Lord, Please Send A Revival!

The scripture for today's message is from the Book of Ezra Chapter 10:1-6. Let's all read that section together; (verses are from the CSB version).

1 While Ezra prayed and confessed, weeping and falling face-down before the house of God, an extremely large assembly of Israelite men, women, and children gathered around him. The people also wept bitterly.

2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, responded to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the surrounding peoples,ad but there is still hope for Israel in spite of this.

3 Therefore, let’s make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

4 Get up, for this matter is your responsibility, and we support you. Be strong and take action!”

5 Then Ezra got up and made the leading priests, Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said; so they took the oath.

6 Ezra then went from the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, where he spent the night.* He did not eat food or drink water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

Ezra grieved over the nation of Israel because of their sinful ways. In this passage of scripture that we just read, Ezra weeps and lays everything out before the feet of God. Scripture also goes on to say that Ezra confesses everything to the Lord. Through Ezra, the entire nation of Israel repented and returned back to the will of God. Israel experienced what we could call today, a "nationwide revival."

Now, I want to ask everyone this question. Can one person really make a difference? Yes, he or she can. The Bible shows example after example of this very thing happening. The Bible is full of people who made a difference and brought change by believing in what was right and just. They also made a difference by standing firm on God's holy principles.

In the years of the early Christian church, many Christ-followers were horribly persecuted, many were killed and became martyrs for the cause of Christ. There are some who become well known for their martyrdom. One example was the Apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament. Paul was beaten, chained, jailed (several times) and eventually beheaded in 64 A.D for his faith. Another example was the apostle Peter. Peter requested to be crucified upside down, because He felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus Christ.

Now, many other Christians who sacrificed their lives for Jesus Christ were only known to a few people. Some even died with no one to mourn their passing. However, though our Heavenly Father knew their names. God knew the suffering that they endured and the ultimate sacrifice that they gave for the Christian faith. Now, there were many others (pastors and missionaries) who didn't die for the cause of Christ and they lived long lives, dedicating themselves to God and to the ministry. For example: there's Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, Martin Luther, Dwight L Moody, Adrian Rogers, and Mother Theresa of Calcutta. These great men and women of God brought great change into the world and many others to salvation through to their preaching, servant leadership, Christian service and unwavering steadfastness on biblical truth.

Ezra from the scripture that we just read was also a great leader and a powerful man of God. His heart was completely focused on God. Ezra set his life's work to seeing the work of God completed and by doing so this work changed the heart of the nation of Israel.

Any of us today could be used in a similar way just like Ezra was. We can all be the agents of change in our own sphere of influence. We can do this, by living our lives in obedience to the Lord and to following His will.

We all know that we currently live in a very dark and evil modern day. As Christians we are being ridiculed and persecuted in every way possible. Our Christian churches are being destroyed from within and severely attacked from without. We all need to band together as one and say enough is enough to this evil and immoral debauchery that we are experiencing today. We, as Christians, all need to lay everything down that we have before the Lord and say, "Lord, please bring a great revival to our world today!!!"

So, friends, before I close this short message, please pray and ask God to intervene and to turn our entire planet around. Pray and ask God for a worldwide revival and a spiritual awakening that planet Earth has never seen. Also, please pray and ask God to use all of us to bring that revival, salvation, and change to our lost and dying world. AMEN