Okay, we're going to try to bring
a message from Ezra chapter 6. And I pray the Lord will bless
His word to our heart. Now, one of the things, as I've
said to you before, when I look at a portion of Scripture and
try to seek the Lord's message in it, I also am looking out
for a title of the message. And when I read down at verse
9, that the king had decreed that expenses would be given
for the young bullocks, for the rams, the lambs, the burnt offerings,
the God of heaven, the wheat, the salt, the wine, the oil,
according to the appointment or the need of the priests which
are at Jerusalem. And the king said, let it be
given, let it be given them day by day without fail." Now, just
in that right there we see the gospel, don't we? The Lord gives
us daily grace day by day. So that'll be the title to the
message, let it be given them day by day. But I like also very
much what it says there after that. It says, let it be without
fail. That is the giving hand of God,
the grace he gives day by day is infinite. It's without fail. Now, who said so? Who said so? Well, in our story here, the
king The king, and as far as earthly kings go, this king had
all dominion and power. What he decreed was so. The king
said it was so. Let it be day by day without
fail. You see, it was guaranteed by
the word and decree of the king. Derise. Even so, all we have
in the gospel, all the blessings we have in the gospel, all the
grace of God that we enjoy day by day, and the blessings that
we enjoy day by day without fail, is guaranteed by what? guaranteed by the command of
our King, by the decree of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. All that He has said will come
to pass. All that He has promised, that's
yes and amen in Him, shall come to pass without interruption,
without fail, day by day. We receive grace daily, day by
day. Now we are going to study in
a week or so in Luke chapter 11 where the disciples said,
Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples to
pray. And here is what he said to them,
When you pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed
or holy be thy name. thy kingdom come thy will be
done as in heaven so in earth and then he said this he said
you pray this way give us day by day our daily bread our daily
need and he does so abundantly doesn't he our God shall bless
us abundantly according to the riches of His grace in the Lord
Jesus Christ." He has already given us more than we can think
or ask according to His riches in glory. He has blessed us already
with all spiritual blessing in the heavenly in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this day by day goes all
the way to eternity. He has blessed us eternally in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, back to our story, the enemies,
Tat and I and these others, were bent on stopping the building
of the temple of God. These Jews and these adversaries,
or rather these adversaries and enemies of the Jews, were so
worried about losing their religion, they were also so worried about
losing their financial support, remember? Look back at chapter
four. Verse 14, they wanted that work
stopped so they would not lose their maintenance. Isaiah, Ezra
rather, chapter 4 verse 14. Now because we have maintenance
from the king's palace and it was not meet for us to see the
king dishonored, therefore have we sent and certified the king. Now they wanted the work stopped
so they wouldn't lose their revenue wouldn't lose the handout that
they were enjoying. Now the Lord so moved the heart
of this king, Darius, that he orders all the taxes, all the
revenue on that side of the river should be given to the work of
the Lord's house. Now how do you account for such
an amazing turnaround? It's the overruling good and
sovereign providence of God. Just like in Daniel's day, God
moved the heart of Cyrus, moved the heart of Darius, the king's
heart is surely in the hand of the Lord. Now it is amazing when
you read this inspired record of Jewish history, and we do
have Jewish history given to us, how the Lord controls and
rules over all things to one glorious end, one glorious purpose,
that is His will will be done in heaven and in earth. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. Now do you think any peon king
on this earth is going to alter or change the will of God? It
cannot be altered, it cannot be changed. What God has purposed,
what God has spoken will be done. No one can alter it. of Him and
through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory both
now and forever." You say, well, that was God years ago. God today
is different. No, He's not. He said, I'm the
Lord. I change not. I'm the same today, yesterday
and forever. Those who try to do so, who try
to alter the purpose of God or change the purpose of God, not
that they can, but those who try to do so, the Lord will deal
with them severely. It said down here in verse 11,
those who would try to alter this decree, Let the timber of
their house be pulled down and let them be strung up and hanged
and let their house become an outhouse, a dunghill. That's
pretty severe, isn't it? You see, you cannot mess or change
the purpose of God. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall abide upon him."
It reminded me of what the Lord says when He closes the Bible
with a similar warning found in Revelation 22. To those who
would add to the Word of the Lord, to those who would take
away from the Word of the Lord, remember what He said? I've got
it written down. Let me read it to you. Don't
turn. This is found in Revelation 22. For I testify unto every
man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if
any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him
the plagues that are written in this book. It's the same warning,
isn't it? Don't try to change, alter the
word of the Lord. If any man shall take away from
the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away
his part out of the book of life, out of the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book, the blessings that
are written in this book. Now, I wanna consider this chapter. under five different headings.
And again, I pray the Lord will show us and teach us the gospel
of His grace. I know it's here. I know it's
written to teach us the gospel. That scripture I refer to often
found in Romans 15. Whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through comfort
and hope of the scriptures might find peace in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now the first thing I wanna look
at is verse one down through verse five. And we see a search
was made for the decree of King Cyrus concerning setting the
captivity free, setting the captive free, and for rebuilding the
house of the Lord. And it was done so by the decree
of Darius. One of the key words in this
book, as I pointed out before, is this word decree, decree. Look at verse 1, Ezra 6. Then
Darius, the king, made a decree. He decreed a search for the decree. It was made in the house of the
rolls where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And they
were found in Acmetha, in the palace that is in the province
of the Medes or Rolls. for the record written in the
first year of Cyrus, Cyrus the king, he made a decree concerning
the house of the God of Jerusalem, the house of God at Jerusalem,
let the house be builted, the place where they offered sacrifices,
let the foundation, I love the details that he gives here, let
the foundation be strongly laid, the height thereof, 90 feet,
three score cubits, the breadth thereof, three score cubits,
90 feet, with three rows of great stones, a row of new timbers,
and let the expenses be given out of the king's house." And
then he talks about all the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken
out of the temple and put there in the temple in Babylon. Let
all them vessels be given back and put back in the temple there
at Jerusalem. All this was done by the decree
of Darius, He made a search for the decree
written by Cyrus, and it was found. The search was made for
the role of the king's writing, and it was found. I'm sure that
the enemies of the Jews, don't you think Tatnai and the others,
they're thinking, I hope they don't find anything, or I hope
they can't find anything. They didn't think that it could
be found, or at least they hoped it was not found. But the Lord,
well, you know, by chance, by luck. No, the Lord preserved
it, and the Lord kept the decree, and He ordered it to be found. Remember, I pointed out before,
turn back to chapter 1, Verse 1, 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
the kingdom. He put it also in writing. He wrote it down. They put it in the archive to
be preserved. Thanks be unto our great God
who has also given an eternal decree, an eternal writing. He wrote down the word of God,
the will of the Lord. He wrote it down and it cannot
be changed, it cannot be altered. We hold in our hand, when you
think about this book, the Bible, that we hold in our hand It is
a very decrees of God. It's a very will and testament
of God Almighty. This book of God is the last
will and testament that can never be contested, can never be diminished,
can never be overturned. Oftentimes among men, someone
will write the last will and testament And sometimes the man
who is deceased, his family will take that will and take it to
the court and try to overturn it, don't they? where the Lord
Jesus Christ ever lives to make sure His will and His testament
is never overturned. It's always in force, isn't it? Full force. And we have it in
our hand. The last will and testament concerning
all things about salvation given unto us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our great God and Savior, and
it tells us about our great God and Savior, who has built His
church upon a specific foundation. It's given here by three cubits
and three cubits, 90 and 90, upon this special foundation.
You see, God has laid this exact foundation. He said, I will build
my church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. How sure is that foundation?
It's as sure as God himself. Now this foundation of this natural
building, it had big, huge stones. But they pale in comparison compared
to Christ, our great rock of ages. He is the true foundation
upon which we rest. Our salvation is established
upon this foundation that God has laid. Remember He said, Behold,
I lay in Zion for a foundation. a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation. Those who build upon that foundation
will never be forced out. Our foundation and our salvation
is built upon the eternal, unchanging will and decree of God that cannot
be altered, is built upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
surety of the everlasting covenant, and is built upon the sacrifice
of our blessed Savior, His blood and His righteousness. Now, look
at one verse there, verse 4. And here's something that I think
is most amazing. Let the expenses be given out
of the king's house. He said, Cyrus said, I'm going
to pay for this. I'm going to pay for all of it,
all of it. Let the expenses be given out
of the house of King Cyrus. Now what does that teach us about
salvation? The Lord Jesus Christ paid all
the debt of our sin, didn't He? All the expenses for our salvation,
the law being honored, sin put away, righteousness established,
all the expenses for our salvation were all paid by Him, the Lord
Jesus Christ alone. And because He paid all our sin
debt, established and brought in an everlasting Righteousness
by His great sacrifice. Salvation to Him cost Him everything. But because He paid all the debt,
salvation to us, if He paid all the expense, then what is that
to us? Free! Salvation to us is free. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. We're justified freely by His
grace. God who spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely, freely give us all things? Aren't you glad salvation's a
gift of God's grace? I tell you, if he demanded that
I make the payment for my sin, I'd be forever damned because
I could not make that payment. Now, here's the second thing,
verse 6 down through verse 12. We see the word and decree of
Delirious unto Tatni to let the work on the house of the Lord
go on unhindered. When Delirious found this decree
that Cyrus had given, And the Lord moved his heart upon that
writing. He says in verse 6, Now therefore,
Tatnai, O Tatnai, and Shetharbadnai, and your companions, these are
far the kites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence. Let the work of this house of
God, you just stay away. You let it alone. Let the governor
of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of
God in this place. And then he makes two more decrees. Moreover, I decree what you shall
do to the elders of the Jews for the building of the house
of God, that the king's goods, even the tribute beyond the river,
for with expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered."
All that money you thought, all that revenue you thought was
coming into your coffers, you take all of that and give it
to the elders of the Jews. You reckon what Tatenai is thinking? I bet he's quite puzzled, isn't
he? And that, verse 9, that which they have need of, whatever they
have need of, both young bullocks, rams, lamb, burnt offerings of
the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, oil, according to the appointment
of the priest, which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them every day,
day by day, whatever they need, you give it. You give it day
by day and let it be done without fail. Verse 10, that they may
offer sacrifices of sweet savor unto the God of heaven and pray
for the life of the king And of his sons, here he's a mercy
beggar. This king becomes a mercy beggar.
Now, let the work on this house of God go unhindered. And then
he makes, Darius makes two further decrees so the house of the Lord
will be completed. The enemies of the Jews wanted
Darius to suppress the building of the house of the Lord. But
instead he gave an order to supply them, not suppress them, but
to supply them in the building of the house of the Lord. I look this up, this word here,
the house of our God. It's given here in this book
24 times, the house of God, the house of God. And when we think
of that temple and the house of God, that is a picture of
that spiritual kingdom that the Lord Jesus Christ established
with his blood and his righteousness. And he says, let all the taxes
and tribute money beyond the river be given to the building
of this house, whatever they are in need of to sacrifice to
the God of heaven, the rams, the lambs, the bullocks, be given,
and I love this statement here, and you want to underscore this
in verse 10, that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savors unto
the God of heaven. Now, if you have a pencil, pencil
in there, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 2. You remember what that verse
says? The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ unto our God is a sweet-smelling savor. Remember? Don't turn. Let me just read it to you. Ephesians
5 verse 2, "...walk in love, as Christ also had loved us,
and hath given himself for us an offering and sacrifice to
God for a sweet-smelling savor." What does that mean? That means
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is satisfying to God Almighty. All of our righteousness before
God are as smelly, stinking rags, but His sacrifice is a sweet,
aroma and a fragrance unto God that he is well satisfied with. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. In verse 11 and verse 12 in our
text, another decree was also given. It says that whosoever
alters this word, let him be destroyed and let his house become
a dunghill, as it says there in verse 11. And then he says,
and whatever king, in verse 12, that would try to destroy this
temple or alter this house, let his kingdom be destroyed. Now, furthermore, Derivus says
the God of heaven will destroy all those who will destroy or
attempt to destroy this house. And that looks clear to eternity,
doesn't it? No one's going to destroy this
house of God and this spiritual kingdom. Now, I found this statement
by an old writer, Robert Hawker, and he made this statement about
Darius. He said, we're almost led to
believe that such a friend like this, to the purpose of God,
must be a partaker of grace. Darius, this pagan king, that's
what led me to believe that, and I'm not going to say that
he was not a partaker of God's grace, because of what he says
over here in Daniel 6. Then King Darius wrote unto all
people, nations in language that dwell in the earth, peace be
multiplied unto you. I make a decree that in every
dominion of my kingdom, men tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. He is the living God. steadfast
forever, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be even to the end of the earth." I mean,
God taught this man something, didn't He? It reminded me of
what the Lord taught another king, the king who destroyed
Jerusalem, named Nebuchadnezzar. You remember what the Lord taught
him? In Daniel chapter 4, at the end of days, I and Nebuchadnezzar
lifted up my eyes to heaven. My understanding returned unto
me, and I blessed the Most High and 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.
He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven among the
inhabitants of this earth, and none can stay his hand or say
unto him, What doest thou? Even old pagan Nebuchadnezzar
was taught something of the true character of God. It certainly
makes us to know this, as it says in Proverbs 21, The king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord, and he turns it whether so ever
he will. Like a river, he turns it. That is, the Lord is so absolutely
sovereign over all the affairs of men that He is working all
things to the building up of His spiritual kingdom of which
no one can hinder. None can stay His hand. Even
the wrath of man is made to serve His purpose. Psalm 76 10 says,
Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder
of wrath shall thou restrained. The Apostle Paul suffered much
in the way of persecution from the enemies of the gospel. But
he said, whatever happened to me happened to the furtherance
of the gospel. They thought they were hindering
the purpose of God. But really it was just to the
furtherance of the gospel. Now I thought of this story as
well. You remember Joseph, the youngest
of Jacob, when his brothers sold him into Egyptian bondage, they
thought nothing but evil against him. They said, we're gonna get
even with that. They were jealous of him because
Jacob loved Joseph. And he said to them, but as for
you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it under good
to bring you past as it is this day to save much people alive.
Joseph was made the king down there in Egypt, and it led to
the deliverance and the blessing of those children of Israel.
You see, when the time comes for the Lord to accomplish His
purpose, His purpose of grace, in building up of His spiritual
kingdom, He will raise up instruments and means to promote His purpose. We see that all the way through
the Word of God. He raised up an Abraham. He raised
up a Moses. He raised up a Samson. He raised
up a David. He raised up an Elijah. He raised
up an Elisha. He raised up a Josiah. He raised
up a Paul. He raised up a Peter. And the
Lord is still raising up servants today that serve His eternal
purpose. Now, here's the third thing I
want to look at. in verse 13 down through verse
15, then he says, see the last part of verse 12, Darius made this decree and he
said, let it be done with speed. He said, let it be done right
now, right now. Then Tatnai, governor on this
side of the river, and Shittar, Bosnia, and their companions,
according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did
speedily." Now did they have an option? I mean the only option
was obedience or death. I mean that was the option, was
obedience or death, and the elders of the Jews builded and they
prospered through the prophesying of Haggai, the prophet, Zechariah,
the son of Adu. And they built it and they finished
it according to the commandment or the decree of the God of Israel. Wait a minute, I thought Cyrus
made that decree. He did, but the only thing he
decreed was what God decreed, right? That says that. And they
built it and finished it according to the commandment of the God
of Israel, according to the commandment of Cyrus. Cyrus just decreed
what God decreed, didn't he? And Darius and Artaxerxes, king
of Persia. And this house was finished.
Is there any doubt that it was going to be finished? No, God
has purposed it, it will be done. And they finish it on the third
day of the month, Adar, which was the sixth year of the reign
of the virus, the king. You see, the Lord can change
the matter of things in an instant. He made the enemies to serve
His purpose, didn't He? He made the enemies to serve
the enemies of the Jews. He made them to serve the Jew,
didn't he? They set out to ruin the house.
Now we're made to serve the house of the Lord, to serve the Lord's
people, and we know this, that even Satan himself is a willing
servant to the Lord God Almighty in his purpose. The work went
on prosperously, and it was completed in four years. The house was
finished. And all of this is the type and picture of the Lord
building up His spiritual kingdom, and of sinners who are made saints,
who are put into that building by God's choice and by God's
decree, we are made new creatures in Christ. Peter puts it this
way, you also are living stones. or build up a spiritual house,
a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by our Lord Jesus Christ. He has taken us out of the pit
and put us in His spiritual building. God who has begun a good work
in you, He will finish it. And I like this statement too
found in verse 14. The elders of the Jews built
it and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and
Zechariah. Remember back in chapter 5, verse
1 and 2. Remember how the Lord sent Haggai
and Zechariah who stirred up Zerubbabel and Yeshua to build
the house of God which is at Jerusalem. And with them were
the prophets of God helping them. When the work ceased, the Lord
raised up these ministers to declare His Word and it inspired
them to continue in the work of the Lord. How much more is
needed in our day? Here it says they prospered through,
in verse 14, look at it carefully. They prospered through preaching. They prospered through preaching.
What do we need? Ah, the church needs more entertainment.
Church needs more programs. Feed the young, feed the old,
feed this, do that, go here, visit this one, visit that one.
Soup kitchens, everything else. What does the Church of the Lord
Jesus Christ need today? Preaching. How much more is needed
in this day? The constant preaching of the
Word of God. Because the Word of God is compromised
and neglected in our day, we are to go forth preaching, preaching,
preaching. What? Christ. We preach not ourselves. but Christ and Him crucified.
The Lord is going to use the preaching of the gospel to call
out and bless His people and to establish His kingdom. Now,
He's going to do it, and He's going to raise up men to do it
too. He pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to call
out His people. How was this work here established?
Through the preaching of the gospel. That's right. How will
it continue? Through the preaching of the
gospel. How will His people be blessed? Through the preaching
of the gospel. How long is this going to go
on, this thing of preaching and preaching and preaching? When
the Lord calls out His last elect, He will come again. And then
we'll sit before Him, who is God Almighty, who is the message
who is the message of everyone who preaches the gospel. He says
this in Matthew 24, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for witness unto all nations, then
the end will come. When he calls out that last sheep,
that last elect, and the house is finished, then the Lord's
coming back. The gospel shall be preached
in all the world for witness, And then, the end, I tell you,
we're getting close. The Lord will return soon. Now,
lastly, and I've used most of my time, but in verse 16, down
through verse 22, when the house of the Lord was finished, there
was much joy. You see that? They kept the dedication
of this house, and they did it with the house of God. It wasn't the Jews' house. or
the rebel's house, it was a house of God. And they went about this
dedication with joy. They offered that the dedication
of the house of God, all the different bullocks, 200 or 100
bullocks, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and a sin offering. Now watch
this, for all Israel, 12 he goats, according to the number of the
tribes of Israel. What do you see there? I tell
you what I see. Definite atonement, particular
redemption. There was no sin offering, the
sin offering for all Israel. There was no sin offering for
the Samaritans, the Hittites, the Jebusites or any otherites.
The sin offering was for Israel. The priest of God represented
Israel. The sacrifice, the sin offering
was for Israel. And the Lord Jesus Christ died
for His sheep. He died for His elect. You see,
that is taught all through the Word of God. Both old and new. Call His name Jesus. He shall
save His people from their sin. Verse 19, something else they
did. They kept the Passover. they
kept the Passover. And remember, that goes all the
way back to that deliverance out of Egyptian bondage, when
God said, put the blood upon the door, and when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. And he told them to keep that
Passover feast. And here they are remembering
The Passover of our God, how He passes over His people through
the blood atonement of Christ, and they observe the Passover.
And we know in Scripture, in the New Testament, that the Lord
Jesus Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. God says,
when I see the blood of that Lamb, The Lord Jesus Christ,
I will pass over you. Now, in closing, let's look down
to verse 22. And they kept the feast of unleavened
bread seven days with joy. Now, leaven in Scripture always
represents sin. It's a type of picture of sin. They were to sweep the house
out Get all the leaven out of the house. And then they were
to make this unleavened bread, and eat this unleavened bread
seven days. They kept the feast of unleavened
bread seven days, and they did it with joy. The Lord Jesus Christ
is our unleavened bread, is He not? He is the bread of life. In Him is no sin. He had no sin,
knew no sin, and He did no sin. He is the unleavened bread, and
this seven days is the completeness of His perfect humanity, and
we keep this feast looking to Him by faith, and we do so with
joy, don't we? It says there, "...and the Lord
had made them joyful." He made them joyful. This is the blessing
we receive in the gospel as we feed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our joy. We serve Him with
joy and gladness of heart, and we have so much to rejoice in
Him. Romans 5 and 11 says, we joy
in God, we joy in God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are the true Israel which
worship God in the Spirit, that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we have no confidence in the flesh. He made them joyful. They kept this feast, and this
dedication, and this Passover, and they did it with joy. Those
who believe the gospel, they believe the gospel with joy in
their heart. Now, closing thought. All of
this that's given unto us is given unto us to preach the gospel. Christ is our temple. He's the
living temple. In Him we dwell. In Him we live
and move and have our being. Christ is our altar. He is our
sacrifice for sin. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
high priest. who was passed into the heavens,
whoever lived to intercede for us. Christ is our Passover lamb,
is he not? Behold the lamb of God that takes
away our sin, and he is our advocate, and he is our intercessor. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God.
right now for us. And we joy in Him, don't we?
We joy in Him.