Ezra 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
2 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ’The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3 ’Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem.
4 ’And every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’ "
5 Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
NAS Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest saying,
2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’This people says," The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt. "’"
3 Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet saying,
4 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?"
5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!
6 "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes."
7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!
8 "Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the LORD.
9 "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.
10 "Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.
11 "And I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands."
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people showed reverence for the LORD.
13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke by the commission of the LORD to the people saying, "’I am with you,’ declares the LORD."
14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.
Introduction
One of the results of backsliding which I briefly mentioned last week is the lost of vision. Personal visions given by God vanish when a person backslide in his relationship with God.
Churches and ministries can lose their God given vision by turning away from God. When I was a young man, there was a church that inspired me. The church was going through a time of revival and scores of young people were being saved. They preached a strong message of Holiness and repentance and the young people were radical for Jesus in their lifestyle. When I was in Bible College I had the privilege to sit under the teaching of the pastor of this church. Something he said in his teaching stick to me since then. He said and I quote “God asked me whether I want a big church or a strong church?” He reply to God then was “Lord I want a strong church!”
It is sad to say; that the church had since turned away from the original vision God has given to them to be a strong church.
Visions disappeared when we turned away from God.
In the book of Ezra chapter 1, King Cyrus gave a decree calling the Jews who were living in exile to return back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. 50 000 Jews responded to the call, returned to Jerusalem with zeal and they started to build the foundation of the temple.
Sixteen years later this was the scenario:
Haggai 1:1
In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest saying,
2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’This people says," The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt. "
The people of God had backslidden and the vision of rebuilding the temple was lost.
It is important for Revival Generation never to depart from God’s vision for us. I felt that in recent time the enemy has been working hard trying to extinguish the Vision of God in Revival Generation.
Today the title of my message is:
Return Back to the Vision
1. Remember the Vision
They started to work on the vision with zeal but the work was hard and they got discouraged. They stopped the work and for 16 years the people forgot. They forgot the reason why they have return to Jerusalem. They settled down in the land while the temple was in ruins. In Haggai Chapter One, through the prophecies of the prophet Haggai, the people remembered the vision.
Paul constantly remind Timothy of the prophecies which was given to him.
1Tim 1:18
2Tim 1:6
Revival Generation, we must remember God’s vision for us as a people. In 1999 December God gave me a vision to raise up a generation of youths who would one day bring the revival fires of God to the ends of the earth.
- I believed that each and every one of you have a God given role and purpose to play in these last days.
- Through the last 5-6 years God has been showing many of you what he wants you to do.
- I remembered in the PG camp, Jonanthan was crying and crying for a long long time because he suddenly received an inner vision of souls going to hell.
Oh my dear friends do you still remember what God has called us to do as a revival generation? Oh have you forgotten?
REMEMBER THE VISION
If you are a new believer, I want you to know that God wants to raise you up to fulfill His purpose and if you will yield your life into His hands He would make you into an awesome vessel for Him.
2. Reconsider our ways
Two times God said to the people to “Consider your ways”
a. The people had settled into their own comfort zones.
b. Their focus is on their own needs but some how their needs are never met.
It is easy for us to move back into our little comfort zones and forget that there is a generation that is perishing. It is easy for us to come to church and be comfortable with our little cliques or clubs here and there and forget that God had called us to bring hope to a hopeless generation.
The people started to focus on their own material needs, building for themselves beautiful houses, but some how their needs were never met. They earn money just to put into pockets where there are holes. You see
God started to withheld his blessings from them.
Maybe you are so caught up with your school work that you forget what God had called you to do. The Lord is saying to you reconsider your ways!
3. Renew our commitment (Verse 12)
The people heard the word of the Lord and they renewed their commitment to the vision once again.
I believe that God is calling us as a people to renew our commitment to the vision again.
It means this:
If you have stopped praying for a lost generation , you will commit to start praying again.
If you have stop evangelizing you will start again.
If you have fallen into sin, you will repent before the Lord.
If you have grown stagnant, and lost the personal vision God has given to you, you will commit yourself to be discipled and to grow.
4. Receive a fresh empowerment (Verse 14)
The people returned to the vision and they received a fresh empowerment of the Spirit.
I believe that tonight the Lord is going to pour out a fresh empowerment on us. I have learnt that God’s task can only be fulfilled through his empowerment. Those of you who have yet to receive the baptism of the Spirit I want you to come out tonight we are going to pray for you.
Conclusion
Let us respond to God’s call to return back to the vision. Let us be like the people in Haggai’s generation who heed the voice of God and repent of their backsliding. Let us come before God tonight in a spirit of brokenness.
