The book of Ezra. Now you remember why we are going
through all the Old Testament books, all the books of the Old
Testament, our Lord, in preaching. to the disciples on the road
to Emmaus, says, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he
expounded unto them in all scriptures the things concerning himself. And now we come to the book of
Ezra. And he surely preached, when preaching from this book,
he surely preached on Ezra himself, chapter 7. I hope you got to
read it. The name Ezra means help or helper. And like all the men, the prominent
men whose names are given books in God's Word, Job, Joshua, Samuel,
Daniel, and even Esther, a woman, they all represent our Lord Jesus
Christ. And this is a glorious picture
of Christ. I was just looking back over
my notes this morning and I literally got chills up my spine while
studying it. Now the book begins, Ezra begins
with the king's decree to build a house of God, to build the
temple in Jerusalem. The king gave a decree, and Ezra
does not appear until chapter 7. What a picture that is. Before the world, God's purpose
and decree was set forth to build a kingdom. Build a kingdom to
the praise of his glory and the glory of his son. And he put
that decree in motion and gave it all into the hands of his
son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to build his kingdom, to build his
church. If the Lord doesn't build it,
we labor in vain to do it. Try it. Zerubbabel was the man
who built the temple, and he's spoken of the whole book of Zechariah
concerning Zerubbabel, so what a representation of Christ he
is. But it wasn't until many years later that Christ came. In the fullness of time, Scripture
said, he came, made of woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. And here in chapter 7, all of
a sudden, Ezra appears. Look at it. After these things,
in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra, the son of... and it goes on to give his genealogy. His name means help or helper.
And his genealogy leads down to verse 5, to the son of Aaron,
the chief priest. So it lets us know right off
the bat that Ezra, the helper of Israel, the one whom God laid
help upon, is the son of the chief priest, Aaron. Well, in
Hebrews 5, it talks about no man takes this upon himself,
but God makes priests. God's the one who ordains His
priests and sends them. And you know who appears in chapter
7 of Hebrews? Melchizedek. He just appeared
out of nowhere. How don't you love in God's providence
how he led the translators to put things in the Bible where
they are. I don't think they planned it
that way, Greg. I don't think they got together
and said, let's put this in chapter 7 because Noah entered the ark
in chapter 7 of Genesis. You know scriptures like Genesis
22, Abraham took Isaac up on the mountain. Well, Psalm 22
is the psalm of the cross. And on and on it goes in the
Lord's providence. But chapter 7, he appears. And look at verse 6. Now this
Ezra went up from Babylon and came into the place where his
people were captives. He was one of the captives. But
he's going to lead them up out of captivity into Jerusalem.
And it says in verse 6, now he was a ready scribe in the law
of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king
granted him all his requests according to the hand of the
Lord upon him. He was a writer of the Word. He was a declarer of the Word
of God. He was a preacher of the Word
of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
Word of God. In the beginning was the Word.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was a preacher of the Word. He said that in
Mark's Gospel in Luke. He said, let us go into the other
towns and preach, for therefore am I sent. He was sent to preach,
to preach the Gospel, to declare it, and that's what Ezra did.
It says that Ezra was a ready scribe. Well, the word ready
means quick. The Word of God is quick and
powerful. Ready means skillful. He had
a good understanding. of the law. Ezra did. Oh, our
Lord wrote it. And He hath come and given us
an understanding that we might know Him. Look at verse 10. It
says that Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the
Lord, to do it. This man. And to teach in Israel
statutes and judgment. Verse 25. Look at this. Verse
25. The king's decree was to Ezra,
after the wisdom of thy God in thine hand, you're going to make
judges, and all such as know the laws of thy God and teach
the law to them that don't know it. So Ezra was given the law
of God into his hand to teach it and to preach it and declare
it. And what does the scripture say
about our Lord Jesus Christ? It says, He came to magnify the
law and make it honorable. He did. And in the volume of
the book, it is written of Him, I am come to do Thy will. What's that? Keep the law. Fulfill
the law. Fulfill the law. And Joshua,
you know, his name is Jesus. Joshua, the first thing the Lord
said to Joshua was, He said, The book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day
and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is
written therein, the law. And then thou shalt make thy
way prosperous and have good success. Joshua was sent to keep
the law and to fulfill the law and to teach the law to his people.
as Israel, and all of that's a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ
who came. Now, you know that Joshua couldn't
keep the law of God perfectly. Neither could Israel, no. But
there are pictures of Christ who did. And you know that we
cannot be justified by keeping the law. You know that, don't
you? But Christ, we're justified by Him keeping the law. By his
knowledge of the law shall my righteous servant justify many. He knew the law. He fulfilled
the law. And he established righteousness as a man, as our law fulfiller
and keeper. So Ezra came, sent by the king. Look at our text, verse 6. He was sent by the king. He went
up and read his scribe the law of God. sent by the king, and
the king granted him all his requests. Everything he needed,
everything Ezra needed was put into his hands. The king decreed
it. All power, all authority, all
people, all things were put into Ezra's hands. He had complete
responsibility for everything and everyone. Now look at this, verse 6, it
keeps saying this, the hand of the Lord God was upon him. Verse 9, the last line, the hand
of his God was upon him. Verse 28, he said, Ezra said,
according as I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God
was upon me. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ said when he came, the spirit of hath anointed me to
preach glad tidings. The hand of God is upon me. The
Father hath sent me." So he said, come unto me. I owe you that
labor. And God in Psalm 89 says, listen
to this, you who know Psalm 89, it's wonderful. It says, Then
thou spakest in vision to thy Holy One and saidst, I have laid
help. on one that is mighty. I have
exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David."
Now, David was gone many years ago, but this is the son of David
crying, "'My servant, with my holy oil have I anointed him
with whom my hand shall be established.'" Mine arm also shall strengthen
him. Now isn't that what you preached
in Isaiah 53? Who hath believed our report?
Whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? So the hand of the Lord was upon
Israel and Jesus Christ, not only was the hand of God upon
him, he is the hand of God. in His hand are all things, mighty,
all-powerful, able to say. And therefore, and He did, and
therefore God highly exalted Him. All right? Now to Ezra and
to our Lord, for giving all power, all people, and the price of
the building. All power. Look at verse 11 here. This is, the letter was written.
A letter was written by the king, certified, written in writing. The king gave it unto Ezra, Ezra
the scribe, who was given the book, and it was all pertaining
to him. And he's going to reveal it to
the people, the Word of God. So he was given the words of
the commandment of the Lord, and as we quoted, Christ is the
Word of God. And it's all concerning him.
Verse 12, the king gave it unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of
the law of the God of heaven. And it just says this. It doesn't make sense when you
read it. It doesn't lie to Christ, does
it? It says, We're given to the scribe, the law of God of heaven,
perfect peace at such a time. What do you mean? Well, it's
pertaining to Christ is what it is. All peace. Christ has made peace. Verse
14, thou art sent, thou art sent of the king. to inquire concerning
Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of God which is in
thine hand. He was sent one. Everything was
given in his hands. He was sent. And he was given
seven counselors. Chapter seven, seven counselors
concerning the perfect person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
who completed and perfected the work, those seven eyes of the
Lord in his hand, everything in his hand. So, Ezra was told,
look at verse 13, it said, I make a decree, the king, that all
the people of Israel, of his priests and Levites in my realm,
which are minded of their own free will, to go up to Jerusalem
with you, Ezra. They're going to go with you.
This is my decree. That all those who are made willing, I'm going
to follow you, Ezra, up to Jerusalem. You're going to take them up,
all of them, up to Israel, up to Jerusalem. Free will? Oh, God's people are Free, all
right. He made us free. The Son shall make you free.
You're free indeed. They're made willing, is what
it was, in the day of His power. Made to follow Him. Martin used to say, there's no
free man quite so free as he who's the Lord's captive. That
means you're free from the world, free from the law, free from
that reigning power of the God of this world and sin and so
forth. You want to be under His captivity, His reign. So all
people were given to Ezra. And look at verse 25. Ezra was to appoint judges, magistrates. Verse 25. The king said, Ezra,
after the wisdom of thy God is in thine hand, set magistrates
and judges that may judge all the people, and such as know
the law, the Jews, and such as don't. Our God, when He ascended
up on high, Ephesians 4 said, and led captivity captive, He
gave gifts unto men. He gave some prophets, some apostles,
some evangelists, some pastors, some teachers for the perfecting
of the saints. All people were given to Ezra. These judges and these that were
sent to teach the people were appointed by Ezra. He's the one
that chose them and sent them out to teach the people. And
so were the apostles, and so were the prophets, and so are
all pastors and teachers appointed by our Lord Jesus Christ, sent
by Him. Look at verse 21. This is prepared
to jump your queue. Verse 21, Artaserxes, the king,
to make a decree that all the treasures that I have I'm giving
to you, Ezra. What does Colossians say? All
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in the Lord Jesus Christ.
All fullness dwells in Him. In verse 20 it says, whatever
is needful for the house which thou shalt have occasion to bestow,
bestow it. Whatever. There were untold riches
that this king had. He was the most powerful king
on the earth at that time. Untold riches and treasures. Riches unsearchable. And he gave
them all to Ezra and said, whatever you need. Oh, the unsearchable
riches of Christ. God had placed all fullness in
him, all fullness dwelt, all the treasures, all the, all right,
all power, all authority, all people, and the price of the
building. Look at verse 15. He carried the silver and the
gold which the king and his counselors had freely offered unto the God
of Israel. Verse 16, all the silver and gold he found in the
province. Verse 17, that you may buy speedily
with the money. Bullocks, rams, lambs, meat offering,
drink offering, everything that's going to be sacrificed unto God.
The price required to make this atonement,
I put it in your hands. So the king gave the price of
the people's redemption into the hands of Israel. Christ paid
the price too. Now you know how blessed you
are. Your eyes and your ears and your
understanding, you know we're not redeemed with corruptible
things. How are we redeemed? With the precious blood of the
Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid the price of our redemption. The price of God's redemption
of God's people was fully placed in the hands of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we sing that song, Jesus paid it off. And he did. He did. Not a down payment. Full
payment. Ezra had the full price. Nobody,
no. He had the price. All right.
So, you know, no types perfect. Talked about the people offering
willingly. Well, they did, but they were
made willing. But our Lord, no one contributed
to what He offered. Okay. So this was all according
to the law, the law, the law, the law. Kept talking about the
law, the law, the law. Look at verse 6 again. The law.
He was a ready scribe of the law. Verse 10. He prepared his
heart to seek the law. Verse 11. the commandments of
the Lord, the words of the commandment, the law, the statutes. Verse
12, Ezra, scribe of the law, the law, the law, the law. And
then in verse 12 he said, this keeper of the law is going to
be at peace with him. He's going to establish peace,
perfect peace. There is no peace in the law. The law is cursing. Well, thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace, so whose mind is stayed on thee,
Jehovah. For in the Lord, Jehovah is everlasting
strength, the rock of ages. He's speaking of Christ. And
listen to that. That's Isaiah 26. This is Isaiah 32, if you don't
know it. The very first verse says, A
king shall reign in righteousness. And it goes on to say, In verse
17, the work of righteousness shall be peace. Peace. He obtained peace by His
work of righteousness. Do you have peace? Do you have
peace with God? Huh? You sound like a guilty
sinner. Oh, are you? Good. I'm glad to hear that. Then look to Christ because He
obtained peace for you. He paid the price. The work of
righteousness shall be peace. The work of Christ, our righteousness,
shall be peace. And the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in
a peaceable habitation, sure dwelling, quiet resting places. You want to hear that again?
I've got to go on. Well, talking about the law,
the law, our Lord, as we said, came to magnify the law and make
it honorable. He preached the law. Our Lord
and Brother John Chapman and I were talking about this, that
we should never speak about God's law in any way but reverence
and respect. God's law is holy and just and
good. There's nothing wrong with God's
law. I've heard some men talk about God's law as if it were
a bad thing. Oh, no. David said, I love thy
law. What law is that? All of it. Our Lord Jesus Christ lived according
to the law. Didn't he? He loved God with
all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. He kept the law perfectly. I wish I could. Well, in Christ
I have. But we love His law, don't we?
There's nothing wrong with God's law. Then what's wrong? Us. It's us. We can't. We can't keep it. Christ did. He says, look unto me. Be ye saved. Law says this do
and live. We can't. Christ said I have. Our religion is four letters. Man's religion is two letters.
Man's religion says D-O. D-O. Do. Do. Do. Do. Our religion
is done. D-O-N-E. Kept. K-E-P-T. Kept. Christ kept the law. Now, I'm so thankful, aren't
you? Our Lord said that if any man
teach the law, does not teach it and does not keep it, he's
leased in the kingdom of heaven. Well, Christ kept it and he's
the greatest in it. Keeper of the law, teacher of
the law, but the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ in. Look
at what the law says in Ezra 7 verse 26. Look at that. Whosoever will not do the law
of thy God, the law of the king, judgment will be executed speedily
upon him, death, banishment, confiscation of goods, and imprisonment. That's what the law says. We got time. Turn to Galatians
2 real quickly. Galatians 2. I'm trying to talk
fast so I can get to Galatians 2. But the law, the law, the
law, the law. Ezra was a scribe in the law,
and Ezra was to keep the law, and Ezra was to teach the law,
and Ezra was to fulfill everything in the law for God's people,
wasn't he? Which is a picture of Christ.
And they weren't to keep it, but Ezra was to keep it for them.
And Galatians 2 says this, Galatians 2, verse 21. It says, I do not
frustrate the grace of God if righteousness come by the law.
Then Christ is dead at Bain. And it goes on in chapter 3,
why was the law given? Because of transgressions. Verse
21 of chapter 3 says, law against the promise of God. No, God forbid,
if there had not been a law given, if there had been a law given
which could have given life, a very righteousness would have
come by the law, but the Scriptures concluded all unto sin. That's
what the law, that's why the law was written, to reveal sin,
exceeding sinfulness of sin. And our Lord magnified the law.
He said, you've heard it said, thou shalt not You see, if you
think it, you've already broken it. The law is spiritual. The law requires perfection.
The Jews, the Pharisees, Saul of Tarsus, I've kept it. The
rich young leader. All these things have I kept
from my youth up. Have you now? Oh, no. And I think Paul was
that rich young man. He said, finally the law came,
the spirituality of the law, what the law requires, how God
looks on the heart, and it shall be perfect, the law said, to
be accepted, perfect in thought, in motive, not just in deed. Paul said, I was righteous before. No, you're not, God. Not even
close. You thought it, and so you broke
it. The only reason you didn't break it is because God kept
you from it. And the seriousness of it is,
if righteousness has come out of the law, then why did Christ
die? Why did Christ die? Because the soul that sinneth
shall surely die. And God made his soul an offering
for sin, made him to be sin. He kept the law. You know these
things. Christ kept the law for us, and
it was imputed, this righteousness, imputed, charged, reckoned to
our account. You say, I didn't do anything.
That's right. But he did. What did you do? Sin. What did God do? Laid on him. Imputed, reckoned, charged to
him, made him to be sin, who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteous of God in him. You see, we're accepted. Shall be perfectly accepted.
We're accepted in the beloved. And who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies it. Who
is he that condemns it? Christ died. There's no condemnation. The law has been kept. The law
has been fulfilled. The punishment has been carried
out. Christ died. Now the law has no charge against
that. Yeah, laugh. We were under the
law, and now we're not. Free from the law, oh happy.
And in, oh, Galatians, you have to read the whole book. Go back
to the text, and it says, now look at this, prepare to jump
the pew again. The last part of this chapter,
Ezra 7, After Ezra came and did all that he did and taught what
he did, everything placed in his hands, he prayed, verse 27,
Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such
a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house
of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, and hath extended mercy unto
me. In other words, the mercy of
God was put in the hands of this man. And before the king and
his counselors, before all the kings, mighty princes, he says,
Ezra said, I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God
was upon me. And I gathered together out of
Israel chief men. to go up with blessed be the
Lord God has given me this mercy and strength that sound like
Ephesians 1 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ who have blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly
places in Christ He goes on to say, For excepted in the Beloved,
in whom we have redemption, the price of redemption in his hands,
even the forgiveness of sins, he hath bounded up toward us
in all wisdom, and made known unto us all the children of Israel
knew, Ezra's the man. He's the man that God hath chosen
and sent. He hath placed all these things,
and he's gathering together In the fullness of time, He's gathering
together, like with Ezra, in one, all things, in Christ, in
heaven and in earth. And it says that we're going
to go up someday and be with Him in that new Jerusalem, that
habitation of peace, because God laid help, Ezra, help, on
one of His mighty, Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ.