We're going to look at the book of Ezra today. Our text will be Ezra chapter 7 verse 10. I would like to read to you now the verses 1 to 10 from the book of Ezra. Ezra chapter 7 verse 10. Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Sariah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shalem, son of Sadok, son of Ahithub, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meriathoth, son of Zerahiah, the son of Susi, the son of Buki, the son of Abishua, son of Pinnahas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the chief priest, This Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the Lord the God of Israel had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him. And there went up also to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers and the temple servants. And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For on the first day of the first month began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem. For the good hand of his God was on him. For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel." Thus far, the reading of God's holy word. Let us pray that he would give us understanding. Dear Heavenly Father, we are gathered this morning in your presence with a prayer, a request, and a desire, all in one, Lord, that you would speak to us by your Holy Spirit to open our heart, to open our mind, so that we would understand your word and be changed to be more like Christ, and so to be more united Be more one. We pray, Lord, all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. Beloved brothers and sisters, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, as you undoubtedly know, form a two-part book that describes the rebuilding of the temple of Israel in Jerusalem, the temple of God, and the rebuilding of the walls of the city of Jerusalem. The book of Ezra, in particular, describes the rebuilding of the temple. That's why I went through that list of names that brought him all the way back to Aaron. He is a descendant from Aaron, a priest, and he is now tasked to declare God's word as Israel is rebuilding the temple. We find our text in the middle of the book of Ezra, which introduces him as a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses, for the hand of the Lord was upon him. God brought this Ezra to Jerusalem as a gift to his people. so that he could teach them God's Word, because a temple by itself would be nothing unless the people would know the Word of God. He gave them Ezra so that he might teach them God's Word. Our next text, or text rather, gives us the reason why God could use Ezra, why he sent Ezra in particular. We read, and this is our text, for Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. Ezra was a man of God who could be used by God because he had done three things. Three things that all centered on the law or the word of God. First of all, he was a heartfelt student. of the word. Secondly, he was a heartfelt disciple of practice. And third, he was a heartfelt shepherd in teaching God's word. Ezra studied, Ezra then practiced, and then Ezra taught God's holy law. I would like us to consider these three things, especially with Ben's ordination at the centipede, really for all of us, that reading the word of God is one thing, but to study it and then to practice it and then to share it, that that is the call to the ministry. Ministers today are called to follow in the footsteps of Ezra and not just to learn that and teach it and not just to go out and teaching whatever you see on this service, but to study it and to practice it and then to teach it. And so I want to begin with my first point here, a heartfelt student of the word. Beloved, the word that is translated, the word study here, is the common word in the original for seeking. Ezra established his heart to seek. the word or the law of Yahweh. Now the ESV translators help us to make sure that we don't misunderstand the word seeking. It wasn't as though Ezra had lost the law and he was now trying to find it back or to discover it somewhere in Jerusalem. No, he had the law, but he was seeking in the law. He was going carefully, discovering every part of God's word. That's what it means to seek the Lord. He had established his heart. He says, this is what I'm going to do, right? His heart there is the center focus of his life. This is my goal, to study every sentence, every phrase, every word of God that I would know every part of it. I'm going to be seeking its meaning. This is not On the Sabbath morning, I will seek something I have to preach. No, he was a man who sought the whole word of God and to understand the whole law of God. Ezra established himself and his heart to be devoted to understand God's word. Ben, for you the same, you are called to a lifelong search of God's word before everything else, to submit yourself to its truth, to wrestle with its meaning, to be overcome by its glorious truth, to be ruled by the voice of God as it speaks to you and teaches you and prepares you first and then makes you practice and then teach. Now every minister intends to study God's word. At least every minister that's called by God intends to study God's word. But not every minister succeeds in keeping that up. There's a tendency to start well and then to linger off and to think, I have studied God's word in the past and I'll just bank on that knowledge for the rest of my life. And then it becomes old because you're distracted by other things. I wanna give a few cautions that will not be new to you, but will be a fresh reminder as the Lord is now entering you into this new stage of your calling. The first one, which I know is a challenge to both of us, is that we can make ourselves too busy. We can be caught by probably the greatest danger in the ministry, and it's making ourselves too busy. with other things than studying God's word. Now I say purposefully, we make ourselves too busy because it's not God who makes us too busy. God's planning is perfect. If we follow in his step, we will know God's word and we will be a blessing. But there's a tendency that we go to God's word, we know what to do, and then we look into the world and then we think what we should do. We take those and we begin to come kind of going back and forth. Yes, I need to be doing this, but oh, but my eyes see this and and there's a need and there's a need and there's a need and there's a need. And suddenly we get this idea that maybe we can do with a little bit less of God's word. And really what this world needs is my effort with a little bit of God's word or really what everyone needs in the ministry. Whether they know it or not, it's the power of the Holy Spirit filling our hearts through God's Word. There's a tendency in the Christian life to place our work above the Word of God. Even though we know that we should study God's Word, it's the fuel for everything in the ministry, there's a tendency to go and to forget to stay sometimes. when God asks us to stay in the Word of God. But the harsh reality is, if we are not refueled, the tank will run empty. If we are not refreshed by the Word of God, we will perish, and so our people will perish with us. And as a congregation who I know loves Ben dearly as he teaches, we can ask him for a blessing to help us. But we need to understand for him to be a blessing to us. He needs to be at the source and spend time at the source of God's word. We need to be conscious of that his schedule needs to be dominated by receiving God's word, being refreshed in God's word, and then he can carry that living water to all of us. Secondly, there's the temptation of becoming proud. The temptation of pride. The idea has come in the hearts of many ministers that because you stand in front or here in this congregation, this church, you're standing a little higher and you're looking down on the people. The purpose of that is because I am higher than the people, because I am exalted over the people. That's not at all the case. The reason why somebody stands in front is because there is a word which goes over the people. All we do is share that word, but it's not about the person behind the pulpit. Yes, the call to the ministry is a high calling, and it's an honorable calling, but not because of the person, but because of the calling. It's not the honor of the man, it's the honor of the calling. And so as a minister, as a teacher, watch for pride springing up in our heart to think that Ben is the center. of the teaching. No, it's God. Ben is but the mule that carries the load of the Word. Paul is but the mule that carries the Word. Somebody upon whom the Word of God comes and is brought forth and led into the world. We are but servants that carry God's Word. Third, Another reason why people begin to leave God's word is a lack of desire in God's word, because the lust of the world begins to overtake our hearts and minds. I'm sure that you have discovered this. We have talked about this in some way. But if you look into the world and your eye catches the world, this book becomes just a book. If you begin to lust after the world. Isn't that for all of us brothers and sisters? When we begin to lust after the world, the word suddenly doesn't speak to us anymore. Suddenly it's just words and something we think we already know. But then if our eyes are fixed upon God's Word, then it becomes the greatest treasure. The Word of God is not like McDonald's food that Or whatever is your favorite fast food that you eat quickly and it tastes really good. And you have right away the joy and the pleasure of the comfort food, whatever it might be. No, it is solid, strong food that requires a careful tasting and preparation and eating. But it strengthens. It doesn't leave you miserable, but it grows you in strength. and prepares you for everything you're called to do in life. God is a jealous God. He will not share joy, his word, the joy of his word with your heart if you seek pleasure in the world. This must be where your pleasure is. Think of Psalm 1, right? That tree that is splendored by streams of water. That's where your word and your pleasure and your delight must come from to strengthen you. Fourth and last here, I'll mention this. Those who stop praying, stop reading. Those who stop praying, will stop reading God's word. If you put all these together, there's a big temptation here. You're busy, so your prayer life decreases. You pray very little, and then you know you need to teach something, so you skip your prayer even more, and then you flip through the Bible and see, okay, what's the topic here that that person needs? And guess what's happening? You're doing your ministry to your people. But it's no longer for God. You're no longer ruled by God, even though you're using God's word. And even though the people might say, he's a servant of God and he brings us God's word, because clearly he's teaching God's word. It's all true. So he must be doing God's word. But in your own heart, you will soon know that it's not as joyful anymore. It's not as fresh anymore. You're still saying the same words. And people might come and say, that message really touched my heart. But in your heart, you know, the freshness is gone. You're reusing food from a year ago, from two years ago. In your own heart, you can see it's growing old, it's getting dry. But when we pray, and when we seek God's presence to read God's word, even the smallest verse of the Bible, Jesus wept, can become a great source of strength and joy, and we can feed a multitude. Jesus doesn't need supermarkets full of food to feed a few thousand people. He needs the bread that is given to him. He needs a heart that is given to him, a man that prays and reads. There are many who read God's word, but forget to pray. And the result is a lifeless understanding of God's word where The pastor just goes through the motions one weekend and the other week out and slowly the church still looks the same on the outside. And we try to put other stuff into to show that we have some excitement in all of this. But in secret, the spirit has left. The building is empty. But when we pray, when we come to God and we read God's word and that is the source of our life and it starts with you. If you teach others, if you are fresh in the Word of God, the people will be filled. Even if there might be dryness in the hearts of the people, it will if the water keeps flowing. But it needs to flow in your heart first. Which brings me to the second point. He was a heartfelt disciple of practice. Ezra did not merely study God's word for a test or to make sure that he was able to answer the right questions or he was still in the right theological camp or was able to answer the questions. No, he studied so that he might walk in a way that pleases God. We don't see God here this morning in his physical presence. We don't see and we don't expect the special radiance of glory even when we lay our hands on you. But God is here. And it's hard is not to see what is the external success of your ministry. God looks at your heart. He looks and he sees is your heart right with God. Do you listen and read to teach others or do you listen and read to God to follow him? To be a follower of Jesus. James 1.25 says, but the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. I love that he says, and perseveres. Isn't that beautiful? Because I think it brings forth that challenge that we all face. I read it, and I'm disappointed because I know it, but it's not yet in my hands. It's not yet in my mouth. It's not yet in my heart. It's not yet in my marriage the way God's word wants it to be. But I don't lay down and say, doesn't work. No, I persevere. I keep looking at Christ through God's word. And I keep looking until Christ is formed in me by his word. And every time I'm disappointed, I'm going back to the word and say, God, help me. Make me a doer of your word. A doer. who speaks and acts. I wanna be more like you today than I was yesterday. And when I read that same passage, I think 1 Corinthians 13, love, I gotta read it again, not to see if my mind remembers, but so that it becomes a little lower in my heart, a little bit more real in my life. I'll be more like Christ to become a doer who perseveres. And I've spoken to a number of pastors who are set into the ministry and often after a few weeks, I'll have a conversation and it's. Can I still preach? Can I still preach because I'm not perfect? I thought and I know, Ben, this is not your expectation. But I've heard this, I thought that once I'm ordained, it becomes kind of, I begin to float a few inches off the ground, and sin is not able to touch me anymore, and I'll be able to speak all the words kindly, and I'll never lose my temper, I'll never say a bad word. It's just this aura of kindness that just comes from me, or something like that, whatever the fancy of man brings in. Tomorrow when you wake up, it'll be Ben, with weaknesses. And sometimes you will be asked to teach where you didn't have your best week. Where on Saturday night you might have had a conversation and you sinned with your lips. And you might not feel like it when you wake up in the morning where you have to speak about patience. And you realize the person who needs to hear about patience is you, first of all. But God, He says we must be doers who persevere, who keep, and as you teach, you teach yourself, and take that in your own heart, and you teach others. Because nobody here, at least I hope nobody here expects Ben to be perfect. We can speak to someone who's perfect all the time. His name is Jesus Christ, and we pray to him. But on earth, we are men who must learn and persevere in doing. Let's do James again. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If he's a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warm and filled. Sounds good, doesn't it? What a kind man. Without giving him the things needed for the body. What good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. We must learn to practice. We must learn to change by God's word, to be doers of the word of God. As a teacher, most of all, as a minister of God's word, all of us, but when you fall, you don't fall alone. When you fall into sin, you bring a whole tower of people with you. Not because you're so much, but because of the role that God has given you. And if any has to be careful for their life, it's ministers. Because we don't wound only our own faith and our own soul, we wound many. We must learn, seek, and that's why we always seek. Because we're never completely done. And often we feel like we're completely undone. There was a man, Ezra, who studied God's word and he learned to live by God's word in such a way that he began to practice God's word. And really, if you go to school, if the teacher checks if you understand what you've learned, that's a worldly kind of understanding, even in Christian schools. A test is a worldly form of understanding. That's not biblical understanding. You can ace all your MDiv classes and have zero biblical understanding. Because biblical understanding is not knowing it here, but knowing it here, knowing it here, knowing it in all your life. To understand in God's mind is to live, to be. The idea that somebody has a big head, And no life is a fool in God's word. You might know everything in your head, but if it hasn't trickled down into your life, you understand zero. To understand, though, is to know and to do. And not in when people's eyes see, but when God's eyes see all the time. That's when we understand God's word. You see now why we're all students? You might have, you might be the most famous professor of theology in the world. Unless you do everything you know perfectly, you have not understood all you think you know. To do is the evidence and the test of your understanding. And as you work for God in the ministry, remember, and I know we talked a lot about this, to practice what you know. Don't learn many things too fast. It's better to learn slow and to practice what you learn than to fill your head without the time for your heart to catch up. We live in a world that prefers speed over quality, and as a result, we have a church that is a large pool of knowledge, but it's often very shallow. It's much better to have a well that is deep and that is real and that refreshes the soul. I'm firmly persuaded from God's word that connection that we read in verses nine and 10, did you notice that? Let me put it in a question. Do you want God's good hand to be upon your life? You know what that is. I mean, Ben has been talking in catechism about these terms, right? What does it mean that God's good hand is upon you? It's a picture, right? It's not a physical hand coming from the sky. It is God's blessing, His empowerment, His strengthening. It's a picture of the same way that a fatherly hand, if a fatherly hand helps his son, the son is able to do his task and to complete it. That's when a father's hand is upon a child, he's helping, that's the picture. God's good hand was upon Ezra for these three things. because he sought the Word of God. He studied it, and then he practiced it, and then he taught it. Now that's a promise for Ben. It's a promise for you, all Christians. Right? Because it's not just, okay, from now on Ben is going to study God's Word, and Sunday morning we'll take it in. No, we live in a day and age where everyone has the same access to the resources that Ben has access to. And most of all, God's Word. If we study God's word on Sunday mornings, absolutely, but whenever we can, and we practice it, and then we teach it in whatever sphere of influence, whether it be our family, to our spouse, to our children, to our neighbor, to our colleague, if we study God's word and practice it, God's good hand will be upon us to cause us to succeed the work that he has given us to do. Isn't that a beautiful promise, brother? So simple, isn't it? So accessible. It is not if you are able to micromanage everyone in the church, or everyone in the ministry, or if you are able to lift up the number of this, that, or the finances, or anything like that, no. If you study God's word and practice, and then do wherever God has put you, his good hand will be upon you. Third, a heartfelt shepherd in teaching. For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. Dearly beloved, look carefully at Ezra's teaching. Ezra had set his heart to do it. That's intentionality is what we call it, right? You gotta be intentional. to do this. You've got to set your mind. This doesn't flow automatically. If you're kind of as a Christian, you're like a fish in the water. It just kind of happens. No, this is intentional. This is directional. There's many voices that cry for your attention, but you're going to put your fingers in your ear to all the voices in the world and focus on this one voice that comes from heaven. God's Word. He set his heart to study God's Word, to practice it and now to teach it. The end purpose of the minister is not his own profit, but that whatever you teach, you teach to others. Oh, sorry, whatever you learn, you teach to others, you share. Listen to the words of the apostle Paul. I think Paul here is speaking about that same thing in Romans 1, verse 11. For I long to see you, face to face, I long to be with you, And then the purpose, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. You see the emphasis? Afterwards, he will say the mutual encouragement. Paul is not saying here, I'm the great source of spiritual life and you all got to come to me. No, what he's expressing here is the desire of his calling. That's got to be our desire to long to see people, to strengthen them, to help them, to build them, to see what the needs are and the riches from the Word of God, to pour it out according to the need. Not I'm coming to somebody and says, what do I think I want to teach you today? No, but to see what spiritual need is necessary that I may impart some spiritual gift to strengthen you. Not what I'm really excited about, I'm now going to tell you, no. I see a need in which you can be strengthened. And because you have been a man who sought God's word, you've got a wide and large and deep treasury of spiritual blessings. And you give them freely as a servant who bears the gifts of God. Like the wise men, right? Who bring these gifts. You don't know their names. You don't know, you know where they come from vaguely, They're kind of anonymous people in history. That's who we are. We carry precious treasures of myrrh to the soul. Precious gold to those who are in poverty. Precious strengthening and food and whatever is required to the people of Christ. Ezra was the Old Testament Paul in that way. He studied, he practiced, so he might share the treasury of God's word. Now we should ask the question, what was the result of all of this study, practice, and teaching? Well, we've already said this, haven't we? God's good hand was upon him. Now that might sound to us like, good for Ezra. Ezra was blessed. That's not what it means. Because the purpose of the book of Ezra is not how Ezra lived a happy life. The purpose of the book of Ezra is how was the temple built. And Ezra is a key figure in how the temple was built because he would then teach the people that would build the temple. That's the hand of God was upon him. That's what it meant. It wasn't Ezra lived a comfortable life and, you know, whatever he planted, a tree, everything would just grow and become strong and healthy and happy. No. God's hand was upon him to strengthen the people of God. To build the temple of God. In the same way, brother, God has called you to study, practice, and teach so that God's hand would be upon you so that the ministry that you do to the people, they would be strengthened. and the temple of God would be built upon this earth with the people around you. Some may be the most unlikely people. Some of them now by this time might not know at all that they would one day be part of God's temple. Like those rocks that had been cut off and destroyed and were lying all across the fields around Jerusalem. And one day were picked up by a man who had heard Ezra teach. be carried and be placed as a stone in the temple. And so as a minister, we're called to go out to study, to practice, to teach so that we, the temple, might be built. You've received a high calling from the Almighty. And one day he will call you to stand before him face to face and may God Say then these words, well done, you good and faithful servant. Beloved, I want to close with some encouragement to Ben and to all of us, and to be real short, four points. First of all, don't be discouraged. Don't be discouraged. God has clearly called you to his ministry. It's evident by the elders, it's evident by the church, It is clear that the Lord has sent you. Don't be discouraged by the fruit of your labor. All you have to do is to study God's word, to practice that which you've learned, and then to teach it. He is the master of the harvest. We're simply the sowers. The reason why the ministry of God's word is often difficult and discouraging is because you don't see the fruit. If you build a house, you build it and you can say, that's what I did. 20 years later, you can tell your children, that's what daddy built. If you work as a cook, you give it and people come to you and say, that food was just delicious. You have recognition. When you preach God's word, sometimes you've taught God's word and you'll get an angry look. or a discouraging look, or people might reject you because of it. And sometimes you won't see the fruit for 20 years. And even then when it comes, you know it's not you, it's God. There is nothing that the minister can say, look what I've done. It is all God's word. And so your encouragement should not be built upon what your eyes can see. but only what your eyes can read from God's word and trust Him. It is a life of faith from beginning to end. Secondly, don't fear man. Fear God, not man. It's better to be despised by all men and honored by God than to be honored by all men and to be rejected by God. Third, be filled with the Spirit. The Bible says, be filled with the word of God, and a parallel passage says to be filled with the spirit. Do everything you can not to grieve the Holy Spirit, even if you have to discourage anyone, me or anyone else. And if you say no, when somebody says you should, you must be filled with the spirit to do the work. And last, preach the gospel. In season, and out of season. Never put water to the wine. Never depreciate the glory of the gospel. Preach it, teach it in public, in private, in season, out of season, when it's popular, when it's unpopular. Teach God's Word. And most of all, teach Christ. Your people, the people here, our people, always need Christ. Whatever we teach, teach Christ first. His cross, His death, His resurrection, His empowerment through the Holy Spirit. Amen.