wherever it flows." 283, let's stand as we sing this hymn together, please. Just my Savior, the guide of the free, Riddle without finding, for sinners like me. His promises have finding, His pardon bestows, And cleanses and pardons, wherever it flows. For the Lion of Judah shall break every chain and give us new victory again and again. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? with hoping to find. He gave me his blessing, his love in my heart. For the Lion of Judah shall break every chain and give us new victory at Eden's gate. ♪ Lion of Judah shall break every chain ♪ ♪ And give us the victory again and again ♪ ♪ O Lord be the source of our mercy, O Lord ♪ ♪ And the weight of destruction encompass my soul ♪ ♪ Where tempests shall toss, I'll always see thee ♪ ♪ In the valley of the cross. ♪ ♪ For the Lion of Judah shall break every chain ♪ ♪ And give us the victory again and again ♪ ♪ For the Lion of Judah shall break every chain ♪ ♪ And give us the victory again and again ♪ ♪ And with their answer, my Jesus, my aid ♪ ♪ I'll find Him, to find Him, my head shall be laid ♪ ♪ I'm full at His feet and His mercy adore ♪ ♪ And saying of the blood of Hebrews shed ♪ For the Lion of Judah shall break every chain, and give us the victory again and again. ♪ For the Lion of Judah shall break every chain ♪ ♪ And give us the name faith again and again ♪ ♪ All sinners to Jesus no longer remain ♪ ♪ Have the free salvation ♪ I'm. ♪ The Lion of Judah shall break every chain ♪ ♪ And give us victory again and again ♪ ♪ For the Lion of Judah shall break every chain ♪ ♪ And give us victory again and again ♪ Good singing. Let's unite our hearts together now in a word of prayer. It's again the Lord's blessing for our meeting tonight. Our gracious, eternal, loving Heavenly Father, we continue thy presence in the Savior's precious and all-prevailing name. We thank the Lord as a fountain opened up in the house of David for sin and for uncleanness. We praise the Lord. The blood has been shed at Calvary. Thank you, Lord, that divine justice has been satisfied. Thank you, Lord, for the victorious cry finished. We have a living Savior tonight who's purchased our redemption, indeed, who's purchased every blessing that we can enjoy. And we have one in the glory tonight who sits at the Father's right hand, and it is the Lion of Judah. O God, we praise Thee, Lord, for Thy presence with us already this week. We can say thank You, Lord, for being with us. Thank You, Lord, for Thy presence known, for Thy speaking voice, for Thy Word that has come, even with clarity and with challenge and with encouragement. We bless the Lord, we turn to a God of revival. Thank you, Lord, it's not something in the past only, but Lord, it's something that we can enjoy again. Lord, we pray that thou would, O God, come and revive these hearts and souls of ours. Lord, we tell thee that we're dry and barren, and barren we shall remain until we're blessed with the fire from on high and the sound of abundance of rain. We pray, Lord, that thou would be pleased even to look upon us in favor. And, Lord, we would even bring the district before thee tonight, just this little part of the vineyard. And, O God, surely, Lord, it's dry. Surely, Lord, it's barren. Lord, we pray, wilt thou not visit it again? Wilt thou not, Lord, visit this vine? O God, we pray, wilt thou not come and visit the hearts of thy redeemed? Lord, we pray that it might be noised abroad of what God is doing. Lord, we've noticed, we've learned that the purpose, the real ultimate purpose of reviving is to glorify Christ. Lord, we pray that he might be uplifted even again this evening in this meeting house. Oh, Father, we pray thou would shut out the things of today. Shut out, Lord, even what our hand has to do tomorrow. Lord, we pray that our gaze might be fixed on him Lord, we would even leave this house saying, what a great God, what a great Savior we have. Oh, Father, we thank thee for, Lord, each soul that's come out again this evening. I know us, Lord, every heart. I know us, those that are thine. I know us, Lord, maybe those who are in the meeting without Christ, without God's salvation. I pray, Lord, that thou would, O God, reveal thyself even to them, Lord, lift scales from off eyes tonight, that they might, Lord, plead the blood, that they might, Lord, know that cleansing in the blood, that they might, Lord, be born again of thy Spirit. O Father, we pray, the Spirit of the Lord would fall upon us afresh this evening. O God, we tell thee, it's not by might or by power, but it's with my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. welcome thee to come and do thine own work. And we pray, Lord, that thou would, Lord, overrule and undertake, even for this another meeting. Bless thy servant who has come. We thank thee for him. Thank you, Lord, for help given past nights. Thank you, Lord, for the delivery that thou hast enabled him to bring thy word to us afresh, even to our hearts. And, Lord, he needs thy help again this night. We pray that thou would endure him from above with that power from on high. And oh God, he might know that help of God. And we pray that thou would bless him even in his own soul. So Father, remember us for good. Be with us this night. Remember our people that are unable to get out through sickness or illness drawn here to such We pray that they might know thy presence. We pray that thou would encourage those that are able to join with us through the webcast. Lord, we pray that their souls might be blessed as well. And Lord, that this little reviving, this great revival blessing from on high may not only be known in this district, but Lord, it might sweep across our province again. It might, Lord, touch other areas. Oh God, sinners will be saved. God's people will be sanctified more. The seed will be preserved. Lord, all these blessings will be enjoyed and known. Oh God, come and answer prayer. Thou alone hast the power. Lord, we cannot work this thing up. This power must come down. And so, Lord, we petition thee that thou would look in favor upon us again. Bless us this night. Help us, O God, for we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Revelation chapter 5. We're turning there tonight, just reading some of the opening verses, please, of this chapter. Revelation chapter 5 and the words of verse 1. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back side sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to lose the seals thereof. No man in heaven nor on earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. One of the elders saith unto me, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, to lose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, Four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. Amen. Just ending a reading at the end of verse 9, we know the Lord himself will add his own divine blessing upon the reading of his precious and infallible word. We welcome you again in the Savior's name. It's good to see you in God's house this night. Good turnout last night for a Monday night. and it's a good turnout again this evening as our meetings continue right throughout this week. Please do remember them, and it's good to see you again. If you're visiting with us, we give you a special welcome. If this is your first time in the week of meetings, we're glad you're here, and we trust and pray the Lord will bless each and every soul. Do remember, we're halfway through, or we will be after tonight, And tomorrow night, to the end of the week, the Reverend Ivan Foster will be coming to preach the word on the King coming back. So it ties in with the whole thing, theme of reviving and revival. So do remember to pray for him and do encourage you to come again tomorrow night. Half past seven is the prayer time, preceding our evening service again at eight o'clock. Eight o'clock each night, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. If you noticed a book coming in, you'll hear me say this the other nights. There's a book there, Green Book, 1859 Revival. It's absolutely free for you to take. And you take and enjoy it and give it out even to others as well. So if you want two or three, take them with you. They're only there as far as they go. So once they're gone, they're gone. So do avail yourself of the invitation to take those books before you leave tonight. There's also a little pamphlet on the foyer table, praying for revival. Reverend Johnson has brought this to us last evening, and we've got some printed there for you. Again, just freely take it, and then you can read over it and pray it into your soul. And we do encourage you to take that as well. I think that is all by way of notice. We don't lift an offering. There's a box there at the door if you want to help us, but it's good to see you coming. Do invite others to come out in the remaining nights, even of these meetings. It'll go by so quickly. And we trust and pray the Lord will bless us richly. and the tide of blessing might rise. Number 38. We're going to sing just to change your position. Page 190. Oh, what matchless condescension the eternal God displays, claiming our supreme attention to his boundless works and ways. Number 38. Let's stand as we sing this hymn, please. We need our supreme attention to his pointless words and ways. of glory be revealed to us today. Be revealed to us today. of the Savior, all is not justly the same. Love and justice shine forever, and therefore love Him with me. We approach Him, we approach Him, and rejoice in His ♪ His highest glory ♪ ♪ Here it shines in Jesus' face ♪ ♪ Sing and tell a pleasing story ♪ ♪ Holy Savior, save thy grace ♪ ♪ And with pleasure, and with pleasure ♪ see his glory Grace and justice, grace and justice, here unite the endless days. Here unite the endless days. and pleasure of living in Christ the Lord. praise and blessing. I do welcome Reverend Johnson back again. I do want to take this opportunity in thanking him and being willing to come for these first three nights. I certainly can say we've enjoyed his ministry thus far. We do look forward to God's servant coming again. We welcome his son, Ian, who has brought him along tonight as well, and it's good to see him. So we welcome you, brother. We trust the Lord will bless you now as you come. Thank you very much, Reverend Patterson, and the session here for having us along for these meetings. We've enjoyed them. And it's been a good time to be here. And thank you for your prayers. And tonight, we'll just go straight into Revelation chapter 5, book of Revelation chapter 5. However, that hymn, Tremendous Words, that your minister picked there, the tune is well known. I love to read about the origin of hymns and the tunes. is actually associated, of course, with Wales. It's the tune to which we sing, Guide Me, O Thy Great Jehovah. We spoke on Sunday night about some of the revival stories from Wales. The writer of Guide Me, O Thy Great Jehovah, it's 431 in our book, was, of course, William Williams, a great revival preacher. He preached in Welsh. And then it was translated by a Peter Williams in the English. That's the hymn 431. But I only discovered a few months ago, it was only just over 100 years ago, that that tune that you were just singing was actually composed specially for Guide Me, O Thy Great Jehovah. It was the anniversary of an organ coming into a certain church near Pontipreith. And the tune is called Camranda. Well I have a daughter called Rhonda and she Rhonda Valley come Rhonda Welsh. come is the valley and that's the tune wasn't my daughter's not named after but anyway she lives in Wales and over there when we visit her we hear a lot about the Welsh revival sites well Revelation chapter 5 and there's one little phrase I want to draw your attention to in verse 5 of Revelation 5 the lion of the tribe of of Judah. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we do thank thee tonight for the word of God. We thank thee for these hymns we've been singing, this last hymn that speaks of thy glory. And oh, Father, tonight we pray we may see the glory of God, and we read the glory of God as seen in the face of Jesus Christ. So tonight we pray we would see thy glory, for it's in Christ's name we'd ask it. Amen. Just by the way, in the leaflet, I can't take credit for it, although I did work on it and abridge it from an article by a Welsh preacher, Geoff Thomas. Geoffrey, or we know him as Geoff. He was the pastor where my sister goes to church. Son-in-law is the secretary of the church there in Aberystwyth, Wales. And he wrote an article some years ago in the Banner of Truth. a quite long article on what is revival and so I ought to put his name on it that's just we got it ready there I had it and but that's really where it came from well we looked on sunday night at the purpose of revival remember we talked about that it is of course to subdue satan to to sanctify the saints to save sinners to safeguard our seed and to see the Savior lifted like a standard, His glory. And then we looked last night at the purchase of revival, the promise of revival. We can have revival in our day. Tonight I want to talk about the person of revival, the person of revival. You cannot think about revival without thinking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He it is who pours out the spirit. We finished with that verse last night, Acts 2.33, because he died and rose again as ascended. He sheds forth, it's the same expression, pours forth his spirit, and that's what revival is. I read again this morning the words of the great Jonathan Edwards, who saw a mighty revival in Northampton. That's the New England area of America. Now, before America was founded, the colonies it then was, Jonathan Edwards was the greatest theologian America ever produced. He was short-sighted. He read his manuscript. Can you imagine a man up here and reading it through, short-sighted? But he was a man of God, and he preached in Northampton the famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Do you know in America, in many public schools, pupils read that in their English literature class because of the such effect it had on the history of what we know today as the United States. Society was changed and in the town where he ministered there were 300 people saved. It says that man as he preached, remember he was reading it short-sighted, they say he wasn't a dynamic speaker but a man of God, And men were holding on to the pillars, crying out that they wouldn't go down into hell. That's the power that was upon that sermon. But he wrote this about the revival. He said, the goings of God were in his sanctuary. God's day was a delight. Public meetings were beautiful. The congregations were alive in the services, and they wept as I preached. He went on to say, as he walked down the streets of Northampton, that he could hear coming from the houses, families worshiping God together. But this is the part I remembered. He said, it was days of heaven upon earth. That's a quote from Deuteronomy chapter 11, 21. What a description of a revival. Days of heaven upon earth. Now, you probably are aware that in the book of John, chapter 14 to 16, the Lord Jesus Christ talked about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and revival is a Spirit-produced sovereign work. And it's sometimes put like this by preachers, without turning to the verses, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to make the Scripture clearer. to make heaven seem nearer to us, and to make the Savior dearer. It's not a good description of revival, too, when the Holy Spirit comes with power. And when the Holy Spirit comes with power and revival, we look in Scripture and we'll see Christ exalted in heaven. That's one aspect of revival. We get our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Vance Havner, a famous preacher in America, said, revival is the church falling in love with Jesus Christ all over again. Has your loved waxed cold? Well, you need revived. You need your love to be quickened and made alive. Stephen Alford said, revival is ultimately Christ himself seen, felt, heard, living, active, moving in and through his church, his body upon earth. That's another great description of revival. Those men are pointing out revival Christ. Revival is Christ. Now, in the book of Revelation, in chapter 4 and verse 1, there's a door opened in heaven. And in chapter 5, John is taken up into heaven itself. And he sees glory. Now, let me remind you, if you're not familiar with the book of Revelation, in chapter 1 verse 1, it says it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, I love the King James, I don't use anything else, you know that, but I'm sure in many of your Bibles it'll say the revelation of St. John the Divine. That's only put there by the printers. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. You never find an individual called a saint. The word saints is always plural, but we've got used to St. John. It's a revelation of Jesus Christ, this book. The word revelation means unveiling, unveiling. Here's a statue. And the people are gathered round the dignitaries. It's covered with a cloth. And let's say the Lord Mayor steps forward and he pulls away the cover. He unveils the statue to the sight of the people. The book of Revelation. It's the Holy Spirit through the writer John unveiling Christ to our gaze, unveiling Christ in glory. You see, there are some people who study the book of Revelation and they come off with minute prophetic speculations. and ideas and sadly sometimes even good men make wild predictions and sadly for them they have the experience of seeing their predictions not come to pass and they feel embarrassed. The book of Revelation wasn't given for us to read into it, wild speculations of future things. I can't help saying one many, many years ago, and it wasn't too far from here in the local paper, it was announced that a brother, a saved man was going to preach on the red dragon from Revelation because there'd been a coup in Russia. Unfortunately, by the time Sunday came, the coup had been overthrown. Maybe you don't remember that in the Morning Observer, but anyway, but I remember it. And it was in the local papers, going to preach that this coup in Russia is the red for communism taking over, but it had fallen by the weekend. So his prediction didn't last very long. I'm saying, no, the book of Revelation, don't forget the purpose. It is to see Christ. To see Christ in all his glory. To see Christ risen, reigning. I know sometimes you hear, too many Christians are so heavenly minded, they're no earthly use. Well, I don't know where that came from. But the truth is that if we're not heavenly minded, we are no earthly use. And John in chapter 5 is getting us to look up to the throne. And you'll see in our text in verse 5, behold the Lion of Judah. And chapter 5, you see the praise of Christ. All creation, when you go down the chapter, is worshiping Christ. The saved of all the ages are gathered in verse 9. And they're singing, thou art worthy, for thou hast redeemed us. Do you see it there in verse 9? Out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Remember last night we talked about Genesis 12 and 3, the key promise of God in the Bible? Abraham, in thee and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed. That through a descendant of Abraham, some out of every tribe and people on this earth would be brought into the church of the living God. Now in Revelation, we see that promise fulfilled. And the pouring out of the Holy Spirit is to give his people power to see that church completed. Here it is completed. Notice in verse nine it says, some out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. It doesn't say all. So a word in the gospel for a moment. You ask most people, do you want to go to heaven? Of course I do. You put it this way to them. Can you imagine someone going to a great choir and saying to the choir master, I would like to sing in the choir. They asked them, well, do you know the words? No. Do you know the tune? No. Can you sing? No. What do you want to be in the choir? Heaven's a great choir of praise to the Lord and they sing the song redeemed by the blood of the lamb. In other words, if you don't know what it is to be able to sing, thou art worthy, for thou hast redeemed me by thy blood. You'll not be in heaven. You'll not be in heaven. Heaven is a place for the redeemed. Oh, make sure you're among the some, the some. But he looks, and he sees the lion of the tribe of Judah. Yes, he's called the lamb, and we love the lamb, and I can't preach upon that wonderful title tonight. It's mentioned 13 times in the book. But he sees Christ as the lion of Judah. And he sees all heaven praise Christ. God reveals the glory of Christ by his names and titles. Your name, my name, my titles reveal things about us. It's not just for identity. I get called Ron at home. I'm called husband, so you know I have a wife. I get called dad, you know I have children. I get called granda, so you know I have grandchildren. I get called cousin, brother. sometimes was called chairman, secretary, and all the titles reveal something about me. It's the same with you. And these titles reveal something to us of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the idea here, behold the lion. In that phrase is the praise to Christ, because a lion has to do with dignity, authority, royalty, majesty. Do you know down through history, men like Alexander the Great was depicted by a lion? Some of the Roman legions had eagles, but they also had lions. Do you know different nations around the world? Pharaohs, for instance. The crest of our own British royal family has lions. Lion is a symbol of those things I've just said, but the Lord Jesus Christ is the lion. And there in heaven, here's a picture of heaven. John wants those saints who have been persecuted, some of them martyred, to look up and to realize that your Savior is the praise of heaven and all majesty and authority and dignity is his. In revival, God's people get a view of Christ as he is today in heaven. He's glorified. He's exalted. He's no longer in his mother's arms, as he was as a child. He's no longer on the tree. He's no longer in the tomb. You know that the Roman Catholic Church has these pictures and so on of the dead body of our Savior lying upon his mother cradling. No, listen. Yes, those things, we don't remember Christ after the flesh. We look up and see him glorified. He's glorified today in heaven. The praise of the lion. But I want you to think of the prophecy of the lion. He's called the lion. Judah. Why is that important? Why is it important for us to see in revival he's the Lion of Judah? Turn back to Genesis 49. It's good to go to the first reference of a word in Scripture. And here's the first reference to the mention of a lion in Scripture. And this is a great prophetic chapter because Jacob is dying. Remember, he was the grandson of Abraham. God had told Jacob too that in his seed all nations of the earth would be blessed. And Jacob is blessing his sons. All right, and he's looking forward down through history. And he's speaking to the boys, but he's really speaking about what'll happen in the last days, that's verse one. But if you go down with me to the prophecy to Judah, verse eight, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. But look at verse nine, Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey my son thou art gone up, he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rise him up? Jacob says as he looks at Judah, your descendants, they're lion-like. Do you know some of the other sons, they were compared to other animals? One to a snake, one to a donkey. Judah, you're symbolized by a lion. The Lord Jesus Christ, Hebrews tells us, sprang from Judah. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ, humanly speaking, was a descendant of Judah? Descendant of Jacob, of course, and Abraham, as the Bible said. He's the Lion of Judah. So we're thinking of Revelation 5. Where did the title come from? Behold the Lion of Judah. He's the one who was prophesied hundreds of years before. Jacob's not only talking about the tribe, he's talking about the Savior. And then he speaks, don't rise him up. Who shall rise him up? My, when a lion is there, you don't want to prod a lion. Get him roused up. What did we say revival was in the first service? Isaiah 60. The Lord are rising. My, when a lion rises up, there's power. There's power. But not only is he the lion, he's the leader. In verse eight, and there's a play on words here in the Hebrew, Judah means praise. Praise, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. See that? goes on to say, thy hands shall be in the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow down before thee in glory. Tonight, all heaven is worshiping the Lion of Judah, his brethren, the church. But look at it there, Judah. Judah, there he him thy brethren shall praise. Do you know, when the children of Israel walked through the wilderness, they didn't just go like a mob. They walked in ranks of six, and each tribe went behind their own banner. And the banner that went first was the tribe of Judah, which we believe had the lion on it. And God said, Judah first. When the promised land was divided, Judah first. In the book of Judges, when they went up to fight, God said, Judah first. Judah first. Revival is when God's people walk in rank orderly, obediently behind the Lion of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Revival is when God's people are stirred up to obey the Lion of Judah and to follow him into the battle. He's the Lion of Judah. Look at the land. Judah would inherit in verse 11. Binding his foal onto the vine and his ass's coat onto the joist vine, he washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of the grapes. His eyes shall be red with wine and his teeth white with milk. What's it talking about? It's talking about the land he would inherit. Now, it's poetic. If we had time to study it out, you know, 400 years later, the descendants of Judah were given a portion of the land. Maybe you look at the back of your Bible, a map down at the south. Eshcol was part of it. You remember the spies carried a bunch of grapes from Eshcol? It was a land known for its grapes. It was a fruitful land. Now spiritually, Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we inherit a spiritual land of blessing. And revival is when the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah, leads us into a land of spiritual blessing. Oh, for fruitfulness. Oh, for fruitfulness. Of course, the blood of the grape reminds us of the blood of Christ. And surely there's a picture here of how our Lion of Judah won the victory. Because there in Calvary, he shed his own precious blood. See, this is poetic, this is symbolic, this is spiritual. Hundreds of years before, about 1,900 years before our Savior was born, born into the tribe of Judah. It's this prophecy. And you go forward more than 2,000 years from his death, and there's heaven. And the whole church is there praising the lion of the tribe of Judah. I've only time for one other one there. Look at verse 10, the lawgiver. The scepter, that's, you know, our queen was given one at her coronation. Scepter speaks of rule, of lawgiving. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come. Shiloh's the rest giver. Unto him shall the gathering of the people be. You know, of course, that David became the king and his sons after him. And our Lord Jesus Christ was born king, king of Israel, king of the Jews, everlasting king, king of kings. He's the king. He's the lawgiver. Yes, the lawgivers belong to the tribe of Judah. But now he has come. And unto Christ shall the gathering of the people be. Can you see the prophecy? We're back in Revelation 5 and 5, the praise of the lion. Lion's a title that speaks of praise, of worship, the prophecy. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the leader. He's the one who goes forth, his greatest triumph at Calvary. But look at verse 5 again in Revelation 5 and 5. Behold, look, look. I'm saying tonight the person in revival. In revival, God's people get their eyes on Christ. Christ risen, Christ glorified. God's people become more heaven conscious, Christ conscious. They see him as the lamb. Yes, I don't have time to preach on that tonight. It's the one I'm sure you love as a believer, the lamb. We love him as the lamb who shed his blood for us. But I'm thinking tonight, the lion, his dignity, his authority, his majesty. Oh, revival. We get stirred up to see our savior and glory. Are you heavenly minded? Behold, the lion. I'm thinking now not of the praise and the prophecy, but the picture. If you take a concordance and look up the word lion, you'll probably be surprised. There are over 100 references. I went through them some years ago. And they can be grouped into three, generally three subjects. Number one, many of the references, and if I started to read them, you'd be here all night. Many of the references refer to the lion's strength, a strength. It can cover 100 meters in six seconds. It can pull an animal 600 pounds weight. It can jump 36 feet. Its jaws can crush a bone. Think of the power. It's a killing machine. The strength. You remember Samson's riddle in the book of Judges? What is mightier or stronger than a lion? Nothing. You remember David lamented Saul and Jonathan? They were like lions. You see, in the Bible, a lion is often taken as the standard of strength. But our Lord Jesus Christ is the lion. Almighty, strong. When he was here upon earth, he had the strength to heal the sick, to cure the leper, to raise the dead, to forgive sins. And he has power in heaven tonight to pour out his Spirit upon his church. He has power to revive your soul. The strength, the strength of our Savior. But the second grouping is the speech of the lion. Well, I use that just to keep the alliteration. The roar. It's amazing. I don't start reading these. I have references here, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Zechariah, Revelation. All about the roar of the lion. His voice can be heard six miles away. Is there anything more bone chilling? In the book of Amos 3 and 8, the lion is roared, who shall not fear? You read in Amos 1 and 2, the Lord will roar from Zion. Hosea 11, the Lord shall roar like a lion. When he shall roar, then the children shall fear. Or what about Isaiah? This is a wonderful one. Isaiah 31. I'm not turning to these for time. You can look them up. Like as a lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion. Isn't that wonderful? If you were in the jungle and you heard up to six miles away a lion roaring, You could probably tell if you study lions, it's hunting its prey. Or maybe it's protecting its young. And the prophet's saying, the Lord will roar from heaven to come and defend his church. Isn't that what revival is? When the church of God has been persecuted and it's barren, and the enemy's coming against the church, our savior arises like a mighty lion. Oh, the roar of Christ. You know, it was the the word of Christ that created this universe. Christ cried with a loud voice. Lazarus, come forth and he came forth from the grave. There on Calvary, he shouted the greatest roar of triumph that has ever been shouted in this world's history. Because there on Calvary, as he was about to send the spirit And that roar has reverberated around heaven, earth, and hell ever since. And one day, he's going to shout again, and the whole world will hear it when he returns. Have you heard the roar? The Lord roars in revival. I could say tonight, the person of revival, revival is when the risen Savior roars. You see, Christ is not absent from his church. Yes, he's in heaven there, but Christ is active in the church. Turn over to Ephesians 2.17. There's so much about revival we could cover, but I think this is a very interesting verse. Ephesians 2.17. We're thinking of the person of revival. The person of revival. Ephesians chapter 2, you know Ephesus was a city many, many miles away from Jerusalem. Gentiles were converted through the preaching of the gospel. Now, look at verse 17 of chapter 2. It's speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. For in verse 16, if you're in any doubt, it's talking about, He might reconcile us, talks about His cross. Now look at verse 17. And came, that's Christ, came and preached peace to you which were afar off." Christ came and preached peace to you. Now, think about that. These are Gentile believers. Paul is writing to them, and he's saying, Christ came to you in the city of Ephesus and preached peace to you. Did he? We say, well, the Bible says he did. Of course, I believe it. Did the Lord Jesus Christ literally, bodily, physically walk the streets of Ephesus and bodily, physically preach to those Gentiles to see them saved? No. No, of course he didn't. Well, is the verse wrong? No, it's not. Christ came and preached peace to you. How did he do it? through the mouth of Paul. Through the mouth of Paul. Now, in case you're still not sure what I mean, here's something you can do later. Go back to Isaiah 52 and 17. There's a wonderful prophecy of the coming Savior. You know what it says? How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. But when you get to the book of Romans 10, round about verse 17, you'll read that Paul uses that verse, talking about preachers going out, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Then he goes on, how shall they hear whether a preacher? How beautiful are the feet of, and of course, the Holy Spirit gave Paul permission to change the pronoun. The prophecy was in Isaiah, when Messiah comes, how beautiful are the feet of him, Messiah. Paul is able to change it by the Holy Spirit. How beautiful are the feet of them, them that preach. Who is it that preached in Ephesus, Christ or Paul? Yes, yes. In revival, when you see many souls saved, who is it doing the preaching, the evangelist, the individual, or is it Christ? Yes. Yes. What I'm saying is this, in revival, it's Christ speaking. It's the risen Christ roaring from heaven with such power that through the lips. And here's the encouragement for you tonight and for me. If you're like me, you feel weak to go up to somebody and witness to them. Some people have been blessed with a gift of evangelism. Most of us, I think, if we're honest, will say, I find it very difficult. I'm shy. I find it very difficult. I don't know what to say. I don't know. But here's the great encouragement. It's not our words. Oh, yes, we have to be bold and by faith open our lips. But it's not our theological doctrinal discourse that will convince our neighbors and our friends. It's knowing the power of the risen Christ by a spirit coming upon us. And you're weak. Yes, even in trepidation and fear, when you open your mouth trusting in Christ, it's Christ's voice speaking through you. And in revival, it's the power of Christ speaking through his servants. The man Morgan we talked about on Sunday night. He himself said that before 1859, he preached the same sermons, and he was a faithful man, no reason to doubt it. And after that period of great revival, when 110,000 souls were swept into the kingdom, he said he still went on studying, preaching, being faithful, and were called to be faithful. But what happened? God mightily moved in America in 1858 here in our own land, and in Wales, and yes, parts of Scotland in 1859, Christ, the Lion of Judah, roared. And he did it through his people. But it's not encouraging to us. We pray when we witness, Lord, take my weak words and speak to us. So we can't convert anybody. We can't create an anxious thought. Praise God, he can. Praise God, he can do it for us. There's one more, and I'll not go into it in detail. I talked about three things in the Lion. You'll find the Lion speaks of the strength and the speech, the roar of the Lion. And you'll find there's a lot of verses to do with judgment. I'll not go through them for time, but it speaks of God coming to judge. Wicked kings of Syria and Babylon were compared to lions. coming against God's people because of their sin. There's other verses that God will arise like a lion against Assyria. And one day the Lord is coming back to judge. And of course, in revival, we could say he judges the apostasy, and he judges the sins, and he judges the wicked. But here's what I want to get to. The praise of the lion, the prophecy of the lion, the picture of the lion. But when we're thinking of the person of revival, listen, God's people are to be like a lion. You see, if we're followers of Christ, and he's the Lion of Judah, and we follow him, and we see him in all his risen power, that's when God's people become lion-like. And here's the verse for you, if you're recording verses, Proverbs 28 and 1. Proverbs 28 and 1, listen to what it says. The righteous are bold as a lion. Do you know when revival comes and God sends a sovereign mighty work, you know what happens? God's people get a boldness. God's people begin to rise up. God's people begin to speak up. Why? Because they're seeing Christ and they're falling in love again with Christ and they're taken up with Christ. And like the early disciples there in Acts 4, when they were persecuted, they were told not to speak in the name of Jesus again. You know what they said? We cannot but speak the things we've seen and heard. We can't keep quiet. And when God's people see Christ in his risen glory, we can't keep quiet. We have to speak of him. That's revival. We have to be bold like a lion. We can be afraid of things because we're human, and we get afraid. And of course, remember this, 1 Peter 5 talks about the devil as a roaring lion. So, he's more than a match for us, isn't he? The devil is a roaring lion, and so he'll cause us to fear, but listen. And I'll use a Belfast expression here. The devil's just like Buck Alec's lion. Maybe you don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know if you ever heard the expression Buck Alec in the country here. When I was a boy growing up in Belfast, if you misbehaved, you were naughty, your mother or dad would say, don't be behaving like Buck Alec. Buck Alec was a man, Alec Robinson, the Munn sister. Some of you remember the Munn sisters, knew him well. His daughter used to come into the Bethel bookshop. He was a character. Now these stories don't go out and say I'm making these up. Buck Alec was a bodyguard for Al Capone for a while, a bare knuckle fighter. He was a A wild man during the Troubles in the 1920s, reportedly killed a lot of people in the Troubles and so on then. But Buck Alec is famous in Belfast for his lions. He used to keep lions in a terraced house in a little backyard, if you know Belfast Kitchen House. And I never saw it, I was too young, but my mom and dad and the Muns sisters used to talk about it. And I've met other people I know who used to see Buck Alec walking about with a big chain with a real lion. He had three of them over the years. One time the head constable called for him to come to the old York Street station to quell a football riot. And he brought, he walked about the street with a lion. But the story was, and I can't confirm this, he pulled all the teeth out of one of the lions. I do know this, a man told, maybe I shouldn't tell this, but a man told me once he used to get sixpence for every cat he could bring. But anyway, sorry, you cat lovers. But he used to keep lions, but they said he pulled the teeth out of it. Oh, listen, don't be afraid of the old lion, Satan. Don't be afraid of Satan. Yes, he troubles us, but listen, look up. He's no match for the lion of Judah. Our Christ is almighty. Oh, I almost feel like digressing for a minute here. Over these past number of years, I've been asked to speak, especially in youth meetings, about the occult, demonology, and it's frightening. It's shocking the way Christians have been caught up in absolute nonsense. Nonsense. And they follow preachers who tell these great experiences of how the devil came into their office, and how they couldn't come down the stairs because there were so many demons sitting in the staircase. And there's even some free Presbyterian young people, I'm told, run after the meetings, run after them. Listen. It's a load of nonsense. Oh yes, Satan is real. But they almost preach as if there's a doubt whether Satan or Christ will win. Listen, Jesus Christ is stronger than Satan and sin. I'm not worried. And I remember preaching one night at a youth rally years ago when some people had gone to hear one of these preachers and they were concerned. Because he had told him, if you have this in the house, or that in the house, or you've done this, you'll have demons in you as a Christian, all this nonsense. And I remember that night, and maybe subconsciously I'd remembered it, but I wasn't conscious at the time. I said, listen, if you're saved and walking with the Lord, when you go to bed tonight, there could be 10,000 demons outside the window trying to get at you. Put your head in the pillow and go to sleep. Why are you worried as a Christian? as all authority has been given unto Christ in heaven and earth and unto the earth. And I went home and a few days later I was reading Spurgeon and Spurgeon said, maybe I'd read it, a preaching one day said that in a sermon. What are you worried about if there's 10,000 demons tonight here trying to get around you? And yet there's some people in our land, I don't know why I came up with that tonight. Maybe I know if anybody here knows. really have been affected what I'm talking about, but I was given a CD not so long ago, and it was shocking. I couldn't believe it. Even saying about Christian spirits, some of them might know as part of your spirit might go to heaven and some of us walking about the earth, rattling your dishes at night and all this, and he'll come and pray. Or you need to deliver. I wrote an article years ago on the vision, how to be delivered from deliverance ministries. Listen, Jesus Christ is stronger than Satan. Don't be afraid. Yes, don't meddle with the occult, that's wrong. But don't be afraid of these things. Christ is powerful. I better get back to the message. The lion-like man. Do you know in the book of Numbers, Balaam looked out at the people of God, and he said, Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion. In the book of Micah, the remnant of Jacob is described as a lion. You see, in revival, God's people become like a lion. They become like a lion. David, it says he had a face like a lion and a heart like a lion. You remember reading in the Bible of a man called Daniel who was faithful like a lion, even in the den of lions? You read of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who wouldn't bow? You know that they all came from the tribe of Judah, don't you? What about Peter? Peter ran away from a servant girl. And when the servant girl said, do you follow Jesus of Nazareth? He became like a little scared pussy cat and he ran. But you go over a few weeks, just over seven weeks later, in Acts 2, he's standing up with courage, with boldness, before many of the same men who had cried out away with Christ and crucify him. and yet he stands up boldly and he said you men put him to death they called for his death he accused him he says you did it now god planned it from eternity but you're guilty where did he get the boat he stood up bolt like a lion why well we talked about it last night the holy spirit was poured out Peter experienced the revival of Acts 2, and he became bold. He became bold. You know, the early church, Acts 4, verse 13, you know what the religious leaders took knowledge? Took knowledge of them that had been with Jesus. They saw the boldness. Now boldness is not arrogance. It's not ignorance. It's not brashness. It's not foolishness. It's been able to say the right thing in the right way at the right time. Having that wisdom and courage to speak when you ought to speak. Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah. What I'm saying tonight is revival is to the extent that you see Christ risen in glory, and you're able to have that confidence that he will fight for you, and that he comes on behalf of his church. and that he speaks through you and he will keep you. Revival, the person of Christ. You see, when God revives his church, God's people not only believe in the God of prophecy and the God of history, but they believe in the God of the now. You see, we all believe in the God of history, that he did great things in past days. We read about him in the Bible, the great miracles. And we believe in the God of prophecy. When he returns, he's going to do great things. But revivalism, we believe God will do great things now. Revival is when God gives us the desire to lift up Christ. When we fall in love with Him so much that we'll lift Him up, we'll lift Him up. You see, what sinners need is Christ. What saved sinners need is Christ. What the lonely need is Christ as the friend. Those in a storm need Him as the refuge. Those who are sorrowing need Him as the balm in their life. We must tell forth the message of Christ. Revival is when you fall in love again with the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you love him tonight? Revival, it's not some commodity as if God just gives us, oh here, have a bit of revival. Revival is a pouring out of the Spirit of God upon us. where on Sunday night we said we begin to see those sins that didn't bother us before. And we want to have done with them. Why? Because we don't want to grieve our Savior, the one who loved us and died for us. That's why we have done with those sins. Revival is when we begin to see the loveliness of Christ. And we desire to see Him lifted up. And it grieves us when we hear His name taken in vain. It grieves us when we see people trampling His law underfoot. And we're grieved because it's an insult to our Savior. That's why. Not simply because it's an attack upon His church and us, but it's an attack upon our Savior. And we have a longing that we want to see men and women held by sin set free. We want others to know the loveliness of Christ. What I'm saying is we can't know revival until we know more of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we love Him more and serve Him more. May God bless you in the Moran Church. Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Thanking God's servant again for bringing the message, fixing our attention upon Christ, person of reviving. O God, we thank Thee for Thy Word this evening. We pray, Lord, that we might love Thee more, more about Jesus, what I know, O God, we pray that thou would grant unto thy servants boldness to speak thy word. Give us such days. We pray, Lord, for times where the lion will arise and will roar. And he will speak the word and it shall be done. Enemies will be brought low at his footstool. O God, we can read about it And we've studied it. Lord, we pray to experience it. Recognize it's not just a commodity. It's an inward blessing, Lord, upon our souls that the Spirit of God has poured out. Gives us, Lord, days which we've never experienced before. Changes things. Lord, thou art glorified. Oh, we thank thee tonight that Christ is reigning on high. He is the king of kings already. Thank you, Lord, he's coming again as king. Lord, meanwhile, we pray that we might be more Christ-like. We might be more lion-like. Lord, thou would lead us out more and more after our Savior. Thank thee for thy servant. Bless him, we pray. Bless each one as we part for a little season. Lord, we pray that our appetite might increase for the Word for the rest of the week. Thou has come by. Thou would bless us more and more. Hear this, our prayer. Part us in Thy blessing. We ask these things in our Savior's precious name.