It's so good to be with you again
this morning and once again we're going to be looking at the book
of Ezra. I enjoyed looking at this book and we hope it will
be a blessing for us to look at it together. Ezra chapter
1. Would you turn there with me?
Ezra chapter 1. And our title this morning is
Christ Our Overseer. Ezra chapter 1 beginning with
verse 1. 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? His 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 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 up, to go up to build
the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And all they that
were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver,
with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with precious things, beside
all that was willingly offered. Also Cyrus the king brought forth
the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had
brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house
of his gods. Even those did Cyrus, king of
Persia, bring forth by the hand of Meredith the treasure, and
numbered them also Shazbazar, the prince of Judah. And this
is the number of them, thirty chargers of gold, thousand chargers
of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty basins of gold, silver
basins of a second sort, four hundred ten and other vessels
a thousand all the vessels of gold and of silver were five
thousand and four hundred all These did Shazbazar bring up
with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon
into Jerusalem Verse two we'd like to look at
for just a short time today 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. this person was Cyrus who had
been intervened upon and the person who had done the intervening
is the Lord God of heaven. In fact there is no higher being. Nebuchadnezzar came to the conclusion
that he was prevailed upon by the Most High, that liveth forever,
and whose dominion, sovereignty, and realm is everlasting." I'd
like to read some verses, a couple verses over in the book of Daniel
chapter 4. Would you turn over there with
me in Daniel chapter 4? These wonderful verses that God
gives us under the writing of Daniel. And if you remember,
Nebuchadnezzar got a little high and mighty and God turned him
out to pasture for seven years. And at the conclusion of that
seven years, he made this wonderful confession about God. And we delight in these words
of this pagan king about God. Daniel chapter 4 verse 34, and
at the end of the days, after those days, those seven years
that his hair had grown like eagle's feathers and his nails
were like birds and his body was wet with the dew of heaven
and he did eat grass as an ox He was driven out from men. It
appeared to them that he had gone insane, and yet we read
here in verse 34 that, 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 forever, 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? There was not one way that Nebuchadnezzar
could not have become as he was for those seven years. He could
not resist it. He could not put it off. He could
not set it aside. He could not have his counselors
change it. He could not do anything except
what God had purposed, and that was he went out like an oxen. He ate grass like an oxen. He
had feathers, hair like feathers, nails like claws, and for seven
years he was of this sort, but at the conclusion of those seven
years, he makes one of the greatest confessions of faith that we
find in the Scriptures. Thomas summed it up a little
shorter, yet with the same understanding, when he spoke to the Lord in
the book of John, John chapter 20. Would you turn there with
me, John chapter 20? As so many people call him Doubting
Thomas, my goodness, In the same situation, most of us would have
done exactly the same thing. It's a wonderful example. The
Lord is so gracious to his people. He's so gracious to those who
weren't there and didn't think that they could believe it. But
when the Lord Jesus appeared unto him after his resurrection,
these are the words that Thomas answered. He didn't have to put
his hand in the side. He didn't have to put his fingers
in the nail prints. But he made this confession, and it's much
the same as Nebuchadnezzar did. And it says, Thomas answered
and said unto him, My Lord and my God. As he spoke to the Lord
Jesus, he used those kind, tender words that were filled with truth
of Thomas's revelation of the Lord Jesus, flesh and blood,
doesn't reveal the Son to us, but our Father which is in heaven,
my Lord and my God." Now in Ezra chapter 1 verse 2, going back
there, you turn back there with me to that passage of scripture
we just read part of. In Ezra chapter 2, Ezra chapter 2, chapter 1, excuse
me, chapter 1 verse 2, we have Cyrus and he's declared king
of Persia, powerful king These Persians, Chaldeans, were noted
for their cruelty, literally destroying the soldiers
on the opposite forces. But this one, he's caused to
confess, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms
of the earth, and he hath charged me. There is an interesting word
in this verse that is full of meaning. As we study the Bible,
Old Testament and New Testament, it's important that we seek out
those places that Jesus instructed his disciples to seek out, namely,
the things concerning himself in all the scripture. Remember
those words found over in the book of Luke? as Jesus was talking
to his disciples after his resurrection. The book of Luke chapter 24,
we read these words that Jesus spoke to his disciples. And there's
such a guideline for us. There's such a way for us to
look at the Old as well as the New Testament. And here in Luke
chapter 24 and verse 27, we find in beginning at Moses and in
all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself, beginning at Moses and all the
prophets. And here we have one of those
prophets. He expounded unto his disciples words out of the book
of Ezra about himself. Now, he didn't have to go very
far into the book of Ezra to start doing this. He did that
in all the books of the Old Testament. What a message he preached that
day and we find we have that message. It is the Old Testament.
I believe we have found one more of those places here in the book
of Ezra that the Lord Jesus described to his disciples and made plain
to him as he opened up the scriptures to them. The word that we run
into today is he has charged me to build. This word charged
This word charge is translated from a word which is in its original
meaning had to do with oversee, overseer, or oversight. What is it to have the oversight?
It's the role of the overseer, is to watch over, direct, command,
chastise, review, and count those in his charge. So a person who
is an overseer has responsibility over those that he oversees.
He has the responsibility to watch over them, to direct them,
to command them, to chasten them if necessary, to review what
they're doing, and to count those in his charge. An overseer is
one who carefully watches over. He watches over the flock, he
watches over the workers, he watches over Those under him? Cyrus received the oversight
position from the Almighty. There was a distinct job to do
given by the Almighty God, God Almighty, Bill God, a house in
Jerusalem. He's been given the oversight.
Now he's not going to go down there and do that, but in giving
the children of Benjamin and Judah the privilege of going
back, he is directing them to the oversight or having the oversight
of building it. This word is used many times
in the Old Testament in the book of Genesis chapter 21 and verse
1. Genesis chapter 21 verse 1. We read about this. Genesis chapter
21 and verse 1. and the Lord visited Sarah as
he had said and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken here
in this verse of scripture we have the word visited and that
word is God is going to have the oversight in this matter
he's the overseer he is overseeing Sarah and he's overseeing Sarah
to do exactly as he had purposed to be done Abraham took uh... slave girl of Sarah and bore
a child, and he said that he's going to be the inheritor, and
God said, no, mino, you're going to have your own son. Well, it
caused a little bit of anxiousness on both Abraham and Sarah's part,
because he's a hundred and she's ninety, and yet God said, I have
the oversight in this. I'm the overseer in this. I have
the right to do with mine as I please and so the Lord caused
Sarah to conceive and bear Abraham a son. Why? Because he is the
overseer. Now Cyrus says this that God
had given him the oversight or charged him to build that temple
down in Jerusalem and as we look at this word throughout the Old
Testament we find Just as here, Sarah conceived. Why? God visited
Sarah. He had the oversight in the matter.
God has the oversight over all things in this world, in heaven
above, in earth beneath, in the seas, and under the earth. He
has the oversight over all things. He is the one that directs. He's the one that cares for. He is the overseer. In the book
of Genesis, again, Genesis chapter 39, Genesis chapter 39, we have
a brother here, his name is Joseph. Genesis chapter 39, verse 4, Joseph found grace in
his sight This is his master Potiphar. Joseph found grace
in his sight and he served him and he, Potiphar, made him overseer
over his house and all that he put he had he put in his hand. So Joseph, what a wonderful picture
of Christ here as Joseph becomes the overseer over the household
of Potiphar. Well it's not going to stop there
because we go on and find out that Joseph is going to be the
overseer of the country of Egypt for a number of years, but let's
look at another place where this word is used. It has to do with
Joseph's brothers and some instructions to them, and that's found in
Genesis chapter 50, last chapter of the book of Genesis, Genesis
chapter 50. and let us read verses 24 and
25 Genesis chapter 50 verse 24 and 25 and Joseph said unto his
his brethren I die and God will surely visit you and bring you
out of this land unto the land which he swear to Abraham to
Isaac and to Jacob and Joseph took an oath of the children
of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry
up my bones from hence." Now in each of those verses there
is the phrase, surely visit. That is the same word that's
translated over there, charge, and it tells us that God is going
to have the oversight in this. He's going to visit you just
like He promised. They're going to be in in servitude
in Egypt for 400 years. But Joseph is so absolutely sure
that God has the oversight over all things that when I die and
when my bones are put away, when you leave in 400 years, when
you leave please carry up my bones from
this place." So he believed God. God had the oversight. He was
going to visit them, just as he promised. And 400 years later,
he did exactly what Joseph said he would do. By faith, Joseph
believed that. God had given it to his heart.
He was a believer in Christ Jesus. He didn't doubt what God had
to say to him. So God did visit. Let's just follow this through
just a little bit as we find this word used by Cyrus over
there in Ezra chapter 1 verse 2. Here in the book of Genesis
chapter, excuse me, Exodus, Exodus chapter 3, Exodus chapter 3,
we have this word used again as that word was used by Cyrus.
He's given me charge over this. He's given me oversight over
this. He will do. In the book of Exodus chapter
3 and verse 16, Go and gather the elders of Israel together,
and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham,
of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely
visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt. I have
surely visited you. I have the oversight of what's
going on here. I understand everything that's
going on here. I purposed everything that's
going on here. I told Abraham, your father, that there'd be
a day that they'd be taken down, and they would be there for 400
years, and then they would be taken out. I have the oversight
of the beginning, I have the oversight of the middle, I have
the oversight of the end. What does that say about us?
What does that say about our own lives? God has the oversight. Now sometimes that oversight
chafes us, but God has the oversight for our good and for our benefit,
for the church's good and for the church's glory. Now another
time here in the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 13, Exodus chapter
13. there in verse 19 Exodus chapter
13 and verse 19 it says in Moses took the bones of Joseph With him For he had straightly
sworn to the children of Israel saying God has the oversight
God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away
hence with you." Now they're nothing but bones. They're just
the skeleton of a child of God that believed God would visit
and would carry out the children of Israel out of captivity, out
of Egypt, and they weren't even there yet. But when you leave,
carry up my bones. I don't want to be left here."
What a wonderful thing. Joseph shares with us there about
his faith in God and it's the same faith that God gives every
one of his elect, every one of his children. By faith we trust
God in all things. All of these wonderful passages
tell of one who has absolute oversight of all things and as
a result gives some to individuals to do all the whole will of the
overseer. The Lord God of heaven is overseer
of all things It is his sovereign purpose and prerogative to watch
over, to direct. That's what an overseer does.
He watches over. He directs. He is the director. He's the one that directs all
things. He directs our life. He directs those around us. He
is in command. The angels bow at his command. The demons bow at his command.
The king's heart is in his hand and thank God he is the Lord
of his people. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. An overseer corrects and overseer
reviews. and overseer counts to make sure
I have lost none and all those he is in charge of. He reviews
us. How do we measure success? It
is by God's revelation to us of the glory of God and as we
find a number of times in scripture The people that God deals with
and that they love God the most are the ones who say Oh wretched
man that I am that's progress to know ourselves as we are and
to know God as he is he is the absolute sovereign overseer over
all things in the book of the Psalms we have the psalmist Help
us so often put into words what we wished we could say Sometimes
it's It's just a blessing to turn over there and say, I'm
just gonna pray this because these words fit my need. Well,
here in the book of the Psalms, Psalm 147, Psalm 147, beginning
with verse one, this is praise to the overseer, the Lord. Praise
ye the Lord. For it is good to sing praises
unto our God, for it is pleasant and praises comely. The Lord
doth build up Jerusalem. What was the charge given to
Cyrus was to build? Jerusalem the Lord doth build
up Jerusalem now Cyrus was given charge to build a physical Jerusalem
Jesus Christ has given the charge or the oversight of built Spiritual
Jerusalem he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. That's
the material that's going to go into Jerusalem the outcasts
he healeth the broken in heart and and bindeth up their wounds. This is the overseer, the one
who has the oversight. This is the sovereign. This is
what he does as he cares, directs, commands, corrects, reviews,
watches over his flock. He telleth the number of stars,
He calleth them all by their names. My goodness, if He knows
the number of stars and calls them by names, what does He know
about you? What does He know about me? He
knows everything. He knows my down-sitting and
my uprising. Great is our Lord, and of great
power. His understanding is infinite. There is no end to His understanding. He telleth the number of the
stars, and calleth them all by their names. The Lord God Almighty
is the overseer of all things, seen and unseen. celestial and
terrestrial, heavenly and earthly, man and beast. He knows when
a sparrow falls to the ground. He knows the number of hair on
your head. So it is this great overseer. Now he's the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar
tells us that. Joseph tells us that. The Bible
tells us that. God tells us about God, that
he is the Lord. Turn with me, if you would, over
to the book of Philippians as we think about him being the
absolute overseer He is in charge. He has the charge of building
Jerusalem, spiritual Jerusalem. And he charged Cyrus to build
Jerusalem. To let those folks go. Here in
Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 10. Philippians chapter
2 and verse 10. Get to chapter 2 here just momentarily
and verse 10 All right that at the name of Jesus Every knee shall bow Of things
in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth Every
knee shall bow at the name of Jesus and in Acts chapter 17 Acts chapter
17 verse 24 we have these words God's Word
for us Acts chapter 17 verse 24 God that made the world and
all things therein seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth
dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped
with men's hands, as though he needeth anything, seeing he giveth
to all life and breath and all things. He has need of nothing. He is all glorious in himself. He is the God that made heaven
and earth and runs it in such a perfect manner. Nothing is
out of his control. He is never caught short. He's
never caught in a bind. He never has plan B. He continues
to move on in the same direction, and that is to glorify His Son,
the Lord Jesus, and to save His people from their sins. Neither
is he worshipped with men's hands back to the book of Acts chapter
17 and there in verse 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands
as though he needeth anything seeing he giveth to all life
and breath and all things Men's hands can't worship God we worship
We must worship him in spirit and in truth or we're not worshiping
he hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on
all the face of the earth and and hath determined the times
before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they
should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after him, and
find him, though he be not far from every one of us. And so
he has the bounds of our habitation. He knows where we live and he
knows why we live there. He's purposed that we live right
here in the Dalles or wherever you are. He has purposed you
to live there. The area often misunderstood
and misrepresented about God being the overseer is salvation
from beginning to end. If he is not, if he was not salvation If he was not salvation, it would
be worth zero. Since he is salvation, our overseer,
it is of great value. How is he overseer? First of
all, God conceived salvation in old eternity, as the old writers
spoke of it. Turn with me to the book of Revelation
chapter 13. God is the overseer of salvation
because it's his purpose. He conceived of it in Revelation
chapter 13 and there in verse 8. Revelation chapter 13 and
verse 8. The scriptures say, "...and all
that dwelleth upon the earth shall worship him whose names
are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world." God was the overseer. He's the one
that conceived salvation in old eternity. One time his disciples
went out and admired the things that they were able to do by
the mercy of God, and they came back and shared with that. And
God said through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Rejoice not
in these things, but rejoice that your names are written in
heaven. Now that stopped them cold, as
it does to us. Don't rejoice in the great things
we can do, but rejoice. Don't rejoice in anything that
we can do, because we can't do anything to honor God as we should,
but rejoice that our names are written down in the Lamb's Book
of Life in heaven. Written in the Book of Life,
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God shared that
he is the overseer because as many as were ordained by God
to eternal life believed. Acts 13 and verse 48. As many as were ordained. And
to those that came that day and saw that great statement preached
unto them, that is true salvation. True salvation has this at its
core. When God saves somebody, truly
saves them after the preaching of the truth of the gospel, they
don't have a problem with this. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad. What a gladness. They heard salvation. They were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. This is a wonderful statement. God, how is he the overseer? He conceived salvation in eternity. He purposed to save a people.
He wrote their names down in the Lamb's Book of Life. The
Son, as they in covenant agreement, He purposed to go to the cross,
come down to this incursed earth and live among men and live as
a man yet without sin, and go to the cross, and have the sins
of his people imputed to him, and lay down his life a ransom
for many. And the Holy Spirit has purpose
outside of the realm of humanity. The Holy Spirit has purpose to
come and bring the gospel and grant the new birth. many as
were ordained those written down in the Lamb's Book of Life and
Then if you'll turn with me to the book of Hebrews Hebrews chapter
full of 12 Hebrews chapter 12 and there in verse 2 Hebrews
chapter 12 and verse 2 looking unto Jesus The author and finisher
of our faith. Who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God? Looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. We read about salvation that
was promised before the world began. God is declared not only
to be the overseer, but he's also declared to be the Savior. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved except in the
name of the Lord Jesus. Salvation isn't completely in
the hands of the Lord. It's out of our hands. We don't
have the ability of grasping it until he gives us a new birth
and then we turn from serving dumb idols to serve the living
God. God is the overseer of the new
birth. God is the one that is in charge
of the new birth. He's the one that comes and visits
like he did with Sarah. And like we find there several
times in the Old Testament, God visited them. He visited his
people Israel down there in Egypt. And in the book of John chapter
3, John chapter 3, he's the overseer of the new birth. John chapter
3, And as Jesus speaks to Nicodemus there in John chapter 3 beginning
with verse 3, he said, Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus answers humanly logical. He's looking at it from a horizontal
position, earthly position. He's not seeing anything that
God is able to do. Nicodemus saith unto him, how
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? And Jesus answered and
said unto him, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water
and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of flesh is flesh. That which is born of
spirit is spirit. They're not commingled. It must
be a spiritual birth to give spirit. We have the physical
birth if we're here alive. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. Verse 8, God is the overseer
of the new birth. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh or whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. It is totally and completely
in the hands of God. He's the one that brings it.
He's the overseer of the new birth. Cyrus was appointed by
God to build a house. He was stirred. He was charged. The Lord Jesus
was also commissioned to build a house. Would you turn with
me to the book of Hebrews? Hebrews chapter 3, beginning
with verse 1. The Lord Jesus was also commissioned
to build a house. He was appointed to build a house.
Cyrus, indeed, was appointed. He was stirred, as we find in
the scripture. But there, as we read in Ezra
chapter 1 and verse 2, that he hath given me charge. He's charged
me to build him a house. Our Savior was charged. He's
the overseer of this building. He's the overseer of the material.
He's the overseer of the place. He's the overseer of the spirituality
of it. He's the overseer of the blood
of it. He's the overseer of the righteousness
of it. He's the overseer of the sanctification
of it. He has all these things in His
absolute control, and He blesses as nothing else can do. There's
nothing that can separate us from that oversight. He'll not
lose sight of us. That's His job. That's His business.
That's His part. And so here in the book of Hebrews,
chapter 3, verse 1, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus. who was faithful to him that
appointed him, the covenant of grace, the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy
of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath built the house
hath more honor than the house. For every house is built by some
man, but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was
faithful in all his house, as a servant were a testimony of
those things which were spoken after. But Christ, as a Son over
His own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of the hope firm until the end. So as we read
here, and then it goes on to verse 7 and 8. Wherefore, as
the Holy Ghost saith today, if ye will hear His voice, harden
not your hearts, as in the provocation in the days of temptation in
the wilderness. So as it says here, Moses was
faithful in his house, but the Lord Jesus is more faithful in
his house. He's faithful in all his house.
He's a son over his house, whose house are we. We have him as the overseer. He's the builder. He's the shepherd. He's the guide. He's the rock. He's all of those things that
are explained to us throughout the Old Testament. And so, as
Cyrus, the king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven, has given
me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build
him a house at Jerusalem. Now, if we examine the kingdom
of Persia, we find that it didn't cover all the kingdoms of the
earth. It was for Cyrus. But when we
look at the Lord Jesus Christ, we find that he does have all
the kingdoms of the earth, and nothing moves without his purpose
and command. And in so doing, he is the one
that has the oversight, the directorship of all things. And for us to
be blessed by this great director, who has conceived salvation in
eternity past, in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
in the covenant of grace, and to carry it out to such lengths
as we read about in the Scriptures, and that we could have said about
us, who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifies. He's the overseer. So we pray
that this will be a blessing and that you'll have a good week.
Amen.