Introduction

At the time of this writing Sri Lanka is involved in a war which is over 30 years old. Many civilians have been killed, many political and government leaders were assassinated within the past years. Many young boys have died while fighting in the battle field. The most recent incident was the assassination of a recognized Minister of Parliament. While people had different opinions and ideologies about this, I found the approach of the Christians towards this was interesting. Some of them said “Such things should happen to the unbelievers”, some criticized the existing government, others criticized the security of the country, some of them claimed the minister himself has been very silly to wonder in public while the security situation of the country is in chaos. But let us see what God is expecting His church to do.

Text: 2 Chronicles 7:11-15

Here God is attempting to communicate 3 important truths to His beloved church.

1. Understand your calling v.12

- God has called you to a house of sacrifices

Why do I call the church a house of sacrifices? In Exodus 25:8 we read God commanding Moses to build a sanctuary (tabernacle) so that God can dwell among His people. Apart from that the tabernacle was used for other purposes as well. The most outstanding of them was offering sacrifices.

The sacrifices found in the OT are,

- Sacrifices to please the Lord “whole burnt offerings” (Leviticus 1.1-17; 6.8-13; 8.18-21; 16.23,24)

- Sacrifices to give thanks to the Lord “grain offerings” (Leviticus 2.1-16; 6.14-23)

- Sacrifices to ask the Lord’s blessing “peace offerings” or “well-being offerings (Leviticus 3.1-17; 7.11-36)

- Sacrifices to ask forgiveness “sin offerings” (Leviticus 4.1–5.13; 6.24-30; 8.14-17; 16.3-22)

- Sacrifices to make things right “guilt offerings” (Leviticus 5.14–6.7; 7.1-6)

Later on king David conceives a desire to build a temple for God, and God says not David but his son Solomon will build the temple. and after king Solomon finished building the temple of God, God appeared to him in a dream and told that God has chosen it to be a house of sacrifices, and every ritual they practices while the arc of the covenant was in the Tabernacle should be done in the new Temple also. So what is the message of the Old Testament to us in the church, And why do I call the church a place of sacrifices? We must remember that the Tabernacle was a type of the new testament church.

God has not called his children just to a place of gathering. But the church is a body of sacrifices. We are gathering in the most holy place, in which priests from the tribe of Levies offered sacrifices during the old testament period.

So what makes our calling special? In the Old Testament times the tabernacle later on the temple of God consisted of 3 major parts They were outer court, holy place and the most holy place. Only the high priest was allowed to step into the most holy place once a year as they were supposed to offer a sacrifice unto God. No other person had that privilege. Who ever entered the most holy place except the high priest would die before the holy presence of God. Also the high priest had to be sure that he is free of sin so that he can come back alive.

The barrier between the most holy place/the presence of God was destroyed by the life sacrifice of Jesus. So today you and me can get together as the church and step into the holy presence of God in worship. This is the first step in understanding our calling.

- We are to offer ourselves as a sacrifice

So even as we have been called to the church which is the house of sacrifices and to worship in the most holy place, what is the sacrifice that we can offer. In the old testament they offered Lambs, Bulls, Goats and grain as sacrifices. Are we supposed to do the same today? The answer is found in Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.”

God is calling us to his house of sacrifices to offer our selves. According to the Old Testament there have been different types of sacrifices. So in which way are we supposed to offer ourselves as a sacrifice. Leviticus 3 speaks of “Peace offering” which should be a male or female animal without defect. While the other offerings were not to be eaten by the offerer before God this sacrifice was to be eaten with others in a manner fellowship.

Now how can we make sure that we are living sacrifices without any defects. We are to be godly and holy. But Jesus said something specific. “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:24) How can we offer ourselves as holy sacrifices when we gossip about our fellow brothers and sisters? how can we have true fellowship with each other in the church when we are not right with others? How can we present ourselves holy and blameless unto God? Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:2 advise the church to behave in love just like Jesus offered Himself so that he will be an offering with a sweet aroma. Therefore let us be sure that we are reconciled to our brothers and sisters, and lets deal with each other in love so that we become holy sacrifices.

And now let us look at the second responsibility,

2. We must be sensitive v.13

- We must realize that God is trying to bring us back to our senses

One day God was walking in heavenly places when He heard some one cursing and blaming God. Not for His surprise God found it’s no one else but Satan. God was interested to know what drove Satan so mad that He asked him why? Satan made the following statement.

“It’s you who discipline church, it’s you who punish your children, but Christians are blaming me for all these”

Very often we make the mistake of mixing up God’s acts of disciplinary for His children with disastrous works of Satan. But in 2 Chronicles God says “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people…”, remember it does not say “When Satan shut up the heavens………send a plague among the gentiles” God clearly says that he does these things among His people or among Christians. But we point our fingers at the world and say God is judging the unbelievers. The church is the only answer to suffering Sri Lanka but the church is ignorant, the church is insensitive. In the book of 1 Kings 17:1 we see Elijah standing before Ahab and shutting down heavens to punish him for sin motivating Israelites to worship Baal.

My friend how long are we going to play with God? I am encouraging you to search yourself personally and see if there is anything disgusting to God. I am not bringing you a message of judgment, but a message of acknowledgment. A message to bring you back to your senses. We have been accusing the gentiles for many years. But the word of God is clear. We have to correct our selves first.

You may say I am not an idolater. But you don’t have to be worshiping idols to be seen as an idolater by God. What is the top priority in your life? Is it your reemployment? Is it finances? Is it your fiance fiancee (or fiancée)? I have seen Christians who leave the church so that they can marry their non believing fiance/fiancee. What are the other ways we break the heart of our heavenly Father?

- Jealousy with our fellow believers

- Hatred and bitterness which comes out of failure to forgive

- Divisions in the church

- Rebelling against the church leadership

- Gossip

My friend, God is calling us to search our selves. Now is the time to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and listen to Him and correct ourselves. And now let us see the 3rd and the most important point.

3- The church must repent v. 14

- The church must submit herself unto God

The first step to repentance is to submit yourself unto God. In which manner are we supposed to show our submission unto God? In the Old Testament we see God raising different prophets in different times. They spoke the word of God, they communicated God’s message to the people of Judah. But hardly any one listened. They thought they are in perfect submission unto God, but they were not.

Last year I remember how the Lord used a lady pastor of a church to call the church to repentance. 99% of the church heeded themselves to the prophetess of God while the rest was busy with criticizing her and her message.

You might ask me am I a prophet? For we think of prophets as people who predict the future. But in the Old Testament a prophet was not a person who predict the future. But he was the mouth piece of God. He spoke the words God intended for His children, His people, His servants.

Today I am speaking as a prophet sent by God unto you, as I am speaking the words He has intended for you. Remember, you have a prophet among you already. And that’s your senior Pastor. I urge you to listen to him. I urge you to listen to your leadership. Walk away form rebelling against the prophetic leadership God has appointed over you, But rather obey him. For if you cannot submit to the visible spiritual father you have on this earth, you cannot submit to the invisible heavenly father.

- Followed by repentance the church must intercede for the nation

The next thing it says is we should pray. Now what kind of a prayer God is expecting from us. He is not expecting us to bring Him a shopping list. But we have to reach unto His throne of grace to interceded for the nation. In the bible We can see many examples of how God answered the intercessory prayer. I would like to present you my favorite example which is recorded in Isaiah chapter 36 & 37.

Isaiah 36:1 (The Assyrian king Sennacherib besieges the city of God)

Isaiah 37:1-2 (The Leadership and the people of God repented)

Isaiah 37:36 (God destroyed the Assyrian camp)

- The Church must seek the face of God

How are we supposed to seek the face of God? Through fasting and prayer. In the old testament we see a very unique pattern used by Jews during a fast. They shaved their heads, they ripped their clothes and put on sack clothes. They sat on ash and put ash upon their heads as well. We can see a detailed account of this approach in the book of Jonah 3:5-8.

“The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.”

I still remember how the church of Sri Lanka proclaimed and island wide fast and prayer last year and got together in a camp site in Madampe. On the second day of the prayer God revealed a devastating plan of terrorists to attack Colombo the heart of Sri Lanka. The church prayed and asked God to neutralize the plans of the enemy. The military intelligence discovered the plan and neutralized it while the church saw the power of God.

My dear brothers and sisters, today we are not supposed to rip our clothes. But God is expecting us to come unto him with our hearts ripped. We must cry unto God urgently with a broken heart. We must ask God to pour out his mercies on the nation of Sri Lanka.

- We must turn from our evil ways

The final part in God’s condition in order to heal the nation is that His people may turn from their evil ways. Repentance alone is not sufficient. Even Niniveh was judged and destroyed later for they turned back to their evil ways. To repent is to ask God to forgive our sins and to make a commitment to abide in Christ. My dear brothers and sisters,

- Never rebel against the leadership again

- Never backbit your brother and sister again

- Always give the first priority unto God in your life

- Never ever gossip again

-The result (and the conclusion) v.15

Finally in this verse God says “I will hear from heaven and hea their nation”. My dear brothers and sisters this is a promise from God. Our God is awesome and full of grace. He is almighty yet He loves the church. He never turns a deaf eye to the prayer of the church. He is the God who keep His promises. But the promise is conditional. The church must fulfill the above mentioned responsibilities. His ears are open to every prayer that we offer in the place sacrifices. And let us see the glorious healing of God falling upon the nation of Sri Lanka.

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