Good morning and welcome to the
first service of 2021 here with Sovereign Grace Baptist Church
in the Dalles. We wish you a Happy New Year.
We're going to be in Ezra chapter 9 this morning and we're considering
the prayer of Ezra. We've been looking at this prayer
of Ezra. Now there's something that we all understand, that
this prayer was given from God. God gave this prayer to Ezra
to pray to God. And we know that because this
passage of scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit. We're privileged
to listen in to what Ezra was burdened with by the Lord. So
let us read here, and I'm going to read verses 8 and 9 this morning,
and we'll look at these verses of scripture, particularly verse
9. We looked at verse 8 last time, but just a quick review
now. And now for a little space, grace hath been showed from the
Lord our God. And we mentioned last week that
that thought there, no doubt as Ezra recalls these things
in his prayer, they're immediately knowledgeable to him and he recognized
that. But as we look at this from a
spiritual standpoint, from a gospel standpoint, and truly the gospel
is declared in these two verses, we find that in relationship
to eternity, the time that we have here on this earth is a
very little space. And in this very little space,
God has determined and decreed and purposed that he would deliver
the gospel to all his lost sheep, and that the gospel would work
effectually in them, and the Holy Spirit would bless them
with a new birth. So we're looking at a very small
time. And we notice that through the scriptures, it's often mentioned
that at the right time, at the purposeful time, as when it would
it please God, as Paul shares with regard to his conversion.
As we move on here, we find that Ezra mentions grace, and this
is certainly the cornerstone of our salvation, is the grace
of God. And this grace hath been showed
from the Lord our God. All grace comes from Him, and
grace has nothing to do with our merit. Grace has nothing
to do... It's been so broken down in religion today that there's
works of grace. Well, there's no such thing from
a biblical standpoint, from a spiritual standpoint, from a godly standpoint,
that there's any works of grace, because grace is God to us. and not considering anything
that we've done, any merit on our part, for we have none, no
righteousness on our part, for we have none. So this grace is
important, and we notice that Ezra recognizes this as he prays
to God. This grace hath been showed from
the Lord our God. That's where it comes from. Every
spiritual blessing comes down from above, from the Father of
lights. And to leave us a remnant to escape, it's interesting here
This great, bold preacher of righteousness, Ezra, was like
the rest of the great preachers that God has ever called, God
has ever purposed to have on this earth, that he believed
that there was a remnant. And as Paul brings out in the
book of Romans, a remnant according to the election of grace. That
as much as we care about what's going on in our family or what's
going on around in our neighborhood with our neighbors, We have to
admit that God has purposed that there would be a remnant saved
according to the election of grace. And it tells us in the
next part of that verse that to give us a nail in his holy
place, and that nail speaks of our security in Christ. When
he saves his people from their sins, they are absolutely secure
because he has taken care of all the issue and he has brought
them to the Father. There is no longer any animosity. There's no longer any enmity
He's broken down the middle wall of petition and we're able to
come before God boldly Come before the throne of grace with boldness.
So we have the security. It's a nail And it's in His holy
place, our security is in Him alone. We have no ability of
our own to keep ourselves. We can't keep ourselves from
second to second. But God can keep us for eternity,
and that's what He's promised in His great salvation. And then
that He may lighten our eyes. What a wonderful thing it is
that God lightens our eyes, gives us understanding. By nature we're
blind and we cannot see, and by spiritual birth we are given
the ability to see the glories of God in the face of Jesus Christ
and to give us a little reviving in our bondage. We've been granted
life. We've been brought from the dead.
We've been raised from the dead. We cannot say enough of what
God does on the behalf of His people and how He uses words
in the scriptures to describe that And one of those is to raise
us from the dead. It is to give us the new birth,
whatever. We find how glorious it is. Now
in verse 9, as we go into verse 9, it says, for we were bondmen. Yet our God hath not forsaken
us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of
the kings of Persia, and to give us a reviving, to set up the
house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and
to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem." Well, through
these two verses that we've been looking at last week and this
week, the gospel is so carefully declared by the Holy Spirit through
the prophet Ezra, through this preacher of righteousness. And
when I read verses like this, I'm reminded of a passage over
in the book of John, chapter 6. Would you turn there with
me this morning? We're going to be back here in
the book of Ezra just momentarily, but turn with me over to the
book of John, chapter 6. In John, chapter 6, we have Situation
arise and the Lord has this to say in the situation there They
didn't have bread to feed the people and notice this with me
in John chapter 6 and verse 5 through 9 it says when Jesus then lifted
up his eyes and saw a great company of come unto him, he saith unto
Philip, whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this
he said to prove him." Now notice this phrase, and this phrase
is so good throughout the entire scripture. from the very beginning
of Genesis to the very close of Revelation, this thought that
we have about the Lord is so good for us to keep in mind.
For he himself knew what he would do. Now, did you hear that? For
he himself knew what he would do. God has always known what
he will do. But he gives a test here to Philip,
and he goes on, and this he said to prove him. And then in verse
7, Philip answered him, 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient
for them that every one of them shall take a little and We don't
have the money to buy this you take a great deal of money and
one of his disciples notices Andrew Simon Peter's brother
saith unto him there is a lad here which hath five barley loaves
and two small fishes and He recognized that there was this food, but
he also says, how is that going to be for so much or so many
people? There's such a little for so
many, but he did recognize that there was this food there. But
the, and the Lord uses that and we know he fed those great thousands
of people. But I want to just notice here
as we go through the passages of Ezra, as we go through the
passages of Zachariah, As we study in the book of Luke there
in our Bible class, Brother Mike keeps bringing up, let's keep
in mind this very thought here that the Lord brings up, that
he says, he knew what he would do. He knows for he himself,
verse six, knew what he would do. Never lose sight of that. Never lose sight that the Lord
always knows what he will do. He knew what Ezra was going to
do here. He purposed it. He knew the outcome
he had purposed it so we look at this and we just say thank
you Lord You keep us on this path that you know all things
and are carried out all things according to the purpose of your
own will now This verse are these this verse verse 9 is always
applicable As we read here in excuse me in verse some verse
6 is always applicable with every purpose of God It is the very
truth of God's word with regard to Ezra's prayer, and this prayer
is certainly of the ways of God and of the gospel. Now there
is no better way to start the year than to hear the gospel
and some of the benefits to those who have tasted that the Lord
is gracious. Now that's part of a verse found
over in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 3, but we know that that
tasting is It is something that must be experimented. We just
don't know what taste is until we've experimented, and we find
out that Christianity, Christ in us, that salvation is experimental,
and without that grace of the new birth, we are unable to detect
anything about the gospel. Now this gospel that we are going
to read about here, we've read last week, we're looking at today
in this verse nine, The gospel is the clear description of what
the Lord has done for his people. He has accomplished salvation.
Now that's what Ezra is bringing out here. And that's what the
fruit of this prayer is for us. And no doubt for many of those
people in that day and time, religion, salvation, is conditioned
upon a person's own ability rather than God's accomplishment. So
we want to stipulate. We want to declare. We want to
uphold. Have at the forefront that the
gospel is the clear description of what the Lord has done for
his people He has accomplished salvation now as we look here
in verse 9 of the book of Ezra. Let's go back there in verse
9 we find that this great preacher this Prophet Ezra as he's led
by the Holy Spirit We find that he makes a statement here for
we were bondmen now The only time that we ever find in the
life of an individual that they are ready to admit the bondage
that we are in the fall, bondage that we have because of Adam
and Adam's sin and that sin brought down to us through the generations,
the only way that we'll admit this very thing here is through
the new birth. The book of Ezekiel, I believe
it's chapter 36 the I wills of God with regard to salvation
and then we find there He says and then you shall know your
own wicked ways. So God reveals that to us and
he doesn't Reveal the completeness of it because we we wouldn't
be able to understand it in our flesh But he does reveal to us
that our lost condition I've heard a lot of preachers and
in religion it If I can get someone lost, I can get them saved. Well,
you know, we really don't know the problem until we've been
born again. And that's what we have here. And there's no truer statement
is made than we were in bondage, and yet by nature, we will deny
that very thing. And by an example, turn over
with me to the book of John. In the book of John, John chapter
6 this time. John chapter 6, excuse me, John
chapter 8. John chapter 8. We want to look
here at a statement that the Lord is making and the response
by religious people. John chapter 8 and verse 33. This comment is made here and
it just, it is a natural We were in bondage is what Ezra said
and we find that this is a Statement that is brought through the scriptures
in other words. We're ruined by the fall It's
a terrible ruination that happened there and it is the blight upon
us as individuals It's a blight upon our families. It's a blight
upon our culture It's a blight upon the world and it's worse
than that. It leaves everybody dead and
trespasses and sin and And it's a bondage that it's a serious
bondage that we're in And here in the book of John chapter 8
in verse 33 that as the Lord brings up Let's just look there
in verse 32 and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall
make you free and then answered him we be Abraham's seed and
were never in bondage to any man and How sayest thou ye shall
be made free? Well, this is truly an unregenerate
person talking. This is truly a lost person talking
to realize this. We are related to Abraham. We
put that into today's vernacular. I'm a Methodist. I'm a Catholic. I'm a Baptist. I'm an Episcopalian. I'm a Presbyterian. I can trace
my lineage back to that. What are you talking about? I'm
not free. Until we're born again, we never realize that that is
just another statement about our bondage. Our heart cannot
comprehend or understand the terribleness of the fall. So,
here we have Ezra, a faithful preacher, preaching ruined by
the fall. Ruined by the fall. We were bondmen.
Now, did you notice with me there? Let's go back to the book of
Ezra there one more time. In verse 9, we were bondmen. and this bondman is a terrible
bondage. We're in bondage to many things,
sin, we're in bondage to ourself, our own desperately wicked heart,
we can't see over the edge, we can't, we're just dead, that's
what it is. And yet, our God hath not forsaken
us in our bondage. Did you notice that? The very
next phrase, yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage.
What a blessing to know that we were bondmen and to have God
reveal that by nature we were in bondage. We were bondmen and
in bondage, that we are not by nature born with a free will,
but must be quickened in order to have any good thoughts towards
God. We were in bondage to sin. My
goodness, sin reigns. Sin reigned and is carried down
through the ages passed upon generation upon generation upon
generation And this is one reason that we find that the Lord Jesus
Christ could not have a human father He must have his father
God the father must be the father the Holy Spirit in action with
Mary to place within her that seed that would be born of body
prepared for us the person Christ Jesus So we're in bondage to
sin and we're bondage to self and to the flesh. We're in bondage
to the law but Did you notice we were this? That's what Ezra
declares here. We were bondman yet Our God hath
not forsaken us in our bondage is not forsaken us there. We
we he had been completely just in leaving us in our bondage
eternally. But in the covenant of grace,
He has determined by grace to relieve those that belong to
Him, those given by the Father to the Son, those the Son would
promise to lay down His life for ransom for. He has promised
that those would be taken out of bondage. What does that mean? Well, go with me over to the
book of Hebrews for just one verse reading here. In the book
of Hebrews chapter 9, Hebrews chapter 9, we have this wonderful
verse left to us to enjoy, to delight in, because it shares
with us a little bit of what Christ did when He took us out
of bondage. Notice here with me in Hebrews
chapter 9 and verse 26, For then must he often have suffered since
the foundation of the world, But now, once in the end of the
world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself." How glorious this is that the Lord Jesus Christ would
be capable of putting away sin. And He was able to do that because
our sin was imputed to Him. God the Father poured out justice
upon Him. poured out the righteous indignation
against him, and he died. And in so dying, he put away
sin. Sin was absolutely, completely,
and totally paid for by the shed blood, by the sacrifice of our
Savior, the Lord Jesus. You know, we have a problem with
our heart. So many people want to blame
what happens in their lives, and happens in the lives of others,
and happens in the lives of countries, in that there's a created being
that's involved with that and he's called the devil or Satan.
He's the reason for all of this. My friends, he's not the reason. He's God's devil. He's created
by God. He doesn't have an omniscience.
He doesn't have omnipotence. He doesn't have omnipresence.
He is not like that at all. He is not a god. in the sense
that the God is, he has his great limitations, he is only able
to work by his whatever he does, by permission from Almighty God,
and we find out that the God that we truly have our worship
of is ourself and our own self-righteousness, and it is pleasing to God in
the covenant of grace, as is brought out here, we were taken
out of bondage. If you'll turn with me to the
book of Ezekiel, chapter 36 we should read this whole chapter
we mentioned it earlier in this message but we should read the
whole thing but for time sake we're just going to read a verse
or two out of it and they are in chapter 36 Ezekiel chapter
36 And there in verse 26, please take time to read this, the whole
passage of scripture here as we find that the Lord speaks
to us through this great preacher Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel. He's again a minister of the
gospel. He is a preacher of righteousness.
And we did mention over here in verse 31 earlier, then shall
you remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not
good. Shall loathe yourselves in your
own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations only
after the new birth are we able to do that and yet we find out
that as But but come into that conclusion. The Lord has already
delivered us from bondage. He's brought us out of bondage
So here in Ezekiel chapter 36, let's back up to verse 26 and
it says we have this terrible heart It's a heart that's Well,
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked
who can know it Well, we have someone that is able to take
care of that bondage. We can't escape from it on our
own We can't just throw our heart out. We just it's impossible. We can't do it and here it says
in Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 26 a new heart Also will I give you and a new
spirit will I put within you That's the Holy Spirit and will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I'll give you
a heart of flesh What a blessing it is that he would remove the
bondage of not only our sin But that old wicked heart that we
have God has taken care of every problem that was between us and
God. He's the one that says here's
the standard and he supplies the standard in the person Christ
Jesus. And then we find that the Lord
Jesus takes care of the bondage to the law. Over in the book
of Romans, would you read there with me Romans chapter 10? Romans
chapter 10 we read this Well, I just keep saying this wonderful
passage of Scripture But they are wonderful when we find out
what the Lord has done on our behalf even as Ezra prays My
goodness, he's taking care of all the issues and here he is
We were in bondage, but he has taken us out of bondage We were
in bondage to sin, but he has taken our sin as far as the east
is from the west we're in bondage to self and to the flesh and
to our old heart and he gives us a new heart and Here we have
the bondage that we're in Usually by our own thoughts that we could
keep the law. My goodness, to keep the law.
There was never any peace in the law. It was always judgment.
But notice here in Romans chapter 10 and verse 4 it says, For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Who's
going to believe? The lost sheep. How are they
going to believe? By the preaching of the gospel.
By the hearing of the gospel. God's going to grant belief to
them. How are they going to turn to God? He will turn them. Turn
me and I shall be turned so we have all these things that God
has taken care of as the Prophet Ezra brings out there in his
priestly prayer his great Prayer before God about the problem
that was going on in Israel is the same problem that's going
on right here right in the dowels right in town wherever you are
we have this problem, but He is the one that takes care of
the bondage of the law Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
and along the same line turn with me over to the book of Galatians
chapter 4 Galatians chapter 4 and we have this wonderful passage
of scripture left for us it's just this book of Galatians is
just such a powerful book it seems almost be the summation
of the writings of the Apostle Paul as he's led by the Holy
Spirit by inspiration to write of the letters he wrote to the
other folks here is just almost a summation he just brings it
to such a forceful point and in Galatians chapter 4 and verse
4 but when the fullness of time was come God sent forth his son
made of a woman made under the law now notice verse 5 to redeem
them he didn't offer redemption He redeems them that were under
the law that we might receive the adoption of sons and Because
you are sons God has sent forth his spirit of his son into your
hearts crying Abba father we have we look at God and and We
it's that friendly blessed term that we have Abba daddy daddy
Abba Father what a blessed change has come he will be our God and
we shall be his people what a glorious thing and that is brought out
here in the book of Ezra chapter 9 and verse 9 in this prayer
of Ezra verses 8 and 9 a wonderful gospel account that is brought
up here now we find that we were servants of sin we were in bondage
of sin we're a bondage to our heart to our self to our mind
to our own corrupt thoughts. We're in bondage to the law. We think we can keep it, and
we can't. But every believer in Christ
Jesus has been taken out of that hard bondage to the true bondservanthood. Just think about that. We've
been taken out of the harsh bondage of sin, the harsh bondage of
our heart, the harsh bondage that is against us in the law,
and we are made bondservants of the Lord. Turn with me to
the book of Romans. In the book of Romans chapter
1 and verse 1, the apostle Paul brings this up as he speaks about
himself. Now at one time he would say,
we've never been in bondage to anybody. But he realized he was
in bondage. He was in the worst sort of bondage. And he looked at all of those
things that he used or thought he could use to attain freedom. And he says, I count all these
things as done. There was nothing in them that
would set him free. But the grace of God, the gospel
of God, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ set him free. And
as a result of that, he shares with us here in Revelation, excuse
me, Romans chapter one and verse one, Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ. Now you look that word up in
its original form and you find out that's the word bondservant.
That's the word servant, bondservant, slave. Well, the difference is,
this is one who is of all things gentle to his people. He loves
us. We love him because he first
loved us. So we are taken out of the bondage,
harsh bondage. The bondage is only could be
typified or spoken of in the language of those Egyptian folks
down there in Egypt when they were in bondage to make brick
without straw. Can you imagine what those folks'
feet looked like at the end of every day? My goodness, they
were in bondage and they had severe taskmasters that made
them push on, push on, push on. Well, that's what we are by nature. We're in bondage to sin. We can't
do anything else. We're not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. And so here we're set free, but
we're willing, we're made willing, and we're willing to be a bond
servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 6 let's look there
in Romans chapter 6 as this subject is continued in Romans chapter
6 in verse 19 We have this word. I speak after the manner of men
Romans chapter 6 in verse 19 I speak after the manner of men
because of the infirmity of your flesh for as ye have yielded
your members servants to uncleanliness and to iniquity unto Iniquity
even so, now yield your members servants to righteousness unto
holiness. What a transformation takes place
that we could be taken from bond servants to, what's it say there? Uncleanliness and to iniquity. Unto iniquity, even so now, yield
your members servants to righteousness. That's what a blessing that God
gives us is he allows us to be servants of righteousness, servants
of Christ, servants of God. And again, here in the book of
1 Corinthians, Paul is led by the Holy Spirit to write these
words. 1 Corinthians chapter 7, verse
22 and 23. 1 Corinthians chapter 7, verse
22 and 23. It says here, for that he that
is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman. Likewise also, he that is called
being free is Christ's servant. You are bought with a price. Be not ye the servants of men. We're bought with a price. Don't
bow before men, don't bow before religion, but we are servants
of Christ. Being a servant is the Lord's
free man. What a concept. It seems like
a paradox, and yet there's no greater free man, a freeness. No greater freedom than to have
freedom in being a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ. What
a glorious thing we have in Ezra's prayer as he points out we were
in bondage. We were in bondage. There was a bondage. And again,
I've only noticed that God's people, God's people who know
of his free grace in Christ Jesus, recognize the fact that they
really were deserving of eternal damnation. And it was only because
of God's grace, only because of God's grace, that we're not
getting our just deserts. Well, as we look here in the
book of Ezra, let's go back to the book of Ezra one more time
here. Keep I hope you kept your finger there or you have a have
a marker there But in the book of Ezra going back to the book
of Ezra chapter 9 again. Let's look at this prayer this
first nine is part of this prayer of Ezra we were for we were bondmen
verse 9 of Ezra chapter 9 yet our God hath not forsaken us
in our bondage but hath extended mercy God hath extended mercy. Now mercy, true mercy is only
from God. Now we might be merciful to our
friends or neighbors or family, but real mercy, real mercy is
extended from God. It's always God when it comes
to God's mercy. He gives us mercy and that mercy
is in regards to our natural state and the required punishment
due. We find that mercy precludes
that we are sinners. We're in bondage to sin. And
mercy is what God shares. He does not give us what we deserve. Mercy is in regards to our natural
state and the required punishment due. Mercy, God withholds what
we deserve. Mercy precludes sin. No sin. If you don't have any sin, there's
not going to be any mercy. And that's a terrible state to
be in. God's people are sinners and God's people have been extended
mercy by God. Now it mentions here in the book
of Ezra chapter 9 and verse 9 that there was kings of Persia that
God used to extend this mercy by. Well, we find that in the
book of Ezra back up to chapter 1, would you? Back up to chapter
1 verse 1 of the book of Ezra and we have here The very first
statement. Now, Isaiah wrote of this many,
many years before. Jeremiah wrote of this many,
many years before it came to pass. In fact, Cyrus is named
by Isaiah. Now, in the first year of Cyrus,
king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah
might be fulfilled. Now, it's the word of the Lord.
That's the word of the Lord. He gave it to a prophet by the
name of Jeremiah. And he is going to have that
word by his prophet, his word by his prophet fulfilled. And
that's what he's writing about. He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus
king of Persia. Now, Cyrus was gracious and Cyrus
was merciful to allow these people to leave, but he would have never
have done that if he had not been stirred by the Lord to do
it. And it didn't change his nature. Cyrus still was a pagan
king, and Cyrus still was a harsh taskmaster, and yet God purposed
that this Cyrus, king of Persia, and later when Ezra came back,
Artaxerxes the king of Persia, that these people release the
folks of the Lord, those that were going to return, those that
he stirred up their hearts to return, he caused them to release
these folks. Now, the only way that we'll
be ever released from the bondage that we're in is that God releases
us from the bondage we're in. That's God's business. The Lord
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to release his
hold on them. What did God's mercy do? It commanded
that which held the elect in bondage to release them on the
promise of full payment made. God's mercy promised, God's grace
promised, God promised that He would remove, release them from
these things, this bondage. upon the promise of full payment
made. Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. In other words, God said, sin,
release your hold. And guess what? Sin released
its hold. That's God's promise to us. The
punishment for sin will never be extracted from us, it's been
extracted from God. And as we move down through here,
We find our natural relationship to Adam. God said, release the
hold. We've been adopted by God Almighty
out of this most horrific family that we were placed in by our
birth. We've been taken out of the very
depths of despair and placed in the very company of God, sitting
at the right hand of the Father in Christ Jesus. Release him
from sin release them from their natural relationship and to death
it is declared Release them. You know, I think about this
and there was a man that said a lot about the gospel. His name
was Jonah He only used just a few words and we often go back there
to the book of Jonah and say Look at what he had to say in
the Old Testament Salvation is of the Lord five words Salvation
is of the Lord. Now he's in the great fish's
belly when that happens. And the moment that he learns
that wonderful lesson, now at least learns it so we can see
it. I don't think for a moment that
he was not a saved person when he was cast into that Mediterranean
Sea. But he learned something that
he might share it with us, and that is salvation is the Lord.
And the moment that that happened, we find that God required that
great fish to spew him out on dry land. What's he say? Release
him. He knows the truth. Release Him.
He knows God. Release Him. He knows the gospel.
Release Him. He knows how He's saved. He's
been saved by the blood of the Lamb. So release Him. Release them for Jesus' sake. It was God's purpose to have
all his folks set free. And it was his purpose to have
Cyrus release those folks in that day. And it was his purpose
to have Artaxerxes in the days of Ezra release those folks,
these kings of Persia. And then it tells us there in
the book of Ezra, chapter nine, in that wonderful gospel declaration
found in a prayer. Found in a prayer Ezra's prayer
prayer of righteousness. He says we were bondmen Yes,
we were and in the worst sort we but we were bondmen our God
hath not forsaken us in our bondage But hath extended mercy unto
us in the sight of the kings of Persia to give us a revival
Kings of Persia release them and he stirred him up to do that.
It wasn't their nature to do that It isn't sins nature to
release us but it is God's nature to command sin to release us.
And he did that through the blood of the Lamb. It is not the nature
of death to release us, but he does release us. You know, we'll
go through the physical death, but the Bible says, don't fear
him who can cause physical death, but fear him who can cause physical
and spiritual death. Now, he's released us from that. Eternal death has been released.
God said, release him, and he did. Why? Because Jesus Christ
paid the full price on the cross of our eternal death. We just
say amen. Well, here looking again in the
book of Ezra, chapter 9, verse 9, to give us a reviving. to be made alive, in Christ to
be born from above, to be delivered from the power of darkness, I
like what I find over there in the book of Colossians chapter
1. Colossians, another wonderful passage of scripture in the New
Testament as we find in the Old. This wonderful passage about
what God has done for us. He's given us a reviving. He's
given us a life. He's brought us out Here it says
in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 13 who has delivered us from
the power of darkness in that blindness of Religion that blindness
natural blindness blindness that can't see God I remember I've
probably mentioned this in other places in my preaching, but working
with kids, you have these kids that can read a sentence but
cannot tell you the definition of the words. They have no comprehension
of what they just read. And that's the way it is when
we read the Bible without salvation. There's no comprehension. The
Bible, the scriptures are spiritually discerned. We'll never figure
it out. But by revelation, Jesus Christ
gives us what is the key, and the key is Christ. Christ is
the issue. Well, here in Colossians it says,
He's delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated
us. He has translated us into the
kingdom of his dear son. He has transferred us. He's removed
us from one place to another. He's a change of situation or
place. This is what God does for his
people. We've been translated into the
kingdom of his dear son. And now, in closing, let's go
back there to the book of Ezra for just a moment as we look
at some final thoughts in that verse nine. Ezra chapter nine,
once again, Ezra 9, verse 9, and we notice in the latter part,
and we'll not deal a lot with this right now, but we will in
our next message, but it says here that Ezra 9, verse 9, the
latter part, it says there, to give us a reviving, to set up
the house of our God. Through this all, God sets up
His church. It's a beautiful building. Christ
is the foundation. He uses the lively stones to
build up the temple, this church, the house of our God, and to
repair the desolations, what we lost in Adam. No, Adam and
Eve were no doubt so very handsome and so very beautiful. And yet,
in the fall, they aged. Well, it's just opposite with
a believer. Our spirit never ages. It never
ages. It is continuously the same. To repair the desolations thereof
and to give us a wall in Judah. Now what's that speaking about?
Security, one more time. Giving us a wall in Judah and
in Jerusalem. Protection. He is a wall of fire
about his people. He's a wall of fire. He is our
protection. He's our security. He is our
hope. He is our peace. He is our Savior. In fact, He
is a Savior that actually saves us from our sins. And He's a
Redeemer that actually redeems us from the hand of the bondman.
And He just does all this for because of his grace and for
our good and for our glory well we're gonna close right here
and we'll pick this up next time we pray God's blessing upon you and thank you