Ezra Chapter 5 In our first Bible study of 2026, we will be
exploring something unique. We will be looking into a copy
of a letter written by some governors from the Persian
Empire who had oversight over the Judean province, reaching
out to the king of the Persian Empire known as Darius, at this
point, reporting on the rebuilding of the temple in
Jerusalem. And this letter makes up most of
Ezra chapter 5. And it reveals what the governor
beyond the river shared with King Darius, expressing concern
about this renewed interest in the House of God.
And now we have to remember something because we had a
little bit of a pause from our last study. 16 years had passed
since the people laid down the foundation of the temple and
gave zero attention to it from that point on.
And the reason for that was due to some opposition and eventual
distraction. But through the ministry of two
prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, the hearts of the people were
stirred as they preach the word of the Lord to them, and the
work of the temple began once more.
And there was such momentum behind that that it actually
gained the attention of the political authorities.
Now, at first glance, if you look at verse 6 down to verse
17, that's the letter right there.
One might wonder why the Holy Spirit saw fit to include this
report in Scripture. I mean, what value does this
document written by a man named Tatani sharing with a Gentile
king have to offer us as followers of Jesus Christ today?
And what we have here is yet another example that whenever we
encounter a passage of Scripture that seems unhelpful,
irrelevant, maybe insignificant, to remember the words of the
Apostle Paul who said all Scripture is breathed out by God
and is profitable. All Scripture is profitable,
including this executive document written by a Gentile
governor to a Gentile king. Today, by the grace of God, we
will benefit from this, and we'll begin to do so by reading
it in its entirety. And so I hope you have a Bible
with you. I hope you own a Bible and you
bring it with you to church. Let's read from Ezra 5-6 down
through 17. This is a copy of the letter
that Tatanai, the governor of the province beyond the river,
and Shatar Bazani and his associates, the governors who
were in the province beyond the river, sent to Darius the king.
They sent him a report in which was written as follows.
To Darius the king. All peace be it known to the
king, that we went to the province of Judah, to the House
of the great God. It is being built with huge
stones, and timber is laid in its wall.
In the walls. This work goes on diligently and
prospers in their hands. Then we asked those elders and
spoke to them thus, who gave you a decree to build this house and
to finish the structure? We also asked them their names
for your information, that we might write down the names of
the leaders, and this was their reply to us.
We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are
rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a
great king of Israel built and finished.
But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he
gave them to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon
the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the
people to Babylonia. However, in the first year of
Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this
House of God should be rebuilt. And the gold and silver vessels
of the House of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of
the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of
Babylon. The Cyrus the king took out of
the temple of Babylon. And they were delivered to one
whose name was Shesh Bazaar, whom he had made governor.
And he said to him, Take these vessels, go and put them in the
temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the House of God be rebuilt
on its site. Then this Shesh Bazaar came and
laid the foundations of the House of God that is in
Jerusalem. And from that time until now it
has been in building, and it is not yet finished.
Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in
the royal archives there in Babylon to see whether a decree
was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this House of
God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his
pleasure in this matter. Let's pray together, Father.
We sang a precious, powerful truth that is found throughout
the word that your blood contains a double cure, that it
can save a man from eternal wrath and at the same time save
him from impurity, from corruption, from pollution.
And we pray, Lord, being justified by your blood, forever
sealed by the Holy Spirit, that you would continue to save us by
purging us and washing us and sanctifying us.
We pray that these verses and how we expound them and how we
hear them would be a means of that grace, that we would know
greater purity in your sight, a greater purity in our hearts, to
your glory and to our good. In Jesus name we pray these
things. Amen.
What a unique passage. And I believe that if we
consider it as a whole, if we get a bird's eye view of it,
there emerges at least three key truths that we can benefit from.
The first thing is that this text validates how our faith is
deeply rooted in history. The Bible is very generous and
expansively mentions kingdoms and emperors and people, groups
and administrators and officers by name.
And they are, in many cases, confirmed by archaeology.
What you and I have before us is a book that makes claims, yes,
that provides references, absolutely.
But they align with reality. They are true.
They can be verified. These are not myths.
These are not just stories. This is actual accounts that
have legitimate grounds and are reliable.
I'm not sure if you know this, but I think of the Book of
Mormon, for example. That book makes many, many
references to civilizations and rivers and lakes and mountains
and plains, especially in the ancient Americas that have never
ever, ever been discovered, that have no reference, that have
never actually been identified. That book has many other
problems, but it pales in comparison to what we have here.
This this book that contains robust discoveries and
consistent with historical accounts that support the the
scriptural narrative. So here we have an an actual
snapshot of two officials corresponding and their names
are actually something that you can see outside of the Bible,
and they're in our Bible. Secondly, by wages of
observation from a bird's eye perspective, this text here
reminds us that on every level and in every setting, God is
thoroughly aware of what takes place and he's always working on
behalf of his people. Look back at Ezra 5 verse 5 for
a moment. There's an interesting comment
made by the Holy Spirit where we're told that the eye of their
God was on the elder of the Jews.
This was this was something that was provided in connection to
this investigation that was taking place from the Persian
Empire, that God's eye was on his people.
And that's a remark about the Lord's protective oversight, his
watchful care over those who belong to him.
And it is something that we encounter right before we are
introduced to this letter. Meaning what?
That any conversation that is held about or conspiracies that
are made against those who belong to our God never escapes
God's notice. He is vigilant.
He is someone who takes all things into account, He's
constantly surveying and supervising and is sovereign.
And that should bring us to tremendous comfort because the
position of the Jews at this time is something that we can
relate to as a church in the West.
We too live in a time we we live in an era under governmental
powers that, should they choose, can meddle and interfere with
our efforts. However, the outcome of this
letter, as we're about to discover, is that these
authorities are ultimately subject to a heavenly
jurisdiction, one that ultimately orchestrates
everything for the good of his people.
So here you have Tatani speaking with the King Darius.
And perhaps they are very unaware of the fact that God is
the one who has his eye over all of this, and he's going to
determine the end no matter what they decide, for the sake of his
people. Finally, I think this letter
gives believers across all ages insight, rich wisdom of how we
can and must relate to government powers.
And that's where I wanted to spend most of our time this
evening. I want to consider from this
text at least 4 principles that each Christian must know and
adopt in relation to secular government, 4 insights that we
must grasp in order for us to be more complete and consistent in
our testimony and witness for Christ.
So if you're a note taker, this will be especially helpful. 4
Principles of how a Christian should relate to secular
government. And the first point is pretty
straightforward. We must remember that all
governments are governed by God. You know, there is difference of
opinion here regarding Tatonized stance toward the Jews.
Was he among the adversaries of the people of Judah and Benjamin
that we learned about in Ezra chapter 4?
Was he hostile? Was he aggressive?
Did he hate them? Or was it someone that was more
neutral? Was he just a faithful officer
in the Persian Empire who just wanted to make sure that
everybody in his province was doing things legally and
appropriately and according to code?
Well, arriving at a conclusion becomes even more complex when
you compare the words of Tatani in his letter with that letter
that we read in Ezra chapter 4, where we see something about a
copy of a letter that was sent to Arctic Xerxes when a report
was made about the people rebuilding the city and its
walls, which would come at a later time.
We're not going to look at that entire letter, but let's get an
idea and contrast what we find in this previous letter with the
one that we just read. Go to Ezra chapter 4, and I want
you to see it from verse 11 down to verse 13.
This is a copy of the letter that they sent.
That is the Samaritans to Artaxerxes, the king, your
servants, the men of the province beyond the river, send
greeting. And now be it known to the king
that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to
Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that
rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and
repairing the foundations. Now be it known to the king that
if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will pay no
tribute, custom or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired.
Would you agree that this is a much different tone than
Tatanize? Absolutely.
Perhaps the difference is enough to suggest that this man Tatani
was unbiased toward the Jews. He was just, again, trying to do
his job right. But I don't think it's that
simple. I think it gets, yet again, even
more complicated when we remember that comment that we
saw earlier in Ezra 55. Look at it again and notice what
we're told before this letter is granted to us.
Ezra 55 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews,
and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius
and then an answer be returned by a letter concerning it.
Look at the second part of this. We looked at the first part,
that the eye of God was on the elders, but look at the second
part. What does this imply?
For the Holy Spirit to note that it was God's power that
restricted these officials from forcibly stopping the Jews from
building means that they would have done so if they could.
So yes, Tat and I and these other associates would have put
a stop to the work. But it was the eye of God that
hindered him. It was his invisible power.
So what do we do with all of this?
I mean, does it even matter? I think it does.
I think the best conclusion to make is that this man doesn't
seem to be neither viciously opposed to the Jews nor entirely
at ease with their expanding activity in this area.
He's much more civil than the ones who wrote that letter in
Ezra chapter 4, no doubt, but he's not entirely comfortable
either. And this is what this means for
us. No matter if a government is
totally favorable, partially favorable, or all right opposed
to the people of God, the Lord directs the affairs of His own.
It in no way diminishes his ability to intervene.
Doesn't matter if that government is pro Christian or
anti Christian. Doesn't matter if they praise
the church or hate the church. It doesn't matter what kind of
feelings those in power have towards the righteous.
None of that influences what God is capable of doing, and Paul
confirms this in Romans 13. You know this very well.
Let me just read the first verse of that chapter.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for
there is no authority except from God, and those that exist
have been instituted by God. No matter that form of
government, no matter who's in that position of power, no
matter what they do, whether it's good or evil or something
in between, God in His sovereignty elevates and
promotes and establishes these powers, and that will do us much
good. In fact, that's the foundation
for understanding these following three points to always
remember that no matter who is elected, no matter how policies
change, no matter what things are violated or things that are
promoted, all governments are governed by God Himself.
We come to the second point. We must strive as Christians to
be respectable citizens. Let's revisit the first words of
the response of the Jews when they were being approached by
these officials. Look at verse 11.
And this was the reply to us. We are the servants of the God
of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was
built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and
finished. But because our fathers had
angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this
house and carried away the people to Babylonia.
You know, the Jews could have made this whole process a lot
more difficult for Tatani and the others, or they could have
expressed frustration and and been stubborn or rude, but but
no such thing exists. Instead, you actually get the
impression that they honor, they, they respect, they, they
actually comply with their wishes.
So there is no sense here that they ruined their testimony.
There's no sense here that they're ready to go to war.
They're easy to work with. They they have integrity,
they're firm, but but they are kind.
And it's an illustration of what our attitude should be towards
those who have been established above us in terms of
governmental powers, that we should be always be ready to
meet the demands of those who are in such positions as long as
they don't ask us to violate any portion of Scripture.
Now, in his first epistle, the Apostle Peter addresses a wide
range of believers. He speaks about believers and
speaks to believers Dispersant, Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia and Bithynia. I mean, they're, they're
everywhere. And like Paul, he gives them
instructions about how they should yield and how they should
daily posture themselves in light of these powers that
reside over them. But he actually gives them two
motivations to do so in humility. 2 Incentives, if you
would, for them to remain strong and steadfast in their testimony
before those who have such positions of power.
And I want you to be reminded of them with me today.
First, Peter chapter 2, verse 13.
Peter says be subject for the Lord's sake to every human
institution, whether it be to the emperor's supreme or to
governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to
praise those who do good. What was Peter's primary reason
here? Peter's primary reason is
presented in that first phrase there right after B, subject in
verse 13. For the Lord's sake, for the
Lord's sake. What an amazing statement to
make for the Lord's sake. So when you're tempted to cheat
on your taxes to be dishonest and you try to rationalize it
because you've seen the corruption of politicians on the
news, you even seen it first hand.
You know what the Holy Spirit's words to you and I are?
Be honest for the Lord's sake. When you want to try to create
your own loopholes with any kind of ordinances or regulations of
various kinds, because you want to save yourself some some time
or maybe money, follow what's asked of you for the Lord's
sake, for the Lord's sake. That's, that's a very powerful
set of words because what Peter does is he invokes the personal
and relational dynamic of our faith to promote holiness in our
lives. You know, you and I are not
obeying, but we're asked to obey for the sake of our own creeds
or because we have a set of beliefs or, or the the ultimate
reason at this point with Peter is to do it because you love the
person of Christ and you're doing it for his smile, doing it
for his pleasure. You're doing it to bless him.
Ultimately, I think Peter emphasize that here because
there's little motivation to actually comply with governments
because they are weak and, and many times they're also evil and
and they pervert their own laws as well.
But you can take what Peter says here and apply it to any aspect
of your life. You will reach, and I will reach
new heights of holiness and we will remain strong in our
sanctification if we are constantly aware of this dynamic
of our relationship with God. It's personal.
He feels, He knows, He sees. My allegiance is not just to a
ministry. My allegiance is not just to a
set of convictions. It's to a person, do it for the
Lord's sake. So when you have that internal
struggle, when you're being pulled in One Direction by the
flesh, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to do this for
God, for the Lord himself. That's not the only motivation
he gives. Look at verse 15.
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you shouldn't
put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
That's in the same context. This is the will of God.
It's God's will for you and I to be subject to these authorities.
But he expands on that. Peter's essentially saying do
not give the world another reason to question the validity
and the effectiveness of the gospel.
As followers of Christ, we must not become known as disorderly,
disruptive, or disrespectful. No, when people know that a
Christian is moving into the neighborhood, when a church is
entering into a community, they should have a sense that that
place, that region is going to prosper.
That there's going to be greater peace on those streets.
That there are people now that are going to have something to
offer, that are going to be a greater pleasure to work with.
Not to be rowdy, not to be arrogant, not to be stuffy.
Let's be dishonest, not to be cheap.
What Peter's concern here is that we would strip away a
protective layer from the Gospels.
Witness. Should we be careless in this
component of our walk with Christ?
That we're serious about all these other things, but when it
comes to laws and it comes to what's asked of us when it comes
to all these different things, that we just think that we walk
autonomously and we use biblical excuses to try to justify our
disconnect from society. If we're not careful, we can
actually do much more harm than good.
You know, I recently heard of a gentleman who had a Bible verse
on his business logo and he was notorious in his county as a
road rager. So I'm, I'm getting this from
somebody that I know very well. And more than that, not only was
he known as a troublemaker, he has a Bible verse on his logo,
but he's actually notorious online because he's been picked
up by phone cameras for assaulting and verbally
attacking people on the roads. What a shame.
With all that being said, however, your respectability and
mine should never cause us to hide our convictions.
It should never cause us to be timid about our submission to
the greatest authority, God Himself.
The first thing that these Jews said when approached by these
governors was what we are, the servants of the God of heaven
and earth. I love that the reason why we do
what we do is because we have this authority over us.
We are bound to something greater than anything in this
world. And as much as we we must
respect men and women in high positions, we should never be
intimidated by them. Should the opportunity arise, we
should actually present to them the gospel.
They need it just as much as any of us.
So the second point is that we must strive to be respectable
citizens. That's exemplified by these
Jewish leaders. But we come to point #3 and that
is we must be good stewards of the freedoms and the rights
granted to us. So after sharing the biblical
directives that these Jews are complying with, they do
something exceptional. I love what they do here in
verse 13. Let's read it again, however, in
the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a
decree that the House of God should be rebuilt, and the gold
and silver vessels of the House of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had
taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into
the temple of Babylon. The Cyrus the king took out of
the temple of Babylon and they delivered.
They were delivered to one whose name was Shesh Bazaar, whom he
had made governor. And he said to him, take these
vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and
let the House of God be rebuilt on its site.
What are they doing here? They are presenting the legal
justification for their actions. This endeavor is backed up by
the law. We have a decree to do this
ultimately from God. But I want to tell you that even
Cyrus signed off on this. And they continue to explain as
we just read and elaborate on this point.
But here's the lesson. Whenever God in his sovereignty
allows for governments to give his people, His church freedoms,
we have to seize those occasions, and we must take
advantages of such opportunities for the sake of the Gospel.
I fear that many Christians take their religious liberties here
in the West for granted, and I think one major reason for that
is because they failed to comprehend how, from the Old to
the New Testament, serious minded ministers and followers
of Christ knew how to make the most of such opportunities when
they arrived. Did you know that the Apostle
Paul repeatedly invoked his civil rights and expected the
government to honor them? He does this throughout the book
of Acts, not so that he can live a comfortable life, not so that
he can live a more prosperous life, but because he saw it as a
tool to protect his ministry. You know, Paul not only knew the
law of God, he was very educated and informed about the law of
the land under Roman rule, and it helped him strategize with
the gospel. Let me give you one example.
So Paul was not a perfect man, and the Bible shows us that he
was an exceptional man, a remarkable man of God.
But on one occasion, him and his ministry partner Barnabas had a
feud on account of who? John Mark, and so they parted
ways. Does anybody remember who Paul
chose to replace Barnabas? Silas, Here's my question for
you. Why Silas?
We're introduced to Silas earlier in Acts 15.
He appears to us as a chief among the men among the
brothers, and he's sent with another man named Judas to go to
the church in Antioch to help with some affairs there.
A few verses later in Acts 15, we learned that Silas was a
prophet and that's all we're really told of him before we
learned that Paul selects him as his ministry partners,
missionary partner in his next missionary tour.
But why Silas, especially when you consider the fact that he
has the same profile as Judas? Was it a personality thing?
Was it random? I want to give you, I think is
one clue to why I believe he selected Silas.
Would you like to know it? There's something that happened
with Paul and Silas and Philippi when they were unjustly beaten
and imprisoned by the magistrates.
And when the magistrates realized that they had
erroneously jumped to conclusions, they let these men
know you can go your way. Now we're sorry.
And Paul protests, and I want you to see what he says in Acts
16. Look at verse 37 and Acts 16.
But Paul said to them, they have Venus, publicly uncondemned men
who are Roman citizens and have thrown us into prison.
And do they now throw us out secretly?
No, Let them come themselves and take us out.
Is Paul being petty here? Is he just a little hurt and
bitter? So he wants to make a show of
this? No, Paul was publicly shamed.
Paul was publicly arrested and people knew that.
He came into town as a missionary.
That's the last site that people had.
So he says, look, you misjudge us, now you have to rectify and
you have to clean this up and you have to show the citizens
that were actually innocent men. So we're not going out secretly,
we're going to go out publicly. But notice verse 38.
The police reported these words to the magistrates and they were
afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.
Who's the they? Paul.
And who Silas? Could it be that Paul not only
took into account Silas's character and his gifting, but
that he was also a Roman citizen, which was a rare status
for someone of Jewish descent? Because he was a strategist,
because Paul was smart, he was wise.
He thought himself, this man will be of most benefit and most
profit to my trip to these places of Jewish descent, but
also, like me, carrying a Roman citizenship.
And look, we have an example here of how that came to be of
great help. And it reinforces for us that
believers should not consider it unspiritual.
It's not unimportant to make use of the freedoms and the rights
that we have in this country that we have access to that
benefit and shield the things that we want to do in God's name
and for God's glory. So let's, let's not be foolish.
Let's not be uninformed, let's seek to exercise and enjoy and
and really recognize these freedoms as a God-given thing.
They are. They're not separate.
Remember point #1 all governments are governed by God,
the tyrannical ones and even the ones like this beautiful nation
with all its faults. There has been no nation like
this nation that grants the church the freedoms that we
have. So let us be stewards of these
things, but we also have to consider this final thought.
We must do all things with integrity and honesty.
Go back to Ezra 5. I want you to consider the last
verse. After reporting what the Jews
had said, Tatani makes a request.
Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let's search be made
in the royal archives there in Babylon to see whether a decree
was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this House of
God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his
pleasure in this matter. There was a simple way to
discover and to validate the claims of these Jews.
Just look at the royal archives. Is there anything of Cyrus's
decrees that confirm what these claims are?
And in in just a few moments, it would either confirm the honesty
of these men or it would show that they were liars all along.
And this is something for us to see and emphasize.
I know this is similar to the second point of being
respectable citizens, but emphasizing it as a principle
for life will be for our good. What would happen if they lied?
We know that they didn't lie. But if they did lie, yeah, they
would have gotten themselves in trouble.
That, but they also would have tainted their testimonies.
Remember, they're still under the Old Covenant even in this
season and this chapter of redemptive history.
They have a calling from God to be a light to the nation's in
small ways and in big ways. And they're being investigated
now. And you and I should take this
and apply it in the following way.
We may have a past that, if explored objectively, would
speak out against us, but as Christians, you and I should
strive to have and to maintain a clear conscience and a clean
record. In other words, if I were to be
investigated by authorities or by anything else, would there be
sufficient evidence that would be worthy to expose me as a
fraud in one way or another? And I think that's a good
question to ask each of us at the start of this new year, that
where you are currently in your life, privately, publicly, if
there was to be probing in any facet of who you are, what you
do, what would be confirmed? Will there be some things that
you'd be embarrassed about, ashamed of, that would hurt your
witness? Or would it be confirmed that
there is a pattern of integrity, of honesty and of purity?
I want to let you know tonight that that lifestyle of being
totally unafraid of anybody discovering anything about you
because you are walking in holiness is totally possible by
the grace of God. It's not some far fetched thing.
It's not something that's reserved for a few.
It's something that each of us can access.
And what a what a relief it is to know that there is nothing to
hide in my life. Nothing.
I understand that there's privacy.
I'm not talking about private matters.
I'm not talking about living a totally unwise, transparent
life. I'm talking, and I hope you
understand where I'm coming from.
I'm talking about somebody having access to your phone
password and you being totally OK with it because you have
nothing to hide. I'm talking about you and I and
how we do our business dealings. If somebody were to look at the
books, it would be clean. Not.
Not so that people can pat you on the back and reward you for
the Lord's sake. For the Lord's sake.
These Jews are going to be investigated and they have no
worries. There's no resistance.
There's no fight. There's they're not squirming
here. Yeah, yeah.
Here are our names. And here's the reason why we're
doing it. And you can check it out for
yourself. I mentioned Paul earlier of how
he was able to utilize his rights, but apart from Christ,
he is one of the greatest inspirations.
Regarding what I'm Speaking of in this fourth point, let's go
to the final text before we close our time.
Go to Acts 25. Paul here is being investigated
in his own way. Accusations were made against
him by the Jewish leaders. And so he is now before Festus,
a Roman official. Look at Acts 25, verse 9.
But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, Do
you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these
charges before me? Pause.
Why is Festus doing this? Because he's a politician and he
wants to make sure that he doesn't cause any problems with
the Jews. And so he knows that the Jews
want Paul to go to Jerusalem to be on trial.
Why? Because it would be a fair
trial? No, because there's an ambush
waiting for Paul. This is the context that they
want to assassinate Paul. Well, the Festus knows this or
not, it's not clear. But what is obvious is that he
is a politician. And so he says, do you want to
go to Jerusalem? Now?
Why isn't he enforcing it, though?
Does anyone have the power to say you're going to go on trial
in Jerusalem? Do you know why?
Does anybody know why? He's a Roman citizen, That's
why. And so he gives Paul the option,
do you want to go to Jerusalem? Let's see what Paul says.
Verse 10. But Paul said I'm standing
before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried to the Jews.
I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.
If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for
which I deserve to die. I do not seek to escape death.
But there's if there's nothing to their charges against me, no
one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.
One of the glories of owning a Roman citizenship is that you
one would do a fair trial. That's why whenever Paul was
beaten up and he said, hey, by the way, I'm a Roman citizen,
the reason why they panicked was because such authorities can get
in themselves in much trouble because they could not beat up a
Roman citizen unless it was first confirmed that they were
guilty of any crime. They had the right to a fair
trial, but more than that, they also had the right to appeal to
the highest courts in Rome. Any Roman citizen could say, I
want to go to the Supreme Court with my case, and that's what
Paul is doing here. I appeal to Caesar.
So again, I just want to show you repeatedly in the book of
Acts, Paul is a steward of his civil rights.
He's not careless, he's not uneducated, he's not sloppy.
But look at his language here as he also appeals to his
conscience. Verse 10 to the Jews, the last
part, I have done no wrong. And then he emphasizes this in
verse 11. If then I am a wrongdoer and
have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not
seek to escape death. Do you see what he's saying
here? If I'm actually guilty and I
deserve the death penalty, kill me.
Kill me. I respect the law so much that
if I'm actually guilty, put my head on the chopping block and
get rid of me. But he is so confident of his
innocence that he says I've done nothing wrong.
You can look into it and he already says you know it very
well. There.
There is no substance to their accusations.
There is no evidence. And what Paul says here, we
should all be able to save our own lives, like Daniel when
those who are envious of him wanted to try to find something
against him. They examined his life from
every aspect, and the only thing that they can come up with was
what something to do with his faith.
The only way that we can get this man to compromise is if we
get him to face some kind of a law that would tempt him to
recant. I want to assure you that it's
possible to arrive at a place where we have nothing to fear
about our testimony, whether in private or in public.
And perhaps one of the ways that we can respond to this Bible
study is to look at our own lives in 2026, in the dawn of
2026, say, Lord, I have been tolerating this for years.
I've been hiding this for some time, and I want to let it go.
I want to give it up. I want to have this kind of
biblical confidence. And so let's remember these four
things in God's Providence, perhaps in the age that we are
in with the politics that are before us, that we have to
remember that all governments are governed by God, that we
should strive to be respectable citizens, that we should steward
these rights that have been given to us by God.
And that we should also live honest and integral lives so
that we could. We can approach any tribunal,
any court, and not give them a reason to indict us, to hinder
our ministries, and to disqualify us and our service to
Christ. Let's ask God for this help.
Father, we thank you with all that we are, that you have used
your words to enlarge our hearts.
And we pray that if that work has not been done, if we were
distracted, if we were unmoved, if we did nothing, this apply to
us, that you would reach down into our hearts and that you
would pry it open, and that you would flood it with your wisdom,
your power, your grace. We know that a subject like this
can open up many questions and nuance and different shades of
scenarios, but we pray that what you have granted us will be
remembered and applied to situations that may be unique to
our own lives. Thank you for equipping us.
Thank you for reminding us of an aspect of life that we may have
ignored, or perhaps worse, have intentionally been unfaithful
in. Lord, Your word indeed is a
double edged sword. No matter what part we go to it,
it can cut, but we also know that it can heal and we pray
that if our hearts have been cut tonight that we would see it as
a faithful wound from a faithful God that will bring us to a
place of greater joy as we allow you to do surgery in our hearts.
Lord, we love you. With all of us here in this
place, we pray that you would help us love you more.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Let's stand and worship the Lord together.
I want to read to you one of Paul's boasts.
It's in Second Corinthians chapter one, verse 12.
This came to mind as we were singing that last song Paul
writes to the Corinthians for our boast.
Is this the testimony of our conscience that we behave in the
world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly
wisdom, but by the grace of God and supremely so toward you?
You know, over the years, people ask advice for certain
situations. Sometimes there's conflict,
dissension, problems. And what I share with many, I'll
share with you. One of your main goals and
anything that you find yourself in that is problematic or
complex is to strive for a clear conscience, especially if it's a
situation that you can't control.
Do all that you can to behave in this world with simplicity and
godly sincerity. That will secure your joy, it
will protect your testimony, and it will bring God glory.
And perhaps this is in God's great Providence for us as a
church, an important word to begin this new year, to be able
to boast about our conscience, not in arrogance, but simply in
silent trust that God has done such a work in me that I can
rest should accusations come my way.
Should anybody say anything? Oh, I can tell you with
confidence that I lived in simplicity and godly sincerity.
Can we ask God to help us know that?
Well, we ask that You would grant us the same assurance and
way of life. But we saw how these Jews in
Ezra chapter 5 were so free and so open even with their
government, the Persian Empire. We saw it with Paul before
Festus and others. And Lord, we pray that it would
be our portion as well. If there needs to be any
changes, by Your grace, help us make those changes.
If if there is an overly sensitive conscious Lord, heal
us of that because that does not help us either.
Bring us to that perfect balance in your word, perfect balance in
the spirit to just compare our lives to the scriptures and to
know that's all that you ask of us and that whatever you ask for
us, you have the empowerment to realize it.
We thank you for your word tonight in Jesus name, Amen and
Amen, Amen. May the Lord be with you.
We're continuing Ezra in the coming weeks.
Read Ezra chapter 6 if you can before next Friday.
Fellowship with one another before you leave.
God bless you and Lord willing, we'll see you at the Lord's Day
service to break bread. Take Care now.