Title: Revival (Nehemiah 8:1-6)
Contents
(Nehemiah 8:1) And when the children of Israel dwelt in their cities, in the seventh month, all the people gathered together in the square in front of the floodgates and asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
(Nehemiah 8:2) On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest took the book of the law and came before the congregation, male and female, before all who could understand
(Nehemiah 8:3) In the square in front of the floodgates, from dawn to noon, it was read in front of all who could understand, male and female, and all the peoples listened to the book of the law.
(Nehemiah 8:4) At that time, the scribe Ezra stood on a wooden pulpit that had been specially made for him, and those standing to his right were Mattidiah, Shema, Aniah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and those standing to his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, and Malkiah. and Hasum, Hashpadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
(Nehemiah 8:5) And Ezra stood over all the people and opened the book before their eyes, and when the book was opened, all the people stood up.
(Nehemiah 8:6) And Ezra blessed the Lord the great God, and all the people raised up their hands and said, Amen, Amen. And they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Our church revival meeting will be held for 3 days starting tomorrow evening. I want you to receive grace through this meeting.
I believe that through this revival meeting, if you keep these three things, you will receive grace.
first. Come a little early and prepare with hymns and prayers. No matter how much fiery words fall, you cannot receive grace if your heart is closed.
second. Please donate every hour. Where there is material, there is mind. The difference between a meeting with and without material is different.
third. Amen much please. If you say Amen a lot, it will bring glory and grace to God.
I hope that you will all receive grace by keeping these three things so that no one goes back for free.
Revival is a thirst for God's Word.
Revival is the desire to know the Word of God and the will to live according to the Word of God after filling it with the Word.
The historical period of Judges in the Bible is said to be a period of spiritual darkness.
There were several times when the entire nation of Israel experienced a revival of the Holy Spirit, and this was one of them in the days of Nehemiah. This time, I will tell you how the revival took place in the days of Nehemiah.
God chose and blessed the nation of Israel. The people of Israel should live according to the word of God, but because of their sinful nature, they sinned and left the word. They covered their ears and stopped hearing the word of God. God spoke through the prophets many times, but in the end they sinned, and God punished them to destroy them.
The nations were taken captive to Babylon, and among them there was a prophet named Nehemiah. Nehemiah was blessed by God and was set to become a cupbearer in Babylon, but in his heart, he was always worried about Jerusalem. One day, I heard the news as a person who had been to Jerusalem. Nehemiah weeps and prays when he hears that the beautiful Jerusalem was all burned down, leaving only one stone on top of it, and that the temple was also burned down. He was taken prisoner in a foreign land, but he thought he was going to succeed in this kind of work, so he got permission from the king to return to his hometown and rebuild the temple. When the temple was rebuilt, there were many attacks from Satan and the enemy, but when they overcame this and rebuilt the fortress, the people of Israel could enjoy peace and became an independent state.
They built the wall, but their hearts were empty and they could not bear it. When they asked Nehemiah to teach him the Word, he brought in Ezra, a biblical scholar.
The desire to know the Word of God is the first step to revival.
Ezra told all the people to gather in the temple and made a wooden pulpit and taught them, but the people did not move at all for six hours from 6 am to 12 o'clock in the morning and began to satisfy their thirst for the word of God.
They were so thirsty for the Word that they listened to the Word for six hours, and the next day more people came to learn the Word for more than six hours.
Having the heart to read the Bible like this is the first step to revival.
It is proof that revival is coming in my heart.
second. How did they receive the Word when they received it?
When Ezra preached from the pulpit, they all stood up.
Just as everything happens when Handel's Messiah is ringing, the people of Israel stood and listened to God's word for six hours when it was preached.
They differed in attitude.
(Nehemiah 8:5) And Ezra stood over all the people and opened the book before their eyes, and when the book was opened, all the people stood up.
(Nehemiah 8:6) And Ezra blessed the Lord the great God, and all the people raised up their hands and said, Amen, Amen. And they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
They put their hands together and cried Amen, and all the people raised their hands and answered Amen, and bowed down and worshiped the Lord.
When they split their hearts about the Word, they all answered with Amen.
I hope you all shout Amen at this revival meeting.
If you say Amen, God will be glorified and you will become a favor.
As a result of the revival, Israel's whole personality changed.
Man is made up of wisdom, right, and righteousness.
When the words of Ezra were proclaimed, and when they received the word as Amen, they understood the word of God intellectually. Then, his emotions changed and he repented with tears. Also, there was an emotional change in I was so grateful that I cried and prayed with tears of gratitude.
(Nehemiah 8:9) When the people heard the words of the law, they all wept??.
I hope that your tears will be restored during this revival meeting.
I hope that you and I will become thirsty for the Word, understand what you hear, and shed tears of gratitude.
Hearing the word in the days of Nehemiah, he was changed and began to cut off the old customs. A willful decision was made.
Life changed and I made a decision. They broke the old custom and stood right before God.
This is revival.
It is not revival to applaud and laugh and then forget it after the revival is over.
Just as you longed for and listened to the words of Nehemiah, repented, broke the old customs, and received changes, I would like to pray for a spiritual revival through this meeting.