1. Fasting is required for revival (8:21-23)
2. Faith is required for revival (8:24-30)
3. Follow-through is required for revival (8:31)
In just a minute, we’re going to read Nehemiah 9:5-6. But that’s not our text tonight. That is the result of our text tonight. Our text is actually going to be a few pages before that in Ezra 8:21-31.
NEHEMIAH 9:5-6
The verses we just read are the beginning of a chapter-long song of praise and confession before the Lord. It came as the result of the experience of true revival in Israel. In Nehemiah 8, Ezra had led the people through a series of revival meetings. Those meetings were incredible. They were incredible because they were real. They weren’t artificially ginned up fits of emotional frenzy. There is no precedent for anything like that being from God in the Bible. Contrary to what most people think, that’s not revival. Revival is renewal. It only comes from the solid exposition of the Word of God and always results in repentance and renewal of relationship with God. It is God-started, God-centered and God-sustained. It comes from the preaching of God’s Word, continues with the study of God’s Word, and carries on with the proclamation of God’s Word to everyone we meet. Let me describe to you one of Ezra’s revival meetings. Look back a couple of pages to Nehemiah 8:1-8:
NEHEMIAH 8:1-8
Where was the music? Where were the quartets and the groups and the special guest singers? If they didn’t have any good singing, how did Ezra work up their emotions? He read to them. As a matter of fact, he read a lot to them. He opened up Genesis 1:1 and read at least all the way through Deuteronomy 34:12. He probably read more than that. And you think my preaching is long and boring. But what was the people’s reaction? Look back at verse 6.
NEHEMIAH 8:6
All that emotion just from reading the Book. But he didn’t just stop at reading the Book. Verse 8 says that they read it, interpreted it, explained it, and told them how it applied to their lives—they gave the sense of it. That was their revival meetings. Earlier we saw the result of those meetings. But what got them ready for it? Those people weren’t really that much different than we are. And I can’t imagine just standing up here and reading the Pentateuch to ya’ll. And if I did, I can’t imagine you staying awake, much less hollering Amen and raising your hands. What got them to that place? That place where they were that eager to hear the Word of God? That place where they were that ready for revival? That place where they weren’t looking to be entertained, but were looking for the manifest presence of God in His holy Word? To find that out, we have to go back to Ezra 8. As I said Wednesday night, Ezra and Nehemiah were probably originally one book. And they were more than likely written by Ezra. So, in reality, the revival meetings of Nehemiah 8 and the resulting revival in Nehemiah 9 are really the result of the initial preparation that was made in Ezra 8. Remember where we are in history. Ezra was leading the second group of Jews who were returning to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile. Before heading out on the four-month long journey to Jerusalem, he gathered the exiles at the river of Ahava for a time of preparation for what God had in store for them. There by that river, Ezra laid the foundation for the wonderful revival that was to come. I want you to picture what that revival looked like. Picture the meetings where everyone was so eager to hear God’s Word that they stood in anticipation. Picture the spontaneous and heart-felt responses to the teaching. Picture the true, God-honoring, Christ-centered revival that broke out. Now picture that for us, here. That’s what I want for us here. I want us to experience true revival here at Brushfork Baptist Church. Not some sort of emotional man-centered ecstatic event. But a true, God given, Holy Spirit-driven, sin-confessing, life-changing, world-altering revival. But in order for that to happen, we have to prepare ourselves the way Ezra prepared the people there on the banks of the Ahava river. We need to prepare ourselves by looking at three requirements for true revival. First, fasting is required for revival. Look with me at Ezra 8:21-23:
EZRA 8:21-23
Fasting is required for revival. Oh no—here we go again, talking about fasting. Yes and no. As most of you know, two Sunday nights ago, I called the church to a solemn assembly of fasting and prayer before the Lord. This is our final week. If you choose to participate this week, I would ask that your prayers be focused on asking the Lord for true revival in our church. Scripture is clear that God honors the humble prayers of His people. That’s where Ezra was. As soon as he had gathered up all the people who were going with him to Jerusalem, what was the first thing he did with them? He proclaimed a fast. How much sense does that make? Here they were getting ready to take about a 1000 mile journey and he called them to go without food. You’d think he’d have them load up on good carbs and protein so they’d have plenty of energy for the journey. But those things weren’t on his mind. What was on his mind was humility. Notice in verse 21, he tells the reasons for proclaiming a fast. “That we might afflict ourselves.” “Afflict” is what the word literally means. But it carries the meaning of intentionally bringing affliction for the sole purpose of causing humility. Isn’t that what fasting does? It makes you realize how utterly not in control you really are. How totally dependant you are on the provisions of God. Ezra could see how utterly helpless they really were compared to the hazards of the journey. Can you imagine taking a group of men, women and little children on a 1000 mile walk? And, as we’ll see later on, they were loaded down with gold and silver. Do you think that might attract a few bandits along the way? They weren’t an army. They didn’t even ask for protection by the king’s army. They were on their own. They had a very real understanding of their position. Vulnerable. Helpless. Completely and totally dependent on God. Right down to their most basic need—food. Ezra called them to a place of complete and total dependence on God. The Psalmist asked the question, “What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him?” Have you reached the place where you are completely and totally dependent on God? That’s what He requires for us to be revived. Ezra and the people completely humbled themselves before God. And He answered their prayer. He answered their immediate prayer for safe passage, and He ultimately gave them revival. Fasting is required for revival. So is faith. The second requirement for true revival is faith. Look at verses 24-30:
EZRA 8:24-30
Faith is required for revival. Remember what they were going to do. Their whole purpose for going back to Jerusalem was to reteach the Law of God to the people. Years before, Zerubbabel had brought back the first exiles to rebuild the temple. They started off like a house afire until they got the foundation built. And then they lost heart and quit. It took them 16 years to get started again. But finally they finished. They finished the temple and reinstituted the ceremonial stuff. They had things like the Passover down pat—they just didn’t know the Bible. They didn’t know the Law of God. They were doing like a lot of places today and having church with no Bible. That’s what Ezra was going back to do. He was going back to preach the Word to the people. He was going back to teach them the Law. “But God, Jerusalem is such a long way away.” “What if they won’t listen to me?” “What if they don’t want to leave home?” “What if we get robbed along the way?” What if, what if, what if. You can look all through this passage and you’ll never find a single, “What if.” Why? Because Ezra had faith. He knew what God wanted him to do. That’s pretty simple—God always wants us to teach His Word. And God obviously opened up the door for him to preach it in Jerusalem. That letter from the king made that pretty clear. Ezra saw an open door and he walked in. Did he know exactly what awaited him in Jerusalem? No. But judging by verse 29, he knew that God would get them safely there. He told the 12 people he separated to keep all the valuables with them until they were able to weigh them in front of the priests and Levites at the temple. He knew they would get there. Had God shown Ezra that in a vision? No—then it wouldn’t have been faith. Ezra knew God’s will. He saw God’s open door. He knew God would provide. That’s faith. The kind of faith that acts. The kind of faith that works. The kind of faith that goes. No visions, no guards, no horsemen. Just God’s Word and His faithfulness. What kind of faith do you have? There is no questioning the fact that God wants us to be revived. Do you believe it will happen? Do you believe it enough to walk on without your guards? No guards to protect your feelings? No guards to protect how you might look to other people? No guards to protect the things you need to drop off in the chambers of the house of the Lord? Are you ready to leave all your guards at home? It takes faith to do that. The kind of faith that is required for revival. Fasting and faith are required for revival. But so is follow-through. The third requirement for true revival is follow-through. Look at verse 31:
EZRA 8:31
Follow-through is required for revival. Back in 7:9, it says that they left Babylon on the first day of the month. Then they spent three days fasting and praying by the river. And now they were leaving. The whole thing only took 12 days. They obviously didn’t let any grass grow under their feet. They made their preparations and then they went. Whatever obstacle they came across didn’t matter. If they came to an ambush, it didn’t matter. Revival lay ahead. That was their goal and they knew that God would see them to that goal. All they had to do was move. It was about 1000 miles from where they were to where they were going. One of the most depressing road signs is the one on I-10 where you cross from Louisiana into Texas. The first big green sign you come to says El Paso—999 miles. Have you ever driven through Texas? That state goes on forever! But it seems like forever in a car. Can you imagine walking it? “Dad, are we there yet?” “I gotta go to the bathroom.” “Can I get a snack?” They knew how far it was. They knew how difficult it was going to be. They knew the possibility of thieves and robbers along the way. The easy thing to do would have been to stay back at Ahava and pray. Even fasting would have been easier than taking that trip. But what did they do? They followed through. They started walking. “I’ll really be praying for the revival meetings.” Great! But what are you going to DO about them? Are you going to be there? “I’m really praying that God will do some great things here at Brushfork.” Wonderful. What are you doing to make those great things happen? “I’m praying lots of people are saved during the revival.” Fantastic! How many lost people have you invited? How many have you shared the gospel with? Ezra’s folks could have sat there on the river bank and prayed and fasted for years and they wouldn’t have gotten to be part of any type of revival. They could have been very spiritual and missed the whole thing. “Oh I’m praying so hard for Jerusalem to experience revival.” They did—for 3 days. And then they started walking. They got busy heading in the direction where God wanted them. Step after step. Mile after mile. Day after day. Steady, faithful, consistent—follow-through.
You know, all of this solemn assembly and fasting… all of the prayer and preparation… it all really means nothing if we just stay sitting on the river bank. Do you truly want revival here at Brushfork? Then do something about it. Yes—pray about it. But if that’s all you do, you might still be sitting on the river bank when revival happens in Jerusalem. Ezra wanted to be in Jerusalem when God brought revival to His people. I want to be at Brushfork when God brings revival to His people here. Is that what you want? Then get walking. We’ve spent our three days praying and fasting. Now get busy. You’ve got people to talk to. You’ve got relatives to invite. You’ve got cards to send out. You’ve got phone calls to make. Start walking. Step after step. Mile after mile. Day after day until you get there. And when we get there—what a time it will be! If we’re faithful and God brings us true revival, we’ll have a time in His Word like we’ve never had before. I can’t wait! Can you? Then start walking.
