Greetings as we start another
study on the in the book of Ezra Today we're going to be in Ezra
chapter 7 So would you turn with me there in Ezra chapter 7 and
we're going to read a few verses of scripture together and then
we will go into our lesson our message Ezra chapter 7 I like
to refer to these Old Testament books, since they are so alive
with the person and work of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, I like
to call them the Gospels according to, and this will be the Gospel
according to Ezra. So if you'll turn with me to
the Gospel according to Ezra, chapter 7, and I want to begin
reading with verse with verse 6. Let me just say a few words about
verses 1-5. Last week we mentioned some about
the genealogy of Ezra as it's recorded in this chapter and
that his line was traced back to Aaron. some meaning of those
names that are in his genealogy were mentioned and that we also
mentioned that believers are not interested in tracing They're
spiritual priests back to Aaron, or to works, or to the law, but
believers are interested, and of necessity they are interested,
for salvation alone is in this high priest, that is the true
priest, Jesus Christ, who is the apostle and high priest of
our profession. As we mentioned last week, the
apostle Paul, when he was led to write the letter to the Hebrews,
he said, wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ
Jesus." So we have this very thought here. Now, I am convinced
beyond a shadow of a doubt that every believer in the Old Testament
and every believer in the New Testament era or time period,
they all have their faith in the same high priest, the Lord
Jesus. There is no believers that have
their faith or their trust in the Levitical priesthood or in
works or in keeping the law or even being sanctified by the
law. That is not in the Word of God.
It was not for that purpose. So we notice here in the verse
5 of Ezra chapter 7, the son of Bashaiah, the son of Phinehas,
the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the chief priest. So Ezra could do that in the
flesh and that gave him the privilege of serving as he did in the capacity
that he served in. But his faith was not in those
things, and he didn't need to trace his line back to Aaron
for spiritual blessings. But he, like the rest of us,
would trace it back to the Lord Jesus Christ, the chief, or the
great high priest, after the order of Melchizedek. Well, in
the book of Ezra, chapter 7, verse 6, it says, this Ezra,
this Ezra went up from Babylon And as my Bible class teacher
brother Mike mentioned, there is meaning in that word up. He went up. Being in Babylon
was not up. Being in Babylon was down. But
they were traveling up to Jerusalem, and it doesn't matter whether
they lost or gained elevation. they went up from Babylon. And that's just the same way
that the Lord does for us. He brings us up out of where
we are and brings us to our Savior, the Lord Jesus. And it doesn't
matter about a change of elevation. It means spiritual blessings
are up in the person of Christ and our life of Natural inheritance
are down there in Babylon or wherever we might have been Ezra
went up from Babylon and he was a ready scribe in the law of
Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given and The king granted
him all his requests according to the hand of the Lord his God
upon him now approximately 57 years After the completion of the temple
in Jerusalem, Ezra obtained the royal permission to join the
folks in Jerusalem, accompanied by a group of folks that desired
to also go to Jerusalem. According to this verse 6, Ezra
had a very highly qualified resume. It tells us there in verse 6
that Ezra was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the
Lord God of Israel had given. And it also mentions the relationship
with God that he had. It's found in verse 6 in the
latter part of that verse. It says, according to the hand
of the Lord his God upon him, he was blessed immensely by this
pagan king of Babylon. And he was permitted, encouraged,
sent, and was also given the finances to help with more of
the work there in Jerusalem. And he left Babylon as the king
of Babylon gave him blessing. Now, the king's heart is in the
hands of the Lord. The prince's heart is in the
hands of the Lord. And it is the Lord that turns him whithersoever
he will. So, this king of Babylon was
touched by God Almighty and in power and he turned him from
his natural inclination to the inclination that was of the Lord
that he permitted him, God purposed him to send Ezra back to Jerusalem. So we have some time lapse between
the first time that we find in Ezra chapter 1 when those folks
went back to Jerusalem and here when Ezra goes back. And last
time we asked why would that be, why would it take that long
and all that, that's in the hands of God. Now it is the right time. and this relationship is so great
it is also the relationship of God's people today that the hand
of the Lord God is upon us upon him and it mentions there as
we look at his resume that Ezra was a ready scribe and this word
ready means quick or hence prompt or apt But this Hebrew word does
not merely signify a speedy writer. It doesn't mean that Ezra was
a speedy writer in the law, and it doesn't mean that he was an
excellent penman. He was a ready scribe, and a
scribe was usually used to write things. Kings had scribes, and
we find that the Israelites and those who returned back to Jerusalem,
the Judah and Benjamin, as they traveled back, there were scribes
among them, and Ezra was one of them. They could be a historian. They kept track of the things
that were going on, and they also kept track of the genealogies. And here we find that this man,
Ezra, was a ready scribe, or, as the Hebrew word means, it's
not merely that he was a speed rider, or it doesn't mean he
had excellent penmanship, but one imminently skillful in expounding
the law, he was a wise scribe. And true wisdom comes from God.
there are scribes and there are scribes. We find during the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ, for he, the Lord Jesus, taught them
as one having authority and not as one of the scribes. There
were scribes that knew something. There were scribes that knew
the Word of God and there were scribes that did it just as a
job. It was their business and they had no heart in it. They
had no No thought about it. It was just a job to them. And
we find so many today that fill pulpits are just nothing more
than hirelings. It's just a job to them. They
have no heart in it. And they'll preach about anything
but Christ. but this man has some interest. He was appointed by the Lord
to return to Jerusalem. He was appointed by the Lord
to be a scribe. He was of the tribe of Levi and
he had a business to tend to and that business was appointed
by the Lord to return back there and go to Jerusalem. This word
is translated ready is used in three other places in the Bible
and I just like to quickly turn to those places and read those
verses and see how this word is used. If you turn with me
to the Psalms. Psalm 45 and verse 1. This Hebrew word that was translated
ready is also found in Psalm 45 and in verse 1. Psalm 45 and
verse 1, the scripture says, The chief position upon the Shoshanim,
for the sons of Korah, Mescal, a song of love. My heart is indicting
a good matter. I speak of things which have
made touching the king my tongue. is the pen of a ready writer. I have made touching the king
my tongue is a pen of a ready writer." So it doesn't necessarily
mean that he was quick or that he could write well, but he had
some information that God was going to give him, and he was
going to be writing about the king. In Proverbs 22 and verse
29 we find this verse of scripture with the same word here that
was translated in Ezra chapter 7 and verse 6. Here in Proverbs
chapter 22 and verse 29 that word is brought up again and
in this verse of scripture seest thou a man diligent in his business,
he shall stand before the king, and shall not stand before mean
men. This word diligent is the word
that we find over in Ezra chapter 7 and verse 6. Over there it
is ready, a ready scribe. Here a person, a man that is
diligent in his business. That means not necessarily that
he does everything exact, the writing exact and timely, but
it means that he is paying attention to the business. And that's what
we find with regard to Ezra. He's paying attention to the
business, and the business is God. The business is Christ. The business is teaching the
Word that is found in Moses, the writings of Moses, from a
right standpoint. Not preaching legalism, but preaching
Christ and Him crucified from the Old Testament. And finally,
in the book of Isaiah chapter 16. Isaiah chapter 16, we find
this word used, book of Isaiah chapter 16, and there in verse
5, same word is used, it's been translated ready, a ready writer,
diligent, and here in Isaiah 16 and verse 5, and in mercy
shall the throne be established, and he shall sit upon it in truth,
in the tabernacle of David. judging and seeking judgment,
and hasting righteousness. The word here that's been translated
from that Hebrew word is hasting. Hasting righteousness is going
to do it. Doesn't necessarily mean that
if you write about it, it is in the best text or the quickest
text, but he's going to be writing about hasting righteousness,
true righteousness that we find. Not man's righteousness, not
worldly righteousness, not self-righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ
that is imputed to each one of his children. So, this word is
only found four times in the Old Testament, and we found that
time there in the book of Ezra. Ezra, who was well-versed in
the law of Moses, he was a teacher well-versed in the law of Moses. God had given him this ability.
It wasn't just, didn't come by study, it wasn't just rote memory,
but it was by revelation that he had some information that
was found in the law of Moses. Ezra is mentioned in Ezra chapter
7 verse 11. Could we go back there and just
look at these, there's three verses here that I want to look
at before we go on. In the book of Ezra chapter 7.
In Ezra chapter 7, the message here is speaking about
this man Ezra and his ability as a scribe. Ezra chapter 7 and
there in verse 11, the scripture says, Now this is the copy of
the letter that the king Ahasuerus gave unto Ezra the priest, the
scribe. Now notice this, even a scribe
of the words of the commandments of the Lord and of his statutes
to Israel. He is not just a scribe, he is
a priest and a scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments
of the Lord and his statutes to Israel. Now this is not just
talking about the Ten Commandments. This is talking about the commandments
of the Lord with regard to Israel. Where is salvation in the Old
Testament? It certainly has never been in
the law. In fact, the law was a schoolmaster. It was to demonstrate that it
is impossible to keep and we need something else. We need
In fact, we need someone else. In verse 12 of the same chapter,
Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of
the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a
time. The law of the God of heaven. So this is far above what most
people think about the law. This is the law of God. And the
law of God has never changed. The law of God was exhibited
to able, and he offered a more excellent sacrifice by faith.
The law of God was exhibited to Noah, and Noah by faith built
that ark. It is more than just having some
commandments or some institution. The law of the God of heaven
is above that law, and it was given long before, in fact It
is in the covenant of grace that this law is. And this law is,
trust Christ and don't move a muscle. Without Him, you have no hope.
This is God's word to us. And in verse 21 of that same
chapter, we read these words, And I, even I, or Deserxes the
king, do make a decree to all the treasures which are beyond
the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest the scribe of the
law of the God of heaven shall require of you, it shall be done
speedily. So the resume of Ezra is quite
extant here. There's several verses that talk
about him being a ready scribe or a scribe of the law of Moses,
the law of God, the God of heaven. So this is brought out. And this morning I asked the
question, what does it mean to be a ready scribe, or a skilled,
or a wise scribe in the law of Moses. What does that mean? Now
does it mean that he talked about his pedigree, he exalted his
pedigree, and he wanted to be called reverend, or master, or
rabbi? No, that is not Ezra. That may
be some of those scribes, and it may be some of that religion
that wants to have that notoriety. They want to have the preeminence.
They want to be noted. They want to be in the high seats.
They want to be up above everybody else. And we see that all around,
that there are people that want the notoriety. That was not Ezra's
position. He did not want that. It didn't
mean that to him. Does it mean that he taught the
need for some special religious rites? that needed to be performed
out of the law of Moses? No, he didn't teach that. He
didn't teach those sort of things to Israel, because He was a scribe
of the God of heaven. He was a scribe of the God of
all. He was the God of Israel, and
the God of Israel and the God of heaven has always had a singular
message for salvation. It has never changed. It's in
the covenant of grace, and it never has changed, never will
change. It won't change with time. It won't change with people. It won't change with standards.
It is always the same. And Ezra is a ready scribe. He
is a preacher of righteousness, and he is going to declare the
truth about God and the truth about God's Word. So it doesn't
mean that there were some special rites to be performed. We have
people today saying that if you don't do something, if you don't
submit yourself to baptism, you can't be saved. If you're not
going to come to the communion table, you're not going to be
saved. All these rights that people have, if you're not baptized
as an infant, how foolish is all of those things when it comes
to the grace of God. Those are the things that other
scribes would teach, but not the scribes of the Lord God of
heaven. not the Lord God of Israel. Does it mean that he taught to
keep the Ten Commandments? My goodness, you know God's people
It is their desire to serve Him, and it is their desire every
day not to sin another sin. But we know we will, and we know
we do. And we're not striving for that. Our perfection is in Christ.
Our sanctification is in Christ. Our righteousness is in Christ.
It's not in us keeping something or doing something. The Holy Spirit will never lead
us contrary to the things that are written in the Ten Commandments,
but you know as well as I do that every one of us break every
one of those when it comes to the heart issue every day. And
so we have no dependence upon that or our ability to keep it.
And the people that say they've kept the Ten Commandments are
just fooling themselves because other people know better about
it. Does it mean that they taught that Saturday is the only day
to worship God? Did Ezra, by being a ready scribe,
is that what he taught? No, my goodness. Every day is
a day to worship God. And we're thankful that in our
day that we look at, as we get to meet on the first day of the
week, we celebrate the resurrection. But we also do that on Monday
and we do that on Tuesday. We do that on Wednesday and Thursday
and Friday and Saturday and Sunday. Every day is a celebration of
the resurrection of God. I've said a number of times that
if you really pray, you're going to have to say, I believe in
the resurrection. Because you can't pray and believe
that there is no resurrection. The Lord Jesus Christ, we celebrate
it every day. Does it mean that he made all
women wear dresses? You know, I grew up in that kind
of religion where all the legalism that went on. And did you know
that if you go over there to Deuteronomy chapter 22 and verse
five, you read that verse about a man, a woman shall not wear
the things of a man. But if you drop down in that
same chapter with the same stipulations and the same judge, you find
in verse 11, you're not supposed to wear two kinds of cloth in
your shirt. You're not supposed to have cotton
and rayon. So that's not what it's talking
about at all. But what we find there is you're
not to mix law and grace. Law and grace, it doesn't work. Never has, never will. You cannot
ever come to God, approach God by your works. When then, what
then does it mean to be a ready scribe in the law of Moses in
Ezra's day as well as today? What does it mean to be a ready
preacher? What does it mean to be a ready scribe in the law
of Moses? Well, would you turn with me to the book of Luke for
just a moment? The book of Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24. I'd like to read three or four
verses here out of the New Testament. that have something to say about
the Law of Moses. Luke 24 44. If you look with
me, Luke chapter 24. Find my place here. Luke chapter
24 and verse 44. Luke chapter 24 and verse 44.
And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me." Now the Lord Jesus Christ
said that the law of Moses was concerning him. It's not legalism. It's not a standard that we are
to keep and if we don't we're going to fall short of the glory
of God. is none of those things. The Law of Moses, did you notice
that? Which were written in the Law
of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. All those things had to be fulfilled. We're not just looking
at law. We're looking at preaching the
gospel, and that's what Ezra did. He was a ready scribe. He was wise in the word of God. God had given him wisdom. Only
the unwise would look at the law of God and say, you have
to keep this in order to be saved. They're foolish beyond imagination. They have no understanding about
what salvation is. They have no understanding about
the new birth. We are saved by the grace of
God. The new birth is given to us,
and the results of new birth, or the fruits of the new birth,
the fruits of regeneration, is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So
we're not going to go back to the law. we're going to go back
to what the law says about jesus and then in the book of john
chapter one verse forty five once again here book of john
chapter one verse forty five this is a wonderful verse of
scripture that has to do with the law of moses moses in the
law john chapter one verse forty five so esra was a ready scribe
in the law of moses and here we find out what that is what
it's about It's going to be preaching Christ. It's going to be preaching
the gospel. It's not going to be preaching
legalism. We're not going to be looking down our noses at
people because we're better than they are. We're more spiritual
than they are. We must look at the Word of God
as from beginning to end a message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ and teaches us that we fall so far short of the glory
of God, the righteousness of God, the holiness of God, So
here in John chapter 1 verse 45, Philip findeth Nathanael,
and saith unto him, We have found him. Did you notice that? We
have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did
write. Now the him is identified here
as Philip findeth his brother Nathanael. Said unto him, We
have found him of whom Moses in the law and
the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. We have found him. So that is
what Ezra is going to be our ready scribe about. He is going
to be talking about him. He is going to be talking about
the Savior, the Messiah. Alright, let us go into John
again. John chapter 7. John chapter 7 and verse 19.
We have this passage of scripture that shares with us John chapter
seven and verse 19. Excuse me. Did not Moses give
you the law? And ye none, and yet none of
you keepeth the law. Now that's the Lord talking about
natural man. That's the law talking about
you and I. We say I've kept it from my youth up. And you know
what? We've lied. we've broken the
law. If you've offended it in one
point, you've offended it in all points. Did not Moses give
you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye
about to kill me? none of you keep the law, not
one. The flesh profiteth nothing. It is the spirit that giveth
life." So here, the Lord Jesus brings up that subject to a bunch
of law keepers and says, you haven't kept it. None of it.
Well, let's go over here to the 23rd verse of that same chapter.
If a man The Sabbath day received circumcision that the law of
Moses should not be broken Are you angry at me because I have
made a man every whit hole on the Sabbath day We got people
that are all tweaked out because the Lord took care of business
his business on the Sabbath day and yet they would go down there
to the temple and perform all the rites and if you Male were
born on a certain day on the eighth day. You had to have this
right taken care of he says You just cannot put this together.
It's illogical. You're falling un-logic, non-logic. So they were not keeping the
law. He identified that problem with
them. It doesn't make them happy, but the only people that are
truly happy, the only people that truly have joy, I should
say, are those who rejoice in the grace of God that He would
save sinners. In the book of Acts chapter 13,
This subject again is brought up. What was it that Ezra was
preaching? What was he a ready scribe of?
Well, we found him written in the Law of Moses. We have him
in the Law of Moses as in the book of Luke. And here in the
book of Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter
13 and there in verse 39. and by him all that believe are
justified from all things from which ye could not be justified
by the law of Moses. You cannot be justified by the
law of Moses. That's not the purpose of the
law. It never was purposed to justify anybody. It was never
purposed to make anything better. It was never purposed to make
anybody any more sanctified or to save them. That was not the
purpose of it. Here we have And by him, the
Lord Jesus, all that believe are justified from all things
from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. So that
is not the purpose of the law of Moses, and we're going to
find out as we study about all the preachers and prophets of
the Lord, his people. Those folks that belong to him
and those that are appointed by him and anointed by him to
preach the gospel are not going to go back to the law of Moses
and try to get people under that. Of any kind, we have Christ. He is the one. And then, finally,
would you look with me in the book of Acts chapter 28. Acts
chapter 28. As we look at this passage of
scripture, we find here in the book of Acts chapter 28, verse
23, Acts chapter 28 and verse 23. And when they had appointed him
a day, there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he
expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning
Jesus, the apostle Paul. and he is testifying of the kingdom
of God persuading them concerning Jesus. He's the only Savior. He's the one that came and took
upon himself flesh. He humbled himself and became
a servant. He took upon himself flesh for
the purpose of the suffering of death. He goes on to tell
us here in Acts chapter 28 and verse 23 Concerning Jesus both
out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning
till evening There is enough there to spend an entire day
preaching Christ out of the law of Moses so We're going to say
that's how Ezra was a ready scribe. He was a preacher of righteousness
He was a preacher of the gospel. He's a preacher of Christ. He
was a preacher of the Messiah And the reason he was, is he
had been called by God to salvation. He had been a sinner and now
he is a sinner saved by grace. He is no different than anyone
else. He was in great need of salvation
and God was pleased to save him. He didn't grow up in Judaism
and just get transplanted into Christianity or into salvation.
He was of necessity that had the need of being saved by the
grace of God. There's an interesting verse,
and I believe we read this last week, but before we get back
to Ezra again, I want to read it. It's found in Luke 13. Would
you turn back to Luke 13, and here it talks about the prophets.
Now, one of the prophets is Ezra. Now there is Nehemiah. We have
here, in this verse of scripture, a statement concerning all the
prophets of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there were many false prophets
during this time, and many of the prophets of the Lord Those
who wrote those books that we read in the Old Testament, Ezekiel,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Nahum, all those, we call them minor
prophets, they're just smaller. We call them major prophets,
because they got more in them, there's more pages to them. But
they're all prophets of the Lord, and they all had the same message.
And many of them were most hated folks. Many of them were so mistreated,
they feared for their lives. We find that the Lord provided
sanctuary for one of those prophets and took him to a brook and had
the the ravens feed him They they were after his life very
few of those prophets found much favor with anybody and They were
hated men, but they were the preachers and they were the prophets
of the Lord Jesus Christ here in the book of Luke chapter 13
and verse 28 We read this verse of scripture.
And there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now this is
a statement made that the Lord Jesus used in that illustration
about the marriage. And there was a man there that
didn't have the marriage garment on. He's going to be cast out. There's going to be weeping and
gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and all the prophets. That's an interesting statement.
Ezra is there. He is a man saved by the grace
of God. Nehemiah is there. Those God
used, holy men of God, spake as they were moved by the Holy
Spirit, and they're going to be in the kingdom of God and
you yourselves thrust out. If you don't have Him, if you
don't have Christ, if you don't believe Him, If you don't believe
his gospel, if you don't believe Christ, then you'll be thrust
out. But all of these prophets in
the Old Testament, so as we look here at Ezra, as Ezra was a scribe,
a ready scribe, doesn't necessarily mean, he probably did have good
handwriting, and he probably did write rapidly. But that's
not the point. The point is, he knew who he
was writing about. He knew what the law in Moses
was about. He knew that there was no salvation
in that law, but he knew that it prophesied, it declared, it
was a message of the one who was the Savior of his people. What then does it mean to be,
as Ezra was, a ready scribe in the Law of Moses? To be a ready
scribe, you must honor God and His Word. Every prophet of God
and every true minister of the gospel will agree on the essentials
of the scriptures. They will honor God. They will
not dishonor him by making statements about God that are not true,
or not honest, or not true thoughts about God. God must be honored,
and his word must be honored. We're not going to skip parts
of the word of God just because it doesn't agree with our theology.
We're wrong if we do that. We are unbelievers if we do that. If we just can't face Scripture,
we're unbelievers. Now, we will say that we don't
understand a great deal of it, but God's people, God's ministers,
God's prophets, Ezra, believed it was the Word of God and he
was going to be about the business of honoring Him. It doesn't matter
what's going to be the consequences from the outside. They will,
God's people, will honor the Word of God. Now, number one,
I put a list together of things that Ezra declared as a ready
scribe, as an honorer of the Word of God, as an honorer of
God, as one of those that we find in the kingdom of heaven.
He had to understand some things. God is going to give him a revelation.
He's going to be preaching some things there to the folks in
Jerusalem. He's going to be declaring some
things to those folks in Jerusalem. And number one, this man, this
Ezra, who was a ready scribe, he declared the absolute sovereignty
of God. no budging here. He declared
the absolute sovereignty of God in all things. Nothing is outside
of the sovereignty of God. All of God's prophets declared
the message of God and that He rules. Now, there is a passage
of Scripture in the book of Daniel, chapter 4, verses 34 and the
words of a pagan king. Now don't you think that if God
gave that message to a pagan king, he's going to give the
message that that pagan king was given, he's going to give
it to all of his prophets? They're not going to be caught
short on this. God is sovereign in all things. Would you turn with me to the
book of Daniel chapter 4? Daniel chapter 4, these are the
words recorded in the book of the prophet Daniel. He is going
to be in that kingdom of heaven. He is a prophet of the Lord. But in the midst of this prophecy,
we find these words. In the midst of the message,
in the midst of the gospel, we have the results of this gospel
upon one person, a pagan king. Daniel chapter 4 verse 34. And at the end of the days I
Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised
and honored him that liveth for ever." If this king is going
to do that, don't you believe that his prophets are going to
do more? This king has this to say, I
bless the most high and I praised and honored him that liveth forever. This is the pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar. Now, some people feel that he
was born again, he's a believer. Some people feel that he's just
been given these words by God Almighty. Whatever happened I
know this that his prophets Ezra being one of them a ready scribe
is going to be declaring the absolute sovereignty of God in
all things this man Nebuchadnezzar this king who had been turned
out to pasture for all that time. He said this, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion. God has never given up His dominion
over anything. He has always been in charge
of everything. And His kingdom is from generation
to generation. He doesn't have it dying out.
That was the problem with the Levitical priesthood. Every one
of them were humans and every one of them died. Well, this
kingdom goes from generation to generation and he's still
the same king. He's been king over the first believer, Abel,
and he'll be king over the last believer, and he'll be king over
all the rest of them in between, and he will be a ruler and a
reigner over all his church and all the inhabitants of the earth.
Ezra is going to say the same thing. Every preacher of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, Nehemiah, Ezra, Haggai, Isaiah,
Zechariah, all of those prophets, all of the apostles of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and all true preachers down to this time, are going
to be spending some time preaching and telling of that God is sovereign
in all things, including salvation. not over just the stars, not
over just the earth, not over just the animal kingdom or the
plant kingdom or the mineral kingdom. He is the ruler, sovereign
over all things, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and
his kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest
thou? Now, I'm absolutely convinced that if God gave that message
to Nebuchadnezzar, He gave that same message, or maybe even clearer,
to Ezra. Ezra is a ready scribe in the
Law of Moses, and the Law of Moses preached Christ and Him
crucified. We have found Him of whom the
Law of Moses wrote about. That's what we find in the New
Testament. Ezra, a ready scribe, he preaches the absolute sovereignty
of God in all things, and he didn't budge on it. Secondly,
Ezra declared that God is absolutely holy. If there is one thing we
find in the law of Moses, if we just go down and start looking
at that law without anything else, we're going to find that
this standard is a standard of an absolute holy God. He gives
not a inch, a scintilla of an inch, when it comes to His holiness. No budging here. The law drips
of the holiness of God. He is holy, holy, holy. In Isaiah chapter 6 and verse
4, we find there that those great beings of His creation cried
out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty and the law,
the Ten Commandments they drip of the holiness of God. And it is inapproachable. It is unapproachable holiness. We cannot approach His holiness
on our own. We are going to find that out.
And Ezra was a ready preacher of that. He was a ready scribe
of this very thing. He declared it. If God is pleased
to reveal that to one prophet, He would be pleased to reveal
this most important truth to all of his prophets, and that
is he is holy. My goodness, we have very little
understanding about his holiness, and it doesn't take long in looking
at the law of God to find out that it is declaring a thrice
holy God. His holiness inapproachable,
unapproachable holiness. This is the God of heaven. He
is holy. He has a standard above all standards. And His standard is His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it tells us that we've all
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We have not met
the standard. We've missed the mark. His holiness
It is just beyond our imagination, our thoughts to put together.
We use the word holy, but it's beyond us. There is not one variableness
or shadow of turning with regard to His holiness. He will hold
the standard. He will hold it exact. There will be nobody approaching
Him on any other standard. It is His standard, and His standard
alone, and there is only one that can fulfill His standard,
and that is His wonderful, beautiful, righteous, holy Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Number three, Ezra declared that
in order to approach this holy God, you must come through an
appointed You must come through an appointed substitute. We cannot
approach God in ourself. We must come through an appointed
substitute. Now, there was something, somebody,
God, God's Spirit, had revealed unto Abel a picture of this. Now, Abel did not, when we read
about Abel had faith, it was not faith in that sacrifice.
By faith, he offered a more excellent sacrifice, but he had no faith
in that sacrifice. His faith was in Christ, and
that faith was given to him. God gives us faith to believe
God. And here, we find that this Ezra,
like all the prophets of old, they declared that the way to
approach God, this holy God, is through his appointed substitute.
We cannot approach in ourself. Abel declared this. the Passover
declared this. There's a substitute that we
desperately need, and if we don't have that substitute, there's
going to be death. If we have that substitute, there
must be the death of the substitute. So the promises of His coming This coming one was declared
thus, and we find in the New Testament there is one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Do you know what? Ezra preached that very thing.
There is one Mediator. All the faithful ministers of
God in all ages have preached that there is only hope in one
Mediator, the appointed Mediator, and that is the Mediator of the
eternal covenant, appointed by God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, and His appointment stands. It's
firm. And he is the only mediator.
He is the only accepted one. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. There is no other that God will
ever impart that kind of confidence in. It is only in his son. So, there is one mediator. Ezra declared this. It is in
the Law of Moses and it is what we find as that those two men,
one man talking to his brother, I found him. We found him who
the Law of Moses wrote about. This is him, the Lord Jesus. We find that Ezra as a ready
scribe declared that this appointed substitute is a substitute for
God's appointed and not for all the world without respect. As
the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay
down my life for the sheep. Ezra did not preach universal
atonement. Ezra was not a one or a two or
a three or a four pointer. Now I use that only for reference
sake. God's people, they're not Calvinist. They believe in the doctrines
of grace. They believe in the word of God that has been preached
since the very beginning by our brother Abel in the garden there,
or just outside the garden. And we find that the only way
that we're going to have salvation is in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the Lord knew exactly who he was laying down
his life for, those Jews. On that day of the Passover,
we're illustrating that very point. There was no blood over
the doors of the Egyptians. There was no blood over the doors
of the Hittites or the Hivites. There is only blood over Israel,
and that's where the blood of Christ is. It's over Israel,
spiritual Israel. It's over the church and no one
else. Jesus Christ died an effective
and effectual death. He did not die in vain. He did
not give his life and his life blood for a bunch of people that
are going to end up in hell in the end. All that he died for
he will save. He will bring to salvation in
this life, and not one will be lost. That's his promise. And
this is the same message that Ezra or Nehemiah or the rest
of the apostles or the prophets in the Old Testament were preaching,
that salvation is of the Jews. Now, that's the truth. That woman
at the well said, you say salvation of the Jews. Well, it is of spiritual
Israel. That's where salvation is and
nowhere else. As we mentioned there in the
book of John chapter 10 and verse 15, I lay down my life for the
sheep. That's the words of the Lord
Jesus. If the Lord ever had opportunity
to tell us anything else He would have, but he didn't because he
wasn't. He was going to die for all that
were written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and that was it, and
no one else. All right, let's look here. Ezra declared that those who
approach this holy God through the appointed are always those who are totally
depraved. even the will. These that come
could not nor would not be able to keep one word of the law of
Moses." Jesus told all those Pharisees and scribes, you don't
even keep the law of Moses. Number one, you don't know it.
You do err, not knowing the power of God, nor the word of God. Well, we find that the Lord Jesus
Christ had said about him, and what we find in the New Testament
was the same message we'd find in the Old Testament. If we had
the message that these people were preaching, just like we
have messages on the Day of Pentecost, or the Sermon on the Mount of
the Lord, or those messages by the Apostle Paul, went back to
the Old Testament for the text and began preaching Christ. began
at the same place and preached unto him Jesus. Well, we find
with regard to this, For the Son of Man is come to seek and
to save that which was lost. The Lord Jesus only saves sinners. That's all. That's all He's ever
saved. From the time of Abel down to
this very time, that's all He has ever saved. The whole need
not a physician. Those that are righteous don't
need the Lord Jesus. They'll have their day in court
and they'll be said, depart from me you workers of iniquity, I
never knew you. But those that are sinners, God
brings to himself. He was accused of eating with
publicans and sinners. Yay and amen. That's great. That's
wonderful because we can find ourselves there. We are sinners. We're only sinners saved by grace.
We have nothing to boast in except the blood and righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which is lost. Ezra, our brother, that
man that was a ready scribe of the law in Moses is just like
the rest of the preachers of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They preach only the truth. They only preach the truth
about the gospel, the truth about Christ, the truth about God,
the truth about his word, the truth about the truth of salvation.
They preach the truth about his sovereignty. They preach the
truth that he came to save his people from their sins, that
he was one that came not to be be ministered unto but to minister
and to make a ransom for many. Ezra declares the substitute
that takes care of the sinners must be higher than the blood
of bulls and goats which are all affected by the fall. That's
That's only a minor issue. The blood of bulls and goats
could not take away sin. But just remember, the blood
of bulls and goats, all those critters came under the fall.
Before the fall, not one of those animals would have bitten Adam
or Eve. Not the lion or the tiger, the
rhinoceros or the elephant. None of those critters would
have done any harm whatsoever to Adam and to Eve. It was not
in their nature. And their nature fell in the
fall. And we find that they became
those that were hunted and those that were hunters. They just were not created as
the shedders of blood. But by the fall, they became
shedders of blood. And these critters that were
offered as sacrifices, they could not take away sin. Animal blood
couldn't do that. It was not high enough. Even
animal blood was tainted by the fall. So you can't have blood
tainted by the fall to take away the sin of anybody. We need someone
higher than that. We need someone that is without
spot or blemish. We need something that is without
spot or blemish. Animals get diseases just like
humans get. therewith spot, and they had
blemish. They did the best they could to pick them out for their
sacrifices until we find that there in the book of Malachi
they were offering even wicked sacrifices. They didn't care.
It just represented their God. They had no God, so it didn't
matter if he was blind or halt or lame. That was just the same
as the God of those folks that were going to offer sacrifice,
the prophets of Baal. Their God didn't have any eyes.
Their God didn't have any ears. Their God didn't have any heart.
Their God didn't have anything. He was foreign. He was just an
idol. And that's what these Jews were
starting to bring, was just nothing more than an idol. It was just
going through the form. Ezra declared the substitute
that takes care of sinners must be higher than the blood of bulls
and goats, which are all affected by the fall, must be without
spot or blemish. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. The Lord Jesus Christ is impeccable. He never was a sinner. Our sin was imputed to Him but
did not change His nature. He is the Son of God. He is God the Son. He is perfect
without exception. So He was not of this realm. He was of the spiritual realm. He's of the heavenly realm. and
therefore he is without spot or blemish. He is without any
sin and therefore he could lay down his life, a ransom for many,
and pay the price of their redemption. Ezra declared that it is the
blood of the substitute alone and not some external works of
people that cleanses us from all sin. It is the blood that
cleanseth us from all sin. Those sacrifices could not be
mixed with works. And you know, as we study those
sacrifices and some of them, they were offered because someone
was impressed. congregation was impressed to
offer it because they'd done something and they brought that
sacrifice. I'm just convinced that there
were very few of those sacrifices actually offered because there's
not very many sinners. Talk to people. You don't run
into them. Hardly anybody. I do remember
a dear friend of mine, pastor, a man who brought me the gospel. Someone tried to get him into
an argument one time and he just said, all you got in your church
is sinners. And he just answered, you got
that right. churches of the living God Assemblies
of where God's gospel is preached those folks there that know anything
know this They're sinners saved by grace. They're just sinners.
We're in the fall We're totally depraved and it's by the grace
of God that were raised out of that muck and mire in Zechariah
chapter 13 and verse once is in that day There shall be a
fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin. and for uncleanness. This fountain
filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, it's for the
house of David, it's for Jerusalem and no one else, but it will
cleanse those of all sin, remove all sin. In Ephesians chapter
1 verse 7, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of his grace. Ezra did not get involved with
petty issues. He is not trying to win a popularity
contest. He knew every one of his hearers
were only children of the captivity. Ezra chapter 6 and verse 19 says
they were children of the captivity. Ezra declared the truth. He had the truth and he sold
it not. Not one of the prophets or the apostles ever prescribed
this. Both statements are unscriptural
and dishonoring. What is that? Not one time did
this ready scribe in the Law of Moses declare that you must
keep the Law of Moses to be saved or keep the Law of Moses to be
sanctified. Not one of the prophets or apostles
ever declared those things. Both statements are unscriptural
and dishonoring to God. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast." Well, we ask God's blessing upon His
Word. We trust that you'll be blessed,
and we look forward to the next time we can read and study the
book of Ezra. God bless you.