Turn with me to the book of Ezra
chapter 9. Ezra chapter 9. I was thinking as Brother Scott
was speaking a moment ago, we will talk about soon, who will
be all those that love Him and have
been given a heart to love Him. those that He has eternally loved
shall be with Him. And I know that's a fact, and that's a blessed thought
to look forward to. But I'll tell you another truth
that's blessed, because this is the day that the Lord has
He said, We'll rejoice and be glad in it. I know just a little
bit about the fleetingness of life. I know a little bit about
what it is to see those leave this world. But I'll tell you
another blessed thought is that we're all together right now.
Here we all are. I can look. Glenn, Gene. I can see them. Scott, Martha.
I can look at them. I can see them. I have some fellowship
with them right now. There may come a time we look
back and we say, you know, boy, it was good having them. Good
to have been here. Who knows? This may be my last
time to ever preach. I don't know. It may be just
a heart attack. I didn't know he was that sick,
did you know? I'm glad we've got this morning. Ezra chapter 9. I'd like to speak
this morning on a blessed intercessor. I really do need to just stay
with the first four verses. of this. I may say something
about verse 5 and just kind of get into it and then stop and
then just pick up right there next time. But looking at the
first four verses of Ezra chapter 9, Now when these things were
done, the princes came to me, saying, 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
even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites,
the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, the Amorites. For they have taken of their
daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy
seed have mingled themselves with the people. of those lands,
yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in
this trespass. And when I heard this thing,
I rent my garment, and my mantle plucked off the hair of my head,
and of my beard, and sat down astonished. Then were assembled
unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel
because of the transgression of those that had been carried
away, and I sat astounded until the evening sacrifice." Now,
without a doubt, there is nothing that can be more sobering than
the first two verses of this chapter. Here we have looked
at this book of Ezra. We have gone through eight chapters
and we have seen a group of people. that have been divinely delivered
by the good hand of the Lord God of heaven, protected from
the hand of the enemy, and such that lay in wait by the way,
what the Scripture says. And now we find the very same
ones doing that which is common to all men, that is, having a
heart, having a nature within serves the law of sin against
God Almighty. Now, that's what Paul the Apostle
said of himself. You know, someone says, Oh, I
don't do that. Well, Paul the Apostle said he
did. He said, I see within me. Turn over and just look at that.
I mean, you know, before we get all high and mighty and think
that, oh, no, no, no, I don't do that. Well, look over at Romans
8. I mean, Romans 7. Romans 7, 24.
Oh, wretched man that I am. You know, this thing of saying,
well, I tell you, I used to be. Well, yeah, you used to be and
you still are. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me? from the body of this death. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind, that is
the new mind, the new heart, the new creation, the new birth,
the impartation of life, I thank God, he said, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God. with the flesh the law of sin. So let me just make it perfectly
clear that a believer is not absent from that body of sin,
that law of sin. Paul says, O wretched man that
I am, who shall separate me? I am bound in this life, in this
walk, in this world, a law of sin that is there, it
is within me. Paul says, it is in my members.
And here was a group of people and the Lord brought them out,
brought them out of Babylon. We have looked at that. Now,
the heart of their sin, Ezra heard some things. Some princes
came to him and he said, the people, the priest, The Levites
have not separated themselves from the people. And they've
taken, in verse 2, their daughters for themselves, their sons. And
the Holy Seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands.
And Ezra heard that thing. It just tore him all to pieces. He ran in his garments. The heart
of their sins. The heart of what they were doing
was disobedience. Turn over to Deuteronomy 7, 1-4. Deuteronomy 7. Deuteronomy 7, 1-4. When the
Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land where thou goest
to possess it and have cast out many nations before thee, the
Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites,
Hivites, Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou.
When the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt
smite them, utterly destroy them, thou shalt make no covenant with
them, nor show mercy unto them, neither shalt thou make marriages
with them, thy daughters, Thou shalt not give unto his son,
nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn
away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods.
So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy
thee utterly." Now turn over to 2 Corinthians 6.14. 2 Corinthians
6.14. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14 says,
"...be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what
communion hath light with darkness?" The Scripture sets forth that
there can be no mingling together. Now what exactly is that talking
about? What exactly in light of Scripture
is this mingling together? What was set forth in verses
1 and 2 of Ezra chapter 9? Well, I know based on Deuteronomy
7, 1 to 4, and I know based on 2 Corinthians 6, 14, that without
question the Old Testament and the New Testament definitely
set forth the command of separation, that is, spiritually, between
righteousness. That's what we just read in 2
Corinthians 6.14. Be not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness? That is to
say, what the Scripture sets forth as righteousness. What
fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness, or
what man says is righteousness? And what fellowship hath light
in darkness? The people of God are commanded
to be separate, separated. Now, I wouldn't want to offend
anybody unnecessarily. Here this past weekend, or week,
a few days ago, Glenda and I went up to a part of the state of
Ohio and just get away for a day or so and got around a group
and there was a sect, S-E-C-T, of people that considered themselves
to be, and I could tell, very separatist, very, very, you know,
drive buggies and black buggies and, you know, just had a real
separatist attitude about them. I mean, you just detected it
was just had a spirit in which they were not associated. Of course, they didn't mind us
coming up there and buying stuff and things like that, but, you
know, had a real, you know, separated spirit about them. Now, this
separation that the Scripture sets forth, and without a doubt,
the Scripture sets forth the unequal be not unequally yoked
together. What fellowship does righteousness
and unrighteousness have? Light and darkness, what fellowship
does it have? Now this separation that's being
set forth is not based on who a believer is in himself, but
that separation is based on who God Almighty is. Now this is
what I mean. Separation on my interpretation
of my own holiness. If I decide I'm going to be separate,
and I understand, believe me, I know just a little bit about
what I'm talking about, but separation On my own interpretation of holiness,
I make up my mind, and I said, now I'm going to separate myself.
Spiritually, I'm not going to have anything to do with anybody
else spiritually. What's it based on? Whatever
it's based on better be based on the Word of God, because my
interpretation of my own holiness, if it's not based on Scripture,
Makes me a hypocrite, a Pharisee. Isaiah 65, 5 says, Those that
say, Stand by thyself, come not near me, for I am holier than
thou. These are a smoke in my nose,
a fire that burneth all the day. But if God Almighty declares
and commands, as in 2 Corinthians 6, 17. I'll read this for you.
Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate. Now,
the Scripture sets forth separatism. Be separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. What
is the separation that we're talking about right here? It's
separation based on that which God Almighty has set forth, not
what I've declared, not what I say. It's not separation based
on my own self-righteousness. Now, I can have my own opinion.
I came up at a very young child in one denomination. It doesn't
matter what it was. It was all works religion. It
didn't matter what you called it. Came up in one religion,
then my mama changed from that religion to another religion.
Since my mama did, I did. And I got into another type of
false religion, which was nothing but works religion. And therefore,
I came up in that, thinking in my mind, I'm separate. I'm right,
and you're wrong. What was it based on? It was
based on what the man that was preaching was telling me. but
not on the Word of God. Phariseeism and divine sanctification
are two distinct things and they are often confounded when God
Almighty calls men to be separate. That is doctrinally, spiritually. It is based not on their own
merit but on what He has done for them. They are separate. not because they've decided,
I'm spiritual enough, I can separate myself. When the Scripture says,
Be ye holy, for I am holy, let me ask you this, how are you
going to do that? How holy can a man be? No other way but by the imputed
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. A stand on this truth
will result in trial and sorrow, it will be termed intolerance
and bigotry and narrow-mindedness, but ask yourself this, you that
believe, would you quit? Could you? Would you say, I mean,
I'll just walk away? Nehemiah, over in the next book,
Nehemiah chapter 9 and verse 2, Nehemiah 9, 2, The scripture says, and the seed
of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, strange children,
and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their
fathers. You see, the grand difficulty
is to try to combine a spirit of intense separation, that is,
doctrinally, with a spirit of grace and gentleness and forbearance. to maintain a narrow circle concerning
the gospel of free grace and a wide heart of tolerance." And
it's hard. Well, it's impossible, I'll tell
you right now. It's tough. It's tough. The heart of their
sin was disobedience. Now, here was a group of people,
a picture, a type of the people of God as they had been brought
out And the Scripture says that something happened. They began
to mingle themselves together. Ignorance was not an excuse.
And here we see the very same attitude that Adam had in the
garden. His excuse could not be ignorance. He knew the extent of their sin. It says in verse 1, the people
of Israel and the priests And the Levites in the last part
of verse 2 says, Yea, the hand or the direction of the princes
and the rulers hath been chief in this trespass. There was no
one that was exempt. I mean, there was a nature that
was in them and is in every believer today that has a law of sin within
that but for the grace of God, would just go in the other direction
if they were not kept by the power of God. Romans 3.23 says,
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, before
conversion and after conversion in themselves. The believer does
or finds that nature within him whereby he hates. That which
I do, I hate it. I hate what I do. I hate what
I see in myself, Paul said. And then thirdly, the liveliness
or the activeness of their sin. It says in verse 1 of Ezra 9,
Now when these things were done, the princes came to me saying,
The people of Israel and the priests have not separated themselves
from the people of the land. That is to say, their delivery
from Babylon, from safe journey, offerings of thanksgiving, All
of these things that were found in those people right there,
that did not keep them from having that tendency, that law of sin
that was in them that was active, a constant struggle. That law
is said to dwell in the flesh. That is that old nature, and
it's considered by the believer to be No good thing. It's an evil that I do and it's
present with me. The heinousness of this sin is
that which verse 2 says in Ezra 9, that holy seed, if mingled
themselves with the people of the land, the elect of God, that
is, the holy seed found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
a peculiar people, a royal priesthood, those that fell in Adam but never
fell in Christ, has got one hope. They've got the same nature that's
still there that even the unbeliever has. And but for the grace of
God, they'd fall. They'd leave. They'd quit. As
sheep, they're always sheep. But the Scripture says that what
they've done is they saw that would mingle themselves with
the people. That is to say, they braided
themselves with the people of those lands. Now we find in this
Scripture, I hear something of the depth that even the elect
are willing to go unless God Almighty keeps them. Keeps them
from themselves. Kept by the power of God through
faith and preserved. in Christ Jesus, what is the
hope of the believer's calling? It's that Almighty God keeps
him. Keeps him. I'm telling you, we could go
through Scripture and we could find the failings of every believer. Paul, Peter, you look at this,
Moses, Jeremiah, there was not one person that you ever found
in Scripture that if God Almighty didn't keep him, that that person
wouldn't have left. And if a person does leave, what
does it manifest? That they were none of us. For
had they been of us, the Scripture says, surely they would have
remained. Why? Because God would have kept
them. That's the only reason. What
believer is there that wouldn't admit how gracious He is to remind
me of the times that I am allowed to see and to reflect back again
to the whole from whence we have been digged. In the mingling,
the marrying of the people of the land, we behold in type the
unfaithfulness of the bride to Him who is her bridegroom, the
distrust in all the sufficient power of God Almighty to protect
and to keep them, and the carnal policy of aligning ourselves
with the world to strengthen ourselves by the arm of the flesh.
Let's just be honest about it this morning. I mean, let's just
be flat honest. If the Lord doesn't keep us from
ourselves, We would do the very thing outwardly that we find
ourselves secretly longing to do. Now that's just the way it
is. I would like to get you to believe
that there's never a time in my life that I have any thoughts
whatsoever of deviation. I'd like to make you believe,
oh my, our pastor, Brother Scott, oh my, surely You don't think
Brother Scott's ever deviated in his mind. Surely not in all
the years he's preached. Surely not. Why don't you ask
him? Why don't you just ask him and
see what he'd say about it? Having seen something of the
awfulness of sin and rebellion against God Almighty, let us
consider the hope of every blood-bought sinner who is our blessed intercessor. I'm going to tell you something.
These fellows in those first two verses right there, I wish
I could say that there was something good I could say about them,
but I'm going to tell you, there dwells in me no good thing. The
will is present, but how to perform that which is good, I find not,
Paul said, I just don't. And whenever I start talking
to somebody and I begin to detect how that person is trying to
put across to me, how faithful he is and how good and how steadfast
he is, I'm thinking to myself, Buddy, you're just exposing a
little bit too much. Oh my! I just don't have anything
good to say in the first two verses. They're just like I am,
Gary. They're just rotten in themselves. It's like Paul says, if I understood
what he meant when he said, O wretched man that I am, I probably would
just want to shut my mouth. Verse 3, it says, When I heard
this, I rent my garment and my mantle,
and plucked off the hair of my head of my beard, and I sat down
astonished. Here we see something. that came to light in Ezra's
eyes in a moment of time. Now, I want you to understand,
Ezra is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without a doubt,
I mean, if we've ever seen a type in the Scripture at all, you're
looking at one right here. Here's a picture of Christ. But
every picture of the Lord Jesus Christ pales into nothingness. when it sets forth Him, Christ. It says, He rent His garment
and His mantle and plucked off the hair of His head and His
beard and sat down, stunned. That's what a stoned means, just
stunned. I couldn't believe it. I just
could not believe what I just heard. You mean to tell me that
those people that came out of Babylon, that knew that God delivered
them, that just prior to this we had prayed about and we didn't
get any horses or soldiers assembled, we were going to just trust God.
And they came and I divided out all of those implements and I
gave them and I weighed it. And I said, when they came and
we brought them in, delivered, and they saw The glory of Almighty
God. Yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah,
those. I'm talking about those that
I look at right here and I look at right here and others in this
country that Almighty God has called out of darkness, saved
by His grace, revealed His Son to them, revealed His Son in
them and kept them and taught them and sustained them and blessed
them. and been times that they'd sit
and they'd hear the Word of God and it would just fill their
heart with joy as those two on the road to Demas. Did not our
heart burn within us as He opened unto us the Scriptures? Those
very ones. That's the ones I'm talking about.
Ezra heard when they had done what they'd done. Stunned. He's
a picture. Ezra was devastated at the action
of a people that should have known better. But what glory!
is cast upon the Lord Jesus Christ as the glorious intercessor of
His people. Here, my dear friends, is the
setting forth of the need of an intercessor, of a priest,
one to approach Almighty God for us. This rebellion was made
known to Ezra. As far as Ezra was concerned,
he wasn't expecting it. He said, I stunned. I couldn't believe it. Eternal
grace was shown to the Lord's people from the foundation of
the world. Eternally they were chosen in
Him. Eternally they were viewed in
their fall in Adam because Christ as the Lamb was slain from the
foundation of the world. In the mind and will and purpose
of the Lord God, the sheep were eternally secure for Christ was
slain as their covenant surety. Our fall in Adam did not stun
him. Ezra was shocked at what? You are kidding me! After all
of this, did it shock Almighty God? When
Adam rebelled, I think back on those words of our Lord God Himself. And He told Adam, He said, in
the day that you eat thereof." You will surely die in the day,
not if, not possibly, in the day you eat. He knew. The Spirit of God sets forth
the hope of the Lord's people. 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 9, the Scripture
says, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ, appointed, ordained that is in a passive
position. I looked that word up to find
out even the tenth of that word. God hath not appointed us to
wrath but to, that word, obtain, that means passively. You didn't have anything to do
with it. God appointed us to that. The Lord, our surety, was
not taken by surprise. Were these people guilty? Absolutely
they were guilty. Was Ezra stunned? Absolutely
he was stunned. Was the Lord Jesus Christ stunned?
No, no. There was a substitute before
there was a sinner in time. There was an eternal substitute. Why? Because God wasn't shocked.
Why was Christ slain from the foundation of the world? Because
God knew His people would fall. Again, though, we find in Ezra's
action the picture of agony of our Lord. He suffered as a man. I appreciate what Brother Scott
just said a moment ago. He said he fell asleep. If you just stopped and just
thought on that, he fell asleep. Are you saying that Lord God
Himself, that's exactly right. He was a man. He said just as
much man as if He's never God. As much God as if He's never
man. The God-man, the rent garment
and mantle and the plucked off hair and beard speak, as far
as Ezra was concerned, speak in type of the sufferings of
our blessed Lord. His beard was plucked off. He had physical suffering. But that rent garment spoken
of there in Ezra 9 sets forth the agony, the pain, but the
garment of Christ was never rent. Do you remember that? It spoke
of His righteousness that was never marred. Only of Him could
it be said. that there was no deviation.
But it did speak of the great sorrow and the heavy affliction
of his soul. Matthew 26, verse 38, it says,
Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto
death. My soul. The whole life of Christ
was a life that had been marked with sorrow. He was a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief, and for him alone can it be said
completely that he was the man of anguish, sorrows, and acquainted
or he recognized grief or anxiety. You and I don't know anything
about that. Something comes along our way and it seems to perplex
us. Only the Lord Jesus Christ knew
what it was to suffer, truly. in the garden He entered especially
in a way that we are at a loss to perceive. The great work of
intercession and sorrow. Sorrow. I know that Hebrews 12,
2, it says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, or that is in
His view, He endured or bore under the cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
With cheer or joy He redeemed His sheep, but the cost of His
suffering." What mortal can tell that? I don't know. Ezra heard
this, he was shocked. I was astonished. I couldn't
believe it. In the depth of his soul, that
is, the Lord Jesus Christ, the travail In the garden, he would
drink the dregs of the justice of Almighty God, His law, and
as our sin-bearer, he would drink the cup of salvation for us,
provide it, set it forth that we might drink. Call upon the
name of the Lord that we might do that. He drank of God's justice. Mark 4, verse 13 says, "...he
taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore
amazed." Now, I looked up that word, and I'm going to tell you
what the word means, and I'll just leave it there because I
cannot explain it. The word sore amazed means to
throw into terror. What did he suffer? I don't know. I don't know. and to be very
heavy, distressed. He began to be sore amazed when,
as a man, he knew what the justice of Almighty God demanded, what
judgment was. He was sore amazed. I just looked it up and it says,
to throw into terror. Ezra was astonished. He was shocked,
stunned. Christ was amazed. Verse 4, it says, Then were assembled
unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel
because of the transgression of those that had been carried
away, and I sat astounded until the evening sacrifice. You know,
we speak so lightly of the substitution, the intercession, of our blessed
Savior. We have no earthly idea what
He suffered as a man, what He paid, and for the joy that was
set before Him endured the cross. The Scripture says, "...there
were assembled unto Me every one that trembled at the words
of the God of Israel." Now, Ezra seems in that passage to have
some that were his companions, some that would share in his
sorrow and grief. I don't know who they were. Scripture
doesn't tell, and it really doesn't matter. But some of them came
and said, we've got some problems on some other hands here. But
for the Lord Jesus Christ, in Isaiah 63, he says, I have trodden
the winepress alone of the people there was none with me. You say, yeah, but I thought
Peter, James, and John were there with him in the garden. They
all fell asleep. There is a recorded verse that
says in Luke 22, 43, "...and there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him." When I read that, I looked
up the word strengthening because I wanted to know just exactly
what was meant by an angel from heaven coming and strengthening
him. And the word means invigorated. When I first read that, I thought,
how can that be? That an angel from heaven would
strengthen or invigorate the Lord Jesus Christ until I remembered
what Brother Scott just read a while ago. How can it be that
the Son of God, God Himself, could sleep? How could it be
said that the Lord Jesus Himself, the Messiah, hungered How could
that be? He humbled Himself. Here we are
viewing an amazing exhibition of our blessed hope, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was strengthened, invigorated
by an angel from heaven? Well, in light of Hebrews chapter
2, just turn with me there. Hebrews 2. seven to nine. All right, let's start at verse six. But one in a certain place testified,
saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son
of man? You know who that's talking about.
The son of man? That thou visitest him. Thou
madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest him
with glory and honor. and descend Him over the works
of thy hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection
under His feet, for in that He put all in subjection unto Him. He left nothing, but that is
not put unto Him. But how we see not yet all things
put unto Him. We see Jesus who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with
glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste
death for every man. That is, not as all men found
in creation, but all those that He said in John 17, that you
gave Me out of the world. The Scripture sets forth that
thou madest Him a little lower. That word, madest, right there,
the Scripture says, being the body, hast thou prepared me?
Thou madest Him. That word, madest, right there,
is the word interpreted decreased. Thou madest Him. Decreased Him
a little lower. That word, little lower, right
there, it means for a while inferior, for a while, than the angels. 1 Peter 5.10, But the God of
all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered,"
you see that, a while? Same word when it says, "...thou
madest him a little o'er." A while. "...that ye have suffered a while,
make ye perfect, establish strength, and settle ye." Not as man. Man fell from his original created
state. but the Lord Jesus Christ, who
was given by the Father, made in the likeness of men for a
while." He was made. Great is the mystery of godliness. You say, man, you're talking
about some stuff here that's just so... That's right. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. We speak of Him in such lowly
terms, Romans 8, 3, sent, that is, by
God in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. Oh, consider
Him of whom we speak. These folks back in Ezra 9, Scripture
says after they had been brought through all that they had been
brought through, they began to mingle themselves. But what was
their hope? I'll tell you what their hope
was. The Scripture sets forth that Ezra, in type, was one that
was interceding for them. Prayed for them. The Lord told
Peter, you remember this? He said, Peter, Satan hath desired
to have you. Sift ye his wheat. But I prayed
for you. I prayed for you that your faith
fail not. What's the insinuation there?
If he wouldn't have prayed for him, what would have happened?
If Christ wouldn't intercede, if Christ didn't keep him, if
God Almighty didn't keep him, Ezra was stunned. Christ wasn't.
Only in the sense of his humility, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ,
could he be strengthened by an angel from heaven. But as to the suffering of Christ,
He suffered alone. Peter, James, and John were there.
They fell asleep. The Scripture says that an angel
from heaven came and strengthened Him, invigorated Him. But He
suffered and died alone. Ezra said, "...astonished until
the evening sacrifice." Oh, what a glorious picture is drawn by
the Spirit of God of the man Christ Jesus in the garden, heavy,
astoned." He said, I sat there astoned. Astoned. Verse 4, until the evening sacrifice. That would have been 3 o'clock
in the afternoon. What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ, heavy under the affliction of His righteous soul, having
nothing but holy zeal for God's honor, sorrow for man's transgression,
sweat, the Scripture says, as if it were drops of blood. But let us notice in closing,
the silent humblings of Ezra until that evening sacrifice.
That grand hour in which every sacrifice in the Levitical law
pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb slain, the evening
sacrifice, the very hour unto which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is pictured here quietly. Scripture says that Ezra astoned,
ran his garments, plucked off the hair, a picture of the suffering
of our blessed Savior. And He said, I sat astounded
until the evening sacrifice. Sat down. Dwelled. Remained. I sat there until that sacrifice
in the place of our only hope. When He said in the garden, if
it be possible that this cup should pass from Me, nevertheless,
He sat right there. He didn't leave. He stayed. Oh,
what a word of hope! from Him who is our only hope. Christ Himself dwelt, remained
quietly, humbled Himself, humbled Himself, humbled Himself and
made Himself of no reputation, made Himself made of woman, made
under the law. He must stay if you and I have
any hope. He must until the time the Scripture
sets forth of the evening sacrifice until the time of his suffering.
And there, he died for me. I'm going to just read into verse
5 and then I'm going to stop. That evening sacrifice, this
is so good I just can't wait. That evening sacrifice, the 3
o'clock hour, sets forth the time that our Lord died. The
setting forth. It says in the last part, of
verse 4, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.
He stayed right there. And at the evening sacrifice,
verse 5, I arose from my heaviness, having rent my garment and my
mantle, suffered. There the Scripture is setting
forth in the garden His sufferings for you, for me, we that are
His own, His chosen. He said, I fell on my knees.
There it is. to say I worshipped God. And I spread out my hands unto
the Lord, setting forth the crucifixion, where He Himself is the Lamb
of God. And Lord willing, I'll pick up
right there. I'll start with that fifth verse
next time. But I just couldn't stand it. I had to read it. It was so good
setting forth. Those first two verses, I'm telling
you, Not a thing. I wish I could. As I said a while
ago, I wish I could say that there was something in there
that I could say that was good about us. But there's nothing.
There's just nothing. The only thing that was good,
the only thing that was good and profitable that I could see
out of those Scriptures right there was that third and fourth
verse when it spoke and set forth Ezra as a type of our Lord who
interceded, who pled for, who suffered for, under the awesome
justice and judgment of Almighty God who would not leave us to
ourselves. Oh, what mercy we find in Him!