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We live in enemy territory. Materialism masked as technology and prosperity controls society. Every month there seems to be some new crisis that threatens to destroy the world as we know it. The world seems to moving rapidly towards a direction that some would call progress but the Bible calls dangerous. Throughout the world there are themes that vary in their visibility but not in their reality. All throughout the world, man is under the control of the Devil and his demons.

I. First, this world is under the control of the Devil.

The culture and society of India is very different from that of the United States. The people of India dress differently, drive differently, and eat differently. However, despite being on the other side of the world, the people of India are essentially the same. They are unsatisfied. They are without peace. They are without hope. The Indian people push themselves to get an education and work hard. They do this so that they can rise to a standard of living which they believe will give them satisfaction, and peace, and hope. Indians fantasize about the day that their visa will be approved and they can escape their world for a better one. They are trying to escape. They are unsatisfied. They are without peace and hope, just as they are in the United States and all throughout the world. The world is under the control of the Devil. And real Christianity is at war.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rules, against the powers, against the world forces of wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12 NASB).

All over the world man is under the influence of the demonic and the Devil. In India, the demonic grips the people through Hinduism and idol worship. Idols are on every street corner. People are trapped in a religion that dooms them to misery. The demons have caught the people of India for generation after generation, preventing them from finding any hope of salvation of any kind. They are doomed and destined to live and die as a punishment for what they had done before. No attempt must be made to help the poor and the hungry, for the poor and the hungry are atoning for their sins. Man is caught in despair by the Devil.

In places like India, the influence of the demonic is clear. However, in places like the United States, the control of the demonic is more insidious, because it is hidden. Cities are entranced by materialism. Idols of prosperity and wealth disguised as advertisements hang from every building. People waste their entire lives chasing the false god of materialism. They cannot be talked out of it. They cannot be convinced that they are wasting their lives for the things of this world. They are trapped. They are imprisoned. They are under the control of the Devil.

It has been noted that the greatest trick of the Devil, is to deceive people into believing that he is not working, and that he is not real. In India, it is clear that the demons and the Devil are active and are influencing the hearts and minds of the people. But in the United States, the Devil is playing his greatest trick. He has convinced the world that the United States is clean and safe. The Devil fools people into believing the demons are not real, and so the people do not pray. The Devil fools people into believing their place in the world is clean and safe, and so they do not prepare for spiritual warfare. But God tells us that the Devil is real. God tells us that the Devil is at war with us. God tells us that we must prepare for a fight.

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”
        (Ephesians 6:11).

In our church in Los Angeles, we are in the epicenter of the Devil’s power. We are surrounded by the hordes of the demonic. The demons enslave people of this city not with overt displays of power, but with the blindness of unbelief. Therefore in our church in Los Angeles, we cannot allow ourselves to feel that we are in a normal and clean place. We are on the front lines of the battlefield with the enemy. The Bible says,

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8).

In Los Angeles, in the seat of the Devil’s kingdom, the Devil is playing his greatest trick of all – the deception of unbelief. We are at war. We are in a spiritual conflict. The Devil knows that if our church experiences revival, it will come at a great cost to the cause of the Devil. Therefore he attacks us with a special power. Therefore the Devil does everything he can to keep us in a state of unbelief. On the frontlines of this great spiritual battlefield, we must know that we are not being shelled as they are in India with the bombs and artillery of idolatry and demonism. But rather we are attacked with the more sinister and deadly weapon of the Devil. We are attacked with the invisible poison gas of unbelief. The Bible says,

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (II Corinthians 2:11).

We cannot be ignorant of the Devil’s devices. The Devil tries to fool you into believing that a church is supposed to be dead. The Devil tries to fool you into believing that the Christian life is supposed to be miserable and horrible. The Devil does not want our church to experience revival. The Devil will do everything in his power to keep our church from experiencing revival. And so the Devil uses his most reliable and powerful trick. The Devil wants us to believe that we cannot have revival. But we do not belong to the Devil. We are not enslaved in the Devil’s army. Through the blood of Jesus, we are in the army of God. The Bible says,

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

We are called to submit ourselves to God. We are not called to give up to the Devil and his deception and allow ourselves to believe that we cannot have revival. We are called to fight. We are called to resist the devil, in spiritual combat. The Bible says,

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds” (II Corinthians 10:4).

Therefore let us believe, and let us pray, and confess, and forgive, and invite the spirit of God into our church.

“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6).

II. Second, God can send revival now.

A doctor living in a village in India enjoyed the respect and admiration of his neighbors. He lived decently and cleanly. He did not find it difficult to call himself a Christian. His father was one of the first to accept Christ and had been rejected because of it. He loved and admired his father. He professed Christianity, the religion of his father, as his religion. He preferred Christianity to Hinduism, as it was cleaner, and more decent. Soon he became an important man in the church.

He was clean, upstanding, and reliable. But he was lost. The doctor heard me preach one of the best sermons Dr. Hymers has written, “Jesus Christ Himself.” You have heard me preach the same sermon. Some of you may have heard Dr. Hymers himself preach that classical sermon. This doctor also listened to the sermon. And as listened, he began to realize that he had accepted the Christian religion, but rejected Jesus. As he heard the message preached, he began to realize that his clean life was actually sinful. He went home that night feeling troubled.

The next morning he asked if my father and I could be invited to his home. He brought us into his bedroom and offered us tea. He told my father through a translator, that he had never been saved. He said that he knew he had been sinful. He said that he wanted to trust Jesus. My father led him to Christ. With a convicted heart, he trusted Jesus Christ Himself. He trusted the same Jesus who saved my father, who saved me, and who can save you.

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever”
        (Hebrews 13:8).

A man could preach and counsel a doctor in the United States for a hundred years and never touch his heart the way that doctor in India was touched. Once a person believes he is already a Christian, it is almost impossible to get them to see that they are lost. And yet, this man, who believed he had been a Christian for most of his life, in one sermon realized that he needed salvation in Christ. What was different about that man? That man was touched by the power of God. That man was touched by the Holy Spirit. That doctor in India trusted Jesus, and went away rejoicing. The pastor rejoiced. His friends rejoiced. The church would rejoice in his testimony for the rest of his life. The angels rejoiced in Heaven. That man would rejoice with Christ for all eternity. God touched at least twenty other people there in that village as well. God was moving in His power on those lives, and that church rejoiced in the power of God.

“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6).

Can God send revival in Los Angeles, the seat of the Devil’s Kingdom? God can send us revival now. In the past, our church did not experience revival, because the majority of the members were lost, and they did not really want God in their lives. In the past, our church did not experience revival, because we were unwilling to pay the price of revival, which is repentance and confession of sin. But that was in the past. God can send us revival now. John R. Rice believed in revival for today. Dr. Hymers believes in revival for today. You must believe in revival for today. God has not changed. God says, “I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). The same God who could move that doctor in India, can move in our church in Los Angeles. The same God who revived churches in the First Great Awakening can move in our time today.

“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6).

God can send us revival now. God has come down throughout history when His people returned to Him. God wants to send us revival. God does not want us to languish in despair. God does not want us to stay like we are. God wants us to bless us with revival so that we can rejoice in Him. Therefore, we must confess our sins.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (I John 1:9).

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed” (James 5:16).

We must admit our faults. We must confess to each other. We must pray for each other. Then we will truly love each other! The Bible says,

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).

It is the Devil that convinces us that we should hold back. The Devil wants us to live our life half asleep in a dead church. The Devil does not want us to live our Christian life with passion. The Devil wants us to trudge through our lives like zombies. But God wants to revive us so we can rejoice in Him. God does not want our church to be characterized by great effort and only small success. God does not want us to be discouraged. God wants to use our church to be a lighthouse and a beacon to the world. God wants us to be a safe haven to souls from the world. God wants our church to be His house, where God can come, and be present with His people. But God cannot be present with His people where there is hypocrisy and rejection. God will not be present with people that do not truly love each other. God will not be present with a people that is sick with jealousy and bad feelings. God will not be present in a place of bitterness and disagreements. God does not want to be present with people that are selfish. God does not want to be present with people that care mostly about themselves. God wants to be with a revived, accepting, and loving people. That is why God calls us to,

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray for another, that ye may be healed” (James 5:16).

God can send us revival now. Tonight, Dr. Hymers is going to give you another opportunity to confess your sins so we can rejoice in Him. I pray that you will confess your sins so He can heal you and give you joy!

“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6).

Pray that God will open our hearts to confess our sins to each other that we may be healed! Pray that God will send revival to our church so we can rejoice in Him! Dr. Hymers, please come and close this service.

I am not going to ask you to confess your sins to each other this morning. But tonight I am going to speak on “Confession Before Rejoicing in Revival.” Then I will ask you to confess your faults one to another and pray for one another, that you may be healed and the joy of God come down to your hearts. Please come back tonight at 6:15 for this very important service. Please stand and sing hymn number 7, “Teach Me to Pray.” One more word before we sing. I want John Cagan, Aaron Yancy, Jack Ngann, Mrs. Lee and Miss Nguyen to come to my office at 4:00 PM to pray for tonight’s service. The baptism class is canceled today. Anyone who wants to pray for tonight can come to my outer office to pray for confessions tonight. Do not pray for conversions. Pray only for sincere confessions. And everyone should come to church in an attitude of prayer. There will be no coffee or refreshments before the service. Come right into this auditorium and pray. No loud talking tonight, please. Now sing “Teach Me to Pray.” Number 7 on your song sheet.

(END OF SERMON)
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Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Dr. C. L Cagan: Isaiah 64:1-4.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“More Love to Thee” (by Elizabeth P. Prentiss, 1818-1878).