Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Ezra chapter 10 and verse
4. Ezra chapter 10 and verse 4. Arise, for this matter belongeth
unto thee. We also will be with thee, be
of good courage, and do it. This is a word spoken by Shekeniah
the son of Jehiel to Ezra concerning the matters that were before
them of the marrying of strange wives. Ezra 10 verse 4, arise
for this matter belongeth unto thee We also will be with thee,
be of good courage, and do it." For many people, when we speak
to them concerning their souls, concerning the things of God,
eternity, they will say, religion is not for us. This matter, it
doesn't concern us, it doesn't bother us, it is nothing to do
with me. As if it was something that they
could make a choice of whether the matter did belong to them
or not. It is very clear here that there
were those around Ezra that could see the whole situation and they
could tell him and say to him that this matter did in fact
belong unto him. And we may say to all that here
this morning and all that we would speak to of the things
of God that the matters of eternity, the matter of salvation, the
matter of their souls, the judgment day to come, does belong unto
them, it does concern them, whether they believe it, whether they
receive it or not, it does. And those round about Ezra were
able to say to him that this matter does belong unto you,
Ezra, They not only saw that it belonged unto Him, that they
exhorted Him, they said to Him, arise, for this matter belongeth
unto Thee. They said to Him, do it. They were very forceful in this,
and we would say in that same manner to those of whom the matter
of salvation belongs, that there is an exhortation here. This is not something of which
we can be indifferent and unconcerned, but arise and seek the Lord while
he may be found and call upon him while he is near. We also read here with those
round about Ezra that they encouraged him. They said to him, Be of
good courage. Be of good courage and do it. And the whole gospel message
is to encourage sinners, that there is hope, that there is
a way of escape from the wrath to come, that it is not a hopeless
situation. How far off we may be, how ignorant
we may be, in whatever solemn condition we might be in, The
whole message of salvation is that there is hope in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The fourth thing that they said
to Ezra was that they would help him. They said that, we also
will be with thee. And it is a blessed thing. where the Church of God, the
ministers of God, those also that are partakers in salvation,
also are concerned within, should be willing to help the feeblest
soul, the most concerned one, the most far off, the ones that
are in concern and in need, to help them in pointing them to
the way of salvation and pointing them to the Lord Jesus Christ,
making known to them their need and bring them to the Lord. And so we have a little picture
here in this matter of Ezra really that would apply unto salvation
and unto all that are concerned as a sinner with eternity before
them, and in the day of grace, and in the day when the Lord
may be found." Well, what was the situation here in Ezra's
day? Before we come to speak more
pointedly to the points raised here, I just want to give a little
picture of the situation here. In the book of Ezra, we have
a very large span of years. The first six chapters in the
book of Ezra really are a sequel to Chronicles. Chronicles which
saw the children of Israel brought into captivity in Babylon where
they were to be for 70 years in captivity. And the first then
chapters in Ezra, they speak of the return after those 70
years under Zerubbabel of 50,000 of the Jews. It came about because of the
authority of Osiris, the king, who had been named by Isaiah
a couple of hundred years before. And he made the ruling that these
Jews should return to their land with authority and be able again
to build the temple. Discouragement from the Samaritans,
the inhabitants of the land, who wanted to join with them
in it, and a delay in the building of the temple, the temple was
rebuilt again. Seventy years from the time it
was destroyed, it was raised up again. That is in the first
six chapters of the book of Ezra. Then the chapters from Chapter
7 to the end, which part is our text and the narrative here,
it is told in the first place is that which is happening at
the time that the Book of Ezra is written. It is 78 years past
the time when that first contingent of Jews came from Babylon. Ezra had come up with only 7,000
more Jews, and he was also carrying many of the treasures that were
coming up from Babylon. And when he comes to Jerusalem,
he finds a deplorable state of affairs. The inhabitants of the
land, the Gentiles, were mingled with the Holy Seed. In fact,
we are told in our reading here that even the chief of the people
had been foremost in taking and making marriages with those of
the lands. We're given a real picture of
this as we began our reading in chapter 9. The people of Israel
and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves
from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations."
It wasn't just marriages with them, but they were doing according
to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites,
the Perovites, the Jebrizites, the Ammonites, the Moabites,
the Egyptians and the Amorites. And it is in this where the holy
seed was being mingled with those of the land. They recognised
that this was the very sin of why Israel was carried away in
the first place. This was the sin that had been
charged upon Solomon those many years ago, where he had his 700
wives and 300 concubines, And he had married into all of
these other nations of the land and made altars and places of
worship for their gods. And God had marked his sin and
the sins of those that had followed after him and brought them into
captivity. And now they are brought back,
they find those same sins, those same mingling as if God's special
people the line to Christ was not a special people, as if they
never knew the true and living God, the maker of heaven and
earth, and that they should debase themselves to worship idols of
stone, of wood, and those that were not gods at all. And so it is in this condition
We are told who Ezra was. Ezra in chapter 7 has a line
through in the priesthood line and we trace it through from
verse 1 in chapter 7 through to verse 5. the son of Abishai,
the son of Phinehas, the son of Elisa, the son of Aaron the
chief priest. This is Ezra and he traces the
line right down to Aaron. This Ezra, we read in verse six
of chapter seven, went up from Babylon and he was a ready scribe
in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all
his requests according to the hand of the Lord his God upon
him. And so that is where we begin
reading in this passage of him going up to Jerusalem. We read in verse 10 of chapter
7, for Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the
Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. So he comes then, and the matter
that is spoken of here in our text, arise for this matter belongeth
unto thee, is the matter of mixed marriages, marriages with the
abominations of the land. Well, there is a difference,
of course, in a gospel day, a difference regarding the priesthood down
to Aaron's time, those that deal with these things, this matter
belongeth unto thee, we are not now tracing back to Aaron. He was a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ and it does not apply in that sense. Nevertheless,
as we will see later, these matters and matters of salvation, they
do belong They belong unto those in a gospel day, and those who
are raised up as ministers, and we may also look at how this
matter belongs unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the great anti-time
of the priests in the Old Testament times. Regarding mixed marriages
as well, does not apply in this sense. Jew and Gentile are the
same. The Jew may marry a Gentile,
a Gentile may marry a Jew. But where it does apply is a
forbidding of a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever. Paul, when he writes to the Corinthians
in his second epistle and chapter six, He gives very clear direction
in this. He says in verse 14, together with unbelievers. For
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what
communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them and walk in them, and I will be their God and they
shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among
them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you. and will be a father unto you,
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." And
that is the word to a Gentile church. That is a word to us
in gospel days. The common thing is that here
were the Jews who worshipped the true and living God, and
quite apart from what nationality they were joining with, They
were joining with those that were heathens, that believed
in idols, that did not believe in the true and living God. And so whereas there's not the
prohibiting of marriages between nations, there is, where there
is a believer, a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, They
are not then to join in that most close union of marriage
with someone that is an unbeliever. Of course, there are other situations,
and the Apostle Paul deals with this, where there are two unbelievers. And the Lord then works in one
heart and brings them to believe. And so there may be a husband
that is a believer but the wife not, or the wife a believer but
the husband not. And he gives direction that if
they're happy, pleased to dwell together, then let them remain
together. Because the husband is sanctified
by the wife and the wife by the husband. It is a blessing in
that household if one is a true believer in the Lord. And many
cases are where the Lord then has used the life, witness and
testimony of the believer to the saving of the other as well. And so I just mentioned this
as what is the parallels with today of this specific matter
that is being dealt with here. This in one sense belongs specifically
to the Jews, to that holy seed that had to keep their line pure
unto Christ, but also is a type. The children of Israel were a
type of a peculiar, particular people that belonged to and believed
in the true and living God in the midst of all of the other
nations that believed in idols and worshipped idols. And they
were to be kept pure from that false religion. And so that is
the message for us today. And I say to any that may hear
that would be contemplating as a believer, a marriage with an
unbeliever, Do not do it, do not walk in that way, but be
joined together with believers. There's no closer union than
between a husband and a wife, and the Bible is very, very clear
that a believer should seek to marry a believer. Well I want
then to look with the Lord's help at this verse and as that
may be a real profit to us in our soul's salvation. So I want
to look firstly of this matter, arise for this matter and not
now looking at the case of the mixed marriages but concerning
our soul's salvation. And then secondly, to whom it
belongs, and we'll look at several to whom this belongs. And then thirdly, exhortation,
encouragement and help, the part that that has in such a matter
as this, that we are to exhort one another while it is to die,
encourage and help one another, in the matter of salvation. Arise, for this matter belongeth
unto thee. What is the matter that I desire
to bring before you? Well, is there a matter of our
soul's salvation and whereas the children of Israel here were
professed believers in the true and living God. It is vital that
the message of salvation that our Lord chanced his disciples
with to go forth and to preach the gospel to every creature,
that it be understood that it's not just a matter that one can
say, well, this Matter just does not belong unto me. What we are
speaking of here, the matter of salvation, it affects every
man, woman, and child. Everyone that is born into this
world, we are born as sinners, we are born in need of salvation. And the matter of salvation by
God's own charged by the charge of our Lord Jesus Christ, now
is not just to be confined or spoken to the children of Israel,
but into every nation. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. And that matter is the saving
of our souls. Man's state under the fall is
that we are lost, we are ruined in the fall of Adam, that we
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, that we
are all under condemnation, that we all have a soul that shall
live forever. When we are born, we are born
with a body and born with a soul, And that body one day must die
and must return to the dust. Dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return. And we all know that that must
be where we will go. But we also have a soul, and
that soul is an eternal soul. It shall never have a ceasing
of its existence. And that at death, that that
soul shall return unto God that gave it. The Lord said to the
dying thief who had asked of the Lord, Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom. The Lord said, verily I say unto
thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. His body was
still upon the cross, but his soul was with the Lord in paradise. And the apostle Paul, He says,
absent from the body and present with the Lord. And as we each
have a soul and each have a body and we are each under the law
and under condemnation, this matter of the soul's salvation
is of utmost importance. The whole scriptures, they describe
how this matter is dealt with right from the very fall where
there was the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ that the seed
of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, that God would
take this matter in hand, the matter of a soul's salvation. How can God be righteous? How can he be just? and yet how
can he turn away and not punish eternally man that has sinned? How can there be a hope? It was said in the verse 2 here
in this chapter, yet now there is hope in Israel concerning
this thing, and especially in the matter of salvation, right
from the very hope raised up. in the promise in the Garden
of Eden, there is hope concerning this thing. Salvation is of the
Jews and it was through the nation of the Jews that the promise,
the promised Messiah should come that should then save his people
from Jew and Gentile from their sins. This is the reason why
he was given the name of Jesus he shall save his people from
their sins. And this matter then fills the
Word of God. Right through the Old Testament,
all of the types and shadows of the sacrifices, the offerings,
they pointed to the need of a blood sacrifice. Without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission. And it was this matter that filled
the worship of Jehovah in all of the nation of Israel. The
careful describing of their sacrifices, the careful describing of the
tabernacle in the wilderness, the careful describing of all
of the rules that regulated them as a nation. It all centered
around the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and of salvation,
the saving of a soul. How is it that God can save us
all? How is it that man shall escape
the wrath to come? How is it that there shall be
life after death, eternal life after death, and that we may
with joy lift up our heads in the presence of God instead of
terror This matter is a matter of salvation. And those that
read the Word of God and just read it as a history book, it
is a history book. It is speaking of a real nation. It is speaking of real people. It is speaking of those that
really have sinned against God, those who have been under the
judgment of God. It tells of the history of Israel,
it tells of the coming of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel God with us. It tells of the witnesses that
saw his coming, that saw his death on Calvary, that witnessed
his resurrection from the dead and his ascension up into heaven
and gave witness of it and records it right through the Word of
God. And this matter, of salvation,
of saving from hell and saving to heaven is the central message
and matter of the Word of God and it is that matter which concerns
every sinner. It is a solemn thing to be concerned
about many, many things and yet not this matter. We think of
the Lord Jesus Christ in the house, of Mary and Martha and
Lazarus, and Martha was cumbered about with much serving. And
the Lord said to her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and
troubled about many things, but one thing is needful. Mary hath
chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. The matter of salvation, the
matter of the soul. Here Ezra had to deal with a
matter described as this matter and it was a matter regarding
these mixed marriages. But the matter that I bring before
you this morning is the matter of our souls, the matter of salvation. Eternal matters. I want to emphasize
this. We might have many things that
concern us this morning. Our health, our strength, our
loved ones, our friends, providence, our job, our houses, where we
shall live, what we shall do. Many, many things. But dear friend,
have you, have I, Do we consider the matter of salvation, the
matter of our souls, or are we neglecting our souls? Are we
not really concerned about that? The matter of salvation, how
a soul is saved, how God saves, what he has done to save a soul,
this matter is the matter. that I desire to be before us
this morning, mindful that we can get so easy sidetracked,
so easy taken up with other matters, other things, things of secondary
importance and leave undone that which is the most important thing
as regards our soul and regards eternity and regards the coming
judgment day. The Apostle Paul, he was very
mindful of the judgment to come and of that appearance in the
presence of God and to give an account to our maker and to our
creator. Our soul's salvation then is
vital. Without salvation, without saving,
There is but one sentence and that is death and is eternal
death and it is to be banished from the presence of God forever
and forever and to be with the devils in hell and eternal torments. Already we are under that sentence
and it is the matter of salvation that delivers from that condemnation
and it brings to heaven. The message of salvation really,
our Lord sums it up. The Son of Man came not to destroy
men's lives, but to save them. It is the matter of salvation. I want to look then secondly at
to whom it belongs. And already we have intimated
that it belongs to every man, woman and child, everyone that
is conceived and that is born. To all the sons of Adam, it belongs
to mankind. And it is not a case of saying,
well, I don't believe, and that religion is not for me, or I'm
not under this. It does belong to everyone that
walks this earth, that breathes the air of this world, to everyone
that hears the word. None is at liberty. Yes, they might say, this matter
doesn't belong unto me. But you know those round about
Ezra are able to say to him, this matter belongs unto you.
And that those that know the truth are able to say with God's
authority, with the maker's authority, that this matter of salvation
belongs to every single one. We all must appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. Now there may be those in a natural
sense with the laws of this land, who will say, well, that law
does not belong unto me, and they act as if it didn't, but
then get a tremendous shock when they find out that actually the
law does apply to them. They can't just do as they like. They will be brought up before
the courts, and they will be dealt with according to the law
of the land. And whether they feel that they
are involved in it or it concerns them or not, the judge doesn't
take any account of. He says, it does apply to you,
but now it's too late because you're brought in as a transgressor. And so it does belong unto us. The question is, do we feel it
belongs unto us? Have we been brought as a needy
sinner Have we been brought to cry out, what must I do to be
saved? Have we been brought, like Saul
of Tarsus was, from a religious Pharisee to be a sinner and to
realise that he was a sinner and that he had been persecuting
the people of God? As it belongs unto sinners, are we in a position where we
know before God that this matter does belong unto us? Now where that is so, the first
thing that we will know it belongs unto us in that we are brought
in as guilty. The law was given that man might
be brought in guilty, that he might be brought as a sinner
before God. If the Lord Jesus Christ is to
save his people from their sins, they first are brought to feel
that they are sinners. And so there's a hope, there's
encouragement in that. We look at this a little later. but this matter belongs unto
sinners. And may it really be a concern
for us, may God make it a concern for us that we be saved, that
that be the pressing point with us. The second one to whom it belongs,
is to ministers of the Gospel. Paul, when he writes to the Colossians,
and he says, and gives this message to Archippus, God has been pleased
to raise up ministers of the gospel,
those that first are sinners, they are sinners who have been
brought to believe and to be saved themselves, sinners also
that this matter belongs to them as one that also must be saved,
but they have another aspect that it belongs unto them in
that they are to proclaim the message of salvation. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. This matter belongeth unto thee,
the matter of salvation. Even in the ministry we can get
very sidetracked and taken up with other things, but the most
important thing is the worth of men's souls. It is how stands
the case, though so with God. It is vital that there be a clear
pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only name given among
men, whereby we must be saved. The Lord said, if ye believe
not that I am he, ye shall perish in your sins, and the matter
than that belongs to us and the implication of what Paul said
to Archippus is that he could be a ministry that he's not taking
heed to and he's not fulfilling it and he's not clearly bringing
that message of salvation, that he's not clearly faithfully dealing
with the souls of men and telling them most clearly that if they
die, in their sins, unrepentant, ignorant of God, and without
the pardon of their sins, and without believing in the Lord
Jesus Christ, then they have all men, most miserable. The message is to point a soul
to Christ. There is hope in this thing,
but hope in one name only, and in one salvation only. which is that set forth in the
word of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. To whom it belongs. The third one I bring before
you is that it belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. That name
that was given him, the name of Jesus, a name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. that this matter belongs unto
him. If ever, says the hymn writer,
my poor soul be saved, tis Christ must be the way. And the work
of salvation is not the work of a sinner, though he is exhorted
concerning it, nor is it the work of the minister, though
he must proclaim and set forth Christ. but the work of salvation
is Christ's work. The apostle says to the Ephesians,
by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves,
it is the work of God. The faith is the gift of God
and so the matter belongs unto the Lord Jesus Christ and that
should be a great encouragement unto us. Some will say, well,
because we are accountable to God, and we are accountable to
God, and because we are responsible for our deeds and our sins, and
we are responsible for our deeds and our sins, therefore we are
accountable and responsible for our own soul's salvation. But
man in his fallen and lost state is not able to revive himself
into life, he's not able to save his own soul. That is the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the blessing of the Gospel
is that the Lord is alive in heaven and his will is. that a people be quickened into
life. I give unto them eternal life,
they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of mine hands. And in sending forth his ministers,
God himself will use the word through them to bring souls into
a concern and to bring them to seek him and to find him. And we would trace that work
as being God's work. And so the matter, it belongs
unto Christ. If ever a soul is saved, the
crown is put on Christ's head. No minister will say, look, this
is the work of my hands. Someone said to William Gadsby
once, They pointed to a drunk in the gutter. They said, Mr. Gansby, look, there is the fruit
of your ministry. There's your work. He said, yes.
He says, it does look like my work. If it was God's work, he
wouldn't still be in the gutter. God saves unto the uttermost. No minister will take the credit
for the salvation of souls unto his hand. No soul will say, I
was saved because I was diligent and I sought the Lord and it
was my work that saved my own soul. No, the crown will always
be put on the head of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou only hast
wrought all our works in us. Salvation is of the Lord. I want to look then in the third
place at what we have in this verse of exhortation, encouragement,
and helm, and how vital that this is. Our text says, Arise,
for this matter belongeth unto thee. We also will be with thee,
be of good courage, and do it. Now especially, I address these
three points exhortation, encouragement and help to the sinners and to
ministers. Arise for this matter belongeth
unto thee. How we need that exhortation
and the apostle, he gives it very much in Hebrews. Today if
ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation
pointing to the children of Israel through the wilderness. The scriptures
are full of exhortation that sinners under the blessing of
God will hear and hearken, ears open to hear the warning and
to hear and heed the exhortation. The people here, they no doubt
knew Ezra was a diligent person, one that feared God, but they
still exhorted him and they still encouraged him in the matter
that was before him. And we are exhorted by the apostle
in Hebrews that we are to encourage one another while it is today,
exhort one another, and not in ways of evil, but encouraging
one another to seek the Lord, encouraging one another in prayer,
encouraging one another to come and hear the word of God, to
attend unto the means of grace, to seek the Lord while he is
to be found, to exhort one another daily. These are right and proper
and scripture ways that we should behave, not Give the impression
where there is no urgency. It doesn't matter whether your
soul is saved or not. There is no danger. You know,
if you saw a child running towards a precipice, would you not use
your every means to bring that child back from that precipice? Would there be no concern? Would
there no be calling out, crying out, trying to cause them to
hear? Well, we know that God is pleased
to work salvation in his people's hearts, to form a people for
his praise. We know that there is great encouragement
wherever the Lord sends his servants, that the Lord will speak through
them. His words shall not return unto him void. It shall accomplish
the thing whereto he sent it. Are we then concerned? Do we feel that need? Do we have
our eyes opened to what the Scriptures set forth and our ears opened? He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. There is a message,
and there is a message of salvation. And we are to encourage each
other. Many, they stumble. Many are
troubled about many things. If we are in a position to, May
we be able to help them, help them through those things that
stumble them, trouble them, would turn them out of the way. The
bruised reeds that God will not have broken, the smoking flaxes
that he would not have quenched. May we say with those speaking
to Ezra, we also will be with thee. Be of good courage and
do it, and that we might help one another and not, as it were,
discourage one another, pull each other's hands down and go
against and wound the hearts of those that attend her in the
things of God. May we have the spirit of those
that we're speaking to, Ezra. This is a matter that belongs
to all of us in this chapel and all that hear the word this morning. And may we be able to see the
blessing in the Lord Jesus Christ that is set before us in the
scriptures dealing with this very, very matter. This is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners, and may we save the apostle of
whom I am chief, but that we are saved, saved by the grace
of God, saved from our sins, saved to heaven. And may there
be those that we gather with us and bring with us, be able
to say, like Moses did, come with us and we will do thee good. Or may the Lord add His blessing
upon this word. Arise for this matter, belongeth
unto Thee. We also will be with Thee. Be of good courage and do it. Amen.