Travail for the Great Revival
“If I Perish, I Perish” Esther 4:16
Dear Sisters:
Let us look Isaiah 66:7-8:”Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such a thing? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.” “Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery? Or, shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says the Lord. Yes, nothing is impossible for Him! Because He said “Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. “act and who can reverse it?(Isaiah 48:3, 43:13)
Zion is the center of God’s plan as well as the center of God’s kingdom. Church is the bride of the lamb. She is filled up by THE ONE who filled up all in all. It is God’s plan to build His church on earth, a church of glory and worthy of praise. That is why the Scripture said “I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion” (Zechariah 1:14). He is God; He has done great things innumerable. He has done extraordinary things incomprehensible. Nothing is too difficult for Him! But He is looking for earthly men who understand His inner thoughts, who can work with Him with one mind and one heart. In the spiritual sense, this sort of men is symbolized by the woman who brought birth and gave delivery. God wants the “labor” of such man to give birth to the children of God’s kingdom, thus bring about the great revival of all the earth. I am convinced that such revival will come to pass! My dear sisters! Right here in this conference, in the midst of all our sisters, God will find His coworkers after His own heart. They will have hearts fired with compassion as He is. Therefore, we are facing with a great challenge. How should we respond to Him? What should we do?
From the Book of Esther, we see a person who “labors for the Zion”. This person is Esther. She was a Jew in captivity without a mother country. God then chose her to be the queen for the king of a gentile nation. This choosing was totally God’s will and plan. Through her, God saved the Jews from extinction. The entire book never mentioned “God”. But our self-concealing God has always been in control of the history of man. Unseen to all, He protected His people through the most treacherous time.
When Esther was queen, Haman, a very evil man, was advanced to authority second only to the king. He ordered everyone within and outside of the palace to bow down and pay honor to him. Threatened by this dreadful evil power with their lives hanging in the balance, everyone including all of king’s men yielded. They bowed down and paid honor to him, all except Mordecai. Mordecai refused to bow or knelt down to Haman because he Revered God. He remained unwavered in his faith and was not afraid of making sacrifices. Haman was furious and wanted to kill him and wiped out all Jews. What does the power of Haman represents? He represents the power and arrogance of Satan in today’s world to resist God’s authority. This includes all sorts of heresies, evil spirits and medium’s power, specially all the Satan’s scheme and power to deceive, entrap, poison and tempt people to commit sins of filth and lust. At the same time, it represents our own corrupted nature. Without the power from above, we are all doomed to fail. Mordecai’s unyielding spirit to uphold the truth, utter abhorrence for sin, and faithfulness to the end have given future generations of God’s children an excellent example. He also paid a price on prayers for the impending calamity of his people. He put on sackcloth and ashes, and wailed loudly and bitterly in prayers. His desire was for Esther to wake up and realize that she needs to go in front of the king and plea for her own people.
Esther was raised by Mordecai, a faithful servant of God. Her virtue of obedience and humbleness eventually brought her to the king’s court and became the queen. But the leisure life in the palace gradually numbed her. She was totally unaware of all things that happened outside of the palace. When Mordecai told her about the vicious scheme of Haman to slaughter the Jews and asked her to see the king for the lives of her people, how did she face the challenge? She was concerned about her own personal safety and emphasized how the king’s rule could not be violated. She had not been called to see the king for thirty days and could not go in to see him on her own and go against the rule. Let’s see how the faithful Mordecai answered her: “Don’t ever believe that you are in a better position than all the Jews and can escape from the slaughter just because you are in the palace. If you remain silent, relief and deliverance will come for the Jews from other places. Then you and your father’s family will perish. How do you know that you were not put in the position of queen just for this opportunity? (Esther 4:14). Mordecai reminded her, advised her and warned her with the greatest patience and severity. Esther finally put aside all cares about her personal safety, with a “if I perish I perish” resolution in response to Mordecai’s request. Actually she responded to God’s calling for her.
Her resolve to “if I perish I perish”, became evident when she fasted and prayed for three days and three nights with her maids. She also asked Mordecai to gather all Jews in Susa to fast and pray for her. They all prayed with one heart toward the same goal. She then went in to see the king without being summoned despite of the rule. She no longer worried about her own life but the lives of her own people. Miracles then happened. Knowing that Esther had broken the rule and seen him without being called, the king disregarded the rule and extended the golden scepter to her. He asked her what she wanted and was even willing to grant her half of his kingdom if that were her desire.
Esther further displayed her resolve to “If I perish I perish” by asking for the total salvation of her people from Haman’s vicious scheme to destroy them. She did not ask for half of his kingdom. She did not stop her pleading for her people even after the king gave her Haman’s properties. She continued her tearfully petition for her people till all their sadness turned to joy and worry turned to celebration. She pleaded till the “days of Purim” came into being and celebrated thereafter from generations to generations and year after year by the Jews. These days became the days that the enemies are demolished, and the days of rejoicing. Of note, she also implored the king to completely and thoroughly wipe out any power that is left of Haman’s, because she recognized that Haman was the most deadly enemy of the Jews. The Jews couldn’t share space and keep peace with them. So she also encouraged all the Jews to destroy any remaining power that were left of the Haman’s, to remove any future threat.
Esther’s plead to the king insisted on two aspects: The first is to focus on the lives of all the Jews. The second was to target on the destruction of the Jews’ enemy -Haman and his entire plot to completely demolish the Jews. Dear sisters, today we also face the same vicious attack from Satan. His huge staying power is expending. Are we willing to say “If I perish I perish” like Esther did? Or, do we intend to sleep soundly and peaceful in the palace, indulge in our leisure with no worry? Do we abhor sin? Or, are we weak and willing to compromise just to hang on to our life? No, No, No, we can not continue to excuse ourselves. Let’s all stand up and be the Esther of this age. Upholding a banner of truth, and with a resolve that ” if I perish, I perish”, let’s pray for the conversion of millions upon millions of souls in Africa, for the great revival of Africa and the entire world, and for the coming and meeting of the kingdom of Christ. Let us resist the sinful and dark power of Satan. Let us say “If I perish, I perish”. Through prayers and the power and strength of God’s words, let us labor for Zion. We will see the great revival of “the days of Purim”. There will be no revival if there were no prayers. May God grant us the spirit of grace and earnest plea, give us the prayers of Esther, and let us know His heart. May we love what He loves and hate what He hates. Give ourselves to Him, and say “If I perish, I perish”. Revival is right in front of us. Halleluiah!
Praise the Lord for He has given us many co-workers of prayers for a number of decades. When I was young, we would get up during the night on the mountain and pray for the churches and the lost souls of the entire world. We were moved by the Holy Spirit at the time to pray for the revival of Africa. Today the Holy Spirit has kept his promise and brought us to your midst. We have witnessed first hand the work of the Holy Spirit among you. I praise and thank our loving and faithful God with my whole heart! There is an elderly co-worker among us who is ninety years old. Even though she cannot come here today, she prays for you day and night. She has never stopped praying for you. Mary, who came to visit you last year, is already eighty years old. She has been afflicted with very painful shingles for over five years. Despite of the constant pain and suffering, she continues to serve God day and night. Today, she is still traveling all over the world to spread God’s truth and save people.
Twenty years ago, God miraculously rescued me from the labor camp. Once more, He let me serve Him single-mindedly. He moved me to restart my night watch prayers. Again, as I did during my youth, I hesitated and resisted. I had many concerns. During my days in the labor camp, I developed severe headaches. These headaches were very persistent. Whether using Chinese, Western medicine, acupuncture or electrostatic therapy, nothing would take care of it. Each day, I could only get by if I had plenty of sleep. I asked myself, “My head hurts so badly, how can I stand it if I get up in the middle of the night and pray? Besides, I am also getting up in years?” I totally forgot God’s power. I forgot that He is God. Is there really anything impossible for Him? Then the words in the Scripture came to me very clearly. It let me remember the poor widow that Jesus praised about. She gave the only money that she had and depended on for her living to the Lord, although it was merely two small coins. In the sight of the Lord, they were much greater than what the rich men gave (Luke 21:1-4). The Holy Spirit enlightened me. I asked His forgiveness for my lack of faith. Once more, I gave myself to Him completely. Like the two small coins from the poor widow, my offering was not very much at all. But if I die, I die. Dear sisters! When I no longer relied by sight but by faith, and decided to offer myself to Him, I began my nightly watch prayers, and resolved to “Perish if I perish”, miracles happened. My nagging headaches instantaneously, thoroughly and completely cured. My head no longer hurt! It has never been back since! Halleluiah praise the Lord!
Even though I am so undeserving and weak, God let my prayers take parts in the work for His Kingdom. He let me be part of the revival of churches. Every time when I pray according to His heart and plan, my heart fires up by the fire of His love. It let me pray more and more fervently, more urgently! “What do I give Him in return for all the magnificent grace that He has bestowed on me? I will raise the cup of salvation to proclaim His name” “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25). Truly I have experienced the reality of our Lord’s words. I sing my praises to Him with my whole heart.
Dear sister! Let us pray that God will raise fearless “warriors of the truth” like Mordecai in the churches of the last days. Let us pray for the rising of “prayer warriors” like Esther. This is the portrait of the worker that labors for Zion. They are also the workers who, like Esther, say “if I perish, I perish”. May God raise us to stand up for Him and strive to lay hold of Him!
I am sure that the Revival will soon come among us!
Rebekah
A message on the Women Conference
in Nigeria of Africa (8/24/2007)