Open with me back to Ezra. Again,
it's page 662, Ezra chapter 9. Six weeks ago, I spoke in the
Lexington conference. And it made me very excited for
our conference. I'm the type of person where
I have so much to do in front of me right now, it's hard for
me to think about what's coming until we get past what is. Like going on vacation, I cannot
get excited about vacation until the car is packed and I am on
the road. But in that moment there of me
being in Lexington, seeing all the brethren come together, seeing
all the pastors, the preachers come together, I thought, this
is what our conference is going to be like. And I got excited
to have that here in our building. And that excitement made me think
of these two verses plus one other verse. Ezra 9 verse 8 says, and now for a little space, a
little moment, grace hath been showed from the Lord our God
to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a nail. a constant and sure abode, that's
what that means, in his holy place. That our God may lighten
our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage. 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 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. He said, God has given us a reviving. Now hold your place right here
and turn over to Habakkuk chapter three. That's page 1163 in my
Bible. 1163 Habakkuk chapter three. Verse one says, a prayer of Habakkuk,
the prophet, upon Shigionoth. Verse two says, O Lord, I have
heard thy speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work in the
midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make
known. In wrath, Remember mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. Revive
thy work in the midst of the years. Send a reviving. Send
a reviving. I believe when God's people make
a special effort to gather together around his word, whether it's
just, you know, a congregation coming together, And I wrote something that I
don't necessarily agree with anymore. I wrote in my notes that when
all the members of a single congregation come together, you know, I have
those moments where everybody's there, nobody's on vacation,
nobody's working, nobody's sick, and you're like, everybody was
there. But I was so blessed this morning, and that was the fewest,
I don't actually agree with that. Maybe if two or three make the
effort to come together, or thinking about a conference when other
members of other congregations make that special effort to come
together. I believe that when great attention
is given to God's word, there is a reviving. I really do. And if the Lord would be willing,
I pray he will send a reviving. And I pray He would continue
that reviving. You know, I've talked about this
kind of thing many times. You know that this is how I feel
and this is my prayer. And it just still is. I pray
that He would send a reviving. I pray that He would cause the
reviving to continue. I pray He would cause the reviving
to grow. My prayer and the summary of
this message, okay, what we're gonna get around to, the summary
of the message tonight is this. Number one, that he would send
a reviving in me. And I mean that. That he would send
a reviving in me. Number two, that he would send
a reviving in this congregation. Number three, that He would send
a reviving in the world, the world, the people of the world,
this town, starting with this town and this country and other
countries, the world. And number four, that God would
send a reviving in the midst of our years, in the midst of
our years. That is my prayer. That really
is my prayer. There have been times of reviving
throughout the ages. Most recently, I believe there
was one at the end of the 1800s with Spurgeon and those men. I believe there was one in the
1950s. I believe a revival went through this country in the 1950s. I believe a revival went through
this country in the 1980s. Turn over to Psalm 119. Psalm 119, listen to what David
said right here. This is such a precious verse.
Psalm 119 verse 132. 132 he said. Look thou upon me.
And be merciful unto me. As thou used to do. Unto those
that love thy name. Look now upon me and be merciful
unto me as you used to do to those that love thy name. He's saying, Lord, would you
do right now what you used to do? Would you do again what you did
before? Lord, we know that you're able. There is no doubt in our minds. We are certain, we are convinced,
we are persuaded that you are able. All you have to do is speak the
word. Speak the word only. Speak the word only, just speak
the word. The question is, are you willing? We bow to your will. That's my prayer, that's my desire. But by His grace, we, I, will
bow to His will. But Lord, if you will, will you
send a revival in the midst of our years like you have done
in the years before us? That is my prayer. That's my
sincere prayer. Now, if He does, He were to answer
our prayer and if He sent a reviving, what
would that mean? What would that mean? What is
the reviving? A reviving of what? Well, David said right here in
Psalm 132, Look thou upon me and be merciful unto me. Consider me Be mindful of me, call me, draw
me to your mercy. A reviving of mercy. That's what Habakkuk said. He
said, Lord in wrath, remember mercy. Send a revival of mercy. You know, our Lord delights to
show mercy. Do you know that? He loves mercy. It's new every morning. Lord,
pour it out. This is our prayer. If you're
willing, we know you're able, pour it out. We are sinful people. Pour it out on us and our sinful
children and our sinful families and our sinful friends and our
sinful coworkers in this sinful town. Show mercy, look back at Ezra
chapter nine. Verse eight, and now for a little
space, Grace hath been showed from the Lord our God. What is
this reviving? It's a reviving of grace. It's
a reviving of mercy. It's a reviving of grace. It's
a reviving of the gift of God. Verse 8 says, Now for a little
space grace hath been showed from the Lord our God to leave
us a remnant to escape. It's a way of escape. He said, and to give us a nail
in his holy place, it is a sure foundation, a sure hope, a covenant
of promise. It's a guarantee of acceptance
and entrance into the kingdom of God. Verse 8 says that our
God may lighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in
our bondage. It's freedom from bondage. That's
what it is. If a reviving went out, this
is what it would be. It would be a freedom from bondage. Men and women would know the
truth and the truth would make them free. Verse 9 says, for we were bond
men. Yet our God hath not forsaken
us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of
the kings of Persia, 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. It is a faithful
showing of mercy. It is a rebuilding redemption. It's a wall of security that
surrounds God's people. Now what is this reviving exactly? It's not a what, it's a who. It is a who. It is Jesus Christ
our Lord. He is the reviving. He is the grace of God. He is
the gift of God. He is the way of escape. This world is headed straight
for eternal condemnation. Ezra chapter 9 is all about man's
sin against God. Verse 1, When these things were
done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel
and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves
from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations,
even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites,
the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, the Amorites.
Verse two, they have taken of their daughters for themselves
and for their sons so that the holy seed have mingled themselves
with the people of those lands. Yea, the hand of the princes
and rulers have been chief in this trespass. And when I heard
this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle and plucked off
the hair of my head and up my beard and sat down astonished.
Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words
of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those
that had been carried away. And I sat astonished until the
evening sacrifice. Look at verse 10. He said, And
now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken
thy commandments. We've forsaken your commandments. Verse 15, O Lord God of Israel,
thou art righteous, For we remain yet escaped as it is this day. Behold, we are before thee in
our trespass, for we cannot stand before thee because of this.
This world is full of trespass against God. This world is completely
full of sinners against God. This town is full of sinners
against God. This congregation is full of
sinners against God. This body right here, this man
standing before you is full of sin against God. And God's going to condemn all
sin. He's going to condemn all sin. God is going to punish all
sin. God is going to cast away. He
is going to consume in His wrath. And He's going to bury in an
eternal fiery hell all sinners against Him. And it's sinners of all walks
of life. It's law of the land abiding
sinners. That means good old boys and
girls. Law of the land, you know, law
abiding sinners and law of the land disobeying
sinners. It's angry sinners and peacemaking
sinners. It's humble sinners and proud
sinners. It's religious sinners, it's
non-religious sinners. This world is headed for condemnation,
and there's only one way of escape. One way of escape, and Christ
is that way. The cross of Christ is the only
way. He is our mercy from God. Lord,
oh, pour out Christ. He is the mercy from God. He is God's faithful redemption. He is our wall of security. He is our entrance and our acceptance. He is the truth that makes us
free. If God sends a reviving, God
will send Christ. He'll send the message of Christ.
He'll send the gospel of Christ, the spirit of Christ, the blessing
of Christ. Lord, give us Christ in our bondage. I'm in bondage. You are in bondage. We are in bondage to sin and
I feel it. And you do too. Send us Christ. Send Christ to
us in our bondage. Send Christ in the midst of our
years. Send the cross of Christ, the
knowledge, the awakening, the quickening of what Christ truly
accomplished on the cross. Send the mercy and grace of Christ
that comes to God's people through the blood and righteousness of
Jesus Christ. Send a heart for it. It kills me. Let me make two
statements here. It kills me how much people do
not care about the accomplishment of Jesus Christ. And it kills
me to say, but for the grace of God, neither would I. That
kills me. Oh, send a heart, Lord. Send a need. Send a desire. Send a bowing. Send a begging. Send a situation where men and
women fall on their knees crying, what shall we do? Send a desperation. Send the message of Christ. Send
the faith of Christ. Send the love of Christ. Send
the gospel. Send the reviving of the gospel.
Number one in me. Number one in me. Look at Psalm 138. Psalm 138. Verse six. Though the Lord be
high. Yet hath he respect unto the
lowly. but the proud he knoweth afar
off. Though I walk in the midst of
trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine
hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall
save me. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. David said, I need for you to
revive me. Send a revival, start the work
in me. If he will do that for me individually, and if he will do that for you,
individually and you individually and you individually. If he does
that for us individually, then he will do it for us as a congregation. Does that make sense? That really
is so. We're going to have a revival.
We're going to throw up a tent outside. We're going to have
a revival. What people mean by that is we're going to get everybody
out there revived. And if we will focus right here,
Send a reviving in me. Send a reviving in me. If he
does it in me and does it in you and does it in you and does
it in you, when we all gather together, it means he will have
done it in this congregation. Look at Psalm 85, and I'm almost
done here. Psalm 85, verse one says, Lord, thou hast
been favorable unto thy land. Thou hast brought back the captivity
of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity
of thy people. Thou hast covered all their sin.
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath. Thou hast turned thyself
from the fierceness of that anger. Turn us, O God, of our salvation,
and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry
with us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger
to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again,
that thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord,
and grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God the Lord
will speak, for he will speak peace unto his people and to
his saints, but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his
salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in
our land. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall
spring out of the earth, That's Christ. All of this is Christ.
He is our righteousness. He is our peace. Righteousness
shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that
which is good and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness
shall go before him and shall set us in the way of his steps. If God would send a revival in
his congregation, there would be hope for a revival in the
land. If God would send a revival to
me, and to you, and to you, and to you, then that means He will
have sent a revival to this congregation. And if God will send a revival
to this congregation, there is hope for this land. If God lit a fire in us to preach
and to spread the message of the finished work of salvation
through the cross of Christ, there would be hope for this
land. There would be hope for other
lands. This is true right here. Where the message of the gospel
is, there's hope. It's just so. Where the message
of the gospel is not everywhere. It's not in every church, it's
not in every town. But wherever it is, there's hope
there. So Lord, please, if you would
be willing, send a revival in me. Send a revival, I'm gonna
say my congregation, our congregation. But this is just one man's prayer.
You say this in your heart. Send a revival in me. Send a
revival in my congregation. Send a revival in my country. And send a revival in my lifetime. If you would be willing, this
is my prayer. Let these eyes witness the revival,
if you would be willing. Let these eyes witness a revival
of the gospel. Oh, how much would we rejoice
if there was a revival of the gospel? For Christ's sake, amen. Let's pray to that end. Let's
pray to that end. May God burden our hearts to
pray to that end.