Turn with me to the book of Ezra
chapter 2. While you're turning there, let
me say this, and I'll try to remember to say it again tonight.
Brother Cody Gruber from Mexico, you know Cody, all of you, I
know, is in the States and is planning to be preaching at the
conference in Danville, Kentucky. here at Brother Don Fortner's
over the Labor Day holidays. Today he is in Ashland preaching
for the folks there at 13th Street and can be with us on Tuesday
night of this week. So what we will do is we will
have our midweek services this Tuesday night at 7.30 instead
of Wednesday. So, Brother Cody Groover will
be with us this Tuesday night. Ezra chapter 2. Lord willing, we will
try to go through this second chapter. I know there are 70
verses. Many of them deal with the names
of those that came out of Babylon. We'll try to consider this second
chapter. Now, blessed are the teachings
of the Spirit of God in this book of Ezra, the prophet. And I pray this morning that
we might be bound together This is a blessed time. To be able
to come together as brethren. When Brother Scott was reading
that 10th chapter of the book of Romans, that's how it started.
Brethren. And I thought, you know, what
a precious word that is. To be able to have brethren. We have a lot of associations. You work with a lot of folks.
You go to school with some folks. You've got a lot of But brethren,
that's a precious word to be able to have folks that Almighty
God has done something for and given them a heart as He's given
you a heart to worship together, come together. And I pray today
that as we're considering this second chapter of Ezra, that
we might truly hear from him and not lose divine instruction
that He might truly teach us. Now, you know we looked last
week at the first chapter of Ezra, and there we see that the
people of God were told by King Cyrus. Now, he was a heathen
king, but the Spirit of God moved upon this heathen king to allow
the people of God to be Released. If they wanted to go, whatever
you want to do, you can do it. If you want to leave, you leave.
You can go back to Jerusalem. Now, there we looked at and saw
Cyrus as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Brother Scott was
saying, from beginning to end, there is no Scripture in all
of the Bible that is not concerning him. All of him. Now, for time's
sake, I will not go through and read every name that is found
in this second chapter. But let me tell you that there
is no Scripture. If we could, and I'm not saying
that I can, I'm just telling you that I'm convinced of this,
every name that is named, every region that is named in this
second chapter, if we were allowed by the Spirit of God to see the
depth of what that name meant, you take that one name, that
man's name, that city's name, whatever, and could behold the
fullness of what that name meant, we'd see the Lord Jesus Christ
in it. You'd see Him. But this second chapter begins
with the actual going forth. Chapter 1, summing up, said this,
you can go. Chapter 2 says the ones that
actually went out. Chapter 2 begins and says in
verse 1, Now these are the children of the province that went up
out of captivity of those which had been carried away whom Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, had carried away unto Babylon, and came again
unto Jerusalem, and Judah, every one unto his city." Now, these
that will be named are in type a picture of God's elect. Those who are being restored
and released from the bondage of sin. These people were in
bondage in Babylon. God's elect are in bondage to
sin. Cyrus was the means by which
God released them, told them, anyone who desires to go. The
Lord Jesus Christ is our liberator. He is our redeemer. He is, by
His own precious blood, the one that Almighty God sent into this
world for the sake of His honor and the elect, those chosen from
the foundation of the world to be called out of darkness into
His marvelous light, restored to the privilege of worship."
And that's what this is. Those that know Him, those that
know Him with a new heart, that have a heart after. We were talking
about this the other day. how easily it is to hear and
to understand some doctrinal points. I understand some doctrinal
points, but it's another thing to have a heart after it, to
love it. Cannot do without it. Can't do
without it. Got to have it. Got to be there. Got to work. Got to hear. Got
to restore to the privilege of worship. This is a joy, yes,
but it's a privilege to be here by God's grace that Almighty
God would allow a man or a woman to have a heart after the glorious
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those lost in the fall, but everlastingly
loved by Almighty God, a people that He said I will not. As we looked last Wednesday night,
those, He said, I'm just not going to allow you to be like
those cities in Sodom and Gomorrah. When Sodom and Gomorrah, I'm
just not going to do it. I purposed. I'm going to have
mercy on you. I'm going to have compassion
on you. Looking for that place, the Lord Jesus Christ, the city, which have foundations whose
builder and maker is God. Mercy and grace from God alone
restores a man to a forfeited inheritance. That's what this
is. We gave it up by our own decision. You say, oh, that was
in Adam. I fell in Adam. That's right.
But I'll tell you this, we do just exactly what our great-great-great-grandfather
Adam did." Rebels against God. These were free to worship God. But the Scripture says, these
are the children. Now you see this where it says,
these were the children of the province. These were the children
of the province that went up out of captivity. That word province
there, it means a district that is ruled by a judge. Now, we need to be careful, as
we've said before, how quickly we just skim over something and
just read it. I mean, that's very easy to do.
Just read that. These were the children of the
province that went up. What province? What? Why? What are you talking about?
Children of the province. They were allowed to go up to
Jerusalem out of total bondage. in Babylon. But they were still
considered when they went out of Babylon and they went back
to the cities where they lived, that place of Judea, they were
still under the province of Persia. Now Cyrus was the king of Persia. They went back to where they
were. They could go back to Jerusalem in the cities. They lived in
certain cities around. And Jerusalem was not the city
that they all went back to. They had cities. We are all assembled
right here, but not every person in this congregation this morning
is out to the same street, the same road. But here we are. They
went back to worship. They were still under the civil
rule of Persia, Cyrus. He was still the king. The Jews
in the time of Christ, who was the ruling government at the
time? It was the Romans. They were
under Roman rule. There were some civil rules that
they had to contend with. Believers, though completely
free in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ. Their sins atoned for by His
blood. They are free to worship. Free. Free to believe by God's grace. Free to trust truly. They are free. They are free.
But they are still in this world. They are still in this province. They are bound to the same law.
A believer has no right to say, listen, I'm free in Christ. Therefore, I don't have to obey
the speed limit out here. I'm free. I don't have to obey
the laws. Yes, you do. We're still in this
world bound to the same law of this creation. Same one. I'm free. I live by faith. I
live by faith. By faith. I live by faith. That's good. You trust God. But I'll tell you this, while
you're living by faith, the Scripture says, if a man doesn't work,
neither should he eat. What about that? If a man owes
somebody anything, the Scripture says, owe no man anything but
to love him. To love one another. We're living
in this world right here. A man gets up and he goes to
work. It's a picture. of the obedience
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Romans 13. Let
me show you something. We are free men, free by faith. We trust the Lord Jesus Christ. They went out, the Scripture
says, these were the children, but they were of the province. Romans 13, verse 1, let every
soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power
but of God. The powers that be are ordained
of God. I'm going to tell you something.
Do you know who the governor of this state is? Bob Wise. Good, bad, indifferent. Whatever. Whatever you think about him,
that's whatever. You know who put him there? Almighty
God. God put him there. God put him
there. The mayor of Fairmont, God put
him there. The powers that be are ordained
of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation, not eternal, but you will pay. In this world you resist that,
for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.
Will thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is
good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is a minister
of God to thee for good." Almighty God has ordained the powers that
be for the good of the elect. The reason that we have a police
force is for the sake of God's elect, to keep them protected. I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. If Almighty God raises up a police
force in this city, right here, it is for the good of God's people.
He is the minister of God for thee for good. But if thou do
that which is evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword
in vain, for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute
wrath upon him that doeth good. Wherefore, ye must needs be subject,
not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for
this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers,
attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore
to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to
whom custom is due, fear to whom fear, honor also to whom honor. Owe no man anything but to love
one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." You know, when it comes time
for me to pay my taxes, Man, do you know what? I sure
do appreciate riding on that road out there. Yeah, but they
wasted my money. You know, I'm telling you that
that is not your place to decide what the government does. You
render that which is due. If you owe it, pay it. It's the
right thing. It is ordained of Almighty God.
Back in Ezra, these are the children of the prophets. that went up
out of captivity, those that were carried away. Though we
live in this world forgiven, though our sins are blotted out
as to its power to damn my soul, I'm still in this world. I live
in this world. And I live by the laws of this
country. And it's the right thing to do.
The Lord Jesus Christ set forth, he obeyed the law in the obedience
of the law. It is to the honor of Almighty
God, the emulation of Him who did that which was right. It's
fair. It's right, Bob. It's right. It's the right thing. A believer
is consistent. They're consistent. You trust
them. They're fair. They do that which
is right. Oh, wretched man, Paul says that
I am. Who shall deliver me from the
bondage of this death? I am living in this world. But
though having been in captivity for seventy years, though they
were still in the world of Persian night, they weren't of it by
agreement. They kept themselves from the
world. We're in it, but we're not of
it. We obey that which is right,
that which is wrong. We shun. And these people, when
they came out, there was a lineage that was kept, an exact lineage. A faithful record of the stock
of Israel was maintained. They were living in Babylon.
But the seed of Israel was not incorporated into the lineage
of Babylon. There were perfect records. Though they were cast down in
their sins, Israel was not cast off. God maintained a record,
a perfect record. Oh, how highly this sets forth
and speaks of the true Israel of God, the elect. the sanctified
ones in Christ Jesus. Though the appearance of those
that belong to Him may escape the natural eye for a while,
time is going to reveal the elect. I don't know whose are the Lords. I don't know who God's elect
are. But here's what I do. I come every Sunday morning,
Sunday evening, Brother Scott, faithfully, I've been here 50
years, more or less, preaching faithfully. You know why? Because
the Word of God is not going to return void. It's going to
accomplish the purpose. And I don't know who the elect
are. But I know this, that the preaching of the gospel is the
means that God's going to call them out. God knows who they
are. I don't. And so therefore, we preach and
say this, There is deliverance, a release from the bondage of
sin, for all that Almighty God has chosen from the foundation
of the world, God's going to call them out. And it's not that
you tell them, now as long as you do this, this, this, this,
and this, God will, then you tell them, this is what God has
done. This is what the Lord has said He shall do. And in time,
The Spirit of God will take that message and He will bring that
message, not in word only, but in power to the elect of God. And the Spirit of God will reveal
to them, You are Mine. I loved you everlastingly. I
am calling you by My grace. And you are coming because I
made you willing in the day of My power. They shall hear the
voice of a Master And they'll come out. Cyrus said, anyone
who wants to come out. Some did and some didn't. The
Spirit of God speaks to those that the Lord Jesus Christ has
redeemed, that the Father has chosen, and when He makes them
willing in the day of His power, they say, I'll come to Him. I'll
come. The names of all those everlastingly
loved by Almighty God is recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life as
a record. And chapter 2 of Ezra sets forth
the record, the exact record of those that Almighty God purposed
were coming out of Babylon. A record was made of them. These
are the ones that have come out. Turn with me to Luke 10. Let
me show you something. We talk about hearing the gospel and the Spirit
of God releasing men from bondage. Look what the Lord Jesus Christ
has to say. Luke 10, verse 17, And the seventy
returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject
unto us through Thy name. And He said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you
power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, in this rejoice
not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice,
because your names are written in heaven." Now you stop and
think about that. Don't rejoice because you have
power that I gave you over Satan and demons. People make a thing
over that today. It's a big, big thing. Healings. He said, you want to rejoice,
you rejoice here that your name is written in heaven. That Almighty
God from the foundation of the world set His affection on you
and purposed that He would not leave you to yourself. To go
by your way. Go by the way you think things
ought to be done. He said, you rejoice in here. In verse 2, we find the beginning
of the names being written. The royal lineage of the Messiah. The Scripture says in verse 2,
which came with Zerubbabel. We'll stop just right there for
a moment. Just that one name right there. In Matthew 1, verse
12, and we're going to look in Matthew 1 in just a second, so
you turn over there, Matthew 1. But in Matthew 1, verse 12,
it's revealed according to the Scripture. Now here again, one
of those passages of Scripture. When you look at Matthew 1, you
start looking at all of those names. Boy, how easy. We just skip over. You know, where are those names? I can't even pronounce them. Those names don't mean anything
to me. You know, chapter 7, verse 7,
Raboam. And Raboam begat Abiah. and Abiah begat Asa, and Asa,
and on and on and on and on. Look over in verse 17, Matthew
1. It sums it up, all that had been
said just before. It says, so all the generations
from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David until
the carrying away, Babylon are 14 generations, and from the
carrying away from Babylon, well, that's what we're looking at.
We're looking at them coming out of Babylon. This has something
to do with that. Carrying away from Babylon unto
Christ are 14 generations. But look at Matthew 1, verse
12. And after they were brought to
Babylon, Jeconias begat Salathiel, and Salathiel begat... You see
this? Zerubbabel. That's the same man
back in Ezra that we're looking at. Zerubbabel. He was born in
Babylon. Born in Babylon. And the Scripture
reveals that out of this lineage was going to come the Lord Jesus
Christ. Perfect. Promise. That's what it says. By promise,
He's coming. And by promise, that's how you
come. All that came out was to the glory of the Savior by lineage,
showing that salvation, that redemption, that perseverance
of the elect is by God's purpose. Purpose. Purpose. Nothing by
chance. You say, yeah, but all of those
registers that are back in Ezra chapter 2, turn back there. As
you start reading verse 2, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Saraiah, Realiah, Mordecaiah,
Bilshin, Muzphah, all of these, you say, yeah, but I don't understand
all of that. That doesn't mean anything to
me. Well, let me just bring it down
a little bit closer to home then. You see, the first of these verses,
verses 2-19. Those right there record family
names. Yeah, but they don't mean that
much to me. I've never heard of those people. These were family names, last
names, last names of those that Almighty God had purposed to
bring out. So I've never heard of them.
Well, let's just bring it down then to 2004, because it never
changes. These were people that lived
then. But what if this Scripture, and rightly so, says this? Out of the family of Bourne,
and out of the family of Richardson, and out of the family of Locke,
out of the family of Shreve, and out of the family of Collins,
and on and on and on and on, you say, wait a minute, that
is a little bit closer to home than it was here too. These were
real people. These were real people that Almighty
God loved everlastingly. You say, yeah, but the thing
is that I read all of these people. It went down to verse 19 and
it was all family names. Real people. Those that were
really there. Yes, so are some here today too.
Real family names. But then after verse 19, it began
in verse 20 through verse 35, and I could continue to read
them. What that was doing, if you look in verse 20, the children
of Gibar, 95. Children of Bethlehem, 123. Well, what this is, that's specific
cities or regions. specific places. The first of
it, verses 2 to 19, it was family names. And it might be that these family
names were all over the place. I don't know how many borns there
are in the world. But what if, what if in this
lineage it gave a family name, and then all of a sudden out
of the born name, Then it says, and this is the region that they
came out of. Now these Bourns that I'm talking
about here came out of Whitehall, West Virginia. Oh! Now these Richardsons that I'm
talking about right here came out of Barrickville, West Virginia. Now it begins to give cities
and regions and it starts bringing them down and bringing them down
and bringing them down. All of a sudden, these places
Bethlehem, Mephithah, Anathoth. You say, that doesn't mean anything.
Yeah, but you know, Rachel does, and Barakbill does, and Katie
does. All of a sudden, we realize God
Almighty does that which He does on purpose, specifically. All of these names and all of
these places, they began to take Very significant meanings. Who knows? Maybe God has written
my name there. Maybe Almighty God has done something
for me. And then we find, beginning in
verse 36, it begins to speak of the priest, the children of
Judah of the house of Yeshua, 973. The children of Emmer, 1,052.
Look at the specific numbers of these people that came out. Of the priest, verses 36-39. I spoke of the priest, Neil,
that came out. And that names four courses is
what it was. Lots. We could go back in 1 Chronicles. I could go back and show you
in 1 Chronicles Lots, these courses, they were set on how many of
these priests of who would be here and this would do. Out of
the 24 courses by lots that were established, four of them came
out. Four. Four men. Out of their families. Of their
specific, the children of Jedi of the house of Joshua, 973. Why wasn't it 974? Because that's
how many God determined was coming out. That's who God Almighty,
the children of Emmer, 1,052. That's how many Almighty God
purposed. And then in verses 40 to 42,
the Levites, the children of Jeshua, Kedmiel, the children
of Hodeveah, 74. That's how many were there. The Levites, those who assisted
the priest, the singers, the porters, those that Almighty
God established, these are the ones, these are the helps, the
Levites. And then in verses 43 to 54,
the Nephilims. Now, the Nephilims, these were
people given or dedicated to the Levites. Usually they were
captives of war. That's what they were. Nethanims. They took care of the laborious
duties. Things that needed to be done. Look over and just turn over
in Ezra 8 verse 20. Ezra 8 verse 20. It says also of the Nethanims
David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites,
220 nephenims, all of them were expressed by name. These were
people that had been captured in battle, they had been taken
into the court, they had been made part of the service. Nephenims, they performed duties. And these people were people
that Solomon had set apart. Turn back to 1 Kings 9. Let me just show you something. We read these words and you say,
who are these people? Well, I'm going to show you,
then I'm going to show a spiritual application. 1 Kings 9, verse
20 and 21. All the people. that were left of the Amorites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, which were
not of the children of Israel. Their children that were left
after them in the land whom the children of Israel also were
not able utterly to destroy. Upon those did Solomon levy a
tribute of bondservant unto this day. These were these nepheneums. They were people, the children
of the people that Solomon had captured. They had levied a tax
on them. They were to pay. They had a duty. And on verse
58, back in Ezra chapter 2, all the Nephilim and the children
of Solomon's servants, 392, A total of all of them. Until
this point, and here again, like I said, I could go back and we
could read all of them, but the significance of those names that
were mentioned, the exact family names, the regions that they
came from, the Levites, the priests, the Nephilims, the singers, the
porters, all of them, they were determined exactly by Almighty
God who would come out. Almighty God calls out exactly
those that He purposed. This one. Out of this family,
these are coming out. These are the ones out of this
family. He may call out a mom and dad
and leave the children to themselves. He may call out one child out
of... My mother is sitting here this
morning. I've talked to her about this. We came out of a family
that is of another persuasion back in Louisiana. And of all
of the family that my mother came out of, as far as I know,
Brother Scott, of all of her family, brothers, sisters, mom,
dad, all of them that I know of, as far as I know, my mother
is the only one who made a profession in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
only one I know. Mom, is that right? As far as I know. That's
the only one. You say, yeah, but what about
all of the, you know? Well, I could go back and I could
read this right here. And out of the family of Kuvion,
one. One. And that one, out of the
city of Plochebue, Louisiana, one. Almighty God does that which
He does on purpose. And according to His will and
His standard and His might, He does that which He does. And
those that He leaves to themselves do exactly what they want to
do. They do exactly that which they purpose. All of these people,
until this point, A record is kept to prove the lineage and
position of service in the worship of God. Priests, Levites, assistants,
singers, methanims. But in this we see the glory
of Almighty God in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. These
people are a picture of the body of Christ. A picture of Him. We are not all called to the
same service exactly. Not all men are called to pastor
churches. That does not mean, though, that
men that are not called to pastor churches are not called to faithful
service. All women are not called to the
same position. They don't all play the piano.
They don't all do this. But it doesn't mean... Can the
eye say to the foot, because I'm not a foot, I'm not part
of the body? Can the ear say to the hand,
because I'm not a hand? You know? This is a body that
is made up. A pastor spends time in a study
for one purpose, to honor God Almighty in the feeding of the
sheep. He said, if you love Me, if you
love Me, you feed My sheep. It takes time to prepare and
sit down and get into the Word of God and look up a word, but
you do it joyfully. It's what you want to do. You
study because you want to. That's what I want to do. I have a heart to do that. And
to have a people that is faithful Come and sit and hear and listen. But I tell you this, and I'm
telling you this from experience, I'm telling you this truthfully.
Though a pastor may stay in a study for hours and hours and hours
preparing for one message within the body of Christ, you have
absolutely no idea the significance that a smile has. or a nod or
a thank you. You don't have any idea. Can
that thank you, can that smile, can that nod of the head say
to the pastor, because I'm not a pastor, I'm not part of the
body? No. That nod or that thank you,
you wouldn't have any idea the encouragement that it is. to
the body, the whole body. One thank you. One glass of water. You know,
thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate
it. Could the Nephilim say, because
I'm not a priest, I'm not part of the body. That priest right
there is what he is by the grace of God. And you remove God's
hand of divine intervention on Him, and He's no better than
the nothing. Nothing. He's nothing. He's nothing. There's One that
is worthy. One that is worthy of all honor
and all glory and all praise, and every other man's a liar.
Every other man. He's dust. He's nothing. Nothing. In verse 59 to 63, and I'll hurry,
we find the importance of a clear spiritual pedigree. Here we find
in these verses, these were they which went up from Tel-Milah,
and it named these people. It says, but they couldn't show
their father's house, their seed, whether they were of Israel. Deia, children of Tobiah, the
children of Nakoda, 652 children of the priest, and it names these
people. And they took a wife of the daughters
of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and they were called after their
name. These men, they were children of the priest,
and they married These women, Bartholai was a very prominent
businessman I found out. And these men had took their
name, took the wife's name instead of their, you know, here's what
they did. They were of the house of Aaron.
They were of the Aaronic, you know, Aaron's kids, children,
sons. They were the priest and these
men gave up. their name. Take the wife's name. And verse 62 says, And they sought
their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but
they were not found. Therefore were they, as polluted,
put from the priesthood. And the Tershavah, or the governor,
said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things
till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim. Now, in
these verses, Behold, some that did come up with those that had
strong proof before of their lineage. Possibly some that the
Lord had called out certain times and they could prove it. But
there were some that couldn't prove their lineage. Now, there
are two or three things that could be said. concerning this. Number one, it could be a type,
without a doubt, of the tares within the sheep, within the
wheat, the tares in the wheat. There is no doubt that within
every group, there's always some. The Scripture sets forth that
are in the body, but not of the body. Tares within the wheat.
And they ask. They said to the master, he wants to go in Take
out those tares." And he said, no. Leave them alone. Let them
all grow. And he said, in time. He said,
there'll come a time of harvest. And he said, at that time, time
of harvest, the tares and the wheat will be separated. Don't
do that because you don't know. You may be tearing out some wheat.
You may be doing something that's harmful. I know that it appears
as though that there's some that are But I don't know and you don't
know. And who knows? Leave them alone. They couldn't
find their lineage. They couldn't recognize exactly. They couldn't prove exactly the
lineage, where they came from. But outwardly, there were some characteristics
that seemed to cast some doubt. Let me read this to you. Zechariah chapter 8. If you want to turn there, it's
just before Malachi, but Zechariah 8 and verse 18. The word of the Lord of hosts
came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, The fast of
the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of
the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house
of Judah joy and gladness and cheerful feasts, therefore love
the truth and peace. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
It shall come to pass that there shall come people, and the inhabitants
of many cities, and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another,
saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and seek
the Lord of hosts. I will go also. Yea, many people
and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in
Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. And thus saith the
Lord of hosts, in those days it shall come to pass that ten
men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even
shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying,
We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."
Now, it appears as though that there may be some question as
to God's elect. Who? There's no doubt that there's
some. That it appears as though, I've
always said this, you listen to a believer and they talk like
a believer. But let me tell you something,
there's some growing that takes place. And when one is young
and there's some things that are said and there's immaturity
and there may be some doubt, I don't know, and you don't know,
who God's elect are. We need to be very, very careful. These men had done some things
that had cast quite a question on their lineage. They married
some wives and took their wives' names, and they lived in their
community, and it came down to this. It says in verse 63, ìAnd the
Tershavah said unto them that they should not eat of the most
holy things.î There were some things that these priests, these
were priests. I tell you, a preacher is in
a fishbowl. You say what you want to say,
but I tell you this, I know from experience, youíre in a fishbowl
and youíre held to a higher standard. You say, ìYeah, but Iím just
a man.î I tell you what, well, whether I like it or whether
I don't, I tell you this, when I come to one that is a preacher,
I hold him to a higher standard. And if that man does something
that casts a slur, a dispersion on the body, it hurts. These
were some preachers. That's what they were. And they
had done some things that were questionable. They had done some
things and they had cast a cloud of doubt. And the Tershaba, the governor,
said this, These men are not going to eat of the most holy
things until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim. Urim and
Thummim, you remember this, that was the light It could have been
stones, it could have been lots that were cast, how God Almighty
spoke to the people. These Urim and Thurmim had been
done away with. They had not found them. They
couldn't find them anymore. Therefore, they said, until a
priest stands up, these men are to be put out. But here's what's
going to happen. When the governor, when the judge,
stands up the great high priest, that's when all of this is going
to be determined. There may be some cloud of doubt upon some
that are within the midst. I may do some things that cause
you to question me. You may do some things that cause
me to question you. But I'm going to tell you this,
the judge of all this world is going to do right. He's going
to be the one. That's what he said. How are
we going to handle this? These fellows, these preachers,
did something that, oh, I don't know if I would have done that.
And this wise man, this governor, stood up and he said, these men,
they won't eat of the most holy things. They won't be put in
a position that they were before. There's going to be a priest
that's going to stand up, and he's going to make the final
decision. I want to end this by going down. I won't look in verses 64 to
67. It gives a list of the total. But I do want to look at the
last few verses in closing. And some of the chief of the
fathers, when they came to the house of the Lord which is at
Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God, set it up in
His place. They gave after their ability.
unto the treasure of the work, threescore and a hundred thousand
drams of gold, and five thousand pounds of silver, and a hundred
priests' garments. So the priests, and the Levites,
and some of the people, the singers, the porters, the Nethanyims dwelt
in their cities, and all of Jerusalem in their cities." I realize that
when these men came, they completed a long journey. Ezra made this
journey again, and we'll find over in the next few chapters.
It took four months for those people. It was a difficult trip. It was a long trip, a perilous
trip. But here we behold the sustaining
grace of Almighty God in the journey that we're in. We're
in a journey, a long journey. But when they got to Jerusalem,
the Scripture says they offered freely to the house of God to
set it up in His place. Verse 69 says this, ìThey gave
after their ability unto the treasure of the work.î And it
tells how much they gave. Now, the object of their offerings
was this, that the house of God Almighty, the place of worship,
might be set up. They were there for the rebuilding
and the maintenance of the house of God. And in this way, they
sought to honor Him. They came together. The spirit
of their offerings was they offered promptly. As soon as they came
to the house of the Lord, they offered spontaneously. Now, 2 Corinthians 9, verse 7,
says, Every man, according as he purposeth in his heart, But
so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth
a cheerful giver." They came together and they gave. These
men came. The house of the Lord had been
destroyed. It had been knocked down. Jerusalem
had been gone. They came back and they started
building this This temple, they set up the altar first. We'll
find that in chapter 3, how they began it. And they began by putting
the altar up first. The first thing they did was
they were going to worship God. But let's don't get into chapter
3. I've got to stop now. But they came together to build
this. But how did they build it? Well,
they came together and they gave. They got together and they gave.
They said, yeah, but God doesn't need our money. The Lord doesn't
need my money. He owns the cattle on a thousand
hills. Well, I'll tell you this. God Almighty is pleased to use
means by which His people give. Paul said, if there's a willing
mind, if it's accepted according to that a man hath, not according
to that which he hath not, let him give the measure of their
offspring. was this. This is what it says
in verse 69. They gave after their ability. They gave after their ability. They gave what they could. They
gave. These people, they gave. They gave liberally. Each one
gave as much as he could. You know, these lights, every
time Brother Glenn pays a utility bill, That money comes from somewhere. It comes from somewhere. We give. Brother Cody Groover is coming
this Tuesday night. They bought a piece of property
down in Mexico and the churches, all the churches of like faith,
they sent them some money. We wrote them a check for a thousand
dollars and sent it to them. Where do you think that money
came from? They just, you know, people give. They give for the
support. He writes me a check every month,
faithfully. And I am faithfully thankful
for it. And I thank you. I thank you for your support.
I thank you for the giving. But it takes for me to be able
to sit in this study and study. I still have to pay Allegheny. And I still have to write them
a check. I have to. God Almighty has ordained
means by which people give. It's a support. But why? Why is it that way? Because giving
is to the honor of Almighty God, the Father, who gave His only
begotten Son. It's more blessed to give than
it is to receive. We give out of honor of Almighty
God. He does not need our money. I'm going to tell you right now.
As I said a moment ago, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. But I will tell you this, He
loves a cheerful giver. He makes him to be a cheerful
giver. The proportion, you can call
this whatever you want to. I know men on television are
putting everybody under condemnation and pressure and all this kind
of stuff, but I'm telling you, the proportion to which a man
gives is the proportion to which Almighty God blesses him. He
loves a cheerful giver. These people came together and
they gave. They gave. They gave freely. They gave what they could. They
gave out of their ability as God has prospered a man Let Him
give. Almighty God gave. God gave. God gave His only begotten
Son. He gave unto us eternal life. He gave. It's free. It's free. It's the means by which, and
it's worship. Giving is worship. Now, you don't
hear me say much on giving. In fact, this is probably the
first time you've ever heard me. I don't remember the last time
I said, but I'll tell you this. There is nothing in the Word
of God that a man should be ashamed of to preach on. If Almighty
God put it in the Scriptures, He put it in the Scriptures for
a reason. I need to hear it. We all need to hear it. God Almighty
uses means to bring honor to Himself.