Thank you, Bob. Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Ezra chapter 4. Ezra chapter 4. Before we begin this morning,
let's ask the Lord's blessing. Our Father, as we come before
You this morning, we do so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray, Lord, Your blessing by Your Spirit upon the reading,
preaching, and the hearing of your glorious gospel. We pray, Lord, for those that
are in our midst that are sick, Brother Scott and Martha. Lord, that your feelings of infirmity pray
according to your will and purpose, that you Heal them. We ask You to teach us this morning. We are frail creatures. We know,
Lord, that unless You speak, we cannot hear. We ask this morning
that You would teach us. We need so desperately to learn
and, Lord, to be encouraged. Only You can encourage us. set our heart aflame, that heart
You've given us and written Your law upon. Teach us, we pray for
Christ's sake. Amen. The fourth chapter of Ezra. Actually, what this chapter is
all about is the hindrance that the Jews received from the people
of the land, the Samaritans that were there in the area where
they had gone back to build this temple. Now, as we've related
before, this is not just a historical event. Oh, it is. It's historical.
There's no doubt about that. But the significance of this
fourth chapter in the whole book of Ezra in the building of this
temple is actually the way in which Almighty God in the building
of His spiritual temple, how God does that, why He does what
He does. Now, we are here this morning,
and I doubt that there are many that are in this congregation
that are truly lively stones being built up into a spiritual
temple. We are the temple of the living
God. He actually resides within His
people. Now, that's just a fact. And
we're here this morning, and I know that it's easy in our
minds and isolate the fact that something is special. Something is happening today
that is special. There's something that's going
on that's more deeper than what you and I can truthfully perceive. In the building up of His temple,
He's been pleased to teach His people, all of us collectively,
in building us up, instructing us. Now, as the Scripture says,
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be throughly furnished
unto all good works. knowing that we seek today to
be taught by the Spirit of God through the experience of these
people. All of these things happened
to these people exactly the way it happened so that Almighty
God could, through them, through their experience, teach us. And we learn from that which
He says. So the things that we would like
to look into this morning is the hindered work that is placed
upon, the hindered work. Why do people go through what
they are going through? Why? Now this is what this whole
chapter is about. The Jews were hindered. They
came out, you know, the king had told them, he said, anybody,
chapter 1, anybody that wants to go out, go out. Chapter 2,
named all of the ones that came out, God's people, God's elect,
certain ones came out. They came and now they've come
together to build this temple, and they're building it. But
during this chapter, we're going to find that these people were
hindered. Why do we go through what we're
going through? Now there are some people, folks
in this congregation this morning, that especially are going through
some tough times. And I know that. And if it's
not your particular time right now, you that believe, just hang
on. Your time will come. It won't
take long. Those that will live godly in
Christ Jesus in this life are going to suffer persecution.
But this morning, I pray that the Lord might truly teach us
something today. There's some hindrances that
we go through. Now, the first thing that we
understand based upon the Scripture today is this, that God's sheep
are in this world, but they're not of it. That's the first thing. The Scripture says in verse 1
of chapter 4, Now when the adversaries of Judah, and Benjamin heard
that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord
God of Israel. Then they came to Zerubbabel
and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build
with you, for we seek your God as you do. And we do sacrifice
unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Asher, which brought
us up hither. But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and
the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said unto them,
Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God,
but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel
as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, hath commanded us." Now I know
that to the world the separatist attitude that a believer has
toward false religion seems to be insensitive. Before I moved
from Franklin, Tennessee, I had folks approach me and they were
going to have a kind of a get-together there in the middle of Franklin.
There's a square, nice little cute town, it just got a nice
little circle or square right in the middle of the town, a
big monument and all that kind of stuff. And what we were going
to do, or what they were going to do, they said, we're going
to come together, all of us, all of the pastors from all of
the different churches, we're going to all come together, meet
together down on the square, and we're going to pray for the
salvation of Franklin. Because we're all in this thing
together, is what they said. We just, you know, we're all
working for the same thing, just different folks. Big wheel, different
spokes, going to the same hub, you know, can we count on you
to show up? I said, no. Why not? I said, well, I just, I'm just
not going to be there. I'm just not going to, I just
don't believe that we're all doing the same thing. Well, you
know, that went over like a lead balloon. It's just, you know,
why? Because I don't believe the same
thing you believe. I don't believe, I don't believe
that salvation is by works. I don't believe that Almighty
God is trying to get as many folks saved as will let Him be
saved. I just don't believe that. These
people came to here and they said, listen, we want to help
you. Let's build with you. We seek
your God just like you do. We're in this thing with you.
Hey, I understand that we may have a few doctrinal differences.
I understand that. But the bottom line is that we're
all working for the same thing. We seek God and we sacrifice
unto Him since the days of Esau or Adam, just like you do. And Joshua or Zerubbabel told
him, he said, No, you have nothing to do with us to build a house
under our God. But we ourselves together will
build unto the Lord of Israel. No, we don't have anything to
do with you. We don't. The Lord God Almighty
commands, be you separate. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians.
Let me show you something. 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14. Let
me get over to 2 Corinthians instead of 1.
2 Corinthians 6 verse 14, Be ye
not unequally yoked 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 has said, I will dwell in them and walk
in them. I will be their God. 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 be a father unto you, and
ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Now
listen, the principle, we can go into the depth of all things,
but the principle, The bottom line that is taught in that particular
passage about being unequally yoked to unbelievers is actually
the voluntary association with those who openly claim to believe
doctrinally that which opposes the gospel of free grace, the
gospel of God, the gospel of Christ, the gospel, free grace,
sovereign saving grace. All that oppose the Lord Jesus
Christ is sovereignty, God's right to choose. When God Almighty
says, I have elected a people from the foundation of the world
and chose them in My Son, and that the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world and died for the elect, He said, I lay down
My life for the sheep. Those that oppose and say, now,
you know, I just can't go along with that. I believe that the
Lord wants everybody to be saved. Well, I'll tell you this. If
He wants everybody to be saved, then everybody would be saved.
He'd call them all out if that was His purpose. He's the Lord,
God Almighty. The Scripture clearly sets forth
God has a people. And these folks right here, back
there, said, look, hey, we're going to worship. We believe
just like you do. And Zerubbabel says, no, you don't have anything
to do with us. We'll build this temple. God's people, lively
stones, build the Lord's temple. Almighty God is the master builder,
and He builds. I'll tell you how He builds.
Number one, when they told Zerubbabel, They said, ìWe worship God just
like you do. We believe in Jesus just like you do.î And Zerubbabel
told him. He said, ìNo, you donít.î The
people of God, first of all, build on a true foundation. Isaiah 28, 16 says, ìBehold,
I lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious
cornerstone, a sure foundation.î When he says a sure foundation,
thereís no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It's not a possibility. It's not a maybe. You see, anything
other than God's electing, sovereign, choosing grace makes salvation
to be a possibility. What if someone doesn't believe? Well, they might, but they might
not. I'm going to tell you this. God Almighty is going to save
everyone that He chose. All of them are going to come.
He'll lose none of them. This is the Father's will. which
hath sent me, of all that he has given me, I should lose nothing."
Nothing. He that believeth shall not make
haste. That is what he says in Isaiah
28, 16. Christ has been laid as the standard by which all
men shall be judged. God is going to lay the plummet
of His unerring justice. He is holy. Holy. By Him alone. as the precious
cornerstone and sure foundation, the law of God shall judge or
the law of God shall find no fault. But the difference is
Almighty God. He maketh thee to differ. Christ
is the only foundation of His church. We're with you. We build
with you. We'll help you. Any other creed,
any other system, any other religious policies that place man in any
capacity of having any part in salvation is to build on another
foundation, another gospel, another Jesus. That's what Paul said
in Galatians 1. He says, there's another Jesus,
another gospel. If any man preach any other gospel
than that which we preached unto you, let him be accursed. Galatians
1, 6 to 9. Secondly, not only do they build
on a true foundation, They build in accordance with the God-ordained
means. They say, listen, we'll help
you. We believe just like you do. Believers do nothing of themselves
without Him. They say, without me, you can
do nothing. But the Lord Jesus, God Himself,
who is the Builder of His temple, has been pleased to use the means
of preaching the gospel to call out his people. The gospel, Paul
said in Romans 116, is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it. It is by the Spirit of God blessing
the preaching of the gospel of Christ That is the way that the
Lord God Himself has been pleased to build His temple, fitly framing
together, and groweth them unto a lively temple in the Lord. This is the means. What else
does it take? Is there any other means that
Almighty God is going to call out His people? No. This is enough. This is it. We don't have to
have any other programs. We don't have to use any other
tactics. Bob, this is it. This is the way it is right here.
How is God going to call that His people? This is what we believe.
The Lord has raised up a place where He'll preach His gospel.
He sends a preacher. He teaches that preacher. This
is the message. that I'll bless." The preacher
has one responsibility. One. Preach the gospel. That's all that he's called to
do. That's it. There's nothing else that should
hinder him. There's nothing else that he
could do. He's to study, find the message in that passage of
Scripture and preach it and pray that Almighty God be pleased
to bless that message to the calling out of His people. It's
enough. That's enough. No other tactics,
not slipping $10 bills or something, or having little games or anything
like this, or trying to get somebody down or something. This is it.
And if Almighty God does not call a man or a woman out of
darkness unto the preaching of the gospel, He'll leave them
to themselves, Carl, because that's what He's been pleased
to do. This is enough. This is it. And we don't do anything
else. We're with you. Hey, we'll build this temple
with you. We've got some ideas, some new and up-and-coming things,
you know, some things have been tried. Some of the associations
set down some rules and Zerubbabel said, no, you don't. Almighty
God is pleased in the building of His temple. They build on
a true foundation and they build in accordance with God-ordained
means. And thirdly, God's people are
built up with a true aim. They have one aim in that which
they do, and that is the glory of God. Turn to Romans 1. Romans
1 verse 20. They have one aim in what they
do. The Lord is pleased to bring
honor to Himself. Romans 1 verse 20. For the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse, because that when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like the corruptible man, into birds and
four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave
them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts
to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed
the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. It is
in the Lord in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation
of God through the Spirit. The reason, the cause of this
temple, that which Almighty God is pleased to be building, and
that's what He's doing. He's building His temple, His
place of residence, His temple, His place, His honor. This temple
is being built that in the ages to come, the Lord might show
the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. This is the reason. So the first
thing that we understand in this passage is that God's people,
they're in this world, but they're not of it. We don't use the tactics. We don't use the means. They
build together without the world. We're with you. As the rubble
bull said, no, you're not. Secondly, we know this, that
Almighty God frustrates evil for the good of His people. Back in Ezra 4, verse 4 says,
then after they were turned down, then the people of the land weakened
the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building
and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose
all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign
of Darius, the king of Persia." Now, these people, at first they
tried to come and they said, ìWeíre with you. You count on us. Weíll help you
build.î And Jeroboam said, ìNo. I'm not going to do that. You
don't have any part in building this temple. We'll build it ourselves. We don't need you." Well, then
they turned around and they tried to frustrate the building, the
hindering of this temple right here. Turn with me to Genesis
50. I know we turn a lot, but that's, as I said before, that's
why we're here. Let's look into the Scriptures.
Genesis 50 and verse 15. When Joseph was taken by his
brethren, they were jealous of him. They took him and sold him
into slavery. Told their dad, you know, wild
beasts got him. It was real sad, but you know,
we've got his coat here. Well, in time, in God's providence,
the Lord took that which they did and turned it for their good. It says in Genesis 50, verse
15, when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they
said, Joseph, we'll peradventure. Joseph had been raised up, you
know, second in command. And Joseph will peradventure,
hate us, and certainly requite us all the evil which we did
unto him. They sent a messenger unto Joseph
saying, did command before he died, saying, So shall you say
unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy
brethren and their sin. For they did unto thee evil. And now we pray thee, forgive
the trespass of thy servants of the God of thy father. And
Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went
and fell down before his face. And they said, Behold, we be
thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear
not. For am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought
evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass,
as it is this day, to save much people alive." How precisely
this was set forth. You meant it for evil. God meant
it for good. You remember when we read last
time in Acts 2 when Peter stood up and told the Jews, he said,
did with wicked hands. You took the Lord of glory."
God had purposed to send His Son into this world. And Almighty
God's purpose, which shall stand, He had eternally decreed the
Lord Jesus Christ to be the Redeemer of His people. He came into this
world and wicked men, Peter told them, he said, you are guilty.
We were all guilty. He said, you meant it for evil.
That's what Joseph said. You meant it for evil. God meant
it for good. And they took it and accomplished
exactly that which the Lord had determined that they would do. The people of the land had tried
to make it appear at first that they wanted to help. But then
when they were rejected, they proceeded to hinder the work. If we can just remember this.
Romans 8.28 says this, all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Whatever you're going through
right now. Now you think, now you say, well
I can see what these people were going through. I can see how
that worked out for good. I can see what happened to Joseph,
you know. I can see how that worked out
for good. Whatever you're going through this morning, the problems
that you have this morning, you that believe what you're suffering
right now. Almighty God has purposed to
take that which is seemingly against you, and it worketh together
for good. I heard someone say one time,
I don't see that to be good. I mean, I can understand that
there are things in this world that are in themselves not good
in themselves. But the Scripture says all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to His purpose. He will take that which is working
to you against you and will turn it for your good, to His glory. They weakened the hands of the
people of Judah and hired counselors against them to frustrate their
purpose. that the Lord might reveal His
sovereignty, His justice and mercy. He allows the apparent
freedom to the wicked while He proves His faithfulness to His
sheep. These things, I don't see how
this could be for my good. God's going to prove His faithfulness
to you in what you're going through. Romans 9, 17 says, For the Scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose, And you know,
if you go back in the book of Genesis and you find out how
Pharaoh, you know, the Lord sent Moses in there and He said, you
tell Pharaoh, let my people go, and back and forth and back and
forth. And you know how the Lord would send plagues. And the Scripture
says that He hardened Pharaoh's heart. Who hardened Pharaoh's
heart? God did. God did. God did. He said, I hardened your heart.
The Scripture says, For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for
this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my
power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all of the earth. You listen. You know why Zerubbabel
said, No, you don't have anything to do with us. Because man by
nature despises a sovereign God. He hates Him. He hates Him. He says, I won't have that God. I heard someone say this week,
said, you know, with a God like that, a sovereign God who needs
a devil. I said, well, I'm going to tell
you something. He said, this is the way I am.
The Lord shall surely show His wrath. In the end, the spiritual
temple of God, His body, shall be completed and His purposes
fully accomplished. And the false triumph of the
wicked is only temporary. Psalm 76.10 says, Surely the
wrath of man is going to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath
shalt thou restrain. But before we leave this point,
you consider this, those that opposed the Jews were those that
tried to make it appear at first that they were friends. The most
obvious enemies of the bride, and especially the bridegroom,
are the hypocritical adherents to religion. They make you or
try to make you think, we're with you. We'll be with you. We all believe the same thing.
No, they don't. Verses 6 to 16 shows that the
world has no hunger for the glory of God, but only for their own
glory. There were different ones that
wrote letter to the king of Persia for the purpose of slandering
the Jews. It says in the rain, verse 6,
of Ahasuerus in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto
him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
In the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlom, Mithadath, Tabeal, the
rest of their companions unto Artaxerxes, king of Persia, and
the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue
and interpreted in the Syrian tongue, and Rahum, the chancellor
and Shimshah, the scribe, wrote a letter unto Jerusalem to Artaxerxes,
the king, and this sort. Then wrote Rehum, the chancellor,
and Shimshah, the scribe, and the rest of their companions,
and the Dinahites, and the Aphrosaicites, and the Tarbilites, and the Aphorsites,
and the Archivites, and the Babylonians, and the Shusunkites, the Dehavites,
and the Elamite and the rest of the nations whom the great
and noble Asnapar brought over and set in the cities of Samaria
and the rest that are on this side of the river and at such
a time." Now, the reason that all of these names were given,
these were all people of authority. They all were people that sat
in these places. And they thought that they were
somebody. And these that had come and said, we're with you.
And they told them, said, no, you're not. Zerubbabel said,
no, you're not. No, we're going to build this. Well, they turned
right around and they said, well, I'll tell you what I'll do then.
I'll just write to the people that are in power. I don't guess
you realize who I am. I mean, I rub elbows with the
big boys. Psalm 2. verse 1 to 4. Let me just read
this for you. Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage and the
people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointed, sayeth saying, Let us break their bands asunder
and cast away their cores from us. And he that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh, and the Lord shall have them in derision."
You see, popularity of a movement is no proof of its truthfulness. Numbers are not a reliable guarantee
of wisdom. I realize that there are, if
you want to just start counting numbers, I understand that there
are myriads of numbers that oppose the gospel of free grace. I understand
that. I understand that great religions
that sit in places of authority say that this is not so. But let me ask you something.
When it comes right down to it, who's going to have the last
word? Almighty God or everybody else? The question that a man
would ask himself is this, what does God have to say? Are you
telling me that surely you're not telling me? that all of these
other people that don't believe in sovereign, free, saving grace,
God Almighty electing, predestinating grace, are you telling me that
everybody else is wrong? Yes, that's exactly what I'm
saying. Are you saying, wait a minute, whoa, that's exactly
what I'm saying. I'm saying they're wrong. You
mean to tell me that you think that the kings of the earth,
everybody, they wrote to all those names that I struggled
through trying to read. All the powers that be, are they
wrong? Surely, they're wrong. Surely,
I mean, they're not wrong. Surely, you don't think they're
wrong. Yes, they are. Acts 2, 26, the Scripture says,
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover,
also my flesh shall rest in hope." I'm sorry, I'm reading the wrong
passage. Acts 4, 26. Here we are. I'm sorry. Acts
4, 26. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against His Christ for of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou hast anointed." You remember when they wrote this
letter just a few minutes ago, all those names that I was reading
just then? The Scripture says now, both
Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of
Israel, all were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. What happened is
these people came together and they told Zerubbabel, we're with
you. We're your friends. We believe the same God you do."
And Zerubbabel told them, No, you're not. We don't need your
help. We don't desire your help. We'll build this temple by ourselves. They built on the right foundation
with the right means. They did it to the glory of Almighty
God. The folks got mad and wrote all
these letters to all these people. They raised up themselves. And
the Lord says that all the kings of the earth raised up together
to do one thing. that which God had purposed that
He was going to do. Almighty God was going to build
His temple and show His faithfulness and His power, raising up Pharaoh. Pharaoh, the reason you were
born, the reason I put you in the family you're in, the reason
I put your two parents together and you yourself were born, for
one reason, show my power throughout all of the earth. Well, these
Jews were accused of being rebellious people. That's what back in Ezra
4, verse 12, these people, they wrote this letter to all of these
kings. And this, verse 11, I'm sorry,
is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto
Artaxerxes, the king, thy servants, the men on this side of the river.
And at such a time they said, Be it known unto the king. You
see, they got mad. They got mad. We're going to
pool our resources together and we're going to put you people
under. That's what we're going to do. Put you out of business.
Be it known unto the king that the Jews, which came up from
thee to us, are come up unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious
and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined
the foundations. These people are bad people.
Oh, they're not loving people. They don't love us. We tried to help them. We tried
to give them our resources. And they're rebellious people.
And not only are they rebellious toward us, they're rebellious
toward you. During the time of Jehoiachim
and Zedekiah, this is found back in 2 Kings 24. verses 1 to 4, it was written
where these people had rebelled. That's what they said. Now, these
are rebellious people. We don't realize, if you don't
know who they are, 2 Kings. Let me read this to you. In these
days, in his days, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up and
Jehoiakim became his servant three years and he turned and
rebelled against them. Now, what that just said was
this. Jehoiakim who was a Jew, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar,
the wicked Nebuchadnezzar. And the Lord sent against him
bands of Chaldeans and Assyrians and Moabites and the children
of Ammon and sent them against Judah to destroy it according
to the word of the Lord which he spake by his servants the
prophets. Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah,
to remove them out of his sight for the sins of Manasseh according
to all that he did, and also for the innocent blood that he
shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood which the
Lord would not pardon." Now here's what happened. Nebuchadnezzar
had the Jews in subjection, and the Jews rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar,
a wicked king. And what they're doing here is
they're taking what they did in rebellion against that which
was evil. And they said, these are rebellious
people. Well, truly, they were rebellious,
but they were rebellious against that which was wrong. Somebody
could say, you people are rebels. I mean, good night. You know,
here we are trying to save the world. We're wanting to come
together and meet at the square in Franklin. What do you got
against that? Man, you're rebellious. I don't
know what you believe, but my goodness, that's what they did.
These are rebellious people against thine enemies. That's what they're
saying to the king, against your enemies. These people are rebels. But the thing that I notice mostly
in this accusation, it's this. It was really a half-truth. I
mean, truly, if you look at it, Carl, they were rebels against
something. They were rebels against evil. But here you see the craftiness
of Satan transforming himself into an angel of light. Here's
the problem. The great danger of false religion. There's so much truth in it. There's so much of its truth.
Now you sit down and listen, and there's a whole lot of things
that are being said that truly are right. You know, I mean,
you listen. I'm telling you, there's a great
deal of things that are said in false religion that are right. I read a little pamphlet the
other day, somebody sent me, and I'm telling you, it was,
you know, I mean, just until the last two pages, this thing
was great. It sounded good, it really did,
until it got to the last two pages. And then all of a sudden,
everything changed. The Scripture says, a little
leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Now, you know, I know this. I know that the Gospel must be
preached in truth. I know that there's no No wavering,
no doubt. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. I can tell you everything that
is so right down the line. And if it comes to that point,
to where right at the end, I say, now all you have to do to make
salvation effectual, I can tell you that God is sovereign. You say, that sounds good. God
is gracious. That sounds good. God's people
will hear that. But if I tell you, now the grace
of God is offered unto you. It's offered. And if you will
accept it, God will be gracious to you. And all of a sudden,
a believer is going to say, now wait a minute. You're making
that to be salvation by works. You're saying to me, that God
will be gracious and save me graciously if I will accept. Well, I'm not using those words
correctly. Grace and works don't mix at
all. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. But I'll tell you this, it goes
deeper than that. You could sit here and try to
go back and analyze every word that I said And I don't doubt
if you analyzed every word that I said and tried to scrutinize
everything that I said in this message this morning, if you
tried, you could probably find something that I said I probably
should have used a different tense or I should have, I don't
doubt that a bit. Because believe me, when I tell
you that I can mix up a tense or use a different word or say
a word in such a way that you don't understand exactly what
I'm saying, though you do, I understand that part of it. But when it
comes down to a little leaven, leavens the whole lump. This
evening, Lord willing, in the book of Leviticus, we're going
to get into another chapter. And I'm telling you, God begins
to set down the strictness of what He demands. And I read that
eleventh chapter of the book of Leviticus, and I'm telling
you, it just absolutely just took me back. at the strictness
of Almighty God. We don't have any idea who we're
dealing with. We think we do. He said, you thought, you thought
that I was a God. Why can you say that? You thought.
My ways are not your ways. When it says, a little leaven,
leaveneth the whole lump, let me tell you this, if there be
one atom, I can't even get it small enough, a little leaven,
One atom of leaven, one atom of sin be found on you, you have
no hope. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. It goes much deeper in that which I say. It's what I
am. We're with you. The rubbable
says, no, you're not. We're for you. No, you're not.
We'll help you. No, you won't. I'm telling you,
The law of Almighty God is so strict. He's holy. And that statement right there
just absolutely encompasses that which is so pure and so true. I cannot perceive it. Almighty
God is despised by natural man. But the wrath of man, I say,
is going to praise Him. They wrote these letters. And
they said unto the king, now I'm going to say, when the wrath
of man shall praise him, and I'm going to try to wrap this
up. Look in verse 14. These people wrote this king,
and they said, these people are rebellious people. That's what
they said. Verse 12. Be it known, verse
13, now unto the king, that if this city be built and the walls
set up, then they're not going to pay toll. They're not going
to pay taxes to you. They're not going to give you
what they owe, something like that. Tribute, custom, so thou
shalt endamage the revenue of the king. Then they said, now
because we have maintenance from the king's palace and it was
not meet for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore have we sent
and certified the king. When I said a moment ago that
the wrath of man shall praise Him, even that which men say in rebellion
against Almighty God." God Almighty will turn that for the good. Those words right there that
were said in rebellion against God, a believer truthfully says,
they do say. They said, now because we have
maintenance from the king's palace, we as his sheep are fed from
his great bounty. This is true for a believer.
Psalm 23, 5 says, Thou preparest a table before me in the presence
of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
and my cup runneth over it. They said to the king, they said,
you know what? You maintain us. We find all
of our sustenance, our maintenance from your table. Believers do. This is why Zerubbabel told them,
said, No, you don't have anything to do with us. We don't believe.
Here's what they're saying, O King, O mighty King, O blessed King,
you are our sustainer. Zerubbabel told them, said, No,
you're not going to deal with us because you don't believe
like this. This is what the believers believe. Almighty God, eternal
blessings in Christ are without number, but so are the temporal
blessings in this earth. The maintenance of the sheep
is from the King's palace. He is our bountiful supply. The Lord God was pleased to send
the choice treasure of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew
7.11, it says, If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children, how much more shall your Father which
is in heaven give good gifts to them that ask Him? My daughter is with us this morning. Becca came up yesterday afternoon.
Let me ask you something. If I had it within my power to
give her whatever she asked, and it was going to be for her
good. Do you think I'd withhold anything from her? Do you think
if I had it, and it was going to be for her good, for her sustenance,
do you think there's anything that I would withhold from her?
No. It's my daughter. It's my child. I love her. You see what I'm
saying? If you know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more? These said, because we have maintenance
from the king's palace, That's what believers say. We have maintenance. He keeps us. There's nothing
that He'll withhold from us. I remember Brother Don Fortner
using a good illustration one time. He said his son-in-law,
I think I've told you this before, his son-in-law, I asked him one
day, he said, Don, do you mind if I borrow your wrench? He said,
my wrench? He said, I gave you my daughter.
He said, do you think I'd withhold a wrench? from you? Let me see. We have maintenance from the
king's palace. Secondly, they said, it's not
meet or fit for us to see the king's dishonor. That's what
they said. The rebels said, no, you're not
with us. They're putting all of their
hope and trust in the kings of this earth, the maintenance of
this world. It's not meet for us to see the
king's dishonor. What's the greatest dishonor?
Now, you think about this. What is the greatest dishonor
that can be shown to the Lord of Heaven? You know, I thought
this thing through. What's the greatest dishonor?
The greatest dishonor, I'll tell you what it is, to not believe
Him. To not believe Him. The Scripture says in Mark 16, Mark 16. This is the Lord speaking. He was telling His disciples.
He was getting ready to ascend into heaven as the great high
priest. Mark 16, 15. He said unto them,
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Now you listen. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. That's the last word. The last
word. I remember back when it said,
these be the last words of David. He hath made with me an everlasting,
eternal covenant, sure in all things. That's all my salvation. The last words of a man, you
know, an honorable man ought to be adhered to, listened to.
These were the last words. For he ascended into heaven.
He that believeth baptized be saved. He that believeth not
be damned. I'm telling you the greatest
dishonor toward Almighty God is that he believes Him not. Two things are revealed if a
man dies in unbelief. Number one, he's a rebel against
God. He's a rebel against God. You believe not. He was not. one of God's own. Secondly, John
10.26, he says, But speaking to these Pharisees, you believe
not, because you are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And
thirdly, they said back in Ezra 4.14, Therefore have we sent
and certified the king. We have maintenance from the
king's palace, It's not meet for us to see the king's dishonor,
therefore have we sent and certified the king." That word certified
right there, it means we've corresponded with you. We wrote you. We've made it known to you. This
is what these people are doing and we're making it known unto
you. Now we believe that Almighty God knows all things. Absolutely. He's omniscient. But He has so
ordered all things. such that we are brought to cast
ourselves upon Him for mercy." Telling Him. Asking Him. Seeking Him. Knocking for His
audience, and therefore, His mercy. Turn with me and we'll
wrap this up. 2 Kings 19. 2 Kings 19, verse
14. when Hezekiah received the letter
of the messengers and read it. Hezekiah had been surrounded. He was besieged. This letter was sent to him and
he told him, this evil king said, I'm going to destroy you. And how many of the other kings
are gods of the other kings that I besieged." How many of the
gods helped them? And he said, this is what I'm
going to do to you. And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand
of the messenger and read it. And Hezekiah went up into the
house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah
prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwelleth
between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone. In
all the kingdoms of the earth thou hast made heaven and earth.
Lord, bow down thine ear here. Open, Lord, thine eyes and see,
and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach
the living God of a truth. Lord, the kings of Assyria have
destroyed the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods
into the fire. And they were no gods, but the
work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore have they destroyed
them. Now therefore, O Lord our God,
I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the
kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even
thou only." Let me ask you this. Do you think God knew that Sennacherib
had written him that letter? Absolutely. These right here
said, O King, we're receiving our maintenance from you. Believers
say that. We don't want to see the king's
dishonor. God's people don't. We've certified the King. We've
announced this to you. Prayer is the response of the
life within that seeks the will of God Almighty. Our Lord, when
He was in this earth, He prayed continually. We put our shoulder
to the wheel while praying for His strength to put it in motion. We are maintained at the King's
palace. It's not meet that we see the
King's dishonor. It's due. It's our duty that
we seek His glory, put His trust in Him. And in closing, we see,
as before, that temporary triumph of a cause is not proof of the
righteousness of Almighty God. The king said in the remainder
of the chapter, I could read this for you, you can read it,
but what he said was this, in verse like 15, that search may
be made. They said, we want you to check
it out. And the king did check it out.
And he saw that after searching the records of the Jews that
they had been rebellious people. And he stopped it. And it was
apparent at that time outwardly that the wicked had triumphed.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, did not the whole
group in rebellion against Almighty God think that they had gotten
victory over Him? They thought that they had put
Him out of their misery. And all they did was accomplish. And as we, Lord willing, go into
the next chapters, we'll find out how God turned this around
for the good of His people. You see, we're not competent
to judge the relation of present events to the purpose and providence
of Almighty God. How can these things be working
out? How? I can look back on my life
and I think, How could something like that be for my good? How could that? Surely, I know
by faith, I know that the Scripture sets forth that that's the way
it is, but how could it? And even now, faintly, dimly,
I think, I say, well, I see now had this not happened, then this
wouldn't have happened, and this wouldn't have happened, I'm not
competent to judge what's God doing. The Lord Himself, He's
God. He doeth as He will in the army
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And it is sufficient
that He says, I do all things well. That it works together
for good. It's enough. It's enough. The
hindrance that these men saw in the building of that temple
was for their good and the glory of Almighty God in what you are
going through is the same thing.