Beginning at verse one, Ezra chapter six. Then Darius the king made a decree and search was made in Babylonia in the house of the archives where the documents were stored and in Ecbatana, the capital that is in the province of Media, scroll was found on which this was written, a record. In the first year of Cyrus the King, Cyrus the King issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem. Let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be 60 cubits and its breadth 60 cubits, with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God. Now therefore, Tatanai, governor of the province beyond the river, Shethar-Bazenai, and your associates, the governors who are in the province beyond the river, keep away. Let the work on the house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from beyond the river. And whatever is needed, bulls, rams, or sheep, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests of Jerusalem require, let that be given to them day by day without fail. that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, make a decree. Let it be done with all diligence. Then, according to the word sent by Darius the King Tatanai, the governor of the province beyond the river, Shether-Bazani and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the King had ordered. And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Edo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes, king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, the king. And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel, 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. On the 14th day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover for the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together. All of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests and for themselves. It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and also by everyone who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. Amen. Thus far, the reading of God's word. People of God, it's been about 20, 21 years, depending on how you date the book of Ezra, but a long time, let's just put it that way, after the temple's foundations had been poured and laid way back in Ezra chapter 3, that now the entire temple is completed. Communion with God is now restored. Full atonement for the people's sins can now take place again. Their ruinous, hellish state, when they entered the land, upon return, the altar was in shambles, the temple was in ruins. That ruinous state has now been reversed. And God teaches us three lessons from the returned exiles and their dedication of the temple and their subsequent celebration of the Passover. As it were, these two events, the rededication of the temple and Passover, occur side by side. It's like a one-two punch. Not a lot of time transpires between the one and the other event. So we take them here today as one complex event. The dedication of the temple and the subsequent celebration of the Passover. There are three lessons for us to learn. First of all, let me give them to you here in outline form. We are to thank God with joy. We are to thank God with joy. You see that clearly in verse 16. They celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. In verse 22, the Lord had made them joyful and they kept the feast with joy. This is to be the manner of our Thanksgiving. But second of all, what are we to thank God for? What exactly? Yes, we were to be joyful, but for what? Secondly, we are to thank God for the Passover lamb. For Jesus Christ, whom 1 Corinthians 5 tells us is the Passover lamb given up for us. And thirdly, we are to thank God. not only for Jesus, but for all that He has given to us in Jesus. And that's what you see all throughout this entire chapter, chapter six. All that God had done to move the heart of the king, all the provision of silver, the gold, the bulls, the rams, all the wine, the oil that God had provided for His people. Yes, of course, through the hand of Darius and originally through the decree of Cyrus, And yet it's God who gives his people all things. And so the same is true of us. We are to give God thanks not only with joy for Jesus Christ, but all that God gives us in our Savior and Lord. So then, first of all, we thank God with joy. We thank God with joy. Joy might seem such a startling reaction from God's people here at the end of the rebuilding project. After years, after decades of working, right? They've come into the land 21 years prior. They've returned, they've been confronted with the ruins of the altar and the temple. They've been surrounded by hostile peoples, the peoples of the land, who invited them to worship God, but also serve other gods, and they wanted to intermingle. And because God's people said, no, we won't, no, we can't, The peoples of the land began to harass God's people and falsely accuse, slander Judah. And so they plead with the authorities. They send letters. They say, we're not like this. We're not rebellious. We're not an insurrectionist kind of people. but the work ultimately stops and it remains stopped, paused for 15 years until in chapter five, they are confronted by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah and told to rebuild and get back to work, resolve to do this project that God has put before you. And now finally, finally, after about four years of working with the encouragement of the prophets, they finally finished the building of the temple and celebrated. And celebrate the Passover in a few short weeks afterward with great joy. You see, none of these sufferings that Judah confronted, none of these afflictions would stop the people from celebrating and thanking God with joy. In fact, the sufferings of God's people were the backdrop, the canvas upon which they would have their joyful celebration, their joyful thanksgiving to God. It's because they've been afflicted that they can see God's goodness in the midst of it all. And can I tell you, can I encourage you, as we approach the end of this year, it's hard to believe, right? I mean, it's like a cliche, time flies. Yes, of course, but it seems to fly more quickly as we get older, right? It seems like yesterday we were just starting 2024. And perhaps we had different visions of this year. Perhaps we thought the year would go a certain way. We had perhaps envisioned certain things with our family, with our work, with our housing situation, with our work situation. But at the end of this year, some of us may be limping. Some of us may have scars, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, because of the trials God has sent into your life. And you look back at 2024 in bewilderment, This is not the way I would have written up this year. And perhaps this year has turned out differently than you thought. The losses you suffered are real. The cross you carry is real. And yet, what does God call you to in spite of it all? And in the midst of all of that, He calls you to enter this season, to enter this life of heartfelt thanksgiving that is centered on Him, that is centered on His goodness, that is centered on His invincible promise, and that is centered on His presence with you through His Spirit and through His Word and His provision for your life always. You have to think back and put yourself in the shoes of God's people here. They don't have a lot. They've gone through so much, right? Some of these have gone through not just the exile, but now the rebuilding and the work stoppage and all the afflictions, the hostilities, the discouragements from outside, the discouragements from within. And yet they give God thanks with joy, with joy. In verse 6, 17 of our text, we're told a number of things that were offered. at the dedication of this house, 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, a sin offering for all Israel and 12 male goats according to their number. And if you were to take that number, that list of animals that were sacrificed to God and compare that to what happened when Solomon dedicated the temple way back many years prior, you realize that this pales in comparison There were about 120,000 sheep dedicated when Solomon reigned more than 100 years prior. And the temptation, you see, when we are called by God to give God thanks is what? The temptation for the Jewish community here was real. It was to say, but I want a bigger temple. but I don't want this impoverished state. I want the temple that Solomon had. I want the glory that Solomon had. I want that which was passed. I want that, in other words, which God has not given us. You may look around, beloved, and this is the temptation in our hearts. And you might say, I deserve better. I deserve better. I want that and I need that. But God hasn't given you those things. This is the struggle in giving God thanks. It's the struggle against our own discontentment. What has God given you? He's given you himself. He's given you His only Son, sacrificed for you on the cross. He's given you the forgiveness of your sins. He's given you the peace that passes all understanding. He's given you His Spirit as a down payment, as a deposit, as a guarantee of your eternal inheritance with Him. What has God given you? He's opened up your eyes and given you His light so that now you can see His light and walk in it. He's given you the church. He's given you this local body to be covenanted with an enjoyment of all these things together. And you see that is the foundation of true Christian joy. It says that God fills, God filled their hearts with joy. He made them joyful. Literally, He poured joy into their hearts. Paul and Silas, many hundreds of years later in the New Testament era, in Acts 16 are, falsely accused and imprisoned, and they're locked away in the deepest, darkest, innermost cell in the prison in Philippi. And yet what happens to Paul and Silas at the midnight hour? Leah, do you want to tell me? Tell me. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. And mom was going to help me because my hearing's a little off, but thank you for that. I could hear that. At the midnight hour, they thank God and they sing forth his praises. 10 years later, I won't put you on the spot, Leah, but 10 years later, Paul writes to the Philippian church And he's imprisoned again in his first imprisonment in Rome. And what does he tell the church at Philippi repeatedly, all throughout the letter? Rejoice again, I say to you, rejoice. And so we look at Paul, we look at Silas in 50 AD, when they were imprisoned in Philippi, and then again in 60 AD, when Paul is imprisoned in Rome, and we say, how is this possible? How can you do this, Paul? You're imprisoned, man. Look, you're in stocks, you're under lock and key. Don't you understand you have no basis for joy. You have no basis for happiness. How could Paul say this? How could Paul believe this? Because true joy, the joy that God gives you, the joy that God fills your heart with, is not a feeling that's dependent on an earthly circumstance, nor on the things that your human eyes can see, but it is dependent upon this heavenly reality that Christ is the victor. He is victorious over sin, our sin, your sin, and death, and Satan, and the world in His death and resurrection. And because we are united to Christ by faith, we share in Christ's victory. We share in Christ's life. So that God says, even those things that He sends your way, that you think, according to your human calculus, retard God's plan. They stunt your growth in Christ. God says, no, never. The things I send your way, Paul's imprisonment in Philippi, Paul's imprisonment in Rome, only serve to advance God's holy purposes in your life. And that's why we can thank God with joy. God had to bring his people into exile in order to return them. in order to be confronted with the ruins, in order to depend upon Him, in order to cry out to Him, in order to need Him, His strength, His wisdom, His prophetic word through the prophets. And we thank God, you see, with this joy, with the joy that He gives us, not based on things we have and don't have, beloved, but based on Jesus Christ and His work. And we give God thanks With joyful Thanksgiving, you see, not with begrudging Thanksgiving, not with, thank you, God, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for this year. We would never say that, perhaps publicly, but do we think that? Do we feel that in our hearts? Never with sad thanks, never with circumstantial thanks, but joyful thanks. We are of good cheer, and God fills our hearts with thanksgiving to thank Him in this manner, because Christ has overcome the world. We give God thanks with joy, but secondly, we give God thanks for His work of redemption in Jesus Christ. This is what really fuels our thanksgiving. Yes, we thank God for all that He has given to us in Christ. We'll get there. That's our third point. But we give God thanks for Jesus. We give God thanks for His death for me. That is the ground and the source of my joy. And that is, you see what we see in the text with Passover. Passover, like all the other feasts in Israel, was a kind of annual celebration. An annual feast of thanksgiving that looked back at what God had done in Egypt, in the Exodus. That salvation event that had occurred so many centuries prior to Ezra 6. What did Israel do? What was Israel called to do but to remember the Exodus? Israel had been held captive in Egypt for hundreds of years. They had been oppressed. They had been enslaved. They had been under the thumb and the tyranny of Pharaoh. And yet God was faithful to his promise. We're told in Exodus 2, God heard his people cry out to him. God remembered his promise. God saw His people. And God knew their suffering. And God came down to save Israel. God would crush Egypt. God would completely slaughter the forces of Pharaoh in the Red Sea. But His people, Israel, He would save in fulfillment of His promise. And the night before He rescued Israel, what does God do? He institutes a feast that was to be celebrated annually, every year, that symbolized his salvation. A feast that had as its centerpiece a lamb that would be slaughtered and then roasted, eaten with herbs, and eaten in one night. And that lamb's blood would be put on the doorposts, on the lintels of each house where Israelite families lived. And in the middle of the night, the destroyed angel, we're told by God's Word, came in and through Egypt and killed Egypt's firstborns, but passed over the Israelite houses that were covered in the Lamb's blood. And that's where we get the term Passover, because God seeing the Lamb and the blood of the Lamb passed over Israel. and saved them and spared them. And this was an annual feast, the Passover was, where Israel was to say and to believe and to think and to declare with their mouths in praise, how good is God, how merciful is God, how compassionate is God, how powerful to save is God. And God, God's salvation was to be the theme of Israel for all generations. His saving mercies would fill their hearts with gratitude and Israel's mouths with thanksgiving. And that's what you see, what we have in the book of Psalms. Psalm 9, I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. Psalm 75 verse 1, I give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks for your name is great. We recount your wondrous deeds. Psalm 105, verse 1, O give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make His deeds known among the peoples. And this Thanksgiving, you see, we are to take time in this upcoming week, no matter how and with whom we celebrate it, perhaps with extended family, perhaps just with our own families. This Thanksgiving, we are to give God thanks for His salvation that's been made even more clear, more revealed to you who are in Jesus Christ, this side of the cross. God saw you, God remembered you, God sent Jesus Christ to you, and God has given Him graciously up for us all. Our minds, our hearts are to be filled with thanksgiving to God for Jesus. In the words of John 3, 16, For God so loved the world that He gave up His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God says, I loved this world so much, and we would be... We tend to stay focused on the greatness of the world and think that's how great God's love is, because this world is so expansive, it's so great. And yet that's not the point of John at all. It's not that God's love is to be measured by how great the world is, but to be measured by how sinful we are. God loved us, sinners, darkened in our hearts and in our minds, blind to Him, rebellious to all of His purposes. God loved you, that He sent Jesus Christ to you, so that you who believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Consider the greatness of God's love, because we are great sinners. Consider the graciousness of God's love, who gave up Jesus Christ. Romans 8, verse 31 and 32. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? What Paul is getting at is, do you understand? Do you understand that God is for you? That God has loved you? That God has saved you? And how do we know that? Where do we see that? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? God was not reluctant in giving up Jesus Christ for your salvation to die on the cross, but God willingly, graciously gave him up, his only son. Previously in Romans in chapter five, Paul says, who of us would die for someone else, perhaps for a good man, someone might even die for them. But let's go one step further. Who of us would give up one of our children for the sake of someone else? Not me, not you. And yet God gave up his only son. his son who had never committed a sin, there was no deceit in his mouth, Isaiah 53 tells us, his son who was the apple of his delight, of his pleasure forever and ever in eternity past, the son of God who bathed in his glory and the father bathed in his son's glory with a love so eternal, so pure, so perfect, that son, God graciously gives him up for you. Don't you know, don't you know the love of God, Paul is saying here? Don't you know how God is for you? Beloved, how can we not give God thanks for Jesus? His eternal Son and our Savior and Lord Jesus, we're told, who humbled Himself. Philippians 2. Not only do we see the greatness, the graciousness of God's love, but the humility of God's love. Jesus emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. The father willingly, graciously, he didn't have to, graciously gives up his son. What about the son? Does the son go to the cross begrudgingly? Oh, this is my father's will. I have to grin and bear it. I have to just do what he says. No, we're told that he empties himself willingly. He gives up the glory that he had in the presence of God, his father in heaven above, and he's born as a man. And not just as a man, he's not born in a palace. He is like that Passover lamb that is humbled, that is bound together and goes to the altar of sacrifice. But unlike an animal, Jesus willingly goes. I have come to do your will, oh my God, as it is written in the book of the scroll of the law. Psalm 40, Hebrews 9. And he's not born as a human king in the palace of Herod, in the palace of Pilate. He's born as a humble servant. Obedient, joyfully obedient, we're told, for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross and despised the shame. Oh my God, I desire to do Your will. If this is what it takes to save Your people, oh Father, who are my people, I will willingly, joyfully, thankfully go to the cross and be obedient to You, oh God, in all things. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And what wonder, what wonder is this to elicit in us? What worship this is to elicit in us? As John says in his first letter, chapter four, verse nine, in this is love. Not that we love God. We don't define love by some human expression as selfless and sacrificial as that may be. We define love first and foremost by God giving up his son so that we might live through him. And this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. As Judah celebrates that Passover after the temple has been dedicated there to know that all of their sins are taken up by God, are forgiven by God, Their condemnation is taken up by God, and we say the same. Christ was condemned so that you would be forgiven. Christ was crucified and bore the Father's wrath so that you might live forever with God. Christ was forsaken so that you would be adopted as a son, as a daughter of the Most High God, not simply God now, but your Father in heaven. Can we ever exhaust our thanks to God? Can we ever get to the end of thanksgiving? We take time this week to give God thanks with this nation that doesn't know for what or to whom it gives thanks. But as Christians, we know to whom and for what we give thanks. We give thanks to God for what he gave us in Jesus Christ. Salvation, full and free. But thirdly, not only do we give God thanks with joy, we give God thanks for Jesus, but we thank God for all his present deliverances in our life. We give God thanks for Jesus who saved us, but we give God thanks for Jesus who continues to save us. It's not just that we give God thanks for something way back when that happened many years ago in our lives. No, we are to see God's present work in our lives as an echo of that original work in our lives when he brought us from darkness to light. Notice what Ezra 6.22 says. And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is also known as the Feast of Passover, seven days with joy. the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel." God defended his people. God vindicated his people. God made them fruitful. God re-established his worship. in this world and he did all of this by turning the heart of the king who helped and aided this work. Of course, we know it's the king of Persians. So why is it called, just very quickly here, why is it called the king of Assyria? Oftentimes this verse is used as an attempt to try to debunk scripture. But Darius is called the king of Assyria because rulers of a conquered land and people were listed as kings over that conquered land and people. So for example, if China were ever to conquer us or take over the US, one of the titles of the president of China might be president of the United States. It sounds kind of ludicrous to our ears, but that's the way antiquity and ancient powers operated. the king of Assyria, who is the king of Persia, Darius, his heart had been turned by God for the sake of his people. In chapter six, we're told that records are found and the original decree from Cyrus is found. The dust is kind of shuffled off the decree and it's re-given by Darius. And God moves Darius to provide all the materials for Judah in the rebuilding of the temple. And then Darius says more. He says, he tells all the enemies of God's people. He tells Tatani and all the governors of the province beyond the land, don't meddle. in this work. Don't stop it. Don't disturb it. Leave this work alone. Leave these people alone. We're told in verse 13 that they rebuild with all diligence. Interestingly enough, Tatanai, who had been slightly opposed to the work and had harmed the work by tattling on Judah, now actually helps the work by doing all that the king has demanded once more. And the people now dedicate the temple to God, and they celebrate this Passover, which is a kind of second Exodus. Judah was to know in this celebration of this Passover that God's present work now was an echo of that original Passover, of that original Exodus. They are, as it were, setting up memorial stones to remember who God is and what God has done In a moment, we're gonna sing number 429, and stanza two says, here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I'm come. Our culture knows of only one Ebenezer, Ebenezer Scrooge, if you're familiar with Charles Dickens' story, A Christmas Carol. That's not the Ebenezer we're talking about. That's not the Ebenezer scripture talks about. In 1 Samuel 7, verse 12, a stone of remembrance is set up by the prophet Samuel so that Israel would be able to look at that stone of remembrance and know that God delivered Israel from the hand of the Philistines and overwhelmed their foes and overwhelmed the opposition that stood against Israel. And Samuel calls that stone of remembrance, that memorial, Eben-Ezer, a stone of help, Eben-Ezer. It comes out in our translations. In other words, it is a remembrance that up until here, God has been our help. And that's what we do every Thanksgiving. That's what we do every Lord's Day. And as we approach the Lord's Supper next week, that's what we do once more. We remember that God has been our salvation in Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of our sins, but that he has also been our savior. in smaller issues of our lives. He has not only been our Deliverer, capital D, Deliverance, but God has rescued us and delivered us time and again, all throughout our lives. I wanna take time at the end of our sermon to give God thanks in an extended prayer of thanksgiving as we conclude this time, but for now, as we prepare for the Lord's Supper next week, as you prepare to leave this time and place, as you enter back into the world, give God thanks for joy. Give God thanks for Jesus. Give God thanks for all that God has given you in Jesus. And like this Passover feast, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5, Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old lovin', the lovin' of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. What does Christ, our Passover lamb, compel us to do but to leave behind the lovin' of evil, of malice, of sin? To leave behind and to put away the lovin' and to cleanse our hearts of all that dishonors God. of all that breaks fellowship with him, of all that breaks fellowship with one another, we are to say in the words of the hymn that we'll sing momentarily, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, O Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? What can I possibly give back to God for his great salvation? We say, take my life, God, as a living sacrifice and as an offering of lifelong thanksgiving to you, the God of my salvation. Amen. Let us give God thanks and pray. Heavenly Father, Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. You have strengthened us to love you. You have kept our feet from stumbling. You have not given us over to our enemies. You have turned our hearts to you, even amid sorrow and pain. And that's why, Father, we can say that we love you more today than we did yesterday. Thank you for your divine protection from bodily harm and injury, for protecting our children, for protecting us in this world of wicked men, in this fallen world of accidents and tragedies. Thank you for good health. Thank you for protecting us from false doctrine, from going astray, for protecting us from so many distractions and false teachings, from so many compromises. We recognize, Father, that we're all searching for something we think we've lost, and we're right to search for that in your word, the truth. but we're wrong to search for it in lies. Father, thank you for returning us to your ancient paths. Thank you for protecting us from sins that would destroy us and rot our souls. Thank you for upholding your church in this world. We may think we're alone, but we're not. You have kept for yourself many faithful millions of Christians around this state, in this country, and around the world. Thank you, Lord, for your daily provision of food, clothing, housing, for the love of our families, for the upbringing that our families gave us in the Lord and in your word. These are all part of the deliverances you give us and bless us with. Thank you, Lord, for all the things we get to enjoy. Thank you for all the joys your creation affords us. Thank you for all the simple pleasures like delicious food and autumn day breezes, the changing color of trees, the sun rising and setting each day. Thank you for good neighbors, if we have them. Thank you for our teachers. Thank you for allowing us to study and to learn and explore your creation with our mind. Thank you, Lord, for prospering us in so many ways. We are wealthy beyond our imagination. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you will continue to provide for us, our families, our church, and your church. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for forgiving our sins on your cross and the assurance that our sins are forgiven. Thank you for giving us the knowledge from your word of what we are supposed to do while we live, for giving us the certainty of knowing where we will go when we die, and for giving us the hope of our resurrection on the last day and the joy of eternal communion and friendship with you. Receive our hearty thanksgiving for these and all so many things. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.