What Can The Righteous Do?

[0:00] If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

[0:17] ! And my theme here is what can the righteous do?! What can the righteous do?

[0:27] I look around me and you may have the same feelings that it seems like the foundations are crumbling all around about us. Lawlessness is abounding. Society is abandoning faith and truth. You hear people and they say, I don't believe. The foundations are being destroyed. There's an unbelief that's prevailing. And it's like the whole authority structure of a decent society is being overthrown. I had the privilege last night to be at a Sudanese commemoration of a man who passed away for their brother-in-law and his sister. And they were talking, the folk there, and there's some leading men from the Sudanese, the Dinka community, and they were commenting how the authority structure is breaking down. Even in their community, in their culture back home, as they've gone back to visit, the culture is breaking down.

[1:24] The authority structures of chiefs, of kings, of the authority and the governmental structure that was their traditional structure is breaking down. So it's not just in Western culture. This is worldwide. There's a breaking down of authority, a breaking down of a reverence to someone who we've got to give account to. There's someone we've got to answer to. And it seems like the barbarians are running riot.

[1:48] You know, they don't want police anymore. Honestly. Decent society is being overthrown by these radicals. And look, I want to comment here, I'm not against Black Lives Matter, because they do.

[2:01] But the Black Lives Matter movement in America is actually a leftist, socialist, communistic organisation. As much as we support our brethren of every colour, of every kind of community and culture, and we stand for them, we stand against injustice.

[2:20] We stand against the injustice to Aboriginal people and people of colour. There is much injustice in our world. We stand against that. We stand against that. But we don't go marching with the Black Lives Matter, which is a leftist, socialist, communistic movement, which is bent on the overthrow of decent civil society and of a prevailing of lawlessness.

[2:41] And friends, I tell you, the barbarians are running riot. What shall the righteous do in such a world as this? I believe the answer is revival. The answer is revival. The Word of God talks about a reviving, of a returning, of a renewing. What are we to do?

[2:58] Faith needs restoring. That's what's the heart of it. It's an unbelief in God. Not only is there a rebellion against authority in general, but the authority in particular of God.

[3:09] That's what's the problem. People have abandoned and have rejected faith in God. They've rejected bowing the knee to yielding the heart, the will, the knee to God Almighty.

[3:20] And friends, we have need of faith to be restored. We have need of faith. And it's been well said that faith is a verb. Faith is a verb in the sense that trust in the Lord is this recurring phrase, and it's tied with action. This faith is not passive, it's active.

[3:39] When the foundations are being destroyed all around us, when civil society is crumbling, when godlessness ramps up, and we see the despair that results, we have need of faith, don't we?

[3:52] Trust in the Lord. He will prevail. He will overcome. As we read that we are to trust in the Lord. Trust in him.

[4:13] In the Lord, put on my trust, the psalmist cried, Psalm 11. In the Lord, put on my trust. Don't put your trust in religion. Or religious matters. Trust in him. So let's move through this time to think about what can the righteous do.

[4:33] I put to you that we're to believe. We're to trust in the Lord. I put my trust in the Lord, he says. And we are called to be, to do some things in faith. I put to you that faith is faith activated. It's demonstrated. It's active faith.

[4:52] And the question the psalmist poses is, what can the righteous do? We should do something. We should do something. Now, let me preface this by saying, our salvation is not by doing. It's done. It was done 2,000 years ago.

[5:13] Everything was done to save you, it was done then. The faith that we have in the finished work of the cross is the saving faith. Yet the faith that we have is something that moves us to do.

[5:29] And I put some things that the righteous can do and ought to do. What are we to do? Let me give you a few things. And we could give, really through the scriptures, there's multiple, there's manifold things that we're called to do.

[5:43] But I'm just really zeroing in on just a few that stood out to me as I prepared this. And I think there's about four of them. Number one, do your duty.

[5:54] Do that. I know I've preached a sermon that's called duty. I don't want to overlap what I've already given to you. But there's a sense of do your duty. You know, what do the Boy Scouts say?

[6:05] I promise to do my duty to God and the Queen, whatever it be. We're to do the duty that we're called to do. Do the works that he has put in your reach to do. And do them well.

[6:16] Do them diligently. And do them without expectation of reward. Do your duty and leave it at that. Do your duty. It's the least that we can do. Do what he expects of you to do.

[6:28] Do that. Simply do that. It's like, and as I say, you may not be able to keep track of these very scriptures I'm going to give to you now. Feel free to turn to them if you can reach them in time.

[6:39] But I'm going to Luke 17. And do your duty like the servants in Luke 17. It says in Luke 17 verse 10. The Master says to the servants in the story here.

[6:52] So likewise ye, when ye have done all those things which I commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do.

[7:05] These servants didn't claim any credit. They didn't say, oh, I'm a super duper servant. I'm better than the other servants. We've just done what was our duty to do. What God has told me to do, I've done that.

[7:16] Simply that. And we can have the same heart, can't we? We all have a task with every one of you. Every one of us has an assignment from God. And he commands you to do.

[7:30] D-O. Do. You've got an assignment. And he calls you to fulfil it. Your assignment is your assignment. And thank God he enables you to complete it. What God has given you to do, he'll help you to do it.

[7:42] You have got a God-given mission, a calling and an accountability. And our Lord wants us to be as those servants in Luke 17. We are unprofitable servants.

[7:55] I'm not claiming any good out of this that I've done. I'm just doing what my duty is to do. Simply that. Don't give me a badge or a trophy or a prize. I'm doing my duty.

[8:07] That's what we have to have that heart. And do it. Do it unto him. Do it as unto the Lord. And our Lord wants us occupied in his kingdom mission. Until he returns. Luke 19 is another account of another parable.

[8:22] Of another record of serving and of servants and of recognition. And Luke 19.13 it says this. Luke 19.13. He called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds.

[8:36] Now this was a master about to go on a journey. And he said unto them. Occupy till I come. Our Lord says the same.

[8:46] Doesn't he? Occupy until I come. He says I've given you something to do. In between now and when I come back.

[8:57] And he says occupy till I come. It's got the sense of do business. Get engaged. Get busy. Until I come. He gives us that same charge.

[9:08] Our master. And what he's saying really I put to you is get occupied with the things of God. We can get occupied with things can't we? We can easily occupy our time.

[9:21] In this busy busy world we can all. The time just gets fritted doesn't it away. But get occupied with the things of God. With the work of God. I put to you today. There's some musts in the Christian life.

[9:33] Some things we must do. And our Lord set the example of that. When he says about the father's business. It's a must. It's a must. As the Lord himself showed.

[9:43] In Luke 2. As we know the context of the boyhood Jesus. As he was separated from his parents. From Joseph and his mother.

[9:55] And as he was separated from them. They searched for him. And they finally found him in Luke 2.49. And he says how is it that you sought me. Wishing not that I must be about my father's business.

[10:08] He had some work to do and he did it. He says I must be about my father's business. And shouldn't we have the same heart? That we must. We must be about our father's business.

[10:21] There's work to do. There's a time limit too. You know we think. We can easily have the attitude. Of just kind of idling away the time. You know.

[10:31] Thinking of a term. You know. Just killing time. We can kill time. It's a phrase isn't it? I just want to kill some time today.

[10:44] You know. And before you know it. It's gone. Our Lord says in John 9 verse 4. I must. Must again. Work the works of him that sent me.

[10:55] While it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. Now I know some folk here in farm work. And you're driving the tractor or whatever it be. And the big enemy is that sun going down.

[11:08] Isn't it? You think. I've just got to get this done. I'm like it too. Where you think. You just hate it when the sun's going down. You just want to finish off what you're doing. But you know you've got to down tools.

[11:18] And stop what you're doing. Until sun up comes again. You know. And it's true in the Christian walk isn't it? That the sun's going down. We've only got so much time.

[11:29] We've only got a window of time. And sometimes it's hard. We just want to do more. But there's only so much time. Night comes. When no man can work.

[11:39] Friends. Ultimately. The day that we have. The human life that we have. Will go into the night. Will be in the eternity. Will go beyond the veil. Beyond the curtain. Will cross the river.

[11:50] And will be on the other side. And this day. This moment. This time. The life that we have to live. Will be done. This side of glory. And so work while it is day.

[12:02] I must. Work the works of him. While it is day. I love what it says about John the Baptist. In John 1 verse 6. It says. There was a man sent from God.

[12:13] Whose name was John. He was simply that. He wasn't some great king. Or some great intellectual. Or authority. Or some worldly recognised man.

[12:24] He was simply a man. Sent from God. That's special isn't it? That's something special. And you can be that man. You can be that woman. Sent from God.

[12:36] Likewise we are. We all have a mission. A mission to accomplish. And of John the Baptist. Who says of him. He was a burning. And a shining light.

[12:47] What are we. The righteous. To do. What are we to do. Let's take a look further at that. We are called to serve. To serve. In those examples.

[12:58] Of Luke 17. Of Luke 19. Talks about servants. Talks about the master. We call him Lord. Don't we? And I know.

[13:09] I've mentioned it before. An Indian brother of mine. A man who lives. Who comes from India. Often prayed. Master. When he talked to Jesus. We can use the word Lord.

[13:20] But actually we should say. Well in effect. We should have the mindset. Master. What would you have me to do? Amen. We should have. Yes sir.

[13:32] That heart. Do your duty. And keep humble at it. God responds to our humility. The best servant. Is the humble servant. Isn't it? The servant will do. Yes sir.

[13:44] Whatever you have me to do. Whatever the lowest. And menial. And meanest task. Yes sir. Tell me what you want me to do. And I'll do it. And God responds to our humility.

[13:56] Likewise. And it's been said. Humility is a key to revival. Now what does it say? That they humble themselves. They seek their face. They humble themselves. And he responds. He heals their land.

[14:07] God responds to our humility. And he works by his spirit. In such a people. In Isaiah 57. Verse 15. Isaiah 57. Verse 15. And I want to tie in.

[14:20] This theme. I'm hoping it's not too. Garbled. A message here today. But essentially. What can the righteous do. With revival. When the righteous do something.

[14:31] God does a work. God does a work. In his people. And he does a work. Following from that. Revival. You could say. And we see that in Isaiah 57.

[14:42] Verse 15. Where it says. For thus saith the high and lofty one. That inhabiteth eternity. Whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place.

[14:53] With him also that is of a contrite. And humble spirit. To revive the spirit of the humble. And to revive the heart. Of the contrite ones. It says he revives.

[15:04] He revives the spirit. Of the humble. And he revives the heart. Of the contrite ones. This one who inhabits eternity. His name is holy. He comes and he dwells.

[15:15] Not just in the high and holy place. But he comes and dwells in such as we. If we can get to that place of humility. What can the righteous do.

[15:26] Do pray. As the psalmist in Psalm 139. Search me oh God. And know my heart today. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be in me.

[15:37] Any wicked way. And lead me in the way everlasting. So what are the righteous to do. I put to you first. My first essential point here. Is do your duty.

[15:48] Have the heart that I will do my duty. And don't think anything of it. That you can big note yourself. That you can get some praise. And plaudits. And you know. Bouquets from men.

[15:59] That you can get some kind of. Earthly praise for what you do. Do your duty. And simply that. Do your duty. And secondly. Do depend upon God.

[16:10] Depend upon God. Friends. It's the power of the living God. That we need. And the great glad news. Of the word of God. Is there's men and women. Warts and all in here. Isn't there? All of their failings.

[16:21] And faults. And their ups and downs. And their backslidings. And their. God's grace. Works in men and women. Just like you and me. Doesn't it? If we were back.

[16:33] 2000 years ago. We might have been. In their number. Around him. Whose side would we have been on? You know. Do we depend upon God? It's the power of the living God.

[16:44] That we need. To not rely upon ourselves. Any time we rely upon ourselves. We're. Taking away from him. Instead. Let us rely upon.

[16:55] The Holy Spirit. Rely not on human means. And machinery. But rely upon him. Let him be. What we rely upon. So I put. My point here.

[17:06] Is depend upon him. Depend upon him. Truly. God is the source. In Hosea 14.7. It talks about. They that dwell. Under his shadow. Shall return. They shall revive.

[17:17] As the corn. And grow as the vine. It's talking about. A reviving of the corn. It's talking about. Springtime. And. And that revitalizing. Of spring. You know. In this winter time.

[17:28] We just kind of. Can't wait. Can we. To spring. Spring is coming. Spring's next. And we're looking forward to that. And here's the life spring. Here's the life. The power source. Here's the source.

[17:39] Of reviving. And it is upon him. We must depend. As when. And it happens. As we dwell. In his shadow. Hosea 14. Verse 7. They that dwell. Under his shadow.

[17:51] Do we dwell. Under the shadow. Of the almighty. See. Do we find. A cover. Cover. In the cover. Of his wings. Here that dwelleth.

[18:02] In the secret place. Of the. Almighty. The most high. And. It says.

[18:13] They that dwell. Under the shadow. Under his shadow. They that dwell. Under his shadow. So. So. It's saying. Dwell there. Dwell there. Make your dwelling place there.

[18:25] Now. Don't just be. Yeah. Someone who's just kind of. Flitting. Into the presence. But to dwell. In the presence. Dwell there.

[18:37] Under the shadow. Of his wings. Sit there. At his feet. Wait patiently. For him. It talks about. Stay there. Stay at it. You know. Sometimes. We. We don't wrestle enough.

[18:48] With God. Do we? I know. We can. Just have those. Fleeting prayers. But there's a call. For dwelling there. To wrestle there. If must be. To dwell there.

[18:58] To wrestle with God. If it must be. Till he bless you. Dwell under the shadow. Hosea 14. Seven. It's a lovely. Lovely verse there. And have that trusting faith. That goes the extra.

[19:09] The extra mile. You know. There's a sense where. We should. Do. Persevere. Now. I know. There's. Obviously. There's. Error. About. The perseverance. Of the saints. But. There is truly.

[19:20] A true perseverance. Of the saints. In that. We're meant to. Have that strength. Of endurance. Aren't we? That strength. Of perseverance. That. Not that our salvation. Depends upon.

[19:31] Or is evidenced by it. Even. But. The saints. Ought to persevere. We ought to have. A persevering heart. To persevere. To press through. To press beyond. All the obstacles.

[19:42] And all the setbacks. Or all the hurts. And all the heartaches. And hardships. And adversities of life. And persevere. It's a good thing to do. And revival comes as we persevere.

[19:53] As we press forward. Press onwards. The Lord will reward you. Even through tears. As heartbroken Jacob. Experienced revival.

[20:04] In Genesis 45. 27. It says. They told him. All the words of Joseph. This is Genesis 45. Verse 27. And they told him.

[20:16] All the words of Joseph. Which he had said unto them. And when he saw the wagons. Which Joseph had sent. To carry him. The spirit of Jacob. Their father revived. You know.

[20:26] Jacob was here at his lowest. And God revived his spirit. And we can have those low points in life. Where it seems such despair overwhelms us. And it says. The spirit of Jacob.

[20:38] Revived. Now look beyond the circumstance. God will. See you through that. The one who is above your circumstance. Look unto him. It says we depend upon him.

[20:49] That we'll get through the storm. We'll get through the valley. And we'll see his hand move on our behalf. And you know. Friends. Brothers and sisters. There's tough times come. We've read of our friends.

[21:01] In the Middle East there. Persecution drives us to God. Adversity. It tests our faith.

[21:12] And it says we shall come forth as. Gold. But before the gold. Comes the. Crucible. Before the gold. Comes the heat.

[21:24] The furnace. The trial. Then the gold. So maybe. Just wait a little longer. The gold's coming. Amen.

[21:35] Amen. The burdens press. Revival comes right here. In that hardship. Even in our hardship. Revival happens.

[21:47] I love the. The scripture along the theme of revival again. Of Psalm 138 verse 7. It's a blessed scripture this one. Psalm 138 verse 7.

[21:58] Write that one down. Psalm 138 verse 7. Though I walk in the midst of trouble. Thou will. Revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine hands.

[22:10] Against the wrath of mine enemies. And thy right hand shall save me. Though I walk. In the midst of trouble.

[22:21] Thou wilt. Revive me. Revival. First trouble. And it's like Psalm 85 verse 6. Will thou not revive us again.

[22:32] That thy people may rejoice in thee. Sometimes it's first the tears. Then the joy. You know. Weeping for the night. Joy in the morning. Rejoice.

[22:43] Saint. It's one thing we can do isn't it. What can the righteous do. Rejoice. And. Again. I say. Rejoice. What are we to do.

[22:54] Do your duty. Do depend upon him. And thirdly. Do right. Do right. Do what is right. Yes.

[23:06] Even in trouble. Do right. Even if it is easier to do wrong. Even if the crowd wants you to do wrong. Do right. Be a righteous man.

[23:17] A right living man. A right living woman. In testing. Do right. In turmoil. Do right. In sickness. Do right. Do what is right. The rightful thing.

[23:27] How do we know what is right? Here's the instruction manual. Do the word. Do the word. Do what is right.

[23:38] How do we know what is right? By this. Infallible. Instruction. From him. Our God. Do the word. And.

[23:51] Revival comes from this book. As we are a doer of the word. The psalmist cried in Psalm 119. Verse 25. My soul cleaveth unto the dust.

[24:02] Quicken thou me according to thy word. You know. Oft times the psalmist cried. Quicken me. Of course we know. It's the old English word quick. Which means alive.

[24:13] You know. There's basically two people in the world. There's the quick. And the dead. You're either alive or you're dead. The quick. The living. And the dead. You're one or the other.

[24:24] You're either quick or you're dead. And the Bible says. Quicken me. Make me alive. Make me live. Give me life. Breathe your life into me. Quicken me. According to thy word.

[24:36] Have a look at the word quicken. And see. Quicken and word. Often correlated. The word makes us alive. Here is life. The word of life it's called. And here is what is right.

[24:47] Now friends. We can all be easily swayed to do wrong. The crowd is often wrong. Follow the majority. Follow the multitude. Generally they're wrong.

[24:58] But do right. No matter the cost. Do right. Do right. No matter the opposition. What can the righteous do? Do something. He will show you what he wants you to do.

[25:10] Individually. He will lead. And you will see what needs to be done. And you'll think. Oh. Wonder who's going to do that. You'll see the need.

[25:21] And you'll think. Who's going to do that? Maybe God's. Put it on my heart to do it. You know.

[25:32] I thank God. How we put the call out for different things. And people said. Count me in. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He will show you what needs to be done. And chances are.

[25:44] You're the one who needs to do it. Isn't it? Amen. You will hear his call. And you'll be the one he puts there. You'll see the gap. And you'll say.

[25:54] I'm going to be the man that stands in that gap. Amen. Do you have a heart after God? We must dare. Dare to believe. And you know. We need to be non-conformists.

[26:05] You know. In the old days. They had the establishment church. Which was the kind of. How would you put it? A church of cobwebs. And deadness. And then they had the non-conformists.

[26:17] Who actually. They conformed to this book. They said. We're not going to follow the traditions. And the stuffiness of men. We want to believe the book. And follow the book. And they were called non-conformists. People like John Bunyan.

[26:28] Who ended up in jail. Simply because he believed the book. And declared it. We need some non-conformists in our day. We need to be willing to stand up from the crowd. We need to be willing to break the mould.

[26:40] And to say. I will rise up. We need to protest. If you like. There's a lot of talk about protests. These days. We need to be Protestants. I know someone was talking to me lately.

[26:52] That's the word. Essentially we protest. The early church. Is a protest. It is a protest. This is a protest meeting. You know.

[27:03] We could get more numbers in here. If it's a protest. But we are a protest. We're protesting. Against the deadness. We're protesting. Against the falling away.

[27:13] We're protesting. Against the ecumenical. Meanderings. And messiness. And the flim flam. We're protesting. And we're standing up for what is right. So I put to you.

[27:24] Do right. Another one we should do. Is do battle. Do battle. We're warriors. And he summons us to the battle. To combat.

[27:35] What can the righteous do? And he's looked back through. I was talking with these Dinka folk. These Sudanese friends. And they were saying how. Their community was strong.

[27:49] Because of the wars that they went through. They were warriors. And the king wasn't just someone who. Had the kind of. The heritage. And the kind of.

[27:59] The lineage. To be the king. They were the king. Because they were the warrior. They were at the front line. They were the commander in chief. And friends. We need to be warriors for God.

[28:11] Don't we? To stand up. In this battle that we're in. In these faithless times. Do battle. Because the one that we serve. Is the Lord of hosts. Is the Lord of armies.

[28:22] We see it right through the scriptures. The Old Testament days. That the men and women of God. They withstood the enemy of their day. And we stand with the Lord of hosts. Revival comes as we fight on.

[28:35] What can the righteous do? We should do battle. There was a helpless. Time in Samson's life. And he'd just. He'd just slain a thousand men.

[28:46] A thousand Philistines. With the jawbone of a donkey. And this is Judges 15 verse 9. And he experienced revival. When he got thirsty. It says in Judges 15 verse 19.

[28:59] God claimed a hollow place. That was in the jaw. This jawbone of the ass. Of the donkey. And the water came out. And when he had drunk. His spirit came. And he revived. You know he was flagging. He'd slain a thousand Philistines.

[29:11] He was flagging in the fight now. But there was still more fighting to do. And God gave him a refreshing. And what. When did it happen? When he got thirsty. I think we need to get thirsty.

[29:22] Brothers and sisters. To get more thirsty for God. The Lord will satisfy that soul thirst. And refresh your soul. The Lord will supply. But first. We have to get thirsty.

[29:33] The Bible says we should do battle. We can press the fight. We can get weary. Like Samson got weary. But there's battle after battle yet to come.

[29:46] You know. We might win a battle. But we've not won the war yet. There's still battle after battle. We must sound an alarm. Raise the battle cry. With a message that must be delivered. And we've got hostile forces.

[29:57] Just like our friends in the Middle East. They've got it in tangible form. People throwing rocks and shooting guns outside their house. What cost do we have to pay?

[30:10] Mild. In the scheme of things. Isn't it? Whatever the inconvenience. You know. We see in David's day. That he had mighty men. There's some 37 mighty men.

[30:22] And David's mighty men. Went into the enemy camp. To bring David a drink. From the well of Bethlehem. Now Bethlehem was occupied by the Philistines.

[30:33] We see that in 2 Samuel 23. 2 Samuel 23 from verse 15. And again apologies. I know I'm giving you lots of references. It's probably hard to keep up here. But just if you hear me here.

[30:45] 2 Samuel 23 verse 15. David longed. And he said. Oh that one would give me a drink of the water. Where's that water? There's no water here. If someone would give me a drink.

[30:56] Don't worry about that. I'm okay. But if someone would just give me a drink. A drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem. And three mighty men there it says. Break through the host of the Philistines.

[31:08] And they drew water out of the well of Bethlehem. That was by the gate. They took it and they brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink of it. But he poured it out unto the Lord. He said.

[31:21] Be it far from me oh Lord. Is not this the blood of the men. That went in jeopardy of their lives. Therefore he would not drink it. And these things did. These three mighty men. These three fearless warriors.

[31:33] Went behind enemy lines. They broke through all the defences. To get into the very heart. Of the enemy territory. To get to the very well. To get to the very water. Of the well of Bethlehem.

[31:44] Because simply they heard David say. Oh that one would give me a drink. Of the water of the well of Bethlehem. And do we hear the master say. Oh if only I could just.

[31:57] If only. If only. Do we hear his heart. You say. I'm going to go do that. I'm going to do it. These three fearless warriors.

[32:07] Now how glad I was to see. Three young men consumed. With this great mission on Saturday. Three mighty men. Three warriors. Three young men.

[32:19] They do not look at the weather forecast. And say it's too cold. It's too wet. And God blessed. Amen. Amen. They didn't look at the weather forecast.

[32:31] They looked at the fields. They're white already. To harvest. Say not four months. You might say. Oh I'll get around to doing something. Leave it a while.

[32:45] Till I feel I'm ready. Leave it a while. Four months. You know. It's not long. Four months. But we cannot wait that long. We dare not.

[32:56] Friends. Do right. Do it now. As God's people. We face opposition. And we must stand strong. And I'm coming. To the last point. I think it is now. What can. The righteous do.

[33:08] Is the question. What can. The righteous do. There's many Bible examples. Of what the righteous did.

[33:19] And. We are in their number. We're marching in their tread. The path they've trod. We're treading still. The same treading. The same path.

[33:30] The same faith. The same God. The same wonder working God. Look at the Bible examples. What can the righteous do. I'll put to you. Do the word. Do the word.

[33:42] Be a Bible Christian. Be a biblical Christian. We can be a Christian. That follows. Some. Fad here. Or some fancy there.

[33:52] But rather. Let's be word led. You know. Some talk about the. The. What's it called. The purpose driven. We're not purpose driven. We're. Word driven.

[34:03] We're driven by the word. We're driven by the spirit. We're spirit driven. Like Jesus was driven. By the spirit. And. We should be like Nehemiah. Nehemiah.

[34:13] What happened with Nehemiah. That. That he did the word. What. What was it about Nehemiah. That got him. Up and going. He did what God put in his heart to do. We see that in Nehemiah 2 verse 12.

[34:26] So Nehemiah. You know the context. He. He heard about the. The gates burnt down. Of the walls broken down. He. He. He. He. He. He.

[35:03] And he went. When it boils down to it. What is God putting on your heart. To do. What can the righteous do. Do what God has put on your heart to do.

[35:13] Do that. Trust him. He'll help you. He'll enable you. Do the word. Another. Aspect here. Another.

[35:25] Encounter. With the word. Is 2 Chronicles 15. Well we see revival again. 2 Chronicles 15. And it started in verse 1. There's this humble prophet.

[35:35] Azaria. Was his name. And it says. The spirit of God came upon Azaria. The son of Oded. It happens. It starts with the word.

[35:46] It starts with the word. Brother. Sister. God puts something in your heart to do. And it's not just some airy fairy. Fuzzy wuzzy. Wuzzy. Concept. It's the word.

[35:57] He puts. His word in your heart. And he puts. On your heart. What to do. Is what. He says to do. And this man. Went to King Asa. Who was. Leading the nation.

[36:10] Into. Falsehood. And he spoke boldly. And forthrightly. To the king. You know. He could have had his head chopped off. Literally. And it's when the spirit. Comes upon us. He'll work his word. Through us.

[36:20] And he did that. With this man. Azaria. And he does that still today. Doesn't he. We might read these things. And think. Oh. Azaria was bold. And Azaria went to the king.

[36:31] And Azaria declared the word. But who am I? You're just flesh. Just like he was. Just like he was. You are. But the same spirit of God. That came upon Azaria.

[36:42] Can come upon you. And fill you. And will we tarry for that power from on high. To be. And what's the point of it? What's the point of spiritual power? It's not so you can have some.

[36:53] Razmataz. Some. Fleshly display. Of your own. Vain glory. It's so you can be his witnesses. That's why. Will we tarry.

[37:05] For the power from on high. That sense of. Plead for the power. That God will have a hold of you. More so. Ever more so. I've heard it said.

[37:16] There's no function. Without unction. There's no function. Without unction. You know. We can't function. Without his unction. We can't.

[37:26] We can't. Do. Without his. Filling. His anointing. Yeah. The function. As in the work. That we're called to do. Must have the unction. For us to do it.

[37:37] The unction. As in the unction. The anointing. And friends. God's. Word. Is still the same. The message. Is still the same. The mission.

[37:47] Is still the same. To get the word out. Sometimes. God's got to. Unsettle us. Such that. He's got to disturb us. From our complacency. We see that happen. In Acts 8.

[37:58] Verses 3 and 4. Saul. Made havoc. Of the church. He was dragging men. And women. Committing them to prison. And it says. Therefore they went. Therefore they were.

[38:08] Scattered abroad. And they went. Everywhere. Preaching the word. And God told them. To go and preach the word. But they just stayed. In Jerusalem. And then. The persecution came. They went everywhere.

[38:20] Preaching the word. Sometimes God's got to. Shake us out of our complacency. Doesn't he? He's got to shake us out of that. That. Stagnancy. That static. Staleness.

[38:32] And to. Scatter us abroad. That will go everywhere. Preaching the word. What can. The righteous do. That's the question. And really.

[38:42] It starts. With a coming. To the end. Of our own power. To seek the face of God. To be consumed. With this great cause. Azariah said to King Asa. In 2 Chronicles 15.

[38:53] Verse 7. Be you strong therefore. Let not your hands be weak. For your work shall be rewarded. And then it says. The king. Took courage. And he put away. The abominable idols.

[39:04] And he smashed them to pieces. He cast down. The altars of Baal. Of the false gods. And he renewed. The altar of the Lord. And. What. Azariah said to Asa.

[39:16] I say to you today. Be you strong. Therefore. Be you strong. Therefore. Rise up. Now we in the western church. In. In western. Mindset. We've got much technology.

[39:27] And much. Many resources. And we've got carpet. On the floor. We've got a ceiling. Over our head. We've got air conditioning.

[39:38] Goodness. You've got comfy seats. Relatively so. Think of our brothers and sisters. In other nations. They've got none of that. But they've got God. They've got God.

[39:48] On the throne of their hearts. They've got God. Working a work. In their midst. Their faith is strong. We are weak.

[39:59] In comparison. I say of me. Weak. We must regain. What is lost. And revival. Revival is what we need. And the Bible says. Break up your fallow ground.

[40:10] You know that hard ground. You want to do some planting. You've got to break that hard ground. That ground. That for the moment. It's just full of weeds. And thistles. You've got to break it up.

[40:21] And it's talking about our heart. Our heart can get. Hard. And hardened. And dry. You've got to get there. Pick. We can. Cultivate.

[40:33] And break up our heart. Make our heart broken up before God. That we can receive from him. As the broken soil can receive the rain. Our heart can be broken up before God.

[40:45] And we say. I know. It may seem today. God forbid that it seems like I'm preaching works. I'm not saying that. But our Christianity works. Our faith is active.

[40:57] And do what matters. You know. There's a whole lot of good causes we can give to. Or participate in. You know. People are saying. Well you should join this cause. Or join that cause. Or say something about this.

[41:07] This or that. But. Our Lord says. Let the dead bury their own dead. Worldly charities can help the poor. You know. Where are we putting our energies.

[41:19] And what matters. I mean. That's not saying not to do it. But it's what we put our emphasis on. Let the dead bury their own dead. There's lots of things that are kind of secondary. And the righteous can do a lot of things.

[41:31] We can busy ourselves. We can live a busy life. And still fail. In what counts. Do what is needful. Luke 10.42. Our Lord praised Martha.

[41:42] Mary rather. That Mary had chosen the good part. She says. He says. She has done the one thing that is needful. You've got to do something. Do what's needful. Do what's necessary. Do the first works.

[41:55] And. What is the priority. When we think of this world. Are we like those men that broke it through the roof. To get their friend to Jesus. Do whatever it takes.

[42:06] To get people to Jesus. They couldn't get through the crowds. So they went through the roof. That's radical isn't it. They're non-conformist aren't they. They might have got into trouble with the authorities.

[42:18] They might have got into trouble with the owner of that house. Maybe they repaired the roof afterwards. But the point is. They had to. They did everything they could do. To get the man to Jesus.

[42:29] The sick man. They lowered him through the roof. And friends. I put to you. Do what you can. Do the best you can. Give of your best to the master. I know I mentioned it on the.

[42:40] Wednesday night. About. The woman who is praised. She have done what she could. Mark 14 verse 8. What did the woman do? She broke this expensive vessel. And poured out this ointment.

[42:52] This expensive. Anointing. On the Lord Jesus. Just prior to the crucifixion. And he says. She have done what she could. She's come beforehand.

[43:02] To anoint my body to the bearing. You know. Everybody was kind of pointing fingers at her. Saying. What a waste. That's extravagant. This is needless. This is. A waste of all that money. That. That.

[43:13] She wanted to do. What was. She wanted to do. What she could. She wanted to worship. And friends. We're. We're just. As earthen vessels. And it says.

[43:24] In 2 Corinthians 4 verse 7. We have this treasure. In earthen vessels. That the excellency. Of the power. May be of God. And not of us. Now friends. When we do what we do. When we do our best.

[43:35] When we do what we. What matters. When we do what we can. At the end of the day. It's unto him. It's not from us. It's not unto us. But unto him. It's not of us. The power may be of God.

[43:46] And not of us. And there's an excellency. And I'm probably labouring some of this. But. It's a. And I'll just skip through some of this. These points here. It talks about an exceeding power. It talks about an exceeding joy.

[43:59] It talks about an exceeding grace. It talks about an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. It talks about exceeding great and precious promises. Now God's excessive.

[44:09] Isn't he? He's lavished his love. He's exceeding. And this one is exceedingly abundantly able. Exceedingly abundantly above.

[44:20] He can do everything. According to the power that worketh in us. So God is exceeding. God is excessive. He's exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. He gives to us.

[44:31] He's able to do that. According to the power that works in us. Sometimes we miss that. The power works in us. The power works in you and me. And friends. What can the righteous do?

[44:43] Let his power work in you. Simply that. That uplifting can happen. I know I've laboured much here. And there's much more I could say.

[44:54] I want to draw it to a close really now. To think about the reviving. That we're talking about here. And. May our prayer be. As Habakkuk's prayer.

[45:04] Revive thy work. Revive thy work. Habakkuk 3 verse 2. What can the righteous do? We can have that prayer.

[45:15] That heart of Habakkuk. Revive thy work. Notice it's. Thy work. All the works we can do. Can be.

[45:27] Can miss the mark. We can. We can. We can labour. A lifetime. And miss. The mark. Because it's got to be his work. It's got to be his work. In us.

[45:39] We are simply his channels. Simply that. And. Those rivers of living water. Flow out of our hearts. So. Friends.

[45:50] Just to wrap up. We are but bearers. Bearers of this message. Simply that. If the foundations be destroyed. What can the righteous do?

[46:00] Let me just wrap up. With a quick recap here. What can the righteous do? Do your duty. Yes sir. Master.

[46:11] What would you have me to do? Tell me. What God puts on your heart to do. Do that. What God puts on your heart to do. Might be what. Different from what he puts on my heart to do. What can the righteous do?

[46:23] Do your duty. What can the righteous do? Do depend upon God. Don't depend upon yourself. Depend upon him. Trust in the Lord. As the psalmist cried.

[46:33] I trust in you Lord. Do right. Do right. When everyone else does wrong. Do right. Do right. And keep doing right. And do battle. Realise you're in a battle.

[46:45] Don't let that deter you. It's. If you weren't in a battle. Then. You'd be wondering. What am I doing wrong? Wouldn't you? Because you're a soldier.

[46:58] A soldier is in the battle. That's the right place to be. That's the place he wants you to be. That's the place he places you to be. If you're a soldier of the Lord. Then you are in the battle.

[47:09] And even sometimes. Whether you like it or not. Isn't it? It's almost like. You've got the uniform on. Whether you're. On active duty or not. You know. You that have been in the military.

[47:21] You wear the uniform. You're. Effectively. Ready. You're effectively. At his disposal. It's like they say. Of the military. They don't really work a standard.

[47:33] Nine to five. It's like. They could be caught up at any time. Of the day or night. It's not. Necessarily. A holiday. They're. They're always on call. And. We should do battle.

[47:44] Friends. Because we are in a serious. Contest here. And lastly. Be a doer. Of the word. Be a doer. That the word. Will be what you do. That will be the. The word. That drives you.

[47:55] And that your faith. Will be such. That you will be. Moved by. That this faith. Won't be just some glib. Profession. Some. Empty.

[48:07] Words. But that this faith. That you have. Will be real. It'll be. It'll be. Faith with. That's put its boots on. And faith.

[48:18] That is walking. Faith. That is. Pressing on. Let's pray. Lord. We thank you that. You are blessing us. And each one.

[48:30] Can know that. Wonderful grace. That you give. Lord. And. Even our trust in you. Is. All thanks to you. Lord. That. And at that saving.

[48:43] Where we put our trust in you. And the cross. When we know your. Grace for us. When we know. The blood shed for us. When we receive that gift. Given for us.

[48:54] We have everything. That we need for heaven. Lord. We thank you for that. May that. Motivate us. To. To want to put.

[49:05] To want to put. Our faith into practice. May it motivate us. Lord. To see. What is it that you've called. Each one of us to do. To do our duty. Lord.

[49:15] To be servants ready. At your command. Lord. To be servants ready. To do your bidding. Lord. That we would be a people that. Want to do your word.

[49:26] That we'll do. Right. That we'll. Do battle. That we will. Do. Pray. That we will do.

[49:38] Depend. Upon you. Lord. Help us. Lord. As we see. The foundations. Are being destroyed. Lord. And there is a hopelessness. That prevails. And is. Ever encroaching.

[49:50] Lord. This world. That is without God. Is without hope. As you tell us. Lord. And we have the message. They need. Lord. Help us to. Take action.

[50:01] To be your messengers. To be your hand extended. To be channels. Of your. Working. And at the end of the day. It won't be doing our work.

[50:12] It will be doing thy work. Thy work. Revive thy work. Oh Lord. Revive our hearts. Lord. We pray for revival. That it will be a reviving.

[50:23] On the inside. Of every one of us. Here. As these human vessels. That you fill. That you will be glorified. In Jesus precious name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[50:33] Amen.