Ezra 8, the word of the Lord. These are the heads of their fathers' houses. And this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king. of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom, of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel, of the sons of David, Hathush, of the sons of Shekiniah, who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men. of the sons of Pahath-Moab, Elionei, the son of Zariah, and with him two hundred men, of the sons of Zatu, Shekiniah, the son of Jeheziel, and with him three hundred men, of the sons of Aden, Ebed, and the sons of Jonathan, and with him fifty men. of the sons of Elam, Jeshiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men, of the sons of Shephetiah, Zebediah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men, of the sons of Joab, and with him Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men, of the sons of Bani, Shalemith the sons of Josephiah, and with him 160 men, Of the sons of Bebi, Zechariah, the son of Bebi, with him 28 men. Of the sons of Asgad, Johanan, the son of Hakatan, and with him 110 men. Of the sons of Adonikim, those who came later, their names being Elipheth, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, with them 60 men. Of the sons of Bigvi, Uthai, and Zechar, and with them 70 men. I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi. And then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jerib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshulam, leading men, and for Jorib, and for Elnathan, who were men of insight. and sent them to Ido, the leading man at the place Cassiphia, telling them what to say to Ido and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Cassiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mali, the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely, Cherubiah, and his sons and kinsmen, 18. Also, Hashebiah, and with him, Jeshiah of the sons of Morari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20. Besides, 220 of the temple servants whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name. Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for ourselves, for our children, and for all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way. Since we had told the king, the hand of our God is for good on all who seek Him, and the power of His wrath is against all who forsake Him. So we fasted and implored our God for this, and He listened to our entreaty." Verse 24. Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, Cherubiah, Hashebiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God, that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. I weighed out into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels worth two hundred talents, and one hundred talents of gold. 20 bowls of gold worth 100 derricks, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. And I said to them, you are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests, and the Levites, and the heads of the fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the Lord. So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God. Then we departed from the river Ahabba on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Merimoth the priest, son of Uriah. And with him was Eliezer, the son of Phinehas. And with them were the Levites, Josabath, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Benuai. The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded. At that time, those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel. Twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering, twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps and to the governors of the province beyond the river. And they aided the people and the house of God." The Word of the Lord. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we humbly thank You for Your Word again. It is a precious gift to us. It is more precious than much fine gold. It is sweeter than honey. It is a gift beyond compare. And Lord, You have enriched our souls through the Word of God taught to us, some of us from childhood. And this Word is precious to us, O Lord. We cling to it, Lord. We learn from it daily. And we thank You, O Lord, for the opportunity to spend extended time such as this to unpack and explain and apply this precious Word. And oh Lord, though some of these stories be obscure to us, some of them are unfamiliar to us, Lord, we know that they are Your Word. They are inerrant. They are infallible. And they proclaim to us the glorious Gospel. So therefore we pray tonight that You would bless the reading and the preaching and the hearing of Your Word again. And that we would hear the voice of our precious Savior in it. And You would again remind us of the precious gift that we have, that we carry with us. and that we will deliver to that next generation. In all this we ask for your blessing on your word preached in Jesus' name. Amen. During the 1850s, there were numerous companies such as Wells Fargo that became very legendary for their stagecoach drivers who would carry basically gold, treasure, silver and gold across long distances, across the badlands, across the wastelands of the desert. And these stagecoach drivers were legendary figures, even in their own day. Some of whom they had nicknamed Jehu, actually, interestingly. Jehu became a common nickname for these individuals. They were legit because they had one goal. They served their employers well. They risked their lives and limbs to cross territories filled with hostile natives, filled with bandits, robbers who were ready to pounce and steal the gold that was carried in these safes and these stagecoaches. They were very vulnerable targets. They were weak men. They were not They were heavily armed. They couldn't be. They had to travel fast and light across the wilderness and they were always at risk. And their one mission was to get to that destination with their employer's gold and deliver it intact. And because of their feats of bravery, they are legendary today. Well, I was thinking about them as we look at this text because really what we're looking at is something very similar. We have this band of Israelite priests who are entrusted with a massive treasure, which we will look at in some detail. But they are entrusted with a treasure that God has provided for them. This treasure consists in a blessing that will amount to a spiritual blessing for the people of Israel. We'll see that as well. But this is not just a treasure that has monetary value. It has spiritual value because this treasure is dedicated to keeping alive the worship of God's people. To keeping, sustaining, maintaining the sacrificial system the gospel proclaimed in the sacrifice of God's priests. So this treasure has a very particular purpose. And the very simple idea that we're seeing in this text is that these men pray to God to get them from Babylon to Jerusalem with all the gold intact, so that they could deliver it for the well-being, for the spiritual prosperity of Israel and Israel's children, for the next generation and the next generation. And as you think about that simple idea, oftentimes the Old Testament narratives teach us spiritual truths, spiritual principles, spiritual lessons, if you will, in these narrative stories. Think about the repetition. Think about the things that are emphasized through repetition here. Think about the big picture. All of this should be familiar to us because we have been entrusted with a treasure as well. We are on a journey through life as well. We carry a precious treasure worth far more than gold. And we are called to deliver that word, to deliver that gospel, to deliver that ministry of the gospel to the next generation. To entrust it to them so that they can entrust it then to the next generation. This story, though it is historical in its context, it is very specific, but it has a broader principle and a broader lesson for those of us who also similarly carry a treasure with us. So as we look at the context, chapter 7 reminds us that now we are in the reign, not of Cyrus. Remember, Cyrus was the one who sent the first returnees to Jerusalem. Now we're in the reign of Artaxerxes, who's approximately 80 years later. This next generation is coming with now Ezra the priest. Ezra the priest has a different function than did Zerubbabel. Remember, Zerubbabel, his job was to basically get the temple started and erect the altar so they could start the worship services. Ezra's job is different. Ezra comes as a priest and scribe so that he can now teach the people of Israel the law of God, instruct them in the ways of God, so that he could start reforming their godly practices. That's what Ezra's mission was. And Ezra is sent by King Artaxerxes. And Ezra, notice he's an ideal figure. He's sort of set up as a model of a spiritual leader and a teacher. And he's sent on this journey by the king with a smaller number of Israelites, with a small band of priests, and with a massive treasure in store. So just picture this in your mind. So this tremendous burden that they carry, this cargo, this precious cargo that they carry, consists in two things. God's Word and God's people. The Scriptures and souls. It's a precious cargo. It's a perilous journey, as we saw. And as we saw last week, this journey is not just historical, it is theological. It is the journey that we are all, in a way, on ourselves. As we look at this text, I want you to note where we left off last week. Look at verses 21-23. Ezra then sees the journey. He's about to embark on this journey. He's sort of surveying the camp. And he prays. He prays a prayer. Praise and prayer that the Lord would protect them on their journey, that He would keep them on their way, because He was ashamed to ask King Artaxerxes for what? He was ashamed to ask for an armed guard. He had boasted in the Lord. He said, look, the Lord is with us, and He's against the wicked. So we're going to trust in our God. You don't sense any hesitation here. You don't sense any regret or remorse. He's just... As a matter of fact, we were ashamed to ask the king for an arm detail. So we're going to ask you, Lord, get us there safely. They're putting their trust in the Lord to protect them. And so this is where we pick up here on this journey. So the main idea that we're going to look at today is this, and this text teaches us. On our journey through life, God leads us through our perilous journey and enables us to guard what He entrusts to us. He enables His people to guard what He entrusts to us and to deliver it to its destination. So we're going to see two ideas in this text. One is that we're going to see God's protection of His treasure. And we're going to see, secondly, God's purpose for His treasure. God's protection of His treasure. God's purpose for His treasure. So let's look at verses 24 through 30. We see a commission for the men entrusted with guarding this treasure, verse 24. Ezra says, I set apart 12 of the leading priests. And he names Heshabiah, Cherubiah. Remember Cherubiah's name. I love this name. He's a preacher. His name means basically, the Lord brings heat. A very cool name for a preacher. The Lord brings heat. Heshabiah, the Lord gives counsel, is his name. 10 of their kinsmen with them. I guess the number of men are 12 here. Notice the number 12 is repeated in this passage quite frequently. It's a symbolic number. It's sort of representing sort of an ideal picture of these men as spiritual leaders over the 12 tribes of Israel. Their calling and their responsibility is set before us in sort of a symbolic, typological way. So we see the men here. Then we see the treasure that's entrusted to them. This is sort of fascinating. So look with me here, verse 25. Ezra says, The king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel their present had offered. And I weighed out into their hands 650 talents of silver, silver vessels worth 200 talents, 100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 derricks, and then two vessels of fine, bright bronze as precious as gold. So, basically three things. We've got gold, we've got silver, and then we've got these vessels, which are vessels that are used in the worship of God's temple. Now, 650 talents of silver. Add to that 200 talents of vessel weight and then you've got basically... You've got a lot of weight there. What's a talent weight? It's about 80 pounds, right? 70-80 pounds. Let's just say conservatively about 70 pounds. So, how much would this be worth? I was thinking about this. I was trying to do some math this week. Something I'm not very good at. But if you sort of even do a conservative estimate of how much this money or how much this would be worth in our money today. So, 1 pound of silver. Today is worth about $300. They had a talent which weighed 80 pounds. They had 850 talents worth of silver. That amounts to about $20,400,000. That's current value. $20,400,000 just in silver. So that's just the silver. 100 talents of gold. Anybody know what a pound of gold is worth today? I did not until this week. But again, if you think one talent is 80 pounds, one pound of gold today... Well, let's just... I'll just give you this sum up version. Current value of 100 talents of gold is $144 million worth of gold. $144 million worth of gold. Total worth and current value, we have something like $170 million worth of gold and silver. So, there's no way to calculate how much that was worth in their day. Just bottom line was, this is a lot of money. This is a lot of wealth that they're carrying. This is an astonishingly massive treasure that the king has given into the hands of Israel. They are really, really rich. So, as we look at this text, I want you to notice a couple of details. Notice the phrase, Weighed Out. Whenever you see repetition in the Hebrew Bible, it is there to emphasize a point. You see this phrase, Weighed Out, or Weighed Into the Hands, or something of that nature. You see that phrase seven times here. The word Weigh is the word Shekal, which is from which we get the word Shekel. the monetary amount. But here the word just means weight. So, weighed out, weighed out, weighed out. What is the author telling us? Well, I think one thing is just really hammering with something very simple. They have a very weighty responsibility. They have been weighed down with a load that they have to carry. This is a burden from God, but it is a very weighty one. And another one, I think there's something more, but I'll bring this out in a moment. But the purpose of this treasure is very, very clearly spelled out for us. It is for the offering for the house of our God. This treasure has a purpose. This has a designated purpose for the spiritual enrichment of God's people. It's not for them to go spend on their pleasures. It's for them to maintain and support the worship and the gospel proclamation through the sacrifice of the temple. Very important. So, we've seen the men, we've seen these 12 priests, we've seen this massive treasure. Notice what God says in verse 28. God connects the men to the treasure with one word. You are all what? Holy. You're holy. Verse 28, And I said to them, You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. What's the point of saying that they're holy? Is it to make them feel super spiritual? No, the word holy has a purpose. The word holy means set apart for a purpose which was always worship. When God sets something apart as holy, He is setting it apart for worship. God's priests and the treasure that they carry are precious to God and they are protected by God because they are set apart for His glory. So that He would be glorified, so His name would be exalted in the nations. So that His gospel would go to sinners and to all the world. So this is a very big deal to God. The point we're seeing here is this. God laid a holy burden on His leaders to carry the means of Israel's spiritual future. To carry the means of Israel's spiritual reformation and growth. And the responsibility for them to carry this to the next generation. So we're going to see this idea developed now. Look at the charge that is given to these men. Verse 29. This is Ezra. Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests. In verse 30, so the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels to bring them to Jerusalem. Excuse me, to the house of our God. So here Ezra gives these priests, these twelve priests, this solemn charge. You are to guard them and keep them. Now, does anybody find that little phrase familiar? Does that have a ring of familiarity to you? Have you ever seen that phrase before, something like it? If you're thinking it does, you might be thinking of even the words of God to Adam in the garden when He told Adam to tend and to keep the garden. The words aren't exactly the same here. One of them is. But it's very, very similar. Almost an echo of the phrase to Adam in the garden from God. to work and to keep. By the way, those two verbs are used only one other place together, and that is in the priestly service of God, Numbers 18. So what we're looking at here is almost like an echo of God's priestly command to guard and to keep God's holy sanctuary, God's holy worship. And what's very striking to me is that God has entrusted this massive, massive treasure to a band of very vulnerable and weak men. Very much unprotected, humanly speaking. And they will make a journey that's quite dangerous and risky. Hence the prayer of Ezra. So, if we can pause for a moment and think about this now in terms of what we know in the New Testament. What is this picturing for us? What is the lesson for us? I would like to suggest that what God has given us here in Ezra 8 is a picture, if you will, of the church of the New Testament. And how we have been given a deposit from God that we must then guard and keep. Do you want to turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Timothy? I want to read from 1 and 2 Timothy. Hopefully see some relevance for us because there are principles here that I think we can learn from. 2 Timothy chapter 1 beginning in verse 6. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher. And that is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me." Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. And by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you." And if you want to pause there and just look over one page at the end of 1 Timothy, he says something very similar at the very end of 1 Timothy to Timothy. 1 Timothy 6 verse 17, As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Pause there. Notice that phrase, guarding the deposit entrusted to you. In 1 and 2 Timothy, we see this theme that Paul is developing. He's saying, you've been given a gift, Timothy. You've been given a stewardship. And what is that stewardship? It's the Word, right? It's the Gospel. It's the Scriptures. It's the doctrine of the Gospel. And so Paul's charge to Timothy is to guard that good deposit. It's been entrusted to him. Now, this is primarily speaking to pastors and elders. However, I would maintain that this is even broader because all of us have been entrusted to some degree or another with this Word, with this Gospel. We are all the priests of God now. All of us. And so we've been given a good deposit which has been entrusted to us, which we are then to carry throughout our lives. We're to deliver it, we're to share it, and we're to bring it to its intended destination, which is God's people. All of us, all of us have those for whom we care. All of us have those for whom we carry this load. We carry this burden. Who are the people for whom you carry this treasure? Some of us have many people. We have children. We have neighbors. For those of us who are leaders in the church, we have congregation members. But we all carry this treasure. We are all entrusted with this treasure. Particularly, again, leaders, but all of us can apply this to our own lives. And all of us have enemies. All of us have the devil breathing down our neck. All of us have the world trying to discourage us and to derail us from our mission. And so all of us are journeying through life with this treasure that's been entrusted to us that we need to faithfully give to our people. We're all weak and frail and insufficient in ourselves. And so we can actually, with Paul, say, how can we do it? Paul says this, "...I know whom I have believed. I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what He has entrusted to me." And so we need Him to guard and keep us. We need Him to protect us. and to help us protect that which He's given us. And so I think the idea here is just simply this, that God calls all of us, and especially spiritual leaders, pastors, and elders, parents, to some degree, every single believer, to bear a sacred burden. To guard the deposit that has been given to you. A holy treasure which will enrich every future believer. And that treasure is the Word. So, we see here in this passage God's protection of His treasure. And then secondly, we see the destination point or the purpose of this treasure, verses 31 through 36. So look with me there. If you go back to Ezra. The men risked their lives like the Wells Fargo stagecoach drivers of old carrying the gold across the wilderness. These men faithfully risked their lives to deliver this gold and they succeed. Look at verse 31. Then we departed from the river Ahabba on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was on us. And He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from the ambushes by the way. And we came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. On the fourth day, within the house of our God." Just note here that he repeats in different ways the destination point, Jerusalem, the holy city, the religious center of Israel. And then he mentions the house of our God five times. Again, repetition. He's emphasizing this is the purpose of this treasure, to enrich the house of God. And so the clear emphasis here is that this is not just a geographic destination point, this is a theological destination point. This treasure is to help God's people to worship. And then, I want you to notice what happens next. It says, "...the silver and the gold, the vessels, were weighed into the hands of Merimoth the priest, and with him Eliezer, the son of Phinehas, and with him the Levites, Jozebed, the son of Jeshua, Noadiah, and the son of Benuai." Notice here that that which was weighed into the priest's hands are now weighed into the hands of the priests in Jerusalem. And you might go, well, what's the point of saying that? Well, I notice here that there's a transfer of responsibility. There's a transfer and an accounting. Verse 34. The whole, meaning the whole treasure, was counted and weighed and the weight of everything was recorded. This is suggesting an inventory was made here and the assets were accounted for and paid in full. In other words, they have done their job. They have counted every single shekel, every single piece of gold and silver, and they have faithfully delivered the treasure to Jerusalem. And they are now discharging their duty and they have finished their duty well. So, just notice here that there's an accounting here. There is a tallying up, as it were. They are held accountable for how they have stewarded this treasure and they have been found faithful. They have been found faithful. Again, I would say that there's a theological point to be made in this story. What is that? That God calls the church to whom He entrusts His treasure to give an account. He calls faithful men to bear the Word of God. He calls faithful men and women, parents as well, to bear the Word of God and we will all give an account for how we stewarded His treasure. This is especially true in leadership, in those of us who are called to pastoral ministry, those who are called to elders. You're held to a higher standard, the Bible says. James teaches us. We're also called to give an account for the way which we lead the church. Hebrews 13, 17. Jesus even gives a parable to teach this lesson. Remember the parable of the talents? He gives varying numbers of talents of treasure to His disciples, and He says that they will be held to account on how they used and stewarded those treasures. But at the end of the day, they will be held accountable. There will be rewards for those who faithfully bear their treasure well. And so the good deposit that we have been given of the Word of God is entrusted to us, and we are called to be faithful. and delivering it. And then lastly, lastly here, verse 35, we see the treasure's benefit. So it's been faithfully delivered, it's faithfully accounted for. And now we see the profit that it brings, verse 35. At that time, those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel. Twelve bulls for all Israel, 96 rams. 77 lambs, and as a sin offering, 12 male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. So now we see the beginnings of what this treasure is for. It's to buy animals to burn up. It's to buy sacrificial animals to kill and to burn on the altar. The silver and the gold is literally going up in smoke. The worldly mind will say, well, that is a waste. You're literally burning up money. You're burning up treasure. But to God and to Israel, this is not a waste at all. This is actually spiritual enrichment. Yes, the animals are going up in smoke, but that is the point and that is the purpose. That is what God has intended. Here, just look at the details, just briefly. The 12 bulls, 12 bulls for the 12 tribes. In other words, these animals are given for the entirety of the people of God. It is a message to the whole tribes, to all the tribes, that their sins are forgiven. 96, a multiple of 12. 77, a multiple of 7. Basically, he's depicting a perfect sacrifice, a perfect benefit, a perfect profit, a spiritual profit. And even more specifically, the sin offering, which was to tell the people of God, this is what you deserve. When these animals are killed, the sin offering tells them, you should be here. You should be destroyed. You should be being bled out and burned up. The burnt offering has a different purpose. The burnt offering is literally called the ascension offering. And that animal undergoes an ordeal of fire by which he's transformed into smoke. And that smoke becomes a pleasing aroma in the nostrils of God. It's a doctrine of propitiation. It's the doctrine that God's justice has been satisfied through the sacrifice. And so the whole burnt offering is a gospel proclamation to all those who in faith give that sacrifice. This is not a treasure going up in smoke. This is a treasure that is being used to purchase spiritual blessing. The spiritual proclamation of the gospel to the people of God. And so, this is the benefit for this treasure. The Word of God pictured in this treasure, the Word of God which is more precious than much fine gold, it is sweeter than honey. Psalm 19, verse 36. Another benefit. They also delivered the king's commission to the king's satraps and to the governors of the province beyond the river. And they aided the people in the house of God. Here's where this little section ends, and he ends on this note. Not only is there a spiritual benefit in the providing of the gospel through the worship of God's people, but he also provides monetary compensation, payment, to the king's satraps and governors. And you think, well, what's the good in that? Well, these are individuals who serve the king as civil rulers. They don't have a king in Israel anymore. Not a Jewish king. They have these pagan governors. But these pagan governors serve under Artaxerxes, and under Artaxerxes they serve the Lord. And these men have been paid by the king, and these men are said to have aided, literally lifted up the people and the house of God. God has supplied the means through this treasure for the governance, for the good governance, the good caring for civilly of the people of Israel. And I think you could look at this as a very clear spiritual lesson as well, that God provides, through His Word, leaders who shepherd and care for, who literally lift up the people of God and His house. So there's a lot here. We looked at a lot of details here. Let's kind of wrap this up, sum this up here very briefly, brothers and sisters. One, God has entrusted us with a great treasure. This is the point here. He's entrusted us with the gospel. This is a precious treasure. Better than gold, better than silver, better than diamonds. And this precious gospel that we bear in ourselves, that we carry in ourselves, it has a value that is equal to the weakness of its vessels. You see, He's entrusted this great treasure to very weak people. Very weak and fallible people. In fact, the Apostle Paul makes an interesting point, a very interesting way of describing his people in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. He speaks of the Word of God as a treasure. And look what he says in 2 Corinthians 4, 7. But we have this treasure in jars of clay. To show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body. the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Brothers and sisters, you see, this is our lives. We bear this treasure, but we are weak and fallible. We are like jars of clay. And yet we have the privilege of carrying this treasure to the next generation. Who are you serving? For whom are you carrying this great treasure? Who are you bringing this word to? Your parents, your kids, obviously. Your neighbors, your co-workers, your employers, your employees. We who serve in the church as leaders, we bring this, we carry this treasure in jars of clay. We are weak, we are breakable. We are fragile, and yet we carry a very wonderful treasure, and God has called us to carry it. And this bearing of this burden is a kind of death, Paul says. It's a kind of weary death. It's a laying down of ourselves. It's a sacrifice of ourselves. It's a giving up of our own pleasures and conveniences and comforts, so that we might be those to help enrich others. And you might say, well, yeah, I feel that. Perhaps you feel weary. Perhaps you feel as parents weary in shepherding your children. Perhaps there are those who labor in the church who feel weary in their callings. I remember George Whitfield said at the end of his life, he was particularly haggard I think one day, and one of his friends said to him, you look very tired. And he said, yes. He said, I am weary in the work, but not of the work. And so God has called us to labor, to journey, if you will, and to carry this burden, to carry this precious treasure to the next generation. But we do grow weary. And we need God to keep us. Are you praying? Are you asking the Lord to guard you, to keep you, to protect you from stumbling? We are very weak, very fragile. We need to be crying out to God so that we can be found faithful. So that we can be as those who fully brought to our Master that which He's entrusted to us and hopefully with some profit. That we'll be found faithful in our mission and our callings. So are we diligent in prayer? Are we crying out to God to guard and keep our souls so that we might guard and keep what He's entrusted to us? And dear brothers and sisters, if you feel weary in your labors, I'm speaking to parents now, because in this season of life I can honestly tell you that there's a weariness, a physical weariness, a mental weariness, indeed even a spiritual weariness as a parent, and yet it is a good work. Do not grow weary in well-doing. Continue to bear your treasure, to bear this great word and this great gospel, and share it, and enrich the lives of your children, your neighbors, your friends, and continue to pray for the Lord's grace, and He will get you safely through this journey. He will get you to the end, and you'll be found faithful, God-willing, where He will say, well done, good and faithful servant. This is our calling. Our life will very much parallel, God willing, the lives of these saints in Ezra 8. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you, O Lord, for entrusting us with this precious deposit of the gospel. Thank you, O Lord, for entrusting it to the church. Thank you for entrusting the gospel to godly parents. And thank you, O Lord, for the privilege of giving this deposit now to our children. and to the next generation. And Lord, we pray that we would be found faithful. Though we are weak, jars of clay, easily broken, we pray, O Lord, that we would be those who depend upon You entirely, who cry out to You for protection, that You would guard and keep us as we strive to guard and keep what has been given us. So Lord, we pray, help us to enrich and strengthen the souls under our care. We pray for our children especially. Oh Lord, help them to see the beauty and the glory of Christ. Help them to see the preciousness of your word. Help them to see that this gospel is indeed a treasure beyond compare. And we pray, oh Lord, that you would help us to adorn that gospel with our lives. And so Lord, thank you for this text before us. Help it to to help us to think about your word and these stories and apply them to our lives. And we ask this in Jesus name, amen.