Ezra chapter 7 and I would like
to look at the last two verses of this chapter and I think we'll
be through with the book of Ezra chapter 7 today. What a blessing
it's been to go through this chapter and notice the ways that
Ezra was a type of Christ as is found in this chapter. To
go through the words of Artaxerxes, the decree of Artaxerxes for
the people of God to go back to Jerusalem. And how in this
passage of scripture we find that Ezra is very thankful for
those words that Artaxerxes had because he understood that those
words were words of providence. They were as a result of God
moving upon Artaxerxes, touching his heart. So as we look here
in Ezra chapter six, excuse me, Ezra chapter seven, verses 27
and 28. Ezra chapter seven, verses 27
and 28. Blessed be the Lord God of our
fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's
heart to beautify the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem.
and hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counselors,
and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened
as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me. And I gathered together
out of Israel chief men to go up with me. Notice in these two
verses that Ezra's complete thanksgiving to God for the blessings he received
from the Lord. He blessed be the Lord God of
our fathers, and we found in verse 27, which he hath put such
a thing as this in the king's heart, and then hath extended
mercy unto me before the king and his counselors and before
all the king's mighty princes. This word blessed has a great
deal of value as we go through the Old Testament It's a Hebrew
word that's brought out so many times in the Old Testament. It has to do with the idea of
to bless God as to submit the knee, to bow before him in adoration. That is how Ezra felt about all
the blessings he had. He had been held as a captive
in Babylon. At this time, he is permitted
to go back to Jerusalem by the king's decree, but overall by
the Lord's decree. He bowed the knee in a pictorial
sense before the Lord. He adored the Lord for what he
had been given to him. It was a bow to the knee and
we find that the Lord shares with us in the book of Isaiah
as also as in the book of Romans, every knee shall bow. God's people in this day, in
this gospel day, They have the privilege of bowing as the Lord
brings them to that point of salvation. They bow before Him. They adore Him. They have great
love for Him. And it is as someone would bow
before a king. We're bowing before the Lord
of glory. This also can be applied to men
as they are the beneficiaries of the blessing of the Lord.
They are beneficiaries of the blessed of the Lord and as we
look at this passage of scripture there in Ezra chapter 7 and verse
27, blessed be the Lord God of our fathers. Would you turn with
me to the book of Isaiah chapter 51 for just a moment. In Isaiah
chapter 51 we have this word is used here And it tells us
about God's dealing with Abraham. Would you notice with me here
in Isaiah chapter 51, beginning with verse one, the blessing
that God gave to Abraham. Now in verse two is the verse
we're going to be looking at. Let's read that first, and then
we'll go back to verse one. Look unto Abraham your father,
and unto Sarah that bear you. for I called him alone and blessed
him. Now, as I thought about that,
how many hundreds of thousands of people there must have been
at that time, and yet God had his eye on a man down in Ur of
the Chaldees, a man that worshiped many false deities, and yet God
in his covenant mercy went to that person. Now, if we follow
the line, we find that Abraham is in direct line to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Abraham was in direct line from
Adam to Abraham, and it was not a mistake. But God did not look
down through time to see that Abraham would respond to the
word of God. God took the initiative as he
always does, and he chose Abraham before the foundation of the
world. Now Abraham finds himself in a very dubious place. Abraham
has been born into a family that is in a very dubious place. Ur
of the Chaldees is not a place where you're going to find much
gospel. Yet, the Lord of glory appeared unto Abraham. That's
what Stephen had to say in the Book of Acts. The Lord of glory
appeared unto him. This was God's moving and that's
how he works today. He goes to the Ur of the Chaldees,
if you please, to find all his people, And he appears to them
in such a glorious manner through the preaching of the gospel.
Well, as we look here just a little bit further in verse 2 of Isaiah
51, it says, for I called him alone and blessed him and increased
him. So that's the outcome of the
blessing of the Lord. I called him. Alone and blessed
him and increased him notice verse 1 now hearken to me he
that follow after righteousness Ye that seek the Lord Listen
to me in other words you that have an interest in the gospel
listen to me Ye that follow after righteousness ye that seek the
Lord look unto the rock whence you were hewn and to the hole
of the pit whence you are digged and I have several pictures of
my hometown in my office. The pastor who brought me the
gospel says, never forget where you came from. Never get beyond
that point that you were in Ur of the Chaldees when the God
of glory appeared unto you. You were in a place that you
found yourself. There's no hope in that place.
There's no hope in that religion. There's no hope in those deities.
And yet God, the God of glory appears and he brings goodness
to him, to us through the gospel as the gospel is brought to us.
He says here, And then look unto Abraham your father, just as
an example. Take what he had, look where
he was, and take what he had God gave to him. For the Lord,
verse three, shall comfort Zion. He will comfort all her waste
places. He will make her wilderness like
Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness
shall be found therein, thanksgiving in the voice of melody. Where
do we find? What do we find in ourselves?
Waste places. What do we find in ourselves?
A desert. Yet the Lord says, I'll make
that waste place like Eden and I'll make that desert grow and
be a blessing. So this is the act of the Lord
and that's how Ezra is responding to the Lord after he hears the
decree of Artaxerxes. Can you imagine living in a place
where you don't have a lot of freedom and the king calls for
you? Come into my presence. And you
sit down in the presence of the king, King Artaxerxes, who rules
very seriously. Your life doesn't mean that much
if he doesn't want it to be. And he calls Ezra into his presence
and he says, sit down right here. And Ezra comes in and sits down
and he says, I have something I want to tell you. I'm going to have you go back
to Jerusalem. And Ezra's chin drops, and the king says, and
besides that, I'm going to provide all the gold and the silver necessary
to go back to Jerusalem and finish the house of the Lord. And I'm
going to have a whole bunch of guys go with you, and I'll protect
the route while you're going. And Ezra says, oh, thank you,
Lord. He knows exactly where that blessing
came from. He understands that for Artaxerxes
to do that, God had to touch his heart. And that's exactly
what he says. The Lord of Glory touched his
heart. To enable him to say what he
said and do what he did, the Lord of Glory had to touch his
heart. Ezra is so caught up in the moment because this is not
a stranger to him. The blessings of the Lord even
in captivity was not a stranger to him. He was caught up in the
moment and he bowed his knee, not literally, but figuratively
to the Lord and said, you are so blessed, you are so gracious,
you are so merciful. Turn with me if you would to
the back from Isaiah to the Psalms. In Psalm 5, there in Psalm 5
and verse 12, The Lord continues to do blessings like this that
God's people realize beyond a shadow of a doubt, this has to be from
the Lord. He had to move on somebody to
do this, and we are the rich recipients of that. The blessings
of the Lord, God has used many people. to bring them to the
church over the ages. Here in the book of the Psalms,
Psalm 5 and verse 12. Psalm 5 and verse 12, it says,
For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous. With favor wilt thou
compass him, as with a shield. As Ezra, down there in Babylon,
he realized that there was a shield about him, and a shield about
God's people, even in these dire straits that they were in. And
if you would move over to the Psalms, Psalm 103. Psalm 103,
we find these words, that is our constant prayer to the Lord. Psalm 103. And there in verse one and two,
we have these words. It says, bless the Lord, O my
soul. and all that is within me, bless
his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thy iniquities,
who healeth all thy diseases. He's taken care of all the iniquities
of all the church, and he's taken care of all of the diseases,
not physical diseases, but spiritual diseases that we face on a constant
basis. all the attacks, he taken care
of those. So bless the Lord all my soul
and all that is within me." This is how Ezra felt when Artaxerxes
called him in to his throne room and said, this is what's going
to happen. It's not very long, we're going
to read in Chapter 8, and we've already gone through Chapter
8. We're not going to go over that again, but the travels that
they had, the preparation that went into it, and Artaxerxes
is in the background saying, bless you. Bless you, bless you,
and behind Arthur Xerxes holding his hand is God saying, bless
you, bless you, bless you. That's how it works. God's blessing
his people through other people, through people that will never
know God. There are hewers of wood and
drawers of water. And in Psalm 104 we have, bless
the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, thou art very great, thou
art clothed with honor and majesty. We cannot extol the Lord enough,
we cannot lift him up enough. Our heart is not able to lift
him up as high as he is, but oh, to thank him for all that
he has done. And here Ezra in the presence
of the king just said, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for
all your benefits. My soul doesn't even know how
to, and my being doesn't know how, I can't get there, but you
know what I mean. Lord, thank you. Thank you so
much for all. And this is how Ezra felt. Blessed
be the Lord God of our fathers. He saw a demonstration here of
the covenant mercies of God to his people. They've always been,
they forever will be the covenant mercies of the people. God made
a covenant. between the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, before the foundation of the world, before
the world was ever created, on the benefit and on behalf of
His people. And Ezra is just realizing more
and more how much that covers. It covers all things. It covers
our life. It covers the blessings that
we have. And more than all, it covers
the spiritual needs that we had. when He raises us from the spiritual
dead and blesses us with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
And here, Ezra is able to say, Thank you, Lord. In the direst
of places, just as we find in the worst of places the world
had to offer at the time, Abram is called out of Ur of the Chaldees
and he is called the father of the faithful. It doesn't mean
that he passes on his spiritual blessings. He is an example of
what God does for his people and where he finds them in the
worst of places. Generally, just like Abraham
in some religious dive that we just are brought into. I mentioned
a number of times when I was a child, I was drugged. I was
drugged to church, Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.
I was drugged. It bothered me that my older
brother got to sit out in the car and listen to a comedy act
that was on the radio until church started. Why couldn't I do that? That was better than what I got
inside. Well, Ezra felt, Lord, thank
you. Two more reasons he has this
feeling is God moved in the king's heart to do what he did, and
as a result, he extended mercy to me. The strengthened by the hand
of the Lord just notice here in Ezra chapter go back to Ezra
chapter 7 and there in verse 28 Those those words where it
says here the Lord has strengthened me by his hand Ezra chapter 7
and verse 28 and I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord by God
was upon me and and I gathered together all of Israel chief
men to go up with me. I was strengthened by the hand
of the Lord. In other words, I was strengthened in what the
king decreed and saw the hand of God in it for me. We are going to realize as we
study the word of God in every place that God is the grand agent
of all the business. He is the behind the scenes. He is the grand agent of everything. He's the grand agent of grace.
He's the grand agent of faith. He's the grand agent of perseverance. He's the grand agent of all blessings. Before him there is nothing,
and he is the grand blessing, blesser of all spiritual blessings. He is the God, if the word of
God is preached, it is that God is the grand agent to bring the
preached word. wherever it is brought in its
truth from the Word of God, God is behind it saying, this is
where I want it to be preached. If he's the grand agent of the
whole business, the Lord God of our fathers, if You heard
the word of God. It is God that is the grand agent
behind you so that you can hear the word of God and your ears
were opened, and your eyes were opened, and your heart was unstopped. He's the grand agent behind it
because left to ourselves, we don't have any capabilities of
open our eyes spiritually. or opening our ears spiritually,
or opening our hearts spiritually. God is the one behind all of
those activities, and he's the one that must perform them, and
he does them with surgical technology. If you believe the word of God,
God is the grand agent. He's the one that gave us the
belief to believe. He's the one that stands behind
all the trust that we have. He's the one that gave us all
the trust that we have, all the faith we have. If you believe
God's word, it is God that is the grand agent for that. To
how many thousands and millions of people in the world is this
just tradition, just handed down from one person to another? or
gibberish, or it's, and to God's people, thou hast the words of
eternal life. To those who walked away, it
meant nothing. To those that were with the Lord
Jesus Christ, will you also go away? And he says, how, to where
will we go? You have the words of eternal
life. And so, to God's people, only because God has purposed
it, And he's the agent behind it. If you're saved and you're
safe and you're secure, it is God that is the grand agent behind
it. That's where our security comes
from. That is where our hope comes from. That is all. Turn
with me to the book of Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter
2, as we think about Ezra in his day and time as being a type
and a shadow and a picture of every believer. I've been brought
before a physical king, but it's because of the Lord and he's
letting me go because of the Lord and I'm going to Jerusalem
Heavenly Jerusalem because of the Lord in the book of Philippians
We have a grand verse of scripture chapter 2 and verse 13 Philippians
chapter 2 and verse 13 we have these words For it is God That
could be at the beginning of the book of Philippians, the
book of Ezra, the book of Genesis. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. How much will
would we have interest in God and God's work if it wasn't for
him giving us the will? God's will. How much would Ezra
had any interest in going back to Jerusalem to begin with if
it hadn't been for God's will in him? Because we found early
in the book of Ezra that there were just this number that went
back and there were a whole bunch of people that stayed in Babylon.
Now I'm convinced that some of those people became the parents
or grandparents of this group that left with Ezra, but they
stayed there. They were comfortable there.
They had their livings there. They had their businesses there.
Why would I want to go back? Yet there were some that God
worked in the heart of that had an interest and a desire to go
back. Who, what makes the difference? We find it is always the Lord
that makes the difference. It is always God that strengthens
his people as the hand of the Lord touches them. Ezra knew
much about God's providence and God's providential care over
him. In the book of 1st Chronicles, would you turn there with me?
The book of 1st Chronicles, David is giving some instructions
to his son Solomon, about the building of the temple. Now,
David had an interest in building the temple, but he was prevented.
God had someone else in mind, and it was his son Solomon that
was going to be instrumental in building the temple. I don't
know how much Solomon actually went down and put rocks in places
and put beams in places, but he was certainly there the overseer
of it all. Here in 1 Chronicles 29, First Chronicles chapter 29 and
verse 16. David is instructing his son,
but he's also in prayer. He says, O Lord our God, all
this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thine
holy name. Now notice the next words. Cometh of thine hand and is all
thine own. When I read that, I said, why
haven't I read that before? That's been one of those verses
that's had a piece of paper over the top of it. David said, everything
we have prepared here to build the house that we know as the
temple, everything that we have here to build the temple For
your house has been given to us, and is all thine own to begin
with. I know also, my God, that thou
triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in
uprightness of my heart, I will willingly offer all these things.
And now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present
here, to offer willingly unto thee. Everything we have has
been given by the Lord from His hand. Everything, every spiritual
activity that God has ever done has been come from His hand.
We don't have any ability to create spiritual things. He has
the ability because He is spiritual and His spiritual activity creates
spiritual activities and all we do is give them right back
to the Lord in Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within
me, bless his holy name. Everything that we've been given.
In Ezra, going back to the book of Ezra, chapter one. We went
over this a long time ago, but here in the book of Ezra, chapter
one, we read these wonderful words about the first group that
went back to Jerusalem. Why did they go to begin with?
Why has anybody ever been drawn aside out of this world to Christ? Why? Here it says, Now in the
first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, 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,
God stirred the heart of Cyrus. Now, if God can stir the heart
of Cyrus, king of Persia, it's no difficult thing to stir the
heart of Abraham down in Ur of the Chaldees, or your heart,
or my heart, because God has all power and he knows exactly
what to do and how to work His work because He has a plan and
it's an eternal plan and He will carry it out to the very last
minute detail. God has so purposed these things. It tells us in Psalm 110 and
verse 3. Would you turn there with me?
Psalm 110 and verse 3. It tells us God gives us a willing
heart. We don't have that by nature.
In fact, we find just the opposite by nature. We don't have any
purpose to do God any service. We have purpose to do a God a
service, just like Abraham and Ur of the Chaldees. He had lots
of deities. He could choose every day one.
And he would have more than a year's full if he just did one a day. There are several thousand deities
down in Ur. And it tells us that he was a
worshiper of those deities. And the God of glory appeared
unto him, not because he was going to a prayer meeting, but
because it was God's eternal purpose, his will that he come. Now notice here in Psalm 110
and verse 3. Psalm 110 in verse 3, as we think about Ezra, blessing
the Lord because he worked the work in Artaxerxes' heart, and
he's just about ready to go on a trip, a several-month trip,
five-month trip from Babylon over to Jerusalem with good intentions
when he got there, to worship the God of glory. Psalm 110,
and there in verse 3, it says, thy people, shall be willing,
thy people willing in the day of thy power. God has the power
and he makes his people willing in the day of his power, whatever
day that is. He goes on to say, in the womb
of the, in the beauty of holiness from the womb of the morning,
thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord has sworn and will not
repent. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. So we have the reason here that
God's people are willing. There is a priest after the order
of Melchizedek and the book of Hebrews identifies him as the
Lord of glory. That's the reason he makes his
people. That's why his people are made
willing in the day of his power. It tells us in the book of John
chapter 6 and verse 45, it's written in the prophets, and
they shall all be taught of God. God teaches one message. Salvation is of the Lord, and
everything else falls out under that. Salvation is of the Lord. John chapter 6 and verse 65,
would you look at that with me? John chapter 6 and verse 65. This truly bears the heart of
the reason Anybody can say, bless the Lord,
oh my soul. This is the only reason that
Ezra could say, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord for him working
in the king. Because if it wasn't for that,
there would be no interest in going to begin with. Here it
tells us in John chapter 6 and verse 65, and the Lord said,
Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come to me except
it were given unto him of my father. From that time, many
of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. And
Jesus then said, Jesus, unto the 12, will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, now there's one in that 12 that didn't understand what
Peter had to say, but there's 11 in that 12 that understood
what Peter had to say. Every believer understands what
Peter has to say right here. Unbelievers, they just can't
get it. But here he says, Will you also
go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered
them, have not I chosen you twelve? Those guys were just like Abraham
down in Ur of the Chaldees. They were probably, most of them,
very religious. Some of them were Jews. Very
religious, caught up in Judaism. The Lord had to take care of
that, just like he has to take care of a lot of stuff when he
saves his people. But he says, I've chosen you
12, and one of you is a devil. He
spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he was that
should betray him, being one of the 12. And so the words of
the Lord Jesus come out so clear, Therefore said I unto you that
no man can come to me except it was given of him of the father
Would you go back with me to the book of Ezra for just a moment?
the book of Ezra chapter 7 Ezra chapter 7 These are Ezra's remarks with
regard to the decree of Artaxerxes the king that they would get
to go back to Babylon. Blessed be the Lord God of our
fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's
heart to beautify the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem
and hath extended mercy unto me before the king and his counselors. and before all the king's mighty
princes. And I was strengthened as the
hand of the Lord my God was upon me. And I gathered together out
of Israel chief men to go up with me. Then we have chapter
8, and we've already gone through the book of Ezra chapter 8. And
we saw the travels back to Jerusalem. And then chapters 9 and 10, two
chapters left. Some grave issues come up. to
Ezra when he gets back there. You know, there's no enemy at
the gate. There's no trouble going on. There's no problems going on.
Everybody is at peace. And yet, in the group, there
is some grave problems. And those two chapters we'll
deal with as we come back together again at the next appointed time
and look at these problems and the solutions to those problems,
and I'm thankful that we're in a gospel age today. We're in the gospel age. Their
gospel was being preached here just like it is today, but we
don't have the law imposed upon us like they did. Well, may we
go to the Lord in prayer. Gracious Father, as we come to
the close of this and other time when we get to enjoy your fellowship
in this manner, in the reading and preaching of your word. We're
thankful for Brother Craig's message that went before, as
you have so abundantly blessed through the scriptures, the those
who have been called out to yourself to worship at your feet. We're
thankful for this great prophet that you've given us, this Ezra,
and the message that we find in the book that you have caused
to be written by him, the message of grace, the message of Christ,
the message that we have nothing of ourselves and we have everything
of the Lord. We pray, Lord, your blessing
upon those that have assembled in various manners today, and
we pray that you bless those that couldn't be with us, that
you give them opportunity even this day, this hour, to think
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Lord, that you'd bless
us through this week and give us opportunity, according to
your good purpose and your will, to assemble again this Wednesday.
And then, throughout the week, we think about you and even,
as the psalmist did, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that
is within me, bless his holy name. It's in the name of our
Savior we pray, amen.