Now, of course, I know that Brad
and Pam, Seth, and of course Kaylee, you didn't know that
I'd asked everyone to read the whole book of Ezra. I gave some
homework last week. I don't normally do that, but
I hope you understand why I did that. Because when I preach,
I don't want it merely to be that you might say, well, that
was a great message. It just seemed to, everything
seemed to fit. When I mention some of these
things that I am going to mention, I want you to say, yeah, I seen
that there. I seen that there. So turn to
Ezra chapter 4. Now before I read, I will begin.
First of all, let me give you the background to my text. I'm
going to read a few verses in chapter 4. According to Ezra
in chapter 1 and verse 1, Jeremiah's prophecy has begun to bud forth. The 70 years of captivity of
the people of Israel was at an end. God's foreordained chastisement
of that nation was over. All chastisement has an end to
it. So first of all, the background
is this, Jeremiah's prophecy begins to bud forth. Now, while
Ezra doesn't mention it, even Isaiah prophesied concerning
this, and he even named the king who would decree what we see
begin to take place in Israel. Secondly, God moves this heathen
king to decree the temple be built at Jerusalem. You'll read
that in chapter 1, verses 2 through 4. As we will see in the book
of Ezra, God Almighty holds the king's heart in His hand. God turneth it whether so ever
He will. And that means whether it is
good that they do or whether it is the evil that they accomplish
in their own wicked hearts and minds, yet God Almighty holds
their heart in His hand and he turns it whithersoever he will."
So God moves the heathen king to decree that the temple be
built at Jerusalem. Thirdly, a great host of people,
a great host of Israelites, they have their pedigree. There were
a few that had no pedigree but they were left out of certain
things because they couldn't prove their pedigree. But a great
host of Israelites returned to Jerusalem and the rebuilding
of the temple commences. You'll read that in chapter 1
verses 5 through chapter 3 in verse 8. And fourthly, with the
foundation of the temple laid, rejoicing and weeping sounds
forth. You'll read that in chapter 3.
verses 9 through 13. And you will read from Habakkuk,
you will find out that the reason there was rejoicing and weeping,
you might say the younger generation were rejoicing that this was
coming to pass. And I'm sure that to an extent all the generations
that were present were rejoicing but some of the older generations
wept because they realized the glory of that temple would not
meet their expectations when they remembered the Temple of
Solomon that had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. So this weeping
was kind of a bittersweet thing. So there was rejoicing and weeping
and it sounds forth. Now this leads us up to our text
this morning and I want to read it. Ezra chapter 4 and verses
1 through 5. Now when the adversaries of Judah
and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the
temple unto the Lord God of Israel, then they came to Zerubbabel
and to the chief of the fathers and said unto them, Let us build
with you, for we seek your God as ye do. And we do sacrifice
unto him since the days of Esarhaddon, king of Asher, which brought
us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Yeshua, and
the rest of the chief fathers of Israel said unto them, Ye
have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God. But we ourselves together will
build unto the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia,
hath commanded us. Then the people of the land weakened
the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building. And hired counselors against
them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of
Persia until the reign of Darius king of Persia. Now before I
proceed any further, let me preface what I have to say to you Proceeding
with these words while our brothers and sisters of that age, and
that's what I called them Our brothers and sisters of that
age now. I'm not trying to vouch for every single individual that
returned That's not what I mean, but these men and women these
young and old alike are our brothers and sisters in Christ Now for
our visitors here this morning and for our the rest of you and
whoever may hear my words on a tape or whatever. I stand according
to the truth of God concerning all things that God's word means
exactly what it says unless the word itself gives you reason
to believe that something is a type or a symbol or a shadow. So therefore I hold to certain
things concerning future events. Yet I know that there are those
who hold to the same view as me in certain areas who would
say that Israel's blessings were all earthy, and Israel's blessings
were all temporal, while our blessings are all heavenly, and
our blessings are all spiritual. And I'm here to tell you that
that's a lie. Even today, we Gentiles who have been saved
by the free reigning grace of God have been grafted in to the
root stock of Israel. They were and are our brothers
and sisters in Christ Jesus. The covenant God made with Abraham
is specifically stated by Paul to be the covenant that God made
with Abraham in Christ Jesus. And whether our blessings are
physical and earthly, or whether they are spiritual and heavenly,
or whatever, they all come to us through God, by Jesus Christ
Himself. If you've got a car to drive
back and forth to work in, God Almighty gave you that. And He
gave it to you in Christ Jesus. So I say that while our brothers
and sisters of that age were constrained to operate under
the restraints of the legal system. And they were. We don't have
to operate under that legal system now. But they were constrained
to operate under the restraints of that legal system. And while
much of their spiritual battle spilled forth into physical conflict,
You hear what I said? Now that's again where you have
some of these so-called, and now I'll come out and say it,
pre-millennials who say that Israel's battles were all physical,
all of our battles were spiritual. That's a lie too. Because there
are physical battles that you will have to engage in. While
it may not be hand-to-hand conflict, some of these things may be physical.
There's been thousands of our brothers and sisters in Christ,
even after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, who were slaughtered
for their testimony of Jesus Christ. That's as physical as
you can get. So while they were constrained
to operate under the restraints of the legal system, And while
much of their spiritual battle spilled forth into physical conflict,
and we are to avoid that as New Covenant believers, we are to
avoid that as much as lies possible within us. This is what the New
Testament teaches us. And while their spiritual battle
spilled forth into physical conflict, and while they operated within
the auspices of types and symbols of the Mosaic system, They didn't
have types and symbols only. They had the prophets. They had
Isaiah. This was after these prophets. They had Isaiah 53. They had the prophecies of the
coming Messiah, of the Christ, of the anointed one, but they
had to operate under the auspices of the types and the symbols
that God had ordained for that day. So while they operated under
all these things, nevertheless, Nevertheless, they too were moved
by faith in God and love for God's truth. Isn't that what
Hebrews 11 is clear on? It goes all the way back to Abel
and comes all the way through right on up to us, doesn't it?
By faith, by faith, through faith, by faith, through faith. And
it's always been true. and shall always be true until
we awake in His likeness and see Him face to face and are
made like Him for we shall then see Him as He is. It's always
been true because both Old and New Testaments proclaim this
truth, the just shall live by faith. It's always been true. It's always been true. Now let
me tell you something. Now listen to me this morning.
That faith, that God-given faith, and it's a God-given faith. Joe's
right. Faith is not something man works up. Faith is not something
man comes up with. Faith is not something man finds
in his being by his own so-called free will. That's the lie of
the devil. Anybody who teaches that is anti-Christ. And that's as straight as I can
be. It's anti-Christ. Free will is a lie. That faith
embraces this truth, the truth of our text. Now I'm putting
it in my own words. But it's the truth seen right
here in this text. Better to be frustrated than to compromise. Did you read it? When you read
through, if you had a chance or opportunity to read through
the book of Ezra, did you at least get this idea? It's better
to be frustrated by the enemy. It's better to be troubled by
the enemy. It's better to even be stopped by force, by the enemy. He speaks of that too, remember?
It's better to be troubled, it's better to be frustrated, it's
better to be even stopped by force, by the enemy, than to
compromise God's truth. We live in a day and age And
I don't know whether it would be appropriate for me to say
that the works of Antichrist are any more stronger now than
they ever were. But I do know Paul says evil men and seducers
shall wax worse and worse. But there is a concerted effort
not only in this world but in our country to cause the people
of God to compromise God's truth. You see it all over the TV. And
I'm not here to take up for or be against anything you see out
there. You know of the lady that got thrown in jail because she
wouldn't sign off on gay marriage. Let me tell you something, folks.
I am no prophet and neither am I the son of a prophet. Roy Jr.,
you're not a prophet, are you? But I will tell you this. Apart
from the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, it will get
worse. It will get no better. Do not
look for a revival amidst the world. Revival takes place only
amidst God's people. Now here is an unassailable two-fold
rule. Remember, better to be frustrated
than to compromise. First part of this rule. When
God's people set their hands to the work of the gospel, whether
it's rejoicing or weeping. I mean, there was a time, and
I'll take the time this morning. Time's fleeting quickly, but
there was a time I know that Earl Cochran, our late pastor,
he rejoiced when it was about 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 of us
all of a sudden moved from one place and said, we're going to
meet with you folks. And Ellen, I know your dad was just thrilled
and rejoiced in that. And we look back on that now
and we've probably lost more than that since that happened
30 years ago. You know what I mean? And I look back upon that and
I look and I think of those times and there's some rejoicing, Joe,
and I see a few others have come in, you know, here and there,
a few come in. But yet there's still a sense
of weeping. Why? Because things are not always
like they used to be in the past. but never let us cease to rejoice
in the God of our salvation, no matter what. So when God's people set their
hands to the work of the gospel, and that's what these people
were doing when they were rebuilding that temple. They were setting
their hands to the work of the gospel. Because that was the
figure for the time being present. When God's people set their hands
to the work of the gospel and the sound of rejoicing and weeping
goes up, the enemy will hear and the enemy will respond. That's
an unassailable truth. That will happen. A little old
pea-squat place called Sovereign Grace Chapel. But you watch.
This radio broadcast will bring in more negative. It will bring
in more negative response than it will positive. I'd be willing
to put money on that. You know why I know that? Because
every time we've had one before, when we had one at Browns Road
and when we left Browns Road and gathered with you all and
Earl and I had another one, we always had more negative response
than we did positive. But one thing we could be assured
of, negative response will come. Now how do I know that? It's
inescapable. The reason I know that is Paul, being inspired
by the Spirit of God, says these words, Yea, and all, A-L-L, and
all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Now persecution may vary in its
degrees and its circumstances. But all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And you know what
the first premise of godliness is? Now when I say godliness,
you know what most so-called, and I mean that exactly the way
it sounds, most so-called Christians think of when they think of godliness,
they think that means to be like God. That was the lie of the
devil in the beginning. and instill the lie of the devil
today, that you and I, you or I, even the people of God, that
we can be like God. The first premise of godliness
is this, according to the Apostle Paul, it is the faith of God's
elect, and that's the only kind there really is. It is the faith
of God's elect and acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. That's the first premise of godliness
is doing what? Having the faith of God's elect
and acknowledging the truth. There's godliness. Righteousness
may be a little different story, but godliness is that. It's acknowledging
God's truth. You remember what Paul said about
especially the heathens of the human race, that one of their
primary faults was not their immorality, they changed or exchanged
the truth of God for a lie. And because of that, and because
also the second fold thing of that is they changed the glory
of the incorruptible God and made it like in the corruptible
man and beasts and four-footed creatures. And Paul says because
of that, because of those two things, God gave them over to
all the immorality that's in this world. The immorality we
see so rampant in our society today is because man still does
those two things. He turns the glory of the incorruptible
God and makes it like in the man and four-footed beast. And
they say God's like us. That's a lie. That's a lie. God's holy. He's far superior,
far above, far distinct than we are. And they also turn the
truth or exchange rather the truth of God into a lie. And
because of that, that's why you see our society in such degradation
that you see it in today. And it's not just man's rebellion,
it's the judgment of God against this world. If the enemy is not responding, it's only because we are not
engaged as we should be in the work of the Gospel. Because when
they built this temple, before they even built it, they just
laid the foundation and people started crying out. And if you
look at the last part of chapter 3, the people couldn't discern
the noise. What's all this about? But what happens? The enemy arrives. Here's the second part of this
rule. The adversary, now listen, may God give you ears to hear
this morning because This is vital truth even if we are just
a couple little handfuls of people meeting on this little hillside
in West Virginia. The second part of this truth,
the adversary is the adversary no matter what they spew forth
with their mouths. You see it? Then they came to
Zerubbabel and the chief of the fathers and said unto them, let
us build with you for we seek your God as you do. And we do
sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarhaddon. We're just
like you are. Now notice, they didn't come
and say, we're great sinners. We're corrupt and in rebellion
against God and we need to worship your God. They said, we're just
like you are. Actually, we've been worshiping
God before y'all even got back here. Same one, same God. Remember the second part to this
unassailable two-fold rule. The adversary is the adversary
no matter what they spew forth. Boy, you're awful mean. This ain't me. This is God Almighty. Beware of the ecumenical spirit
that permeates this world. All Christians ought to be able
to get along. The problem is we ain't all Christians. All denominations ought to be
able to get along. The reason we can't, because
we're not all Christians. We're not all engaged in the
work of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are those
who are preaching, holding to, and strongly engaged in the work
of another gospel, which Paul says ain't another, but it's
a perversion of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. ecumenical
spirit that permeates this world. They'll love you as long as you
compromise. You can get along with just about everybody except
for maybe ISIS if you'll compromise. But I want to give you eight
things. Just bear with me. I'll try to not be too long.
First of all, well, turn to Psalm chapter 5 before I make the statement.
I want you to be there. If you're following along, you
read this. Psalm chapter 5. First of all, this was the first
thing, we need God's direction concerning the adversary. Because
they are slick. They are sly. They are cunning. They're just like their father
the devil and he's those things too. Now listen to what the psalmist
said, Psalms 5 verse 8, Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness. Why? Because of my enemies. Make thy way, now notice, not
make my way. We certainly would cry out for
that, but make thy way straight before my face. Look, for there is no faithfulness
in their mouth. Their inward part is very wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulcher. They flatter with their tongue. We all believe the same God.
No, we don't. We all believe the same gospel.
No, we don't. We all believe in Jesus. No,
we don't. And when you say that, you will
be the pariah of the enemy. Now turn to Proverbs chapter
26. Look at verse 28. A lying tongue hateth those that
are afflicted by it. When a man lies to you, he does
not truly love you. Now when a man tells you the
truth, it'll hurt. It'll sting. It'll make you angry. It'll hurt
your feelings. It'll bring your emotions down
to the dust. When a man tells you the truth,
it's because he loves you. When a man lies to you, he hates
you. I don't care how much L.U.V. he spews forth towards you. A
lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering
mouth worketh what? Ruin. Ruin! Ruin. So we need, wouldn't you agree,
we need God's direction concerning the adversary? They're slick. They're slick. Now, second thing
is this, and this is just a summary of what I've just said. Compromise
with this ecumenical spirit Ruin. Well, how far? Don't try to play games. That's
like Earl said. Earl used to tell us, beware
of this one. How close can I get to the pit
without going in? You don't know. Because you have
no idea how slippery the slope is around that pit. And this
is what we, even as believers by nature, well, how close can
I play to the pit without it utterly ruining me? Ruin is ruin. Don't play games with God. Don't
play games with your soul. You compromise with this ecumenical
spirit, it will be to your ruin in one way or the other. Paul
said it, and I will now reiterate to summarize these first two
things. Am I your enemy because I tell you the truth? No. The answer is rhetorical. No.
Number three, so then, who is the enemy? Isn't that a good
question? Who is the enemy? I'm here to
tell you their enemy is still the same enemy today. The way they knew who the enemy
was is the same way we know who the enemy is today. Stick with me now. What verse
will you run to? I'm not going to run to a verse.
I will run to the preponderant testimony of then and you will
see. that is relevant today. Here's
the enemy. The enemy is this. Anyone who is not in bondage
with you and who has not been delivered by covenant decree,
that's the enemy. Did you read Ezra? Have you read
the prophets? Everyone who was of this group
had been in bondage, Joe. And they had been delivered from
that bondage. Right? That's the only people
that were concerned with the building of the temple. Everyone
who had been in bondage together, together, we've all sinned and
come short of the glory of God and every true believer is at
some time or another brought by God to acknowledge and taste
that very thing. I've been in bondage with you
folks. I was right there in Babylon with you. and everyone not delivered by
covenant decree." Cyrus wrote it all out, Joe,
and he signed his name to it. Something along that line. And
those were the ones, and the only ones, who had the right
to go build the temple at Jerusalem. Anyone else, no matter what they
spewed forth, were not participants in the covenant decree. That's the same truth that the
New Testament teaches. Now here's number four. This
will be a summary of number one, two, and three. God, and I'll
give you a New Testament example of this. Listen to me. God can
convert even this enemy. You hear what I'm saying? God can convert even this enemy
and on occasions He has. as I'll show you. But even when
he did, he never did so in compromise with its ecumenical spirit. Or
maybe even it's later, its argumentative spirit. You remember the Samaritan
woman at the well? Guess who she was? She was the
offspring of these adversaries of the people we read of. It
is in chapter 4. That's where these Samaritans
came from. And do you remember what she wanted to do? She didn't
begin by being ecumenical, Joseph. She began by being argumentative.
It already denigrated. The ecumenical part happened
back there during Ezra's time. That's kind of over now. And
I'm sure that her Samaritan Ancestors had constantly, incessantly instilled
within our minds, we worship at this mount, them Jews said
we worship down at Jerusalem. Why did they feel that way? Because
these people here, Zerubbabel and Yeshua and all them guys
said, you ain't taking part of this with us. That's why they
felt that way. Well, you're leaving us out.
No, I ain't leaving you out. God Almighty left you out. But what did Christ do? Now Christ
saved that Samaritan woman, did he not? And she went back to
her hometown, back to her own place where she lived, and began
to tell, I found him. I found that Messiah. She even
heard about the Messiah. And it says that they believed
that once they had talked to him, not because of her word,
but they had heard him themselves. So God even saved some of those
enemies' progeny later. Did He not? Yet, look at the
account in John 4. Christ told her. He didn't come
up and say, well, we all worship the same God. We all believe
the same thing. We all need to just get along. I'm a Jew. You're a Samaritan.
We need to just get along. Is that the way he approached
her? No, sir. He said, you don't know me. He
didn't compromise with her, not one iota. You don't know me. You don't even know what eternal
life is. If you did, you'd ask of living water, not this water
you're getting out of this well here. Christ exposed her immorality. Go get your husband. He already
knew who she was. Go get your husband. Well, I
don't have one. He said, you spoke rightly. He
said, you've been married five times and the one you're shacking
up with now ain't even your husband. Did he not? Now that may be our
more modern day language in my wording of it, but that's exactly
what he was saying. You've been married five times
and right now you're shacking up. He didn't compromise, did
he? He exposed her unrighteousness.
And that's what he does to each and every one of us. Don't look
down on her. That's where he found me. Isn't
it? That's what he told me and you
don't know me. when God sent people to me to tell me the truth
and I realized, even though they might not have said it this way,
I realized they were telling me, David, right? I didn't know
God. And that angered me. It angered that woman too. That's
why she wanted to, especially once her immorality was exposed,
then she was ready to argue religion with him, wasn't she? And you
know what he did? He condemned her worship. He
said, you worship you know not what. We Jews, we know what we
worship. salvations of the Jews. Do you
see what I'm saying? Nah, we don't play games with
the enemy. When the enemy wants you to compromise, they're out
to ruin you. They're out to ruin you. Now
here's number five. We must never, never compromise distinguishing
grace. You see it? Now look, let me
get the verse. Chapter 4, verse 3, But Zerubbabel And Yeshua
and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said unto
them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our
God. Now they were basically telling
these people, you've got no part nor lot in this matter. And didn't
Peter even tell a man who had been baptized? And followed along
with, was it Philip wasn't it? And when he began to manifest
his unbelieving spirit, his total lack of knowledge of the true
and living God, Peter looked at him and said, you've got no
partner a lot in this matter. Look at it. Ye have nothing to
do with us to build a house unto our God, but we ourselves together,
those brought out of the captivity by this covenant decree, we'll
do this together and that's it. We don't need anybody else. We're
not here to compromise. We're not here to get along.
We're not here to join all the denominations together. We're
here to declare that there are some that are outside the camp
and they have no partner lot in this thing. We must never
compromise distinguishing grace. That's one thing that this so-called
professing Christian world hates more than anything else is God's
elective decree. As Henry Mahan once said, you
can have a Baptist and you can have a Pentecostal and they disagree
and won't fellowship together. But you let one person walk into
their midst that believes in free sovereign election and they'll
join together to attack that person. Why? Because God's distinguishing
grace is that. It distinguishes. Joe, it puts
some in the ark and it by decree leaves some outside of the ark.
Because that's God's design. Read Romans chapter 9. It says
God will make a short work. And that don't mean this way.
It means this way. There's a certain number of God's
purpose to save and that's it. And it's not that God is trying
to reach that number. God's already decreed exactly
who they are. Already chose them and predestinated
them unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself. And
let me tell you something. You don't have to know that to
be saved. But when God saves you, you'll start to bow to that.
Because if you haven't been bowed to that, and you've heard that,
you don't know this God. You've got no part in laying
your hands to the gospel work. Because that's the gospel that
God's people preach. Talk about the gospel of grace?
It's called the election of grace. So how can you have that, Brad,
if you don't have election? How can you have grace? It's
called the election of grace, so how can you preach grace unless
you preach the election? It can't be done. Number six,
distinguishing grace breaks forth into calling out. God called
these people out of Babylon. Remember, follow along with me.
Distinguishing grace, that is this election, this predestination,
distinguishing grace breaks forth into calling out, and calling
out breaks forth into coming out. Yes, sir. Amen. Come ye out from among them and
be ye separate, saith the Lord. But who's that said to? Those
who have been distinguished by the election, called out by His
grace, are then called upon, come out from among them and
be ye separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing and
I will receive you. How does that all fit? Because
God says so. In other words, we are not going
to compromise. Even if it means you hate us.
Even if it means you despise us. Even if it means, Mason,
I have to quit my job because of it. Or they fire me. Whatever
it might be. But let me tell you. Did you
read the book of Ezra? Did you read chapter 9 and 10?
Today's separation does not relieve us from tomorrow's responsibility. Ultimately, some of these people,
as a matter of fact, forgive me if I got the number wrong,
but I think it's a list of 111 men that compromised. You know how they did so? By
marrying an unbelieving woman. Yeah. By marrying one of these
enemies. And God put a stop to it. As I say, well, boy, you remember
when God Almighty called you out and you were ready to get
away from it all. But you know what happens? As
time goes on, we begin to become complacent, especially when Darius
comes down with the decree toward our enemies, you let those folks
alone. God can do that, can he not?
You let those folks alone, let them build. I've had a search
made of the documents. I found Cyrus's signature according
to the law of the Medes and the Persians, a law that can't be
altered, can't be changed. Cyrus said those people are to
build that temple. Now you let them, the devil,
alone. And you know what happened then? Then they begin to compromise. You see, often when things become
easy, that's when we become complacent. And when we become complacent,
that's when we begin to compromise. But God Almighty will not let
His people stay in a compromise position. He won't do it. That's some of that works preaching.
What is that? No, that is that. For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, but
the gift of God. For we are His workmanship created in Christ
Jesus unto good works. And a part of that is what? Come
ye out from among them. Don't compromise with them. Now,
here's the last two things. Number seven. This is true. When ecumenical tactics fail,
the enemy will change strategy. Now, they may not start with
ecumenicism. I don't know. But when the enemy spews forth
its mouth, they're lying to you. Oh, we worship God just like
you do. We'll help you all out on this matter. They're standing
there with a dagger waiting to stab you in the back is what
they're doing. When ecumenical tactics fail, the enemy will
change strategy. They may weaken by obstruction.
Chapter 4, verse 4. Right? But remember, better to
be obstructed than to compromise. Or chapter 4 verse 5, they may
call in reinforcements. They wrote the powers that be.
Hired some counselors. Write us up a good letter to
the king. They may call the law down on you. But remember, it's
better to be what? Obstructed. It's better to be
frustrated than to compromise. Oh, they may even resort to force. Look at chapter 4, verses 23
and 24. Remember, I said there's a jump forward, a flash forward
there. Look at it. Take heed now that
ye fail not to do this. Why should damage grow to the
herd of the kings? Now when the copy of the King
Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shemshiah the scribe
and their companions, they went up in haste. I can see them now
with the smiles on their face and the joy in their heart. We
got the upper hand on these Jews. They went up and hasted Jerusalem
unto the Jews and made them to cease by force and power. And you know who suffered this
to happen? Come on, you know who suffered
this to happen? God did. The same God that brought them
out, you think He wasn't able to stop this? Don't be, I'm trying
to be as nice as I can and you know how that is for me. Don't
be stupid. That's not just ignorance. The
God who has all of this in his hand and yet he couldn't control
that Joe? But now you wonder, now this
is thus saith I, not the Lord. It's not found directly stated
here. But why this flash forward? Why verses 6 through 23? They're
out of place chronologically. Why? Here's why. Even though God may give respite.
That's chapter 5 and 6. Remember Darius told them, you
leave those folks alone. And not only that, some of that
tax money you've been sending to me, you give it to them to
help finish that temple. That's what happened. I'm summing
it up. Now you see how God Almighty has the king's heart in His hand?
Even though God may give respite for a time, yet the hatred of
the enemy remains the same. And I'm persuaded, this is thus
saith me, this is why Ezra, if he be the one that wrote this,
before he could even go on with the story of Haggai and Zechariah,
flashes forward and said, listen, even though God Almighty brought
through Darius a cease to these enemies' efforts at the time,
even though God changed their actions, their hatred and their
adversarial nature was still the same. Because soon as God's
restraining hand was lifted, but a moment, they resumed their
activities against us. It's like Ezra can't even stand
it. He's got to leave the chronology and say, listen, they're the
enemy. Watch out for them. Do you see
what I'm saying? Do you gather what I'm getting
at? So even though God may give respite for time, yet the hatred
of the enemy remains hatred. The only reason that people are
not slaughtering us today, and I've been reading the history
of folks like us, the only reason we're not being slaughtered today
by the thousands is the only answer can be God's sovereign
restraint. Sovereign restraint and I'm afraid
we see God lifting That restraint, but when I say that afraid I
want that to be tempered with may God receive the glory If
it means they stop us by force Seth then let it be that they
have to stop us by force We will not compromise You know what
happens? When we begin to be a little
complacent, God will raise up a Haggai or a Zechariah to stir
up the people. Why? Now listen to me. I'm not
going to go into this. I've talked a lot about it here in the past
several months. God has ordained to use human instrumentality.
Do not despise human instrumentality. When God sends someone to you
to warn you about something, you best perk up the ear. He
that hath ears to hear, that comes from God. What does He
say? He that hath ears to hear, what? Let him hear. Be actively
engaged in your hearing. He uses human instrumentality. So as I said, even though God
may give respite for a time, yet the hatred of the enemy remains
the same. If God lifts His restraint just
a degree, the rush of the enemy will flood back in. They will
accuse God's people, chapter 4, verse 6. But remember, better
to be frustrated than to compromise. They may incite the powers that
be, chapter 4, verses 7-23. But remember, better to be stopped
by force than to compromise. They may bring up your past,
chapter 4, verses 7-16. But remember, better to be frustrated,
to be troubled, even stopped by force, than to compromise. In other words, when we quit
talking, may it be that they either cut our tongues out or
they snuff our lives out. That's the kind of grace we need.
It may be the kind of grace we'll need before long. And we pray, oh God, I understand
that. Pray, oh God, let that not happen.
I understand that feeling. But thousands of our brothers
and sisters, here's the song I was looking for, Mason. Some,
thousands have sailed through bloody seas. Will I win the prize
and sail through ease? Something along that line. Many
have, but that don't mean it will always be so. Because remember,
the enemy is just as adversarial as they ever were. You see, the
strength of faith is sufficient against all the enemy's tactics,
from its ecumenicism all the way to its outright overt antagonism. Whether it's just troubling us,
Joe, or whether it's stopping us by force, the strength of
faith is sufficient against all the enemy's tactics. It's not
one-sided. Now, turn with me to Hebrews,
and I'm about ready to sum it up here. Hebrews chapter 11,
and remember, it's this great chapter of faith, faith, and
not how great these people was, but how great faith is. You know, it's not about how
great these people were, it's about how great faith is. And
look at verse 33. Who through faith did what? Subdued
kingdoms. Do you see that? Wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions. These are all
what we would call positive, glorious things, right? Quenched
the violence of fire. Escaped the edge of the sword. Out of weakness were made strong. Waxed valiant in fight. Turned
to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead. Raised
to life again." This is all by and through faith. And others, what? Can you go
any higher than that? But look, he doesn't go higher.
What's he do? And others, what? And others
were tortured, not accepting deliverance. Do you see that? Faith will help me to rise above. No, faith may help you just to
bow down. But not compromise, even if they
take my very life. not accepting deliverance that
they might obtain a better resurrection, and others had fought trial of
cruel malkings, and scourging, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments. They were stoned, they were sawn
asunder, they were tempted. Our mind, when we read the first
few verses, wants something higher, but the apostle doesn't go higher,
he bows down lower. Do you see it? Even if they stop
us by force. Faith is still conquering. You
see what I'm saying? If they shut this place down
today and we have to try to start meeting in secret, and I guess
I've already given it out if that happened, wouldn't I? And we have to start meeting,
trying to meet in secret. Let it be that we strive to that
end. Even if they come up here with weapons and say, you will
not enter that little old building anymore. Right? In that we're
faced not just rising above, it's taking what God Almighty
brings your way no matter what it is. Just don't compromise. Others had trial, cruel mocking,
discouraging, imprisonment. Stones, sawed asunder, tempted,
slain with the sword, and wondered about in sheep skins and goat
skins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. But I got to keep
my house. It don't mean squat, folks. That
house will burn up one day. Joe mentioned it, it'll be gone.
Destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. And let me tell you, these people
experienced none of these so-called negative things apart from the
hand of their sovereign God. That's faith. If all faith makes
you do is worship God in the good times, then you don't have
the faith of God's elect. Because faith will cause you
to worship God no matter what your circumstances are. Of whom
the world was not worthy, they wandered in deserts and mountains
and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these having obtained
a good report, how? Through faith. Received not the
promise. God having provided some better
thing for us that they without us. Why? Because there's still
some more of these soldiers about. There was still some more to
come. Wherefore, he says, looking unto Jesus. Isn't it? Truly, truly it is better to
be troubled. Truly it is better to be frustrated. Truly it is better to be stopped
by force than to compromise. Is that not the best thing? Even
if we are murdered in the process. May it be that that's the kind
of faith I really got. Elizabeth, you know, we talk,
but my faith seems so small. I understand the sentiment, the
feeling, but Christ said if you've got faith as a grain of mustard
seed, as far above what you even can comprehend, that can remove
mountains. It can cause people to bow down
to the sword, Joe. It can cause people to be tied
up to a stake with hundreds of faggots, pine branches piled
around their feet and lit afire, and they die a slow burning death. Why? Just because they don't
believe in baptizing babies. Thousands of our brethren have
been put to death just for that very thing. You think this world,
if God lifts His restraining finger for just a moment, won't
start that up again? Because the enemy, even though
God may have restrained them, Their heart and mind is still
the same. They're still the enemy. Father,
teach us these things. We're so prone to complacency,
to think that all things continue on as they were. Not recognizing
or realizing, sometimes being aware, or sometimes being complacent
concerning the past. Lord, not acknowledging our enemies
for what they truly are enemies. I'm not acknowledging, Lord,
that even when you bow down, we're all enemies, but you bow
us down to your truth. Lord, give us that spirit, that
spirit of a total, absolute lack of compromise to stand for the
truth of your gospel. I ask it in Christ's name. Amen.