Let's turn to Ezra chapter 8. And in case you weren't with us
last week, Ezra chapter 8 is a detailed account of Ezra's
movements from Babylonia to Jerusalem, as he is, under God's
direction, called to lead the second wave of Jewish exiles
back to their homeland. And what we find here in the
beginning of chapter 8 is Ezra in Babylonia.
When we come to the end of the chapter, we'll find him finally
in Jerusalem. But the middle of this passage,
which will be the focus tonight, is Ezra and his thinking and
planning and doing at a place called Ahava.
If you remember in our last study, it was in Ahava where
Ezra took those who followed him and camped for three days, and
he made inventory and learned that there were zero Levites who
had committed to this journey with them.
And so he finds leading men, he sends them back, and he asked
them to persuade the Levites to partner with them in this
expedition of faith. And we discovered that there
were a total of 38 Levites who joined them.
But the chapter is not over yet, and in the rest of this chapter
we're going to see that what takes place at a hava is not
over yet either. There are still things that Ezra
wants to accomplish before they resume on this track back to the
promised land. And where we're going to begin
tonight is in verse 21. And we'll read down to verse 23,
and then we'll pause and pray and ask for God's help as we
always do. Ezra 821 Then I proclaimed the
fast there at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves
before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for ourselves,
our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the
king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against
the enemy on our way, since we had told the king The hand of
our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of His
wrath is against all who forsake him.
So we faceted and implored our God for this, and he listened to
our entreaty. Father, as we just read, you
listen to the entreaty of Ezra and the families with him.
Now as a family here, we ask that you would hear us, and we
pray that you would guide us through these passages.
And we ask that every verse that we unlock would be a force to
our hearts that would drain out all sin and pride and envy and
doubt, anything that would grieve the Holy Spirit.
We pray that you would use this study to relinquish it, to
destroy it, and to replace it with that which pleases you.
Lord, change us. We pray that the delivery of
this study would be empowered by Your Holy Spirit.
We pray that the power of the Holy Spirit would rest on each
heart in this place to receive everything that is said here
with humility and eagerness. And so, Lord, we do not rest on
eloquence, We do not rest on human ingenuity.
We rest on the truth of Your Word and the power of the Spirit
that makes it real to us. Help us, Lord, see Jesus Christ
even in these verses. We pray these things in His
name, Amen. Amen.
We remember hopefully that in Ezra Chapter 7, we were
introduced to this man as a man of the word.
It is in that chapter where he is famously recognized as one
who set his heart to study the law, to do it, to obey it, and
to teach others about it. And now we continue to chapter
8, and we learned that Ezra was more than just a man of the
word. We find out that man, this man
Ezra, was also one of prayer. Ezra was a man who sought the
Lord as there was a man who knew how to seek God.
And I think it's important to consider what has transpired up
to this point in this expedition.
Ezra has received incredible favor and wonderful financial
support from the King of Persia. Ezra has the priestly and the
royal lines with him. He has many families who have
chosen to trust in his leadership and follow him.
And recently there are now Levites who have been added to
the convoy. So from a human standpoint,
everything that Ezra needed to go to Jerusalem, he had.
All the bases are covered. But before they continue, in the
verses that we just read, we see that this man refused to move
forward unless he knew that God himself would go with him.
So again, in Ezra 7, you and I are to be persuaded and
convinced that this man was a man who was saturated in the
Scriptures. He was immersed in them.
He studied diligently. He had the Word of Christ
dwelling in his heart richly. But I believe chapter 8 and what
we see here is the fruit of that.
In other words, one of the ways that you know that you can
determine if the Word of God is truly at work in you is that it
will cause you to be a man or a woman of prayer.
Because studying the Bible is not an end in itself.
It is a means to relate to God and to seek Him regularly in
order for Him to move in and through your life.
And so this man who was swollen with the Scriptures shows us
what that should produce, and that is a sense of dependency on
God. That is one who would seek God.
Again, a word that's very important, Ezra 7, especially
verse 10, is that Ezra set his heart to study, to study.
In some translations it means to seek, but the SV renders it as
study. And then you come to chapter 8,
and what do you find? That this man who studied sought
God diligently as well. He was diligent in his studies
and it made him desperate for God.
And so if you wanted, if you want to really measure, is the
word of God working in my life? One thing that you have to ask
yourself is am I being drawn to the Lord in the place of prayer?
Am I becoming more sensitive and aware of my neediness of Him?
Do I just look at Him as I would look at a Petri dish and pick
apart doctrines and know how to put certain things and files in
my mind, Or does it melt me and soften me to actually draw near
to the Lord on a personal level? And this is what we have to
consider here with Ezra's example.
But he's doing more than just praying.
Is that what we see in verse 21? He was fasting.
He called for a fast at a hava. Now, we don't have time in this
Bible study to look at what the Bible teaches about fasting,
what it is, what it does, how to do it.
But what we do see here is a familiar pattern that what
you'll see throughout the Bible is that fasting is often coupled
with prayer. And the reason for that is
because fasting is a means to pray.
In other words, fasting is the discipline to eliminate
distractions, namely that of consuming food, preparing food
so that you can reserve your energy and your time to pressing
into the Lord. And so if one is fasting and
they are not praying, they are missing one of the major points
of fasting. There are some people who fast
and really it's just a concealed diet.
Fasting is not about losing weight.
Fasting is not about just not eating.
Fasting is about making a way for you to give yourself over to
seeking the Lord more intensely. And that's how we know they're
doing this right? Because in verse 23 says so, We
fasted and implored our God, we sought God.
But my question is why now? Why call for a fast at the canal
Ahava? Well, we don't have the gas.
Verse 21 lets us know to seek Him for a safe journey for
ourselves, our children, and all our goods.
This is one of the strongest biblical examples of where the
frequent requests of traveling mercies come from.
Maybe you've asked somebody to pray for what travelling mercies
or somebody's asks you, hey, can you ask the Lord to give us
travelling mercies, right? Does that term sound familiar to
us? I think this is where it might
come from because Ezra prayed for it, which shows us that you
and I have the right to ask God for a safe journey no matter how
far along it is. So the main focus of this time
released to seek the Lord for safety.
It became a desperate plea. And when you understand the
context, you can see why. Consider a few things.
When we studied Chapter 7, we learned and calculated that from
Babylonia to Jerusalem, it would take about four months.
Four months by foot, we're talking about 900 miles.
That's grueling. These are not just men who are
making their way back to Jerusalem.
You have women, you have children, you have the elderly,
presumably. So you can see why this is going
to be a difficult task. Just naturally speaking.
It's been very demanding. So we need God to help us.
Secondly, Ezra was aware that even in his day there were
people who hated the Jews. Now there was already a first
wave of Jews many decades before this that had been restored to
Jerusalem and had begin begun to really rebuild the House of God.
They they brought it to completion and that.
Irked. The nations around them, many of
them. And so to see just another
transition, another accumulation of Jews going back to the
promised land. Ezra mentions here that he is
worried that the enemy on the way will try to stop them.
So there are real threats, real dangers.
Consider a third thing. Is Ezra leading this expedition
with just clothes on their back? No, they are not going empty
handed. In fact, they're going back with
caravans filled with supplies. Peek over to verse 26 of Ezra.
Notice what it said here. I weighed out into their hands
650 talents of silver. Now that may not mean much to
you because you think talent. We don't use that measurement
today. One talent is approximately 75
to 80 pounds. 650 talents of silver and silver vessels worth
200 talents and 100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold worth
1000 derricks, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as
precious as gold. So you can imagine how just the
resources alone that they're taking with them would make Ezra
very nervous. And you can imagine even at this
time, how war would get around, that some of the Jews are making
their way back to Jerusalem and look at all the stuff that
they're bringing with them. It wouldn't take very much for
robbers and bandits to take advantage of this, especially
when they are helpless Jews and as we're about to discover, have
no bodyguards, no soldiers, no battalion going with them.
They're exposed. And Ezra knows this.
So he says, listen, before we leave Ahava, we have to seek
God. We have to ask the Lord for
help. And so we find here that there's
potential fear on Ezra's part, natural fear.
Wisdom is being employed, There's caution.
And so he seeks God. But look what happens in verse
31. Look what he testifies about.
Ezra goes on to say later, Then we departed from the river Ahava
on the 12th day of the first month to go to Jerusalem.
The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the
hand of the enemy and from ambushes.
By the way, prayer works, and more than prayer working,
sincere prayer invites God's protection against any threat.
And the Lord's blessing can extend to anyone or to anything
that you would commit to His care.
That includes your children, and that includes your possessions.
One of my favorite examples of this is how David responded when
he learned that one of his greatest advisors chose to side
with his rebellious son, Absalom.
Do you remember what he did? What was his knee jerk reaction?
According to Second Samuel 15, verse 31, he sighed a prayer and
his prayer was very brief, very short, very simple.
He said, O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into
foolishness. So I thoughtful who was one of
David's greatest assets. The Bible says that his wisdom
was like the wisdom of God. People revered this man when he
came up with a plan. People listen intently and they
trusted him. And overnight, David learns one
of your closest confidants has now conspired against you and
joined your son to kill you. So one of his greatest assets
now becomes one of his greatest threats.
And what does he do? He prays.
He seeks God. And if you were with us in
Second Samuel when we studied it, you remember that God
answered that prayer, did he not?
And he actually went above and beyond what David asked.
So over and over we have examples that when you and I
pray, there is not one person nor is there any problem that
God is not willing to confront and bring a solution to.
In this case, there are many things that Ezra was worried
about. He asked for God's protection
over himself and others, their children and their possessions,
and God was faithful with every single thing that they brought
to him. Is there a person causing a
problem in your life? Do you pray about it?
Do you actually believe that God will do something about it?
He did it for David. Are you worried about your
finances? Are you worried about your
resources? Are you worried about how you're
going to pay rent? Are you worried about how you're
going to pay for your children's education?
Do you pray about it, Ezra? This man filled with the Word
teaches us that prayer works. With all that said, we see
another reason why he was so desperate to pray, and I already
alluded to it. He mentions here that he refused
armed security, that when the king of Persia learned of his
journey, he offered help because even the king understood how
dangerous it would be for them. And Ezra refused.
He denied it. Why did he deny it?
Well, he seems to have a relationship with the king.
And throughout his relationship with the king, he was constantly
testifying of the greatness of God, that he actually helps.
He's a real God. He actually interferes with our
lives and invests and invades intercepts.
He's tangible. And he thought to himself, if
I'm going to say this to the king and at the same time ask
him for help, that might weaken my testimony.
Worse, it might contradict my testimony.
And so Ezra refuses this, and it made him all the more aware of
his neediness for God to come through.
Now, here's what's interesting. If we're not careful, we can
take a text like this and teach ourselves and others that if we
really have faith, it's unnecessary to implement safety
measures or to take precautions to protect ourselves.
Is that what this text is teaching?
If you're inclined to believe that, let me remind you what
Nehemiah does when it was his turn to make his way back to
Jerusalem. Go to chapter 2 of Nehemiah.
It's just the next book over and notice what he says in Nehemiah
chapter 2 beginning in verse 7. This is how you know that what
Ezra is demonstrating is not teaching something about
self-defense and if Christians should pursue it or not.
Look at Nehemiah 2 verse seven. He says, And I said to the king,
If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the
governors of the province beyond the river, that they may let me
pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph,
the keeper of the King's forest. Then he may give me timber to
make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for
the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.
And the king granted me what I asked for.
The good hand of my God was upon me.
So notice a similar phrase here. He says God's hand was upon me.
That's why the king did this. But notice the connection.
He goes on to say in verse 9. Then I came to the governors of
the province beyond the river and gave them the King's
letters. Now the king had sent with me
officers of the army and horsemen.
Ezra refused. Nehemiah welcomed this kind of
protection. And the question we have to ask
then, was Nehemiah less godly or faithful because of it?
Was he less spiritual? Did he display weaker faith?
Here's my answer. It depends.
If Nehemiah goes on to show that he had put his ultimate trust in
the arm of the flesh, then absolutely this could be a sign
of weak faith. But if you've studied Nehemiah,
then you know that that is not the case.
That he was a man of fervent prayer himself, that he was a
man who took practical means but never failed to seek the Lord
because he showed that God was ultimately his success, his
security. And so who's right here?
Who's the greater model to follow?
Follow. Who's more godly?
I don't think it's a contest. I think it's worth comparing.
And the reason why is because Ezra is in a unique position,
because Ezra has been witnessing to the King of Persia and Ezra
made a bold witness about who God is and what he is able to
do. That's what's at stake.
Here, and so with his situation, Ezra wanted to ensure that
nothing that he would do, nothing that he would say,
nothing that he would accept would cause a problem to what he
had told the King about his God. So this is.
Far less about Ezra's beliefs about self-defense.
And you can't use a text like this to make a case for why or
why not believers should implement a certain measure of
protection over themselves, their family, or their
ministries. That's not what's being targeted
here. There's a different lesson
before us, and the lesson is this.
Ezra is exemplifying to us that what we say should be backed up
by what we do. That we have to be.
Extremely careful about what we say about God to others,
especially unbelievers. And then showing them with our.
Lives that we actually believe it.
Because people. Are much more willing to believe
by what you live than by what you say.
There's no way around that, and that could be to a greater good
or that can be to our detriment. So understand Ezra.
'S thinking here. I've been telling this king
about how awesome God is, but I also understand that the king
has more than just ears, he has eyes.
And he's going to watch how? I'm going to move forward from
here. Can I actually back up the
greatness of God? Can I actually prove it?
And this man is extremely wise. He understood that this could
actually hinder his witness, and so he refuses the protection
that the king offered. Believer, understand very
carefully there are people who are watching more closely than
you think they are. They may not be telling you
that, but people are taking into consideration that you have a
Bible verse on your social media account.
And they want to see that. Bible verse matches with the
posts. When I had social.
Media and I had others say this as well.
I don't know if this is still the case.
I've been off social media. I recommend it.
And I remember back. Then that people would like
certain things and what they would like would pop up on your
feet. Is that still the case?
OK. You know, years and years.
Ago, obviously I was still believer then.
I was I've been a believer for quite a few years now and so
most of my friends online were were Christians.
But you know what? Sometimes.
I would see what they would like and it would pop up and it was
super questionable. Now I'm a believer and I know.
Some of these people, or at least I've met them here or
there, but I would always think, what do non believers think
about what you're liking When you like something?
You're essentially saying I'm agreeing with this, I approve of
this, I enjoy this. And for what I know.
What I know for some people, they mindlessly just click on
anything, not considering what Ezra is showing us here.
People are watching you, people are leaning in, people are
studying you and they're hearing one thing and they want to see,
is it consistent? So that's just one way that.
We might have oversight, the things that we choose, the
things that we respond to, the things that we let out.
And not thinking. Others are analyzing me.
While we're on the subject of witness, there is something else
here that we have to appreciate about Ezra in this area.
Did you notice that when he reflects on his testifying
before the king, he did not leave out warning?
Look again what I mean here. He didn't just stop.
After saying the hand of our God is for good on all who seek him.
He goes on to add. What?
And the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.
That's bold. Would he have been right if he
said that God's good hand rests on those who seek him?
Yes. But Ezra understood.
That that is an incomplete message.
And he understood that I. May never see this king again.
And So what does he do? He he includes the full message.
And what is the full message? Yes.
If you seek him, there's a blessing.
If you forsake him, if you turn your back on him, there's wrath.
This is bold you're. Speaking to a king.
But it's more than just bold. It's loving.
Because love warns, and we have to be wise in how we warn.
But there's some people who. Think it's wise never to warn?
Well, you're out of step. With the ministry in the message
of Jesus Christ, the Apostles and any sincere Christian.
The Bible warns. Because the Bible is a book that
reveals a God who is love and love warns.
So King, I want to let. You know that God.
He shows favor to. Those who live for him, who seek
him. But he's also willing.
To show wrath to those who despise him and deny him.
You know what I wondered When? I heard this.
Looking at these words. In Ezra's life, I wondered, did
that make any impact on the king?
That was my question. Did that make any impact on this
king? And then I reflected on the
King's own words when he had given Ezra the letter of
approval to allow him to take the Jews back to Jerusalem.
Let me remind you. One of the things that the king.
Says back in Ezra 7. Look at verse 23.
This is in the letter of the King.
That grants. Ezra permission to do what he's
doing here in Ezra chapter 8. The King writes.
Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in
full for the House of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be
against the realm of the king and his sons.
I wonder where you got that idea from?
Well, Ezra's been telling. Him, I'm sure, since he's known
him. Listen, King.
You don't want to. Invoke God's wrath by forsaking
Him. And I believe based on this,
that Ezra planted the seed and it's still in seed form because
we learn from this chapter in this text that there are some
who are only motivated to serve God out of fear, and that's not
the way to do it. But that doesn't mean that
there. Isn't an understanding of fear
in how we view God? And this king shows.
That he got it. And I hope that it.
Germinated to a more complete understanding of the nature and
character of God. We don't know.
But we will continue now. Let's come back to Ezra 8 and
let's read on in verse 24 down to verse 29.
Then I set a part. 12 of the leading priest Sheribaya
Hashabaya, and 10 other kinsmen with them.
And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the
vessels, the offering for the House of our God that the King
and his counselors and his Lords, and all Israel their
present had offered. I weighed out into their hands
650 talents of silver and silver vessels worth 200 talents and
100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold worth 1000 derricks and
two. 1002. Vessels of fine bright bronze,
as precious as gold. And I said to them, You are holy
to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the
gold are free will offering to the Lord, the God of your
Father's. Guard them and keep them until
you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the
heads of Father's houses in Israel, at Jerusalem, within the
chambers of the House of the Lord.
What's going on here? Well, Ezra did more than.
Just pray about the protection of himself and others.
The children and his goods he also prepared.
He planned. He strategized.
And right away we learned something.
Is Ezra a spiritual man? He's a very spiritual man.
Did he study God's Word? He did.
Did he fast and pray? Absolutely.
But those practices, those disciplines did not negate or
cancel out practical life. Ezra understood that we should
commit things to the Lord, but he also understood that we have
to do some calculation on our part.
And so for those who think. That being spiritual means
you're unorganized or constantly spontaneous or never thinking
ahead. You're wrong.
Ezra here shows. Us that a man who is going to
bring revival to his generation was also a man who stepped back
and thought how can we do this the most efficient way?
How can we do this the? Safest way?
How can we make our journey that much more gracious?
And so he actually. Delegated responsibility.
And he put numbers together and he divided things.
Because Christianity is actually practical.
And I say this from time to time because you have some people who
think that Christianity is about being as mystical as possible.
Well, you can't get. That from here and it also shows
that Ezra as a man of God was responsible over his resources.
And this is this is a reminder again that though we are called
to be heavenly minded, we're also called to do earthly good.
Can I ask you a question? When is the first time the word
elder in connection to leadership in the local church?
When does the first time? That word elder appear in the
book of Acts. You can answer if you.
Know or if you think you. Know any idea who thinks it's?
Very, very early in the book. Who thinks it's very late?
In the book. Who's just waiting for me?
To tell you the chapter to go to Acts Chapter 11.
This is the first time the word elder appears in the narrative
of the book of Acts that explains the early movements and
formations of the bride of Christ.
Look at Acts 11 verse 20 and I'll wait for you to get there.
Acts 11 verse. 28. And one of the name.
Agabus stood up and foretold by the spirit that there would be a
great famine over all the world. This took place in the days of
Claudius. So the disciples determined
everyone according to his ability to send relief to the
brothers living in Judea, and they did so sending it to the
elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
That's the first time you encountered the word elders in
connection to leadership in the in the local church.
And I find it interesting that the first time it appears it
deals with financial responsibility.
That one of the first things. You find with the elders in the
Church of the book of Acts is the distribution of aid to those
who are in need. What does that tell you?
Well it tells you that part of the elders responsibility is
faithful stewardship over the church's resources.
This is why. When you look at the Maranatha
Bible Church Membership covenant, one of the things that
the elders promised to the members of the church is that by
God's help, we will faithfully steward God's resources
according to the principles and the wisdom of His Word.
The elders here. Show us that.
And that requires integrity, that requires wisdom, that
requires transparency and accountability.
And it should be no. Surprise to us, then, that one
of the qualifications for a pastor according to First
Timothy 33 is that he cannot be a lover of money.
Because you're going to deal. With money in the ministry.
And so we find here. An excellent example in Ezra of
a spiritual leader. Who takes great?
Pains of avoiding mismanaging God's funds.
And so he comes up with. A plan.
And what's his plan? I'm going to assign the
responsibility of oversight of these resources to the priests
and the Levites. That's what we see in verse 24,
right? Look again.
Then I set apart 12 of the leading priests share abaya and
hashabaya, and 10 of their kinsmen with them.
So he sets apart 12 priests, and then he sets apart 12 Levites
who are with them. Now here's another question.
Why did Ezra think it was important that the priests and
the Levites take on this responsibility?
The immediate response might. Be well, it's obvious they're
they're spiritual leaders, so they will be more trustworthy
for such a task. And that is certainly true to
some extent, but there's a deeper reason.
Ezra was a man who. Studied the law.
And what you discover. In the law, especially in the
Book of Numbers chapter 4, is that in the movements of the
nation Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, God had told him
to build a house for him. It was portable, a Tabernacle, a
tent. This is where God would meet
with the people. But that tent needed to.
Be transported from time to time.
It had furnishings, it had different materials.
It had bases and posts and links.
And so numbers 4. What you discover is that God
assigned the Levitical tribe to be responsible for
disassembling, transporting, and then reassembling the tent.
And So what we see. Ezra doing here now as they are
in their own unique exile, making their way back to what
God had given to them. He wants to imitate.
This law as closely as possible because this is a unique
situation. They're not transporting the
House of God. They don't have the same items
like the original people did. But do you see Ezra's?
Heart here. It's a beautiful thing to
witness. That he is trying.
To get the spirit of the law, he is trying to get the heart of
the law, the principles and the wisdom of God's law and apply it
to his situation. He wants to apply.
It as faithfully as he can. They don't have.
The Tabernacle, they have a temple now.
But again, he's looking at what God had said in the past, and
he's thinking to myself, how can I get this crowd to obey and to
adhere to God's law as closely as possible?
You know, if you really love God.
'S word, that's what you'll do with your own life, that you'll
look at the practices and the decisions that you have to make.
And there may not be a chapter or verse that addresses it, but
what you'll seek to do is say, OK, is there anything that can
inform me how to make the most righteous decision here?
I'm building this, I'm pursuing this, I have to invest in this.
Is there anything in God's law in 2026?
That can help me make the. Most Christ honoring decision
from it. This is what Ezra is showing.
And he does it well, these spiritual leaders, they agree
with him, but he does more. He doesn't just get his cues
from the Book of Numbers, namely, but he now exhorts them
directly. Oh, this is a true leader.
Look again at verse 28. What does he say?
You are holy to the Lord and the vessels are holy.
So he has this plan, he has instruction from the law, he has
his men. Now he wants to inspire them.
And the first thing that he says is you, you Levites, you
priests, you are holy. And then he reminds them that
the vessels are holy, but the order is intentional before.
Talking about the. Vessels that they're going to
handle. He talks about them as vessels.
And he says, hey. You're holy.
What does that mean for us? Well, it's a wonderful.
Truth about how in order for us to participate in God's work,
which is holy. We have to understand that God.
Calls us to be holy. This becomes even more.
Helpful when you remember that in the New Testament we are all
called to be in the priesthood. That we are all a royal.
Priesthood in the new Covenant. And we all have to consider.
This that if we're really serious about pursuing the honor
of doing God's work, whatever that looks like, then we have to
be serious about personal holiness.
That's not a popular message today, and it's unfortunate
because a lot of ministries are getting exposed and shut down
because of it. You know, there's some people
who. Think that because we're in the
gospel. And this gospel is 1.
Of grace and mercy and amazing forgiveness.
That holiness is just a peripheral thing.
Holiness is some old. Testament concept.
Holiness is irrelevant. Holiness is a little bit
important, no? If anything, holiness becomes
more possible, more attractive because of the gospel.
And so, yes, we do see here that there is a different covenant
from the old to the new. But God's standard of purity has
not changed. It hasn't.
You and I are going to enjoy the privilege of being entrusted
with holy things. Then you and I have to be.
Holy. And more specifically.
We must first be set apart before we're to be invited to
join God's special work. You are holy and the vessels are
holy. I must be holy if I want to
partner with God's holy work. We can go to so many places.
To confirm this, let me give you one that is very, very, very
important in connection to this truth.
It's what the prophet Isaiah says.
This is worth turning to and Isaiah 52.
Look at verse 11. He actually addresses the same
category of people, those who would handle the holy vessels of
the Lord. And notice what He says to them
in Isaiah 52, verse 11. Isaiah says depart, depart, go
out from there, touch no unclean thing.
And some believe that he is. Actually speaking about those
who would be in Babylon one day and would be called out of it,
he says depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean
thing, go out from the midst of her, Purify yourselves, you who
bear the vessels of the Lord. Is that the same?
Crowd that Ezra is addressing back in chapter 8, Yes.
And is the message the? Same.
Yes. What does Isaiah say?
Purify yourselves, you who bear the holy vessels of the Lord.
It's the same order. Here, because you've been called
to a holy calling, God asks you to be holy.
You. You cannot effectively pursue
anything that God asks of you. If you're impure, it can't
happen. Is God forgiving?
Yes. Do we sin?
Yes. Do we justify it?
Do we tolerate it? Do we enjoy it and conceal it?
Those are two different things. But to actually ask?
God continually cleanse me and renew me.
Why? Because I want to be used by
you. Do you ever think like that?
Do you ever have? That as your one of your
motivations, at least I think the primary one is Lord, I don't
want to break your heart. But we are permitted.
To also think and pray and use this truth to combat against
temptation. I don't want to disqualify
myself. Let me ask you another question.
Is there any place in the New Testament where Isaiah 52, verse
11, the verse that we just read, is referenced or alluded to?
Are you? Just going to wait for.
Me to give you the chapter. That's OK, somebody said
something. First Timothy is a.
Very strong one, but there is one that I'm thinking about that
actually references this verse that quotes it.
Titus. Titus is another place that
speaks about holiness, purity. 2nd Corinthians let's.
Turn there, I want you to see it with your own eyes.
Second Corinthians chapter 6 and place your finger there.
Verse 16. This is Paul speaking to
Christians. This is Paul speaking to the
Corinthians. Who had many?
Spiritual gifts, but we're living unholy lives.
And so he wants. To remind them what the Bible
says, and notice what he says in 2nd Corinthians 616.
What agreement has the temple of God with idols?
For we are the temple of the living God, as God said, I will
make my dwelling among them, and walk among them, and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people.
Verse 17 Now therefore go out from their midst, and be
separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean
thing. Then I will welcome you.
So what does Paul do? He.
Reaches back to Isaiah 52 verse 11 and he applies it to
believers in the new covenant. God's standard of.
Holiness has not changed. And this is something.
That you and I have to take very seriously.
Again, praise the Lord that He is so forgiving, so ready to
forgive. But what's the context?
Of Second Corinthians chapter 6 being unequally yoked with
unbelievers. How we live with the.
World How we relate to the world.
How we embrace the world. And so the call.
To the priesthood then, because you are going to handle holy
things. Be holy yourselves is no
different. Today.
Whatever ministry you're a part of is holy.
You may not be wearing a. Garb You may not be limited to
one holy structure, but the Church is holy, your service to
the Lord is holy, and God requires holiness for Him to
bless it. Let's read on.
Back in Ezra chapter 8, look at verse 30.
So the priest and the Levites took over the weight of the
silver and the gold and the vessels to bring them to
Jerusalem, to the House of our God.
Then we departed from the river Ahava on the 12th day of the
first month to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us,
and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from
ambushes. By the way, look.
Again at verse 30. One, we departed from the river
Ahava on the 12th day of the first month.
You know, Ezra tells us. When they left Babylonia
altogether back in Chapter 7, look at Chapter 7.
Look at verse 9. For on the first day of the
first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first
day of the 5th month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of
his God was on him. So Ezra remained at a hava for
12 days. I mean, you have to remember
that he sent leading men back to get Levites.
They fasted and prayed for a few days.
But what moves me is just the meticulous accounting of this
man. He's very.
Detailed and it made it made me wonder if this is a reflection
of just how studious he was and if it showed in his study of
God's word. He was so so careful, but he
wasn't just careful in how he recorded things and archived
moments and historical things. He was also careful to give
glory to God. What does he do in verse 31 it.
Says here that the hand of our God was.
On us and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from
ambushes. By the way, Ezra was very
diligent to seek the Lord when they left the Hava.
We're going to fast and pray. It doesn't matter if we have
the. Funds.
It doesn't matter if we have all the people in the right places,
we need God. But when he got.
There he was just as diligent to give him the credit for it.
To thank him for. It to praise him for it and to
point people to him for it. And one of the things.
That I learned a few years ago just reading this Bible cover to
cover, is that humanity, especially believers, have a
tendency to be so fervent to ask God for something and lose that
fervency when He comes through to thank Him for it.
Ezra was careful. Ezra was careful.
Tonight, get so caught. Up in the moment that he failed
to understand that this is because of God.
Every step of the way. God's hand was on this man's
life because he sought God all along.
Now we see something else here. They rested for three days.
In verse 32 we came to Jerusalem and there we remained 3 days.
I'm just moved by the. Fact that Ezra got there.
Imagine he was. Born in in Babylonia and all the
things that he read and all the testimonies that he heard, and
now face to face with the Holy city, there in person his dreams
come true. And the first order.
Of business is what we find in verse 33.
On the 4th day, after relaxing and resting for a few, on the
4th day within the House of our God, the silver and the gold and
the vessels were weighed into the hands of Miramoth the priest
son of Uriah, and with him Eliezer the son of Phineas.
And with them were the Levites, Joseph Bad, the son of Joshua,
and Noah, Diya the son of Binui. The whole was counted and
weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.
At that time, those. Who had come from captivity, The
return exiles offered burnt offering to the God of Israel.
12 Bulls. For all Israel. 96 Rams, 77
lambs, and as a sin offering, 12 male goats.
All this was a burnt offering to the Lord.
They also delivered the King's commissions to the King's
satraps and to the governors of the province beyond the river.
And they aided the people and the House of God.
You know, Ezra really wants to make sure that you and I
understand that the money, the silver, the gold, the materials
that they counted and distributed to certain men made
its way to Jerusalem and there is no discrepancies.
The fact I think. Verse 34 is the verse that we
should be focusing on. The whole was counted and
weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.
That becomes even more. Meaningful.
When you go back to verse 29 and see what he told the priest,
look at verse 29 of Ezra 8. He tells them guard them and
keep them until that word is so important until until you weigh
them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of
fathers houses in Israel, Jerusalem, within the chambers
of the House of the Lord. There isn't until for the
sanctity and the carefulness of these priests and Levites.
They understood. They were holding what they were
called to us holy, and they were to guard and keep them until
they arrive safely to their destination.
And I want to remind you today that there is an until for Your
Holiness and mine. The Bible, actually.
Teaches us even though we are blood bought, even though we are
freely forgiven, and that we are secure in the salvation.
There is a day of accounting for each of us.
There is a day. Where the things that we were
responsible for that God has called us to will be measured,
we'll be evaluated, we'll be examined.
The way I like to put it, without sounding too casual, is
that there is a time coming where me and the Lord Jesus
Christ are going to have a conversation about my life,
thankfully not about my salvation.
Because that's determined. And that has been set by His
grace. But we are going to talk about
what I did with that salvation, and so will you.
There isn't until for your holiness and mine.
Paul put it this way in Romans 14 verse 12.
He tells these. Believers.
So then each of us. I love that he didn't say each
of you. He said each of us, including
the Apostle Paul. So then each of us.
Will give an account of himself to God.
Is he talking to non believers here?
He's talking to Christians. Couple of verses before he.
Says that we will all stand before the judgement seat of
God. Wait, I thought that Christ
absorbed my judgement. He did.
Concerning your eternal destination.
But once again, there's going. To be an evaluation of what you
did with your Christianity. So I take the charge.
Of Ezra 829 and I apply it to my life now on this Friday night.
Guard them and keep them guard. Guard your heart.
You know, if you want to take it a.
Step further in the New Testament.
Yes, we're all called to be a priesthood.
But the Bible also says. That we are holy vessels.
The priests in the old. Testament were holy and they
handled holy vessels. We are both the priesthood and
the vessels. There's nothing.
Holy about this, right? Nothing.
You're the holy vessel. I'm the holy vessel.
So guard it. Guard your heart.
Guard your eyes, guard your ears, guard guard your mind.
Keep them until until the day we're we give an account.
So then each of us will give an. Account of himself to God.
Don't let your guard. Down.
You know, it's amazing how every.
Week. These Bible studies end
differently sometimes. Similarly, sometimes the final
thought is one of great encouragement that God's
faithfulness for you is beyond your imagination.
You can rest in him. And there are other times, like
tonight, where God wants us to perk up and be reminded that
holiness is real, Holiness is serious to God.
Holiness is important to God. You know.
What's interesting about Paul mentioning this in Romans
chapter 14? Romans chapter 14 deals with
disagreements among believers in the church who have different
kind of convictions. There were some Christians among
the Romans who said this day is holier than any other day.
Why aren't you honoring? This day as holy, why aren't you
honoring the Sabbath like in the Old Testament?
And Paul says, hey, listen in. The new covenant you may honor
one day as more holy than the other, but don't judge each
other for that. Well, what about the food?
This food is unclean. This food is clean.
And yet other Christians saying Christ made all things clean.
And they began to. Judge each other's spirituality
based on these convictions. And Paul gives them many.
Many, many, many instructions. And then he warns them.
Do you understand that one day you you each are going to have
to give yourself to God and explain your life?
So God. Looks at each of our convictions
and and if there's sincere convictions, he'll hold us
accountable to them. But more than that, God's going
to hold you and I accountable of how we treat one another.
So all the backbiting. And the murmuring and the
unforgiveness. And do you think God's going to
let believers enter into heaven without reconciliation?
That would be strange, wouldn't it?
Is it possible for? Christians to die without
reconciling with one another? Very possible.
I think there are going to be some very, very sobering
conversations before the judgement seat of Christ.
So guard, keep, how do I guard and keep in the same way that
these priests and Levites said, until, until you stand before
the priests and Levites in the chambers of our, of our God.
And you were able to say, here it is.
And in the same way. Let me ask you this in closing.
How often do you think about the judgement seat of Christ?
When's the last time you thought about?
It. We think about a lot of.
Appointments some of us are better than others about how we
keep our appointments with our calendars and.
There's one appointment. That you can never forget, that
you're going to have and you can't change it, can't
reschedule it. It's set.
And that's with Christ. And Paul uses the judgement
seat, the judgement seat of Christ, as a motivating factor
for holiness. Today, if you and I do.
Everything that we do in light of the fact that we're going to
have to talk to Christ about it. One day you're going to think
twice. I'm going to think twice.
One day I'm going to have to talk to the Lord about how I
treated so and so. I might as well deal with it now
then, then. You know, I had these gifts.
That I believe God has given to me, but I just.
Don't feel like really using. Them OK.
You might get away with it now. But one day the Lord's going to
say, What did you do with the gifts I've given you?
Let's sit there and let that truth do its work in our hearts.
Ezra and his team were able to successfully make it to their
destination with no need to be embarrassed, no need to be
ashamed, with no loss. And the New Testament teaches
that it's possible to gain salvation but suffer loss
because we didn't take our holiness seriously.
But if you want to take it seriously, Ezra shows us that
you can humble yourself and pray for God's hand on your life to
not just protect you, your children, and your resources
from thieves and troublemakers, but even to protect your
holiness. And your purity.
And your relationships and your witness.
God is willing to empower us in what seems to be impossible and
make it possible and give you more reason to rejoice in Him
that not only because He died for you and forgave your sin,
but He can now also give you the power to live in victory.
This is the complete gospel. Let's thank Him for it, but we
thank you for tonight. We bless you tonight.
We thank you. How we don't know what to
expect. With a particular.
Passage that we are just going through faithfully week by week,
but we can always expect that you will speak to us.
And Lord, tonight we've. Heard your word, we are holy and
what we do for you is holy, so help us live holy.
Lord, if there's any sin. In our lives that we have
justified or we have not resisted, in your power, may you
use the truth tonight to give us victory, to give us real
victory. And Lord, May 1.
Of the things that get us moving in that direction is the thought
that we want your purpose for our lives.
We want to serve you. We don't want to disqualify
ourselves. We don't want to throw away
opportunities. We want to be ready when.
You're ready to promote someone when you're ready to use someone
or send someone. Your word tells us that those
who are clean are ready for the Master's.
Use so help us be clean. Help us also understand that
when we splash ourselves with dirt or filth that we can come
to you freely and you were willing to wash us and cleanse
us. So that we love you.
Tonight we thank you for these incredible truths and we pray to
believe in that. You hear our entreaty.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Let's stand and let's worship
the Lord together and thank Him. That he's willing to help us.
In our Holiness.