What a blessing to be in the
house of the Lord. We're going to continue our study of the
book of Ezra this morning, and if you'll turn with me in that
wonderful gospel according to Ezra, we'd like to say a few
words about whose spirit God had raised. Ezra chapter 1, and
I'd like to read the first five verses. Now in the first year
of Cyrus king of Persia, that 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, Thus saith
Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all
the kingdoms of the earth. And he hath charged me to build
him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among
you of all his people? He is God. Be with him. And let
him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house
of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any
place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him
with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts,
and beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is
in Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief of the
fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites,
with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build
the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. The last two messages
that we brought from this passage of scripture we spent on verse
4, those that remaineth. And we found that they are those
that had no interest in going back. It had not been revealed
to them to go back. God had not worked a work of
grace in their heart. So here we have in chapter 1
and verse 5, those who responded to Cyrus' proclamation of liberty
are mentioned in this verse. This verse In another translation
says every even everyone whose spirit God hath waked It's an
interesting translation, but that's really the truth Everyone
that God had waked or stirred are the ones that are going to
go back the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin all the
priests and the Levites With all them whose spirit God had
raised to go up Those that accompanied the chief of the fathers, and
the priests, and the Levites, were such as God had inclined
to go up. The same God that had raised
up the spirit of Cyrus to proclaim liberty, raised up the spirit
of these to take the benefit of it. For it was done, not by
might, nor by power, but by my spirit of the Lord of hosts. Would you turn with me to the
book of Zechariah for a reading of one verse of scripture, the
book of Zechariah chapter 4 and verse 6. Zechariah chapter 4
and verse 6. Zechariah chapter 4 and verse
6. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the
word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. But by my
Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. He, by his Spirit of grace, fills
some with a generous ambition for liberty, a gracious affection
to their own land, and a desire of the free and public exercise
of their religion. Remember Shadrach Meshach and
Abednego Daniel had all been punished for their religion for
their view of God for their belief in Christ and We find that the
king of Babylon looked into the burning fiery furnace and said
did we not we throw three in and there's four and What a blessing
it is to have Christ in all our trials. And then Daniel thrown
into the lion's den because of his view of God, his hope in
Christ. And the Lord has sent his angel
and shut the lion's mouths. Now when those that had perpetrated
that and made it illegal, for Daniel to worship as he had.
When it was found out the king threw those guys down in that
den and before they reached the bottom they were already destroyed
by those lions. So there's no hope except in
Christ. Had God left them alone to themselves
and to their own counsel they would have stayed. in Babylon,
but he put in their hearts to set their face toward Zion."
Turn with me to a wonderful book, the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah
chapter 50. We have these words of the prophet,
as God gave him utterance, holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit. So Jeremiah is not coming up
with these words on his own. It would be impossible. But they
were given to him by God, and God used him. Jeremiah was his
secretary. He wrote these words down. We
enjoy this today. They shall ask the way to Zion
with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join
ourselves to the Lord. and a perpetual covenant that
shall not be forgotten." Did you hear what Jeremiah said there
in Jeremiah 50 and verse 5? They shall ask the way to Zion
with their faces thitherward. They want to go and they have
their faces drawn in that direction. It was an ancient father of the
children of Israel that was called much the same way out of the
same place. Abraham was called out of Ur
of the Chaldees, and we find that it is written of him in
the book of Hebrews. He's given a face thitherward towards Zion. He is headed in that direction,
and all those that left the Persian Empire under Cyrus, king of the
Persians. named 200 years before he was
born and before he became king, and then Jeremiah had said that
the children of Benjamin and Judah would spend these 70 years
in captivity, but at the end of that they would be permitted
to go. Cyrus is the instrument in God's
hand to declare this, and now they are going to be set free,
those who have their faces thitherward towards Zion. As we mentioned
with regard to Abraham in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews
chapter 11, Abraham is mentioned here, Hebrews chapter 11 verse
8. This word is given with regard
to Abraham, by faith Abraham, when he was called. Now did you
notice here that the name is Abraham? In the Old Testament
when this took place his name was Abram. But here, as we look
back, as the writer of Hebrews is caused to look back, God gives
him the words to write, and it is Abraham, when he was called
to go out of a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Most
of the folks that had left had never been at Jerusalem. Most of those 42,360 had never
been there. They'd been born in captivity,
and they couldn't say that they knew where they were going, but
they were going anyway. And as we find concerning Christ
No one in our generation has ever seen Him face-to-face, but
by faith we trust Him. He's given us the faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's given us the faith to trust
Him, to trust His Word, to take it as the Word of God. And so,
we haven't seen His face, but we're pointed in His direction.
We're Zion-ward. We're pointed Zion-ward. Thitherward
as the writer says so Abraham was called out to go into a place
Just as these were called out to go back to Jerusalem Abraham
was called out of Ur of the Chaldees close to the same place where
these people are leaving the Preacher deacon servant of God
by the name of Stephen when he was talking to his accusers when
he was talking to Saul. They laid their coats at the
feet of Saul when they stoned him to death. But here in the
book of Acts chapter seven, when he's speaking to them about the
history of Israel and that it is a message about Christ, in
Acts chapter seven and verse two, and he said, men, brethren,
and fathers, hearken, listen to me. The God of Glory appeared
unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before
he dwelt in Shuran. The God of Glory appeared unto
him, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and come into the land which I will show thee.
Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in
Shuran. And from thence, when his father
was dead, he removed him into this land wherein ye now dwell. So the God of glory appeared
unto him. He was from Ur of the Chaldees. He camped for a while
in Horea, the city where Abraham migrated when he left Ur of the
Chaldees. It is located in Mesopotamia.
How does this all apply to us today? God is still about the
business of stirring up his people that are in Babylon, or Lodibor,
or here in the Dalles, that are settled in their business and
have little or no regard for spiritual things, and yet God
knows them as his lost sheep. One of my favorite accounts of
this is found in 2 Samuel chapter 9. And to many of you, when I
mention 2 Samuel chapter 9, you know exactly where I'm going.
We're going to go over to Lodibar, 2 Samuel chapter 9. There's a man down there. He's
crippled in his feet. At Lodibar, his name is Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel chapter 9, and I want
to begin reading with verse 1. And David said, Is there yet
any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him
kindness for Jonathan's sake? Let me say this at this point.
This world will not come to a close, this era will not come to a close
until that last one that is left Allah's sheep, the last one,
whatever country, whatever nationality, whatever religion, whatever,
that last one, the gospel is brought to, the Holy Spirit regenerates,
causes them to trust Christ, brings them to Zionward, to Christ,
to Mount Zion, that last one. Then this will be wrapped up.
There's nothing else that needs to be done And the religious
people are going to find all sorts of things that need to
be done. They say they believe in the imminent return of Christ,
and yet they're scared to death. They're just scared to death.
But those who have come to Zion, those that have come to Christ,
and here David says, is there any left? Well, when the last
one is brought in. Goes on to say here, there was
in the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when
he had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou
Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not
yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show kindness of God
unto him? And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the
king said unto him, Where is he? Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he is in the house of Mater, the son of Amiel, in Lodibar. This one, this person, lived
in Lodibar, which means a place, this name place, means no pasture,
pastureless. Here in Oregon, we think of the
Alvord Desert. Over there in Eastern Oregon,
in the shadow of the Steens Mountains, we have a large place that there
is four inches of moisture per year on the average falls there. And here's where this guy is.
He doesn't have any high qualifications. There's nothing he could do for
David. He's not going to make his palace any better because
he's lame. He can't work. He can't be a
servant. He can't do anything. He's in
essence worthless and yet important because he is going to do it
for the benefit of a love he had for his dad, for someone
else's sake. God loves us for Jesus' sake. That's the only reason. So Lodibar
is the place, Mephibosheth is the name, he's crippled in the
feet, he was dropped when he was quite young by his nurse,
and he's broken. It just tells us so much of the
fall. Broken, can't walk, short, fallen
short of the glory of God, all of the ways that are described
that we are by nature. Well, King David sent And not
only did he send, he didn't send an invitation down there, I'm
sure that went with it, and fetched him. David not only sent, but
he fetched him. Not only did God give Cyrus the
words, you are free, But he put in those folks' heart the desire
to go. He called them out of darkness
to his marvelous light. He called them out of bondage
into liberty. He called them from Babylon to
Jerusalem. He called them from Lodibar down
to the king's table, just as we read about here. He fetched
him. Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,
was coming to David, he fell on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth,
and he answered, behold thy servant, how God's people come to God.
They come to God by faith. They come as they are ushered
by the Lord. They are given Christ, and then
they come. And they are servants. They are
servants of God. They are servants of the Most
High God. They reverence Him. They look unto Him. And so, as
David deals with this, and then when Verse 7, And David said
unto him, Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness for
Jonathan thy father's sake. And God the Father shows us great
kindness for Jesus' sake, grace for Jesus' sake, mercy for Jesus'
sake. Sanctification for Jesus' sake. Redemption for Jesus' sake. Peace
for Jesus' sake. God is gracious. Really, He's
only dealt with two men ever. The first Adam and the second
Adam. The first Adam represented all mankind, and when he fell,
he took all mankind with him. Sin was imputed to us. And the Lord Jesus Christ represents
all his family, all the elect, all chosen in Christ before the
foundation of the world, and all their sin was imputed to
him on the cross. As we go on here, it says, for Jonathan verse 7 of 1st Samuel
chapter 9 verse 7 day David said unto him fear not For I will
surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake and
will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father in Salvation
we get much more than we would have had if Adam had not sinned
we get all the spiritual blessings of God And I'll restore the land
And thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. The gracious
bread of the Father in the Son, the bread of life, is given unto
us. And he bowed himself and said,
What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead
dog as I am? Notice the response of Mephibosheth
when he's given all the rich blessings of the kingdom. He's
restored. He is able to eat at the king's
table. There is no haughtiness. There's
no proudness. There's nothing like that. It
is, you are my Lord. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall confess the Lord Jesus to the glory of God the
Father. Well, as we move on, we find
that in the book of Matthew chapter nine, Matthew chapter nine. Who are those that headed for
Zion? Who are those headed for Jerusalem under the word of Ezra? Excuse me, under the word of
Cyrus in the book of Ezra chapter one there. In Matthew chapter
nine, we have this act. What a pleasant act it is. God
is so gracious. He's gracious to Matthew. Here
in the book of Matthew chapter nine, verse one, It says, And
he entered into a ship, the Lord Jesus entered into a ship, and
passed over, and came into his own city. And behold, they brought
him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing
their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes
said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing
their thought, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether it is easier to say,
Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk? But that ye may know that the
Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins. Then said he
to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto
thine house. And he arose, and departed to
his house. But when the multitude saw it,
they marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto
men. And as Jesus passed by, there
we have the Lord's declaration in those verses of Scripture.
Now we're going to see the example from a spiritual standpoint,
and it tells us here As Jesus passed forth from thence, he
saw a man named Matthew sitting at a receipt of custom. This
man is also sick of the palsy. He is a man born after the manner
of Adam. Adam was created, we realize
that, but everybody after him was born, and born with the nature
of Adam, imputed sin, and here we run into Matthew. Matthew
is a collector of taxes, sitting at the receipt of custom, or
he's collecting taxes. And he is not liked by those
around him. Tax collectors were, as a class,
were detested for their employment, of the hardness they had, and
greed, and deception in which they did their job. a tax collector,
a publican, a renter, or a farmer of taxes, a tax gatherer. That's
who this guy is. He's not liked by society and
he's detested by most, and yet the Lord goes up to him. It tells
us here, Jesus passed by he come up to him and he commands Follow
me now. He did not say follow me if you
want to he said follow me follow me and He arose and followed
him What a glorious thing God does as he did it for those there
in in the Babylonian captivity, in
the Chaldean captivity under Cyrus, that there were some folks
that were there, that God stirred their heart, made them wanting
in the day of His power, made them alive, spiritually speaking. Though no doubt many of them
in the flesh didn't know God, they are certainly an example
of how God does his business. Where we are, God finds us. It's interesting that we find
that Philip, when he finds that unit down in the wilderness,
he began at the same place and preached unto him Jesus. Didn't
have to find his history, didn't have to find out his family,
didn't have to talk about his religion. In religion, I did
a lot of study of other religions so I'd know how to deal with
them. There's only one way to deal with false religion and
that's to know Christ and point people to Christ. If you get
a job, I've heard this, a man that once was a teller told me
this, that they don't spend a lot of time with phony money. They spend all their time identifying
real money. And if you know the real money,
a piece of phony money shows up instantly. If you know Christ,
if you know Christ and Him crucified, it doesn't take much when someone
says something to say, that does not ring true. That is not the
Word of God. And so it was with Matthew. Follow
me. And what does he do? Right there
in verse nine of Matthew chapter nine, Jesus said, follow me,
and it says he arose and followed him. Didn't matter about his
job. Now God's gonna give us jobs
as we need them, but that wasn't the concern. What if he lost
his job? The Lord would provide for him. Didn't concern his family. Those issues are not issues when
God saves us by his grace. Another wonderful example is
found over here in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 16. In Acts
chapter 16, again we find the work of God through the Apostle
Paul. Paul was a preacher of the gospel.
He was a hater of God and a hater of God's gospel. He persecuted
the church. He had those that were believers,
had them killed. And he subscribed to the death
of Stephen. But here, after the Lord saved
him and he followed him, he went with him, in the day of God's
power, he was made willing. And here in the book of Acts
chapter 16, and we begin reading here with verse 13. And on the
Sabbath, we went out of the city by the riverside, where prayer
was wont to be made, and we sat down and spake unto the women
which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia,
a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped
God, heard us. Now all that's good, because
there's a lot of people that are named, and there are a lot
of people that are sellers, and there's a lot of people from
Thyatira, cities around the world, travel a great distance to go
somewhere, and yet the most important words in that passage of Scripture,
whose heart the Lord opened. whose heart God attended to,
whose heart God made anew, who gave the new birth to. It says
here, whose heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things
which were spoken of Paul she knew this was the gospel she
knew this was the truth because God had opened her heart just
as those many that left out of Babylon and went as they were
encouraged they were stirred up to go those who were inclined
to go up those that were The Spirit of God had waked them,
where such as God had inclined to go up, the same God that had
raised up the spirit of Cyrus to proclaim liberty was in these
to claim liberty. These, 42,360, like Lydia, whose
heart the Lord opened, attended. It's such a sad thing to see
people who say, My heart's been opened by the Lord and yet do
nothing the Lord requests. They're just, well, they're just
not saved. That's all there is. They're
just not saved. They won't go to where the gospel
is preached. They won't listen to the gospel. It's just sad, but we know by
our own actions, by our own nature, that's where we would have been,
continued on, if it hadn't been for Christ coming, the Lord opening
our heart. So she attended unto the things
which were spoken of Paul, and when she was baptized And her
household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful
to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained
us. If ye have judged me faithful
to the Lord, not faithful to Paul, not faithful to doctrine,
not faithful to church, but faithful to the Lord. And that's so apparent. It doesn't take much to recognize. email and wanted to find out
about our church, they never asked the right questions. Do
you use this translation? Do you believe in the reformed
doctrine of Calvinism? Do you do this? Do you do that?
But never had a call from anyone saying, What think ye of Christ? That's the issue. So as these
examples of Mephibosheth, of Matthew, of Lydia, we find those
of such that God inclined to go went up and they went Zionward. I'd like to read one more time
that passage of scripture in Jeremiah before we close. Jeremiah
chapter 50. And verse 5, Jeremiah chapter
50, in verse 5 we have these wonderful words of a person who
knew something. You know, if we lived in the
days of Jeremiah, I pray that we'd want to go hear him. He
knew something. God had given him a message.
He knew something. That's the way it is in every
generation. If God has done something to
us, if God has given us Christ Jesus, if we know him, we have
had a heart that's been opened if we have been moved by the
Holy Spirit if we've been brought as Matthew was been called and
left then we're going to be facing Zion word here in the book of
Jeremiah chapter 50 and there in verse 5 The Prophet wrote
this they shall ask the way to Zion and with their faces fitherward,
saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual
covenant that shall not be forgotten. To join the Lord to that perpetual
covenant is to agree with God's covenant of grace that he saves
whomsoever he will wheresoever He will, how and what circumstances
howsoever He will, that He is the true Savior that actually
saves His people from their sins. Well, my friends, as we come
to the close of this service, I trust that you'll have a good
week this coming week, and that these things may bear on your
heart, that we truly may be able to say it wasn't by our power,
it wasn't by our might, but by the Spirit of God. God bless
you.