Ezra 9 - Remnant

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Thank you, team. Thank you. Morning, church. How are we this morning? Surviving the heat? I've just got a small question for you. We seem to be experiencing a westerly drift coming in from the west with that hot weather. Unfortunately, it's also bringing with it the beautiful aromas of the kitchen. And so I encourage you not to be distracted from God's word today. Focus on God's word. Deny Satan. Get back from you, Satan. You think, I can't wait to see what treats are out there. Well, we've been working our way through Ezra. We're at chapter 9, and it's just an interesting part to be in because things have been happening in the life of the church, and now something else has happened in the life of the church. We're going to read about that in a moment, but let's pray. Father, we just thank you, Lord, as we've just been singing, You are King of Kings, and praise be to your name. Lord, we just thank you for who you are in our lives. Thank you, Lord, that you greet us each day, that, Father, you show us your way. And Lord, I pray that you might, Lord, just continue, Lord, to encourage us through your word today. Lord, for this chapter, Father, of Ezra, Lord, there's some tough stuff in it. And Lord, I just thank you that your grace goes through all that. And as we read it, Lord, and encounter it, Father, let us do business with you. Lord, let's be accountable to you, because you are a great and gracious God. Lord, we give you thanks and praise. Lord, praise always. The words of the speaker be your words, Lord, not mine. In your name, amen. Well, it says up there, Romans 11:5, and I took this from Chris's study, because Chris Bird wrote the study. So too, at the present time, there's a remnant chosen by grace. And Paul is talking there to the Roman church. He's a letter he wrote to them, and he's saying to them that, yeah, even though the remnant came out of— Exile from Babylon is also the remnant today in Christ Jesus. Those who are one in Christ, those who profess to be believers, those who engage in the Christian lifestyle, those who honour God with what they do. So you are part of the remnant. So this message is for you as well today. Isn't that exciting? Several thousand years ago, and right now you're going to get some words from the Lord, maybe specifically for you, maybe something you can look at. So we've learned so far that new hearts are needed for this generation that came in. New hearts, that means a refreshing of the heart. That means getting things right with God. So we had new hearts in the return, in the rebuilding, in the roadblock, in the second rebuild, in refocusing, in the second return, in the remnant, and we'll have a look at new hearts and repentance next week. I'm sorry, Pastor Dave, you'll preach next week. I may drift into ten a bit. My deepest apologies, brother. I just was so overwhelmed. Let's have a look at God's word, shall we? So the remnant returns, a bit of an overview. So it's 70 years since Zerubbabel, the first return. So obviously a couple of generations have happened there. The second wave, so this is the second wave of people have come. So that means they've got fresh hands, renewed enthusiasm, strengthened in their numbers, because what are they going to do, everyone? Build the wall of the temple. Oh my gosh. Everyone go back to Isaiah 1. It's to build the temple, to continue to build the temple, because one group had already laid the foundation. And then we pick up. So after it had been in Jerusalem for four and a half months, and then the news broke. We learned at the end of chapter 8, they'd made offerings to the Lord. They also delivered the king's orders and the royal satraps and the governors and the Trans-Euphrates, and then gave assistance to the people, to the house of God. So they brought in all the coffers, they brought all the donations, they brought all the offerings, they brought them all together. And they were having this great, wonderful celebration that we're going to finish this. And then we have chapter 9. After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said—sorry, the leaders came to me and said, The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness. When I heard this, I tore my tunic and my cloak. So it's gone from into first person now. Pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles, and I sat there appalled until the evening service. Not only has Ezra confronted this news that the people had defied God, other people had noticed it as well. They weren't dither-dobbers. They were deeply concerned, because here we are, the remnant, the holy remnant. We've been brought back by God from Babylon to do the next thing, and yet there are people there who have made unwise choices. It says there in Scripture, this detestable act. You think, well, what's the big deal? I was reading an article about this and said some people call this racism. Why would you, you know, water down the holy race? But that's not God's point here. God's point is those who were chosen to worship other gods in the place of the one true God, who do things like idolatry, worship of fertility gods, sorcery, divination, child sacrifice, sexual sin, failure to worship and serve the living God. When they intermarried, they took on too the gods of the home. We learned that last week from Pastor Dave, that they started to use things like that inside their worship of God. They started to take the truth that God had given them and allowed the world to change the message. And it wasn't that they allowed it; it's they encouraged it, made it part of their worship. It's like taking a church service and just changing, think, Oh, we're not appealing to the outside world. Let's change stuff. How about instead of coffee, we serve beer every morning before church, or for morning tea this Father's Day after? Well, that'll get the blokes in from the out there, won't it? And how about if we do something? How about we have a burnout competition for the young fellas? That'll get them involved. You see where I'm going, eh? I didn't hear that, but I'll leave it with you. And Ezra gets to the point when those things were happening, his heart breaks for the people. His heart breaks for the society that they have become, for the culture that they have allowed filtering in and changed things with these detestable acts. They did child sacrifice. These are the people of God doing child sacrifice and not thinking anything of it. These are the people who are doing idolatry and sorcery. They're God's people. They're the chosen ones, part of Abrahamic covenant, and they're losing the plot. His heart breaks for them, and for the living God as well, because he thought, God must be so disappointed and heartbroken. So what can be done? He responds as a man of God. His response is one that challenges us and how we respond when we come across things like this. He didn't rave and jump up and down. He didn't accuse. He didn't make a list. He didn't. He went into a time of deep sorrow. And a part that probably broke his heart was that they would have been telling the story, because the Old Testament was full of oral tradition as well as written tradition, and they'd written down everything. And as it says in Nehemiah, they read from the scrolls, which means they had all the Word of God recorded faithfully. It's like we have the Word of God recorded faithfully in our Bibles. And they would have been reading through there, and they would have known there's a bit of a pattern emerging here. And this pattern is when the remnant repeats what has happened in the past, and how churches change, and how fellowship groups change, and how we change what we're doing because we want to be a little bit different, or we lose focus entirely and we find ourselves slipping. So it's spoiling good with sin. And this pattern does emerge. This is just a limited number: the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, the big one. In Genesis 3, sin entered the world through their sin. The law given to Moses. Moses went up to get the law, to get the commandments. He was coming back down this mountain, and he got there, and what had the people done in his meantime? They made a golden calf, and they were worshipping, because they'd lost focus for that short time he was up there. And so a good thing, not the Ten Commandments, was watered down, was filtered down, was tarnished by the acts of the people. When they entered the Promised Land, Jericho was delivered to them, and they crossed the river, and they went into there, and they took Jericho, and the walls fell down. We know all the Sunday school stories. Then Achan's sin, he went through and he took things out of the, and he kept the testable things. He kept some gold for himself. And so this wonderful act of God was then tarnished again by the sin of a man. We read that in Judges 7:1. And it's not just Old Testament people that have the slip and the pattern. It's a cautionary tale for us, because it happened in the New Testament as well. In Acts 5:1 and 2, the church was just set up in Pentecost. It says that everyone gathered together. The scriptures were being, gospels being preached. People were giving their lives to Christ. Things were happening. They were committing to Jesus, and in amongst it, they were doing offerings, and people selling their possessions and giving them to the church so everyone could feed and so everyone could live. People were selling blocks of land, and one couple, out of this great wonderful church and doing great things for God. There's one thing, couple, they decided to keep it for themselves. And so that selfishness that they have has tarnished, to some degree, the great thing that's happening in the church. I suppose the question reminds us, or comes to us, is how do we avoid the repeat of patterns in our lives? When we experience God's grace and mercy, how do we keep going with that? When we encounter something that is truly of God, how do we not wreck it? How do we keep our focus on God? And that is the question we have underlying through today's chapter. You see, one of the great things we have here is that we have a whole history that tells us that the evidence of God's hand of grace is on His church. God's hand of grace has been on the people of Israel. At Bible College, we learnt the phrase, the thin red line of grace, going through the Old Testament into the New Testament, where God, despite what was happening, God was faithful. So we're trying to break the patterns we have, God is faithful. And it can be pointed out that when we have a look at how that happens for the people that were placed in the Holy Land, we read about that, and there's a reference to that in—you can look it up yourself—in Psalm 78. They were delivered from slavery in Exodus. He gave them a holy temple in 1 Chronicles—what's the word? Thank you—1 Chronicles 29:3. He appeared in the Holy of Holies in Exodus 26. And he gave them the Sabbath as a holy day in Exodus 20, verse 8, as he gave the Ten Commandments. All these things, and yet these people lost the plot. Well, I'm glad we're not them, eh? We're not that finicky. We don't fall off the pedestal that quick, do we? It's almost a challenge for us, living in the 21st century, first world church, how we keep our focus on Christ. We're called to prayer. We come to church as a discipline, not as a rite, ritual or a right. We come into the presence of God daily, yet we still struggle with things. And I suppose the challenge that, and which broke Nehemiah's heart, is how that happened. Let's read his response. At the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-debasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord, and I prayed. I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. You know, I love about that sentence. He didn't say their sins. He said our sins. Corporately, he is saying, when one slips, we all slip. When one struggles, we all struggle. When one goes astray, we all can be in danger. He's saying, it's our guilt. I can't even look at you, Lord. And from the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great, because of our sins, we are— because of our sins. We are our kings and our priests have subjected to the sword of captivity, to the pillage and humiliation of the hand of foreign kings as it is today. But now, a brief moment, the Lord has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in His sanctuary. And so our God gives light to our eyes and little relief to our bondage. Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us His kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia. He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of God and repair its ruins, and He has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem. Now, God, what can we say for this? We have forsaken the commands You have given us. Given Your servant the prophets when You said, The land you enter is to possess, the land polluted by the corruption of its peoples, by their detestable practices. They have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. Therefore do not give your daughters into marriage to the sons, and take their daughters as your sons. Do not seek treaty or friendship with them at any time that you may be strong, and eat good things of the land and leave it to the children as your everlasting inheritance. What has happened to us as a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt? And yet, our God, You have punished us less than our sins deserve. You have given us a remnant like this. Shall we then break Your commands and begin to intermarry with people who commit such detestable practices? Would You not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? Lord God of Israel, you are righteous. We are left this day as a remnant. We are here before you in guilt, that because of it, not one of us can stand in your presence. I always get the hard sermons. It's interesting, isn't it, that this message today is not one of great joy and bubble. It's one of actually serious contemplation and reflection. And I believe that each person here today and those joining us at home can take some time today to do, as I say, business with God. To say, what are the things in me, Lord, that aren't pleasing to you? What are the things, Lord, that have crossed over, that I've allowed to come in and infiltrate? If there are those things, God will prompt you by His Spirit, and He will say, You need to repent. You need to confess to me right now. Bow your head now and pray. No one's going to look at you because I love you. I desire to be in relationship with you. Ezra has this real sense of godly sorrow, doesn't he? He's just in, his heart's broken for his people. He's not putting himself aside and casting aspersions to them, saying they're vile, our people. He was saying, You know, we're all in this together. Lord, examine our hearts. You've been so good to us. What is the story here? He was a leader who took on the burden. Took on the burden for his whole congregation. And you may say, well, that's what we pay you pastors the big bucks for. But we are a priesthood of believers, aren't we? We are our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we find a brother or sister who's struggling in sin or struggling with a choice, we need to have an empathetic heart and lift them up before God. We can challenge them, sure. We can have a word to them. But also, we need to pray for them deeply. We need to lift them up before God and say, Lord, I don't know what they're going through, but this can't be good for them. Such was his burden for the people. It tells us that we too need to have a burden for our brothers and sisters in Christ. There was recognition of the confession and guilt. There's appreciation and confession of God's mercy we just read about. There is discernment of accountability. It's not turning a blind eye; it's actually pulling them up and saying, hang on a second. There's understanding of what is deserved, because he knew that new hearts are needed today. Israel needs a new heart today, God. I'm falling down before you, Lord God, and I'm asking you, please, the people that are breaking, the people that have done things, we need a new heart. Ever wondered why we spend time preparing messages and we think, oh, just give it a nice little fairy name that just sort of floats off the tongue. This is where the rubber hits the road today. New hearts are needed today. What is God saying to your heart today? Is there some challenge He's placed in you already? As we come around the table later on, we're going to make that part of the message today. It won't be a separate thing. It'll be part of what's ongoing from Ezra 9. And my heart has been burdened by the fact that we do this, this celebration and remembrance of Christ. But are we doing it as it's intended? Not as salvation, of course, but doing business with God and acknowledging who He is as Lord and Savior in our lives. So if new hearts are needed, they're needed by everybody and needed today. It's a humanity for us, isn't it really? We don't want to sin, and we do sin. And Paul writes about it in Romans 7 and 15. He says, I do not understand what I do, for what I do do, I do not want to do, but I hate it. And if I do do not what I do, as it's no longer I myself who do it, but sin is living in me. So some of the things we're caught up in, some of the things that are tying us up are the things that is just part of our human nature. But we've got to be honest about it. We've got to be saying, just like Ezra, Lord, we recognize this in our lives, and we need to deal with this. We need to fess up to our sin. I'm a sinner. I was going to ask, I had notes down here, put your hand up if you're not a sinner. But I'm not asking that question, so you can put your hand down. No one put their hand up, by the way. I'm just... When we understand that we can't serve two masters, Jesus was challenged, and He was by the Pharisees, and they were telling Him that He must be from Satan because He's doing all these miracles. He said, How can a person do that and be on the same side? Why would I do that to glorify God? And his words were, A house divided itself cannot stand. You cannot have two conflicts in your life. You cannot live the sinful life and then pretend to be a believer, or cannot allow sin in your life when God points it out and say, Oh, I need to, I need—oh yeah, that'll be fine. I'll just put that away so no one notices. God is speaking to your heart today. There's a thing I've written down here in my notes. It's a bit of a funny little word. It's called PEP, P-E-P-P. And this is what's part of our culture, I suppose, today and what we've struggled with. And that is presumption that things will turn out okay for us because we're believers, we go to church, we're not that bad. There's the entitlement that we have, self-entitlement. We see that in the world today, where people just say, I should have this. Why are you taking this away from me? There is the privilege we have, almost like, I'm here, so get out of my way. This is my privilege. I've got an academic degree. I've got these skills, so therefore I'm privileged. None of that matters before the cross. And the last one that's endemic of our culture is preciousness. How dare you, Pastor Doug, talk about my sin in front of the church? How dare you? That will hurt me. I feel triggered. God loves to push that button. He doesn't push it because he's cruel. He pushes it because he wants you to respond to him. He wants you to become like him. He wants you to be holy. And you know what can't happen if you've got stuff in your life that's not of him. So when we work out who's master we're serving, we need to be broken to Christ. In 2 Corinthians 7:10, godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. But worldly sorrow brings death. Godly sorrow. That's the feeling you have. You think, Oh man, I mucked this up. I really need to just pull my head in. I really need to just, Lord, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. It's not done out of guilt. It's done out of love. It's conviction by the Spirit. And the Spirit convicts people right now, not just during the week. He's convicting you today. Are you right with Him? Is there something He's saying to you? Is there something that is almost like in the pep mould, keeping it away and just making sure that it stays because we're a bit entitled, I don't want to declare this before God. Once we're broken to Christ, we're affirmed in Christ. We also read in 2 Corinthians, All this is from God, Paul wrote, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. We're reconciled to God through Jesus, through the empty cross, and we do it when we come to communion. We worship at the table when we say, Lord, this is what I'm remembering You did for me, and I'm waiting for You to come again. When we're broken to Jesus and when we're affirmed in Christ, then we know there is no other way. What a wretched man I am, in Romans 7:24-25, who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. The words are pretty harsh, but it means this, that if you aren't a believer in Jesus, He's not your Lord and Saviour, there's one destination for you, and that is hell. You can't just hope it's going to happen or not happen. The Bible is very clear. There's one way. That's through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a wretched person I am, said Paul, but I'm saved through Jesus Christ. Or if that's your message, your heart today. Then we live in the victory of Jesus. If we accept Jesus Lord and Savior, in Galatians it says these words: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free then, and do not let yourselves be burdened by the yoke of slavery. But thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. We live in victory in Christ. That is why we can walk around. That is why we can have empathy to people. That is why we can connect with people. It's why God connects with us. And when we live in victory, we do things that God wants us to do. We don't live under fear. We live under freedom in Christ Jesus. Folks, as we've been going through the message today, it fell heavily upon my heart that when we come to communion, how will people respond today? And as I said, communion today is part of the message, and it's a response. It's coming into the same presence of heart and mind as Ezra did as we move forward for Jesus. And the question I have is, do you want to move forward with Jesus? Do you want to live a life of victory? And I ask the stewards to come out please, and could you get prepared and start handing out the elements? And as we're doing that, I have some considerations that we can have. We're talking about new hearts are needed. You think, well, my heart's pretty good. I haven't had a heart transplant. Do I really need a new heart, Pastor Doug? We need a new heart for God. We need a refreshed heart for God. We need a heart that will connect with God so we can know His will and purpose, certainly in a very frank and increased way. In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 26, it says, Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink of the cup. We're going to take a few moments to do that today. As it comes around, just bow your head and just pray. Maybe you want to say, Lord, thank you for just receiving me as I am. You might want to pray, Lord, I've got some stuff I need to talk to you about. You want to pray, Lord, I just want to glorify Your name in everything I say and do. And Father, I want to come into Your presence in a real way every single day because my heart needs to be new before You, needs to be refreshed before You, needs to be reconciled with You. It's always a challenge when we have so many people milling around just to try and get that focus up there. Worship team, I wonder if you'd like to come out and get prepared, and we'll lead in a moment. Michael and Paola, if you could prepare for us please, brothers and sisters, when you're ready. Jesus said. As Paul said, is passed on to me, he took the bread and he gave thanks, and he broke it and he said, This is my body for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink of it in remembrance of me. Wherever eats of this bread and drinks of this cup will proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. One of the great joys we have is knowing that Jesus is returning. We don't worship a God who's dead; we worship a God who's alive. We have freedom in that. We have an opportunity always to remember that, an opportunity for us just to spend a few moments now. Just bow your heads and pray, if you could please, with me. Father, we come before you in humble reverence. Father, not as a people who know it all, Lord, but as a people who desire to know you more. Father, we thank you for the words of Ezra, who, Lord, in his prayer speaks about the rawness of sin, the repentance of heart, and the need for a saviour. Lord, need for restoration, need for a way to connect to you, Lord. Father, I thank you, Father, for each person here today who's been reading through Ezra 9. Each person, Lord, has read the words of Ezra and his heart that is repentant. And Lord, as a church, I pray, Father, help us to be refreshed and renewed and always repent before you. Lord, as we do business with you. We thank you and praise you for that. Thank you, Lord, that you turn none away who come to you. It is desiring to be in one with you. When you're ready, I ask you to break the bread. Thank you, Lord, for the blood that was shed for us on our behalf. Lord, that washes us white as snow. Thank you, Lord, for Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, Lord, that we may have eternal life through Him. Lord, we do this in remembrance of what You did for us, Lord. Lord, we won't be lost in the quagmire of this society, but we want to be focused on You and tuned in to You, Lord, with, Lord, renewed hearts. Let's drink together. Father, I pray that as we, Lord, as we continue on through this week, Lord, I pray for our church. Lord, I pray that, Lord, You'll renew and refresh them each day. Lord, You'll be the first words on their lips and the last thought as they go to sleep. Father, you'll bring them into ministry of reconciliation with you. Lord, help them to keep short accounts with you, Lord. Father, declare when things go wrong and they sin, Father, help them to come to you, who is full of grace and mercy, and restore them into righteousness. Father, I thank you that, Lord, you know what's going to happen this week, and Lord, you're prepared for it and we're not. Lord, I thank you and I trust in you. Father, help us to break the patterns of this world, the patterns in our lives, Lord, that don't honour you. Lord, we use the term detestable acts. Father, I'm not sure what that means in our society today, but Father, for each person here, we are aware of what those detestable acts are for us personally. Help us to deal with them, Lord. Help them to bring them to you at the foot of the cross. Father, I pray as we go through this week ahead, Lord, there'll be one, Lord, where we will experience not a new heart, Lord, but a new understanding of who you are. Lord, as we read your word and we pray and we listen to you, Lord, you're alive in our hearts. Show us your way, we pray. Father, we want to be your disciples that bear much fruit and bring glory to you. Father, we don't want to be disciples by name only. We want to be disciples by action and heart and spirit. Lord, show us the way, we pray. In your name, amen. Just to finish off, one last slide, two last slides. On from this one, please, Hayden. Just remember this, if I can encourage you to remember these words. I want to take a photo of this if it comes up in one, but God is holy and wants his people to be holy. He made his people holy, which means holy devoted to God. Holy, wholly devoted to God, sharing God's values, to obey God's will, to trust his promises, to keep his covenant, to live to God's glory, and to be committed to God. They're the things that he wants us to do when he calls us to be holy. It's not that hard. I want to encourage you today. John 14:3 says, Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and he will come to them and make our home with them.’ Let's pray. Lord, we thank you, Father, as we, Lord, finish up today and just remember Father's Day, we thank you, Lord, you are a loving Father. We pray, Father, you might go before us, behind us, beside us, and in us. Lord, as your children, Lord, we will go into this world with the mission you've sent us to. Father, with hearts that are right with you, we give you thanks and praise in your name. Amen.