Title: A little reviving to set up the house of God
Scripture Reading: Ezra 9:9
I would like to divide the sharing this morning into three parts: the bondmen, the little reviving and the purpose of the reviving.
(1) The Bondmen
When Ezra 9:9 was written, the Jews had not recovered their freedom from foreign domination. They continued to be the subjects of a despotic monarch, and were therefore ‘abadim’, ‘slaves’. This is verified in the first part of the verse which says ‘For we were bondmen.’ I believe this is such an accurate description of the people of the world. This is even an accurate description of Christians within the church. We are all slaves, bondmen to the prince of this world and that is Satan. Satan had and still continue ‘to steal, kill and destroy’ lives. I was in Singapore church when I heard Pastor Dale sharing a series on the soul. That the soul is sick and we need to bring healing to the soul. Before he started his sermon, he showed an MTV on Amy Winehouse to give a true picture of the condition of our soul. I think we all are taken aback by the death of this very famous British Singer, Amy Winehouse. She is only 27 years old. One of her song entitled ‘rehab’ describes her condition and implied that her father wanted her to go to rehab. She refused to go to rehab and now at the prime of her age she is dead. The lyrics of the song in the first stanza reads:
‘They tried to make me go to rehab but I said ‘no, no, no’.
Yes I’ve been black but when I come back you’ll know know know
I ain’t got the time and if my daddy thinks I’m fine
He’s tried to make me go to rehab but I won’t go go go.
Her soul was definitely tortured and troubled. It doesn’t take long to look around us and see folks that are in bondage. We see those who are in bondage to addictions such as drugs, alcohol, sexual perversions and so on. Our families, our neighbourhood, our city are subject to a cruel devil and we are slaves. We are broken by the pain of life; a hurting marriage, a lonely widow, an abused child. Dr. Tony Campolo said: “We are caught up in a particular point in our national life in which we are not only terribly materialistic, but worse than that, we’re becoming emotionally dead as a people. We don’t sing, we don’t dance, we don’t even sin with much enthusiasm. There is deadness everywhere. High schools are apathetic. Colleges are apathetic. Worst of all– churches are apathetic. If WE are no longer alive– what hope is there for the world?” Tony Campolo of course was describing the United States of America.
I see a lot of people who are terribly materialistic and are emotionally dead as a people. There is not much enthusiasm in whatever they do. There is deadness everywhere. If Evangel Iloilo is dead and apathetic, then what hope is there for the people of the city?
(2) The Little Reviving
But God has not forsaken us. Ezra 9:9 says ‘For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage.’ He has actually extended his mercy unto us in the sight of our enemy by giving us a little reviving. All this was possible because the humility of prayer. I thank God for bondage. I thank God for trials. I thank God for pains. Because it is these bondages that cause me to come to my father in humility of prayer. It is in our bondage that we cry unto God. Jan had a scholarship from the ministry of Education. But she had no university to go to in France. For 5 and 6 months she was literally traumatised by the inefficiencies of the universities in France. They sent her application from one university to another because of the mistake of a French lady in Singapore. When finally she reapplied again to this university in Lyon, France, the university rejected her and said that there is no more vacancy for her. Finally she found out that the President of the University in France did not reject her application but his subordinate just sent Jan a rejection letter because her holiday month is more important than Jan’s future. Then just last Monday, she received an email that she was accepted for that university, she literally cried and hug Pastor Lily and I. She did not just hug me but she held me so tight and would not let go. She was traumatised. It is good. Because today she has become more humble, making conscious effort to pray every day. So actually it is good to have trials, pains in life, even bondage to bring us to God. Every time the children of Israel would fall into bondage, they would cry out for deliverance. When people get tired of bondage, there will be a cry for help. Not a normal cry, but a cry of desperation, a cry that grabs the attention of the heavenly hosts and disturbs the throne of heaven. If you are in bondage today, I encouraged you to utter that protracted cry, that lingering groan. I’m talking about a cry that cannot and will not go unnoticed. This is the kind of cry that blind Bartemeaus let out and it caused Jesus to stop, look and listen. This is the kind of cry that the disciples let out and it caused Jesus to walk on the stormy waters. This is the kind of cry that Mary and Martha let out and it caused Jesus to go to the tomb of Lazarus. This is the kind of cry that the demoniac let out and it caused Jesus to have mercy on him. This is the kind of cry that the ten lepers let out and it caused Jesus to reach out and touch them. This is the kind of cry that the thief on the cross let out and it caused Jesus to speak words of comfort him. In each one of these cases, somebody had lost something, somebody had had something broken or somebody had had something stolen. Just last Sunday, I could not stop crying in tears. It continued unto Monday when I was taking a plane to Singapore. My spirit was reaching out to God and I was crying. I continued to cry and because I used my hand to wipe my tears, it causes infection and swollenness on one of my eyes for a few days. But I think it was the Holy Spirit that was crying inside of me. I wished that I could have cried longer. I am reminded of Rodney Howard Brownne where for three days, he was laughing in the spirit, nonstop, day and night. Rodney Howard Browne was never the same again after those three days of laughing in the spirit. For me it was just one and a half days. I wished it was longer.
Smith Wigglesworth encourages people to cry and cry to our Great God. Because it is in him we find salvation and deliverance. The humility of a person’s prayer, the earnestness of the prayer and the direction of our prayer towards God will definitely see the mercy of God.
Faith is made in hard places when we are at wit’s-end corner, and there seems no way out of our adversity. David said at one time, “The sorrows of death compassed made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about.” He tells us, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple . . . he bowed the heavens. . . and came down.” Faith cries to God in the place of testing. It is in these places that God enlarges us and brings us forth into a large place, to prove Himself the God of deliverances, the One who is indeed our helper.
Because in the midst of all these bondages around, God is reaching out to a remnant. Ezra 9:8 mentioned that remnant. It says in verse 8 ‘And now for a little space grace hath been shown from the LORD our God to leave us a remnant to escape.’ ‘For a little space’ means a little moment. I believe that the mercy of God extended towards us is for a little space or a little moment before the rapture and the second coming of Jesus takes place. The bible also talks about only a remnant will escape. It is such a privilege to be part of the church. It is such a privilege to be part of that remnant. Because only those in the church has the opportunity to escape the judgment. Only fifty thousand Jews return to Israel out of the millions of population during that time. I won’t be surprised that only less than 100 million will go up to the rapture compared to the almost 7 billion people in this world. Daniel talks about a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. Jeremiah 30:7 confirms it when it says ‘Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.’ Isaiah 26:20 talks about God calling the people to come, enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors about thee (time of personal devotion): hide thyself as it were for a little moment until the indignation be overpast.’ It mentioned about a people, spending time with God and escape the indignation. I want to tell you that the world is not getting any better. Actually it is going to get worse. Singapore is really a beautiful city. High tall rise building. Entertainment. Food. Cultural events. But God talks about the time of Jacob’s trouble. Revelation 16:18 says ‘And there were voices, and thunders, and lightning; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell:’ Yet if you study the scripture properly, God has reserved an escape for His people. God is reaching out to a group of people. God is reaching out to a people in bondage. God extended mercy is to bring revival and restoration of people as well as the temple. The word ‘mercy’ in Hebrew signifies God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises. Thus even when the people were taken away by the Babylonians, God did not forget them. I believe this reviving is for a little space, a little moment. But it is a very significant reviving. Why? I was reading about Daniel and I believe I found the purpose of this reviving. Daniel says in Daniel 12:1 ‘there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.’ And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. Even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased. Many shall be purified, and made white and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand.’ The people that understand the reviving are considered wise. They shall bring many people to the Lord. We read about the former rain and the latter rain for the planting season. Then there is the former rain and latter rain that comes together. That is for a very short period. The true picture of a revival is a spiritual upsurge, which Pastor Lily believes that God spoke to her that this church will experience a surging birth. It means sinners will be converted en masse. There will be a new interest in the things of the Spirit. Technically, revival means ‘to recover life, or vigour, return to consciousnesses. It refers to that which has life, then ebbs down almost death and then has not vitality, and then is revived. Of course the word revival is confined to believers. It means that the believer is in a low spiritual condition and is brought back to vitality and power, because we were living in bondage. When there is a true revival, there will be certain characteristics. There will be an intense conviction of sin. This intense conviction of sin came over God’s people at that particular time and it was certainly something that God’s people needed. Then there is the Shekinah glory of God that is present in the meeting place of the people of God. The Skekinah glory is fullness of God encompassing his people. It is not enough to just take hold of God. We must let God take hold of us. It is not enough to possess the Holy Spirit. We must let the Holy Spirit possess us. That is what a true revival will do to his people. Then there is a return to that which was written. When we are revived we will return to the word of God. In the past we have not consulted the Word of God and lived our lives in that which was written, that is, in the Bible. In other words we have departed from the Word of God. Now in this reviving, we cast ourselves upon the mercy of God and say ‘let the Word of God have its way in our hearts. When transgression was called to our attention, we immediately confessed it. We will not attempt to rationalize, excuse, or cover over our sin. We come right out and confessed it. We start to do things according to the Word of God.
(3) The Purpose of the Reviving
The purpose of the little reviving is to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. Ezra 9:9 says ‘to give us a reviving to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. The wall represents a shelter. The use of the word ‘wall’ here no doubt signifies a metaphorical wall of protection that God provided for the people and not just an actual physical barrier. The protection of God is once again restored. What was laid waste by the enemy is rebuilt. The purpose of the reviving is to bring protection to the body of Christ. I believe the reviving is to restore peace in the home, heal the marriage and protect the child of God from these attacks of the enemies.
The little reviving is to set up the house of God. Of course the house of God is the body of Christ. God wants to restore life to the people in this church. I believe that the purpose of the reviving among our midst is that we have a passion for the people for this world; for the lost. We talk about Amy Winehouse. Do we have a passion for these people? God wants to give us such a compassion for all people around us that we can minister effectively for them. As I share I know of people whose husband had an extra marital relationship with another married women. And this husband is a minister of God. Do I feel compassion for the wife of this man who had been unfaithful? As I share I know of someone who had kidney problem and need dialysis. He needs to go to Manila for treatment. And he has no money. As I share I know of people who need help.
Finally personally God told me that the purpose of this reviving is that I have strength to construct a house for God. I just came back from Singapore. We have finally sold our house. Today is Missions Pledge day. Pastor Lily has already sent the money back to the Philippines. From the sale of my house I am going to present a cheque of 4 million pesos for Evangel Building. Actually I wanted to give more but there is so much deduction from the amount of money we sold by the government that finally we are only able to give 4 million pesos. But I am happy with the figure because I know that I have tried to give my best. God is so good to my family. We managed to buy another house in Singapore but it will take me 17 years to finish paying for it. I will be 67 by then. But I felt the leading of God in helping me to find this new house. We should be able to move into the house by the end of the year. I am happy because it is a flat that all the four of us are happy with it. It is a flat that Pastor Lily and Joy and Jan are looking forward towards it. This 4 millions that I am giving is solely for Evangel Building Construction. When I say I am giving 4 million pesos it is 4 million pesos. I am reminded of Ananias and Sapphira. They lied about their giving and were stricken dead.
On top of that this morning is Missions Sunday. I am pledging another 600 thousands for the mission pledge this morning. I pray that Evangelites will support this mission pledge. Please help me to build the house of God. David wanted to build a house for God. Solomon built the house for God. Nehemiah and Ezra helped to build the walls and the house of God. Israel very soon is going to build a house of God in Jerusalem. Pastor Lim and Pastor Marion built a house of God for Evangel Singapore. Help me to build the house of God here in Iloilo City. I repeat Ezra 9:9 ‘For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia (Satan and His cohorts), to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
