Derailing revival

“When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.” So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.”
‭‭Ezra‬ ‭9:1-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Derailing revival

I awoke this morning, like another morning, feeling a bit of dread, as the Lord frequently affirms for me, the declining state of the world in which I live. This morning was a bit different, as there was a brilliant orangish light outside that excited me. I did my usual morning things, sat down in my chair and decided to look at a video that had popped up in my recommendations.

Mind blown.

Here stood a young man, filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, preaching to abortion protestors as they passed. He was without fear, and spoke with great power. The police intervened and the remainder of the video was the man relentlessly speaking the truth of the Gospel as the police tried to stop him, at one point detaining him in handcuffs.

The police did not like that he had a speaker, so he dispensed with that and spoke with natural voice. The end of video is this man and eight or so others preaching Jesus as a crowd surrounded them with insults and threats of violence. Eventually the very police had to form a line to keep the mob away.

As the video closed, the young asked an important question: where is the church? The city was Charlotte, SC and in that city is Elevation Church, a body of thirty thousand. Not a one of them was out standing for the Gospel that day.

After watching, I was energized and very agitated. Where is the church?

When I opened my bible app, I read through my selections and happened on Ezra chapter nine. The children of Israel had been working diligently to rebuild the temple of God. Nearing the completion of the great work, the leaders came to Ezra in a spirit of conviction and admitted that many of the people had not separated themselves from the people of the lands. The was danger that the revival could be derailed.

I got my answer.

We of the American evangelical church have not separated ourselves from the people of the world. We have mixed spiritually with the people surrounding us, and mixed ourselves in amongst them, allowing the values of the world to seep into us. The seepage has caused us to be quiet when facing the major issues facing the world. We have forsaken the Gospel for politics.

We are in a time leading up to a great revival, a moment in time when more people will come to Christ than ever before in the history of Christianity. It will be the last great outpouring of faith before the coming of the beast, the man of sedition, the antichrist.

In my darker moments, when I am influenced by my capricious flesh, I wonder if this great revival will even come, for I see so many things derailing revival. But then, I remember all the impossible things I have see the Lord do, most powerfully, the saving of my own soul.

Hosing heard this confession, Ezra turned to the Lord in prayer, confessing the sins of the people, in the hope that He would turn against these who were the remnant of Israel.

“Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it.””
Ezra 10:1-4 NKJV

Brothers and sisters, let us put away the thoughts, habits and desires of the world, and let us go about transforming from those caught up in the world, to those going forth to share the Gospel. May we be troubled over our sins, convicted, having the desire to turn back to God.

It is not a matter of separating ourselves physically from the world, but using our proximity as an avenue in which to share the Gospel. Let our message be pure, filled with the word and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Let us go and share with truth, sharing the word unvarnished.

In our own lives, may we be people who live holy, not compromised, asking the Lord to examine us daily, looking for anything in us that could possibly derail the great revival that the Lord is bringing.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
Psalms 139:23-24 NKJV

Going back to the video, those people were expressing the most deep hatred in ignorance, for the young man was bring a message of hope. He is on a rescue mission. We are on that same mission. The devil is desiring to take as many into hell that he can for he knows that her has but a short time left.

MARANATHA!

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The Christ Forgiveness video

https://www.allaboutgod.com/the-roman-road.htm