Let's read together from the scriptures.
I want to read tonight from the book of Ezra, Ezra chapter 10,
if you go to first and second, Samuel, first and second, Kings
versus second chronicles, you will come to the book of Ezra
We're going to read from first one.
I'm going to read, write down to verse 48.
Azra, chapter town or read from verse 1.
Let's hear the word of God. Reading from the authorized
version. Azra 10:1 I when Ezra had prayed
and when he had confessed weeping and casting himself
dying before the house of gone, they're assembled onto him out
of israeel, a very great Congregation of, man, and women
and children for the people wept, very sore.
And second Ayah, the son of jehiel.
One of the sons of elom answered and said unto Ezra, we have
trespassed against our God and of Taken strange, waves of the
people of the land yet. Now there's hope in Israel
concerning this thing. Now therefore let us make a
covenant with our God to put away all the waves and such as
are born of them according to the country.
Love By Lord and of those that tremble at the Commandment of
our God, and let it be done. According to the law arise for
this matter, below most unto thee.
We also will be with thee be of good courage.
And dude, then arose, Astra, and they had the chief priests, the
Levites and all Israel to swear that they should do your cording
to this word. And they swore. then Ezra rose
up from before the house of God and went into the Chamber of
Jehan and the son of Elijah babe and when he came Heather he did
eat no bread or drink water for he mourn because of the
transgression of them that have been carried away and they made
Proclamation throughout Judea and Jerusalem on to all the
children of the Captivity that they should gather themselves
together unto Jerusalem. And the whosoever would not come
within three days according to the counsel of the princes and
the elders, all his substance should be Or fitted and himself
separated, from the congregation of those that have been carried
away. Then all the men of Judah and
Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem, within
three days. It was the ninth month on the
20th day of the month, and all the people shout and the street
of the house of God, trembling because of this matter.
And for the great wreath, And as for the priest stood up and said
unto them ye have transcript transgressed and have taken
strange waves to increase the trespass of us real there,
therefore, make confession unto the Lord, God of your father's
and do his pleasure and separate your sales from the people of
the land. And from the strange waves, then
all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice as
though, her said, so must we do. But the people are many, it is a
Time Of much rien and we're not able to stand without.
Neither is this a work of one day or two for?
We are many that have transgressed in this thing.
Let know they are rulers of all the congregation stand that all
them which have taken strange waves, and our cities come at
appointed times. And with them, the Elders of
every city and the judges their oath.
I'll tell the fierce Wrath of our gold for this Mater returned
from us, a measurement of the Lord of stamp of the soon
approval and blessing, this reading of his own precious
found infallible word, no, my text tonight and this, the first
Lord's Day evening of 2023 is find and are Surah chapter 10
and verse 2. And It's the latter part of the
text that I want the focus on yet.
Now there's hope in Israel concerning this thing and I've
just taken that theme yet know there's whooping Israel
concerning this thing. Now I want you to understand the
context I want you to grasp the setting of the scene behind the
utterance of these words. The people of the Northern
Kingdom of Israel, had failed to the army of Assyria in 722 BC.
Apparently, in that occasion, 27,000 have been carried captive
and they end, the southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin
was invaded by Nebuchadnezzar and 606 BC not occasion.
The royal family Royal children were taken captive, then
Nebuchadnezzar invaded again in five. 97 BC and took the chief
of the man, the rulers and the princes.
He invaded a third time and 586 BC and sacked.
Jerusalem to the temple. Burnt baguettes there off
knocked down his walls. Now, I want you to think of a
multitude of people in Exile in the land of Babylon belonging to
Judah and Benjamin and they've been there for 70 years.
Think of Daniel think of Ezekiel exile for 70 years, according to
the word of Jeremiah, the prophet.
Jeremiah 25:11, Jeremiah 29 and 10.
Now when Babylon fell to King Cyrus of Persia and 537 BC,
Cyrus issued his decree for the Jews to return to their Homeland
if they wanted to. And the first, we have exhales
returned under zerubbabel in the year 536 BC, 70 years after the
destruction of the temple, these exhale set about the rebuilding
of the temple, they laid the foundations and the young they
stopped working. Then a second batch of exhales
came to carry on the work. Some years later under Ezra the
Scribe and he helped us set up the worship of God, again, in
Jerusalem, in the rebuilt Temple.
And then a third group arrived under the governorship of
Nehemiah who came to rebuild the walls of the city and set up the
gates. They're off.
So I want you to think of this Exile community that is returned
to the land of Israel. However upon their return to the
land of Israel. These exhales over many years
have taken to themselves, strange waves.
And this was in Disobedience to the law of God.
That's what we've read. In the opening chapter of Ezra
tan, verses 12 to, you can link it up with Deuteronomy chapter
7, verses 1 to 4. You could think of as ra chapter
10 and verse 11. Lavender there, for me,
confession, unto the Lord God of your father's until his pleasure
and separate your sales from the people of the land from the
strange ways. Here's a summary.
Of what they must do to correct this situation.
They're to make an honest confession of sin to the Lord
God of their fathers and do as well.
On this confession of genuine would reflect their heartfelt
sorrow for their sinful Behavior, and the sorrow would
not only must manifest itself in words, but also manifested
itself in Acts of the will. So what do you think of, Ezra
the Scribe? And he's deep in mourning over
the sins of the x-axis. He has led others to gather
around him. So that they could see and sense
their sin so that they could weep bitterly over them.
Personal sins National sense. A man by the name of Jack.
An Ayah, he became a spokesman for the people and he urged the
people to confess their sin. He proposed to Ezra to make a
covenant with the Lord and regarding this sin and put away
their strange waves. Now, second Ayah was not one of
the offenders but six members of the Elam clown to which he
belonged, they had married foreign and strange.
Ways, Ezra acted on senaka, ribs proposal, he gathered the
exhales to gather in the month of December.
They agreed that they had sinned, they agreed to put away
their strange wait all but four protested a commission was
appointed to examine each keas and if the foreign waves and put
away their idols and denounced a Dollar Tree and trust it and
swore allegiance to the Lord God of Israel.
No further action was required. However, if the foreign Refuse
to give up their Idols. The marriage was then dissolved
by divorce. In the eyes of the law.
A suitable Arrangements were made for compensation to take
care of these women and Ellie dependent children.
And it was a not context and it was against that serving that
this man called Shaq Anaya stood up and said, yet Know There's
Hope in Israel concerning this thing.
You see, these words were spoken against the sense of utter
hopelessness and despair among these weeping people who had
realized that they had sinned against God, can you sense
there? We panis and the Brokenness.
Why are they weeping? Why are they broken?
Here's the answer because they have sinned against the Lord,
their sin, and the land, they the church and the country has
been affected. Genuine repentance is being
called for something real and true and genuine not something.
Glad true Brokenness would lead to true blessedness and it was
against that backlog, that one, lesser new one man.
Stood up at that time before. Ezra The Scribe and said yet not
I there is hope in Israel concerning this thing, despite
the sin. In the land, the church one
Mound saw hope, He was the chief sinner the nation and octane in
term, Aryan. Of strange ways.
It was not concealed, it was brought out into the open.
It was not been brushed under the carpet, the smile I believe
had found a grown, for Hope Not Mere presumption.
But I real true ground of Hope. I want you to think of our
country tonight. I want you to think of the
church and our day. I want you to think of this sins
and our nation and are they not black?
Are they not deplorable and degree adding And yet we can
say, from the scripture yet, now there's whooping, Israel
concerning this thing and that's what we want to think about the
safe nning. I want you to think of three
things, three things that come to me.
Hope has recognized and God's call for repentance.
You see when he said yet. Now there's hope in Israel
concerning this thing. He was thinking against the back
cloth of the Weeping of the people, the sense of Brokenness
that they felt and the confession of their sin.
And he realized will God has a message for the people.
And that message is genuine repentance.
And that call to repent involves a heartfelt sorrow for their
sins before. God is the living in the true
God. And here's an Evidence of God's
grace, and mercy to this sin of that day, and also evidence of
God's grace, and mercy to the sinful Church in our day and a
sinful country. I want you to think of the
picture. All of our country.
Somebody sent me this interesting thing.
Let me read it out to you. Britain has a lunatic asylum.
A famous and grieving, by the satirical artist William,
Hogarth shows to fashionable ladies, visiting the London
Lunatic Asylum. New Orleans Bedlam in 1735.
It's an open day at the Asylum and visitors can pay to see the
in means. Some of them are confined to
their sales including a naked mole.
Sound of the crown of his head. Who thinks he is a king and a
religious fanatic worshipping the cross.
Other inmates are allowed into the gallery.
He refined to derain scientists one studying the Stars through
useless, chip of paper. The other calculating, the long
to chewed from scribbles and the wall Ahmad musician, plays his
violin with a stick wearing the score in his hand.
A man with a dancers, huh? At supposes, he is the pope and
a lovesick Man, Without dog barking at him.
Has carved the initials of his obsession on the wall.
His obsession is a notorious prostitute of the day.
From Beachside, the attendance Lookin Through the bars.
Britain must currently present a similar say, to the angels, in
our United Kingdom, Here are people pretending they can
change their gender. Here are others.
Gluing them sales to the road because of climate change.
Here, are people slaughtering hundreds of thousands of
beautiful, unborn babies? And here's a parliament passing
law to protect the sensitive feelings of these murderers.
There are thousands of illegal immigrants being helped ashore
to enjoy benefits and Healthcare that they cannot get elsewhere.
Here's a prime minister worshiping, an elephant god
which is idolatry here, are scientists and philosophers
surrounded by evidence of God's being and wisdom.
But denying his existence here, religious leaders with the Bible
in their home. Yet missing the way of Salvation
themselves and pointing others away from it.
Here are Sittin, look it on through the bars and here
Underneath It All or the jaws of Hell, dearly receiving voltage
at, This was written by the Reverend Douglas W be Somerset
and the free Presbyterian magazine in December 2020 to he
added at the end. Truly God has given Britain up
to judgment because of her rejection of Christ Hosea 4 and
6 says because there was rejected knowledge.
I will also reject day Romans 1:22 says, professing themselves
to be wise, they became fools. Think of the sin in the church.
We have said. Apostasy compromise religious
dying greed, you see? It was the sons of Benjamin, the
sons of Judah who were Maori and strange waves to benefit
themselves militarily. Economically personally and said
it was a false message. It was a foolish thing to do.
It was taking them further and further away from the things of
God, and all that was good and godly in the land.
Strange waves, you know, whether called strange waves because
they were turning their heart from glommed they were turning
their heart from the true way of worship.
They were turning their heart to a Dollar Tree that they were not
like The Godly Ruth, he was converted on hidden.
You heart, and he denounced idolatry and heathenism and put
our faith and trust in the living.
And the true God, no, no. These waves came with their
religion with their gods. Kim with an idolatrous main said
it came with the goal of iniquity.
It was our Streisand playing what's going on in the free
Presbyterian Church. I've heard the call today for
individuals to bring in candles again to burn incense, pictures
of crucifixes pictures, with an acorn of the Lord, Jesus Christ
on it. I've heard the call from young
and old, that's to your way, with the authorized version.
It's our kick. And of course many are now
quoting the modern new versions of the Bible pointing age where
they believe in their wisdom. That the authorized version is
wrong. I've heard the call to do away
with head covering Sadly, many a refusion to take a stand.
Think of the standards of dress and relation to the house of
God. I was speaking to some ladies
and they take a stand outside. Abortion clinics, Silent
Witness, silent prayer facing danger for rest.
And what a sad is that our leaders are Salient, they're not
with them. We should be taking the lead.
We have, we have we have stepped aside and others have stepped up
to fill the vacuum. If I could asked and even
allowed this, you listen to the call of the Protestant leaders,
luring, the virtues of the Dead Pope Francis, that's one thing
to offer, heartfelt. Condolences to family.
Roman Catholic Community. I can do that but it's quite a
different thing when you Lord a dead leader listen to what the
Reverend David Nixon had say it, he's president of the Methodist
Church. Pope Benedict had a profound
influence in the life of the church, his life.
Deeply rooted in God, in his teaching, he encouraged all your
closer relationship with Jesus. He was a man of prayer and
insensate fulfilled. Ocean a relationship with Jesus.
Do you know what the relationship with Jesus Through
Pope? Francis Wars, it was through the
church mediating. Greece to Sinner's, it wasn't
salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone to the glory of God alone. As found in the scriptures
alone. You see, here's a picture of the
country and the country Center, unhealthy State religiously and
spiritually. But then you think of that, the
state of the church, with all, the liberal estimates going on,
the modernism and the ecumenism. The religious don't agree at the
pastors and there's hardly a cheap 9 from a free Presbyterian
pulpit. Could I read out a prayer for
the church? Listen to this prayer.
I didn't make it up. This prayer was given in Kansas
and the USA at the opening session of their Senate, it
seems prayer, still upset. Some people, when Minister Zhu
rate was asked you when the new session of the Kansas Senate,
everyone was expecting the usual generalities but this is what
they heard and I read Heavenly Father, we come before you
today, to ask your forgiveness, to seek your direction and
guidance. New your word, says woe to those
who call evil good. But that is exactly what we have
done. We have lost our spiritual
equilibrium and reversed our values.
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word and called it
realism. We have worshipped other gods
and cold it. Multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the / and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it well for me.
I've killed her unborn and called a choice.
We have shot abortionist and called it.
Justifiable, we have neglected to discipline our children and
called it. Building self-esteem, we have
abused power and called it politics.
We have embezzled public funds and called it essential
expenses. We have institutionalized
bribery and called it sweets of apis.
We have covered at our neighbors possessions and called it a
session, we are polluted the air with profound in pornography and
cold. Freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our
forefathers and called it Enlightenment searches o, God
and know our hearts. That they cleanse us from every
sin and set us free. Amen.
The response was immediate a number of legislators walked out
during the prayer and protest and six short weeks Central
Christian Church were reverent rate as posture large more than
five thousand phone calls with only 47.
Of those calls responding negatively.
The church has never received International requests for
copies of the prayer, India Africa, Korea.
Here's the Polly with the Lord's, help me this prayer,
sweep over, Nisha, and wholeheartedly become our
desire. So that we again can be called
one nation under God. I want you to think not only if
the plate of the picture of the country and the prayer for the
country. But I want you to think of this
the plate for the country. In our text, we read the word
yet. Now there's hope.
What is the opposite of Hope? Is it not despair?
I thought our only one man saw the rest saw to spare Despair
according to dr. Martin lloyd-jones is a terrible
black monster It literally means losing all heart.
Art those, with no hope and God, no upon the gospel.
No. Hope on the glory of God and the
opposite of who possessed, new expectation of good or God at
work. That sure and certain and is
there not Despair and Ulster tonight.
Is there not a sense of grief depravity?
We have sinned, the church is send the nation Ascend and
what's our response to that? Well, here's a real experience
given ourselves to losing heart and despair was not true of
Elijah Ahab and Jezebel. They Ruled the Land.
It was a day of apostasy and wickedness joint monarchs.
So here, the Elijah Jezebel was a foreign strange wife and queen
Elijah fled from her. He went into the Wilderness.
He fell asleep, he laid down and get the spare.
He lost sight of all. That was good and godly.
And what did he? Lord, take away my life better
for me to die than to live nothing better.
No point, Lord, and love it, no, promise of a change in the
circumstances, death is favored as they're not a sense of
grieved assertion, we have lost sight of God's presence, and
God's power. We are believers and we honestly
have to reach into our soul. We have to try and feel after
God. And we truly feel it, God
himself has removed from us. We have lost the sense of his
presence and not experimental relationship with lost a sense
of us. Power, do we not feel despair?
Because of a sense of grave defilement, do not struggle with
her own sin? Do we not feel it's in, has
gained a foothold in our lives. GE in the ascendancy.
The dominance, once again did Paul not pray, o Wretched, Man
that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death.
Do we not feel a sense of great denial?
We have prayed and prayed for Revival, others of prayed and
prayed for her and Revival is not, come prayer, hasn't been
answered. And in Jeremiah's day, he felt
that great Darkness. He cried and shouted, he wanted
the Lord to come. Felt the Lord of shot ages
prayer. Prayer presented but prayer not
being answered. Is it not a day of great
Darkness? A day of dark Providence, has
one bad thing. After another is happening later
the country, the life of the church a day of trouble, Psalm
77, read our asaph Sam Mysore around in the night.
My soul refused to be comforted questioning is his Mercy clean
Gone Forever. You see things that are
happening at, you're confused to bite things that you can't
understand. And so much, so that the list,
Romantic your soul and you can't see how the situation can
change. You have no sense of hope.
Sense of depravity, the sense of feeling of desertion, a sense of
defilement denial and darkness. The situation is hopeless.
And what does it lead to that leads to Despair?
And you know this despairs? A dangerous thing, because it
means we leave off trust in the Lord.
It means we leave off turning to him.
Why we at upon him? So troubled that we can't speak
to him. We ask what's the point where we
leave off taking up the word of God.
The main says, I don't care what the Bible says, my experiences
in conflict with the Bible. What's the point of being a
Christian? What's the point of being Godly?
What's the point of going to church?
There's no profit. I'm faxed in the Solar.
Can't be bothered. See that's the picture.
Hope must be recognized and God's call to repentance but we
must recognize the picture of the country.
As we see it, the picture and the church as we see it.
The answer is we have send and we must make this prayer to God
under later. That despair realized yet
there's hope. I want you to think of something
else, Hope was regarded in God's character of repentance.
If we answer the question, what is repentance?
We get the answer. Repentance unto Life as a Saving
Grace whereby a sinner out of a true sense of a sin and
apprehension of the mercy of God and Christ or through grief and
hatred of us in. Turn from it onto gold with full
promise off and Ever After new obedience, True and genuine
repentance. Not only the call to it, but the
character of it, is he genuine repentance must be primarily
before God, there has to be confession of sin to God,
Sinners, first and foremost against God and His law.
Remember D of it said, second Samuel 12 and 13.
I've sinned against the Lord, he said in Psalm 51 against thee.
Thee only have, I sinned and done this evil in thy sake that
they made it be justified when they speak us.
And be clear. When thou judgest to repentance
feels deeply the wrong of our sins.
There's better weeping, there's genuine Brokenness.
Not only in a minor thing, but in a major thing, under our
sorrow has to be proportionate to the magnitude of our sin.
To repentance accepts the responsibility for what we have
done and yet, true repentance. He's hope in the midst of this
despair. There is hope that's real and
the reason for the hope God is gracious.
God is merciful, god is slow to anger Gold's, abounding in Mercy
and Truth with God is plenteous redemption.
A God who keeps Covenant with us people I don't want to tell you.
Lastly, hope is rooted in God's covenant of redemption.
You see this sin, The Taking of strange waves.
Resulted and problems for which there was no easy solution.
One of these Solutions, was this allowed the mixed marriages to
continue? As we couldn't do that because
he felt he was condoning such Behavior.
He knew that if he loaded to continue to draw many more into
those mixed, marriages into more sin and 2nd apostasy from the
Lord. You see remember First
Corinthians 5 and 6 says A little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump he knew the problem had to be confronted that's why
there was weeping and Brokenness and confession.
He knew that it couldn't spread further so we fasted he prayed
he wept. He did the Lesser.
Of the two things he broke up and separated.
They, the strange waves who were married to these sons of
Benjamin and Sons of Judah. He entered into a covenant with
the him. To put them away if they clone
to their gods and clung to their sin and clung to their idolatry.
This Mom check Anaya was an accident man to have in the
church. He said yet Know There's Hope.
And Israel concerning this thing.
The word hope means a believing expectation of God, is gracious
as goodness and his greatness, and I just asked and closing
tonight. Do we believe in Hope?
For the Church of Artie. Do we believe in Hope for our
country? Do we have a believing
expectation of God and his griest, and his greatness, and
his goodness to come and change the situation.
Because we could talk about the grease of Hope and we could talk
to Nate about the ground of Hope only, we don't have tame and
that grind of Hope as the god of the Covenant.
If you look at the verse 3, it says know therefore which means
in light of us. Let us make a covenant with our
God. A covenant has to do with the
shedding of blood, the blood of a lamb.
You think of the grind of the Covenant of redemption and Grace
that God has made between Father and Son and between son and his
people and the grind of that points to the shed blood of
Christ. And first John, 1 and 7 tells us
the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission and the
blood of Christ guarantees, our hope the blood of Christ as the
ground. Of our expectation for God, the
commoners, Greer's, and his goodness, and his greatness and
work a miracle on our behalf. The psalmist prayed, will they
not revives again that we thy people may rejoice in thee and
Psalm 85 a tremendous sound? And yet, listen to what he says
in verse 10. Mercy and Truth or meet together
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Where did that happen? It happened at the cross these
attributes, God's mercy, God's truth, God's righteousness and
peace. They were joined together
through the Cross of Christ, through the blood shedding of
Calvary Islam, unless unless grind.
The Gardener's in to Covenant. Anderson this grounded.
God works and we could talk about the grace of this hope and
the grind of this hook and we could talk about the greatness
of this hope yet Know There's Hope in Israel.
Can you get the picture? I have tried very difficult lie,
tonight to present it to you, but if we could recognize this
evening, That there is hope and it's recognized and God's call
to repentance. And that hope must be regarded
in the character of that repentance.
What what God is, actually asking them to do, ran their
hearts, not their garments and that hope is rooted in God's
covenant of redemption, and even though sin results and problems
for which there's no easy solution.
The overall solution is the power of the blood of Christ by
the Lord, take us word this evening and bless it to us.
And that hope must be regarded in the character of that
repentance. What what God is, actually
asking them to do, ran their hearts, not their garments and
that hope is rooted in God's covenant of redemption, and even
though sin results and problems for which there's no easy
solution. The overall solution is the
power of the blood of Christ by the Lord, take us word this
evening and bless it to us.