Welcome, friends, to the Line of Fire broadcast. We have been praying for fresh fire in your own life as we're here, friends, five days a week to equip you, to empower you. We're in the battle.
We are all in the Line of Fire, like it or not. The good news is we have everything we need in Jesus. The good news is by the Spirit and the Word, we can't overcome. The good news is we don't just have to hold on and hope and hope that we can make it till Jesus comes. No, we can see the Kingdom of God advanced. We can see America shaking.
I truly believe that we are poised to see one of the greatest harvests, if not the greatest harvest of souls in American history. And I tell you firsthand, churches all over America are seeing God moving with hundreds, even thousands of people getting baptized. Something is up.
God is at work. So wherever you are, say, Lord, don't pass me by. How about here? How about where we live? How about our church? How about our family? How about me? Without getting our equipping frontline newsletter, I want to encourage you to sign up now.
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It's absolutely free. And remember, we are listener-sponsored. So thank you for standing with us and helping us make a difference. This month is Revival, as we've been focusing on these seasons of unusual divine visitation. Chapter 3 in the book is about the rediscovery of the Book of the Law.
Now, let me explain what this is about and why it's relevant for us. I'm not talking about us going back to the Torah as being under the Sinai Covenant. I'm not saying the key to Revival today is Gentile Christians observing the dietary laws or celebrating the Sabbath on the seventh day. If those are your thoughts, why don't you go back to the Bible? If those are your own convictions, have those before the Lord.
That's fine. But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the importance of getting back to the Word and how this is often something that takes place in seasons of Revival. We get back to the Word of God.
There is an awakening of the Word in our own hearts and in our own lives. So I take you back to the story of King Josiah. We read about him in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. He was one of the godliest kings in Judah's history. The last godly king, before three of his sons and one grandson all served as kings after him, all fell short and the nation went into exile. And from then until now, there has not been an earthly king over Israel from the line of David. Of course, the prophecies of the son of David are fulfilled through Jesus, the Messiah. But that exile, the destruction of the temple with implications for centuries, these were momentous days.
There was a window open where there was a possibility of change. And it came through King Josiah. So he becomes king because his father is assassinated.
His grandfather, Manasseh, the most wicked king in Judah's history, he reigned for 55 years. But the Scriptures say that he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood up to the bridles of horses. It's a hyperbolic picture to see how much bloodshed was there. But it's like rivers of blood. It's like rivers of innocent blood shed in the city, burning babies to false gods.
I mean, just horrific sin, wickedness, idolatry. And then he repents and God spares his life. But judgment still has to come because of what he's done. His son, Ammon, is then assassinated so now his grandson, Josiah, becomes king at the age of eight. Eight years old. So at the age of 16, after he's king for eight years, he begins seeking the Lord. And then it's over a period of time he begins to institute various acts of reformation in the country.
Now here's what's interesting. You would assume this whole time he has the Torah. You would assume this whole time he has the Book of the Law and he's familiar with it.
And he has counselors who are familiar with it. And they're talking about it. And because of that, they are now going around purging the idolatry out of the country.
Because they're doing it. They're cleansing the Temple. Because in the Temple, in Jerusalem, there were women weaving to the goddess, Asherah. Homosexual prostitutes in the Temple, in Jerusalem. There were idols to other gods, deities, false gods, Baal, etc. Open worship. And then throughout the nation and the high places where people go as if you get closer to God there. All kinds of idolatry. And the priests that were supposed to be the priests of Yahweh were serving as priests for all these other gods.
This is all over the nation. So Josiah begins to declare war on this. It's filthy and disrepair, not to mention filthy with sin and idolatry. So Josiah goes to purge the Temple and begins to cleanse it, get rid of the idolatry, get rid of the idolatry through the land. And it's some years into this happening now that the high priest comes and says, we found the Book of the Law. What do you mean we found the Book of the Law? There may have been one copy. Maybe there were other Torah scrolls. Maybe there were many throughout the country. But they were gone.
They were either hidden or they were destroyed. But see, that's what happens in times of backsliding. You backslide from the Word.
You forget the Word. And today, in America, it's this contradiction. We have more access to the Bible than any generation in history. In fact, previous generations couldn't imagine the access to the Bible that we have. I have every major modern English translation and key older translations right here in my cell phone.
Just there, available. And endless numbers of Hebrew and Greek texts that can be called up. Just right on my cell phone. And of course, we've had it on our computers for years and years before that. And more translations than we've ever had. can be called up.
Just write on my cell phone. And of course, we've had it on our computers for years and years before that. And more translations than we've ever had. I mean, it's an embarrassing riches that we have.
Embarrassing amount of riches that we have. And yet, I don't know if we've had a generation in American history more ignorant of the word, more superficial when it comes to the word. Less understanding of the Bible. I'm not saying they condemn, especially younger people, you've been raised in a certain environment.
I'm just talking about reality. I remember writing in 1991 in my book, Whatever Happened to the Power of God, that the more we store the Bible on our hard drives, the less we'll have it on our hearts. So I'm glad we have it on our hard drives. I'm glad we have it on our cell phones. I'm glad we have it in all these different places.
I'm glad it's ubiquitous in that sense. But we've really backslidden from the word in so many ways. So when ancient Israel, it was quite the opposite. In ancient Judah, they didn't have it at all. Where if there's supposed to be copies of Torah scrolls and things, they were either gone, destroyed, in disrepair, or lost. Right?
Because when people backslide, who cares about any of that? Toss it away, you burn it, or you bury it, or you just let it disintegrate, and whatever. So now, now, they discovered the book of the law. Now, some scholars think it was just the book of Deuteronomy, their reasons for that.
Others say, no, it was the whole of the Torah, the five books of Moses. The key thing is, they now rediscover the word of God. And as they do, they realize, oh my, things are much worse than we thought. So Josiah is leading this repentance movement based on what he knows more by tradition, what he's now heard about and been educated about by the high priest and by others. He's learned more about this stuff to recognize, okay, we're supposed to worship one God only, and the idols are bad, and this is his temple here in Jerusalem. But he doesn't really get it all, because he doesn't have the word. And then he gets the word, and he goes to the prophet Huldah, and says, what do we do? What do we do? Because they start reading all these things and the curses that are going to come for disobedience and think, that's what we've been doing.
That's who we are. Oh, no. Friends, that's a picture of what happens in revival. That's a picture of the transformation that comes. It's as if the veil is lifted. It's as if you see what you hadn't seen before. In fact, there's a description that Charles Finney gives when he describes the process of revival. I want to pull it up and read it for you. It's Finney speaking about when revival comes, and eyes begin to be opened, and transformation begins to come, what it looks like. Let me read this.
He says it so well. A revival always includes conviction of sin on the part of the church. Backslidden professors, meaning Backslidden believers, professors of faith, cannot wake up and begin right away in the service of God without deep searchings of heart.
The fountains of sin need to be broken up. In a true revival, Christians are always brought under such conviction. They see their sins in such a light that often they find it impossible to maintain a hope of their acceptance with God. It does not always go to that extent, but there are always, in a genuine revival, deep convictions of sin and often cases of abandoning all hope. And they would just think, oh my God, we're guilty in God.
Oh, what did we do? Because you rediscover the Word, but with that rediscovery of the Word, you also rediscover the depth of God's love, the depth of God's grace, the depth of forgiveness, which is why conversions and revival and restoration and renewal and revival, why it's all so deep and why it's what we must have here in America. Then Finney says this, Backslidden Christians will be brought to repentance. Revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God, just as in the case of a converted sinner.
The first step is a deep repentance, a breaking down of heart, a getting down into the dust before God with deep humility and a forsaking of sin. And he said, Christians will have their faith renewed. While they're in a Backslidden state, they are blind to the state of sinners. Their hearts as hard as marble. The truths of the Bible appear as a dream.
They admit it to be all true. Their conscience and their judgment assent to it. But their faith does not see it standing out in bold relief and all the burning realities of eternity. But when they enter into revival, they no longer see men as trees walking, but they see things in that strong light, which will renew the love of God in their hearts.
That's what happens. The Word comes alive and it brings with us this reality of God. And for many of us in our preaching, we say we're preaching the Word, but we start with the Scripture and just share our thoughts. We start with the Scripture and just tell stories. We start with the Scripture and give some inspirational account that will move everyone, but we're not preaching the Word.
And I can do that too. Sometimes as I've been preaching a message and quoting a lot of Scripture, I'll say sarcastically as a joke, I apologize for quoting so much of the Bible while preaching the Word. Just to say that often we leave that out, or we have a message and we're looking for a text so that we can preach our message. Times of revival, the Word is preached, the Word comes forth, it thunders forth, and as a result, it brings all kinds of reformation and change to the Church. Just think of what could happen to the Church in America if we get back to the Word.
The Word. All right, friends, we are listener-sponsored, but we get great help from our co-sponsor TriVita. As always, I want you to hear this quick testimony from my own life that ties in with our co-sponsor. Are you tired of feeling run down, constantly battling colds, flu, and infections? TriVita's Elderberry with Zinc and Vitamin C is here to give your immune system the boost it needs. TriVita's Elderberry Zinc and Vitamin C supplement is a three-in-one capsule scientifically formulated to support your immune system naturally. Elderberries have been cherished for centuries for their wellness benefits, and now TriVita has harnessed the immune system-supporting power in every bottle of TriVita's Elderberry enhanced with Zinc and Vitamin C to help you fight off colds, flu, and infections. Now is the time to boost your immune system and the immune systems of those you love with TriVita's three-in-one Elderberry Zinc and Vitamin C supplement today.
To order Elderberry with Zinc and Vitamin C for yourself, order today and use promo code BROWN25 to receive 25% off your order. As a new customer, 100% of the proceeds from your first order will go to support the Line of Fire radio broadcasts, so call now 1-800-771-5584, 1-800-771-5584, 1-800-771-5584, or online at trivita.com. Welcome back friends to the Line of Fire. Michael Brown, delighted to be with you as we're here really from the heart. It's our goal, it's our burden to see you healthy, to see you thriving.
I've heard that burning in my heart for the Lord, get my church healthy, so whatever my role is to do that, to help stir you, to help spark you, to help awaken you, to help ignite you, to help renew that passion, that faith, that hope, to infuse you with faith and truth and courage, that's why we're here. And I believe friends, as you've been listening to these broadcasts, something's happening. You're feeling the strength come. You're feeling life come. You're feeling hope arise. Go with it and let that drive you to your knees to get alone with God and let it drive you to go back to the Word, back to the Word, back to the Word. Here's a little test.
Here's a little test for you. When you have time, you're not distracted, take out Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in the Bible, the longest chapter in the Bible. So it's the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, each one with eight verses.
So each of eight verses starts with the same letter, first with Aleth, then Beit, Gimel, Dalet, Hevov, et cetera, all the way down to Tet. So when you read it, if you're able, get on your knees, if you're able, and read it out loud to God. Read it out loud to God and ask yourself as you read it, do I feel this way? Do I actually believe this? As you're saying the words about how much you love the Word and how the words of God's mouth are more precious to you than thousands of pieces of silver and gold and on and on and on and on and on and on, say, do I really believe this?
I've done it and said, Lord, I'm a hypocrite. I'm saying the words, but I don't really believe it. Hey, let me share another testimony with you straight from the Brownsville Revival. This is a young woman married now with kids, kids getting to be older kids, still burning bright, all right, still burning bright before the Lord. No, actually, actually, tell you what, I'm going to share.
Yeah, here it is. Aletha, I want you to hear her testimony because in revival, the Word of God will be preached. And as the Word of God is preached, church people hear the Word and their lives are changed. Aletha wrote this, I was 18 and asked to be a chaperone on a youth trip to a revival and was told we would go to the beach too. All my 18 year old ears heard was free beach trip.
So I agreed. To my dismay, the first day they woke us up super early to get in line outside a church building. The sun wasn't even out yet. And there were people in line already waiting for the evening service. We sat out there in the hot Florida sun for 12 hours before we were allowed inside. I wasn't the happiest, but I knew whatever was happening had to be good. In other words, why are people going to get online, standing online outside a building in hot Florida sun for 12 hours? Getting through church service?
Something's got to be going on. Worship was powerful, she says. And the message Steve Hale preached was intensely convicting. I ran up to every single altar call that week. Now remember, she's in youth ministry, right?
And she's getting convicted. By the end of the week, I was getting baptized and declaring that I would never go back to my old ways. Up to that point, I had been saved about a year, but still struggled to not be drawn to the world in my old ways.
I got saved because I didn't want to go to hell, but I was constantly giving into temptation. Lots of shame, but I was constantly being a believer. After that week, I was set on fire and hungered and thirsted for nothing but him. The long drive home, I wept, cleansing tears the entire 12 hours.
I couldn't even go inside the Cracker Barrel for the lunch break because I was in the back of the van being touched by his spirit weeping. Friends, this is what happens in times of revival. That's why I'm saying it's revival or we die.
That's what I'm saying. This is what America needs. This is what the church of America needs.
This is what the young generation needs. She continues, I didn't know my body could produce that many tears. Some of the kids brought me Kleenex boxes and I used every single tissue before I got back home. Afterwards, there was a marked difference in me. Holiness, living was a byproduct, but overall I was a woman unchained and liberated. No longer bound by my flesh and desire completely set on fire for him.
You know what happened? The word of God came in the power of the spirit. It's not either or. Are you Charismatics? You're just into the spirit. Are you Baptist?
You're just into the word. How about the word and the spirit together? How about everything God has? Rather than dividing in groups and camps, how about we say, Lord, we're your children. Part your spirit on us. Renew our hunger for the word. Renew our love for Jesus.
Be amazed with the results here. Another testimony. This is Tom W. and Aletha, I know to this day, she's burning for the Lord. Tom W., another man, serious about God. All these decades later, 25 years later, he says, before I knew them, my would be youth pastor, his brother, a worship leader, and his father who got saved at the 1970 Asbury Revival were all involved with the Methodist Church in Tulsa. They got a hold of Brownsville Revival tapes around 1996 and they were greatly impacted by God. They visited the revival and were massively touched by the Lord.
They went home and started to become more radical in their capacities at the Methodist Church, which led them to being essentially shown the door from the church. Tom says, however, due to young people praying and worshiping at a birthday party they attended one Saturday night and God moving powerfully, they decided to meet again the following Saturday night and again and again. Eventually they were meeting every Saturday night and God brought along dozens and over several years hundreds if not thousands of searching youth through the doors of rented buildings on Saturday nights. The group took dozens of trips down to Brownsville and each time many like myself were touched powerfully by the Lord. One time rather famously, the group was praying so much that they had to pull over their caravan of vans in Clarksville, Arkansas to a Sitco gas station making quite the scene with students laid out under the power of God on the ground at the gas station.
These young people so overcome by God they collapsed at the gas station praying overcome by God. My youth pastor, Sam, created the Revival fire tape which was copied and recopied and went all around the world touching unknown thousands. The ministry reached into the public schools and several high school youth groups including mine were led and influenced by those who had been to the Revival. When I got saved in fall 2001 there was a definite move of God at my school which is directly and indirectly impacted by the Revival. I went to Brownsville albeit on the tail end of the Revival in March 2002 and was greatly affected by the power of God there and under the preaching of Steve Hill. The ministry lasts to this day and for those around my age that were touched by the ministry, the Revival is a deep meaning shared experience that we will never forget. It ruined us means we couldn't go back to church as usual. Another testimony in the book Revival or We Die and again I want to paint a picture for you so you grasp what we're talking about when we pray for Revival.
Sometimes you just need to go to God and dream your dreams. What would it look like if we had an outpouring? What would it look like if we had the greatest awakening in our nation's history? What would it look like if our churches were so ablaze that people stood on line waiting to get into a prayer meeting?
What would it look like if the Spirit was moving powerfully in our high schools and middle schools and elementary schools and there was outpouring on our college campuses? Some of this is happening little by little. It is happening. Don't throw in the towel.
Don't say it's all over. God is at work. Jesus rose from the dead and therefore hope springs eternal. Let me share with you what one reader said about Revival or We Die. Excellent motivation for Revival. A truly stirring work from a man who has participated in and who eagerly desires a great move of God. Notice this. If you are hungry for a move of God in your life today then this is the book for you.
He'll also tell you if you're not hungry this book will stir hunger. This is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for tuning in. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. If we have been a blessing to you, if you're being enriched in the Word and prayer and your own walk with God through this broadcast then stand with us so that we can reach many many more and bless many many more. Together friends we're making a difference. So go to thelineoffire.org thelineoffire.org and click donate.
