Plenary Session 2 with Dr. Claudio Freidzon - Spiritual Revival

 

 Dr. Claudio Freidzon and his son-in-law/Spanish translator Chad McCabe as the Tuesday evening plenary message is delivered. Photos by Leslie Ghag. © 2016 The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.

Claudio Freidzon affirmed the earlier message by Dr. Chris Thomas in encouraging delegates to seek hard after the Spirit of God and His anointing. Excerpts from his message can be read below. 

"I speak Spanish, but I try to speak more English, because you are here. I am very glad, very very honoured to be here. So I wanted to use Chad, my son-in-law, who came here to speak with me.

"We are very happy for what God is going to do. But how many of you have come expecting great things to happen? How many people believe that the time of vitality is coming into your life? First, we are going to pray and ask the Lord to speak to us tonight … that God will give us a Word, that the presence of God will be here.

"We have great challenges. This generation needs to know the fire! So it’s not just to ask the Lord that [He] will bless this meeting … I need the anointing. I need the fire of God. Like walking with Elijah. Tonight, we will go after the anointing. Maybe you had a hard year. Hard situations ... in your church. In your family. You need the touch of God.

"Take the victory … glorious things are coming into your life!

"How many of you want more? Raise your hands … and receive it! In the name of Jesus. The power of God is here. This is a night of transformation. I’m not sure how you got here … but I know how you’re going to leave! New projects! New rejuvenation! New life! New health! The words reach the heart and awaken applause. But the anointing breaks the heart. I’m the same pastor of the church since 37 years ago. Our church began with four grandmothers. And for seven years, we had an empty church. They were the only ones who came, from 90 years old and upward, and my father and mother-in-law. But when it was winter and it was cold, no one would come … and the grandmothers didn’t come!

"I grew in character and in learning to do the will of God. Success is not in numbers … but in learning to do the will of God. I’ve learned to trust in the promises of God and in the timing of God. I’ve come to tell you that God is with you. God has a purpose and a plan. But the key of the pastoral life is the relationship WITH God. What transforms the hearts and draws in the multitude is the fire. Today we live in a society that is so cold, so violent, emotionally speaking, so hardened in their belief. If there’s a fire, the people come around it. The fire attracts. How do you light a fire? If you want to have a fire, you have to prepare it. The feeling that I have is not about how wonderful a time we have in these meetings, it’s what we do when we leave.

"More than ever before, in our generation, we are creating a new phobia. The modern advances have created a new phobia. The phobia of being without a signal ... without being connected. And there’s people that have a phobia about not being able to communicate. And I ask, as the people have this worry and preoccupation, how much more do we need to be connected … it is the passion of the desire of our heart … to be in continual connection and communion with God!

"A heart that is surrendered to God shines a light in the darkness … it attracts the presence of God. A heart that is surrendered, the Presence comes. Because God has great things for you. And the promises that God has given you will be fulfilled. Because the Word of God does not have a date of expiration … it has a date to be fulfilled. God is going to fulfil the plans and the purposes that He has for you. How many of you have purposes and plans? How many of you have desires in your hearts? I was looking just recently at what the word “vitality” means. It means “the capacity to live, to grow, to develop.” When someone has vitality, something revives within their hearts. God gives life to what we think is destroyed or without life.

"See the mercy of God toward His people, the Lord takes an example of a woman who was barren, speaking of the nation of Israel in Isaiah 54 (NIV). 

'Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.

'For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

'For your Maker is your husband; the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer     he is called the God of all the earth.

'The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—a wife who married young,  only to be rejected, says your God.'

"The Lord compares Israel with the shame of a woman who is barren. I’m not sure how many battles you’ve gone through, and how many frustrations, but the Lord spoke to Israel and compared them to a woman who had felt frustrated at not being able to do what she has always wanted to do. And the Lord speaks a prophetic word to you … 'Sing or rejoice, Expand, and Strengthen.' In the midst of the frustration and problems, the Lord is saying to the nation of Israel that a new time is coming, even though it seems there are no possibilities, that God sees vitality … God sees something new. The things that you’ve always wanted to do, but you haven’t done it … get prepared! The Lord is coming, He is willing, to change your frustration into victory. That is what the passage is speaking of. Many people here are going to see a spiritual change. You are going to see areas that you thought were impossible to change, you will see the glory of God begin to manifest. In the midst of the many things that we have to do in ministry, we cannot forget our passion for the things of God.

One day the Lord said to me, 'You have to maintain the fire of God in your life.' He said, 'Do you want a church revival?' I said, 'Yes, Lord.' He said, 'Then you have to do four things. Love the Word of God. Second, provoke a Spirit of evangelism within the church. One that speaks of many children … to expand the vision and to prepare us for what’s coming. There is coming a time when the people will feel the fire of God in your church. The cold things that are happening in the world, the people will want to come to your church to find refuge. Prepare yourself. The presence of God will be in your church. Third, maintain integrity, holiness, preach holiness. God honours the heart that is surrendered to Him. Fourth is the worship. The worship is what draws and brings that presence. Israel had departed from the Word … they had departed from the purposes God had. They became spiritually barren. The Lord said, 'Sing a song with a sound of joy.' Because the Lord is about to do something powerful. How many of you can say 'I want the Lord to do something powerful for me.' God is about to demonstrate His hand in a new dimension … that you have never experienced. So raise your hands with shouts of joy … there is coming a time … a new time … For your nation of Canada, for your church, for your family. Jesus is our hope. It’s time to believe in the plans and the purposes and the promises of God.

Love the Word of God. Provoke a Spirit of evangelism within the church. Maintain integrity, holiness. Worship.

 According to 1 Timothy 1:1, I believe there is a time of hope coming.

'[Lord,] I believe You are able to turn a time that is dry into a time that is prosperous.' The Lord says, "Prepare yourselves." You are going to see new works in your life. Keep praying for a moment.

 

Proverbs 21:30

"Nothing can stand against what God is going to do. I’m not sure what troubles you came with in your life. But the King is about to move once again in your life.

"Each generation needs the fire, needs the authority from God. This generation needs more than the generations past. I ask that you stand to your feet … say "Lord, I need the presence of God."

Pastor Freidzon invited delegates to an extended time of prayer around the altar ... to take by faith the anointing and the victory that is already ours in Christ Jesus.