We're turning this evening to Ezra chapter 6. And we're going to return to a series that we commenced perhaps a few months ago. latter part last year, and we got to the end of chapter five in our considerations. And as we went through the opening chapters, we saw how there are very similar experiences that the people of God had when they returned from captivity with the church in the New Testament and for us here this evening. And so there are wonderful parallels that we can draw from and learn from. If you cast your mind back, if you remember chapter one, chapter one begins with a declaration from Cyrus, the king, that the people of Jerusalem and Judah are to return and to build the temple of God. And the striking reminder that we had when we went into chapter one was the fact that this great king, this emperor, this king over many provinces, His heart, rather, was in the hand of God. And although the man Cyrus proposed this course of action, it was the Lord that disposed it. And this event of the returning exiles had been prophesied centuries before even the name of the king Cyrus had been recorded. And so although Cyrus comes up with his plans, It was already part of that eternal decree. And when we apply this to the church and to ourselves, we do not know what the future holds. We do not know what tomorrow may bring. We do not know what is around the corner, as it were. But yet we can trust that God is sovereign, that God is working his purposes out. He is in control. He is supreme. And this is particularly important for us to remember when we are facing those who are set against the things of God. And they seem so powerful, they seem so influential, they seem so overwhelming, yet we can be content that God is reigning. And so even though there may be persecution, Even though providence seems to be moving in a way that seems contrary to us, God's will must be fulfilled. God will have the victory, and he is the one that is good, kind, wise, and all-powerful, and not one of his decrees will fail. So the children of Israel, being in captivity for 70 years, they return under the orders of Cyrus, yet God is the one that was in control. He fulfilled his promises that after 70 years they would return. When you come to the second chapter, you have what appears to be just a list of names. And it's a list of all those that returned from captivity. And it is more than just a list of names. Every one that returned was testament that God had kept his promise, that after 70 years they would return. And each one of those that returned after those 70 years could testify that God was faithful to what he had decreed. Not one was missed off. Not one was considered unnecessary. And you see different types of people, different skills, and yet they had that common purpose of returning to rebuild the temple of God. And we saw how that was a wonderful picture of the church, we've been thinking about that on a Tuesday evening, how the church is made up of a number of individuals, but together they are one. And so although the Lord may give different gifts, he may bring different people with different backgrounds, yet together they are one, they are the church, those that have been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it is a wonderful picture of how the Lord works in the church. And so although the church is made up of, the church universal rather, is made up of the 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands and thousands, it is made up of individuals that have been individually and personally saved by the Lord. And each one is precious. Each one is necessary. Each one has their part to play in the body of Christ. In the third chapter, you find the erection of the altar and the subsequent offerings. And this was a very important principle that the returning exiles observed. They could have decided to rebuild the walls and cite reasons such as security, They could have concentrated on growing their crops, citing the reason that they needed to sustain themselves. They could have considered the institutions of state so that they might be properly governed to be most important. But what they in fact do is to rebuild the altar and to establish the sacrificial system. And so as they return, the first things they do are to offer sacrifices to God. And when you think about the fact that they had been in captivity for generations worth of gross sin and immorality, how vital it was they had that place of forgiveness, that place of acceptance, that place of cleansing, that place where the wrath of God was appeased. And it points further the Lord Jesus Christ at fulfilment, that great sacrifice at once and for all, and how he is so necessary and he is so vital. And so if you think about the returning exiles, the different numbers, the different skills they had, the most important thing was when they had returned that place of sacrifice. And when we look, see what we see in the church, the most important thing is Christ and his work at Calvary. Paul wrote to the church of Galatians in chapter six and verse 14, but God forbids that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, an eye unto the world. Later on in the third chapter, we find how the returning exiles observed the Feast of Tabernacles, and that was a very significant festival. The Feast of Tabernacles was a feast to commemorate their wilderness wanderings. They could see how the Lord had protected them, how the Lord had provided for them, and how they had gained entrance into the promised land. And following this exile in Babylon, they have now returned. And it's as if they've been in that wilderness of Babylon. And now they return and they can testify that God is faithful once again. God has kept his promise. God has supplied their need. God has remembered them. And so as they enter into Judah and Jerusalem, it is that reminder again that God has been with them. This Feast of Tabernacles is also there to remind us that the people of God, they are on a journey. Their journey is not this world, this world is not our home, but we are merely passing through on our journey to the city of God. When you think about Pilgrim, or Christian rather, in Pilgrim's Progress, he is making his journey to that celestial city. And the child of God, they have been saved and they are making their journey to the great abode of heaven. And when we land safe in glory, we will testify to God's mercy for us for all eternity, and our theme will be how good the God that we adore. The Feast of Tabernacles, it is very significant. On the first occasion, Joshua, the son of Nun, he was the one that led the people into the land of promise. Here, Joshua, the high priest in Ezra chapter three, he leads the people back to the promised land. Who is it that brings us into the eternal rest and abode with God forever? It is Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the Greek form of the name Joshua. Chapter three concludes with the details of the foundations of the temple being established. And what was striking was that those that could remember former days were sad at how this house seemed to be inferior. When you look at what Haggai would say in his prophecy, that people were saying that it's not as great, not as good as what had gone before, yet they look forward to the fact that a greater would come, that this very house would be filled with the glory of God. And so it was quite striking to see how on one account, there were those that were filled with enthusiasm and splendor at what was taking place, and others were downcast and depressed. And that must remind us that in our dealings with each other, there may be those that are very enthusiastic, and we have to be those that don't quench a spirit, but at the same time, forbear with those that see it from a different perspective. Chapter four, you may remember, details various attacks upon the exiles over a period of about a hundred years. The attacks were varied, fairly low-level things to start with, to later on being outright brutal. There were details concerning the mechanisms of state to hinder the work that they were engaged in, and the work ends up ceasing for many years. And when you look at the church, The church is facing an enemy, the church is facing hostility, and we find ourselves that we may find opposition come in very low-level ways. Antagonism, unkind words, discouragement, but it may be what our brothers and sisters are experiencing in other lands where it's outright hostility. We should not be surprised if the work of the kingdom is being hindered in some way. In fact, if the work is not being hindered, we must ask ourselves the question, why is that the case? There is that great war and rebellion between Satan and his foes with the Lord God Almighty. And the enemy that we face is a fierce one, it is a severe one. And the work ceases here in Ezra's day for a time. But it reminds us also of the promise. The enemy that we face is a defeated enemy and the Lord has promised to build his church. I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And the work of God continues. In chapter 5 we find that we are introduced to two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. They are appointed by God to bring his message to them. Haggai's message was one of rebuke, but also of encouragement. They were criticized for their slackness, that they were concerned about building their own houses, making their own dwellings attractive, and yet the house of God remained in ruin. And so Haggai encourages them to rise and build with the promise that the Lord was with them. Zechariah, he came with a slightly different approach and he would encourage them concerning better days that were coming and he would especially be looking forward to the messianic age. And then as we drew to a close and considered the latter part of chapter five, chapter five ends with a report going to Darius concerning these exiles. It reminds us of what happened in chapter four. There was a malicious attempt to further halt and thwart the building of the walls. And we were left off wondering quite what was going to be the outcome. Would Darius the king listen to this report, would he be the one that would stop the work for good or would he keep the command that had been given by Cyrus all those generations before? So there are four things I want us to consider this morning, this evening rather. The exile's expectation, the remarkable research that takes place, the decree of Darius, that reminder that God is a God of great things. Now with all of the hostility and antagonism of the enemies of God toward his people, I'm sure that if we were to read chapter 5 and not know what came in chapter 6, we would be tempted to think that the outcome is going to be bad news, that Darius is going to come back with the report and say they are to stop building the walls. The children of Israel, they have known opposition already, they are used to being thwarted in their history, they've known great blessings, but they've also known times of difficulty, times when serving the Lord was costly to them. They are the blessed people of God and yet they are hated and they are surrounded on every side. And there would be no surprise if these exiles here, having heard that the report had gone to Darius, were expecting bad news. They were a little pessimistic about the outcome. As we look out in our days, it is possible, it is highly likely, that we have a pessimistic view of things. We perhaps expect legislation to be increasingly anti-God, increasingly in opposition to God. We expect our liberties as Christians to be eroded. We perhaps expect that opportunities for gospel preaching to be hindered in some way. We expect to hear of churches declining and closing as opposed to them being built up and prospering. We expect, perhaps, that when people visit, that we are unlikely to see them again. We expect little fruit from our gospel endeavors, and we expect little commitment from God's people. Now, if that doesn't describe your feelings at times, it certainly does mine at times. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, he was one that often preached on what is known as the three hours for ruin, redemption and regeneration, and he would preach this message very often, but a friend of his once came to him depressed because for three months of ministry he had not seen a single conversion. Spurgeon slyly asked, do you expect the Lord to save souls every time that you open your mouth? Embarrassed, the man answered, oh no sir, Then Spurgeon replied, that is just the reason why you've not had conversions. According to your faith, be it unto you. And it can be easy for us to fall into this pessimistic attitude with regards to the Lord's work. And what can happen is that we reap that which we sow. We don't expect blessing, therefore we don't receive blessing. Now it does mean that we do have to be careful about an opposite extreme. We can't be in a situation where we are optimistic about everything without any kind of realism. Have you come across those individuals that everything is wonderful, everything is rosy, everything is tremendous, and they don't seem to grapple with the reality of the situation? I've been to prayer meetings where you've had some men praying, almost weeping at the state of the nation, and you've had other people praying as if revival has broken out. seems to be on the one hand perhaps a degree of pessimism and on the other hand a certain unrealistic optimism. And so if we looked at chapter five and didn't know what came in chapter six we would probably imagine that chapter six is going to be the record of the hindrance of the work. But in the second place, we find that in verses one and following, the remarkable research is done by Darius the King. Then Darius the King made a decree and search was made in the house of the Rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And there was founded Achmetha in the palace that is in the province of the Mesa Roll, and therein was a record thus written. It can be easy for us just to overpass these verses and to think that they'd be incidental. But this is no coincidence. King Darius, before he comes to answer, does what he's been counseled to. It has been suggested that he goes and looks in the records. And he does just this. And he makes a decree that search be made in the royal archives and to research this record. They are looking for one document and they find this one document. The Medes and the Persians were thorough in their record keeping. They detailed everything and it seems that they were very used to going back and checking and examining the records from previous generations and it's remarkable that as they do this research they discover the account of the Jews is accurate. We have another example in the scriptures from a similar time when this thing happened. Mordecai in Esther, he exposes the assassination plot against King Ahasuerus. The perpetrators are executed, the king's life is spared, all of this is detailed in the records But we find that the detail concerning the reward given to Mordecai shows that he hadn't been rewarded, as would have been the custom. So the record was kept. It was filed away. It was archived, perhaps never to be looked at again. Well, we know the story of Esther. The king had a sleepless night. Just as Haman, the arch enemy of the Jews, is about to enact his murderous plan of putting to death all of the Jews in the empire. And the king doesn't sleep. And that night he calls for the records to be read to him. We're not sure of his motivation. Perhaps it was to remind himself of his exploits or his excellent authority and kingship. The reason doesn't really matter. But it so happens that the record that he read concerns the event of his near assassination. And to his shame, he discovers that Mordecai has not been rewarded. And as you think about that, that was no coincidence. It was not a chance occurrence. Why was it that the Medes and Persians were so detailed in their record keeping? It was because God had purposed it. and that God would use that in order to further his people's progress. And so if you remember in the book of Esther how Mordecai is promoted, Haman has to go and parade him through the streets, and we find that Haman's fall is dramatic. These events should make us stand back at amazement at the sovereignty of God. God is reigning, and every detail orchestrated by him. The detail of the scribe writing down in those records, not by chance. The request to read those exact records, again not by chance. Just imagine if the record had not been found. Just imagine if the record had not been accurately recorded. but we find the record is requested, the record is located, the record is accurate, and the record is acted upon, and we see the mighty sovereignty of God in action. These are not incidental occurrences. Here is the mighty king, ruler over an empire of provinces, yet being as we thought of in chapter one, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. Now we can take comfort that although the state, although politicians, the media, education, that perhaps all seem to be against God and his people, we need not fear that the Lord, he is high over all. The third thing I want us to think about is the decree that then Darius then gives. Here God appears for his people in a way that they could never have imagined to be possible. Darius issues the decree upholding what Cyrus had already issued all those generations before. But he goes further. He commits wealth to their projects. He instructs the authorities not to hinder the work. They are to be given every encouragement and speed in this enterprise. And anybody that sought to hinder this work were to face the legislation of the state. be executed for their treachery. Here the enemies of God's people sought to stop and hinder the work and they are being commanded and instructed by the king to provide and to speed the task. Does this not remind us and make us consider the wonderful power of God. We read from Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 20 and 21. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end. Amen. Here is an example in Ezra chapter 6 of the exceeding abundance of God and his power. Everything seems to be conspiring against the people of God and here God appears for them in a way that they could not have imagined to be possible. And if we go through scripture, church history, local church history, individually we can see this abundant power of God in action. The God that we serve is indeed a great God who does great things. He does things in a way which we did not expect or did not even imagine could have been possible. When you look at scripture, you could take many examples, but let me give you a couple just to illustrate. You think about the children of Israel, the Hebrews, they're in captivity. There they are about to leave. The firstborn has been put to death. They are pressed on their way to get out as quickly as possible. And the children of Israel, they are given the jewelry by the Egyptian captors. Why was that? Well, it was exceeding abundance of God. And we find that as they go out, they are rich in material things. Those riches that they are given could be then used for the furniture in the tabernacle in the wilderness. God comes to them and meets with them and helps them in a way that they did not imagine to be possible. You can think about Gideon. There he goes, seeming to certain defeat with just 300 men. And the victory was resounding. You think about David going to fight Goliath, that young lad going to face a great giant, a mighty warrior. God came and he dealt. You can think about the persecutions that grew up in the early church. And that persecution was designed to stop the progression and promotion of the Christian faith. It was to wipe out the name of Christ. Paul was determined to rid this world of the name of the Lord. And yet through the persecution, it was a means by which the gospel went into all the world. And we find the conversion of Paul, a most unlikely candidate if you could say, for salvation. The Lord saved him and how greatly he was used. This is indeed the exceeding abundance of God. You could think about church history and there are a number of examples you could think about. I'm not sure whether it's William Tyndale or John Wycliffe. He had a Bible printed and he sought to have it smuggled into England. there was a printing error and so it needed to be burnt. And the account goes that a bishop buys up all of these Bibles with errors in it to try and prevent the Bible going out. He has some burned in a great bonfire, but the money that he has paid to gather all these Bibles are used to do a new reprint. Again, you think about the wonderful work of God. And so England was spared from erroneous copies. and the cardinal or the bishop paid inadvertently for the reprint. Think about George Whitefield, prevented and forbidden from preaching in many churches and so preachers outside and 10,000 gathered to hear him. An amazing demonstration of the power of God. It's always good for us to think more locally as well. And we can think about the opportunities that we've had, both near future and perhaps in the distant past. Think about some of the opportunities in the schools. It's been encouraging for us to think and to see God answer prayers in a way that is beyond our reckoning, doing those things that are abundant above all that we could ask or think. if we look at our lives as individuals we should be able to identify how God super abounds his grace to us and it is good for us to rehearse and to go over these things for the good of our souls but also the good of others and when you think about our salvation and the way in which God meets and deals with sinners Perhaps that is the greatest demonstration of this super abounding, this exceeding abundance of the power of God. Here we are as sinners, here we are ruined by the fool, here we are far from God, haters of God, but yet God in his infinite love and mercy sets his affections upon us. Humanly speaking, it ought not to be, but God saves. And who comes and saves, who is the savior? It is none else than the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, when we think about the ways of God, he demonstrates that all things are in his hand. And here in chapter six, we find how he demonstrates his mighty power and his sovereign grace. The temptation to be pessimistic is proved to be unfounded. It's not bad news. In fact, it couldn't be better. Rather than the work being hindered, it's being prospered. It is to be progressed. It is to go forward with the help of the enemies of God. The final thing I want us to consider as we think about ourselves, as we think about our walk in this world, we are to remind ourselves that we serve the God who doest all things well, the God of great things. God's people are to be a hopeful people. Why is that the case? Because God has done great things for us and he has promised and he does great things. His power is abundant. We are not to be a people that say the cup is half empty and is just being pessimistic. Neither are we to be those that just have an idea of the cup being half full, sort of an idea of being optimistic. But we are the people of God and Psalm 23 reminds us, our cup runneth over. And as we look at the ways that God has dealt with us, how God has dealt in history and how God will deal in the future, our cup runs over. We are to be a people that hope in God. And as we pray, as we plan, as we press forward in the kingdom work here in Devizes, we can't be trusting in the methods of man or relying upon men in any way. We must be looking to God who does, as far as we are concerned, unexpected and wonderful things. There is nothing too hard for our God. There's nothing that is beyond his power and control. Although things may appear imposing, impossible, almost impassable, we are to be those that hope thou in God. When everything is conspiring against us, whether individually or collectively, look to God. We may be facing a Haman. Remind yourself how God dealt with that Haman character in Esther's day, how God removed him. We may have that threat of Tapni the governor wanting to stop and to hinder the gospel work, see how God turned the heart of the king because his heart is in the hand of the Lord. We may encounter hostility and opposition by people toward the gospel. On the face of it, it seems impossible that they could be saved. Remember how God dealt with Paul and how God has dealt with others, how God has dealt with us. We are to be a hopeful people in the God that does great things. Hope thou in God. Although the Lord may not answer in a way that we are expecting, perhaps the enemy that we face and the difficulty is not removed. We can still trust in God knowing that in eternity it will be revealed. that he has fulfilled his purpose. He is glorified and it is for our good and it will demonstrate the exceeding abundance of the power of God. May we be a people that spend time rehearsing the great things that God has done for us and spend time listening to the great things that God has done for others. And in this sixth chapter, we see the amazing way in which God turns the tables upon the enemies and the work of God prospers and continues. May we be encouraged and may we have hearts that are hopeful, not in ourselves, but in the God of heaven and earth. Amen.