Secrets of Revival

I ask you to turn please to the little book of Ezra and chapter 1. Verse 1, now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? Will his God be with him? Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel.

Verse 4, And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of the place help him with silver. We've and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had stirred or raised.

Verse 6, And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and so on. Now look again over with me please to chapter 2 and verse 65. The early part of the chapter tells about the priests and those that serve.

Verse 65, Beside their servants and their maids of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven, and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women. Verse 68, And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the Lord which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place, they gave after their ability. Now chapter 3 and verse 1, And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the Lord gathered themselves, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.

Then stood up Joshua the son of Josedach and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, and builded the altar of the house of Israel. Verse 3, And they set the altar upon his bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries, and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning by morning. Now look down again please to verse 9, Then stood Joshua with his sons and his brethren, Camille and his sons the sons of Judah, together to set forward the workmen in the house of God, and the sons of Hanadad with their sons and their brethren, the Levites.

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and verse 11 says, They sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, because he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. And all the people shouted with a great shout, because when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. And many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers who were ancient men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid, before their eyes wept with a loud voice, and many shouted aloud for joy.

Now chapter 4, Then or now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard, these were Samaritans, that the children of the captivity built the temple, they of course, verse 4 says, weakened the hands of the people of Judah. Verse 24 of chapter 4, Then ceased the work of the house of God, which as it at Jerusalem, so it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius, that was about 15 years. Now chapter 5, Then the prophets Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Edo prophesied unto the Jews that were in Jerusalem, Judah in Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel.

And verse 2, they rose up, Zerubbabel and Joshua, and they began to build the house of God. Now chapter 6 and verse 14, And the elders of the Jews built it, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Edo, and they built it and finished it according to the commandment of the God of Israel. And verse 15 says, And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

And that was 20 years after their return from Babylon. Now you will know that the people of God were carried in three stages under the hand of Zerubbabel down to Babylon, and because of their neglect in resting the land at the end of seven years, resting it for one year, because of that period of time they owed God 70 years. And so they spent 70 years in captivity in Babylon.

And there's a verse in chapter 9 of this book that says, long about verse 8, Give us a little reviving. Give us a little reviving. Now I would like just for a short time this afternoon to see if we can glean from what we have read some of the secrets of revival that took place in this day, and it's very obvious that it's needed in our day.

And Ezra, who we have read about, he was involved with the building of the temple, and if you went to the prophecy of Nehemiah, you would see that he was involved with the building of the wall around the city. And so God raises up monarchs from godless nations to foster his own purposes. In fact, Ezra and Nehemiah are the earliest of the post-captivity prophecies.

There are others like Esther and Haggai and Zechariah and Malachi. I was noticing a little verse recently, I want to read it from Haggai, and in chapter 2, here's what he says. Haggai, just before Zechariah, Mr. McCullough, and here's what he says in chapter 2 and verse 5. My spirit remaineth among you, fear not.

And I want to suggest that this is the cure for middle-aged depression, there may be some of them here today, and you're suffering from depression. And not only middle-aged depression, but old-age weariness, and there may be a few of them here today. But whatever your case may be, you carry this away this afternoon.

My spirit remaineth among you, fear not. God has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. So here's Cyrus the king of Persia, raised up by God with others, to again build the temple of God.

And the message of this prophet is, give us a little reviving. I have a note in my Bible, I don't know where I got it, many years ago, now I'm sure. Cyrus had inscribed on his tomb these words, O man, whoever thou art, and whensoever thou comest, for come I know thou wilt.

I am Cyrus, king of the Persian Empire, envy me not, the little earth that covers my body. And history tells us that Cyrus had been reading from the prophets, and when he read of God's purposes to restore the temple, that was his desire, to build the temple of God again. Not only those that were involved, their exercise.

The first thing I note, and that hymn that we sang, suggested immediately to my mind this verse, they brought of their silver and their gold, their liberality in connection with again building the temple of God. Restoring that which had been destroyed. There they had been in Babylon, and you remember the psalmist tells us that on one occasion, someone said to them, sing us one of the songs of Zion.

They had hung their harps upon the willows, and they answered, how can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Now we'll see in a moment or two that that song was revived. And here they are giving to God. Preachers aren't supposed to talk about this, and I don't say it because of any need, but I ask you particularly young believers, young couples, are you exercised to give back to God regularly, systematically, devotionally, from what 1st Corinthians teaches us? Giving back to God for what he has given to you.

Now that's a good exercise. John Bunyan, the man that wrote the Pilgrim's Progress, said on one occasion, there was a man, the people called him mad. The more he gave away, the more he had.

Now I've proven that. You give to God, and you'll find that God will more than reimburse anything that you've done for him. You know how much he pays? One hundredfold.

Now that's better than any of the CDs of the day. One hundredfold, that's ten thousand percent interest. That's what my God has promised.

You just keep that in the back of your mind. These people, they gave to God, the liberality. I want you to think of their exercise of soul.

We read that their hearts were stirred, and in verse 6, their hands were strengthened. You see recovery? Now there's a few that are losing that sleep battle. I won't say who you are, but maybe if I stop for a minute, you'll take a breath and wake up.

Bad enough speaking to empty seats than speaking to people with their eyes shut. Their hearts were stirred. Their hands were strengthened.

Revival always starts with an individual. Many years ago, in the north of Ireland, where my parents came from, there was a woman who was saved, and she had a burden about souls in her community, and she prayed. And eventually she saw a young man saved, and then there were four of them, and they gathered regularly to pray for revival.

And God began to work in that community, the town of Kells, in the north of Ireland. And God blessed until, in one year's time, there was an estimate of 100,000 souls who had trusted Christ. Factories were closing down.

People were walking the streets, falling down in the fields, crying to God for salvation, all because the heart of one woman was stirred. Her heart was stirred. I want to say, brethren, revival begins with the individual.

And then it begins with not only an exercise of soul, but exercise, as we've been reminded, to please God. And then in devotion to the Word of God. But something else I want you to notice, it says their hands were strengthened.

I was thinking of Aaron and her on that occasion with Moses, you remember, on the top of the mount when his hands were weary. Aaron and her held up his hands, and when they held up his hands, he was strengthened. And then there were times when his hands fell down.

You know, it's wonderful to have brethren of like mind that will hold up your hands, will strengthen you. Can I say to you, young ladies looking for a partner in life, and young men, too, looking for a partner in life, you look for someone that'll be a help to you. Someone that's more spiritual than yourself.

Abraham Lincoln said, behind every good man is a good woman. Keep that in the back of your mind. That which will strengthen your hands.

Then in chapter 2, very quickly, they were praising God, singing man and singing woman. And they come up to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. They were praying.

You know, God tells us that. It's of more value than an offering. The praise, the fruit of our lips, puts tremendous value.

He delights. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs. Then in chapter 3 and verse 1, we read of their unity.

They were gathered together. You know, we're living in a day when the devil is out to disrupt the unity among assemblies. He doesn't care who he uses.

He doesn't care how it's accomplished. His purpose is to divide and scatter every vestige of Christian testimony. And there are well-organized organizations in our country that are seeking to do the same.

They've taken the Lord's prayer out of the schools. In some areas, you can't even salute the flag. There's an organized movement in our land to destroy unity among the people of God.

The psalmist says, behold how good and how blessed it is for brethren to stand together in unity. You remember the words of Paul to Timothy, chapter 1 of his second epistle? He says, hold fast that which thou hast. And there never was a day when we needed to be reminded to hold fast the truth of God.

There are many that are letting it slip. As we've been reminded, there are many that are interested in other activities and they're thinking that fleshly gatherings and fleshly song sessions and fleshly occupation is spiritual worship. That's not spiritual worship.

That's entertaining the flesh. And so the Lord helped us to appreciate what God desires. They were gathered together.

In chapter 3 and verse 2, notice quickly, they built an altar. They built an altar before they built the temple. So they were worshiping together.

That's the desire of our God, that we would worship him. Not occupied with something else, but worship in God's assembly is what's pleasing to him. Again in chapter 3 and verse 9, and I'm going to finish, it says they were standing together.

They were of one mind. How wonderful to see brethren working together in leadership in the assembly. They're of one mind.

And then in verse 11 of chapter 3, it says, they sang together praising God for he is good. And the old man, the chief fathers in the nation, when they saw the foundation of the house laid and lived to see it complete, it says they wept. They wept with joy as they recognized that God is again in the midst of his people.

You know there were over 8,000 Levites when they were down in Babylon, but if you went back to Numbers chapter 4, I think it is, you'll read there were only 70 some of them that came out. Most of them stayed in Babylon. But how wondrous to know that there is a godly remnant and we thank God for what is according to this book, the word of God.

Dear young believer, let me encourage your heart to search out for yourself the truth of God, to hold it fast in days that are marked by departure and declension on every hand. The Lord bless his word for his name's sake.