We're going to talk this evening about preparing our hearts to advance God's kingdom. Are we prepared? Are we prepared to advance God's kingdom? This is an important question for us. Are we preparing ourselves to work for the advancement of Christ's kingdom? God has called His church to advance His kingdom. The Great Commission is a command to advance the kingdom of God and to promote the kingdom of God in the lives of people the whole world over. In the Lord's Prayer, we pray for the advancement of Christ's kingdom. The second petition is, thy kingdom come. We pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced. That's from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, number 102. The scriptures present us with beautiful promises of success for God's kingdom. And as we work to advance God's kingdom, we can trust that those promises are true. We think about the parable of the mustard seed. Jesus is standing there talking with his disciples and telling them this parable of the mustard seed. And we don't really know how many people were there, but we can know this, that the group that was really interested in promoting the kingdom of God was pretty small at that point, right? Jesus Christ comes announcing the kingdom of God, saying repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, right? And John the Baptist had come before him doing the same. That was a pretty small, pretty small beginning in a lot of ways. And then we can see that grow into 12 disciples. And then we can see that grow into the 70 that Jesus sends out to promote the good news. And then we can think of the 3,000 that are baptized on the day of Pentecost. And we can think now of the ways in which that has expanded and grown. And here we are on the other side of the world watching this mustard tree grow. And it does continue to grow. It grows in sometimes ways that are imperceivable to us. It grows in ways that in spite of opposition from without and trials, sins, false teachings sometimes from within, but it continues to grow. Jesus also gave us a realistic view of what that kingdom would look like until he returns in the parable of the wheat and the tares. And one day our Lord Jesus Christ will return and the wheat and the tares will be separated one from another. Because of these promises, we can look at the kingdom of God with optimism. We can look at the kingdom of God with optimism. Christ's church will be victorious and will continue its advancement. And the people listening to Jesus' parables had little idea, had little idea of what that would look like. They had very little idea of what it would look like for Jesus to bring many sons to glory. They had very little idea of that. And the religion of Jesus Christ, if we wanna call it that, was a very small thing compared to the great mystery religions of its day. of Jesus' day, right? And now, how many people are the professors of these mystery religions? We don't even hear about them anymore, hardly, except for people who study them in universities. Not to say that their descendants don't exist, but the church of Jesus Christ has grown and grown. And he continues to build his church. And we can be confident that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Today we're gonna look at a couple of texts from a time period which we could call post-exilic Israel, post-exilic Israel. And in post-exilic Israel, there was a great need to promote God's kingdom. There was a great need to promote God's kingdom. The current manifestation of the kingdom at that time was weak. and half-hearted in their worship. Let's begin in the book of Malachi, which is the last book of the Old Testament. Malachi chapter one. We're gonna begin with verse six. Malachi 1.6. The kingdom of God was or the current manifestation of the kingdom of God at this time, was going through a really difficult time. Now the book of Malachi does point out a remnant that was faithful, but it seems as though the majority had a heart that was far from God. A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my reverence, says the Lord of hosts, to you, O priests, who despise my name? Yet you say, in what way have we despised your name? You offer defiled food on my altar, but say, in what way have we defiled you? By saying, the table of the Lord is contemptible. And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor. Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts? but now entreat God's favor that he may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, will he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts. Who is there even among you who would shut the doors so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from your hands. For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, my name shall be great among the Gentiles. And in every place, incense shall be offered to my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. but you profane it, in that you say, the table of the Lord is defiled, and its fruit, its food, is contemptible. You say, oh, what a weariness, and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts, and you bring the stole, and the lame, and the sick, thus you bring an offering. Should I accept this from your hand, says the Lord? That's as far as we'll read today. We can see in this text a real lukewarmness on the part of the people of Israel, a general lukewarmness over this entire group that has returned from the land of Babylon after the exile, but their hearts were far from God. We could say that God was near to their lips, but far from their hearts. God was near to their lips, but far from their hearts. And as the Lord confronts them, they defend themselves with these questions. How is that true of us? They consider themselves the good guys in the story. They could think back to guys like Manasseh, who had caused his son to go through the fire to a false deity. They could think about the sins that had led up to the exile, and they could say, that's not us, we're the good guys, Lord. They thought they were on the right side of history, they thought they were on the right side of theology, but their hearts were far from God. Their hearts were far from God. They had no love for God. And that is a great trap, a great trap. To think of yourself on the right side of history or theology, when your heart is far from God. You do not love God. That was the case for the majority of the people of Israel at this time. And God says in verse 10, oh, somebody just shut the door of that temple. That new temple that is available, it just got done building. Just shut the door. God says, I would rather not have any of your sacrifices than to have these sacrifices that come out of this lukewarmness. And at the same time, we have a beautiful promise of kingdom advancement in verse 11, right? For from the rising of the sun to its setting, meaning globally, there's going to be global worship for God. "'My name will be great among the nations.'" Or among the Gentiles, it says in this translation. "'In every place, incense shall be offered in my name "'and a pure offering.'" Speaking of acceptable worship to God, worship with which God is pleased. "'For my name will be great among the nations,' "'says the Lord of hosts.'" We have another beautiful promise. of future kingdom advancement and global worship to God, which I trust is partially fulfilled in us. I trust that this is partially fulfilled or we're a part of this. Thousands of years later, as we worship God by the merits of Jesus Christ, because he has been so good to us, I trust that we are part of the fulfillment of this promise. Again and again in the book of Malachi, the people of Israel expressed shock that God would be displeased with them. They were the good guys. They thought they were on the right side. But God calls them to repentance. And that very thing, the fact that God calls them to repentance is an act of mercy. on God's part. That is an act of mercy on God's part that he would call them to repentance. They deserved annihilation. God calls them to repentance. Let's go to the book of Ezra. It's about, perhaps in your Bible, about 800 pages before the book of Malachi. But Ezra and Malachi were very likely contemporaries. Ezra lives also in the post-exilic period in the land of Israel. Chapter 7 introduces this man Ezra to us. And Ezra is going to walk into this lukewarm and self-righteous spiritual environment to promote the true worship of God. He's gonna walk into this self-righteous, lukewarm, hostile environment to promote the true worship of God. Verse one. Now, after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Sariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shalem, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitab, the son of Amoriah, the son of Azariah, the son of Miriath, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Buki, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the chief priest, this Ezra came up from Babylon. And he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his requests according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. Some of the children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethenim came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. On the first day of the month, he began his journey from Babylon. And on the first day of the fifth month, he came to Jerusalem. according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel." Our first point is this, God's hand was on Ezra. God's hand was on Ezra. This fact is mentioned seven times in the book of Ezra and two times in our text. The evidence that God's hand was on him presented in our text is that the king granted him all that he asked. and that his four-month trip from Babylon to Jerusalem was successful. He traveled around 900 miles accompanied by a large group, which likely included elderly and families with children. He makes this 900-mile trip in four months. And he says that that was possible because the good hand of God was upon him. As we think about advancing God's kingdom, We must not forget the fact that the blessing of God on our efforts is vitally important. The blessing of God on our efforts is vitally important. Without God's blessing, Our kingdom-advancing efforts are futile. Without God's blessing, our kingdom-advancing efforts are futile. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it, says Psalm 127, verse one. This verse shows us our reliance on God, but should never be used as a justification for laziness. In God's kingdom, laziness is reprehensible. In God's kingdom, laziness is reprehensible. Our friend Ezra was not lazy, but he gave himself to doing certain things to advance God's kingdom. And all of those things would have been futile without the good hand of God upon him. This reminds us of the necessity of prayer as we seek to advance God's kingdom. The necessity of prayer, crying out to God for His mercy, for His help, for His compassion upon us. Casual and occasional prayers are insufficient. May the Lord work in us a heart to seek God in prayer. and especially in private prayer, especially in private prayer. Jesus tells us the best prayer is private prayer. The best prayer is private prayer. God's hand was on Ezra and Ezra was being blessed by God. Ezra was another evidence of God's mercy on these post-exilic rebels. Point number two, Ezra set his heart. Ezra set his heart. This phrase describes a determination to do the task set before him. The task of bringing God's word to the people. It starts in the heart, the center of the human's being. The center of the human's being, the place where conscience, will, thinking, and affections reside. Of what value would it have been for Ezra to give his mouth to God, but not his heart? Of what value would it have been for Ezra to give his mouth to God, but not his heart? Where is your heart, my friend? Where is your heart? Will you determine to give God your heart? Will you determine to give God your heart? To love Him? To follow Him? To seek Him? Will you love Him? Ezra said his heart. It was a matter of the heart. Point number three, he set his heart to study the law of the Lord, to study God's revelation to mankind. In order that the things that Ezra Now, in the order of things that Ezra did, study is mentioned first. In the order of things that Ezra did here, study is mentioned first. Before Ezra could practice obedience to God's law, and before any meaningful teaching could be done, Ezra must know and understand what the law says. This aspect of Ezra's activities reminds us of 2 Timothy 2.15, in which the Apostle Paul is encouraging his friend Timothy. In some translations, it says study to show yourself approved. In this translation, I think it says be diligent. Verse 15, be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. This is the name that we have given to our group that gathers on Google Meet every week. We're the 2 Timothy 2.15 group because we're seeking to learn how to handle the Word of God correctly, how to interpret it rightly, and how to teach it. That's our goal. It is God's will that we study His Word. It is God's revealed will that we study His word. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. Thou shalt meditate therein day and night. Thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. I would venture to say that no true working with God for the advancement of His kingdom occurs without the study, the diligent study of the Word of God, the diligent study of what God has said to us. So he set about to study the law of the Lord, and then secondly, to do it, to do it. We know from the scripture that studying the Word is great, very important, vitally important, but insufficient. insufficient if it is not accompanied by obedience. The book of James tells us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. And the person who is only a hearer, what is he? He's deceived. And who deceived him? Himself. He is self-deceived. See, deceiving your own self. And it is so easy for people to congratulate themselves for being hearers of the Word, and at the same time be unwilling to be a doer of the Word. I find this very frequently in my ministry, very frequently. People who just feel so justified by having listened. but who are unwilling to repent. So justified. It just makes them feel so good, they tell me. I just feel so good when you talk about these things. This is so nice. And yet, they're unwilling to repent. And that is self-deception, right? That is self-deception. And the bad thing about deception is that you can't see it. You can't see it. You don't know when you're deceived. If you knew it, you wouldn't be deceived, right? You can't see it. And they just go along blindly, so frequently. Oh, may the Lord free us from that. May the Lord free us from that, to be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving our own selves. As we study, Now, as with study, the practice of obedience to the Word of God requires discipline. And Ezra said it's hard to exercise the spiritual discipline of obeying the Lord. Obedience to the Word is a prerequisite to teaching the Word. Obedience to the Word is a prerequisite to teaching the Word. The man or woman who seeks to teach the Word without applying the Word in their own life propagates hypocrisy. Now, let me just say this. This isn't perfect. This isn't perfect. We're never going to get to that point of absolute, 100% perfect obedience, right? But we can't be out there saying, do as I say and not as I do, right? That doesn't work. That doesn't work. And so we need to have a functional obedience to the word of God, right? A functional obedience to God's Word. I see this is what the Word says, and I do it. I see this is what the Word says, and I obey it. Right? So I say also, any man or woman who seeks to teach the Word without applying the Word in our life, What I'm talking about here is not exclusively standing in the pulpit and preaching. What I'm talking about is communicating the Word of God to the people that surround us. Communicating the Word of God to the people that surround us. Calling them to come to the Savior. Seeking to make disciples of the people that surround us. This is vitally important for our families. and it should extend beyond our families as we seek to make disciples of the people that God has put in our lives. Obedience to the word is a prerequisite for teaching the word. May we exercise also this discipline of obeying the word in our own lives. Our fifth point, and to teach. post-exilic Israel needed to understand the law of God. Perhaps some were ignorant of his statutes, while others were willfully disobedient and needed to be confronted with their sin. But in either case, The teaching of the law of God brings light. This is one of the verses that motivates me the most. Psalm 119 verse 130. Psalm 119 verse 130 says this. The entrance of your word gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. So in this translation, it says the entrance of your word. In another translation, it says the exhibition. In our Spanish translation, it says basically the exhibition or the showing forth of your word brings light. People need light. Without the exhibition of God's word, men live in darkness, spiritually disoriented and hopeless. Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and you're disoriented? This happens to me with some level of frequency that I wake up disoriented and if all the doors and windows are all closed, I can't see anything and I'm trying to find some sort of light, trying to figure out where I am And what I'm doing and what's going on, that's part of my most secret parts of my life, right? Because nobody sees that. There I am. Man, where am I? What is going on here? And what's this door? And you know, a light comes on and there's no more mystery. There's no more mystery. I know exactly where I am. I know exactly what's going on, right? The entrance of the Word of God brings light. It brings orientation. Without the Word of God, people are naturally disoriented. They don't know where they're coming from. They don't know why they're here. They don't know where they're going. They just are living. Just going with the flow, right? And the entrance of God's Word brings light. It gives us spiritual orientation. And he gives us hope. He gives us hope. There is genuine hope in the word of God, right? There is genuine hope in the word of God. I don't have to be a slave to sin. Christ has set me free. And how do I know that? Because what the word of the Lord tells me, right? If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. All things have become new, right? Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We're convinced of these hope-giving truths by the Word of God. The Word of God gives us this hope. It tells us who we are. It tells us why we're here. And it tells us what's ahead. It tells us where we're going. Praise God for His Word. Will you, my friend, prepare your heart for kingdom advancement like Ezra did? Today I did something which was a little crazy. I went out and played basketball with the boys. Some of them were, they were running circles around me. And, you know, I started out at a pretty good pace. And about 15 minutes in, I was winded completely. Why? Because I wasn't prepared. I haven't shot hoops in 20 years. And I was not prepared. The same thing happens to us spiritually. The same thing happens to us spiritually. Physical exercise is profitable. Prophets live, right? But godliness is profitable for all things. Exercise yourself for godliness, Paul tells Timothy. Exercise yourself for godliness. Will you, my friend, young man, young woman, will you exercise yourself for godliness? Will you prepare your heart for the advancement, to advance God's kingdom? Or will you live in apathy with a heart given mostly to yourself? Will you love God? Will you seek Him? Will you seek to know Him? and then to make him known and promote his kingdom in this world. In any of the myriad of ways that we could do that, right? We're just talking about preparing our hearts at this point. And there's a myriad of different opportunities that God gives to us to advance his kingdom, to communicate his word to the people that surround us. Many opportunities. But if our hearts are not prepared, what happens to those opportunities? We lose them, don't we? We lose them. We waste our opportunities. May the Lord work in our hearts in such a way to prepare us to steward the opportunities that he gives to us for his honor and for his glory and for the advancement of his kingdom. So in this message, we've seen that God's hand was on Ezra. Ezra set his heart to study the law of God, to do it, and to teach. Let's pray. Gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for your goodness and your mercy. We thank you, Lord, that you have not left us alone. We thank you, Lord, for the helper that you have given to us, Father. And we thank you, Lord, for giving us your written revelation, your word. We pray, God, that you will help us, Lord, work in our hearts And grow us, Father, in love for you, in love for your word, in love for your kingdom. And oh God, may we be faithful in the life that you have given to us. We pray, God, that your kingdom will come. We pray, God, that you will cast down the kingdom of Satan in our lives, in the lives of the people that surround us. and that you will establish more and more your kingdom among us, Father. We pray, Father, that you will hasten the return of our Lord Jesus Christ as well. Oh God, we pray, Lord, that you will forgive us for any apathy. We pray, God, that you will lead us away from lukewarmness to be on fire for you, to love you, to follow you faithfully. We thank you, God, for your goodness and your mercy. Amen.