1. The first effect that comes from having a powerful witness is on the created
2. The second effect that comes from having a powerful witness is on the called
3. The third effect that comes from having a powerful witness is on the comfortable
Tonight’s passage is 31 verses long. It runs all the way from 7:11 through to 8:14. There are three main parts to this passage. First there is a letter from the Persian king Artaxerxes that runs from 7:11-7:26. And in that letter he addresses three groups of people. He addresses the Jewish remnant as a whole in verses 13-20. He addresses his own Persian government treasurers in verses 21-24. And He addresses Ezra specifically in verses 21-26. The second main part to tonight’s passage is in 7:27-28. That is Ezra’s response because of the king’s letter. Finally, the first 14 verses of chapter 8 give us a list of people who went up with Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem to add to the remnant who was already there. Now, how in the world does that apply to us? How in the world does a 2500 year old letter and a list of names apply to us today? Well, in order to figure that out, we have to look at what caused all this to happen. Of course we know that God is in control and that He ultimately caused it to happen. But God uses means to accomplish His will. So, what was it that God used to cause the wicked king Artaxerxes to write this wonderful letter? What was it that God used to cause Ezra to come out of his years of inaction and spring into action? What was it that God used to cause the people to break out of their comfortable complacency and join God’s work in Jerusalem? It was the presence of a powerful witness. By the time we get to our passage, the temple in Jerusalem had been completed for 59 years. For 59 years, the temple had stood as a powerful witness of what God can do through the willing hands of His people. Hands that didn’t have enough money. Hands that didn’t have enough resources. Hands that didn’t even have enough hands. But hands that accomplished what God had told them to do. And what He had told them to do stood as a powerful witness to who He is. See, the temple wasn’t for the remnant that built it. They received tremendous blessing from it. But it wasn’t primarily for them. The temple was primarily to be a powerful witness to those outside of Jerusalem. And it was. And that’s what this passage shows us tonight. It shows us the powerful witness of the temple to that age. So if God designed the temple to stand as such a powerful witness to that age, what has He planned to stand as a powerful witness to our age? His Word, sent out from His church, proclaimed by His people. And when that happens, it is a powerful witness. That’s what I want for us tonight. I want us to be the powerful witnesses God has called us to be. When people of Ezra’s day saw the temple of God standing in Jerusalem, they knew there was a God in Israel and YHWH is His name. When people see us proclaiming the gospel everywhere we go, they will know there is a God in Brushfork Baptist Church and Jesus Christ is His name. That’s what I want for us. As that happens, there will be certain effects. And that’s what we’re looking at tonight. Tonight, we’re going to look at three effects that come from having a powerful witness. The first effect is on the created. We see that in Artaxerxes letter from 7:11-26.
The first effect of a powerful witness is on the created. As I said, the first part of our passage tonight is a letter from Artaxerxes. By no stretch of the imagination was Artaxerxes a believer. He wasn’t a convert to the Jewish religion. He was a Persian. History tells us that Artaxerxes was a believer in a religion called Zoroastrianism. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t just a casual believer in Zoroastrianism. Under him, Zoroastrianism became the official religion of the Medo-Persian Empire. In many ways, Zoroastrianism is very similar to eastern religions today. It has things in common with Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age religions, even Wicca and paganism. The bottom line is, Artaxerxes would have fit in very well in America today. He would have agreed with the people like Oprah who think there are many ways to get to heaven. He would have agreed, because like them, he would have understood heaven as our finally getting rid of all the material stuff and realizing that we are indeed god. He would have loved to hear the modern gurus teaching that we are all part of a universal consciousness. He would have loved the teaching of meditation and yoga and centering techniques and chakras in our schools. He would have loved Al Gore’s ideas of Mother Earth and “saving” the planet. He would have fit right in to 21st Century America. That’s who he was. That’s what he believed in. The idea of an all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing, holy, personal God who speaks and interacts with and judges His people was completely foreign to him. As a matter of fact it was offensive to him. Almost as offensive as it is to our “inclusive” “tolerant” society today. But I want you to look at his letter. No less than 15 times does Artaxerxes write the name of God. But it’s not just the fact that he writes the name of God. Pagans refer to god all the time. But when they refer to god, it’s always in referring to some type of unknowable universal force. It’s always referring to something like the force in Star Wars. But for some reason, that’s not how this pagan Artaxerxes refers to God. He uses personal terms to refer to God. He talks about a God who personally gives law. He talks about a God who personally interacts with Israel. He talks about a God who commands and speaks and wills. And notice in verses 25 and 26 how he refers to God. He refers to God as Ezra’s God. What a witness. That’s the same witness that Paul had on the men of Athens in Acts 17. In Acts 17, Paul stood up in the Aereopagus and pointed to an altar. An altar to the unknown or unknowable god. It was an altar they had built to the unknowable god behind everything. The same unknowable god Artaxerxes worshipped. The same unknowable god Shirley McLain worships. The same unknowable god Oprah worships. Paul pointed to that altar and said, “you worship a god that you can’t know. Let me tell you about the God who is personal. Personal enough to command you to repent. And personal enough to send His Son to die for you.” That is standing as a powerful witness in a religious but godless world. Paul was a powerful witness before the men of Athens. The presence of the temple in Jerusalem was a powerful witness before a pagan king. Are we standing as a powerful witness before an increasingly pagan world? Notice that Artaxerxes wasn’t converted. Notice that most of the men of Athens weren’t converted. But they did acknowledge God. And sometimes that’s all a powerful witness to the pagan world does. Many times the only effect it has is an acknowledgment of God. That’s all it got from Artaxerxes, but God was glorified. It’s one more example that we aren’t responsible for the results. We are responsible to stand as a powerful witness to show the created world that Jesus is God and we’re not. God is responsible for the results. The first effect of a powerful witness is on the created. The second effect is on the called. That comes in Ezra’s response that follows Artaxerxes’ letter in verses 27-28.
The second effect of a powerful witness is on the called. There is no doubt that Ezra was specifically called of God. Last week we saw how God providentially guided and guarded him. We saw how God providentially gave him his mission. And Ezra was obedient—finally. But like many of us, he didn’t just jump right up and do it. We have no idea how old Ezra was when he got this letter from Artaxerxes. But one thing we do know is this. It had been 59 years since the remnant in Jerusalem had completed the temple. They didn’t exactly have cell phones and email, but I expect he had heard the news a long time ago. He knew his genealogy. He knew he was from the high-priestly line. You would have thought that someone from the high-priestly line would have gotten to the temple as soon as possible, wouldn’t you? But he didn’t. Ezra knew the temple was complete. He knew that God had called him to be a priest. But for years, he didn’t do anything about it. His whole life, he knew what his call was. He knew he was called to be a priest in God’s house. Surely he knew the temple had been rebuilt years ago. What kept him from going? The question is, what made him go now? I believe it was the powerful witness of the temple. The presence of the temple in Jerusalem made it impossible to forget his call. It made it impossible to ignore his call. As news would come back to Babylon from Jerusalem, it would weigh on his conscience. And then came the final straw. Then came the letter from the pagan king. Isn’t it funny what God uses to grab our attention? In Ezra’s case, God used the letter of a pagan king. He used the letter of a pagan king and the power witness of the standing temple. The witness that was on his mind every day. The witness that served as a constant reminder as to who God is and what God wanted him to do. And Ezra responded to that powerful witness. And look how he responded. He responded by praising God in verse 27. And after he finally responded to God and praised Him, God strengthened him. Did you notice that God didn’t give the strength first? That’s the way God works. God waits for you to respond to Him. He waits for you to tell Him you’re willing to do the impossible task He’s called you to. “God, you know I’m not capable of doing the thing you’re calling me to do. But I’m willing to do it anyway.” That’s what God waits for. And then He gives the strength. So Ezra praised God, God strengthened him and the last part of verse 28 says that Ezra got busy. He didn’t sit around waiting for training. He didn’t sit around waiting for finances. He didn’t sit around waiting for the right time or the right people. He gathered together what he had and he went. What an effect the powerful witness of the temple had on the called. God did the calling, but He used the witness of the temple to convict. And when the called was convicted, he responded. A powerful witness affects the created and the called. It also affects the comfortable. We find that in the first 14 verses of chapter 8.
The third effect of a powerful witness is on the comfortable. Once again, we have before us a list of names. These are the names of the heads of the families that went with Ezra from Babylon into Jerusalem. This is the second group of exiles to return. Remember that the first group went up with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. That was about 120 years before. They were the pioneers. They were the ones who eventually got the temple built. Now comes the second wave. The second wave was actually smaller than the first wave. But here’s what I want you to notice about this group of people. Where had they been? Why didn’t they go in with the first group? Why did they wait for 120 years to make their move? If you remember back to chapter 1, King Cyrus commanded the Jews to go to Jerusalem. But apparently these folks didn’t feel like going. Why not? Because they were comfortable. They had been living in Babylon so long that they had become comfortable there. Kind of like Lot was in Sodom. In Genesis 19, Scripture tells us that the angels found Lot sitting in the gate of Sodom. That meant that Lot was pretty important in that town. He had become comfortable enough in that sinful place that he was recognized as one of its leaders. He was so comfortable there that even though angels warned him of coming judgment, he still didn’t want to leave. And even after he left, he had been so comfortable in Sodom, that he didn’t want to go to the mountains like they told him. He wanted to go to Zoar—another city just like home. We will go to the ends of the earth to preserve our personal comfort. But God never called us to be comfortable. As a matter of fact, Jesus specifically calls us to be uncomfortable in this world. In Luke 9:58, Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” And, speaking of His disciples, Jesus also said in John 17:14, “the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” We are not called to be comfortable. God has never called His people to be comfortable. But that is exactly where these people had been for the past 120 years. They sacrificed God’s will for their personal comfort. They willingly chose comfort in bondage rather than the freedom and joy of obedience. But the powerful witness of the temple kept calling them. Throughout the entire 59 years that the temple had been complete, it stood as a powerful convicting witness to them. And they finally responded. After many years of faithful witness, they responded and went.
Do you know what the Bible calls believers? The Bible calls believers the temple of God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” We get so hung up on taking that to mean that we shouldn’t do harmful things to our bodies. That’s true, but there’s a much bigger picture involved here. The much bigger picture comes in understanding what the ultimate mission of the temple was. The ultimate mission of the temple was to glorify God by standing as His powerful witness. And it did. Even though it was small in comparison to the original temple. Even though it was built with few hands. Even though it was built with limited resources. Even though it was completely insufficient to stand as a witness for the creator of the universe. In spite of that, by the power of God, the temple stood and glorified Him as His powerful witness. It glorified God a powerful witness to the created, the called and the comfortable. So, what about you? Do you believe the Bible when it says that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit? If you do, then how are you glorifying God as His powerful witness? Are you standing as a witness to the created? There is a whole world of people who God created in His own image who are lost and dying and on their way to a sinner’s hell. Are you standing as a witness to them? Are you standing as a witness to the called? We have people throughout this church who God has called to His work. Some are doing it. Some used to do it and quit. Some have yet to do it. You know who they are. Most of the time people’s gifts are obvious. Are you standing as a witness by encouraging them? Do you give them opportunities to exercise their calling? Finally, as the temple of the Holy Spirit, are you standing as a witness to the comfortable? The sad thing is, many of us are comfortable. We have our routine. We have our comfort zone. And we never step out of it. Stand as a powerful witness by stepping out of your comfort zone. And then get excited about it and tell other people about it. Let them know how tough it was to take that first step. Then let them know what a blessing it was when you finally got up enough nerve to do it. Then encourage them to do the same. Artaxerxes, Ezra, and the people understood one thing together. Because of the temple, they all saw that there was a God in Israel. Do the people that you come in contact with on a daily basis see the same thing? Because of you as the temple of the Holy Spirit, do people see that there is a God in Brushfork Baptist Church and His name is Jesus Christ?
