Well, good morning. I was thinking during the week that the danger, I think, of speaking to your own church family is twofold. Well, I think there's many dangers, but there's two main ones, I think. There's a danger that I could preach something that I think you'll like, and there's also a danger that I'll preach something that I think you need. I don't want to do either of those things. this morning. Maybe you will like it, maybe you will need it, I don't know, that's up to the Lord. But I believe that what the Lord has laid on my heart is relevant really for any Christian that listens, particularly in this day and age. But I think it's relevant for us as well here this morning. So I trust that the Lord will speak to you. If you turn to Romans chapter 13 please, that's where we'll be reading from this morning. I wonder, do you ever get tired of hearing sermons about revival? Now, that might seem like a dangerous thing to say, and it might seem like a very unholy thing to say, but I get tired hearing sermons on revival. And the reason why I get tired hearing sermons on revival is because I never see it happen. I never seem to see it. I think there's a human nature, there's an impatience in it, that the more I hear people talk about revival and God reviving this church, I never seem to see it. But I think that's because, certainly in my mind anyway, There's a thought process in my head whereby I think that, well, we'll never see revival because there'll never be a day when everybody's pulling their weight together. We think, well, revival needs this, this and this. And sure, you never get a whole church to do that at once together. You look at the stories of the revivals in Scotland and the revivals even here in Ulster and you have these people that meet together and they pray and there's lots and more people praying and suddenly God revives the church. But I think in that sort of thinking we miss the point that revival actually starts with you personally, singularly, me. That we need God to revive us and that collectively as God revives us then God revives his church because the church is made up of people, individuals who God has touched. And I think that's where our thinking sometimes is wrong, and that's certainly mine anyway. I can't speak for you. But revival has to start with us. And we're going to look this morning at how there is an urgency, particularly today, for God to revive us, for God to awaken us, for God to wake us up from a sleep that Paul writes about 2,000 years ago. And we're going to read from Romans chapter 13. in verse 11. And we're dipping in in the middle of the chapter, but Paul has changed what he's talking about here. So he's starting fresh in verse 11, saying, I'm not knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. For now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Let's pray together. And I really do mean together. Let's all pray that God would speak to us, that he would speak to me, that he would speak to you, and that maybe he would change something in our hearts this morning. Let's pray. Father, we need you this morning to speak to us. And Father, we need you this morning to speak to us so that you would be glorified in us. And that, Father, that you would be glorified. Oh, God, I just pray that this morning as we open your Word, that these words that I have prepared, God, that they wouldn't be just things that I've thrown together. Oh, but God, that you would speak. I pray that my voice wouldn't be the one that's heard this morning, God. I pray that as we go home, that it will be your voice that speaks on. God, we look around in the world that we live and we realize that we need God. Not just the world needs God, we need God. And we need more of you. We need more of Jesus, as I've been singing this morning. Lord, I pray that you would take this from being more than just a head knowledge to being something that changes our hearts, God. And I pray that these words that we're paying so many, many years ago, God, that you would just enlighten them with your spirit, God, and as we read them and as we study them together, God, that you would speak. God, I pray all these things in your wonderful name. Amen. Many of you will remember Keith Green. I don't remember Keith Green, but I remember some of his, well I suppose there were tapes, but I have them on CD, some of his songs that he wrote. And he wrote very different songs to many of the people that were about in the music scene at the same time as him. Keith Green was very influenced by Leonard Ravenhill. He was very influenced by the need to evangelize the lost. And he didn't believe in wasting words and songs. And in fact, he did many wonderful things, such as when he sold the tape, he also got a free tape with it, so that he could go and give it to a friend, so that they could hear the gospel as well. But one of the lines in one of his songs is very, very famous, and it says this, the world is sleeping in the dark, but the church can't fight because it's sleeping in the light. And he didn't make those words up himself. As we've just read in Romans, Paul had the exact same sentiments almost 2,000 years ago when he wrote to the Roman church. Paul suggested that drowsiness in a spiritual sense was a problem then. The church wasn't very old when he wrote this letter, probably, what, 50, 60 years old from the time that Christ had left. And he's saying in the church at Rome, which he probably hasn't visited yet, he feels that there's a danger that we're going to slip into a spiritual And other New Testament passages can confirm this. And when he wrote to other churches, he had the same sentiment. He had a fear that people would become so focused on things that were just ritual and tradition that they would forget the core of the whole message. That they would just go into a sort of autopilot in their Christian walk. And Paul's saying, no, that's not what's needed. Don't fall asleep. Wake up. And he takes four verses, as we've divided them up here at the end of this chapter, to talk to the church in Rome about this. To say, this is not a time for falling asleep spiritually. This is a time to wake up and, well, smell the coffee, as we sometimes say. Little, perhaps, did he know, as with many of the writers of the New Testament, just how far reaching this letter would be. And just how relevant this letter would be, not just 2,000 years ago, but today in 2014. that there would be a relevance in the words of Romans for us today. This is a simple statement perhaps, but one that needs said, one that you know, but I want you to think about it when I say it. Jesus is coming back. He's actually coming back. It's not just something that we talk about and sing about and delude ourselves into thinking is going to happen someday. The Lord Jesus is actually going to come back. He's going to meet. his church, wherever it's at, he's coming back to take us home. We need to think about that because with that in mind we change how we think and we change how we walk. And Paul says you need to wake out of your sleep because the day, because now your salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And this message this morning is for everyone. It's yes for those who have perhaps falling asleep spiritually, and we're going to talk about what that means. But it's also for those who are either in danger of it, or for those who are nowhere near falling asleep spiritually, but it's a warning to remind us to stay sharp in these days that lie ahead. I wonder, can you imagine in your head if your house were to catch fire late one night as you're reading by the fire, perhaps catches fire, you wouldn't waste a minute in getting up, rounding your family, and taking them out. You'd react immediately if it were to happen. Now the analogy, of course, is not perfect, but there is an all-consuming danger that's engulfing the world today. It's been engulfing the world since the dawn of time, really, but the force of the enemy and the force of the evil one is seemingly becoming greater every day. And it's not only invading the world, but it's invading the church. And there I say that the Holy Spirit is busy waking up, shaking people. I think it was prayed this morning in the prayer meeting. The Holy Spirit is beginning to wake Christians up, shaking them into the realization of what Satan is doing in the world today. That we need to focus our minds on Christ. Out of all of the things that we could be focusing our mind on, our minds have ever more than ever need to be focused on Jesus. So how can we know that what Paul's saying here in verse 11 is indeed true for today? Because, of course, he was writing this to the immediate context in Rome. Well, let me turn you to Matthew 24. You don't need to turn these. This is Jesus talking. And this is Jesus answering his disciples who have asked him specifically, how will we know when the end has come? Of course, they didn't live to see that. But I believe it's quite possible that some of us will. I don't know, of course, but it's possible. Because I want you to listen to what Jesus says here. He says, He answered them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in thy name, saying, I am Christ. And you shall hear of wars, rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass. For nations shall rise against nations, kingdoms shall rise against kingdoms. There shall be famines, pestilences, earthquakes. All these are the beginning of sorrow. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, they shall kill you, you shall be hated in my name and for all nations' sake. Does any of this sound not just biblical but actually like something you've watched on the news within the past few weeks or within the past few months? What Christ has said has always been in some way relevant to certain portions of history but I think we're at a time today where everything that Christ spoke of in Matthew 24 is very real for us today. Perhaps not in the Northern Ireland context specifically, but certainly in parts of the world, this is very real and this is very true. Let's think about the world today. Let's think about what's going on. Morality, what we believe is good and what is true and what is not true, it's totally subjective to the world. You see, if you don't believe in God and you believe in whatever you want, well nothing really is good or bad. You sort of make it up yourself. Because you've nothing to turn to, to say, well this is what is good and this is what is bad. And the morality of the world without God is just, well, it's basically whatever you want. It's a pick and mix of how you want to live your life. Look at the financial system, it's degenerative, it doesn't work. I'm not very into the financial system, but I know it all went wrong very recently. I know that things are always going wrong. People are running out of money. Businesses are going first. Anybody that looks to the future says, well, where is this all going? What's happening with currencies? What's happening with money? I don't understand it all, but there seems to be a fair amount of stress. War, strife is on the rise. Here's an interesting one that you may not have thought about. There are more slaves in the world today than at any point in human history. People that are trafficked, people that are bought, people that are purchased to be used as a workforce in many different ways than ever before in human history. Diseases that threaten humanity, we've seen that within the past few weeks. And there's a prevailing sense of disillusionment, particularly among young people. They just don't know where to turn. They don't know whether answers are to be found. They look to the future and they say, well, what's the point? Where is it all going? Where's the point in my life? There's no direction, there's no focus. That's the reality of a world that doesn't know it's God. That's the reality of a world that doesn't understand that there actually is one point to life, and that's to live for the one who created us. Is it any wonder that so many awful things, such as suicide, are on the rise today? And this all might sound very negative, but I'm just painting a picture of what sits before us, of what we have to work with as the Christian church, of what we have to go into with our message of salvation. And once we understand that that's the context that it's behind, we realize that actually we need to sharpen ourselves. We need to be ready to meet this challenge that is before us. Paul says that time is short. He says we're running out of time. He says that, listen, you've got to wake up by the sleep, not just for the sake of waking up by the sleep. Not just because it's a nice thing, not just because it's something cool to do. You've got to wake up out of sleep because the end is coming. Because the time is going to come when actually you're not going to be able to do any more work. Because time is going to be drawn to a close. And we've got a limited time to do what God has given us. Now, of course, skeptics will say, well, that's funny that you should say that because the day has been at hand for 2,000 years. The men have been running about with their billboards saying the coming of the Lord draws nigh for hundreds of years. So I'm not going to take too much of it out of what you say. But you see, I don't really find an issue with someone saying that because the day has been at hand for 2,000 years. And I have no shame in admitting that because as soon as Jesus died, was resurrected and went back to heaven, the end began. And yes, we're sitting 2,000 years later, but think of it this way, we're 2,000 years closer to Christ coming back. 2,000 years are gone. We can't get them back. We can't do it again. We start from today, we move forward. What does God want us to do? But you see, Christ's more specific predictions that we looked at in Matthew 24 perhaps say this, well, actually, Jesus is coming back very, very soon. I'm not going to set dates, I don't think that's a wise thing to do. But who knows when he's going to come back. It'll be a wonderful thing, but we've got to be ready for it. There's things that God wants us to do. There are things that Christ wants us to do in these last days of time. Have you ever noticed that there's something within us, and I'm speaking to Christians here, there is something within us which takes our attention when we're listening to Bible prophecy. Have you ever noticed that? Christians love Bible prophecy readings. We love meetings that talk about the end. We love meetings that talk about... I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but there's something that stirs us when we talk about Jesus coming back. Or when you go out for dinner to somebody's house and late in the evening the conversation turns to maybe things about Christ coming back and things that are going to happen at the end of the world and suddenly everybody's interested in it. In fact, even the world is interested in these things. People love all these scare stories of, you know, the world's going to explode and time's running out and even in the millennium that was going to be the end. And all of these things, people are obsessed with the end of things. But I would say for Christians that that thing that takes our attention is actually Christ in us. Because what is Christ in us? The hope of glory. There's something in us that we love to hear the end being spoken of. Because it's going to be our home. It's going to be the place where we spend eternity with Christ. Of course, we love to hear about what's going to happen at the end. But you see, we can't confine that. to certain times of our day or times of our year, we need to live with a constant consciousness that Christ is coming back. Some of the greatest evangelists that ever lived had that in them. They constantly were thinking about the end, and not in a gloomy way, in a wonderful way, in a way that they're going to be with Christ, but they were also concerned with the millions of people that were around them that were not going to the same place should they die. And that fired them up, that gave them a passion to reach others for Christ. You see, Christ in us gives us a hope of glory, but we need to be constantly reminded that Jesus is coming back. That that has to do something to us, that that has to change how we think about the world around us, and it has to change about how we are as a church body. We have a focus, we have an aim. Our focus is not to run meetings every week. Our point is not to organize trips and outings and as good as all those things are, our focus is Jesus and the fact that he is coming back and the fact that there are many people around us who are not going to be with him. Should that happen? 2 Peter 3 tells us this, looking for and hastening on to the coming of the day of the Lord. Wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." Listen again, looking for and hastening on to the coming of the day of the Lord. It's a good thing to think on those things. It's a good thing to think on the fact that Jesus is going to come back. That he's coming back to take his church, that he's going to reign. That he's coming back and the whole world will see that he truly is who he said he was. But you see, the question that we could then ask is, well, why bother? Why bother waking up to all of this? It's going to happen anyway. Jesus is coming back. I'm saved. I think that's pretty good. I'm sorted. Why would I want to push myself into something that could potentially be life-threatening or dangerous? Why would I want to fire myself up for the sake of the gospel? Why would I want to embarrass myself, maybe, in front of others about this man, Jesus Christ? He's coming back. I'm saved. It's all fine. It's all great. There's three reasons. that I want to share with you here very quickly about why it's important. In no particular order. Number one, for the sake of other people. For the sake of other people that are lost and are going through an eternity without Christ. Is it any wonder that people without Christ are in total turmoil? Is it any wonder that the world is in total mess? and doesn't understand where it's all going, and yet Christians do, or at least should be able to stand firm and say, it's okay. I knew this was going to happen. It's fine. I have peace about it. God's in control. I believe that he will walk me through this. You see, when other people see the hope that's in us, it causes them to ask, what is the hope that's in you? Which gives you an opportunity to tell them what the hope that's in you is. But they're not going to ask you that. if it doesn't show through. And Paul talks about this slightly later on in the verses. That as people look at us, they see not Andrew or anyone else, they see Jesus Christ. And as they see Jesus Christ, they will have cause to ask, well, tell me about Jesus Christ. Tell me about what he has done. Some of the greatest witnesses in the world were not people that stood at the front. They were people that were faithful to Christ in normal day jobs. People watched them day after day after day and saw something different in them. And they said, here, why are you different? We need to be burning with the fire of the gospel, with a passion for Christ in our bellies, because other people are watching. And other people want to see if all this stuff that we talk about is actually true. To see if we actually believe it, or do we just do this for the sake of doing it? Do we just do it to entertain ourselves on a Sunday morning? Do we just do it because we get paid somehow for it? Do we just do it because our parents have always done it? Or do we do it because we love Christ, and because He's actually made a change in us? That's the first thing. The second thing is this, for the sake of yourself, that's why we need to wake up. I've experienced this in my own life, and I'm sure you have too. There's a deathliness, there's a coldness when we don't walk in the Spirit of God. It's an awful thing to not be spending time with Christ. It's an awful thing to find yourself in a place where you haven't read the Word, you haven't been praying, you haven't been communing with Him, you haven't been having fellowship with Him. It's terrible. Words really don't describe what it's like to have found life's meaning. And to then have a relationship with Him that isn't even anything compared to what we have with even our next door neighbour. You see, when we are living and walking with Christ, He is able to meet our need. That's not why we do it, of course. But you see, we have to admit that we need God. And if we don't admit it, you've got to realise it. That we need God in everything that we do every day. Perhaps it's new schools, new jobs. Perhaps it's your old school, your old job. I don't know. But we need God. And here's the thing, that when we have God, He's able to meet the needs that we have. We sometimes forget that. That God is able. And Paul is not just writing this for the good of our health. He's writing it because he realizes that when we awake out of our sleep, when we put on this armor of light, when we walk with Christ, that's a good thing. Not just for other people, but also for ourselves. It's the way that Christ prescribed us to live. Surely if the Son of God prescribed the way to live, it would be a good thing to live like that. And the third thing is for the sake of Christ himself, because ultimately it's all about him. Ultimately, it's all about his glory. Ultimately, it's all about what he has done for us on the cross. And that's why we need to wake out of our sleep. Paul is concerned here that the world is walking in one way and the church is walking exactly the same. And people aren't seeing the difference. People aren't seeing what it actually means to follow Christ and how it actually can change your life. And for the sake of Christ, you see, I think the prosperity gospel has made us afraid to talk about the church in certain terms. We're afraid to be branded as, oh, that's prosperity teaching. Do we not realize that Jesus said that the gates of hell wouldn't prevail against his church? That he wants his church to be strong and a mighty witness on the earth. He wants his church to be blessed. He wants his church to be walking in the fullness of joy. We're afraid to say these things sometimes, but it's true. That's what Christ wants. Yes, there are hard times. Yes, there are difficulties. But he's saying, I'm here. I'm here to meet your need. But if we're spiritually drowsy, those things aren't going to be as real. They aren't going to be as apparent to us. Paul goes on and he talks in verse 13 that there's a different walk that is walked by those who are awake. You see, Paul often, in many of his letters, he loves lists and he loves comparing things. And here's what he often compares. He often compares those who are saved. and the way they walk and the way they live and the way God deals with them. And then he compares it with those who are not saved, those who are not walking with Christ and how their life lives and how their life goes. And he compares it to them and he says, look, this is far better. This might be nice temporarily, but ultimately it ends in destruction. But this is the way that you want to walk. You want to walk with Christ. But that's not what Paul is doing here. Paul is writing to the church at Rome. He's writing to those that are saved. And he's saying, listen, Here's one way you can live your Christian life, but here's a better way that you can live your Christian life. Here's a way that you can walk with closeness with Christ, a way that will bless you, a way that will guide you and help you and comfort you. Even when darkness is surrounding, as Paul says, the night is far spent, the day is at hand. You see, how do I know this? Well, because if you look at verse 13, it says, let us walk honestly. That's the way he says it's a good way to walk. Here's the way you shouldn't walk. Not in writhing and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy. Now you might say, Andrew, those are the sins of the unbelievers. Not necessarily. Our hearts are susceptible to sin. We have to realize that. And in fact, I was reading through Hebrews 11. And if you go home and if you read through Hebrews 11, you will find prime examples of people who were guilty of every single sin that's on that list. People who fell into sin, but people who were people of great faith. People that were honored in Hebrews 11 as people who walked with God. And it's not a good way to live. We don't want to live in these things. You see, Satan wants us to believe that as we often say the little phrase you can play with fire and not get burned and it is true to a certain extent you can flick your finger through a flame and not get burned but the instant you get distracted things go wrong. There used to be a I don't know if you remember when the green bins first came out. I don't know, in Lurgan you might have all sorts of colours of bins. We still have two bins. You have a blue bin and when the green bins came out this was a great novelty but nobody knew how to use it. So they put a big sticker on the side of it that showed you all the things you could put in it but there's a big logo on the bottom of it. I can't remember what it looked like but I remember what it said. It said if you're in doubt just leave it out. As a general rule, and we can't apply it in all things, but if you're in doubt, if you're thinking to yourself, in fact, Paul talks about this in the very next chapter of Romans, when he gets to the end of the chapter. If you're not sure, don't do it. Be careful about how you walk, be careful about how you live, be careful about how you speak to other people. It's not just about other Christians, it's with those that are listening. There are ears everywhere, particularly if you are a Christian. People want to see if what you're living is true. People want to see if what we are living really affects our lives, if it really changes us. And believe it or not, it actually does. But we have to show them that. We have to live fully alert to what Christ is doing in our lives. That's what Paul wants us to realize. Do you walk differently? Do I walk differently? This is a question I've had to ask myself this week. We are meant to walk different to the world. Being a Christian doesn't make you immune from walking similarly to the world. You're going in a different direction ultimately, but you can do many things that make you like the world. We have to be very, very careful that we are walking according to God's way. We're certainly new creatures, but we're new creatures that live within the context of this world, these bodies. We can sin. We can do things that displease God, and the unfortunate thing is that other people can see that. I believe that in these last days, and I believe that they are, even though it's said often, but I genuinely believe that this is the night that's far spent. I think the Spirit of God is waking people up. He's speaking to them about the necessity to get serious with God. He's waking people up to what's going on around him. Dennis and I were talking about the south of Ireland. I've seen this first hand. God is speaking to people, people who have been in other religions, but he's also speaking to people that have been Christians for years. And he's waking them up. He's shaking them into the realization that time is short. There is work to be done. Yes, you've gone to church every Sunday. Yes, you've read and you've prayed and it's been good and you've done everything you're meant to do. But it's time you get serious about what God's doing. Is it not worth it for the sake of the last few years to throw off the nonsense? When we look back in eternity at how short this little time on earth was, we'd realize, wow. If we were able to look back and see all the sinfulness and feel it and experience it, we'd go, why did I bother? God is setting a fire in the bellies of those for His glory. And He wants people to be changed, and He wants people to be moved, and He wants people to walk forward in a way that to others will be undeniable. that God is in their lives. Read the book of Acts. It's the Acts of the Holy Spirit. It's the Acts of the Apostles. It's the Acts of all the people that were Christians. It was undeniable what God had done in their lives. Nothing could stop Him. And that same Holy Spirit that was imparted to them is imparted to us. And yet, how often do we read the writings of Paul and we think, Lord, I don't get that. That passion that just won't be denied, thrown in prison, we'll sing a hymn. Beaten, we'll sing a hymn. Get thrown into prison for life, get beheaded, whatever. I'll preach the gospel to them before it happens. I would like to see what way I would react in many of those situations. I trust that God would give me the grace to glorify His name the way the apostles did, but I just don't know. You need to wake up, and God is waking people up. And you know, thankfully we shouldn't be discouraged because God can take wasted years in this respect. People who have lived perhaps nominal Christian lives, and I know there's a great debate about whether that's possible, I believe that it is. People who have lived, they're safe, they're going to heaven, but they've just lived ticking over the religious machinery, so it were. That's okay, God can take that, He can take the wasted years and He can use you. If we'll get on our knees and we'll say, God, would you use me? Would you fire me up? Would you fill me with your spirit? We're told that we're to be continually filled with the spirit. When was the last time we prayed for that? When was the last time we asked God to fill us and empower us to be used? When we go out to work, when we're speaking to people, we need them. We can't do it ourselves. If we try, we're fooling ourselves. But here's the final thing that I want to close with, and this is perhaps the most important as we read what Paul has said to us, and ultimately what God has said to us, that you can't wick yourself. We can't do it. What I have said this morning could very easily be taken as a works thing, that we've got to do something. And in one sense we do, but it's nothing that we can actually do to change us. You see, as the Holy Spirit urges us to be awakened, he ultimately, as he always does, brings the glory back to Christ. You know as well as I that you can't wake yourself. Maybe some people think they can, but I don't think you can wake yourself. You know it yourself, you're fully wide awake, you're sitting down maybe in a comfortable chair, lying on your bed, I don't know, and you go from being fully awake and you slip into sort of drowsiness, and you know you're going to fall asleep, but you don't really do anything about it because it's quite nice, and all of a sudden you're gone, you're asleep. And neither, you only wake up when the sleep is on its course or when somebody comes into the room making a whole pile of noise. But you can't actually in your dream think to yourself, oh better wake up now, you're fully awake. It has to happen externally. It has to be Christ that wakes us up. You see, you can try and wake yourself up with lots of other things. You can try and move yourself emotionally or you can try and be stirred up or you can chase around the country to revival meetings or you can watch TV shows that have revivals on them. But ultimately, if Christ hasn't actually touched you, if the Holy Spirit hasn't actually done a work in your life, it's just an illusion of being woken up. You see, our emotions, and I don't wipe out emotions, I think emotionalism is dangerous, but emotions are very important in what we do as Christians. But it has to come from Christ. It has to come from Him. So how do we wake up? So the only way that we can awake out of sleep, put on the armor of light, walk honestly, is to do what's prescribed in verse 14. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That might sound like a strange sort of thing to say, put on Jesus. How do you put on Jesus? He's living in me. Yes, Christ is living in us, but how often does He actually live on the outside? You see, we often give these stories about people who are Christians on the outside, but they're not on the inside. What about people who are Christians on the inside, but they're not on the outside? I think that's actually a bigger problem. That we have Christ in us and we talk with excitement in certain times about Jesus and what He has done, but at other times it's just a story that we tell. But yet when you read of men and women who have been touched of God, you couldn't get them to stop talking. about what God had done in their lives. Anything else in a point of conversation was irrelevant. Why would you need to talk about that when we can talk about Christ and what he has done? Our salvation must have more than an internal effect. It has to radiate out that other people might see what God has done. That even other Christians can be encouraged and inspired. I said at the start that if you want revival, and I think that's a good thing, you want God to move again. It has to start with you and me. And it'll rub off on other people, and other people, and other people. And suddenly you'll find that actually the whole church has been moved, but it's because God has been working with individuals. What should our response be? What should we pray? What should we ask God as we go home, as we get on our knees tonight or tomorrow morning? How do we pray for this? How do we pray that God would move us to a place that's closer with Him? Father, give me more of Jesus. Give me more of Your Holy Spirit. Give me more of You, God. Ask Him to fill you. Ask Him, surrender yourself afresh to Him. I'm not asking you to be saved again. That's not what we're talking about. We're asking you to surrender yourself to Christ and say, God, You know something, just use me in whatever You want. Just take me wherever you want me to go. Tell me what to say and I'll say it. And give me the power to do it. Don't let me do it on myself. You see, we don't need more meetings. We don't need more strategies. We don't need more preachers, services, systematic theologies, books. And all of these things have their place. But only when Christ is first. And they're perfectly ordered when we put him at the top. Let's pray. Father, help us to straighten our priorities out. It's getting very dark outside, Lord. There's a world that's lost and there's a church in the world that quite often doesn't seem to care. Father, move our hearts for those that are lost. Give us a compassion like you had, that when you saw lost people, you wanted to minister to them. Give us a passion, Lord, like Paul and the apostles had, that when we see people, we just want to talk to them about Christ. We just want to tell them what you have done in our lives. Oh, God, make us aware. of the wonderful change that you have done in the lives of those of us that are saved. Help us realize that what happened at the cross, and as you came back to life, and what you paid and what you defeated, Lord, it's incredible. Father, I pray that you would just fill us, and passion us, God. Not in some sort of airy, fairy way, but in a way that's tangible. That we can sense it. That God has moved and changed our hearts. And that, Father, there would be a change in our lives and in the atmosphere of our churches. That we set aside the nonsense. That we set aside the things that distract us, Lord. And that we would just see Jesus. Father, help us to focus on you. Help us, God, in our what are so often fabled times of prayer and meditation on Scripture. God, I pray that as we meet with you, that you would meet with us and that we would realize the power of a life that's filled with Christ. Amen.