Sinning Against God in the Space of Grace - 12/28/25 - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to Meadows Baptist Church of

Walnut Cove, North Carolina. We're so

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Now, let's join Pastor Charlie Branch

with a word from God.

Amen.

He is great. Amen.

>> Amen. He is great. I appreciate the Lord

this morning. All right. If you have a

Bible, turn with me to the book of Ezra.

Book of Ezra. Ezra, chapter number nine.

Ezra, chapter number nine. If you see

the book of Nehemiah, you need to go

backwards. Amen. Amen. you see the book

of Nehemiah, you need to go backwards

and find yourself there in the book of

Ezra.

Ezra, chapter number nine.

When you find your place, I'll invite

you to stand with me on reference to the

reading of God's word.

Israel chapter number nine.

Different portion of scripture the

Lord's put on my heart for the service

today, but just want to be obedient to

him the best that I know how. Ezra

Ezra 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9. You found your place there.

Say amen.

>> Amen.

>> Amen. We'll start reading Ezra chapter

Ezra 9 · chapter mention

9. I want to begin reading verse number

five. Ezra chapter number nine verse

number five. And uh I hope that uh

you'll be patient with me this morning

as we deal with this text. I want to

make sure I give the Lord plenty of time

to have his way. And uh I'll say this

this morning, you come to these passages

of scripture. Uh many times we're not as

familiar with. And so I want to labor uh

pretty extensively this morning to give

you the context of this chapter and of

this story. Probably preach again here

out of this text tonight. Ezra chapter

Ezra 9 · chapter mention

9. Notice verse number five. Verse

number five. Ezra chapter 9:5.

The Bible says, "And at the evening

sacrifice, I rose up from my heaviness.

And having rent my garment and my

mantle, I fell upon my knees." This is

Ezra speaking, "and spread out my hands

unto the Lord my God. And said, Oh my

God, I am ashamed and blushed to lift up

my face to thee, my God. For our

iniquities are increased over our head,

and our trespass is grown up into the

heavens. Since the days of our fathers

have we been in a great trespass unto

this day, and for our iniquities have

we, our kings and our priests, been

delivered into the hand of the kings of

the lands, to the sword, to captivity,

and to a spo, and to confusion of face,

as it is this day. Notice verse number

eight. The Bible says, "And now for a

little space grace hath been showed from

the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant

to escape and to give us a nail in his

holy place."

>> Yes.

>> That our God may lighten our eyes and

give us a little reviving in our

bondage.

>> For we were bondmen,

yet our God hath not forsaken us.

>> Amen.

For we were bond, yet our God hath not

forsaken us in our bondage, but hath

extended mercy unto us in the sight of

the kings of Persia, to give us a

reviving to set up the house of our God,

and to repair the desolations thereof,

and to give us a wall in Judah and in

Jerusalem. In verse number 10, the Bible

says, "And now, oh our God, what shall

we say after this? For we have forsaken

thy commandments, which thou has

commanded by thy servants, the prophets,

saying, The land unto which you go to

possess, it is an unclean land, with the

filthiness of the people of the lands,

with their abominations, which have

filled it from one end to another, with

their uncleanness. Now therefore give

not your daughters unto their sons,

neither take their daughters unto your

sons, nor seek their peace or their

wealth forever, that you may be strong

and eat the good of the land, and leave

it for an inheritance to your children

forever. And after all that has come

upon us for our evil deeds and for our

great trespass, seeing that thou our God

has punished us less than our iniquities

deserve, and hast given us such

deliverance as this, should we again

break thy commandments, and join in

affinity with the people of these

abominations?

Would us not thou be angry with us till

thou hast consumed us, so that there

should be no remnant nor escaping? Oh

Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous.

For we remain yet escaped as it is this

day. For behold, we are before thee in

our trespasses. For we cannot stand

before thee because of this. Let's pray

together this morning. Father, Lord, I

thank you for this passage of scripture

that you've allowed me to read this

morning. Lord, such a powerful piece of

scripture, Lord, where the man of God

was burdened for the children of Israel.

And God, I come today with a burden,

Lord, for this church. And God, for the

church as a whole, Lord, God, the church

is not what she should be in this day

and time.

>> And God, I pray, Lord, you would help

us, Lord, as we consider this text. God,

as I try to share my burden the best I

know how. God, I pray you give us wisdom

and discernment. Fill us with thy

spirit. Give us uncction. Give us

liberty to preach this morning. And God,

I pray, Lord, that we would leave here

today knowing that we've met with you.

God, I pray more than anything that you

would get glory to yourself. Save the

sinner nearest hell this morning.

Reclaim the backsliding. And for what

you do, we'll be sure to give you thanks

because we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you for standing. You can be

seated this morning.

As I was praying about this service

today, I didn't have a specific

direction the Lord led me in. I was just

reading in my devotion time and this

text come across my devotion time and I

was praying what God would have us for

today. And I couldn't get away from this

text. And I I want to know I want you to

note with me this morning here. And I

I'll give you the thought the Lord's put

on my heart in this text. But notice

verse number eight. Verse number eight.

The Bible says, "Ezra spoke and

said,"Now for a little space grace hath

been showed from the Lord our God to

leave us a remnant to escape and to give

us a nail in his holy place that our God

may lighten our eyes and give us a

little reviving in our bondage." And

what you're reading this morning is the

broken heart of a man of God that is

sick of the sin of the people that

surround him.

>> Right?

>> And in this text, you'll notice he makes

a plea unto the Lord. And he says in

verse number 10, he says, "Oh our God,

what shall we say after this? For we

have forsaken thy commandments." I want

to preach on this thought for just a

little while with the help of the Lord

on sinning against God.

in the space of grace.

>> Sinning against God in the space of

grace. Ezra here records a unique time

period in history. Really Ezra does not

even appear in the book of Ezra until

chapter number seven. He comes on the

scene with King Artic Xeries, his

appearance in the book of Ezra. And he

comes on the pages of scripture in

chapter number seven. And immediately

right off the beginning here, his

pedigree is given in chapter 7 verses

one down through verse number five. His

lineage is traced all the way back to

Aaron his father that he was

legitimately a priest after the Aeronic

priesthood. And so his pedigree is given

in chapter 7. His preparation is given

in chapter 7. The Bible says in verse

number six that this Ezra went up from

Babylon. And the Bible says that he was

a ready scribe in the law of Moses which

the Lord God of Israel had given. And

the king granted him all his requests

according to the hand of the Lord his

God upon him. And so some almost a

hundred years, more like 75 years

earlier, there had been a group of

people that had been sent back into

Israel from captivity. They had left

Babylon under the rulership of Cyrus and

they had been sent back to build again

the temple of the Lord. And they went

back there and they started work. But

after a time period, there was a an

event that took place, a letter that was

found and work had to cease there in

Jerusalem. And so for another king's

reign, the work was ceased. And then

Darius shows up on the scene after that.

And then they begin partially to do a

little bit more work. And then again

work is ceased. And then here in chapter

number seven there is a this man Ezra

comes on the scene and his burden is to

go back to Jerusalem and to build the

house of God. And so he has been given

permission. In verse six, the king

granted him all his requests according

to the hand of the Lord his God upon

him. And God's hand is on this man Ezra.

He has prepared. He has given the

provision in chapter 7 11- 26. And out

of this provision that is given to him,

the decree of art exeres would in

essence say that Ezra had all authority,

every resource, every man, every

resource, everything was under the

control of Ezra for him to do as he

will. And Ezra's response to this decree

in chapter 7 and verse 27, he says this,

"Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers,

which have put such a thing as this in

the king's heart to beautify the house

of the Lord which is in Jerusalem." And

so they begin gathering up the

materials, those vessels that were

carried away in the days of

Nebuchadnezzar. He is gathering up the

gold and gathering up the silver. And

articles tells Ezra, he says, "Whatever

else you need, however much you need,

get all that you need out of my

treasury." And I still believe the Bible

says the heart of the king is in the

hand of the Lord. Amen. And he turneth

it whethersoever he will. That's true in

our day. Amen. But God blessed Ezra

because Ezra was desiring to work on the

house of God. And he praises the Lord

for the blessing, this decree by the

king art exer in verse 27. And in verse

28, he exclaims the mercy. The Bible

says he's extended mercy unto me before

the king and his counselors and before

all the king's mighty princes. And I was

strengthened as the land of the Lord my

God was upon me. And I gathered together

out of Israel chief men to go up with

me. And so in chapter 8, you find their

passage. And all through chapter number

eight, they are traveling four months

time, some 900 miles into Jerusalem to

make this journey from the land of

Babylon there from their lineage of or

from their uh stay there with the king

arted Xeries in that land. And he's got

a group of men going with him back

there. And the Bible says that they make

their journey prosperous. And after

their passage, verse number 36, they

delivered the king's commissions under

the king's lieutenants and to the

governors on this side of the river. And

they furthered the people and the house

of God. And so Ezra's work here seeming

to go in the right direction.

Everything's going on schedule, on plan.

They've been there for some four months

at this time there in the land of

Israel. When chapter nine comes around

and the Bible says that after production

has taken place and the people are

encouraged and the house of the Lord is

growing and looking better all the time.

The Bible says in chapter 9 and verse

number one, "Now when these things were

done, the princes came to me, Ezra's

here, saying, the people of Israel and

the priests and the Levites have not

separated themselves from the people of

the lands, doing according to their

abominations, even of the Canaanites,

the Hittites, the Parizzites, the

Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites,

the Egyptians, and the Amorites." And he

gives the indictment against them in

verse two. For they have taken of their

daughters for themselves and for their

sons, so that the holy sea have mingled

themselves with the people of those

lands. Yay, the hand of the princes and

rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

And so chapter 9:es 1 through3 begins

with the guilty and their sin. how that

the leadership, the priests and the

Levites as they have come back into this

land, they have refused to forsake their

wives. We know the commandment of

scripture teaches that the children of

Israel never intermar intermarry with

any of the Canaanite people. None of

them because they were wicked people.

And what happened to Solomon? Solomon's

failure was because he married into a

wicked race of people. And Ezra in this

chapter, he gets news of this sin and

that the Levites, the holy ones, the

priests, those that were supposed to be

taking care of the house of God, they

have impurified themselves by this

wickedness in drawing their

relationships with those who were in the

land. You're

>> right.

>> You say, "Preacher, what are you

saying?" I'm saying it's just like it is

in our day.

>> You're right.

It seems as if the church

has just yolked up with the world.

>> Amen.

>> And Ezra, the man of God's burdened

about. You see the guilty and their sin,

but you see the servants's grief. In

verses 3 through5, the Bible says, "And

when I heard this thing," look what he

says. I rent my garment. He says, "I

rent my garment and my mantel and

plucked off the hair of my head and of

my beard and sat down a stone." And Ezra

is so shaken by this news. You

understand these men, he's just

journeyed some 900 miles with them,

coming back into the land of Israel to

restore the work at the house of God.

And then after everything's going good,

everything looks all right down at the

temple there and they're producing, the

people are growing and things are

happening and everything looks all

right. This one little truth is brought

to him that tells him that pretty much

all these men that were helping him with

the exception of just a few have defiled

themselves. You're

>> right.

>> They've defiled themselves. And you know

what Ezra's burdened about it? Because

here's the truth about it. God will not

use a dirty vessel.

>> Right?

>> And so, you know what was good in

chapter number eight? It looked good on

the outside.

>> Come on.

>> Ezra even tells them, he looks at those

men, one text, you can turn back there

and read it in chapter number eight. He

says, he says, "You're all holy unto the

Lord." They bowed by that river there in

the chapter number eight. And and they

were fasting and praying. And Ezra said,

"Sanctify yourselves. You're all holy

unto the Lord." Why is that? They were

bringing the instruments of the temple

home. They were bringing the gold

vessels and the bases. They were

bringing back the beautifification of

the temple.

>> Right?

>> All the while their homes were

>> good.

>> And so the man of God is grieved. And

you notice out of this in our text, his

his grief leds him to leads him to

supplicate. The Bible says in verses

3-5, you'll notice his heaviness there.

In verse 5, he said, "At the evening sac

evening sacrifice, I rose up from my

heaviness." He spent most of the day

bitter because of this sin shocked and

astonished. That means he was literally

astounded. He said, "I having rent my

garment, my mantle, I fell upon my knees

and spread out my hands under the Lord

my God." I'll tell you this, when you

get news of sin, that's the first that's

the that'll be the first response you

have,

>> right? that you ought to fall down

before God.

And in this text, he falls down before

the Lord. And the Bible says in verse

six, he said, "Oh my God, I am ashamed

and blush to lift up my face to thee, my

God." You see here, his supplication, he

reveals the shame of sin. He said, "God,

I'm ashamed." You say, "Preacher, but

Ezra wasn't a part of this." No, he

wasn't. But you know what? These were

his people,

>> right?

>> And you know what? It was their sin. And

because it was their sin, he counted it

his sin.

>> You're right.

>> David said the same thing. Solomon said

the same thing. Moses, all of them. When

they when the children of Israel had

sinned, when Moses intreated for the

children of Israel, HE DIDN'T SAY

they've sinned.

>> He said we have sinned.

>> And Ezra goes to God on their behalf to

pray for them. And he shows the shame of

their sin. He said, "I'm ashamed and

blush to lift up my face to thee." You

know what the pro where the problem in

America really started really where it

really started to get bad is when people

no longer blushed at sin.

>> When the church of God when they just

started glancing over it and just

accepting it and say, "Well, that's just

what everybody else does. We don't have

to do that. But we're not going to let

it affect us."

>> Come on.

>> You say, "Preacher, well that's my

mindset." Well, let me tell you

something. If sin don't grieve you, it

won't be long before you're in the

middle of it.

>> You're right.

>> Amen. And that's exactly right. If you

do not, if you try to glance OVER SIN,

HEY, SIN OUGHT TO GRIEVE YOU. I'm

telling you, THE SIN OF THIS COUNTRY

GRIEVES ME TO MY very core.

>> You say, "Preacher, but look at our

leadership and look at all that's being

done. They're the most wicked people.

>> No character,

>> full of immorality,

>> right?

>> Full of LUST AND AND SEXISM AND JUST

TURNED on every WHICH WAY. THEY'RE

MESSED UP. THEY'RE SINFUL. AND IT

grieves me.

>> Amen.

>> I'll tell you what grieves me worse than

that. The sins in this church.

>> You're right.

>> Ezra was grieved to the point and he

said, "Lord, I'm ashamed

to even turn my eyes to you."

You know, the truth is

the heart of every preacher when he

loves his congregation, when there's sin

in the camp, you know what? He feels

this very same way. You're right.

>> He said, "I'm ashamed and blushed to

lift up my face to thee, my God." Look

what he says. For our iniquities are

increased over our head, and our

trespass has grown up into the heavens.

You see, the shame was large to Ezra,

but the sin was larger.

>> You're right.

>> He said, "Lord, I'm ashamed to look your

way." He said, "But Lord, our sin's so

great. I have to look to you."

>> Amen.

>> BECAUSE WE ARE IN A MESS. AND BOY, IT'S

HIGH TIME somebody realized that. You're

>> right.

>> Ezra's the only one. They've been going

on all this time. JUST LIKE EVERYTHING'S

OKAY. EVERYTHING'S OPERATING JUST FINE.

BUT SOMEHOW A MAN OF GOD STEPS UP AND

AND HE SEES EVERYTHING THAT'S NOT RIGHT

AFTER they come to him and tell him. You

know, I've been placed before. I've

watched other pastors before. They get

news of a sin that's going on in the

house of God. You know what I watch

happen to them? I watch them fall to

pieces. You're

>> right.

>> Why? because they're burdened.

>> You're right.

>> For the house of God.

He reveals the shame of sin. He reveals

the suffering for sin. In verse 7, look

what he says. Since the days of our

fathers have we been in a great trespass

unto this day, and for our iniquities

have we, our kings and our priests been

delivered into the hand of the kings of

the lands, to the sword, to captivity,

and to a spoil, and a confusion of

faith. as it is this day. HE RECOUNTS

ALL THE HISTORY. The reason why that

they were delivered INTO

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S HAND WAS THEIR SIN.

THE REASON WHY GOD TURNED THEM OVER TO

CAPTIVITY AND DELIVERED THEM AWAY IS

BECAUSE THEY REFUSED HIS COMMANDMENT.

THEY WOULD NOT SERVE HIM. THEY WOULD NOT

OBEY THE LAW OF GOD. AND WHAT IS OUR

THOUGHT WHEN WE THINK WE CAN MAKE A

PRAYER TO GOD living in sin?

>> Come on.

>> YOU'RE GOING TO SUFFER WHEN YOU LIVE IN

SIN.

>> YOU'RE RIGHT.

YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES of your

sin because sin always

brings suffering.

He reveals the shame of sin. He reveals

the suffering for sin. And in verse

number eight, he reveals the space,

the space from sin. Look what he says.

And now for a little space of grace hath

been showed from the Lord our God.

You say, "Preacher, what does that

mean?" Well, verse seven, he just

recounts the how they were delivered

away.

You see, Nebuchadnezzar came and take

them with brutal force, killed off many

of them, took the best and brought them

back, left the rest to die.

And because of their sin, they were

brutally destroyed, brutally taken from

their land, and they were treated poorly

in captivity. And many of them faced

death. And the Bible says, Ezra says,

"Now look, here we are back in the land

and now we're guilty of the same thing

>> that God us took out of here to start

with."

You know, it's a dangerous place

when God has forgiven you over and over

and over again.

>> You're right. Amen.

>> And you go back to the same sin.

>> Yes.

>> You say, "Preacher, what's the truth?"

Well, I want to preach on this thought.

sinning against God in the space of

grace. You see, they God has given Ezra

this vision to go back and rebuild and

finish the house of God and to make it

what it's supposed to be. And you know

what? He's given him this vision. He's

given him men. But you know what? Those

men that come with him, he finds out

that they're defiled and that there is

going to be no labor that takes place

any further until their defilement is

dealt with. You know, the reason why I

feel like many of our churches are

hindered and even this church could be

hindered on many occasions is because

there's sin that's present that is not

dealt with.

>> That's good.

>> You say, "Preacher, well, you don't know

about it." And you're exactly right. If

I knew about it, I'd preach against

today, man.

>> Right.

>> What I'm saying is in this text, he's

telling them, "Hey, God has given us an

opportunity to rebuild, but until you

repent,

>> Amen.

>> there's going to be no rebuilding that's

done." You're

>> right.

You know, I think that's the case in

many places, and I'm not trying to be

too

apply this too broadly, but I think

there's places, churches, where they go

through a lot, and there's a big mess,

splits, and all of that stuff. And then

after that, God gives them a space to

repent, get right, and rebuild. And what

happens? There's somebody there that's

hanging on to sin,

>> right?

>> There's somebody there that's hanging on

to bitterness. Somebody there that's

hanging on to some uh past life or doing

something hidden that nobody knows

about. And Ezra is telling him, he says,

"All he's he's praying to God and he

says,"Lord, you've given us this space,

but yet here we are wasting it."

>> You're right.

>> You say, "Preacher, how does that relate

to us?" Well, you know what day we're

living in, right?

>> Day of grace. You're

>> right.

>> And you know what you're doing refusing

God in this day? You are sinning away

the day of grace. YOU ARE SINNING

AGAINST GOD IN THE SPACE OF GRACE.

NOTICE WHAT IS G. YOU SEE, THERE'S SOME

THINGS THAT'S given in this space of

grace. What is what does Ezra say is

given in this space? Look what he says.

And now for a little space grace hath

been showed from the Lord our God. And

out of this, God is giving them an

opportunity. Notice what your Bible

says. Number one, sinning against God in

the space of grace. They were sinning

against the people. Look what the Bible

says. He says, the Bible says he grace

has been showed from the Lord our God to

leave us a remnant to escape.

God had left a remnant that had made it

through the bondage, made it through the

persecution, that had stayed through all

of the kings AND THAT HAD FOLLOWED

FAITHFULLY AND GOD HAD ALLOWED THEM TO

live and serve and God left. I'm

thankful that Romans, the book of Romans

says even at this present time, there's

a remnant according to the election of

grace. God's always going to have his

Jews. Amen. And when he comes back, he's

going to reign on the throne of David

for THOSE JEWS. BUT THIS TEXT REVEALS to

us he has left a remnant. YOU

UNDERSTAND? GOD COULD HAVE WIPED THEM

OUT. You're

>> right.

>> GOD COULD HAVE SENT THEM OFF INTO

CAPTIVITY AND NEVER GIVE HIM ANOTHER

OPPORTUNITY AGAIN. You're

>> right.

>> Oh, but what's the truth? God left a

remnant.

>> Amen.

>> Let me say this to you this morning.

Lost man, hey, God's left a remnant.

>> Yes.

>> The people of God you're seated among

this morning, God has left them. Why?

Because you need an example. YOU'RE

>> RIGHT.

>> GOD HAS LEFT A REMNANT. And God has left

this remnant. What is this remnant

represents? Well, it represents that

there was deliverance instead of

destruction. Look what the Bible said in

verse 8. He has he's to leave us a

remnant to escape. God left the people

that he did not destroy,

but he left the people that he

delivered.

>> You're right.

>> Out of bondage. Hey, friend, everybody

you're looking at in here this morning

that's saved, that's what what's what's

happened to us. Amen. We've been

delivered, we've been saved from

destruction. Amen. Notice, not only

we've been delivered instead of

destroyed, but there's a remnant instead

of rending God. He could have rent the

kingdom away and never give it back

again. Never give him an opportunity to

go home. You're right.

>> And gave that land to somebody else.

>> There was a remnant instead of the

rending. There was deliverance instead

of destruction. There was an escape

instead of imprisonment.

Look at it again. He has left us a

remnant to escape.

Oh friend, that's what we are.

>> Amen.

>> We've escaped the judgment of sin. Hey,

we're dead to sin. Amen.

>> Yeah.

>> We've escaped, Amen. this world and it's

judgment. That's what Egypt's a type of

anyway. Amen. We've escaped. We've been

delivered. Amen. We didn't get turned

over to the world, but God brought us

out. Amen. There's anybody in the

building this morning. Amen. I'm saying,

"Praise God. We have been delivered."

And you know what? This crowd that

sinned, they were sinning against the

remnant.

>> You're right.

>> When you choose

to walk against the will of God, you're

sinning against God, but you're also

sinning against his church.

>> You're right. I'll give you that in just

a minute. Some more on that. But he

leads the people. Verse number eight, in

this space of grace, he not only leads

the people, but he leaves a provision.

Look what the Bible says. That grace has

been showed from the Lord our God to

leave us a remnant to escape and to give

us a nail in his holy place. You're

>> right.

>> What does a nail do? It holds. It's a

symbol of stability. And when Ezra said

that God has given us a nail in his holy

place, he was saying there's something

that's steady and unmoving and

unchanging in the holy place. What is

that? Well, IT'S JESUS CHRIST. HE is the

nail in the holy place. He is

unchanging. He is unmovable. Jesus

Christ the same yesterday, TODAY, AND

FOREVER. HE IS UNMOVING. HE HAS GIVEN US

A NAIL IN THE HOLY PLACE.

>> It's a symbol of stability. It's not

only a symbol of stability, but it's a

symbol of opportunity.

>> As long as the nail is there, they can

enter.

>> You're right.

>> I'm saying as long as Jesus lives.

>> Amen.

>> And he lives forever MORE. AMEN. THERE

IS A nail in the holy PLACE THAT WE CAN

GO TO. IT SYMBOLIZES WE HAVE A STABLE

PLACE FOR OTHER FOUNDATION CAN NO MAN

LAY THAN THAT THAT IS LAID, WHICH IS

CHRIST JESUS. BUT IT SYMBOLIZES THAT

THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY.

>> You're right.

>> Peter said it this way in Acts chapter

number four. He said, "For there's none

other name under heaven given among men

whereby you must be saved."

>> You're right.

>> It's Jesus.

>> It symbolizes stability. It symbolizes

opportunity that there would be access

to God. It symbolizes not only stability

and opportunity, but it symbolizes

sufficiency. Look what the Bible says in

verse eight to give us a nail in his

holy place.

>> He was saying, Ezra said, God has given

us everything.

>> Amen.

>> That we need.

>> Do you realize this morning we are

lacking nothing?

>> You're right.

>> We're not missing anything. You say,

"Preacher, well, I missed a meal

yesterday." Oh, but if you're saved,

FRIEND, YOU MIGHT MISS miss every meal

FROM HERE UNTIL YOU GO HOME. OH, but

you've got riches money can't buy.

YOU'VE GOT WEALTH THAT THE WORLD KNOWS

NOTHING ABOUT. I'M SAYING WE'RE LACKING

NOTHING. WHY? BECAUSE OF THE NAIL IN THE

HOLY PLACE. AMEN. I'M SAYING THERE'S A

PROVISION THAT'S BEEN LEFT US.

>> You say, "Preacher, what is that nail?"

It's that blessed Bible right there.

>> The only STABLE THING THAT YOU AND I

HAVE IN THIS LIFE WHEN OUR FEELINGS ARE

UP AND DOWN AND OUR FRIENDS ARE IN AND

OUT AND OUR FAMILY SEEMS LIKE THEY'VE

LEFT US. LET ME JUST TELL YOU THIS

BLESSED WORD. IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME. IT

ALWAYS READS THE SAME. SOMEBODY HELP THE

PREACHER THIS MORNING. HEY, WE HAVE A

NOW IN THE HOLY PLACE. AMEN.

>> We have a provision that's steady.

>> We have a provision that presents every

man, woman, boy, and girl an opportunity

to be saved.

>> For whosoever will, let him call upon

the name of the Lord, they shall be

saved. Amen. I'm saying to you this

morning, hey, there is a nail, there was

a provision that's left them. HEY, LET

ME JUST SAY IT for us this morning,

CHURCH. JUST BECAUSE there's sickness,

just because THERE'S SUFFERING, JUST

BECAUSE there's surgeries, AND JUST

BECAUSE THERE'S CIRCUMSTANCES OF HEALING

THAT WE ALL NEED, LET ME TELL YOU, THE

NAIL IS STILL HANGING THERE. AND JUST

HANG YOUR LIFE BY IT. AMEN.

>> AND LET it carry you all the way.

Hallelujah. Hey, it's not just good just

for salvation, but it's good for the

rest of our life, too. Amen.

>> I'm saying he gave them a provision

>> that he would help them because he is

all that they need. Then there's a

product in the text.

He's given us a nail in his holy place.

I'm talking about this is what you sin

against when you walk against Amen. the

space of grace.

>> Look what the Bible says. He's given us

a nail in his holy place that our God

may lighten our eyes.

>> Yeah.

>> And give us a little reviving

in our bondage.

>> Yeah.

>> You see, this is the product. What is

the product of? Well, he's left the

people.

>> Amen.

>> That remnant. Amen.

>> But he left the provision. That's the

word of God. When you take the people of

God and you take the precepts of God and

you put them together, you know what you

have? You have revival.

>> Amen.

>> You know why we don't have revival?

Because the people of God ain't getting

yolked up with the pre precepts. Amen.

Somebody say amen right there. Hey, it's

not an experience just a supernatural

mystical thing that takes place. Revival

is what happens every time the heart of

man links up with the HEART OF GOD.

WHERE DOES THAT HAPPEN? It happens in

the Bible. The Bible says THAT MERCY AND

TRUTH HAVE KISSED each other. Where is

that? In the person of Jesus Christ. And

he IS THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN.

AND SO IN HIM THERE IS REVIVAL IN HIM.

AMEN. Look what he says. He's given us a

light

that God may lighten our eyes. He has

revealed light. But he has given us

revived life. Verse eight. And give us a

little reviving

in our bondage.

Ezra said, "God has given us all these

things. He's given us life. He's given

us light. He showed us his love." Notice

verse number nine. For we were bondman.

This is why I got so teeyed reading this

a while ago because I knew where I was

going.

>> Come on.

>> Verse nine. Look what he says. For we we

we were bondman. Yet our God hath not

forsaken us.

>> Amen.

>> He's given us life. He's given us light.

He showed us his love. How did he do

that? He didn't leave us. You're

>> right.

>> Oh man.

>> Amen.

>> You know how many times we failed him?

Yeah.

>> You know how many years and days that

people in this room have lived away from

him? And yet we're HERE THIS MORNING.

AND GOD HAS ALLOWED US TO BE HERE. I'M

SAYING HE DIDN'T FORSAKE US IN OUR

BONDAGE. HE LEFT us a NAIL IN THE HOLY

PLACE THAT WE MIGHT KNOW WHERE TO FIND

LIFE AND WHERE WE COULD HAVE LIFE. WHY?

BECAUSE HE SHOWED US HIS LOVE. AMEN.

>> He didn't forsake us while we was in

bondage.

>> Yes.

>> And notice this.

What's the problem? What's the problem?

Notice verse 10.

God has given us his people. He's given

us his provision. He's given us the

product is as light, life, and love.

Amen. And in verse 10, the man of God

says this. And now, oh our God, what

shall we say after this?

>> Yes.

>> For we have forsaken thy commandments.

>> Yes.

The only thing that would bring revival

and restoration to the children of

Israel was the only thing that they left

behind.

>> You're right.

>> They brought the gold back.

>> Come on.

>> They brought the people back. They

brought the performance back. They

brought the music back. They brought the

sermons back. But somewhere along the

way,

>> Yes.

>> they forgot the scriptures.

>> Right.

>> Look what he says. What shall we say?

The problem is Ezra had no answer.

EZRA'S JUST SAID, "GOD, YOU'VE GIVEN US

ALL THIS AND BUT LORD, I have nothing to

say because we've taken it and spurned

it away."

>> Good.

>> You think about what we've been

entrusted with, church.

>> Come on.

>> We have We live in the greatest time in

history.

>> You're right.

>> And yet there's empty pews. Amen.

>> This morning,

>> come on.

The problem was there was no answer.

There was no apprehension.

They forsaken the commandments. The

command was given in verses 11 12 that

they should not take wives, the women of

the land. I'm going to preach on that

tonight. Look at chapter 10. Consider

another thought out of this text. The

compassion of God is seen in verse 13.

And after all that has come upon us for

our evil deeds and for our great

trespass, seeing that thou our God has

punished us less than our iniquities

deserve.

>> You're right.

>> You just think about that for a minute.

>> Yes.

>> We ought to be in hell, friend.

>> Amen.

>> Right.

>> We ought to be there eternally.

>> Yes.

>> I'm talking about presently and for

eternity,

>> right?

>> Because that's what we deserve.

>> And Ezra says this. He says, "Even after

all that's come upon us for our evil

deeds, after all that we did wrong and

all that we suffered through because of

our sin, here we are." He says, "And

that y'all, Lord has not punished us.

You punished us less than our iniquities

deserve you given us deliverance such as

this." In verse 14, he reveals the

corruption of man. He says, "Should we

again break thy commandments after all

we've been through

>> and after all he's done?"

>> Come on.

That's right.

>> After all the suffering

>> that you and I have had to face because

of sin.

>> You're right.

>> And after all the blessing,

>> come on.

>> How good God's been to us.

>> Yes, he has.

>> Yet, we would choose to go back to the

same sin.

>> You're right.

>> That brought us to suffer in the first

place.

Ezra looks at God in his prayer and he

says, "Should we again break thy

commandments and enjoin an infinity with

an affinity with the people of these

abominations? Would us not thou be anger

thus till thou hast consumed us so that

there should be no remnant nor

escaping."

>> You're right.

>> What did he just tell him? HE SAID HE'S

LEFT US A remnant that escaped. But now

he's saying, "Lord, I don't know if

you'll let us go or not." It's good.

>> You know, the thing that scares me the

most, and I'm being I'm being real

candid this morning, and y'all forgive

me for that, but the thing that scares

me the most is that this church could

never have revival again.

>> Come on.

>> Because there's sin that you will refuse

to deal with.

>> Amen. And Ezra says, "Lord, I don't know

if you're going to allow us another

chance."

Look what he says. Would us not thou be

angry with us till thou hast consumed us

so that there should be no remnant nor

escaping?

What is it? If my generation and the

generation to come after me has no

desire to follow God and my ministry is

just simply this, burying the faithful

saints of God to a generation that will

not follow.

>> Good.

You see who's here this morning?

Let me ask you a question this morning,

young people. When they're gone, are you

going to be here?

>> Amen.

What wind's going to take you out?

>> Yes.

>> What sin's going to take you away?

>> Bless.

>> What pride are you going to let hinder

you? I'm saying it was because THEY THEY

HAD JOINED UP WITH THE WORLD AND

SEPARATION OTHER THAN SALVATION. I TOLD

my daddy this last night. I said,

"People in the church WORLD TODAY, THEY

DO NOT BELIEVE in separation. They

refuse to believe it. BUT SEPARATION IS

AS BIG A BIBLE doctrine as salvation

is."

>> Right. Paul said it this way to the

Corinthian church. He said, "Wherefore

come out from among them, AND BE YOU

SEPARATE, sayeth the Lord, and touch not

the UNCLEAN THING, AND I WILL RECEIVE

YOU, AND YE SHALL BE MY SONS AND MY

DAUGHTERS, SAYAETH THE LORD." THE REASON

WHY YOU DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE SAVED OR

NOT, IS BECAUSE YOU WON'T LET LOOSE OF

THE WORLD.

>> YOU'RE RIGHT.

>> IT'S NOT BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT SAVED, BUT

IT'S JUST BECAUSE YOU TRYING TO HAVE ONE

FOOT IN AND ONE FOOT OUT, AND IT DON'T

WORK THAT WAY.

>> You're right.

You cannot live in sin AND PRAY. YOU

CANNOT LIVE IN SIN AND WORSHIP. YOU

CANNOT LIVE IN SIN AND ENJOY THE

BLESSING OF KNOWING GOD. YOU WILL NOT DO

IT.

>> You're right.

>> And Ezra says this in verse 15, his

consideration. He reveals the command,

the compassion of God. God is merciful,

but God is not obligated to deal with us

in mercy forever. And he deals with the

corruption of man. But know the

consideration of Ezra in verse 15.

Oh Lord God of Israel, thou art

righteous.

>> Yes, he is.

>> Hey friend, I want to tell you this this

morning. If everybody else in this world

and everybody else in this church gives

up, including myself, he's still right.

>> Amen.

>> HE'S STILL HOLY. HE'S STILL RIGHTEOUS.

HE WILL FOREVER BE THE STANDARD OF ALL

GOODNESS. AND WHEN WE'RE ALL DEAD AND

GONE, HE'LL STILL HAVE SOMEBODY

SOMEWHERE PREACHING THE GOSPEL BECAUSE

HIS PLAN IS NOT DONE UNTIL HE GETS DONE.

>> And Ezra says, "Lord, thou art

righteous." Look what he says. For we

remain yet escaped.

>> Yes,

>> God. I know you've given us the space of

grace.

>> Come on.

>> We remain yet escaped. You've not took

us back yet. But look what he says.

We remain yet as it escaped as it is

this day. Behold, we are before thee in

our trespasses.

>> Ezra looked at that looked at that crowd

and saw the mess

>> and he looked at God and said, "Lord, I

don't know.

I know that we we've escaped right now,

but Lord, I don't know if you're going

to be merciful to us another day,

>> right?

>> But Lord, we're in your hand."

>> Yeah.

Look what he says. For we cannot stand

before thee because of this.

>> You're right.

>> You know what? I long for the day when

people will get broken

>> over their sin.

>> You're right.

>> I long for the day when tears will wet

the altars.

>> Yes.

>> Of churches across this country because

the children of God will get broke

>> over their sin.

And this text is to those who are saved.

>> Yes,

>> I've preached it to the lost this

morning, but the truth is it's to those

who are saved. And what this comes down

to is this. If you ever want to see God

do anything in your life

>> or in this church,

you're going to have to quit sinning

against God.

>> You're right.

>> Cuz you know what he's done? You got

breath in your lungs and you're in the

house of God this morning. He's given

you a space of grace.

>> Amen. And some of you right now, you're

already thinking in your mind.

>> Come on.

>> You've already got plans for this week

that are unholy.

>> Come on.

>> And that are unrighteous. You say,

"Preacher, well, my thoughts aren't

sinful." No, sir.

Your thoughts are the most sinful part

of you.

>> You're right.

>> Sin is anything that I think, say, or do

that displeases God.

>> Yes.

>> And while you're sitting in the space of

grace, you're sinning against God.

You're right.

>> You say, "Preacher, what does it mean to

sin against God in the space of grace?"

Well, number one, you're sinning against

Christ.

>> Amen.

>> That's who our sin's against.

>> Yeah.

>> It's against him. David said, "Against

thee and thee only have I sinned, done

this evil in thy sight." But I'll say

this, by sinning against Christ, you're

shaming the church.

>> You're right.

>> You're shaming the church. Say,

"Preacher, what do you mean?" Well, if

you say you're a member of this church

and you're living in sin, you know what

you're doing? You're shaming

>> You're right. the house of God.

>> Come on.

>> You're misrepresenting what we are.

>> You're right.

>> Look, I'm nothing, friend. But this

church is God's church.

>> Amen.

>> This church is the bride of Christ.

>> You're right.

>> And one of these days, we're going to be

robed in fine linen clean and white.

>> Amen.

>> And if you are living in sin and you say

you go to this church, you are shaming

>> Yeah.

>> the church.

>> You're right.

>> You are shaming the church. But here's

what you don't think about. All right?

You're sinning against Christ. You're

shaming the church. You say, "Preacher,

I know I'm doing all of that and I

really just don't care." You know what?

You probably lost.

>> Amen.

>> Let me say this.

You're showing your own condition.

>> You're right.

>> When you walk and sin against God in the

space of grace,

you are sinning against Christ. You are

shaming the church, but you are showing

your own corruption.

>> Right?

>> And Ezra looked at these men and he

thought to himself, "Lord, I don't know

if you're going to have mercy on us or

not. Time and time and time again,

he's preached. Other men had preached."

>> Yes.

>> Deliverance would come. They would sin.

They would go back into bondage.

>> You're right. And you know what the

truth is?

Some years after this, in the book of

Nehemiah, it happens again.

Nehemiah 13:14, there were men

Nehemiah 13:14

that were of the priests that married

wives, married wives of Ashdod, and they

have children that were half Ashdon and

half Israelites. You're

>> right.

>> And they couldn't talk plain

>> because they they tried to talk in the

language of Ashdod. And then some tried

to talk in the language of Israel.

And you know what it came from?

Refusing to separate from the world.

You're

>> right.

>> Refusing to say, "I've got to turn away

from that. I've got to say no to that."

Here's what we need this morning. We

need some people who get broke.

>> Amen.

>> Over their sin.

I mean, I'm talking about broke to where

you weep on an altar until you forget

what time it is.

>> You're right. till you forget when the

last time you ate was or even where

you're at.

>> Yes.

>> Because all that you can see is the

vastness of your sin.

>> You say, "Preacher, well, I'm supposed

to see the Savior." Until you see your

sin, right, you'll never see the Savior

back.

>> Right?

The reason why

feels like you're dangling out over hell

every service as a child of God saved is

because that's you are choosing

>> come on

>> to bring judgment upon yourself.

>> You're right.

>> You say, "Preacher, but I can't face

judgment." But no, you're choosing to

fill that consequence.

>> Yes.

The closest thing you can do as a child

of God to being lost and going to hell

is to sin against God and spit in his

face and him take you out.

>> You're right.

>> You say, "Preacher, well, I'm going to

heaven." But I said it this morning in

Sunday school. Paul said it this way. He

said, "Shall we continue in sin that

grace may abound?"

>> God forbid.

>> You're right.

>> Let me ask you, you going to sin against

God in the space of grace?

Every head bowed and every eye closed.

Hey, child of God, you're in sin right

now. You know you are.

Your sin grieves God.

You think you're all right. You think

you're okay. But you know what? You

might be hindering

the work of God from ever going forward

in this church.

Jesus told those churches and of Asia

Minor in the book of Revelation, he

said, "If you refuse to obey my

commandments, I'll remove your

candlestick.

He remove his presence

from our midst."

And Ezra looked at those men and he

looked to God and said, 'Lord, you've

been merciful to us so many times.

I just don't know that you'll do it

again because our sin's so great.

Let me ask you something. When's the

last time your sin grieved you that

much?

If your sin don't grieve you, if you can

go on living

the way that you are, and you know

you're wrong, you know you're wrong.

Live that party life.

There may come a day when you have don't

have another chance.

I'm thankful that for Israel there was

another opportunity.

We're going to look at that tonight.

But I'll say this, the space of grace is

going to end one of these days.

But for us children of God, hear me,

hear me, church this morning. And for us

children of God, we've got a nail in the

holy place.

God's given us his people. You see, the

reason why we're to forsake not the

assembly of ourselves together is

because you can't come out from the

world and forsake the assembly.

If you come out from the world, you're

going to have to have somewhere to go.

You can get with God's people.

Come out from the world from among them

and be you separate, sayeth the Lord,

and touch not the unclean thing. But the

writer of Hebrews said, he said this. He

said, 'You to not forsake the assembling

of yourselves together as the manner of

some is.

He said, "But exhorting one another, and

so much the more as you see the day

approaching, you may not ever have

another chance to make it right." If

you've got a in your heart against your

brother, your sister, you need to make

it right today.

If you've got a problem

of sin in your life,

you might die with that thing if you

don't make it right today.

Let me say this to you this morning,

sinner. The truth is in your life,

you've been given a space of grace to

repent. And if you refuse that, that

grace will come come to an end in your

life.

You won't have heaven to gain.

You'll have an eternity in hell to

grieve,

to weep, and to whail.

Let me ask you this morning.

Say, "Preacher, I don't know that I'm

saved."

"Preacher, I don't know that I'm saved."

There's nobody looking around but me. I

want you to slip your hand up. Preacher,

I don't know that I'm saved. Would you

pray for me?

Preacher, I'm not saved.

I'm going to be real bold what I'm

fixing to say this morning, but it's the

truth. Hey, some of y'all's raised your

hands before

and you ain't raising them no more.

And I can tell by the way you're living

that you ain't got nothing.

You say, "Preacher, how dare you say

that? Only God knows my heart." Well,

the Bible says that by you by by their

works you shall know them.

Let me ask you one more time. Say,

"Preacher,

I'm not saved." There's people on this

altar praying for you. Preacher, I'm not

saved. You pray for me.

You'd be honest.

Let me ask you this, preacher.

You say, "Preacher, I I'm living in

sin."

Preacher, I know I am. I'm not right

with God. Preacher, would you pray for

me?

God sees that.

Someone else, be honest with God. Slip

your hand up and hold it. I want to pray

for you. Preacher, I'm living in sin.

fixing to be real bold again, but I got

to be right. I got to stay right with

the Lord on this, okay? I got to I got

to be honest with you. Some of you by

your life, by your testimony, you're

living in sin

presently.

Presently,

you may not ever have another

opportunity to make it right.

Say, "Preacher, how do you know that?"

Well, it seems like in this day and

time, everybody's just so proud of their

life, they got to put it all over the

internet.

I'll be honest with you, pastors used to

have to work wonder about their church

members, but you don't have to in this

day and time.

I'll tell you with a broken heart, just

like Ezra told God and looked at all

those people,

I don't know if we can have revival.

If you are so set on living in your sin,

preacher, won't be long it'll all be

right. I'll have it all fixed. Well, you

might not ever make it there.

Say, "Preacher, why are you going to

such length in this invitation?" Cuz

like Ezra, I'm grieved by sin. I can

promise you I prayed about it a whole

lot longer than I preached to you this

morning.

Father, I pray in Jesus name,

Lord, for whatever sin is present in

this building that I pray you deal with

hearts.

that I pray

please

Lord have mercy on us

Lord the church we're a mess

Lord we're in such a mess

and God if you don't help us and people

don't get right with you Lord I don't

know

what we feel here will last

cuz Lord it's the nature of sin and to

plunge the soul deeper and deeper

into depravity and destruction.

And God, I pray humbly,

Lord, please, would you be longsuffering

with us?

And please, God, would you keep the

nail?

Lord, would you let us keep the nail at

Meadows Baptist Church?

>> Yes.

>> Keep a stable

hanging nail in the holy place. Cuz

Lord, I can't control what people do.

Lord, I can't control what you do, but

Lord, I can control what I do.

>> Amen.

>> And God, I pray you'd help every heart

in here to make that resolve, that

decision today,

to be obedient to you, Lord, that they

wouldn't sin against you in the space of

grace.

Lord, I love you, Lord. Please don't let

anybody leave here lost today. Please

don't let anybody leave here out of the

will of God today. We ask it in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

A

>> Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988

Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more

information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.