I'd like you to take the word of God, if you would please, and turn with me into the Old Testament book of Ezra. This is where we'll begin. And I want you to write down some questions and answers as God speaks to your heart. This is the first day of May, 2020. And I want us to begin to look at everything exactly this way, that we're taking this day forward. We're moving forward by faith. A new beginning of obedience to God, a new beginning of our work, May, June, July, August, September. And we trust to be fully engaged in every ministry that God has placed us in when we reach the fall time in September. But during this time of May, June, July, and August, we're gonna work very hard to get everything in place that ought to be in place. That includes you. I'll give just a little wrap up to all of that when I'm finished in this message. There's a question that we come to here that is, I think, one of the most searching questions in the Bible. Let me give the setting for this story. As you may well know, I have preached through the book of Ezra, every chapter and every verse. And so I'm referring back to something because there's such meaning in this for this moment in which God's allowed us to live. There are no doubt pivotal moments in life. In those pivotal moments, the victory is either won or lost. Sometimes it's either life or death. In those pivotal moments, opportunities present themselves that have never been presented to us before. We either seize that moment, capture it for God, commit all of it to the Lord, or we may never face such an opportunity and responsibility in a moment ever again. And I believe that's what we're in. If you can train yourself to think that way, not to see the circumstances first, but to keep your eyes upon the Lord and to know that God is at work and God is at work. I have been placed many times in my life at a certain juncture, in a certain moment, And it was the moment to do something that could be done for God that could not have been done any other time. I remember such moments in pastoring churches. I came to be the pastor of the Greenback Memorial Baptist Church as a very young man, 19 years old in Greenback, Tennessee. And the church had gone through quite an ordeal. Things were shaken up pretty severely. They were at a certain moment in the life and ministry of that church, perhaps like no other moment. And God called me there and I was able to meet that moment. And it's been this way in my life story. I've been to the Calvary Baptist Church to pastor in the North City, Tennessee, and the pastor had been there 21 years. And his claim to fame was that he didn't believe that Jesus had to be born of a virgin. Well, he tried to prove a point, though he said he believed the Lord was born of a virgin, but didn't believe he had to be. But it aroused such confusion in the hearts of people, and even skepticism about the authority of God's word, that it created an opportune moment to declare the Bible and to see what God could do through his word and the blessing of his Holy Spirit. And we saw that. Like never in the history of that church, God worked in a mighty way. When I left the Southern Baptist Convention and became an independent Baptist by conviction, I took a time at the Highland Park Baptist Church while going to seminary, Temple Theological Seminary. And it wasn't just any time in the life and ministry of the Highland Park Baptist Church. Dr. Robertson had just gone through a year without being able to speak. Now here, a pastor known around the world, not able to exercise this gift of preaching and thundering forth the word of God and feeling in his soul that he was not leading not leading as he could lead and should lead, because he was literally unable to speak. He visited doctors, clinics, traveled from place to place, and finally he came to a clinic in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and this was the second time coming to it. And a doctor had performed a surgery a year earlier, and the doctor convinced Dr. Robertson He thought this time the surgery would work if he would allow him to do it one more time. And after much prayer and meditation, I'm sure fasting on the subject, Dr. Robson submitted himself again to the same surgery that had failed in the beginning of his journey to try to have his voice restored. And sure enough, he did exactly what the doctor said in recuperating and he regained his voice. And he came back with an intensity. His peers said an intensity. People had been with him for years and years, said he came back with an intensity, even though he was a man of great intensity, with an intensity like none he'd ever had before. And God had set the stage for a great evangelistic thrust. Our Sunday school grew while we were there, in an attendance of more than 5,000. We baptized thousands of people who were professing faith in Christ. It was a real revival time in that ministry, and it was a pivotal moment. There were circumstances created, a stage set. God did something that only God could do behind the scenes, but the moment was there to be seized. I had a great burden in my heart to go to the New York City area. My wife and I prayed about it, not just for a few days, but for years. God put upon my heart to go to that part of the world. It was something the Lord had for me to do. And after we prayed and earnestly pleaded with God to know his mind about the matter, I got a phone call one evening. from the Madison Abbey Baptist Church in Patterson, New Jersey. And these were the words I heard. We've had a great church. We've been without a pastor for five years. We're trying to hold on, but we're just about to give up. We've made plans to donate our church facilities at the end of this year. And so we've done everything we can and someone gave us your name and thought you might be prayerfully interested in this part of the world. Well, it was like hearing from heaven for me. I went there to preach what they call a trial message. I remember Dr. R.G. Lee said one time, any fool can fire one big gun. But it was more about my heart and their heart. The pastorium or parsonage where they had the pastor live was decayed. You won't believe this. And these were precious people, but they were holding on with all their might to just stay alive. But there were several inches of water in the basement of the house and animals were living in it, wild animals. We drove through the city of Patterson, and the chairman of the candidate committee said to me, you don't want to bring your family to a place like this, do you? Look at all this. It's probably the filthiest city in America. We've come to call it the armpit of the United States, the once great first industrial city of America. but with every word he spoke, the intensity of my heart built and built and built till there was such a fire inside of me. I went there and God began to bless. As God blessed, we went through a revolution, but the Lord was with us and we had the greatest years of blessing, and souls being saved and growth in the history of the work. A handful of people rose to 800 and God blessed souls being saved. People from 40 something towns and villages around Patterson were coming to the church and God blessed in a mighty way. I'm not saying it's a thing in the world I did. Honestly, I've been through the fire about this I'm just saying all glory belongs to the Lord and precious people, a remnant of people, a handful, but a remnant. People like Johanna Winstra and her sister, Henrietta. People like Peter and Sarah Herrada, who were actually the people who founded the Trans World Radio from the voice of Tangiers in North Africa. People who worked at the Star of Hope Mission and were influential in the great revival in China, where God used the stams who were martyred for his namesake. They were all there, longing and praying for God to do something. And they were thrilled to see the Lord doing it. They stood by my side, Andy Van Emburg, Others like that, I'll never forget them. Val Conrad, up in years, a retired school teacher, never married. Pianist at plus 80 in the church. Been there all her life. And her beautiful sister. What joy God brought to our lives there. But it was a moment that God created All he needed was someone to step in and be faithful and preach the word of God. That's all. And he was so desperate that he used me. And I believe God had to be pretty desperate to do that. I began to get the opportunity to teach in the New York School of the Bible at 57th Street in Manhattan. Monday night after Monday night, and hundreds of people came to those classes in the school they had started, and the people were ripe and ready, and God moved. Sometimes we'd have 350, 400 people in our classes I taught in the middle of Manhattan, and what a burden God put in my heart for the New York City area. I've never lost it. I still have it. I'd go there tomorrow if God wanted me to be there. I believe that all these years here in Knoxville, God helped us train people for areas like that and other areas. And now our graduates circle the globe and work in every state. But there are spots, the world would call them hot spots. There are moments, the world may just say it's just a great opportunity. but they're pivotal places and pivotal moments where God chooses to work and do what only he can do. Now, what we're having happen now is that same thing. We're in one of those pivotal moments and people who have faith in God, who believe the Lord desires to do, what only he can do so that people around us stand in awe and say, look at the salvation of the Lord. That's what God is doing. And I'm calling on all of our students and all those who pray about ever training for the Lord's work to be back here in this place, to catch this spirit, to receive the vision and allow God to use you in a mighty way. God's people had been in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Jerusalem had been left in a smoldering, smoking ruins. The temple had been destroyed. And so with Solomon's temple gone and the city in ruins, the captive people Longing to be home, God raised up a king. He defeated the Babylonian empire, as he said he would, with a man who raised up an army that became a kingdom. We refer to it now as the Medo-Persian empire. And he raised up a king by the name of Cyrus. Cyrus is called God's shepherd. Think of it, a Gentile man, not even a believer, But God says, he's going to shepherd. He's going to care for my flock. You see, it's not the mighty instrument, it's the mighty God who can use just a rod, even a donkey or another animal. He can speak to a great beast in the sea to carry and preserve his profit. It's not the mighty instrument, it's the mighty God that we've got. And we've got a mighty God who wants to work in this COVID-19. And we must rise by faith to this moment and seize it for the glory of the Lord. If there's anything left in your soul that has a spark about it or a fire about it, let it burn like never before. Let it burn for the Lord and for his glory. This is where we are. This is our moment. We will never have it again. In our lifetime, we'll never have it again. And we mustn't depend upon the politicians to bring the great revival. We mustn't depend on the education systems to bring the great revival. This is the work of God. So you and I want to be right smack dab in the heart of the work of God. And this is God's created moment, pivotal moment in human history for you and for me. It's God's moment. Paul wrote to the church in Philippi and said, the same God that had begun a good work will complete it. And I wanna ask you a question. Has God started anything in your life? I'm speaking to some of you who had a vision for something, a vision for people who would sing and glorify God and preach. Is it still there? Some of you had a vision for evangelism worldwide. Is it still there? The greatest evangelistic thrust for mission work has yet to be done. The greatest churches in Christ's likeness to be built have yet to be built. This is our moment. And I'm framing this for you and for your thinking and for me and for my thinking, because there's so many things, so many things that God puts as ingredients into each of us so that finally we can see him and see what he'll have us to do. The little book of Ezra is the record God gives of the rekindling and reviving of a living faith. of the people of God, first in a small number, relatively speaking, a small number going back, back to their homeland and beginning what God had for them to do. But you and I, centuries and centuries and centuries later, have a biblical faith because it was restored by these people recorded for us in the book of Ezra. Why don't we bow our unworthy heads and thank God for his mercy. And we're reading about our own history here. God has always had a people. It didn't begin in the New Testament. God has always had a people. And from creation to this moment, there have been people faithing God, believing God. God has taught us in his word now that the only way to the Lord is through faith and the Lord Jesus Christ is our savior. Now I read just a few verses and come to the point. Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given us all the kingdoms of the earth and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Verse three, who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. I want you to make sure you have this question mark. It is a soul, deeply soul searching question. Who is there among you of all his people? In other words, God says that many of you who name his name, and there are many today who would say, I'm a believer, I know the Lord, but who is there among his people? that has separated himself or herself to the Lord to be used of God at this pivotal moment. So God deals with the who. In the midst of the millions, yea, billions of people on the earth, God is calling to his people. And he's saying to his people, who is there among my people, which are called by my name? that will humble themselves to pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. And then know that I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land. We mustn't want revival to save America. Don't let that shock you. That's not the motive. We must want revival to glorify the Lord God of heaven and earth. In Samson's day, the temple of Dagon was filled when God's man was grinding like a beast at the mill. That's the shame of it. and false religions abound all around us and atheists number more than ever. Christ deniers take ads in our papers across the country and make ads about their disbelief. The governor, the governor of one of our largest states said, we've recovered from the virus and God had nothing to do with it. That's the land in which we live. And I'm saying to you, it's not a revival to save our country. That's a by-product. It's a revival to glorify God. So God says, the who are his people. Who is there among you of all his people? God tells them where to go. His God be with him. and let him go to Jerusalem, which is in Judah. He got direction about where, and we're all looking for that direction, and God will give direction. I believe that God will give direction to us first and foremost to the place of worship, because that's at the heart of all else we do. to the place of worship. And the first thing they did when Zerubbabel led the first remnant back, they restored the altar of God. As a matter of fact, they found the foundations of the altar where they had worshiped before. And on those same foundations that were torn down and burned, they built up again the altar of God. And where are we to go? There's quite a fuss at this moment about going back to church. Let us begin by going back to God, back to God. Allow the Lord to work thoroughly in your life. As we go back to God, let the Lord work thoroughly in your life. And I'm gonna tell you something, that will lead you in God's time back to the place of worship in your church. Where? Look again, please. God talks about what? Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. That's what we're to do. We're not going back to meet. We talk about social, distancing and separation and safety. All those things are necessary for this time. But what are we going to do? We're to build the house of the Lord. The church is called the Lord's house. The church is called his body, his bride, his building. And what we have to do is be build up, build up in our souls. Paul told the Ephesian elders that the word of God is able to build them up. If this isn't gonna be a time of back to the Bible, what is it going to be? In all of these entertainment centers called churches, there ought to be hungry, thirsty souls who cry out, give me the word of God. Not all this world entertainment. Feed my soul with God's Word anointed by God's Spirit. That's what people are gonna be crying out. That's what? And then he talks about why. Who is there among you of all these people? His God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem. which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. Why? It's like when Jesus said to his disciples, when so many had left, he said, will you also go away? And they said, Lord, to whom shall we go? In other words, there's no other place to go. Thou hast the words of eternal life. I wanna tell you friends, when you search for everything in every place imaginable, and you come full circle, you will come back to God. He's before all things. He's all we need. When we get him, we've got everything we need. And we find he's enough. of all the peddling things and pity things and pampering type things they could have done in the captive land, of all the ways they could have occupied themselves and stayed in movement with some motion. Like most people today, like the fellow who dig at a ditch to get the money, to get the strength, who eats the food, goes back and digs a ditch. Somebody said, how do you live? He said, I dig the ditch to get the money, to buy the food, to get the strength, to dig the ditch. How do you live? I go back and dig the ditch to earn the money, to buy the food, to get the strength, to go back and dig the ditch. There's more to life than that. There's more to life than that. Paul said in his epistle to the church in Philippi, for me to live is Christ. Listen, put greatest purpose in your life. Find out why God allowed you to live to this juncture. Find real meaning and purpose. It's in the Lord. The penman writes, do all of this because he is God. That's why you don't need anything else because he is God. Nothing else can be used as a qualifier. He's all we need. And I want to sound out to all of our students and families and supporters and prayer warriors for the Crown College Who is there among all his people? Is God speaking to you? Come and prepare yourself to serve the Lord and discover who and where and what and why. And then we'll begin to make some sense out of what we're going through and what God has brought us to. Let us pray together. Our Father, we thank Thee for Thy powerful Word, for how it speaks to us, how we're challenged to move forward. Help us to yield to Thee. And the mighty revival we're expecting, let it begin in us. And let us praise Thee even now for what's going to happen as we see the salvation of the Lord sweep across our land and around the world. Oh Lord, we praise Thy holy name that we're living in this moment and have this opportunity. Help us to seize this moment of destiny, this pivotal moment for thee and for thy glory. In Christ Jesus' name we pray, amen.