The pastor covered Nehemiah a couple of months ago, and some might think, well, if you've read Nehemiah, you don't need to bother reading Ezra, since they kind of cover the same time period, Nehemiah rebuilding the city walls and Ezra rebuilding the temple. But there's things in Ezra that you'll not find in Nehemiah. There's things in Nehemiah you won't find in Ezra. I have a book on the shelf at home, it's called Things That Are Different Are Not The Same. So Ezra and Nehemiah, they're not the same, they're different. And you'll find different things in Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra chapter one, we're gonna read through the chapter together. The word of God says, now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts beside the freewill offering for the house of God that's in Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah, and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem. And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things beside all that was willingly offered. And Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods. Even those did Cyrus, king of Persia, bring forth by the hand of Mithradath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazer, the Prince of Judah. And this is the number of them, 30 chargers of gold, 1,000 chargers of silver, nine and 20 knives, 30 basins of gold, silver basins of a second sort, 410, and other vessels, 1,000. All the vessels of gold and silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazer bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem. Amen, we trust the Lord will bless the reading of his word to all of our hearts. this morning. We live in an age where everything has to be replaced rather than easily repaired or easily restored. If your phone conks out you take it to wherever you got it from and they convince you that you have to get the newest model with the longest contract possible. You could have something very slightly wrong with the car and you take it to wherever you got it from and They convince you it's a complete write-off. They have something in the shed they've been trying to get rid of for months that just suits you. Or even the most extreme scenario that you wouldn't put past some people, that if they don't like the color of the walls in the living room, they'll sell the house and go to a different house where the walls in the living room are the color that they want them to be. It's the simple things that can be easily sorted out. The simple things can be easily repaired and easily restored. But whenever the small things start building up, and the small things start building up, and there's even more and more of them. Sometimes the only solution, which can turn out to be the best solution, is just to start all over again. Start from scratch, take the whole thing down, and start all over again. With this part of the Old Testament, Israel and Judah's sins had become so great in number and so great in substance that God had to send them away into captivity for 70 years. And as they start to come back here in the land under Ezra and Nehemiah, you could say in some sense they're starting again. God had to start all over again, just take the whole thing down from scratch. The land would enjoy her Sabbaths for 70 years, and the people here would be ready for a fresh start in the land. And here's the moment that they had waited 70 years for. Here Cyrus, King of Persia, declares for the people to go back to Jerusalem and start to rebuild the temple. But they couldn't just pick up from where they'd left off. Jerusalem was left in rubble. The city was left in ruin. They had to gather materials together. Nothing was sitting out, just waiting for it all to be put together. They had to do the work. And it was going to take a lot of work. They couldn't just pick up where they left off. Now, the people of Israel could testify, and we can certainly testify this morning, that our God is a God of second chances. Our God's a God of even multiple chances, and we thank the Lord for that this morning, because it is of his mercies that we're not consumed. because of his grace and his mercy that he continues to show to us. But whenever you and I this morning perhaps go through those lengthened periods of backsliding, those lengthened periods of having coldness at heart, it means that fellowship with the Lord sometimes has to be repaired, sometimes has to be rebuilt, starting from scratch again, getting back to the basics. Sometimes we can go so far away from the Lord that we can't just come back and pick up where we left off. Sometimes we have to get back to the basics and remind ourselves the foundations of the Christian faith. And yes, the Lord can restore the years of the locus of Eden, but some replanting and some tender care is perhaps needed to get back to where God's people once were. Well, here in Ezra chapter one, we see something of that, the start of a rebuild here. As Cyrus sends the people back to Jerusalem to start rebuilding the temple. You know, maybe there's one here this morning, maybe there's one listening in that senses they need that bit of a rebuild. Needs that sense of starting again, just trying to get rid of all the rubble, trying to find the foundations again. Trust this word. would be for you this morning. First of all, we see the spirit stirring. The spirit stirring. In the verse one, it says, In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. And then in the verse five, we read of the different people among the people of Israel whose spirit God had raised. But even bringing it back here to the verse one before we move on, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. Here's a pagan king. Here's someone who's not included among the people of God. And God is working in his heart to fulfill his purposes. You know, God didn't leave it to Cyrus himself. God had this date penciled into his calendar. God knew the very day that he was going to send his people back to rebuild the temple. He didn't leave it to chance. Those people weren't going to be in captivity one day longer, one hour shorter than was necessary. God didn't leave it to Cyrus himself to think of a day where he would send the people back. Even here, God is sovereign over the affairs of mankind, not only in the lives of his people here in the Old Testament, but even over pagan Old Testament kings and Old Testament kingdoms. Now, even before the people were sent away into captivity and Habakkuk, the prophet of the time was distressed about the state that the land was in physically and spiritually. Speaking and morally speaking, he was so concerned and he pleaded that God would intervene. He prayed that God would intervene and God answered his prayer, but in a way that Habakkuk didn't expect. He told Habakkuk, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the land to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. God used the Chaldeans to fulfill his purposes. God used Cyrus here to fulfill his purposes. Now even earlier on in the Old Testament, whenever we think of the Exodus, and again, God had already decreed how long the people would be in captivity for in Egypt. They weren't gonna be there a day longer than God intended. He didn't leave it up to Pharaoh. He didn't leave it up to chance for Pharaoh to change his mind all of a sudden and let the people go. But you read through those chapters in Exodus, and you read that Pharaoh's heart was heartened, Pharaoh heartened his heart, and God heartened Pharaoh's heart. You know, God worked in Pharaoh. He didn't leave it to chance. God was sovereign over the affairs of all this world. You know, it's easy for us to get discouraged in these days with world leaders. It's easy to get frustrated. It's easy to take our eyes off the Lord and think to ourselves that certain people are the answer to all the prayers. God is still using all things according to his will. And so sometimes even though it's It is frustrating, sometimes the only thing we have to do is just sit back and say, Lord, I'm just leaving it with you. Now Job, and I'm sure we all know everything Job went through, and he spends all the book of Job questioning God and asking the Lord to give a reason why all these things had happened. And God gives him an answer, but again, not the answer Job was expecting. We might expect God to give Job a little whisper and an arm around the shoulder, a bit of encouragement, after all Job's been through, but it says God answered Job out of the whirlwind, and then he explained the creation process to Job, how God was behind everything, how Job couldn't understand how the world worked, and all Job could say in response was, I know that you can do anything, and that no thought can be withholding from you, that no plan of yours can be stopped. Sometimes the best thing we can do is just rest back on the sovereignty of God, and just say, Lord, I don't know what's going on. It's confusing to me. It's frustrating to me, but Lord, I'm just trusting you. And I'm just trusting that you're working all things to your good. The spirit stirred in the heart of Cyrus. Again, he stirred in the hearts of the people of Israel. We'll get to that in a couple of moments time. But here we see the reason why the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus in the verse one, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. Now here, at this moment in time, God was about to fulfill his will and fulfill his word in a wonderful way. And we might think to ourselves, again, this is the moment that they had waited 70 years for. Surely they had been counting down the days. Surely they had remembered the promise of God, how God had told them they would be in captivity for 70 years, and then after that they would go back to the land. Surely if that was you or I in that position, we'd be going in there, yes, we'd be discouraged, yes, we'd be distressed, but holding onto that promise of God, 70 years and that's it, God's gonna bring us back. Again, in a few moments time, we'll see that that wasn't the case with the people here. And as the days go by, they seem to take their eyes off the Lord and forget His promises. And in man's position, this seemed like an impossible situation. In the eyes of the people of Israel, this seemed like an impossible situation. You know, when you think of what they said in the Psalms, it wasn't Boney M that said it, by the rivers of Babylon. There we sat down and we wept when he remembered Zion. They had just grown so despondent and so depressed. They had hung their harps in the willows. And the people around them mocked them saying, sing us the songs of Zion. And all they could say was, how can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? They just felt so disconnected from God that even the thought of rebuilding the temple seemed impossible. It just wasn't even putting any effort into thinking about it. It was just wasting your energy, just putting your hopes up for nothing. But here the word of the Lord was going to be fulfilled in a very powerful way. And the word of the Lord would be fulfilled because the spirit of the Lord was stirring in the hearts of people. And where the spirit of God starts to move, very little can hinder it. Where the spirit of God starts to work, there's very little that can hinder it. There's very little that can stop it. Again, Zachariah was one of the prophets at this time of the rebuilding of the temple. And that wonderful word, that was given to him as he surveyed the situation, as the people surveyed the situation, what was it the Lord said to him? What a wonderful promise to have for these people in Israel. What a wonderful promise for you and I to have this morning. Now again, perhaps the Lord has something for you to do. Perhaps the Lord has given you a promise of some sort that in your eyes seems absolutely impossible. Maybe it's something the Lord had said to you for years. Maybe you've been praying for something for years, and you're sure the Lord has said it will come to pass, but there's still no sign of it. You know, whenever the Lord called Abraham out of Earth of Chaldees, he told him that he would make of him a great nation. A couple of verses before that, we read Sarah was barren, she had no child. Abraham's 75, he had to wait another 25 years for that promise to be fulfilled. In a situation that seemed even more impossible than the moment that promise was first given, but God fulfilled his word. And God will fulfill his word for you this morning. Where the spirit of God starts to work, where the spirit starts stirring, there's very little can hinder. Do you trust him this morning? Do you just throw yourself again into his arms, into his sovereignty, into his working in your life and say, Lord, just do whatever you need to do? Trust in you to fulfill your word. We see the spirit stirring, we move on and we see the prince proclaiming, This is Cyrus giving that declaration here in the verse 2. Again, here's an Old Testament king. Here's a pagan king. not from the people of Israel. And here he's acknowledging that the Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. Cyrus here has some vague understanding of what's going on. He has some vague understanding of this role that he is about to play. Now, where does this come in? How does Cyrus have this? Well, again, it's perhaps an argument from silence because it's not explicitly said in scripture, but perhaps Daniel had some influence. Perhaps Daniel had some influence at that time. How God had told him, how God had told the various prophets, even before they went into captivity, that he was going to use Cyrus and he calls him his anointed servant. In the prophecies, even before they go to Babylon, how God was going to use Cyrus to fulfill his purpose and to send the people back to Jerusalem. No, just that little whisper in Cyrus' ear. And here he makes this great declaration, the Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has some understanding of how God is working in his life. Just from that little influence that Daniel had, that little voice in his right ear, just that little word that was said every now and again. And here Cyrus remembers all these things as he makes this great declaration. You know, perhaps you doubt this morning the little work that you can do. Don't underestimate that little word that's just sprinkled into a conversation every now and again. Don't doubt the work that that can do. Just that little word, just that little phrase that's said every now and again, that little invitation that you make to the gospel service, to the drive-in, whatever it may be. Don't underestimate the work that that can do. Solomon says in Proverbs, a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold and pitchers of silver. Trust in him to work. Cast your bread upon the waters, again Solomon says, for you shall find it after many days. Nothing you do for the Lord is in vain, because ultimately it brings glory to him. And who knows the role you can play in drawing somebody else to the Savior. It's just that little word every now and again. Trust in him and keep sowing that seed wherever it is that you can. Here's the prince proclaiming, the Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Look at what he says at the start of the verse three. Who is there among you of all his people? Can you take a week of meetings on that question alone? Who is there among you of all his people? Let him go up to Jerusalem. Let his God be with him. You know, as Cyrus makes this declaration, he doesn't just say that the Lord's charged him to build a house at Jerusalem. He doesn't just say, right, the temple's going to be built. Here he lets the people go effectively. Who is there among you of all his people? He's not sending his own soldiers. He's not sending his own builders. He's not sending his own contractors and the people that he has contacts with, but he's sending the very people of Israel themselves. Who is there among you of all his people? And as Cyrus asks this question, the second exodus begins. and the 70 years are finished, and the last day can be ticked off the calendar. Now again, we think to ourselves, surely, surely the people will jump at the chance. Surely the application forms will be busting through the envelope, through the post boxes at the administration center here at the palace. Surely the gates will be overrun with volunteers saying, Lord sent me, Cyrus sent me, I'm willing to go. You think they would jump at the chance, after 70 years. And again, thinking of the laments that they had by the rivers of Babylon, they couldn't sing the Lord's song in a strange land. You think to themselves, surely we want to sing the Lord's song back in his own land. Surely we have that hunger. Surely we have that desire. But sadly, that's not the case. Because as we read in the word of God, most of them remained in Babylon. Most of them remained where they were. Most of them didn't go back. Instead, where they were, they were happy there. They were content not to go back. And God knew that would happen. The Lord knew that was going to happen. In Isaiah, again, even before the people went off into captivity, he says, 70 years. After 70 years, only a handful. only a handful go back. People that 70 years ago had those strong ambitions, people that 70 years ago said all the right things, the things they would do to build the temple again, how they would count down the days, how they would be front and center of whatever it was they needed to do, and now they're nowhere to be seen. They were all talk. They didn't put their money where their mouth was. They didn't put their words Maybe there's somebody this morning and they're going AWOL. Have you gone absent without leave this morning from the spiritual fight? From the work of God? You know, it says in the Psalms that the children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They were armed and ready to go. They were ready to advance for the Lord. But when the day of battle came, they were nowhere to be seen. They made all the promises in the world, but when push came to shove, they weren't there. Is the Lord looking you this morning? Is the Lord looking for you? Like he looked for Adam in the Garden of Eden? Does he have to ask, where are you? Is the roll call being made at the battlefront and you're not there? Have you gone AWOL this morning? Is this question being posed to you this morning? Who is there among you of all these people? Is the Lord speaking to you this morning? You know, Cyrus sends these people back to Jerusalem, but again, he's not sending them on their own. But here, the Lord even gives a promise through Cyrus. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah. God was going to be with them. They weren't going in their own strength. They weren't going with their own ideas and their own blueprints of what they were going to do, but the Lord was going to be with them every step of the way. God was going to be with them not only until they got there, but during the whole project, throughout the whole thing, the Lord was going to be in the midst, because he planned it, because he decreed it, because he led it, and he will perform it. Again, not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. The Spirit of God needs to be at work. for anything to be a success when it comes to service for him, even when it comes to living for him. But particularly when it comes to doing things for the Lord. You know, whenever we talk about the Great Commission, we can often forget the most crucial part of it. You know, we sometimes are asked to quote the commission. We can often say, go ye therefore and teach all nations. And yes, that's right. But with the first part of that verse is crucial because Jesus says, before he said that, all power is given on to me and on earth, go ye therefore, and teach all nations. In other words, Jesus is saying to his disciples, all power has been given to me, and it's in that power that I'm sending you. The disciples weren't going in their own strength and their own ideas, but the spirit of God was going to work in them. Jesus himself even promised before he ascended that that comforter would come, that the spirit of God would come, that they would receive power. They weren't going out themselves, but they had to rely on the Lord. And that's why there was so much blessing in those early days. You read through the early chapters of Acts, even read through the whole of Acts, and you read about the Spirit of the Lord working, and the Spirit of the Lord did this, the Spirit of the Lord did that. The Spirit of the Lord undertook. Is that what you're missing this morning? Are you missing that work of the Spirit of the Lord? Can it be said of you that the Lord stirred in your heart? Had the Spirit stirred your heart to do it? Or have you done things of your own volition? Have you gone out in your own strength and thought to yourself, Lord, why is this not working? Lord, why is nothing happening here? Are you forgetting the key point? Are you forgetting the spirit this morning? Are you forgetting to trust in the Lord? It's him that goes with us wherever we go. Sometimes we can leave him behind. Sometimes we can forget about him. But here, Cyrus tells him that the spirit of God was going to go with them. We see the spirit stirring, we see the prince proclaiming, and then we see the moved moving. In the verse five, then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, the priests, the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem. Now these people are challenged, and the spirit of God worked in their hearts that convicted them to go back to the land, but it says they rose up. as well, and they went to go and build the house. They didn't just sit and feel convicted. They didn't just sit there and have that fuzzy feeling that you might describe it as whenever you hear God speaking to you, and think to yourself, well, Lord, that was a lovely word, and then they went and shook the preacher's hand and said, that was great, and then did nothing more about it. But they put that conviction into action. The Spirit stirred in their heart. They acknowledged they were under that conviction to work for the Lord, and they rose up, and they went to build the house of the Lord. Now, it's easy for us to pray for God to move. It's easy for us to pray for revival. And we can quote dates like the back of our hand and quote the figures of the dates in the back of our hand and talk about the good old days so much and pray that the Lord would do those wonderful things again. And yes, that's a good mindset to have. But what if he wants to use you? What if you're the answer to your own prayer in some way? Are you praying that the Lord would raise somebody up and the Lord wants to use you? Is that the case? Now Paul says in Philippians, it's God that works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Does the Lord want to use you? Are you praying for something else and ignoring the voice of God in your heart? Is the Lord pressing on you this morning? Is the Lord stirring in your heart to cause you to go up and live and serve for him? You know, it wasn't an easy task for these people to be involved in. They counted the cost. They acknowledged that this wasn't going to be easy. We briefly mentioned it earlier. This was going to be a long journey back to Jerusalem. This wasn't a half hour job up the road. This was going to take a couple of days. It was a long journey. It was going to be a dangerous journey as they started to go back to Jerusalem. And even whenever they got there, we remember the place was just in ruin. The place was in rubble. It wasn't set out like an IKEA setup with all the materials laid out and labeled and numbered and everything and the instructions are just ready to put together. They had to start all over again. Start from scratch. Try and find the right things to do. And even whenever the building project starts happening, there's enemies from without and enemies from within. Remember as we went through NME. Enemies from without and enemies from within. And it's the enemies from within that can cause the most damage. They counted the cost, they knew everything that was going to happen, or they acknowledged the possibilities of what was going to happen. And still they went out. Still they went out, because again, the Spirit had stirred in their hearts, and they trusted in the Lord to do His work. You know, service for the Lord, even revival that we pray for, it costs time, it takes energy, it takes work, It takes surrender, it means counting the cost. It means living a life at times that's uncomfortable, leaving behind those things that you might hold dear, those things that mightn't even be sinful in themselves. Those things that you use in your free time, those things you do in your free time. Sometimes the Lord tells you just to put a pause on them and focus on him and focus on his work. Is it worth it to you? James Calvert was one of the missionaries The Lord called to serve in the cannibal islands around Fiji. And whenever he got to the boat and he was telling the sailors there where he was going and what he was going to do, the sailors told him and those who were with him, they're gonna kill you. You're gonna die. And dear knows how long you'll last. And James turned to him and he said, we died before we came here. We died before we got on the boat. That's how convicted they were. And that's how much surrender they laid down for the Lord to work in their lives. We see them moved, moving here. But even those that didn't go, or those who couldn't go, they found some way to help as well. Look at the verse six. And all they that were about them strengthened their hand with vessels of silver, gold, goods, and beasts, and precious things beside all that was willingly offered. And for whatever reason they didn't go back, or for whatever reason they couldn't go back, still there were those who tried to help. They weren't sitting back and thinking to themselves, well, if they want to work in that, if that's what they want to do, they can go ahead. I'm happy here. I'm comfortable here. You know, they can tear away. But they tried to help even as much as they could as well. They wanted to see the temple rebuilt. And the Lord even worked in their hearts as well to ensure that the work of God was done. You know, in David's, Farewell speech to the nation in some sense. And again, we think of David wanted to build the temple. The Lord told him no, David didn't throw a strop. Even though God told him Solomon would build the temple, even though David himself would have no part in the building project, David did whatever he could to make sure Solomon had a headstart. It says in 1 Chronicles 29, whenever David's talking about David says, Solomon my son, whom God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great, for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God. Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God, the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the brass, the iron, the wood, the stones, the glittering stones of diverse colors, and all manners of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. David did whatever he could. to make sure that the work in future days was as easy for Solomon, or slightly easier for Solomon, probably to put it rightly, than it could have been. David realized he didn't hold a monopoly on the work of God. David realized that after him, Solomon would be king, and after him, Solomon would build the temple. He wasn't selfish when it came to service. He didn't throw his hands up and say, well, if Solomon wants to do that, he can do that. but he did whatever he could. Now you mightn't this morning be called to the cannibal islands of Fiji. You mightn't be called to go to distant lands, but you can still help wherever you can. You mightn't be involved in the building of the new church, but you can still help wherever you can. You can still use whatever gifts the Lord has given you. Look at the things that they did help with here. They strengthened their hands with vessels of silver and with gold. and with goods and with beasts and with precious things beside all that was willingly offered, they gave what they could. From those things that seemed rich and seemed valuable to those things, again, that people mightn't even have thought of. They even give beasts to help carry the load, to help carry the materials there, something that other people mightn't even have thought about. The Lord put it on their heart to work, even those smaller things that nobody else might have noticed. Now again, sometimes whenever we're coming to this new building, and we might think to ourselves, well, there's nothing I can do, we'll just let Walter tear away. There's still something you can do. Not even in terms of the building, but even in terms of living a life for the Lord. Remember what Jesus said about that woman that came with the alabaster jar and the disciples scolded her. And Jesus says she's done what she could. She's done what she could. Wouldn't it be great if you could put your head on the pillow tonight, and the Lord could say of you over today, they've done what they could. The Lord's not asking anything more other than doing what you can. Even those simple things that no one else might think about. We see the spirit stirring, the prince proclaiming, the moved moving, and then we see the receptacles returning. I'm addicted to alliteration, as you can tell, where the receptacles At the start of the verse 7, Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem. Those ornaments, those temple vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had ransacked, during the captivity of Jerusalem and when he destroyed the temple, those things that he took away, Cyrus sends them back. Again, those little things that other people might have ignored, those little things that other people mightn't even have thought of that were so focused on the building of the temple that they may have forgotten about these ornaments and the vessels. Some people mightn't have noticed that they were missing. And then when it came to those times in the temple where those things needed to be done for the sacrifices and the offerings and whatever it may be, and they're looking around and they notice that they're gone, but no, Cyrus sends them back. God fulfilled his word right to the T. The very vassals that were taken away, the very ornaments, those small things again that some of us mightn't have noticed, even they were restored because it's the Lord's work. You know, these things that were so small, they were just as important to the work and the life of the temple. to the work and the life of the service of God. Are you missing the vessels this morning? Are you missing the vessels? Are you missing the ornaments, those little things that you perhaps in days gone by have taken for granted? Even those few moments you spend with the Lord at the start or the end of your day or whatever it is, whatever time of the day it is, is that little vessel missing? That time you spent in the Word, that time you spent in prayer, is that vessel missing? Whenever we're thinking of a rebuild, you need to bring those things back into life. You need to bring those things back into your spiritual walk. Even these things are brought back to the temple of the Lord. These things are brought back from Babylon onto Jerusalem. One of the commentators says that little phrase at the end of the verse 12, brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem, it marks one of the turning points of history. And it's words and it's actions even that seem very small and just seems so subtle. You know, here the people aren't going back to Jerusalem after an armed rebellion. They haven't overthrown Cyrus and thought to themselves, well, we'll go back and build the temple and that will show them. They didn't even have it in their own hearts themselves until God worked in them. But it just seemed very small. It just seemed very subtle and very undramatic. And yet it's something that changed the spiritual life. of the people of Israel. You know, just before the turn of the year, that little island in the Caribbean, Barbados, it changed over from being a monarchy and being under the Queen's rule to being a republic. And it's something that's quite significant in the life of that little nation. And yet, if you saw it on the news, it was something that was very undramatic. It wasn't an armed rebellion, but the royal standard was taken down from the flagpole. And I think Prince Charles was there watching on, and Auld Lang Syne was being played in the background. That's all it was. That's all it was to that significant moment. Something undramatic yet changes the course of that nation's history. Here a moment in Ezra chapter one is something that's quite undramatic in terms of things just being freely sent back to Jerusalem. Maybe you're here this morning and you're just looking for the dramatic moments. Are you just looking for those things that are the complete spiritual mountaintops? Like Elijah on Mount Carmel, are you just trying to get from Carmel to Carmel? Are you just trying to get from mountaintop experience to mountaintop experience and anything else in between? Well, that doesn't count. If you're looking for the dramatics, if you're looking for the great supernatural spiritual experiences, they're very few and far between. I hate to burst your bubble. They're very few and far between. Again, Zechariah, the prophet of the day. Who has despised the day of small things? Who has despised the day of small things? Have you despised the day of small things? Those little things that you don't necessarily think count when it comes to a work for the Lord, when it comes even to life for the Lord. Do you just seem to take it or leave it as you search for the next spiritual high? And see the receptacles returning, these simple things that come back to the temple. Just as we close this morning, look at these things just specifically that are brought back to the temple from the verse nine, It says this is the number of them, 30 chargers of gold, 1,000 chargers of silver, nine and 20 knives, 30 basins of gold and silver basins of a second sort, 410. And we see the chargers here, we see knives, and we see basins mentioned. And just as we close this morning, we think of the significance of these three things. First of all, think of the chargers. The closest we would have today is the offering plate, the offering baskets. The chargers speak of giving, they speak of offering, they speak of supporting the service in the temple. These things are brought back as temple life is restored and as the spiritual walk with the people of Israel is rebuilt once again. There was a place in their life for giving and for offering. Is there a place in your life today for giving and for offering? For all those things that God has given to you, do you give those things back to the Lord? Do you give, again, even those small things that you mightn't think are worth much, do you give those things to the Lord when He asks you? Whenever you have that thought in your mind, should I give this to the Lord? Could this help in His service? Do you even offer your help? Do you offer your time when it comes to serving Him? Those little things, we think of the chargers, we think of giving an offering, and then we think of the knives here that are mentioned as well, nine and 20 knives. And the knives speak of sacrifice that would have been used during the sacrifices and the offerings to divide whatever needed to be divided. They were involved in the work of the sacrifices. And just for your own interest, the first use of the word sacrifice in the word of God is in Genesis 22, talking about Abraham and Isaac. There was a place in the temple life for sacrifice. Is there a place in your life this morning? Is there a time in your day to remember the sacrifice that Jesus Christ has done for you. Is Calvary always on your mind? Whatever you say and do in life, is it based on a life that Paul based his life on when he said, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ in me, and the life which I now live, I live in the flesh by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Do you always remind yourself of the cross? Is there a place in your life to remember the sacrifice? Is there a place for offering? Is there a place for sacrifice? Lastly, we think of the basins that are mentioned here. The basins were used by the priests to wash before they served. And the basins speak of cleansing, they speak of preparation, and they speak of holiness. They speak of spotlessness. Is there a time in your life, is there a place in your life for that sense of cleansing? Is there a place in your life for those times where you just need to look in the mirror, spiritually speaking, and see if there's anything there that needs to be sorted out between you and the Lord? Paul encouraged Timothy just a matter of months or even days before he was executed. He said to Timothy, if any man therefore purge himself from these, and he's talking about sinful things, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work. Wouldn't you love the Lord to be able to say that of you this morning? Could the Lord just use you the way you are? If the Lord has something for you to do, would he have to put it off for a wee while until you got sorted out with him? Or could he see you this morning as someone meet for every good work and sanctified and ready for the master's use? Is there a place in your life for cleansing? A place in your life for preparation? We think of all these things and maybe you're listening this morning and you might feel you're completely unqualified to even live a life for the Lord, nevermind have a life of service for Him. And maybe you have let the Lord down over recent days. It's not for me to know and it's not for anyone else to know. That's just between you and the Lord. And that's for you and the Lord to deal with. But let me ask the question to you this morning and even to me as well and to everyone else that's listening in this morning. If the Lord has used you in recent days, and there has been fruit perhaps to your labor, and there has been some sense of blessing. How much more could he use you in days to come? If you take that time with the Lord for that sense of preparation, if you truly rest up in his spirit and his spirit alone to stir in your heart, so that he can work in the lives of others around you. Are you ready for the rebuild in the days to come? Let's just close in a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we give thanks for your word this morning. We pray you'll write it and bless it upon each and every heart. Again, Father, you know the plans that you have for us. You know your will for each and every one of our lives. Father, we pray that we wouldn't run away from it. Father, we pray that as difficult as it may be, that you would give us the strength to meet those fears and those anxieties and those concerns. Father, may we continue to remember that you are still the God that sits on the throne, that you are working all things to your good, Even in those times where we're confused and those times where we're frustrated, may we just rest on the everlasting arms of the God who loved us and washed us from our sins. And Father, continue to use us in these dark, in these difficult days. Tarry with us as we spend some time around the table. We ask it in the Savior's precious name. Amen. We're just gonna sing in closing the words of 483. 483, stand up, stand up for Jesus.