Westville Christian Fellowship
SUNDAY ORACLE – 18TH MAY 2008
“Attracting the Presence and the Power of
God.”(2 Oracle on Habakkuk)
nd
Last week we looked at the book of the prophet Habakkuk
and from it drew the oracle “Faith in the Midst of
Perplexity”
As you read through the book of Habakkuk you can see
a progressive growth & expansion of his faith as he
interacts with God. The 3 chapters move along with the
thickening of his faith-Faith Sighing- Faith Seeing- Faith
Singing. Habakkuk, whose name means “Lover of God” is
a book that parallels your life situation on an individual level
(micro)& our situation as a city & nation (macro)
In Chap.1.Under “Faith Sighing” we looked at what the
world was like in the day of Habakkuk. We saw the
perplexity of the prophet because of the violence of the
events of his day and are able to relate it to our day and age
where we too are perplexed by the violence and crime of
our day.
In the second chapter we looked at “Faith Seeing” and
we saw how in the midst of perplexity a vision of an
alternative future is given. Here we saw that the vision we
need to adhere to is the prophet Isaiah’s vision of Africa
becoming a standard to the nations and Jesus’ visit to
Africa.
Under “Faith Singing” we looked at the vision of
Habakkuk & of the power of one person being radically
hungry enough to give their lives as a sacrifice resulting in
the benefit of many others.
With God “one” is the majority. One such man is –
Micaiah – “Who is like Yahweh?” Micaiah then he goes to
show he is like Yahweh. One man with God is the majority!
One only has to think of Moses leading 2 million people
(“who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.) of Daniel taking
on the Babylonian Kingdom, of Savonarola changing
France, of Luther taking on the Church, of Wesley changing
the face of England. What of you? What of us?
 Micaiah-with God one is a majority!
1.King.22.14..And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake
unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare
good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like
the word of one of them, and speak thou good. 14And Micaiah said,
As Jehovah liveth, what Jehovah saith unto me, that will I speak.
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Tank Man, or the Unknown Rebel, is the nickname of an
anonymous man who became internationally famous when
he was videotaped and photographed during the
Tiananmen Square protests on 5 June 1989. Several
photographs were taken of the man, who stood in front of a
column of Chinese Type 59 tanks, preventing their advance.
The power of one person being radical!
A.
WHAT IS THE SIMILAR CLIMATE IN WHICH
HABAKKUK AND WE TODAY ARE LIVING?
1. What was the Climate in which the Prophet Habakkuk
was living?..Justice Is a Joke. Message translation..
(MSG)
1-4 The problem as God gave Habakkuk to see it: God, how
long do I have to cry out for help before you listen?
How many times do I have to yell, "Help! Murder! Police!"
before you come to the rescue?
Why do you force me to look at evil,
stare trouble in the face day after day?
Anarchy and violence break out,
quarrels and fights all over the place.
Law and order fall to pieces.
Justice is a joke.
The wicked have the righteous hamstrung
and stand justice on its head.
Here we see the perplexity of the prophet because of the
violence and the events of his day, this is where we too
stand & are able to relate Habakkuk to our day and age, we
too are perplexed by the violence and crime!
2. What was the Climate in which the Wesleyan Revival
broke out? (notes form “The Burning Heart” pg 9f)
© Copyright – Peter Van Niekerk
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In England the first half of the eighteenth century was a
period of moral disorder. Contemporary vices were open
and notorious, for hypocrisy was not one of them.
2.1 Sexual Promiscuity….Is this not similar to our day
& age?
The prime minister for 21 years ((1722-1742), Sir Robert
Walpole, lived in undisguised adultery with his mistress,
Maria Skellett. Lord Chesterfield, in his letters to his son
Philip, instructed him in the strategy of seduction as part of
a polite education. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu declared
that in society the “state of matrimony is as much ridiculed
by our young ladies as it used to be by young fellows: in
short, both sexes have found the inconveniences of it.”
This prevalent moral laxity was both reflected in and fed by
many of the amusements then in vogue. “The present great
licentiousness of the stage.”
The accomplished gentleman upon the English stage is the
person that is familiar with other men’s wives and indifferent
to his own. The fashionable court and subscription
masquerades were scandalously sensual. “Champagne,
dice, music, or your neighbour’s spouse”. – these were
advertised on one of the invitation cards.
2.2 Debased literature… .Is this not similar to our day?
The popular taste in literature was no less demoralized.
Lord Jeffrey complained in retrospect that “a greater mass
of trash and rubbish never disgraced the press of any
country that the ordinary novels that filled and supported
circulating libraries”.
2.3 Drink and gambling…Is this not similar to our day?
Meanwhile, the nation found itself enmeshed in the twin
snares of drink and gambling. Insobriety was a vice from
which no class was immune. Effects of intemperance on
each segment of society, from “the staggering peer” to “the
humble pensioner,” not excluding “the slow-tongued
bishop,” “the easy chaplain” and the convivial vicar. The
passion for gin-drinking began to affect the masses of the
population around 1724 and “spread with the rapidity and
the violence of an epidemic,” until it was “irrevocably
implanted in the nation”. The gambling craze was equally
obsessive. Public gaming houses were officially licensed. All
classes, from members of the royal family to city
apprentices, were swept along by the prevailing tide, with
disastrous effects not only on the pocket, but on morals too.
According to Sir George Otto Trevelyan, “society in those
days was one vast casino.” The young men of the age lose
five, ten, fifteen thousand pounds in an evening there. To
make matters worse, the Government itself at once
exploited and inflamed the universal desire for gain by
sponsoring State lotteries.
The statistics of violent crime soared alarmingly, and
hangings became so frequent that Dr. Johnson ironically
expressed his fear lest the navy might run short of ropes.
There was as yet no organized police force, and may crimes
went unpunished. Prisons were overcrowded, and tended
rather to harden offenders than to reform them. Gangs of
young hooligans roamed the city streets, often clashing with
their rivals or assaulting unprotected citizens…sound
familiar?
2.5 Anaemic Christianity-Is this not similar to our day?
This alarming and extensive lowering of moral standards
stemmed from a prior indifference to the claims of the
Christian faith. Comparatively few had experienced the
glowing reality of personal communion with Christ.
Before his death in 1708, William Beveridge, Bishop of St
Asaph, deplored the fact that Christ’s “doctrine and precepts
are so generally slighted and neglected” and that “so little of
Christianity is now to be found amongst Christians themselves; to
our shame be it spoken.” In 1722 Daniel Defoe declared that
“no age, since the founding and forming of the Christian Church in
the world, was ever like, (in open avowed atheism, blasphemies
and heresies), to the age we now live in.” Wesley appeared
on the scene when faith and morals in England had
sunk to an abnormally low ebb.
2.6 Passionless Preachers…
“Indifference in the world,” claimed Dr. Campbell Morgan, “is
largely the result of passionlessness in the pulpit.”
Enthusiasm was to be avoided at all costs.
2.7 The arrival of Wesley… One man with God is the
majority!
It is against such a background that the evangelistic
enterprise of John Wesley needs to be set.
 The extreme hunger of the John Wesley…
“Oh when shall this Christianity cover the earth, as
the waters cover the sea.” (14th August 1738)
This is the same prayer that Habakkuk prayed!
John Wesley reading about the revival in North America
was inspired for a revival in England…
“Less then a month after my return (from Germany ) I journeyed to
Oxford. In walking I read the “Truly Surprising Narrative of the
Conversions lately wrought in and about the time of North
Hampton in new England”. I remember thinking to myself; “A
revival in North America? If god is one God then surely he will
bless this people as well. I began this moment to expect it.
Jonathan Edwards was one against many, but God had prevailed.
England could supply such a man as well. Little did I know that I
was that man..
The Revival breaks out at all night prayer meeting…
2.4 Violent crime, hangings, police unable to cope…
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© Copyright – Peter Van Niekerk
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On New years Eve 1739, (after his return to Oxford one year four
months later)… “New years Eve found Mr Hall, Kinchin, Ingrham,
Whittfield, Hutchings, and my brother Charles, present at our lovefeast in Fetter Lane, with about 60 of our brethren. About three in
the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of
God came mightily upon us, in so much that many cried out for
exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we
recovered a little from the awe and amazement at the presence of
his majesty, we broke out with one voice, “we praise thee oh Lord;
we acknowledge thee to be Lord.”
25th Feb 1739… “The fire is kindled in the county – I know all the
devils in hell shall not be able to quench it.”
Bristol, May 21, 1739, while I was enforcing the words from Ps
46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God” – our Lord “began to
make bare his arm, not in a close room, neither in private, but in
the open air, and before more than 2000 witnesses. One, and
another, and another was struck to the earth; exceedingly
trembling at the presence of His power. Others cried, with a loud
and bitter cry, “What must we do to be saved?” and in less than
an hour seven persons, wholly unknown to me till that time, were
rejoicing and singing, and with all their might giving thanks to the
God of their salvation.Others cried, with a loud and bitter cry, what
must be do to be saves. This was the first time as a result of my
preaching that such outward manifestations had affected people
In the evening of that same day almost as soon as I had begun to
speak, one who was pricked at the heart cried out. Another
person dropped down close to one who was of a different
doctrine. While he stood astonished at the sight, a little boy near
him was seized in the same manner. A young man who stood up
behind fixed his eyes on him and sunk down himself as one dead;
but soon he began to roar out. The revival had begun. For months
now I had been preaching to congregations totalling nearly 50,000
a week.
In July 2001 this unity was put on display when all the
churches gathered together for a period of three weeks
prayer and bible study.
At the final meeting 10000 believers gathered to hear what
the acting prime minister had to say. Voting was to be taking
place in a few weeks time and this was an opportune
moment to solicit votes from the people gathered. In
amazement everybody heard the acting prime minister say
that he was laying aside his political position in this meeting
and was standing before them, just as a man in need of
help and forgiveness from the Lord.
From the combined impact of the united prayer of the past
few months the three weeks bible study and the acting
prime minister’s confession, the church began to pray for
the up and coming election. Once again to everybody’s
amazement the newest and youngest political party won.
When the president was approached by a journalist and
asked for his response in the light of all these changes, he
stopped for a moment as if holding back tears and replied “I
believe this is God’s time to bring about revival in the country.”
3.1 The following factors were taking place in Fiji
before the revival broke out;
 Racism between the Fijians and the Indians..
 Worship of ancestors spirits…
 Human sacrifices were being made and placed
around demonic temples…
 Inter tribal warfare amongst the Fijians was
frequent and violently brutal…. Fallen enemies had
their bodies sacrifices and cannibalism was
practised…
 Fire walking and witchcraft at a high demonic level
was consistently practised…
 Drug running was the order of the day…
M.T. Kelsy… “It was undoubtedly Wesley’s influence that
changed Britain from a nation of dissolute, gin- drinking
failures, into a power capable of resisting Napoleon’s drive to
make Europe his own Empire”.
3.
What was the climate in which the Fijian revival
broke out?
3.2 What is the climate of the nation since the revival
has begun?
The following is an example of how one of the Fijian Islands
attracted the presence of God. In May 2000 everything in
Fiji erupted violently. This island is made up of 85000
people half of which is Fijians and the other half Indians.. An
Indian had been voted into power causing this eruption. The
government officials were held hostage for 56 days in one
building. As the church leaders reflected on this situation
two patterns emerged as to the cause of the violence;
Isa 59:16…when the enemy comes in –like a flood I will raise up a
standard..
1.
2.
Racism was simmering for years below the
surface of the nation…
The sin of disunity in the churches…
Pastors and churches came together to pray, out of this
time of prayer the “The Association of Christian Churches of
Fiji” ( A.C.C.F) emerged.
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Government has been radically affected;
In 2004 a year of national prayer was put in place. The
cabinet presented the following points in an official
document;
1.
2.
3.
4.
The cabinet approved that the year 2004 be
declared the national year of prayer.
Approved that 8th July he declared a national day
of prayer and fasting.
Approved that the 20-26th September be declared
a national forgiveness week.
Endorsed the type of program suggested in 3:2 of
the memorandum.
© Copyright – Peter Van Niekerk
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5.
Agreed that the ministry
of “National
Reconciliation and Unity” and its National Council
liaise and cooperate closely with the “Assembly of
Christian Churches” and other relevant groups like
the “Fiji Council of Churches” and “Inter-faith” Fiji to
jointly organise these initiatives.
Since this approval has been put in place the church
and state are now working harmoniously together.
People have been radically affected;
 80-90% of the people attend the church…
 Supernatural healing are taking place…
 The May 2000 vigilantes that had been imprisoned,
have since given their lives to Christ …
 Crime has been radically reduced..
Nature has been radically affected;
 The fish resources that had become scarce are
now returning in their shoals…
 Rivers that had been highly polluted have been
supernaturally cleansed without the intervention of
man..
 Both the land and the trees that had been barren
for years are now bearing fruit..
 On one island the prime minister publically
renounced idols and evil spirits and made a
covenant with God concerning the island…
extremely hungry for the Holy Spirit to visit us with his
manifest presence.
The lesson gained from the examples of God bringing
change in Habakkuk’s day, Wesley’s day & Fijis
transformation is that when satan, like a pit bull is
devastating people’s lives, if we too become extremely
hungry for God to move-He Will, both on an individual
level& a national level.
What can we do to attract the presence and power of
god into our cell/church/city?
I am sure the fisherman in our midst don’t go out of their
way to bait the hook with that which the fish will have no
interest in! For the fish to take the bait it must surely believe
the chance its going to take is going to give it some
measure of fulfilment – otherwise why the risk?
We are seldom attracted to something unless we feel
there will be benefits!
Discuss: What is it that attracts men to women?
Discuss: What is it that attracts women to men?
Discuss: What attracted you to your marriage partner?
If unmarried what are you looking for in a
marriage partner?
Discuss: What is it that attracts you to Jesus?
The last chapter concludes with a vision and a prayer of
praise. The prophet sees the future and employs figures of
nature as symbols of history. The overwhelming grandeur of
his wisdom has manifested in the realm of nature inspires
us to reflect upon his ways in the realm of history.
The writer: Fyodor Dostoevsky speaks of his attraction to
Jesus: “I have shaped for myself a Credo where everything is
clear and sacred for me. This Credo is very simple, here it is: To
believe that nothing is more beautiful, profound, sympathetic,
reasonable, manly and more perfect than Christ; manly and more
perfect than Christ; and I tell myself with a jealous love not only
that there is nothing, but there cannot be anything. Even more, if
someone proved to me that Christ is outside the truth, and that in
reality the truth were outside Christ, then I should prefer to remain
with Christ rather than with the truth.”
B. WHAT CAN WE DO TO ATTRACT THE PRESENCE
AND POWER OF GOD INTO OUR CELL/CHURCH/CITY?
Discuss: What is it that will attract the Manifest Presence
of the Holy Spirit into our cell/church/city?
2Chr. 16:9…”The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the
earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is
completely His”.
Mth. 5 6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for
God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
Read chapter 3 of Habakkuk..
Notice that it was the desperate situation in which Habakkuk
found himself that caused him to call on God to bring about
a change. There was an extreme and passionate hunger
within him to give himself to God. It was an answer to this
extreme hunger that God gave him a promise there would
be a global outpouring of his Spirit.
Mth. 5.8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind
and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
Discuss: Look at the following scripture and discuss if it is
possible according to Jesus, if a nation can be
discipled;
Mth 28:18-20…
Hab.2.14.."For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory
of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.
Discuss: What can you do as a cell and we as a church to
disciple the nation or trigger revival?
The scripture we looked at on Sunday (Isa 34:16-35:10) plus
the above passage from Habakkuk gives us the divine
impetus in our volatile situation in South Africa to become
Don’t forget the H.S. Workshop!
Have a Holy Spirit workshop. Ask Holy Spirit to come, pray
for the sick and pray for people to be filled with the Spirit!
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