“GOING BACK HOME”
Three months ago, in the middle of this pandemic, I spoke to us about “The Scattered Church”. Just as the church was scattered in the books of Acts, it is scattered today by COVID 19. The early Christians took the Gospel with them and the church flourished. I believe we have had the same opportunity and the church has grown. But I also believe we are entering a new era.
Some 500 years before the coming of Christ, the people of Kingdom of Judah were taken captive and carried to Babylon. They stayed there 70 years. At the end of that period, God restored them to the Promised Land.
I believe that God is doing the same thing in the church. He is taking us out of captivity and restoring us completely. A spirit of revival is breaking out and the greatest days are ahead for the church!
Today, I want to speak of the topic of “Going Back Home!” I want to look at what we can do to prepare for this new awakening that is coming. We will look at how Judah responded when they returned. The restoration of Israel is told in the book Ezra.
The Stirrings of Revival
1. God stirred the government to mandate the return.
Ezra 1:2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: “All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.”
2. God stirred the hearts of the people to return.
Ezra 1:5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
3. God stirred others to help with encouragement and offerings.
Ezra 1:6 And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.
The Steps to Revival
1. A remnant of the people returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel.
Ezra 2:2 Those who came with Zerubbabel…
2. They rebuilt the altar of sacrifice.
Ezra 3:2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
3. They began to rebuild the Temple.
Ezra 3:8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the LORD.
The Resistance to Revival
1. Compromise
Ezra 4:2 They came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
2. Discouragement
Ezra 4:4 Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building,
3. Opposition
Ezra 4:6 In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
4. Termination
Ezra 4:23 Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease.”
What was the result of all this opposition? The revival stopped!
Ezra 4:24 Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
The Return of Revival
1. The Necessity of Preaching
Ezra 5:1-5 Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.
Haggai 1:2-5 Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.” ’ ” Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “ Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!”
2. The Response of the People
Haggai 1:12-14 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD. Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, spoke the LORD’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the LORD.” So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God.
The Results of Revival
1. The work is finished.
Ezra 6:14 So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it!
2. Worship is restored.
Ezra 6:19 And the descendants of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
3. Holiness returns.
Ezra 6:21 Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the LORD God of Israel.
Our Response to Revival
1. What is God stirring you to do right now?
2. Ask God about your role in bringing revival to the church.
3. Listen to the voice of preachers.
4. Finish your task.
An Application for Today
This story applies to the church. If we are to return from the captivity of the pandemic we must listen to His voice and act in faith. We must be stirred to return or to help. We must come and place ourselves on His altar as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of true worship. We must not yield to oppression or opposition. We must press on to fullness, worship, and holiness.
Hebrews 10:35-36 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
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