Turn with me to the book of Ezra. Ezra chapter 6. We pray the Lord's blessing upon
the setting forth of His truth in this blessed book. The Jews, having been encouraged by the
Spirit of God blessing the preaching of two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah,
the Jews continued the building the rebuilding of that temple
in Jerusalem. Now, the thing that we remember
is that the rebuilding of this physical temple sets forth the
glory of Almighty God in the building up of the saints. Almighty God has chosen a people
from the foundation of the world. In Adam, all men died in trespasses
and sins. They fell in the person of Adam. Mankind was in Adam. All men found in Adam. In Adam,
death reigned. Spiritual death. Now physically,
men are alive. I know that, and you know that,
and we have faculties to be able to hear, but not hear from God
by nature. Man has no ability, so we behold
in the rebuilding of this temple, the calling out of how Almighty
God is building, gathering, drawing unto Himself His people, His
spiritual temple. The Scripture says that we are
as lively stones built up and spiritual house and holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Oh, may the Spirit of God remind
us again today that without Him we can do nothing. I think that
Scripture right there, Gary, if I could just rehearse that. May the Spirit of God rehearse
that to me without me. you can do nothing. Let us consider today that which
is set forth in Ezra 6. And first of all, this is what
I'd like for us to consider, that God's promises to His people
are a hidden treasure. Now, I know that man by nature
And when I say that, I'm speaking of religiously, mainly. Religiously, man thinks that
everything that he reads in this book is pertaining to everybody. I heard a very wise man say one
day that if he wrote a letter to his wife and described what
she meant to him, And some other woman found it and read it and
said, Oh, look what he thinks about me. Well, there's only
one problem with that. He didn't write it to every woman.
He wrote it to his wife, to his beloved. The Scriptures set forth
the glory of Almighty God in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ and that which He has done for His people. In Ezra chapter 5 and verse 17,
the end of that last chapter, it said, Now therefore, if it
seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's
treasure house. This book that we look at, the
Scriptures, is the king's treasure house. There is a treasure. Now, you consider the wonder
of the glory of Almighty God that He would give us His Word
written down. But these Scriptures must be
revealed. If it seemed good to the king,
let there be a search made in the king's treasure house which
is there at Babylon, whether it be so that a decree was made
of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem. And
let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter."
Verse 1, "...then Darius the king made a decree, and search
was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were
laid up in Babylon." I read that right here, and I just stop and
I think, this Babylon, this evil place, this world is evil. This is wicked. A sin reigns
in the minds of man by nature. But oh, the treasure that is
found! And there was found at Akbatha
in the palace that is in the province of the Medes a roll,
and therein was a record thus written, God Almighty His promise
to His people is a hidden promise. Let there be a search made. Let
it be found out whether or not, that is what they are saying,
God has promised that there would be a building of this temple.
God has promised, and He did so through the prophet Zechariah,
that the building of His temple, that is what we read where it
says, he shall build his temple." Let
there be a search made and see whether or not this temple, the
place of his residency, the body and temple of the Lord Jesus
Christ by His Holy Spirit, let it be found. Let a search be
made and see if that is not so. Deuteronomy 29.29 says that the
secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things
which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever,
that we may do all the words of this law." Those things that
are revealed. Now, I know that there are some
things that I cannot possibly enter into the depth of. Brother
Scott and I were talking a few moments ago. Now, you think about
this statement. He that is God hath made him
sin, to be as added there for our understanding, he hath made
him sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." Now let me ask you something. How much do I
know? How much do you know what sin
truly is. Now, I can tell you everything
I know about it, but after I've told you everything that I know
about what it is to be made sin, I still don't know the depth
of the heinousness of what that Sin is but whatever the depth
of it is. That's secret things. I know
this, that whatever it is, Christ was made sin. I can tell you about the effects
of it somewhat. I can tell you something about
how it makes me within myself and you that believe grown. But
let me ask you this, what is this evil? thing, this nature
of sin, this law of sin, this rebellion against Almighty God,
whatever it is, it's hidden. I don't know the depth of it.
But I know this, Christ was made to be it, made a curse. But the things that are revealed
belong to us, whatever it is. I know that He was made that
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God. There is
another great mystery. We listened to some men preach. I truly enjoyed listening to
some men preach. I listened to everything that
was possibly said. could have been said concerning
what the Lord laid in front of those men's hearts. But after
everything that was said, I began to think, boy, how little we
know. How frail we really are. How
frail. We stand up and we try to proclaim
the unsearchable, unsearchable riches of His grace. These things
that are revealed, let there be a search made. Find out if
there are some promises. The Lord in Ezra 1, verses 1
and 2, stirred up the heart of Cyrus. There was a king named
Cyrus. He stirred him up. The king of Persia charged him
to build a house in Jerusalem. He whose word shall not return
void. His purpose. that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in
earth, even in Him." It's a miracle of God's grace. There are some
folks that are sitting here in different congregations this
morning where Almighty God has given a heart after Him. Gathering together, bringing
together, and I look and I marvel. Not that He's gathering you,
but that He'd gather me and give me a heart. It doesn't nearly
amaze me as much when I see somebody else as it does me. And I mean
that. Just as the decree of Cyrus was
to be searched out in the king's treasure house at Babylon, Almighty
God is purposed to grant, to impart, to give a hunger, a thirsting
after Christ the hidden manna. It's a miracle that the Lord
would create a hungering Let there be a search. If it seems
good, let there be a search. If it seemed good to Him that
He give you a heart to seek out concerning His righteousness,
concerning Him, His blood, His flesh, our feast, the searching
for the decree set forth by Cyrus, let there be a search made. That search, that decree, it
was rewarded according to God's purpose. They found it. They
found it. That's what it said in verse
2. There was found. It was found at this place, the
palace that's in the province of Medes Arol. And therein was
the record. They found it. Hidden promises. hidden Word
of Almighty God to His people. And that search, number one,
it is a miracle that God would give a heart to search it out.
Number two, it is a miracle that God would give an understanding
to show it, to reveal it, to reward it according to His mercy
and grace and compassion toward all those chosen in His blessed
Son. But I thought one might say,
Job 11, 7 says, Canst thou by searching find out God? Can you by searching find out
God? Well, I thought about that. And
I'm going to give you this answer. Yes and no. That's about as good
an answer as I can give. Yes and no. Yes, in the sense
that God is known in the light of natural creation. Now, that
is certain because Psalm 19, verse 1 says, ìThe heavens declare
the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiworks.î The
Scripture says that man by nature can look out here and he sees
There is the glory of God. There is the sunlight. And man
says, boy, the good Lord. Isn't He the good Lord? You know? And in His foolishness and stupidity,
man is right. He is saying that which is absolutely
right. The Lord is good. So man, just
looking at the heavens, can behold the glory. Can a man seek after,
humanly speaking, Yes, He can. He can see in the heavens. I see the stars. I behold, there
is the glory of Almighty God. But when it comes to the issue
of God's mercy, compassion, grace toward a sinner, can a man, by
searching out within himself, find out God? No. No, he cannot. Absolutely cannot. Turn with
me to Jeremiah chapter 29. Jeremiah 29 verse 11. Jeremiah 29 verse 11. Jeremiah 29 verse 11. For I know the thoughts
that I think towards you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and
not of evil. to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon Me,
and you shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you, and you shall seek Me and find
Me, when you shall search for Me with all of your heart, and
I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away
your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and
from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord, and
I will bring you again into the place whence I have caused you
to be carried away captive." Here is the indescribable mercy
of Almighty God revealed, that God Himself would give His people
a heart to seek after Him. The Scripture says that no man
seeketh after God. Of himself, no man can seek after
God. But here is this great mystery. God's people, by a new heart,
by a new mind, God giving them a heart to do that which they
cannot do by nature. Seek after Him. Beholding Him
in nature, yes, succeed that. But seeing Him in the glory of
His blessed Son, no. Seeking is not within natural
man. He is dead. True seeking, hungering,
is that natural movement of a new heart, that heart that has been
imparted. I'll give you a new heart and
I will write my law upon that heart. It's there. One of the men said, I thought
very well, he said the reason that God's people seek after,
search after Him is because it's in their heart to do so. man
that loves his wife. It's just a natural reaction. He's got a love for her. It's
naturally there. What did the bride do? In Song
of Solomon chapter 3 and verse 1, we've been looking at Song
of Solomon on Wednesday nights. Song of Solomon 3, it says, By
night on my bed I sought him. whom my soul loveth." There's
the reaction of a man or woman that seeks after Almighty God. She loves Him. Why does she love
Him? Because He first loved her and
gave her, the bride, a heart after Him. I sought Him, but
I found Him not. I will rise now and go about
the cities and the streets and the broad ways I'll seek Him,
whom my soul love Him. I sought Him, but I found Him
not." I'll tell you, you talk to a believer that seeks after
Christ, and she'll be the first one to tell you, oh, I seek Him,
but I find the frailty in my seeking, lest He reveals Himself
to me. I won't find Him, but I'll seek
Him. I won't stop. This seeking, this
craving after the Almighty God in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, what does it reveal? It reveals I have a need. And
it reveals I love Him. I love Him. Seeking after Almighty
God. But the purpose, counsels and
decrees of God, they are not found by natural man's seeking. be revealed. Look in Matthew
16. Matthew 16, the Lord was speaking. We've read this before, but oh,
how we need to consider again. Matthew chapter 16, the Lord
is speaking to those that walked with Him.
Matthew 16, Jesus came to the coast of Caesarea. Philippi asked his disciples,
saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they
said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias,
and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And he saith unto
them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ. the Son of the Living God. And
Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven." Those that have had Christ, His
sufficiency, His merit, His glory, His honor, God's Lamb revealed
to them, they know it. They see it flesh and blood.
But here is the evidence of the sheep of God. They seek Him. They continually seek Him. And
they can't do without Him. It's not a take it or leave it,
hit and miss. They hunger and they thirst after
Him, who He is. So the first thing I see is that
God's promises to His people, that's a hidden treasure and
they must be revealed. Secondly, back in Ezra chapter
6, I want us to consider what I have termed here this second
point of the high cost of that which we call free grace. Romans 3.24 says, ìBeing justified
freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. Now, I know that we hear that
word freely. When we hear the word free, in
our mind, we think of free as something that doesn't cost anything.
It's free. But this word freely right here
does not mean no cost. What it means is without a cause. Without a cause in you. or me,
being justified, declared, we've looked at that word before, declared
before the law to be just, not by works of righteousness that
we've done, but according to His mercy, justified freely without
a cause in us by His grace. How? through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus, there is nothing that we've done to be
justified before God. Without a cause in us, He chose
to show mercy. The Scripture says that this
glorious revelation of God's grace to us reveals Him to have
been our Savior, not because of cause in us, not because of
merit in us. Almighty God looked and saw there
was none good. No, not one. Verse 3 in Ezra
6 says, in the first year, now what they did was this hidden
treasure was found. They said, let there be a search,
verse 17 of chapter 5, And it says in the decree, they searched
it out and it was found in verse two. And this is what it says.
It says in the first year of Cyrus the king, the same Cyrus
the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem.
It said, let the house be built, the place where they offered
sacrifices. Let the foundations thereof be
strongly laid. The height thereof, three score
cubits. The breadth thereof, three score
cubits with three rows. of great stones and a row of
new timber, and let the expenses be given out of the King's house. Let this house be built. This
house shall be built, the house made by the decree of the King."
Cyrus, a picture of our King, our Lord, our Master, the reason
where they may offer sacrifices. The Lord will have His people
as kings and priests in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, not
in their merit, not in themselves, offering the sacrifice of praise. And the manner in which it was
built, the Scripture says, the place where they offer sacrifices,
verse 3, let the foundations thereof be strongly laid. Ephesians 2.19 says, Therefore
ye are no more strangers, foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief cornerstone. 1 Peter 2.5 and 6, Ye also as lively stones are built up
in spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, wherefore also it is contained
in the Scriptures, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded." You know what this word confounded means? embarrassed. He won't be embarrassed. Why? Because the foundation is strongly
laid. Cyrus says this is the revelation
that was searched out and found out. The house shall be built. Do you think that there's a possibility
that of all that the Father has chosen from the foundation of
the world Do you think that there's a possibility that there's one
of His lively stones that He's made so on the merit and the
person by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that won't be called
out? Do you think that there's a possibility
that there's one of God's sheep that shall be lost not on the
authority of the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ? He said this,
"...all that the Father giveth Me." I love this word, shall. They shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast him out. I'll raise
him up for the comfort and the joy and the peace when I consider
in myself that I am of myself and I know this. I'm unable. I can't call myself How do I
call myself out of darkness? How do I make myself to be something
when I am dead? Impotent. The Scripture reveals
that. And man by nature thinks he has
the ability to construct himself and to make himself. Could you
make yourself to be a bird? You think you could before you
can make yourself a new creature in Christ? I can tell you that.
This house should be built. This house of standards should
be constructed. The place where they offered
sacrifices, let the foundations thereof be strongly laid. And the cost of the building
of God's spiritual house The Scripture says here in verse
4, ìLet the expenses be given out of the kingís house.î Whoís
going to pay for this? Whoís going to bear the burden
of paying for this spiritual house? I know that no doubt the
physical cost of the building of this temple in Jerusalem was
an expensive endeavor. I don't doubt that a bit. I mean,
we talk about building a house, some of us, and we, you know,
we want to think about that. And I'm telling you, you have
to kind of put a pencil to that thing. You know, how much do
you think we, I don't know, how much is land? I mean, you know,
the more we look around for land, first thing you want to do is
find a piece of land that's suitable, you know? I'd like to find something
that's sort of level. That's a commodity here. That's something that's in demand. A good piece of property. Finding
a good piece of property. I think about that sower that
went forth to sow. I was listening to somebody the
other day and they was talking about You ought to be sowing.
You ought to be sowing seed. You ought to be doing this. Let
me tell you this. The sower, the Scripture says,
was the one that went forth to sow. I am not the sower. He is. His seed fell on four different
kinds of ground, but there was only one good ground. And I am telling you, in us,
there is none good. That ground must be made so only
because of being found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and none good but God. And being found in Him, who is
the good ground? He is. What is the merit of any believer? Christ. It is Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Paul says, in me, that is in
my flesh, is no good thing. Oh, but the cost of the building
of this temple, His temple, the cost of the redemption of Christ's
people, what is the high cost of what we call free grace? Well,
I don't doubt Scripture says Cyrus the king made a decree,
and he was going to allow the people to go. He said, go back
in verse 1, but I'll paraphrase this for you. He said Cyrus made
a decree, and he said anyone that had a heart to leave and
go back to Jerusalem could do so. And I know, and you know, the
spiritual implication of that. If any man has a desire to go,
it is because God has given a heart to go. But humanly speaking,
no doubt, the Jews' release from captivity in Babylon was expensive. I mean, for all practical purposes,
it was slave labor. But our release from the bondage
of sin. What or who has the ability to
pay the price? Could that price be paid from
the bankrupt account of your wallet or my wallet? What's it going to cost? Is it
possible that a man can pay the immeasurable debt to Almighty
God by saying, My will? Is that the debt? I'm sorry. Is that the debt? Is that the
payment of the debt? Now that's the message, that's
the story that men are saying. Here's the cost. We have rebelled
against Almighty God. We've sinned against Him, whatever
that means, whatever the depth of that is. Adam rebelled against
God. Think about how little man thinks
of this. The Lord God told Adam, in the
day that you eat thereof, you'll die. And the taking and the eating
of a fruit plunged mankind into death. One act of disobedience, one
act by one man's disobedience, sin reigned. This is the, I'm
in control, sin, sin by one man's disobedience. What is it going
to cost? The expenses are to be taken
or given out of the king's house. 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19 says this,
For as much as you know that you were not redeemed. Free will? A man saying I am
sorry? A man that says, I'm sorry, is
saying this, Carl, I'm guilty. I'm guilty. I say, I'm sorry. What I did was I told you I'm
guilty. But what about paying for it?
What's it going to cost? What does it cost to pay the
debt that I owe? I have rebelled against Almighty
God in Adam. Conceived in sin, I come forth
as my mother's womb, and I'm a sinner by practice. I've rebelled
against God. What does it cost? The Scripture,
the hidden mystery, reveals this. The cost is more than I can pay.
You can pay. Man thinks I can pay the debt.
The Scripture says, no, you can't. The Scripture says that the expenses
of the building of this temple are to be given out of the king's
house. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation, your
vain manner of life, received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. Who can pay? One. One can pay. Only one. Only one can pay the debt I owe. One. Verse 5 says, Also let the golden
and silver vessels... Let me just touch this and we'll
stop. I'm running out of time. Also let the golden and silver
vessels of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out
of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought into 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." I'm
telling you, you can just read that, and you can see in there,
man's fall, taken into bondage, These golden
vessels, silver vessels chosen from the foundation of the world
of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar, the captor, sin is our captor,
bondage, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth to Jerusalem, brought
into Babylon, be restored. Let them be restored. brought
again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his
place, the place where God is chosen, the place where God is
ordained, where God has elected and placed them in the house
of God. Well, there is such an indescribable
amount in that fifth verse. And I don't want to rush it.
It's just too precious. We're going to stop right there.
These are hidden things. They're precious things. Glorious
things. Not found out. Not sought out
by man's ability. Revealed. Taught. They'll all be taught of God. I believe God's taught some people,
brother Scott. I believe he has. Okay.