Revival Starts In Our Hearts | Pr Gloria Paul

You're listening to a message to go from Acts Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Let's get into today's message, okay? And the title of

today's message is Revival Starts in Our Hearts. Okay, revival

starts in our hearts. Turn to the person next to

you and tell them, revival starts with your heart. Yeah,

it starts with your heart, yeah? Okay. I just sense

that today's message is going to be prophetic. Yeah, it's

prophetic because as I've been praying for ex-charas in this season,

God has imparted this word to me about the book

of Nehemiah. And in fact, this was one of the

first scriptures that I actually shared to our local SPO. Yeah,

I shared this with our local SPO last week about,

you know, where is God leading us as a church?

And how do we position ourselves? And I feel like

it's just important that as a church, you know, I'm

looking around the faces that we have here. You guys

have been with us for a while now. In fact,

you've been calling Charas your home. You've been serving with us.

Thank you for the privilege to do life with us. Yeah.

And I just felt that it's important that we, that

I impart this word as a church so that you

know where we are heading together and how can we

build God's house together. Yeah. So, If you're not familiar

with the book of Nehemiah, or in fact, it was

one of the themes for our church some years back.

It's all about how God caused a growth to take place.

Yeah.

Yeah. how God caused a rebuilding to take place. And

he was not just so caught up with the physical

structure or the numbers that came their way, but it

was a lot more than that, yeah? He was actually

rebuilding a people that would know him, not just know, okay,

there's a God or Jesus, but know him for themselves

as a personal Lord and Saviour, being able to listen

to him and to be able to live for him, yeah? So,

you know, when we read this book of Nehemiah, to

give you a bit of a context, it's a place

where Jerusalem was broken, right? It was not at a

nice place. The walls had been destroyed. The gates were burned.

People were very vulnerable. They were looking for answers, yeah?

And so then we have Nehemiah who comes and he

notices the condition of Jerusalem. He notices what is going on.

And what I find interesting about Nehemiah is that he

did not just get so caught up like, okay, come,

let's start getting things and let's build the bricks and

the walls. That was not the first thing that he did.

Yeah.

The first thing that he actually did was prayer. And

that is found in the very first chapter of Book

of Nehemiah. Yeah. So let's just read a couple of

scriptures here. Right. Um, In the book of Nehemiah, we

can start with chapter 1, verses 4. Okay, this is

what Nehemiah says when he prays for his people. He

says in verse 4, So it was, when I heard

these words, when I sat down and wept and mourned

for many days, I was fasting and praying before the

God of heaven. And if you can just take time

to notice the words that I hear, right? It was

not just a, God, just do it. you know, but

he was mourning. Mourning, you mourn when you are sorrowful

of something that you have lost, right? And that is

what broke his heart. Why? I mean, God, we are

in this place of brokenness. We're in this place of need.

So you can imagine the kind of burden that God

had placed in his heart to say those prayers, yeah?

And then it goes on saying that he actually fasted

and prayed. And we all know as believers that fasting

is a very important or significant part of our faith

because we are setting aside the time and devotion to

seek the Lord, right? And that is exactly what he did.

And then we are talking about this guy who is

doing all this in the midst of the need. It's like,

you know, you see a house tumbling down, but instead

of fixing that, he's first praying, he's first fasting, yeah?

And that speaks a lot about him as a person.

Then it goes on in verses 11 of the same chapter.

It is prayer to God. This was his devotion, right?

And so when we speak about prayer... I think it's

important that sometimes we use the word prayer very loosely,

you know, where it is a communication with God, but

what kind of a posture are we coming before Him?

Sometimes we can get so caught up with my list. God,

I want this, this, this to be done, right? And

so it becomes like a very, they say, luakan prasaan, right?

You're trying to just express your feeling, your emotion, which

is good, which is fine. That is the God that

we have as our Abba Father. We pour our heart

out to Him. But could we also come to a

posture of, God, what is it that you want me

to do? I see the need that is around me.

I see the brokenness. But what is it that you

want me to do? That is true devotion, yeah? Yeah.

And in fact, in that prayer, he says, God, this

servant of God desires to fear your name. Fear comes

with reverence, right? Fear comes with honour. And that is

what he wanted to do when he said that prayer.

And he asked for mercy. Yeah, he asked for mercy.

So what I'd like us to glean on from this

scripture is the whole posture of prayer when we come

before him. Nehemiah sees the brokenness of Jerusalem. It broke

his heart. He did not immediately start making plans like, okay, come,

let's do this or let's do that. No, he was

not doing all that. But he turned to God first, yeah?

His burden became a prayer. He confessed. He remembers God's promises.

And then he asked God for favor. He seeked God's direction.

And then something happens, yeah? Prayer moved Nehemiah from simply

seeing the problem to participating in God's solution. Yeah, I'm

just going to repeat this. Prayer moved Nehemiah because that's

the first thing he did, right? He prayed. And by

doing that, he saw the problem through the lens of God.

And he could see that, okay, this is what God

wanted to do, the solution.

Yeah?

And let's take a step back and think about our

prayer life as well How do we pray? How do

we ask the Lord? God, what is your solution? I

think I know that this can be done, right? But

that's my human knowledge. That's my understanding. But God, do

you have a different plan? Because in most times, you'd

be surprised how God has a different plan. Because that

is who God is. We can never surpass Him. We

can never understand Him truly because He is so big.

He is everlasting. He's eternity. Whatever it looks like for

us tomorrow, it's like, okay, God, let it happen tomorrow.

But for him, he sees it beyond that. Yeah? And

that is why Nehemiah had to come to that place

and see, ask the Lord to give him the lens

to see the surrounding through God's lens. Yeah? And this

is when the rebuilding began. Yeah? This is when the

rebuilding began. Now, the next thing that we can see

here in this scripture is that prayer also does not

replace the action. Yeah, sometimes we can get so caught

up with the prayer, prayer, prayer, but the action is

not taken. Yeah, the action is not taken. But when

Nehemiah prayed, Nehemiah also moved. One of the things that

he did, if you read on in chapter 2, when

you have the time, You can get into this book

a little bit deeper. He went and asked the king

for permission. He asked for letters. He asked for timber.

He was traveling around Jerusalem to see the place. He

was inspecting the walls and what was broken. He spoke

to the people to know what's going on. After doing

all of that, eventually he said, okay, come, let's rebuild

the wall of Jerusalem. So what does prayer do? Prayer

leads to participation. Yeah, that is what's the next thing

that has to happen. When you keep praying and when

you don't do something, that is when we can come

to a place of complacency. Yeah, or we then begin

to doubt. We then can then to overthink, God, I'm praying,

but nothing happening, right? But prayer is with action. And

what action? Action that God wants you to take. And

I believe that Nehemiah could do all of this because

he was moved. Everyone he spoke to, everywhere he went to,

God was leading him. God was guiding him. And that

is why he knew at one point of that stage that, okay,

now it's time to rebuild. So Nehemiah did not use

prayer as an excuse for, okay, I think we should

pause and not do anything anymore. He prayed and then

He acted. Yeah, He prayed and He acted. So my

call for all of us this morning is, what is

God calling you to put into action today? There could

be different things that you're praying for. Yeah? But is

there something that God wants you to also actively do?

And this doing doesn't necessarily mean like big, great steps

that you may need to take. But it could be

a small step. Yeah, a step of faith that He

wants you to take. Surrendering is a step of faith

as well, or an action. Don't you know that?

Right?

So when you pray, but you're still holding on to

some things, then how is God going to move? Maybe

He's telling you, you know what? Can you surrender? Surrender

is an action. Surrender is a work, right? So is

it surrender? Is it talking to someone about it? Because

you've been journeying alone for a long time, and then

God is saying, why don't you pray with someone about this?

Is it going somewhere or answering a call? What is it?

And if I can go on a little bit further now,

what is it that God may be calling you to

do to rebuild His house? Because we all have a

part to play, right? We all have parts because one

person can never build the entire. In fact, Nehemiah alone

could not do it, though he's the one who started it.

with prayer, with devotion. But he needed the whole community

to come together. Yeah? And so, as you are praying

for X Church, as you are praying for X Church,

is there something that God may be imparting in your heart?

Because you'll never know if you actually pray first. You'll

never know if you ask the Lord, God, what is

my portion in this church? I've been coming for a while.

And is there a part that I can rebuild? Is

there a part that I can maybe repair or fix

or add on? Because we need each one of us

to be able to put things in action. So what

is it that God is calling you today? If it's

not exactly for the house of God, in your families,

in your communities, in your workplace, in your school, what

is the role that God is calling you to play?

An idle man is a devil's workshop. That's what we

always hear, right? The saying, And the same thing can

happen when we don't do something, if we're just idle

about something, right? And that is why we've got to

start moving. Amen? Now, the book continues on when you

read the book of Nehemiah. Now, Nehemiah 3, you will

see that they actually build together, right? They build together.

So this whole chapter, you'll notice the word repair and

build being repeated, right? Okay, so we can see a

couple of scriptures here from verses 1 of chapter 3.

And then verses 2, you can see another family next

to Eliasep, the man of Jericho, built. And next to them, Zakur,

the son of Imri, built. So it goes on and on, yeah?

The different, different names. And these are families. These are

different tribes. And they all had a part to play.

And it's a very beautiful picture. I highly encourage you

to read. You'll see that there's a pattern. That everyone

kind of, kind of know that, okay, this is what

I need to repair. This is what I need to build.

It was not something that Nehemiah had to exactly tell

them to do because imparted the prayer, imparted the vision.

But because they were all in one accord, there was

such unity, and they all knew that we have a

part to play, they went forth and started doing that.

And we all know, of course, the good news is

that it was built at the end of the day.

All the walls were built. But it first took all

of them to come together. Family after family, they repaired

the portions of the walls. Everyone had a part to play.

Some repaired the gates, some looked at sections, some looked

at different homes, different people, different responsibilities. There was one wall,

one purpose, one God, ultimately. So God often rebuilds through

people who are willing to build their portion faithfully. God

often uses people who are willing to build their portion faithfully.

When we say their portion, it could be that one

part that God is calling you to do. It could

be a ministry, ex-kids, and you are faithfully doing that.

It could be ex-hosts and you're faithfully doing that. Whatever

ministry it is, whatever calling that God has in your life,

Are you building it faithfully? Meaning we're not just, okay,

I build a little bit and then I go there

and I go here. What's going to happen? The wall

is just going to be halfway through, right? The gate

is going to be, there's a gate, but there's no lock.

People can come in, right? Everything is just halfway through.

Or I just go with how I feel. I feel

like I want to do this today.

I do.

After a while, okay, let me change another thing. Do this,

do that, a little bit of here and there. How

do you think it's going to look like, the building itself?

It's going to be just halfway through. And none of

us want halfway through things. We want things to be completed, right?

We want something to be done, you know? And the

same thing is with rebuilding as well. When we start,

we see it through until the end. Until God has

the next thing for us. Until the next plan comes

our way, yeah? It takes a lot of perseverance, of course.

You think these guys build these walls in a night

or a week? I don't think so. It took so

many years, so many of hours, of time, of energy,

of sacrifice. Was it worth it at the end of

the day? Definitely. Because it was the plan of God. Right?

And they went all the way through. And so my

encouragement for all of us today is if you're building something,

could you stick through until the end? Until you build it.

Until there's a full structure to it.

Yeah?

Yeah. And if you're not building something yet, would you

want to say yes to something that God is calling you?

And like I said, that building can come in your

own capacity in how God is calling you. But the

key here is not just to start and live it,

but to do it together. And that is why the

key message you'll see in this whole chapter as you

read it, they all had a part to play. That's

the beautiful picture if you can just envision with me.

Every family had a wall that they are focusing on.

So every other day they are there and they are

fixing something. They are building something. And at the end

of the day, when you see the whole full structure,

it was not just a Nehemiah's plan, but it was

the whole Jerusalem that played a part to it. So

building together is beautiful. Ask this question, Lord, what is

my portion? What is my portion in my family? What

is my portion in my church? What is my portion

in my workplace, in my community? What is it that

you can contribute? What is it that I can do?

If you can only ask that question, you'll be amazed

with what God tells you. Yeah, try that. Make that

part of your devotion as you pray. And of course,

particularly when we talk about building the church, what is

that portion that you can contribute, right? Now, the next

thing that we can see here, are we catching something, church? Yeah, right?

When you read chapter 4, so I'm just bringing you

through the book, yeah? But if you can read through

it in more detail, that would be great, yeah? Now,

in my chapter 4, you'll realize that You know, they

had to build with one hand and they had to

watch with the other. Because as we try to do

God's will, as we try to build God's house, who's

that one guy who's not going to be happy? There's

this one fella, right, who's going to try to bring

down the wall. People are going to start laughing at

you and thinking, hey, what are you actually doing? Is

it worth it? Is it worth your time? Right? Is

it worth your energy? And that's exactly what happened to

these people. So when you read Nehemiah chapter 4, yeah,

Nehemiah 4 · chapter mention

verses 1, it says, But it so happened when Sanbalat

heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious

and very indignant and mocked the Jews. That's exactly what

these people were going through. In the midst of the

tiredness and the sun, they're building, and then we have

these people who are mocking them. the Jews here, right?

And he spoke before his brethren and the army of

Samaria and said, what are these feeble Jews doing? Will

they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete

it in a day? Will they revive the stones from

the hips of rubbish? Stones that are burned. So the doubt, right,

that comes in, the criticism that comes in, all those

words that they had to hear. And then you can

read on the different contaminations that they were receiving. And

then if you go on, you'll see in verses 9

of the same chapter. Nevertheless, we made our prayer to God.

And because of them, we set a watch against them

day and night. So were they moved? I'm pretty sure

as humans, they would have been emotional, right? You know, like, okay,

why these people are talking? Actually, can we build it?

They could have gone back to Nehemiah and said, okay,

are we doing the right thing? People are mocking us.

People are questioning us, right? I'm sure there was that

whole chaos that were going on. But you know what?

They had to come back to a place and say, nevertheless,

I will still watch and build. Yes. And to me,

this is something very powerful because they didn't just also

stop doing what they're doing. They were still building because

they knew they had a task to do. They had

bricks to put on. They had doors to build. They

had repairs to do. But they were not just building

and getting caught up with their own world, but they

were also watching. What's the next step that the enemy

might be doing? Yeah. Yeah. So they were very discerning

as well. And that is why I believe that the

gift of discernment is very important for us in our faith.

As we keep serving, as we keep building people, right?

As we do whatever God has called us to do,

can we also be discerning of the voices that we

tend to hear? Because it can come in the most

deceiving ways, right? That is exactly how Eve met the serpent.

In the most, what was the words that he told her?

that you will be able to be like God. He

didn't say that, you know, God is not good. He

said you'll be like God. And that is how deceiving

the voice of the enemy can be if you're not cautious.

And more and more in the times that we are

living in church, I can't stress this enough, you know,

that we've got to be more cautious. Let's not just

live in our own wonderland, thinking that it's always going

to be good. And well, yes, there are good days

with God. The Word of God reminds us that we've

got to also put on the armour of God. We've

got to always be ready, especially if you're walking in

the ways of God. Especially when there are days you're saying, God,

I want to listen to you more. I want to

draw closer with you. You know what's the next thing

that will come? Another voice that will come your way. Yeah,

so when we say yes to the Lord, it doesn't

mean it's going to be always good. But you know what?

We'll have that superpower where we can have the Holy

Spirit with us, which no one else who don't believe

yet may not have. But we have it, right? We

have it. And that is something that we've got to

keep asking the Lord, keep drawing closer with Him, yeah?

So they built and they watched. They didn't stop building

because there were oppositions, but they remained alert. And they

were also not building carelessly, thinking, okay, I have to

do it fast because these guys are here to attack. No,

they were not doing that. They were still doing things

the right way till there was a finishing end to

the things. But they kept building. They remained alert. In

chapter 4, verses 17, it says here, Those who built

on the wall and those who carried burdens loaded themselves

so that with one hand, they worked at construction and

with the other, they held a weapon. Wow, they could

have been so strong. So they were building, they were whatever,

they're holding hammer or putting on the bricks. And then

another hand, they had like a sword with them. They

were just ready. Whenever the enemy comes, they know what

to do. Every one of the builders had his sword

girded at his side as he built. And the one

who sounded the trumpet was beside me. So there was

always one person who is being in the watch of

what's going on. Then I say to the nobles, the

rulers and the rest of the people, the work is

great and extensive and we are separated far from one

another on the wall. Whenever you hear the sound of

the trumpet rally to us there, our God will fight

for us. Who will fight for us? Our God will

fight for us. So we labored in the work and

half of the men held the spears from daybreak until

the stars appeared. At the same time, I also say

to the people, let each man... and his servant stay

at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard

by night and a working party by day. So neither I,

my brethren, my servants, nor the man of the guard

who followed me took off our clothes except that everyone

took them off for washing. So they were just so guarded,

so ready on what's going on, day and night. Yeah,

day and night. So this is a very powerful principle

that we need to catch. We keep building, but we

also stay watchful. We pray, but we also prepare. Yeah.

We trust God, but we don't become callous.

Yeah.

And this sometimes happens when we are very comfortable among

believers in Christ. Because, you know, everyone in church, if

you turn to each other, all are nice people. They're

all so nice, they're all so kind, they're so loving,

so encouraging, right? But the thing is, sometimes when we

are just surrounded with each one of us, we forget

that there's another world out there. There's another group of people.

You know, there are people who are unbelieving. There are

people who are just going to be mocking you for

your faith. I mean, this is not new in some

parts of the world. It's already happening to many people

who are persecuted for their faith. But we are blessed when,

you know, we don't encounter those kind of struggles. But

that does not mean that we just walk, you know,

not discerning of what's happening. Yeah. And that is why

we need to keep praying. We need to keep being watchful.

And I'm grateful that Auntie Lisa, we started off our

intercessory prayer last week. And a big part of our

prayer is to pray for extras. That is something that

we felt that there's an urgency, there's a need for us.

And a lot of our prayer is actually to pray

against the works of the enemy. Because the moment we

start doing some of this, right, when we keep praying

for the ground, when we try to ask God's guidance

to build our church, enemy will always have this way

to shake us, right? And we've got to be very cautious.

We have to keep each other in prayer. We've got

to ask for God's covering, yeah? So let's keep being watchful.

Let's keep preparing ourselves and let's not become callous believers. Yeah,

because the Word of God tells us to be wise

as a serpent, right? Yeah, we've got to be able

to be wise, you know, when we look to the Lord.

And that is why when we read Nehemiah chapter 4,

Nehemiah 4 · chapter mention

it says, nevertheless, we made our prayer to our God

and because of them, we set a watch against them

day and night.

Amen?

Day and night. So what is it, church, that you

are building? Could you also be able to be watchful

in what you're doing? Right? Are we watchful enough that

when you hear a certain voice, can you actually tell

that this is not from the Lord? What does it

take to be able to discern that?

Yeah?

Can I also be discerning to know that this is

the voice of the Lord? Because there are times when

sometimes you can just miss out. Right? I was just

sharing with some of them recently. You know, it's been

something that I've been encountering. Just three o'clock or four

o'clock in the morning, sometimes I'll just hear my name, Gloria.

It's quite strange. When I go to my sister's room,

she's deeply sleeping. So it's not her calling me. So

then I felt that the Holy Spirit was just waking

me up in some of those nights. And when I

just have to sit down and pray, and that's exactly

what I did. And, you know, those nights when I prayed,

the next day, there's something that I had to do.

Something that came my way. Someone called and said, you know,

I'm going through this. I need some prayer. And you know,

that is how God prepares you sometimes. You are just filled, okay?

God speaks to you at that moment. And when the

next thing or next task that God gives you, you

are prepared. You are ready. You are watchful. And you

just do it.

Yeah?

Are there times that sometimes I think, oh, it's no one.

And I try to sleep off. Yes, I miss that. Right?

And then I wake up, I realize, hey, no, I

shouldn't have.

Yeah?

Yep. And I think that came because I was asking God,

I just want more with you. I want to be

able to hear your heartbeat. I want to know what

breaks your heart. God, break my heart. And that's exactly

what He has been doing to me. And can I

believe that for you as well, Church? Because if we

are believers, if we have said yes to the Lord,

can we go all out for Him? Because it's either

you're fully in or you're fully out. If we remain

as Christians as just I just come, I just serve.

You're not going to feel the fullness of God. Don't

you think so? Right? I'm just going to know, okay,

this is who God is. I remember hearing this somewhere.

When you hear the name of God, what's the first

image or first thing that comes to your mind? That

is exactly what it shows your relationship with God. Yeah?

I mean, nothing wrong to think of Him as our

provider and all of that. But is He even more

personal than that? A God who, even if He did

not answer those prayers, I still adore Him. I still

have my reverence with Him.

Yeah?

Can we desire that as a church? Can we desire

that as children of God to go deeper? Yeah? Let's

not remain on the shallows. Let's not just, you know,

come by each day. And days go by so fast.

I feel like time just goes on and on. Age

catches up. Things come in. You know, priorities comes in

in life. And if you don't just take a stop

check and say, God, where am I in my faith?

Am I going deeper with you? Are my roots rooted

in you? Until and unless we ask the Lord these questions,

we are just going to remain. And that is why

they say the lukewarm believers, right? We just go with

whatever comes. Or I know this God because this person

told me this is who God is. But have I

fully experienced my God as a healer, my God who saves,

my God who is able to move mountains? Yeah, can

I do all this? It all comes with your desire first. Right?

And that is why when we go back to the

heart of Nehemiah, it all starts with prayer. How is

your personal altar with the Lord? Right? Pastor Kenneth was

just challenging our leaders during Psalms the other day. Nothing

means anything. Your titles as leaders doesn't mean anything if

you can't even have your devotion. Because then who are

you serving? Right? Are you serving, you know, the people

that are coming? Right? It means nothing if we can't

even seek the Lord. And seeking the Lord shouldn't just

be a choice. It shouldn't just be, okay, I feel

better this morning and therefore I'm going to pray. No,

it doesn't work that way. It has to be a devotion.

Right?

And that is why we have all these prophets in

the Bible. They were able to encounter God because they

had that right from the start. They had that in place.

And that is why they could encounter. Sometimes we go, wow, Moses. Wow, Abraham.

But where did it all start? They were just ordinary people.

But because they had the devotion with the Lord, God

used ordinary people. God can use you and me. If

only we can set certain things right. What are those

things that you need to set right in your lives? Priorities?

Your choices? The time you go to bed? the people

you speak to. Sometimes it goes back to all these basics.

We think that, okay, it's just devotion. But everything else

you do is a ripple effect to how you choose

to wake up and seek God. It's as simple as, okay,

I think I'm going to sleep earlier so that I

can wake up. It can be as simple as that.

I am not going to scroll my phone. I'm going

to open the Bible. It's just simple choices, guys. It's

not like you need to make big critical decisions. It's

simple choices that you make and then you're going to

experience the fullness of it. God gives us a free will.

But at the end of the day, we've got to

face those consequences. We heard that at WCC yesterday. The

consequences of every decision that we make. And the same

thing is with our faith as well. How deep do

we go with the Lord? Amen? So I just want

to encourage us, Church, that, you know, the people in

Jerusalem could experience all that they could experience because they

came to that portion, because there was unity, because all

of them asked that question, what is my portion? And

they faithfully built that, right? And then what we can

see here is, what was God trying to do in them?

I mean, if God wanted to, He could have built

those walls by Himself. He's great and mighty, right? He

could just do it overnight. But what was God trying

to do here was that He was looking for a

deeper hunger for God's Word. He was not big about

rebuilding the walls, but He was interested in rebuilding their hearts.

How many of us need to rebuild our hearts? Right? And...

There's nothing wrong to ask those questions because every day

is a choice to follow Jesus. Do you know that?

Right?

We sing that in Sunday school. I have decided to

follow Jesus. No turning back. But why do we keep

singing it? Because it's a choice that we've got to

make every other time because you can also follow other things,

other opinions, other people in your lives if you're not careful. Right? Right?

And can we ask that question? God, does my heart

need some rebuilding? Maybe I'm fine, but I need a

little bit of repair here and there. I need a

little bit of confession, a little bit of forgiveness. What

is it? Maybe there are disappointments that are still there

and God wants to set you free from those because

that's when true rebuilding can happen. Yeah? So let's look

at Nehemiah chapter 8. So if you read on, you'll see,

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

you know, Nehemiah chapter 5, there's all this oppression that

Nehemiah 5 · chapter mention

Nehemiah goes through and the people, because of what the

enemy was trying to do, they were unhappy of what's

going on. And then there was conspiracy, right? But they

were able to overcome all that because they were watchful.

They were building, they were watchful, right? And then when

you read chapter 6 towards the end, Okay, we see

that the wall was completed. Okay, that was something that

they were rejoicing. And then we can see in verses

8 is where the true revival happens. It is not

so much of that, okay, we are done with the

walls and therefore let's go back. But God was even

more interested in what happened in chapter 8 when Ezra

reads the law. Let's look at chapter 8 verses 1

to 5. Now all the people gathered together as one

man in the open square that there was in front

of the water gate and they told Ezra the scribe

to bring the book of the law of Moses, which

the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought

the law before the assembly of men and women and

all who could hear with understanding on the first day

of the seventh month. Then he read from it in

the open square that was in front of the water

gate from morning until midday. Before the men and women

and those who could understand. And the ears of all

the people were attentive. Are all your ears attentive? Yes?

I hope. Okay? Right? That was exactly what was going on. Nehemiah,

I mean, Ezra was just reading. They were so attentive.

He was not just reading for 40 minutes. Your sermon

is only 40 minutes. They were reading it from morning,

the whole day, till midday. Yeah? And they were all

attentive the whole time. So Ezra, the scribe, stood on

a platform of wood, which they had made for the purpose.

And beside him at it, At his right hand stood Mattiah, Shema, Ananiah, Urijiah. Okay,

all these names. I'm not going to try to pronounce.

Verses 5. And Ezra opened the book in the sight

of all the people, for he was standing above all

the people. And when he opened it, all of them

stood up. Verse 6. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the

great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, which

lifting up their hands. And they bowed with their heads

and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

And you can see in verses 8, it says, And

they read distinctly from the book of the law of

God and they gave the sense and helped them to

understand the reading. And verses 9, And Nehemiah was the governor.

Ezra the priest and scribe and the Levites who taught

the people said to all the people, This day is

holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn nor weep.

For all the people wept and when they heard the

words of the Lord. There's a lot to glean on

from this scripture. So the first thing we can see

as we read is that they were attentive.

Right?

And there was a greater unity because they built together.

They built the walls. Things were completed and therefore they're here. Okay, come,

let's come together. Right? And they came. Ezra read. They

were attentive. And we can see time and time in

the scriptures when how the people responded. It goes back

to the respond. We can give a powerful word. We

can read the entire Bible out. But if the receiving

end does not receive, and that is why church, we

always say, tell your amens. respond to the word of God.

You're not responding to the speaker. You're responding to God's word.

And when you say amen, you're saying, God, this is

for me. I'm declaring it all over my life. It's

a habit, guys. It's a habit that we need to cultivate,

especially if you're not a, if you're a quieter person, right?

It's something that we need to keep doing to get

used to, yeah? And this is exactly what they did.

They said amen, amen. They lifted up their hands. They

bowed their heads. They worshipped the Lord. How many of

us can respond like that to God's Word? We're talking

about the Bible. Of course, at that time, it was

called the Law of Moses. They only had that number

of books. But we have the old book of the Bible,

even the New Testament, meaning the complete, everything, right? And

every time they heard a scripture, they were worshipping. They

were not just worshipping to music. We are so used

to worshipping to music. When there's a shaleen singing, when

there's a keyboard, when there's a guitar, okay, then I

can lift my hands. But can we also lift hands

to the Word of God? When you read, can you

raise your hands to God? Because it's alive, it's powerful, right?

It is alive. And that is exactly what they were doing.

They lifted up their hands. And then as you read on,

you'll see that Nehemiah tells them, do not mourn because

this is the day of God. So meaning you can

imagine the kind of emotions that these people were having.

They were mourning because the word of God brought such

conviction in them. They could feel like, oh, okay, these

are things I need to let go of. These are

things that I need to surrender. These are things I

don't want anymore in my life. And so that's why

they were weeping. They were crying. Imagine responding to God's

word in that way, right? And that is when the

rebuilding was happening in the hearts of the people, when

they could cry out to God, where they can go

sorrowfully on their knees and say, God, it's not my way,

but your will be done. God, break my heart for

what breaks yours, right? They came to that place. God's

word showed them what the wall could not do, in fact. Right?

Because here we are, we have all the walls built,

everything is completed. We overcame whatever oppression the enemy brought us.

But there was still such a longings that God had

to fill. And God had to show them, my job

is not done. My job is not just the walls,

but my job is first your heart. What's happening within you?

Because they could be caught up with pride at the

end of the day when everything else was sorted, right?

But God had to bring them back to a position

of who is the one that made this possible. Yeah?

The Word of God reveals the condition of their hearts.

Yeah?

Is the Word of God revealing the condition of your

hearts this morning? We need to have a heart check.

Some people are very naturally reflective. They think about what's

going on. They're self-aware. But not everyone is such. And

that is why we need the Word of God to

bring those convictions, to reveal things that sometimes you may

not know what's going on in your heart because years

have passed by. Or you may be caught up with

your own desires and ambitions. But when you come back

to God's Word, you come back to what's the heart

of the matter. What is exactly important? So if I

can ask you today, church, what are you building in

your lives today? Yeah? What are you building? As you're

building your careers, as you're building your families, you know,

as you're building your dreams, your desires, while you're building

all of that, what is God building inside you? Yeah?

What is God building inside you? As you're building your family,

what is imparting in your heart? Right? As you're serving others,

what is it that God is building in you? As

you're waiting for the dream to be achieved, the desire

to be achieved, God can just make that happen in

a split second. But why is it that He allows

us to sometimes wait? Why does He allow us to

come to that posture of surrender? Because He first wants

you to be ready for it. He wants you to

be prepared for it. Yeah? Because it is possible to

have a strong wall, but a weak heart.

Yeah?

Some of the people I know is that when you

look at them, you wouldn't even imagine that they actually

have heart conditions. Right? I mean, people I know of

who have had heart attacks, they are completely well. They're

completely strong in the outside but inside. Yeah? You can

have a successful ministry but a dry soul. You can

be serving every other time but your soul is not filled.

Your cup is always dry. Yeah? You can look so

beautiful in the outside but going for all your skincare

and your workouts, all these good things, but you can

be so neglected inside. Your inside just feels empty. Right?

Your inside just feels the longings. Right?

Right?

And that is why God had to rebuild their hearts.

It was not so much to be filled with that

beautiful wall and buildings that they were able to build

and rebuild. It was not just about that. But God

wanted the people with the right hearts to sit in

those buildings as well. Yeah. And so the same thing

is for us as a church. In this context, as ex-jurors.

As we keep building God's house, as we keep rebuilding

what needs to be built, God first wants to build

what's in your hearts. Each one of you. And that's

the unique God we serve. He is so interested in

every one of you. So maybe sometimes if all our

hearts are still not sorted out, there are many things

that are still not worked out yet. That is why

sometimes things take time. Right? We keep praying for new souls.

We keep praying for new people to come. But are

we faithful with the ones that God has already given us?

Are we already prudent with the time that God has

given to us? We keep asking, God, I've got not

enough time. If only I have more time, I can

do all of these things for you. And God is saying,

what are you doing late at night? Are you waking

up early to pray? It's those things that God wants

to see how you honour first. Your thoughts, you're thinking

about what's going to happen the next five years, where

I want to be. But God is asking us, what

are you doing with your time now? With your talents,

with your gifts? With that little gift that God has,

how can He grow it over the years to bring

you to the next place? So let's not just be

always looking for the next thing, the next shiny thing,

the next future. How about now? How about where God

has positioned you at this very moment? What is your portion?

What is it that you can build? Can I just

invite extreme... Because it goes back to a very personal prayer.

We can do a lot of things as a church.

But what you do every other day is what's going

to contribute to the rebuilding of the church. And that

is exactly what Nehemiah did as well. He had his

own personal altar first. Not caught up with the worries

and the cares of the world, but he first knew

what is important. He looked to the Lord. And then

everyone came. People just came together. And the very fact

that these people, all this list of names that you

see in chapter 3, committed in building was not because

it was only their desire, but God had planted that

in them as well. They answered the call because it

was a big commitment. Right? Right? And God is asking

us today, what is it that you want to commit

to for the work of the Lord? What is important

for you? What is your priority? Yeah? Because the day

that we are going to face the Lord one day,

we're not going to take with us anything that we're

building in this earth. That's reality, yeah? Right? We can, yeah,

enjoy the blessings that God gives us Thank God for that.

But at the same time, let's be watchful. When we

build all of this, am I building my soul? Am

I building my faith? Am I building the work of God?

Because that is all that's going to matter when we

see Him. What do you do with your talents? What

do you do with your giftings? We are answerable to

the Lord. Yeah.

Yeah. We hope you've been blessed by this message. For

more information on our church, please visit xchurch.org. We are

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week is going to be a good week ahead for you.

God bless.