Message

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If My People

(Three Steps of Revival)

2 Chronicles 7:11-22

Key Verse 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

On September 11^th, 2001, America was in the national crisis for the first time after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7^th, 1941. These terrorists gave us a wakeup call from a long spiritual sleep. Many people began to pray for the country and returned to their church. At that time, 2 Chronicles 7:14 today’s key verse became one of the most popular and frequently quoted verses in churches. This verse gave us a spiritual awakening and a national direction. Today, I picked up this verse for my lecture for spiritual revival at ISBC 2023. This story teaches us three steps of revival: 1. repent, 2) receive, 3) respond.

First, repent (of your hidden sin). This verse was given originally not for a wakeup call or for the key verse for spiritual revival, but God’s message to King Solomon who dedicated the temple. Before Solomon built the temple of God, his father King David was eager to build the temple. But God did not allow him to build the temple because David shed many bloods in the battlefield. David was a warrior. (1 Chr 28;3) So, his son Solomon took over his mission and finished building the temple. When Solomon brought the ark of the covenant back to the temple, the glory of God filled the temple. (2 Chr 5:2-14) Solomon offered the prayer of dedication, which is written in 2 Chronicles 6:12-42. Solomon praised God who had been with his people as the covenant people and pleaded for his faithful guidance and protection. When he had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. (2 Chr 7:1) The baptism of fire and the appearance of God’s glory proved that Solomon’s prayer of dedication was accepted by God as a pleasing aroma and acceptable sacrifice.

Above all, God was pleased with the return of the ark in the temple. The Israelites lost the ark of the covenant to the hand of their enemies because of their unbelief. When they tested God with their superstitious way in the battlefield, the ark was taken by the Philistines. Now the ark of the Lord came back to its original place, the temple. Returning the ark of the Lord to the temple is the sign of repentance and rededication in spiritual revival. The ark of the Lord is the symbol of God’s presence. The Israelites put the ark in the center of the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and in the temple. They divided the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place with the curtain which drew a boundary line between God and men. In the ark of the Lord there were the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandment which Moses had received from God, the gold jar of manna, and Aaron’s staff that had budded. (He 9:4) They all represent the presence of God, his faithfulness and power. Above all, the Ten Commandments is the promise of God.

There was also an atonement cover called ‘Mercy Seat.’ Once a year the high priest took the blood of animals and sprinkled over the ark so that the sin of his people might be atoned. Therefore, bringing the ark of the Lord back into the temple means to put God in the first place in their hearts. Putting God in the first place of our hearts is the act of spiritual revival. Spiritual revival is not only getting rid of all idols from our hearts, but also restoring the ownership of our lives from the hand of Satan. We bring the lordship of our lives back to the Lord Jesus. This is repentance and the first step for revival.

When the ark of the temple was put in the temple, the temple was filled with clouds. (2 Chr 5:13.14) The priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God. We want to see the glory of God through this international conference. I believe that we will see His Glory when we really repent and bring the ark of the Lord back into our hearts. When we accept the lordship of Christ over our lives and submit ourselves to His command, we will see His glory. We may not continue our program because of the glory of God as the Israelites couldn’t perform their service because of the cloud.

After bringing the ark back to the temple. Solomon prayed. Above all, he praised God who had brought their ancestors out of Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. He praised the Lord who enabled him to build the temple in the place of his father David. Then, he pleaded with God to hear his prayer and the prayers of his people when they prayed toward the temple for the forgiveness of their sins. He asked God to be attentive to their prayer of repentance. He also prayed to God to hear their prayer when they prayed in the time of danger and crisis. He repeated saying, “Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.” (2 Chr 6:21,23,25,27,30,33,35,39)

Jesus is the temple of God. As the Israelites prayed to God toward the temple, so we pray to God in the name of Jesus. Jesus asked His disciples to pray to God in his name. He promised them to say, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (Jn 14:13,14) When we pray in Jesus’ name, God hears our prayer from heaven and forgives us, protects us, saves us and guides us. This is the reason why we always finish our prayer in Jesus’ name. Indeed, Jesus is the temple of God. We can come to God in Jesus and through Jesus. As Hebrews says, we can approach the throne of God with confidence through faith in Jesus Christ. (He 4:16,10:22) Amen! Let us pray in the name of Jesus. Let us pray that at the conference many people may come to God through Jesus Christ and meet Him personally. Amen!

Second, receive (the Holy Spirit). According to 2 Chronicles 7:1, when Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.” God responded to Solomon's prayer with fire. This is the same as God sent the fire of the Holy Spirit when the apostles gathered and constantly prayed with one mind. (Ac 1:14) At Pentecost God sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples. They received the Holy Spirit as Jesus had promised. (Ac 1:8) The fire from heaven is the power of God. The fire consumed all the burnt offerings and the sacrifices which Solomon had offered. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down like the tongues of fire. (Ac 2;3) When they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

When we repent of our sins and turn away from wicked ways and accept Jesus our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit. God sent the fire into our hearts as he gave to the apostles at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has the consuming power to burn all our sins and to provide courage to testify Jesus Christ. Peter was the top disciple among the Twelve. But out of fear he denied Jesus three times. He suffered from guilt and shame until the Risen Jesus revisited him and forgave him. This fearful Peter, after receiving the Holy Spirit, became a completely different person. He had fire in his heart and preached Jesus Christ before the Sanhedrin and before 3,000 people. He was not a fearful fisherman anymore; he became a powerful fisher of men. His message was this, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Ac 2:38)

In 1948, the Holy Spirit came down to the Wheaton Bible Church in Illinois when a young evangelist Peter Joshua repented his sin of hypocrisy. Rev. Joseph followed him by repenting his own sin. Then, the pastor’s wife was moved by their repentance, and she also confessed her sin in public. Then the Holy Spirit came to all the members and their worship service continued until 2:00 am. The fire of the Holy Spirit spread to Wheaton College where the five devoted students called “the Ecuador martyrs” including Jim Elliot attended. The fire which Jim Elliot received at that time was delivered to the Ecuador jungle. Let us pray that we may receive fire at the conference. Like Solomon, we will receive fire when we rededicate our lives to Christ. God will send fire from heaven and consume all our sins and give us power to become his witness to the whole world. Amen!

Third, respond (to God’s call). 2 Chronicles 7:2-3 says, “the priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord about the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.” When God sent the fire from heaven, the Israelites responded with worship and praise. They knelt with their faces to the ground and worshiped God by praising, “The LORD is good; his love endures forever.” Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. (2 Chr 7:4-5) Wow! 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats for sacrifice?

After receiving the forgiveness of sin through Jesus and the fire of the Holy Spirit, what should be our response to God’s grace? We don’t have to sacrifice 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats because Jesus made it once for all by His own blood through His sacrificial death on the cross. (He 9:12) We must respond with worship and praise. We must remember how God saved our lives through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and give thanks to Him all the days of our lives.

How did God respond to their sacrifice? Look at verses 11-12. “When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, the LORD appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.” God appeared to Solomon at night and gave him a covenant-like promise. Look at verse 14. “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” God gave a conditional promise because he used the word, “if”. God gave Solomon and his people a choice between blessing and curse. In verses 17 God said, “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.” This is the promise of God’s blessing when Solomon obeys God and walks with him faithfully. God promised to establish the eternal kingdom through the descendent of David. Indeed, God fulfilled this promise through Jesus Christ, who was the descendant of David. In verses 18-19 God said, “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. This temple will become a heap of rubble...” This is the promise of God’s curse when Solomon and his people sin against God and follow other gods. This was fulfilled when the kings after Solomon and his people followed other gods and worshiped idols. The kingdom of David was divided into two after Solomon died. Northern Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 721 BC, and Southern Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The temple was destroyed at that time. Before these things really happened, God gave a choice to His people between the way of blessing and the way of curse.

God gave us and America a choice through today’s key verse: “If my people (put your name or America), who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,...” If we respond with ‘yes’, “then God will hear from heaven and forgive our sins and heal us and heal this land. Blessing or curse depends on how we respond to God’s promise. Are you ready to respond to God’s message with ‘yes’? Today we learned three steps of spiritual revival: repent, receive, and respond. May God richly bless you and the conference with the glory of God and with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

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Attachment

• 2Chr-07-11-22-message-revised.docx

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