And now this! The words still rung in his ears, "the holy seed is mixed", and worse, "the hand of the leadership has been foremost in this trespass". Tears began to flow freely down his cheeks as he painfully embraced the full implication of what he had heard. One of God's most basic requirements — separation from the nations around about them — had been violated. Didn't the people understand that this separation was fundamental to their preservation; hadn't they yet grasped the full meaning of being God' s "chosen" people?

He knew what must be done. As the people looked on and began to weep, Ezra the priest tore his garments, fell on his face before his God, and spread out his hands in repentance. "0 my God..our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens..." (Ezra 9)

I sought God for a long time for a message to share on these pages and became more and more frustrated as nothing came. Finally I understood why I had no new message - it was because the message hasn't changed. It is still repentance. God is calling the church of Australia to repentance and we must acknowledge Him. Just as in the days of Ezra, our chief sin is a failure to separate ourselves from the world around us. Separation does not mean we live secluded and sheltered lives, never mixing or communicating with non-believers. That is religion, not Christianity.

Separation means we seek more and more to live a holy lifestyle, turning away from all that either displeases God, or replaces God, in our lives. Paul spoke of this separation to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 6:16-18), calling on them to 'perfect holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7: 1) A major fruit of this failure to separate amongst Christians is the sin of idolatry. Jesus made reference to this type of sin amongst religious people in Matthew 15:8 when He said "This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me "

So many of us call ourselves Christians, attend church regularly and are involved in all types of Christian endeavours; but if we were to honestly allow the Holy Spirit to show us our hearts what would we see in the centre? Those of us who are most horrified at the idea of worshiping idols made of wood or stone are sometimes guilty of bowing to the gods of denominationalism, good works and religion. All idolatry is equally abominable in God's sight.

We need to understand that God desires to revive us. As a national church we have been living in the shadow of God's grace. Ezra understood this, but also understood there was a time limitation to this grace: 'And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God.. that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage." (Ezra 9:8) God in His mercy desires to revive us as a people, and to repair and rebuild His house (Ezra 9:9) That which is not wilting or dying does not need reviving. The Oxford dictionary defines revival as a "bringing back to life". Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." A church experiencing life is a church which has given Jesus centre stage.

God desires to repair His house. You may live in a house for many years comfortably and not notice the cracks appearing in the walls, the leaking taps, the hole in the floor, or the broken window. Then one day you will look around and see how many things you have accepted and grown "comfortable" with, but which have actually been causing your house to decay. You will need to take an inventory and repair your house. If you have let your house deteriorate to a state of ruin, you will even have to rebuild it.

In many ways, we have tried to build the church of Jesus Christ on the latest fads, programs, formulas and plans of man. Many churches have also been built on "good works" or as monuments to human beings. Jesus said "On this rock I will build My Church." It is His Church, and He is the Cornerstone. If we build our churches on or around anything else other than Jesus, the Rock, our labours will be in vain (Psalm 127:1).

We cry out to God for revival and quote verses such as 2 Chronicles 7:14, without being willing to acknowledge that God has set conditions on the healing of our land. "If My people who are called by My Name (THE CHURCH) will humble themselves and pray. (FASTING AND INTERCESSION) and seek My Face (INTIMACY WITH JESUS, SEEKING HIS FACE RATHER THAN HIS HAND) and turn from their wicked ways (REPENTANCE), THEN I will hear from Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land."

Isn't that exactly what Ezra did?

"At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting and having torn my garment and my robe I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God." {Ezra 9:5) The evening sacrifice was always made at twilight, just before darkness set in. Surely this is a time of twilight for our nation,, but there is still time for the sacrifice of repentance.

Ezra did three important things:

Firstly, he tore his garments. Will we acknowledge that the garments with which we have clothed ourselves before God, that is our self-righteousness, our works, our programs, are of no use in hiding our sinful nature and our state of compromise with the world? He sees right through them to our hearts and calls us to separation and holiness.

Then he fell on his knees. Are we prepared to humble ourselves and acknowledge Him as Lord, giving Him the highest place, and seeking to know Him for Who He is rather than what He can do for us?

Finally, he stretched out his hands before the Lord. Are we prepared to come to Him with our hands open and empty, not on the strength of what we have done, but on the strength of His mercy and grace alone?

A wonderful and unexpected thing happened to Ezra and the children of Israel as they repented and waited, trembling before GOD. The rains came! In fact the rains came so heavily that the people could not continue to stand. "Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, "Yes, As you have said, so we must do. But there are many people IT IS THE SEASON FOR HEAVY RAIN, AND WE ARE NOT ABLE TO STAND." (Ezra 10:12-13).

The Lord is looking upon our nation. The Lord is speaking to His church. He is telling us that to everything there is a season and that those who sow in tears will reap in joy, bearing the harvest with them. If we want the rains of revival, we must be willing to repent.

Cheryl McGrath

Great South Land Ministries

http://www.greatsouthland.org

southland@greatsouthland.org

©Cheryl McGrath and Great South Land Ministries, 1999

This article may freely reproduced without alteration or omission and with copyright intact.