Ezra chapter number eight. I'm thankful that I don't have a whole message to preach. But what I do have to preach will be very long. Amen. It's a long chapter, but I really want to just review what we went over. We know that one of the key phrases in this book is the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him. That's found in verse 22. And this is a testimony of Ezra to the king. And I want you to read that verse, Ezra 8, verse 22, and this kind of gives us the context of this chapter and what's going on. He says, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this truth and thank you that your hand is upon all those that seek you. and that truly want to obey you that are committed to the work of God. And as our sister said tonight, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Father, we thank you for the blessings. Help us to be as committed as Ezra. Help us to be committed to the work and the commission that you've given us to be very clear about the work of God. And Lord, help us to receive leadership and be leaders that we all need to be in the church, in our homes, in the community. Father, somehow, someway, give us influence over the community that we might influence them for you. for salvation and your glory. So, Father, we need you to help us in this time as a church. We look to you in Jesus' name, amen. So, the overriding message that we have tonight is the ministry that God blesses, and we see that It's the hand of God. In fact, I remember preaching a whole message on this from Acts chapter 11, that the hand of the Lord was upon that church, the church at Antioch. And it was because that the hand of the Lord was on them. They had the blessing of God. And as a church, they were able to do great and mighty things and God used them. And that's the way it is here. I think that theme is probably throughout the whole Bible, but think about this. There's about 5,000 exiles, including women and children, that have to travel from Babylon to Jerusalem. And as we're saying, King, we're not gonna ask any escort, because we trust God. And we have to, we're gonna get into that in a moment, because you say, is that wisdom? Is that the best thing to do? because we see other escorts being given in the Bible from men of God. So we do have to be led to the Holy Spirit, amen? When I think of ingredients of a ministry that God blesses, first of all, it starts with leadership. There must be capable leadership. Here's a man who was commissioned, Ezra. He was committed Think about that journey of 900 miles over hostile deserts. But not only was he committed to that journey, but he was committed to spiritual revival. That's the kind of man he was. And I think now that we preach about this, even before our revival meeting, I think you can understand a little bit more about what it means to be committed to have revival. And that's really what this man was about, and he was there to stir up genuine revival among the people. Because, like everywhere, we know you could be lulled to sleep, you could be, you know, just distracted and leave the priorities of God, and that's what happened to these people, even though They did go back, you know, many of them made that journey, many of them listened to God, and yet, even in that, they got sidetracked. And that's, I think, when we think of human nature, right, like we preached in the morning about the millennium and how could so many people turn against the Lord when He's here on the earth, this is human nature. You know, here they are called of God and commissioned and they have the vision of God and yet they get there and they start good. They start well, but then they get distracted. But Ezra was that commissioned, committed and capable leader that they needed. And we know that in this chapter, not only that brethren, but something else happened. And that was the fact that He found out there's not enough laborers here. They started assembling this list of people who's going to go back. In fact, that happened at that river, Ahava, there in verse 15. And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava. And there abode we in tents three days. And I viewed the people and the priests and found there none of the sons of Levi. So here he is. Now, when you read this list, we see committed families here, 1,511 men who made that commitment. And you add women and children. You have about 5,000. Now, when Zerubbabel returned 80 years earlier, he had about 50,000, remember, in that first return. But we have a big commitment here. So you have men, you know, thank God for these men, but they were concerned about Where are the Levites? Where are the ones who are going to serve in the house of God? And that was the main concern. Now when you think of these men, they were called chief men. Verse 16, they were chief men, they were men of understanding, these were godly leaders, they were respected leaders, they had discernment, they had wisdom, and they were able to teach others. Brethren, is this not the pattern of the Lord? all throughout the Bible. You start with Moses, the man of God, and Joshua, and then you just keep going throughout. You need men that are godly leaders, are respected, they have discernment and knowledge, able to teach. But the Bible is saying, you know, to be teachable, we need to be able to follow. And that's, a lot of times, you know, people get in the way of themselves. Because if you don't have a teachable spirit, God can't use you. Just remember that. God cannot use you. It doesn't matter what capacity you are if you don't have a teachable spirit. That's what 2 Timothy 2.2. Commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach other also. And we are to commit to faithful men, but that ability they're able to teach, but they're able to receive. That's how committed is receiving. So God raised up these men, verse 18, he says, and by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, and we should be thankful for the men of God, amen? The last phrase of verse 17 says that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God. They knew the importance. And so, God raised up some key men that were able to do that. And thank God for this. These men, you're gonna see later, are trustworthy as well. And we do know that the Lord has the same desire for our work today. Amen? So we need capable leaders. We need committed laborers in the work of God. But now, to be successful, and this is where all of us have to participate, and this is kind of what the spirit around everything that we do is found in verse 21, there needs to be a conscious looking or a conscious seeking of God. Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahabba. that we might afflict ourselves before our God to seek of Him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all of our substance. Think about that. Think about the subject matter there. We need to afflict ourselves. Again, you know, Paul says, I keep under my body, I bring it into subjection. and he was afraid to be a castaway. Brethren, we could be our own. Our lack of spiritual discipline, our lack of being led by the Spirit of God, we could have our own destruction and be castaways. So we need to have some type of discipline to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a right way for us. Amen? So you need a right way for yourself. You need a right way for your family. You need a right way for your substance. You know, God is concerned about everything, brethren, the family, your life, even the material possessions you have. And thank God for this man. And he's leading this group of people. So this conscious looking involves preparation. Are we willing to prepare ourselves spiritually? Are we willing to seek the Lord? Are we willing to fast when God challenges us to fast? You know, that's a good thing. Remember, Jesus said, they came to him and said, why aren't your disciples fasting? He says, because I'm with them, but when I'm gone, they're gonna fast. That's us, by the way. That applies to us. So he's seeking the Lord through prayer and fasting. That's a good thing. Sometimes we need to do that, brethren. It's not easy, is it? But it's good for us. It's good for us spiritually. It involves preparation, it involves prayer. I think of the need here is for God's guidance and God's direction upon them. Why? Because it says in verse 22, they're not going to ask the king. Because he was ashamed to require the king, because here he is exalting God and giving this testimony that king, God's going to bless us. God is going to protect us. And he said, I was ashamed now. I couldn't go back to the king and say, OK, king, I said all this to you, but please put a band of soldiers around us to protect us. So at this very moment, remember, they had young children along. They had the women along. We think of how many enemies in the way. that wanted to destroy them. They hated them. They didn't want them to be successful there. And so, this prayer, brethren, is also, this request, or lack of request, is also being led of God. You know, there's no fast, hard, fast rule here, is what I'm getting at. Because we'll see that in other cases, like Nehemiah, he asked for an escort. The Apostle Paul had an escort. But in this case, because he was seeking the Lord, because he was asking God and because it was the name of God, the glory of God in verse 23. So what did he say? He says, So we fasted and besought our God for this. And he was entreated of us. So he had confirmation from God. This is the will of God. Make sure, you know, when you're acting out that it's on the will of God. not foolishness. And some people have that spirit of foolishness. You know, they tempt God rather than trust God and are led by Him. This is not a pattern. This is not Something you you know, like you do this every time you follow this example. What I'm getting at is here's a man of faith Here's a man who's seeking God fasting and praying he's leaving the people and they found the will of God that this was the best way for them to Be a testimony and the glorified God was not to ask for a military escort But that was this exception I would say not a pattern it was an exception and So that question naturally arises in this passage. Was this wisdom? About the wisdom of Ezra, but think about Nehemiah. That was Nehemiah 2.9, Acts 23. Paul requested the Romans to protect him on his journey from Jerusalem to Caesarea. Do you see we have to look at the context here? We don't believe that Ezra trusted the Lord more than Nehemiah and Paul. I think we have to understand God's purpose for us all and His purpose in all of this and all these lessons is to teach us to draw closer to Him, to fellowship with Him and commune with Him. And nothing causes us, just like we heard tonight in the testimonies, nothing causes us to draw near to the Lord more than trials and hardships. So God will. put us in situations where we have to cast ourselves totally upon Him, trusting Him to protect and provide. Brethren, this is that situation. This was the case. for Ezra. You see, some of us are more difficult to teach than others. So the Lord occasionally has to put us totally on our own without any help from anyone else. There are occasions when we have to be prepared for greater missions. Greater missions. This was the case of Ezra. Ezra, at this season of life, needed to cast himself totally upon the Lord. He needed to draw near to the Lord in fellowship. This dear servant needed to trust the Lord as never before, and the Lord worked out the circumstances so it would be unwise for Ezra to request a military escort. His only hope for protection was the Lord himself. Do you know, brethren, that sometimes, you know, we may get in the way of other people. Well, you ought not to do that. That doesn't sound wise. I don't know. Sometimes there's some latitude here. If it's not, thus saith the Lord, and principles that they're actually breaking, be careful. Because these are the situations where God wants to work in a powerful way, more, and in a personal way for that person. And we need to be sensitive to that, amen? The people, as, upon Ezra's request, what did the people do? They fasted and prayed. Maybe your leader's gonna put you in a place where you just gotta fast and pray, man, and trust God. But they were protected by the Lord. Amen. God did safely escort them. So I think the normal pattern as you go throughout scripture, I think the normal pattern is to trust God while thankfully using the means that he provides. It's like the highways out here. You better pray for protection on these highways, amen? You pray for protection, but let me tell you something, fasten your seatbelt. Fasten your seatbelt. You pray for healing, but go to the doctor and take the medicine. You pray for a job, but go out and prepare a resume, dress appropriately, go for job interviews. You see, God normally expects us to use the means He provides along with faith in Him. How about George Mueller? Maybe you've heard of him. He was a great man of faith. Remember, he had an orphanage, and he would be the one that never asked anyone for anything. He just prayed to God. But that was for George Mueller. You know, I knew a missionary. And he's with the Lord now, and there's a book out by him, his family. They never went on deputation. That was his conviction, not to go around and asking for money for churches. Now, we support, we have built into our fellowship of churches, debutation, where we accept missionaries to come by, tell us about their work, and we pray about supporting them. There's nothing wrong with using that means. It's what we've, or the plan we have, right? But that missionary didn't believe. That was for him. And God always provided for them through prayer and sustained them and supported them. And they went to Brazil and they went to Paraguay and they went to Chile. I got to kneel down with him in prayer. I would say that ministry, that whatever they did through those countries was prayer, and nothing but prayer. Amazing. George Mueller believed that it would not demonstrate faith in the Lord and thus not honor him to advertise financial needs for his orphanages. So that was his conviction. He believed that it was not a demonstration of faith. And he was obeying God in the way that he operated. He made his needs known only to God in prayer. Yet others have revealed their needs. You know, sometimes pastors come in, you come into a church for deputation and the pastor says, brother, what needs do you have? Why don't you tell the congregation? And then, you know, you kind of feel uneasy. Yeah, we need a car. We need this and that. We're sending a container. We need all this money. And it's not easy, trust me. But sometimes you're put on the spot and pastors ask you to do that. So I believe, for me, it was just being led of the Lord at the moment and just trusting God. If the pastor asked me to share a knee, then I just did what the pastor. Ten of the brethren with them, and weighed unto them the silver and the gold and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king and his counselors and his lords and all of Israel there present had offered, present there had offered. And I weighed unto their hands 650 talents of silver. and silver vessels, 100 talents in gold, 100 talents in 20 basins of gold, and of 1,000 drams, two vessels of fine copper, precious of gold. And I said unto them, ye are holy unto the Lord. The vessels are holy also, and the silver and gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers. Watch ye, keep them. Amen. A careful logging. Watch ye, keep them until you weigh them before the chief of the priests of the Levites and the chief of the fathers of Israel at Jerusalem in the chambers of the house of the Lord. You see, they had to have the money, all that money, I just want you to understand, and I hope you do understand, when you start adding this up, it's equivalents of millions of dollars, all the gold and silver they had, that money. See, Ezra was a great, he was a good steward for the Lord, And this is a matter of integrity. And this matter of integrity in the ministry, brethren, extends beyond financial integrity to the whole of a man's character. We're talking about moral integrity. We're talking about financial integrity. And this is the only way to have the hand of God upon us, is to have moral integrity and to have financial integrity. You can't have God's hand upon your ministry without those things. And that's where many ministries are lacking, are they not? Moral integrity and financial integrity. This was serious unto Ezra. I don't even want to translate for you all the pounds and of these talents and talents and tons of weight here. But when Ezra weighed this all out and just reminded them that they were holy and set apart unto God, brethren, this ministry, let's look at this. This ministry is holy and set apart unto God. Our offerings are holy and set apart unto God. Everything is holy. It's for God. Let's keep it that way, man. Doesn't matter if we have $3,000 or $3 million. It's the Lord's. And we need to be very careful to have that stewardship and that integrity. And I just gotta move on. You see, in all this, there's a compensation of the king. And I don't want to go there. Ezra was compensated. And aren't you thankful we're compensated? But I want you to see how this ends. Why I skipped about half the message right there. Oh, well. There must be a consecrated lauding. Verses 31 to 36, and brethren, Let's give glory to God. Let's worship the Lord. And the whole purpose of ministry is the Lord. And I believe Ezra understood that. It says, Then we departed from the river of Ahava. And on the twelfth day of the first month, they go into Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us. And he delivered us, amen, from the hand of the enemy and of such as lay in wait by the way. And we came to Jerusalem and abode there three days. Now on the fourth day, he gave him three days to rest. On the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God. He said, okay, here's the weight, here's the list, now we're gonna weigh it again, amen, when we get there. And that's what they did. They weighed it all in the house of God by the hand of Merimoth, the son of Uriah, the priest. And with him was Eliezer the son of Phinehas, and with them was Josabath the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Benuai, Levites, by the number and by weight of every course. And all the weight was written at that time. And also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered what? Burnt offerings under the God of Israel. Twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering unto the Lord. And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants and to the governors on this side of the river. And what did they do? They furthered the people and the house of God. Amen. You see, they got there. They understood this. The whole purpose was to worship the Lord. Amen. Let's do all the rest, but keep everything in priority. We have a responsibility to worship God. And you know how they had to do that? By suffering hardship, danger, great inconveniences at times. But they wanted to get there. They wanted to worship God. Brethren, that's how important worship here at this church should be. They were willing to do that. And they trusted God to protect them and bring them safely to the promised land. Can you imagine when they got there, listen to this, for the first time in their lives, this new generation of Jewish believers were worshiping at the temple in the land that had been promised to them by God. Can you imagine the joy beyond measure? It all showed up in their hearts, amen? They approached God through these substitutional sacrifices. Twelve bulls and twelve male goats and the number of twelve represents the twelve tribes of Israel. They were probably returnees from all twelve tribes. They made an atonement, the sin offerings, for all of Israel. The burnt offerings typified the surrender of an entire nation to the service of God. Thank God for this. What a blessing for these people. And today, our whole purpose is to worship Jesus in his house, amen. Amen. Let's stand, have a word of prayer.