When Revival Comes
Nehemiah 8:2-16
When Revival Comes
So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.
Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.
Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve.”
Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the scribe to give attention to the words of the Law. They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make booths”—as it is written.
So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves booths on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim.
Scriptural revival has always begun after prayer and usually as result of a small minority of concerned Christians uniting for that specific purpose. Think of the revivals witnessed throughout church history that have swept entire nations, even continents. Remember that each began in prayer meetings when a few dared to band together and cry out for the power of God. That was the progress of the revival which began with the Jews in Babylonian exile during the days of Nehemiah and Ezra.
The captives had begun to prosper in captivity, a great tragedy since they chose to be at home both in the provinces of Babylon and in the cities of Persia instead of longing for Jerusalem. That situation would have no doubt continued had not Artaxerxes been moved by the Holy Spirit of God at work through Nehemiah. Nehemiah, you will recall, was burdened to call for a rally of just a few who might be willing to go back to Jerusalem where they would construct the walls, rebuild the Temple and establish once again the scriptural ordinances of the True and Living God. Ezra also captured something of the vision of Nehemiah and led a number of the exiles back to Jerusalem.
Nehemiah led the rebuilding effort, but it was Ezra who led the people again into the presence of God. Ezra the scribe was the human instrument God designated to bring revival to His people. Study this singular revival with me and notice what happens when revival comes. Discover, together with me, the universal impact of revival—that it affects the preacher, the preaching and the people. Then, having studied the revival, seek the face of the True and Living God that He may revive His work in our day.
Revival Affects the Preacher. The people were present to worship, not to view the artefacts of a previous civilisation. How many congregations come to hear the pastor extol the virtues of the archaeologists and to talk about the artefacts uncovered which are identified with civilisations of the past? What a tragedy when people are compelled to sit and listen to a commentary on textual criticism from some pseudo-scholar. How many congregations come, much less invite others to come with them, to hear the speaker extol the latest economic theory or to recite the praises of the latest sociological fad. To have revival it is necessary to return to God’s Word giving the people the clear teaching of the Book. Long years ago a godly man wrote, The hungry sheep look up and are not fed.
Revival is always associated with biblical preaching. Doctrine is nothing save biblical truth. Thus the doctrines of the Word are but the great truths of the Living God. Whenever an age witnesses a dearth of doctrinal preaching the people are ignorant of the will and the Word of God. Biblical preaching is always doctrinal preaching. I will be so bold as to suggest that without exposition of the Word of God there is an ignorance of the mind of God. This is the reason we have churches condoning marriage for sodomites and lesbians, substitution of social engineering for biblical justice, and crying for reducing the whole of the Faith to a meaningless conformity to the fad of the moment.
We ordain women in contravention of the express will of God and justify our actions by our ignorance of what God has said. We deliver economic reviews of the federal budget and wonder why the people are not more generous toward the work of God. We promote Yoga classes as Christian and marvel that our members justify wickedness. We pool our ignorance and wonder why the people of God are not wise toward God. The cause for our growing distress is in no small measure due to the failure of preachers to preach the Word of the Living God.
The preacher will be scriptural. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law … Ezra opened the book [Nehemiah 8:2, 3, 5].
Revival came to this dispirited people because Ezra, the man of God, was committed to preaching from the Book of God, to reading the Word of God in the hearing of the people. We are convinced by the Word that faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ [Romans 10:17]. That is how you were saved! That is how we are called to divine service. That is how we sustain spiritual life. Remember Jesus’ words. It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” [Matthew 4:4].
In revival the preacher refuses to engage in fruitless speculation, but instead dares deliver the whole counsel of God. A revived preacher does not waste time parroting the latest economic theory, the newest conjecture of social thought, the most recent hypothesis of meaningless theological drivel, or pandering to the desires of the multitude. Instead, the revived man of God is concerned to ensure that his listeners know the mind of God as clearly revealed in the Word of God.
The preacher will be steadfast. Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion [Nehemiah 8:4]. Ezra stood at a pulpit. There was no search for meaningful dialogue, whatever that may be. Ezra spoke boldly, confronting the people with their own sinful behaviour and pointing them to the way which would prove pleasing in the sight of the True and Living God. The revived preacher will not waver from declaring God’s will, though he knows that it will be painful to confront those he loves in truth. He will dare stand before his beloved congregation and challenge them: Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth [Galatians 4:16]?
Whenever the people of God are confronted in their sin there is the possibility that unspiritual individuals among them (part of the mixed multitude or the rabble) will strike out against their antagonist. Since they cannot reach God they will lash out at the one they consider their tormentor—the preacher. The revived preacher will not shrink from confronting such wickedness, but having weighed the consequence of speaking the truth the man of God will declare the mind of God.
It is not easy to preach the Word of God. Paul warned young Timothy that the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths [2 Timothy 4:3,4]. The Apostle continued by providing him with sound counsel for such wicked days. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry [2 Timothy 4:5].
I know from experience that there will always be someone within the congregation to condemn the preaching of the Word as too strong. There has not been a church I have pastored that did not have at least one such person in attendance, and usually that person was in a position of responsibility. Their own wilful wickedness confronted by the Word of God, they hide behind the mask of concern for young Christians as they complain about the strong words of the preacher. “Preach God’s love,” they whine. “Don’t be so harsh,” they whimper. Given the opportunity these foes of the Faith will endeavour to destroy the man of God through calumny and caustic censure in the Name of righteousness. The man of God, if he is revived, will stand unyielding to all such pitiful demonstrations of opposition.
The preacher will be spiritual. Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength [Nehemiah 8:10]. A revived preacher will be a spiritual preacher. A spiritual preacher is a balanced preacher. Nehemiah saw the hand of God at work in every facet of life and was able to instruct the people accordingly. The day was sacred, so the people were encouraged to enjoy choice food and sweet drinks. Joy was to seize each worshipper, even as it should in this day.
We can become so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. I realise that many of the professed saints of God are so thoroughly identified with this dying world that they are indistinguishable from earth dwellers. I also realise that some people can so focus on what shall be that they forget they are responsible to live here and now.
The revived preacher will be a balanced preacher, though that balance at the first may seem radical. The reason biblical balance appears radical is that we who are redeemed have lived subnormal for so long that when the normal Christian life begins it will seem supernormal. The normal Christian life is to be a balanced life, but it will appear to the lethargic saints of Laodicea that the normal Christian life is supernormal. The revived preacher will instruct the people to be spiritual, and the spiritual life is a life which remembers that we are living souls possessing bodies with a spirit which is created to know God.
Sometimes, the most spiritual activity you can engage in is to wrestle with your children, or play a game of tag, or go for a hike. Through refreshing the body you permit your spirit to be likewise refocused. The whole of the Christian life seems to me to be one of constantly seeking the balance which will glorify the Lord. Care for your body, but don’t become focused on your body. Care for your spirit, but don’t become so focused on the spirit that you neglect your health. Care for your soul, but don’t become so intent on caring for your emotional health that you neglect your walk with Christ.
Revival Affects the Preaching. The revived preacher will have a new message. Perhaps the words spoken will not be so terribly different from before, but the message will be marked by an undefined, though very real, quality which can only be produced by the presence of God’s powerful Spirit.
The preaching creates conviction. Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground [Nehemiah 8:6]. Canadians are a reserved people. Occasionally we manage to utter a holy grunt, perhaps even nodding our head in a show of unrestrained enthusiasm. Worship among the revived saints before the Water Gate that day was somewhat different, however. The people lifted their hands and … [shouted] “Amen! Amen!” They also bowed down and worshipped … with their faces to the ground.
Ezra praised the Lord, the Great God and the people were convicted of His holiness and of His majesty. This is nothing less than an anticipation of that which Jesus promised His disciples when He spoke of the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement [John 16:7-11].
Why do we not rejoice before the Lord when the Word is preached? Isn’t it because we do not meet the Lord? Why do we sit silent before the Word of God? Surely it is not because we are awed by God? All that we encounter in the Word who see the Lord fall before Him and few among us in this day have fallen to our knees to cry “Holy!” Ultimately, it seems evident that we are unawed by God because we have no conviction of His might or majesty. He is a God we can summon in time of need, but we are unconvinced of His true character.
The preaching brings contrition. For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law [Nehemiah 8:9b]. Years ago as I began to preach I read a sermon by a powerful preacher of the Word. That godly man was a leader among the Baptists of Texas during the formative years of that great state. He wrote an excellent summary of the various Books of the Bible. In his treatment of James he made the following comments.
It is greatly to be feared that much of the preaching of modern times has lost its depth and power. The plough does not run deep enough. There is no deep conviction of sin. There is no mourning for sin such as we find set forth in Zechariah 12. We find our way to a modern profession of religion, dry-eyed. There is no weeping in it. And hence, feeling ourselves to be but little sinners, we need only a little Saviour.[1]
If Dr. Carroll made that observation of churches at the nadir of the nineteenth century what would he say of us on the cusp of the twenty-first century? When did you last see an individual respond to the preached word with tears and deep sorrow for their sin? When did contrition for our wicked rejection of Christ and His will last mark our turning to the Faith? The passage Dr. Carroll was reviewing was this: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up [James 4:7-10]. This admonition was written to professing Christians, challenging them to show contrition before the Lord. Revived preaching brings deep contrition. You will not need to work up sorrow, it will be genuine and you cannot hide it. However, to continue without knowledge of your sin against the Lord is tacit acknowledgement that your sin is awful and deserving of judgement.
The preaching produces commitment. Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them [Nehemiah 8:12]. Where there is conviction of God’s greatness and contrition over sin against the True and Living God we will shortly witness commitment to God. Perhaps the greatest evidence of the absence of revived preaching in our day is our lack of commitment. Few of us are willing to commit ourselves to much of anything. We hesitate to make a commitment to a particular church, much less to commit ourselves to live wholly for God.
Ours is a consumer-oriented society. We go to church with the same attitude we carry to the supermarket. We select churches with much the same attitude with which we buy corn flakes or purchase an oil change for our car. We see the church as an organisation to join and we feel free to take whatever we wish without concern over what we invest. If entertainment in one church fails to satisfy our desires we can always go down the street to another church willing to meet our demands. We believe we are spiritual when we reduce the whole of the doctrine of the church to an amorphous mass. All are alike and all teach pretty much the same thing, so why make a commitment to any particular church? Such an attitude invites disaster for unthinking saints.
Instead of bemoaning differences between the various denominations, we should rejoice that God has provided emphases sufficient to meet our needs. I could never be an Anglican, but I rejoice at the stately worship which characterises that communion. I would never join the Presbyterian Church, but I rejoice at the emphasis upon an educated ministry Presbyterians have maintained over the years. Had the evangelical churches of the nineteenth century enjoyed more vibrant worship, remembering their own distinctive heritage, there never would have been a Pentecostal movement. Had the Pentecostal churches maintained their holiness tradition there never would have been a Charismatic movement. These distinctions don’t disturb me, but they cause me to rejoice that God is greater than any one of us and greater than the whole of us.
However, because I rejoice in the distinct emphases that each of these movements bring to the Faith do not for a moment think that I will depreciate adherence to sound doctrine. We are still responsible before the Lord to commit ourselves first to Christ, then to His Word, and only then to the fellowship. The first disciples devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer [Acts 2:42].
I wish to help you at this point, walking you through this particular verse. You are responsible first to commit yourself to some great cause, and that cause is the Faith of Christ the Lord. Having committed yourself to the Faith you are responsible to commit yourself to the fellowship—to the congregation wherein God Himself directs you. Then, after commitment to Christ and to the particular congregation wherein His Spirit has directed you, you are responsible to commit yourself to worship and to prayer. There is no such creature as an unchurched Christian to be found among the pages of the New Testament. As soon as the individual trusted Christ he or she was baptised and brought into the Body of believers and there assumed responsibility within the congregation.
Moreover, if Christ places us within the particular congregation He chooses we must know that He also gifts us as He chooses that through that particular congregation we may serve most effectively. If the church says they will have an evening service, the members should support that service with their presence. If the church says they will have a prayer service, the members of that assembly are obligated to support that prayer service with their presence. If the congregation appoints a particular night for study of the Word, the members of the Body must support that service of study with their presence. You must know that no one was ever saved because they heard lively music at a church or because some people danced in the aisle, but there are scores of saints who will testify that they were saved through the preaching of the Word. God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe [1 Corinthians 1:21].
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them [Romans 10:14]?
Revived preaching produces conviction, contrition and commitment. If there is scant commitment to the truths of God’s Word in this day, I can only conclude that we who are preachers are responsible before God for our failure to provide revived preaching. Perhaps we preachers have been too timid in demanding that the professed Church of God commit herself to a cause greater than she could imagine. We need commitment and not greater entertainment.
Revival Affects the People. Revival affects the preacher, but I would not expect revival to necessarily begin with preachers. Most are so occupied with their busyness that they have forgotten their business. Pray for your preacher, asking that God would shake him out of his lethargy and make him a godly man. A revived preacher will produce revived preaching. That preaching will either fan the flames of revival or fan the flames of rebellion. The people, hearing the Word of God, will either submit to that Word or resist it. However, revival, when it comes, will have an impact on the people.
The people were hungry for the Word of God. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law [Nehemiah 8:3]. Can you imagine a church in which the people listen to the reading of the Word of God for six hours? Can you imagine a church in which the people listen for that long as they are standing? It is unimaginable in our experience.
I remember listening to the account of worship in the Ukraine during the days immediately following the dissolution of the old Soviet Empire. A young woman related to a group of Canadian pastors what she missed about worship in her homeland. Her words were a stinging rebuke to each of us present that day. She told how the people came early in the morning, how they stood since there were no pews, and how they eagerly awaited the preaching of the Word. At least five men would deliver messages from the Word, each in their turn, interspersed with spirited singing and prayers. Worship lasted throughout the day and the people would often clamour for more.
I worshipped briefly with a black church in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. The morning service began at eleven o’clock. Singing … such singing is rare in our world … singing lasted for about an hour together with receipt of an offering and prayers of the people. About noon the pastor stood to preach and he preached for at least an hour and a half, or even two hours. The invitation could extend for as much as an hour. The people came to worship and they longed to hear the Word of God preached in their presence.
I am not saying that you must sit in church for hours, but I do say that whether the Word is declared for fifteen minutes or whether the Word is preached for hours at a time, a revived people we long to hear that Word declared and they will rejoice as it is preached. I had a fascinating experience while in Washington recently. The Pastor informed me that he wished me to complete the message by twelve o’clock. Then he occupied the pulpit from eleven until a quarter of twelve haranguing the congregation about the presence of sodomites and lesbians in Washington that day.
At a quarter of twelve the pastor introduced me. I came to preach. There was no way that I could deliver the message then burning in my heart in the time the pastor had allotted. Upon arising after being introduced I simply said, “If you have a roast in the oven you will need to leave now if you wish to take it out at the time you have set. I assume that we have come to worship and such worship includes declaration of the Word of God. If you are uncomfortable with worship, you will need to leave now. If you are uncomfortable waiting on the Spirit of God perhaps you should leave now.” God visited us that day and the people rejoiced in His presence.
The people were humble. They bowed down and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground [Nehemiah 8:6b]. The people came to worship. They had prepared themselves to worship. God met them, as He always meets those who prepare to meet Him. We do not worship because we have endured an hour in church. We do not worship because we have recited the prayers or performed particular rites. We do not worship because we have felt a certain giddiness. We worship because we have met the Lord God and discovered the glory of His presence. A humble people seeking the face of the Lord will rejoice as He reveals His glory in their midst.
The people were holy. …that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem [Nehemiah 8:15a]. The people gathered around Ezra to hear the words of the Law. They discovered the revealed will of God through that Word and they were convicted that they had not obeyed to that point. That which Ezra had declared the people echoed as they went throughout the city and through the countryside. The people were separated to the Lord and they were convinced of the responsibility to echo the Word of God.
There is a beautiful example of the impact of a holy church provided us in the Book of Acts. Paul ministered in Ephesus, ministering first in the synagogue for three months. The members of the synagogue resisted his teaching and expelled him from their midst, forcing him to resort to the lecture hall of Tyrannus. Doctor Luke provides this commentary of the ministry of Paul as he held daily discussions in this lecture hall. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord [Acts 19:10].
Paul seems to have voluntarily restricted himself to the lecture hall of Tyrannus. There he held daily discussions concerning the Faith. Paul was voluntarily restricted to Ephesus where he engaged in the give and take of dialogue. How, then, was it possible that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia to hear the Word of the Lord? The entire province was evangelised because those who heard Paul and then left to return to their own towns echoed what they had heard. Transformed by the preached Word and by the Spirit of God they were separated to God and could not remain silent when they returned to their own homes.
What I would have you underscore in your minds is this singular truth. A holy people are a vocal people. They cannot help but tell others what they have seen and heard. Peter and John testified before the Sanhedrin and ably stated the issue when they avowed We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard [Acts 4:20]. Paul would testify I am compelled to preach [1 Corinthians 9:16]. Just so, revived saints must speak their faith.
I heard of an unrevived deacon who on one occasion was conducting a prayer service late in the month of October. A couple on their way to a Halloween masquerade party suffered the indignity of having their car break down outside the church that particular Wednesday evening. The man, dressed in a devil’s costume, said he would go into the church and ask if he could use the phone.
Unbeknownst to that costumed man the pastor was preaching a hot sermon against demons— a message particularly aimed at the celebration of Halloween. That preacher had made some strong points about the devil and the people were rapt as they heard the strong statements declared.
As the partygoer entered the church by the back door the pastor saw him first and was so startled by the unexpected appearance of the devil that he forgot his message and ran for the back door. As the supposed devil walked down the aisle and people became aware of him, first one and then another of the parishioners (until there was a veritable flood of people) dove through the windows or rushed for the rear doors. Only one person was left in the auditorium, and that was the chairman of the deacons.
Having been sleeping during the sermon the old stalwart was awakened by the clamour of rushing feet. Finding himself trapped (because he had been sleeping) the trembling deacon fell to his knees and cried out: “Mr. Devil, I know that I said some harsh things about you. But I want you to know that I was always in favour of you and worked for you at every opportunity.”
A revived church member will not embrace so readily wickedness.
Early in my time with this congregation I preached a series of messages pleading for revival and setting the standard for biblical revival. I am not at all convinced that revival has come, nor even that revival is evident on the immediate horizon. I am convinced that revival must come if the work of God will continue in power. Therefore I am pleading with the people to seek for a man of God who will preach the whole truth of God without compromise. I am pleading with the people of God to support that man as he declares the Word of God. I am pleading with the people to seek the face of God. If the Word is not declared through exposition, at the least ensure that the Word is read in power week-by-week until God is pleased to send His Spirit in power. Amen.
It is greatly to be feared that much of the preaching of modern times has lost its depth and power. The plough does not run deep enough. There is no deep conviction of sin. There is no mourning for sin such as we find set forth in Zechariah 12. We find our way to a modern profession of religion, dry-eyed. There is no weeping in it. And hence, feeling ourselves to be but little sinners, we need only a little Saviour.
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[1] B. H. Carroll, J. B. Cranfill (ed.), An Interpretation of the English Bible: James, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Broadman Press, Ó 1948, pp. 43, 44