Stirred in the Spirit

From the Pastor: Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.

“Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD. And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,” (Haggai 1:13-14)

I would to God it were not so, but we live in a generation that has no spirit to do the work of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Sunday after Sunday empty church pews confess the sins of the people. Men of God are leaving the pulpits for secular work to support their families. Church doors are closing because there is a need of people and funds to keep them functioning. Bibles are collecting dust for lack of interest and use. Knees no longer bend and heads no longer bow before the throne of mercy and grace. Children, and adults, have ceased to pray: “Now I lay me down to sleep, Lord, I pray my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake, Lord, I pray my soul to take.” Why have the saints of God slipped into the dungeons of despair? How has such emptiness come upon us? Where are the sounds of alarm from the watchmen? Has the spirit of slumber overtaken the kingdom without a fight? Oh that God would awaken our spirits and stir the slumbering chords again!

Of the Apostle Paul it is said, “his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.” (Acts 17:16) Have the children of God lost the ability to discern the times? Have we closed our eyes to the world around us? Have our hearts become indifferent to the rampage of sins in our homes and families? Have we grown so numb to the ragging battle betwixt the spirit and the flesh? Is there not a cause that can shake us out of our stupors? Is there no hope of moving the saints of God into action?

Brethren, let us give all diligence in crying out unto the Lord to awaken us out of our apathetic stupors, and plead with Him to stir up mightily our spirits to the work and to the battle at hand. If the spirit of anti-Christ must overwhelm the saints, then let us be stirred into the furry of a zealous warfare that exalts the Captain of our glorious salvation! O Lord, stir us now, lest we perish in emptiness!