The Joy of Restoration: Building Anew on Eternal Foundations
Ezra 3:11b
And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
Oh, how great it is to see the rebuilding of that which has been lost to previous generations. Here, a people who had been in captivity, and who had lost their freedom to worship their God, had all at once been given the opportunity to restore, repair, and rebuild the house of the Lord. All hope seemed lost. After all, Psalm 11:3 asks, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” There MUST be a foundation upon which to build, and it cannot be the shifting sands of sin and corruption. Today, there is now a generation that knows not the Lord. However, I wish to speak to those who remember what it was like to see real revival fire in the church house long ago. Where is the fire today? What happened? Can this new generation really be blamed for the loss of the flame?
Verse 12 says, “But many of the…ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice…” All of a sudden, the flame that they thought was long lost inside of them became re-ignited when they SAW the new foundation laid! I ask the leaders who have paved the way for my generation, and who have seen better days in America than I have seen, to open your eyes again and catch a vision of a new foundation for future generations. Yes, the old landmarks have been removed; and yes, things may not be looking so great anymore, but my generation needs to see a spirit of revival fire rise back up in those who have gone before us, who can tell us with certainty that hope still exists, and who can inspire us to lead future generations to that hope.
Perhaps the greatest threat to our hope for the future is our dwelling on past losses. I imagine if I were one of those “ancient” men, I would have thought to myself, “Could it be true? Is this really happening? I had lost all hope of ever seeing this day come to pass again, but yet here it is before my very eyes!” Question: why should it take seeing to believe, when faith requires us to believe before we see? We MUST lay out this new foundation before our eyes of faith, before we will ever see it come to pass. Perhaps then we will begin to see a great awakening in our generation like in times of old!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
Oh, how great it is to see the rebuilding of that which has been lost to previous generations. Here, a people who had been in captivity, and who had lost their freedom to worship their God, had all at once been given the opportunity to restore, repair, and rebuild the house of the Lord. All hope seemed lost. After all, Psalm 11:3 asks, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” There MUST be a foundation upon which to build, and it cannot be the shifting sands of sin and corruption. Today, there is now a generation that knows not the Lord. However, I wish to speak to those who remember what it was like to see real revival fire in the church house long ago. Where is the fire today? What happened? Can this new generation really be blamed for the loss of the flame?
Verse 12 says, “But many of the…ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice…” All of a sudden, the flame that they thought was long lost inside of them became re-ignited when they SAW the new foundation laid! I ask the leaders who have paved the way for my generation, and who have seen better days in America than I have seen, to open your eyes again and catch a vision of a new foundation for future generations. Yes, the old landmarks have been removed; and yes, things may not be looking so great anymore, but my generation needs to see a spirit of revival fire rise back up in those who have gone before us, who can tell us with certainty that hope still exists, and who can inspire us to lead future generations to that hope.
Perhaps the greatest threat to our hope for the future is our dwelling on past losses. I imagine if I were one of those “ancient” men, I would have thought to myself, “Could it be true? Is this really happening? I had lost all hope of ever seeing this day come to pass again, but yet here it is before my very eyes!” Question: why should it take seeing to believe, when faith requires us to believe before we see? We MUST lay out this new foundation before our eyes of faith, before we will ever see it come to pass. Perhaps then we will begin to see a great awakening in our generation like in times of old!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill