Take me now to Ezra chapter 3. Ezra chapter 3. As we begin to look at the book
of Ezra, in Ezra chapter 1, we see the liberty of being set
free from bondage. Israel was liberated from the
bondage of Babylon. That is a type of the believer's
release by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ from the shackles,
from the bondage of sin. Then in chapter 2, the Scripture
is set forth the particular ones that came out of Babylon. In that we see in the naming
of all those people, the particular ones, who they were, where they
were from. It shows a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ being chosen in Him and His elect chosen from
the foundation of the world, numbered by the Father, redeemed
by the blood, and called by grace." That was chapter 2. Now in chapter
3, we will look, and this morning I plan to just look really at
the first four verses. I would think that probably just
looking at this a little more closely, but in chapter 3 it
relates the people having come together and setting up the altar
and offering the sacrifices first, and then, Lord willing, we will
begin looking next time at the actual rebuilding of the temple. But in considering the first
four verses of chapter 3 of Ezra, I want us to look first of all
and behold the unity of the Lord's church, the togetherness. It says, And when the seventh
month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities,
the people gathered themselves together. as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Joshua, the son
of Zadok, and his brethren, the priest, and Zerubbabel, the son
of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and built the altar of the God
of Israel to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in
the law of Moses the man of God." And they set the altar upon his
bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of those
countries. And they offered burnt offerings
thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening. And they kept also the Feast
of Tabernacles, as it was written, and offered the daily burnt offerings
by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day Now, the Scripture begins, and
it says, when the seventh month was come. Now, this was a month
of many festivals. It was a foretaste of eternal
life where there is no rest, but there is eternal rest. You
say, well, that statement hardly seems to make sense. Turn with
me to Revelation chapter 4. Revelation 4 verse 8, speaking,
John writing under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Revelation
4 verse 8, it says, had each of them six wings about him,
and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not, day and night,
saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is
and is to come." Now, the Scripture says that they rest not, meaning
this, there is no ceasing of eternal praise unto our Lord. This is a mysterious thing, but
we can understand what he is talking about. Here we are, we
come together, Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening,
Sunday morning, Sunday evening, never resting, never ceasing,
continually here, never resting but always resting, continually
coming together in praising Him, never resting in magnifying Him
who is worthy, never tiring A believer does not tire. I heard one man
say one time, a faithful preacher, he said, it's one thing to tire
in the ministry, but he said, God keep us from ever tiring
of it. We rest not, but we continually rest. When the seventh month
was come, now we could go back and and read, it's found. And
the reason I'm not going to turn to Leviticus right now to read
this is because I'm going to read a portion of it in just
a minute. But it's over in Leviticus, and it talks about the seventh
month. It was the month of many, many
festivals. And though the people were in
their respective cities, in verse 1 it says, when the seventh month
was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, They
were not all, remember I said last time, they were not all
going back to Jerusalem proper to live there. They lived in
some cities around, but they were going to come together.
It says when they were in their cities, they gathered themselves
together, the Scripture says, as one man to Jerusalem. They didn't come by constraint.
significance of the word and the phrase really when it says,
they came together as one man. That was the significant statement
in that first verse right there. They didn't come together by
having a decree that was set out. And everybody said, OK,
listen, what we're going to do is this. Everybody show up, you
know, at seven o'clock on Saturday. in Jerusalem. It wasn't that.
They came together as one man. It appears as though that the
Lord Himself, based on the phrase, as one man, it means inspired
by one will, coming together by the constraint of Almighty
God. Just as they had come out of Babylon, the Lord moved upon
them to come together. God's people are motivated, moved,
drawn by the Spirit of God. They are moved by that which
is holy and spiritual. Let me read something to you. They came together inspired by
one in Zephaniah 3, verse 8 and 9. It says, Therefore wait ye
upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the
prey, P-R-E-Y, for my determination is to gather the nations, that
I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation,
even all my fierce anger, for all the earth shall be devoured
with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people
a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the
Lord to serve Him with one consent. One heart. This is the mark of
a believer. They are drawn and motivated
with one heart by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God moved
upon these men, these women, these that were in that place.
The seventh month, the children of Israel were in the cities,
and the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Not by decree. Psalm 133.1 says,
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity. And you know what? They do. Brethren
always are in unity. They are always together. Now,
I understand. I know. We are all human. And we all
have, every once in a while, we will, you know, have a little
something come up. Brethren dwell together in unity. They're together. If I've done
something, if I did something to Bob right there, if I've offended
him, and I know I've offended him, I'm going to tell you something. I'm just not going to let tonight
go down. I'll just call him up or go by and see him and just
put my arm around him and say, Bob, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me,
I'm sorry. Behold, how good, how pleasant for brethren to
dwell together in unity. Wonderfully is the Godhead magnified
in this unity. One God, three Persons, God the
Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And fellowship among believers
is a mark of true life. and sovereign mercy. They came together. They came
as one man. They were there for one reason.
They're going to worship. That's what they're there for.
I just want to hear. You've come together this morning.
We've come together, all of us, for what? Worship. I want to
hear. This is all I'm concerned about.
You tell me what Almighty God has to say. You tell me what
God Almighty has to say to my heart. And I pray God bless it
to me. And how does this Scripture right
here, written hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years ago, what
is the significance for me right now? How does this relate to
me now? 1 John 1.7 says if we walk in
the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship. one with
another. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." What? Does that mean that
His blood cleanseth us from all sin if we will walk in the light? No. What it means is those who
have been cleansed by His blood walk in the light. And they have
fellowship one with the other. Well, the Scripture says, then
stood up Joshua, the son of Josadak and his brethren, the priests,
Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, they built
the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings thereon
as it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. These
fellows came together and the Lord had moved on them to leave
Babylon. That is what God did. just about,
I'm sure, about all of us. He called us out of our bondage. He called us probably out of
religion. That's where most people come
out of. They come out of religion. Dark,
dead, false religion. He called them out and brought
them together. And He assembled them, these people, He assembled
them together in the place where He was going to manifest Himself. And the Scripture says, a man
stood up, Joshua. And here is a man that Scripture
does not say took that honor upon himself. The Lord gave him
a heart, raised him up. The Scripture says, I'll send
you pastors according to my heart after His heart and His will,
and they have a heart and will after Him. No man takes this
honor to himself. It is kind of fearful to me when
I detect someone that expresses, they have a real, real desire. They want to go somewhere and
they want to They want to pastor or they want to do it. Most men
that I've found that God has truly raised up, they're reluctant. I told someone one time, they
told me, they said, I want to go somewhere and pastor. I want
to go somewhere and pastor. I told them, I said, I wouldn't. Unless I had to, I wouldn't.
If I could do anything else, if you could do anything else,
do it. Whatever you do, if you can do anything else other than
pastor, I'd do that. I'd do it. Because if God calls
a man, that's all he can do. He can't do anything else. But
this man right here, he stood up. He didn't take the honor
upon himself. And here we behold this man Joshua,
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who but Christ has the right
to stand up. I know Joshua didn't. I know
that in myself, I don't. I know for Brother Scott. You
ask him, if you could, did you just take that honor to yourself
or was it there by divine constraint? Did you have to? Why? Only Christ has the right to
stand up. Joshua, he stood up. his brethren, the priest, and
they built this altar according to the law of Moses, the man
of God. Joshua, he led in the building
of that altar. Almighty God must be approached
by blood and only with a willing heart. Look what it says, "...there
stood up Joshua, the son of Josedach, and his brethren the priests,
and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and built the
altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings thereon."
Now, you know, as we have studied the different offerings, the
burnt offering is very significant in that it is setting forth the
willingness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember in the burnt
offering, that set forth the willingness of the Lord Jesus
Christ to be the substitute. The willing substitute. And it
was a sweet savor offering. The Father was pleased in His
willingness, in His obedience. He did that which He did willingly. God's people do not serve and
long and hunger after Him unwillingly. They don't. They are willing
in the day of His power. It must be, this sacrifice must
be according to the satisfaction of God's law. For only in obedience
is the Father appeased. They that worship God must worship
Him in spirit. heartily, willingly, and truth. The Lord Jesus is our altar. It says that Joshua stood up
and led in the building of that altar. He is our altar. He is our priest. He is our sacrifice. He is the one who has stood in
the gap. When it says, and He stood, He
stood up, I thought my mind just went A million miles. I think the significance of that.
He stood up. Who is there? Where is the man
to stand in the gap? You know, deliver them from going
down to the pit. I found a ransom. He stood up.
Who will get? I'll go. Willie. We are ambassadors of
Christ, and we preach in His stead. But we are servants of
the Great Shepherd. and His people, His priest, only
in Him. It says they stood up and they
built an altar. The foundation, we're going to
find it just next week. I don't want to get ahead. It
says, verse 6, the foundation of the temple was not yet laid,
but they're building an altar. going to be a place they are
going to worship God. The altar. This was God's ordained sign
or outward manifestation of His pleasure. They actually built
an altar. There was a place. Now this is
a great mystery. You know that the Lord Jesus
Christ is our altar. He is. He is the priest that
offers. He is the sacrifice that is offered. And He is the altar on which
it is offered. All things are of Him. That altar,
though, had great significance. They actually built An altar. It was actually there. I want
you to turn with me to Genesis 33. Genesis 33, verse 18. Genesis
33, 18. And Jacob came to Shalem. city of Shechem, which is in
the land of Canaan, when he came from Phaedanoram and pitched
his tent before the city. And he bought a parcel of field
where he had spread his tent at the hand of the children of
Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money, and
he erected there an altar, and he called it El El Ohi Israel. And if you look in your margin
there, it means God, the God of Israel. What he said is that he built,
he bought this piece of ground, and he raised up an altar. He built it. He erected it. He
erected an altar. under the direction of God. And
this is what he called it. He called that altar the God
of Israel. Now, it was not that he was saying
that those stones that he raised up, that that's God. You know
that that's not what he meant. What he meant was this. This
was the place that God was pleased to manifest Himself. He manifest
Himself in a sacrifice. That's what he was saying. He
manifests himself in this way. This is the way that God is going
to be approached. Now, turn with me to Psalm 105.
Psalm 105, verse 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. and call upon His name, and make
known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto
Him, talk ye of all His wondrous works. Glory ye in His holy name,
and let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the
Lord and His strength. Seek His face evermore." Now,
the significance of that That word right there, face, that's
where that word, seek His face. Seek Him is what he's saying. The Lord Jesus Christ, we behold
God in the face, in the revelation of Christ Himself. That's the
only way that we know God Almighty. Seek His face. Some might say,
well, what do you mean when you say seek the face of God? We seek Him. We hear from Him
in the way that He is pleased to manifest Himself. An altar
was built. It was raised up. And that's
where God Almighty had revealed that He would manifest Himself.
Seek His face. In this day, this is the way. There's nothing spiritual. This is a piece of wood. That's
a piece of wood right there. That's a piece of vinyl that's
on top of this real nicely done. It's put together real well. I think Brother Glenn built this.
built that thing. There's not a one ounce of merit
in this pulpit right here. But there is in the manifestation
of Almighty God, this pulpit right here, it's a great stand. It stands right here. I can stand
and I can put some notes together so I don't start chasing rabbits
And here is the Word of God, and I can sit here and I can
look at it. Almighty God has been pleased to manifest Himself. Not that there is any merit in
this, but this is the way that God Almighty is going to reveal
His face, the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and Himself. This
is the way that God... And let men do whatever they
want to do. This is the way God's approached. This is the way God's
approached. This is the way that God's approached. He said, I'm
going to send you a pastor. And I'm going to send you a pastor
after my heart. And they'll teach you. This is
the way that God manifests Himself. We come together. Not that that
altar had any merit in itself, this pulpit, the pews, this building. But I'm going to tell you something.
This place is to be respected in the sense that this is how
God Almighty has providentially manifested Himself in the teaching
of His people. This is where we come together. I mean, it's just wood. It's
just glass. It's metal. It's just stuff. It's nothing in itself. But this
is where God is pleased. They raised up an altar. Not
that the stone had any merit, but that's where God was pleased.
to manifest Himself. And it's to be respected and
to be thanked for. We're thankful for this place.
I'm thankful that Almighty God, years and years and years ago,
moved upon the heart of some people and called them out of
a place and pulled them together and gave them one heart to come
together and buy a piece of property. You say, well, there's no difference
in this piece of property and that right down there, right
down there. Well, really? This is where God was pleased
to raise up a place right here. That's just rock on the outside,
but that rock, that wood, that's where God was pleased. He raised
up an altar. And that's where the people of
God have been meeting faithfully. And I'm thankful for that. I
am thankful that Almighty God pleased. They built an altar. The building of that altar suggests
something. They came together and they built
an altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings thereon,
as it was written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. That
offering suggested, first of all, Man needs an atonement with
God. Man has rebelled against Almighty
God. And those that have been made
conscious of their sin, those that have a desire for Almighty
God to be propitious, that means favorably satisfied. That is
what it means. I pray that God be propitious
toward me. How? How is He? Mark, how? How? Tell me how? Well, they built an altar. And
on that altar, they offered a sacrifice. And that is what it says. God
is just. That is what it says. The wages
of sin is death. They knew that. God Almighty
has approached only He's fairly fair. He's fair. I'm a just God. And my desire is for fellowship
with Him. And that by the grace of God.
I mean, it's a miracle. I think this morning. Do you
know how wonderful it is to be able to get up and even have
a desire to worship? To have a desire to be here?
to want to come together and hear the Word of God. I want
to. I think, my goodness, listen,
I'm telling you. I know, I can remember. I can remember what it feels
like. Just show up. You know? Because Granny made me go. Just
show up. And I'm thinking this, there
is nothing in this world that is more boring than to go and
sit and listen to a man just ramble on and on and on until
Almighty God gives a man a heart to have desire to be there and
to hear and to long after. And a believer doesn't take that
lightly. They think, I'm thankful. Did God give me a heart to be
here? I know this. I can't provide
satisfaction before Almighty God. So my great Joshua stood
up and he built the altar. He established the place to be
himself. an altar of sacrifice for me. And this they did, the Scripture
says, as it is written in the law of Moses. This is the way
they did it. This is the way that they approached
God. They built that altar. That's
the way God's approached. In a sacrifice. As it's written
in the law of God. according to the law of Moses,
the man of God. Romans chapter 12. Romans 12.1. You've read this one verse so
many times. Romans 12.1. Paul, writing, says, I beseech
you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. There's a key. We say with the
psalmist. who beseech you by the mercies
of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Your reasonable service. What is that? Well, it means
rational. You know, man by nature, spiritually,
is a madman. By nature, he's crazy. He thinks
wild things about God. Unrational things about God.
You're reasonable, service. Present your body as a living
sacrifice. You're reasonable. You're logical.
That's the second thing to me. Logical. This is logical. I told someone one time, the
gospel God's free grace is the only logical message. It's logical. Now, it's logical
when God gives you heart for it. I know that. But it's logical. You try to rationalize free will,
and it is not logical. It's not logical. You think about
it. You tell a man, you tell him
he's dead. Scripture says man is dead and
trespasses sin. If you come to Christ by your free will, He will give
you life. Well, wait a minute, that is
not logical. How can a man come if he is dead? How can you? Jesus died on the cross for everybody's
sins. He paid everybody's debt. But if you don't give Him your
heart, He's going to send you to hell. Well, if He died for
my sins, and I don't have a debt before God, how can He be fair
if He sends me to hell? That's not logical. The gospel. Which is your logical, your reasonable
service? Thirdly, that word means Intelligent. Intelligent. According to the
understanding of God's mercies to you, you present your bodies
a living sacrifice. Lord, I am what I am by your
mercy, by your grace. Lord, you call me out of darkness.
Lord, keep me. Lord, teach me. Speak to me. Present your body
as a living sacrifice, which is your logical, intelligent,
spiritually intelligent and rational service. God's people, they're
logically taught and they speak logically. And then thirdly,
third verse, I mean, they set the altar upon His bases. for fear was upon them because
of the people of those countries. They offered burnt offerings
there unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening. They set it, Scripture says,
that altar upon its bases. This temple had been torn down.
What happened? They were there to rebuild the
temple, but they set that altar. There was a base there. And the
Scripture says they set the altar on the place where the altar
had been before, on its basis, on the old or the former foundation. The Scripture says, for other
foundation can no man lay than it is laid that is Jesus Christ. The altar is symbolic there. That altar was placed. That is
where God said, place it. That is where God Almighty said,
you put the altar right Here, you place it right here. You
know what we do? We're preaching the Lord Jesus
Christ, Him crucified. We preach Christ. We preach the
cross, not that piece of wood. I heard somebody say if all the
pieces of wood that claim to be pieces of the original cross,
probably this stake couldn't hold it. You know, we don't preach
a piece of wood. We preach Him who was on that
cross. He preached the substitute, the
cross, the accomplishment, the work finished. He said, you place
the altar. And they put it on, the Scripture
says, they set it on His basis. They put it just exactly. This
is what we do. We preach Him. We set it on the
foundation of Christ. Other foundation can no man lay. There was gracious unity of these
believers. They came together and Joshua
stood up, a picture of Christ Himself. Our great Joshua, he
himself, the leader, Christ, our head, he set forth. This
is where it is going to be. This is where the altar is going
to be. And they set it right there. And the reason they did
it, the Scripture says, for there was fear upon them because of
the people of those countries. The Lord Himself said in Matthew
10, 34, ìThink not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword.î Now, you know, I would probably be willing to bet, just
about to ask everybody, including myself, in this congregation
this morning, have you ever known anything of some resentment and
fightings and wars over the gospel, over the issue of the gospel.
And you know, the thing about it is that you're going to find,
by and large, it's not those that are, you know, neighbors
right over here, right over there, somebody that you don't have
any knowledge of. Normally, it's going to be those of your own
household. You know who said that? The Lord Jesus Christ. man's enemies, greatest enemies,
is fearful, worried because of the gospel. The Lord said, I
did not come to send peace. I came to send a sword. Persecutions and the offenses
of the cross shall never in this life cease, but even danger is
for our good, for it drives us to Him. Now, it hurts. It hurts
when somebody you love, somebody you trusted, everybody, given
time, they're going to be a demis for somebody. Demis, Paul said,
has forsaken me. Having loved this present world.
They're going to be a Judas. Somebody that you trusted. Somebody
that you loved. And you thought that that person
would never, would never do that. But for God's grace, yes they
will, and you will too, and I will too. I will. You will. But for the grace of God, they
raised up an altar for fear was upon them because of the people
of those countries. Danger was God's tool to cause
them to hasten the altar. Now you think about it. You find
yourself in a position of trouble, trial, tribulation. It's because
of the way we are. God Almighty uses those things
and we cast ourselves afresh on Him. But you let everything
be fine and good and peaceful, no big deal, and we are prone
to forget. We are just like that. Here is
the evidence of our association with the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said, ìYou will be hated of all men for my nameís sake, for the
sake of the gospel.î Herein we see the enmity of the unregenerate
toward God and toward His people. The Lord said in John 15, He
said, If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before
it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own. But because you're not of the
world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you. He said, Because I chose you
out of the world. Because I chose you out of the world. Because
I chose you out of the world. Man, I don't think there's anything,
Brother Scott, that makes somebody mad faster. You tell them, say,
God Almighty has a right to choose. Because I chose you out of the
world. They hate you. It's not fair. Here we see the
keeping grace of God Almighty for His own. And it says they
offered burnt offerings morning and evening. With this, I'm going
to stop. Lord, will it pick up next time.
Morning and evening. burnt offerings were made. We
have daily need for our transgressions. Our feet needs to be continually
washed morning and evening. Those sacrifices never morning
and evening and evening and morning and morning and evening. Daily,
daily, daily omissions and commissions, daily we must be reminded of
our great burnt offering, Christ Himself, who ever liveth to make
intercession for us. I need to be reminded this morning,
right now, as I speak the very words that are coming out of
my mouth, I need to be reminded right now of Him who has satisfied
God Almighty in my stead. in whom the Father is well pleased. Those burnt sacrifices, morning
and evening, there was a daily need of consciences being reminded
of His guidance, His guardianship, His covering, because we are
in the midst of a world that despises the God that we serve
and love. 2 Corinthians 4 says we have this
treasure in earthen vessels. You look around, I am looking
at folks that are a little bit older than they were last time
I saw them. Just a little bit. People though
that are dying. We are dying. We are getting
older. Sin, the presence and the effects of sin is taking
its toll. But the Scripture says we have
this treasure. And oh, how little I perceive
of the treasure. But God has revealed that this
treasure is in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power
may be of God. That's why. It's in earthen vessels
that we might realize, you know what? I can't even keep myself
from getting older. I can't even keep myself from
being an hour older than I was an hour ago when I started this
message. I wasn't as old as I am now.
This is as old as I've ever been. And the reason that this treasure
is in earthen vessels is that the excellency of the power may
be of God. How can I keep myself eternally?
I can't even keep myself from growing an hour older. And not
of us. We are troubled on every side.
Paul said, we are not distressed. We are perplexed, but we are
not in despair. We are persecuted, but not forsaken. We are cast down, but we are
not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body the dying of
the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in our body. These folks came together. Built
an altar. The place where God was going
to meet with them. This morning, may He, by His grace and mercy,
cause us to behold Him who is our author. These folks came
together to worship God. This is the way God is pleased
to manifest it. This is how we worship. We worship
Him in hearing, worship Him in thinking on Him, Saying back
to those things that He said concerning Himself, Lord, You're
worthy. He said, I'm worthy. That's what we say, Lord, You're
worthy. We say unto Him that which He has revealed unto us. Amen. Okay. Let's stand and sing hymn number
195.