[0:00] Well, take your Bibles, if you would, and go with me to the book of Ezra. Go with me to the book of Ezra. We are in Ezra chapter 2 this morning. And you might wonder, what in the world?
[0:10] Book of Ezra. I've been going to church a long time. I haven't heard very many messages out of the book of Ezra. If you attend Vision, you know by now we're going through the whole Bible. And Lord willing, before I depart this scene, we're going to finish it.
[0:22] I'm speeding it up. So on Sunday nights, we're doing Psalms and going through the Sunday night and Thursday nights. So we're working on studying the whole Bible. So you say, what's the book of Ezra? Well, the book of Ezra is about the children of Israel, God's chosen people, the Jews, as they leave the land of bondage, and they make, that's the land of captivity, and they return to the city of Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the temple.
[0:47] That's what Ezra's about. So Ezra's job will be to rebuild the inside of the city, the important part, the place where they worship God. And so today we're going to talk about a return to a revival of worship, because that's what's going to end up happening.
[1:01] The next book we'll look at is the book of Nehemiah. They'll come right on the tail of this one. And that is the same story, except it's about a man who rebuilds the walls around the city and protects what's on the inside.
[1:13] And so we'll be in the book of Nehemiah next. Ezra, chapter 2, tells the journey back home. It's a really interesting chapter because it's like a hundred and something names, and that's all it is.
[1:27] And so we won't be doing a whole lot with all those names. But there's a lot of things I think we can think about there. Here's what it does tell us in Ezra 2. It tells us about them starting the, or the book of Ezra.
[1:37] It tells us how they started the trip and tells us how they got there. It tells us the beginning of the story and tells us the end of the story. That's really the most important part of your life. How's it going to end?
[1:48] Where are you going? Did you get saved? That's the beginning. Do you know for sure your sins are forgiven? Do you know for sure you're on your way to heaven? Because the beginning of your story, mine took place on May the 6th, 1962.
[2:01] In the end of my story, I'm not sure when that's going to happen. But all this stuff in between, what's important is I came to know Jesus. If you know him as your Savior, say amen. I hope you do.
[2:12] A great preacher named Martin Lloyd-Jones said when he got older and could no longer preach, his old friends came back to see him. They felt very sorry for him. They said, you used to be a lion in the pulpit, but you've gotten older and it's kind of pitiful now.
[2:27] They said, are you discouraged? He said, my joy never was in the preaching. My joy was in the fact my name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life. It still is. Amen? I hope you know for sure that your name is in the Lamb's Book of Life.
[2:41] We have a story here of God taking his people out of captivity. That's a fancy word for slavery. Their country had been invaded. They had, because of their sin, been taken out of their country, drug off to another country.
[2:54] They lived there for 70 years. And finally, they're going back. Now, while they're in captivity, it's very hard for them to worship. I mean, when you're a slave and when you're being mistreated and when things are horrible, it's kind of tough to be excited about serving God.
[3:08] But now they're back. And we're going to see that they are going to worship in Ezra chapter 3. And I want to show you several things from this story that are important. Number one, look with me in Ezra chapter 2 and verse 62.
[3:22] Ezra chapter 2 is a lot of names. And you've got to say, God, why in the world do you list all the names? Why do you put all of that in the story?
[3:33] The Bible says in chapter 2, verse 62, These sought their register among those that were reckoned by geology, but they were not found. Therefore, were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.
[3:47] It was a big deal to these Jewish people that they know who they were because they were from tribes. They started out with 12 patriarchs, 12 family fathers, and they came down through that line.
[4:00] And there were actually 13 families counting the Levites. And so you had to know who you were. And you had to know where you come from. And so they had to prove that I belong in the ministry.
[4:11] They had to prove who they were to get their inheritance. Do you deserve to get this land? It's been 70 years since we were taken out of here. Now you're back and you're claiming land.
[4:22] Let's make sure you are illegal. You have a legal right. But the big part of this verse was these guys were the ministers. They were the servants. They were the preachers. They were the people that handled the things of God.
[4:35] And God had put some prerequisites to that. And it was who the family they were born in. They had to prove that or they couldn't serve. So some of these guys are going in the temple and they said, All right, pull out your credentials.
[4:46] Let me see your social security number. Let me see your DNA card. Let me make sure what tribe you belong to. If you don't belong, you're out. Well, we don't really have much of that going on in the New Testament.
[4:56] That's not who we are. But there is a list. And this list made me think about another list where you need to make sure your name is written. And that is the Lamb's Book of Life. So if I go to the New Testament, I won't find a list of requirements of what tribe you're in.
[5:14] But listen to this. God has a list of those who are born again. God has a list right now of those who are born again. He knows if you are on your way to heaven.
[5:25] You may say you are. You may claim you are. But if your name's not in this list, you're not going to heaven. So get your Bible out. Write this down somewhere you see. Look it up in a little while and study it and make sure I'm right.
[5:36] But in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 22, the Bible says, You are come to the Mount Sin, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly, the church of the firstborn, look at this, which are written in heaven.
[5:55] Written in heaven. There's a list in heaven right now according to the word of God where all of us who are born again and on our way to heaven, all that will go to heaven, their name is on this list.
[6:07] In Revelation 21, 27, the last book in the Bible, the Bible says, And there shall in no wise enter in anything that defiles, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
[6:24] So in the book of Ezra, this guy wanted to go in there and say if they couldn't set up the pulpit and get everything ready for the ministry, and they said, Let's check and see if you have a right to do that. Well, in the real scheme of things and the most important scheme of things, you're going to die someday, and if your name's not written, in the Lamb's book of life, you will not get into heaven.
[6:43] I think sometimes we take it too lightly. I think we think I attend church. I think we think I do good stuff, and I'm a good neighbor, and I'm a good person, and I do everything right.
[6:56] But you need to know God in Ezra chapter 2 wrote down all the names, and God's already got the names written down today. It's your name on the list. I really wish you'd look up this verse right here.
[7:07] I know it's a little hard for you to look up verses sometime, and you can watch them on the screen, but if you mark them in your Bible, write them down, you can look them up later. Look at Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11. There will come a time when they're going to examine the books.
[7:19] There will come a time when the God of heaven will say, Get out the books. Let's look at the books. Let's see whose name's in the book, and then let's bring up their sin and discuss their sin.
[7:30] Revelation chapter 12 and in verse 11, the Bible said, I saw a great white throne, and the guy who sat on that throne, even the earth and the heaven were afraid, and they fled away, and there was no place because God is so awesome.
[7:45] This is Jesus on the throne. He is the judge of the universe. He's the God of the universe, and it's time for him to decide if you're heaven-bound or not, verse 12.
[7:56] And all the dead, small and great, stood before God, and the books were opened. And there was a book open there called the book of life.
[8:07] The book of life. So they opened the book of life. And in verse 13, they judged every man according to the other books that were there. And then it makes several statements.
[8:18] These are crucial that you understand them. And death and hell were cast in the lake of fire. This is the second death. And here's the horrific verse. The Bible says, Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
[8:40] Ezra chapter 2, you just didn't get to work in the temple. In Revelation chapter 20, you're thrown into a place of eternal suffering.
[8:53] A place where you will never get out and a place where you will suffer forever. And that is not God's will for you. So in Ezra chapter 2, I see a list of people that could work in the ministry.
[9:06] And in Revelation chapter 20, I see who will go to hell. I don't want you to go to hell. I don't want you to go to a lake of fire. I don't want you to go to a little place of torment. God doesn't want you to go to a place of torment.
[9:18] You can be saved. The Bible says in John chapter 5 and verse 24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word and believes on him that sent me has everlasting life and shall not condemnation, but is passed from death to life.
[9:38] Now look at this verse. You must hear the truth. You must hear the truth. You're hearing the truth. You must realize that you have sinned against the Holy God.
[9:50] You must realize that Jesus died on a cross for you to be saved. You must realize that and you must hear it. And you must believe on him that sent Jesus. You must believe on the God of heaven.
[10:00] And if you do that, here's some promises. Number one, you have eternal life. And you need to look at the verse. It doesn't say you will have. It doesn't say maybe you'll have.
[10:11] It doesn't say you hope you'll have. It says you have it. It's yours. This is my Bible right here. I have it. It belongs to me. It's in my possession. My eternal life is in my possession.
[10:22] I have eternal life. Then it says, and you won't come into condemnation. There'll never be a time when you stand before the great God of heaven and he looks down at you and says, you're not saved.
[10:34] You can't go to heaven. I condemn you to hell. That'll never happen if you have heard and you have believed. If you have heard what God had to say, if you've heard the word of God and you have believed it in your heart, that won't happen.
[10:48] And then there's this crazy phrase right here. It's like there's this list of everybody's going to die and there's this other list of everybody's going to live. And look what it says. It's passed from death to life.
[11:00] You were on your way to death and now you get saved and you're on your way to life. I got a big question for you. Which group are you in? I think it's a big deal. Everybody in this room that's born again knows this is a big deal.
[11:13] Everybody who studies the Bible knows this is a big deal. Is your name on the list? Is your name in the Lamb's book of life? Are you in the group that's going to die and go to hell and suffer forever?
[11:24] Are you in the group that's trusting Jesus Christ and believing him? Are you in the line for death or the line for hell? I hope today you'll trust Jesus Christ and know for sure you're going to heaven. I hope you'll hear and believe.
[11:37] And if you're here and that's not who you are, I need you to know something. We were all over in this other list and now we're in this list of those that are born again. And we love you and we care and we want you to know for sure you'll go to heaven.
[11:50] Do you know that? All right, I'll take a break from intents. I'll come back to it in a minute. But this is a big deal. This is a big deal. You shouldn't take it lightly. You shouldn't just say, well, I enjoy going to church because I get to study the Bible, learn a lot more stuff, fill up my head.
[12:03] You've got to know that trusting Jesus from your heart is the key. Realizing you've sinned against the God of heaven and realizing you need to trust him and believe in him. And so they've had a list.
[12:14] Now go with me if you would to Ezra chapter 2 and verse 68. Now we're headed towards the idea of worship. There's a revival of worship taking place among God's people, the Jews, as they get back into Jerusalem.
[12:28] But the truth is you can't worship God if you're not in the list of those that love God and believe God. So that's where it's going to start. Do you know for sure your sins are forgiven? Do you know for sure you're on your way to heaven?
[12:39] Has your name been written in the Lamb's book of life? You need to figure that one out. The second thing we see in Ezra chapter 2 and verse 68 is that real worship motivates people to give to God's work.
[12:53] Look if you would in Ezra chapter 2 and verse 68. And some of the chief of the fathers, and when they came to the house of the Lord, which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place.
[13:07] Now they got to Jerusalem and they're getting ready to set up the place you're going to worship God. Well, places to worship God aren't free. Doing the work of God's not free.
[13:17] And so when they got there, it was in their heart and they said, man, we want to give. And the king had already sent them with some money. And the people back in Babylon that had yet to get there, they hadn't decided to leave Babylon and come to Jerusalem.
[13:30] They'd sent them with money. But when they arrived, they all said, I want to give. And see, real loving God says, I'm in with everything. Real loving God says, I'm in.
[13:42] You know, you don't want to be like the Baptist guy who got baptized. And you know, he was in the baptistry and he had his wallet in his hand. And the pastor said, I'm about to baptize you. Your wallet's going to get wet. And he said, oh no, don't worry about it.
[13:53] And when they put him under, he held his wallet up. And he said, I'm all in, but not my wallet. You don't want to be that way. You want to say, I'm in. Look, if you would, in Ezra chapter 2 and verse 69. The Bible said, they gave after their ability.
[14:07] So these people looked at what God was doing and said, I'm in. And I want to give. And they gave according to what they could. A rich guy could give a lot more than a poor guy could give. But they can both give according to what they have.
[14:19] When I arrived in Atequipa, Prue, it was a missionary way back in 1988. I started teaching a bunch of young Peruvians. And one day I arrived in the office. And when I showed up at the office, I came in. And the guys had been sitting around in a circle.
[14:30] And they said, we figured out how to pay for our church. I said, okay, good deal. Tell me about it. They said, well, here's the plan. We're going to charge everybody 50 centimos, which is about a dime back then, to come to church.
[14:42] So every time you come to church, you've got to put your dime in. And they said, and then if you don't come to church, we're going to charge you 50 anyway because you didn't come. And then if you don't pay on time, we're going to charge you a late fee.
[14:55] And I said, wow. I said, it's going to be cheap for me. Ten cents, nothing for me. I'll pay a year up front. And they said, what do you mean? I said, God's got a lot better plan than that.
[15:06] God's plan was that we'd all give 10%. And I said, if we gave 10%, I'm going to be giving a heap. And you're going to be giving a little. And I said, so you make 50 cents away. I said, that 10 cents cost you a lot of money, wouldn't it?
[15:18] That 10 cents is nothing to me. You give according to your ability. And they said, man, that's a good plan. So how much would I have to give when I don't make anything?
[15:28] I said, well, you wouldn't know anything because 10% of nothing is nothing. They said, we really like that plan. And, you know, what you want to do is get involved in the plan of God and say, I'm in. And I want to give and I want to be a part of it.
[15:40] Look at Ezra chapter 3 and verse 5. They offered freely. They wanted to. It was born in their heart. People that give to the work of God do it because they love God. This isn't a prosperity gospel.
[15:52] This isn't a get rich thing for the preacher. This is, I love God and I'm trying to do something for the work of God. Look at Ezra chapter 3 and verse 5. And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and of everyone that willingly, underline that, willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord.
[16:13] Now, that's redundant. You know what redundant is? It's like saying the same thing twice. It's like saying, it's like saying he is a good-looking, good-looking pastor. I mean, it's redundant and you don't believe it.
[16:25] But anyway, in this verse it says they offered willingly freewill. They offered willingly what they wanted to. They gave what they wanted to give because they wanted to give it.
[16:37] They wanted to see God do something. They wanted to see God's house in his place. They knew they were giving to God and his work. They gave according to their ability. However God blessed them, that's how they were going to give.
[16:48] And that's how you and I do. You don't never, ever come to a church and look around and say, how's that guy giving? How much does that guy give? What about that person? What about that rich person? What about that poor person? It has nothing to do with it.
[17:00] It's between you and God. It's because from your heart, what you want to do, how do you want to give? Look, if you would, at Ezra chapter 3 and verse 7. When you give to the work of God, you will necessarily give to the work to the men of God.
[17:14] Ezra 3, 7. They gave money also unto the masons and the carpenters and meat and drink and oil unto all these guys. So they were given to the guys. In other words, as they gave that money, they were paying for the bricklayers and they were paying for the carpenters.
[17:29] Somebody had to build the house of God. And what does it cost to build the house of God? And so they were given to people. It's kind of a weird thing about when we give to the things of God, you kind of got in your mind like, how do you give to God?
[17:41] How do you give to God? You just throw it up in the air and let him catch what he wants? I mean, what do you do? How do you give to God? Because it's a little like the preacher comes over. We will now receive the Lord's tithes and offerings.
[17:53] And you're all sitting there going, the Lord's or the pastor's? Who's getting this? Who's getting it? The church's getting this? And so it's a little bit of a question in our hands because we're like, how come this is for God? Do you not understand? They got there to Jerusalem.
[18:04] They're ready to build a temple. And they look at it and they said, hey, how are we going to get the temple built? Somebody's got to pay the bricklayer. Somebody's got to pay the carpenter. Somebody's got to pay for what's going on here. I want to give.
[18:16] Now today, in our society, we ought to give because we're in love with Jesus. Look, if you would, at 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 8. That's the Old Testament building that temple. This is New Testament, 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 8.
[18:29] He said, I speak not by commandment, but by the occasion of the forwardness of others to prove the sincerity of your love. If you really love, you'll want to give.
[18:43] I can remember watching young Peruvians that had absolutely no money. I mean, if they made $5 a month, that was a lot of money back then. And they would get a girlfriend. And they would go to town with their girlfriend and they would want to buy a Coca-Cola, one 10-ounce Coke.
[18:57] And they'd put two straws in it. And then they would buy one small sandwich. And you would look at the guy sitting there and he would literally, I'd walk in to the restaurant. I happened to see him.
[19:07] I'd come by and I'd say, hey, you guys only got one drink. He says, I didn't want one. I want her to have one. I said, well, that's nice. I knew him. That wasn't true. When he was at my house, he was guzzling them things.
[19:19] And then they got that little sandwich. And they're sitting there taking little bitty bites. And he's not taking them. He said, he wanted her to eat. And I said, well, you're not eating much. Oh, I don't want to eat it. I want him to have it. Isn't that amazing?
[19:30] When you're in love, you want the other person to get it. When you love God, you want to give. You want to be involved in the things of God. I got married 45 years ago. And when I got married 45 years ago, my father-in-law brought her to me.
[19:43] And he said, I've had her checked by the dentist. I've had her checked by the eye doctor. I've had her checked by every physical doctor she needs checked with. She's in good shape. Now she's all your problem.
[19:54] She was 18. I've had her 45 years. I mean, I got the short of that. I mean, I got the long of that. Sorry, babe. Now I go to 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 12. Look at how Paul taught his people to give.
[20:08] If there be first a willing mind, sounds like that Old Testament verse, a willing mind. It's accepted according to the man hath, sounds like that Old Testament verse, not according to that he hath not.
[20:19] God wants you given as you're able to give. God wants you given what you want to give. God wants you doing it because you're in love with him, and that's why you're doing it. 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 7.
[20:30] Look at what the Bible says. Every man, according as he purposeth in his heart, as he decides in his heart. Don't let a preacher manipulate you. Don't let a church pressure you.
[20:41] You do for God as you want to in your heart. So let him give. God said, I don't want you giving grudgingly or of necessity because I like a cheerful giver. God loves cheerful givers.
[20:53] So there's revival going on. They're about to have revival in Jerusalem. They have left captivity. That's what happened when you got saved. You left the slavery of sin. You left where you were owned by sin and Satan, and you came to Jesus, and he saved you and gave you new life.
[21:10] And you, when you got saved, your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and you know you're on the way to heaven. And so there's revival because you're like, I'm his, and I know I'm his. And then you come in, and all of a sudden, you're so in love with him, you want to get involved, and you want to participate.
[21:25] Let me show you a third thing that happened. Go to Ezra chapter 3 and verse 1. Real worship promotes unity among God's people. It's amazing. We can be different colors.
[21:36] We can have different nationalities. We can come from different parts of the world. But when you fall in love with Jesus, all of a sudden, we can be one. We can be poor and rich, and we can be different colors, but we can be one because Christ promotes unity.
[21:52] Look at Ezra chapter 3 and verse 1. And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man in Jerusalem.
[22:05] You know, when they got there, that had to be an unusual situation. You had some really rich guys with a lot of education, and you had some poor guys. You had some guys that were lawyers and big shots, and you had some guys that were masons and carpenters.
[22:17] You had some guys that were preachers, and you had some guys that weren't doing so good spiritually. But when they got there, they were like, we're in love with Jesus, and we're one. We're not against each other. We're not fighting. God brought them together as one man.
[22:30] By the way, that sounds an awful lot like the New Testament. When the church starts and gets cranked up and starts rolling, in Acts chapter 2 and verse 1, they were all together on the day of Pentecost with one accord in one place.
[22:43] God's people love God, and that's what brings us together. God's people love God, and that's what brings us together. Ezra chapter 3 and verse 9. Look at the unity. The Bible said, Then stood Yeshua with his sons and his brethren, and together to set forward the workmen in the house of God.
[23:02] Their unity said, we've got to do something together. They couldn't have built a temple by themselves. They couldn't have advanced the work of God by themselves. But together as one man, they could push the work of God forward.
[23:14] One guy would have had a hard time building the temple, but everybody getting involved, and they did. Then they got together in worship. Look at Ezra chapter 3 and verse 11. And they sang together by course.
[23:26] They sang together by course. Each of them took responsibility. They praised together. They gave thanks to the Lord. They said, He is good. His mercy endures forever. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord.
[23:39] They were together doing the work of God. They're not all going to be doing the same thing. They were singing by course. They had different jobs going on. They got masons, and they got Ezra running the show.
[23:50] But everybody's like, I love Jesus, and I just want to push the work of God forward. You're here. You've come to a church that has a goal of seeing our community evangelized, that has a goal of getting the gospel around the world, that has a goal of helping your families, that has a goal of making a difference.
[24:07] But not one person in this room can do any of it. It's all of us together pushing forward because we're in love with Jesus. And since we're in love with Jesus, we love people, and we want to help. We want to make a difference.
[24:18] Can I get an amen there? So revival. Revival starts with our yondelist. Are you saved? Do you know you'd go to heaven? Do you know you'd go to heaven? And once you get saved and you're in, you're like, man, I want to participate.
[24:32] I want to give. I want to carry things forward. And then in this passage of scripture, they were together, unified, unified. Now, we've been here 12 and a half years as a church since we started.
[24:44] Just to be blunt and honest with you, I have been shocked at the sweet unity that's been here. The unity between the men of the church, the ladies of the church, the families of the church, a sweet unity.
[24:56] You know what's brought that about? Falling in love with Jesus. If you all get tuned to the same tuning fork, you'll sing in harmony. Amen. And you know who the tuning fork is? That's Jesus.
[25:07] You've never even heard of a tuning fork. You didn't even know you tuned pianos. I know. You thought they come in electrical keyboards. But actually, those guys are playing the guitar up here. Old Ben was moving that hand and doing all kinds of stuff up here.
[25:18] He has to tune that thing. If you all get tuned to Jesus, we'll have that unity that we have. Open your Bibles, if you would, to Ezra chapter 3 and verse 2 now. The next thing, worship starts when you get back to the altar of God.
[25:33] Because the whole book of Ezra is about the temple and building the temple. And you know where they started working? They started in the center of the center of the temple.
[25:45] Because all the externals, they don't matter near so much if you ain't got the internal right. You don't need the walls around the city if you don't have an altar. You don't need a temple if you don't have an altar.
[25:56] You know what they're doing? Putting the altar together. Look, if you would, in Ezra chapter 3 and verse 2. Then stood up Jeshua and all those other guys. Look a little further down. And built the altar of the God of Israel.
[26:10] And built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings their own. The center of their worship was an altar. We don't have one here. You may be in a church and they may say, come forward to the altar.
[26:21] But the altar is just a set of steps. They come up to the platform. Or maybe they'll build a special place for you to pray or something like that. But they had an altar. And this altar was in the temple. And on the altar, sacrifices were made.
[26:34] And animals were killed. And blood was shed to get things straight with God. It had been torn down. The altar where the sacrificial animal was burned. That's where that is.
[26:45] Look at Ezra chapter 3 and verse 6. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. Burnt offerings. That's those animals that were put on that altar.
[26:56] Now here's a beautiful thing you need to get. This is beautiful. This is beautiful. When they come into the altar to make a sacrifice, they come in and they'll be bringing their lamb.
[27:08] And when they bring that lamb in to be offered on the sacrifice, that priest would examine that lamb and make sure there was nothing wrong with that lamb. No blemishes. Nothing wrong with that lamb.
[27:19] Because it wasn't a matter of how good the offering man was. It was how good his offering was. It wasn't a matter of how good the sinner was. It was a matter of how good his lamb was. And so the lamb had to be perfect.
[27:31] You know what? Our lamb is Jesus. And you couldn't get to God. And you couldn't fix things. And there was nothing you had to put on an altar. If you went to God and said, God, I'll do the best I can, he'd be like, well, that ain't good enough. If you went to God and said, I'll give this much money, he'd say, I built my street out of gold.
[27:45] I really am not that worried about your money. He said, I want you to come with the lamb. And that lamb was Jesus and the perfection of the lamb that died for us. It's not the purity of the worshiper, but the purity of the lamb.
[27:59] And you come to God, not in your name, but in the name of Jesus, who died on a cross for you, who paid your sin debt. And they needed God because they were afraid.
[28:11] Look at Ezra chapter 3 and verse 3. They needed God because they were afraid. The Bible said they set up the altar upon his bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of the countries round about them.
[28:22] They were driven to worship. They looked all around them. They had now left Babylon, and they're down in Jerusalem. They don't even have any walls. They have very few structures built.
[28:33] And there's enemies all around them. And they know all they can depend on is God. The only way to be protected, the only way to be saved, the only way to be watched over was God.
[28:46] And so they were like, we don't have time to build walls. We better seek God. And so they went to seeking God. Their fears. Their fears drove them to. Because when you fear others, and when you fear nations, and when you fear other people, you're forgetting who you ought to fear.
[29:03] You fear the God of heaven, who has the power not just to kill you, but to determine whether you spent eternity in heaven or in hell. And this morning, you should understand that you have every reason to be afraid if you don't know Jesus.
[29:20] Death is a scary thing. Most of you are usually younger than me. If you sat beside somebody dying, I sat beside my dad dying.
[29:30] I've sat beside other people dying. I've sat beside quite a few people dying. And that's a scary time. And when they're dying, they start wondering, have I done enough? Am I ready to die?
[29:41] You have every reason to be afraid if you don't trust Jesus. But what you want your fear to do is to drive you to Jesus. Because there is one who has power over death in the grave.
[29:52] There is one who can save you and rescue you. There is one who can make a difference. And they ran to Jesus. We don't need to be afraid as a church, by the way. Churches tend to be like this.
[30:03] Churches are good people that love God. They're trying to live holy lives. And we even get saved and we continue living in fear. Like the world's going to contaminate our kids. And the world's going to destroy our worship.
[30:14] And the Congress is going to mess everything up. And the President is going to mess everything up. And North Korea is going to mess everything up. We don't have to do that. We know who holds our salvation. We know who holds our lives.
[30:25] And we go to the altar to worship our God. Come with me if you would to Ezra chapter 3 and verse 11. When they did that, they sang and shouted.
[30:35] You might wonder, why in the world? There's no other place we get together and sing. I mean, maybe the karaoke bar. Maybe you're doing that. I don't know. But the truth is, how many times do you get together? A couple hundred people sat in a room and everybody just sang.
[30:47] You know why we do that? Because it's a part of worship. It's a part of worship. And look what they did when they got together. In Ezra chapter 3 and verse 11, they sang together by chorus. And here's what they did.
[30:59] They praised and gave thanks to the name of the Lord. Giving thanks unto the Lord. You know why they thanked Him? You know why they sang to Him? Look at the verse and understand it.
[31:10] He is good. He is good. His mercy endures forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord.
[31:23] It wasn't some kind of half-hearted, I don't give a rip singing service. It wasn't somewhere where you went and watched a band sing. It was the people of God saying, I love God.
[31:34] I love Jesus. Let's sing to Him. Let's glorify Him. They sang out loud. They sang from their hearts. They were excited. They were shouting about it. Man, I love Jesus. I mean, you get that way about Georgia or Tennessee or whoever else.
[31:47] I don't know who all you get that way about. Not about Jesus. They sang and they worshiped God. They sang and they worshiped God. And let me take you to the last thing that happens in this revival thing.
[32:00] As soon as they started worshiping, the vision started creeping in. Even in worship. And that's what's plaguing the church all across the United States right now.
[32:12] The old people and the young people are kind of fighting the church. Used to be, several years ago, they had billboards around that said church. Not like your grandmama's church. So grandmama's like, what's wrong with my church?
[32:23] And the kid's like, we didn't like it. And they're like, well, why didn't you like it? All this fuss and fight. Look what happens, if you would, in Ezra chapter 3 and verse 12. So what they've done is they've laid the foundation for the temple and they're starting to build the temple.
[32:37] And when they build the temple, I'll tell you this before we read it. Because we're going to read it because you need to read the word of God. But they've laid the foundation of the temple. And the young people are like, whoa, glory to God, we're building a building to worship. God, isn't this great?
[32:48] And the old people are like, this ain't near as big as the last one was. I mean, they're not doing a good job here. Back in Solomon's day, we had a real temple. All these punkers are building a small temple.
[32:59] And so they got a little fight going. You say that's not in the Bible? Well, watch. Ezra chapter 3, verse 12. Many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers who were ancient men. Now that gets a few of us in here. Thank you, Joe.
[33:12] Who were ancient, and Warren. And who were ancient men that had seen the first house. Underline that, first house. When the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, they wept with a loud voice.
[33:23] While many were shouting aloud for joy. So they laid the thing. And the old man walked up there and said. It's like 50%, 60%.
[33:38] Not near as good as what we had. Young people are actually going, we got a place to worship God now. People are like, what kind of place to worship God you got? Read on verse 13. It was so bad.
[33:50] The crying of the old people and the getting happy of the young people. That the people couldn't figure out whether it was a noise of joy or weeping. Look at verse 13. So the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people.
[34:04] Because some people were shouting and some people were crying. And everybody just heard a lot of noise. And so far, vision's been blessed about that.
[34:16] And young people and old people have gotten along. That means two or three of us got along the rest of you. Because you're the young people and we're the old people. Sometimes y'all do make me nervous though. I mean, sometimes you do.
[34:27] But here's the deal. If we're going to keep doing anything for God, we've got to put this division to one side. And thank God you have. But that's what's going on in the chapter. And we say the Bible. So look at it. Ezra chapter 3 and verse 10.
[34:39] When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they sent priests in their apparel. So they laid the foundation. They started getting started on it. And see, when you build an altar, basically what you're saying is we're going back to basics.
[34:52] We're going back to where we started. Because every one of us who got saved came to a place where a lamb had been sacrificed for us. You realize if you're saved today, if you're born again, if you're going to heaven, you came to a place in your life when you realized you couldn't get to God.
[35:09] You realized you'd never be good enough. You realized that God was holy and mighty and long ways off. And you were a sinner and there was nothing you could do to get to God. And you went to an altar and you accepted Jesus who died on a cross for you.
[35:24] And Jesus took you to God. Amen? So they built an altar. Now you need to get back to basics. Some of you, you're like, well, I go to church. I'm a giver even. And I don't miss.
[35:34] And I'm a good guy. And I'm a good neighbor. You need to get back to basics. It's not about what you're doing. It's about did you get to the altar? You been to Calvary? You been to where Jesus died? What? That's the real question that's going on here.
[35:47] And by the way, for those of us that are born again, you know what an altar means? It means we love God and hate sin. It means we seek holiness. We seek God. That's what you do when you come every time the doors are open.
[35:59] You're bringing your Bibles. You're trying to learn about God. But in chapter 3 and verse 12, in the middle of the worship, there's some confusion going on. The old men are crying and the young men are shouting.
[36:13] That's a little bit of a problem. In verse 12, the ancient men saw the first house and they wept. So just let me say a few things and I'll quit. You know, old people like to think about the good old days.
[36:25] They always want to talk about how it used to be. I'm just going to tell you, from this old man's point of view, I really like it nowadays. When I was a kid, there was no air condition at church except a funeral home fan.
[36:38] Anybody ever been to church with a funeral home fan? Hold your hand up. Nobody? See, a bunch of young people. Man, we used to go to church and we'd sit there and you'd fan. And not only would you fan, the bugs are coming in the windows, flying around the lights, bumping into you, bam, get out of here while you're fanning.
[36:52] And I'm so glad we got air condition. Amen. Some of you are probably glad. I probably wish I wasn't so glad. The old man remembered the old temple and how it was. They felt like they had it better in the old days.
[37:05] They seemed to have forgotten that all the messes of this generation were caused by their generation. Old people love to talk bad about millennials or other young people.
[37:16] You know, why don't you? Because we need to blame somebody. But the truth is, if you're messed up, it was us old people that messed you up. We raised you. We're like, these young people, they won't do nothing right. The first question you got to ask was, who taught them?
[37:28] Oh, we don't want to talk about that. Leave that out of the situation right here. We allowed our unity to be destroyed. We will allow our unity to be destroyed if we look in opposite directions. What keeps us unified is we're looking unto Jesus.
[37:42] What keeps us unified is we have a same purpose. We want to get the gospel to the world. What keeps us unified is we want to get in the Bible and find out more about Jesus. What keeps us unified is we open the scriptures and study the scriptures.
[37:54] And it's not just a preacher up talking about the latest political fad. We're talking about Ezra. You say, I've never heard that before. I know, you didn't go to one of them Bible preaching churches. You went to one of them political preaching churches or the money-raising church where the preacher was doing it.
[38:08] We should both be looking to God and praising Him. We should realize that God is at work. And He is building His temple again in the book of Ezra. Warren Wearsby, a Bible commentator, said, We certainly can't ignore the past.
[38:23] But the past must be a rudder to God, not an anchor to hold back. God's people are a family, not a family album filled with old pictures. They're a garden, not a graveyard covered with monuments to great success.
[38:38] We have to strive to stay balanced. We need each other. You young people need the old people. They've been some places you hadn't been. I was 18 once.
[38:50] You ain't never been 64. Say amen. You need them old people. But we need those young people. We need their fire. We need their desire.
[39:01] We need their hunger. We need a kid that would fill out 12 offering envelopes to say, I'm giving my money. I mean, who does that? A kid. But that's a wonderful, I think that's a wonderful testimony.
[39:15] We need that. We got to work together side by side. You need to remember something about a church. It's never more than one generation from extinction. We need each other.
[39:27] So let's train the next generation. Let's love each other and let's learn from each other. They're having a revival.
[39:39] They're having a revival. And they're fixing to worship big time. And it starts off with knowing your names on the list. If you're not on the list, you can't really worship.
[39:52] I'm not talking about the church list. I'm not talking about did you join the church. I'm talking about do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Have you come to a place where you really knew him and got saved?
[40:06] As Christians, as people that were on the list, they got excited and they started putting their money where their mouth was. And they started telling other people about it. They overcame this by unity.
[40:19] They worked together. They worked together. They got back to an altar. And then you got to avoid the division that could slip into a church.
[40:31] Well, we're doing good today, but that don't mean we will be tomorrow. So the old people in our church and the young people in our church, we want to keep saying, let's don't hinder what God's doing. Hadn't God been doing good stuff?
[40:41] If he has, say amen. We don't want to mess that up. And I'll just be honest with you. I want to worship him more. I pray almost every day that God would send revival and that we'd fall more in love with Jesus than we've ever been.
[40:54] That this church would experience a deeper, greater love for Jesus. That's where we ought to be. Let's hunger for him to do a work among us.