We appreciate you joining us
this morning in the book of Ezra chapter 8 as we continue in our
study of this wonderful book The Gospel According to Ezra.
Some wonderful things are found in this book and once again we'd
like to look at some of them. We're going to be in Ezra chapter
8 and the last three times that we've spoken we brought up some
meanings of names. So I'd like to cover three names
in the verse 3 of this chapter and then we're going to jump
ahead to Ezra chapter 8 and verse 21. Three more names in this
list, three more legacies in the name and we find that there
was no mistake that these people were named what they were named
and the list is here for us to read and it's been a blessing
to look at some of the significance of their names. Today we're going
to look at Shekiniah, Pharoah, and Zechariah. Shekinah, his
name means dweller with Jehovah. And what a blessing it is to
be able to dwell with omnipotence. from our standpoint, to dwell
with God, to sit at God's feet, to have grace extended to us,
sin forgiven by Him, and that allows us to come boldly before
the throne of grace and there to dwell with Jehovah. Pharos,
his name means a flea, like the little bug. And it's so called
from its springing, its ability to jump long distances. It's
springing. And this brought me to some verses
found here in the scriptures about in Genesis chapter 26. Would you turn there with me,
Genesis chapter 26? An interesting event takes place here in the
book of Genesis chapter 26, and I think we will find that it
is a blessing to be God's flea, to be springing, to be Coming
up towards him and here in the book of Genesis chapter 26 and
verse 19 We read these words very important at that time water
was scarce and We read about Isaac's servants and Genesis
chapter 26 and verse 19 says an Isaac's servants digged in
the valley and Now, what a blessing to be digging a well and get
a well like this one. How pictorial it is of what the
Lord Jesus Christ said about in his people a well of water
springing up. Notice here in the book of Genesis
chapter 26 and verse 19, and Isaac's servants digged in the
valley and found there a well of springing water. Now this
springing water brings controversy just like it does today. There
is only one place true water comes from. It comes from the
Lord. It's not something that we create.
Water is something that is Only made by God and we depend on
it for our life. We depend on it for our crops
We depend on it so much and here we find that there was a well
of springing water brings us over to the book of John would
you turn with me to the book of John and as we find the Lord
Jesus speaking about this very same subject, to be the Lord's
flea, to be springing. And here in the book of John,
it tells us in John chapter 4 and verse 14, John chapter 4 and
verse 14, The Lord speaking about himself and about his blessing
of drinking, Jesus answered in verse 13 and said unto her, the
woman at the well, I must needs go through Samaria, John chapter
4 verse 13. Whosoever drinketh of this water
shall thirst again." Speaking of that Jacobs well, that water
that came out of Jacobs well, how valuable that water was in
the country where it was located. People would come from all over,
this whole town came out to that well for water. She came out
at a time when no one else was there. She didn't want the notoriety
She say people knew what she was and who she was And they
said the Lord said you drink of this well, and you'll want
to drink you'll need to drink again But whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him Shall never thirst but the
water that I shall give him shall be a in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life O, to be God's flea, and to have this
well of water springing up in us to everlasting life, to have
the Lord Jesus as our absolute and complete Savior, depending
upon no one or nothing else, but to have this given to us
The Lord of Glory and then Zechariah over there in the book of Ezra
chapter 8 in verse 3 Jehovah remembers Now we could spend
a lot of time on this man's name Jehovah remembers but I just
want to go through a very short list of things and What a blessing
to know God remembers His covenant. I will remember my covenant.
We depend on that every day. God is the only one that can
make a covenant, an agreement, and carry it out. He has the
power to make it. He has the power to carry it
out. He is omnipotent. He is all-powerful. And we find
that God remembers His tender mercies. Toward us. He never forgets his tender mercies
the the grace of God the mercy of God towards us He always remembers
those he remembers his congregation. He remembers his church. He remembers
his sheep. He remembers the flock He remembers
all those that belong to him whose names are written in the
Lamb's Book of Life What a blessing for him to remember that Jehovah
remembers and He will not remember our sins He remembers all the
the The covenant he remembers the tender mercies he remembers
his congregation But he will not remember their sin We're
thankful for these names that are brought out and as we go
through the book of Ezra the last few chapters here We'll
come back to this chapter and pick up some more names But let
us travel down to Ezra chapter 8 and verse 21 Ezra chapter 8
in verse 21 there we find a message a lesson for today and Ezra chapter
8, and there in verse 21, Ezra says these words, and I just
like to remember that Ezra is a picture of Christ. Our Savior is the second Ezra,
like we read about David and like we read about other folks
that are pictures and types and shadows of the Lord Jesus. Here
is Ezra 1, but we have in our Savior the Ezra 2. Verse 21,
Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava. Remember,
they've gathered together. In the last verse, Ezra noticed
that not all the folks were there, and he sent ambassadors back
into Babylon. He sent messengers back in. He
sent fetchers. He sent people to go get these
people that were still there that needed to be. Their names
were here in his mind and in his heart. He knew they were
missing, so he sends those folks after him. Just like the Lord
sends his prophets, he sends his messengers, he sends his
elders, he sends his preachers, he sends his missionaries, he
sends his folks, his fetchers to preach the gospel and to bring
these folks in. So here we have they're all gathered
together there on the at the river of Ahava that we might
afflict ourselves before our God to seek of him a right way
for us and for our little ones and for all our substance. So
we come to a time that they're just about ready to travel and
Ezra calls for a fast. Now, it's interesting to me,
and I hope to you, as we look up this word fast, we find that
the Hebrew word translated fast in this verse comes from another
Hebrew word that carries the primary idea in the mouth being
shut. Now, not eating food is an outcome. When we keep our mouth shut,
we don't eat food. And many people apply that to
fasting with food. But we want to go on here and
look at this and hopefully we can learn something. Not eating
food is an outcome, but keeping our lips closed is by far the
most important thing spoken of in this fast. And if we apply
fast to not eating food, we know this about the general idea of
fasting. We do not fast to have people
feel sorry for us, or to think that we're more spiritual or
pious. how often this fast is used to
declare to people, I want you to feel sorry for me because
I'm fasting, or, and usually it's over some sin, or some legalism
that the church has ordained, or it is to impress upon people
that I am more spiritual or more pious. I remember going to a
store here in the Dalles one time, And a person I worked with
came up to me and he wanted to talk to me about fasting and
asked me if I'd ever fasted and that he was fasting now and what
a blessing it was. Well, as we look into the scriptures,
if you're going to fast and not eat food, that's your part of
your fast, is not eat food, then nobody else in this world is
going to know about it. That's what the Lord instructs
us. So this person was just giving himself bragging rights. He just
wanted to let me know that he's spiritual and that he's pious,
and that's the outcome that we find in the Bible. At no place
in all the thirteen letters Paul was led to write by inspiration
of God did he command a Christian fast. Neither does Peter or John. The Lord Jesus Christ instructed
in Matthew chapter six. Go with me there to this wonderful
great sermon on the mount and the Lord brings up this most
religious activity that most people have in their religion.
Three things he brings up here in Matthew chapter six. And would
you turn over there with me and one of them is fasting. Matthew chapter 6, part of the
Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 16. In this passage of scripture,
the Lord brings up almsgiving. Don't let your right hand know
what your left hand is doing. And it brings up prayer. When
you pray, don't pray as the religious people are doing, standing on
the street corners. Well, when it comes to the subject
of fasting, he brings this up. Moreover, when you fast, be not
as the hypocrites. Did you notice that? Be not as
the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces.
Oh, they squirrel up their faces and pretend that they're going
through this great agony for God. And he says, don't do that. That is hypocritical, that they
may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. But when thou fastest, If you're
going to do this, if you're going to fast and not eat food for
a season, nobody should know it. It says here, but thou, when
thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face. That means
don't give any appearance of what you're doing. It's not anybody
else's business. In other words, follow the first
rule of fasting, keep your lips. And secondly, if you're going
to do this, don't let anybody know. Now fast, just anoint thy
head and wash thy face. That means act like you normally
would. Don't let it get disfigured.
Don't put flour on it to make people say, oh my goodness, what
is going on? That thou appear not unto men
to fast, but unto thy father which is in secret, and thy father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. This is what the
Lord said about it when you fast. Now, He doesn't give a time to
do it. He doesn't give a lot of instructions
about it, except don't be like the hypocrites. Don't do it for
show. Don't do it to tell. The true
fast is keeping our lips. The true fast is keeping ourselves
quiet. There seems to have been a disposition
in all men and from the earliest ages of antiquity to testify
of somewhat sorrow in the mind in all the absence of certain
times upon certain occasions from food by way of punishment
for sin. Now Robert Hawker wrote that
many many years ago and it was his observation as he studied
the different cultures of the world that there always was this
fast but it had this idea that I'm doing this by way of punishment
for sin. I'm doing this by way of punishment
for my sin. And we know that there is only
one who is truly going to receive the punishment of God's elect,
and there will be that judgment upon those without Christ. They
will have their punishment placed upon them through eternity. Now,
there is a wonderful illustration over here in the book of Luke
chapter 18. In Luke chapter 18, we find, again, we use this wonderful
passage of scripture, this illustration that shares with us so much about
grace and so much about religion, alms-doing, show, which most
religion is. It's nothing more than a show.
Here in the book of Luke chapter 10, excuse me, chapter 18, verse
10. Luke chapter 18 and verse 10. Now once again we find ourselves
at this place of the Pharisee and the Publican. And we're going
to read here that the Pharisee, he talks about fasting, but he
doesn't know what fasting is. He is unable to keep his lips. All he can do is talk about his
religion and how religious he is. He doesn't know the first
thing about fasting, even though he tells us that he fasts twice
a week. Well, when it turns out to be that, it's really not fasting
anyway. Well, let's look here. Luke chapter
18, verse 10. Luke chapter 18, verse 10. It
says, two men went up into the temple to pray. the one a Pharisee
and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself." Notice here, he just could not keep his lips. He didn't know the first thing
about real fasting, and that is to keep our lips, to be silent. It goes on, it says, With himself,
God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in
a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. Here he said more than he ever
knew he said. All he is is glorying in his
religion. He's glorying in his rights of
religion. He's glorying in what he's been
educated in his religion. Most important things, and we
read over there in the book of Matthew in the Sermon on the
Mount, these things are not to be even discussed in public.
They're not for public review. But we have here true fasting. Another man, his entire life
is summed up in seven words. His entire life, His entire religious
order, everything that we know about this man is summed up in
seven words. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. His life is summed up in seven
words. Oh my goodness. If we could honestly
say that too, And by the grace of God, every one of God's elect
will say that. God, be merciful to me a sinner. There is no issue besides this. God, be merciful to me a sinner.
The other man who bragged on his fasting didn't know what
fasting was. His lips were always running.
He was always talking about his religion, always bragging about
his religion, always bragging about his church, always bragging
about the things he was doing, things that he thought about
doing, being spiritual, and how many verses of the Bible he's
read, and on and on the list goes. But the man here summed
up his entire life in seven words. And the Lord Jesus tells us about
this man. I tell you, verse 14, this man
went down to his house justified. Now we know what justified means. God was pleased with him. God
had looked upon him in the covenant of grace before the foundation
of the world and he spoke these words about him. He went down
to his house justified. He knew what true fasting was. That was silent lips and God
blessing the heart. He summed up his entire life
in seven words. True fast is not for common knowledge
or for bragging rights. Some examples of fasting are
found in the scriptures, and I want to go to several of those.
One of them is found in the book of Habakkuk, a little book of
Habakkuk. Would you turn with me to the
book of Habakkuk? one of those prophets that's listed by those
who study such things as the minor prophets, and yet we find
here this man has so much to say because he's led of the Holy
Spirit to say it. Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse
20, the last verse of this chapter, notice here what real fasting
is. This is setting a watch on our
lips. He said here, but the Lord is
in his holy temple. I can't get my arms completely
around that. This is a sequoia tree. This
is a giant redwood tree. This is a giant thought. The
Lord is in his holy temple. Well, number one, the Lord, that
is Jehovah. This is the Almighty. is holy,
holy, holy, and he is assembled in his place, his holy temple.
Now let all the earth keep silence before him." Oh, to have that
kind of fast. to have a watch set on our lips
that we would recognize the Lord as Lord and we would recognize
that He is holy and that we would recognize that He is holy and
in His temple. He is in His place. He is there
doing His business and by the grace of God we delight in it. We also find in the book of Ecclesiastes. Would you turn with me to the
book of Ecclesiastes? I'm sure that if people really
knew where a very popular song of a number of years ago actually
came from, they probably wouldn't listen to it anymore. But those
singers took this passage of scripture and put it to music.
It tells us here in the book of Ecclesiastes, beginning with
verse 1, to everything there is a season. and a time to every
purpose under the heaven. Again, that is a verse of scripture.
That's a sequoia tree, verse of scripture. And it goes down
through here and tells us about a time to be born and so forth
and so on. But I'd like to drop down to
verse 7. Here in verse 7 it says, a time to rend and a time to
sow. A time to keep silence. A time to fast. a time to set
a watch at our lips, a time that we would not say something that
would be religious, but we could only say something by the grace
of God, a time to keep silence and a time to speak. The great
fast is to call for a time of silence, to wait on the Lord. That's what Ezra was going to
do, to wait on the Lord, to be instructed by the Lord, not to
jump to conclusions, not to come to some falseness, but to wait
on the Lord. He was calling for a fast of
silence, to wait on the Lord. We got this all figured out.
Oh, no, let's wait on the Lord here over in the book of Exodus
chapter 14 We have this Another example is very thing. Oh my
goodness. We see Israel in such great distress
Exodus chapter 14 Exodus chapter 14 in verse 13. They've left
Egypt in a with a high hand and And not even the dogs of Egypt
bark when they left. And they left and everyone left.
Not one was left behind. They all traveled. And they come
out here to a place and it looks like the Lord has led them into
a trap. Have you ever felt that way?
But it was the Lord's doing. The Lord brought them into a
trap. The Lord brought the Egyptians behind him, a mountain range
on one side, and the Red Sea in front of them. And they are
just nervous to the core. Have you ever been there? What
did this man of God say? Exodus chapter 14 and verse 13,
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and
see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today. For the Egyptians whom ye see
today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. Stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. In other words, be quiet. Be quiet. Wait on the Lord. Be quiet. Wait on the Lord. See the salvation of the Lord.
This is going to be a mighty act of God. It will not be because
of your great fear, but because of God's great grace. He is going to work this out
for His honor, His glory, and for the people's safety. And
we find over again, in the book of 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles
chapter 20, another incident here where we certainly are called
on to fast. Oh, to have this special fast
when we wait upon the Lord, when we look to the Lord. So many,
so many religions, so many religious folks, so many preachers. Some
have good names in their name, I mean in their church name,
and yet they just don't know how to fast. They want to get
somebody to do something. They want some activity. They want people to respond. They want numbers, and they just
are not able to sit there and fast, to close their lips and
wait on the Lord. It's not in them, just like that
Pharisee. It just wasn't in him. Now, it
was in the publican because the Lord had spoken to him, the Lord
had drawn him, the Lord had done a great work of grace in him,
and he could sum up his entire life in those seven words, God
be merciful to me a sinner. Well, here in the book of 2 Chronicles
chapter 20, beginning with verse 14, Then upon Jehaziel, the son
of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jael, the son of Mataniah,
a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in
the midst of the congregation. Someone knew something. God had
given somebody some information. And he said, hearken, ye all
Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat,
I want you to listen. Thus saith the Lord unto you,
Be not afraid, nor dismayed, by reason of this great multitude,
for the battle is not yours, but God's. Be silent, fast, hold
your mouths closed, don't get agitated, wait on the Lord. Tomorrow go you down against
them, behold, they come up by the cliff of Zis, and ye shall
find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jerul.
They shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves,
stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah
and Jerusalem, fear not, be not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go
out against them, for the Lord will be with you. And Joseph bowed his head with
his face to the ground. And all Judah and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. What
did this preacher come and say? This one that was filled with
the Holy Spirit come and say, God is in charge. Be silent. Don't worry. He'll take care
of it. The battle isn't yours. The battle
is the Lord's. Ye shall not need to fight in
this battle. Verse 17, set yourselves, stand
ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you. When, I
ask this question, when should we fast or when should we keep
silence? I have three things here that
I'd like to say. Number one, when we do not see the significance
or meaning or Christ in the passage of scripture, it's better to
keep silence to fast than to speak wrong. Oh, save myself
a lot of problems if I could just fast and wait on the Lord. Turn with me if you would over
to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 29. Deuteronomy
chapter 29 and we read here in Deuteronomy chapter 29 and verse
29. Deuteronomy 29, 29. The secret things belong unto
the Lord our God. But those things which are revealed
belong unto us and our children forever, that we may do all the
words of this law. The secret things belong to the
Lord. but those things which are revealed.
Oh, when the Bible is silent, to be silent, to fast. We should
keep silence if the Word is silent. In 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and
verse 2 is a verse of scripture that came to my mind along this
thought. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 2 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse
2, it says there, and if any man think he knoweth anything,
he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. Oh Lord, help
me fast. Help me set a watch. Help me
put my lips together. Help me to wait on you. Help
me to see you. May I stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord. May I see Him work out all things
according to His own will. According to the purpose that
He purposed. In Luke chapter 17 and verse
10. Luke chapter 17 and verse 10.
We read these words. Luke chapter 17 and verse 10. It says, so likewise ye, when
ye shall have done all those things which are commanded, you
say, we are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our
duty to do. There is no bragging rights.
There's only time for fast. We only do what is our duty to
do. We only do as God works in us
to do. We only can do that. We can only
see what the Lord allows us to see, and we're thankful for that.
Oh Lord, set a watch at my lips. May I not try to figure out things
that are not figure-outable. May I not try to figure out your
purpose when it's not figure-outable. May I just rest in you. Fast,
number two, when we are trying to figure out God's will for
someone else. That's when we really need to
fast. I'm drawn to a passage of scripture by a dear brother,
a dear brother. over in the book of John chapter
21. We love this man because he's
just like us, and he represents the church. Oh, to fast. Instead of saying, I think you
ought to be doing that, when we ourselves have no intention
of doing any of that. In John chapter 21, we're trying
to figure out God's will for someone else. We need to take
a fast. We need to have a fast. We need
to stop. We need to say, Lord, be merciful
to me, the sinner. In John chapter 21 and verse
20, Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus
loved, following which also leaned on his breast at the supper,
and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter, seeing
him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? And Jesus saith unto him, If
I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow
thou me. What a time to fast. What a time
to stop. What a time to set a watch at
our lips when we haven't all figured out what someone else
should do. The Lord is able to do, as he
said here. Or, if we're trying to figure
out for ourselves the Lord's will. Would you turn
with me to the book of Romans? Romans chapter 12 and verse 2. Romans chapter 12
and verse 2. It says here, and be not conformed
to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God." Did you know? Do you realize? Has it been revealed
unto you that our deliverance is done in our silence? We have nothing
to do with it. Our deliverance. What is the
good and acceptable and perfect will of God? Be ye not conformed
to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
What is it to fast? To realize that our deliverance
is done in our silence. It is God's will being worked
out in us. Galatians chapter one and verse
four. Would you turn there with me?
Galatians chapter one and verse four. Galatians 1, verse 4, our deliverance
again is done in our silence. Galatians 1, verse 4, who gave
himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present
evil world according to the will of God and our Father. Our deliverance is done in our
silence. It's not in us to perform any
of these things. Oh, to fast, to fast. First Thessalonians chapter 4
first Thessalonians chapter 4 First Thessalonians chapter 4 And there in verse 3 First Thessalonians
chapter 4 and verse 3 with all praying also for us that God
would open unto us the door of excuse me I'm in Colossians Just
give me a moment here. I'll be where I'm supposed to
be 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 3 For this is the will of God even
your sanctification I How much do we talk to get our sanctification
accomplished? We realize our deliverance is
done in our silence. Oh Lord, make me fast. Make me
fast. What's it going to say there?
1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 3, For this is the will of God,
even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.
Now, the greater, if we can measure that, the greater of fornication
is following after false religion, is falling in with free will.
That's the worst of the worst. Here we have, for this is the
will of God, even your sanctification. Our deliverance is done in our
silence. Stand still. Mouth quiet. and see the salvation of the
Lord. And then also in the same book, 1 Thessalonians chapter
5, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 18, the scriptures share
here, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Our deliverance is done in our
silence. Give thanks. We have nothing
to do with it except to give thanks. And then fast when someone
tells us they are lost. You know in the book of Acts
chapter 16 and verse 30 we have the most common words made by
a person that they know may not be right, they don't want to
go to hell, all that stuff. Acts chapter 16 and verse 30
and he comes out and says the most common thing that we find
in religion. and they brought them out. This Philippian jailer brought
Paul and Silas out, brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must
I do to be saved? Now, I don't know how many times
I've heard that in religion, and preachers saying that, and
people saying that, because they're expected to do something. Go
somewhere, bow somewhere, write their name somewhere, pray, do
something. What must I do? And we find in
verse 31 they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not something we can do. Stand
still. Keep silence. Fast. Trust Christ
and don't move a muscle. Belief is something that is supplied
to us. It's a miracle of God's grace.
If we see fasting in other ways, I won't be telling you and you
won't be telling me. Our fast is not in some way connected
with some payment for sin. Our fast is between us and God.
Don't be afraid to keep your lips or to pray. Set a watch,
O Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. That's
Psalms 141 verse 3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my
lips. One of the other translations
says, O Lord, place a guard on my mouth and protect the opening
of my lips. Let me fast before you. Let me
be ready to listen, ready to hear, ready to hear what you
had. Ezra is is found silent, trusting
God, not jumping to conclusions that are unscriptural. You know,
it brings me back to another illustration found in the Old
Testament, and with this, we're almost close, we're almost there,
in 2 Kings chapter 5. 2 Kings chapter 5. Our Bible class teacher, Brother
Mike, was going over this not too long ago. The Lord Jesus
there in that town mentioned this man's name and he did it
to demonstrate his sovereignty. Well, let's go back to 2 Kings
here for just a moment. 2 Kings 5. 2 Kings 5 and verse
10. 2 Kings 5 and verse 10. Now,
this man Naaman was a leper. Oh, he's like the whole bunch
of us, a leper, sinful to the core. Nothing is excluded from
this, from sin. That's the way we're born into
this world. That's the way we grow up in this world. That's
the way we grow old in this world. And that's the way we die in
this world if we don't have Christ. We just have sin in our body.
We carry it the rest of our life anyway. And Elisha sent a messenger
to this man who was a leper. And saying, Go and wash in the
Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and
thou shalt be clean. Did you notice here that Elisha
didn't even go in person? And here is a man of authority. Look at what it says. And Naaman
was wroth. Now notice this. He begins to
share with us that he didn't know the first thing about fasting.
He sweat away and said, Behold, I thought He will surely come
out to me and stand and call in the name of the Lord his God
and have me write my name in a book, have me write my name
down in the Bible, have me raise my hands, have me come forward,
have me do all these things. He goes on to say, and strike
his hand over the place and recover the leper. This is what Naaman
had to say and he is very upset because things didn't turn out
that way. Well, Elisha knew what it was
to fast, and Naaman didn't. And he says, are not Abana and
Daphar rivers, aren't that Baptist church, or that Methodist church,
or that Episcopalian church, or that Presbyterian church,
or whatever, aren't they just as good? Rivers of Damascus are better
than all the waters of Israel. Well, when you're not looking
at the water of life of Israel, he came to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. He calls his church Israel. And
there's just no good thing there. That's just all there is in the
natural man's way of thinking. There's just nothing good there.
And over here, there's much better. We have these works we have all
these things and and they do it like I want it done May I not wash in them and be
clean so he turned and went away in a rage And his servant came
near and spake unto him and said my father if the prophet had
bid thee do some great thing. Aren't we thankful for someone
who comes along beside us? The Holy Spirit of God that comes
along, convinces us of sin and of righteousness, of judgment.
A servant came nearby and spake unto him and said, my father,
if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou
not have done it? How much rather then, when he
says to thee, wash and be clean? He went down and dipped himself
seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God.
And his flesh came again, like unto the flesh of a little child,
and he was clean. Now this is not teaching baptism
by any means. It's doing what God requires,
and that is trusting God for all our salvation, for all our
hope. I thought, I thought, Isn't that
the way it goes? We just gotta get something said
out there, I thought. We're gonna have a discussion,
we're gonna have an argument, we're gonna have something said
here, and the man of God didn't even come out and meet this very
important person. Oh, how he's hurt, and how things
don't turn out like we think they should, and thank God for
it. Thank God for it. Over there,
one more thought, over there in the book of Ezra. Ezra chapter
8, verse 21. Notice that with me. Ezra chapter
8, verse 21. As we read here, in the latter
part of this passage of scripture that we've been going through,
he called a fast, verse 21. He said there, then I proclaimed
a fast, there at the river Ahava. that we might afflict ourselves
before our God to seek of Him a right way for us and for our
little ones and for our substance." What's he saying there? We don't
have this figured out. We don't quite know what to do.
We're going to trust God. We're trusting God. We'll keep
our mouth quiet. We'll set a watch at our lips.
God will set a watch at our lips. And then, it says in there, they
might afflict themselves. This word comes to us from the
idea of a nomadic agriculturalist carefully watches over his livestock
and crops by keeping a close eye on them. keeping his eye
on the Lord. We can do nothing. Let's keep
our eye on the Lord. A watching over something of
importance. The furrow formed between the
eyes when intently looking. That's where this word came from.
Intently looking. He's intently looking to the
Lord God Almighty and he is given the grace to say, as it does
right there, to seek of Him a right way for us. Not somebody's way
that they're telling us, but a right way for us from Him.
There is a way that seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof
is the ways of death. Religion has it all figured out. You do this, and you do this,
and God is going to have to do that. What we need is silence
and listen to God. He will save His people from
their sins. He will give His people the new
birth. It's a miracle of grace that
He will perform. God, give us silence. Let us
keep a watch at our mouth. Let us just look to You and not
go about saying, I thought He would do it this way. We must
trust God. Well, God bless you as we close
this service today, and we look forward to being with you at
the next appointed time. God bless you.