Yearning for the Real and True God

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Father, you, you know, sometimes, Father, we can forget that we're saved by grace alone,

through faith alone, and Christ alone, and sometimes we can think it's just about rules

and doing this and doing that, and we can just forget, we can forget, Father, that your

Son has died for us, that he loves us, that you love us, that you want us to pour out

our hearts to you, that it's about having a relationship with you that changes you, and

I mean, not changes you, changes us and brings you glory, and so, Father, we ask that your

Holy Spirit would give us a fresh appreciation for the intimate relationship you desire to

have with us, and the intimate relationship you desire your churches, our church, to have

with you, and so we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do this gentle but deep work

in our hearts that we might grow in these things, and we ask this in the name of Jesus,

your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So, four or five years ago, some of you have heard this story before, four or five years

ago, I think Louise's, my wife's birthday is in early January, and four or five years ago,

I think her birthday fell on a Tuesday night, so we have a tradition that we want to try

to have as much of the family to come around to help celebrate, you know, honour the person

whose birthday it is, and celebrate that, and, you know, give gifts, and so because Louise's

actual birthday was on, I think it was a Tuesday night, we had the family thing on the weekend,

but it comes to Tuesday night, and it sort of feels funny to do nothing at all on her

actual birthday, like that just sort of feels like a bit wrong.

So we decided that the two who still lived at home with us, and Louise and I, we'd go

out for supper.

So, you know, we get all ready, pick a restaurant, and we go to the restaurant, and I'm going to

get some of these details probably wrong, but you're going to get the gist of it.

We go to the restaurant that we've chosen, and the restaurant we've chosen isn't open,

because the staff is having their Christmas party that night.

And I think we try another restaurant, and there's something similar going on.

Then we're having a quick discussion about where we want to go, and Louise has a very

clear idea about where she'd like us to go, but I know better not.

Now, the place that Louise wanted to go was inexpensive, and I wanted to spend more money

than that.

Now, listen, one of the things I need you to understand, I am not trying to justify myself.

What I did was wrong.

Like, what I did was wrong.

I didn't listen to my wife.

And you can listen to the different ways that I was wrong, but I don't want it to sound

as if I'm trying to justify myself.

I'm not justifying myself.

And then we had a miserable evening, and we had a miserable evening because of me, and

I wouldn't listen to my wife.

Now, this story helps us to understand what's going on in this scripture text, which to us,

when we just read it, looks very perplexing and very hard to appreciate and very hard to

understand.

So it would be a great help to me if you would get your Bibles out and turn with me to Ezra

Ezra 3:1

chapter 3, verse 1.

And I mean, we will always have the words on the screen, but there is something about having

a Bible of your own and being able to look around, look at the verses before and after,

and it just helped to make the story more your own if you, in fact, can look at it yourself.

And those of you who have tried to read the book of Ezra understand what I mean by saying

this is a book which is very hard to get into.

It's all weird names doing odd things and doesn't seem to relate to us.

But that story I had about Louise and myself celebrating the birthday will help us at a

very deep level to see why this is actually a very profound and helpful text and actually

speaks about the deep yearnings of our heart.

So chapter 3, verse 1, here's how it begins.

So just what's happened in terms of the context of the book is in 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar destroys,

defeats Israel and Judah, destroys the city, takes the king away blinded into captivity, kills

the high priest, takes almost everybody into captivity.

The city is in ruins, the temple is in ruins, the holy things are gone, and looks as if

almost Israel is over.

But a prophet by the name of Jeremiah prophesied that 70 years from now that even though they'd

been very sinful that God would bring them back.

And God, one of the big themes of the book actually is how God uses pagan emperors to actually

accomplish his will.

The Assyrians eventually get defeated and Cyrus, the first Persian king, becomes the new emperor

of a mighty empire.

And some of you might not know this, but up until not that many years ago, Iran was called

Persia.

So imagine this is God doing something through the Ayatollah.

That's how crazy this is.

If all of a sudden the Ayatollah of Iran made a decision like this.

That's the shocking thing about the story.

So all of a sudden, Cyrus makes this decision that the Jewish people who want it can return

to the ruins of their homeland.

They, I mean, he might not think many want to go because who would want to leave civilization?

Who would want to leave all of the economic prosperity and safety and protection of living

at the center of the empire to go to these outlying area where there is just ruins and who knows

what wild and outlaw type things are going on there.

But he makes a decree that they can go back and he even gives money and other types of things.

And that's what we see in chapter one and chapter two.

And so this is taking place about five hundred and three, about three years, two to three

years after Cyrus's decree.

They've come back.

They've got their homes at least sorted out enough so that they have a roof over their

head.

And our story keeps up with chapter three, verse one.

And when the seventh month came and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered

as one man to Jerusalem.

Then arose Yeshua, the son of Jostak, and with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel, the son

of Shealatiel, with his kinsmen.

And they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it as it is written

in the law of Moses, the man of God.

Now, pause.

Yikes.

Okay, George, this is a stretch.

You're saying this story is going to be helped by understanding having a birthday meal with

your wife.

The law of Moses, 536 BC.

And if you go further, all these burnt offerings and sacrifices, George, that is just religion.

It's barbaric.

It has nothing to do with us, but it does.

If you could put up the first point, that would be very helpful.

Here's the first point.

The real Lord, who really exists, created the real world, calls the real you into a real

covenant of real, unfailing love.

That is the message of the Old Testament.

It is the message of the New Testament.

We understand, of course, that there is a new covenant, a greater covenant, the final

covenant that's brought about by Jesus.

We celebrate it in the Lord's Supper.

We're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper at the end of the service.

The real Lord, who really exists, created the real world, calls the real you into a real

covenant of real, unfailing love.

You might notice, I think, the real bit's important.

So here's the thing which is going on.

Earlier on, just before this, I prayed.

And I am a very simple, I'm a simpleton when it comes to this type of stuff.

And most Canadians, most Canadians, when they think of religion or spirituality, they think

of it as a type of affectation.

It's like a hobby.

It just gives them some type of peace or inner hope.

You know, and many people say, well, I personally prefer some Jack Daniels or expensive wine.

That does the thing for me.

But for others, you know, it's going to church.

You know, that's fine if that's what it does for you.

And, you know, some good whiskey does it for me.

Then, you know, that's fine.

It's all cool.

You know, and they don't think that the story, when we read things like this, they don't think

it's real.

Not like a hockey game is real.

And when people are talking about what happened in the hockey game, that's real.

Or if somebody tells you about what happened at work, that that's real.

Or that your bank statements are real.

That religious stuff isn't real.

It isn't real.

But Christians believe it is real.

When I did that prayer, I believe I am talking to a God that does exist who can hear my prayer.

And that he will act in terms of what I've asked him to do.

That's what I believe.

I don't believe.

If I just thought it was an affectation, I wouldn't take up Jack Daniels or anything like that.

But I'd have nothing to do with this place.

Like, I mean, this is a complete and utter waste of time.

I believe there's a God who hears me.

Who hears you.

When you pray to him.

I believe it's real.

And that's what's at the heart of this story.

That this story is talking about what the Jewish people were doing and how it's real.

Now, why on earth does this matter?

Well, here's why it matters.

So, I was unbelievably shy with young women.

And I desperately wanted to have a girlfriend.

But I could barely talk to a real woman.

I could barely talk to them.

But I wanted to have a girlfriend.

I remember if I thought I might bump into a girl that I liked.

I'm not making this up.

I would make a checklist in my mind of things to talk about.

And I would try to memorize it.

Because I was completely hopeless.

Louise could tell you how hopeless I was.

There's still times I'm pretty hopeless.

But the thing about it is I would daydream about doing something with this young woman.

Go out and doing something.

In my daydreams, of course, the conversation flows effortlessly.

Effortlessly.

We have a good time.

We laugh.

Everybody's happy.

That's the real world.

I mean, that's my imaginary girlfriend.

But in the real world.

And in fact, if I was having an imaginary birthday party for my imaginary girlfriend,

what happened to me that night wouldn't have ended up with my wife being terribly unhappy with me.

My imaginary girlfriend would have loved everything I wanted to do.

She would have thought I was wonderful.

Everything would work out.

And I would leave those daydreams feeling very pleased.

But it's all imaginary.

Well, because, dang it, like real people say things and have opinions and want things.

And you don't necessarily figure those things out.

That's what happens in the real world.

So what we're seeing here in this text is actually, if God is real, okay, like, I don't want to offend you,

but it's possible that your own boutique spirituality and religions is actually the equivalent,

the religious equivalent, of having an imaginary girlfriend.

Because, you see, if there's in fact going to be a real God that really does exist,

it's going to be more like the birthday scenario, and it's in fact going to be like this.

This is actually proof that they're talking about, like, the real God who actually really exists.

And so, you see, in the real world, Louise communicated to me how she wanted to be honored and celebrated and enjoyed.

And I needed her to communicate that.

And I ignored it.

Now, think about it here for a second.

And if you have a birthday party for your one-year-old, like little Dahlia is having a birthday in whatever,

eight, nine, ten months or whatever, you can't really ask Dahlia what she'd like for her birthday or what would be fun.

I can give you a hint.

A cupcake with about this much cake and that much icing will make Dahlia very happy.

Put her in her little high chair and give her the cupcake with all that icing,

and in a couple of minutes, the cupcake will be destroyed.

There will be more cupcake and icing on the high chair, on the floor, on her face, in her hair, and all over her clothes than there is in her mouth,

and she'll be really happy.

They get a bit older, you have to start asking them their opinion.

You still don't really, you know, it might be that the five-year-old would just like endless bowls of candy,

and you'd say, well, we'll give you a candy, but you're not going to have endless bowls of them, right?

So they start to communicate it.

But as they get older, by the time they're old enough to be your peer, you've got to listen to them.

That's the only way you know.

But think about it for a second.

If that's how we treat a child and that's how we treat a peer, by the time it comes to God,

if God is real and he is a person, well, I don't have the vaguest idea in the world how to honor him.

I don't have the vaguest idea in the world how to celebrate him or enjoy him unless he communicates it to me.

I am completely, utterly dependent upon him communicating it to me.

And if I screw things up because I can't even listen to Louise, I have to listen to him.

And I can't second-guess him.

I can't say, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you want that, but, you know, I think this is better.

No, I've got to listen to him.

So if you look back at the text, you'll notice, here's one of the keys to reading the whole book of Ezra.

You'll notice that just before the end of verse 2 it says,

as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

And you're going to see, if you're careful, it's one of those things that you miss.

But all the way through the book of Ezra, this little as it is written, as it is written, as it is written is always there.

Right?

But that's a sign that we're dealing with a real God.

At least one who claims that this is the real God.

We have to be completely and utterly dependent upon him revealing to us how it is that we honor him and celebrate him and enjoy his presence.

Now, some of you might say, George, okay, that's all very good.

Come on, George.

How barbaric is it?

You burnt animals?

Burnt?

Or, like, you take a cute little lamb or a cute little goat, you know, sheep, cut their throat and throw them on a fire?

Like, that's just all completely and utterly barbaric.

Like, what's going on here with this type of stuff?

Well, let me just comment on it on a moment.

But I think it'll be helpful if we look at the next few verses before I do.

Let's look at verses 3 and following.

It'll make it clearer.

Verse 3.

So, remember, they've all gathered.

They want to offer burnt offerings.

So, what they do is they, verse 3, they set the altar in its place.

Now, here, our English translation for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands.

It's a very, very literal translation, but it actually sort of obscures the meaning.

Basically, they were afraid of the people around them.

And that's going to become an increasing theme, and I'm going to talk about it more in a couple of minutes.

But they were afraid.

And in some ways, it sort of implies that their fear drove them even closer to God.

I mean, we can be afraid of people in our culture,

and the temptation is that when we're afraid of people that it'll silence us,

but it drove them to God.

At least it did right then.

And I'll continue reading.

And they offered burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord,

burnt offerings morning and evening.

Now, here we go through this, all this weird stuff, and I'll explain it in a moment.

And they kept the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles, as it is written.

Remember, I said that's all the way through.

And offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule,

another version of as it is written.

As each day required, as it is written.

And after that, the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon,

and all the appointed feasts of the Lord,

and the offerings of everyone who made a free will offering to the Lord.

From the first day of the seventh month,

they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord,

but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.

Okay, so what's going on with this?

Well, there's several things which are going on here which are important.

The first one is, you don't have to have it up on there.

Just remember that the key to understanding this text is that the real Lord,

who really exists, created the real world,

calls the real you into a real covenant of real and failing love.

That's what's going on.

It's always the case.

It begins with Abraham right up to Jesus and the new covenant,

and it continues on today.

And so here's the point of the sacrifices.

The sacrifice of an animal like that is real.

You hear the cry of the animal.

You hear the cries of the animal that are about to come.

There's the blood.

There's the smell of the awful.

Like, it's real.

And it's real.

It's not just sort of sitting in silence in the comfort of your room

and thinking certain thoughts, which can just be all about imaginary gods.

This is very real.

It's very earthy.

It's very striking.

And if you're listening to God,

he says these times of these sacrifices are times for you to remember the covenant.

Remember that I am the God, that he is the God who loves you,

that has rescued you, that's called you into a relationship with him.

It's a time not just to remember the covenant but to focus on God,

that this is being done in a sense for him and for our relationship

and to honour him and to glorify him.

And it's also a time to remember that just as I have times when nobody can be married

for any length of time without having to learn to say they're sorry to their spouse

because we do wrong.

And if that's true of us with a spouse or even with a friend,

and there's times we have to apologise to our children that we've done something wrong,

but it's definitely the case that you cannot possibly have a relationship

with a God that's actually real that you never say sorry.

If you have a religion like that or a spirituality,

you have an imaginary girlfriend.

You have an imaginary God.

Not real.

Sorry, I don't want to insult you.

But you can't have a real relationship with a real person

without ever having to say you're sorry and make an amendment of life.

And you see there's a great cost with the sacrifice.

Now, what about us?

If you could put up the second point, that would be very helpful.

Here's the thing to understand.

I'll say this again at the end if I remember.

The Lord Jesus Christ's death upon the cross

was the true and greater sacrifice

to which all the sacrifices pointed.

That's what Jesus told us.

The Lord Jesus Christ's death upon the cross

was the true and greater sacrifice

to which all the sacrifices pointed.

So we don't slaughter lambs.

We don't slaughter bulls and oxen.

Why?

Because at one time for all people

on a busy road outside of Jerusalem

in a place that was so cosmopolitan

the charges against Jesus had to be read in three languages

Hebrew, Latin, and Greek

that Jesus, the Lamb of God, died on a cross

and in a sense what he did on earth

was also done in a sense in the transcendent, the spiritual

that was a once-for-all offering of God, the Son of God

in our place to make us right with God.

So that we would enter into this real relationship

of real unfailing love with the real God.

He provides that covenant

and all of these point to him.

But you notice that little bit about how the house of God wasn't made.

Look at the very end of verse 6.

It says,

but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.

Now that's a small thing here

but once again this shows that we're talking about relationships.

I'm a sucker.

I am a sucker for The Rock

and his movies.

I know it's corny

but you know if I just want to relax on a Sunday afternoon

like I'll watch something

I'll re-watch something like the San Andreas Fault

with you know

him flexing his muscles

you know rescuing people

and doing all that type of stuff

with a caring...

I'm a sucker for those things.

Maybe some of you, now you have lower opinion of me

well that's fine.

I'm a sucker for them.

And so if you watch something like that disaster movie

the San Andreas Fault breaks

you know the San Francisco's all having tidal waves

and all that type of stuff

and Dwayne Johnson

I can't remember his name in that

but he always plays the same character

so it doesn't really matter what his character name is

it's always Dwayne Johnson

the imaginary Dwayne Johnson.

I mean in real life he probably cries

when he cuts his finger

I don't know

but you know in those things he's indestructible

and completely and utterly fearless

and of course

so that you know

his daughter of course

is up in San Francisco

his wife is there

and so the whole movie

as things are falling apart

is his rushing

there

now what's he rushing to do?

if he was rushing

because he knew where there was land

and he was going to go to that land

and he was going to build a house

and he was going to get everything set up with food

and then he went and rescued them

well first of all

they'd have been dead

well that would have sucked

but even if he was successful

they'd say

like

are you a moron?

like are you a loser?

like you really wanted to go build a house

before you came to be with us

and rescue us?

like what's all that about?

of course not

he goes to be with them

he goes to find them

he finds his wife

he finds his daughter

they're together

then they sort out all that stuff

that's what a real relationship of love is all about

and that's what's going on here

they begin with connecting with God

then we'll worry about the temple

then we'll worry about the walls

because it begins with a real relationship

with a real God that really does exist

now

this next bit's a bit odd

because all of a sudden

it talks about them starting to build the house

which we'll read in a moment

and it

and there's all these priests and Levites

and they have to supervise it

and it just seems really weird

well here

let's look at it

and I'll tell you how to understand it

it all

it

you have to think about it

with a real God

and a real relationship with that God

and if you don't think of it in those terms

nothing in the Bible is going to make sense

let's look at what it says

verse 7

so

the foundation hadn't even been based

so verse 7

they gave money to the masons and the carpenters

and food and drink and oil to the Sidonians

and the Tyrians

to bring cedar lodges from Lebanon

to the sea

to Joppa

according to the grant

that they had from Cyrus

king of Persia

now in the second year

after their coming

to the house of God at Jerusalem

in the second month

Zerubbabel

the son of Sheal-Atil

and Yeshua

the son of Jehozadak

made a beginning together

with the rest of their kinsmen

and Yeshua

Yeshua is a priest

and with the other priests

and the Levites

who had come from

to Jerusalem

from the captivity

they appointed the Levites

from 20 years old and upward

to supervise the work

of the house of the Lord

and Yeshua

with his sons

and his brothers

and Kadmiel

and his sons

and the sons of Judah

together supervised the workmen

in the house of God

along with the sons

of Hinnadad

and the Levites

and their sons

and brothers

and we'll just sort of pause here

so what's going on?

well I think you're going to know this

instantly if I said this

if it turned out

that I'd won a small lottery

and I'd got

four or five hundred thousand dollars

and I decided

you know what I think

I'm going to do

I think I'm going to build

a brand new house

for Louise

and I'm not going to tell her

I'm going to find some land

and I'm going to design the house

and I'm going to

supervise the builders

and when it's all done

I'm going to say to Louise

one day

let's go for a drive

out in the country

and we drive out

to the country

and I said

see that house?

does it look nice?

yeah it looks nice

I bought it

and designed it

and had it built for us

do you think she'd be happy?

no

would she be right

to be unhappy?

yes

she'd probably say

something like

George you had that money

you didn't tell me

and

you know how much

I would love

to design a house?

do you know how much

I would enjoy

talking with you

over it

about designing a house?

do you have any idea?

do you have any idea

what you robbed me of?

so what's going on here

is

they have the priests

and the Levites

supervising the building

the house

because the house

has to be built

as it is written

it's God's house

he designs it

not them

and that's why

they're supervising it

they're supervising it

because

it's

for him

now

some of you might say

well George

that's

you know

that's a very

creative way

of reading the text

but I think

you're just

imposing that

on the text

I don't think

that's actually

something that

the text says

I think you're

just making it up

and imposing

on the text

and it's a very

interesting re-reading

but that's not

what the text says

well it is

look at verse 10

and following

and when the builders

laid the foundation

of the temple

of the Lord

the priests

in their vestments

came forward

with trumpets

and the Levites

the sons of Asaph

with symbols

to praise the Lord

according to the directions

of David the king of Israel

in other words

just like one of you

or any of us

if we were going to build

a house or something

at a certain point in time

we might take a bit of a break

and have a barbecue

and you know

have a bit of a party

and so they've come

to a key part

they've cleared away

enough room

that they can lay down

the foundation

they have a pause

they have a party

but look what happens next

and they sang responsibly

praising and giving thanks

to the Lord

what do they say

for he is good

for his steadfast love

endures forever

toward Israel

for he is good

for his steadfast love

endures forever

toward Israel

and all the people

shouted with a great shout

when they praised the Lord

because the foundation

of the house of the Lord

was laid

now all the way

through this

every time you see

the word Lord

that's the covenant

name for God

it would be as if

you know

my grandkids

if they always refer

to it like a generic

type of grandfather

and all

but they don't just

when they talk to me

I'm not their generic

grandfather

I'm their papa

when they talk

about Louise

she's not a generic

grandmother

she's Nana

she's their Nana

and whenever you see

the word Lord

that's this

that's the covenant

name for God

that's their private

name for God

and when you see

this song right here

for he is good

for his steadfast love

endures forever

toward Israel

usually in the Bible

if you see this word

steadfast love

in the ESV

it's translated

one of the most

important words

in the Old Testament

and I can't pronounce it

because I can get that

I can't get that guttural

but it has said

and has said

is this idea

of this unfailing

steadfast

covenant

love

and it describes

how the Lord

is towards his people

that his love

is a covenant love

a relationship love

like marriage

is a covenant

at least in a Christian sense

and it's describing

this covenant love

between the Lord

with his covenant name

and his people

and his love

is steadfast

it doesn't change

and it's unfailing

it can never not exist

and that's the love

that he has

towards its people

you see the text

is trying to tell you

that it's not about

trying to figure out

rules and religion

and ritual

that it's about

relationship with a real God

that's what the text

is trying to tell you

if you could put up

the third point

that would be very helpful

here's the thing

just as a bit of an

not an aside

it's a key part to this

it's a key part

to understanding Ezra

and understanding yourselves

you have a longing

and a yearning

to be in a relationship

of unfailing love

that is good

and true

and realer than real

every human being

every human being

has a longing

and a yearning

to be in a relationship

of unfailing love

that is good

and true

and realer than real

we might not want

to acknowledge it

it might be

that it's dormant

for long periods

of time

it might just be

that in certain types

of context

it comes to the fore

but that is a love

that you have

it's ultimately

a love

a desire

that you have

to know

the chesed love

of the Lord

and that he is not

just a generic God

but that he is

a God

whose name you know

and he knows

your name

it's also something

we desire

to have

as much as

possible

with people

you have

that yearning

only the gospel

satisfies the deep

yearning of your heart

only the gospel

satisfies the deep

longing

and yearning

of your heart

if you could put up

the next point

if you have

you know

if you'd like to join

our music team

that would be wonderful

but usually

before the service

I pray some version

of this prayer

with the musicians

and that is

you come into

his presence

but it's describing

what we're doing

this morning

you come into

his presence

to know him

as the triune God

receive grace

from him

and respond

in a worthy manner

that's what we do

that's what this

is supposed to be about

us coming

into the presence

of the triune God

we come together

with our brothers

and sisters

all adopted

by grace

into his family

and we come

to receive grace

from him

and we come

to respond

in a worthy manner

it's in this text

it's what's to

characterize

our worship

and our life

two more things

just to bring

this to a close

it's

and the first one

is really

important for us

because the fact

of the matter

is

we have

complicated

emotions

people are

complicated

the world

keeps wanting

to try to

reduce us

a lot

most modern

thought

tends towards

reductionism

to reduce us

to something

simple

but the Bible

acknowledges

our emotional

complexity

and it's seen

here in this

very next part

of the story

look what happens

in verse 12

so the foundation

has been laid

there's a little

altar

at a certain

part of

surrounded by

a foundation

they're all

ruins everywhere

they're afraid

of the people

but many of the

priests

verse 12

and the Levites

and heads

of the fathers

houses

old men

who had

seen the

first

house

that's

Solomon's

temple

they wept

with a loud

voice

when they saw

the foundation

of this house

being laid

though many

shouted aloud

with joy

such a beautiful

picture

many weeping

and many shouting

for joy

all at the same

time

all in the same

service

so that the

people could not

distinguish

verse 13

could not

distinguish

the sound

of the joyful

shout

from the

sound

of the

people's

weeping

the people

shouted

with a great

shout

and the sound

was heard

far away

you know

here's the

thing

we just celebrated

a baptism

of a beautiful

little baby

girl

there are also

women

and family

there's families

in this church

that struggle

with infertility

there's people

in this service

who wish

that they

could be

married

and have

not been

able to

be married

and on one

hand

to see

this beautiful

baby girl

get baptized

on one

hand

your heart

weeps

your heart

weeps

and for others

you're filled

with joy

and both

responses

are good

and both

responses

can be

in the

church

they can

both

be in

your small

group

some

will

celebrate

the promotion

that somebody

gets

and others

will be

sad

at their

own failure

in their

areas of

professional

work

and both

can be

there

both

should be

there

not can

be

should

be

there

because

we are

emotionally

complex

people

and our

community

should

allow freedom

for emotional

complexity

and you know

Romans 8

says all

things work

together for

good for

those who

love God

and this

is another

place where

we both

weep and

mourn at

the same

time

and that's

very true

obviously

for Christians

that's very

true

all things

work together

for good

for those

who love

God

but you

know

our sin

and our

rebellion

and our

hard-headedness

and our

just plain

stupidity

and foolishness

sometimes

mean that

we lose

real goods

God

gives us

a new

good

but the

real good

is lost

even when

we get

a new

good

and so

even in

our private

lives we

can have

times of

deep regret

and weeping

at the

good that

was lost

while we

accept and

rejoice in

the new

good that

God has

given us

just one

final thing

bringing this

to a close

enemies

enemies

chapter 4

verses 1

to 5

now when

the adversaries

of Judah

and Benjamin

heard that

the returned

exiles were

building a

temple to

the Lord

the God

of Israel

now just

pause

the word

there for

adversaries

in the

Hebrew

the original

language

actually

the original

language has

a range of

meanings

but all of

them are

bad

adversary

is actually

the weakest

of the

senses

can also

be translated

as foe

oppressor

enemy

and it

has with

it as well

sometimes it's

used to

physical objects

as a hard

pebble that

cannot be

broken or

flint

so it's

communicating

this idea

of an

oppressor

who's like

a hard

pebble

that can't

be broken

now when

the

enemies

the oppressors

who are

their

neighbors

heard

that they

had

returned

well they're

the enemies

they're

haters

they're

people who

want them

to fail

I don't

think there's

anybody here

over a

certain age

hasn't had

somebody in

their life

who was a

hater

and they

approached

verse 2

that's the

enemies

they approached

Zerabbel

and the

heads of

the

fathers

houses

and said

to them

let us

build with

you

for we

worship

your

God

as you

do

and we

have been

sacrificing

to him

ever since

the days

of

Esar

and the

king of

Assyria

who brought

us here

but

Zerabbel

Yeshua

and the

rest of

the heads

of the

fathers

houses

and Israel

said to

them

you have

nothing

to do

with us

in building

a house

to our

God

but we

alone

will build

the house

to the

Lord

the God

of Israel

as King

Cyrus

the king

of Persia

has commanded

us

I'm going

to say

more about

this in a

moment

but I'll

just read

the final

two verses

then the

people of

the land

discouraged

the people

of Judah

other

translations

use stronger

words than

discouraged

they harassed

threatened

hated

cajoled

insulted

hated

the people

of Judah

and made

them afraid

to build

they bribed

counselors

against them

to frustrate

their purpose

all the days

of Cyrus

king of Persia

even until

the reign

of Darius

king of Persia

now

if you go

on to read

the rest of

chapter 4

5 and 6

which I'm

not going

to read

and one

of the things

I've discovered

that if it

wants to be

helpful to

read

you have to

pay attention

to the

emperors

who are

listed

and it's

helpful to

maybe

I'm going

to have

a little

piece of

paper

that gives

me the

names of

the emperors

and the

dates

that they

reigned

but what

this book

just casually

mentions

is this

is over

a hundred

years of

hatred

this is

intergenerational

hatred

the scan

of the books

of Ezra

and Nehemiah

take place

over a hundred

years

and these

people who

hated them

hated them

for a hundred

years

a hundred

years of

hatred

now

the

communist

kicked

the

missionaries

out of

China

about

seven

years

ago

our

Chinese

brothers

and

sisters

have

faced

intergeneral

hatred

from the

communist

party

of

China

Khomeini

took power

in Iran

in late

1970

the underground

church in Iran

is coming up to

55 years of

hatred

intergenerational

hatred

hatred

and we can go

around the

world of

other places

of intergenerational

hatred

now what you

see the book of

Ezra and Nehemiah

about is the

flip side of that

because it doesn't

focus on it

if you could put up

the point that

would be very

helpful

to follow the

Lord involves a

crucial and

inescapable

intergenerational

dimension

one of the

questions that

was put to

me at

GAFCON

which was

very

very

it's been

playing around

in my brain

like a

virus

the question

is who's

going to be

the pastor

of your

great

grandchildren

we all

hope that

Jesus will

come back

but who's

going to

pastor

your

great

grandchildren

now on

one hand

we need

to live

every day

as if

Jesus

might come

back

tonight

but on

the other

hand

we need

to wrestle

with this

intergenerational

aspect of

discipleship

that's why

things like

royal seminary

and church

planting are

so important

but it's

also why

we have to

find ways

to help

parents raise

godly

children

have good

Sunday school

and good

other types

of mentoring

and maybe

we should

be getting

into helping

people homeschool

because

increasingly

our culture

is very

very

anti-Christian

but there's

this inescapable

thing and that's

what's hidden

in the book

of Ezra

it's part of

the story

of the book

of Ezra

and Nehemiah

is that

they fail

they fail

time and time

and time

and time

again

but God

is faithful

why

because his

love towards

us is

hesed

it is

steadfast

it is

unfailing

it is

covenant

love

and so

they stumble

they're going

to spend

17 years

not building

the temple

it's going

to take

20 years

to build

the temple

because of

their fear

but God

never gives

up

he doesn't

give up

even though

many do

and he

sends

prophets

to challenge

them

at a

serious

time

and by

the way

you know

something

which is

so interesting

about how

the wisdom

of God

works

when Israel

was falling

apart

there was a

prophet named

Jeremiah

who said

there would

be 70

years

before

that the

temple

would be

back

and the

people of

Israel

would be

back

and the

worship

would be

back

they came

and they

started to

build

you can

check this

with all

the time

references

in 536

BC

they start

to build

the temple

they fall

into fear

they end

up finishing

it in the

year 560

BC

and 516

year BC

is 70

years after

the temple

was destroyed

in 586

BC

God kept

his word

it is

written

one final

thing

the Bible

gives hope

for enemies

you could put

up the final

point

here's the

thing I want

you to

understand

the Lord

does not

want more

Canadians

he has

zero interest

in Canadians

he wants

to adopt

more children

to glorify

and enjoy

him forever

forever

when I went

to Gafcon

there were

52 nations

represented

and God

doesn't want

more Nigerians

and more

Singaporeans

and more

people from

Indonesia

he just

wants more

children

you maintain

aspects of

your cultural

identity

that's

wonderful

that has

to be

if you're

human

you're

going to

have

culture

but at

the end

of the day

he doesn't

want more

of that

he wants

you

he wants

you

he wants

you to be

his child

by adoption

and grace

now why

why am I

saying that

it's not

on the

screen

but if

you turn

to chapter

6 verse

21

which is

giving you

chapter 4

5 and 6

gives you

this 20

year period

before the

temple ends

up getting

built

if you look

at chapter

6 verse

21

verse 19

on the 14th

day of the

first month

the returned

exiles

kept the

Passover

for the

priests and

Levites

had purified

themselves

all of them

were clean

so they

slaughtered the

Passover lamb

for all the

returned

exiles

for their

fellow priests

and for

themselves

it was

eaten

by the

people of

Israel

who had

returned

from exile

and also

by everyone

who had

joined them

and separated

himself

from the

uncleanness

of the

peoples of

the land

to worship

the Lord

the God

of Israel

by some

of the

haters

the people

gave up

having their

children

sacrificed

to Moloch

and who

had hated

the Israelites

who become

followers

of the

Lord

hate

doesn't

have the

final word

God's

heart is

that he

wants more

children

he doesn't

want more

people

biologically

descended

from Abraham

or from

one of the

twelve

I mean he

wants more

of them

sure he

does

but he

brings you

in by

adoption

and grace

and we

are to

pray for

our

persecutors

we are

to pray

for our

haters

we are

to pray

for them

please stand

as we

bring it

to a

close

you know

I'm just

gonna

I'm gonna

say one

thing

as I

as I

just

yeah

no

let

we'll

just

close

let's

close

father

we

thank you

that you

are a

god

who

loves

us

you

really

exist

you

call

us

into a

real

relationship

with

you

you

call

us

knowing

what

we're

really

like

you

adopt

us

as your

child

you

call

us

to be

part

of your

kingdom

and

you

want

us

to be

part

of

not

just

a

generic

abstract

family

but

to have

local

churches

that we

can be

part

of

where

we

can

rejoice

with

those

who

rejoice

and

weep

with

those

who

weep

and

support

those

who

need

support

and

receive

support

when

we

need

support

and

we

can

put

an

arm

around

people

and

they

can

put

an

arm

around

us

and

we

can

pray

for

people

and

they

can

pray

for

us

and