The Provisions of Revival

And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods; and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.

I. The People

Ezra 1:3 NKJV

Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem.

A. The workers

Colossians 3:23 NKJV

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

B. The givers

Everyone gave something. verse 6

II. The Product

A. Sacrificial

2 Samuel 24:24 NKJV

Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

B. Willingly given

2 Corinthians 9:7 NKJV

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

III. The Privilege

One thing that I have always notices is that it is typically those who give the most who are the ones less likely to gets upset and most likely to work.

Luke 12:34 NKJV

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

A. Return from exile

The giving led to the start of revival.

B. Restoration of God’s house

This was more than a place for Israel, this was a place for God.

I understand that God does not dwell in temple made with hands. He dwells in our hearts. This building is not the church. Yet, they way we respect the building is often indicative of how we respect God.

I we are to experience revival, we must make a place for God in our lives.

American churches are filled with cultural christianity instead of genuine disciples of Christ. We fit God into Sunday morning worship, maybe Sunday School, and the occasional special event. Yet, God seeks a place in our lives.

You may say, I fit God into my life, I just don’t need the body of Christ. However, the Bible teaches otherwise. To restore God’s house (Revival) means to restore our hearts and return to our first love.

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