As we've been going through the
ninth chapter of the book of Ezra, it has been brought to
my attention over and over that Ezra had a great concern for
the glory of God. He truly wanted God to be honored
in all things. He wanted him to be honored in
his preaching. He wanted him to be honored in
his life. He wanted him to be honored in his ministry as a
priest. But he also wanted him to be
greatly honored in this prayer. And he had a great concern that
is demonstrated in this prayer as the news was brought to him
about what was going on in the land in Judah here. His concern
was demonstrated by his great concern that the seed of Judah
be preserved and they would not go off into the world and intermarry. Now there was a reason for this.
Apparently, Ezra understood, just as he knew the Old Testament,
that through Judah, the Messiah would come. And it would be essential
that that line be kept perfect. Now we know all lines are kept
perfect by Almighty God. But what it is to have a concern
about God's glory, even here, And we do all that we can to
serve the Lord with gladness. And Israel, as he mentions this,
the intermarrying, he said he understood what was mentioned
by Joseph over in the book of Genesis there in chapter 49 that The scepter would not leave Judah
until Shiloh came, or until the Messiah was born. There was going
to be this lineage from that day down to the time of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now we realize too that at least
two other nations were brought into that line, but those people
that were brought into that line, one a Moabitess, one a Canaanitess,
these folks, God had worked a work of grace in them and they were
believers. They had been regenerated and
they had no interest in keeping the rules, regulations, and things
of their own religion. They had seen the grace of God
and now they had an interest in serving God. Rahab the harlot,
and we also found Ruth. Those are recorded in the New
Testament as being in the direct line of the birth of the Messiah.
But they did not bring their religion with them. They left
that religion. It was not worthy. There was
nothing in that that would cause them to stay there. They said,
as Ruth indicates, your God is my God, and your people are my
people, and that's why she left where she was. Her sister-in-law,
she went back to her own gods. Didn't think a thing about it.
But Ruth could not stay there and worship like she once had. She must leave, just like God's
people cannot remain in the religion that they had. But they are either
forced to leave or they leave on their own. And so, this great
interest that Ezra shares with us, Keep the line straight. Keep the line pure. But you know
when the Messiah was born, this concern to keep the tribe pure
ended at Bethlehem. and there's no need for that
anymore. The reason that Ezra was so concerned
about these folks intermarrying was there was not so much that
it was the people they were marrying, it was what they were adopting
as a result of that marriage. They thought that their religion
was just as good as the religion over here in Jerusalem or over
here in Judah. There was not really any difference. Well, in their heart, there was
no difference. But God has a great difference
in that. Well, let's look here at two
verses in the ninth chapter, and then we pray to get on into
chapter 10. In the ninth chapter, we've gone
down through this almost verse by verse. I would like to look
at verse 13 and verse 15 for a few minutes this morning. Ezra
chapter 9 verse 13, it says, and after all that has come upon
us for our evil deeds, and for a great trespass, seeing that
thou, our God, hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve,
and hast given us such deliverance as this. Ezra was one to realize
that all the things that had fallen out to them was much less
than they actually deserved. that the thought is there, that
word punished is to withhold or to restrain or to hold back
or keep in check, doesn't necessarily mean that he had a stick in his
hand. And we find that this is brought
out over in the book of Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6, I am God,
I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. He has great restraint because
of Christ on his people. He has great restraint on what
he will do to his people because of Christ. What Christ paid for
could not be extracted a second time. What Christ paid for in
the future could not be extracted over here. what Christ paid for
in the past cannot be extracted over here. And so we find that
Ezra is bringing up some points here about what had happened
to Judah, what had happened to Israel, and it wasn't half of
what should have happened. They should, even Adam, it was
grace that demonstrated that he died spiritually and not physically
too. Grace was introduced there, as
God covered them with the skins of animals. If it was just, and
Adam and Eve had got their justice, the human race would have been
removed at that very moment. But God demonstrated grace, and
He covered them with the skins of animals, and they went on
and produced more children that were just like them, and more
grandchildren just like them, and great-grandchildren just
like them. They had the same nature that
they had, but grace was going to be introduced in every generation. As the gospel was brought to
people, people were going to be saved and demonstrated that
God will restrain His punishing effect upon people because of
the promised seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. After all of this, we
find that the Lord does not punish the church for its sin. No, it
took grace to show that to me. I grew up in a religion where
everybody was going to have to answer for something. Now, just
this last week, I was told by a man that I was going to have
to answer for something before God. I said, if we have to answer
for one, we'll answer for them all. Nobody will get out of that.
If we answer for one, if we have one sin that was not paid for
by Christ, then we will answer for all of them because it indicates
he didn't take care of the problem. But we find in the scriptures
that the Lord Jesus Christ took care of all the sins of all his
people and he will not punish them in this life or in the life
to come for their sins. Now sometimes we go around and
say, I think God's after me. Most of the time, 99.9% of the
time, 100% of the time, we're finding out that our bodies did
not get saved when He saved our spirit. We're just going along
to the form of the fall. that this body is dying, we get
aches and pains. And we say, oh, how could God
do that to us? He doesn't do it to us. The fall
does it to us. We just go along, and it's just
a natural process. How many people do we know that
get into old age that don't have any infirmities at all? Very
few. And yet they all die. We find
that the Lord does not punish the church, For it seemed all
the punishment that should have fallen on the elect was reserved
and put on our surety, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
It was reserved. It was pulled back. All the punishment
that the elect deserved was reserved for the substitute, the Lord
Jesus Christ. For all ages. We often think
as punishment is usually nothing more than the natural consequences
of sin. The sin of Adam and sometimes
our own. I've known of Christians that
have died from that liver disease because before the Lord saved
them, they were just sots. They ruined themselves. Well,
the natural consequence of that, but you know the wonderful thing
is that the spirit once saved is never ever changed for time
or for eternity. It will be delivered spotless
and God will rejoin a body like his body with our spirit. Disease,
loss of memory, aches and pains, parts that are wore out, elbows,
knees, it's a miracle what they can put in us now. I'm just amazed. Wrists, elbows, knees, hips,
ankles can be replaced and then we wear glasses and have hearing
aids and yet it is all an indication of the aging process that was
brought on by the fall in the Garden of Eden. We're just headed
that direction. So we will never ever, we should
never say that God's punished me for something because of what
I did. Our body is decaying, but our
spirit, God saves by his grace, is time and eternity taken care
of. The spirit that has been quickened
has no ills and will endure through all eternity. So this whole body
is going to wear out. And even in that, we don't get
half what we deserve. Someone gets one cancer, we should
die of 1,000 cancers. We get one broken bone, we should
die of 1,000 broken bones. I know there's not that many
in the body. Metaphorically speaking, that's what we should deserve.
But grace gives it so much grandeur. And that's what is brought out
here. You know the Apostle Paul over in the book of Romans chapter
8, would you turn there with me? Romans chapter 8, we find
that the Apostle Paul brings up this subject and he does it
in such a grand way. We wish we could say words like
that, but you and I, the only inspiration that we ever have
is reading the Bible in our mind or out loud. The Holy Spirit
does not inspire us like it did Paul or Ezra or Moses. The only time that we get to
enjoy inspiration of God is reading the word out loud or reading
it silently in our mind. Thank God we get to enjoy that
inspiration. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and every time we're in it, we get to enjoy it. Well,
here in the book of Romans chapter 8, the Apostle Paul brings out
this verse of Scripture in verse 18 and shares with us as we find
Ezra doing as he's going over the history of Israel, going
over the history of Judah, going over the history of Benjamin.
We're a lot better than we should be. We have it better off than
we should be. Even the Babylonian captivity,
that's better than it should have been. Well, here Paul says,
for I reckon that the suffering of this present time, Romans
chapter 8 and verse 18, the suffering of this present time. Now, all
of us have gone through what Frankie's going through right
now, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a friend. All of
us. It's just a normal thing. But
the suffering in that way, or the suffering in the afflictions
of our body, the suffering in the mind, all of these, the suffering
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. Another way of putting
that is, when we get there, we won't even think about this.
It won't be a knowledge. We'll not bring it up. No, I
used to hear my mother and it was just a quote from a song.
We'll understand it better by and by. It won't be necessary
to understand it better by and by when we get to see the sovereign
king of all. We'll be in such awe, such awe
of the King of Glory that those things, and we'll just all say
together in a song of glory, and we know that all things work
together for the good of those who love God, to those who are
called according to His purpose, and that's enough. In the book
of 2 Corinthians chapter 4, would you turn there with me? 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. We have this wonderful passage
of scripture, again, that this man brought to salvation by the
spirit of God through the preaching of the gospel was used to write. And here in 2 Corinthians chapter
4, I get to read some more inspired word. God breathed. The original language was God
breathed. I'm thankful for the translation.
2 Corinthians 4, and there in verse 17 and 18. 2 Corinthians
4, verses 17 and 18, it says, for our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, we heard in Ezra's prayer, that
grace is just for a short season, from the creation of Adam and
Eve until the end, whether it's 6,000 years, 10,000 years, or
100,000 years, is just a moment with God. For we know that a day with the
Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a
day. He doesn't measure it like we do. So this light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory, which we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Among the early
Christians, that was the thing that most people could not understand. You don't have an idol. You don't
have some place you go and stand and look at a rock. You have
something visible. Well, God is a spirit, and they
that worship him, worship him in spirit and in truth. Some
way, God creates in us the desire to worship someone we've never
seen with our physical eyes, but our spiritual eyes have been
able to gander upon through the scriptures and say, he is holy,
holy, holy. But at the things which are not
seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal. The light affliction which is
but for a moment. We think sometimes it's a great
affliction. They spent 70 years in Babylonian
captivity. They spent 400 years in Egyptian
captivity. But the Apostle Paul says all
of that put together is just a very short time, but for a
moment compared to eternity. what the church is thankful for
during that very moment, during that very slight time, during
that just season that God has given to us, he brought the gospel
to us. And through it, he used it to
give us the new birth. I can't explain the new birth.
I can't explain the physical birth. I can't explain any of
it. but I'm thankful for the grace
of God that I can say He has granted me that glorious thing
that I'm able to see Christ and I'm able to see Him in His word
and eventually I'll be able to see Him face to face. Well going
back to the book of Ezra there's another verse we want to see
just a little bit in and that's Ezra chapter 9 and verse 15.
We find towards the close of Ezra's prayer, he brings this
subject up. Whatever you want to say. Whatever you want to say about
this experience that we had in Babylon. Whatever you want to
say about this experience we had down in Egypt. Whatever you
want to say about those 40 years that you wandered through the
wilderness. Whatever you want to say about that. Whatever you
want to say about all the things that have happened in your life.
The experiences that you had, both positive and those that
are negative. Whatever you want to say about
all of that, remember this. Ezra chapter 9 and verse 15,
we have this great preacher of righteousness to share this.
Verse 15, O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous. Whatever, wherever, whenever. Remember this, God does all things
right. He's never made a mistake. I
like what says right over there, God is always good. We hear that saying, people bring
it to us, isn't God good? He's no other. Never been bad. God's never done a wicked thing
in all our life. He's always been righteous, done
right. So let's look at a couple of
verses along this line. There is a companion book to
the book of Ezra, and it's the next book. And it's the book
of Nehemiah, writing in many ways the same things. Another
author is used by the Holy Spirit. Some more experiences are brought
out in the book of Nehemiah. But look with me in the book
of Nehemiah chapter 9. The book of Nehemiah chapter
nine. Here we have Nehemiah, another preacher of righteousness,
sharing this, and it says in Nehemiah chapter nine, verse
33. Nehemiah chapter nine, verse
33, and there in verse, excuse me, chapter nine, verse 33, how
be it thou art just in all that is brought upon us. Thou art
just in all that is brought upon us and then he goes on to say
here For thou hast done right But we have done wickedly verse
34 neither have our kings Our princes our priests nor our fathers
kept thy law and nor hearken unto thy commandments. That's just a true saying, nobody. Doesn't matter station in life,
position. I'm thankful that God does not
have a pastor's called because of a
genealogy. Kings were put into position
most of the time by genealogy. High priests were ordained according
to genealogy. But I'm thankful that God's preachers
have not been in that sense. Here we have Nehemiah bringing
out the fact and it's the truth that the kings and the princes
and everybody in the kingdom has this great problem. For they
have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy goodness,
that thou gavest them in the large and fat land which thou
gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
The only thing that ever turned David from his wicked works was
the grace of God. The only thing that ever turned
Nehemiah or Ezra from what they were doing, their dead works,
was the grace of God. The only thing that ever blessed
those apostles in Jesus' day when he ordained them was the
grace of God. So here we have Nehemiah bringing
up this point, and notice with me there in verse 33 of the ninth
chapter, it says, how be it thou art just in all that is brought
upon us. For thou hast done right. You are righteous in what you
did. You are right in everything you
did. You were right when you prevented
us from going into the land as we came up there to Kadesh Barnea.
You were right in preventing us going into the land at that
time. your right to carry us in under Joshua. All of the historical
events that took place in the Old Testament, Nehemiah sums
up, Ezra sums up, the word of God sums up, and Paul brings
it to a head there in the book of Romans chapter 8 and verse
28. Everything God has ever done is right. Please don't ever say the opposite. I've had people in religion,
I've had family tell me that God has done the wrong thing
there. God never does. When it hurts
our family, when someone in our family sometimes is injured in
an accident or dies, it may just trail off, oh my, I wish that
hadn't happened. But Nehemiah brings it up and
says, it's right. It's right. God is righteous
in this. In the book of Romans chapter
10, would you turn over there with me? Oh, stop by Daniel.
On your travels to the New Testament, stop by Daniel for just a moment. Daniel was in that Babylonian
captivity. He's been elevated to a great
position. I think Ezra was elevated to
quite a position. God blessed him there and elevated
him to a position that he was noted. and God used that notation
greatly with the king and gave Ezra grace in the eyes of the
king. He already had grace in the eyes of God, but to have
grace in the eyes of the king to be permitted to go back to
Jerusalem and there be just after he gets there, what's his first
task? Praying about what's going on.
Nobody else had brought it up. And here it is, save the line
of Judah intact. We got someone coming down through
this line. There was someone right there that was in the line. Protect it. Well, over here in
the book of Daniel, Daniel's in Babylonian captivity, and
he brings up this point in Daniel chapter 9, verse 7. Daniel chapter
9 and verse 7, it says, O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto
thee. But unto us confusion of faces,
as at this day to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and to all Israel that are near, and that are far
off, through all the countries, whether thou hast driven them,
because of their trespass, they have trespassed against thee,
O Lord. To us belong a confusion of faces,
to our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, because they
have sinned against thee. Where? Ruined by the fall is
just declared throughout the scriptures. And the only difference
between this one and that one is the grace of God. To the Lord our God belong mercies
and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. Neither
have we obeyed the voice of our God, the Lord our God, to walk
in His laws, which He has set before us by His servants the
prophets. All Israel have transgressed
thy law, even thy departing, that they might not obey thy
voice. Therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath
has been written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because
they have sinned against him. And then dropping down, would
you, to verse 14, it says, Therefore saith the Lord, watched upon
the evil and brought it upon us for the Lord our God is righteous
in all his works which he doeth for we obeyed not his voice. Well, we just heard read over
there in the book of John chapter 17 that the Lord did all of the
Father's will. He performed all the word of
God. He did everything that God had put upon him in the covenant
of grace and he was punished for it. And all that we deserved,
He reserved for Him. Put upon Him, imputed to Him.
So God is righteous. What He did with Christ is righteous. That He might give us His righteousness. What God did to the Son is a
right thing on the behalf of the church. It was the covenant
of grace being carried out to the fullest. All the sin imputed
to Him. Now, would you travel with me
over to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter, excuse me, Romans chapter
10, Romans chapter 10. In Romans chapter 10, we have
these thoughts, Daniel brought them out, Ezra brought them out,
Nehemiah brings them out, Moses brings them out, all the preachers
of righteousness through time have brought this out, that there's
a problem. And it's demonstrated by those
people that will come out of Babylonian captivity. And it
doesn't take very long. They're off here worshiping the
foreign gods of the land and saw no problem with it. And the
byproduct of that was marrying the people that were in the land.
What they believe is just as good as what we believe. And
you know, by and large, that is the truth. What we believe
and what they believe by nature is just almost identical. They
call it a little different, and I can change the name of it.
They do a little different than I do, but I can change my doings.
And before you know it, it just boils down to this. We're worshiping
a God of works. And it doesn't matter what religion
we are in, we're worshiping a God of works. The only hope for anybody
to be retrieved out of that problem is the grace of God. Someone
God sends our way to preach there's something better than that. His
name is Jesus. He has been taken to the cross
on the behalf of his people and all the sins of all his people
was imputed to him and he willingly died before God and this world
to put his people into glory for eternity. Now that's the
difference. He did the work and we get to
enjoy the blessings of it. Well, Romans chapter 10 here
in verse 3, we find that Paul is bringing up what has been
brought up throughout the book of Ezra and brought up throughout
the book of Nehemiah and Daniel and all the books of Moses and
so forth and so on. He says, for they being ignorant
of God's righteousness, Where do we learn about God's
righteousness in the new birth? It's a foreign language. We look
at it as our good works. Acquire the right standing with
God or the righteousness. Well, they going about, they
being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness Ezra's words, Nehemiah's words, Daniel's
words, Moses' words, Joshua's words, Christ's words, the disciples'
words, those preachers that followed Paul's words. It's a problem
that we have because of the fall, being ignorant of the righteousness
of God, and going about to establish our own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. And when
does that come? Ask Saul of Tarsus. When does
that come? It comes by the grace of God. It comes when we bow before Him. It comes when the Holy Spirit
comes and reveals unto us the person and work of Christ Jesus
the Lord. And so, as Ezra comes to the
conclusion of this prayer, he said, this is a problem that
we're faced with since Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, and it
will not be over for anybody unless God intervene on our behalf. And that's what he did with those
folks in picture, at least, when he intervened on that first group
to go back to Israel, back to Jerusalem. Under Cyrus the King,
it was written, there's a time when they will be released. Some
years later, under Artaxerxes, there's a time when these will
go back. And Ezra is in that mix, and he comes back, and the
first thing he is introduced to, he's just been there a week,
and we hear him praying this prayer. This prayer that interceded
for God's people on the behalf of God, this wonderful statement
that is brought out here in these verses of scripture about the
gospel is the only hope. We're thankful for those in this
mix that know the gospel. And we pray that as the gospel
goes out, more of this mix will hear the gospel and you'll save
them by your grace. Ezra had that great concern for
the glory of God, demonstrated by how he felt about the intermarriage
of those folks and the adoption of the religion of those folks.
But the ultimate thing was the glory of God and the promise
of the Messiah. Now, would you turn over for
just a few minutes to the book of Ezra chapter 10. Ezra chapter
10. Ezra chapter 10 says, now when
Ezra had prayed. There's very few prayers in the
Bible like Ezra's prayer. There's that prayer of Elijah. I think it's, what's it, 10 words
long? That prayer of Jonah at the belly of the whale, salvations
of the Lord, short prayer. succinct, direct. Every word
of Ezra's prayer is succinct and direct. He brings it to the
point. God, here is what you have given
to us by grace. You've given us the gospel. You've
declared the gospel of our salvation in a Messiah. He is the Lamb
of God slain from the foundation of the world, and that's been
the gospel from the very beginning. And it tells us here now, when
Ezra had prayed and when he had confessed, weeping and casting
himself down before the house of God, they're assembled unto
him out of Israel. Now, it's just amazing. that
here is the representative of God. Here is the representative
of the gospel. Here's the representative of
the holy God of heaven. Ezra, the preacher, this priest
that had come back from Babylonian captivity and glad to do it because
here where it demonstrates the freedom that we have in Christ
to worship the king of kings right here at Zion. This is a
glorious place to be from a metaphorical standpoint. Here is where we
want to be. It doesn't matter whether it's
New Guinea or whether it's Kazakhstan. Here is where we worship, at
the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this man brings up this point
about praying, confessing, weeping, and casting himself down before
the temple there, before the house of God. They're a symbol. There are some people paying
attention. There are some people that have
observed this person in what he has been doing. There are
some people that heard that this man that has just arrived from
Babylonian captivity is on his knees. He's prostrate before
the Lord God, praying for the people of God. And they're declaring
the gospel of God, he says here, that they assembled unto him
out of Israel a great congregation of men and women and children,
for the people wept sore. And Shechaniah, the son of Jehal,
one of the sons of Ilium, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed
against our God. and have taken strange wives
of the people of the land. Yet now there is hope in Israel
concerning these things." There's hope in Israel. What a prayer
that Ezra had prayed there. Ezra, his prayer is much like
the real Ezra's prayers. The real Ezra, the Lord, The
real Ezra, the Lamb of God. I can't count the number of times
that we find in scriptures that the Lord prayed, but I'd like
to look at two or three of them this morning while we have a
little time. Ezra prayed a prayer that attracted the attention
of a whole host of people, and a representative out of that
group of people said, there's hope. We have seen, and yet there
is hope. There's something happened here.
God has used the gospel effectually on somebody. There's hope. What's it say there? This man
stood up and said, we have trespassed against our God and have taken
strange wives. We've adopted the religion of
these folks of the land. Yet now, there is hope in Israel
concerning this thing. Where's our hope? It's in the
Messiah, the Lord. He's the only one who can take
care of this problem. Well, we'll follow this through
a little bit later, but turn with me, if you would, over to
the book of Luke. I mentioned to Mike this morning
that I was going to use several of the verses he's already gone
through and some that he will be in 2066. Luke chapter 5 and verse 16.
Would you notice that with me? Luke chapter 5 and verse 16.
I think with every intent, Ezra intended to be away as much as
he could there at the house of God to pray. He's not doing this
for show. He's not trying to get somebody's
attention. He's not doing this because he
can mark it down, I prayed three times today. He is broken hearted. He is brought to the very place
of, just read about what he went through. And here it tells us
in Luke chapter 5 and verse 16, the Lord truly, this word it
says, and he, the Lord, withdrew himself into the wilderness and
prayed. He truly demonstrates prayer. He went outside into the wilderness.
He went by himself and there he communicated with God like
no one has ever been able to do. We see through a glass darkly. We walk by faith and not by sight. We believe because God has taken
up his dwelling in us. He has placed the spirit in us
that when we come before the throne of grace, we're addressing
the Holy God. But when the Lord Jesus Christ
went out there in the wilderness, He is addressing the Holy God.
There is nothing in that prayer that is going to detract from
that. There's no thoughts. Even in our prayer, there's thoughts
that come up and distract us from what we're really wanting
to do. Have you been there? We are such frail children of
the dust that even in our holy prayer to a holy God, we have
those things come in. But this man, when he prayed,
There's nothing comes between him and God. I see that as I
listen to and hear the prayer of Ezra there in Ezra chapter
9, that there was no distraction. You know, all those folks that
had gathered around, it wasn't even cognizant to him. He didn't
have to take a chart and say, well, we got 439 people coming
here today. He was not cognizant of that.
He was in such deep, prayer to God about ruined by the fall,
that when it happened, I'm sure he's just shocked. But the Lord
went out into the wilderness and prayed, and he prayed to
God the Father with words that just cannot be uttered. And Luke
chapter 9, would you look there with me? As Ezra is a type, and
yet we look at the fulfillment of that type in our Savior, the
Lord Jesus. In Luke chapter 9 verse 28, and
I wonder how many times this happened on the Lord. This time
it's mentioned, but it tells us in Luke chapter 9 verse 28,
and I wish that every one of my prayers could do this. There's been one or two where
it was just such a special prayer. Well, let's just read this. It
says in Luke chapter 9 verse 28, It says, and it came to pass
about eight days after these sayings that he took Peter and
John and James and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he
prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered. I just think, wouldn't
that be a blessing every time? Our prayer was so, I don't know
how to put it, that we were just our countenance was changed because
we truly realized who we were speaking to. All the arrogance would be taken
away, and all of the humanity would be taken away, and all
of the fluff would be taken away, and all of that stuff would be
taken away, and we could say three words to God, I am thankful
that the scriptures tell us that we don't know how to pray as
we ought, but there is one that intercedes for us, the Holy Spirit,
with words that cannot be uttered. So he can take care of that business
for us. It goes on, and his raiment was
white and glistening, and behold, there came with him two men,
which were Moses and Elias. Notice that, and as he prayed,
this all happened. Now we know the experience up
there, the Mount of Transfiguration, they saw him in his glory. That's
what we get to do every time we open the word. If the spirit
be pleased, we get to see him in his glory. We get to see him
above just that human man walking upon the face of the earth. Just
that man that healed a few people. Just that man that wouldn't go
there, but he went over there on purpose. But by the spirit
of God, we get to see him as he is. the sovereign savior of
all his people, the one who took all our sins. It was imputed
to him in such a manner that God's people, though we still
have this, carry this around, he has taken care of the problem
with the father. Just one more passage and we'll
close, and that's found in John chapter 11. You know where I'm
going. That man Lazarus is dead as a
mackerel, dead as a doornail, dead, dead, dead, four days dead. How can we explain it better?
And there in John chapter 11 verse 41, these words are shared
with us as the Lord says, and they took away the stone from
the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his
eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I know that thou hearest me always. But because of the
people which stand by, I said that they may believe that thou
hast sent me." What a prayer of authority. As he prayed, he
said, I'm glad you hear me, but I know you hear me all the time.
But I've done this for my sheep. I've done this for my lambs. I've done this for those who
are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life. And then the very
next words he says, Lazarus come forth, just like he did to Ezra,
Nehemiah, Daniel, Moses, and everybody that's ever been saved.
It's time. I raise you from the spiritual
dead and give you the great grace of Almighty God in Christ Jesus. I raise you from the dead. I
brought you out of that horrible pit, and I've given you the Spirit
of God, and I've given you the utterance to pray, just like
I did to Ezra, to worship the true and the living God. for
the month.