would have no hope. So I'm going to ask you to please remain standing and take your Bibles and turn to the book of Ezra. Ezra is in the Hebrew Scriptures. The easiest way to find that is, you know, most Bibles you open it up, the very middle of your Bible is the Psalms. You find the Psalms, and you go to the left. If you go to the left of the Psalms, you hit Job would be first, and then after that, Esther, and then Nehemiah, and then still going to the left just a little ways, you'll hit Ezra. The book of Ezra, Ezra, of course, was a scribe. Ezra is recording here a fantastic event. It is Israel leaving their Babylonian captivity to go back to the Promised Land. We have that recorded for us here. And so I will read the first four verses of the first chapter of the book of Ezra. Ezra 1, beginning in verse 1, God's Word says, Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. Every survivor at whatever place he may live. Let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a free will offering for the house of God, which is in Jerusalem. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we do indeed thank you for all 66 books of the Bible. We know that all books are given to us for our instruction, for your glory. Lord, we thank you for this book, Ezra, that is before us now. Lord, we look forward to the great things that we will see as we go through this book, the great things that you have to teach us. And so, Lord, we ask that today as we begin this book, We ask that you would give us understanding. We ask that you would bless the preaching of your word and that you would open our eyes that we might receive wondrous things. We pray in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. May please be seated. One of the great cities in the world to visit is Amsterdam. Some of you perhaps have been there. Several years ago, I went on what my friend and I just called a theological journey. We were going to go and just drive around parts of East Germany, look at sites of Luther and so forth. And so we flew to Amsterdam. And from Amsterdam, that's where we rented a car. And while we were in Amsterdam, though, there was two sites that we wanted to see. One was Corrie ten Boom's house. Corrie ten Boom and her family, a Christian family, they had a watchmaking shop there in Harlem, the Harlem part of Amsterdam. And above the watch shop is their living quarters, and above that are bedrooms and so forth. And I think many of you know that they, being a Christian couple, during World War II, when the Nazis had occupied Holland, they hid Jews. They made a fake wall, kind of made a room smaller, but then there's people they could, the Jews could hide behind that wall. And so we went and we visited the Corrie ten Boom's house. Well, after that we walked, I don't know how far it was, a mile or two miles or whatever. We walked over to Anne Frank's house. And Anne Frank, of course, her family was Jewish. And her family was being hid in a house by Gentiles to be kept away from the Nazis. Now you know, I think by now, that I love history. With all the great historical events that have occurred in time, to me, the best thing is to read first-hand accounts. Not just read a history book about it, but read first-hand accounts of somebody who was there describing the events, describing what it was like, the sights, the smells, and so forth. That, of course, is what we have. with the 10 booms. Here is, during World War II, here is a Christian family that hid Jews. Here is their experience, and she recorded it in a book called The Hiding Place. Fabulous book. Well, the Franks were Jews, and they were being hidden. And I think as you know, daughter Anne Frank, she kept a diary. And in that diary, she describes what was going on, what it was like to be Jewish and to be hiding from the Nazis during that time. Well, as you probably also know, the Franks were caught. The Franks were sent to concentration camps, and Anne, her sister, Margot, and her mother were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. Shortly before the war ended, Anne and her sister were sent to, what's it called, Bergen-Belsen. They were transferred from Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen, where they died. Both of them died of typhus. The mother was left at Auschwitz, where she died of starvation. The father, Otto, though, survived. And so after the war, he went back to the house where they were hiding out, and that's when he found hidden Anne Frank's diary that she had been keeping. So he had it published. And when it first came out, Eleanor Roosevelt said this, said it is one of the wisest and most moving commentaries on war and its impact on human beings that I have ever read. John F. Kennedy, in a 1961 speech, he said this. He said, of all the multitudes who throughout history have spoken for human dignity in times of great suffering and loss, no voice is more compelling than that of Anne Frank. Well, people, it is, of course, fascinating to read both accounts. The accounts of the ten booms, here's what it was like to hide Jews, and then the account from Anne Frank's diary of here's what it was like to be hidden during that time. And men and women, that's what we have before us today. Today we are taken back in history, not to World War II. We're taken back much, much further than that. We're taken back to 538 B.C. And the Jews have been in exile. They've been in Babylonian captivity. They've been in bondage away from their promised land. But in 538 BC, the Persian King Cyrus issues a proclamation. The Jewish exiles, they can go home. They can go back to their land. And so for the next 100 years after that, waves of groups of Jews travel from Babylonia and Persia back to Judah, back to their land. And men and women, let me ask you this. If you're like me, Wouldn't you love to read some memoirs? Wouldn't you love to read something written by someone who was actually taking that journey? Who was actually one of the ones that was leaving Babylon and going back to the promised land? Well, by the grace of God, we have not just one, not one account, but we have two, Ezra and Nehemiah. Both Ezra and Nehemiah wrote down in first-person form what they saw and felt and experienced as they left Babylon and came back to the promised land. Ezra, as I said, is a scribe. Nehemiah was the king's cupbearer. But both of them wrote and give us an eyewitness account of what actually went on. And best of all, it's inspired scripture. Now there's a big difference between the writings of Ezra and Nehemiah and the writings of Corrie ten Boom and Anne Frank. The writings of Ezra and Nehemiah are not records of great historic feats. Instead it has, as it has been pointed out by many people, Ezra and Nehemiah read more like the confessions of a humbled prodigal. They read more like the prodigal son returning back to his father's house, humbled. Remember in the parable that Christ told when the son finally comes back to his father's house. Well he travels back and he's quite humbled by this point. Well in many ways Ezra and Nehemiah read like an account. of the prodigal on his way back home. Because as one man says, and I'm quoting, this journey has different phases, occurring over nearly a century, yet through it all, it is foundationally a journey from misery to joy, from sadness to gladness, from captivity to service. Now remember, people, The Jewish exile had been punishment for their nation's sin. That's why they were exiled. That's why they were out of the land. That's why they were in Babylon. When Israel and then Judah were led away into exile, they were deported to the very country whose idols they wanted to worship. God basically said, oh, you like those idols? You like those gods that can't do anything? Well, here you go, and sends them there. One commentator says this, and I'm again quoting, says, as Israel pursued the idols of the nations, first their hearts journeying into the far country. In the exile, the rest of them followed. See, first their hearts were there. Their longing for these idols, well, their hearts went there, then the rest of them followed. Early on in their father's house in Canaan, I'm still quoting, the people enjoyed life, and communion with their God, especially during the days of Joshua and then later under David. But they repeatedly yearned after the gods of the surrounding nations and their way of life. Israel proved that it was bent on turning from the Lord's way And the people wasted their God-given gifts on false gods, idols that could be seen, handled, and manipulated. These idols promised happiness and success, though in the end they impoverished this pleasure-seeking nation and enslaved the people to cruel taskmasters. Does that sound familiar? Remember, people, that's just like the prodigal son in Christ's parable. Luke chapter 15 verse 14 it says this, but when he had spent, referring to the prodigal son, when he had spent all there arose a severe famine in the land and he began to be in want. Nehemiah tells us, that in the same way Israel found itself in great distress. Here it is in the far land finds itself in distress. Nehemiah writes in Nehemiah 9 says, you have set over us because of our sins. Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle at their pleasure and we are in great distress. Prodigal son is in the far land. He's in great distress. He's in want and humbly goes back to his father's house. Israel likewise is in great distress in the far land in Babylon. And now we see them coming back to the father's house, if you will. Coming back humbled. A man named Gerald Bilks asked this great question. Referring to the church today, And the culture in which we live, the church today here in America, he says this, what are you to do when you find yourself in the pigsty of your own captivity? What are you to do when you find yourself tethered to the dictates of a godless culture, finding no real satisfaction in life? What do we do? What do we do when we find ourselves in that situation? Well, men and women, the answers to those questions are right here. right here in Ezra. And then after that you'll see it in Nehemiah as well. And so we begin with this. The first thing you see will be the greatness of God. Look at verse one. It says, now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord, by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all the kingdom, and also put it in writing. Men and women, that is an amazing verse. There are two things you need to notice there. First, he says that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled. Now you can stop right there. Do you remember back in Deuteronomy? Back in Deuteronomy, the Lord warned Israel. The Lord warned Israel and said basically this, that they would fall into idolatry and that they would bring on themselves punishment. And as a result, Moses said this, said, quote, and the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you, and there you will serve gods, the work of man's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. That's what's going to happen to you. You guys are longing after these idols. You're worshiping them. God is going to bring this judgment upon you and you're going to be right there with those idols that can't see, hear, smell, eat anything. Well, that's exactly what happened. But the Lord also told Israel this. Quote, when you are in distress and all these things come upon you, in the latter days when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice, for the Lord your God is merciful, He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. People, the first thing you see here is that God is faithful to His Word. Ezra makes the point in the very beginning of this book, the Lord had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah that their captivity would be 70 years. Jeremiah 29 verse 10 says this, for thus says the Lord, after 70 years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good work toward you and cause you to return to this place. Well, God said, God's word said, you're going to end up, you know, being scattered. You're going to end up going into captivity. But God is merciful. I'm going to rescue you from that. And you're going to be there for 70 years. All of that has been prophesied. And by the way, in Isaiah 45, he promises that he will raise up Cyrus and bring his people home. That's God's promise. And now it's happening just as he said. So the first thing you see is that God keeps His word. Men and women, do you believe that? Do you believe if God says it, if it's here in this Bible, that He does indeed keep His word, that He does indeed keep His promises? Well, the second thing you need to see is really quite obvious. I think it's painfully obvious, but it's one of those things that we tend to disregard because many people just don't like it. But it is seen clearly in Proverbs 21.1. Quote it very often in pastoral prayer. Proverbs 21 verse 1 says this, The king's heart is like rivers in the Lord's hand, and he turns them whichever way he will. The king's heart is nothing to the Lord. He can turn it however he wants. Well, men and women, the second thing you see still in verse 1 is the sovereignty of God, the power of God. to orchestrate all things to his will to just what he wants to happen. Notice it says, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. Now notice, so that he made a proclamation. He did this to his heart so that it would have this desired outcome. Yes, it was Cyrus that made this official proclamation. Cyrus made the proclamation. Had it read, the Jews can return to their land. But not because he's so nice. Not because, you know, he felt like it. He did it because, we are told, because God stirred his heart. This is clearly a statement of the sovereignty of God. And let me explain it to you this way. Last week at the end of the sermon, which was at the end of the Book of Acts. Last week, I remember I had referred to Vincent Bugliosi, who was the former prosecutor, assistant district attorney in Los Angeles County. He's the one who prosecuted Charles Manson. He had prosecuted 165 cases. He is considered just one of the best prosecutors in this country's history. He is brilliant, he has that legal mind, and I love to read his different books, just because he is so smart, and his books are so well written, and he has such attention to detail. Well, if you remember, at the end of the sermon, I said, I think that he is not a believer. I think he denies that there is a God. Well, I had said that to you, and so when I went home, I Googled his name, and sure enough, I was right on that. Even in Wikipedia, it said that he is an agnostic. Well, there was also an interview with him, an hour-long interview on YouTube that I watched. And in that interview, I noticed something very fascinating. that first of all, yes, he's a non-believer, doesn't believe there's a God, but he says that he tends toward deism. Deism is the belief that there was a creator God who just kind of, who created and then stands back from his creation. Not a personal God, just a God who created and then stood back. Well, why? Why would this man who doubts the existence of God believe, well, maybe there is a creator God? Because he has that legal mind. Because he's trying to be honest with the facts and he cannot come to grips, because nobody can, how did this world begin? If it's not for a God, how did it begin? And people say, well it exploded into being. And he realized that's impossible. Because if it exploded into being, what was it before the explosion? Non-being. And if it's non-being, it can't explode itself into being. Something can't be and not be at the same time and in the same relationship. And so even he knew that's impossible. There had to have been a first cause. There had to have been something or someone that is eternal. And so even he asked and said, well, there must be a God. But then, in this interview, he wrote a book called Divinity of Doubt. You'll probably be hearing more about it because I've ordered it. It comes this week. But he took two years off to write a book basically saying there is no God. There isn't a God. Divinity of doubt. But as he's being interviewed, he says this. He says, I wonder how many Christians know this. He says, Christians would be surprised to know that if they really believe their Bible, their Bible teaches that God is sovereign. Their Bible teaches that God changes hearts, that He softens hearts, that He hardens hearts. Their Bible teaches that God does all these things. And he goes, I wonder how many Christians actually believe that. And then he referred to Martin Luther. Martin Luther wrote a book called The Bondage of the Will. And this man in his two-year study leave, he read the Bible and he read good theology. And man, I'm impressed that he read Bondage of the Will because You've got to have kind of a theological background to read that book. It's very difficult. But he read it. And he says, I wonder how many Christians would not be surprised if they hear that the founder of Protestantism, as he referred to him, believed that God is sovereign, believed that God changes hearts, that God can orchestrate all things to his purpose. Well, men and women, he's absolutely correct. That is what the Bible teaches. That's what we've been saying for years, that that's exactly what the Bible teaches. And this man who's not a Calvinist, he is not a Christian, he is not anything, but just by taking his legal mind and if you look at the Bible and if you're gonna believe it, that's what it says. And you see an example of it right here. That God stirred Cyrus' heart. to accomplish God's purposes. Men and women, do you believe that? The God is absolutely sovereign, that He works all things for His glory and for His purposes. Now notice the written decree that Cyrus gives. It's verse 2. It says, Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Well, that's a pretty neat verse. So did Cyrus know God in a saving relationship? No, he didn't. Notice verse 3. Notice that when Cyrus referred to God, he wrote, His God be with him. Verse 3 says, Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, for He is the God who is in Jerusalem." See, in that same verse, it says, He is the God which is in Jerusalem. In other words, He doesn't see God as the only God, the God of everything, the only God in the world. He is simply the God of the Jews, limited to the city of Jerusalem. Now, men and women, let me ask you this. Aren't many people just like Cyrus today? In other words, they will allow for a God of the Bible to be a God, but not the only God. And unfortunately, we are hearing it even from pulpits, even from Christian pulpits today. You know, yeah, we worship this God, the God of the Bible, but there's other gods and other people, and what they believe is just as legitimate as what we believe. Men and women, we need to resist being a part of that what's called postmodern thinking. One man said this, as people who have been freed by God, we ought to unashamedly take our direction from God's word, which says, say among the heathens that the Lord reigneth. No, it's God that reigneth, the Lord of the Bible. He is God and there is no other. But at the same time, people, we can learn from Cyrus. He didn't have a personal faith in the Jews' God. But at least he acknowledged him publicly. We could ask this question, do you? I mean Cyrus did. Do you? Do you publicly speak openly of God? Notice again the King's Edict here. Cyrus calls the Lord's people to identify themselves. Verse 3, who is there among you of all his people? Remember, Cyrus's messenger would have read this publicly. It's a public proclamation. He would have stood there. It would have been read publicly. And he would have publicly read these words, who among you call yourselves by the name of the Lord? We need to ask ourselves that same question. And you need to remember this. Many of the people were very grateful for the king's edict. if you will, would have immediately started packing to go back to their land. Because in that edict he says, his God be with him and let him go up. And that word was often used to refer to going up to worship. For many of the Jews, This was great news. They were ready to go. They were ready to leave Babylon. Ready to flee from that area and go back to their land and worship the Lord. But you know, other Jews were not so ready. They enjoyed the heathen culture around them. They didn't see their life in Babylon as bondage. They had no desire. to answer Cyrus' call. Something held them back. Isn't that how it is today? Isn't that how it is when the gospel is preached today? People hear the gospel. They hear about Jesus Christ. They hear that he left heaven's throne, that he took on flesh, that he kept the law. They hear that he has taken God's wrath upon himself. They hear his call to come and follow him. to put aside all those other things and follow Him, confess that He is Lord. And when all is said and done, they want to really just go on living as the way they have lived. They want to just keep living in Babylon, if you will. So men and women, let's apply this to our lives today. We can ask two questions. Two very important questions. Essentially, and we'll see this as we go through, this is a memoir. of Ezra that poses a challenge to us. Are you in a far country, like the prodigal son? Are you in a far country, Babylon, like Israel? Or are you, by God's grace, on your way back? Or this question. Like Israel before its exile. Like Israel before they were sent to Babylon. Have you cast, if you will, a desiring eye, a desiring look at the world around you? At all that the world around you has to offer? Have you cast a desiring look? Oh, maybe I want to follow all that. As Gerald Bilkey says, I'm quoting, What we have seen makes us want to explore what the world has to offer. As a result, many prodigal sons of today have sold out to the pig farmers of our culture. At their mercy, we feed on the husks of entertainment, pleasure, and a worldly gospel. All the while, whether we realize it or not, our souls are more famished than ever. So the Lord's call to his people today is the same as it was to wayward Israel. Turn unto me, saith the Lord, and I will turn unto you. You remember Corrie Ten Boom? My friend and I, while we were there in Amsterdam, made one other visit. Visited her house and Frank's house. One other visit, it was the church, this large church that the Ten Boom family worshipped. It had been built in, I think, the 1700s or the early 1800s, something like that. And big, huge stone church. It was a beautiful church with this gigantic pipe organ and so forth. A Dutch Reformed church. Well, when we were there, and I do this any time I visit a church, if it's not chained off, I always go and I stand in the pulpit. And so we're in this church, and I walked up the steps into the pulpit, and I always just like to stand in the pulpit, and what would it be like to preach at this church? But I noticed as I walked up the steps that the rail for the steps to go up to the pulpit was fashioned in the form of a snake. It was wiggling, and the rail was going like this, with the head down here, so it was fleeing down the steps. down the rail from the pulpit. Why do you think that was? I think you know why. It was a reminder to the preacher. It was a reminder that Satan hates the word of God. Satan hates the gospel to be proclaimed. And so from that pulpit, he should be declaring the gospel and Satan is fleeing from that gospel that he hates so much. Well, people, Corrie ten Boom and her family believed that gospel. And in the providence of God, Her life, you know, ended here in Southern California. Said it to you before, she's buried at Fairhaven Cemetery there in Santa Ana. And anytime I do a funeral, either before, that's at Fairhaven, either before or after, and I go visit the grave of Corrie Ten Boom. I've read her book, I've been to her house, and I stand there at this little square stone that simply says her name and it says this, Christ is the victory. And indeed He is. But why? Because just as God promised to Israel, just as He promised to Israel and God's Word cannot be broken. He promised that they would be in bondage, and indeed they were, but by His mercy He had also promised that He would orchestrate their release, which He did. But He's done the same for us, because we too are in bondage because of our sins. But God prophesied way back in the Hebrew Scriptures, through verbal prophecy and through picture, that He would supply the way of our escape from our bondage, from our sin, and it's His Son, Jesus Christ. who came, who lived, and who died for those who are his. Indeed, as Corrie ten Boom says, indeed, he is the victory. And that's what we remember when we go to communion now. We remember, as we see here in verse one, that God keeps his word, that God does not lie. And if he said it, it's going to happen. He keeps his word. And we remember that God is sovereign. and that he has brought us to himself through his sovereign mercy, brought us to himself that we might have new life, that we might be saved of our sins, brought out of our own Babylonian captivity, if you will, for his great glory and for our good. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we do indeed thank you for your grace and mercy Lord, we thank you that as we see here, you do not lie, that your word is true, and if you said it, it happens. And Lord, we thank you that you are also sovereign, that you do whatsoever you please, that you orchestrate all these historical events for your great glory. and for the good of those who are yours. Lord, we thank you for Jesus Christ, whom you promised, the Savior whom you promised would come. And we thank you that in the fullness of time he came. He left heaven's throne and he took on flesh. And we thank you that he hung on that cross, he who knew no sins. so that we can have new life, so that we can be justified in your sight. Lord, as we take this communion now, may we remember what Jesus Christ has accomplished on our behalf, and may we worship him accordingly. We thank you and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. And now, men and women, if you'd all please stand. And if you take your hymnals and turn to number 137, as we prepare to take communion, let's read the applause.