I'd like to look this morning
at one verse, verse 5, Ezra chapter 6, verse 5. which Nebuchadnezzar took forth
out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon,
be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem,
every one to his place, and place them in the house of God." Now, as we've said before, this
temple being built in Jerusalem is a picture of the true church
being built up collectively. Individual lively stones, the
Scripture refers to God's people, built upon the foundation of
the apostles and the prophets, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. being the chief cornerstone. So we have the mystical body
of Christ, His body being built up collectively by individuals
who are His body, lively stones. Now Ephesians 221 reveals that
this building is, in the words of Scripture, fitly framed together
and groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord." That groweth, closely
joined together, closely put together. It's a temple, amazing,
mystical temple that God Almighty has been pleased to reveal. that
He dwells in this world within His people, individuals and collectively. Now, those are truths that we
just cannot possibly enter into fully, but it is so. We are the
temple of God. And this building up, being built
up, it is not increasing in the sense that He is making new sheep. There are no new sheep being
made. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
10. Matthew 10 verse 6. The Lord told His apostles, His disciples,
He said, well, let's read verse 5, Matthew 10, 5, "...these twelve
Jesus sent forth and commanded them, saying, Go not into the
way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter
ye not, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Lost sheep. Now, I looked up that word, lost
sheep. It means this. destroyed, perishing,
or marred. The lost sheep. Those that have been marred,
destroyed, dead in trespasses and sins. The Lord has a sheep,
has a people. They've always been His people.
They've always been His sheep. but increasing or being built
up this temple in the sense that He is causing the effects of
His grace to be made known to His people. They see, they behold
it by faith. They are not made sheep. They
may be lost sheep, found sheep, but they are sheep. And the Lord,
by His Holy Spirit, through His means, the means of the preaching
of the Gospel. He grants faith. These sheep,
His sheep, His sheep, the Scripture says, hear His voice and they
follow Him. He gives unto them eternal life
and they'll never perish. They're His sheep. He regenerates
His sheep and they grow in grace and in the knowledge of their
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, their sheep. So this temple that
is being built is a picture of what is actually taking place
in time in this world. In the first four verses of chapter
6, we found that to this body, to this group, to the elect,
to the chosen, there was a decree that was given unto them. Now,
this decree is an eternal decree in the mind and will and purpose
of Almighty God. King Cyrus, in type, in picture,
wrote out a decree that the people that were in bondage in Babylon
could go out, go back to Jerusalem. and rebuild the temple. That
was a decree. Now, there were some that wanted
to give some problems to those that were building this temple.
And so those Jews told those that wanted to give them some
problems, they said, look, let it be searched out and find out
if there was not a decree that was made by King Cyrus. And the
Scripture says that they looked in King Darius Back in verse
1, the king that had made this decree, a search was made in
the house of Broz where the treasure was laid up. This decree was
found. Now, we found that that hidden
decree had been found out. The hidden treasures of Almighty
God's promises to His people are found in the eternal covenant
of His grace by and through His Word. And now in this decree,
we find, starting in verse 5, the law that was concerning these
vessels. This decree was said, and this
is where we are in verse 5. Within that decree that was made
by King Cyrus, it says, ìLet the golden and silver vessels
of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple
at Jerusalem, let them be brought back.î They were found in Babylon. these golden and silver vessels
of God's house. These vessels were taken. You
can go back in 2 Chronicles 36-7 and find at that point where
Nebuchadnezzar took those vessels out of the temple there. Now
here we see in type the fall of God's elect in Adam. That's the first thing we see
here. God's people. All men fell in the garden, even
God's elect. Romans chapter 5 verse 12. Let's look at that. Romans 5
verse 12. Romans chapter 5 verse 12. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon how many? All of them, all men, for that
all have sinned. All men in Adam, all of God's
elect, all men, all non-elect, all men fell in the garden. Within this world, though God
Almighty has a sheep that He's chosen from the foundation of
the world. In John 15, verse 19, the scripture says, If ye were
of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're
not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you. Now, in Adam, all of God's sheep,
all of the elect, fell just like all men, all of us fell in Adam. But the Scripture says back in
Ezra chapter 6 and verse 5 that there were some golden and silver
vessels in the house of God. In Romans 9.21, I'll just read
this to you, the Scripture says, half the potter, power over the
clay of the same lump." Now, I just want to be very, very
plain this morning. Out of the same lump, the same
pit, the same stuff, all men fell in Adam. But out of all
those that fell in Adam, there was no difference whatsoever. All have sinned. All have come
short of the glory of God. But Almighty God, out of the
same lump, chose a people, half the potter, power over the clay
of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honor and another
vessel unto dishonor. Some of you men have had close
ties, worked in coal mines for a long time. Now, if one of you fellows that
has been down to coal mines had gone down into the pit of the
earth in a coal mine, and there someone was listening to you
while you were way down in there, start to holler, ìLook what I
have found! what I have found in this coal
mine." And here you were coming, just hollering and just really
excited. And they came up and they showed
you what you found in that coal mine, out of the pit of that
coal mine, that dark, dirty coal, filthy coal. And they reached
out and they showed me, look what I found out there, a lump
of coal. They'd say, what do you mean
a lump of coal? What do you expect to find in there? Look at this,
a lump of coal. But what makes that lump of coal
any different than any other lump of coal that's in there?
Spiritually speaking, nothing but the grace of God. That's
it. Hath the potter power over the
clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another
unto dishonor. I heard someone say, God's people
are diamonds in the rough. No, they're not. If it's a diamond
in the rough, then it's a diamond. And you just clean it up. God's
people are not diamonds in the rough. They're lumps of coal. They're nothing. They're made
out of the same lump, and they're made vessels of honor, chosen
in the Lord Jesus Christ. New creations. They're not reformed. They're made new. They're created
in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy. I want you to look
at this Scripture. 2 Timothy 2.20. 2 Timothy 2.20. Verse 20, In a great house there are not only vessels of
gold and silver, but also of wood and earth, some to honor,
some to dishonor. Some vessels are likened according
to God's Word to His jewels. Spared by His mercy and grace,
some vessels are found within the physical or outward. We've met here today. We've come
together and we've assembled this morning to hear the preaching. That's what we're here for, to
preach the gospel. The scripture reveals that there
are in a field of a man's planting some wheat, there are some tares. The Lord Jesus Christ says that
the kingdom of heaven is likened to ten virgins, five wise and
five foolish. In that day, in this physical
physical, outward great house. There are some vessels unto honor. There are some vessels unto dishonor. There are some wheat. There are
some tares. There are some wise virgins.
There are some foolish virgins. In every outward, but within
the body, the spiritual body of the Lord Jesus Christ, there
are all vessels of honor. There are all golden vessels.
in His body. The Scripture says that these
vessels back in Ezra chapter 6 and verse 5, let the golden
and silver vessels of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar took
forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, they were in
Babylon, let those be restored. Now these golden and silver vessels,
were taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem because
of the rebellion of the Jews. That is why God sent Nebuchadnezzar. He sent this man and they were
taken captives. The Lord's people, God's vessels
of honor, were taken captive in Adam by rebellion. In Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians
2 verse 1 and 2, the scripture says, And you hath
he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein
in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Psalm 51.5,
David says, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity. Lord willing, this
next Sunday night, I want to deal just a moment with that
Scripture right there, but just suffice it to say for right now,
when he says, I was shapen, that word shapen means to twist or
to whirl, w-h-i-r-l, to whirl. And what he was saying, what
David was saying is, sin was twisted into all that I am. I was shapen. All of the twisting,
there is nothing that is about me that was not twisted or whirled
in. I was shapen in iniquity, and
in sin did my mother conceive me. of God's choosing, God's electing
grace were taken captive. Nebuchadnezzar is a picture of
sin, the power which held us captive. We were captive also
to the curse then of the law. Galatians 3.13 says Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for
us. But Nebuchadnezzar, And Babylon,
the city that was built by Nebuchadnezzar, is a picture of the manifestation,
the manifestation. Hear me well. Nebuchadnezzar
in Babylon says, take these vessels, the golden and silver vessels
of the house of God that Nebuchadnezzar took and brought them into Babylon.
The epitome of the manifestation of spiritual bondage is to believe
that man has a free will. That is the epitome. That is
the peak. That is the top of the pinnacle.
The top of the pinnacle, the manifestation of spiritual bondage
and death is to think that man has the ability to reconcile
himself back to God based on his free will and his choosing. That is to make him, man, the
final word, the last choice. That is to make man the one that
governs his destiny. I chose. God offered it. And I chose to be able to make
myself free. I chose and then God saved me
because I chose. That is the epitome, that is
the totality of rebellion against God. Now turn with me to Daniel. Daniel chapter 4. Daniel 4.28. Take these golden and silver
vessels that Nebuchadnezzar took into Babylon. Daniel 4 verse
28, All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he
walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and
said, Is not this great Babylon that I have for the house of
the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my
majesty. And while the word was in the
king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee it is spoken, The kingdom is departed from thee, and they
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the
beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass
as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know
that the most high ruler in the kingdom of men, and giveth it
to whomsoever he will." You take back in Ezra chapter
6, you take that the golden and silver vessels that were taken
in bondage. And I am telling you that free
will, that heinous lie that has been told men is the epitome
of rebellion against God. Satan said, I will be as the
Most High. If it comes right down to it,
you think about it, when man thinks that he has the ability
to make the choice, he places himself above God Almighty. These vessels, the Scripture
says, back in Ezra 6, they were to be restored and brought again
unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, restored, that is, put back in
their state. By willful sin man broke fellowship
and communion with Almighty God. And man must be reconciled before
he is having any fellowship with God Almighty, and he cannot reconcile
himself. Concerning the believer, Colossians
121 says, ìAnd you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.î
That word reconcile means that which God accomplishes, exercising
His grace toward a sinner on the ground of the death of Christ
in His propitiatory or favorable sacrifice under the judgment
that is due to sin. Reconciliation is accomplished
totally by God Himself. Yet now hath He reconciled. Not the two of us. Not me and
the Lord has a good thing going. not honk if you love Jesus, yet
now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death,
not through man's free will. He reconciled through death to
present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. These golden and silver vessels
were to be restored, and the Scripture says they were to be
brought again Enter the temple. Brought again into the temple
which is at Jerusalem, everyone to his place, and placed them
in the house of God." Carl read in Psalm 40 a while ago. Psalm 40, the Scripture says,
I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard
my cry. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a
rock, and established my goings." Now let me tell you this. First
of all, there's only one that's ever waited patiently on the
Lord. Only one. Not me. I didn't wait
patiently on the Lord. But in my Redeemer, in my Substitute,
who only waited patiently on the Lord, and inclined unto me
in him, and heard my cry in him. He brought me up out of a horrible
pit, out of the miry clay. I was in Alaska a few years ago,
and we were out on the edge of a body of water, and this fellow
that was talking to us was talking to us about this shore there. It was dark. It was not sandy. It was, he said, that's called
miry clay. He said it's like a quicksand.
And he said once you get in it, established in it, he said there's
no getting out of it. Miry clay. He brought me up out
of a horrible pit out of the miry clay and set my feet upon
a rock only in my Redeemer. Only in the Lord Jesus Christ.
These vessels. of honor, golden and silver vessels
that Nebuchadnezzar took out, brought out, a picture of being
brought out by sin, taken, held captive. These are going to be
restored, put back and brought again. Christ Himself brings
His people and they are going to be brought and restored to
their place, His place 1 Corinthians 12. Turn with me there. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 14. The body is not one member, but
many. If the foot shall say, because
I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not
of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I am not the The
eye, I'm sorry, if the eye. If the ear shall say, because
I'm not the ear, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of
the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?
If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath
God set the members, every one of them in the body, as it has
pleased Him. There is not one member of His
mystical body in this place this morning that is not exactly doing
exactly that which Almighty God has been pleased for them to
do. It is the most amazing thing to behold the wonder of God's
grace. You that believe, you may say
to yourself right now, I have no earthly idea what my part
in this body is. Oh, I can see where Brother Scott's
up here preaching, or reading, or Brother Carl, or I'm up here,
or one of you other men are up here. I can see that part of
it. I can understand that. But I
don't see any reason, I don't see what I'm doing in this body.
You have no earthly idea. I told someone one time that
there's times that I'll look out, and I know a lot of times
people think, well, I'm just scanning, I don't see. But I
see What's going on? And I can see the movement of
an eyebrow. I can see a smile. I can see
the nod of a head when it goes just like this. That much. I saw it. You have no earthly
idea of the encouragement or the prayer. How many times has
someone in this congregation prayed for me or for one of these
other men that have spoken? I don't know. I don't know. You
say, well, because I'm not an eye, evidently I must not be
part of the body. The Scripture says that the Lord
Himself set the members, every one of them, in the body as it
pleased Him. And there's not an unimportant
member in the body of Christ. There's not. These will be brought
again and they'll be put back in His place, placed in the house
of God. 1 Corinthians, just turn back
a few pages, 1 Corinthians 6. Verse 19, what? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have
of God, and ye are not your own? You are bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are
God's." These people that Almighty God has eternally loved and chosen
in the person of His blessed Son, those for whom the Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world, walked, being made of a woman,
made under the law, and obeyed perfectly the law of God for
all that God Almighty chose eternally, went to the cross, being made
to be sin for them, He who knew no sin. that they might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. And in time, He brought them
out, called them out of darkness, revealed Himself through them.
And if Almighty God who resides within them by His Holy Spirit,
while they sit and listen to the gospel of free grace, the
gospel of Christ, if the Spirit of God causes them to hear of
Christ, and grants him a heart of agreement concerning him. And they nod their head one time.
Pat, it was worth it. It was worth it to hear him,
to behold him. And that place that he placed
them, he said, these vessels will be brought out and they're
going to be put back in their place. It's encouraging. It's encouraging
to see God's people. It's encouraging. Brother Scott
and you see them together. They come together. And they
fellowship together, Bob. It is. Place them in the house
of God. These vessels, they were taken
from the temple at Jerusalem and brought again into Babylon,
but were restored and brought again unto Jerusalem, everyone
to his place, and placed in the house of God. And here, turn
with me to Jeremiah 27, and I'm going to close. Here we see the
fulfillment of the promise of God. Jeremiah 27, verse 21, ìYea,
thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning
the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord and in the
house of the King of Judah and of Jerusalem, they shall be carried
to Babylon And there shall they be until the day that I visit
them, saith the Lord. Then I will bring them up and
restore them to His place." These vessels of honor, God's people,
God's sheep, God's elect, are restored and brought back, made
righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ by the imputation of His righteousness
Himself. Here's the hope of being restored
and brought back. I can say without a shadow of
a doubt, without a word of doubt, all that Almighty God is pleased
to say. He shall save them. He shall
save them. We come together. We preach.
I know this. This is the way that God will
call out His people. And if they have to drive a mile
or fifty miles, He'll get them here. He'll give them a heart
to be here. I had somebody call me the other
day from Texas. He said he just got my name some
way, but wanted to know, told me where he was. Do you know
of any place that I can go and worship and hear?" He said, I'm
stationed out in this Fort Hoods where he is. You know any place
I can go? I can say, yeah, there's a place
that's about four and a half or five hours from you, you know. That's all you've got to drive
to hear the gospel. I told him where it was. I gave
him Brother Jack's number. I said, You can call Jack Shanks
or David Pleasure. Four and a half or five hours
is just not that far when it's life. Life. Deuteronomy 7 and
9 says, The Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God which
keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His
commandments to a thousand generations. The Lord says these vessels,
they're going to be brought back. I'm going to restore them. They'll
be brought back and put into my temple. People, sinners, dug
out of the same pit. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is by grace. Well,
let's take our hymnals.