"IT’S TIME TO BUILD"
INTRODUCTION
HAVE YOU EVER GOT INTO YOUR CAR AND JUST HEADED OUT ON A JOURNEY, NOT REALLY KNOWING WHERE YOU WERE GOING -- W/O A DESTINATION IN MIND , EXCEPT THAT IT WOULD PROBABLY BE A GOOD TIME. (NY JOGGING).
ON JANUARY THE 18TH OF THIS YEAR I MADE THE FOLLOWING ENTRY INTO MY DAILY SPIRITUAL JOURNAL;
"LORD I HAVE DECIDED (OR YOU HAVE LEAD ME TO DECIDE) TO STAY IN LUKE AND TALK ABOUT JESUS UNTIL EASTER SUNDAY... TO TALK ABOUT THE LORD, THE ROCK/ AND THEN TO TALK ABOUT BUILDING HIS CHURCH...."
WE WERE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM -- THE FINAL ACTS AND WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST, A MAN WHO HAD SET HIS FACE TOWARDS JERUSALEM - A MAN WHO WAS MARCHING DOWN THE ROAD TO THE CROSS AND HIS DEATH.... AND MY WHAT A JOURNEY IT WAS WE TOOK WITH THE LORD.
AND HERE WE ARE TODAY, NEARLY 4 MONTHS LATER -- WE HAVE SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF TIME IN LUKE -- BECAUSE I WANTED US TO REALLY UNDERSTAND WHO JESUS IS/ TO SEE WHAT HE DID/ TO BE CHALLENGED BY WHAT HE SAID... -- AND NOW IT IS TIME FOR US TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT PHASE OF OUR JOURNEY.... AND FROM TODAY UNTIL WE ARE DONE -- WE WILL BE STUDYING FROM THE BOOKS OF EZRA, NEHEMIAH AND ESTHER...
AND JUST AS BACK IN JANUARY WHEN I HAD NO IDEA WHERE OUR STUDY IN LUKE WOULD REALLY LEAD, (MAN WAS I BLESSED AND CHALLENGED BY LUKE’S GOSPEL) -- IN LIKE MANNER TODAY, I WITH MUCH ANTICIPATION LOOK FORWARD TO A NEW ADVENTURE AND JOURNEY INTO GOD’S HOLY WORD.... NOT KNOWING WHERE IT WILL LEAD -- BUT KNOWING THAT I WILL BE BLESSED WHEN I ARRIVE... AND THOSE WHO JOURNEY WITH ME WILL BE BLESSED AS WELL....
BUT BEFORE WE BEGAN THIS NEW JOURNEY TOGETHER, A JOURNEY THAT WILL START IN THE BOOK OF EZRA; A BOOK THAT BEGINS AT A TIME WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE ARE RETURNING FROM EXILE TO REBUILD THE HOUSE OF GOD...
BUT BEFORE WE BEGIN, I THINK IT WILL BE BENEFICIAL FOR US TO RECAP THE JOURNEY GOD’S PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN (AND THAT WE HAVE TAKEN IN GOD’S WORD GEN-II KINGS), THAT HAS BROUGHT THEM TO THIS POINT... RETURNING FROM A 70 YEAR CAPTIVITY IN BABYLON -- READY TO BEGIN BUILDING THE HOUSE OF GOD....
THEIR JOURNEY BEGAN WITH A CALL, IN THE YEAR 2057BC A MAN NAMED ABRAHAM LIVING IN MESOPOTAMIA -- RECEIVED A CALL FROM GOD, WE READ ABOUT THAT CALL IN GENESIS CHAPTER 12.... AND GOD SAID TO ABRAHAM, "LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY, YOUR PEOPLE AND YOUR FATHER’S HOUSEHOLD AND GO TO THE LAND I WILL SHOW YOU. I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION AND I WILL BLESS YOU; I WILL MAKE YOUR NAME GREAT .... AND ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH WILL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOU."
AND ABRAHAM OBEYED THAT CALL AND WENT EVEN THOUGH HE DID NOT KNOW WHERE HE WAS GOING, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS ASKED TO LEAVE THE FAMILIAR AND JOURNEY INTO THE UNKNOWN. AND BY FAITH ABRAHAM SETTLED IN THE PROMISE LAND, BUT HE NEVER DID (NOR DID HIS CHILDREN FOR THAT MATTER) HAVE A REAL HOME -- THEY LIVED AS NOMADS
IN TENTS IN THE DESERT... AND ABRAHAM ABLE TO DO THIS BECAUSE HE HAD FAITH AND HE WAS NOT CONCERNED ABOUT WHERE HE LIVED ON THIS EARTH -- BECAUSE HE WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO LIVING IN THAT HEAVENLY CITY WHOSE BUILDER AND DESIGNER IS GOD.... HE ENDURED IN THIS LIFE BECAUSE HE WAS CONVINCED OF HIS FUTURE.
ABRAHAM FATHERED ISAAC AND ISAAC WAS THE FATHER OF JACOB AND JACOB HAD 12 SONS.... ONE OF WHO WAS JOSEPH (YOU KNOW THE COAT OF MANY COLORS) WHO WAS SOLD BY HIS BROTHERS AS A SLAVE, SPENT TIME IN JAIL BECAUSE HE REFUSED THE ADVANCES OF POTIPHAR’S WIFE, AND WHO LATER BECAME 2ND IN COMMAND OF ALL OF EGYPT AND WHO ALSO LATER FORGAVE HIS BROTHERS (WHO HAD COME TO EGYPT SEEKING FOOD DURING A FAMINE) SAYING
"YOU INTENDED TO HARM ME, BUT GOD INTENDED IT FOR MY GOOD, TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT IS NOW BEING DONE, THE SAVING OF MANY LIVES. SO THEN DON’T BE AFRAID. I WILL PROVIDE FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN"
ROMANS 8:28; "AND WE KNOW THAT GOD CAUSE ALL THINGS TO WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD, OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM, WHO HAVE BEEN CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.."
AND JACOB CAME TO EGYPT BRINGING ALL HIS SONS AND THEIR FAMILIES (70 IN ALL) TO LIVE THERE..
AND NOT LONG AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL IN EGYPT WHEN A NEW PHARAOH AROSE TO POWER WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH)-- WE SEE GOD’S PEOPLE IN CHAINS, SLAVE IN EGYPT FOR 400 YEARS.... AND DESPITE GOD’S PEOPLE BEING OPPRESSED BY THE CRUEL WHIP OF THE EGYPTIANS... THOSE 70 PEOPLE SWELLED TO OVER A MILLION DURING THEIR YEARS IN CAPTIVITY.
BUT GOD NEITHER FORGOT NOR NEGLECTED HIS PEOPLE, IN 1447 BC AS HE HAD PROMISED, GOD SENT THEM A DELIVERER, AND MOSES THROUGH THE POWER OF GOD PERFORMED GREAT MIRACLES (NILE TO BLOOD, PLAGUES OF: FROGS, GNATS, FLIES, HAIL, BOILS, LOCUST AND THE DEATH OF THE FIRST BORN).
AND GOD THROUGH MOSES BROUGHT THE MIGHTY EGYPTIAN EMPIRE TO HER KNEES. AND PHARAOH LET GOD’S PEOPLE GO... AND THEY LEFT EGYPT GUIDED BY A CLOUD BY DAY AND A PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT..... AND WHILE IN THAT DESERT GOD MET THEIR NEEDS PROVIDING THEM MANNA FORM THE SKY EVERY MORNING, PROVIDING THEM QUAIL AND WATER.
AND IT WAS WHILE CAMPED IN THAT DESERT THAT MOSES BROUGHT DOWN FROM THUNDERING MT. SINAI THE LAW OF GOD....ENGRAVED ON TO STONE TABLETS BY GOD’S OWN HAND....
FROM THERE MOSES LED THE PEOPLE RIGHT TO THE EDGE OF THE PROMISE LAND... AND IT WAS HERE THAT GOD’S PEOPLE FACED A GREAT CHALLENGE TO THEIR FAITH... WE READ ABOUT IT IN NUMBERS CHAPTER 13. MOSES SENT OUT 12 MEN (SPIES) TO CHECK OUT THE PROMISE LAND TO SEE WHAT KIND OF LAND IT WAS AND TO SEE WHAT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE WERE LIKE, BEFORE THEY ENTERED AND TOOK POSSESSION OF THE LAND.
YOU SEE, GOD WANTED THEM TO GO SO THAT THEY COULD SEE JUST HOW GREAT THE LAND WAS THAT HE WAS NOW GIVING TO THEM.... BUT RATHER THEN SEEING THE BEAUTY OF THE LAND, SEEING THAT IT WAS A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY -- ALL 10 OF THE SPIES COULD SEE WERE THE OBSTACLES; "YEAH THE LAND OVER THERE IS PRETTY GOOD BUT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THEIR ARE POWERFUL, AND THE CITES ARE FORTIFIED AND VERY LARGE -- WE CAN’T ATTACK THOSE PEOPLE THEY ARE STRONGER THAN WE ARE...WE ARE MERE GRASSHOPPERS IN THEIR SIGHT."
NOW 2 OF THE SPIES, CALEB AND JOSHUA TRIED TO GET THE PEOPLE TO TRUST GOD AND TO GO TAKE THE LAND... BUT BECAUSE OF THE FAITH OF GOD’S PEOPLE WAS SMALL (LIKE GRASSHOPPERS) -- THEY LISTEN TO THE PESSIMISTS/THEY WERE OVERCOME BY THE OBSTACLES AND SAID WE ARE NOT GOING...
AND THIS DISOBEDIENCE AND LACK OF FAITH...RESULTED IN THEM HAVING TO WANDER IN THE DESERT FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS.
AND WHEN THOSE 40 YEARS WERE COMPLETED, AND THE GENERATION THAT HAD SINNED HAD DIED -- MOSES ONCE AGAIN BROUGHT GOD’S PEOPLE TO THE EDGE OF THE PROMISE LAND... WE READ ABOUT THIS IN THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY (2ND LAW -- BECAUSE MOSES NOW GIVES GOD’S LAW TO THE NEW GENERATION)... AND BEFORE THEY ENTERED THE PROMISE LAND MOSES PRESENTED GOD’S PEOPLE WITH A CHALLENGE HE GAVE THEM A CHOICE AND WARNED THEM OF CONSEQUENCES....
DEUTERONOMY 30:11-20
AND IN THE BOOK OF JOSHUA WE READ HOW JOSHUA MOSES SUCCESSOR A MAN TO WHO GOD SAID, JOSHUA 1:2,3,5-9; AND IN 1407 BC JOSHUA LED ISRAEL ACROSS INTO THE PROMISE LAND -- BRINGING THE WALLS OF JERICHO CRASHING DOWN, CONQUERING THE LAND FOR GOD AND HIS PEOPLE.... IT WAS A GREAT VICTORY FOR THEN AS THEY TRUSTED GOD AND WERE VICTORIOUS...
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA ENDS WITH THE PEOPLE SETTLING IN THE LAND AS THEY DIVIDed THE LAND OF CANAAN AMONG THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL AND WITH JOSHUA MAKING THAT GREAT STATEMENT OF FAITH..
JOSHUA 24:14-15 16-18
BUT IT WAS NOT VERY LONG AFTER THEY HAD SETTLED IN THE LAND THAT GOD’S PEOPLE ENTER A VERY DARK PERIOD OF THEIR HISTORY.... IT IS CALLED THE PERIOD OF JUDGES AND IT LASTED 335 YEARS.
LET ME READ SOME VERSES THAT CHARACTERIZE THIS PERIOD IN THE HISTORY OF GOD’S PEOPLE...
JUDGES 2:6,7; 10,11 THE FIRST GENERATION THOUGH THEY KNEW GOD THEMSELVES, FAILED TO TEACH THE NEXT GENERATION, AND THE NEW GENERATION DID NOT KNOW GOD AND THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL...
IN THE LAST VERSE OF THE BOOK JUDGES THE WRITER OF THE BOOK SHARES A FEW WORDS THAT SUMMARIZE THIS ENTIRE PERIOD.
"IN THOSE DAYS ISRAEL HAD NO KING, AND EVERYONE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THEIR OWN EYES....."
BECAUSE THEY HAD NO KING, BECAUSE NO STANDARD, BECAUSE GOD WAS NOT ON THE THRONE OF THEIR LIVES --- EVERYONE DID WHATEVER THEY WANTED TO DO... IF IT FELT GOOD THEY DID IT -- AND IF IT FELT GOOD OR WAS CONVENIENT TO NOT TO DO IT -- THEY DIDN’T!
THIS ENTIRE PERIOD WAS CHARACTERIZED BY GOD’S PEOPLE FALLING AWAY, SUFFERING BECAUSE OF SIN; THE PEOPLE CRYING OUT TO GOD FOR DELIVERANCE, AND THEN GOD SENDING THEM A DELIVER TO RESCUE THEM.
BUT WHENEVER THAT DELIVER DIED, THE PEOPLE WOULD AGAIN QUICKLY RETURN TO THEIR EVIL WAYS.... SEVEN TIMES GOD’S PEOPLE DURING THOSE 300+ YEARS, WENT THROUGH THE SAME CYCLE OF SIN -- SUFFERING -- SUPPLICATION (CRYING OUT TO GOD) AND DELIVERANCE...
GOD’S PEOPLE LEARNED SOME VALUABLE LESSONS DURING THIS PERIOD (LESSONS WE WOULD ALSO DO WELL TO LEARN)..
ONE LESSON IS FOR US: TO TEACH THE NEXT GENERATION (godly parents do make a difference......)
ANOTHER IS FOR US: TO STOP IDLY SITTING BY AND TOLERATING EVIL
-- IN OTHERS, IN THE CHURCH AND IN OUR OWN LIVES...
AND PERHAPS THE GREATEST LESSON IS FOR US: TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN GOD’S EYES AND NOT IN OUR OWN EYES... (MAN WOULD THAT BRING PEACE AND UNITY IN OUR HOMES AND CHURCHES)....
AND GOD’S PEOPLE LEARNED THAT GOD HATES SIN... THAT GOD WILL NOT TOLERATE SIN... AND THAT WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE SIN GOD WILL OFTEN WITHDRAW HIS PROTECTION FROM THEIR LIVES... AND W/O GOD’S PROTECTION SATAN HAS A HEY DAY -- TROUBLES COME...
BUT NOT ONLY DID THEY LEARN THAT GOD HATES SIN, BUT THEY LEARNED OF GOD’S GRACE AND THAT GOD LOVES TO FORGIVE HIS PEOPLE WHENEVER THEY SINCERELY REPENT...
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN PETER CAME TO JESUS AND SAID TO HIM, "LORD HOW MANY TIMES SHALL I FORGIVE MY BROTHER WHEN HE SINS AGAINST ME? UP TO 7 TIMES" NOW PETER REALLY FELT HE WAS DOING GOOD, BECAUSE THE RABBIS OF HIS DAY TAUGHT, YOU ONLY HAD TO FORGIVE 3 TIMES.
AND DO YOU REMEMBER, JESUS’ ANSWER TO PETER? "YOU NEED TO FORGIVE HIM UP TO 70 TIMES 7 TIMES... IN OTHER WORDS WHENEVER A BROTHER COMES TO US, IN GENUINE REPENTANCE AND ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS -- WE ARE COMMANDED TO FORGIVE... WELL IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES WE SEE GOD PRACTICING THIS VERY THING THAT JESUS PREACHED. EVEN THOUGH GOD’S PEOPLE REJECTED HIM TIME AND RIME AGAIN -- AND DID EVIL -- EVERY TIME THEY CRIED OUT IN GENUINE REPENTANCE GOD FORGAVE THEM AND DELIVERED THEM... GOD LOVES TO FORGIVE HIS PEOPLE....
THE NEXT TURN IN THE HISTORY OF GOD’S PEOPLE IS THEIR RISE AND WE READ OF THIS RISE BEGINNING IN I SAMUEL AND ENDING EARLY IN THE BOOK OF 1ST KINGS. THIS PERIOD IN THEIR HISTORY LASTED 114 YEARS. AND IT BEGINS WHEN SAUL IS CROWNED KING OF ISRAEL -- LATER WE SEE DAVID THE SHEPHERD BOY: SLAYING A GIANT, BECOMING KING, AND CONQUERING MANY NATIONS IN BATTLE (EXPANDING THE BORDERS OF THE NATION).
AND FINALLY DAVID’S SON SOLOMON TAKES THE THRONE -- HE BUILDS THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND ACCUMULATES MORE WEALTH THEN ANYONE EVER HAS... IT WAS A TIME OF GREAT PROSPERITY FOR GOD’S PEOPLE.. BUT THIS TIME WAS TO BE SHORT LIVED, BECAUSE AT SOLOMON’S DEATH GOD’S PEOPLE RAPIDLY BEGIN THEIR FALL.
YOU SEE, SHORTLY AFTER SOLOMON’S DEATH THE NATION DIVIDED INTO 2 KINGDOMS... ISRAEL IN THE NORTH AND IN THE SOUTH... AND THIS DIVIDED NATION WAS UNABLE TO STAND...(NEITHER WILL CHURCHES OR HOMES).
THE NORTHERN KINGDOM WAS THE FIRST TO GO AS SHE GREW MORE AND MORE EVIL AND AS HER KINGS BECAME INCREASINGLY MORE WICKED.... ISRAEL TURNED HER BACK ON GOD -- SHE IGNORED THE WARNINGS OF GOD’S PROPHETS, AND THEREFORE IN 722 BC THE ASSYRIA EMPIRE MARCHED AGAINST HER, DESTROYED HER CITIES, KILLED HER PEOPLE, TAKING MANY AWAY INTO CAPTIVITY..
NOW, THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM (JUDAH) WAS NOT THAT FAR BEHIND.... THEY TOO BEGAN TO BECOME EVIL -- TURNING THEIR BACK ON GOD, BOWING DOWN TO FOREIGN gODS..... AND JUDAH ALSO DEVELOPED A VERY DANGEROUS FALSE SECURITY -- ("ONCE YOU ARE GOD’S PEOPLE YOU ARE ALWAYS GOD’S PEOPLE"). AND WHAT LED TO THIS FALSE THEOLOGY WAS THAT SINCE ISRAEL FELL AND JUDAH WAS STILL STANDING OVER 100 YEARS LATER -- THIS OBVIOUSLY MUST MEAN THAT SHE WOULD NEVER FALL -- THEREFORE, IT NO LONGER MATTERED -- WHAT THEY DID AS A NATION BECAUSE THEY WOULD ALWAYS BE ON GOD’S GOOD SIDE....(NOT!)
AND GOD SENT MANY PROPHETS TO WARN HER/BUT SHE WOULD NOT LISTEN... FOR OVER 50 YEARS THE PROPHET JEREMIAH PREACHED GOD’S WARNING IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM....
BUT THEY WOULD NOT HEAR OR LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD... INSTEAD THEY HIRED THEIR OWN PROPHETS WHO SAID WHAT THEIR ITCHY EARS WANTED TO HEAR... HEAR IS A TASTE OF WHAT JEREMIAH TRIED TO TELL GOD’S PEOPLE. JEREMIAH 2:11-17;
JEREMIAH 25:2-11;
JEREMIAH 33:6-9;
AND IN 587 BC NEBUCHENEZAR LAID SIEGE TO JERUSALEM FOR 18 MONTHS -- AND AFTER THE SIEGE THOSE WHO WERE NOT KILLED WERE TAKEN AWAY TO EXILE IN BABYLON.... THE CITY WAS IN RUINS, THE TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED, AND THE THEOLOGY OF ONCE GOD’S PEOPLE ALWAYS GOD’S PEOPLE WENT UP IN ASHES.... AND ALL OF THIS BRINGS US TO THE OPENING PAGES OF THE BOOK OF EZRA -- AFTER ALL OF THEIR JOURNEYS GOD’S PEOPLE ARE NOW BACK PREPARING TO BUILD THE HOUSE OF GOD...
YOU KNOW IF WE REFLECT ON IT FOR JUST A MOMENT -- WE WILL SEE THAT -- MANY TIMES INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN AND EVEN CHURCHES GO THROUGH MUCH SAME THE PROCESS THAT THE ISRAELITES WENT THROUGH DURING THOSE CENTURIES...
WE TOO HAVE GOOD TIMES/TIMES OF PROSPERITY -- AND WE HAVE DIFFICULT TIMES/TIMES OF HARDSHIP.... TIMES OF CONQUEST, AND TIMES OF DEFEAT... AND MORE TIMES THEN WE WOULD PROBABLY CARE TO ADMIT -- WE TOO ARE FORCED TO WANDER IN THE DESERT -- BECAUSE OF OUR SIN AND LACK OF FAITH IN GOD.... TIMES WHEN ALL WE COULD SEE WAS WHO AND WHAT WAS AGAINST AND NOT WHO IS FOR US.... TIMES WHEN ALL WE COULD SEE WERE THE GIANTS, THE FORTIFIED CITIES AND WERE THEREFORE BLINDED TO THE HAND AND POWER OF GOD... SO WE WANDER AIMLESSLY IN A SPIRITUAL, DRY BARREN WASTE LAND.
AND IF YOU HAVE BEEN ONE OF GOD’S PEOPLE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME -- YOU HAVE LEARNED THE NOT SO EXCITING TRUTH; - THAT JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE ANSWERED THE CALL TO BE GOD’S PEOPLE; THAT THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE WON’T EVER HAVE TO MAKE A TRIP DOWN TO EGYPT -- THAT WE WON’T EXPERIENCE LIFE’S CRUELTY -- THE WE WON’T BE ON OCCASIONS HELD IN BONDAGE BY PEOPLE AND CIRCUMSTANCES... BUT PERHAPS YOU HAVE ALSO LEARNED THAT IF YOU HOLD ON TO YOUR FAITH --GOD REALLY DOES PROVIDE DELIVERANCE.
AND JUST AS THAT NEW GENERATION STOOD AT THE EDGE OF THE PROMISE LAND.... JUST A RIVER AWAY FROM BEING THERE; JUST AS THEY WERE GIVEN A CHALLENGE BY MOSES -- WE AS GOD’S PEOPLE TODAY ARE GIVING THE SAME CHALLENGE....
GOD HAS SET BEFORE US >> LIFE AND DEATH/BLESSINGS AND CURSES
AND HE CHALLENGES US TO CHOOSE LIFE -- SO THAT WE AND OUR CHILDREN WILL LIVE.
>> WE NEED TO LOVE THE LORD OUR GOD
>> LISTEN TO HIS VOICE
>> HOLD FAST TO HIM --- FOR THE LORD IS LIFE -- AND HE WILL GIVE US MANY YEARS IN THE LAND..
AND LIKE THE ISRAELITES WE TOO FACE A DANGER THAT ONCE WE AS CHURCHES OR INDIVIDUALS SETTLE IN THE LAND; ONCE WE GET COMFORTABLE; ONCE WE FEEL THEY ARE BIG ENOUGH ON OUR OWN; THAT WE DON’T NEED GOD -- THAT WE DON’T WANT HIM TO BE THERE KING
-- WE FACE THE DANGER OF DOING WHAT IS RIGHT IN OUR OWN EYES....
AND FRIENDS GOD WILL PUNISH SIN (REMOVE PROTECTION) -- AND GOD WILL ALWAYS HONOR FAITH & OBEDIENCE.
AND SOMEDAY AS INDIVIDUALS OR EVEN AS A CHURCH WE MAY FIND OURSELVES LOOKING OVER THE SMOLDERING RUINS OF BROKEN DREAMS, SHATTERED PROMISES AND FADING HOPE...
AND JUST AS GOD’S PEOPLE RETURNED AFTER EXILE WITH A CHALLENGE TO BUILD GOD’S HOUSE -- WE TOO FACE THE SAME CHALLENGE TODAY.... AND THE PRINCIPLES THAT THEY EMPLOYED TO BUILD GOD’S HOUSE THEN, ARE THE SAME PRINCIPLES WE NEED TO EMPLOY IF WE ARE TO SUCCESSFULLY BUILD GOD’S HOUSE TODAY...
FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS WE ARE GOING TO STUDY THE BOOK OF EZRA AND PULL OUT 17 PRINCIPLES THAT WILL AID US IN BUILDING THE LORD’S HOUSE... AND EVEN THOUGH I WILL BE SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT BUILDING GOD’S HOUSE -- MANY OF THE PRINCIPLES WILL ALSO APPLY TO THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE OF OUR INDIVIDUAL LIVES AS WELL...
SINCE WE’VE SPENT SO MUCH TIME ON BACKGROUND WORK TODAY WE ARE ONLY GOING TO STUDY THE FIRST PRINCIPLE FOR BUILDING GOD’S HOUSE -- BUT AS YOU WILL SEE IT IS THE FOUNDATION PRINCIPLE..
EZRA 1:1-5
I. THE FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPAL FOR US TO BUILD GOD’S HOUSE IS;
WE MUST BE A PEOPLE WHOSE HEART HAS BEEN MOVED BY GOD
A. WELL, WHOSE HEART DOES GOD MOVE TO BUILD HIS HOUSE? FIRST HE MOVES THE HEART OF THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY GIVEN THEIR HEART TO HIM -- GOD CAN’T MOVE YOUR HEART UNTIL YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM YOU HEART --
GOD MOVES THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN
HE MOVES IN THE HEART OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM
THOSE WHO WANT TO PLEASE HIM
THOSE WHO REVERE HIM/WHO FEAR HIM
GOD MOVES IN THE HEART OF THOSE WHO SPEND TIME WITH HIM IN PERSONAL WORSHIP (PRAYER, BIBLE STUDY AND PRAISE). YOU SEE YOU HAVE TO BE IN HIS PRESENCE TO BE MOVED BY HIM.
HE MOVES IN THE HEART OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM
THOSE WHO LOVE HIS CHURCH, ARE FAITHFUL TO HIS BRIDE, ARE CONVICTED OF HER IMPORTANCE... LOVE HER MISSION AND ARE CONCERNED ABOUT GOD’S SHEEP
GOD MOVES IN THE HEART OF THOSE WHO ARE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT JESUS AND GOD DID ON THE CROSS.. THE FATHER GAVE HIS SON FOR US WHEN WE WERE HIS ENEMIES HE WATCHED THE SON HE LOVED DIE FOR US... THE SON SHED HIS BLOOD AND HAD HIS BODY BROKEN FOR US./ GOD MOVES IN THE HEART OF THOSE WHO ARE SO THANKFUL FOR HIS GRACE/ SO HOPEFUL OF THEIR FUTURE GLORY....
GOD MOVES THE HEART OF THOSE WHO LOOK AT WHAT CHRIST DID, THE PAIN HE SUFFERED, THE SIN HE BORE AND SAY -- "I WANT TO DO SOME THING FOR JESUS TO SHOW MY GRATITUDE/I WANT TO SERVE IN YOUR KINGDOM ..JESUS THANK YOU FOR LOVING ME -- FOR DYING FOR ME, FOR FORGIVING ME, FOR GIVING ME YOUR SPIRIT -- FOR GOING TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR ME..."
IF WE ARE TO BUILD GOD’S HOUSE WE MUST BE A PEOPLE WHOSE HEARTS HAVE BEEN MOVED BY GOD
GOD IS A GREAT MOVER OF HEARTS....
B. BUT WHY ARE SOME SO UNMOVED?
YOU KNOW IT AMAZES ME THAT SO MANY PEOPLE ARE UNMOVED BY THE CROSS, ARE UNMOVED BY GOD’S LOVED, UNMOVED BY HIS SACRIFICE, UNMOVED BY HIS GRACE, UNMOVED BY THE FUTURE HOPE HE GIVES, UNMOVED BY HIS PRESENCE, PEACE AND POWER...
AND NOT JUST THE HEATHEN AND PAGAN WORLD IS UNMOVED BY GOD... MANY PEOPLE GO TO CHURCH BUILDINGS -- ON SUNDAYS AND ARE NOT MOVED BY GOD...
THEY CAN HEAR GOD’S WORD PROCLAIMED AND NOT BE MOVED AT ALL... THEY CAN HEAR PRAISES SUNG AND REMAIN COLD -- DRY AND DEAD...THEY CAN HEAR A MESSAGE THAT GODLY PARENTS MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND GO HOME AND DO NOTHING.... OR HEAR A MESSAGE ABOUT SERVING IN THE KINGDOM AND CONTINUE TO BE A PEW POTATO, HEAR GOD’S WORD WARN THEM ABOUT SIN AND HOLD OUT THE PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS AND YET REFUSE TO MOVE TOWARDS GOD... AND LEAVE UNCHANGED... THEY CAME TO CHURCH JUST AS THEY WAS -- AND LEFT JUST AS THEY WAS... (SARITA, JUDY, AND OTHERS ARE MOVED -- WHEN THEY ARE ALREADY GOING -- WHILE OTHERS DON’T BUDGE).
WHY ARE THEY SO UNMOVED BY GOD AND HIS WORD?
BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT RIGHT WITH GOD
GOD DOES NOT REALLY HAVE THEIR HEART
THEY DON’T APPRECIATE THE CROSS
THEY DON’T LOVE GOD (NOT OBEYING HIM)
BUT LET’S NOTE AN IMPORTANT TRUTH -- THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS DECIDE THAT TODAY IS THE DAY GOD WILL MOVE YOUR HEART..... THAT TODAY IS THE DAY WHEN YOU WILL NO LONGER LOOK AT THE CROSS AND REMAIN THE SAME.... THAT TODAY IS THE DAY THAT GOD WILL MOVE YOUR HEART TO BUILD HIS HOUSE AND TO BUILD YOUR LIVES IN HIM. THAT TODAY IS THE DAY YOU WILL LIVE THE PEW AND JOIN THE PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS -- RADICALLY COMMITTED TO SERVING THE KING.
C. WHY MUST IT BE GOD WHO DOES THE MOVING
PS 127:1,2
WE ARE BUILDING THE LORD’S HOUSE -- HE MUST BE THE BUILDER -- WE ARE THE WORKERS.... HE MUST BE THE FOUNDATION, ONLY HOUSES HE BUILDS ARE GUARANTEED TO STAND THE STORMS OF LIFE...
AND TO TRY TO BUILD W/O HIM -- NO MATTER HOW MUCH TIME YOU SPEND -- EFFORT YOU EMPLOY -- NO MATTER HOW EARLY YOU RISE OR HOW LATE YOU GO TO BED -- YOU WILL BE LABORING IN VAIN...
WHY MUST IT BE GOD DOING THE MOVING....
HERE WHAT ZECHARIAH SAID IN HIS BOOK, AND NOTE THAT HE WAS A PROPHET WHO HAD HIS MINISTRY DURING THE BUILDING OF GOD’S HOUSE AFTER THE EXILE...
ZECH 4:6,7
ONLY GOD’S SPIRIT WILL BUILD GOD’S HOUSE
IT IS NOT OUR MIGHT OR OUR PERCEIVED ABILITY IT IS GOD...
WE NEED GOD -- WE NEED GOD WE NEED GOD IF WE ARE EVER TO BUILD HIS HOUSE.... TO TRY TO BUILD WITHOUT HIM WHETHER WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A CHURCH OR ABOUT OUR LIVES IT IS TO BUILD IN VAIN... A WARRIOR FOR THE KINGDOM.
I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I DON’T LIKE DOING SOMETHING IN VAIN.... LET’S LET GOD BUILD THIS HOUSE - LETS SEEK HIS FACE HIS WILL AND HIS POWER....
LET’S BUILD LIVES AND A CHURCH THAT WILL STAND...
D. FINALLY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GOD MOVES SOMEONES HEART
LET’S LOOK AT VERSE 5 AGAIN IN EZRA -- THERE IS AN IMPORTANT PHRASE IN THERE THAT IS EASY TO MISS...
PREPARED TO GO UP AND BUILD
THE MOVING TAKES PLACE IN THE HEART
BUT THE ACTIN TAKES PLACE IN OUR LIVES....
THERE IS MORE TO BUILDING GOD’S HOUSE THEN A WARM FEELING ON A SUNDAY MORNING... THERE IS WORK, THERE IS EFFORT -- THEIR IS SACRCIFCE...COMMITMENT; SERVICE
IF YOU HEAR A SERMON ON SUNDAY AND FEEL A WARM FEELING AND AN URGE TO RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGE -- BUT YOU WALK OUT THE DOORS AND DO NOTHING -- GOD HAS NOT MOVED YOU --- HE HAS TRIED BUT YOU HAVE SHUT THE DOOR -- YOU HAVE TURN YOUR BACK ON HIM -- DISOBEYED HIS WORD -- YOU HAVE TAKEN YOUR HAND OFF THE PLOW AND LOOKED BACK AND AFTER UNFIT FOR KINGDOM SERVICE.... UNTIL YOU ARE MOVED TO TAKE REAL, LASTING, PAINFUL, COMMITTED ACTION....YOU HAVE NOT BEEN MOVED
THE MOST IMPORTANT BUILDING TAKING PLACE IN TAMPA TODAY -- IS NOT THE NEW ARENA -- IS NOT THE NEW BUCS STADIUM OR CHANGES TO THE THUINDERDOEM -- IT IS NOT THE WIDENING OF PARSONS OR OF MLK.... AND IT IS NOT A SCHOOL OR A CIVIC BRIDLING....
THE MOST IMPORTANT BUILDING TAKING PLACE IN TAMPA IS THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE OF GOD.... NOW THE OTHERS WILL GET MORE COVERAGE IN THE PRESS.... BUT WHEN THEY ARE LONG GONE AND FORGOTTEN MERE DUST IN THE WIND... THE CHURCH OF GOD WILL STILL BE STANDING..... IT IS A BUILDING THAT CAN NEVER PERISH, SPOIL OR FADE..... A BUILDING THAT REPRESENTS AND CONSISTS OF CHANGED LIVES -- A PEOPLE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF THE SON....
TO BE INVOLVED IN ANY OTHER BUILDING PROJECT TO THE NEGLECT OF BUILDING THEN GOD’S KINGDOM -- IS TO BUILD IN VAIN.....
IF YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING THAT IS MOST SIGNIFICANT THAT HAS ENTERAL CONSEQUENCES -- THAT CAN HAVE HOPE TO LOST -- FREEDOM TO THE PRISONER AND LIGHT TO THE BLIND -- THEN BE A BUILDER OF GOD’S HOUSE...
HAS GOD MOVED YOU TODAY TO BUILD HIS HOUSE (WILL THE MOVEMENT BE REAL AND RESULT IN ACTION.?)
CAN GOD MOVE YOU TO BUILD HIS HOUSE -- OR ARE YOU TOO INVOLVED WITH SELF AND SIN...
BROTHERS IT IS TIME TO BUILD
REALLY BUILD THE CHURCH OF GOD AT EAST TAMPA
TO BUILD HIS CHURCH
GOD IS CALLING US TO LEAVE THE UNCOMFORTABLE -- TO LEAVE THE EASY -- TO LEAVE THE FAMILIAR AND FOLLOW HIM...
BROTHERS WE ARE ON THE EDGE OF GREATNESS AS THE CHURCH -- THE SPIES HAVE BENE SENT OUT...
SOME ONLY SEE THE GIANTS, TAUNTING IN THE VALLEY -- SOME SEE THE FORTIFIED CITIES -- SOME ONLY SEE WHAT WE CAN’T DO -- AND DON’T HAVE..
BUT I SEE THE HAND, THE POWER AND THE PROMISES OF THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY -- I SEE THE POSSIBILITIES.. AND I SAY LET’S CONQUER THE LAND --DEFEAT THE FOES CHANGE OUR WORLD FOR GOD... KNOWING THAT AS WE MARCH HE GOES WITH US...
WHO STANDS WITH ME....
(HAVE THEN STAND -- NOT DONE IN CHRIST CHURCH OF CHRIST)
