The priest used to appoint singers.
And if we were doing that now, I would appoint the children.
Because they let it fly. And I like that. Go with me back to Ezra chapter
1. Ezra chapter 1. I enjoyed studying
for this message so much. It was a very involved process. I felt like I did much digging,
but I found it to be so interesting. This was so interesting. I've
been fascinated by this. And I pray, I hope this will
be enjoyable to you. I am begging the Lord to let
it come to you like it came to me. Most importantly, I pray for
that blessing. I hope we will all enjoy this,
but most importantly, I pray for the blessing to our hearts.
I'm going to give us some Old Testament history. All right? As we look at this, let's realize
that the historical is going to point us to the spiritual.
We're going to look at some historical things from the Old Testament,
and they are going to point us to the spiritual. So bear with
me for just a minute, and we will see how all of this points
us to spiritual matters. A few months ago, whenever we
officially entered into the process of buying and intending to finish
the construction of this building for our congregation, I started thinking about Solomon
building the temple. And off and on, I have been reading
about that. Just throughout the scriptures,
it's mentioned in different places, it's mentioned many times. And
as we know the history goes, there came a point in time when
Jerusalem was attacked and taken captive to Babylon. They were
the prisoners of Babylon for 70 years. And when they were taken, the
city of Jerusalem was destroyed and that temple was destroyed. Everything was completely destroyed.
Well, after 70 years, God gave commandment for His people to
be delivered And He also gave commandment for Jerusalem and
specifically that temple to be rebuilt. And He had quite a few prophets
on the earth at that time. Whenever this commandment came,
There were quite a few prophets on the earth at this moment in
time. A lot of times we read these
books and hear about these men and we think one came after the
next. But he had a lot of prophets
on the earth at this time. Ezra was one of them. A prophet named Haggai was one
of them. There's a book in the Old Testament,
I pronounce it Haggai. A prophet named Zechariah was
one of them. There's a book in the Old Testament
called Zechariah. Daniel was one of them. The book
of Daniel begins with Nebuchadnezzar besieging Jerusalem and taking
them captive. That's how the book starts immediately. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
all of the stories throughout the book of Daniel that we know,
all of those guys were here and they were right in the middle
of all this. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, said to
all of Jerusalem, he besieged it, took it captive, and then
he told all of them, I have built a golden image and you're going
to bow down to it. And if you don't, I'm going to
cast you into a fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
said, we're not going to do it. We're going to bow down and worship
the true and living God. And we know how that story goes.
Nebuchadnezzar said, didn't we throw three men into that furnace?
He said, I see four. Loose. They're walking around.
And there's no hurt on them. They're not hurt at all. And
He said, the fourth one looks like the Son of God. God opened His eyes. Through
a few more events, God opened His eyes. After it was all over,
Nebuchadnezzar said, Their God is God. Here we have besieged
them and taken them. Now I see their God is God. He does what He will with the
army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Here
Nebuchadnezzar thought, I'm going to do what I will with this city.
He said, no, He does what He will. With the army of heaven,
the inhabitants of the earth, none can stay his hand, or say
unto him, What doest thou? Nebuchadnezzar realized God is
God, and that's a glorious revelation. God is the sovereign God. Men don't know that until God
reveals it to them. And he saw the sovereign God
is my God. Well, after Nebuchadnezzar died,
his son Belshazzar became king, and he was a wicked man. He was
a very prideful man. He was the one who saw God right
on the wall with a finger, and it said, you are weighed in the
balances and found wanting. You're found lacking. And that
night, the night he saw that, he was slain, and a man named
Darius became king. And Darius loved Daniel. And Darius loved the true and
living God. Daniel interpreted a dream for
him. And he promoted Daniel. And Darius,
all of his men got jealous because Daniel was receiving all this
special favor, so they tricked King Darius into writing a law
that would force Daniel to be thrown into a lion's den. And he signed it. And they said,
alright, now Daniel's doing what you signed against. And it just
grieved Darius, but he had to do it. It was the law. After
Daniel was thrown into this lion's den, Darius mourned and lamented
all night long. He didn't go to sleep all night
long. The next morning, he went running down to the lion's den,
and he cried, Daniel, has God delivered you? And he said, I'm
here, O King. God has stopped the mouths of
these lions and given me victory." King Darius said, pull him up
and cast them in. And Daniel 6 verse 28 says, So
this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign
of Cyrus the Persian. And that's who Ezra is writing
about. Daniel recorded the 70 years
of captivity. Ezra recorded Israel's deliverance
and the beginning of the work of rebuilding the temple. Alright,
now let's read this chapter again. Ezra chapter 1 verse 1, it says,
Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word
of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made
a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also
in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord
God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and
he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which
is in Judah. Who is there among you of all
his people? His God be with him, and let
him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house
of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any
place where he sojourneth, Let the men of his place help him
with silver and with gold and with goods and with beasts beside
the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.
Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin
and the priests and the Levites with all them whose spirit God
had raised to go up to build the house of the Lord which is
in Jerusalem. And all they that were about them strengthened
their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with the
beast, with the precious things, beside all that was willingly
offered. Also Cyrus the king brought forth
the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had
brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house
of his gods. Even those did Cyrus, king of
Persia, bring forth by the hand of Mithradath the treasurer,
and numbered them unto Sheshbazar the prince of Judah." And this
is the number of them. Thirty chargers of gold, a thousand
chargers of silver. nine and twenty knives, thirty
basins of gold, silver basins of a second sort, four hundred
and ten, and other vessels a thousand. All the vessels of gold and of
silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Shesh-bizarre
bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon
unto Jerusalem." So everything was brought back. Chapter 2 tells
us all the people were brought back. And Cyrus the king declared
that the Lord God had given all things into His hand and charged
Him to rebuild the house. Now I'm sure you're already reading
between the lines. Humor me for just a second. In just a moment, I'm going to
ask you this question. Who do you think this man Cyrus
represents? All things restored. All the
people restored, all of them brought out. And he cries, God
hath given all things into my hands and charged me to build
his house. In just a minute, I'll ask you,
who do you think Cyrus represents? First, let me show you what was
fascinating to me. So fascinating. It was the way
that God revealed His will and His purpose in this to these
men. They read about it in the Bible. They read about all of this that
would take place. in the Word. I was going to have
you turn, and this was going to take a while, and I'm just
going to paraphrase it. I realize we don't have time
for this. But in Daniel chapter 9, Daniel
said, this is what he said, I was reading the book of Jeremiah.
And in reading that book, God caused me to see this is literally
talking about us. And it was. Now I'm sure Cyrus
also read the book of Jeremiah. But let me show you something
in the book of Isaiah. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
39. Isaiah chapter 39. Now this is an important piece
of history to understand. The book of Isaiah was written
almost 200 years before the time of Ezra and Cyrus and Daniel
and all these men. Alright, it was written 200 years
before. It would be like something being
written in 1819. Okay, almost 200 years before. Isaiah 39 verse 5, Then said
Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts. Behold,
the days come that all that is in thine house, and that which
thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried
to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, saith
the LORD. and of thy sons that shall issue
from thee, which thou shalt beget." They're not born yet, but they
will be. "...of thy sons that shall issue
from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and they
shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." Cyrus
read that and he thought, huh, that's exactly what has happened. In the book of Daniel, you can
read that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, those men were taken
to be eunuchs in the palace of the king. Cyrus kept on reading. Look at
chapter 43, Isaiah 43 verse 14. Thus saith the LORD your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, For your sake I have sent to Babylon,
and have brought down all their nobles. And the Chaldeans, whose
cry is in the ships, I am the LORD your Holy One, the Creator
of Israel, your King. Thus saith the LORD, which maketh
a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters, which bringeth
forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power, they
shall lie down together, they shall not rise, they are extinct,
they are quenched as toad." The rest of the chapter right here,
the heading at the top of my page says, Babylon's fall foretold. That's what's being told in the
rest of this chapter. Babylon's fall foretold. Cyrus read that and he thought,
huh. He kept on reading. Chapter 44, verse 24. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer,
and He that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that
maketh all things, that stretched forth the heavens alone, that
spreadeth abroad the earth by myself, that frustrateth the
tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad, that turneth wise
men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish, that confirmeth
the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his
messengers, that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited, and
to the cities of Judah thou shalt be built, and I will raise up
the decayed places thereof, that saith to the deep, Be dry, and
I will dry up thy rivers, that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd,
and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, Thou
shalt be built, and to the temple thy foundation shall be laid."
Cyrus read that and he thought, now wait a minute, is he talking
about me? Is he actually talking about
me? Chapter 45 verse 1, Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before
him, and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the
two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go
before thee and make the crooked places straight. I will break
in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of
iron, I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches
of secret places, that thou mayest know that I the LORD, which call
thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." That's amazing, isn't
it? 200 years before, long before
the appointed time, God prophesied of the one that He had chosen
to anoint to deliver His people and lay His foundations and build
His temple. Now why did God prophesy that? Who does Cyrus represent? There is another who read out
of the Bible. There is another who read in
the book of Isaiah the things concerning himself. Turn with
me over to Luke chapter 4. This is what the word of the
Lord to Cyrus and the work he was appointed to accomplish in
that temple, this is what it points us to. Luke 4 verse 14,
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and
there went out a fame of Him through all the region round
about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of
all, And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up.
And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto
him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book,
he found the place where it was written. This is Isaiah 61. He
reads, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind. to set at liberty them
that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and
sat down, and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
were fastened on him. He stood up, and this is what
he said, God my Father has given all things into my hands, and
He has charged me to rebuild His house. And that's exactly
what I'm going to do. I am going to allow the temple
of my body to be destroyed. I'm going to allow the sin of
my people to besiege it. And for their sake, I'm going
to bring it all the way down to the ruin of the grave. But
in three days, on the third day, I'm gonna build it again. He
said, tear this temple down and in three days, I will build it
again. I am going to provide a house
for God and my people to dwell together in again. I am going to provide that mercy
seat again. I'm going to provide that place
of intercession again. I'm going to restore their altar
of sacrifice, their offering of blood. And in the process,
I'm going to bring every single one of my people out of their
captivity back to the city of peace. That's what Jerusalem
means. The city of peace. The historical
account of a man named Cyrus reading in the book of Isaiah
everything that God said He would do for the restoring of His people. The historical points us to the
spiritual. The spiritual truth of God's
Word declaring everything that Christ would do for the restoring
of His people. God gave that charge to him. Salvation is of Him. He is the
one who gives sight to the blind. He is the one who gives ears
to the spiritually deaf. He gives life. He gives liberty. Here's the substance of it all. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
not of my doing or anyone else's doing. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, in closing, give me just
a few minutes. to close with this. We've seen
the historical, we've seen the spiritual, let me show you the
personal. Alright, the personal application
of this. I got to thinking about Cyrus
reading the book of Isaiah and I put myself in his shoes. How
amazing would that be? Can you imagine that? Daniel sitting there reading
in the book of Jeremiah, those men realizing it being revealed
to them, he's talking about us. I mean, really! Could you imagine reading in
the Word of God, and all of the sudden realizing,
he's talking about me. I mean, me! Cyrus read his own name. Could you imagine reading the
scripture and realizing these words are written personally
to me? I mean to me. Well, if God has delivered us
from our captivity, by putting us in the hands of Christ His
anointed, then this word is written personally to me and personally
to you. I mean to us. Let me show you
that. Go to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, And
you, put your name right there. Put your name right there. He's
talking about you. I mean literally, He is talking about you. And
you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Yes, you. You were dead in trespasses
and sins. Well, yeah, I think He is talking
about me. My name does need to go there. Verse 4 says, But God, who is
rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace,
You are saved. You. Last Sunday we read in Colossians
chapter 3. Turn with me over there to Colossians
chapter 3. Colossians 3 verse 4 says, When
Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear
with Him in glory." Now who's going to appear with Him in glory?
Who is actually going to appear with Him in glory? You, if Christ
rebuilt His temple for you. Turn back a page to Philippians
chapter 3. Verse 20 says, For our conversation is in heaven,
from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is
able to subdue all things unto Himself." He is talking about
us. Talking about us. Daniel was
reading Jeremiah. And all through that chapter,
God said, I'm going to deliver you. He said, King Nebuchadnezzar,
this is what Nebuchadnezzar is going to do, and this is what
I'm going to do. And I can only imagine as Daniel and all these
men sit there in captivity, they're reading this thing, and he's
going to deliver us. He's going to deliver us. He is talking about us. He's
not just talking about brethren, He's talking about us. Here's
the last one. Go to 1 John chapter 3. I was talking to a brother and
a sister about this verse at the fellowship dinner Sunday. 1 John 3 verse 1. It says, Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God, therefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is." I think he's talking about us. We are going to be changed into
His exact image. This horrible state of bondage
that we're in. We cannot imagine what this liberty
is going to be like. But it is going to happen. And
it's going to happen the moment we see Him. The trumpet shall
resound. Count on it. The trumpet shall
resound, the Lord shall descend, and the moment our eyes make
contact with Him, we're going to be changed. We are. And here's the wonder of all
that. This is what is so wonderful to me. It's not just going to
happen to sinners, and it's not just going to happen to brethren,
it's going to happen to us. It's going to happen to us. The
Lord said, I came to heal the brokenhearted. That heals my
broken heart. That is good news to a poor,
poor sinner. I pray God will truly speak peace
and deliverance personally to every one of us here. I pray
to each person here, I pray that He will revive us again and don't
miss anybody. Nobody may each heart be filled
with His love and with His Spirit. All right, let's all stand together.