We’re going to be opening up our Bibles to Ezra 5. We’re in this series in Ezra. He’s a prophet that often gets neglected, but what a powerful message! The theme that we’re tracing is Revival: Lighting the Spark. God is faithful. He is faithful to every promise every time. There is not one promise that doesn’t find its “Amen” in Jesus. Jesus has come and He is coming again and He is ours. What an amazing thing to celebrate on a Sunday! Sometimes when we read Scripture, especially some of these books that we’re not as familiar with, we get a little lost because we are not familiar with the story. So before I read, I just want to give you a little summary of the story, where we are in Ezra, but also the big picture of Israel’s story and the point in time of God’s working with them.

Israel split apart into the north and south kingdom. The Northern Kingdom, because of disobedience, was taken captive by the Assyrians. Then a little over 100 years later, the Babylonian kingdom now is on the land and the Southern Kingdom had some good kings, but not enough. They also were warned by God that if they did not repent of idolatry and various sins, that they would suffer the same kind of discipline and judgment as the Northern Kingdom. They didn’t listen to prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah. The Babylonians came with defeats in 605 and 597 and 586. Nebuchadnezzar is on the throne.

586 was the last conquest by Babylon over Israel. In that conquest was utter decimation of the temple. They razed it to the ground. There was a decimation of Jerusalem and then there was a deportation of the people so that the people were deported from Israel to Babylon. God told them through the prophet Jeremiah that this captivity was going to last seventy years and then after seventy years, there was going to be a guy by the name of King Cyrus. It was prophesied before Cyrus was born that he was going to be the leader that God had ordained to bring the people out of Babylon and back to the land that He had given them. Sure enough, in 538 BC, King Cyrus issued an edict declaring that the Jews could go back to the land. He said, “In fact, we’re going to help you and you can go back there to rebuild the temple.” A guy named Zerubbabel and then Jeshua the high priest leads 50,000 people back to the land from Babylon.

It was a long journey back to Jerusalem. They begin rebuilding the temple. For two years, there had been some success. Finally, after two years, they build the altar. They have a big celebration as the foundation of the temple is being laid. They’re able to have sacrifices for the first time there in that holy site. It was actually the first time to have sacrifices in seventy years because it’s the only place that God allowed sacrifices to Him. There was a huge celebration, but then following that, there is this huge opposition that comes against them. We read about that last week in Ezra 4. At the end of chapter 4, we find the people discouraged, disheartened and also threatened, and they stop. They stop the work that God sent them into the land to complete. That’s when we open up Ezra 5. Fourteen years have elapsed between the last verse of chapter 4 and the first verse of chapter 5. So for fourteen years the people had gone back just into normal living. They didn’t go back to Babylon. They stayed in the land, but now they had forgotten why they were there. So that’s where we are. I hope that helps.

1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

3 At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” 4 They also asked them this: “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” 5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. 7 They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. 8 Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. 9 Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ 10 We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders. 11 And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. 13 However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14 And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; 15 and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” 16 Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.’ 17 Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

May God encourage us through His Word! It’s so good to gather together as a church family around the Word. We believe that something dynamic happens, something more than just words spoken. We believe that God loves to use His Word to ignite faith and to bring about revival in our hearts, to bring spiritual life. So we pray before we open the Word together, asking that God would do a work only He can do. We have no access to bringing life to our own souls other than God’s kindness and grace.

This week I reflected much upon the spiritual battle that Satan brings to each of us. I especially thought about the many whom I have known who have seemed to have lost the fight. There are people who once testified that Jesus is Lord and Savior who have wandered from Him either in confession or in obedience. This week I mourned as I thought of the many teenagers who grew up in our precious church family, who at one time gave testimonies of faith in Jesus Christ through baptism, who then showed evidence of a genuine love for the Lord Jesus, but then who have been devoured by sin and unbelief. I thought about close friends who served the Lord sometimes for decades as faithful leaders in the church who then suffered shipwreck of their faith. Their souls have become hollow sometimes through open rejection of God, but more often through a superficial affirmation of the Lord.

I wish these instances of apostasy were few and far between. But from the time I was a teenager, God has given me sort of a front row seat to this tragedy over and over and over again. When I think of it, real faces pass through my mind. When real faces pass through my mind, my heart kind of breaks. Each time, I sorrow with an ache over the loss of God’s glory in their life and over the loss of eternal joy in theirs. Each time that this happens, I honestly find myself surprised. Yet I know I should not be surprised, based on what God has told us to expect through His Word. God tells us clearly that the spiritual warfare directed at believers will bring this kind of disaster upon some souls. The apostle Paul speaks to this to a young pastor by the name of Timothy. He says

1 Timothy 1:18-19 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.

He knows that Timothy himself is vulnerable to this kind of catastrophe.

1 Timothy 1:19 …By rejecting this,

By rejecting this Gospel, by not holding fast,

1 Timothy 1:19 …some have made shipwreck of their faith,

Some who are alongside of us, who are members of Jesus’ church and who served the Gospel of Jesus Christ, some have made a shipwreck of their faith. Then he names a couple of them. There are two faces that flash before the Apostle Paul’s mind as he writes this to Timothy.

1 Timothy 1:20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

In Ezra 4, God taught us last week about the opposition that we can expect to face when we commit ourselves to worship Him. Satan hates the worship of God. He hates for God to be given glory. Satan wanted God’s glory for himself and if he couldn’t have it, he doesn’t want God to have it either. So he stands ready to oppose anyone and everyone who seeks after God and who labors for His glory. No one experiences spiritual revival without a war. When God’s people pursue worship there will be a war.

Friends, we must fight if we would win. We are called not to be passive. The grace of God is free, but the grace of God calls us to engage in the battle. Now, in ourselves, we will lose because we are too weak to fight against this foe. But we have a Mighty Warrior who stands at our side and fights with us and for us. It is through Jesus Christ that we are more than conquerors. We need not lose this war, but we must fight with the weapons that our King hands us if we are to win. Beloved, we must not think of this world as a friend to grace to kind of help us on to God.

Satan often uses real people as instruments in his attacks against us to discourage us from Christ, to dissuade us from worship, to diminish our zeal, to damage our faith. But Paul reminds us that our fight is never against flesh and blood. It would be a mistake for us to look at people and say they’re the ones that I’m really in conflict with. They’re the ones that caused this spiritual life of mine to struggle. Paul says this in Ephesians 6.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

It will be impossible to win this war in our own strength. We must be strong in the Lord. So he says here’s how you do that.

Ephesians 6:11-12 Put on the whole armor of God,

I believe this is the Gospel. Take the Gospel of Jesus Christ and put it on every day so

Ephesians 6:11 …that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

His strategies are many. His devices are multitudes. But we’ll be able to stand against each one of the schemes of the devil through the whole armor of God. Then Paul says

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

Don’t put your attention there in these horizontal physical relationships that can be discouraging. Our real fight is

Ephesians 6:12 …against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

This morning, we open up our Bibles to Ezra 5 where we continue to learn how we might be strong in the Lord and how we might stand against the devil’s schemes. At the end of Ezra 4, it seems that the spiritual battle faced by this people of God in Ezra’s day ends with an incredible defeat. It ends with a victory by Satan. God’s people have been overcome and they are disengaged from worship. They have withdrawn from God’s mission and pursuing His glory. As we look at Ezra 5 and then next week at Ezra 6, the main idea that God presents here is to be encouraged. Be strengthened. God loves to bring victory out of defeat. At the moment we think all is lost, God loves to step in and show us His power. Don’t give up hope. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming. When He comes, He is going to reign and if we endure to the end, we will reign with Him in glory. What a future is ours! As we think about this warfare, the first matter that we want to consider is

The Frailty of our Soul: The Reality of Defeat

At the end of Ezra 4, we see the reality of defeat pressing in upon this people.

Ezra 4:24 Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

So it stopped from 534 to 520. For fourteen years the work on this temple is stopped.
Remember as we studied Ezra 4 last week that the devil uses at least five different tools from his toolbox to hinder God’s people from becoming a worshipping community. He works to keep them from rebuilding the Temple where worship in the community would take place. He knows that if the Temple is rebuilt, then this people are one step closer to being a gathered people, a unified people who love God together and who honor Him together. Satan hates for God to receive glory through the unified worship of God’s people. Can I say that again?

Especially as we consider the last two years and how disrupted the church at large throughout the United States, indeed, the world has been, through unified worship. Satan loves to destroy the unified worship of God’s people because God has established His church to be a people so that together, our voices will be lifted up to bring honor to Him. It brings honor to Him in a way that not any of us can do individually, set apart from each other in this holy temple that God is building, called the church.

So here, Satan is not so disrupted that individual Jews would worship God in their own houses. They’re building incredible houses. Satan is after destroying the work of this temple where God’s people would gather together in the name of the Lord and bring honor and praise to the Lord for His great and awesome faithfulness. Satan first used the temptation to compromise with the world as the Samaritans came and offered a deal that they could hardly refuse. When the Israelites refused to compromise, Satan then uses discouragement and fear and slander and finally, physical attacks. He uses physical threats to destroy faith.

This pummeling seems to have accomplished its mission, its purpose. God’s people stop rebuilding the temple and they seem to stop permanently. They had persevered for two years in building the temple. It was difficult labor, but they had completed the altar. They had completed the foundation. Then in 534, they stopped. This was not sort of a break from the work. This doesn’t seem to be a pause in their work. This feels like it’s a permanent stoppage. There is no plan to resume the work that God gave to them when He directed King Cyrus to make a decree for them to return to Jerusalem. They stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius. That’s fourteen years. Think about that. These are people who are still living in Jerusalem. They walk by this unfinished site. By now, they likely have even stopped talking about it. It’s just a distant memory why they’re in the land in the first place, what their first order of business is to be. Here’s the truth. Every person is vulnerable to spiritual defeat. Let’s be alert!

Think of who these folks are. These folks are people who had experienced captivity for seventy years as a result of God’s judgment. The response here in Ezra 5 as they’re giving a response to King Darius, they know it. They remember why they were in captivity. It’s because they had become a disobedient people. Then they had heard the promise that God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah that there is going to be a king by the name of Cyrus and he is going to issue a decree. They heard Cyrus issue a decree and they responded. These were sort of the minority, the faithful. They picked up their families who by now had grown comfortable in Babylon, left their jobs, left their homes, left their friends and relatives and went on this long arduous journey through a desert to get to a land they had never seen. Many of them had never seen it. Why? It was to simply obey the Lord. They believed that the Lord was worthy of worship. They did the hard thing. Yet two years later, after having been people of faith, people who were obedient, people who were passionate and willing to give their lives for the glory of God, now they are people who just stopped the work for fourteen years. Nothing is happening.

What are they doing during this time? Well, they’re doing normal stuff. They’re not heading back to Babylon. They said, “Let’s make the best life here.” So they start building houses. They start businesses. They start having families. They start some t-ball for the kids. That’s what they’re doing. They say, “Well, this is the way life is. Let’s make our best life now.” Again, every week they would walk by this temple site and every week they would neglect even talking about it. The mission was now just a distant echo.

Spiritual defeat puts us on the sidelines of God’s program for this world. That’s what it does. Through defeat, we can become complacent to our called purpose. This is a group of people who once were alive unto faith, alive with a zeal for God, who have now set aside God’s agenda for their life and begin pursuing a self-focused agenda. They started out well, but now they are a people who focus on personal comfort and pleasures. For fourteen years, they languish in apathy toward the Lord and toward His mission.

Let me ask you, friend, has this happened to you? At one point in your life, perhaps you realized that God had set you in this world to be His servant, to be His change agent to bring the Gospel, to make disciples, to connect to His people and church with your gifts, to strengthen that church for the glory of God so that church would be a bright and shining light in the world. Somewhere along the line, there is a spiritual defeat. You’ve grown discouraged and distracted. You perhaps even because of past sin, feel disqualified from ever connecting to God’s mission again. You’re knocked off track. Now, it’s been such a distant memory of what it was like to fully devote yourself to Jesus and to His mission, that you’re comfortable with just simply living a life and making the best of it right now.

Has this happened to you? Brothers and sisters, if this has happened to you, I want you to know you’re not alone. Here are 50,000 Jews who could raise their hand and say, “Yes, that’s what happened to me. I wish it hadn’t happened to me, but it happened to me. For fourteen years, I didn’t even think about what God would have me to do with my life in a way that would pursue His glory. For fourteen years, I just started building houses that were really nice. There is nice paneling and there are new rooms on it. There are all kinds of stuff. We did a lot of fun things and good things, but we really weren’t chasing after God’s glory.” I want you to know if that’s happened, you’re not alone.

I also think of Peter. After denying the Lord three times he thought that the best thing he could do, perhaps out of just a sense of utter spiritual defeat and a sense of unworthiness was to go back to fishing. “I can’t fish for men anymore. I can’t be on that track anymore. That was the track before I denied Jesus. I think I’ll just go back and start my fishing business again.” He goes back to the Sea of Galilee. Do you remember what Jesus, the resurrected Lord, did? He meets Peter and after a long night, Peter hadn’t caught anything. Jesus walks out and says, “Hey, how is it going for you? Peter, why don’t you throw your net onto the other side?” Peter does that and the net gets so full, it’s breaking. Peter jumps out of the boat and then they have breakfast together. Then they have a conversation. It’s frankly a tough conversation for Peter.

John 21:15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

I think He’s pointing to the fish that is frying up in the pan. Do you really love me more than these? Do you really want to invest your life now in fish again? Peter’s heart is broken. There is still a stirring inside of his heart. It’s not as though he completely left a love for God, a love for Jesus. There is a stirring in his heart.

John 21:15 …He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

Get back in the game! I’ve set you apart. I called you as a disciple for a very specific purpose, and it was to complete the mission that I have begun. Be my feet and hands. Feed my lambs, Peter.

John 21:16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

I’ve called you to be part of strengthening my church and building my church. My sheep need tending and I’m calling you. That’s what you’re to invest your life in. Tend my sheep. He is restoring Peter back to his original purpose after his incredible defeat.

John 21:17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Now Peter is really, really, really sad. He is heartbroken because Jesus said this to him a third time.

John 21:17 …Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

If you really love me, ignite your love for me to connection with what you’re doing in this world. Feed my sheep.

Perhaps there has been some spiritual defeat in your life. You would say, “At one time, I was all about doing whatever God would call me to do to strengthen His church and to bring the light of the Gospel to this world. But somewhere along the way there was a kind of defeat that caused me to step back. I come to church, but I still walk by that mission and don’t really ever think about it,” for fourteen years, perhaps for these folks. I don’t really engage. God says, “Do you love me? Then reconnect. I’ve created you in Christ Jesus for a great purpose. It’s a purpose of doing the mission that Jesus Christ has set aside.”

Not everyone experiences this kind of spiritual defeat. I think in the Bible of a guy like Daniel. I don’t see him ever experiencing this. Praise God if you’re one of those. But if you’re one of those who has experienced spiritual defeat, again, know that you’re not alone. Know that there is hope. Know that we all need the grace of Jesus to stand firm and that if we fall Jesus’ grace is available to help us rise up after that fall. I love the hope filled in

Proverbs 24:16 NLT-SE The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.

So the righteous person who has God’s Spirit and who has been granted the gift of life in their soul from God, they fall seven times. That’s sort of like the ultimate kind of falling. They fall even seven times and they just keep getting up because they’re trusting in the Lord and His grace to connect with them again and again and again and again. Here are the applications.

If you fall down, get up again. Humble yourself before the Lord. Say, “Lord, I’m not going to stay on the ground.” He’s reaching out. Take His hand and let Him lift you back up. That’s who He is. Let Him lift you back up so that you can get back in that fight, that you can get back in the game, that you can keep running that race. Why? It’s because Jesus is worthy. He is worthy of the folks for whom He died to redeem, to purchase as His own special possession, that we not still stay on the ground, but we rise up by grace.

The second application is assume that many of God’s people are weak and in need of encouragement. If you are finding yourself standing at this point in your life and you’re engaged. You’re running the race. Look for ways to bring the grace of Jesus to others. Don’t let your relationships become disposable. Lean into your church family, your brothers and sisters. Some of whom, you might have a hard time because they’re actually stumbling. When they stumble, it hurts. When they stumble, it’s easy to look and say, “What in the world are you doing?” But rather than bringing a word of condemnation, come alongside and say, “Will you let me pick you up?” Maybe they won’t. Maybe they will curse us as we seek to try and help them, but we’re going to be there. Before they stumble, as we notice their hand starting to hang down, we’re going to come alongside and say, “Brother, sister, how can I pray for you? What’s happening in your soul?” God would have us to meet together so that we would encourage one another all the more as we see the day drawing near. So in love, I urge you to connect to other brothers and sisters in your church family. Actively open your hearts to help those who have become discouraged or distracted or disobedient to the upward call. Refuse to be one of those who point fingers of condemnation and criticism. Instead, come alongside with intercession and with biblical encouragement.

What did God do in the face of the spiritual defeat of His people? He could have said, “Seventy years, I had you under my severe hand of discipline. I get you back, and now three years later, you’re back where you started. You’re just detached. I’ve had enough!” God would have been righteous and just to say, “I’m going to leave you to your own devices. You want the best life now? I’ll let you have the best life now.” But that’s not what God does. What did God do? God graciously sends His Word. It’s a powerful Word, a Word of life to them.

God’s Powerful Weapon: The Sword of the Spirit

The most powerful weapon we have in our arsenal is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Paul talks about that in Ephesians 6 when he tells us to put on the full armor. A big piece of the full armor is

Ephesians 6:17 …and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

I love that! To overcome spiritual defeat, we need to hear God’s Word again and again and again with new ears and with new hearts. We constantly need our ears renewed because we get wax in our buildup. We need God’s Spirit to pull that wax out so we can hear afresh the Word of God so we don’t become dull to it. There are three parts to taking up the sword of the Spirit so that we might experience personal revival, I believe, that is discovered here in these first couple verses. It begins with God, what God does.

Step 1: God sends His Word

1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.

How did that happen? God sent them. He sent a guy named Haggai and He sent a guy named Zechariah to prophesy, to speak His very Word to this people who were in Judah and Jerusalem. God raises up these two prophets to bring a people who had become discouraged and disobedient, a life-giving Word. It’s a quickening Word. He could have left this people in darkness. The people deserved to be abandoned by God. They had abandoned Him. But God in grace sends His Word.

I want you to notice too, what God did not do to produce a revival, to reengage them in His mission and to reignite their heart for worship. What did God not do? God did not send an incredible worship band to get everybody on their feet, clapping and jumping. I love our worship band! God uses them every Sunday in my heart. But a worship band does not bring revival. We often rely on some things that get us jazzed in order to bring about revival. That’s human manufacturing of something that only God can produce.

Do you know what else God didn’t do? He didn’t say we’re going to have a big healing service and we’re going to do a whole bunch of miracles. That’s not what He did. He sent two guys who if you read them, some people don’t like even reading Haggai and Zechariah because it feels kind of boring to them. These are not the most engaging, although there are some really exciting stuff once you get into it, once you understand it. There is really exciting stuff! But it’s kind of hard to read. He sent these two guys with His Word. Why? Because His Word alone brings life.

He didn’t call for a series of evening meetings where every night, the leader of the meeting is going to make an impassioned, long plea for people to come forward and make decisions, so much that it feels uncomfortable if you’re not making decisions. He didn’t do that either. There is nothing wrong with these things except to say they are not the things that produce revival. The only thing that produces revival is God’s Word. Everything else has to fade into the background. They may be useful and they may not be useful. But the thing that produces revival is the Word.

God’s silence to a people is an awful thing! God’s Word is an amazing gift! When God is silent to a people, we become a people without direction, without promises, without conviction, without life.

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

That is not saying we all need a personal vision statement for our life. That is saying we need a revelation, a word from the Lord. If we don’t have a word from the Lord, if we’ve lost our sense of hearing of the Word of God, there is no restraint. We have no restraint against the devil. We have no restraint against this flesh that is inside of us. We are left to our own. We become like sheep who have gone astray. Each one of us will have turned to his own way. Where there is no word, revelation, prophetic vision, the people just cast off restraint. We’re on our own. But blessed is he who keeps the law. Blessed is he who looks to the law, receives it by faith, and says I want to place myself under it. This is where life is. God’s Word is the primary means by which God breaks our hard hearts open and brings spiritual fire to our soul. I love what Jeremiah writes in reference to what God says about His Word. God says

Jeremiah 23:29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD,

We say, “God, my heart is cold. What do I need?” Is not my word like fire, bringing a zeal, a passion for God’s glory? Then He says

Jeremiah 23:29 …and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

You say, but my heart is so hard. I’ll tell you, there is something harder than a hard heart. It’s the diamond of God’s Word. When God sends His Word to our heart, it will crack open any amount of hardness if we receive it and its ministry. What is necessary if we are to be revived? The answer is the Word of God. God sends Haggai and Zechariah to bring His Word to a people that have grown distant, that have become disconnected from His mission. They have grown disinterested in bringing Him glory through worship.

Jesus, in the parable of the soils, says that God’s Word is like a seed. What is a seed? It’s the thing that contains life. Soil in itself contains no life. It’s the seed that contains life. The seed must be planted in good soil and then that life germinates. Good soil is a soft heart that is ready to receive God’s Word by faith. God’s Word possesses the power to impart spiritual life to every person who receives it. There are no exceptions. There is not one person who says “I am too far gone to have God’s Word have an impact upon my life. I grew up in Sunday School. I’ve heard God’s Word all my life. I don’t think it will have any impact upon me.” If you receive God’s Word by faith, it will bring life, fruitfulness. It will bring a miracle to the soul. This is God’s means.

In Ezra’s day, God was still writing His Book. In our day, God has completed His revelation to us through His Son who is the living Word and then through the completion of His written Word that tells us of His Son. The Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 2 for instance, says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, people who wrote underneath the inspiration of God. Once a foundation is laid, you don’t need to keep laying a foundation. You build off the foundation. All of us become living stones building ourselves by the Spirit into a holy temple unto the Lord. But the foundation has been laid. Jesus Christ Himself is the chief cornerstone.

If God has completed the written record of His Word, does God still send His Word to us? The answer is yes! He graciously gives us His Word as it’s written down. He gives us His Word not through new prophets and new apostles, but now through gifted people in the church who teach and proclaim the Word of God to us. This is why Paul is so adamant in his last letter to Timothy. He is giving Timothy some final instructions. I love this! He says

2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

All of this is sort of a setup to give a three word command. So the setup is really important. The setup kind of causes us to sort of tremble. He says

2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead,

We’re all going to stand before Him to give an account. I’m charging you

2 Timothy 4:1 …and by his appearing and his kingdom:

This is His appearing in glory, as He said He would. He will establish His kingdom completely. I’m charging you now. What is your mission, Timothy? He says, “Here is what I’m charging you.”

2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word;

That’s your mission. That’s what I’m giving you to bring about a revival in your church. Preach the word!

2 Timothy 4:2 …be ready in season and out of season;

Do it in season, when people want to hear the Word. “Pastor, we can’t get enough of the Word. Tell us more of the Word.” Do it out of season. Do it when the people say, “We’re tired of hearing the Word. Why don’t you do a skit, instead? Why don’t you give us something that is practical? Give us something to help us with our life right now.” Paul says, no, preach the Word. It’s the only access to spiritual life, to spiritual revival, whether it’s in season or whether it’s out of season. When it’s out of season, it’s going to be hard, but do it. As you preach the Word, here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to

2 Timothy 4:2 …reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Don’t do it with a condemning spirit. Don’t do it with a spirit that somehow makes the people think that you’re above and immune to any of the dangers that you are talking about.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

They will wander off into myths that are made by man. They’re really interesting and they seem really relevant. When that happens, there is no hope for life because all those are dead seeds. You can plant them in the best of soil and there will be no fruit. None! There is only one seed that brings life and that is the Word of God. So Timothy, preach the Word.

How are we to understand the days when God’s people will not endure sound doctrine, they will not endure teaching of the Word? I think we understand it the way Isaiah did just prior to the Babylonian captivity, where people weren’t wanting to listen to Isaiah and Jeremiah. Remember that great encounter that Isaiah had with God when he sees the Lord lifted high in the temple. The glory of His robe is filling the temple. There are these seraphim who all have these six wings.

Isaiah 6:3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Isaiah responds and he sees a vision of the holiness of God.

Isaiah 6:5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;

Then an angel takes the scepter and there is a hot coal. He burns it against Isaiah.

Isaiah 6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Who will go out to the people with my message? Who will go for us?

Isaiah 6:8 …Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

He said, “Okay. I’m going to send you with my message. But Isaiah, know this. I’m sending you to a people that have hard hearts. They’re not going to listen to you. That’s part of my judgment upon them. I’m actually hardening their hearts so that I’ll be glorified even in this purpose of my Word, which is a judgmental purpose of the Word.” God’s purposes are all mysterious and that’s why we exult in His grace. But He says

Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

God is righteous and He would be right to withhold His Word from us. That is why we must never take lightly that God’s Word is present and it’s active, when it is active in our lives. Because God may send a judgment of withholding the Word from us. He did that in Amos’ day. Do you remember Amos? God said through Amos

Amos 8:11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.

Think about that! How tough would it be to live in a day of a famine? We have some supply chain issues and we run to the stores and we take everything we can because we’re afraid. That’s what people do. What if there is a real famine when literally there is no food and people are starving? I’m thankful that I’ve never had to live through that and I pray I don’t. It would be terrible! But here, God says that when He sends a famine, it’s not something like food or lack of water. That would be bad, but it’s something far worse. That’s what God is saying. “The kind of judgment I’m bringing to people is far worse than a physical famine, where food is scarce and water is not available.” What could be worse than that? “My judgment is upon this people and I’m sending them a famine of God’s Word.”

What does He mean by that? He doesn’t mean that the physical Word of the Scripture is not available. What He means is He is sending a famine where He is not opening the hearts of people. So even though there is a copy of God’s Word in every house, a copy of God’s Word in every church, it’s a famine because no one is hungry for it. No one is willing to eat it. That’s His judgment upon a people. The only way we’re hungry for God’s Word is by His grace. He says, “I’m going to withdraw that grace. You don’t want me? I’ll let you not be hungry for my Word, which is the only hope that y’all have of life.” He says this and it’s a fearful thing!

Amos 8:12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.

What they’re seeking is not really the Word of the Lord. They say they want the Word of the Lord, but they don’t find it because they’re not really seeking it humbly. They want a word of the Lord that echoes what they want to hear, what their itching ears desire to hear.

Sometimes people ask the question, is revival near to the church in the United States? Some people believe so and some are bold at predicting it. I’ve had a couple of these conversations in the last couple years with the pandemic, with folks who are absolutely convinced revival is coming. I pray so, but I have to tell my friends that I don’t think so. I don’t see it.

I am always mindful of a time when I was a student at Moody Bible Institute. We had Pastor Leonard Ravenhill come to speak at our Missions Conference. At the time, Pastor Leonard Ravenhill was pretty well known as the guy who spent all of his life preaching about revival and prayer. I had read his books. He was a really, really amazing servant of the Lord. I was so excited to hear him! There was a student that was given the opportunity to introduce him to the student body at Moody. As the student introduced him, he said, “Pastor Leonard Ravenhill has come to speak and he is an expert on revival.” Then he went on to say, “I believe revival is really near. I believe we are seeing the shakings of the ground of the church right now.” He went into kind of a long dissertation. At the end he said, “So let’s get ready for revival!” Everybody cheered.

Then Pastor Leonard Ravenhill comes and he enters the pulpit. He has a really long pause of silence. As he finally opens his Bible, he looks at us and he says, “I appreciate this young man’s zeal, but I could not disagree with this young man more.” Wow! Now he had our attention. He just kind of gave an open rebuke to a guy who was a really great guy. The young guy who was speaking was really zealous. But Pastor Ravenhill said, “I couldn’t disagree with this young man more.” He went on to talk about some things that you would expect if revival is near. Two of those are seen here. It’s what we see anytime there is revival.

One is that when revival is near, God’s people are humbling themselves before the Lord, considering their ways, and repenting of sin. We say, “My life is so far from what God would have me to live, the way I think, the habits of my life, the priorities, the values. When revival is near, what we see is a mourning over our own sin.

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

There is this revival. The second thing that comes is there is a genuine hunger, a deep hunger to say I want to hear more of God’s Word. I want to hear less of the world and all of its messages and I want to hear more of God’s Word that gives life to my soul, that helps me see His glory. That’s what I’m passionate about. As I look at the landscape of Christianity in America, I just don’t see that. I wish I could. If you have evidence of that, I would be the first to rejoice in it because I want it.

It’s right for us to pray for personal spiritual revival. I believe personal spiritual revival is accessible to any one of us. I believe that. That’s why we’re going through Ezra. It’s right for us to pray that we would have influence on our brothers and sisters then as we experience revival together in our own church family. I believe that’s possible. I believe that’s within reach. It’s right for us to pray for a national revival. But we’re not more spiritual because we believe it’s going to happen. There are times when God sends revival and there are times when He doesn’t send revival to a land. Revival is sovereign. That’s why it requires such humbling in order to receive it. So God sends His Word.

Step 2: God’s people receive the Word by faith

2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem,

The people heard it. They received it by faith. Then they acted upon God’s Word in obedience. God’s people listening to God’s Word brings about the gracious blessing of the Lord. Paul notes with joy the Thessalonians, who had this same kind of receptivity. He said this is why I’m so excited about this church!

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

It’s the Word of God with authority, with power. They were placing themselves under it. It is this work that is at work in believers. It’s powerfully changing and transformative in you believers. That’s why Paul is excited about this Thessalonian church. The question is not how much are we in the Word? The question is how much of the Word is in us? Are we receiving it implanted? Jesus tells that parable of the sower where three different kinds of people received the same seed as the fourth. But these three kinds of people, perhaps they received more of the seed, but all the seed poured into the hard soil and the rocky soil and the thorny soil. What happened? There was no fruit, no revival, no life. The power of the seed was the same. It’s the condition of the heart.

God says if we want spiritual revival, the first thing we do is we humble ourselves before the Lord and acknowledge our sin. Confess our sin before Him and then we open up our hearts and say, “Lord, soften my heart. Allow your Word to be like a hammer against my heart to open this stony heart and make me soft to receive this life giving Word. This Gospel that has come through Jesus Christ and through the apostles and prophets and is delivered now unto me.” This is why James would say

James 1:21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness

That’s repentance and confession.

James 1:21 …and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

It’s able to bring revival. So immediately, when they hear the word of Zechariah and Haggai, the people respond. They receive the Word and they are changed. They are quickened. They act on the Word. They begin to reengage with God and His mission. So they receive it by faith, but then they act upon it.

Step 3: God’s people act on the Word

So what do we do? What’s our application? I would encourage us all, let’s take time to consider our ways. One of the things that Haggai the prophet kept saying over and over was consider your ways. Take an evaluation of your life. Is our life in alignment with the values, the priorities, the habits, the words, the behaviors, the relationships that would honor the Lord Jesus? Consider your ways! Zechariah would say, “Return to me,” thus says the Lord, “and I will return to you.” Take some time to consider our ways so that then we will be able to receive the Word by faith and apply it.

One of the charges that God gives a pastor like Timothy is to deliver the Word. It’s to deliver seed to you every Sunday. That’s the goal. I want you to go out, if you have your hands, I want your hands to be full of the seed of the Word of God. That’s life giving stuff right there. So you leave here ideally, hopefully, with a handful of seed. You go out and as you talk to some folks, you get jostled around and some of the seed falls down on the carpet as you get down there. Then you get out to the parking lot and there is a crack maybe in the parking lot. You stumble. You get in the car and guess what? You don’t have any seed in your hand. That’s what happens to us. We don’t take time to say I have to hold onto that seed and then I need to take some time. Maybe it’s ten minutes over lunch. Maybe it’s a half hour later with my family or my wife or a Christian friend, brother or sister, but I want to take some time. I have seed. Lord, I want you to plant it. It’s me and you first talking about it, but then it’s talking in community. How can we take this seed and get it implanted in our soul? This is what will bring us revival. Let’s talk about it. Take time to consider your ways, I urge you, and watch what God does. Well, time is nearly gone here, but I want to just say two things.

Satan’s Relentless Assault: The Tool of Discouragement

Pastor Josh is preaching next week and he’s going to do such a wonderful job on the last part of chapter 5 and 6. He didn’t know that until today. (Laughter!) But look at verse 3.

3 At the same time

The people are being revived. At the same time the people are hearing the Word of the Lord through Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet and are responding to God. They’re being revived and they’re starting to rebuild the temple. At the same time, here is Tattenai. Tattenai doesn’t seem to be nearly as hostile as the Samaritans in chapter 4, but this is what he is doing.

Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” 4 They also asked them this: “What are the names of the men who are building this building?”

He’s saying, “Who gave you permission? I want a list of names.” When you’re doing something and someone comes up to you, especially an authority figure, and says “Who gave you permission? And give me a list of names,” it’s usually not because they want to send a Thank You note to all the people who are working so hard. It’s a subtle threat. I might put a stop to this, is the idea. Tattenai even sends a long letter to Darius because I think he doesn’t believe the Jews that they actually had permission from King Cyrus and he was checking it out. We know that also there is a bit of that kind of conflict still that is stirring after they start back with revival. Because again, in verse 3

3 At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai

If you’re looking for names to name your children, here are a couple.

“Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” 4 They also asked them this: “What are the names of the men who are building this building?”

Here is the reversal.

5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews,

God’s favor was upon this people who were being revived and being obedient. So it didn’t keep them from continuing in the work and the mission that God had given them to do. They were able to continue.

and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

Even though this discouragement came against them at the exact time that they were beginning to be revived, they continued to press in through faith. They continued to obey the Lord and the Lord blessed them. The application is let’s seek the Lord’s blessing above all else. If the eye of the Lord is upon us, it doesn’t matter who else would be against us. What we need more than anything is the blessing of the Lord. If we have the blessing of the Lord, it doesn’t really matter what other blessing we have from anyone else. We need the blessing of the Lord. Often He uses the blessing, like of King Darius, like of Cyrus earlier, but what we need more than anything is to seek and obtain the blessing of the Lord. The last matter regarding spiritual warfare is so hope-filling.

God’s Ultimate Victory: The Coming of the King

I believe the coming of the King is on the minds of this people because if you read Haggai and especially Zechariah, you’ll see that the coming of the King is central. As they are doing the work, they are anticipating a King that is going to come that sets everything right. Right now, the people of Israel have no king in the land. They’re not even thinking about a king. They’re wondering are we still a nation, even? They’re not really a nation. They’re just building a temple. That’s all that is happening at this point. They have been given a promise by God that they would be a nation and that they as a nation would be a blessing to all the peoples of the world. They’re not even seeing that yet. But in hope they’re saying, “We’re doing something to accomplish what God has purposed because God is faithful to every promise every time.” Seeing and keeping our eyes to this very day to the ultimate victory of God is so very important. Often at times, it seems like in the first quarter and the second quarter that Satan is actually winning. We wonder, will God actually be able to pull out a win? The answer is yes. How do we know that? I want to read Zechariah 9. This is what the people have been thinking about.

Zechariah 9:9-10 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem;

In other words, you’re not even going to have to worry about your enemies anymore.

Zechariah 9:10 …and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations;

He is going to bring absolute peace.

Zechariah 9:10 …his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Friends, it is so important for us to keep our eyes on the second coming of Jesus Christ. In the first coming of Jesus, He came humble, riding on the foal of a donkey, ushering Himself all the way to the cross, where He shed His blood so that we might be forgiven, so that we might be justified, declared righteous by God. In His second coming, He is going to be coming still humble, but victorious, still gentle, but mighty. At that point, everything that is wrong with this world will be made right. Everybody who will oppose God will be defeated and there will be peace. His rule will go from sea to shining sea.

Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.

Beloved, a future day is coming! God did not abandon His promises to Israel. He does not abandon His promise to us. Indeed, in this spiritual war, God allows Satan to win some battles, but Jesus wins the war. When He wins the war, when He comes at His appointed time, in the wisdom of His purpose and plan, when He wins the war, war ceases forever and ever and ever. There will be no more mourning. There will be no more sorrow. There will be no more sin. There will be no more fighting and no more conflict, no more brokenness, no more death because He will have put away the first order of things forever and ever and ever. What a strength is that promise! We know every promise every time He fulfills faithfully. What a strength that brings to the spiritual war today! Let’s bring it forward. I close with the Apostle Paul’s words as he thinks of his own fight.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Be encouraged! God loves to bring victory out of defeat. Do not give up hope. If we endure, we will also reign with Him.