Sermon Cloud

BRICK UPON BRICK

Tonight we're going to look at the rebuilding of a nation brick by brick by a remnant of His people, and the connection between that story and the work that God has called us to do in rebuilding His kingdom one soul at a time in a lost and dying world.  First, let's take a brief journey into the times of Israel so that we can see how they got into the situation that leads up to the events that we’re going to be talking about.  Now I'm going to try to compress about 500 years of Israel’s history into about 5 minutes, so bear with me a little bit here.

Now, from the very beginning of God's dealings with the Israelites, they demonstrated a pattern of willful disobedience.  First, they didn't drive out the inhabitants from the land during their conquest of Caanan, as you remember.  Second, they made unholy alliances with their enemies.  Now what they didn't realize at the time was that these alliances – this remnant that they had spared and left behind – ultimately was going to lead them into sin and destruction and they themselves would end up becoming a remnant as a result.  It's kind of like what Peter wrote in his letters to the Corinthians and the Galatians where he says: "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."

So anyway, after they had taken the Promised Land, they rejected a theistic society in which God was their king.  If you’ll remember, like spoiled children, they said, “Well all the other nations around us have a king.  Why can’t we have a king.  We want a king!”  Samuel said, “You – you don’t need a king.”  “We want a king.”  “You don’t need a king!”  “We want a king.”  (There’s a moral to be found in this lesson which is be careful what you wish for.)  But they got a king.  First they got Saul, then they got David, and then they got Solomon.  But by the time that Solomon's reign was ending, you’ll remember, that the – Israel is already having factions and it’s becoming a kingdom divided.  And so what ends up happening is that the – this marks a dark time in Israel, because this right here is a signal of the beginning of the end for Israel.  Over the next couple of hundred years, the kings of the ten northern tribes are to be led by kings that take them farther and farther and farther away from God, until ultimately God turns them over to the Assyrian army to be destroyed.  The northern tribes are scattered all over the place.  If you’ve ever heard the term “The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel”, this is where it comes from.  It’s when the Assyrian army comes in and the people are scattered and few, if any, ever return – the ten lost tribes of Israel.

Now in the midst of all this sorrow, an interesting and supernatural thing happens.  After Samaria (which is the capital of northern Israel) falls, then the Assyrian army turns their sights to the two remaining tribes of Judah.  And so Judah is sieged – they’re surrounded by all sides, but Judah doesn't fall.  Now why is this?  I mean, the Assyrian army had no problem wiping out ten of the northern tribes of Israel.  They get to the two little remaining tribes of Judah and they’re not able to overcome it.  Well last week, you’ll remember, we talked about when you're trapped, and you’re hemmed in on every side, you just need to hold on, cry out to God in fervent prayer, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.  And that’s what Hezekiah does, which just proves that the good of one can sometimes cancel out the wickedness of the many, cause as you’ll remember there are several kings here who got it wrong before he comes along –before Hezekiah comes along.  But they got it wrong but Hezekiah, he got it right and against overwhelming odds, Judah was spared.  Angelic warriors came on the scene and wiped out close to 200,000 of the Assyrian army in one night.

Unfortunately for Judah, this victory was short-lived.  Once Hezekiah died, most of the kings, almost without exception, fell back into the pattern of sin and idolatry, even worse than what Israel had been involved in.  And so finally here comes a new superpower.  Now when we hear the term superpower, we think of the United States.  We think of China and Russia nowadays, but here a new superpower, the Babylonians come on the scene and they overpower Judah and lead them into captivity.  And then about 150 years later – here about 70 years – 70 years of exile Nebudchadnezar's reign ends, his son's reign ends, and his grandson Belshazzar sees the – you remember the story of the handwriting on the wall.  Belshazzar sees the handwriting on the wall, and the Babylonian empire falls and here starts the beginning of the empire of the Medes and the Persians.  And so that's where we’re gonna pick up the story in Ezra here in just a second.

Now before we do that, the question is: “What does any of that background – what significance does it have to our generation?

Well our nation right now is in a state of moral decay and spiritual decline.  It seems like each day that religion is playing less and less of an impact in people’s lives and society’s views.  Statistics show that church attendance, for example, I think the highest polls put church attendance – weekly church attendance at maybe around 40%.  Some other polls say, you know, Americans tend to exaggerate about how much they go to church each week, so it’s probably closer to 20%.  National divorce rate, of course, it’s still hovering right around 50%.  Since Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, more than 40 million unborn children have been legally destroyed (Now in order to get a – to wrap your head around what 40 million people is, if you’ll picture every American who has ever fought in any war since 1775 – every single American who has died in combat, take that number and multiply it by 30.  That’s how many unborn children have been terminated – that’s a staggering, staggering, colossal waste of life.  Sixty percent of all websites – you know how many websites are out there – millions and millions and millions of websites – three out of every five websites are pornographic in nature.  Three out of every five.  Over 3 million teens between 14 and 17 in the U.S. abuse alcohol. 14 million adults do the same.  And the list just goes on and on and on.  I could stand up here all night and read off statistics that would just – oh.  But you pretty much get the picture.

But you know all of this doesn’t necessarily come as any large surprise, because the Bible says that in the end times, perilous times will come.  If you’ll turn to the familiar scripture of 2 Tim. 3:2-5.

2 Tim. 3:2-5, and I’m reading out of the New Living Translation.  It says that “people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly." And if you fast-forward to verse 13 it says, and this is out of the King James, it says that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."

And so when we contrast the state of the nation and compare it to the background story in the times of Ezra, we see that there’s a clear parallel between the moral and spiritual decay that’s going on today and the moral and spiritual and physical ruin that’s going on in those days.  So what happens to the people of Judah?  Let's look in Ezra chapter 1, Ezra chapter 1.

Now the rebuilding process of the temple in Jerusalem – it takes place in three stages: the first stage, the exiles return with Zerubbabel and begin rebuilding the temple and that’s what’s happening here starting in Ezra 1.

It says “In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the LORD fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy by stirring the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation into writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: "This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem in the land of Judah. All of you who are his people may return to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you!”

So here surrounded by defeat, the first shimmer of hope kind of shines through there.  God has begun stirring hearts and the restoration of the house of God begins here.  Now by Ezra, chapter 3, the work of building the temple's foundation is complete.  In Ezra 3:10, it says "When the builders completed the foundation of the LORD's Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the LORD, just as King David had prescribed.  With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD: 'He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!' Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the LORD's Temple had been laid.  Many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders remembered the first Temple, and they wept aloud when they saw the new Temple's foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud commotion that could be heard far in the distance."

And so this is a bittersweet victory for the Israelites.  They have begun the task of re-establishing a place to worship the Lord, and there was happiness and there was gladness, but they were still very much an oppressed people.  They were still under foreign domination plus the old spiritual leaders who remember the original temple (they see the new temple), and they remember it in all its great splendor and their hearts are sad because they know how far they’ve come from where they started.  But still the people pressed on and they continued the work of the Lord as best as they could.  So by Ezra chapter 4, trouble is being stirred up which makes progress kind of slow, but by chapter 6, the reconstruction of the Temple was complete.

Now oftentimes, we're in a place where we look back to way things were – maybe we look to a time when more of the church seats were filled or we look back to a time in our life personally when we maybe we were a little closer in our walk with the Lord.  Maybe we spent more time in prayer with him, we spent more time reading his word.  We spent more time being about his business.  And then we see that things have changed and we’re not where we used to be, and sometimes regrets creep in there and we start wondering, we start being discouraged and wondering, “Well are things ever going to get back to the way that they used to be?”  But what we’ve got to do is that we’ve got to do what they did, we’ve got to press on and continue to do the work of the Lord.  We can’t get downhearted and downcast.  We’ve got to just continue to keep on keeping on.  We have to begin to allow the spirit of God to stir our hearts to more effectively witness to those around us.  But as we’re getting ready to see, just getting them back into God’s house wasn’t enough, and you know just compelling people to come to the house of the Lord by itself isn’t enough either.

As we get to Ezra, chapters 7 and 8, we’re introduced to Ezra and a second group of exiles who continue the rebuilding efforts in Jerusalem.  But in chapter 9 of Ezra, we see a new problem emerge.  This remnant of God's people, they’re going about and they’re doing the Lord's work, but their hearts aren't right with him.  They’re allowing the influences around them to make them slip back into their old ways.  So let’s look at Ezra, chapter 9, verses 1-6.

Chapter 9, verses 1-6.  It says, “But then the Jewish leaders came to me [Ezra] and said, "Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages. To make matters worse, the officials and leaders are some of the worst offenders." When I heard this, I tore my clothing, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down utterly shocked.”

If you’ll remember, back in the law of Moses, it said that they were forbidden from marrying wives from these other cultures because these other cultures had given themselves over to idolatry, and to sin and wickedness, and they were to separate themselves from these other nations.  But they had fallen into error and they had married in with them and they were falling into this same idolatry that they were forbidden to be anywhere associated with.

So it says, “then all” – let’s see – he “pulled hair from [his] head and [his] beard, and sat down utterly shocked.  Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel came and sat with me because of this unfaithfulness of his people. And I sat there utterly appalled until the time of the evening sacrifice. At the time of the sacrifice, I stood up from where I had sat in mourning with my clothes torn. I fell to my knees, lifted my hands to the LORD my God. I prayed, "O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens!”

So Ezra, a God-fearing man, has set out to begin religious restoration and reform.  So what do the people do?  They consecrate and they purify themselves before the Lord.  Likewise, how many of you all know that our nation needs a fresh wave of spiritual reform.  Throughout America, there's a casual turning away in which the hearts of many, even Christians, are turning lukewarm.  Some who profess to be Christians aren't really concerned so much about the eternal state of the lost.  There's a lack of accountability, of being able to commit and stay with it.  There’s kind of an inconsistency there.  There are some Christians that just go through the motions, it’s like where it’s talking about in Timothy, “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.”  The fear of God has left many people's hearts.  And so like in Ezra, there's a desperate need for men and women of God to consecrate themselves before the Lord and say, "Lord, what will you have me to do? What will you have me to do?"  See, God’s not looking for people that are perfect – that they get it right every time.  Cause we – of course you remember there are stories of all sorts of people who are considered heroes of the Bible who didn’t always get it right.  Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it.  Peter stuck his foot in his mouth so many times that you can’t even count it.  You’ve got all these different people who got it wrong – David with Bathsheba, and Samson with Delilah, and all these different stories of people who didn’t get it right God’s looking for people whose hearts are sensitive to him, whose hearts are sensitive to him, that whenever he says “Seek my face”, we say “your face will I seek.”  And when the voice of the Lord speaks, he knows that we will hear him and that we’ll answer.  And when he rebukes and chastises us, that our hearts will be tender and sensitive to him to accept that rebuke, because the Bible says that the Lord chastiseth the people that he loves.  And so he’s looking for a people that are just willing to pursue hard after him and to be sensitive to him, that when he calls, they will answer.

OK, so the first wave we talked about brought a restoration of God's work.  And the second wave brought a consecration of His people.  So let's look at the third wave of the exiles returning and what that brings.

We’ll pick up in the book of Nehemiah, chapter 1 – and Nehemiah is really just like part 2 of Ezra.  It’s a continuation of the story of the rebuilding of the temple and the walls and the gates in Jerusalem.

So in Nehemiah, chapter 1, verses 1-4.  It says, “These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In late autumn of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had survived the captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem. They said to me, "Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been burned." When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.”

And so after he prays, we find in chapter 2 that the king, who he was the cupbearer for, allows him to return to Jerusalem to see the work that had begun be brought to completion.  And so brick by brick, the finished work began to take shape.  In chapter 10, verse 39, if we go forward in Nehemiah, the people vow and vow and they say, "We will not neglect the house of our God."  "We will not neglect the house of our God."  And so like them, we need to commit ourselves to not neglect the house of God and the work of God.  It's not those who start the race – you’ll remember that oftentimes the Bible compares the Christian walk to a race, a marathon, and it’s not those who step up and begin the race, it’s those who run the race to completion that earn the prize.  Christ is referred to in Hebrews 12:2 as what, the "author and the finisher of our faith".

And so the work that God has called us to, bringing about spiritual reform, it’s not easy and it can be slow work sometimes.  You know they didn’t always have it easy while they were trying to rebuild the temple, when they were trying to rebuild the walls and the gates and refortify the city.  They ran into some troublemakers who tried to stir up trouble and tried to mess up the plan and all this. And they faced persecution and ridicule and all these things.  But they persevered and they completed the work of the Lord and ultimately they were able to rebuild the walls and rebuild the temple.

And so as we go about doing the work of the Lord, God wants us to know that “greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.”  And he who has called us has given us everything we need in order to complete his work.  In 2 Peter it talks about – let’s see, now how does it say it?  It says that he has given us “exceeding great and precious promises, through which we may be partakers of the divine nature.”  And so he’s given us all the equipment that we need in order to carry out his work.

And so in these last days, we need to focus on three things.  We need to focus on getting back to work about being about the Lord's business, cause the Bible says the time is short.  Time is short.  It says the night is far spent and the day is hand.  Therefore let us cast off the unfruitful works of darkness and put on the armor of light – I don’t know if it says it quite those words, I’m paraphrasing.  But anyway, we’re to be about the Lord’s business.  We’re to not take for granted anything that God has blessed us with.  We’re to take all the talents he’s blessed us with and use them to advance his kingdom.

The second thing we need to focus on, like they did, is repenting and consecrating our hearts so that our efforts are fruitful.  What was it Samuel said to Saul when Saul fell out of grace with God?  He said, well I don’t know if he said it this way, but he said basically “to obey is better than sacrifice.  God’s not interested in your sacrifices.”  Cause of course, Saul had come up with this excuse as to why he hadn’t obeyed the Lord.  He said, “Oh well I was just going to take these extra things that God said to destroy – I was going to sacrifice them to the Lord.”  Samuel said, “No, no, no, no.  To obey is better than sacrifice.”  And so God wants us to know that our obedience is better than the work that we might get ourselves into working for the Lord and doing things for the Lord, that God wants us to be sensitive to him and to obey him.  He wants us to purify our hearts and to repent and consecrate our hearts so that our efforts are fruitful.

And then after we get back to work and begin about the Lord’s business, and repent and consecrate our hearts, the last thing God wants us to make sure we’re doing is that we’re not stopping short.  It would have been very easy for the Israelites who had been through so much – they had had the ten northern cities completely destroyed.  They had been scattered all over the place.  Judah had been, you know, completely sieged by the Babylonians and it would have been very easy for them to just not even bother anymore and say, “You know what?  It’s over.  It’s over.”  But they not only started the work God had called them to do to rebuild the walls and the temple piece by piece, but they saw it through to completion.

And so God’s wants us to not stop short of crossing the finish line.  He wants us to complete the work that he’s called us unto.

So as we dismiss tonight, I want to challenge each of you to spend time this week asking yourselves ways that you can more effectively let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify God who is in Heaven.  I want to encourage each of you to spend more time talking with him and communing with him.  The Christian walk isn’t just doing things for him.  God wants to have a very intimate and personal relationship with each of us.  He wants us to spend time with him, the same way we spend time with our friends, the same way we spend time with our loved ones.  And so he wants us to spend time with him in fellowship with him and talk to him as a man speaks to his friend.  So I want to encourage each of you to invite someone to come to church next week so that they can have the light of his truth revealed in their hearts.  So if everyone will stand, that’s all I have to share.  Let’s close with a word of prayer.  [Closing prayer and dismissal.]