 Good morning everyone. Would someone be willing to open us in prayer, please? Jesus, we thank you for this to your Lord Father. We thank you for bringing us our Lord Father, giving us a new day, our Lord Father and Lord. As we are going to start our class, our Lord Father Jesus, we ask you, our Lord Father, to be present in our midst, our Lord Father. Holy Spirit of God, help us to learn every new thing that you have for us. Help us to receive, our Lord Father, give us your wisdom to understand, to remember and to practically apply it in our lives, our Lord Father, everything that you are giving us, our Lord Father, let it fall in the good ground, our Lord Father, and let it bear a good fruit for your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. So I changed that assignment date to the 14th. So you all can just submit it before the 14th. We'll continue from where we stopped yesterday. Okay, so we were looking at what will it take for us to see a revival in our present-day church in our midst. And so we looked at a few things yesterday. How we can prepare ourselves as a church and what are some ways that we've seen in the past revivals where people have either not been unprepared or just didn't do the things that were needed when revival happened to continue to see the fruit of revival in their midst. So today we look at what what does a manifestation of God's glory look like? And we're looking at the story in Exodus 33 where Moses asked God to reveal himself to him and God passes before Moses. So we'll just look at that passage first and then look at some things we can learn from that. Exodus 33, 1 to 23. Someone can read that for us. Actually, we can start from 11, I think onwards. Yeah, 11 to 23. Exodus chapter 33 was 11. Inside the tent of meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend. Afterward, Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua, son of Nun, would remind behind in the tent of meeting. One day Moses said to Lord, you have been telling me, take these people up to the promised land, but you haven't told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, I know you by name and I look favorably on you. If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways, so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor and remember that this nation is your very own people. The Lord replied, I'll personally go with you, Moses. I will give you rest. Everything will be fine for you. Then Moses said, if you don't personally go with us, don't take us, leave this place. How will anyone know that you look favorably on me and on your people? If you don't go with us, for your presence among us sets your people and set and me apart from all other people on the earth, the Lord replied to Moses, I will indeed do what you have asked, for I looked favorably on you and I know you by name. Moses responded, then show me your glorious presence. The Lord replied, I will make all my goodness pass before you and I will call out my name Yahweh before you, for I will show mercy to anyone I choose and I will choose compassion to anyone I choose, but you may not look directly at my face for no one may seize me and live. The Lord continued, look, stand near on this rock as my glorious presence passes by. I will hide you in the trees of this rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind, but my face will not be seen. Thank you. So we look at this passage, why we're looking at this passage is because we talked about in revivals what we're pursuing is God's presence and His glory in our midst. And this passage talks about both of those things, right? So Moses is praying and his first request is for God's favor to be upon them and God says, my presence will go with you. And my presence will be the evidence that you are my people. And so that is what we are pursuing when we are pursuing God, we are pursuing His presence in our midst. And then the second thing that Moses prays for is God's glory. He says, show me your glory. So what are some things that God reveals about himself in this process? The first thing he says is that Moses will see his goodness pass before him. And so with God's glory is his goodness that comes with it. In revival, when we are seeing God's glory in our midst, we see his goodness reveal in the ways in which he convicts our hearts. He turns us to repentance. If someone can just read Romans 2.4, look at what scripture says about God's goodness. Romans 2 verse 4, Or do you despise the riches of his goodness for barrens along suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Yes, so why do we see so much repentance in revivals? We see people turning to God in revivals is because they encounter the goodness of God. And so that is one thing that we can be expectant of in when we are praying for God's glory in our midst, be expectant for God's goodness to be revealed. The other is that God will reveal who he is. So God tells Moses, I will reveal myself, I will reveal my name Yahweh to you, which means God in his passing by is revealing his character. He's revealing who he is as a God who is personal, a God who is sovereign, a God who is all powerful. And so in revival, when we are waiting for God's glory to come in our midst, we're also waiting for a revelation of who he is. Because when we see God's glory, we see more of who he is. And then we see here, Jesus, God says, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. And so we see God's compassion and grace revealed in his glory. So when we talk about signs, wonders, when we talk about healings, miracles, when we talk about spiritual gifts being poured out when manifestation of God is seen in revival, it's to reveal his grace and his compassion towards people. So it's through all of those things that he's actually ministering to people's needs. All of those things are not just meant to be a supernatural display, something that is meant to wow people. That's not the goal. It's through those things that people are ministered to. People are healed, people are restored, people receive what God wants to do in their lives. So when we say grace and compassion, it's through that outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We also see that God then says, but I will turn my, like my back will go before you, you won't see my face. And so in revival, God does not reveal everything about himself. He reveals something about himself and he does that for our own benefit, because as he says, nobody can see me and live. So it is for the benefit of us and our own protection that God reveals himself up to a level that we can handle, to a level that we are able to receive revelation, receive an encounter with him. And the other part of it is, he says, I will hide you in the cleft of the rock, also to kind of shield Moses, but also to say that he will reveal some of himself, he will not reveal everything about himself. And so in revival, when we see something, it may not always be things we can understand fully or explain fully. There'll be things that are beyond what human words or human understanding can fully comprehend. So that is something as well when we look at this passage, with God's glory, all of these things will come into play. So we'll see his goodness. We'll have a revelation of who he is. We'll see his grace and compassion. We may, we'll just get a partial revelation. We won't be able to fully see God for who he is. And we may not fully comprehend everything that is revealed in that time of revival. So those a few things from this passage. So we look at, this is okay, yeah, this is not something we've covered already, understanding manifestations of his presence. So when we talk about manifestation, what we're saying is something that is unseen or something that is spiritual is becoming, something that is visible before our eyes. That's what a manifestation is. So something is taking on a form that we can actually see, we can actually recognize. And so that's what we are asking for. So for God's presence to be revealed in ways which our eyes can see, which is more tangible than just a feeling that we have, but it's something more than that. So what are some things that we see in God's presence? In his, his presence is like a fire that burns up, burns up chaff, right? So he talks about, God talks about burning up the chaff as something that is a removal of wickedness, removal of sin, removal of darkness from our midst. So when his presence comes, there is that process of sanctification that happens where darkness, sin, all of that is removed from our midst. And we are made more pure and more holy because he is in our midst. Another thing that his presence brings is light. So it brings revelation, exposure of things that are within our own hearts. And with that comes conviction and repentance. His presence is also like rain, that brings refreshing and brings fruitfulness in our midst. Like rain brings fruit. When his presence comes, there is fruit born in the, in the church by his people. His presence is like heavy, weighty, glory overwhelming us. So it's like a, like a physical weight that bears down on us. And with that is his goodness, his mercies that overwhelm us when his presence comes. His presence causes science wonders and miracles. His presence is like the cloud that descended on the tabernacle. It covers us, it leads us, it directs us into his purposes and plans for us. His presence is like a wind. So we see that when the Holy Spirit comes, right in the Book of Acts, his presence is like a wind. And with that, there is a calling into a higher spiritual realm, into deeper level of intimacy with God, into deeper revelation of who God is, into his divine purposes for us. And then also with his presence comes his voice. So through his voice, his direction, his instruction, his leading into the things that he wants for us. So when we're praying for his presence, this may come in different levels of intensity, right? But we always press in for more, because there's always more that we can experience. There's always going to be more of God that we have not yet seen, more of God that we have not yet experienced. And so there's always opportunity, even if we are in a revival at present, to be seeking for more of him and to be desiring to know him more. And the other aspect of it is, while there are varied levels of intensity in how God's presence comes, there's also varied reactions. So we see in the different revivals that there were different ways in which people responded to God's presence, right? There was some where there was laughter, there was some where people were falling down. There was some where there was repentance and lots of people coming to the Lord, coming to faith in the Lord. So the reaction will differ based on the people who are being touched. That God is touching each individual in a certain way, but in a revival, he's doing something that is common for the whole congregation or for the whole group of people that is being revealed. So if we see something that is unexpected, something that is beyond what we have experienced or we've heard about, it shouldn't be that we question or wonder whether this is really God, rather we should be praying for a greater understanding the way God wants to move in that present time. Because he may move unexpectedly and what happens may not be the typical thing that we've seen. And we don't want to dismiss it as being something that is just human or something that is not of God because our minds are limited and our understanding is limited. Okay, so we look at the impact of outpouring. These are things we've already seen throughout this book, but we'll just cover it here just as a reminder of a few things. A greater revelation of who God is, that is one of the impacts of revival. Anyone want to share something that we've seen in any of the revivals we've seen? What one of the revelations that you remember from any of the revivals we saw? So that is one of the impacts of a revival is to see or a greater revelation of who God is. Those online also you can feel free to either unmute and share or post in the chat. Yeah, any of the revivals we looked at. Any revival, so the revivalist or any revival we looked at? Yeah, so any example of some way in which God was revealed through one of those revivals? I think it's in what I read was in A. Allen or Smith Wigglesworth. I think it's A. Allen. In there talks about where this woman's son, so it's her small son, he has 21 diseases and 21 diseases that the boy had and then the woman was praying, she went for this conference. It was a three- or five-day conference and then she was praying that he would call her out. God would do something for her for her son. That's why she went there and then finally on the last day A. Allen, he called out and he said, there's someone here who, I don't know, he asked, he told someone to come and give the tides an offering to come in there and then she runs up when she gives and then after that he says to her, you have been waiting and then she brings her son and then in front of everyone as he prays, her son like everything gets back into place, like his eyes comes back his tongue that was rolled up or something it comes back normally everything like just starts forming right in front of you know in the in the pulpit that he was standing on and God just heals miraculously. So in that revival was that revival where healing was one of the main things that was happening? Okay, so we can say that God revealing himself as healer is one thing. I remember in William Seymour's play, they learned about baptism of the Holy Spirit but he literally got the baptism of the Holy Spirit not only him, a lot of other people also then I remember they are sending a lot of missionaries to many countries even though this is a very started the revival just started Azusa Street Revival but they sent a lot of missionaries around the world. Yeah and even that, yes what he said, William Seymour hadn't himself experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit but he was teaching about it and there were other people who actually received the baptism before he did and so sometimes there can be that knowledge but not the experience and so but having the knowledge is also important, right? You don't know that it's something you can receive until you actually have been exposed to it and so that's yeah I think the Azusa Street Revival is a revelation of the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit can move in our midst as a church. So a few other things, a heightened revelation of spiritual truth and realities, so like we talked about the same example, although they knew about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they didn't understand or they had not experienced it and so in the revival was when they actually could experience it and what they had been talking about became a reality in their midst. Then an increased passion for and zeal towards spiritual things, any examples you all can remember from any revivals of where there's an increased zeal for spiritual things increased passion for spiritual things, the Moravians, yeah. So they commit to praying 24 hours a day, right? And they took turns to pray and they did that for a hundred years and that bore like incredible amounts of fruit for God's kingdom. So those kinds of things are not small sacrifices, not small commitments, that is something that truly is a move of the Spirit and a response to the move of the Holy Spirit. An increased in gathering of the unsaved, we saw that in so many revivals where large large numbers of people were coming to salvation in Christ. Then an increase in supernatural manifestations, unusual and mighty wonders and miracles that obviously we've, which is that, yeah, yeah, especially after the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit and tongues being seen from there on there was more of more revelation, yeah. And then a powerful transformation of society, any example you all can think of, the Azusa revival, can you think of an example of how society was transformed through it? Meaning like outside of the church, so where people are turning away from sin, where yeah, yeah. Oh, okay, I don't remember that roughly presented on that so she can comment. People were coming in. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I don't know about that. I will read it up. Okay, yeah, so we see a lot of these revivals. I think the one that Nina was sharing about was the the Welsh revival, I think that's from where a lot of the crime reduced so much that police didn't have work to do. And so they actually were going for these church meetings and singing in the choir, doing those kinds of things. And then the last one is an equipping and sending out of ministers starting off new ministries and missions, church planting, spreading of revival fire. We see that in the last one, we were looking at yesterday, the Toronto revival, but we see that in many, many other revivals as well, where missionaries are sent out, where new ministries are started, where schools of ministry are started, so where they're equipping people to go out and do ministry when mission schools are started and missionaries are sent out. So to see that whatever is that revival, birds, things that will bless generations to come, it's not just meant for that generation because of the equipping and the sending out of people. So yeah, these are some of the things we have seen in revivals, things that have come out of revivals. So just two points to look at before we go to the next chapter. Do we look for fruit or phenomena? So phenomena is where we're just seeing the Holy Spirit, the spiritual gifts or we're seeing signs, wonders, all of those things are are powerful things and God uses those things, but they may vary based on the revival, right, based on what God wants to do, what God wants to reveal, how he wants to move in that particular place at that time. But the fruit is something that will last longer, something that will multiply, something that will continue to bear fruit even after. So while we look at those phenomena, those manifestations, we also are called to test them. So first Thessalonians 521 talks about that testing, what we are seeing when people are doing things in the Spirit when they're manifesting spiritual gifts, how do we test those things? But apart from that, we also want to see lives impacted, lives transformed. We want to see people actually being changed through whatever is happening in the revival. And we close with this the risk of revival. So why do you all think revival is risky? Like personally, if you're thinking about revival, what are some things that you think are things that good is? There's judgment, true? Yeah, there's a lot of judgment that may come from within the church and from outside the church, especially with the internet. And there's nothing that can stay hidden within a small community. Once it's out there, it's for the whole world to see and everyone has an opinion about it. And especially for people who are not at all aware of any spiritual things, they're judging it completely with worldly eyes. So if we as a leader are not able to kind of handle that situation in a way that is wise or direct what is happening in a way that is wise, then that can lead to the church being judged or the revival itself dying out. So we can look at two examples from that. One was right from the start. Let me see if I can find it. This was when healing was something that was just like something that God was just starting to reveal himself as a healer. I just remembered that person's name. Let's see. But he basically was used powerfully. Yeah, John Alexander Dowie. So he was one of the first to use this before the Azusa Street revival, all of that in the late 1800s. God used him powerfully to talk about healing and to display himself as a healer through his ministry. But John Dowie himself started to be led astray. He declared himself as Elijah the yeah. And so through that whole revival itself, that whole thing of healing, kind of a lot of people rejected it because of what they saw in his life and how he went astray. So that is one example of where the leader himself kind of was not able to guide the revival well. But on the other hand, like with William Seymour, what they were seeing was very genuine, but many people started to talk against it. Even Charles Parham, who was his principal, the head of that Bible school where he had learned about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and he himself went around to different places and started to talk against the revival. So that's where judgment came from within the church and it was not a right judgment because what God was doing was really a genuine, there was a genuine thing happening there. So yeah, it's a good example. What are some other risks you think? Yeah. So when God moves in a way that is unexpected, it can make us uncomfortable, can make the congregation uncomfortable. And again, as a leader, how do we navigate that with people? How do we help them navigate what they are feeling? So some people may fully embrace it and some people may reject it or misunderstand it. So to be able to guide people through that process and for ourselves as well, to be able to deal with the things that come up within ourselves where we are dealing with our own preconceptions of how God will move. Yeah. Anything else? Yeah, so questioning the leader you're saying, so okay, so the risk is that that there may be somebody, a leader who may misuse that revival to make, to gain financially or to gain something for themselves personally. So where if you have a leader who doesn't have the right motivations or a leadership team where some people are not on the same page as the rest of the leadership team, then they can misuse what God is doing for their own benefit. So some other things that are shared here in our notes is what if people get tired, burnt out or they just kind of lose interest in what is happening? Because it is, I mean, when we're looking at prayer meetings happening through the middle of the night, people being sent out as missionaries, all of those things you require people, right? And if people themselves give up or people lose interest, then what do you do, right? You just as the one leader, you can't continue all of that work by yourself. So that is one thing that we have to trust God to keep moving. I think so much of revival is that there is a big aspect of what we are doing, how we are pressing in, but that is a part of it. The rest of it is complete dependence on God. It has to be God who moves. It has to be God who continues that fire, who inspires people, who kind of oversees everything that is happening there. Another risk is what if you start to pray for revival with your church and you pray for a few years and nothing happens? Then what does that mean for you as a leader? How will that be looked at from your congregation's perspective? So that is a risk, right? When we are calling people to come alongside us to press in to seek revival and we are saying that God will answer those desires of our heart. God will pour himself out when we are waiting on him, but then it doesn't happen for a long time. Then what? That's a big risk that we are taking, right? But we take God as his word. So God says, if you seek me, you will find me when you seek me with all your heart. So we just keep seeking where people prayed and prayed and prayed and didn't see. So we looked at all examples of where revival actually happened, but a lot of the Moravians, but that was a response to the revival. So they experienced God move and then they started that hundred years of prayer. But there is a lot of that, right? So even as we are reading this book, the desire is for us to come to that place of seeking God. But until God comes and meets us against God in this revival, I think we are still in a time of waiting. So there are lots of people who are waiting on God to move, who are praying to see more. And I think God has actually put that hunger in the church because it's not only us who are talking about revival. It's in so many places where people are talking about pursuing God, about seeking more of God, about... I remember when I was in seminary, we were talking about like revealing prayers. So that is where you... Yeah, so you're praying for God in that kind of with that hunger and thirst and seeking God's presence in that way. And so there's definitely that that God is kind of putting in people's hearts, but when he will come and answer that question, the recent one. Yeah, I think there were lots of people who questioned it from the perspective of like spiritual, like seeing the Holy Spirit manifested in certain ways and things like that, which I didn't... I know there were some people talking about it, but I don't know how genuine those things were, where people were talking about... I think somebody being in some way oppressed and being released from that kind of oppression. So I'm not sure how many of those reports were true. But in terms of... And I don't know, I've not read current news about it, but I know people who went to the meetings and who were there during those times and really felt God's presence in a more powerful way than they've experienced it otherwise. So in terms of God's presence being there and people being impacted and people being led to stay in God's presence for hours, right? So that was going on for so many days at a stretch that people were going in to be in the chapel, to be in those meetings, worship continued for so many days. I don't know, I think it was a month long, but I don't know if it was like 24 hours for a month or what. So from that perspective, God's presence, yes, from in terms of fruit, I'm not sure because I haven't myself read too much about that. So for those online, if you want to come on campus, they are praying for a revival on campus. So yeah, so those are some of the risks, especially for if we are leaders in a ministry and we want to see revival happen in our churches, all of those things for us to be aware that these are the risks we are stepping into or to be aware of our own fears that may come up as we are pursuing revival and to be able to address those things from God's word. Look at God's word, the truth of God's word. What does God say and how can that answer the fears or the questions, the doubts that we have? So we have a few more minutes. We'll just start in chapter 8. We have a lot of scripture in this chapter. So we'll mostly just read from different passages. If someone can read Matthew 11, 12. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Yeah, so the previous chapter, we were talking about the fact that though revival is a sovereign move of God, we are co-workers with God. This chapter is talking about the posture of our hearts as we pursue the Bible. So it's also, it still is God moving sovereignly, but how can we pursue God? How can we hunger and thirst after God to allow God to move in our midst? So the first thing is pursuing him, Jeremiah 29, 13. If someone can read that. And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. And James 4, 8. That's not in the textbook. James 4, 8. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Clean it, cleanse your hands, you've seen us and purify your hearts. You double-minded. Yeah, so both these verses talk about that having that heart that pursues God. So if we are earnestly seeking God, he promises that we will find him, right? And then James 4, 8. If you draw near to me, I will draw near to you. So there is this aspect of we taking that step as going after God and then God answering the cry of our heart. So to find that place of always hungry and thirsting for God, for more of him, finding satisfaction in his presence, but always desiring more. Because like we talked about, there's always more of God. There's always going to be more that we can experience of him more than we can know him more than more that he wants to reveal himself to us. And if we come to him with that posture of desiring more of him, then he will answer. But if we don't have that desire, we don't have that hunger, then that first step of preparing our hearts is not there. And so for God to then force his presence on us, that won't happen, right? God always wants us to be receptive before he comes. So Isaiah 62, 1-7. Someone can read that. Isaiah 62, 1-7. From Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until her righteousness goes forth as righteousness, and her salvation as a lamb that burns. The Gentiles shall see your righteousness and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name. You shall also be crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and the royal datum in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be termed forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed desolate. But you shall be called Hepsiba and your land Belua. For the Lord delaying you and your land shall be married. For us a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. I have said watchmen on your walls of Jerusalem. They shall never hold their peace day or night. Who makes mention of the Lord, do not keep silent and give him no rest till he establishes and till he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Thank you. So Isaiah takes this posture of being someone who is interceding and praying for God's presence, God's glory to be revealed in Israel. And we know that the church is the fulfillment of that Old Testament Israel, the Jerusalem that's talked about in the Old Testament. Zion and Jerusalem represent the church in the New Testament. And so just as Isaiah has this passionate kind of heart for Israel to be that place that God is revealing his glory, that is the posture we should have as people who want to see revival in our midst, in our churches, to take that posture that Isaiah takes. And we look a little bit more at this next week. Some of the things that he prays about in this passage and go on from there. Thank you.